#Who Searches For You (Vic McQueen)

[rosevanhelsing]

Wendigo

Chapter. 17

On his part, James had been making his own inquiries, looking here and there he ended up discovering another person who linked Vic and Manx: Bing Partridge. Without much thought, he went to see him at the prison. James told her that he was a distant relative of Victoria and that he had recently found out that they were related to her.

- But why are you telling me that? I no longer have a relationship with Vic McQueen. The last thing she did was write me a letter where she said that she forgave me for what I had done to her, but that we were not going to be friends.- he said sadly.

- Oh, wow. I guess that was after you told him where to find Manx ...

"How did you find out about that?" Bing said suspiciously. Time in prison had made him more cautious and suspicious

-Well, a friend made me the genealogical tree, and searching found that he had living relatives, and Vic is one of them. After a season of looking for her, I was able to contact her, I showed her everything etc… total that we have a good relationship with cousins ​​now. And she ended up telling me everything about Manx and especially about his last battle against him, how she rescued her son but unfortunately she couldn't kill Manx.

- Isn't Manx dead?

-No, and I would like to find him and make it clear that nobody messes with a McQueen and comes out unscathed. Why don't the hiding places tell me that he had that bastard?

-Will he kill it?

- That i would like.

-Well, then she must destroy Manx's car as well. The Rolls Royce Wraith, registration N0s4a2. I don't know how, but it seems that Charlie's life is linked to that of that thing.

- Wow!

- Give me a map, I'll show you the ones I remember ...

When James left, Bing was thoughtful and asked to phone. He only let him contact Tabitha Hutter. Bing commented on her visit and said that he had only told her that his name was James. Tabitha became uneasy and told Bing to describe his visitor, while she did so, Tabitha looked at the portrait Vic had made. The portrait matched the Wendigo in everything.

- What have you talked about? - Tabitha asked

- He told me that Vic couldn't kill Charlie Manx and that he's still out there. He asked me to tell him the hiding places of that vermin to kill him, I told him and also his weak point.

- For God's sake, Mr. Patridge, you didn't give him Vic's address, did you?"

-No, he didn't ask me. And I don't think he would have given it to her, that guy just didn't give me a good feeling.

- Better, because he's a fucking serial killer,-  she said and hung up the phone.

Bing almost had a heart attack, but he was glad that at least he didn't miss any information about Vic. Although he did not regret giving information about that at least no information Charlie, if Manx was hunted by another monster he did not care, rather Manx would receive his deserved. Tabitha called Vic and told her everything, Vic thanked her and said that she would stay alert just in case. When she hung up the phone, she left the house and told Charlie that at that moment he was getting ready to leave.

- Charlie, Tabitha Hutter just called.

- The police who were chasing me and Bing?

- Yes, the same one. She told me that the Wendigo found out that there was a person related to the two, besides Henry.

- Bing Partridge? Well, what did that idiot of me say to the Wendigo?

-Apparently he showed him all your  hiding places  ...

Charlie laughed out loud

- Very predictable. That's why I went ahead. There's nothing left of me, no clues in the nooks that Bing knew about.

-… he also told him about your connection with the Wraith

Charlie's smile faded from his face, and he frowned, crossed his arms, and said:

- Wow, so the loudmouth that missed that detail. I should have finished off Bing, but at the time I thought prison would be a better punishment for him than the flames of hell. However now I know that the Wendigo may try to go after me, I will take that into account.

- Charlie, we have to think of some way to attract the Wendigo to us.

- First, Vic, we must know what he is ...

- Maggie told me. He is an undeveloped creative soul. Perhaps he never found his knife, and he hates us because we have a power that he craves. Maggie told me that we should lure him to my Shortcut or Christmasland and let the static swallow him like Maggie and I try to do with you ...

- ... what if my children take care of him in Christmasland? That very tempting option for me- said Charlie with a sadistic smile.- My children could play with the Wendigo to scissors for the drifter ...

Vic couldn't suppress a shudder when she remembered what a bad time she'd had at Christmasland.

- Anyway, Vic dear, we must plan how to attract our relative and what to do with him ... but let me spend a few days in Christmasland, and you must spend Wayne's birthday with him and without worrying about anything else. Let Wayne enjoy his furry new friend that he is going to receive as a gift.

Suddenly a thing came to Vic's memory and she said, smiling:

-You're right, and now that you talk about gifts, I just remembered one thing ... please wait here.

Charlie frowned, what the hell was Vic up to? After two minutes she returned with a gift bag containing a book.

- Here,Vic said, handing the bag to Manx, it's a book of photographs of the world. There are many landscapes and monuments, although it is a bit dated. I wanted to send it to Maggie to incorporate it into a library but I think I know someone who will like it.

- Vic, what do I want that book for?

- Don't be silly, Charlie, it's not for you, it's for Millie. She wanted to see the world, that book will allow her to see it without leaving Christmasland.

Charlie's features and gaze softened and she smiled warmly. Vic seemed to catch a momentary glimpse of the sweet, quiet, good man that Charlie had been, before her gift took his soul away.

- Oh, it's a detail on your part… Thank you. I'll tell him it's a gift from you.

Charlie got in the car and drove straight to Christmasland. On the way he was thinking about how they could attract the Wendigo, until the car contacted him.

-If Vic uses my powers more times to heal himself, perhaps I will end up absorbing her soul, and she may transform into someone like you and your daughter. An immortal. It's what you want, right?

Charlie slowed down and laughed out loud. Oh, that was too good. Too ironic. He just had to wait for Vic to get hurt when they faced the Wendigo and let the Wraith do his job. The car would erase any bad memories Vic had of him…. and sooner or later, Vic would end up being for him ...

Charlie smiled satisfied and accelerated again, he had to make a plan. On the way, he stopped for a while to rest. A prostitute approached him and was run over by the Wraith. After a few hours he arrived at Christmasland and the children welcomed him warmly to receive their food. Manx threw the prostitute's body at them. When the kids finished dinner, they scattered and only Millie was left. Charlie said:

- Millie, my sugar plum, I have an exclusive gift for you, from Vic McQueen. It  is in the car.

 Millie was very surprised, and she ran to the car, took out the bag and the book, leafed through it and said:

- Oh, Dad. Is beautiful!!! Can I call Vic, to thank you?

Charlie hadn't seen Millie so excited about a gift in many years. Maybe it was because it was a different gift? Why had Vic given it to him? Manx did not know, but it was necessary for his daughter to maintain good manners and said:

-Of course, my girl, you must call her and thank her for it. You have to be grateful

Millie ran into Charlie's office and called, though only Vic heard the phone. Taking advantage of the fact that Lou was arranging to collect the puppy, Vic went to answer.

- Vic, Vic McQueen?

- Millie?

- Yes, it's me. I called you because I wanted to thank you for your gift. I loved it.

- I'm glad- Vic smiled- I owed you something, for helping me get my son back.

-You also helped me to make my Dad focus only on us and not on his revenge against you. And in the end, you also spared his life ... are you going to forgive Daddy for everything he did to you?

Vic was speechless with surprise, thought a little and said with all the sincerity that she could:

- Maybe in time, Millie. He hurt me a lot.

[aurora-stantler-our-historian]

Verse List and Additional Things

It has come to my attention that with me participating in so many threads, there’s a lot of storylines that can sometimes get muddled up when one is trying to search for a specific thread. I am also willing to play other canon characters in NOS4A2, such as Margaret “Maggie” Leigh. I would not be opposed to playing a smaller, more childlike version of Lorrie Manx either. If you wish, you may DM me and we can discuss which of the characters would be best for a potential thread.

The Verse List and Tags:

Hello Miss Rosie, it’s nice to meet you: A thread  played with bunnylouisegrimes. It is set in her own universe as a mix of both the book and the show not only with Charlie Manx but with her own OC, Rose. Aurora Stantler finds a strange companionship with Charlie Manx and Rose. This is their adeventures.  Can be found under the tag #hello miss rosie

Hijack The Wraith: A thread played with victoriafreakingmcqueen. Set in the middle of season one where Aurora Stantler tries to steal Charlie’s Wraith and he catches her. He ends up taking Aurora under his wing to teach her about being a Creative. The situation develops into one of more of an odd blurred between the line of they are not just friends but they are not the usual lovers. Hopefully will go into season 2 as the story goes on. Can be found under the tag #hijack the wraith

Ghosts of Christmas Past: A thread played with victorirafreakingmcqueen and wraith-of-christmas-future. Set after the season two finale where Vic McQueen held onto the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament from the Wraith when Charlie Manx died and the Wraith was crushed. It is a haunting of sort with Our Lady Wraith and a Charlie Manx who has not yet learned or touched the Wraith. Here, Aurora and Victoria must navigate this version of Charlie Manx from the mid 1920s while trying to find closure and keep this Charlie Manx from spiraling out of control. Can be found under the tag #ghosts of christmas past.

10-48 Fairbanks: A fairly recent thread played with victoriafreakingmcqueen and wraith-of-christmas-future. I do not play Aurora Stantler in this, but Maggie Leigh. Victoria McQueen, Chris McQueen, and Maggie Leigh kidnap Charlie Manx only hours after he escaped Bing and certain death again to get him to free Wayne from the Wraith. Can be found under the tag #10-48 fairbanks

Memories of Sadness: An Open ended thread between wraith-of-christmas-future and I about a short prompt over Charlie and his memories with Aurora Stantler. 

[allyvampirelass29]

A Shorter Way to Save Her

A NOS4A2 Fanfiction By: Allyssa J. Watkins

"Maggie, you've really done it this time, are you kidding me!? Just tell me this is a prank...... Hey you, Curlicue, she's kidding right.......?"

Vic McQueen and Maggie Leigh shared a glance, the purple-haired girl fighting her smile, but the fabulously florescent Mags, wasn't fast enough to stifle her snort with a cough.

