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jesncin · 2 days

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Okay, I'll bite, what are your feelings on the trans conner pitch?

Oh boy! Thank you for tossing me this bone because I have a lot of mixed feelings!

I notice that people online are very hot and cold about the Trans Superboy Pitch, they either love it or hate it and that doesn't leave a lot of room for nuance + discussion. So to be respectful to a fellow trans peer in the industry, I want to do a fair review/analysis of Skyrocket: the trans Conner Kent pitch by Magdalene Visaggio.

My general takeaway from the pitch is that I like the premise, but the details fumble the execution for me. I can really feel from reading the pitch that Visaggio cares about Superboy. She understands that he's a very weird legacy character who has struggled to find proper footing in the DC Universe after all these years. An effective legacy character is one who is able to spin off and expand upon the themes of the character whose mantle they carry. But the cheesy whatever-goes 90's-ness of Superboy's original run didn't give future writers a lot to work with in terms of a Superman Legacy Character.

It's why I genuinely believe the later retcon reveal that -part of Conner's DNA is from Lex Luthor- is a fantastic addition to his character. It takes a character who was just kind of screwing off to gentrify Hawaii back into the center of Superman's good vs evil conflict. But now Conner's problem is that his story is too tied to his origin and Superman's shadow. Placing Conner with the Kents in Smallville afterwards made him narratively redundant. What's next for him?

So let's dig into the pitch!

I like what's at the heart of this pitch. It's a very season-3-ATLA-Zuko "honor wasn't all it's cracked up to be" arc and I think that suits Conner's character really well! It's the details I have gripes with:

"Conner has been largely relegated to the Jason Todd of the Superfamily" oof, haha that's not a particularly fair characterization.

The constant comparing of Superman to Christian imagery. He's described as basically "Jesus goddamn Christ" in the pitch. The Tyrannical Kryptonians are named Saint, Shepherd and Savior. No surprise I don't like seeing a character who allegorically represented Jewish immigrants to be constantly compared to Christian imagery and deified.

It's inevitable with pitching to the company, but the pitch is bogged down by a lot of convoluted plot points. I get that it's necessary to pitch event tie-ins and universe hopping shenanigans, but it's a lot.

Leland feels like a plot device in this. I'm sure there were plans to flesh out the brotherly clone relationship between him and Conner so that he can feel like his own character, but from the summary he just kind of revolves around Conner the way the pitch describes Conner revolving around Superman. Oops!

Conner's relation to Luthor and Superman works as a story about legacy, bloodlines and the things parents pass down to their kids. It's best when handled thematically and not literally because it's easy to get into essentialist "good genes" vs "evil genes" near-eugenics talking points. Unfortunately this pitch has a lot of that vibe. Leland has more Lex genes so he's super smart. Conner and Leland are able to start a schism in the Future Tyrannical Kryptonian House by "proving their truer genetic link to the original Superman, unsullied by thousands of years of tinkering" thereby gaining allies. Not great!

The part where Conner wants to find "his own Metropolis" by moving to Dripping Springs, Texas. That's Jinny Hex's field of operations, so is it really his own space? I would've just given Conner a new town so he can better stand on his own and build out a unique cast system.

Okay let's talk about the trans stuff!

I get that it makes for an Iconic Visual Superhero Moment, but I really don't like the part where Conner steps through a magical crystal and pops out the other side as a trans woman. It robs her of having that discovery on her own. The pitch says "I believe that this is as natural a move as Iceman's coming out". And just?? Man, remember when Jean Grey read Iceman Bobby Drake's mind and robbed him of his agency by outing him through that invasion of privacy? For a pitch all about Conner's journey of defining herself, it weirdly robbed her of that moment.

The pitch does such a good job talking about how Conner feels like her whole life revolves around Superman and how pointless wanting to be Superman feels now that Jon Kent has taken the mantle. She has Clark's genes, goes to Clark's hometown school, is raised by Clark's parents and all that. So then why is she eventually named after the women in Clark's life? Constance "Connie" Lara Kent. Clark's Kryptonian mom and human grandma? Was the world so small that she could not name herself after anyone else or come up with a new name? Connie doesn't even get to name herself, her new name is one Martha Kent bestows her with. It's hypocritical, and doesn't have the same impact that Superman giving Superboy a Kryptonian name does.

