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thekillingvote · 8 months

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No Birds Allowed: Batman without Robin

The usual claim is that Jason Todd was singularly hated by audiences. Dick Grayson, Carrie Kelley, and Tim Drake are proper, beloved Robins—and Jason Todd is the one and only outlier so unlikable that audiences killed him off by popular vote.

But this claim ignores a massive piece of the puzzle—the Robin role has long been treated as an outdated remnant of a childish era, not only by a significant share of Batman fans, but also by Batman creative teams. While there were definitely fans who hated Jason Todd, he was at least partly chosen to be killed as a scapegoat for some long-standing complaints about the Robin role in Batman stories.

The 1988 poll to kill Jason Todd wasn't just a poll to kill Jason Todd—the poll to kill Robin was a poll to kill Robin.

Fan letters columns from Batman #221 and Detective Comics #398, reacting to Dick leaving for Hudson University in Batman #217 (1969):

Denny O'Neil Batman/Detective Comics writer (1970-1980) Batman group editor (1986-2000) on sending Robin away to Hudson University:

Dan Greenfield: Actually, last night I went back through my comics and the one thing that always strikes me is that before you came onto the character, they’d already made the decision to have Robin leave. Robin was up at Hudson University and was used sparingly from that point forward. Denny O’Neil: Well, that was a conscious decision of mine. Greenfield: Oh! O’Neil: Yeah, I mean … I had been offered Batman a year before I did it. Greenfield: No kidding? I wanna hear this. O’Neil: Because that was in the (Batman TV show) camp thing. The comics were very half-heartedly following in the footsteps of the camp because it was having a palpable effect on circulation. That’s not always true but it was in that case. Camp as in the sense — as opposed to the more erudite sense — this one-line joke about: “I loved this stuff when I was 6 and now that I’m 28 and I have a bi-weekly appointment with a therapist and a little, mild drug habit and two divorces, ‘Look how silly it is.'” I would go into the most literary bar in Greenwich Village on (Wednesday) or Thursday evenings and there would be writers and poets and college professors, all looking at Batman! But when that was over, it was over. It was like somebody turned a switch. And that’s when (editor) Julie (Schwartz) said, in his avuncular way, did I have any ideas for Batman? And at that point, I wasn’t going to be asked to do camp. I was going to be asked to do anything within the bounds of good taste, etc., that I wanted to.

O'Neil, quoted from “Notes from the Batcave: An Interview with Dennis O’Neil” in The Many Lives of The Batman: Critical Approaches to a Superhero and His Media:

There was a time right before I took over as Batman editor when he seemed to be much closer to a family man, much closer to a nice guy. He seemed to have a love life and he seemed to be very paternal towards Robin. My version is a lot nastier than that. He has a lot more edge to him.

O'Neil in 2015:

Modern Batman does not do camp. He has to evolve but to stay true to the concept he has to stay lonely. The kids, there shouldn't be many. Keep him the lone, obsessed crusader and the stories will be better. We did a story called Son of the Demon. It told a story where he had a kid, a baby. It wasn't in continuity. These days, the kid came back and became the new Robin, and I hear that Batman's got a few more running around.

Jim Starlin, Batman writer (1987-1988), writer of A Death in the Family:

I tried to avoid using [Robin] as much as I could. In most of my early Batman stories, he doesn’t appear. Eventually Denny asked me to do a specific Robin story, which I did, and I guess it went over fairly well from what I understand. But I wasn’t crazy about Robin.

I thought that going out and fighting crime in a grey and black outfit while you send out a kid in primary colors was kind of like child abuse. So when I started working on Batman, I was always leaving Robin out of the stories, and Denny O’Neil who is the editor finally said, "You gotta put [Robin] in."

