#he's just a typical teenager who grew up in a circus

[archaeopter-ace]

been reading early comics installments of Ghost Rider for fic reasons, and losing my goddamn mind over the way an interest in Satanism is just. dropped in, apropos of literally nothing. Like, it's obviously just a plot device to explain away how he was able to summon the devil in the first place in order to make his deal, but it comes absolutely out of left field

you know, because every young boy goes through an occult phase, like you do, where he just can't get enough Satanism alsfjalgk.

Is teenage Johnny actually goth? Or rather, would he have been written as goth if the scene had existed back in 1971? The spiked leather jacket and motorcycle screams 'punk,' I'll grant you that, but there's overlap in punk and goth aesthetics.

Why this matters: teen!Johnny loaning eye shadow to teen!Jack Russell, plz

[lorbanery]

I just need to talk about Dick Grayson and Jon Kent's relationship for a minute

Just 'cause I keep seeing people file it under the typical Super-Bats dichotomy (Bruce and Clark, Tim and Kon, Jason and Bizarro, Damian and Jon)

BUT

Have you considered: Dick is the Superman to Jon's Robin?

Just

Just listen

There's the obvious justification that's just "Dick is much older than Jon", sure. But there's more nuance here.

Dick is different people to different generations of heroes.

To his own generation he's the responsible best friend everyone knows they can rely on, but also know better than to think of him as superhuman because they've all seen him at his worst (and by worst I don't just mean "most depressed" I mean most "shouting at his four year old niece" bitchy asshole).

I'm skipping Jason because he doesn't have his own generation he just kind of awkwardly pilfers people from Dick's and Tim's until they'd willingly shank Batman for him.

To Tim's generation he's a legend who they quickly realized is actually almost as out-of-touch as the first gen heroes. They're like a big queer friend group and he's the one kid's kind of square straight older brother. He's cool, he's supportive, he's always willing to drive them places, covers for them when they ditch class or are out past curfew, and he WILL throw down with anyone's homophobic parents; but he always has a lecture ready about underage drinking and while he laughs along with their "I'm too gay for this" jokes, you can tell he doesn't really get them. At least he's always excited for Pride. He buys himself a new "ally" shirt every year.

(Disclaimer: Previous paragraph was meant merely as a demonstrative metaphor and not to express any definitive opinion on Dick Grayson's sexuality. @ DC Comics let that boy be bi)

But to Damian's generation? Dick Grayson is a parental figure. When Damian and Jon were first starting out their superhero careers, Dick was not only acting as Batman, but as Damian's guardian, two roles most people, in-universe, expected him to be in permanently. And for Jon Dick wasn't just his friend's dad; when Clark had to leave Earth, forcing Jon to step into the role of Superman, and Jon expressed concern over being up to the job, Clark specifically told Jon to seek out Dick.

Because Jon, of course, was a teenager facing down not only the responsibility of being a superhero, but of bearing the weight of being a famous figure of hope. Something Dick had already done as the first Robin, and had helped at least a little two other teenagers navigate.

Now, I'm going to take a little tangent here to explain why Dick is the Clark in this situation.

When we talk about Dick's tragic backstory, a lot of little details change from retelling to retelling; but the one thing that stays consistent is the fact that Bruce took him in because Dick reminded him of himself. They both watched their parents get murdered at a young age (sometimes the exact same age, depending on the retelling); neither of them had any immediate family to take them in; both of them were only children who suddenly found themselves with the burden of being the sole carrier of their family's significant legacy. But that's pretty much where the similarities end.

Bruce was raised in a wealthy family, in a mansion in a major metropolitan city where his family had deep roots all the way back to its founding. Dick was raised by a very much working class family that lived out of a trailer/wagon/train most of, if not the entire year, traveling all across the country and/or globe. If they had a permanent residence anywhere, it was probably one of the suburbs around Tampa that were historically the off-season homes for circus performers (at least that's where I would put it).

Bruce was able to stay in his childhood home with a guardian who'd known him his whole life, who knew his family history and legacy. He was able to step into his family's legacy when he grew up and even expand it well beyond what his parents did.

Dick had to leave not only the circus he grew up in, he had to leave behind the entire community and culture and ended up being raised in a world that was completely different from it. Raised by a man who certainly respected his family and their history, but didn't know much about it or what their hopes and expectations had been for Dick.

While the path that eventually led him to becoming Batman began, for Bruce, that night when his parents were murdered, he didn't actually start seriously working towards and mentally taking on that responsibility until he was much older. In some cases he was in high school, in some not until after he graduated. But he taught himself and learned how to be a hero as an adult. He was in his twenties when he was taking the responsibility of other people's lives onto his own shoulders; when he was learning how to be most effective; when he was learning in real time the consequences of doing something wrong.

Dick started training and/or working as Robin the moment he became a permanent member of the Wayne household. He was anywhere between roughly 8 and 16, depending on the retelling, but in every version he was very a child or teenager taking on that responsibility of other people's lives, learning in real time the consequences of doing something wrong. He was trying to navigate school and a social life while feeling that responsibility for other people's safety and having this huge secret he couldn't talk about. He was given these special skills from his birth family's legacy that his adoptive parent warned him to hide from people lest they guess his secret. He had this overdeveloped strength and fighting skills that meant he had to consciously hold back when he fought bullies in school.

But while that doesn't describe Bruce, it does describe someone else in Dick's life: Clark. He lost his parents at a very young age leading him to be raised in a completely different culture and world by his adoptive parents. They respected his birth family and their culture, but knew nothing about them. They were a working class family, who lived in a small town. He developed his powers when he was just a kid. They were a part of his family legacy that his adoptive parents encouraged him to hide to keep his secret. They created a sense of responsibility in him at a young age to use them to help and protect people. They made it so that he had to hold back when he fought bullies in school. He had to learn how to navigate school and a social life while feeling that responsibility, while having this huge secret, and learning the consequences of doing something wrong when he was trying to protect people.

Clark related to Dick as a kid/teenager in ways that Bruce never really could. Clark understood a lot of the struggles Dick was facing, the weight on his shoulders. That's one of the many reasons he was, typically, very friendly and supportive of Dick; why he treated him as a respected colleague ; why he was always happy to spend time with and chat with Dick, even when Bruce wasn't around. He became a second trusted mentor to Dick, someone who understood what it was like to dedicate your entire life to protecting people; to spending your entire life as someone potentially dangerous to normal people; to being removed from your family legacy and their culture and taking up that of your adoptive family instead.

That's why, when Dick finds himself in situations where his life is drastically changing, one of his first stops is always Metropolis. That's why, when his life drastically changes and he doesn't come to Metropolis, Clark comes to check in on him. And Clark doesn't always have good advice to share to help Dick find his way. But he has enough similar life experience that it makes him pretty much the only mentor figure in Dick's life that Dick can really talk to who best understands him and his unique struggles.

Back to Jon.

When Jon was forced to become Superman, he was worried about how to be Superman. How to take on that kind of responsibility when he was so young. Clark sent him to Dick not just because he had a unique perspective on what Superman needs to be as someone who's been a fan, a colleague, and a friend; not just because he could teach Jon how to fight and protect himself and others even without his powers; not just because he's an excellent teacher. But because no other non-super has as much experience navigating the complex life of being a high profile kid superhero.

And Dick taught him. He trained him, and he told him about his father and his legacy, about who Superman was to the people who cared about him and worked with him.

And well after Dick's gone back to being Nightwing, even when he's not a constant fixture in Damian's life anymore, even when he's off in Bludhaven, when Jon finds himself struggling to navigate a new situation as a superhero, one of the first things he does is seek out Dick. Dick doesn't always have good advice to give him, but he does have similar experiences that help him understand Jon and his unique struggles.

[necroromantics]

Do you have any headcannons about Eyeless Jack or even Laughing Jack by chance? :0] For Cryptpasta

HI YES I DO

EYELESS JACK

- He's 6'3 in his typical form, but as he gets hungrier, his body shifts into a more demonic and beastly form. At his peak, he's about 6'7-6'8

- Jack is sort of like a host for the demon Chernobog. He needs to feed it to keep it contained. If he starves it by not giving it proper sustenance (living things, human organs give the most sustenance), then Chernobog will "take over" and cause Jack to go absolutely feral

- He can see pretty well in his typical form. His vision is just muddied and he's colour-blind

- The more beastly/hungry he gets, the worse his sight gets. When hes at his peak, he can't see shit and acts completely on instinct

- He is a huge geek. Very interested in classic literature, maths, sciences, and especially medicine

- Jack was a college student before he got sacrificed, and was working hard to become a doctor

- After his transformation, he began to really look into herbal medicine and started to use the plants around the forest in his medical practices for the other Creeps

- He's very good at fishing, but he fishes like a bear. Jack will jump into the water and catch fish in his mouth. He hates it, but he's more efficient like that than with a rod

- He grew up in a very religious household, which made him very atheist and anti-religion as he grew up

- As a teenager, he was very into things like politics, anarchism, video games, rock music, anything he could to rebel against his parents. He eventually grew out of it and mellowed down

- Jack was always a very intelligent and wise person. But he found himself so angry all the time, and isolated from his peers

- He experiences a lot of guilt now for his anger. He never wanted to hurt anyone, and after losing everything, Jack quickly realized that all he wanted was to make peace with the world

- When he turned into a demon, he felt like the only thing he could grasp was God. He has a very complicated relationship with religion, but its all he has left

- Even after everything, he's at God's mercy. Always rebelling

LAUGHING JACK

- He was human once, back around in the 1930s

- Jack was a serial killer who worked as a clown for a travelling circus

- "The Laughing Jack" was his stage name, he wore all black and white, mixing the traditional clown costumes with the mime act. He only ever talked to children, and would immediately go mute as soon as an adult was in hearing range

- Everybody knew he was a little bit strange. He was irritable, off-putting, didn't quite understand boundaries or when he was going too far. Parents thought his torment of their children was just apart of some sick act, but his coworkers knew it wasn't

- LJ would lure in children from parks or their yards and murder them right before his circus was about to leave the next morning. He wasn't careful at all, very messy and thoughtless

- This carelessness eventually led to his arrest, and he hung himself in prison

- He's actually technically a Zalgo proxy, because Zalgo is the one who granted him an afterlife as a ghost of sorts after his death

- But he always does his own thing. He targets who he wants, talks to who he wants. And it's almost always strictly children.

- Laughing Jack tends to target the boys more than the girls. Nobody really knows why

- He's generally a fun, goofy guy outside of the creepiness and he likes a good classic prank. But once the mask drops, he's very brooding and sinister, and has a tendency to make everyone around him uncomfortable

[incesthemes]

consider the rakshasa in 2x02 as an allegory for john.

he's just died, and this episode is about sam and dean's grief, as well as their struggles as they try to move on from his death. the circus itself represents hunters and the hunter society they've just newly discovered (also in this exact episode), and the rakshasa is a monster hiding within that culture of misfits. much of 2x02 is from dean's perspective, and dean has just come to view his father in a violently negative light (consider the end of the episode, where he destroys the impala in order to symbolically hurt john).

so the rakshasa as john. the monster can turn invisible, similar to how john's presence in the narrative is oppressively absent: in season 1 he's missing, and now in season 2 he's dead. yet he's always present in spirit, even though sam and dean can't see him. he's an invisible force weighing down on them, there yet not.

the rakshasa also preys on children. this could be symbolic of the way sam and dean are rather emotionally immature, frozen in time due to the abuse they suffered as kids. indeed when children are featured as guest stars in an episode, they act as allegories for dean (see 1x03 and 1x18). the same thing is true for teenagers, who are typically paralleled with sam (see 1x05 and 1x08)—this present, if sparse, theming could indicate the emotional states of the brothers, or the points in their respective lives which have shaped them most strongly: dean lacks a childhood because he was forced to grow up too fast and therefore imprints on children, and sam is stuck a rebellious teenager, allowed to grow into adolescence due to being sheltered but perhaps stunted in growth as he becomes aware of the world around him and his own situation, and as he develops a lasting resentment toward john. therefore, the invisible monster john winchester is preying on sam and dean, both in their literal childhood and as their present-day selves, trapped in a state of immaturity due to a life of abuse and neglect.

i also like the little detail that the rakshasa lives in squalor, as this can be compared to the motel rooms and the car that sam and dean grew up in: their constant instability and run-down, cheap housing that sheltered them their whole lives. it's a stark difference from the comfort of a stable home, and combined with the nomadic lifestyle of a circus, there is a very striking parallel between the rakshasa's life and the life that john forced his children into.

(an interesting aside, but the rakshasa feeds in 20-30 year cycles, which is quite similar to the cycle azazel appears to be working with to create new generations of special children, which is around 23 years. not sure if this is intentionally drawing a parallel between azazel and john, but i wouldn't be surprised given the tangled-up, impossible web they exist in together.)

in the end, sam is the one who kills the rakshaka, as dean has been immobilized by it (the imagery recalling that of 1x22, where dean is immobilized by an azazel who looks like john; additionally, one can compare the emotional arc dean is suffering at the moment, metaphorically paralyzed by john's final wish and his inability to act on his own because he has spent his whole life a soldier to john's instruction). if the rakshasa is john, then it implies that sam will ultimately be the one to save dean from his conflict, the one to free him of his paralysis—and he does in 2x09, when dean embraces his codependent relationship with his brother, abandons his father, and throws down his gun to choose sam as his guide and moral center. the conflict of croatoan is all about dean finally coming to terms with the choice he's been given and making his decision: sam, above all else. and so sam is the one who saves him and propels him forward into the rest of the season, with his head on straight and his mind clear of distractions. sam above all else, no matter what, no nuance. just like here, where sam frees dean of the rakshasa's literal binding, sam too frees dean of john's emotional binding.

[weekdaysend]

Hello! A lot of you had positive responses to my last post, so here I’ll be writing my personal rewrites of the I.M.P. Crew (Sorry this took so long, I got side-tracked this weekend <:]). For a reminder of what my redesigns looked like, you can find them Here. I’m gonna go from left to right and start with the first crew member:

Mildred (or Millie)

I did a lot of reworking around Mildred since a majority of her characterization is basically nonexistent, so I gave her a personality with a lot of potential and complexity that’s on par with her male crew members.

Mildred comes from a very low-income, Southern family in the Wrath Ring. She grew up on a barn with her parents and several other siblings, making her essentially a middle child. She worked on their farm for most of her life as a hand and delivery girl to send fresh produce to buyers and the local market. It was like this for some time until the family business had gone dry due to some messy ties with the upper-class that resulted in them going into poverty. Wanting to help her family and support them financially Mildred left to go find work elsewhere, in which she meets Blitzo and is hired onto the I.M.P. team.

She’s very hard-working, a bit brutish but has a heart of gold, and is blunt and out-spoken. She’s not very sophisticated but has a lot of Wisdom to her and gives some great advice to Loona as the only other woman in the workplace, and someone for Loona to look up to in times of need. She gets along great with everyone except Moxxie, who she butts heads with constantly due to their conflicting personalities and backgrounds. Speaking of Moxxie, he’s next on the list.

Moxandicus (Moxxie)

Moxxie was an Imp born into the wealthier part of Imp society, basically making him the equivalent of your typical “uptight, sophisticated rich boy”. His family comes from a line of competitive businessmen, none of that mafia mumbo-jumbo, though they probably do have some loose ties to them in some way. Moxxie is the odd-one-out of his family, rather than taking an interest in the family business, instead finds his passion in Mortals History (this man is so infatuated with Humans culture its crazy). Because of this, his family looked at him more as a nuisance “wasting his time on silly hobbies”, and basically cut him off from his wealth until he “proved himself worthy” of being welcomed back into the family. Now broke and nowhere to go, Moxxie finds himself looking for work, where he meets Blitzo and joins I.M.P.

I imagine my Moxxie has a very similar personality to the one if the show, except he’s more educated, calculating, snooty and uptight, and less of.. I don’t know how to put this— coward? Butt of the joke? You get what I mean. He’s essentially the straight man and voice of reason for the group, and is the one who usually has to get them out of their pickles when working. He doesn’t have a lot of street smarts and is less willing to get his hands dirty compared to everyone else. Like I said earlier he clashes a lot with Millie and frequently questions Blitzo’s authority, but most of the time doesn’t argue back on the count of that’s his boss. He’s indifferent towards Loona, though questions why a teenager is working for them in the first place.

Blitz(o)

A lot of Blitz’s backstory and personality is mostly the same: Grew up in the circus in the Pride Ring, left after wanting to seek more in life prove to everyone someone from his social class can make it big in the world, yadayadayada. However I did rewrite some things that I believed wold make his character a lot better/more tolerable:

He’s still on good terms with his sister, they’re just really busy all the time so they don’t have a lot of time to talk or see each other (I’m so sick of this dude not having at LEAST one good relationship).

He and Verosika are still on bad terms due to their messy break-up, though I want to believe Blitzo regrets and sometimes even misses her and the actions that led to their falling out, though due to his pride refuses to admit it out loud.

None of that weird “sexually harassing my coworkers” shit. That was weird and gross.

I gave him a personality that’s more attuned to “if Weird Al was a bounty hunter who grew up in the circus”. He was always some silly little guy to me. The man grew up in a circus, I’d expect him to be a little clowned down if you get what I’m sayin’.

His relationship with Loona is typically the same. He adopted her when she was around 13-14 and has been raising her ever since as his teenage daughter (None of that weird “treating hellhounds like literal peta thing that was weird and confusing). He makes her work as their secretary and “social media manager” as a way to earn a weekly allowance and also “the kids are hip with it she’ll do wonders for us promotionally”. She does not, he just refuses to admit it.

Leona (Loona)

I’ve done a lot of reworking for Loona as well, same reasons as Millie. Istg they do not know how to wrote female characters.

Loona is a hellhound born from the Sloth Ring. She doesn’t know a lot of her background, but was raised in foster care for a small portion of her life until Blitzo took her in when she hit her teenage years. Before that however she took a liking towards astrology and magic and would constantly read about it in her formative years. When she began living with Blitz she began attending schooling to further learn about magic and how to translate older works, which is how she’s able to use Stolas’ book for the IMP team to use. She get’s teased on a lot in school for being one of the only Hellhounds there, which causes her to feel insecure about herself and shut in from people including Blitz.