Speaking of which, this right here is my biggest gripe. It's not in the pitch itself but?? Wait- why go on about how Conner deserves a name that's not given to her and then turn around and make Martha name her? Sure, Connie comes up with the superhero name "Skyrocket" herself but surely she also deserves to name herself considering the thesis the pitch built up about self discovery and agency right?

Also with all due respect, this is the whitest queer take on Conner's identity. I wish white trans people could understand that you can have multiple true names that reflect different parts of you.

When Clark gives Superboy the name "Kon-El" it matters that it's given. It ties so well to the idea of familial acceptance into a nearly-extinct culture. You wouldn't know how to reclaim that part of your identity when that culture's been wiped out, so of course it's an honor to be trusted with a name that preserves Krypton's culture. This is a common practice with diaspora reclaiming cultural names from closed cultures, they are gifted their names by someone more culturally connected. I think the pitch having Martha name Connie is trying to echo this, but it doesn't hit the same without that cultural context. It also undercuts the genuine joy Conner felt from finally having a name he truly identifies with. Conner was only ever referred to as Superboy before then. When Clark gives him the name Kon El, Conner cries out that Kon El is his "real name". It's one of his defining moments, and to have that be diminished by saying "It's still a name someone else gave him" is so disappointing.

Then there's the design.

This is gonna lean more into preference, but I'm not the biggest fan of this design! I get what it's going for but it has too much going on everywhere. It also doesn't have that proto-punk look original Conner had, so it ends up not feeling like him. It's too superhero, and not enough casual-wear-on-a-supersuit that Conner sports really well. I see how it fits in with the everyone-in-Superfam-is-wearing-jackets-era, but I also think those new designs don't look good either. Especially Supergirl's. I feel like Conner should be more punk post transition. No respectability beam for her!

Also the name Skyrocket? It's giving knock off-brand toy vibes to me I'm sorry D: People on twidder suggested Supernova and that sounds way better! Even Visaggio stated she prefers that name so you can't be mad at me for this.

Overall big conclusion feelings!

I've been following Visaggio's work for a while because it's awesome seeing trans people getting picked up in comics. While there are some things about her writing I like, for the most part I've felt like her work isn't my cup of tea. I tried reading up a bunch of interviews she's in to try to understand why her writing wasn't clicking with me, and what I discovered is that we have fundamentally different approaches to queer storytelling.

From Paste Magazine. I get where she's coming from, trans characters deserve to have multi-faceted narratives that don't overly center how they're othered at the expense of further characterization. But also? I just actually find the interior lives of queer people and identity interesting. I like writing the kind of escapism and joy that's informed by surviving and inheriting hardships rather than erasing those things or skipping past it. I think this is why Connie is robbed of her trans discovery in the pitch. Why we don't get to watch her grapple with gender identity in a political way. Queer stories about queer struggles are considered archaic and unnecessary nowadays. It's part of the escapism Visaggio values in her work; to give a place of respite for trans readers from the cruelty they experience in reality, but I don't connect to stories like that personally. Whenever I try to share queer Indonesian art and writing with my peers, I'm often told it's too painful to look at. That our pain doesn't fit the modern expectation for happy, empowering queer stories. "trans people get enough hardships in real life, they don't need that in their fiction" Visaggio still talks about her newest projects like this btw.

I'd love to see a take on Conner that more holistically continues the political immigrant themes of Superman. The white parts of fandom love interpreting Conner's identity crisis as primarily a queer struggle, but it's also one of a person grappling with his mixed heritage. He's a diaspora kid separated by a generation away from Krypton. He has yet to make peace with the Luthor side of his identity, one borne of generational trauma and resentment for one's roots. Instead of a take where his queerness separates him from the pressures of legacy, I want to see a Conner take that has themes that are intersectional about his mixed diaspora and queer identity. I want his superficial punk aesthetic to graduate into actual punk ideals. The anti-establishment and radical love philosophies of punk culture would make such a cool extension of Superman themes and it would make so much sense that someone facing so many intersections of marginalization would be radicalized from their experience. I want a queer Conner who isn't just empowering and idealistic, I want one that also gives space for queer readers to feel like their pain is seen too. Conner isn't "Truth, Justice and the American Way" he's famously "Truth, Justice, My Way".