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In the one Batman issue I wrote with Robin featured, I had him do something underhanded, as I recall. Denny had told me that the character was very unpopular with fans, so I decided to play on that dislike. [...] At that time, DC had this idea that they were gonna do an AIDS education book, and so they put a box out and wanted everybody to put in suggestions of who should contract AIDS and perish in the comics. I stuffed it with Robin. They realized it was all my handwriting so they ended up throwing all my things out. About six months later, Denny came up with this idea of the call-in thing. [...] I didn’t find out about it until I came back [from Mexico] and found out that, just as I expected, my ghoulish little fans voted him dead. But by a much smaller margin than I’d imagined. It was only like 72 votes out of 10,000, so statistically it was next to nothing.

Dan Raspler, assistant editor/associate editor to Denny O’Neil (1988-1990):

Denny wasn’t really interested in comics continuity, and he didn’t like superheroes. And if you read his work, you see his influence was really a pushing away from the conventions at the time—it was growing old, that sort of Golden Age-y, Silver Age-y stuff, and Denny sort of modernized it, and he never stopped feeling that way. Jim Starlin’s Batman appealed to Denny. It was a little more ‘down to Earth. Nobody liked Robin at the time. For a while Robin was not—it didn’t make sense in comics. Comics were darkening, and so having the kid was just, it was silly, and even at the time I kind of didn’t. Now Robin is my favorite all-time character, but at the time when I was twenty-whatever, I accepted kicking Robin out, the short pants and all the rest of it.

Comic shop owner Phil Beracha on A Death in the Family, quoted in The Sun Sentinel (October 22, 1988):

"I got 100 copies, and I don't expect them to last past the weekend," said Phil Beracha, owner of Phil's Comic Shoppe in Margate. "I usually get 50 copies of Batman. I doubled my order, and I still expect to sell out." The readers voted right, Beracha said. "Robin is an outdated concept. He was created in the `40s, and back then in a comic book you could have a kid beating up grown men. I don't think that works today."

Writer Steve Englehart, quoted in "Batman, the Gamble; Warner Bros. is betting big money that a 50-year-old comic book vigilante will be a `hero for our times'" in the Los Angeles Times (June 18, 1989):

Writer Steven Englehart, who did a series of Batman stories in Detective Comics, also worked up some movie treatments. In a letter to Comics Buyer's Guide, he revealed the approach he had in mind, which would have pleased Batfanatics: "My first treatment had Robin getting blown away in the first 90 seconds, so that every reviewer in the country would begin his review with, `This sure isn't the TV show.' "

Michael Uslan, producer and film rights holder for the 1989 Batman film:

I only let Tim [Burton] see the original year of the Bob Kane/Bill Finger run, up until the time that Robin was introduced. I showed him the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers and the Neal Adams/Denny O'Neil stories. My biggest fear was that somehow Tim would get hold of the campiest Batman comics and then where would we be?

"Death Knell for the Campy Crusader" in the Orlando Sentinel (23 June 1989):

For most people, the name Batman summons up a picture of a clown in long johns, a Campy Crusader who - with the young punster Robin - ZAPed and POWed his way into our lives. That's the Batman that appeared on TV in the mid-'60s, and that's the Batman that the world at large knows. Such is the power of television. But this ludicrous image may become obsolete now that the new, $40 million Batman movie has opened. Robin is absent from the film, as are the perky Batgirl and the utterly superfluous Aunt Harriet of the TV series. And though the movie has plenty of sound effects, they don't appear on the screen as words, spelled out in neo-Brechtian absurdity.

Sam Hamm, writer for Batman (1989 live-action film):

The Case of the Disappearing Robin is high comedy. Tim (Burton) and I had worked out a plotline that did not include the Boy Wonder, whom we both regarded as an unnecessary intrusion. Really: Our hero was crazy to begin with. Did he have to prove it by enlisting a pimply adolescent to help him fight crime? Was Bat-Baby unavailable? But the studio was insistent: There was no such thing as solo Batman, there was only Batman and Robin. So, after holding off the executives for as long as we could, Tim and I realized we had better try to accommodate them. He flew up to my house in San Francisco and we walked around in circles for two days, finally deciding that there was no way to shoehorn Robin into our story. [...] We figured that if we managed to squeeze him in, the lame hacks who were making the sequel could worry about what to do with him next. When the film went into production in London, and ran seriously over budget, WB started looking for a sequence that could be cut to save money. And there was one obvious candidate: Intro Robin! So Robin was cut from the movie and shoved back to Batman Returns— from which he was cut yet again and shoved back to Batman Forever.