"Yeah, we get it, you're a real crack up, Barney Fife, the name's Vic, okay, try to remember it? And no she ain't lost it, we're asking you for a favour."

"You're ASKING me to run a NATIONWIDE APB on a missing person, with no physical description, no last seen, not a damn thing to go on, except a lousy first name. Do you have ANY idea how many Allyssa's there are in the world!? This gaffe of hilarious proportions must be your guys' idea of a bad joke, huh? Pull one over on Old Joe, is that it? 'Fess up, was it Koalski or Maguire, put you two up to this?

"Joe, relax, okay?" Maggie sighed trying to calm everybody down. "I know it sounds crazy, I know we're trying to make bricks without clay here, but this girl is in real trouble, and she needs our help! It had been a huge risk getting Joe involved, Maggie knew that, and as dangerous as it was tangling yet another person she cared about in Charlie Manx's twisted web, he'd helped them catch a huge break before with that Wraith part in Denver, and with no leads, and dwindling time, stopping Allyssa Jane Doe from becoming the dreaded Mrs. Manx, was going to take all the help they could get. They'd done all they could with the impossible. It was time to turn to more conventional methods, to a force neither of them had ever really understood. The real, the possible, the police.

"Joe, please...... We're not asking for a miracle here, just something, anything you can do. Shake a few trees, rattle some cages, just help us find her....... before he does."

"I knew this was about that damned Wraith!" Joe sighed, frustrated. You girls need to give this up. Go to the mall, go on dates, live your lives! You're too young to be chasing criminal kidnappers, and too old for ghost stories. Charlie Manx is a myth, Kids, he ain't real, he can't hurt you. There is no Christmasland. There is no Santa Claus."

Maggie could sense the anger rising, coming off of Vic McQueen in waves, and she reached for her but it was too late........ Vic lunged, slamming her fists on the desk, rattling it, her eyes screaming violence. "Not real? Huh, WHAT a relief, Joe, GOD, that's swell!!! That means my boyfriend ain't dead, he didn't burn up alive in that damned car!!! Hailey's safe in her bed at home, instead of at the mercy of some sicko cautionary tale, her mother's alive, her freaking cat's alive, and I'm NOT fighting for my life, my sanity, my whole damn mind!!!!" She fumed, her eyes bleeding with pain, as the skeptical Sheriff was struck silent by her outrage. "You listen to me, you condescending piece of SHIT!!! Charlie Manx is real, Charlie Manx is EVIL, like you ain't even ready for, and unless you want to spend the rest of your career, watching mothers lose their kids, chasing your tail, because you can't wrap your head around anyone REAL being this damned effed up, you are going to help us get this girl, and save her from a hell, she ain't never coming back from........"

Joe stared Vic in the eyes, his expression hard, leaning over the desk, and in that moment Vic McQueen didn't care if she got arrested, she was so damn sick of Charlie getting away with actual murder, disappearing into a haze of obscurity, being written off as a Grimm Fairytale. Somebody had to SEE him, even if she had to make them see him. The devil was real, and he drove a 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith........

Vic didn't even flinch, glaring back at Joe, as he slammed a thick, red binder onto the desktop, never taking his eyes from hers, rifling through the laminated pages, and finally she glanced down at the whirl of pictures. "Do you know how many Missing Persons I have right now, just in the state of Massachusetts?" He asked, his voice low, emotionless, watching Vic's rage crack, as she shook her wildly curly head. "Ninety-two...... That's ninety-two mothers crying over their children, that's ninety-two people that ain't never coming home. How about the entire US, huh? Try, fifteen thousand, two hundred, and seven active cases. All of them, every one, with a full name, physical description, last seen, known associates, and still just as lost, as the mysterious name you pulled out of a hat. You want my help? Reach into your bag of tricks, there, and get me more information."

"Vic, can I talk to you a sec?" Maggie asked, calmly, and Vic reluctantly relented, scowling, as Maggie ushered her out of Joe's bland, depressing office, into the bustling police station.

"WHAT the HELL was that!?" Maggie asked furiously, clutching the purple velvet of her scrabble bag, raising her arms emphatically. "What part of, hey let's ask my friend, THE SHERIFF, for help, translated into you assaulting an officer!? Are you CRAZY!? We have a window here, Vic, a window that is about to be slammed shut in our faces!!! We don't have time for this troubled teen, fight the man, bullshit!!!!"

"This was a mistake, Maggie, I told you this was a mistake!!!! He thinks we're both freaking cracked, he doesn't believe Manx is real, let alone a threat, and he doesn't give a damn about this girl. Okay, yeah, maybe I got a little crazy in there, but somebody has to, Mags! One Manx has made my life a freaking Stephen King novel, okay, a She-Manx helping him grab up all these kids, that's only going to make things a hundred times worse!!! We gotta stop him, and we gotta do it now. I know I should know better, but have you tried asking the bag her last name?

Maggie's jaw clenched, her soft features hardening and she shook the bag in Vic's face clearly insulted. "Only about a THOUSAND times!!! Are you serious!? Do YOU want to try it!? Go ahead, be my guest, hell, keep it, if you think you can do better, but I just keep getting the SAME four letters over and over, and over. SPOILER ALERT, it's MANX!!!"

The silence spread between them, the lack of sound dispelling the anger, police officers passing by, shuffling papers, answering phones, trying to look busy as they tried not to wonder what had caught these two girls, and the Boss in such a stir. If they only knew........

"Mags...... hey, Maggie, I'm sorry, I get my mouth from my Ma, and I'm at the edge here, feelin' pretty desperate. Manx has taken everything from me, turned me into a damn basket case, I probably should have just stayed in that asylum, okay, because I don't even know what is real anymore....... But if I can save her, if I can stop him from doing the same, maybe even worse to this innocent girl, I gotta give it all I got......"

Maggie sighed, lowering her arm, and the bag, giving Vic a small, apologetic smile. "You're really living up to your name today, Brat, you know that, right?" She teased, and Vic smiled too, her eyes lighter, less intense. "Of course, I forgive you, Jerk, and I don't blame you, okay? We're both a little tense right now, and GOD, if we don't have every right to be!!!! There hasn't been a Manx sighting in months, couple that with being sleep-deprived from the night terrors, creatively spent from the search, add one crazy cryptic, terrifying message, it's a wonder we're not both in that creepy ass asylum!"

Vic snickered, still smiling. "Charlie Manx, making chicks crazy since 1885."

Maggie laughed, with a clever eyebrow raise. "You know it. C'mon, let's go back in, and at least try to play nice this time? I don't have enough money for your bail, today, Curlicue." She laughed again, playfully punching Vic's shoulder, as she turned her back around, towards the door. "Who knows, maybe your Dirty Harry moment inspired Poor Old Joe. We'll find a way to draw Manx out, and once he's proven to be flesh and bone instead of whispers and smoke, he won't be able to hide behind the guise of folklore anymore. The Bride of Chuck- I mean Charlie," Maggie snickered, "Might be just what we've been waiting for to take him down."

Vic stopped cold, her smile fading, snapping her chewing gum, as her eyes sharpened with razor focus. Holy Shit....... She grabbed Maggie's arm in a mad panic, her eyes widening. "Bride........" She whispered in barely a sound, her grip tightening. "That's it...... Mags, that's FREAKING it....... We got him."

Maggie cocked her head warily, confused, and more than a little freaked. "What's it? How do we have-? Vic are you, okay? Is it happening again, are you having another vision? Here........" She nervously looked around, hurrying Vic to a far corner, putting her arm around her defensively, her voice trailing off, as life in the police station continued to happen all around them, arrests, police investigations, parking tickets, all so mundane, while time itself had stopped dead for Vic McQueen.

Vic's smile returned, gripping Maggie's arm, her dark eyes crazed. "That son of a BITCH!!! Maggie, we did it, YOU did it! Don't you see? Our guy Charlie's getting married, and as much as I hate sayin' it, I know that SICKO, and if he's getting himself hitched, you can be sure as hell, he's gonna do it right. It's gotta take, it's gotta be legal, meaning........."

The colour drained from Maggie's mocha skin, her eyes wide with a wonderful, horrible realization. "Oh my GOD....... A license....... A M-Marriage License. We did it....... He just screwed himself, because we've got a name, an a-age, you can't be legally married unless you're......"

"Eighteen," Vic breathed, the gears in her head on overdrive. "She's gotta be at least eighteen, and somethin' tells me, that bastard Manx likes 'em young."

"Okay, think, let's estimate an age range here, let's say, eighteen to twenty-five. Maggie shook her head, tucking a stray violet curl behind her ear. "That cocky Christmas-Loving IDIOT, actually filed for a real world marriage license. Jane Austen wasn't kidding........ "We are all FOOLS in love........." We have got to tell Joe!!!!"

Vic nodded enthused, her grin smug, both of them, rushing back into Joe's office side by side, and Maggie, smacked right into him, as he cursed loudly and a lot, just barely able to recover the fumble on his piping hot cup of coffee.

"DAMN IT, MARGARET!!!!! Give it a rest, will ya!? I can't help you, okay? And you, I'd be really nice to me right now, Annie, I lock up little girls that get mouthy with cops."

"Sun'll come out tomorrow, Joe, but one more crack about my hair and my mean right hook's comin' out today."

"Joe! First off, don't be creepy it really doesn't work for you, and second, I need you to go through all of the Marriage Licenses from this month, every single state, that has the name Allyssa on them!!!!"

Joe stared back blankly, more confused than ever, slightly slack-jawed. "I'm sorry, did you just say........ Marriage License? What the hell- first this kid's kidnapped, and now she's getting married, well, which is it!?"

"Both, Joe, if Manx gets his way!" Vic snapped back, rushing behind Joe's desk to fire up the computer, pressing buttons.

"Hey! Knock it off! You ARE trouble, that's State Property, don't touch that!"

"I wouldn't have to, if you'd do your job, Officer, now how about gettin' on that database, huh? I'll say please if you want, or y'know other magic words."

