#(which basically implies that he in fact came back for Rory)

[longitudinalwaveme]

Random Flash Rogues Observations

On today’s edition of things that randomly pop into my head: so, what crimes, if any, were the (Silver and Bronze Age) Flash Rogues convicted of before they put on the costumes? 

Captain Cold: In Showcase #8 (1957), the narration box describes Len Snart as a, quote, “ambitious crook” indicating that he was committing crimes well before he became Captain Cold. We also know that he was definitely guilty of breaking and entering (he breaks into a magazine office to steal a magazine and then breaks into the cyclotron lab) and burglary (since he, you know, steals the magazine). All of these events happened before he put on the costume. Since his first crime after donning the costume was an armed bank robbery, one could hypothesize that perhaps he had robbed banks before, but it’s also entirely possible that he had never committed such a large-scale crime before acquiring a super weapon simply out of practicality (this is, after all, Len Snart we’re talking about).

Mr. Element/ Dr. Alchemy: In Showcase #13, while explaining his origin, Albert Desmond vaguely explains that he “became involved in crime”. This is remarkably unhelpful in terms of figuring out any sort of specifics, but the first thing we see him do as Mr. Element is armed robbery of a jewelry store. Make of that what you will. 

Mirror Master I: Flash #105 specifically notes that Sam Scudder was “in jail for robbery”, so we know that, prior to becoming Mirror Master, he had committed some kind of robbery-though interestingly, the first crime we see him commit as Mirror Master actually seems to be a form of identity theft (using mirror duplicates of bank tellers to take money from a bank). 

Pied Piper: In Flash #106, Pied Piper just kind of....shows up....and announces to a bunch of criminals that he’s taking over their gang. He also explains that he has mastery of sound, but he gives them (and us) literally no further explanation as to who he is or what he’d done prior to this point. The first crime we see him actually commit is a burglary (the cover calls it a robbery, but since there doesn’t seem to be anyone else in the store, he’s actually committing a burglary, not a robbery), and I wouldn’t be surprised, given what we later learn about him, that this is the first blue-collar crime the Piper has ever committed. (When Piper’s backstory was finally revealed in Flash #308, we saw that Hartley used hypnotism to convince his boss to give him an unearned bonus check, which would be a form of white-collar crime.) 

Weather Wizard: In Flash #110, we learned that Mark has been arrested at least three times (though it’s not clear if he was also convicted all three times). At least two of the arrests were for burglary. His first crime as the Weather Wizard was also something of a burglary, as apparently he just distracted everyone with colored snow before stealing money from a bank. He doesn’t seem to threaten anyone during that crime; so it’s not really a proper robbery. However, Mardon quickly moves on to commit destruction of property on a massive scale, destroying an entire police building! Given that he can control the weather, the escalation in crime severity actually makes a good deal of sense in his case. 

Trickster I: I think we can say confidently that James Jesse had not committed any major crimes before becoming the Trickster, considering both the fact that he seems to be rather young upon his debut and the fact that he had an actual job as a circus performer. His first crime upon becoming the Trickster is to....hijack a plane!  Kind of! Actually, at no point does he attempt to steal or take control of the plane itself, so it’s really less of a hijacking and more of an armed robbery that just happens to be on a plane. He then spends the entire rest of the issue just screwing with Barry; not really committing any major additional crimes. That’s JJ for you. 

Captain Boomerang: We know that Digger was a criminal before he put on the costume, as he states that he was “just prepared to launch myself on a new stage of my criminal career” and also states that he spent years “hiding from the law in the Australian bush”. (The way this is phrased does kind of make it sound like the character wasn’t originally intended to be Australian, but it’s not conclusive by any means.) We also aren’t given any specifics as to what his crimes were, but I somehow get the feeling that they were extensive. The first crime we see him commit on-panel is stealing some jewelry via a boomerang (he’s not actually there in person). I’m not really sure what that would be called, to be honest. 

The Top: In Flash #121, Roscoe states that he “drifted into crime” (interestingly, this choice of words is more than a little reminiscent of the way that Dr. Alchemy described his entry into crime), and a flashback has him state that he’s been arrested at least twice. He doesn’t explain what his crimes were, though. He also looks very young in this panel; it’s possible that one or both of the crimes for which he was arrested were committed while he was still underage. We see him commit two robberies in succession (he’s using force, so the term is appropriate)....and then watch as he rapidly escalates to terrorism as he threatens to use a top-shaped atomic bomb to blow up half the world if he isn’t made leader of the planet. Considering that he goes back to robberies and burglaries after this insane scheme (at least until he finds out that he’s dying and throws a “If I can’t have it, nobody can” fit), I think it’s safe to say that Roscoe was probably not in the most sound mental state when he came up with this plan. 