Grant Morrison on creating Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (written 1987-1988, published 1989) with Dave McKean (see the annotated script's fourth page):

The original first draft of the script included Robin. Robin appeared in a few scenes at the beginning then remained at Police Headquarters for the bulk of the book, where he spent his time studying plans and histories of the house, in order to find a way in to help his mentor. Dave McKean, however, felt that he had already compromised his artistic integrity sufficiently by drawing Batman and refused point blank over for the Boy Wonder — so after one brave but ridiculous attempt to put him in a trench coat, I wisely removed him from the script.

Paul Dini on Batman: The Animated Series (1992), as told in the 1998 book Batman Animated:

The Fox Network, on the assumption that kids won't watch a kid’s show unless kids are in it, soon began insisting that Robin be prominently featured in every episode. When Fox changed the title from Batman: The Animated Series to The Adventures of Batman & Robin, they laid down the law-no story premise was to be considered unless it was either a Robin story or one in which the Boy Wonder played a key role. Out were underworld character studies like “It's Never Too Late"; in were traditional Batman and Robin escapades like “The Lion and the Unicorn.” A potentially intriguing Catwoman/Black Canary team-up was interrupted in midpitch to the network by their demand, “Where's Robin?” When the writers asked if they could omit Robin from just this one episode, Fox obliged by omitting the entire story. Looking back, there was nothing drastically wrong with Robin's full-time insertion into the series—after all, kids do love him. Our major gripe at the time was that it started turning the series into the predictable Batman and Robin show people had initially expected it would be. For the first season, Batman had been an experiment we weren't sure would work. We were trying out different ways of telling all kinds of stories with Batman as our only constant. For better or worse, having a kid forced him, and the series, to settle down.

Christian Bale, star of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy (2008):

If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I'll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work.

Summed up

Among the keepers of Batman, there has been a vocal contingent arguing against the inclusion of Robin. They argue that Robin damages Batman's brooding, solitary persona. They argue that the concept of Robin is too ridiculous and fantastic for the grounded, gritty ideal of Batman. They argue that a respectable version of Batman shouldn't allow, encourage, or train "child soldiers" to endanger their lives fighting against violent evil-doers.

The original and most iconic Robin, Dick Grayson, has definitely benefited from his deep roots in DC lore and his consistent popularity among fans—and yet even he has been shunned from various Batman projects over the decades. When even he struggles to get his foot in the door, his successors face stiffer opposition.

So it's not quite correct to say that Jim Starlin hated Jason Todd. In his own words, Starlin wasn't fond of Robin, and his storytelling (most obviously A Death in the Family) set out to argue against Batman having any kind of "partner" at all. This, following the wildly successful comic that treated Barbara Gordon as a disposable prop. A growing audience welcomed the Dark Age, and the gruesome spectacles made of kid-friendly elements like Batgirl and Robin.

This trend could be broken by the upcoming sequel to The Batman and by the planned slate of upcoming DCU films. But most Robin fans will tell you that many movie-going Batman fans still have their doubts about Robin sharing Batman's spotlight.

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the-lumpfish-king · 10 months

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HEY! It’s me, Lump!

Thought I’d make one of these pined post things to introduce myself.

My name is [REDACTED], but you can call me Lump.

I’m a 23 year old ginger, use any pronouns with a slight lean towards they/it, and am an aroace pansexual.

I have a degree in Physics with plans to go into a PhD program for research Astronomy. My area of focus is galaxy structure, formation, and evolution. I’m currently working on my first research papers, adapting my undergraduate thesis work into proper astronomy journal form. I love doing physics and take requests for calculations, stupid or serious (check “#lump’s calculations” for those I’ve done so far, these are my best posts by far).

I try to keep fully nsfw stuff off this blog, but mild nsfw is to be expected

Outside of research, work, and classes I can usually be found gaming, playing MTG, or putting way too much effort into my shitposts while watching something on my second monitor.