Joe sank down, frustrated, in his office chair, eying Vic suspiciously. "I don't like this one, Maggie, she's a bad seed. Hey, I type your name in, Shirley Temple, any arrests come up?"

"Oh sure," Vic quipped back, her voice rife with sarcasm, leaning down to look at the screen. "Just the ones of my drunk old man, beating up on my white trash, batshit crazy mother, Go ahead, take a look."

Joe shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as Vic swiveled to smile at him, sardonic. Thought that might shut ya up, Mayberry.

"Right........ Is that Allyssa with one, "L" or two?" Joe asked firmly, typing furiously, deciding to actively ignore her snark for Maggie's sake.

"Two, "L's," and two, "S's," She shot back, still smiling. These guys were all the same. You take one look at me, and you see juvie stamped on my forehead, don't ya? I ain't the bad guy, here, but I'm sure gonna catch him.

Joe frowned, leaning in closer, his eyes narrowing at the screen, the name looking strange, all spelled out.

"You sure about that? That's a pretty.......... creative spelling........"

The word hit like a sledge hammer, shattering Vic's smile, the ice spreading through her body, crystallizing in her veins, as she shared an uneasy look with Maggie, both of them paralyzed by one singular thought, caught off guard by Joe's tragic word choice.

"Holy Hell........" Vic whispered under her quickened breath, so that Joe couldn't hear, her words frozen over with the fear that Maggie's expression was right now fighting hard. "Mags....... She's one of us........"

Maggie shook her head vehemently, purple curls dangling, banishing the thought, shooting a wary glance at Joe, to make sure he wasn't listening in. "We don't know that, Vic....... Don't go there. She could just be something shiny that caught Manx's eye."

"Yes we do!" Vic hissed back, insistent. "Think about it........ If I'm the most damned powerful Strong Creative in the whole freaking universe, would I go through all the trouble of yanking some Plain Jane, non-creative, nobody into my demon car, or would I make it count...... go after somebody with power, somebody worth taking and keeping, in that special, legally binding kind of way. There's a reason he wants her, Mags, and something tells me it's not just for her pretty face."

"No, no........ oh my god......." Maggie breathed, the icy chill infecting her next. She bit her lip, almost scared to say it out loud. "She's one of us....... She has to be....... A Strong Creative with a brand new power for Manx to exploit." She squeezed her eyes shut against the sinister possibilities. "Could this possibly get any worse!?

"Ladies, I really think you got the name wrong here," Joe called over his shoulder, oblivious to the reverberating revelation. "I don't see ANY Allyssa's from this month, not one "L," two "L's," or three. Nada. Maybe the Mary Poppins prop is past its expiration date, huh Mags?" Joe mused, chuckling. "You see, if I'm this incarnation of all evil, King of my cursed Christmas whatever, and I was wanting a woman, I don't think I'd go through all the trouble of filing a legal document. I'd just grab the little lady, and go!"

Vic walked coolly, over to him, her arms crossed over her chest, her dark eyes defiant. "Look again, Joe."

"What? Did you hear what I just-?"

"I said, look again. You don't know this Joker like I do, okay, he's not your everyday, zip ties, and ski mask, ransom-seeking hoodlum, this guy......" Vic's voice got quieter, and she swallowed hard with disgust. "He's method. He knew her, he followed her home at night, watched her fall asleep. He manipulated his way into her life, got her to trust him, and then he took her....... All that time, all that effort, watching her from windows, he'd make sure there was no way out, a failsafe, a legally binding tie. Go back three months.

Joe's expression was grave, and he nodded with a solemn intensity, the chill in the air positively paranormal. Maggie reached out to grab Vic's hand, looking at her with sad, thoughtful eyes, not saying a word.

"It could have been me," Vic whispered, with a shiver, her voice strained, trying not to break with her emotion. "He told me I belonged there with him, that he was gonna ride high into Christmas Hell with me at his side, and make me those kids' mother, that I had disappointed them, some shit about not being pure. That Craig- Craig had ruined me. He couldn't take a Bad Girl to Christmasland, so here we are. Enter Plan B......."

"We're GOING to get this guy, Vic," Maggie whispered, fierce and determined. "His Plan B is going to mean his Final Destination, I promise. She's the key, this mystery girl is going to be the reason Charlie Effing Manx goes under, and never touches another soul. You sent that Son of a Bitch to hell once, Brat, and together, we can do it again."

"Holy SHIT........" Joe stared incredulous at the screen, rolling his chair slowly backward, blinking his eyes, but the impossible did not disappear, and he raised his finger, transfixed. "Holy Sh- Charles Talent Manx, and Allyssa Jolene Watkins. Filed three months ago, on July 5th 2019......."

A hush drowned the room, the silence deathly, and Vic groaned, annoyed. "You've gotta be FREAKING kidding me!!!! Charles TALENT Manx!? His middle name is literally TALENT!? God, I'm never going to hear the end of that one........."

Joe ignored Vic's outburst, his stare still fixed, thoroughly disturbed. "Bastard used his real name, and everything........ How did- How did you know?"

He turned slowly to Vic, and she gave him a sad, sort of smirk. "I told you......... Manx has been haunting my dreams, taunting me, taking, and torturing me for as long as I can remember. His madness has poisoned my mind, and he's going to do the same damn thing to her, but even worse, because he's going after her heart. He's going to wither it from the inside, until it looks like his, ruin her for anyone else. No loopholes, no escape, and she's going to become a fixture of that god-forsaken place. It's going to happen........ just like he's got planned. Unless somebody finds a Shorter Way to save her."

Maggie felt her body seized with the intruding fear, the biting phrase, landing like a slap to the face. "Vic! Vic NO, listen to me, it's TOO dangerous!!! It almost KILLED you last time, you can't! I won't let you do it! It's not going to take you to Christmasland, and if you use it....... He'll know."

"Good," Vic shot back, with a raised chin. "I want him to know it's me! Me comin' to steal back Christmas, comin' to break up this damn wedding. Consider it my RSVP! She seethed, railing against Maggie's impassioned protest. "Craig didn't DIE for me, so I could do nothin', Maggie, this is my shot to fix it, to do what I couldn't do before, and use my inscape to freaking save somebody, instead of wasting it, finding loose change. It may not take me direct, but it'll take me to where she lived, and why he took her. I'll get to know this chick, find out who she is, what she can do. He doesn't get to win, Maggie, not this time."

"If you think I'm letting you do this alone, you really should be committed," Maggie answered back, fire in her eyes. "If you're going to break up the happy day, and go blind in the process, because you're too damn stubborn, I'm coming with you."

"Mags, you can't! You know what happened to Craig when he tried to follow me over, it's too dangerous, this is my atonement, not yours, got it?"

Maggie swung her scrabble bag, back and forth, as it dangled by its purple string. "Look at this, Vic....... Do you think I was blessed or cursed with this bag, to pass the time with the world's most BORING game!? I can help you! You don't ALWAYS have to rev up your engine, and tear off on your own!!! Finding people, saving people, that us, that's you and me. Our purpose. Together....... And unless there's something you're not telling me, Craig wasn't a Strong Creative! I am! It let you bring me once, you have to at least try again!"

Vic gritted her teeth, hating that Maggie was always right. Here's to the girl, left holding the bag....... "You've got all the answers, don't ya?"

"Uh yeah, in the bag." Maggie smiled, her brown eyes luminous. "Are we doing this or what?"

"Fine, Mags, you can come. But remember, my inscape, my rules. Your eye starts bleeding, your stutter gets worse, or any other pay to play shit, and we're done. I mean it."

"Deal," Maggie smiled brightly, and then her eyes flickered, the light burning out, her features somber, wondering if Vic had been so distracted by Charlie's revealed middle name that she hadn't noticed something even more worrying about the other......

"Jolene," She said sadly, watching as Vic's eyes threatened tears. "Her middle name is Jolene."

"Yeah, I-I noticed......" Vic said softly, wiping at the corner of her welling eye with her thumb, taking a deep breath. "No way in HELL is that a coincidence........."

"Damn this guy knows what he's doing," Joe huffed, slamming keys on his computer. No driver's license on record, every picture on file, magically disappeared. It's like this girl......... doesn't even exist........"

Vic nodded, gritting her teeth again. "He's good....... But I'm better. In his twisted mind, Allyssa belongs to him now, to Christmasland, meaning he's got to get rid of any evidence she existed outside of his inscape. He may be immortal, but he's not infallible. He's going to miss something, slip up, just once, and I'm going to be the one to catch it. He's going to make sure she's got nothin' to come back to....... and I'm going to make sure she'd rather die, than stay.

[thehonestreader]

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Rating: A-

Vic McQueen can find anything. All she has to do is jump on her bike, ride across a bridge that doesn’t technically exist anymore, and she’s instantly taken to the place of the thing she happens to be searching for. At eight she thinks that this is a miracle, but as she gets older she sees it for what it truly is: madness. This madness plagues her through the years. And being the only survivor of serial killer Charlie Manx doesn’t help. Vic was the person who finally got him caught, the only reason he was sent to jail for the murders of dozens of children. But Vic’s story has two versions: the safe version of him kidnapping her that she told to the police, and the mad version, the one where she went looking for him and road across her bridge that doesn’t exist. As the years pass Vic finally thinks that she’s done with Charlie Manx. But he isn’t done with her, and his revenge will come.

–

A thing you might want to know about me: I’m TV psychic. I’ll wake up, think about a specific line or scene from a TV show, and that very day I will find that episode on some channel. How this power of mine ties into this book is that I didn’t know they made it into a show on AMC. I thought I chose to read this book very randomly, but I guess my psychic-ness played a small part, because there was episode one on just as I started in on this bad boy. In the grand scheme it’s an utterly useless psychic power, but I guess it’s something. Anyway…review time.

