A - TRAIN,

the story you birth will be ageless, just learn to love pain & be patient.

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REDEMPTION INTERLUDE. independent & private writing blog for the canon character A-TRAIN / REGGIE FRANKLIN, divergent past season four. written by octavia (21+). psd by orestes. inspired by themes like quick wits & reflexes, the deconstructed public persona, exploitation of image, fear & self-loathing, running from oneself, and running towards the fight. CARRD. DC'S BUMBLEBEE. FALLOUT OC.

BRAND AFFILIATIONS WITH . . . @amerigasms & @sistrsage

[kamillahn]

The Boys 'Beware of the Jabberwock, My Son' (4.05)

[campmiasmas]

JONATHAN DAVISS as ELLIOT TANNERS DO REVENGE (2022) dir. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

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i’m also trying to do better with bouncing around so we’ll be dc brained @beechrs

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writing rn but also I think that keeping on with that reggie / mm parallel that the actors mentioned, he shares the awareness of how homelander is an issue but truly just an extension of the larger system. he was being exploited before ever joining the seven, if you think about the parallel of college athletes?? whew speaking from the sec perspective, they have no problems using you until you break and parading you while limiting your personhood. they have no issues with dehumanization and its more clinical than one man's insecurity. it's a very effective distraction from vought itself and it lets stan edgar keep the machine running.

in reggie's mind, the larger threat of vought feels synonymous with the country it's in. which really adds to that initial apathy towards what he sees as clinical business, until it affects him directly. the realization that compliance / proximity to power won't save him, for reggie, becomes the realization that the issue is much larger than homelander. he really is a small nothing compared to the real enemy. I think the awareness also fits, looking at how stan edgar is another person to dress him down to his face despite the overt power dynamic. parallels kinda sorta

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“you never fuck with the money” is still the most interesting scene to me because it reminds me of stan edgar calling vought a pharmaceutical company. reggie assumed starlight took the v for leverage or some sort of personal gain that ultimately still served vought, like his use of v did. but it was like dealing with sage all over again (annoyance before disappointment in realizing annie grew up with money and didnt rly get what he meant). like she’s aware but refusing to just play her role.

he knows what he’s into but he also knows he’s so far buried under it all. very in for a penny, in for a pound. his awareness becomes a singular view of survival over everything (capitalist rat race etc) and it’s interesting seeing him be driven by fear in different ways

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showing one of my friends superman before we see supergirl, but it’s been a super chill work week. like we pulled up the world cup in the conference room lmao

[sonderpoison]

DAMSON IDRIS for Hennessy

[donalddraperdatacomplex]

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[tishrivers]

DAMSON IDRIS 10 Ten Things Can’t Live Without (2022)

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incoming message . . . @neridoes [ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] would you still love me if i was two inches tall ? [ txt ⚡︎ nerissa!! ] : superstar, i hate to break it to you but you're basically that short now. that just sounds like you without your heels on [ txt ⚡︎ nerissa!! ] : so yeah, of course. wait, is this a metaphor? or are you softlaunching being a fairy [ txt ⚡︎ nerissa!! ] : because that's totally cool with me, but disney would not love the copyright infringement. their lawyers are demons.

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sound check muffles his arrival from the other fans. a-train was on an overseas mission, protecting american interests with static presence. reggie franklin quickly folds his visor & tucks it away to blend into the festival crowd. speed leaves him entirely unseen to the world: strobe lights slowly change to reflect blues & pinks between seconds. a light jog to the merch line picks up reggie's cropped tee with a gentle wind.

his slipstream leaves cash behind & earthy cedar with bergamot, the only signs of his presence. stolen moments of anonymity last for a short eternity in slow motion. the world almost catches up to him stopping to watch @neridoes. it was rare for a star to be starstruck: honest admiration is too close to vulnerability. but another nanosecond of self-conscious musing might have missed the body shifting through the barricade. one by one, reggie arranges her security personnel as a wall in front of the man. the dominos fall to his laughter as he brushes pine needles out of his braids.

you didn't need to step in like that.

her voice is the first sound reggie hears in real time, before he can catch his breath or hide his surprise. rhythmic bass & his own heartbeat rush him back into the pace of life with excited energy behind his smile. "nah, of course not," is all he can say in the shock of seeing her & being seen.