Abra Kadabra: In the Silver Age, there’s no evidence that Abra Kadabra was a criminal before he made the decision to steal the time machine. As such, his first crime(s) appears to be breaking and entering and burglary (specifically, he breaks into “a building dedicated to science” and steals the time machine). 

Reverse-Flash: Eobard Thawne describes himself as “an ordinary thief”, but also notes that both his fellow criminals and the police have nicknamed him “the Professor” because of his scientific aptitude. This implies that he’s probably been arrested several times (since law enforcement is so familiar with him). However, we don’t know exactly what crimes he committed (though since he specifically calls himself a thief, burglary or robbery are the most likely). That being said, we do get to see him steal the atomic clock and the Flash uniform from the time capsule on-panel. The first crime we see him commit as Reverse-Flash is burglary (he breaks into a mansion to steal a Cribi statue). 

Heat Wave: Mick Rory does not seem to have committed any crimes prior to becoming Heat Wave; in the Silver and Bronze Ages he was not a pyromaniac. He also had a job as a circus fire-eater. The first crime we actually see him commit is assault and aiding and abetting: he shoots the Flash in the back with his heat gun and helps Captain Cold escape with the money he stole from some foreign dignitaries. 

Golden Glider: As far as we can tell, Lisa did not commit any major crimes prior to becoming the Golden Glider. There’s no definite evidence that she ever helped Roscoe or Len in their crimes, and it also seems likely that they would have wanted to avoid any risk of her being arrested, so I doubt that she was actively involved in any of their early crimes. However, since she was motivated by revenge, the first crime we actually get to see her commit on panel is basically attempted murder! She definitely entered the criminal life with a bang. 

[carmichealroyals]

CHARACTER INSPIRATION // C H A L L E N G E

Rules: Write up a blurb or make a visual collage of the people or characters (from books, TV shows, movies, etc.) that inspired your OC, either visually, personality wise, or just a general vibe.

I was tagged by this by so many lovely pals -- @thelockwoodroyals, @wa-royal-tea AND @ourwillowcreekroyals !!! I only feel bad that it took me so long but I wanted it to be as perfect as it could be while taking time to fiddle with Photoshop more (thank you @royaldevilliers for answering my silly questions). Below the cut are the descriptions for the personality types and tropes for each of the main three kids of this next generation! 

Not sure who’s done this yet, so if you see this and you want to do it, this is me telling you to do it!

CHARLOTTE:

The Protagonist:  Protagonists are natural-born leaders, full of passion and charisma. Forming around two percent of the population, they are oftentimes our politicians, our coaches and our teachers, reaching out and inspiring others to achieve and to do good in the world. With a natural confidence that begets influence, Protagonists take a great deal of pride and joy in guiding others to work together to improve themselves and their community.

Spirited Young Lady:  She is the girl who bends the rules just a little. Oh, she can dance a country dance or pour tea with the best of them, but she may also be a good walker or horseback rider. She may be the most intelligent girl in the story, and she is almost certainly the wittiest and the most outspoken, sometimes earning her the title of spitfire. She may be talented in more practical ways, as well: if given the opportunity, she may turn out to be a wise investor, and she may harbor talent for music, writing, or art that goes beyond drawing room entertainment and might become a means of financial independence if necessary. In rare cases, she may even solve a murder. Though she occasionally runs into some trouble, especially if she fails to obey the powers that be, she usually comes through in the end.

Deadpan Snarker: A character prone to gnomic, sarcastic, sometimes bitter, occasionally whimsical asides.The Deadpan Snarker exists to deflate pomposity, point out the unlikelihood of certain plans, and deliver funny lines. Typically the most cynical supporting character. In most cases, it is implied that the snarker would make a good leader, strategist, or consultant given their ability to instantly see the flaws in a constructed plan. More often than not, their innate snarkiness is the only thing preventing the other characters from comprehending this for themselves.