If you read my reviews, you know by now that sometimes (most times) I read books I know nothing about. I don’t read descriptions online, I don’t read the summary on the covers. To me, at times, the best thing about starting a new story is knowing absolutely nothing about it because then I have no expectations; it’s just an adventure the whole way through. And that’s the case when it came to this book. I think I looked at the cover a few times when I worked at a bookstore, thought, “Hey, isn’t this Stephen King’s son?” and usually walked away. But I was just very bored and very desperate for a book that was good, and I placed all my bets on NOS4A2. I wasn’t disappointed.

Having said that, I do think this book could have been cut down a bit. There’s several places where things drag out almost painfully slow. I didn’t realize that this story would basically span Vic’s entire life, and there are moments that could have been just talked about instead of being shown, or left out all together. Plus, the epilogue doesn’t do it for me. That’s the one time that something should have been expanded on instead of being glossed over. It’s a very abrupt end to a story that had been sprawling beforehand.

The powers that these characters have are also cool, and I like that they don’t come for free. Each person pays for using their power in their own way, and as the years go on you see how it slowly destroys them because they just can’t stop themselves from using it. I like that there are consequences to all this, although Vic’s paying for her power isn’t consistent at all, especially as the tension builds up toward the end. By then the story is so fast paced that I think you’re not supposed to notice. I noticed, but at that point I didn’t really care that much.

Honestly, I can’t say anything more than that I liked this one and it pleasantly surprised me. It's hard to even pinpoint specific things that I liked. Separated from the whole they don't seem as impressive as being joined together in the grand story. It was just pretty damn good.

-Review by C.M.

[bluefanguy]

Bluefanguy’s Book Thoughts

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Good day all and welcome to another edition of Bluefanguy’s Book Thoughts! Today’s book is NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.

Victoria “Vic” McQueen discovers the bridge after trying to find her mother’s bracelet, a bridge that transports her to whatever she’s searching for. All she needs to do is ride on her bike, visualize the bridge, and she can pass on through to her destination. Elsewhere, Charles Talent Manx has a special car and uses it to take children to Christmasland where they can be young forever, but it’s a price that benefits only Manx. During one of her outings, Vic and Manx’s paths cross and he sees her as a potential victim but she manages to escape and ends up getting him sent into a coma. Years later, Manx wakes up and wants nothing more than to get back at Vic for being the one who got away. Vic has been trying to rationalize the encounter but some things can’t be left unburied and if she wants to protect her family, she’ll have to call upon that power of hers, regardless of the cost.

This novel certainly hits up the creepy factor. Powers with a cost that affect the user physically or mentally. A man who draws in children to his other world and has no guilt about it, including having others act to draw in more victims. Yet, there is also heart within the story. A girl who cares for her family despite their dysfunction and when she has her own family, she tries her hardest to protect them, even willing to throw herself into danger once she accepts her role in this fight. It’s a story that will remind you that even the most unlikely of us can have a role against the powers of evil.

If you love horror, special abilities, and stories that span over years, then you just may love this book!

Thanks for reading! Likes, reblogs, comments, questions, and followings are all appreciated. Until next time.

Bluefanguy, out.

[fuckyeahcatdog]

Interview with Steven Banks CatDog writer

1. What are some of your fondest, and zaniest moments working on CatDog?

"Giving the Heimlich maneuver to Neil Martin (writer’s assistant), watching Jon Ross (writer) search for a bride from Russia on the internet (he actually went to Russia, but no bride), decorating Andrew Gottlieb’s office with a hundred pictures of his favorite singer Barbra Streisand, packing up Neil Martin’s entire office so he thought he had been fired, seeing Robert Lamoreaux and Rob Porter go at it on Martial Arts Friday, wearing turtlenecks on Steve McQueen Wednesdays, watching Barry Bunce draw, coming up with the Girls Of CatDog calendar from among the delectable female co-workers, listening to the voice actors cut up between takes and cashing all those sweet checks."

2. Describe a day at the CatDog "office". Were you responsible for anything else besides writing?

"Writing was enough to be responsible for! There was no such thing as a typical day at CatDog. We were either pitching a story, writing a episode, punching up someone’s script or quietly napping. I served under 4 different story editors/head writers who all had their own “style”; the scary and funny Vince Calandra, the laid back Dean Stefan, the brilliant, bullying, loud, obnoxious, egomaniacal, funny, eating machine Andrew Gottlieb and the Les Miserables loving pussycat Vic Wilson."

3. Which CatDog songs did you write? Which one do you find yourself singing most? Did you also write some of the music too?

"I wrote the music and lyrics to: The Best Part Of Christmas, Pretty Little Piece Of Paradise (my two favorites), Who Wants To Rock?, We’re Off To Washington, D.C., It’s A Boy Mrs. Lincoln, Sure Chops A Mean Piece Of Wood, Gettysburg Shuffle, We Are The Cats, Life Is Great, I Love Money, We’re Gonna Get That Cat, Surfin’ CatDog, and Someday Maybe I’ll Have A Home. I would play the songs on guitar to teach the actors the melody and then they would sing them. Sometimes I sang background vocals along with Peter Hannan, Neil Martin and others but don’t tell SAG."

4. Since you've written a lot of episodes, are you responsible for any of the character quarks that came about? Such as Shriek's crush on Dog for example? "I made Lube obsessed with food for awhile but that disappeared. I might have come up with “turr-rrifc” but I maybe dreaming."

5. What are some of your favorite characters on the show? Which one can you see yourself relating to most? Which is the most enjoyable to write about?

"Cat, Dog, Winslow and Shriek were great to write for."

6. Out of your many episodes, do you have one that sticks out as a particular favorite? Which ones are definate favorites and why?

"I liked THE ISLAND because it was the first cartoon I ever wrote and I got to put a song in it (Pretty Little Piece Of Paradise). I hadn’t told anyone about the song and I just whipped out a ukulele at the table reading and started playing and singing. Peter and the others joined in and that was it. I also like CATDOGS END(butts are funny), THE COLLECTOR, SEND IN THE CATDOG (I actually went to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey’s Clown College) ALL ABOUT CAT (who doesn’t like musical theater?) and THE CAT CLUB (though they toned down the Leni Reifenstahl-esque movie they showed to the cats)."

7. Do to complicated story lines, or difficult animated scenes, which episode seemed to take the most time putting together that you wrote?

"THE GREAT PARENT MYSTERY (or The Great Foster Parent Mystery as it was sometimes referred to) took the longest. It also changed a lot. I went on vacation and when I came back Cat was adopting a “critter” that we were all sad to see go. The Halloween episode also went through many changes."

8. I'm in awe at how many details go into the making of this cartoon. Like a fishbone shaped telephone or, to minor details that make up the story, such as a rubber duck shaped Dr's office, "Mother's Day Mean Bob", sunken Titanic, etc. With how much time it takes to put a cartoon together, how did everyone manage to do such a flawless job in detail?

"The details in the art are all the artists’ work and they work very hard (much harder than writers). We would make suggestions, but it was mostly the good artists coming up with great ideas."

9. Out of the CatDog books you wrote, do you have a particular favorite?

"My favorite CatDog book is ROCK AND ROLL CATDOG, which unfortunately was not published. Of the published books I like A SPACE ODDITY."

10. When did you decide to get involved with writing and cartoons? Do you have any special writing degrees?

"I have written since I was a kid. Originally I was a performer and writer. I wrote a one-man show HOME ENTERTAINMENT CENTER that was a Showtime special and live-action pilots for Disney, NBC, CBS, FOX and I also had a series on PBS called (oddly enough) The Steven Banks Show. My agent called me in June of 1997 and asked if I was interested in writing animation. I had never thought about it before. I went in, met Peter Hannan and Vic Calandra, saw the CatDog pilot, they read my stuff and I started working on July 1st and was there until writing ceased in February of 2000." 11. What advice do you offer to those reading, that want to get involved with cartoons, and or writing?

"Watch cartoons, watch movies, read books and plays and write, write, write and then write some more. If you don’t give up or go crazy you may end up on a show." 12. What special projects are you involved with now?

"Currently I am working on a animated project with none other than Peter Hannan. It has to do with Christmas, but that’s all I can say. I’m also writing a play with Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller fame) called LOVE TAPES. I have just finished a screenplay THE BLOOD CROWN and a sit-com pilot THE HARDEST THING IN THE WORLD and let’s hope somebody buys them and makes them. I also have a new one-man show in the works called TALENT SHOW. I may work on a new cartoon called JIMMY NEUTRON if Nickelodeon coughs up the bucks." 13. Cat or Dog, which side seems to suit you more and why?

"I’m more like Cat (unfortunately)."

14. In your books, it says you play several musical instruments, which ones do you play? When we hear any of the CatDog music are we hearing you playing, such as the piano in "Silent's Please"?

"I play a bunch of different instruments to varying degrees of efficiency - guitar, drums, bass, harmonica, ukulele, piano, and recorder. You hear my music in all the songs I wrote, but I didn’t play an instrument on any of them."

15. A few episode hint questions.

I've always been curious, is there an actual determined number of "Mean Bobs", in "The Collector"?

"I don’t know how many Mean Bobs there are. Freeze frame the pan of the boxes and you’ll see some of the other odd ones."

In The End- If Cat and Dog were actually a regular cat and dog, are we to assume that the orange cat and tan dog that Nostradummy are holding is in fact the type of feline and canine that Cat and Dog would be (a tabby like Garfield, and a golden retriever)?

ALSO was this episode written just in time, to poke fun at the Y2K hysteria?

"CatDog 3001 was the Y2K tribute show."

Hotel CatDog- Is that inspired from Fawlty Towers? Cat sort of reminds me of Basil in that episode for some reason.

"Hotel CatDog had a bit of FAWLTY TOWERS in it. It’s basically a French farce in a hotel."

Battle of the Bands- The different CatDog rock costumes, are they all supposed to parodies of actual groups? Obviously Sony and Cher is the one, the rapper one looks like Run DMC, what about the other 4 (Punkers, alternative, heavy metal and mod? )?