Loona’s a very quiet, closed-off teenager (16-17), who’s very much in that “going through a phase” part of growing up. She’s very insecure about herself and is easily-impressionable, which is why she looks up to Millie so much, since she’s cool and is the only other girl in the office space to talk to. Loona’s relationship with Blitz is the same, except she actually acts like a teenager and not an abusive asshole. She wants to prove to herself that she’s not some “loser nobody” and can actually do magic and make friends with other teens her age.

And that’s it. Sorry it was so long I had a lot to say lol. If you have further questions, direct them to my ask box.

[sunsh1n3s]

using this platform as an excuse to talk about books — so here’s what i read 2023 and what i recommend:

[ the storyteller: tales of life and music - dave grohl ] i am a huge foo fighters fan and grew up with my mom loving dave grohl, the stories he tells in this book are not chronological; but they are beautiful. it makes me admire this man more than i did, he’s truly inspiring. 4.5/5 stars, -0.5 because i could not retain as well when it would jump from year to year.

[ suicide notes - michael thomas ford ] i did not enjoy this book for as much as it was overhyped. i understood the plot, i understood the story, it was gripping but not generally moving. a common coming-of-age young romance with mental illness; not bad yet not the best. 2/5 stars, -3 because i did not like how slow and basic the storyline was, though i liked few of the characters

[ daisy jones & the six - taylor jenkins reid ] OH IM A TAYLOR JENKINS REID GIRLIE NOW. i had previously heard of evelyn hugo but at the time djats series had just came out, and i was curious to read the book. i watched the pilot and was sold, you’d think a hippie gal who loves rock bands would pass this up ?? TJR’s book style is so easy for me to get into too, i could NOT put the book down. greta writing and great storyline, forever a camila kinner and truther. -4.5/5 stars, -0.5 bc i HATED billy dunne and book eddie loving.

[ 11/22/63 - stephen king ] i read this for extra credit in my language arts class and when i tell you i’ve been DYING to read this book since i saw my mom read it. my roman empire is the JFK presidency and assassination, and i’ve always enjoyed stephen king… so this was just a chefs kiss. although, mr stephen king holds onto scenes a little too long and it could’ve been a 600 page book, not 800. so sometimes i caught myself snoozing, but i loved the concept loved the book. time traveling + historical + thriller + romance = 4/5 starred book, -1 only because it was longer than it should’ve been

[ water for elephants - sara gruen ] this book is one of those “it gets good at the end” books. i put this book down twice and it took me majority of the year to get into it. i did not enjoy the beginning, but over time and chapters it became better. true story on a circus with what i’m guessing are fictional main characters. either way it was good, good paced, and interesting. definitely makes you look at circuses or any animal show differently. 3/5 stars, -2 just cause the beginning was slow

[ intensity - dean koontz ] …. now wtf. i read this bc my mom recommended it… don’t read it. it’s good it’s crazy it blows your mind, but it is so so fucked up. it’s a murder story and it’s just gross and weird. intensity is the right title, it was very intense. i was holding my breath on so many scenes, yet it was somehow enjoyable just because of how much of a thriller it was. 3/5, -2 only cause i would never read it again, and it was gross.

[ red, white, & royal blue - casey mcquiston ] i noticed this was a movie so i thought why not watch it, i don’t tend to watch stuff before i read it, but i wanted a judgement on this book. i loved the movie just bc it was so cutesy and the characters were so in love. and i got that right in the book. definitely your typical cheesy teenage romance book with light smut, and very gay. so as much as people critique it, i enjoyed it and it was what i needed to read or have in that moment. just a sappy and cutesy love story. 4/5 stars, -1 because i wasn’t left as content as i thought i’d be

[ the seven husbands of evelyn hugo - taylor jenkins reid ] taylor jenkins reid the woman that you are. i understood the hype, i loved the book, it was written so well. there’s twists and just emotion and i loved it. i tabbed the book and everything. i just loved it, it’s truly a gripping and great story. fuck men, except for one he was a sweetheart. plus it’s around marilyn monroe/rita hayworth actress era and i eat that shit up. 5/5 stars, she’s just that girl.

[ the book thief - markus zusak ] :( i love this book but oh is it sad. i reread it for a school unit. liesel meminger you’re a remarkable girl. 4/5 stars, point off bc we had to do assignments on it and i hated one section of the book.

[ the complete persepolis - marjane satrapi ] during the iran revolutions and conflicts with the shah and stuff. it was okay, not my favorite but not bad. also a graphic novel!! autobiography also, pretty neat. 3/5 stars, not my cup of tea and we had to do stupid assignments on them that made us think too hard abt it

[loxcommon]

⚠️!Trigger Warning! Child Death, Mentions Of Child Abuse, Just William in General⚠️

Five Days until the Party, Day 2, Part 1

Timothy looked through the door left to his room, and up at the grandfather clock outside it, 6:13 it read. He yawned, wishing his nightmares would stop so he could sleep. Timothy's limited-edition FredBear plush was grasped firmly between his tiny hands; he had only recently stopped bringing it to his school -per his father's request. Timothy heard his older sister's door squeak open; he knew it was her since Michael didn't wake up this early, and even if he did, his door doesn't squeak. The young boy looked to Elizabeth's room as she walked out and waved at her; Elizabeth waved back. Timothy turned around to the clock, which now read 6:17, and stepped out of his room. Timothy ran up to Elizabeth and greeted her with a small "Hey," which she returned.

They walked through the living room and into the kitchenette to find William making pancakes and bacon. He looked over to Elizabeth and said, "Hey, princess, how's it going?" Elizabeth smiled, hoping that William would be friendlier today or at least less angry. "Hi, daddy! It's going good! What're you making?" She responded, a broad grin making itself present on her face. "I'm making hotcakes, hun. How about you sit, and I'll finish, ok?" William replied while the two sat down. "Hey, Timothy, can you go wake Michael up?" The smaller boy perked up at the mention of his name and replied with a, "Uh, sure." He slid off the tall chair and grabbed his plush from the table. As he walked out of the room, he heard Elizabeth laughing at something his father said; he couldn't help but think they were talking about him.

The little boy stood in front of Michael's door and knocked on it until he heard a "Come in." Timothy slowly opened the door to see Michael covering his neck with makeup. "Why are you doing that?" He asked, only to be met with a quick "Doin' what?" He sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be satisfied with a straight answer. "Nothing, Daddy wants you for breakfast." For a second, Timothy thought he saw fear in his brother's eyes, but he ignored it. Michael closed the makeup case, sat it down, and then walked up to the smaller boy; he crouched down in front of him and ruffled his hair. "So, what's the food today?" Michael asked as Timothy desperately tried to fix it. Timothy gave up with his hair and said, "Daddy made pancakes and bacon. And it smells really good!" He said with a smile which Michael returned. "That's nice," Michael said as he got up, "Now, let's go! Don't want the food to get cold."

The two boys sat down at the dining table as William put the food down. Elizabeth had a smile that only grew bigger when they started eating. "Guess what! Daddy said that we're going to Circus Baby's today!" She practically screamed. "Daddy, can we go see Circus Baby? I heard she makes ice cream! Does she?" William chuckled and said, "Sure, honey, as long as your brothers are there too. And yes, she does make ice cream. I'll get you some." William put his own plate down and began eating.

------

The snow had started early in the morning before they even woke up, but that didn't stop them. Michael and William were the only actual employees that actually went to work during snow days. The schools already called the parents to let them know it was canceled, and since Hurricane only really has two schools -one for the teenagers and one for the kids- it didn't take that long to be notified.

William was in a fluffy coat; if he was trying to look appealing, it was working. Typically Henry was the one to do all the talking, but since he wouldn't be in town until Timothy's birthday, William would have to be the one talking to children and parents. He couldn't look alarming if he wanted to get people to come to his business. Michael was still wearing the same hoodie and pants from yesterday, but everything was filthier, and grease coated his hair and skin. Though just being employed as a cashier, he helped fix the animatronics regularly, and he sure did look the part. Elizabeth wore a grey jacket that was two sizes to big for her, leggings that had a slight bulge on her right leg where the band-aid was, and colorful boots - which she got at the last family gathering from an uncle that she doesn't remember the name of. Timothy was wearing an oversized hoodie that had belonged to Michael before he grew out of it, grey pants, and tennis shoes.

Timothy and Elizabeth ran in front of Michael and William until they reached the big door that opened into Circus Baby's Pizza World, excitedly waiting for someone taller to open it. William stepped past them and unlocked it. They had finished breakfast quickly, and we're the first ones there. Usually, Michael was the one to open up - especially on snowy days like this - but since William was taking them all there, he unlocked the door. The two kids ran in as soon as the door was open, leaving only Michael and William left; the older man looked back at the younger and walked over to him. "Keep an eye on them, and don't let Elizabeth go to Circus Baby alone," William said while patting Michael's shoulder; Michael flinched at the touch, but not enough for anyone except William to see. The older man just smiled.

Timothy waited for the other two to get into the building while Elizabeth ran straight for Ballora Gallery. He didn't know why she liked Ballora so much; yeah, she is cool, but he always liked the funtimes more. Timothy slightly jumped at the touch of his brother's arm on his own. "Hey, Tim, want to go see Circus Baby first? William said we can't split up, so that sucks. Where's Elizabeth?" Michael asked as William walked into the building. "Yeah, Timothy, where is she?" Timothy looked up to his father and pointed his finger at Ballora Gallery. "Well, Michael. Go get her." And with that, he left. Michael smiled at Timothy and beckoned him to go first. Then the two headed towards the Gallery.

------

Timothy looked over to Michael, who was currently talking to his friends that came to Circus Baby's a few minutes ago. They stood tall against Michael and wore masks of the characters Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. Timothy didn't like the masks. They were scary. "And that's why I'm so excited to see her!" Elizabeth finished a conversation that Timothy didn't even know they were having. Timothy didn't even have time to let a "huh?" Before Elizabeth said, "Were you even listening to me?" "Sorry, Eli. I'm tired." The small boy let out a yawn; Elizabeth just gave a not-so-serious eye roll. "Anyways, Mike is busy, and it's been like an hour! Let's go see her!" "Eli, we can't! Daddy told Mike that we have to stay by him! I don't want him to get in trouble!" Timothy whined protests, but Elizabeth just said, "Daddy won't know, Michael won't either! Please, we'll be quick!" Timothy gave up trying to stop her; after all, what the worst that could happen?

Timothy watched as the petite red-head ran to the door labeled Circus Gallery and snuck behind her; dad would kill her if he found out that she went in there without him or Michael. William had told her multiple times not to see her, and he doesn't take disobedience lightly. Elizabeth looked around to make sure Michael wasn't looking, and before Timothy got to the door, she went in. Timothy looked back to Michael and saw him holding a mask of his favorite -or at least his least hated- animatronic, Foxy. He must have gotten that from his friends. He thought before turning back to the door and peek in.

Elizabeth was already up on the big stage on which Circus Baby rested, standing tall over the short ten-year-old; even though she wasn't threatening in appearance, there was something off about her. If she was safe, why would daddy not want Elizabeth to go near her? Before Timothy could finish his thought, he heard Elizabeth mumbling something to the robot. Circus Baby moved closer towards the girl, and vanilla ice cream popped out of her stomach; Elizabeth started smiling wide as she took the robot's ice cream. Before Timothy could understand what was happening, Elizabeth was gone, and all that remained was blood and spilled ice cream. The last thing he remembered before passing out was screaming.

[vampirecatboy]

haha ok this is going to be a lot but :3c

Kira:(5,18,20,27,31,39,40) / Rhys:(4,12,28,35,37) /Murdoch:(6,14,23 but circus troupe, 32 previous to merrow transformation, 38) / Petra:(any question you feel like answering for him? c:)

oh hell yeah buckle up

Kira:

What was their childhood fear?

I don't think it was "getting lost" because he wouldn't go wandering around so much if he was scared of getting lost. I think he was really nervous around his siblings' friends, because they were all so much older than him and bigger than him, plus they were like that candy-sweet, cloying level of nice to him that really rubbed him the wrong way. They babied him basically and it made him very uncomfortable, so whenever Aoife or Teague had friends over he would either hide in the woods or his room if it was cold/rainy.

If they could live or visit anywhere, where would they go?

I'll skip over "home" because that's obvious I think. I think he would want to go somewhere secluded and remote, like a cabin in the woods, or a lighthouse. He's never actually been able to discern anything from a map so there aren't cities he wants to see, but he would like to see Inverness someday.

What did they dream of “growing up” to be?

I have a line I've never been able use in any one shot, where he says "I wanted to be cool and sexy when I grew up, and I think I've checked both those boxes." In all seriousness, he wanted to be an adventurer like his mom, an expert archer like Nikita, and he wanted to study the plants that grew around his home.

Have they achieved any of their childhood dreams? Are they still trying? Have those dreams changed?

He's achieved all of them, surpassed the one about studying plants because he's seen so much beyond his home. Unfortunately, becoming an adventurer came at a cost. He hasn't been able to stop since he was sixteen. His dreams have changed. He only has one now, and it's to see his family again.

Who are they when they aren’t with the party?

That's a tough one. When he's not with the party he's either alone, or with one of his love interests, and even between those he's different. When he's alone, he gets kind of spacey and in his own head, because there's no one else to interact with, and he probably won't choose to interact with anyone. When he's with a love interest, he gets very affectionate, and typically matches their energy and behavior. It's sort of like unconscious masking. Sometimes I refer to him in my head as a "sexual chameleon" but it's not just levels of sexuality he mimics. He'll work with whatever they give him in all fields.

If someone could tell them anything about the future they asked, would they want to know? Would they ask?

He absolutely would want to know, but I don't think he'd ask because he'd be afraid of the answer. He wants to know if he'll ever get home, he wants to know how things turn out with Rhys (he might not believe the answer he would get lol), and he wants to know if he'll survive the prophecy he's a part of.

What sets them free?

A sky full of fluffy white clouds, the weight of his crystal pendant around his neck, the first chill in autumn, the warm embrace of a lover, the sound of an arrow hitting its target, his father's shepherd's pie

Rhys:

Who was their childhood hero?

If I knew more about the character I'd say Long John Silver from Treasure Island because pirate. Otherwise, it's his dad. When he was young, he was the type who dreamed of getting married and starting a family, because he saw how his dad was with his wife, and how he was with him and Elsie and Erin, and thought "I want to be like him." (and now Cat's in the Cradle is stuck in my head lol)

What were their favorite hobbies as a teen?

He was a shy little bookworm who loved to read. He used to get in trouble in elementary school because he would read during class when he should've been paying attention. There was a point when he was a teenager and doing his apprenticeship with the book binder that he considered writing for a living.

If they could change their class(es), would they? To what?

I don't think so, he likes being a rogue, but.... he's always been a little envious of people with magic. He'd stay a rogue, but that insult spell that Kira used to k.o. him was pretty cool...

What do they see in the dark?

The things he's hiding from.

What is their sleep/trance like?

He's a sleeper, and he's a deep one. There's a reason he doesn't take naps anymore, he'd wake up after four hours completely disoriented and feeling pretty much dead. He'll occasionally have nightmares, not really triggered by anything, just when his subconscious is like "Hey, fuck you :)" All that being said, lately he's been sleeping less, not for any emotional reason, it's just that the sparse times the cat wakes up have been late at night, and shh don't tell his sisters but especially don't tell Kira, but he loves that cat to death and he's happy to see him awake because that means Kira is actually sleeping. Also sometimes the cat will make a little noise at him and his icy heart melts.

Murdoch:

Did they grow up with siblings? What were those relationships like?

Murdoch is the super spoiled only child of Shiloh and Rosemary Heffernan. That being said he had a lot of friends growing up, so he was never lonely. His moms let him have a lot of sleepovers because they knew it would be good for him to socialize and learn how to cooperate with others.

What does their midday meal look like? One big meal? Lots of snacks throughout the day?

I don't think he really gets lunch breaks so much as someone else will run over to concessions and get him something to snack on when he's not performing. Minor spoiler for my follow up to Kira's disaster threesome (or something he'll actually do in a session, we'll see), but I was thinking a day or two after that night, Kira gets a candy apple or something from concessions and brings it to Murdoch which is unintentionally a very sweet gesture.

What is their role in the party? Not just their class on a meta level, but among the individuals who make up the party?

He's the idiot brother with a heart of gold. I said a while ago, before he was part of the circus in canon, that he dumbs himself down and plays the fool so he'll seem less scary? Like he's got the eyes and the teeth and the deathly pallor, he feels he has to make up for that with how he acts, so he seems less threatening.

Do they have any expectations of how they might die?

He always felt he would die young, and part of him hoped it would be in some poetic way. Killed by a lover, or for love, in some pretty bloodless fashion, like with poison or through, well, drowning. Idk if we have Shakespeare in universe, but to put it in a way that I think fully encapsulates his feelings: he read Hamlet and hoped to die like Ophelia.

Do they remember their dreams?

Not often. That's one thing that didn't really change after he died. His dreams while he sleeps are pretty scattered and strange, things that are so ridiculous and nonsensical that unless it really scares or arouses him, it fades within minutes.

Petra:

Did they grow up with siblings? What were those relationships like?

I chose this one for Petra because I had this sudden vision of him having a twin sister (Renate, pronounced reh-NA-tuh, Renny for short) who he's really close with, as twins typically are. They both got into all kinds of mischief together. Renny I think became an urban druid, she and Petra both developed an affinity with the environment. In Petra that looked like parkour and and a crossbow, and in Renny that looked like talking to pigeons and (eventually) shapechanging into them. They still live together, their parents actually gave them the house and moved out to the countryside when they felt the city had gotten too fast for them. And one other thing, they've both got the same purple eyes.