Politically Active Princess:  The Politically Active Princess is a princess that takes active interest in and plays an active role in politics. Naive courtiers and commoners alike might view her only as a figurehead, but in truth, she discreetly uses her position and guile in order to achieve her ends. Skilled in diplomacy, she will usually attempt to solve conflicts via conversation or bargaining, rather than combat. Her defining trait is her involvement in politics or diplomatic matters, without letting herself serve only as a bargaining chip.

Inspired by: Mia Thermopolis (The Princess Diaries); Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls); Vex’ahlia (Critical Role); Jenny Lee (Call the Midwife)

PETER: 

The Architect:  It can be lonely at the top. As one of the rarest personality types – and one of the most capable – Architects (INTJs) know this all too well. Rational and quick-witted, Architects may struggle to find people who can keep up with their nonstop analysis of everything around them.

The Dog Bites Back:  Unlike the Bastard Understudy and The Starscream, this character attacks as a crime of opportunity. There is no danger that he will take over the villain's place in the grand scheme of things. There is, however, a possibility that he will menace the others as a True Final Boss. The backstabber often ends up dead, but this is usually not Redemption Equals Death because their motive is not noble. Innocent victims who turn on the villain typically do it only for revenge, while evil victims prove that they were fine with all of the Big Bad's crimes except the one committed against them.

Middle Child Syndrome: Everyone loves the oldest child because the parents can rely on them, they watch out for their siblings, and they're so confidently attractive. The Youngest Child Wins because they're the "baby". But what does that leave the one in the middle? That's essentially the definition of Middle Child Syndrome, in which a child automatically may become The Unfavorite or the rebellious Black Sheep, specifically because they are the easiest child to overlook. They're not old enough to be given the responsibilities and privileges of the oldest, and the youngest child took their spot as the spoiled and doted-on "baby" of the family. This tends to be more of an issue when there are three children rather than four or more. Oftentimes in media, the middle child ends up becoming more of the Deadpan Snarker or the quirky one for this reason.

The Un-Favorite: Where there's an Alpha wolf, there's got to be a Beta. When there is a first banana, there is a second banana. This is the person in the family who can't get a break. For example, this is the child who's the big let-down to their parents, the daughter that was supposed to be a son (or vice-versa), the child the parents had by accident when they'd already decided they didn't need another mouth to feed, the adoptive, foster, or stepchild that came before the parents had a biological child, the illegitimate child conceived by infidelity on the part of one of the parents (if not even worse). But all in all, this is basically the kid who is always getting the short-end of the stick. In some extreme cases, this may cause Rich Sibling, Poor Sibling, especially if one sibling is forced into service to the other. A regular line that may be entailed with this is a variant of, "Honestly, [name], why can't you be more like [favorite's name]?"

Inspired by: Edith Crawley (Downton Abbey); Fiyero (Wicked: The Musical); Logan Huntzberger (Gilmore Girls); Rafael Solano (Jane the Virgin)

PEGGY: 

The Mediator:  Idealistic and empathetic, Mediators long for deep, soulful relationships, and they feel called to help others. But because this personality type makes up such a small portion of the population, Mediators may sometimes feel lonely or invisible, adrift in a world that doesn’t seem to appreciate the traits that make them unique.

The Baby of the Bunch: Being the youngest of your group typically comes with some perks and challenges. On one side you're probably the cutest, have a pass to act immature, people like taking care of you, and you can embrace your fun side, knowing that the elders are there to handle the serious stuff. And if there's anything you're naïve about, you have plenty of others to give you the realest unfiltered advice without the generational gap and detachment that your parents or the Old Master have. On the other end, sometimes people don't take you seriously. There you're kinda stuck because no matter how old you get, you'll always be "the baby" in their eyes.

Indifferent Beauty: A character who is attractive, aware of their effect on other people, but doesn't care or at least doesn't value their physical attractiveness over their other traits. Often, this character is a consummate professional who is well aware of the fact that they could use their "assets" to get what they want by other means, but feels that it would be unprofessional or beneath their dignity, and is instead focused on proving that they can compete purely on skill, often to the exclusion of romantic opportunities. While such characters are not averse to dressing in sexy outfits, they don't plan on relying on or even exploiting their sex appeal - but the camera will often do that for them. Other characters' indifference is not due to regarding relying on appearance to be beneath their dignity, but rather that they consider it to be unimportant.