There's a tendency in media criticism to treat marginalized talent as infallible, and I don't think that fair to creatives like Visaggio. Being able to look at their ideas with nuance instead of essentializing it as being Good or Trash is the best way to respect diverse creativity. And my nuanced feelings are that a white queer person who looks at Conner's story and just sees the queer part and dismisses the diaspora mixed heritage side of him,,, is not going to give me the Conner story I want to see.

#askjesncin #superboy #kon el #conner kent #jesncin dc meta #media criticism #the thing about conner superboy is that his character is a mess #and I love a mess. I could talk about mess all day #this is a long way of saying that white queer people will never be able to give me the queer stories i need

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ananke-xiii · 3 days

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"The Born-Again Identity" is one of those SPN ep that I like despite the fact that there are so many things in it that drive me a little bit insane (truth be told, in part it's only my fault cause I can never completely turn up the "suspension of disbelief" volume and I go to a default "but why?" mindset everytime I see something on screen, so okay it's a *just me* problem). However, I do think that S7 was not that bad and it had some quite intriguing and original ideas while the execution was... well, let's say clunky. So, all in all, I think this episode is kinda cool.

the things that drive me a little bit insane:

the imagery of sam desperately running alone in the night along some tracks in a supposedly dangerous part of town. The "derailing" and "going off the tracks" symbolism was a bit on the nose; him buying drugs from the "tweaker" and sleeping with the guy in his car: mmm I feel like that was, like. a lot. to be just thrown away like that.

sam being admitted to the hospital with no mention of said drugs use and the whole scene with the doctor telling dean that they had to put sam in the locked psychiatric floor. I don't know, it also feels like.a lot. and.all of a sudden. they could ease into that way better, it's too ham-fisted as in: we have to find a way to put sam in an horror asylum-like facility in less than 5 minutes for the ep to make sense. so that what feels like to me.

daphne. everything about her drives me insane. I have a whole story where she has to clean up the mess dean has made and hide the body of the demon or something. she'll later start her own private hero's journey to find emmanuel and bring him back to their white picket fence life so perfect and so based on manipulation and stockholm syndrome.

the demons showing up at the grocery store. like what? it was established just a few scenes before when dean told the demon that he was "hands-off" or something and that the demon was actually looking for emmanuel. so why oh why would the other demons look for dean when there's emmanuel.alone.in.the.car. nonsense.

that one demon torturing sam with the electroshock. what was the point? why were demons there anyway? weren't the brothers hands off? maybe i missed something here but to me just felt like "asylum ep= electroshock scene is a must" and meh.

sam leaving the hospital.just.like.that and "swapping place" with cas. i'm sorry, what? i won't even comment on meg being suddenly hired as a nurse cause okay i want to give the writers that, but wtf? oh okay, this guy that has just showed up here (and has definitely possibly murdered 4 or 5 people at the entrance) is maybe not okay, let's not call his wife or someone, let's just lock him up. whaaaaat?

the quite intriguing and original ideas:

the cas/sam parallel: they are both evidently mentally unstable for very different reasons. cas has, in a way, "left the life" and dean, of all people!!!, is not 100% cool with him regaining his memories because what if he leaves???? sam is quite literally very close to leave life in general because the trauma is affecting his body in an irreversible way. they are both "born" again identities at the beginning and at the end of the episode. Very cooooool.

sam and lucifer interactions: the actors really did their job well in this ep cause everytime I watch it I'm exhausted, like I can't bear to hear Lucifer talk and talk and taunt and I definitely feel worn out like sam. I think Jared works very well with Mark Pellegrino, too bad that the whole Lucifer storyline was a mess in later seasons cause the actors had great chemistry.

meg. every scene with meg is just joy for me. and her storyline? left alone looking for "friends"? sure, she totally plans to use cas as her ally but what's new? (jokes aside, there's a whole pattern of women manipulating and using cas, am i the only one seeing it???).

marin. first of all, hello abigail????? (hannibal memories flooding in). second of all, cool MoTW-Not-So-Much-MoTW story. ofc she's a sam's mirror used to basically explain what happened to sam but the ghost who's tormenting her is also her brother and he must die-die-die because he won't let her go. hello??? paralleling sam's hallucinations with sam's issues with dean was super intriguing and too bad that the MoTW was Not-So-Much-MoTW cause marin's story was maybe not even 8 minute long.

bonus: "Peace of Mind" from S14 echoes this ep brillianty, they even cast one of the same actors (the doctor/the mayor) and they used the same surname for sam (sam smith/justin smith). cool cool cool (although unrelated to s7).

