B1ue

Whenever I dream of a new monster, I feel compelled to write about it here. Which, odd, but I'll own it. Now I don't recall all the details of how this worked, but the dream started as a mystery that I was apparently trying to solve. Bodies were piling up in the town I lived in. And, weirdly, even though the bodies did not look much alike, they seemed to share the same DNA. Or, at least, partly shared DNA. Sort of a chimera. At least, half of them did. The other half were simply murder victims, obviously murdered by the chimera, but the chimeras had no real cause of death, They just...stopped. Helping me in my inquiries was a young, blonde woman from some Nordic country (I'm not certain which). Let's call her Annika. She aided me not because she was qualified, but because she'd been at the scene of one too many of the crimes for it to be a total coincidence, but she was certainly not the culprit, proved by physical, metaphysical, and even video evidence. She claimed that her twin brother, long dead, was manifesting around her and attacking random strangers. Indeed, the chimera DNA was very close to her own, close enough to have been a match for her brother, although why the bodies didn't share his face and where they came from in the first place was still a mystery. Sadly, much of this middle parts of this story are lost to my memory, but for some reason we wound up trapped in a locked house scenario. And, as in all such scenarios, people began dropping like flies. Naturally, Annika was nearby with all of them, but I too saw one or two of them. And what I saw astounded me. Out of thin air, her brother would spring into being, and suddenly attack another person. Usually with a knife. And because they were caught totally by surprise and off guard, his first stroke was fatal. Then, after, he would stiffen, the face would change utterly, and his body would collapse. Dead. Annika, meanwhile, was not helpful, curling into a ball and getting as far out of the line of fire as she could get. This would obviously not do. I was a minor spell caster in this dream, and conducted a seance to contact her brother. Nothing. Then I did another spell, one that would allow me to see into the spirit world (probably taking some pills in the process, which made real me nearly wake up in horror). Annika assisted in the first, but not the second. So she was not aware I could see what was happening the next time her "brother" appeared. Didn't know I could see her spell take shape, form a body out of random ether, and see her consciousness channel through that construct. It wasn't her brother's spirit killing people. It was her, forcing his body to form again and again while she controlled it to kill. I dismissed the construct next time it started to form, knocking her back into her own body and throwing her off for a moment, which I used to place a magical lock on her abiltiies. She smiled. "My brother tried that too, you know." She told me. "Just before I killed him. Turns out, if you kill your own twin, their echo stays with you. And you can force the doppelganger into existence." Someone else had showed her how to do it, because he too had killed his own twin, and had found in her an apt pupil. Right up until he became the first victim of the current murder spree. She then fought the binding, and used the innate connection she had to her twin to put her magical abilities into another spirit, evading my lock. I managed to shut down the doppelgangers as fast as she formed them, but let it distract me too much. Because she had a knife too, all this time. And managed to confuse me so much with the magical attacks I forgot to watch the physical.

Huh. I hadn't even noticed, but almost every mental picture I have of the 70s (which admittedly I only know through TV) features someone blonde. And that's despite "That 70s Show" being primarily brunette.

I didn't go off, Mark did. Or possibly Tim. What the hell do I know about upper class people? I did agree though, and contribute that a GED is a less than optimal route for Californians. I could have been talking about Brad's kids. I.E., the one who got into Annapolis, the world class figure skater, and Will, who refuses categorization. And needs to spend time with kids. Hey, maybe if like you keep pushing and he does go into charity in a big way, he can volunteer at a daycare.

I don't think this family comes with that setting.

I don't recall it being all that bad, but I also didn't live in the area at the time. Chino when I was growing up was a blue collar area, though, yes.