If you take one thing away from reading this it’s GO PLAY OUTER WILDS RIGHT NOW. Do not look up anything about it, just play the game and then get your friends to play it. Then we can all talk about it. Please, I need to talk about this masterpiece with more people.

Now that you’ve learned about me I have gained access to your walls. Don’t worry, all I do is nibble a bit of drywall from time to time.

Fun Facts below

My personal motto is: “We do not matter in the grand scheme of the universe, so why not have fun with life.”

My plushies names: -Tofrug: Lord Squishers -Manatee: Weapon of Lettuce Destruction -Reimu Fumo: Air Fried Bastard -Hydreigon: Hans -Vaporeon: Dihydrogen Monoxide Puppy -Meowscarada: Greenfield -Reshiram: Nuclear Mommy -Gardevior: Horizon - Blåhaj: Jimbei

I love nature, and evergreen forests in particular. I enjoy hiking and mushroom and berry picking. My most proud find is this massive cluster of morels I came across a couple years back.

Here’s an overabundance of my personal top 3′s, not necessarily the three I think are best (except Outer Wilds, that’s best thing humanity has produced). Games: Outer Wilds, FFXIV, Ori and the Will of the Wisps Manga: One Piece, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Berserk Books: Red Rising, Percy Jackson, A Song of Ice and Fire Movies: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Secret of Kells, How to Train Your Dragon Shows: Mob Psycho 100, Good Omens, Ya Boy Kongming! Characters: Mr Torgue Highfive Flexington, Kronk, Nico Robin Mountains: Mt. Hood, Sierra de la Laguna, Mauna Kea Flying Critters: Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox, Pelican, Toucan Landbound Creatures: Red Panda, Jumping Spider, Goliath Frog Marine Animals: Sea Lion, Lumpfish, Giant Pacific Octopus Pokemon: Gardevoir, Hisuian Goodra, Zekrom Soundtracks: FFXIV, Made in Abyss, Wildfrost Albums: Starship Velociraptor, The Cures What Ails Ya, Westwinds (The Real McKenzies) Foods: Cottage Pie, Khao Soi, my dad’s Chile Verde Fruit: Mexican Pitaya, Atemoya, Mango, Huckleberry Galaxy Clusters: Abell 0209, Abell 1689, macs0416

Here’s a couple of neat galaxy pictures I took using my university’s telescope:

Completely unedited pic of me

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serenity-lattes · 1 year

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Where Stranger Things characters would actually live in Indiana.

If you’re actually from Indiana, this will make sense to you. I live within 40 minutes of where Hawkins supposedly is and these are my hot takes.

Hopper: It was mentioned that he was originally from “the big city” and honestly, I think it would be Fort Wayne. Lots of factories there and he just fits, I have no specific reasons. He would definitely avoid the north end, it would be too “metro” for him.

Murray: South Bend. There is a specific demographic there and that’s where the conspiracy theories would reside.

The Byers: South side Muncie. Will would be enamored with the children’s museum and there are loads of pretty sceneries for Jon to snap pictures of. Joyce would have her selection of small mom-n-pop shops to work at.

The Wheelers: Bloomington. Higher class, college town. Nancy and Mike would have all the opportunities they could dream of in this hellscape of a state.

Steve: Carmel. It’s ritzy and pretty centralized in the state. And holy shit it’s SO NICE but it’s round-about hell. There are no stoplights or stop signs, just round-abouts. I avoid it at all costs, but the Clay Terrace is fun to walk around and shop at.

Robin: Northern Greenfield. It’s a suburb of Indy, but there’s a little part of the town that’s lower-middle class. Even though the houses are only 45k, they’re pretty decent.

El: Logansport. If you expect something “off” to go on in Indiana, it’ll be in freaking Logansport. When you’re not smelling the awful odors from Tyson’s factory, you get the interesting stories from the state hospital. I think she would be in the more rural part of town, but there are specific spots in the downtown I could picture her in.

