The Last Freak Show by Domoviye

Valentine wrote:

A nice interesting slice of life story. No world shattering events or even potential. The characters are interesting, I am worried about the little girl though, she might be a threat someday.

The Last Freak Show, in Texas. I was half expecting Jericho to be MCing. They should get Razorback to MC though. 😁 A singing Naga, hmmm where have I seen that before.

I do wonder what Faction 3, the Outcasts, and others at Whateley think about The Last Freak Show.

Dan Formerly Domoviye wrote:

This is Gen 2, so I can't say what the Outcasts would think about the show. But, there will probably be some Whateley students and definitely F3 members who know about Freak Show, and will comment on it. Shisa may overhear some of the thoughts on the matter.

null0trooper wrote:

Dan Formerly Domoviye wrote:

This is Gen 2, so I can't say what the Outcasts would think about the show. But, there will probably be some Whateley students and definitely F3 members who know about Freak Show, and will comment on it. Shisa may overhear some of the thoughts on the matter.

"They're exploiting us!"

"They're exploiting performers. That's how show business works."

Dreamer wrote:

The Last Freak Show comments

Warning: Spoiler!

Ugh, Trevor has it rough at his job, sexual harassment is no joke.

Agreed, never liked the double standard there.

Dating for 3 years, dang. And he has a forcefield, cool, I wonder what her powers are to have underestimated him in that BMA match.

At the time, Trevor was much skinnier and more effeminate. He used his looks to appear meek and scared, then pulled out his forcefield and low level super strength to overwhelm her.
It's mentioned in the story that he was in Poe but not why. He's a changeling.

Oh, they are buskers with a knife-throwing act, never heard of one before now. Juggling knives and is very flexible and strong to raise her leg up like that. Present from gadgeteer roommate, how sweet. Whoa, she is very good at acting. May and Tim, let's see how the act goes. Wait, giving May a knife, don't have her throw it unless you have a power that can direct it somehow. Oh, going with silver rubber balls instead. Ack! May's throws aren't very good, the 2nd one Lilith has to use her foot to bounce it back towards her hand should have guessed she is an Exemplar.

Most buskers avoid throwing knives because it's easy to hurt themselves.
There's a Youtube video of a busker having a woman throw him a blade. She threw it badly and he sliced his hand wide open. He was a professional and ended the act with a joke, and telling her not to worry, but he needed stitches and was probably out for several weeks.
Still some jugglers do use knives. So I went with the second coolest thing possible, flaming knives. Flaming chainsaws seemed to be overkill.

The Last Freak Show gig, why I'm worried that sounds like a trap to me?

I needed a name that would work for bars, shock theatre, and punk/counter culture festivals, where edgy acts like glass walking, suspension acts (pierce your skin with hooks and hang from the air), eating live insects, and worse, are the norm. The Last Freak Show was the perfect name.

Hehe, these two are adorable together.

I loved how they turned out.

The Dylans, so glad she got good friends and Trevor to get her out of that scene.

I didn't mean to imply that she was a regular with the Dylans. Like most teens she went to parties and sometimes she would indulge herself. Nothing that required an intervention, just the occasional dumb move.

The choker for the engagement ring makes a lot more sense now. And Austin in early August, I would make a vest with pockets for ice to brave that heat.

A few cold packs were discretely taped to my legs, back and ribs, so I didn't melt.

Very smart and practical.

At first I was going to have her wear a necklace with an enchantment to not fall off, but then I realized a choker would fit her style better and was so much simpler. When she gets married, the wedding ring will join it.
And you can thank Rose for the piece about the heat and ice packs. After an interesting conversation I threw it in.

That is rare, I've never heard of a mutant whose only power is the Exemplar trait. Even with her reflexes and agility that is a lot of training and experience to get that good at juggling.

There are exemplar only characters, but most of them are far in the background, with just the high level exemplars getting a name.
She's a low level exemplar, but her reflexes and agility are at the top of her level. And she put in the sweat, tears and blood to learn her trade.

Having to fight him, but it is obvious the kid has no training or experience in fighting. An energy field on his fist that can do that, he is using lethal force now, take him down hard. Ugh, finds out she is a mutant, she reveals she is a performer and he assumes she is a porn star. He just tried to kill him, knives are the least I would use against him at this point.

He lifted his hands to block it, causing the blade to disintegrate.

The pure black energy can disintegrate things, this is beyond lethal force. Nice work crippling him and calling 911 after getting her bag back.

I'd been planning a bank robbery in place of this scene, but it didn't fit Lilith or the story, so it became a mugger instead.
And he is a decent fighter. At first he was trying to scare her, and only escalated as she didn't run away and kept going for his knee.
His porn star comment was meant to throw her off. It worked, and if she'd been a hair slower, she'd be dead or severely injured. Training, skill and being underestimated gave her the win, a little less of any of these and she would have lost or gotten hurt.

