Heroid

(( This just in! Misfit was almost Batgirl!



Details at eleven! ))

Tami Martinov sits yoga-style on the bed in her father’s room at the Paragon Hilton. He sits in the chair beside the bed. He speaks to her in a light Russian accent; she listens in a light American one.

“I spoke with Ms. Love. I have arranged for you to become a resident there.”

Tami smiles and feels like laughing, and says, “Thank you, Daddy!”

“Well, after some of the things she told me that my grandsons are doing… I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in them – especially Mikhail. But that apartment is no place for a young girl!” A look of anger flashes and then Mr. Martinov calms and continues, “Ms. Love seems very nice, very capable of seeing that you have what you need there.”

Tami nods. “Oh she is! She’s awesome! The whole place is awesome!”

“I trust you will behave yourself, and will not let me down.”

“I promise, Daddy.”

“And speaking of which…”

She frowns. She knew he would say something…

“I spoke also with this… Ryan Mabrey. He gave me his word that there would be no more dating and boyfriend until your birthday.”

Tami remains silent. She knew Ryan had promised him, but then she talked Ryan into eating burgers by the lake in Steel Canyon. Her father’s taxi passed them while they were sitting there.

“And yet, not an hour later, I see the two of you sitting together by the lake.”

“But that wasn’t a date! We were just eating and he was telling me how we couldn’t really date until my birthday and I hope the Half-Blood Prince is still playing then because it hasn’t gotten good box-office so it might not be and I really want to see it but I want to see it with Ryan because—“

Her father puts up a hand to halt her. “Let me make myself clear, my little one,” he says, “because after I am gone, it will be up to you to do the right thing, no matter how much you wish to do what you wish to do. I am not trying to control your life, though you are too young to have sole responsibility for your it. I am trying to make sure that you make good decisions. Disobeying your papa in this matter is not a good decision.”

Tami nods. “Yes, Daddy.”

“And this young man – he gave me his word. Did he go back on it?”

Tami shakes her head resolutely. “No! He made it very clear that we can’t date until my birthday. We only had the picnic so he could tell me that and we could make plans—“

“Plans? What kind of plans?”

“Plans for my birthday. We’re going to go see the new Harry Potter movie, if it’s still playing.”

“Ah. So this isn’t serious?”

Tami knew that “serious” was a code for “going all the way”. She blushes and feels like covering her head with a pillow, and says, “Gosh! No! Ew!”

Her father laughs and says, “Good. The boy is honorable then. In this, you have made a good choice.”

A smile pops out on her face and she feels a kind of giddiness inside at her father’s approval. The smile fades when she sees the sudden look of sadness on her father’s face.

“Daddy? What’s wrong?”

Dmitri Martinov, father of Tamara Martinov, and scientific genius of the former Soviet Union puts his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. He squeezes it twice before he can summon the courage to say the words…

“Little one, I am to die soon.”

((Game site says they're doing some sort of maintenance and that "early-start" players would be unable to access the servers right now, so maybe you are in time for it.))

((This is the 'Haps! ))

http://www.perhapanauts.com/about/

((Speaking of Mike Judge, I think King of the Hill might be the best animated show ever, especially since the Simpsons have been completely lackluster for the past eight or so seasons.

Agree? Disagree? Don't care? ))

((I'm watching this movie Idiocracy, and it's damned irritatating because the people in the future in it are just like the people in my town. The talk like 'em. Act like 'em. It's driving me crazy, but I've got to finish watching to see if Joe escapes with his sanity. I haven't. ))

Tami stood on top of the war wall and looked past the energy barrier toward the nearby airport.

Daddy had been pretty upset. When Mikey had handed the phone to her, her father had actually raised his voice. She tried to explain, but Mikey was the family’s golden boy, so it was his version of things that her father believed. The conversation ended with plane tickets home for her.

She had cried for hours.

Then she decided she wasn’t going to be pushed around by anyone – especially not her family! She was happy in Paragon. She didn’t want to go back to being home schooled. She didn’t want to leave Dani and Caden and Jo and Gage and Kit and all her new friends. Most of all, she didn’t want to leave Ryan – her boyfriend.

She giggled to herself. Boyfriend. She still couldn’t believe it. It was official.

She lightly touched her fingers to her lips and smiled.

She watched a plane take off and then looked at the time on her cell. Yes, that would be her flight.

Now, if her father wanted her to come home, he’d have to come get her. And when he got there and saw how happy she was, he’d let her stay. Best. Plan. Ever.

Tami teleported back to the street and, forgetting she was too old for such things, went skipping toward the train that would take her back to Atlas Park and her new home, Maggie’s Rock.

I admit, I was a bit worried after what I did at the war council. It just seemed disloyal to the Family. Still, it needed to be done, and my fears were calmed after a few days without anyone mentioning it.