Dustin: Wabash. I know many people from this town and honestly, all the kids have talent. It’s smaller, but it has a Wal-Mart, and there is a great farmer’s market and music/theatre scene.

The Munsons: Converse. It’s a really small town, but there are really neat places to visit (see Jefferson Street BBQ). But given the reasons above for Dustin, they could easily live there too.

The Sinclairs: Southern Kokomo. Not the biggest town, not the smallest. It’s quite diverse. And the houses on this side of town are pretty nice! There are pretty ponds and an amazing Japanese steakhouse. HOWEVER!!! Please avoid the north-east end because it’s fucking scary. Every time I’m on that end of town, it’s guaranteed to result in hearing at least one set of “pop-pop-pops”. Give me a Demogorgon any day.

The Hargrove-Mayfields: This would have been Neil’s plan to move. And what we know about Neil, he’s not a nice or accepting person in any capacity. Elwood, for sure. I’ve had dear friends run out of these because a specific “clan” of people reside there. However, once Billy and Max are old enough to leave, they head for Lafayette. It’s not California, but it’s a nice enough, big enough place to be.

Bob Newby: He’s so quaint and pleasant, he would be from Jasper. There’s a nice train ride you can do on the weekends during the fall and I can picture him being one of the tour guides on it.

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moonlightmile12 · 6 months

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Good-Bye Britain Tour - March 1971

"While by all rights any account of the Rolling Stones on tour should begin with a detailed description of the whereabouts of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the two central figures of this tale, both of them, as well as guitarist Mick Taylor, have missed the train.

Although the Stones cannot possibly go onstage tonight without them, no one seems particularly concerned about their absence. As it turns out, the two Micks will catch a later train and arrive in plenty of time for the show.

Mick Taylor on this tour still seemed incredibly shy and unsure of himself except when he was performing onstage.

Getting to her feet in the far corner of the room, a striking-looking young woman with a sharp-boned face, long red hair, glittering eyes, and pale, lightly freckled skin begins making her way toward the bar. Having given birth to Mick Taylor’s daughter Chloe just two months ago, she seems far more direct and outgoing than the newest member of the Rolling Stones as well as very much at home in the company of rock stars.

Though I knew none of this at the time, Rose Millar (whom everyone always called Rose Taylor even though she and Mick Taylor were not yet married) was also on her first tour with the Rolling Stones. Described by her younger brother Robin, who in time would himself become a well-known record producer, as having “always been wild from the age of fifteen” as well as “car-stoppingly gorgeous,” Rose had been expelled from the exclusive St. Paul’s Girls’ School in London. She had then gone to work in the editorial department of an advertising magazine while hanging out with rock stars like Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, Georgie Fame, Long John Baldry, and Rod Stewart.

Giving up her job at Mick Taylor’s request after they had begun living together, Rose had met the Stones for the first time while they were recording Sticky Fingers. As she would later say, “I began going to the sessions at Olympic Studios and I couldn’t believe how rude they all were. To each other, really. I was used to bands who all got on well with one another but these people didn’t have the same camaraderie and would turn up whenever they felt like it. Mick Taylor seemed to be there all the time as did Charlie and Bill but they were all absolutely always waiting for Mick or Keith.”

While being out on the road with the Stones seemed, as Rose would later say, “a bit more exciting and better than the slog of the studio, the tour wasn’t really fun because even at that point I think Mick Taylor realized he had made a mistake by joining them. Even then. Because he could have done other things. He could have gone and joined Paul Butterfield. He could have done music he was more interested in than rock ’n’ roll. He could have played the blues. And jazz. He was also taking classical guitar lessons. His music interests were very wide and if he had done something that he had been the boss of, it would have been better for him than taking this job which of course everyone said, ‘Oh, you have to do this. It’s so wonderful.’

In all the time he did it, he never ever thought it was wonderful. Ever. If he played well, it was okay except that Keith would turn his amp down. Or he would only have the time of his solo to play well and that was that. If he played badly, they applauded anyway so he felt there was no discernment on the part of the audience. He didn’t feel he was making any contribution that was really important. He was so sensitive. And he was never satisfied with what he did with them, really.”