"i'm sure that guy would've died happy if you beat his ass. he seems like that clingy type ... so it's a good thing your guys stepped in, right?" a knowing wink cuts into the innocence of his tone, purposefully ignoring the dumbfounded stare of the scalper. "almost heroic. can't say i would've let him get that far but they're doin' their best."

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the dust barely settles behind a-train before he's bored. blood-spattered couches are so passé, too obvious of a sign that someone's powers went wrong. bullet casings are a dime a dozen. petrified corpses instead turn the club's vip space into a morose history museum: partiers of days past. a-train dodges the struggling movement of vought's cleaners to move the statues. leather rips & squeaks under their attempts only for an arm to crack away, crumbling at the joint.

he takes out an airpod to hear the last of medusa's shocked, gasping statement. the bottle girl's sign knocked her glasses off and then ... nihilist boredom is a comfort against the sympathy & horror rising in his chest. it wasn't her fault. a-train swipes the blunt from the ashtray before cleaners take away the table of indulgences. just like nothing's ever my fault. embers light up on the end as his lighter closes with a click.

what the fuck is wrong with you?

he's rolling his eyes into a smoke trick, as a plume of smoke billows in front of vought's favorite @attckdog. "calm down," he sighs through a smoky exhale. the taste of lip gloss & champagne still sits on top of bitter tobacco leaf. "we already know the blunt's not what killed 'em." he sighs through a smoky exhale.

"this is what i would be doin' if they didn't call me. this was my off day." no such thing, when a-train had been vought's special courier since his upperclassmen days. "the hazmat suits are movin' the garden fixtures so why am i here?" he uses the still hand of a bouncer to discard ash. confusion tilts his head towards leon, even as he blows smoke away.

" ... why are you here? i thought you had some overseas thing."

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skull.   what memories/thoughts do they guard the most from others? , @alphabright

such a funny question for a universe with psychics!! the good times in between scarcity with his mom and brother aren't really known by anybody. his public life kind of just begins with teenage kix to people. not even popclaw would've known about family stuff like that. that relationship was one of escape, even at the start. that is also a thought he would guard from others.

the last moment he had with his mother is extremely guarded, because he knows he broke his promise to keep being a real hero after she passed. these are things that are a little too real and break the very well-crafted image he's maintained. i personally think him mentioning how he got his powers was a lapse in pattern brought on popclaw's death: an action he took to keep up a lie of his reputation. it was a tiny attempt in trying to act differently.

cheekbone. what makes them smile ?

for a while, victory was one of the only things that truly made his smile reach his eyes. that used to be his own gratification, acceptance, whatever. he's competitive by nature. but the surprise in someone's eyes when he arrives is always going to spark a little smile from him. he loves running into a sunset, running over water. he's also forever a little brother so teasing and being annoying is his default. he makes himself laugh so much, it's ridiculous. but real acceptance from the people he loves will have his dimples showing.

mandible / jawbone. what are they incapable of saying out loud ?

he wishes that hughie and annie let him die that first heart attack. that's part of why he's intent to kind of haunt starlight in that first bit of season two. the other is fully disbelieving she wouldnt hold it against him.

reggie never thought supersonic and annie's plan was going to work. he just wanted / needed an escape. he does regret getting him killed because he knew exactly how that would go down. but he did not have faith that joining with them would get anything done.

he killed blue hawk the way he did because he knew it could kill him. the last thing he actually wanted was to survive that, which adds to his confusion of why this wasn't the right choice in nathan's eyes.

hyoid / neck. who taught them to speak up, or stay silent ?

his mother had always encouraged him to stand up for what he believed in, always valuing what reggie had to say over dismissing him. but when he was first starting out, it was a lot of the other black celebrities of the 90s and early aughts that encouraged him to be measured in how he expressed himself. faculty like polarity who saw his potential and warned him of what it would take to reach the heights he wanted. people who meant well, in their own way, still parroted respectability politics that would bleed into his compromise of self on the moral level too.

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metatarsals. if they could disappear for a day, where would they run ? @amerigasms

in a way, he feels a certain pressure to perform for the people around him. so i'm counting this as totally disappearing from everybody. not just vought and the things that remind him of thee company. if it were possible to completely go off the grid, he'd go to the track for the indy 500. one of his very first public uses of his powers was racing one of the pros, because it was the first thing a six-year-old reggie could think of for his birthday. it wasn't even really publicized like that. one of the track attendants knew reggie's dad and gave him a shot. nobody really knows about that place being special to him.

for a more permanent destination, belize was always his dream place to retire if it were possible.