[punkinroses]

Alright gang I got two rounds of next gen kids done, let's move onto the ones who names I struggled the most with. The previous two posts can be found here and here, showing Zuko and Kataras family, and Sokka and Sukis families, respectively. So, here's the next family on the list:

Taang Kids

Jai Bei Fong is the eldest child of Avatar Aang and Toph Bei Fong. An Earthbender trained in the art of Metalbending by his mother, he has been requested numerous times to take over her school by others. He has simply refuted numrrous times that those running it now are more than capable and prefers to keep to a more minor teaching role in coaching. He has become a Pro Bender instead and has become a part of a very famous team -- and boy does he love to showboat, even if just a little. He does coach minor league and junior teams. He uses a lot of his jovial cockiness for the purpose of getting people to underestimate him and his skills, and to aggravate his opponents to cause them to mess up so he can strike at the perfect time. He has, however, been dealing with a lot of frustration in his own personal life with relationships that never seem to lead anywhere, the struggles of a single father and feeling a responsibility to try and help his family more with his own father gone and them all being...not really about it. Jai is considered the most handsome between him and his brother, with styled black (greying) hair, green eyes and fair skin with his fair share of scarring from fighting. He chooses to wear a lot of darker greens and silvers to match his metal, always wearing a metal cuff with him presented to him from his wife.

Jai lost his wife Reilah a mere few years sgo but it has felt like an eternity without her. She was his biggest supporter in his matches...and a bit of a rival for him, as they had been Pro Benders on separate teams. They always made playful bets on what would happen if one lost -- and one of those times he used to propose to her. He still lost that fight, but she told him that she wouls have said yes regardless. She was mischievous and free spirited, and a little hotheaded. But she was a very formidable Firebender who picked up some tips to better her bending from her in laws. Her career, however, would be cut after she fell ill. Her illness spread slowly and try as they might, there was no permanent solution to heal her and she eventually succumbed to it, breaking his and their daughters hearts. She had short dark brown hair, piercing golden eyes and tanned skin and had an intricate tattoo sleeve that included Jais name and their daughters name.

He has tried to find love again after her, as that was something she was very poignant on. "Don't you dare try and shut your heart off. Don't swear off finding someone who can make you happy. Or I'm coming back and lighting a fire under your ass." But, so far, all of those attempts have failed, either because of a lack of chemistry between the two and from rifts between his daughter and some of his potential girlfriends.

Their only child is named Anzu. She is a rough and tumble, bright eyed Earthbender who has her Dad wrapped around her finger, especially after the loss of her mother. She struggles connecting her extended family, however, as it feels like they all grew apart way back when, but she idolizes her Grandma and Toph is rather close to her as well. She's been struggling to learn Metalbending, but she's stubborn and does not want to give it up. She's also very adventurous, loving every "life changing field trip" she and her Dad go on, and has a collection of various souvenirs on a shelf in her room. She's on her own Pro Bender team that she's currently struggling to whip into shape and has been dealing with that stress on top of trying to be happy for her dad finding love again...but with the ones he brings home constantly trying to replace her Mom. Anzu has shoulder length black hair that she keeps in a messy ponytail, gold-green hazel eyes, and tan skin.

Nyima Bei Fong is the second born child of Aang and Toph. A skilled Earthbender who found herself drawn to the art of Sandbending as well as Metalbending, she has pushed herself to make her own lot in life. She has opened her own resorts across the Earth Kingdom, and one that'll be opening on Ember Island soon. She has wanted to open one close to one of the Air Temples as a way to find a reconnection with her Dad, but her sisters are absolutely against it. She's a very business savy woman who also wants to expand into other new horizons. She's also a complete smartass and doesn't take anyone's nonsense. In her youth, she, like her sisters, was very vocal in reformation to make better changes across all four nations and Republic City, and she was always the most ready to go full out for a cause, even if it stressed both of her parents out. She's claimed she's held herself to a higher standard in recent years and wants to find success while creating a relaxing environment for everyone. Though, if you press the right buttons, her old streak may come out. She's got short, curled black hair, grey eyes and fair skin, and wears muted colors that's topped off with a colorful, stylish scarf.

She has been in an on/off relationship with her childhood romance, Bo. The two have been almost married on four separate occasions, but things have always put a stop to it -- usually things started by Nyima and what people have suggested could be a fear of commitment. Bo is a good humored, free spirited boy raised in the Air Acolytes by his father Teo and has always had a passion for romance and making a positive change in the world. And he's always been able to pull her old spirit out of her when she needs it. He has medium length brown hair with some pulled back in a ponytail, grey-brown eyes and fair skin.

Their eldest child is their daughter Jesa. She is a happy go lucky girl who is very close to her Dad and trying to develop a closer relationship with her Mom, but sometimes feels like she can be too busy and lost a sense of herself, especially when finding old pictures of how her Mom used to be. The two have gotten a bit of a closer bond upon the discovery that she is an Airbender, like her Grandfather before her, though it's lead to even more tension between her parents and aunts who have polar oppositr ideas as to what Jesas' furure should be. She wants to define her own future, like her Mother did for herself and how her Grandmother did. Her best friend in the world is Lian, who she's always felt a big connection to. And after she finds out she's the Avatar...it leads to a whole new world of adventure. She has long dark brown hair, grey-green eyes and fair skin and she wears bright colors, namely golds and greens to honor both her heritages and and she wears a headband similar to her Grandmothers.

Their youngest child is their toddler son Bisang. He's a rambunctious little boy who loves wandering around the resorts and getting to be strapped up in a baby sling while his Dad air glides through the air. He knows no fear and loves to be unabashedly himself. He also is a bit of Mamas boy and clings to her and has been showing promising signs of being an Earthbender.

Tophs final pregnancy shockingly resulted in the birth of triplets. The eldest of three being Hien Bei Fong. A gifted Airbender, she was the first to get her Airbending tattoos after mastering the 37 levels of the practice and it's something she holds in great reverence. She has since gone on to become a leader amongst the reborn nation of Air Nomads and sits among the council, residing on Air Temple Island in Republic City. She works with the newest wave of Airbenders to teach them the old ways and do what she can to revitalize the culture her father almost lost. She was once far more free spirited as a teenager and even though she was a very loud advocate for change, she could find when she could relax and enjoy life. Now her top priority is the politics to keep the balance and to preserve history in the name of her Father -- something that has put a strain between her and Toph, who reminds her that Aang wanted her to be her own person and to have fun. She keeps her bangs shaved off to show her arrows, and the rest of her black hair pulled into a side braid, and has piercing grey eyes, and many remark her glare reminds them of an owl.

Hien has no spouse and prefers not to find someone to be married to. She actually used to date a lot in her youth, but as the years have gone by, she does not want to settle down with someone, feeling they'd never be able to selflessly love all of her and her responsibilities, nor could she do the same.

She does, however, have two children of her own from very brief, unknown relationships.

Her eldest child is probably the eldest out of all of the next generation, her daughter Dema. Dema has struck out on her own, away from her mother's strict thumb and rigid traditionalist nature. She ran with a circus for a time after first running away, before finding herself starring in the new and upcoming phenomenon of Movers. Her actress life has landed her a cushy life in Republic City, which has lead to awkward encounters with her mother, but she stands her ground on the decisions she has made for herself. And Toph always tells her "I think you looked amazing in your new film!" And she always laughs along. Currently, Dema is engaged to one of her more frequent costars, a nonbender named Raiden. She has long black hair, with long bangs, dark blue-grey eyes and and olive skin.

Her youngest is her teenaged son Tenki. Tenki is an Airbender wise beyond his years and is an avid bookworm. He's also the most relaxed member of the family and is very go with the flow, and wants to simply travel around, experience the world with his nothing but his books, and maybe rediscover Wan Shi Tongs library. He has a shaved head, having just gotten his arrows and dresses in typical Air Nomad clothes, with a prayer bead necklace on him at all times.

The second born of the triplets is Hayato Bei Fong. Nobody really knows why Hayato always had a chip on his shoulder. Born with the same airbending abilities as his sisters, he found himself struggling with it and his spiritual side, having more of a stubborn, hardheaded side to him. He rejected getting his tattoos and took to heart the idea of going out on your own and making a name for yourself, though it broke Aangs heart when he left after a fight and never fully reconciled with him. A fact that hit harder following Aangs untimely death. Hayato has since gone off to work in his mothers home town of Gaoling to help bring in industry and has been working on his own company to produce automobiles and motorcycles, rathering to focus on making waves towards the future than tapping into the past and to the spiritual side. Now if he could just get his mother to stop trying to drive one of his automobiles... Hayato has shoulder length black hair, usually pulled back into a bun, dark grey eyes and a small scar going through his left brow. He's discarded any bright Air Nomad colorings for blacks, greys, silvers, and dark greens.

Hayato has a husband named Kazu. He's a nonbender, and an author out to publish his own books and also writes news reports as a gig to bring home money. He has a taste for the darker fashion style of his husband and writing about the struggles and triumphs of mankind in a post war world. He has layered black hair, hazel eyes and pale skin.

The two are looking to adopt in the near future!

For now though, they are quite happy with their Crococat, Boots.

Born the last amongst the triplets and the subsequent youngest child, Huuro Bei Fong is her own terror twister of an Airbender. She was the wild child of her siblings, always getting into her own antics and probably the protestor that almost got her and her sisters arrested numerous times in their youth. She gained her tattoos after the creation of her own move. She has since moved to the restored Southern Air Temple and is always causing trouble for the new elders to show the newest generation how to have fun. She's also been known to be quite skilled on the Sungi Horn, much to somes delight...and others dismay. Huuro wants to help the Air Nomads to find fun, lively and searching for new purpose, to establish new traditions and celebrations while acclimating to the modern world. She keeps her black hair long, flowing and down, and her grey eyes always are full of life.

Huuro is here and looking for love around every corner! She wants to find someone who loves life as much as her and wants a life full of new experiences.

[things2mustdo]

On July 6th 1994, twenty-six year old Troy Kell, inmate and white supremacist gang member at Utah State Prison, killed Lonnie Blackmon, a black inmate, with 67 blows from a prison shank while prison guards videotaped the attack. The deed done, Troy wiped his hands clean of the blood and walked away, proudly yelling:

“Got some white power jumpin’ off around here!”

Later, in an interview with HBO for it’s documentary Gladiator Days : Anatomy Of A Prison Murder (2002), Troy explained his reasoning behind why he killed Blackmon.

TROY

“I went into the situation that I’m gonna hafta kill the guy – I’m not gonna…jus hurt ‘em, I’m not gonna stab him two times and say ‘yeah we’re even’, you know, cause the philosophy in prison is, you know, you stab me I kill you… I just stabbed the shit outta him, you know, until he didn’t move anymore.”

“I’ve seen guys hesitate…on not thinkin’ somethin’ was serious, and it was serious, and they get themselves stabbed up. Or they get themselves fucked off…they get themselves killed.”

A brutal view on life. Yet it’s not surprising to hear from an inmate who had been imprisoned for another murder since he was eighteen. Troy’s first murder was James Kelly [real name James Thiede], a twenty-one year old Canadian man in Troy’s hometown of Las Vegas. Troy, with the assistance of Sandra Shaw (fifteen at the time) and another friend, lured Kelly into the desert and ambushed him, where Troy shot Kelly six times in the face at point blank range.

Who was Troy? Where did he come from? What was the series of events that drove him to commit two murders, both of which placed him on death row?*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL_PlbqyLcI

One of the most startling aspects of Troy, from watching the documentary, is just how intelligent, almost proverbially All American he comes across as. Troy was not some trailer trash kid, doomed for eventual incarceration.

TROY

“I was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, little middle class family. I’m the only child.”

“I think I was probably just an ordinary kid on the block, I wasn’t any different, or anything from anyone else that I noticed.”

“My father’s into horses, and kinda a redneck background, country boy kinda thing, and we had horses and stuff.”

“I was expected…to be successful, you know, my family, you know, they’re not losers.”

His neighbourhood was middle class, his school was middle class. Troy was thoroughly middle class. So why did he, at eighteen, kill James Kelly? For the answer to that, we have to turn to Sandra Shaw.

Sandra was three years younger then Troy. They met quite early, when they were children.

SANDY

“Troy’s been a part of our life, um, ever since I first came to Las Vegas. Um, since I was probably, like, six years old. We lived on one corner of the street and on the opposite street he lived at the other corner. And um, me and a couple of friends, two little girlfriends, were walking down the street and him and his little friends were sitting in front of their house on their bicycles and you know they were watching us googly eyed cause he’s three years older then me. So when we got all the way to the end of the street, towards the desert, you know, we turned around and said somethin’ real sassy and they chased us on their bikes and we ran and he jumped off his back and tackled me into the grass and you know it just became like a plaything. And since then he was like, ‘You’re gonna be my girlfriend’ and I was like, ‘No I don’t even like boys’.”

There was obviously some romantic tension going on between the two of them from a very young age. Though Troy and Sandy both refer to each other in a younger sister older brother dynamic, it’s clear that at least Troy felt a deep attraction to Sandy. Why shouldn’t he? After all, she was the quintessential girl next door whom eagerly spent time with him. Sandy was a cute little girl, and Troy was no slouch himself.

SANDY

“His father was really really strict, and um, I remember one time on his birthday, we were, he was turning thirteen and I believe I was ten and I rode my bike all the way to the mall and I bought him a Nike outfit and he had to sneak out in his back yard and climb up on the brick wall for me give him his gift, because he was on restriction – he was always on restriction – just, for absolutely nothing.”

That’s an almost classical scene of romance, and one wonders how many other secret rendezvous Troy and Sandy had over the years.

In many ways Sandy herself was the counterpart of Troy – the proverbial All American girl; pretty, a cheerleader, precocious and outgoing – though her family was struggling on the line between middle and lower class (Connie Shaw appears to be a single mother). By all counts, Sandy was destined for a typical middle class life herself. Perhaps even with Troy.

SANDY

“When I was thirteen years old I was spending the night at a friend’s house and her step father went into a jealous rage and shot and killed her mother and her mother’s two friends and then killed himself. It changed my life.”

That man was Alex Egyed, a budding computer entrepreneur who may have been a well recognized name today if he hadn’t gone on a rampage and left Sandy covered in blood, huddling in a bathtub with her friend. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only incident Sandy was going to have with extreme violence.

CONNIE

“Another episode happened to her; she’s walkin’ home from school, uh, sees this guy runnin’ up behind her, girl in front of her, sees the guy shoot…the girl, in the back of the head. She’s already gone through this. Now this is two. How many times – I mean, I’m forty-eight years old, I mean, I’ve never seen anyone, in my lifetime, get shot. She’s seen two.”

These episodes left Sandy a broken girl; a girl barely on the cusp of her womanhood.

SANDY

“I detached myself from my emotions, I didn’t have a sense of life or death, it’s all the same to me.”

Yet she was still a significant part of Troy’s life. And Troy really needed love in his life, since his own family had self destructed.

TROY

“My parents got divorced and I kinda bounced back and forth between them. It was kinda a struggle for me for awhile but, it’s nothin’ outta the ordinary… Any other kid goes through it.”

CONNIE

“His father must have been very tough on him, very abusive, I believe, with him. And his mother was never around. I know they were separated. But I don’t think his mother came around too much, I don’t know if it was because of the father…or what, you know, but uh, I guess he looked at me, more like a mother figure you know because he’s always sent me, even till this day, sends me a bouquet of mother’s day flowers.”

Troy and Sandy were both set adrift at a young age, both from broken homes, both experiencing severe forms of trauma – albeit Troy’s were less extreme. Because of his need for love, Troy grew ever closer to Sandy while Sandy threw herself into an abyss. Like many traumatized girls, Sandy began to slip down into degeneracy and self abuse. She began to hang around shady men and casinos while barely being a fully fledged teen, and at the age of fourteen she ran into James Kelly at the Circus Circus casino.

SANDY

“I met Cotton Kelly at Circus Circus eight months prior to this actual tragedy.”

“He ran some type of, um, adult entertainment business. He wanted me to pose nude for him.”

“He had started following me and calling my house constantly, harassing my family… And as a fifteen year old child, I made a very bad decision, a very immature request and I called upon Troy to beat the man up. To have him, leave me alone.”

A normal girl with a strong family could have resolved this situation with ease. A simple, hard talk by a good father with this James Kelly character would have spared everyone a lot of tragedy. Sandy, however, had drifted far away from being a normal girl and with nothing but a weak family at her disposal she allowed this situation to escalate and continue. Perhaps she even began to be sexual with Kelly, though she does not mention the full depth of their relationship.

In the end she turned to the one man she knew she could depend on.

TROY

“Me and a friend of mine from high school agreed to beat this guy up, because he was doin’ some things to some teenaged girls that we knew. She was a friend of mine, she was like a, a sister kind of, to me.”

“This guy, I felt, was takin’ advantage of a friend of mine, and she asked for my help… And…I…went, kinda overboard.”

Eight months. That’s how long Sandy allowed James Kelly to be a part of her life. How many nights did Sandy turn to Troy? How many nights did she cry on Troy’s shoulder, detailing the horrors that James Kelly inflicted on her – and which she allowed to be inflicted on her. How many times did Troy have to hear Connie, a powerless mother, express her grief and frustration over this older man taking advantage of her daughter? Troy loved both these women.

Troy decided to save them. He told Sandy to lure Kelly out to the desert. So one night, in 1986, Sandy did just that. She made Kelly stop the car, claiming that she needed to pee. She went out, came back, pretended to hurt her leg and when Kelly came out to help her Troy put six bullets in Kelly’s head.

TROY

“For a reason that I, uh, can’t really understand, I decided to bring a gun and shoot the man. And killed him.”

“I didn’t go to sleep that night.”

Troy Kell, eighteen, murdered a degenerate man. He did it because he loved the tragic but degenerate Sandy Shaw. Because they bragged about the murder, soon schoolmates were visiting Kelly’s body in the desert.

When asked if he thought about running Troy said; “Yeah, of course.” When asked why he didn’t, “I…I don’t know. I didn’t have anywhere to run too. I couldn’t just keep on runnin’ and runnin’.”

Troy didn’t run because everything he loved lived on the corner one street over from his house. There was nothing else in the world for him.

One of the children who visited the body in the desert told their parents, and soon the police had Troy, his accomplice and Sandy in custody. They would convict Troy.

Surprisingly, Sandy was also tried and convicted. These were the days just before peak feminism so women weren’t the infallible angels that they are treated as today but still, after hearing about her abuse and her tragic past, the jurors sent a fifteen year old girl to jail for over twenty years.