Since Mick Taylor rarely said anything at all on this tour and seemed to be playing at the height of his powers on a nightly basis, no one had any idea how he was really feeling. Never shy about expressing herself, the same could not be said about Rose."

Robert Greenfield

#the rolling stones #mick taylor #rose millar #robert greenfield

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radroschka · 1 year

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The Greenfields

Lucy Greenfield comes from old money, as her family owns the local garden store, Greenfield Garden Center. But she’s surprisingly humble, as all she and her botanist husband Henry care about is plants and family. Lucy loves going hiking and on adventures with her three kids, Olive, Robin, and Arthur. Olive is a homebody who loves cooking and baking, and hopes to open a restaurant someday. Robin is a creative tomboy who loves getting into trouble. Arthur is only 2, but he is a fun little rascal who can often be found playing with Gus, the family Maine Coon cat.

The Greenfields live in Fern Acres.

Origin ID: radroschka

#sims 4 #show us your sims #my sims #ts4 #the sims #mine #me #the greenfields #greenfields

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hot-and-confused · 2 years

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🎬📺 Share ten different favorite characters from ten different pieces of media in no particular order 🎮🃏 Then send this to 10 people (anon or not, your choice)

okay choosing only 10 WAS SO HARD but here doves :)

+ james “bucky” barnes // the winter soldier ( sebastian stan ) - the marvel cinematic expanded universe

+ william “billy” hargrove ( dacre montgomery )- stranger things

+ rafe cameron ( drew starkey ) - outer banks

+ steve harrington ( joe keery ) - stranger things

+ bruce wayne // batman ( christian bale ) - batman begins

+ draco malfoy ( tom felton ) - harry potter franchise

+ natasha romanoff // the black widow ( scarlet johansson ) - the marvel cinematic expanded universe