#cw: drug mention #cw: torture #cw: mental illness #spn #supernatural #spn rewatch #spn season 7 #the born-again identity #sam winchester #castiel #meg #spn daphne

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vhgr · 8 months

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book aemond this book alicent that god forbid characters written as historical figures of their fictional world get any dimension

#i know i know we love dynamic personalities but #there's a thick line between that and shallow portrayals #because that *is* all you can get in a #how should i call f&b #fictional history book #on my end i think the show and ewan gave aemond a brilliant dimension #alicent could have had a little more conviction sure but i think they had achieved just that in ep6 #maybe it's just me but im not a big fan of characters becoming lovesick pups with no direction of self #“”you've only just arrived“” girl do i need to remind you of driftmark or what #miss haughty and silent judgement alicent hightower??? where are you #the kids miss you #i feel like... the problem is in the execution #not the idea #but that's details of storytelling that i wont get into #why am i saying all this you ask #idk it's late and im thinking senselessly

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somewherefornow · 4 months

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BRUCE WAYNE/BATMAN & DIANA/WONDER WOMAN in BATMAN (2016)

#bruce wayne #diana prince #diana of themiscyra #bruce x diana #wonderbat #batman 2016 #I know a lot of people were upset by these issues but I liked this arc #maybe it’s because I’m not a hardcore WonderBat shipper but I liked their moments in this a lot even if king didn’t go all the way #and I feel like it captured a lot of the problems I have with king #writing what are very interesting ideas in the most lackluster way #he’s all concept to me and often poor execution #*panelsandpages

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didderd · 1 year

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ADHD Sans! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Just ADHD things. :>

I'm very neurodivergent, and this boi is a whole ass mood. Don't mind me while I just pour all my ADHD problems into this lil skelly lol.

(ADHD Sans belongs to gudulle_vinyls on tiktok.)

#i have a few headcanons abt his papyrus too #i think he'd talk quieter so he doesn't trigger sans' sencory problems #and like anx sans' papy he would also be better at cooking to help his bro eat #and he wouldn't call sans a lazybones anymore bc it makes him feel bad about his executive disfunctioning #(all this is just me projecting)#adhd #adhd sans #sans #undertale #undertale au #art #digital art #didderd art

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ghoulhusband · 20 days

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i’m obviously incredibly biased but i do think it’s kinda more interesting if the courier isn’t mad that benny shot them. for whatever reason! but especially if they come from similar backgrounds where it’s like “well it was respectful. he clearly didn’t want to kill me specifically it was business. and he basically threw me a funeral while i was still alive” and then their bigger issue is figuring out what to do now that they’re not dead. do they get revenge out of principle, do they try to solve the mystery of it all, do they hunt him down just to ask him to apologize, do they get roped into it by victor, or just general events? idk i obviously understand the revenge angle is very motivating, i just think a courier who doesn’t hate benny is really interesting and fun to play with. and not just because he’s my favorite guy and i could never hold it against him

#like i’ve really changed kitty’s whole thing to be more of a ‘i don’t hold a grudge because this is the fist person i’ve met in a decade who #operates within the societal framework i grew up in and getting shot twice execution style is the best way i was gonna go out. why did you #bring me back to life though because now i don’t remember who i am and i’m simply forced to become a detective and a small time con woman.#*six months later* oh hey it’s the guy who shot me! hey do you have my diary. btw. also do you wanna fuck because i feel a really weird #kinship with you and if we fuck i’ll either get over it or it’ll be your problem’#but i’ve made other couriers who don’t hold it against him for other reasons (not always romantic. sometimes just ‘yknow i should be mad but #i’m anti violence’ or ‘well i’m fine now so really why would i kill to when i can be a pain in your ass forever which is a way funnier #punishment for attempted murder’#benny gecko #kitty grave #that’s just for my tagging system lol #courier six #too i suppose