Trevor is a great guy, don't let him get away, Lilith.

I'm glad to read this. I was trying to show that they are a great couple and he's a good partner for her.

These are the kind of acts I would love to go see. Easier and harder at the same time, so many things in life can be that way.

Things were getting better thanks to organizations like the Unique Entertainers Association, which helped mutants find jobs, work out contracts, and provided some benefits, but it was a niche market.

So glad to hear they have representation and help.

The UEA came about from the Mermaids in Regret. Mutant entertainers are a things, so having an association for them only makes sense. It was while I was creating the UEA, that I came up with The Last Freak Show and ultimately this story.
Having mutants openly using their power for work, without having them being superheroes or villains just makes sense to me. At least in certain situations.

First there are actual state laws against exhibiting abnormalities for entertainment purposes. It was perfectly fine getting the audience in the doors with the promise of the weird and freakish, but there had to be more to it than that. Second, with the net, just having a pretty insect girl sitting on stage waving and smiling would not draw an audience, people demanded more. And third, it was a matter of dignity.

Come a long way since the days of Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Don't knock all the freak shows. Barnum and Bailey made most of their performers either well off or extremely rich. The successful ones were generally performers who could act, sing, tell stories, and other things. That's what I used for inspiration with The Last Freak Show.

Aww, the werewolf and catgirl are Rex and one of their kids doing an act together.

“Yep. Susie is seven, and out of her three brothers and one sister she's the best at tumbling. So with me being on the sidelines, she's been filling in the evening shows for me, while her twin brother does the matinee.”

5 kids and now 8 after this pregnancy is over, big family.

Yep, they've got the twins who are oldest, then a set of triplets that are four years old, and three more on the way. It's a good thing they're such good performers, they make a fair bit of money from performing, videos and merchandise.
Performers at their level can make between 800 and 1000 an act. And for private functions, conventions, parties, etc, they can earn several thousand.
Lilith would make about 90-100 an act, not Cirque Du Soliel level of pay, but on the higher end for a circus performer, especially a new one. Trevor would get 60-80.

“Nah, you did great. They just don't want to take a chance on a completely new act. Think of this as your grace period, a chance to get used to how we run, practice some new things, and make some mistakes without blowing the show.”

So nice of someone experienced to help ease Lilith's fears.

Reading up on circus acts and troupes, I found that it's pretty tightly knit, almost like an extended family, with the occasional blow up like a family. So I wanted Susan to help out the newbie, making sure Lilith wasn't panicking, and being a friendly face. Susan has the experience to know what it's like and helped out people before, being forced on the sidelines makes her the perfect choice.

The audience's make-up doesn't put me at ease, sounds like a bunch of pervs there just to gawk at women in scant clothes. Lady Naga is the opening act, heh, reminds me of Diamondback and the Outcasts at Whateley. Seesh, with an outfit like that there is no doubt as to the audience's real interest, imo. Her sexy demoness look, I pray they never have to flee the theater while she is stuck in that get-up

Most horror movies and events like Lalapalooza, have a male audience of 55% or higher. The Last Freak Show started off catering to the same audience and is still close to its roots.
Lilith is playing to her audience with the T&A. Like a lot of young actresses, she's pushing her sexiness to get a leg up on competition, because she knows she's beautiful and sex sells. As she gets an audience, she'll tone it down a bit.
I'm also thinking in a future cameo, she'll be in her matinee costume, which while still sexy is much more modest.
And Lady Naga was kind of funny. I didn't even think about Diamondback until I'd written her, then I realized how similar they were, so made her a tattooed shifter. And then I realized Lady Naga is very close to Lady Gaga, I decided to roll with it.

The Ringmaster is a siren, good use of such a power. Is he also a shifter and if so what are his limits? The Marionette and Chew Toy is a good act so far with a nice hook. Beams of light to puppeteer a person, and she wasn't controlling him at all, guy can contort himself in those ways, triple-jointed or something more? In the banter afterward, Chew Toy needs to slow down or he is going to wreck himself.

The Ringmaster uses illusion spells and holograms to achieve his look. The Last Freak Show has several gadgeteers, devisors, and a few low level mages on staff.

Chew Toy is a baseline. Everything he does can be done in real life, even turning his head 180 degrees has been done by at least one person, a boy in India. And yeah, he pushes himself too far.
They also have a funny, freaky family friendly act.

Rex and Susie's act is adorable and fun, Susie has great skills already for a 7-year-old. Cartoon-like insanity, the whole routine is like a cartoon come to life, I love it.

I came up with this act before virtually everything else. It made me think of The Last Freak Show, and things snowballed.