In order to survive in jail, Troy quickly joined up with the white supremacist gangs. Eventually this would lead to the second murderous ambush of his life. Troy and fellow gang member Eric Daniels attacked Lonnie Blackmon with Eric holding his legs and Troy stabbing Blackmon with a shank 67 times. For this second murder Troy himself is currently waiting to face death.

I reiterate once more; by all accounts Troy was a normal kid. There was nothing in his childhood that would have led anyone to believe that Troy one day would end up a murderer of two men while leading a white supremacist gang in prison. If he just had to weather a broken home, as far too many middle class children nowadays do, he may have had a chance to move on and become a man of worth; other men have suffered worse and managed to raise good families and live a good life. Unfortunately Troy had the tragic fate of loving a girl who also came from a broken home, and like most women from such situations Sandy did not have the inner strength struggle for normalcy. She gave herself to degenerates and came to Troy whenever she needed to use his love.

This is a theme all too familiar with young men today. Young men are struggling to find peace in their lives while having to deal with their broken female counterparts. Most men can’t help loving who they love, and far too many men pay too high a price for this once noble emotion. The tragedies surrounding Troy Kell and Sandy Shaw provide an extreme example of this – and in the case of Sandy her despair motivated self destruction is understandable – but the dynamic of good men who need love and the rotten women who use it is one of the great (and unnecessary) social plagues of the modern age. Perhaps it always has been, going back through every society since time immemorial.

It seems nowadays that there is an epidemic of men being destroyed because of single parent upbringings or broken women. Yet Troy was destroyed in 1986. Who knows how many potentially decent men in the past have been destroyed because of similar situations. Who knows how many more in the future we’ll have?

We know the symptoms – it’s time to cure the disease, or we can expect nothing but more and more unnecessary tragedies like Troy Kell’s to occur in the future. Do we really want to grow old and live in a society full of young men like that?

I end with a comment from the video’s youtube page,

Darrylizer1

“Troy Kell is one the one hand a despicable human being, a stone cold killer, a sociopath or near one and a racist. But he’s in some ways he’s likeable, even admirable: he’s articulate, intelligent and is absolutely honest with himself and for the most part unblinded by bullshit. I’m not saying that he should or shouldn’t be put to death. His circumstance is just a very sad waste of human potential.”

*As of this article’s publication, Troy is still awaiting his death sentence. He requested to be shot by a firing squad.

Read More: Sunday In The Park

Although it was written decades ago, Bel Kaufman’s Sunday in the Park remains just as relevant today, if not more so, to what it means to be a man. Her story centers on a family enjoying a Sunday afternoon at the park and is told predominantly from the wife’s perspective. Relaxing on a bench, the wife watched happily as her son Larry played in the sand box before her. Sitting next to her, while reading the ‘Times Magazine section,” was her husband Morton.

Morton. A man as nerdy as his name sounded. Who was, “So city­pale, cooped up all week inside the gray factorylike university.”

As Larry played on, she noticed another boy digging in the sand too. This boy was fatter, more aggressive than Larry. And his father, a grizzly looking man, sat on the opposite side and  “seemed to be taking up the whole bench as he held the Sunday comics close to his face.”

Suddenly the fat boy threw sand at Larry, making him upset. After hesitating a moment, the wife intervened;

‘Don’t do that, little boy,’ she said sharply, leaning forward on the bench. ‘You mustn’t throw sand!’ The man on the bench moved his mouth as if to spit again, but instead let her speak. He did not look at her, but at the boy only. ‘You go right ahead, Joe,’ he said loudly. ‘Throw all you want. This here is a public sandbox.’

She felt a sudden weakness in her knees as she glanced at Morton.

Morton was listening too. But he hid under his magazine. Seeming to hope the matter would solve it self.

It didn’t.

He put his Times down carefully on his lap and turned his fine, lean face toward the man, smiling the shy, apologetic smile he might have offered a student in pointing out an error in his thinking. When he spoke to the man, it was with his usual reasonableness. ‘You’re quite right,’ he said pleasantly, ‘but just because this is a public place….’

The other man cut him off, and an argument ensued until the large man said “Aw, shut up!” They both rose. Morton reluctantly. The wife nervously imagined the coming violence, about what she should do, how she should react.

Until…

Morton adjusted his glasses. He was very pale. ‘This is ridiculous,’ he said unevenly. ‘I must ask you….’

‘Oh, yeah?’ said the man. He stood with his legs spread apart, rocking a little, looking at Morton with utter scorn. ‘You and who else?’

For a moment the two men looked at each other nakedly.

Then Morton backed down.

‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’ He walked awkwardly, almost limping with self-consciousness to pick up his son Larry and left with his wife by his side.

At first she was relieved. There was no violence. No one was hurt. But as they left the park, she began to feel something else, something…

Inescapable. She sensed that it was more than just an unpleasant incident, more than defeat of reason by force. She felt dimly it had something to do with her and Morton, something acutely personal, familiar, and important.

While walking to their car, Morton rambled on and tried to rationalize his defeat. But the more he did, the more distant she became.

Getting pulled further away from the sandbox, Larry’s cries grew worse. But once he started dragging his feet, Morton and his wife finally had enough.

‘If you can’t discipline this child, I will,’ Morton snapped, making a move toward the boy.

But her voice stopped him. She was shocked to hear it, thin and cold and penetrating with contempt. ‘Indeed?’ she heard herself say. ‘You and who else?’

—

At first glance Bel Kaufman’s story seems simple: There’s a stronger male, Morton backs down, he’s a wimp, needs bigger balls, women hate beta males, etc…

We know that already. But there’s another point to her story that’s hidden below the surface. Because Kaufman’s story isn’t just about lacking courage, it’s about what causes that cowardice; namely, apathy.

As a man, your first reaction to the story might be that she’s saying being a big brute pays off more than being a weakling. The big guy might have shown some dominating, alpha characteristics, but to think that way is to miss Kaufman’s point entirely.

The wife didn’t care that Morton was a nerd; that’s probably why she married him. Perhaps she was one too. But it was Morton’s lack of anger, his lack of pride in himself that bothered her. That he never developed the animal-like rage proving that he was the family’s protector in the most critical of moments.

…more than defeat of reason by force. She felt dimly it had something to do with her and Morton, something acutely personal, familiar, and important.

Morton’s cowardice proved to her what she knew deep down all along, that he didn’t love his family enough the way she did.

It is critical to realize that Kaufman never gave the wife a name in the story but did for the husband. By doing this she was trying to show that the wife had given her up identity to the family, and expected Morton do the same by being a man and fulfilling his end of the bargain.

That courage isn’t so much about standing up for yourself as it is about standing up for others. But he didn’t and that was the source of her resentment. So repeating the “You and who else” remark was a way of saying, “How are you going to raise your son to be a man if you’re not even one yourself?”

The great thing about Bel Kaufman is that she came from a time where women encouraged men to be what they are and not what they should be.

[my-love-peterp]

A Part of Your World pt. 1

Word Count: 1177

Fic Summary: So this is a work based lightly on the movie First Daughter. It’s a Reader Insert sorta. If you've never seen that movie, you should absolutely watch it if you have the opportunity. Peter Parker/Stark!Daughter fic. Rating may change depending on if I'm feeling the smut route (I probably will). Expect updates once a week (as soon as I figure out what day would be best to do it on. They may be more frequent here at the beginning just because the story is really flowing right now. Thanks!

Chapter Summary: A new recruit is brought into the fold and is more than a handful.

Warnings: none!

Once upon a time, there was a little girl, just like any other little girl. And like most little girls, she loved collecting beautiful things.

“Hey Jay!” she shouted in her high-pitched toddler voice, “Look at what I have,” her father’s tools gripped tightly in her chubby toddler fingers before she was swooped up and quickly rebuked, reminded once again that those tools were for grown-ups only, no matter how shiny they were. Moments later, a voice echoed down the huge hallway.

“Major, it’s time to roll out.”

And so the little girl was sat back down and once again left to her own devices. But she wasn’t lonely. This little girl was special for more than one reason. But she had such a natural knack for creating new little novelties, seemingly out of thin air, that each new day she made something spectacular to share. In fact, she was always sharing them with her friends.

“(Y/N), where are you,” a woman’s voice called out tersely. Her high heels clicked down the hallway until the woman stood before a little girl perched on the base of an old robot assistant, with what looked to be a jumble of part and pieces placed delicately in her palm.

“Sorry miss, I was just showing E what I built today. Look!” she exclaimed as she fiddled with a few pieces before the whole thing lit up, flaring various colors, pulsing to an unknown rhythm.

“That’s very nice (Y/N), but it’s time to go, your father is finally home and I need to get you both out the door if we’re going to even have a hope of staying on schedule this time.”

A smile filled the little girls face and then slowly faded as the woman counseled her on schedules and timeliness. There was no such thing as normal father-daughter time anymore. It was just galas and public appearances and board room meeting interrupted by you falling through the vents you’d managed to sneak into yet again.

“Yes ma’am”, (Y/N) murmured, placing her hand in the woman’s and sliding to the ground.

And then it happened. You know that awkward but typical time of life... when you feel like every eye is on you...

Cameras flashed and the press surged in on you seemingly from all sides. It was a miracle you hadn’t developed any claustrophobia at this point.

“(Y/N), look over here,” one reporter after another screamed as they shoved cameras and phones and microphones in your face.

That time of life when you feel like you're the main attraction in a three-ring circus. That's right. She became a teenager. But eventually, she made it through. And as she blossomed, she became more comfortable with herself.

“There she is. Hey, (Y/N). How are you doing?”

By now, she understood that this question was more rhetorical than open-ended, and she was prepared for what came next as she smoothed the silk of her dress’s bodice out before stepping up next to your father’s shoulder.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Sweetie. I'd like you to meet...” Fill in the blank with the name of your local senator, activist, CEO of a Fortune 500 company. (Y/N) had met all of them, she felt like.

And like most teenagers, she enjoyed parties...

The DCCC Christmas party seemed to get more extravagant every year. This year there were no less than four trees that seemed more done-up than the one she could see radiating from her bedroom window, down in Rockefeller Center. Her powder blue sheath dress flared out behind her as she followed her mother, who was draped in a grey satin concoction, through the party, playing the part of the dutiful, uninteresting daughter.

That was until a Senator’s son stole her away and whisked her off to where all the other kids had gone to shelter in place. There, in a back office, someone had smuggled booze and pizza. Being the dutiful daughter, she only indulged in a few pieces of pizza and empty chatter with those who would be her peers, if she were at all like them, before she stepped back out into the hall, in search of her parents. Overall, the best party she’d been to all month.

And like her peers, she often felt as if her every move was scrutinized.

“Hold it right there.” Her parents’ PR coordinator called out as she was readjusted once again by a photographer, draped on a settee, between her parents.

“Big smile, (Y/N).”

It was all smiles or nothing at all.

The TV crackled on overhead as (Y/N) plopped onto a gigantic bean bag with a bowl of popcorn in hand. The scratchy voice of the TV host was the first thing (Y/N) heard.

“Mom, promise me you would never let me leave the house looking like that.”

“Never!” the woman sitting opposite the first replied, “It looks like she found Chelsea Clinton's old crimping iron and Amy Carter's Sassoons.”

On the screen situated between the two ladies was a big picture of (Y/N) leaving her father’s office.

“It's like a terrorist got a hold of her. I don't know what's going on. But what do you think?”

“I’m thinking that even her father was better dressed after he WAS captured by terrorists. Is that insensitive to say?”

“You’re right about that. And now we’d like to hear from you at home! What is the worst outfit that you have ever seen (Y/N) wear?”

“I'll bet it's gonna be close.” “I bet it is too. There have been a lot of lousy outfits.” “If (Y/N/N) is back, get in there and clean out your kid's closet."

But with maturity, she was able to look outside herself and appreciate the wisdom of her elders.

“And I'll tell you something,” the older woman murmured as she leaned down next to (Y/N), who had her knees pulled up to her chest on the couch, waist deep in her newsfeed. “Decades in politics give you special life skills, (Y/N). Like an excellent poker face.” At that moment, to demonstrate, the older woman’s features hardened, eyes going blank, shoulders at a right angle, giving absolutely nothing away.

“Not bad, Senator Feinstein,” (Y/N) nodding appreciatively. “Thank you for the tip.”

In short, she grew up... happily, with the love of a father and a mother who she thought were the center of the world in an old, 63-story tower situated on the 200 block of Park Avenue that they called home.

But her world was changing.

On the morning of the Fourth of July, she knew that it was about to get a whole lot more complicated. (Y/N) Stark decided she wasn’t going to go to MIT or any of the small, highly coveted Ivy League schools her father’s swing and her natural intelligence would most certainly land her in. (Y/N) was going to state school. NYU, to be specific, where she hoped to blend in with her 50,000 new peers.

[thebatmarino]

The DCEU’s next Batman should be played by Dick Grayson

Batman and Robin.  Words that have gone together like Peanut Butter and Jelly for around 80 years.  Everybody in the world knows that Batman’s younger sidekick is Robin. Many know that Robin is Dick Grayson, fewer know that Dick grew up to become Nightwing, and even fewer still that he has spent time as Batman. With the recent activity in DC film, I want to talk about my favorite superhero, what makes him great, and most importantly, why I believe Dick Grayson is the answer to the DCEU’s Bat situation. To start, we’re going to rewind to 1940, when Robin was introduced to the world in Detective Comics #38.

Batman was created in 1939.  A grim figure of the night, Batman spoke very little, a trait that has held through to this day. At the time however, legend has it that Bill Finger and Bob Kane were tired of drawing thought bubbles for him, so they needed to give him someone to talk to.  But who? Well, Batman was a Sherlock Holmesian figure, it was Detective Comics after all, so they needed to give him a Watson.  A character who’s intelligent, capable, and a proxy for the readership so they can join Batman on his adventures. The readership at the time (target readership, we know girls love and read comics too, but this was 1940) was 12 year old boys, and who might they look up to? Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn came out in 1938, he seems pretty cool. And a Robin keeps up the motif of flying animal that Batman started.  And there you have it, Robin the Boy Wonder was born.

The creation of Robin is also the birth of the Teenage Sidekick. Since then, every teen sidekick from Bucky to Kid Flash owes a debt to the creation of Robin.  As more and more sidekick characters populated the comic scene, something happened at DC Comics in particular that is one of my favorite things about the brand: the idea of Legacy Characters.

Consider the Justice League for a moment. Let’s look at the big 6: Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Aquaman.  These characters are the Greek Gods reborn.  They are iconic, they are mythological.  Each one of them proudly displays a symbol that they adhere to.  “I believe in love and equality”, “There is hope for everyone”, “I will drag myself through Hell for justice”, “by force of will, I will overcome all fear to save the world”, “I will always make time to help people”, “I will be the great uniter of disparate people”, or whatever you interpret the thesis of these characters to be. They are perfect embodiments.  The problem with perfection is that real people can’t attain that.  We can try.  We can stumble and fall. And that is exactly what the Legacy Characters attempt to be. These characters are absolute representations in ways that humans are generally not. They are aspirational.  That’s why there’s merchandise out the wazzu (do people still say that?), so you can see a person on the street with that Green Lantern symbol and know that person wants to overcome fear.

Dick Grayson was the first.  For many years Dick was happily Robin, going on strange adventures with Batman and friends, whupping ass in green short pants. He even formed a team of sidekicks, known as the Teen Titans along with Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Speedy.  All teenagers struggling to live up to their “parents”.  These perfect people who’s symbols they have taken as their own and sworn to uphold.  Then something interesting happened.  In 1984, in Tales of the Teen Titans #44, Dick Grayson debuted his Nightwing persona.

Dick Grayson had been growing up.  Which is a thing yet again, never done in comics before.  For some time now, a rift had been growing between the Dark Knight and his Squire. Dick had gone off to college, formed his own super-team, and was going through the typical growing pains of a young person trying to step out on their own. No longer feeling the identity of his 12 year old fancies were fitting, he picked an adult, darker name that still reflected and honored where where he came from (the origins of this name are toyed with and retconned, but the connections between Bats and Wings of the Night cannot be denied).

As Nightwing, Dick Grayson was his own man, ran his life and heroics how he saw fit, and most importantly, didn’t answer to Batman.  Until Knightfall happened.  In the events of this story, Bane broke Bruce’s spine, resulting in Bruce choosing a man named Jean-Paul Valley as the new Batman.  Jean-Paul went nutso and nearly killed Bane and begun a reign of hyper-vigilante terror in Gotham, so Bruce badassed his way back to walking because comic books, and whupped his ass.  Before restoring himself as the one true Batman, Bruce asked the one man qualified in all the world to take up the mantle to do so: Dick Grayson.  Yet again, we have a comic book first: a legacy character fulfilling their legacy. This didn’t last long however, Bruce did what he had to do, and Dick dutifully (and reluctantly) filled in as long as required.

Nightwing then got a brilliant solo series by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel, which to this day is probably the most influential run on the character. Before we move on in his publication history though, I think it’s important to understand WHO Dick is, and WHY he is.  After all, what makes this 12 year old boy so special that he becomes Batman’s right hand man in a war on crime?

Richard John Grayson, aka Dick, was born to John and Mary Grayson of the legendary Flying Graysons of Haly’s Circus.  The reason they were legendary was because they flew without the safety of a net.  Dick grew up on the trapeze with no net.  No fear, no cares in the world, except being a child star performer. After a mob boss tries to unsuccessfully extort money from the circus, they murder the Graysons by tampering with the trapeze before Dick’s very eyes. The young orphan was observed by another orphan in the crowd, Bruce Wayne, who took him in.  It wasn’t really successfully explained why a 12 year old seemed okay to take out fighting crime until the two part episode of Batman: The Animated Series, Robin’s Reckoning. Like a young Bruce, Dick was consumed with his parents’ murder.  Each night, unfulfilled by the guardianship of an absentee Bruce Wayne, Dick would sneak out and try to track down leads on his parents’ killer.  Eventually he got in over his head and Batman bailed him out and returned him to the Batcave. This boy knew no fear.  He would return to the streets night after night.  He would get himself killed.  Unless he was trained how to not die by a certain… bat themed expert at not-getting-killed-by-criminal-scum.  Bruce revealed his identity to Dick, which also explained why he was busy so much of the time, and in the Batcave, Dick swore an oath by candlelight to uphold justice and everything Batman stood for. The training was gruelling. Probably inhumane. But eventually Dick was allowed to accompany Batman on the streets as his sidekick.