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scrimblospectrumdisorder · 11 months

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unironically one of the most fucked up endings to any manga ever i literally cried for like 30 minutes when I first reached the last few chapters of this

#me.txt #kazeki #kaze to ki no uta #1970s manga #vintage shoujo #the story has so many problems and i had to skip certain parts but also its just so tragic and i feel so bad for the characters #i dont really assume any ill intent in the content btw its just that some of it isnt executed as well as it could be to say the least #i think tho the way things are so flowery and beautiful when its just horrific (gilberts backstory) add to how its distorted his worldview #which to me makes it even sadder cause im reading it like no no no no 😭😭#but weirdly i think that goes over some ppls heads . idk. this scene in particular illustrates it well though #the way he looks back on his life with such rosetinted glasses because its all he ever knew... :( it just makes me so sad #i just wish he got a happy ending because he did not deserve all that #top 10 anime characters who have suffered more than jesus

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guntapon · 1 year

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me: ok that’s it. i am at my limit. no more high school bl dramas. no more enemies to lovers. no more secret crushes. no more bands or serenades or guitars or drums. i don’t think i have it in me to sit through it all again

my school president:

me: .............. okay fine ONE more

#help it's really cute #it contains tropes i've seen over and over again and yet there is still something special about it #i can't quite figure out what it is yet #but i like it #it's also way funnier than it has any right to be #if you've got me laughing out loud on the first episode when i am not even endeared to this show yet #then you're doing something right #my school president #talking to myself*#i would also like to state ftr that i don't actually have a problem with these tropes being used over and over again #IF they're executed in unique and engaging ways #like for instance i did not blink an eye at the hs backdrop in the eclipse because the show was so much more than that #and imo the school setting was important to what it was trying to do #my issue is when dramas (bl dramas specifically) cobble together a bunch of overused cliches and rely on them to carry the show #and never bother to dig any deeper than that #it's hollow and superficial #but my school president doesn't feel that way at all!!! it's good!!! and i am pleasantly surprised #i hope it keeps it up

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doodlboy · 1 year

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Demon El doodle dump!🩷✨️

#obey me #obey me mc #demon mc #demon elliot #doodles #digital art #elliot doodles #so! ik these are a weird range of emotions going on in this art but!!#i wanted to draw that big one in the middle as a full idea for a while and i finally got smthn i like and doesnt feel too stiff #also i just love how the legs and boots turned out #for anybody who doesnt know: demon el is the avatar of bloodlust. he runs a tv show with a more or less captive audience #its a game show but the contestants are like- serious criminals and if they lose they die in wacky scary ways like danganronpa executions #el is also CRITICALLY UNSTABLE and caused a lot of problems when he first fell bc he cant control his ability #that and its chipping away at his mind and driving him insane while his humanity takes a backseat and has to watch all this happen #so! the fantastic 3 seal El in a room of the HOL and only let him out for shows bc hes too dangerous to let out by himself #thinking of the angst potential of satan getting deja vu seeing them chain el up since thats how he was treated when he was first born #els wings. hands. and neck are locked in chains attached to the middle of the floor in the room. just giving him enough give to walk around #i should make like- a masterlist post abt my character lore or smthn #if y'all want to hear it ofc #scheduled post

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tarantula-hawk-wasp · 6 months

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I think I’m gonna have to ask for an extension on this paper but i hate doing that so much I might drop out instead

#and I need the extension bc I’m so swamped grading #which is a self created problem and I’ve been behind on grading all semester which I feel terrible about #It’s my fucking job and my like obligation but I can’t fucking keep up and I know I’m not meeting even a low bar for timely feedback #executive dysfunction makes me want to kms sometimes #I’m so frustrated with myself I cannot put this feeling of self disgust into words #I’m like if a girl who found poor self discipline a loathsome trait had awful executive dysfunction

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coquelicoq · 2 months

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dammit. loved the end of the traitor baru cormorant. which means i'm gonna read the sequel. save me from myself. AUGH.

