TwiLyghtSansSparkles

Thanks. He's a very strong-willed person from a family of strong-willed people. I based them a bit on my own family. Due to a quirk of birth order, we are all technically firstborns, and we learned three weeks after buying the game that we cannot play Risk together. Last time we did that, a disagreement over who won Kamchatka almost led to blows.

Yeah, go ahead. I need to gather my thoughts and make my next Oregon post a bit less scattered. :/

Tomorrow. I will have it tomorrow. I think Al might have some serious competition here.

Glad I'm not anywhere near the MEE, then. I'm already always sneezing. I like him. Also, my siblings and I came up with an Epic name last night: Waffle-Fist. (Please be inspired, please be inspired) You know what would be adorable? A Raycyclist/Algaze double date.

Funtimes blushed and giggled as the magician kissed her hand. "Ooooohhhhh, your mustache is snazzy," she said. Remington wasn't so sure he agreed. He had hoped that sort of Snidely Whiplash mustache had been outlawed the moment people stopped going to vaudeville shows. It, coupled with the smile below it, reminded Remington of a used car salesman. One in particular. His mother had proven capable of throwing quite the punch, when he said the things he did. Speaking of punches…. Traveler had walked over with Sam and Revolution, the former of whom seemed engrossed in some sort of verbal sparring match with the cricket-tattooed Epic. He wore his usual smile, though if Remington wasn't mistaken, there was an undercurrent of Please help me get away from these crazies before I fling myself off the museum. Amazing how much one smile could convey. Funtimes finished her giggle and brightened. "You need to meet my boyfriend! Let me go get him you'll love him so much!" She scampered off toward the only sane Epic of the bunch. Remington tried to catch his eye, but he had already turned his back. There was no blending in as an Epic. If any Epic saw this as a drawback, Nathan had never met them. Even those graced with invisibility found ways to call attention to themselves if the situation allowed for it—vanishing when the bill was brought, or reappearing at the exact moment a foe collapsed from whatever had been slipped into their drink. So far as Nathan could tell, he was the only Epic who would rather stand in a crowd and remain unnoticed by everyone in it. And, as Lightwards now knew, his Epic identity was nothing more than a costume. He hated admitting it, but his talk with Sam and Revolution made joining the others worse. His Traveler mask had slipped, and he wanted to crush it and stomp it into the dirt. Stand behind Sam as she traded jibes over gothic garb and shoes. Let his suit camouflage him as he melted into the jungle. Instead, he smiled through their verbal sparring match, shook his head with a chuckle, and turned away—only to have Funtimes wrap her hands around his arm. "Come see come see there's someone you need to meet!" She giggled. Nathan couldn't help feeling relieved. It might be as much as mask for her darkness as his duster was for his lack of powers, but she had never giggled—barely even smiled—as she threatened Lightwards with repeated murder. She had giggled as she turned Fortuity's own hat against him. Giggles were definitely an improvement over scowls. "There's somebody I want you to meet," she said. "Oh?" Why hadn't she demanded he take her there? "He's nice. His mustache is soooo snazzy!" Nathan turned and followed her pointing finger. What appeared to be a magician crossed with an early 1900s vaudeville villain stood some distance away in top hat and cape. "Another Epic?" She frowned briefly, but it vanished into an even wider grin. "He'll like you and you'll like him. Come on. Please? Please?" Funtimes drew out the second please so long Nathan couldn't help a small chuckle. Terrifying or not, she knew how to be cute. "All right, take me to this…what was his name?" "I don't know yet," she said, tugging him toward the magician. "But he likes pancakes and he knows how to wear a top hat!" She stopped before the magician, throwing her arms around Nathan's waist. "This is my boyfriend. He's awesome."

Nighthound, of course, because he and Ray belong together.

I like it. Two snide people, going at it for hours and hours.... I also kind of feel like Oprah with our vanilla characters. "YOU get an archenemy! YOU get an archenemy! EVERYBODY GETS AN ARCHENEMY!" Which isn't a bad dynamic, actually. I'm already curious as to who Revolution's archenemy would be.