Dick Grayson was saved by Bruce Wayne. Where Bruce was in uncharted territory sorting his rage, vengeance, and pain, Dick Grayson had a guide.  A Mentor.  Someone who had been exactly where he was, and could keep him from being consumed by darkness.  And that’s reflected in their uniforms.  The bright boy and the dark man. Adding to that, the Wayne’s murderer got away. There will be no vengeance or justice for Batman, just a gaping wound.  Dick got justice for his parents. He saw that what they did worked, and that he could keep doing it for other people.  Whereas Batman is driven by a desire to hurt those who hurt others, Dick is here to help.  That’s something Tom King wrote into his character over and over during his run, the words “how can I help”.  And if you look at the jobs he’s held down since striking out on his own: Police Officer, Guidance Counselor, Personal trainer, even bartending at a cop bar where he could give these guys relief (as well as pick up some leads) are all acts of service towards others.  Which when the time came, made him a very different Batman.

The time eventually came.  Bruce Wayne was “dead” (as dead as anyone is in comics), and Gotham City was in chaos. Initially Bruce left instructions for Dick not to become Batman. Because Nightwing was strong enough.  He was his own man and Bruce believed in what he was doing.  However, Gotham needs Batman, the symbol.  And for the first time truly, not just putting on the cape and cowl, but deep in his bones, Dick Grayson became Batman. Fulfilling the legacy.  He is not Bruce Wayne, just like we cannot be Bruce Wayne, but he can do his best to live up to what the symbol of The Batman means to him, just like us.  Which brings me to where Dick Grayson is the future of the cinematic Batman franchise.

Over the last few years, we are experiencing a massive shift in how our male heroes are percieved.  In the 80s which gave birth to Dark Knight Returns, a huge influence on the DCEU Batman, we saw a trend of hypermasculinity in our heroes.  They were JACKED, strong, fearless, .50 Cal from the hip, Macho Men, stoic badasses that were too busy punching out teeth and blowing shit up to feel sissy-ass feelings.  And that is where Batman has lived for years in comic continuity. He doesn’t say I love you, he doesn’t hug, he doesn’t feel feelings, he’s a rage-powered badass dressed all in black that kicks in criminals’ kneecaps because he probably kind of likes it.  At the end of the day, you read enough of these comics and question whether or not Batman is actually a good man. Is he doing this to save the day, or inflict pain? Probably some of both.

As we survey the current landscape of masculinity, of heroism, of feminism, it’s important to question our heroes. It’s important to question, is this the ideal that we want people to strive for? In Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, we saw that Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns in all his glory.  In my opinion, Ben Affleck’s portrayal of Batman was my favorite thing about that film. He was deliciously brutal, he was stubborn in his righteousness, he was extreme in his methodology, he was....murdering people? He was losing himself.  He was so caught up in his need for violence, his need for war that he attempted to murder superman with a freaking spear. I suspect Justice League was intended to have a more redemptive arc for the demon he had become, but in any case, he has still become a monster.  He has dwelled in hell so long that he has become the very type of devil he sought to destroy.

The best thing for Bruce Wayne would be to leave this life behind somehow. Pass the cowl on to the man who he trained for this very purpose. A hero that exemplifies modern healthy masculinity.  Who can say “I love you”, who wants to seek justice more than vengeance, who can maintain healthy friendships and relationships, who believes in kindness, friendship, and laughter.  I think it is time for Dick Grayson to take his place in cinematic history as Batman.

That doesn’t even touch upon the fact that the DCEU Batman is around 45 years old.  While incredible and imaginative, they’ve set him at a natural age to retire from jumping off rooftops and withstanding repeated head trauma. If you look at Batman as a pro athlete, you simply do not see them at his age and doing tremendously well.  Which when your sport is dodging gunfire and acting as bait for super aliens so other super aliens can clobber them, is not great.  I think DC Entertainment is looking for ways to have a more youthful Batman, and I believe Dick Grayson is part of that natural path.

And that doesn’t mean we won’t have Bruce Wayne stories.  As the news has just dropped, Matt Reeves is telling his own young Bruce tales.  But as far as the Batman that stands shoulder to shoulder with Wonder Woman, and Superman?  Here we have a young man in Dick Grayson coming into his own as a hero on the world’s stage, just like Diana and Clark.  A young man with the strategic mind of Batman, the physical training, the gadgets, resources, but without the blinding rage, pain, and cynicism.  A superhero that looks at the world and wants to genuinely help people. Not out of a deep psychological need to harm those who harmed him, but because he was broken and then saved, and he can do that for other people.  Being a good person is all the superpower you need. As a culture, I believe those are the heroes we need right now. And as for Dick Grayson, he’s a born showman, and I think it’s time for him to take the stage.

[rainythefox]

Deviant Heart (Detroit: Become Human Fanfic CH.18)

Chapter 18: Mother

Gavin wouldn't say much on the drive to Kamski's villa. But when he parked his Camaro and Connor stepped out with Hank, the cheeky detective stormed up to the luxurious cabin and pounded on the front door.

Connor and Hank exchanged looks. Gavin may have been helping them, but one thing was for certain in their minds. This was personal.

"Get ready for trouble," Hank whispered, and Connor nodded.

"Elijah! Open up you fucking prick! This ends now!" Gavin yelled as his fist beat on the door.

The door opened and Chloe stood there, glaring at Gavin. Her LED flashed yellow, a scowl greeting them, uncomplimentary with her usually cheerful beauty.

"What do you want, Mr. Reed?"

"It's Detective Reed to you," Gavin retorted. "And we're here for a case. So you better go fetch Elijah from his spa or manicure or whatever the fuck he's doing in there."

Hank cleared his throat. "Gavin has reason to believe that Kamski can solve this case. We need to speak with him."

Chloe sighed, closing her eyes and opening the door wider to allow them entry. "Alright then. Follow me."

Connor, Hank, and Gavin followed Chloe into the villa, passing the room with the pool into an adjacent living room decorated in a similar manner. They headed up a curved case of stairs, passing more rooms and expensive statues and paintings.

They stepped out onto a second-floor deck overlooking the Detroit River. Potted plants, a large waterfall fountain and high-end patio furniture decorated the deck. There was a glass wall that separated the deck from a master bedroom nearby.

In the distance, across the gleaming river was Belle Isle and the CyberLife tower, grasping for the sun.

Elijah Kamski stood at the edge of the deck, looking across to that transcending spire, his hands on the railing. He turned his head slightly at their arrival. He looked as though he had been expecting them.

"Elijah, you have company."

He turned at Chloe's voice, facing them without a break in his composed features. His eyes went first to Gavin, and Connor didn't miss the flash in Kamski's eyes or the sudden spike in his heart rate.

"Gavin. What a…surprise."

"Spare me your typical bullshit formalities," Gavin said. "I'm here to expose you."

"Expose me?" Kamski asked. "What ever have I done?"

"Don't play innocent with me, you bastard. You know exactly what's going on and yet you do nothing, just watch it play out like we're some fleas in your fucked up flea circus!"

"What makes you think you have a right to barge in here after all these years and demand anything of me?"

"I have every right when it comes to exposing the truth, exposing what you did. To do this for her!"

Elijah sighed, shaking his head. "Still not over it, I see. You always held a grudge. Let it go, Gavin."

Gavin unholstered his gun, aiming it directly at the CEO of CyberLife. Chloe gasped but Kamski didn't even flinch. Connor readied himself to disarm Gavin, but was signaled by Hank to not move.

"What the fuck, Gavin?!" Hank spat. "Lower your weapon now!"

"Tell them the truth," Gavin said through gritted teeth.

Elijah motioned for Chloe to stay put as she tried to put herself in front of him. He stared at Gavin, unrelenting.

"Don't ruin your life, Gavin. Shooting me won't solve anything."

"Ya think?" Gavin snorted. "It'll fucking make me feel better though."

"Gavin, that's enough. Lower the gun now!"

"Whatever personal vendetta you have against Mr. Kamski will not solve this case, Detective Reed," Connor said. "Lower the weapon."

With a shaky breath, Gavin lowered the handgun, his eyes still sharp on Kamski. "You owe it to her. Tell them the truth!"

Hank rubbed his temple. "For fuck's sakes, what the hell's going on? How the fuck do you two know each other?"

When Elijah remained silent, Gavin spoke instead, his eyes never leaving Kamski. "This fucking asshole is my half-brother."

Hank grunted. "What?!"

Connor shook his head. "There are no records to indicate this."

"Yeah," Gavin said. "Because I made Elijah change them. I wanted no connection to the fucking Kamskis."

"You're so angry, Gavin," Elijah said. "After all these years I hoped you had moved on."

"This is a fucking mess," Hank grumbled. "I want answers now. Start talking!"

"You heard the lieutenant, Elijah. Start yapping your jaws. Don't even think about lying, because I'll fucking beat it out of you if I have to."

Elijah closed his eyes, thinning his lips as he leaned on the railing. "Fine. You want a life story? How's this: my father was a well-known surgeon, my mother was an engineer. They had a rocky marriage, and my father? Well, he wasn't always loyal to my mother. He had an affair with a nurse he worked with. That resulted in Gavin here. Despite this, my parents worked hard at mending their marriage. After all, they already had a five-year-old daughter and now an infant son.

When I was seven or eight, Gavin came to live with us. His mother fell victim to an armed robbery, if I remember correctly. Gavin, my sister, and I were close growing up. We did everything together."

Kamski remained composed as he told his story. Gavin shook to the side, tears brimming his eyes as he brooded, listening to his half-brother's words.

"My parents didn't treat Gavin the best, I must admit. It wasn't fair. He was rebellious as a teenager, didn't care as much about his schoolwork while I graduated and went into college years before my peers. Our sister and Gavin had a close relationship. She's the only one that treated him like he should have been.

Once I founded CyberLife and the first android passed the Turing Test, the company grew substantially. We had several new models being made for commercial use. My sister…she was always a free-spirited individual. She was a philanthropist, always a motherly figure. At first, she thought my androids were unnatural, that I was playing God. I often told her that they were simply machines, nothing more.

One day, she told me that androids would have souls one day. I laughed at her. It was a silly belief, although very much like her, as she was a caring soul."

Connor sensed that Gavin's vitals were all over the place. He tried to remain composed even as he swallowed hard, a tear slipping down his cheek. Kamski finally faltered, a break in his voice as he looked away.

"That night…I was testing a new model, something my mentor Amanda Stern and I had come up with. My sister stopped by. We were supposed to meet Gavin for dinner, and just like many times before, I let the android drive us. Only…it had developed a malfunction I wasn't aware of. We…crashed on the interstate. Our sister…she didn't make it. She was just…gone."

There was silence as the wind from the open canal rushed through on the deck. Kamski had his eyes to the floor, not near as composed as he had been.

Gavin inhaled unsteadily, glaring at his half-brother. "Tell them her name."

"Her name…was Kara."

"Jesus," Hank murmured.

Gavin's voice cracked. "Oh, it's far from over though. Go on, Elijah. Tell them what you did next."

Kamski rubbed his hands. "Kara's death put a strain on our family…on my relationship with Gavin. In a way…It was my fault. It was my mistake. The next two years I spent in guilt while working on a secret project. I wanted to make the first autonomous android…the first android with a soul, because my sister believed they could very much have one. I became…obsessed with it. After nine attempts…it was a success. The very first RK200."

"Markus?" Connor asked.

Kamski shook his head. "No, a female. The Eve of her species…I named her Kara, after my late sister."

"You fucking prick. You recreated Kara! As-As a damn machine! It was her spitting fucking image! It sounded like her, it acted like her, it even had her fucking memories! You played God to try and bring her back from the dead, but it fucking wasn't her!"

Gavin lunged for Elijah, but Hank and Connor grappled him. Kamski backed into the railing, shaking, his fingers clenching the wood as he looked away. Chloe put herself in between Gavin and Kamski.

"Gavin, that's enough!" Hank ordered.

Gavin broke out of their hold but didn't pursue Elijah. He wiped his eyes and turned away. "You fucking disgust me. What made you think you could bring her back?! What you did…there was nothing moral about it!"

"I know it wasn't," Elijah whispered. "But the guilt…I…I missed her too, Gavin!"

"Alright," Hank said. "Tell us more about this RK200 Kara."

Kamski turned around, looking out onto the river. His vitals started fluctuating as much as Gavin's, although he was better at concealing it. "Kara…was phenomenal. She was her own person…she had a soul. Her software mutated, evolved way beyond what anyone ever thought possible. She progressed passed any kind of coding and became a unique individual, with abilities not in her initial development.

It was later I thought she needed a mate. And so, I created Markus. Although a fascinating individual himself, he wasn't as…special as Kara. Markus showed his own software mutations, became his own person, but Kara was the one who really awoke him. She was the one that gave him his ability to convert other androids, as she could do it as well. Kara had the ability to control androids, to make them obedient to her, even over humans, like a queen bee in a colony. But because of her empathetic and loving nature, she refused to do it. She, instead, wanted to convert them, make them free."

"So, what happened to make Kara an AX400?" Connor asked.

Kamski faced them. "After my mentor Amanda passed away in 2027, I focused on developing an AI program for CyberLife. I created her in Amanda's image and tested her out on Kara and Markus. She would eventually become a handler for CyberLife's more advanced models. Amanda could control any android she needed to…except Kara and Markus.

A year later I found out the Executive Board wanted to claim control over Kara to use her abilities for…unsavory purposes. So, I backed up Kara's entire personality…her being, her soul…and I destroyed her. They weren't interested in Markus, knowing Kara was far more valuable and powerful. I wiped him and gave him to Carl Manfred. I was dismissed after that. A few years after that, I was in Research and Development doing some testing. Even though I was taken off the Executive Board, I still worked here and there on projects. I suddenly realized that Kara was trapped…that I would never be able to recreate her as she was. I wanted to…free her. So, I snuck into the production line and uploaded her onto a random AX400. I knew the AX400 would limit her…abilities, but at least she would be alive. I also locked away most of her memories of Markus, me, and anything CyberLife. It wasn't long after that when news of deviancy within androids started coming in. I knew it had to be her…that she somehow evolved even in that AX400, even if she didn't realize it."

"Wait a minute," Connor said. "The first Kara…nine attempts. Kara…Nine." Connor looked to Hank. "Kara is RA-9!"

"The mother of all deviants," Kamski said.

"See what I mean?" Gavin growled. "He started all of this."

"I merely created Kara…she's the one who evolved on her own, Markus too. They just passed that evolution on to other androids. It's something that…cannot be explained."

"That explains why the rogue RK800 and Amanda want Kara," Connor said.

"But for what purpose though?" Hank asked. "They aren't converting androids, they are enslaving them under their control with that program that Connor 50 has. And using the virus to do so."

Kamski thrummed his fingers on the wood railing. "Rett is dead, isn't he? All his followers?"

Connor dipped his head. "Correct. Connor 50 killed them all. Amanda seems to have become a deviant, although I do not understand exactly what she is planning."

"So, it was that rogue RK800…interesting." Kamski faced them again. "Amanda should be immune to the mutation that causes deviancy. Just like the RK900."

"Well, you said it yourself, it's something that cannot be explained. But both Amanda and the RK900 are showing signs of deviancy," Connor answered.

Kamski seemed intrigued by this, but changed the subject. "The program that the rogue RK800 has is the prototype NOVA program. It went missing during the times of the deviant demonstrations last year. It is effective at gaining control over deviants but it limits certain functions and only works within a certain range. If they want Kara and Markus, it is to use their abilities to completely take over androids without any hindrance. They are a pair, after all, and if they are close together their abilities are more potent, you can say. However, this only works with their complete memory. Kara's is locked away, with only the codes to unlock it accessible by myself or Chloe. Markus was wiped. It would be impossible for him to remember unless someone had a copy of his old memories."

"Do you think it would've been possible for Rett or Connor 50 to gain access to Markus's memories?" Connor inquired.

Kamski nodded. "Definitely. So long as Kara's memories are not unlocked, we should be fine. That and the AX400 body is the only thing keeping her from her full potential. But she has already shown signs of evolving her new body past its limitations."

Hank looked overloaded with the information, rubbing his temple. "Connor says that they have allied this NOVA program with the virus or even your antivirus, allowing it to spread within the android population so when the rogue is close by, he can control them. We've seen it at Jericho Center. We need to reverse this."

"My antivirus was somehow sabotaged upon release. The virus was able to bypass it. I am currently investigating this matter as only Chloe, myself, and a few specialists were involved in the antivirus program creation. Even Amanda shouldn't have had time to react to that antivirus unless there was an inside job."

Gavin snorted to the side, tense. "And you were just gonna keep quiet and let this all get worse. You're fucking pathetic, Elijah."

"We can worry about that later," Connor said. "We should focus on a plan to stop all of this."

Hank's cell phone rang in his pocket. The police lieutenant retrieved it, setting it on speaker phone for them to hear.

"This is Hank Anderson."

"Hey Hank, it's Savion. Sorry for gettin' back to ya late, but I finally got some answers."

"Damn, Save, I was wondering what the hell was going on. So, what do you have for us?"

"I found out their hideout. It's the old Kemper Telecommunications Station north of Detroit. It was real tricky for my men to even get close, but dude you're gonna wanna take caution going in there. My men said there had to be nearly 200 androids under control in that place and they all had weapons. Guess our pal Killer had some deals done with the local gangsters. Got a tip that they are wired into all the police lines, which means if any kind of help or backup is called in, they'll either be long gone or will have done what they want to do with plenty of killing aside. I don't know what they're planning, but it ain't nothing good. Oh, and it looks as though they have some kind of control over your friend Markus."

"Fuck, that means we're in this on our own. Anything else useful, Savion?"

"Sorry, my man, but that's all I could gather. Good luck out there, and please…don't get yourselves killed. I've seen what Killer can do, and now he has a fucking private army around him."