Well, I guess Admiral Carmichael called for a pow-wow at the perfect time, as it seems to have saved Brad's life. ..or did it? Was the good admiral in on it, and they missed the plane switch? o.O

I think you're forgetting how convenient facebook was during its early years when it was restricted to college students. It was a great tool when you needed to find someone in your class and organize a study session, or even better, find someone who is in the class NOW with the same professor who can tell you to avoid the class until someone else teaches it, or to sign up for next quarter. This was especially true of larger schools, where there could be 600 other students in your class but you might know 3 are there, and never notice that 15 other people you also know are taking it too. But, anyways, I don't think he'll get invested for his own sake. I think he'll seek out "Things that will annoy JJ," and send them on to JJ with a note attached "another picture of you on the 'net today!" Hmm, Buzz. What are you doing? All three of the brothers need more experience with kids. Yeah, JJ shouldn't have grabbed Maddy like that, but neither should WIll and Darius have just taken her at her word. Not that the conversation would have gone any better any other way. Even if he hadn't grabbed her, Maddy would have cried "JJ yelled at me," and both Darius and Will would have thundered in with the same righteous indignation that totally ignores that none of that would have happened if someone was watching the kids in the first place. Tiffany and Wade probably thought they were safe enough running around the house, but that house is hardly baby-proofed. Unlike several commentators, it totally worked for me that JJ slept with Alex again. I mean, he hasn't forgiven Alex, or expressed a desire to get back together. They're having a holiday, and in a couple days Alex will go back to his wife and neither of them will contact the other until they absolutely have to again. Look at how JJ describes their afternoon: No stars in his eyes, no descriptions of tenderness. Just fun and friendly. I think he'll be fine, but of course we'll have to see how it works out when Alex is ready to leave.

You might be surprised. I'm continuously told I look younger than I really am, which has reached the point of annoying me when I hear it. My hair is not greying fast enough, apparently. So not all of us want to look 12 once we're past 30. Where I think JJ might be envious is at their ability to perform. No amount of botox is going to recapture his technique. No plastic surgeon is going to restore the ability of his joints. And unless he dedicates himself to staying in condition, no amount of apple martinis are going to let him shake off minor falls and bruises the way he did at 16. He'll still be able to perform well, if he wants to and works at it. But well is not "among the best in the world." But he also might consider the amount of crap he went through at 16, and that his fellow 16 year olds lived through, and order that martini anyways, serene that his dink and his companion won't affect his career. I'm kind of liking him more as a character lately. I imagine everyone slowly realizing that, no, he's not to be overlooked or taken as weak. He's just as willful as the rest of them, and can dish it out. I also imagine Will sending him angry kitten gif's during their late twenties, with a cute little gatito captioned "I am full of rage and destruction!" Because no one annoys you like your little brother. We receive manuals on the subject.

Ah, yes. The song that encouraged drunk frat guys everywhere to start stripping at parties. I like that song.

I'm not going to watch that video, because its a nice day and there's no need to raise my blood pressure. That and I have no further desire to hear what that f**k nugget has to say on any topic whatsoever. He hates LA so much, move. He's not like me, with familial and historical ties to the area. Further, remember how I said the way he presents facts and creates a narrative are often lies? Same is probably true in this case. I'm guessing that he's presenting LAX as buying up all the property in Manchester Square, and then linking it to the upcoming metro expansion? With maybe a few "Whoa"'s thrown in to bemoan the modernization that isn't taking people in consideration? Well, there's a couple problems with that. LAX and MTA are completely different companies. They work in somewhat different businesses, use different unions, and fall under different oversight. They can work together, but they aren't one big company joining forces to screw the little guy. Big companies don't actually do that all that often. In my experience, big companies have trouble getting more than one of their own internal departments to join forces, let alone manage cooperation across different corporate mindsets and traditions. Publicly managed companies are usually worse about that, not better. The airport has been buying up properties in Manchester Square since the 90s. The first Metro line opened in 1993. They didn't even expand in that general direction for a good decade, the funding that is making the current expansion to LAX possible wasn't even available until 2008. I'm sure the airport was on board with a possible expansion in their direction, but that early? With their own money? With the light rail and subway systems not even proven in concept yet? Isn't it much more likely that the airport was slowly buying properties in order to solidify their hold on the area against possible future needs? Disneyland is an object lesson to all of Southern California business, let me assure you. When you have a project on that scale, you buy what you need, and then buy more in the areas surrounding it. Even if you don't need it today, or in the next ten years, you buy it, and hope you don't wind up needing the property across the street as well in thirty year's time. Because otherwise you wind up leasing the property from the owner forever, and that's if you're able to use it at all. The railroad I work for has an entire department that works on this. I assume that LAX is no less forward thinking than railroad companies. I suppose I may be being unfair to this guy, since I'm guessing based on what you said and the past two videos you got me to watch. But I don't feel bad about it. He looks around LA and sees beauty in what LA can be. I look around and see beauty in what it is. How it works, despite the flaws or even because of the flaws. He reminds me actually of the apocryphal people who buy property in the shadow of an airport runway, because its cheap, and then band together to force the airport to reroute the planes. Sure, they get a nice house out of it (that they're probably going to sell anyways, because they have no real attachment to the area), but everyone else that uses that airport now has to suffer decreased safety and decreased capacity.