So last night, we got word of some sort of mystical bunch calling themselves the Legacy Chain trying to establish themselves in Port Oakes. Miu and I checked into it. We checked into it rather violently, I might add. Of course they gave as good as they got, but in the end, the two of us proved to be more than they could handle. (But not by much.)

When we were done, I looked at my watch and realized I had promised to meet Tiny over at Blaggard's Bar near the docks. It was where he liked to go in his off-time. Not a fashionable place, and not expensive. I'd compare it to Wharf Rat in Independence Port -- cheap booze, cheaper women, and lots of action -- whatever kind you're looking for. Of coure, I didn't know what kind of place it was when I invited Miu to come along. Such a place is no place for a nice girl like her.

When we got there, Tiny was already seated at a table near the bar, surrounded by both friends and strangers. His booming voice was recounting a run-in with Mr. Bocor that began with a bloody skirmish and ended with them drinking together and picking up a pros--

And that's all I got of it. As soon as he saw Miu walk in with me, he stopped his story, obviously in deference to my girl, my squeeze. We each took a seat at the table with him, and when we both hesitated when asked what we'd have to drink, Tiny ordered two cans of cola, a bottle of Old Cutter, a bucket of ice, and two glasses. He poured our drinks himself.

Rum and Coke. Not bad. I highly recommend it.

"So, whachas been up to?" he asked.

Miu smiled, and sipped her drink, leaving me to answer.

"Some bunch of mystics called the Legacy Chain. Miu and I discouraged them from setting up in Port Oakes."

Tiny looked amused, and asked Miu, "Whadja do? Stun 'em with yer looks?"

"Exactly," Miu said with a laugh, "And then I shot 'em. Some of them though... I don' think they liked girls."

Tiny laughed and scooted his chair beside Miu. He put his arm across her shoulder and hugged her close to him. It worried me, what Miu might do, but the look she gave me let me know that she wasn't worried, and that I shouldn't be either.

"You know," Tiny said (and Miu made a face when the alcohol on his breath hit her), "If I was thirty years younger, ol' Mickey here would have some competition."

Miu blushed, and looked pleasantly demure, though I'm sure what she wanted to do was burst out laughing.

"Mickey," Tiny addressed me now, even though he still had his arm around my girlfriend, "Ya got a girl here just like your ma."

I nodded.

"Serious, your ma was the best-lookin', best-cookin', best-fightin' lady I ever met." I think I saw his eyes glisten with moisture then. "Whereever she is now, God bless her!"

Miu surprised me here. She gently caressed my giant bodyguard's cheek, then kissed it. This time it was Tiny who blushed.

"Hey, girly," someone said, and the three of us looked up to see that a couple of Goldbrickers had entered the bar and approached our table, one of which now addressed Miu. "Which one of these low-lifes are you with? Because I'm twice the man either of these bums are."

I started to stand, but Miu put a hand on my knee to stay me.

"Well then," she said to the offending Goldbricker, "You should have no trouble handling me."

Three things happened right at that exact moment: the Goldbricker smiled as if he thought it was his lucky night and --

The table flipped up crashing into the dirty scoundrel and his friend, obscuring his smugness and sending them both to the floor and --

Tiny grabbed the bottle of Old Cutter before it hit the floor and handed it to me.

Tiny and Miu were both on their feet, saying almost in chorus, "I got this," and telling me to stay put. I did.

It was quite a show. One of the Goldbrickers must have had a comm on him because soon, several more of thei kind were entering the bar, joining in the fight. The door was a choke point however and my girlfriend and my bodyguard just took them down as they came in -- punching them, kicking them, breaking bottles and furniture over them. Of course, I couldn't sit still and just watch. When some of the sailors and dockworkers decided to join in, so did I. I handed the bottle to the bartender and told him Tiny would want it back later.

I'm not sure who was on whose side. I just knew that anyone who came near Tiny, Miu, or me were going to be sorry.

Neither Miu, nor I used our powers, though I was sorely tempted to do so when my knuckles were ripped open on someone's teeth. But I bore it, took off my belt and wrapped it around my fist, and got back into the melee.

When it was over, the only ones left standing were the three of us, the bartender, and an aging call girl who had hidden in the ladies room.

"Miu," Tiny said, "I wish to God I was young enough to marry you."

Then he handed me the bottle of Old Cutter and told me to take her home and clean her up.

I looked at her then, her hair a mess, a spot of blood on her cheek, and her eyes practically glowing with the joy of mischief. I didn't blame Tiny for wanting to marry her. God, she looked --

"...ruined," she said. (I didn't catch all of it.)

"What?" I said.

"Every time we go out, I have to replace another outfit." She smiled as she said it and I knew that the brawl had been worth the ruined clothes to her.

"Go on," Tiny said, "Take 'er home and you kids get cleaned up. You're too young to be in a dive like this anyhow."