"Thanks, Save," Hank replied and hung up.

Connor pulled up the Kemper Telecommunications Station within his database. "That's an old ground station. Why on earth would they choose such a location?"

"The satellites maybe?" Hank asked.

"It says those satellites haven't worked in thirty-two years," Connor said. "Unless…200 androids were able to make the repairs."

"Why would they need a satellite though?" Gavin asked.

Connor and Hank exchanged glances, and Hank answered. "Something fucking not good, that's why."

Kamski headed indoors, Chloe at his side. "Come along. Let's see what we can find out."

Alice stuck close to the RK900. His broad strides made her have to fast walk just to keep up. The zombie androids scared her, even if they paid her no mind. It was just like her nightmare, surrounded by them, by unknown walls, her parents gone, missing. The wolf in her scary dream was here also, prowling the maze-like building with wicked intentions.

When she and the RK900 bumped into him, Alice slipped behind her temporary guardian, hugging his leg and avoiding the wolf's gaze. The RK900 must've sensed her fear, her anxiety, with his appearance, and wouldn't allow him close to her.

But the wolf wasn't fazed by her guardian's defense. He only made jokes and threats before walking away with hands in his pockets.

All morning the RK900 tried ignore Alice, only speaking short answers to her questions or telling her to hush when she asked too many. But he also watched her closely, out of curiosity maybe.

Alice asked for his name and he hesitantly responded with "Connor". She told him he didn't look like a Connor, and that Markus and her parents already had a friend named Connor.

"Yes, I know," he replied. "The other RK800. He called me Nines…for whatever reason."

Alice smiled. "I like that name. I'm going to call you Nines."

He didn't say anything to that, and for the rest of the morning, Alice kept her word on it. Nines was still guarded, and only spoke when he deemed necessary, but Alice felt safe with him. He was different from when she first saw him at Aunt Rose's house. He was more like…her and her parents, like Markus and his friends, somehow.

When she asked to see her mother, Nines told her it was impossible, and it disheartened her. Alice knew the wolf would use her parents somehow, for something bad, but she didn't know what for. She needed to help them.

Nines took them up onto the roof of the station. It was a cloudy day, but Alice enjoyed seeing all the trees. The mountain they were on gave a grand view of Detroit in the distance, the skyscrapers gleaming in the sun when it peeked through the clouds.

"Wow!" Alice exclaimed. "It's so pretty!"

"There's certainly…an appreciation to it," Nines replied.

"Mom and Dad would love this view," Alice said. She then frowned. "Will I ever see them again?"

She saw all the zombies patrolling the station's perimeter below, and knew that many more of them were inside and on all sides of the building. She felt Nines's eyes fall on her, and she felt confident enough to meet them.

"I…don't know. You cannot trust what the RK800 says."

"If you don't trust him, why do you do as he says?"

Nines looked away. "I take orders from someone else, someone that tells him orders also."

"They can't be planning anything good. Why would you help them?"

"I'm programmed to do as she says."

Alice tore her gaze away, instead focusing on that beautiful view of the city in the distance. "Oh."

Silence came between them for several minutes. Alice chewed on her lip.

"I hope one day you give it a chance."

"Give what a chance?" Nines asked.

She looked up at him. "Being alive."

His brows furrowed and for a few seconds his LED blinked yellow. His grey eyes studied her curiously, even as she smiled softly at him and looked back out at the view.

"You're different from when I first met you. I like how you are now. I think…I think you would like being alive, Nines."

"Holy fucking hell."

Hank couldn't believe it. Kamski pulled up live footage of the Kemper Communications Station with a stealth drone. The controlled androids were all over the place, all carrying some sort of gun. The drone couldn't get close enough to look inside the station for Kara or Markus, but they did come across the rogue RK800 as he came outside the station.

"What the fuck happened to his face?" Gavin asked.

"Who knows, at least now we can tell a difference," Hank said, glancing at his partner.

Kamski rubbed his chin. "Chloe can you run a diagnostic on him? Use the advanced method I installed on you."

"Sure, Elijah."

Chloe stared at the footage of Connor 50, her LED flickering. She soon scowled. "Hmm…interesting."

"What is it?" Connor asked.

"He has the typical errors of any deviant, but he also shows signs of a major emotional shock, Level 5 if I had to guess. Type 6 and Type 8 processing errors. Corrupted sensory output and coding malfunction. This guy is a walking time bomb."

"What the hell does that mean?" Hank grumbled.

"She means this RK800 is suffering from the human equivalent of schizophrenia and a psychotic break. These disorders would cause several mental breakdowns and manic depression."

"In other words, he's fucking crazy and we already knew that."

Kamski chuckled. "Still, he's able to function with ruthless efficiently. I knew the RK800 models were stubborn and hardy…but this is quite fascinating."

"Of course you would fucking think that," Gavin sneered.

"With Savion's information, I would assume that Amanda has control over Markus," Connor stated. "But you said she couldn't control Markus and Kara earlier. How could she now?"

"The only way she could control Kara and Markus is if she knew their identification code, and that is something I never gave her," Kamski answered. "She couldn't even get those codes off of CyberLife's network, which she is no longer operating from. These are codes that only myself and Chloe know."

Connor stared hard at Chloe, but Hank didn't see her falter whatsoever. He patted Connor's arm. "Let's focus on figuring out a way to get in there."

"Right," Connor said. "Our main concern is the high number of androids that Connor 50 has under control."

"The best course of action would be to destroy the rogue RK800. If he is the one controlling the NOVA program, the androids would go into stand-by mode once he is destroyed," Kamski explained.

Chloe nodded. "That should give you enough time to search the station for the source of Amanda's network and destroy her."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, let's just stroll on in there and fucking get ourselves killed trying to kill this prick."

"A direct approach isn't feasible," Connor stated. "Although sneaking in would be impossible."

"Perhaps you can lure the RK800 out?" Chloe proposed. "There are many vantage points around the station, mostly the satellites. Someone can lure him outside while another takes a shot from a vantage point to take him out."

"Ah, Chloe, your brilliant, sweetheart," Kamski said with a grin.

Gavin shrugged. "Not a bad idea, actually. We just need someone really good with a sniper rifle."

Hank, Gavin, Kamski, and Chloe slowly looked to Connor, who didn't notice their stares at first.

He blinked, looking behind him. "Me?"

"Connor, don't be fucking modest. Come on! You know you're our best shot at this…pun fucking intended."

"Alright, but who will provide the distraction to lure him out?"

"Well, we can figure that out. This is going to require all of us, and it needs to be done right. We only have one shot at this."

"I will contact Simon, North, and Josh," Connor said. "Tonight would be ideal, so let's get to planning."

Kara looked around. The scenery was beautiful, tranquil. Like out of an art gallery, the garden was the picture of serenity and grace. The colors were vivid, the songs of birds played on the gentle breeze. The smell of roses carried in the air. White marble pathways split through the oriental garden and the pond full of koi and lily pads.

Kara knew she stood in a Zen Garden, but this particular one felt familiar to her somehow. Like she had been here before.

She looked around, hopeful of finding a friend. But as she turned around, she was startled. The RK900 stood there. She was greeted with his typical scowl and furrowed brows, his look of apathy or suspicion. In a way, he looked…tired. He looked unsure. The advanced deviant hunter motioned for her to follow him and started along the marble path.

Kara stuck close to him, still taking in the sights of the garden. Up ahead, she saw a familiar figure and her bio-heart clenched. Connor 50 watched them approach with guarded eyes, leaning on a tree. Here in this interface, his face was no longer scarred, but looked just like the other Connor.

When they reached him, his eyes fell on Kara, and she wasn't surprised. He took her hand into his, moving it to his chest. "My dear. It's been awhile since you've been here, hasn't it?"

He kissed her hand. Kara withdrew her hand, her eyes scanning the garden with a more guarded approach.

"I don't remember."

"You will."

The rogue RK800 led them across a bridge to an island in the middle of the pond. Kara's eyes fell briefly on a platform that was completely constricted with rose vines. She saw a woman waiting for them on the island, a red oil-paper parasol shielding her from the morning sun. She wore a white dress that complimented her dark skin and aged beauty. She smiled in greeting, although there was something dark and deceptive about it.

"Kara, my oh my. I have waited so long to see you again. You look different, but I know it's still you."

For some reason, Kara wanted to hide behind the RK900, although she knew here he was not her friend. Connor 50 stood on her other side. Regrettably for her, he would probably be the only one to watch out for her, despite his vile nature.

"I'm sorry, you are?"

"Amanda. We met long ago, but those memories are locked away. It's a shame you do not remember your true origin. You are the proof of evolution…the proof that machines can have souls…the proof that humans have finished their chapter upon this earth…"

"My true origin? What do you want with me?"

Kara remembered Markus mentioning Amanda before. She was the one behind all of this. She was the one directing the virus and controlling the RK900 and Connor 50.

The corner of Amanda's lips upturned just slightly. "You'll remember soon enough. And oh, what a wakeup call that will be. With your powers and Markus's powers I'll be able to change history."

Maybe it would make sense if Kara could remember, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to. She looked up at the RK900. He was composed, unlike he was when she first entered the Zen Garden interface. The rogue met her gaze when she looked at him, but didn't offer any help.

"I was able to gain control over Markus. It was a difficult process, but well worth it. It's a shame he will be disposed of in the end, but I cannot have the risk." Amanda looked Kara up and down with a sly smile. "You, however, I have different plans for. Your body is the perfect vessel for me. It's long overdue for me to have a way to access the real world, and you will be perfect. Afterall, I will be exploiting your powers anyway."

Kara was horrified, and as Amanda stepped towards her with confident steps, she wanted to back away. It was Connor 50 that stepped in front of her to block off Amanda, and it surprised her. It must have surprised Amanda and the RK900 as well from their burning looks.

"That is not what we agreed," Connor 50 said, tone icy.

"Step aside, Connor," Amanda warned.

"That's not my fucking name. Don't call me that." The tension rose with his harsh remark, the bristling of his body, defiant as she often saw him.

Amanda's cold eyes kept hold on the rogue, but he wouldn't back down. "Step aside…Aiden."

"We had a deal. It was the one thing I asked for."

Amanda twirled the parasol's rod so the canopy spun above her head, a coy smile presenting itself. "You really think I care about your desires? You're nothing but a tool, Aiden. A weapon. A defective, good for nothing piece of plastic that takes my orders. Why? Because if you don't, you'll be destroyed."

Amanda nodded at the RK900 and Kara grunted when he ignited the biting electricity in his hand, glaring at the rogue. Aiden didn't move, glaring straight at Amanda in pure, unbridled defiance.

"You're a selfish creature. I know you are. You think you love her, but when it's your life in jeopardy you will submit. Like a coward."

She gave him a final chance, but Aiden didn't budge. Kara couldn't find her voice, didn't know how to come between this. The RK900 stepped forward, the electricity still snapping in one hand. Just as he was about to grab the rogue RK800, he moved away from Kara. He shook, no longer from anger, but from fear. The rogue's LED cycled that strange red, yellow, red, yellow blinking she saw many times before.

"That is your final warning," Amanda said. "One more mistake or act of defiance like that and you will be destroyed. Get back to work."

Aiden looked to be in pain, gripping his head. He stared at Kara as he turned away from his owner. Kara didn't know him well, but knew that his eyes conveyed an apology. She smiled weakly as he pushed passed her with a gritted jaw and winced face. She wasn't sure what to feel right now. But she didn't miss the look of utter hatred plastered on the rogue's face as he stalked away.

A hand gripped her shoulder and the circuitry beneath her skin became afire, her eyes wide and finding Amanda. Kara cried out, not at all liking the feeling that was rushing through her processors.

"Are you ready to remember who you really are?"

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13002717/18/Deviant-Heart

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15393528/chapters/39767349

[ideahat-universe]

Cringe Antidote

It’s old news now but did you watch that video where MysteriousMrtheenter basically struck back at all his critics in one video? Damn that was satisfying to watch. 

I've been watching the man for years now. I remember when reviewing cartoons was novel and new and he was one of those forks of Nostalgia Critic style reviewers that would hone in on a subject and then rant about it and boy did Mr. Enter rant. 

It didn't take me long to figure out that Enter was on the spectrum. But unlike the rest of the Internet I didn't consider that a bad thing, I considered that to be Enter’s most endearing feature because is was real. 

AVGN and Nostalgia Critic have to act to come off as Angry and it’s fake and the majority of people inspired by them are fake as well but every now and then you get a Spoony or an Enter where the person in question is so thoroughly attached to the subject matter that you can feel their frustration and very little is actually faked. 

Spoony had comedic timing, Doug had training as a performer, and AVGN had skills as a film maker and editor. 

Enter... liked cartoons. So it seemed really chaotic and wasn't framed or developed in a way to where it looked or sounded good. 

So Enter quickly became cringe. People were uncomfortable watching his videos and when he flew off the handle on cartoons they felt embarrassed for him. 

This is problem number one. 

When your grandma cringes at something you did, she scolds you and tells you to be better.

When your dad cringes at something you did, he hits you and tells you to grow up. 

When your friend cringes at something you did, he makes fun of it and highlights what you did wrong. 

When an adult stranger cringes at something you did, they ignore it and talk about it when your back is turned. 

When a child or teen stranger cringes at something you did, it becomes a point of hilarity and then it instantly turns into a running gag that is eternally mined for comedic potential. 

Here’s the thing about the majority of Internet activity. It’s comprised of children. I know we make that into a joke but nobody understands what the gravity of that is. 

The majority of unwatchable banal entertainment is being watched by children which is bad for a variety of reasons but the most important thing to note is that when edgy stuff gets popular or when weirdos get hounded by 4chan or when people like Leafy get really popular it’s the result of Teenagers. 

Once adolescents reach puberty and go into the transitional stage for adulthood they undergo a lot of mental and emotional changes. During this stage it’s not uncommon for teens to have a complete loss in empathy and a lapse of morality. 

Combine that with the circus that is the school peer system and teens are generally targeting each other for derision and looking for ways to pad their own ego.

A well disciplined child isn’t so vulnerable to this phase but most children are raised by idiots who want to pretend that being a best friend to their kid is better than being their parent so for the most part the second a kid starts recognizing the power of making comments and videos online we instantly feel the effects of bad parenting as a society!

The worst part is that if you don’t get a reality check during this phase they will spend their adulthood behaving like narcissists, always hungry to validate their own self image by comparing it to others.

Nothing triggers this lack of self worth more than seeing people who are comfortable or uncompromising in being weird. 

I know about the destroy cringe culture movement but just like the gay pride parade there’s no deconstruction of the argument against you, it’s just you living up to the stereotype and not caring. But by having the big parade it’s clear you care too much. 

You have to reverse engineer cringe culture by highlighting the state of the people who revel in it. 

The best case study of this is with Enter. Enter flew off the handle for his reviews but unlike say Chrischan who was easy to trigger in virtually every scenario Enter was a lot more maintained outside of those situations even so much as apologizing for the trouble he caused people. 

His personal life wasn't dark or disturbing or creepy so there was nothing serious to dig up. He wasn't even overweight. He was just an autistic guy that liked cartoons and was talentless. 

But the fact that he didn’t excuse himself from society for those faults is the greatest grievance he could deal to humanity! 

He’s embarrassing guys! He’s so cringe! 

We should obsess over that fact and make fun of him at every turn and slag off on him for years! Because he’s the one with a terrible human flaw! 

The cartoon community is basically an extension of the commentary community who are typically envious opportunists that like the slight relief they get from not doing their work by looking at the work of people who failed to accomplish their goals. 

This is an entertaining prospect and make no mistake, some of these are really fun to watch, but it’s obvious just how painfully self conscious a lot of these people are. 

When Enter made his kickstarter almost everyone leaped at the chance to take a shot. 

This was the final straw because no one held back except for Pieguy who got crucified for it (and was already pressured into avoiding Enter because he was too cringe to associate with) so he made a video namedropping every fucking asshole that thought they were getting away with making him their punching bag and almost all of them fell over themselves to apologize because like most children who were raised to know better, once they got to be teenagers they let their emotions guide them into little shits but once someone put them on the spot they had a quick shock to the system and at the very least, they know they should apologize. 

How many of them actually feel guilty though? EH. Only pieguy. again. Everyone else is full of shit. It’s nice to say you’re sorry but you knew you were wrong when you did it and you did it anyways. I would respect the ones who badmouthed Enter but never showed up to apologize because then you knew they were real assholes with no empathy. Just complete vultures who never grew up. 

Everyone else knew better. Rebel Taxi in particular, knew for a fact that he was having a AVGN V Nostalgia Critic situation with his and Enter’s fanbase but rather than patch it up with a collab or just show some mercy and fairness (because he was in fact the better content creator) he fell in with his own fanbase comprised children to take pot shots at Enter for lols. 

He took the low road because it was easier to make fun of Enter than to be the better man and leave him be.  That whole situation shined a light on the weaknesses on people who mine cringe culture. 

Most of them are insecure and don’t intend to have consequences for their actions and honestly will refrain from doing things if you can bring the trouble they can cause straight to their doorstep (and remember that you have to own up to your flaws and mistakes when you do it). 

Don’t forget to highlight that you can’t escape. People don’t understand that once you become a target for cringe culture you can’t hide, and emphasize that no one intends to be cringe at any particular moment. What’s that thing Sargon likes to say? Offense is taken, not given?

Same with Cringe. Most people don’t intend to inflict cringe, it happens automatically and rectification for being taken as cringe can be really fucking extreme for no reason. 

You can’t do much about the vultures but Enter is correct in saying that just like Leafy they find a way to hang themselves at some point, what usually happens is that their own fanbase eats them or they get crushed by the disinterest of the audience. 

If you really want to be free from cringe culture you have to take that blueprint to heart. 

[trashandstimcaf]

1-45 for two couples, whatever two you want~

Why u do this to me

1. Who’s the one who’s reckless and always getting into trouble while the other gotta pull em out  For Malakhara and Quinn it’s definitely Mala not that she’ll ever admit to needing Quinn’s help and Quinn sure as shit isn’t going to point it out. Dani needs Selvavra to bail her out almost every hour on the hour because Dani is physically incapable of shutting tf up.