#i was so close...so close #i was feeling like this book was too much of a chore to read for reasons that i now know were necessary #and the themes. the themes! i can't resist them #the problem is i don't really care about the characters. that makes it hard to love a book. but the theeeeeeeeemes #this book reminds me a lot of the poppy war series which i read all three books of and then wished i had given up earlier #except the execution is better and idk. more coherent #at least so far #i guess it kind of depends on what happens in the other books lol #i wouldn't be sad if i never had to read another battle scene though. i'm realizing a lot of books that i can't get into #have a lot of battles. battle scenes don't do anything but bore and confuse me #the only books i can think of where i felt like i could actually follow the battles are the dandelion dynasty series #wow ken liu again you blow me away with the mastery of your craft...#books

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bigcats-birds-and-books · 4 months

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Books of 2024: THE SCOURGE BETWEEN STARS by Ness Brown.

Devoured this in one intense sitting last night! It gets right into the "fucked up shit happens in space" (as I was promised it would!), and I liked that you could see the author's astrophysics background peeking through without derailing the tension.

(And, for real: Don't Open The FUCKING Door, holy shit.)

#books of 2024 #book photography #my photography #the scourge between stars #ness brown #i also appreciated the casual queerness #i was not prepared for somebody taking advantage of the android >:( but i thought it was handled well!#always here for fucked up shit happening in space #it was very uh. ALIEN-esque to me #(red of THE GIRL IN RED and jack of SCOURGE same hat lmao)#(young women suffering through post apocalypses together 5ever)#tbh it didn't feel like a super original concept/execution but. i couldn't set it down and go to bed. so it was done Well.#anyway another shortie bites the dust!!#i did appreciate how jack problem solved around her issues lol #the bit with the core and the observation deck were both very nice #GO JACK GO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS WITH YOUR ENVIRONMENT I LOVE THAT FOR YOU!!!!#i will however be killing otto again thanks #and the captain actually

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theitalianscribe · 7 months

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Day 7: Claws Preview

I am having fun writing this and got excited so here is what I have so far. I'll make a different post with the full work when I finish. Also I have given up on posting every day or in order. I hope even doing some of the prompts occasionally is still enough. But, anyway...

---

It was a fairly quiet day and after working at Dreamworld for two months, that wasn't a good sign. Wiatt was almost relieved to see a coworker running over to him with a pinched expression.

"Hey, Verna! What's up?"

"You're the animatronic wrangler, right?" Verna asked, brushing her fringe back into place.

"Is that what the other employees call me?"

"Well I think Audrey, Penn, and Hayden all call you trouble or a trouble magnet."

"That's fair," Wiatt agreed, solemnly. They had seen him get into too many hijinks to not have some form of reputation. Besides, he was the one who regularly talked to the animatronics like people despite the fact that Sara was apparently the only one with that right, supposedly. Actually, for someone with such a rule, she rarely even talked to any animatronics aside from Winnie. And Winnie was the only animatronic Wiatt had yet to see....well Winnie and the Collector, but Wiatt was not supposed to know about them. (Having knowledge he wasn't allowed to find was their second biggest mistake.)

"But, we kinda need your animatronic wrangling abilities. The triplets are stuck in the claw machine."

"Again?!" Wiatt moaned. This was the third time this week. How did they keep getting in there?

The formerly labeled Winnie's Roundup Stuffie Catcher was a fairly large UFO catcher machine. With a little twisting and a shove from a brother, it made for a great place for Mimic, Melody, or Mascaraed to take a nap in. It was like sleeping in a ball pit, only way softer! The only drawback was wheels for feet made exiting the cozy pod far more difficult. If the three brothers were in the machine together, they could make a tower and pull themselves to the prize chute with marginal success. Dwindling the numbers to two or just one made this more difficult. Bad days made it nigh impossible.

#Welcome to Dreamworld #WTDW #wtdw tober #Icy scribes #writing blurb #I feel bad but for some reason my executive dysfunction started registering these as homework or assignments and that just a me problem #I am terrible at doing drawtober stuff or inktober #I am not used to writing and posting new stuff every day #And with these I tend to come up with a full story rather than just a scene #like the story feels way larger in my head and I can't materialize it all.#You guys are so cool for being able to do this every day #and with self imposed deadlines #Executive function badasses the lot of you

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