+ robin buckley ( maya hawke ) - stranger things

+ regina george ( rachel mcadams ) - mean girls

+ winston schmidt ( max greenfield ) - new girl

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leanstooneside · 10 days

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Seeing things clearly

1. SCOTT DISICK'S SUPPLE SHOULDER

2. ASHLEY BENSON'S SWEET NECK

3. SONJA MORGAN'S TOAST FOREHEAD

4. ANNA KENDRICK'S DENSE BUTTOCKS

5. DIANNA AGRON'S GRIPPY LEG

6. SCOTT SPEEDMAN'S LEATHERY BOTTOM

7. HARRISON FORD'S ANGULAR ARM

8. CHRIS PINE'S REFINED LEG

9. KENNY CHESNEY'S ROUGH HAND

10. BALTHAZAR GETTY'S INTELLECTUALLY SATISFYING CHEEK

11. SHAKIRA'S TAR LOWER LEG

12. CHERYL COLE'S MINERALLY ANKLE

13. JENNIFER LAWRENCE'S EXPRESSIVE ARM

14. JOHN MAYER'S ROUND FIST

15. TAYLOR ARMSTRONG'S STRUCTURED FOOT

16. ASHLEY OLSEN'S LASER-LIKE THUMB

17. KEVIN HART'S CREAMY CHIN

18. CHRIS HEMSWORTH'S DRY CHEEK

19. ANDREW GARFIELD'S GRASSY ELBOW

20. DIDDY'S TIGHT NECK

21. TAMRON HALL'S CHOCOLATY BREAST

22. CRYSTAL HARRIS'S CONCENTRATED NECK

23. GABRIELLE UNION'S BIG CHEEK

24. STACY KEIBLER'S SUPPLE KNEE

25. DENISE RICHARDS'S SOFT UPPER ARM

26. ELLEN PAGE'S OAKED EYEBROW

27. SEAN LENNON'S DRY EYEBROW

28. WHITNEY PORT'S FLAT EYELASH

29. KELLY ROWLAND'S TOAST UPPER ARM

30. LISA EDELSTEIN'S TART BACK

31. MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY'S ANGULAR THUMB

32. BARRY ZITO'S FLAMBOYANT ANKLE

33. ROBIN WRIGHT PENN'S POWERFUL FIST

34. JANET JACKSON'S PETROLLY LIP

35. GINNIFER GOODWIN'S AUSTERE SHOULDER

36. JOSH BROLIN'S SMOKEY TOOTH

37. KELSEY GRAMMER'S OXIDIZED HEAD

38. ANDERSON COOPER'S VANILLIN CHIN

39. MAX GREENFIELD'S BITTER FOOT

40. GIULIANA RANCIC'S FLAT TOE

41. MILA KUNIS'S SUPPLE HAND

42. SARAH JESSICA PARKER'S OAKY EAR

43. FRANK OCEAN'S ROUND LEG

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me3dia · 1 month

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20x2 Chicago: How Does It Feel? 4/28/24

20x2 Chicago, the show I host and produce, returns on Sunday, April 28 at GMan Tavern in Lakeview!

20x2 Chicago is a live event where 20 creative people from all different walks of life — writers, musicians, filmmakers, web geeks and other bon vivants — are asked the same question and given two minutes each to answer in any way they choose. The results may take any form, from spoken word to music to film, and can be as varied as the emotions and reactions they evoke. This edition's question is How Does It Feel?

The speakers for this edition are, in alphabetical order: • Jim Allenspach • Gaylon Alcaraz • Martin Atkins • Keidra Chaney • Clay Condon • Searah Deysach • Nora Flanagan • Elizabeth Gomez • John Greenfield • Archy Jamjun • Britt Julious • Maria Kostas • Lindsey Lorenzana • Juan Martinez • Shelley Miller • Edward Moses • Ty Riggs • Eden Robins • Pete Valavanis • Kirk Williamson

See their answers on Sunday, April 28 at GMan Tavern, 3740 N. Clark St., at 7pm (doors at 6:30pm). Tickets are $20 in advance online or at the door, and the show is 21 and over. More information is available at https://20x2.org/chicago/

#chicago #chicago events #20x2 chicago #20x2 #do cool stuff

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cassandrajoybellbittner · 2 months

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A First Chance At Love - Chapter 9b

*Warning Adult Content*

Avery Chandler

I couldn't watch him leave the restaurant by himself.

My wolf was against letting him be by his self, with him so angry.

I kept seeing his face, invading my head, from time we were in the restroom.

The blazing color of his brownish blue eyes, as he glared at me in anger or how his face softened, as he told me he loved me.

Was I wrong for wanting him, to do just what he said?

Having someone caring for me, love me, made a tightening in my chest occur, at the mere thought.

Can he be able to break thought walls I've had all my life, the ones that have made my life so empty, preventing anyone from getting in or me out.

I was a wanderer, with a purpose to protect, the reason for my existence, the one who held my life in his hands, Luna Aiden.

So how did Caleb fit in?

Why was it that my wolf stirred, whenever he was around him?

Why does it make me angry, to smell another male on him.

I knew he wasn't my mate, that wasn't possible, so what the hell was happening to me.

I had followed him, after telling Aiden I would go after him, knowing Caleb's storm out, had caused some worry among the table.

Once I had his scent, I could smell it getting stronger, letting me know that he had shifted, I did the same and here I was now agreeing to this absurd fling or whatever with him, knowing in the end, I'm the one who's going to be hurt.

Caleb was now following behind me, as we ran back to the pack-house.

It was quiet... I was avoiding the question he asked me moments ago, not wanting to go into my past with him or anyone, for that matter.

Thirty minutes had past, when finally we arrived home.

Robin was the first at the door, running past me to hug her brother around his neck, then slapping him.

"What the hell is wrong with you? What's with running off like that, stupid?"

He just huffed at her and trotted up the stairs, brushing against me purposely.

My wolf growled, wanting to follow but I held back, his yearning for Caleb to submit to him.

Squaring my shoulders, I went up behind him, to go to my bedroom.

******

"Avery."

I looked up from my text book that I was reading.

I wasn't expecting to see Robert Jacobs standing in the doorway.

"Yes Sir?" I said, setting my book down and standing and he smiled.