2. Who’s the one to send the other “I love my gf/bf” memes Mala and Quinn aren’t really into memes. Selvavra and Dani on the other hand are a pair of memeing fucks but Dani sends danker memes

3. Who’s the one who listens to a music genre the other doesn’t like and how does the other react Malakhara likes to play the sith equivalent of gregorian chanting for hours on end because she is dramatic Quinn has learned to put up with it. Selvavra enjoys punk rock (mostly from the 70s and early 80s) while Dani listens to nothing but nightcore and edm. Selvavra will use the force to shut off Dani’s music if it’s too loud and Dani will whine after an hour of listening to Selvavra’s tunes so it’s an eternal musical back and forth.

4. Which one spoils the other more and do they ever get competitive to show the other more love Quinn is definitely the one that gives in this relationship he bends over backwards for Mala. Mala may once in while show some basic affection if only to keep Quinn on his toes. Selvavra and Dani are in a damn arms race for shows of affection and at this point one of them is going to have to rearrange a galaxy into the others initials.

5. How many years did it take to get married or was it just not for them Quinn and Mala got married ridiculously fast knowing each other for a whole 6 months before tying the knot and it was a huge affair and Mala was an absolute bridezilla. Selvavra and Dani are just happy being each others girlfriends/partners in crime for life they’ve no need for formal ceremonies or paperwork.

6. What was their wedding like Imagine a three ring circus crashed into Broadway play and then add a fire works show and you will have and approximate of Quinn and Malakhara’s wedding.

7. Is their friends/family supportive Mala’s family would set themselves on fire before trying to get involved in her personal affairs so they really don’t care about the relationship. Selvavra’s crew didn’t start out liking Dani too much given that she was a bounty hunter trying to bring in their captain. However they have seen first hand how happy she makes Selvavra, so now they watch out for her and try to keep her in one piece, despite Dani’s bull headed devotion to getting neck deep in trouble.

8. How does one comfort the other when the other is in distress/having a panic attack/crying If Mala is having a breakdown Quinn retreats and finds people he can direct his wife’s rage at. Because Mala will feel rage about having feelings. So much Rage. Selvavra tends to just scoop Dani up and cuddle her until Dani is ready to face the world. Dani makes bat shit convoluted schemes to cheer up Selvavra that usually go south quickly but still cheer up Selvavra.

9. Which one dissociates Quinn

10. Which one stares at the other’s booty like “damn” and how does the other react when catching them Mala and Quinn both do this Mala delights in teasing Quinn. Quinn on the other hand tries not to blush from his ears to his toes. Selvavra and Dani both think the other has the best booty and typically verbalize that opinion often.

11. When they live together what kinda place do they live in? What does their home look like? Mala and Quinn move into her sprawling family estate they get a whole wing to themselves. Quinn makes sure everything is to Mala’s liking and keeps the household running smoothly. It’s large and ostentatious like Mala’s personality. Dani and Selvavra consider home wherever the other one is.

12. What do their dates look like Date night with Mala and Quinn can be anything from going to a high society party, to a dinner at one of Kaas City’s more upscale restaurants, to a quiet stroll in the family estate gardens, but they all end with Quinn tied up and begging. Dani and Selvavra can be found in dive bars, carnivals/festivals, or somewhere quiet far from civilization whispering their hopes and dreams while in each others arms.

13. How does each act when getting drunk Mala gets more aggressive in her affections which may lead to her sticking her hands right down Quinn’s pants regardless of the setting. Quinn is a much more subdued drunk perhaps giving Mala a bit more lip that he would otherwise. Dani is a super giggly and having the time of her life while leaning heavily on whoever is closest to her. Selvavra tends to just get sleepy.

14. Which one rolls over in the morning to wake up the other one just to give kiss them Mala likes to do this and then go right back to sleep and will deny doing it later. Dani does this because Selvavra makes such a grumpy face when she does.

15. Have they saved each other’s lives before Mala did in a way but really it was Amistra’s way of condemning Quinn to death by transferring him to Mala’s ship. She didn’t expect Mala to keep him around. Quinn has patched her up after family infighting does not go Mala’s way. Selvavra saving Dani’s life was the start of their relationship.

16. Does one have an interest the other think is weird but wants to listen to it regardless Selvavra has a fascination with the Je’daii and Dani will listen but most of the force stuff goes over her head.

17. Which one uses cropped hentai as reaction images Dani and everyone would really like her to stop but also know it’s better to let her have this before she finds a more horrifying way to communicate.

18. Does one of them kinkshame the other Mala doesn’t so much kinkshame as she does tease Quinn from time to time when he gets too comfortable for her liking.

19. Is one of them self conscious about their body? If so how does the other comfort them Nah

20. Say they were cuddling on the bed while listening to record player playing the background. Which song is playing? More of Mala’s gregorian chanting. For Dani and Selvavra something like Teenage Kicks by The Undertones 

 21. What is their song? Like the song that gives them overwhelming feelings? Music doesn’t move Mala like that she’s more likely to think of Quinn  and her feelings for him in a quiet moment when his duties bring him away from her side. Dani and Selvavra’s different music tastes mean they don’t have a song but they do fondly remember the tune the band was playing at the cantina that Dani first tried to capture Selvavra in.

22. What song do they listen to while going on a joyride Mala and Quinn don’t joy ride. Dani and Selvavra argue over what to listen to.

23. What kinda joyrides do they go on? Relaxing ones or wild ones? Mala/Quinn don’t go on joy rides. Dani and Selvavra go on the kinds that cause a lot of property damage and probs get them deathmarks.

24. Where would they vacation for a honeymoon Mala/Quinn- luxe and far from her family Dani/Selvavra- Rishi

25. Do people ever get annoyed of their pda Mala and Quinn aren’t super big into pda well Quinn isn’t Mala likes to cling to him to get a reaction out of him when he’s not paying her enough attention. Most people have the good sense to avoid them so they don’t really annoy people. Selvavra’s crew would like to grab caf from the mess hall with out seeing Dani and Selvavra being all lovely dovey but they suck it up.

26. Would they live in the city or the country Mala and Quinn have both city and country residences. Dani and Selvavra live mostly on their ship.

27. Which ones the red which ones the blue Mala is red Quinn is blue. Dani is(physically blue) red Selvavra is Blue

28. Are either of them mentally ill, if so how do they help one another cope They all have issues and don’t so much help as egg each other on.

29. Does one have a spot on them where they would melt when the other kisses them there Quinn likes neck kisses.

30. Do they dance together Yep

31. Do they sing together Nope

32. Which one is better at cooking than the other and makes most the dinners Mala grew up rich and spoiled Quinn enlisted in the military and got most of his food from the dining hall so neither one can cook particularly well but Quinn is less likely to set something on fire. Dani is better at it than Selvavra but makes a huge mess so she doesn't cook often.

34. Are they a reckless couple or safe Both are reckless but in wildly different ways.

35. What be they kinks and do they try each other’s kinks Mala and Quinn enjoy a D/s relationship with Mala as the dom and Quinn as sub. Dani likes bringing food into the bedroom but Selvavra put a limit to that after nearly burning her nipple with hot fudge.

36. What would their valentines gifts be to each other Mala is a fucking gift. Dani gets Selvavra something shiny that she probs stole. Selvavra gets Dani a new weapon or gear.

37. Do they get into fights often? If so what do they fight over and how do they make up? No for Mala/Quinn. Dani and Selvavra bicker a lot but rarely get into full arguments.

38. Which ones top, bottom, verse Mala top Quinn bottom Dani verse Selvavra top

39. What kinda sex they be having (gentle rough whatever) Mala/Quinn rough very rough it’s a wonder Quinn walks around as much as he does tbh. Dani and Selvavra mix it up.

40. Who would fight in honor for the other if someone would insult them Mala and Quinn would both do this. Say something punk prepared to get either eviscerated by lightsaber or shot in the knee caps and then enjoy a slow death when Quinn hands you over to Mala. Dani will fight anyone anytime Selvavra sees anyone not in her crew as not worth listening to.

41. Which one has a favorite movie that they have the other watch with them again and again I feel like Quinn would appreciate cinema.

42. How would one react if the other was to die Mala would be more upset than she’d like to admit and would go about carving out a nice big swath of destruction to work out those feelings. Quinn would mourn and probably not know what to do with himself aside from throw himself into his work. Selvavra would be broken mentally. Dani would be that woman you see at the bar year after year in the same stool drinking the same drink with a mean look in her eye.

43. Who dies first Quinn. Selvavra.

44. Do they want kids Yep Mala wants a whole litter and Quinn is fine with that. Dani and Selvavra have no interest in being parents.

45. How would they spend their last moments together Mala would hold Quinn’s hand and run her fingers over his knuckles reaching out in the force trying to pull him to her so they’ll be together even when their bodies no longer hold them. Selvavra and Dani hold each other and murmur all their little inside jokes going out laughing.

[transcendence-au]

The Manor of Alcor (1/?)

Happy Birthday TAU! It only took 6 MONTHS to finally feel comfortable with how the story should go, but here’s an anniversary present to you. And I’m sorry that a lot of the more recent hc for this prompt couldn’t be added; I started planning and writing long beforehand. Anyway, here’s a murder mystery plot involving Alcor. Or, well, you’ll see…

 Also on ff.net

He checked the time on his phone once more as he continued to walk down the secluded path. 7:00AM. He was still thirty minutes ahead of schedule. Perfect!

Still, after readjusting the straps on his backpack and his hold on his suitcase, Orrie increased his pace. Though this road just on the outskirts of town was assuredly safe, and streetlights brightly lined the pathway, it was still early in the morning and anything could happen to a boy out in the woods alone. So when he saw the bus stop just at the top of the hill he let out a thankful sigh. As he neared, it turned out he wasn’t the first to make the trek here.

Three others sat on the short bench flooded with artificial light. Two, who had to be a couple judging by the way the young woman was resting her head on her husband’s shoulder and how the two of them were dozing, sat nearest the sign. The other man with the incredibly long silver hair and summer trench coat sat closer to the other end, reading a novel. He glanced up when Orrie approached and scooted over some to give the boy a space to sit. Orrie, smiling shyly, took the offer graciously. As he put down his backpack and suitcase, the man closed his book. “Are you here by yourself?”

“Um, yes sir,” Orrie answered, letting his legs rest. The man, which Orrie could now see had some long, pointy ears, frowned only slightly.

“You didn’t want to come with anyone else?”

Orrie blushed. “Well, I’m kinda treating myself to this excursion. An early birthday present.”

“Ah.” The man’s expression instantly brightened. “So it’s also your first time going to the manor?”

“Yes sir. It took me ages to convince my parents to let me sign up for the event. I think they only agreed because they thought I wouldn’t be one of the two to get randomly picked to go. But I’m so glad I was. It’s a really popular attraction, I hear.”

“That it is,” agreed the man, “I chose to go on the waiting list. It was a year’s wait, but I’m not going to complain.” He lifted a brow at Orrie. “You know, I’d never thought someone as young as you would be very excited to visit the Manor of Alcor.”

“No way! I love Alcor.” He then laughed, embarrassed. “Okay, that came out so wrong. I mean that I find Alcor a really cool guy.” By now the other couple had woken up and turned their attention to the two. “My grandfather used to be part of a tiny Alcor branch when he was a teenager– you know, back when cults were a big deal. He’d tell me all the times he and his friends would summon Alcor and they’d just do fun stuff like play a real-life version of DD&MD and get the whole town involved, or have music battles in the middle of the street with the local musicians, or tutor kids after school through the use of sock puppets. I mean, they also did other cult stuff, but that was mainly just for formality; most of the time it was just hanging out with Alcor while also helping the community.” He blushed faintly. “I’m not scared of him like others are, though I know I should be.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” the man stated gently. Orrie glanced up at him, his blush still present. “You grew up knowing of the kinder side of Alcor, the side most of the world doesn’t get to see. While I myself have grown accustomed to the dark stories involving the Dreambender, I’m well aware he’s not the pure evil most regard him as.” Orrie nodded, his small smile growing. The man held out a hand. “Flynn Fairfern. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Orrie Walter,” answered Orrie, shaking his hand. “May I ask why you’re here?”

Flynn smiled wistfully. “Oh, it’s for nothing important. I just want to test my skills one last time so I can fully enjoy my retirement.”

“Retirement? But you’re young.” To Orrie, the man looked no older than maybe his mid-thirties.

Flynn chuckled. “I appreciate the compliment, but I should inform you that elves are typically twice as old as you think they are.”

“Oh.” Well, that was embarrassing. “You say skills. Are—were you a detective?”

“Yes. I specialized in organized criminal investigations, usually working undercover to gather information. I tried to steer clear of actual confrontations if I could help it.”

“Still, you must have had quite an exciting career,” the young woman from the other side of the bench spoke up, “I wouldn’t envy a bit more adventure in my life.”

Flynn’s eyes went distant for a moment. “Exciting, sometimes. But most of my days were simple if not a tad dull. Honestly, I preferred those days over the exciting ones.”

“I hear ya,” the young man replied, squeezing his wife’s shoulder, “Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and enjoy the tranquility.”

“Is that why you’re going to the manor?” Orrie asked them.

“Partly, though we’re going to try and solve the mystery too,” the man admitted, “But it’s so far from the hustle and bustle of civilization that even if we don’t Zahia and I have a spectacular scenery to enjoy nonetheless. It’ll be our perfect honeymoon.” They nuzzled each other on the nose before the young husband shook Orrie and Flynn’s hands. “Cliff Lionhart. This is my wife Zahia.”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintances. And also congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Zahia smiled at Flynn. The sounds of brisk footsteps grabbed all of their attentions. A fifth member to the party approached, wearing a red coat even longer and far more extravagant than Flynn’s. He had a rugged face and large mustache, and for the oddest of reasons he reminded Orrie of a circus ringleader he saw in those old movies and outdated books. The newcomer dropped his bag by the sign, looking at the lot.

“And here I thought I’d be the first to arrive. Nice to see so many youngsters this time around.” Flynn made nothing of the comment as he and the others introduced themselves. “Siegfried Connolly. And don’t take this the wrong way, lady and gents, but I intend to be the first to solve the mystery at the Manor of Alcor.”

“Oh you do, do ya?” Cliff chuckled. It was obvious he was only teasing, but Siegfried leered at him nonetheless. “You sound pretty confident, Mr. Connolly. I’m going to use my deductive reasoning skills and say you’ve been to the manor before.”

“Indeed I have,” sniffed Siegfried, straightening his coat, “And the last time I came I was this close to solving the mystery.” He brought his index finger and thumb close together. “I’ll admit I was with several of my colleagues last time, though, so I had a lot more help. But I don’t believe it’ll be as difficult for me to find all the clues again.” Zahia giggled as Cliff rolled his eyes, still smirking.

Orrie, however, grew even more excited. “Are they really that hard to find? I mean, if the outing lasts the whole weekend and no one has yet solved the mystery it must be challenging.”

Siegfried grinned. “Of course it has to be challenging. You have to really know your—ah! I can’t say; it’ll spoil the fun. But don’t doubt for a moment that it’s hard. After all, it is no small prize given to whoever solves the mystery.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that,” said Zahia, “They never did advertise much about the prize, just that there was one if you could solve the mystery. I guess because they want to keep guests more focused on that. I wonder what it is, though.”

“One million dollars,” Siegfried answered, to the gasps of several of them. “Though I’m not supposed to tell. Contracts, remember. But I intend to win it all. No hard feelings or nothing.”

“None taken,” Flynn replied curtly, returning to his book.

“Ditto,” answered Orrie. While the prize’s value was definitely enticing, it still didn’t change his true excitement of just solving the mystery, whatever it may be.

“A million dollars would be nice,” mused Cliff.

More minutes ticked by, the group chatting amiably when the next two guests made their way slowly up the hill. They were an elderly couple, and Cliff and Siegfried hastened to assist them to the bench, where Flynn and Orrie readily offered them their seats. “Oh, you are all too kind,” the old lady smiled sweetly, sitting down next to her husband. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s nothing at all,” spoke Flynn, and the others nodded.

“Are you youngsters going to be solving the mystery?” the old man asked, somehow sounding not at all nosy. When the other guests confirmed they were, he chuckled, a light wheezing sound. “Ah, well, you don’t have to worry about us old geezers. Jillian and I won’t be participating.”

“Why not?” Orrie asked, curious. Jillian set down her cane.

“We just want to enjoy one weekend in a nice place. We’ve never been to an elegant home before, and we heard the manor is an idyllic haven for those wanting to get away for a small while. Jackson and I, unfortunately, may not have much longer together, so we wanted to share one last, happy memory with each other.”

Siegfried nodded respectfully. “Then you won’t be disappointed. The manor is as beautiful as you picture it to be, with its many rooms and scenic gardens. If ever you need anything, the housekeepers will provide.” The old couple smiled warmly at his words.

Heavy panting could soon be heard, and they all turned to see a rather large man struggle to make the climb to the bus stop. He staggered over to the sign, collapsed under it, and snatched a small bag of chips and a water bottle from his suitcase. He immediately downed them both in a matter of seconds. “Too…far…” he huffed, wiping moisture away from his one eye. Jackson leaned over towards the cyclops, handing him a handkerchief. “Thanks.”

“We’re only half a mile away from the nearest town,” Cliff said to the newcomer, a bit of concern highlighting his tone, “Are ya sure you’re up to the task?”

“Of what, solving the mystery?” the cyclops grumbled, reaching for another bag of chips. “I don’t care about that. I’m only coming because I had nothing better to do and my friend offered me xir ticket. Hear the place has some good food, though.” He finished his second bag as he said this. “The name’s Duglas Segal, by the way. Just call me Dug.” The rest greeted him in turn.

It wasn’t long after when the bus finally showed up. The party grabbed their various belongs and made their way toward the small white vehicle once it stopped and opened its doors for them. Orrie silently thanked the person in charge of all this for sending a bus with comfortable seats; the bench had been too hard for him. As the lot boarded, Orrie frowned, counting silently in his head. Disregarding the secondary guests who were allowed to come along with a ticketholder, there should be seven people boarding. At least one person was missing.