Spoiled Sweet:  The Spoiled Sweet character is a naive, spoiled, rich or comfortably upper-class or upper-middle-class girl, who has everything they could ever want, but instead of being mean, she is as nice as can be to everyone. While still spoiled, slightly naive, perhaps shallow, maybe even a bit selfish at times, when it comes right down to it, she is a loyal friend and doesn't use her money or popularity as an excuse to treat everyone like garbage — though the trope Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense is in play, especially since a particularly common sticking point is that characters of this type often believe their friends and other loved ones deserve to live just as well as they do.

Inspired by: Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls); Beth March (Little Women); Pike Trickfoot (Critical Role); Peggy Schuyler (Hamilton: An American Musical)

[kes-au]

Tunnels & Dragons - 2

This time when she looked up though, Marcus wasn't giving her his usual gently teasing grin, he was gaping in shock. "Sariya, what? Why? How?" He noticed Mav, "First? What?" The dragon stretched and resettled, "My name is Mav, you no longer need to address me by my hatching order." "WHAT!?!?! No, wait, Mav? Is that short for something? Sariya did you just name my dragon?" "YOUR dragon?" "Well, yes." "And since when have graduate finance students possessed dragons?" "Um, since they attached themselves to my family about twenty generations ago and won't leave off." "You're exaggerating prince, it's only been ten generations." Sairya didn't quite know where to start with that statement, "Generations? PRINCE?" Marcus grimaced, "It's sort of complicated, maybe we should find somewhere to sit down." Another dragon, clearly related to Mav, but coloured like an Arctic sky at midnight landed hard on Marcus's shoulder, "Incoming! If you don't want to spend the rest of the day discussing frills with Lady Areliana, you might want to disappear fast." Marcus swore, grabbed Sariya and ducked back into the tunnel. "I just got out of here." "Please Sariya, please, pretend none of us are here, we're all logs, or stones or something." He pulled them both around the corner, out of sight, just as a trilling voice called out, "Hellooo, I thought I heard voices, did I hear something? Was it the flowers?" Sariya caught Marcus's eye, he silently begged her not to give them away. She rolled her eyes and moved as quietly as she could further into the passage. She felt, rather than heard his sigh as he moved to follow her. They made their way back toward Sariya's sitting room and eventually emerged, each wearing a dragon, from between the book cases. Once they were clear of the entrance, Marcus motioned as if he were pulling a pair of curtains together and the book cases merged back into their whole form as if the passage had never been there. Of course, his presence, as well as that of the two dragons indicated otherwise. "So, complicated?" Marcus pushed his hand through his hair, something he only did when seriously unsettled. Sariya wasn't entirely happy that she knew that, it implied she spent far too much time paying attention to him. She busied herself putting the frying pan and other adventure aids away. "Yeah, and fairly unbelievable if you're not willing to believe in alternate worlds, portals and magic in general." "Well, since I've just walked out of a non-existent passageway behind my books, with a dragon draped around my neck, colour me convinced." He smirked, "Oh, before I completely forget my manners, Saryia, please let me introduce you to Flutter Prettyby. Youngest hatchling of the current royal dragon batch and named by Lady Areliana." "I'm sorry, what?! But that's just wrong. Flutter Prettyby for a creature who clearly should be all about solstices and ancient magic? That's a travesty." She gulped, "I'm sorry, that was dreadfully rude." The midnight dragon shrugged, "No, merely observant. Marcus, why did you hide this treasure from us when we were being invaded by fluffies?" "I'm sorry, I was trying to keep my two lives separate as I didn't think they were compatible. In fact I've no idea quite how they've just managed to converge." Sariya looked at him blankly, "Don't expect me to have answers, a passage suddenly appeared where my books used to be, what was I supposed to do, ignore it? Heaven only knows what might have come through. And then, when I went to investigate, a dragon dropped on my head." Marcus focused on Mav who tried to look nonchalant. "You kept disappearing into the tunnel and warding it, so I decided to look while you were away. The exit kept blurring so I asked it to fix on your favourite part of your destination and it opened up where Sariya said." Marcus blushed. "Um, since we seem to have a little bit of time, perhaps you could explain your name.", he glanced at Sariya, "Yes I'm stalling but I really need to get my brain in some sort of order or it'll never come out in a way anyone can understand." Mav stretched in a smug way, "I encountered Sariya unexpectedly, but on meeting her realised she was of more value and resource than all your fluffies put together. Since we'd initiated a mind bridge, I took a chance and informed her of her right as my first non-family link to name me." "Hang on, as what?" "There's some sort of magic compulsion that means, unless you reject the invitation, the first human, other than