In the end, he decided that it was a suitable punishment, on par with that of Tantalus from the Greek myths. Yeah, well, downplaying it was my only hope of getting it to actually happen.

"His hat is gone. That means he'll either die next, or he'll have to live forever without his hat." Sadly, the Kitten-kaboodles have a subtle advantage, as their leader can simply turn any Leprechaun's bowler hat into a pair of glittering pink Converse with a snap of her fingers.

He totally looks like a Vincenzo. In their final climactic duel in Walmart, Remington will shoot his hat first.

I love how a random bit of Funtimes insanity became a permanent part of his outfit.

Would Lightwards' hat also count as her weakness, since that thing practically shouts NOTICE MEEEEEEE!!!!

"Sam! What are you doing?" "Just eating ice cream." "That's Steelheart's ice cream!" "Huh. No wonder it's so delicious." "How did you even get it out of his freezer?" "Dunno. Just kinda...walked in and there it was." "....Have you ever considered a career with the Reckoners?"

Maybe Al and Voidgaze could join is in that bunker.

Red, white, and yellow. Those are the colors of McDonalds, which she wears because she is ​obviously marrying Big Al. Cake, a laptop, Spam, and the Leftover Artist. I think we're good.

Did I mention I also knit? Can't go through the apocalypse without a few warm sweaters. Also, reactions posted. Took a bit longer than I thought, but I left it open for you to introduce Aldo and Nathan. (I am very excited to see how he'll react, by the way. I find Aldo hilarious, in a completely "Oh my gosh I can't believe you said that, please say more funny and terrible things while I hide behind this riot shield" sort of a way. )

For more than a few seconds, Lightwards looked ready to strike him. He stood with his mouth agape, fingers twitching. Remington met his gaze without flinching. Go on now, he thought. Hit me. Get this fight started and we'll see who ends it. Doors crashed open, and man's voice called out. "Hello floating museum! Backtrack and friends are in--" A moment of silence passed, and some sort of magician swept into the jungle, flourishing his cape. A host of Epics—for that was the only thing they could be—followed. One wore a pair of shorts and tight blue shirt, her cricket tattoo the only indication of her status. Beside her were a pair of twins, flanking a grinning man in pink sunglasses. Then Purple Phoenix, who stood beside a tall woman with disheveled hair and upwards of a thousand pockets stitched into her old-fashioned dress. There was an old man in a suit and top hat beside a young boy in a grey hoodie. Finally, another woman who stared at the jungle as though she had never seen trees before, spoke. "My name is Parity. Can you explain how you got this many plants to grow up here? Or actually, how there is a museum several thousand feet above the ground!" Funtimes skipped over. "I'm Doctor Funtimes. That was me." She giggled. Whatever murderous thoughts were floating about her head seemed to have been stuffed down in a drawer somewhere. "Isn't it prettyful?" Lucentia clapped her hands for attention. “I´m sure that someone had a stroke of genius when designing this place but certainly we have more important matters to discuss than the overdone ledgermain to impress the masses, namely business and presumably this would be the man to discuss it with.” Remington scowled at Lightwards. He would have liked to land a punch or two. "It looks like Lightwards got some new teammates," Revolution said, her smile broadening. "Shall we make their acquaintances?" "Count me in," Sam said, bouncing to her feet. "Might as well show 'em what they'll have to put up with in this place." There were new Epics in the museum. New Epics who may or may not be the dismembering sort, and Sam and Revolution were planning to stand and make snide remarks about their costumes. Not in hushed giggles in the safety of a noisy kitchen, but at full volume to their faces. What kind of human did that? What kind of Epic chose a human like that as her friend? "Need an ibuprofen?" Sam asked as Nathan got to his feet. "I was gonna offer you one of the muddy ones we found in the gift shop, but I could ask Funtimes to whip you up a few." "That would probably be the healthier option," Revolution said with a laugh. "Yeah, I don't want to kill him with bad medicine." She paused to slip him a wink. "Anymore." Does she even know about this? He thought back to the previous night, when Revolution had proclaimed Lightwards a joyous leprechaun. That was when Funtimes welcomed her to the circle of people she liked. People she called her friends. Nathan gave a small laugh. Now wasn't the time to consider Funtimes' reasoning; he doubted she paused to do that often. "Thanks, but I'm good. I've survived worse—without wanting to kill anyone, I might add." He grinned, then straightened. There were new Epics in the museum, and his secret stayed in the Empire. If the thought of joining those Epics made him want to run, the thought of joining them while pretending to be one of them made him want to lock himself in a closet and beg Funtimes to remove the door. But Sam and Revolution, whether they realized it or not, were right. They had to join the Epics in the main hall—or at the very least, he did. If a whisper from Voidgaze was enough to make Lightwards demand he blow his cover, then finding him chatting amiably with two smart-mouthed girls would wreak havoc on what was left of it. Then again, if Funtimes called them her friends, her boyfriend might have slightly more liberty in his reactions. "Look, can I just tell them you amuse me or something?" He couldn't contain a grin. "I don't think I'll be able to act mad if you say anything about Lightwards' hat." -------------------------------- Scorch was dead. Scorch, a former teammate, was dead, and Altermind was calling a meeting. Panacea couldn't say she was upset over Scorch's death. The thought of one less fire Epic who enjoyed harm in the world was a comforting, if not a happy one. But to give him one announcement—one announcement that was mostly insults—and call a meeting immediately after…. Why did I let you talk me into this, Strongsteel? We were doing just fine on our own. Now we're with some guy who'll toss us aside the second we're no longer useful. Throw an announcement out on the mobile network, and call a meeting to talk strategy…. She tried not to think of the injured people in the infirmary. Sitting there, cuts and burns and bruises blighting their skin, one woman with a broken arm…. Her eye twitched. Altermind introduced everyone in turn. Before Panacea could think whether or not she had anything to add, a man with dark hair entered the building, preceded by an announcement that he had made the guards drunk. Intervention. An Epic who caused drunkenness. Panacea's eye twitched. She couldn't stop thinking about those people in the infirmary.