"I think Sonny & Cher and Run DMC were the only “out and out” parody outfits. Barry Bunce did those designs."

Talking Turkey- The balloon holding guy, is that supposed to be anyone in paticular from the staff? Are there any background Nearburg citizens that were drawn like any staff members?

"The only artists that I know of that was portrayed in a cartoon was Ray Pointer as The Amazing Ray. I named the character after Teller the magician and then one of the artists drew him as Ray Pointer."

16. Is there anything else you would like to say in closing?

"Thanks to Kristen for a great web site. I met some strange and interesting people in my two years and seven months at CatDog. Some I hope will be life long friends and others continue to haunt me in sweat drenched nightmares that I awake from screaming. Many thanks to Peter Hannan for hiring me (and not firing me)."

Ahh shucks, Thanks Steven for the compliment, and sharing your CatDog experience with us. CatDog lovers everywhere are intrigued. :-)

AlSO Thanks for the autograph!

(source: http://catdog1st.tripod.com/StevenBanks.html)

[aion-rsa]

NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 9 Review: Welcome to Christmasland

https://ift.tt/347KQS2

This NOS4A2 review contains spoilers.

NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 9

There’s a certain sadness that comes along with parenting. As a first-time parent of a toddler, I’ve been spared most of it, but even though my child is still in the early stages of learning to speak and developing higher motor functions, there’s already a little maudlin joy in watching her grow and change. The little potato-shaped baby I fed and cuddled on the couch doesn’t snuggle in immediately when you pick her up. If she wants something, she’s quick about expressing her opinion, mostly with body language. If she wants down, she’ll wiggle around until you let her down. If she wants to play with a certain toy, she’ll go get it and manually put it into your hand with the expectation that you’ll know what to do from there. It’s very funny, most of the time, but there’s also a tinge of loneliness as I watch her slowly grow up into the person she’ll become.

Of course, I’m a normal, relatively functional adult human; I’m not Charlie Manx, the stunted villain of NOS4A2. Watching my baby grow up is sweet and a little sad, but I wouldn’t want to stop her. I certainly wouldn’t kill her and imprison her in my mind palace to prevent the natural course of aging and development. Then again, I’m not a Strong Creative.

One of the most solid things NOS4A2 has established throughout this season are both the similarities and differences between Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto) and Vic McQueen (Ashleigh Cummings). After a certain point, they have a lot of similarities in terms of attempting to overcome their backgrounds, but Charlie’s selfish streak is what separates them. Vic would do anything to save Wayne; Charlie keeps Millie (Mattea Conforti) trapped in a hell of his own making. He might have provided her all of the trapping she dreamed of, and all of the friends a girl could want, but when she opens her mouth to mention leaving, well… that’s a non-starter, because when she leaves Christmasland, she begins the process of leaving him behind, figuratively at least.

I can’t help but wonder if Millie, as she watches Vic search for a way into Christmasland, sees a more appealing parental figure than her own. Or, perhaps, she just sees a way out and she’s willing to use Vic to get away from her father’s permanent childhood. Perhaps father and daughter are more alike than either is willing to own up to, with both seeing Vic (initially) as the means to an end, either as a new mother for the children of Christmasland or freedom from one man’s selfishness. Millie mirrors her father through the lens of his selfishness, and Wayne, with his desire to run away from his mother and all of her baggage, mirrors his mother’s own desire to get out of Haverhill and make something of herself, albeit in a nascent form.

To the credit of “Welcome to Christmasland,” there’s absolutely no downtime from the shocking events of “Chris McQueen.” Grief is an emotion that can be saved until after everyone is no longer in mortal danger. Vic is determined solely to get Wayne back from Charlie Manx, and Ashleigh Cummings does a brilliant job of expressing suppressed grief in her brief introductory scene with Lou as she struggles to start the bike and tells him, voice cracking, to stay with her father so he won’t be alone. Once she has that brief moment, and represses it after a confession of love for Lou and his goodness as a person, she’s ready for business.

Read more

TV

NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 8 Review: Chris McQueen

By Ron Hogan

TV

NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Cripple Creek

By Ron Hogan

Charlie, to his credit, is much the same way, albeit he’s taken through the house where he keeps his nightmares locked up by Millie in an attempt to get the whole Manx family to leave Christmasland together. Zachary Quinto doesn’t have to fully restrain Charlie’s fear and anxiety; instead, the deeper Millie drags Charlie into the place of his greatest failures, the more panicky he becomes until, when confronted by Cassie, he has a full-fledged freak-out, lashing out at her and Millie with uncharacteristic aggression. He’s backed into a corner, and he faces one of the things he fears most: an independent teen girl who pushes back on his every decision and choice, no longer fooled by twinkling lights and candy. Mattea Conforti does a great job with Thomas Brady’s script, putting full teenage angst into her line delivery without crossing the line into annoying. She’s chafing under Charlie’s rule, longing to branch out, but not wanting to abandon her father in the process until it seems like she has no other choice.

The bulk of the episode isn’t about family drama, though the family drama underpins the action. The bulk of the episode is a daring twilight mission of destruction through Christmasland conducted by Vic and Maggie. Sure, they’re searching for Wayne, but they didn’t break into Christmasland not to do some serious damage to Charlie Manx’s evil plans in the meantime. Toa Fraser does a stellar job of shooting the action in Christmasland, giving Charlie’s mind palace both a scope and a scale that isn’t seen in the few other Inscapes we’ve seen throughout the series.

This one is intricate, deep, with an Id maze among its many traps and snares designed to stop adults and enthrall children. The set design is incredible; it’s somehow both Christmassy and terrifying at once. Behind the gingerbread siding and foggy glass windows, the joy and light of the place die quickly, with the buildings we see the inside of, a candy shop and a costume shop, looking lifeless in spite of their festive colors and twinkling lights. In a sense, Christmasland looks like a movie set decorated with fake snow; it does the job, but the illusion don’t last past the initial glance. The kids might be happy, but that’s as much because of Charlie Manx’s need to feel like he’s saving them and giving them every kid’s fantasy rather than actual happiness. He’s not there to give them something they need, they’re there because he has to feel like a success rather than a failure.

Christmasland isn’t for them, it’s for Charlie Manx, and attacking it is as effective in stopping him as burning the Wraith because it’s a necessary part of his being. Christmasland is a playground for kids, because bribery is the only way Charlie ever knew how to make someone happy. He couldn’t give Millie anything in her life, so in her afterlife, she’s getting all of the junk food and frivolity a child could want.

But Millie isn’t a child anymore. In spite of all traps designed to keep her a child forever, Millie is growing up, and the first lesson of her journey into adulthood is to see through her father’s carefully constructed lies and half-truths. The brightly colored present of Christmasland is just an empty box, and Christmasland is pure emptiness. Behind Charlie’s gorgeous car and well-coiffed veneer is pure emptiness; Christmasland might be there to keep the kids happy, but Charlie’s mind is more like the ice maze, twisted and endless and cold, where anything that runs counter to Christmasland’s plastic perfection goes to die.

The post NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 9 Review: Welcome to Christmasland appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2Y7Gvut

[rosevanhelsing]

Wendigo

Ch. 2

Vic telephoned Maggie at intervals throughout the next day and kept an eye on her cell phone, but Maggie didn't answer. Vic was desperate and called Tabitha, luckily Vic and Maggie had kept in touch with her.

- Tabitha, I'm Vic, Vic Mcqueen

"Hi Vic," Tabitha said with a strange voice.

-The day before yesterday Maggie called me, she seemed very scared. She said we were in danger.

"Well, she's gone ..." Tabiha's voice broke into a sob.

-Tabitha, what the hell happened? Where is Maggie? What has happened to him?

- They have killed her, Vic. In a horrible way…. They have ripped out his heart. I'm sure he was that son of a bitch Charlie Manx ...

- I don't think so, Tabitha. Charlie left us alone. Listen, I'll send you the last video she sent me. We have to talk when  you can. I will come.

- No, I don't want you to see her like that ...

- Fuck you, Tabitha. She was my best friend, like a sister and she helped me a lot. It's the minimum, plus I'll pay for her funeral.

When she hung up the phone, Vic broke down and wept bitterly. She had stoically endured the call, but at that moment she couldn't take it anymore. Lou hugged her and let her cry whatever it took, Vic went to bed crying and fell asleep. When Wayne called from the camp, Lou told him that Maggie had been killed by someone, he knew Wayne would guess if he spoke to Vic and Wayne was direct.

- Was it Mr. Manx?

- Your mother thinks not. Plus Aunt Maggie called us saying she was in danger from someone called the Wendigo.

- Give mom a kiss and tell her to say goodbye to her for me.- He said with a sad tone.

- I will,  champ. Don't worry and enjoy the camp. I love you Batboy.

After a while, Vic woke up screaming. She had had visions, that had not happened to him since he had sensed that Manx was close, but the visions had nothing to do with Charlie or Christmasland but with someone tall and corpulent, who wore animal skin on his shoulders and a kind of deer skull with horns on his head and with people gutted and whose hearts had been ripped

Thousands of miles away, Charlie awoke with a start. He had had the same visions as Vic, and he knew from experience that having visions did not bode well, especially if you saw people, with the same gift as yours, gutted and heartless.

The next day, Vic caught a plane and went to Maggie's funeral, Vic and Tabitha spoke after the funeral:

- I've been investigating - Tabitha said, showing him a folder with photos of other cases- Apparently this type of modus operandi has been going on for some time, but it's very spaced out. Apart from Maggie, this was more recent. Tabitha showed him a photo of John Becker The Hourglass Man, he was also found dead.

"My God, is this the guy Maggie caught?" The one who ran me over and manipulated a doctor to kill me?

"Yes. But there are several more." Tabitha showed her more photos.

- Oh my God. There are children… I think I already know what they have in common. At least Maggie and John. They were just like me. Supercreatives.

-Do you think he's a serial killer of supercreatives?