So many acts I wish existed in our world. Her act is impressive and I for one would love to see a similar act in person someday. Wielding a whip with that level of ability takes a lot of skill and practice. So that is how they make it look like they can duplicate items, hidden ones waiting just out of sight on the stage.

I watched quite a few sideshow acts and unique performances while writing this story. Seeing a woman cracking a fiery whip, I knew I wanted to write about it.
And I tried to keep the act mostly realistic. It would be FAR too dangerous to do the exact same things for real, but tone it down and it could be done in real life.

Are the green lights caused by a prop she uses to help her target the knives or something else? 10 seconds for 10 knives while Trevor is spinning on a gyroscope, I don't think a baseline could pull that off in the same amount of time. The end of the act is one way to get more women to come to these shows for sure.

The green lights are her timing system. They let her know exactly when to throw, so the knife hits the target. Off by a fraction of a second and she'll hit Trevor or the machine. Thanks to his forcefield it wouldn't be the end of the world, but having the knife fall to the ground would be an obvious mistake.
And no one sane would try this without superpowers.
Trevor and Lilith are equal opportunity with the idea that sex sells.

I loved this tale, of a couple who just graduated from Whateley living in Austen, TX, busking for money with an act I've never seen outside of circuses before. Their history together is great, I love how Lilith proved those who tried to put her down for her GSD wrong. Their hard work, just starting out in life together reminds me of other tales of young couples. Learning about their powers as the story went on, I was most shocked that Lilith only seems to have the Exemplar trait, normally those with the Exemplar trait have at least one other power.

The relationships Lilith is forming already, the courage to face life in the city and to take on a purse snatcher even after he proves to be a mutant with deadly power, I hope we see more of Lilith and Trevor in the future. And all the acts at The Last Freak Show, loved them. Though I can see why it is adults only with the kind of acts put on. Please say this isn't the last we will see of these two.

Thank you! I really liked Lilith and Trevor to. Having a competent and skilled character, who is still young, relying more on bravedo than confidence, and realizing they have more to learn is fun to write. I honestly didn't think the story would be so interesting to do. But once I started my muse didn't want to stop, so it was done in about 5 days.

I will say that they'll appear in cameos in the future. I've got a few ideas for them. But actual side or main character positions, don't hold your breath. This was an idea I had that seemed fun and would help with world building, NOT introducing a new MC (I have TOO many of those already).
However if I have another good one shot idea for them, I'll definitely write it down.

Dan Formerly Domoviye wrote:

Third time posting my response.
THANKS ROSE!

Fortunately I have a copy of my 2nd response.

I'm happy to see that you didn't write that you were 'tearing up', 'seeing red', 'resisting the urge to break your computer', or 'wanting to tell the MC everything will be all right'. It's a nice change.
So thanks for the commentary.

Dreamer wrote:

Dan Formerly Domoviye wrote:

Third time posting my response.
THANKS ROSE!

Fortunately I have a copy of my 2nd response.

I'm happy to see that you didn't write that you were 'tearing up', 'seeing red', 'resisting the urge to break your computer', or 'wanting to tell the MC everything will be all right'. It's a nice change.
So thanks for the commentary.

I will try in the future to express my emotional reactions to things happening in the story better instead of using such shorthand. Your previous stories though had a lot that made me want to cry because of what was happening, angry at antagonists to varying degrees, and seriously wishing I could comfort someone who is in pain and suffering. These are all signs of a great author.

Dreamer wrote:

Dan Formerly Domoviye wrote:

Third time posting my response.
THANKS ROSE!

Fortunately I have a copy of my 2nd response.

I'm happy to see that you didn't write that you were 'tearing up', 'seeing red', 'resisting the urge to break your computer', or 'wanting to tell the MC everything will be all right'. It's a nice change.
So thanks for the commentary.

I will try in the future to express my emotional reactions to things happening in the story better instead of using such shorthand. Your previous stories though had a lot that made me want to cry because of what was happening, angry at antagonists to varying degrees, and seriously wishing I could comfort someone who is in pain and suffering. These are all signs of a great author.

null0trooper wrote:

Dan Formerly Domoviye wrote:

This is Gen 2, so I can't say what the Outcasts would think about the show. But, there will probably be some Whateley students and definitely F3 members who know about Freak Show, and will comment on it. Shisa may overhear some of the thoughts on the matter.

"They're exploiting us!"

"They're exploiting performers. That's how show business works."

null0trooper wrote:

Dan Formerly Domoviye wrote:

This is Gen 2, so I can't say what the Outcasts would think about the show. But, there will probably be some Whateley students and definitely F3 members who know about Freak Show, and will comment on it. Shisa may overhear some of the thoughts on the matter.

"They're exploiting us!"

"They're exploiting performers. That's how show business works."