How about we split the laptop and the soup? And I could probably fix some decent stir-fry with the garlic Spam. I once made some Thai-style noodles with leftover Parmesan chicken, cold spaghetti noodles, some veggies, and a bit of hot sauce from Chipotle. (That stuff makes some seriously good stir-fry.)

Spam? Puh-leeze. I'm a granola. A granola from a family of preppers. I've got freeze-dried meat and powdered tomatoes. Minestrone soup all the way, baby!

Can I join you in that bunker? Please?

Not just the same part of the country, but the same city. Which is a bit odd, because I'm near the Mexican border, and you described Calamityville as taking up Northern California... O.O THEIR TERRITORY IS FAR GREATER THAN EVEN YOU COULD HAVE IMAGINED. The second I have my Master's degree, I'm hightailing it for North Dakota.

The funniest thing happened this morning. I had just finished fixing my hair and was making myself a cup of tea when I spied an ad in a newspaper someone had left open on the counter. I read further: I'll have you know that I will finalize my plans to flee the state just as soon as I'm done with my latest bout of terrified wailing. And in the meantime, I'll try to stop screaming long enough to write up a post for Oregon.

Favorite superhero: Call me weird all you want, but my favorite Marvel hero has got to be Captain America. Sure, his powers aren't flashy, but he uses them well. On top of that, he's just nice. It's almost like being nice his his primary power. No toying with the Moral Event Horizon for him; he sees evil, hears the temptation, and says "Nope, I'm good" while carrying his shield back down the straight and narrow. For DC, it's definitely Batman. Yes, he's the polar opposite of Captain America, but man does he make it awesome! No bones about it: he could have been another Joker, and that is the most fascinating part of his character. He could have been like any of the costumed villains in Gotham, and yet he continually chooses to stand against them. Favorite supervillains: I'm fond of the Joker (Heath Ledger's is unmatched, in my book), Harley Quinn, and Steelheart. It's hard not to be terrified of Evil Superman.

I'm gonna ship it.