- Yes I think so.

- You're not going to go after him, are you?

 Vic didn't say anything. Tabitha told her

- I'll be right back. Do not move from here.

Vic opened the folder and began taking photos with her cell phone  to the archives. Tabitha came back and put the folder away.

- Vic, don't do anything stupid. I would not like you to be part of this collection of corpses. And even if Maggie's tiles  were right, which I have no doubt, don't go ask Manx for help. If you meet him again, he will possibly kill you.

- I know. Keep calm. Goodbye Tabitha.

Vic went to a motel and called Lou

- Hello…

- How was the funeral?

Vic told him about it and said:

- I think this Wendigo is a serial killer of super creative

- Shit…

- I want to finish him, Lou. For Maggie, and for the innocent murdered ...

- What innocents?

- Lou, that guy has killed children, he has ripped their hearts out ...

- Holy God….

-I have to find Charlie Manx ... he's the only one who can help me ...

-Vic… he will kill you if he can. He hates you to death. It’s foolish

- Lou, how many superheroes have had to ally with villains against another worse villain?

- Many. But I do not know…

- Goodbye. I will call you back

Vic drove out of the motel into the parking lot and got into his special Triumph. It was time to search again.  It was time to go back to find the Wraith. It was time to meet Charlie Manx again

[allyvampirelass29]

The Queen and Victoria

A NOS4A2 Fanfiction By: Allyssa J. Watkins

"Do you love her, Mister Manx?"

Charlie's lip curled with his distaste at Bing's clumsy impertinence, daring to ask such a question.

"What business could it possibly be of yours, Bing, as to whether or not I love the woman I have wed?" He snapped viciously, not bothering to look at the brutish oaf of a man and his slow-spreading, vacant expression.

"Forgive me, Mister Manx, if it not be well and proper to ask, but........ don't you WANT to love the little thing? Isn't that why you stole her in the first place, brought her here to Christmasland? To be your happy missus?"

"Thin ice, Bing, THIN. ICE." Charlie rasped back, his knuckles tightening over the curve of the candy cane's crook, that made up the fencing, and he looked out over the sweeping grounds, blanketed in snow, frowning imperiously, at the too perfect creature, that frustratingly fetching female, that beguiling brunette beauty, his own Mrs. Manx. There she was in all of her glittering red strapless gown glory, her full skirts skittering across the drift, as she reached down, tentatively, to pet one of his skeletal reindeer, seeking an impossibly red apple from a sparse white tree.

Hello, Wife. The question lingers........ even as I look at you. Do I love you, My Sweet? The answer was most alarming, and he said it out loud in a huff.

"Too much........ I love her too much, and it's becoming a problem, Bing. Most disconcerting."

His dark eyes narrowed, as the girl eagerly plucked the succulent red apple from its branch, giggling happy, as she fed it to the deer from her doting little palm. Are you eating out of my hand, My Fawn, or have you right now got me wrapped, tied up in a bow 'round your pesky little finger?

"Problem?" Bing ventured even more cautious, his eyes impossibly wide. "Love's the thing! How can Mrs. Manx be a problem, when she wears your ring?"

Charlie felt his gaze soften, fighting his half smile, as he searched for the ring on her finger, and it glinted in the silvery sunlight. You wear it, for me........ Even on our wedding night, that you wasted, sobbing at my window, huddled against the glass in fear, foolishly thinking I violated your power, when I was kind enough to demonstrate to you its full potential, even then, embroiled in our darkest hour, you never once took it off.......... It has not left your finger, and I know it never will.........

"It may be a champagne problem, Bing, but a problem persists, nonetheless....... Because I hate that I love her this ardent, this despicable depth of feeling is........ unnatural......... I've abhorred every conniving female that has carried with her the name, Mrs. Manx......... Save for this one, thus making my docile dove the most dangerous of them all. I crave her more than even the strongest creative power. In truth, she's more threat to me, my work, than Vic McQueen could ever be........"

He sighed, vexed, leaning over the rows of candy canes, elbows elegantly folded beneath him, a strand of jet black hair working free of his slicked coif. He admired the way her dress shimmered as she walked, and she shivered in the cold, her shoulders bared, and as white as the surrounding snow. Her cheeks chilled, and as red as the apple she'd held in her hand. You tempting little Minx, Mrs. Manx........ Who are you to taste of the forbidden fruit of my love? The Eve to my frosted Eden, what crowns you Queen of Christmasland save that but MY hands?

"Shall I erm, take care of it, Sir? If this Manx Bride does not appease, than Bing must bring a second, and make the first flee........"

Charlie wrinkled his nose, attempting to banish the rising violence incurred by Bing's fool thoughtlessness. "My Boy, if you so much as touch Allyssa Manx, even once, the graveyard of what might be, will then become, your Christmas Present. A Partridge hanging from a pear tree. You gargantuan lump, I am not displeased, but severely the opposite.......... When we love too much, we lose even more. Remember that, Bing."

"Yes Sir, I promise, I won't touch her."

"No. You won't," Charlie finished sharply, turning away as Ally let herself fall back into the drift, defying the cold, making a snow angel. Ohhh must you toy with me so? My Snow Angel, My Porcelain Plaything? What am I going to do with you?

"Ready the Wraith, Bing, I require a distraction, and there is a dear little lad in Hartford that's dreaming of Christmas fun, while his fool parents spend their nights getting drunk. He shall be a special surprise for my young bride, a brand new, adorable son...... The first to greet her when she meets them."

"Uh Boss, do you think it's wise, she meets the little nippers so soon? She only just got here......."

"Why, of COURSE, she must meet them, my GOD, Man, where is your head today?" Charlie chastised, with an indignant scowl, which all too quickly melted into a fond smile. "Those poor motherless souls, are orphans no more......... They have a kind, nurturing, beautiful mother now, and a doting, dare I say, spoiling father. I have done it, Bing, at last....... with my taking a wife, I have given them everything. A queen to rule them, a matron to soothe them. She is my gift to my Found Children, and they are mine to my lucky bride. Christmasland just needed a woman's touch......... As did I........"

Ally had popped up from the drift after leaving her lovely indent, her gown rustling, and she caught sight of her striking husband contrasting dark with the snow, ebony against the white, and her gloved hand raised in a gentle wave.

He fought the handsome grin, and lost, waving regally in return, nodding his raven head forward, in genteel grace. His smile faded however, as Bing pushed forward, far less graceful, wobbling, with an absurd wave of his own.

Ally looked startled at first, and then smiled nervously as she waved back at him too.

"You're not to touch her, Bing, I mean it, not even once. She's too delicate, too pure, to have to entertain the likes of your insufferable company. You may exchange with her, vague niceties in my presence, but otherwise you will spare her your unsettling gaze."

"Yes, Boss. It's not polite to stare at Mister Manx's pretty wife. Bing must stay away, if he wants to stay alive........"

"Good, good. Now prepare the car for my departure." Charlie hopped nimbly over the candy cane fence, and descended towards the lower grounds of the castle. "I must....... tend to my bride......."

"Sure thing, Boss."

Charlie did not so much as glance backward as Bing hunched his shoulders and stalked towards the garage. His eyes were fixed hard on his sweet wife as she had turned to study the very much alive snowmen wreathed, like the reindeer, in glowing, coloured lights.

"My Dear Mrs. Manx, do take care......... the snow creatures can be quite vicious, especially on a warmer winter's afternoon like today. They are, shall we say, temperamental........."

He felt her melt against his leather gloves as he snuck up behind her, taking hold of her near naked, freckled shoulders.

"They seem........ rather sweet." She cooed, as he placed a burning kiss into her red, frigid cheek, digging his nails into her shoulders, just slightly, and he felt her shiver, excited, as the sharp tips poked through his supple gloves.

"Beware that which possesses only the appearance of goodness, My Dearest Love......... for in such clever deception can hide the heart of wickedness........."

Ally breathed deeply, fighting for her white plumed breath as she spoke. "A lesson you have taught me all too well, My Darling Husband.........." Charlie smirked with her answer, aroused by her subtle defiance, running his fingers along her gauzy, sparkling neckline, sliding them torturously slow down her silk bodice.

"How very telling, My Sugar Plum, and while I'd love to impart the entirety of my knowledge of wickedness to you....... I must depart. You'll see yourself inside, won't you? Wrap yourself up a bit warmer next time you venture out, I must insist. How perfectly scandalous.......... A married woman scurrying around with her shoulders bare, showing off such soft, pale, freckled skin........." Charlie's breath got heavier as he spoke, relinquishing his talons from one of her shoulders, to replace it with his open, eager lips, meeting fast with her bare skin. "However, in the privacy of our rooms, do feel free to show me every........ last....... one of these teasing little freckles........." He kissed the dotted constellations as he spoke, her white wine skin tasting even better for having been chilled, and had there not been a little boy in dire need of his particular talent, he'd would have been tempted to stay, and do just what he told Bing he needed to do......... tend to his wife.

"Charlie.......... Where are you going?" Ally asked breathless, a little rattled, not just with her husband's scandalous words and pleasing attentions, but at the wary thought of being alone with that other lurking, rather large friend of his, that seemed to skulk everywhere that Charlie went.

Charlie snickered, whirling her around to stare into her worried green Christmas tree eyes, his gloved hands taking possessive hold of either of her sides, pulling her to him. "Fret not, Snow Angel, I shall return to you, once I had done with my work. Rest now, retreat to our love nest, and find comfort in our marriage bed. I shall share it with you soon enough."

"What work coaxes you from me? Please, Charles, do not leave me here alone with your odd friend, looming ominous! He frightens me, even if it is not his intent."

Charles chuckled amused, moving swiftly forward to brush his nose against hers, leaning in for a kiss, and then pulled away, just as she went to indulge him.

"My good work must remain a continued mystery to you, Pet," He lamented, brushing a stray curl from her face. "But worry yourself no more, Mister Partridge will be accompanying me on my errand, and you will be spared any further awkward instances, I assure you."

