sundries

letters. you don’t really write many these days, do you?

i give up. who are you?

i’m gonna take one last look around the old place so i can forget it.

it’s been nine months… actually, nine months and six days, but who’s counting?

hey, we gave it the old college try, didn’t we?

stay right where you are.

what is… what’s happening right now?

if you fail to do this, you’re cut off. no more fancy apartments, stagecoach, clothes, galas… all gone. you can look forward to a cozy spot in the gutter.

i’m not lost.

is the weather always like this?

you should see it in the spring. that’s when those grays really pop.

what happened here?

i thought there would be some sort of a reception.

ow, they’re biting! ow, get off! get off! get off!

get me out of here!

don’t you dare raise your voice at me!

this is no way to treat a person! certainly not this person!

whoever’s there, i warn you, you do not want to mess with me, okay?

welcome to ____, home of the world’s finest feuds.

this place is the worst! i’m going home!

you can’t leave, remember?

okay, keep low. don’t panic. don’t panic.

it’s not a letter if it doesn’t have postage.

he’s lying. children are liars.

you may have won this round, but if you think i’m giving up, think again.

is this a bad time? i can see you’re pretty swamped.

don’t you have a job or something?

you’re gonna have to help me with the heavier bags. bad back, don’t you know.

i hate you.

now i can go home with the satisfaction of having accomplished absolutely nothing.

better alive in the gutter than hacked into pieces!

please don’t chop me up and scatter my parts in the woods!

you must be kidding. no way. absolutely not.

why are you doing this to me?

what do you want? money?

you remember me from the nice breaking and entering last night?

that is… totally normal. not a symptom of any mental illness or anything.

think of all the joy you’ll bring their miserable little lives!

what, “same time”? you mean, dead of night?

there’s no need for you to come with me, really. it might be against the law.

i don’t know how it happened. i turned away for one second…

what are we going to do?

this is bad. very bad. worst i’ve ever seen, really.

what were you thinking?

this is tradition! centuries of glorious hatred, passed down through generations!

you really have a way with words, you know?

what is wrong with you?

whatever you’re doing, leave me out of it.

i am so close to getting out. i am not about to let you mess it all up.

forgive me, i’m kind of a dreamer, but… isn’t that why we do it? so we can make a difference?

ah. young love. takes me back, you know?

no one has ever seen him. it’s like he’s invisible or something.

don’t forget to leave out some cookies.

you just sit there, be all magical and awesome.

okay, let’s make a deal. if i teach you something, will you get out of here? please?

can you teach me more?

this is good teamwork here.

trust me. you do not want to be on the naughty list.

did you know that arson is down 70%?

it’s like everyone’s gone mad or something.

a true selfless act always sparks another.

well, look who’s suddenly a chatterbox! tell me, what made you squander all those words into that nugget of wisdom?

i’ve been around long enough to know that everyone is out to get something.

what’s in it for you?

what are you doing at our ambush?

you’re not gonna believe what i saw last night!

say, have you heard the one about the one-legged man who walks into a bar?

can you please get off my porch? you’re trespassing.

oh, forget it. the mood is gone.

i’m saying it’s time to join forces against a common enemy. i’m saying we need a truce.

this is gonna take a lot of work.

work with me here. picture the possibilities.

wait! don’t touch that!

bad night, huh? well, join the club.

what am i supposed to do? stay in this little town forever, surrounded by crazy people, never wanting anything more?

back home, i’ve got pretty much everything. but here, i’m just… another irrelevant, pointless nobody.

hey. you’re a pretty good listener, you know?

who wants some hot cocoa?

i wasn’t smiling. i was squinting. from the sun.

even now… sometimes… it almost feels like she’s still…

i thought i’d never feel this again. and i have you to thank for it, my friend. so… thank you.

you know what? no homework. am i the best teacher ever or what?

how did you pay for this?

let’s, um… let’s talk outside. it’s a little cramped in here.

please, i can explain.

best leave it alone, i say. i’m sure it’s nothing that could fester and eventually become a source of resentment and regret.

i think i may have missed my boat.

so i told him. i told him everything. and then he turned to me, and he said… he’d never been more proud of me. and he hugged me. can you believe that?

i could really use a hand here.

really? you’re gonna go for the guilt trip now?

sure. i’ll tell you what. let’s continue discussing what a horrible person i am while i most likely break my neck trying to save the children’s toys, why don’t we?

we’re dead! we’re dead! we’re dead!

i’m still proud of you, you hear me?

it’s not worth it! are you crazy?

does that mean the feud is back on?

i think you hit your head pretty hard, dear. you should lie back down.

kids talk, you know?

it was a simple plan, but then you showed up and made it complicated. as usual.

so, all this was for nothing?

wake up! you have to see this!

poetic, don’t you think?

any chance for a hot cup of coffee for your neighborhood mailman?

what? you don’t like it? i think it looks good on me, don’t you?

no goodbye. no explanation. nothing. it was as if he had just… faded away.

The blonde brushes her hair behind her shoulder. "And I should believe you because you're a former jewelry thief?" Behind a black mask, she rolls her eyes. "There's no such thing!" Dinah would know, considering she's no longer a former vigilante. Technically, this is just a favor for a friend.

Even if he were out of the business, which she doubts, he'd have his ear to the ground. "Archie, tell me what you know."

If also just as infuriatingly blatantly evasive.

potential spoilers ahead.

sometimes, it would be better to live with that hope, without ever knowing the full story.

the trick is not to end up as either.

the devil on your back, it's in you.

I bear the torch of knowledge.

not a bad place to get murdered.

I liked how dangerous the work was.

you're not the only one deciding these things anymore.

something about morgues, they always cheer me up.

I'd love to blame this on a mass hallucination caused by inhaling volcanic gas, but we both know that's bullshit.

this was supernatural.

I've only been lost once in my life... the years I spent with my ex.

you're not gonna get what you want.

you're gonna get what's coming to you.

is it over?

you keep opening doors. peeking in. reaching through to get what you want, and that puts you in my path.

the next time we meet, the circumstances will be very different.

we are one.

we belong together.

welcome me back home.

don't be the story; make the story.

now that is drama.

the word's a mouthful, so you know it's serious.

earth is a cyclical song.

it's fucking awesome!

you know what happens to cops who say this is their last case.

where did you come from?

I should be taking notes here, this is great stuff!

there's a lot I don't understand.

I'm never getting out of here, am I?

that is by your own choice.

I'm in control now.

the second you try anything, I will shoot you in the head.

I wouldn't go that far.

I don't think you even know who's under your mask.

show me the terror.

who the fuck puts a tree in the middle of the road?

fuck the government!

you're a clown in a mask.

the tough part is hiding the bodies.

you're blocking out your traumatic memories.

And she thinks perhaps both of them were singing. This one looks three dimensional, though.

Got enough trouble without some English broad calling the police on him. Speaking of which —

He drops the bow back in its holster, lets his shoulders slouch a way that makes him look a little less... six foot three and broad as a brick shithouse. ( It does make him look a little like a lost dog. ) "Y'should probably get back where you came from, anyhow."

"well, i'm working with what i got. s'not like i could -- key his car, do something big like that, or whatever," he protests. "not unless i had--"

hope enters his eyes, pathetically.

The problem —for both of them— is that diversion is exactly what she's good at. ( Very, very good at, even if government organizations across the board had overlooked that just because of actually perfectly-reasonable cautious choices that any reasonable person would make, too, in —- )