Busy. Yeah, its pretty neat to have that open, although the line I'm REALLY interested in is the one that will stop at LAX without needing a shuttle bus. Eventually, there will be a people mover running from the train platform to the terminal areas, which will also be cool. I look forward to that line seeing a lot of use, as people opt to use Metro instead of parking near the airport. Not everyone will, but maybe enough that parking/driving in and around the airport will be slightly less insane. Slightly, anyways.

I liked the ending line of this chapter, and I'm curious what will happen next, This feels unfinished, yet like we're wrapping up this particular storyline.

Which is what I mean by burning Trevor. He was either going to suffer a mischief, or he was going to be bound tight enough into their web instead of hers that she wouldn't be able to use what leverage she had on him effectively.

And as Tim pointed out, the odds of it actually sticking to Zach is minimal. No, the only one who would be hurt would be Trevor, as the focus of Will's entire ire.

The only part that makes me question her role is Trevor. Why would she burn him like that? Yes, he had some authority as Wade's cousin, and his skill was helpful with handling Zach, but was that enough to offset losing him as an asset? He only had a small part in the diversion, not even a big part, and not even the main event. And clearly she (or whoever) knew Trevor would be exposed, because they had back ups and contingencies already in place. It just seems sloppy, and I expect better of my villains. Edit: Something I missed a couple chapters ago, but I'm curious why they were dismissive of John being in a band? Yeah, they might not be good *now*, but like anything else, only way to get good is by being persistently bad long enough to get better. And John might just have the tenacity to do it, since this would be something he'd have that was wholly his, not given to him by his family.

First, I apologize for dreading this up form a week ago, but a couple thigns stuck out at me. I'm not sure you're correct here. I am admittedly less familiar with the ease and availability of drug testing in 2003, but I do know that in the Los Angeles area, you can get a drug test set up within an hour, anywhere in the city, on zero notice any time day or night, and you could do this as early as 2007. Possibly earlier, but I know for sure this was available in 2007, because I arranged some of them. The results might take a little longer depending on the time and day, but the test itself can literally be arranged at the drop of a hat (don't ask how I am sure about that one, weirdest safety violation ever). There are entire businesses in this area that do nothing but drug testing, and not all of them stick to business hours. In all honesty, I can see at least one scenario where the wheels would be set in motion at least as fast as the story sees to show. "Coach ---, this is the campus police department. We have received evidence that one of your players has been purchasing large amounts of meth, and we believe he is distributing it to the other players. We would like to arrange a drug test of the whole team to see who else might be involved. We are willing to work with you to do this, in order to not cause a bigger scandal than it needs to be, but if you don't move quickly, we will have to arrange for the team to come to our office for a drug test instead of yours. How would you like to proceed?" You make an excellent point in a later post that all UCLA drug testing is normally done within one facility, but that presupposes that they are shooting for subtlety. This entire operation against Will and Zach is about as subtle as a buzz saw, and about as likely to stay discreet. Whomever is arranging all this, and I would think there has to be someone in LA or close by coordinating it all, doesn't really care about being caught because they know it will all be tied to Trevor anyways. So they wouldn't care if whoever's arm they squeezed did things through the proper channels and with the proper procedures, or even if anything would stick to Zach. In fact, the more energy they can convince Will to expend towards clearing Zach's name, the better, and that wouldn't work if the case was ironclad against him. The entire point is to make a lot of noise in order to distract Will and everyone else from trying to stamp out JJ's problems. And its working. What ISN'T working is that everyone, from Wade to Will and on down, sees JJ as someone who lets other people solve his problems for him. They are taking away his supports because they think he won't make moves on his own, or if he does they'll be ineffective and easily deflected. In essence, they see JJ as Mary Ellen 2.0, and its going to be very interesting when they figure out this isn't the case.