Ally bit her lip, looking guilty and embarrassed. "Please understand me, Charlie, I do not wish to speak ill of Mister Partridge, nor do I seek to hurt him in this opinion, but I am rather distressed by him."

Charlie chuckled lower, deeper, his dark eyebrows slanting deadly forward. "Bing, while an irksome fellow, yes, is no threat to the Queen of Christmasland.......... You, My Precious Wife, should be far more concerned about the distress caused to you by tender hands. You should fear me infinitely more than Bing Partridge........."

"I do......... You're......... terrifying." Ally whispered reverently, and Charlie's hot breath threatened a kiss, before he granted it mercilessly.

Ally kissed him back, grasping at the back of his coif, and he pressed into her lips more fiercely as she pulled every sleek strand loose, working them through her dear little fingers.

"Diabolical. Using your feminine allure to trap me here? You ARE a scheming minx, Ally Manx," he rasped back, the heat in his voice making his snow white rose positively wither.

"You dastardly clever fiend, however did you figure me?" She gasped back blissfully, feigning affront, and he grinned wickedly.

"Because........ It was I that was the making of you, My Dear....... I know you better than anyone ever could. All your life I have watched you, studied you........ Waiting." Ally shivered, but this time it was out of actual fear, a seeping cold, quick to kill the searing heat of Charlie's attraction. Flashes of him, towering over her, grinning cruelly, hands raised as he puppeteered her own, making them author his violent scribbling, the words engulfed in a blaze of hatred and black smoke, and she'd felt it........ the girl........ the brave teenage Creative, flying from her bike, colliding with the side of a truck, crumpling, concussed.

She turned her head away, missing his kiss, and Charlie nodded coolly, impressed. "My, my, what a devastating punishment indeed. Perhaps we might continue this delectable disciplinary action once I've returned, but for now....... Do get inside, and get yourself warmed up."

She nodded, averting her eyes as Charlie carefully kissed her hand, sensing the subtle change in her demeanor. There it is....... that ever so foreboding reluctance. We can't have that.

"Charles, why do you not tell me about your work? Why cannot I accompany you, instead of that dreaded, hulking Bing?"

"Don't pout, Darling, it is more becoming than I can bear, at present." He protested, pressing a gloved finger to her pouting lips. "You are safe here....... If I had it my way......... You would never again depart the comfort and confines of my glorious inscape........."

Ally felt the chills of a far more sinister nature creep unwanted through her body, a suspect fear taking hold. "But you WILL let me leave here, and see again the natural world, won't you, Charles..........?"

He could taste the fear in her voice, and while he'd feasted on it, hungered for more of it, as she'd fought to free herself of his floating grasp, he did not care for it this time, that bitter hint of desperation. Women were frail creatures, that behaved badly when they turned desperate.

He forced a smile, and shooed away the shadow of his dark intention, letting the pale light break through his black eyes. He was secretly working on a way of dealing with that pesky little possibility, as they spoke, cooking up a special something that would take care of the unfortunate issue once and for all....... But as for now, her hunger for the lie, was even more aching than her need of the truth, and so he would gladly feed it to her, without regret.

"Of course, oh you poor girl, of COURSE you shall be returned to the outside world, in time! What kind of heartless tyrant do you take your husband for?" He stroked her hair, as he cooed his assurance, and watched her eyes believe every word, watched her swallow the lie, relieved, as he pressed it urgently to her lips. "Forgive me, My Bride, in my haste, in my newlywed state, I may have proved overly protective." He took her hands in his, and looked deep into her eyes, with his best guise of sincerity. "I do not, at present, think it wise for you to make the transcendent journey. There are nefarious beings that poison the outside, My Pet, bad people who might prey upon your good nature, and if anything should happen to you........." Charlie's voice trailed off, rife with a very real sorrow, grasping her hands in donned earnest.

"No, of course you are right, Charles, forgive me........" She whispered in hushed apology, squeezing his hand, relenting as he brought his other gloved palm to cup her cheek. He knit his brow painfully, putting on the mask of the distraught husband, feeling her give in, helpless to stop it, as he took control of her mind just as effortlessly as he'd done with her hands.

"What waits for me out there, save an empty world that didn't even want me?" She whispered, fighting the tears. A world that doesn't care I've gone. No one's looking for me........"

"Shhhhhh," Charles soothed, pulling her into him, holding her head to his chest, fighting the smug joy, as he stroked the top of it. "There now, My Sweet........ It is true. No one searches for you because you are no longer lost. You are found."

Ally cried into the front of his woolen coat, as he continued to calm her, kissing the top of her head, while she clinged to him. "That's so beautiful, Charlie, and truly profound. My place........ is here. Right here. With you. With your children."

"Yes, My Young Bride, and they are going to LOVE their dear mother, as much as I do," He simpered, smoothing his thumb up her cheek to catch her falling tear. "No one cries in Christmasland, My Divine, and there are far more inducements here, in this magical land I've promised you, than upon that hated, sinking ship, I rescued you from." He snarled his lip in a way he knew she couldn't see, his thoughts deliciously malicious. I told you, Girl, you would never leave my Paradise for the Lost, and whether I keep my promise through candy-coated enticement, or a creative kind of punishment, so be it........

Ally smiled sweetly up at him, before nestling her head back into his chest. "Thank you, Charles. For saving me, for marrying me, forgiving me in this, my ungrateful request. It was a slight in asking, and I am sorry. You gave me a home, a palace of shining lights and sparkling snow, and while you and I have had our......... creative differences, I don't want to leave, I couldn't do that to you, or your children, whom I ache so to meet and mother and love......."

"Our children," Charles whispered, with a playfully raised eyebrow, resting his forehead against hers, taking both of her hands in his. "They are rather gnashing their teeth to meet their new mother as well," he finished smoothly, bemused by his own wit. "Such a shame they could not attend our Christmas Eve Wedding, but you see, introducing a new woman into their lives is a big change. It must be the exact right moment........." I must first find the means to make sure they don't eat you alive, he thought with another smile. You will be a treat for them, My Sweet, just not the one they're used to their father spoiling them with..........

"Our children........ Ally breathed, pulling back to kiss him tenderly. "I like that, I love them already, Charlie, oh how happy our family will be!!!"

Charlie kissed her back slowly, watching her face light up like a Christmas tree. "That's right, Mrs. Manx you will have no choice but to love them. They're especially unforgettable.

Ally giggled, and Charles led her up the snowy knoll to the candy cane fence, helping her over it. "I must bid you adieu, My Sugar Plum, but I will return with an extra special surprise for you, a wedding present that I hope you will find more favorable than the first........."

Charles kissed her carefully again, as she shivered with his words, writing the goosebumps on her delicate skin.

He turned away from her, when she reached for his arm, and that meddlesome desperation bled through her fingertips.

"Charlie..........?"

"Yes, Allyssa, My Love?" He answered back, looking over his shoulder, fending off his perturbed suspicion.

"The girl....... on the motorcycle....... Who is she? Is she........?" Ally's voice was pleading, faltering on the last word, making him shudder.

"Alive?" He asked spitefully, and she cast her eyes downward with the harsh sound of his voice. They hadn't spoken of it, hadn't uttered one single word between them on the matter, since that awful, rapturous, fateful night. Why did she want to talk about it now? Why couldn't she forget about Vic McQueen? Why couldn't HE forget about Vic McQueen?"

"Yes. To my every screaming vexation, The Girl on the Motorcycle lives. No thanks to you." Charlie hissed, pulling free of her hold.

"I couldn't do it, Charlie, I won't do it. I won't be a killer like-" Ally gasped tearfully, clapping her hand over her mouth, ashamed.

"Like....... Me," Charles finished with a cruel smile, impressed that she'd actually said it.

"No, Charlie, please-" Ally sobbed, wavering to meet his intense gaze.

"No, come now, you can't take it back....... You married a killer, a monster, you called me, if I'm not mistaken?" He smirked, but his eyes were deathly cold.

"No........ I-I didn't mean it, Charles........ Please, I just don't understand it! Why does the full force of your hatred, your fury fall upon this one girl? What could she have possibly done to you, to inspire the darkest of your intent? Tell me?"

Charles shook his head, disappointed as he looked at her, so lovely, so perfectly impossible. "Victoria McQueen is a problem, my problem, and one I'll admit I had hoped we could solve together. She threatens you, even while you throw yourself to her defense. She is my greatest enemy, and if you harbor any misplaced sympathy for what we did to her........ There is no place for you here.......

Ally stared at him, incredulous, tears glistening in her green eyes, stunned, as he looked right through her. "You would...... banish me.......?"

"No. I would banish the woman who would enact this treachery in aiding my most hated foe. I know that isn't you, Allyssa Manx." Charles insisted through gritted teeth.

Ally nodded gently, raising her head. "No...... No, it is not...... But I must ask this, and then we need never speak of it again. Do you love me........ as much as you hate her.......?"

Charles felt himself struck to the heart by yet another deafening answer.

"Yes."

Ally wasn't sure whether to be achingly relieved for herself, or paralyzed with fear for this Victoria McQueen. This messy-haired, reckless girl, prone to screaming profanities, being herself a mere eighteen years old, WHAT power could she possibly hold over the Strongest Creative of them all? Charles' own beloved Wraith could take him anywhere, what use did he have for this coveted red motorcycle, and the mysteriously named, "Shorter Way?” But the question that stole the breath from her lungs was this......... Could Charlie come to regard his own wife with the same crushing hatred as he'd revealed for his mortal enemy? A girl, not much younger than she?

"Yes, Mrs. Manx. I do love you with the same violent intensity that I hate Victoria, and I assure you there exists no more a romantic profession than that!!! However, I can also assure you, without hesitation........ one shall never cause effect to the other. Just as my possessed hatred for her, shall never impede my ability to love you, so shall my love for you, never sway me in my tirade against her........"