We both looked at him, unsure if he meant that or not. I took Miu home and we got cleaned up. Then I put her to bed and took my place on the sofa.

((Geoff Johns is cool because he's taking ancient characters and making them seem fresh.))

((I don't think any comic book character can survive for decades without there being something deeper to him than just four colors and a costume. There has to be something there that captures the imagination of generation after generation. Sure, the DCU has been "rebooted" a few times over the years, but Superman is still Superman, and Batman is still Batman. (I won't say Wonder Woman is still Wonder Woman, because up until the past decade or so, DC hasn't been able to figure out what to do with her.) So there's something to the characters that strikes a chord with readers. These characters are not going away, and at the end of whatever crisis you have, they will be pretty much the same. It might not be your cup of tea, but you don't **** with an icon.



As far as Marvel vs DC goes: I used to be a Marvel fan, with the only DC book that I really loved being Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes. I loved the Roy Thomas Avengers issues where the team consisted of Hawkeye, the Wasp, Goliath, and Hercules. I loved the Kree-Skrull War (probably the first and still the best in-continuity big event ever). I loved Starlin's Captain Marvel, and McGregor's Black Panther and Killraven, and Englehart's Dr. Strange, and Moench's Master of Kung Fu, and Thomas' Conan. Marvel was putting out some edgey stuff in the mid-to-late 70's. Stuff like they haven't put out since. Stuff that would only be published by Vertigo now because it was so far out there.

I even loved the X-Men revival up through the Helfire Club storyline. After that, when there got to be more mutants on earth than humans, it got kinda silly. (Talk about Superman being too powerful -- how come the Mutants were still crying about being oppressed all through the 80's and 90's and the first half of this decade when they clearly had the power to take over? Oh -- I forgot, Prof. X had some Superman-worthy lofty ideals.)

But now Marvel has *every* title wrapped up in this stupid Dark Reign thing, which started with that stupid Civil War thing. I might give them another chance at my dollars when they stop that kinda crap. But probably not. So long as they leave Ultimate Spider-man alone now, that's all I care about.

You'll notice that Final Crisis played out in it's own series and spin-offs without any major disruptions on other titles. They're doing the same with Darkest Night, keeping it mostly in it's own title, the GL books, and in spin-off books. I'm hoping DC has figured out that while big events are fun now and then, having your favorite books hijacked every summer sucks.



As far as propaganda goes, yeah, every single comic book character during WWII was used for propaganda. WWII was a time unlike any we'd ever seen, and I hope we never see again. The whole country had to be mobilized, and mobilized quickly, that on top of just beginning to come out of the Great Depression. The government used everything and everybody for the war machine. Was it a good thing? I'm not going to judge.

Post-Viet-Nam America requires a little more subtle approach as far as propaganda goes, but it's out there, and always will be. Every presidential administration has to sell its message to the people, whether its for war or peace.



Getting back to comic books, and comic book characters...

A good, skilled, imaginative writer can take any character, any setting, and tell a good, compelling story. It's just hard to do when you have to tie your story month-after-month into every other title being published. I'd love to see what the current crop of Marvel and DC writers -- Bendis, Johns, Parker, Willingham, etc, could do if they were given their books and told continuity be damned. That would be awesome.

Okay. This thread is getting lumpy and uncomfortable -- somebody fluff it! ))

((Sorry, I missed a post and this one should have gone just before the last one. A post from Miu's PoV.))

Ooooh! I’m going to KILL him for this one!

Okay, so yeah, I followed him to the Isles. I was worried about him! He went so far out of his way to piss everyone off—I mean, come on, he even drove Steph off—that I didn’t think he’d respond to anyone but me. Plus it’s NEVER boring around him. I really want to get deep inside his brain and see what makes him tick sometimes.

Right now, I think it’s ego.

I was using a different name at first, but then he started having trouble with the Family pushing all kinds of girls at him. So we hatched a plan that I’d pretend to be his girlfriend to get people off his back. Biiiiig mistake. The second I agreed to that I think I stopped being a friend to him. He’s acting like I’m throwing myself at him and begging for his presence and love, and expecting me to swoon over his piano playing. He’s not THAT good.

And now this whole charade thing! I told him if he wanted me to kiss him he owed me a date first—and if the Family had a problem with that, he could make up whatever he wanted about why he’s in hot water with me. Instead, he’s sneaking me around the apartment in a towel so it looks like I’m not wearing anything so he can show off how he’s got this beautiful girl at his beck and call. And it looks like I’m just camera shy.

*sigh* Speaking of cameras, I better go disable all the visible ones again. As long as I’m leaving the hidden ones alone, maybe they won’t know that I know they’re there. If they’ve got no reason to check the hidden ones, I think they’ll leave MY hidden cameras alone. (Two can SO play that game.)