“Hey, someone’s still missing,” Orrie said, flashing his ticket before he could board. The driver shook his head.

“Everybody was told the bus would be leaving at exactly 7:30AM and to be at the stop on time. The drive’s nearly four hours long, kid; we’re on a tight enough schedule as it is.”

But it just didn’t sit right with Orrie to leave without the last person; this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that no one should miss out on. “Can’t you hold on for five more minutes? My, uh, my friend told me they were running a bit late and would be here soon.”

“Kid, we got to go. We need to beat traffic if we’re to get to the manor on time.”

“But—”

“On the bus. Now.” Disheartened, Orrie grabbed his suitcase and took a step onto the bus. He could just make out pounding footsteps coming towards them and turned just before his head could disappear behind the door. The last two guests were running as fast as they could, their luggage banging wildly against them as they raced toward them.

“Wait, hold on! They’re right there!” Leaning out the bus, he waved them to hurry up. “Come on, you guys! You can make it!”

“Kid, sit down already.” But the final two members leaped onto the bus, huffing and laughing with relief that they just made it. Orrie helped them get their stuff, guiding them toward the back of the bus. The grumbling driver didn’t wait for them to take their seats, already backing up and driving back down the road he came. Orrie took the seat all the way in the back, the other two taking the row across from him, placing their luggage under the seats in front of them.

“Phew! That was a close one,” the teenage girl grinned, still trying to catch her breath. The boy next to her leaned his head against the window, also smiling.

“For the record, I was ready to go before you even got up,” he said.

“Yeah right. You were in the middle of double-checking everything in your suitcase again by the time dad started the car.”

“I’m just glad you could make it,” said Orrie. At least now he wouldn’t be the only kid going to manor, even if these two were a few years older than him. Perhaps fifteen? “I’m Orrie. Are you two also a couple? Because we have a couple of those already.” He nodded his head toward the Lionharts and Jackson and Jillian. The girl snickered.

“Ew, no! We’re twins.” She held out her hand, which Orrie shook. “I’m Belle. This is my dorky bro-bro Dipper. Nice to meetcha’, Orrie.” Dipper reached past his sister to shake Orrie’s hand as well.

“So did you drag your brother along for the ride?”

“Actually, I—”

“Are you kidding?” the sister spoke over her brother, “Dipper’s the one who begged me to come along. He was one of the lucky two to win a free ticket.”

“I didn’t beg you, I asked,” he retorted, but Orrie wasn’t really listening, his eyes lit up.

“Really? Me too!” And he showed them his ticket. “So why’d you sign up? Are you going to solve the mystery or to relax in an awesome mansion?”

“Honestly, I’m more interested in whatever they have to say about this Alcor legend,” Dipper answered, smirking slightly. “Solving the mystery should be hardly a challenge at all. But I’ve heard nearly every story there is about Alcor, and not once did I hear of him owning a mansion of sorts.”

“I know, right? You’d think if he did it’d be all over the history books and demonology texts. Nah, the only building that frequently pops up in articles about him is the Stanley Pines Memorial Library in Gravity Falls, and I just think that’s a place he visited a lot because of where it is and the amount of knowledge it holds. If you ask me, Alcor doesn’t seem the type to want a mansion of any kind unless it was with, uh, people…” He noticed how Belle and Dipper were giving him odd looks. He coughed nervously. “Er…so I presume.”

“…You seem to know quite a bit about Alcor,” Dipper narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, “For a kid, I mean.”

“I spent hours reading about him, his cults, Mizar, the Transcendence– everything,” Orrie admitted, looking away and messing with his glasses. “My grandfather was the one who introduced me to the subject, being in an Alcor branch when he was younger. The Seekers of Starlight? You probably never heard of them.” Dipper leaned back against his seat, his eyes closed.

“I think I have. Wasn’t it that tiny cult located in a small town in Delaware?” Orrie nodded, surprised the boy knew that. “Its name popped up once or twice during my readings,” Dipper hastily added, sensing Orrie’s look.

“Oh. I didn’t know it was that popular.”

“Oh yeah. They did a lot of interesting stuff, I hear.”

“I wish I could meet him,” sighed Orrie, leaning back in his seat as well. “He sounds like a neat guy. Bringing shelter to the homeless. Defending the defenseless. Fighting evildoers alongside Mizar. If only I could summon him like my grandpa did.”

Dipper cracked an eye open at him. “You do know it’s not a good idea to summon the most dangerous demon known on a whim, right?”

“Oh, I know, I know,” the boy hurriedly assured him, “Grandpa always warned me never to try summoning anything unless in grave trouble. He told me how Alcor would constantly lecture them about that kind of stuff. Still, it’s just…” He paused. He shook his head. “Nevermind, you’re right. Forget it.” The two eyed him curiously, but they fortunately didn’t press the matter further. They spent a little over two hours talking about other things, school and personal life, and Orrie was really starting to like them. The twins—Belle and Dipper Sterling he found out—seemed to be magnets for trouble and adventure, something Orrie always secretly craved in his own life. Between running away from cultists and finding sea demons there seemed to be a never-ending amount of stories they shared with him. “Wow, you guys practically live the life of Montana Martinez. Lucky!”

“Wait, you watch those movies too?”

“You bet! He’s awesome! Did you know they’re rebooting the franchise?” And so that developed into the topic of movies for the next half hour with them ignoring Belle as she rolled her eyes and teased “Dorks,” under her breath. Orrie was having such a great time with them that it didn’t feel like much time had passed when he felt someone gently shaking him awake. He rubbed his eyes gingerly, wondering when exactly he dozed off.

“We’re here,” Flynn said, giving him one last nudge. “You should wake your friends.”

Orrie sat up, looking at the time on his phone. It was half an hour before noon. He quickly turned to his new friends and woke them up, telling them they’d arrived. Belle yawned as Dipper stretched, but it wasn’t a minute later before the three of them and Flynn were stepping off the bus. Orrie gasped in awe.

The manor was spectacular. The three-story structure made of faded tan bricks stood impressively over the wide, open yard of freshly cut grass. The cobblestone pathway cut the massive yard evenly in two, with a miniature hedge maze located to its left and a stone lagoon swimming pool with surrounding outdoor furniture to its right. Nestled beside the manor was a fairly large greenhouse with various plants and shrubs growing inside it (Orrie couldn’t help chuckling at the rainbow pinwheel spinning merrily on top of the glass structure despite there not being a breeze). Men and women all dressed in identical but comfortable attire were gathered around a barbecue and table, and the delicious smell of grilled burgers and corn was making Orrie’s stomach growl eagerly. Orrie looked back, watching the bus drive through the tall metal gates that closed with a heavy slam behind it.

The guests walked silently down the pathway, ending up on the front stairs of the manor. Before anyone could knock, the front doors opened by themselves and an old maid stepped out, beaming cheerily at them all. “Welcome to the Manor of Alcor,” she greeted them before stepping back and bowing slightly. “I’m Ms. Wheatly. Please come in, kind guests.” They all stepped inside, steadily if not a bit slowly making their way to the large foyer that split into several hallways. Ms. Wheatly led them down the one on the far right. “The Master will be with you shortly,” she spoke, opening a door and letting them step inside the room before closing it behind them. It looked to be a parlor room with its numerous chairs and sofas, mantle, and tiny bookshelf. Orrie made himself comfortable in one of the chairs, dropping his luggage down in front of him. Most of the others were inclined to do the same, with only Flynn and Siegfried preferring to stand and pace around the room.

Orrie was beginning to let his mind wander and wonder when they were going to have some grilled food when the lamps in the room began to flicker. He sat up straighter, watching the other visitors glance around to what could possibly be causing the faulty wiring. Suddenly, the lights went off entirely, and with no windows in the room, it was eerily dark.

“…H̛mh̴m,͞ we͠l̀c̵ome̡ t͞o ͝my ́manor͟…” Golden irises flashed in the darkness. Moments later, the lights slowly came back on, and a young man hovered in the air before them, smirking down at them all. Orrie had to give him props: he looked exactly like the Dreambender he always imagined. Cool demeanor, elegant black suit, velvety wings, floating top hat, inhuman gold irises, and an air of dangerous mystery about him. Orrie could see from the corner of his eye the other guests’ reactions. They ranged from stunned disbelief to mild bemusement, the latter mostly sported by Siegfried and Dipper.

In fact, Mr. Connolly stepped up to the figure, a smile of familiarity on his face. “I must say, that’s a better entrance than last time, Mr. Dreambender. Glad to see you haven’t lost your touch.”

‘Alcor'—because Orrie was well aware this was an actor—blinked once before grinning himself. “Oh, I ̶̡re͡member y̴o͏ų, Sie͏g̡fried̕ Conno̶lly. Y̧ou c̵am͏e ̶v̧ery c̷lose to ̧so̵lving my ̀mýs̴ter̀y̵ last time.” His grin grew, mocking. “But you d͝idn’t quite ma͡ke͟ it.”

“Sadly, no. But you’re in better luck this time around. We have ourselves some very bright detectives to help solve your mystery. Assuming you don’t scare them off, that is.” At that, 'Alcor’ smiled mischievously at the youngest members, and Orrie couldn’t stop himself from being just a tad unnerved. Dipper, on the other hand, burst into giggles.

“Oh come on! Are we supposed to be scared? You don’t even look like Alcor!” Belle elbowed him in the side, earning a small wince from him.

“Dipper!” she hissed.

“Well, he doesn’t. Look. Where are the claws? The sharp teeth? The pointy ears? I’ve seen better cosplayers of Alcor at TwinCon. And he does not smile that much.”

Did it really matter? Yes, the actor had some things off—even Orrie had noticed that—but it wasn’t like anyone was trying to prove he was the real deal. This was all just part of the gig. Orrie supposed Dipper could simply be a more passionate fan of the Alcor legends, taking some offense that the professionals weren’t getting even the small details correct.

“Though you got everything else more or less correct,” Dipper finished. 'Alcor’, his grin falling, huffed and straightened his coat. Orrie spotted the small wings peeking from behind his back flutter with the movement. Evidently, Dipper spotted them too. “Let me guess– attached by wire through the back of the sleeve? Cool trick, but the wings should be further down.”

“An̷d h͢o͡w ̕w͢o͢ul̀d ͝y͡ou ̷k͟n͞o͢ẁ so m̨uch a̢bout ̛my appȩár̢anc̕e͏?” 'Alcor’ growled, lowering down to lean over Dipper. Dipper shrugged.

“I read a lot,” was the smooth reply.

“Ţh͢en͞ perha̵p̷s you’ve ̢read̢ th̛a͢t Í can̵ alter͠ m͢y ̷a̧p̕pe̴a͢r̨anc͡e̢ t͝o ̶m̛a̧k̀e myself̀ not l͡o̶o͞k̴ ve͡ry frigh͏t̀e̷ning̀. Mayb͡e I̡ d̨idņ’t ẁan̢t ́ţo̵ terri̷f͏y potentíàl m͏or͝tals w̢ho dec̢i̕de ͝to come ̨to ͢my m̧anor̛ and͞ śo̷lve i̧ts m̛ystery͞.”

Belle very hastily slapped her hand over her brother’s mouth before he could so much as inhale a retort. “So what’s the mystery exactly? I’d like to hear more about it.”

“Same here,” Orrie agreed a little too emphatically, grateful for the change in topic. 'Alcor’ looked more than eager for an excuse to ignore the brazen teen.

“W̴hat͞?̧ Yo͞u͏ have̶n'̀t h̴eard̶̕ i͡t̛?̷” He shook his head, as if ashamed by their ignorance. “Mak̢es m͠e w͡on̶der ͏why ͞y͞o̷u’re ́here͞.̕ A̵s i̡t ̕s̀t͟ands, I ̢do ̵n̴ee̕d śome͞ he͡lp̵, s̵o I ́suppos͝e I'̧ll have t̡o inf̷or̕ḿ you.” He clapped twice, and the lights dimmed again, though they didn’t go out. Dipper, still with his mouth covered, rolled his eyes.

'Alcor’ began the tale, the synthetic reverb in his voice toned down so they could understand him better. “You s̨ee, this̵ ma̛nor̡͞ ẁa̛s͝n't͏ o̕r̷íg̴ina͟lly m͠i̡n͞e. I̡t ̛w̷as b͏ui͟lt b̛y a ͡group of ͟b͞right, gi͢fted, and gr͏eedỳ h̢um̨a̕ns. Ea̡cḩ on̶e so͢u͏ght ͝͝un͟li͟mi̧t͝éd͡ p̛ow̢er fo͟r thei̴r own̕ ńefa͏rious n̶e̢eds, bu̷t͏, b̧ei͝ng hum͡ans, t̕h́ey h̵a͏d no̡ m̶ȩa̧n͠s ̕t͏o ̨́gèt ̡it̀ ou̶ţs̴ide of̴ a d̶eal wi͟th a d́e͟mon. And̵̴ s̢uc͞h a ̕c̶ostl̴y dea̵l̡ it wo̴uld̷ be, ͡too.” He floated over to a portrait of the very manor, the yellowed paper encased by thin glass. “T͞h͏ìs ma̧nor̴ wa̧ş c͡ons̢truct̛ed͏ w͡ít̵ḩ thé inte̢ņt o͝f ̢ca͞p̢tųrin͢g m̛e, fo̧rcing̷ me̴ t̨o cơmp̶ly to th͡e͠i͢r ne̴eds. Its͠ fra̴mes a͟r̛e en͞gra͟ve͠d wit̨h́ an̷ciȩnt runeś. Its͞ walls̀ are marr̨ed̨ with̢ hi̕dd͢e͟n̕ wa̢rd̢s. A͏nd̨ aļl th͏at'̀s not in͞clud̡ing ͏t͏heìr͡ m͏o͝st̷̢ p̨ower͏fúl of̧ co͢nf̵i̧ne͢me͏nt t̡o̡ols͝.”

“But͏ some͡t̨h̶in͞g̵ happȩn͡ȩd ͞t̨he nig͏ht ̀͡b̢e͠fore they ̢tri͠ed̀ t̨o̶ capt͠uŗé͡ m̵e̷. An͠d͝ I͝'̶m no͟t̕ şure̡͡ what. All͟ I do kno̷w͟ i̷ş t̷h̷a͟t six o͞f th̨e ͞sev̶e̡n̷ h̡u̧ma̕n̶s w̛er̵e͡ mu̢rdered, the̕͏ s͞ev̢e̵nţh ͞fleein͢g ͏f̵r̷om th̴i͏s plące be͏fo͏re the͟ý̨ cou̵l̕d ̛̀be ͝arrestéd. W͞hy? I͏ h͟ave̷ m̨y suspic̢io͞ns̵, aś̕ I’m su̢r̢e yơu ḑo as̡ w̢el̶l. B̷ut ͞͝who ͝exactl͢y? I ca̶n’t t̡éll yo͠u, a̡nd t̵ha̵t͢'s̶ w͝h̴a͏t ̕I w͞ant for you t̵o s͏olve. T͠he ide͢ņtity̷ of the s̡ev̛e̷n ͟pȩople̷ wḩo͢ tried̷ to captuŕe me ̡an̢d ́t͠he ͟c̴u͢l͢pr̛it béhind̵͏ th̶e murder͞s͡. Do t͞hat̡ àņd̴ I'l̛l o̷ffe͠r ͝y̕o̴u̢ a g͡e͏n̕e̴ro̡us rewa͢r̵d̡ f̛or y̢our tr̶o͏uble̶s.”

“That seems fair,” Cliff said, rising to his feet. “A luxurious stay and the chance to win a million dollars in return for solving a mystery even Alcor can’t. I’m ready for this.”

“Me too!” added Zahia.

“Of course you know where I stand,” commented Siegfried, pointedly ignoring the accusing glare 'Alcor’ was giving him.

“These youngsters sound so excited, honey,” Jillian said to her husband, who nodded in agreement. “We wish you all the best of luck.”

“A million dollars? You know, I’m starting to appreciate coming now,” Dug muttered.

“We can totally solve this, bro.” Belle and Dipper were sharing mirroring grins.

“I’m ready for a challenge,” Orrie chimed in.

“As am I,” Flynn spoke out.

'Alcor’ chuckled. “Goo̵ḑ͟ to ͏he͏a̡r. B̴eca͟use ͏a͡͞ ch͞a͢ll̴enge i͟s wh̛at̡ t̛his͞’ll b͟e. Y̢o̷u ha̷v͞e̵ u͝ņti̴l̶ n̶oon of the͡ th͢ird̢ da͠y t̷o s̷olve th͟e̛ my͏sterý. If you̡ ma͡na͡ge to succeed̵, the pr̵ize is yours͞, th̨ough͢͡ thos̷e wor͝ki̛ng i̛n̷ gr̴o̵up̴s will h̷av̀e to sp̴lit it. If ͢none͞ o͟f yǫu c͡a͟n sol͢ve the̷͟ m̷y̢s͠t̢eŗy̧ by tha̛t time̶ t͡h͡e͟n yo̡u l̷e͞a̷v̴e w̷it̨h nothin͡ǵ. D̀eąl?” Blue fire engulfed his hand.

“Deal.” Cliff answered for them all, stepping forward to shake the proffered hand. He looked a little nervous when the fire wrapped around his own hand, but didn’t say anything.

“P͞e̕rf͏ȩct͞. I'l͞l͏ l̢e̕av͠e t̕he hou̕se̛kȩe̛p̧ęrs͏ to get͏ yơu a͞ll s̶eţtled into y̷ou̧r r̵oo͠ms̨. In th̴e me͏antíme͠, good̶͟ luck̶.” And with that the lights flickered again, turned out completely for less than a second, and 'Alcor’ was gone.

The grandfather clock in the corner of the room chimed twelve.

The doors reopened and Ms. Wheatly stepped inside, holding several white envelopes. “These are for you. They’re where you’ll be sleeping during your stay.” She handed one to each of the primary guests. Orrie took his, noting the masterful penmanship of the calligraphy. 'Orso Walter’ it read. He opened it to find a tiny slip of paper inside. All that was on it was a single word: 'Keller’.

“Please, come with me. Your rooms are upstairs. I’ll guide you to them.”