If so, my money is on Alex's grandfather. He can't have taken Alex screwing around with someone as well known as JJ calmly. Better to lance the situation now, and use the threat of this situation to refocus Alex on his wife and child, rather than waiting for it to develop into a TRULY huge mess. I mean, can you imagine what would have happened if JJ realized his Olympic dream, and then the media caught wind of him shacking up with Alex? Right now, Alex merely has the bad taste to dally with an American. But if he was screwing someone known around the world, however temporarily? And the relationship dating back to when that person was a teenager? That story would never die. Which, hmm. If we're talking enemies of Elizabeth with reach and influence, Nana's name has to be on the list, doesn't it? Screwing with Will doesn't seem to be something she'd do, nor using meth to do it, but JJ would be a legitimate target.

It wouldn't now, I don't think, but it might have when the story took place. Actually, it still might, as long as the cop in question merely gave it a cursory glance instead of running it through a database. Especially since the ID would be from a different state. We didn't even have the rotated IDs in California yet; I didn't start running across them until after I stopped working the door for my job, which was mid 2005. One of the major plotlines of the last novel was that Zach was starting to question if he even wanted a career in football, let alone give up Will for that career. My impression at the end of Streak into Black Widow was that he was going through the motions for lack of any better idea, not because he was really still dedicated. My impression could be off of course (not like that hasn't happened before), or Zach could have changed his mind once he was actually playing again, but I also think its possible that someone could have changed his mind for him. Although what on earth that could be, I have no clue. Having Will as a sugar daddy should insulate him fairly completely from most forms of retaliation, unless someone was threatening one of his siblings. And even there, the logical thing to do would be to unleash Team Crampton on them.

To clarify, my family is from Highland Park, and I spent my early childhood living there, but we moved when I was a kid. I did not approve. We're talking Wednesday Addams level of discontent.

Substitute "tourist trap/retirement community" for "logging town" and you're not far off. Also, consider I was born in Hollywood. No, really, I was. Culture "shock" nails it. This is perhaps why I have some sympathy for the characters that can't quite grasp the Crampton family way of life right off the bat.

I quite literally grew up in a forest. Try me. Besides, considering my own family's questionable morals and training, I think I might be able to survive. Grifters can thrive anywhere, yeah?

I really wanted to slap Will this chapter. Granted, his world just got destroyed, but JJ apparently just lost his career AND his first real love. I get that JJ can be trying, but why not just tell JJ that you need some time to cool off away from him instead of dreaming about punching him in the stomach? Considering how often he needs to take a break to surf or think away form his family, I'm surprised that didn't occur to Will on his own. I'm curious if ME really was the culprit. It doesn't really seem like her style, since there's not enough lying and blackmail involved. It DOES seem like something Momma Danford would pull, assuming she had a motive. My real suspect is Granddad, though. Now I'm a little curious what Alex wanted to talk to JJ about last chapter.

Or two to three large meals in addition to an assortment of healthy snacks that he eats constantly throughout the day. He's a teen-aged athlete. He's going to be hungry, and he's going to respect that, because he doesn't want to pass out in the middle of a routine.

Since a century ago, that WOULD have been considered an interracial marriage, if not quite miscegenation, I think Jeremy's point stands. Those of Middle-Eastern descent, or even just people perceived to have that heritage like Jeremy and I, are not treated as "White" whatever their actual race might be, which used to be the case for people of Italian or Irish descent. Many, perhaps most, Latinos face a similar issue. Although, as an aside, classifying Latinos as 'White" is problematic, as doing so requires a perception of race that most Latinos aren't culturally equipped with.

I have never heard of that practice. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, but I never encountered it. Well, its possible that the story was made up. On the other hand, living in IV was when i started to sleep with a weapon within arm's reach, and not just for the hell of it. When I lived on frat row, we had a couple randoms wander into our apartment. It wasn't a constant threat, but it happened more than once. Also, my roommate that year was really fucking weird. I got along fine with him, but did not fully trust him. Honestly, Clueless really did not paint an accurate picture of someone driving on the freeway for the first time. It's nothing to be overly concerned with, and pretty quickly becomes routine. If you ever do, I recommend driving an automatic though. A manual clutch is pretty tiring during stop-and-go traffic.