the royal family, a dragon has a mind-to-mind conversation with is honour-bound, and magic-bound, to give them their name. Unfortunately for Mav's clutch-mates, our nobles are very well-versed in how to start those conversations and all the other dragons have been hauled in by high-born bubble brains with an ambition to be queen." "Now Mav, what is that short for?" "My full name is Drone Maverick and I like it a great deal, Sariya's mind images when naming me were highly satisfactory." Marcus frowned in thought, "Okay, clearly not bee related. Oh, nice! Flying observers, with weapon capability, but one with a mind of it's own. Beautifully named Sariya!" The midnight dragon looked rather morose, "I know it's not going to change anything but, if by some chance you had the naming of me, what would you choose?" Sariya blinked, "Um, well, going purely on your appearance, I'd go for something like Aurora, you know, like the Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis. And then you came to warn us about danger, which is maybe a bit like an oracle." Marcus started, "How did you get that? Flutter Prettyby has occasional flashes of pre-cognisance." "I don't know, but my name preference would be Aurora Delphi, after Apollo's oracle at Delphi." The dragon in question arched back as if in pain and then tightened its grip around Marcus's neck and began to cry. "Oh dear, no, what did I do? I should never have said anything. It was tactless and completely out of line." Marcus looked at her wonderingly, "No, you just did the impossible. The brilliantly, wonderfully impossible. You've renamed a dragon, I can feel the change." "Yes! Flutter Prettyby always itched, it never sat as it should. When you said my name, it was like the old one was levered out and my true name was able to settle in and it fits perfectly. Thank you, thank you. I hadn't realised how much it hurt until it was gone." Mav darted up, excited, "Maybe she could rename the others as well! It would be worth a try, Rainbow Wings is in agony and the other two aren't much better." Marcus looked pained, "Bad names hurt you? Why didn't you say something? We could have protected you better." "We never knew it was possible to be renamed. This information needs to go to the forebears. It will change a great deal." They all looked over at the bookcase, and paused. "Maybe a cup of tea first, and you can explain how you managed to find yourself living two lives in two different worlds." "I'm not entirely sure I can but I promise to try and work out something sort of coherent while the kettle boils." A few minutes later, properly fortified with tea and ginger nuts, they sat on the sofa and Sariya wedged herself comfortably against the arm so she could watch a slightly more relaxed Marcus marshal his thoughts. "Okay, it all comes back to that passage. I was exploring the woods behind the castle a few years ago and came across a cave. Naturally I had to explore, and the passage dumped me out in the library of the university. It seems to like books for some reason." "It was terrifying but fascinating and I came back, and back and was able to pick up more information all the time, I think something allowed me to absorb basic survival information so I wasn't taken in by the authorities for being a lunatic. I was able to produce important papers when needed and the more time I spent here, the more I wanted to find out. We don't understand the movement of money and the motivations behind it at home, so studying behavioural economics and finance is giving me a huge leg up on all our trading partners, plus I enjoy it. And I also met some really amazing people that I want to send more time with." Marcus flushed again. "I'm pretty sure you glossed over a lot there but I'll run with it. I had you pegged as a foreign exchange student when you first started class, but then decided you were just from another part of the country after a few weeks so I'll vouch for the absorption thing. Now what about these poor dragons and their awful names?" Marcus shifted uncomfortably, "It's one of those tradition things that's at the stage it's doing more harm than good." "Clearly." "As I said earlier, the gemscale dragon clan that Mav and Aurora Delphi belong to, by the way do you have a short form of that?" "Rory maybe? Del doesn't feel quite right." The newly dubbed Rory purred approvingly. "Nice. Anyway, one of the key elements of the association is that each member of the clutch bonded to the heir connects with a suitable potential partner for either diplomatic alliance or marriage purposes, usually marriage. The problem is, our so charming noble families think they've figured out how to force the connection and I now have a clutch of dragons in a pain I didn't know they had, connected with the shallowest, most avaricious young women of the kingdom." "So if I've just named one or now two of your bonded dragons, does that mean I'm supposed to be in the running to marry you?" "Well, um, only if you want to, and we don't have to, but we'd need to have some sort of diplomatic tie or something." "Does going out with each other count?", It was Sariya's turn to go pink. Marcus grinned, "Oh absolutely, when can we start?" "Should we make a discreet exit somewhere at this moment?" Sariya wasn't sure which dragon had spoken, she thought it may have been Rory, but was a needed, if unwanted reminder of the situation at hand.