Ally nodded solemnly, the severity of his words as biting as the cold which had grown between them considerably.

"I want to hurt her, wrest from her everything she holds most dear. I want to ruin her, and I cannot promise that I won't use you, and your smoking pen to do it. However, I won't make a murderess of my own wife. You'll take her to the edge, yes, but I will be the one to finish it."

[allyvampirelass29]

Welcome to the Naughty List

A NOS4A2 Fanfiction By: Allyssa J. Watkins  

"You finally got one to marry ya, huh?" Vic spat bitterly, the fire stoker brandished as her weapon, and it glowed almost as red hot as her anger.

Charlie's smile was disgustingly evil, his stare piercing, tilting his silken ebony coif, as he studied her red face, particularly her bleeding right eye. His voice was pure sin.

"Jealous....... are we?"

Vic's laugh was cruel and she thrust the stoker at him, forcing him to take a methodical step back.

"NEVER, NOT EVER, you freakin' PERV!!!!"

"Victoria......." Charlie reprimanded, sing song, and he clicked his tongue disapproving. "Nice girls don't use that AWFUL language, My Dear, although it is very telling......... Did you ever hear the one about protesting too much?"

"You're SICK!" She hissed at him, spitting on the ground, and he moved closer to her, feeling The Wraith's wheels roll smoothly over the frozen ground outside.

"Am I.......? It's only natural, Victoria, to feel a strange sort of envy, after you've been my obsession for so long, and now another woman's stolen her way into my heart........ and my bed."

"Christ almighty, Manx!!!! Ever hear the one about oversharing!? Vic slashed the poker in his direction, the sparks crackling from the heated metal, as she backed away, thoroughly nauseous, searching the vast barn for her bike, and ticket away from this creeper madman.

He looked through her then, black eyes boring into her soul, an eyebrow raised, his hand slightly atremble with his hatred, and odd visions of shutting Vic McQueen up floated curiously through his mind. Love and Hate were both passions, and he had a girl for each of them.

"It pains you....... to think of my physical relations with another woman. Don't lie to me, Vic."

"Yeah....." She sneered, choking on the words out of scathing disdain. "It sure "pains," me to think of any woman with half a brain, thirsting for your CRAZY, twisted, sleazy as hell ass!!!! She'd have to be a demoralized kind of desperate to let you touch her with those hideous yellow claws!!!!"

Charlie scoffed, his fine brow furrowing, looking down at his long fingernails, curling them over his palm, finding them, of course, perfect, shiny and pristine, his wife's joy. He looked up just in time, to grab the brunt of the metal poker, right as Vic McQueen had swung it full force at him, using the distraction, and she cried out as he held it, and her in place.

"Clever girl. Jealousy is most unbecoming, but oddly enough it favours you......" Charlie held fast to the poker, his gloved thumb reaching for the stream of blood dripping from her eye.

"I ain't- I ain't jealous of your cracked wife, she doesn't  love you, and it won't be long before you dump her into some asylum, just like you did Jolene. Hell, if she's doing you, she's gotta be halfway there already. How long, Charlie, huh!? How long until she does somethin' you don't like and you drive her mad, torment her, her whole life!? HOW LONG!?" Vic screamed, and Charlie's hand stilled.

"Is that why you followed her here, Vic McQueen, to misbehave and make sure she does something I don't like?"

"If that's what it takes to rip your effing heart out, yeah, I'll get her to betray you, Manx, or I'll kill her if I have to!!!!!"

"Kill her, really......? That's interesting. You want that badly to take her place?"

Vic shuddered, crying out in protest, as Charlie Manx stepped closer, slowly wiping the blood, trickling down her eye, with his thumb, and they struggled for control of the poker.

"I would never....... ever betray or dishonour my bride," Manx whispered, as Vic struggled against him, his voice all mischief, her blood trailing down his thumb, to his palm. "However, a man must be allowed certain........ indiscretions." Vic fought him, swearing, as he seized her cheek with his sharp nails, and they bit into her skin, while he tried harder to tear the poker out of her hands.

"Like effing HELL, I'd kill myself before I ever-"

"What? And deny me my greatest pleasure in killing you myself? My, my, now who's the heartless one?"

"Still you, you rank bastard!!!!"

"Relax." He ordered her, and Vic only fought him harder, her fist assailing his chest, as he overpowered her, yanking the back of her wild, crimped hair to keep her upright. "I wouldn't profane myself by forcing anything between us, Victoria, nor could I ever break my sweet wife's heart in that way. But I know you've thought about me, dreamt about me, and the only way to break both of us of our curiosities, sever that tension, is to indulge it....... Vic's eyes widened with horrified revelation and revulsion, but Charlie wouldn't let her turn her head, leaning in to kiss her with a whisper.

"I won't tell....... if you won't........"

Charlie closed his eyes, and his scream was inhuman as the flesh of his cheek met with the searing heat of the end of the poker.

"KISS THIS, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!"

Vic tore to the barn door, throwing it open, as Charlie writhed on the hay strewn floor, moaning in anguish, clutching his burned face. The Wraith was already waiting, and it revved furiously, lurching at her. Vic raised the poker again and Charlie yelled out, feeling the strike, as she came down on the hood HARD, leaving a huge, slanted dent.

"DAMN IT, STOP HER!!!!!"

Charlie snarled, struggling to stand, the diagonal bruise forming across his clavicle, his cheek blistering, the pain insufferable, staggering to the door, as he watched The Wraith scream after her with a vengeance.

His glare was death itself as he watched the chase, his bottom lip furled, and he slowly turned to the black tarp in the corner, ripping it off, to reveal one cherry red meddlesome motorcycle.

"Welcome to the Naughty List, Victoria."

[aion-rsa]

NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 6 Review: The Hourglass

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This NOS4A2 review contains spoilers.

NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 6

One of the smarter choices in “The Hourglass” is to lean on Maggie (Jahkara Smith), who has been underutilized this season. She was such a crucial part of the first season of NOS4A2, being Vic’s inroad to the world of the supernatural, and this season she’s mostly just been hanging around, afraid to use her bag of tiles due to the horrible side effects she suffers. That in and of itself is an important role—gifts have consequences—but it’s not the most exciting thing to be on television, and to see such a dynamic character sidelined is always disappointing. However, Maggie proves her worth in this episode, because of her willingness to put herself in danger for her friends and her gifts.

The only thing I remember about the Fullmetal Alchemist series is the repeated refrain regarding the law of equivalent exchange. To use a power means something of equal value must be given up. For Vic (Ashleigh Cummings) and Maggie, that seems to be their physical health, with Vic having debilitating headaches and fevers and Maggie progressing from stuttering to seizures. For Charlie (Zachary Quinto), it’s the lives of others, specifically children (and, one might argue, assistants, given that all of Charlie’s goons end up dead or possibly in jail). The Hourglass Man, aka Jonathan Beckett (Paul Schneider), shows Maggie a different way to get around the cost of her gift has chosen. However, there’s still a toll that must be paid.

The toll is more than just physical. One of the things Maggie and Hourglass discuss during their time at the hotel bar is that, for people like them, having a relationship with a normal person is difficult. They’re drawn to the power, but they fear it as well, to paraphrase one of the better lines in Loy A. Webb’s script. If nothing else, Hourglass is charming, and has a good ability to lure someone in with his words, as much as with his power, even if his power ends up being dangerous for everyone around him due to his ability to force people to do whatever he wants for the span of time in which the sands fall, and the fact that using his gift tends to be, as seen in the doctor in the cold opening and in the FBI agents previously, self-cleaning. To use a gift while mitigating the cost means either you hurt yourself, or you hurt someone else, which is an interesting moral dilemma (though it’s not the sort of dilemma that Maggie will wrestle with given her personality).

Hourglass has tried both, and when he catches Maggie trying to escape his hotel room with his stolen hourglass, his response should be unsurprising. He’s no stranger to violence, and he’s going to get the answer he’s seeking, one way or another. After the slow, ominous build-up between the two, with Jonathan showing shocking bursts of sudden violence when confronted with answers he does not like, it’s not a surprise that his scene with Maggie results in a violent brawl, but it is satisfying to watch it escalate slowly until the final blow-off, which is well shot by Hanelle Culpepper and puts across a lot of the desperation Hourglass feels at searching for, and being denied, the same sort of immortality that Charlie Manx has, while also allowing Maggie to demonstrate her scrappy, street kid roots. It’s an aggressive, relatively quick fight that doesn’t belabor the point, or completely negate the size and strength advantage Hourglass has over Maggie. She wins by fighting dirty, and she slinks away with newfound knowledge at great cost.

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NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Bruce Wayne McQueen

By Ron Hogan

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NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 4 Review: The Lake House

By Ron Hogan

One of the interesting discussion topics between Maggie and Hourglass was the fact that normal people have a very hard time dealing with Strong Creatives, thanks to their gifts, and that’s shown pretty well in the episode’s B plot, involving Vic and her mother (mostly) coming to terms that Vic has an actual, literal gift. Even Chris (Ebon Moss-Barach) is able to come to Vic’s side on this issue, working hard to win Lin (Virginia Kull, who plays a solid no-nonsense mom) to trusting their daughter’s abilities. Or at least her belief that she has abilities, because threatening to have her put in a mental hospital for a second time wouldn’t give her much credibility with the FBI.

Of course, the FBI doesn’t really acquit itself well in this episode, either. Linda’s line to the FBI agent that the initials stand for Failed, Bad, and Incompetent is really funny, particularly in retrospect when the FBI field office director takes Tabitha off of the Bing Partridge case for being too close to it, not knowing that she’s the only reason any of them have gotten close to Bing in the past. And with her sidelined with a broken arm and Vic sidelined with a broken Triumph, no one’s going to be able to slow Charlie Manx down long enough to save Wayne McQueen except, perhaps, Wayne himself.

The post NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 6 Review: The Hourglass appeared first on Den of Geek.

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