"Call me Robert, Son," he told me and I just smiled gently.

"Anyway... The Greenfield Pack are coming down in the next two weeks or so. I've told Alpha Liam this but I thought that you would like to know since you are Luna Aiden's defender and all," he said.

I frowned.

"What is the nature for their visit sir?" I asked him, he shook his head at me, with a small smirk.

"They've caught wind, that our Luna is male. They are curious, as to how we, run things. They will simply be observing."

I frowned deeply.

"And what gives them the right, to watch us, like some circus show, Sir?"

My question came out a bit harsher than I had planned but I didn't like the thought of some random pack roaming around our pack like we were freaks.... to laugh and point at.

Robert Jacobs walked up to me, placing a calming hand on my shoulder.

"Cool it, Son," he said, gesturing for me to sit back on the bed and he did the same.

"There are bound to be inquisitive packs, wanting to know how we function around here, without a female Luna. Generally, packs need a female Luna and the thought of a pack with a male one, makes them interested in our lifestyle. It's out of the norm. I can be sure, we will lose allies from this, just from the ignorance in the world. But we werewolves know that mates have no chose. They were destined by the wolf spirits and the Moon Goddess. That's how it's always been and the fact that we have more than one homosexual couple in our pack, is going to gather more attention. Plus... The Greenfield Pack may be a bunch of narcissistic superficial power hungry bastards but they are still one of the powerful packs in America and when they ask to visit... you don't turn them down," he said, shrugging.

He was right about one thing... this pack was a gay magnet... from Alpha Liam and his mate Luna Aiden... to Robin and Sadie, a lesbian couple.

Plus there is Caleb who is gay and Levi who is bi... then there is me, who has never attracted to anyone, until Caleb wormed his way, to into my wolf's existence.

"Okay Sir. Do you know how many there will be arriving?"

He nodded to me, standing up from my bed.

"Alpha Colin, his daughter Lynnette and a few other pack members... not many."

Sighing, I nodded to him.

"You're telling me this because you think they might harm Luna Aiden, in some way?" I asked.

His face hardened.

"You can never be too cautious, as you know. So yes.... I'm tell you to keep an eye on him, while they are here. I can't trust anyone that isn't from this pack, Avery. It's our wolf-instinct, to be wary of others. But I doubt that they'd try anything, being surrounded by wolves, sworn to protect him."

"I understand. You know... It is my soul purpose to protect Aiden... when his mate is unable to."

He smiled at me.

"Thank you, Son," he said and with that, he walked off, closing the door behind him.

It was ten at night, so most of the pack-house residents were asleep.

Stretching, I stood, grabbing my checkered pajama bottoms and walked into my bathroom, turning the water on.

Discarding of my clothes, I threw them in my hamper and checked the water, the bathroom was filling up with steam, fogging up the mirror.

Once the water hit my skin, I moaned in delight, I loved hot showers.

They have always made me calm and relaxed, like they are meant to.

I stood there, letting the warm water cascade down my back and through my hair.

Grabbing my shampoo, I started to scrub my scalp, while my mind thought back to Caleb.

I hadn't seen him, the rest of the day, since he went up to his bedroom.

I wondered if I had made him mad, again.

But I didn't have the desire to find out.

If I had, he surly would have let it been known, to me at least, did my not answering his question, really bother him that much?

'Didn't you ever play, when you were a pup?'

My answer would have been no.

My wolf, in the beginning of maturity, was always distant and detached, unlike the rest of the wolves around me, at the time.

I never stuck around long enough, to know how to act like a carefree pup, with the newly turned wolves... it all seemed inconsequential, to my wolf, since he knew that he had more important things like... trying to survive.

The water had cooled down... so I shut it off and stepped out, wiping off my dripping body... slipping on my pajama pants and climbing into bed.

Out of habit, I began to focus on Aiden... this time the mist was a relaxing and calming blue, appeared as he slept.

I let his energy seep into mine and instantly, I was tranquil.

Closing my eyes, I let Aiden's calming aura, pull me into a deep and peaceful sleep.

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