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carpals. what small habits do they have ? @peaksupe , @cbitus

reggie never sits with his back facing the door. he is always somewhere that he can make a beeline for the exit. in this line of thinking, he's also usually checking that his laces are tied or just tucked in. this isn't a problem with the custom cleats so he tends to constantly wear them. he took a few pairs but was not wearing them when he died.

he's a good tipper. like, a very good tipper. it's not the most well-known detail and only really came out after he died. but he tips pretty much the same amount as the check, if not twice as much. and that's on top of automatic gratuity for his entourage. he knows what it's like trying to make a life with what you can.

reggie moisturizes with body oil most of the time, it is a purely a personal preference and it kind of leaves this jasmine scent in his wake during early morning runs. the other one is more of a teakwood, mahogany kind of scent towards the end of the night.

he chews on the inside of his cheek in place of literally biting his tongue. he fidgets with his earrings with he's thinking to himself and a common combo is him doing that and sucking his teeth if he's come to a conclusion that bothers him. this is kind of funny to watch idly since he normally has to keep his face kind of still to be photographed. like he's always moving around and has to force himself not to do these things all the time.

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teeth. what lasting mark do they leave on others ? @peaksupe

teenage kix era. there's a reason why mesmer and him still kept contact. reggie genuinely wanted to be a real hero but never had the luxury of annie's pollyanna. he was a team player that wanted to do some good. it's easy to see the heart behind the runner and the earnest drive to be the best. it also becomes very easy to see how he's being pulled in all the wrong directions. he's a sweet kid with a bright smile, who wants to make his mother proud. but he's also insecure and driven by fear of failure, which leaves him vulnerable to the worst influences.

goldolkin. reggie initially comes off as humble considering his skill and previous work with vought. and humble compared to a lot of supes in college. maeve would have encountered this version of reggie first, eager to prove himself but better at hiding it. he comes off as a party boy because he realizes the need to insert himself into the spaces that matter to people with power. he understands the hierarchy and that there always has to be a loser, reflected in his treatment of kevin before the seven. he really starts out drinking and smoking socially because it would make it easier to be the life of the party. he actively fakes as if he's used to the opulent lifestyle that his skill affords him, or any of the attention that people give him. people like tek knight could see that: the financial insecurity under the fear of failure, driving him much more than those who had certain things assured. so he comes off as a peacock but lacking the certainty of nature.

vought, then after. a heartthrob who acts above it all. i'd say his clinical view of people as obstacles or speed boosts shows his persona of moving too fast to truly consider the people around him. chasing instant gratification becomes running from himself. that path becomes one of casual, but detached cruelty. he's someone who doesn't care, with tunnel vision towards keeping his status. it's based in that constant fear and almost a resignation: this is what it is. the ends justify the means, the destination is what matters. the incident with blue hawk truly does hollow him out of all that entitlement and thinking that way. it forces him to literally and figurative slow down and understand the damage he leaves behind in his wake. he takes the time to see all angles now and seems less like that party boy who always has a smart remark. he becomes very introspective and slowed down to a fault. there's a negative lingering that weighs him down as the misery and fear he refused to acknowledge catches up with a swiftness.

i think 5.01 as a whole rly does show him slowing down for the better and what it looks like when he's his real self. he's got the same capacity for humor and laughter but he's not using it to mask over anything anymore. it's actually real. he's someone who looks at things from multiple angles, like he did in contracts or doing recon.

[cbitus]

his   arbitrary   feeding   of   his   ego   was   nothing   new   to   amelia   ,   nor   were   early   mornings   for   that   matter   .   such   was   to   say   that   she   had   not   managed   to   catch   even   a   glimpse   of   sleep   ,   (   as   had   so   often   been   the   case   )   .   insomnia   ,   her   ever   faithful   companion   ,   had   at   least   provided   ample   opportunity   to   review   a   -   train's   latest   mishaps   ,   as   well   as   the   supes   unfortunate   enough   to   fall   beneath   her   reluctant   supervision   .   (   whatever   the   case   )   ,   the   boredom   seeping   through   her   mind   at   the   endless   stream   of   mindless   photographs   displayed   across   various   screens   ,   only   dampened   her   mood   further   .

the   pursuit   of   another   cup   of   coffee   had   become   less   a   luxury   and   more   a   necessity   ,   (   hoping   to   maintain   both   her   professionalism   )   and   enough   self   control   to   suppress   the   habitual   eye   roll   threatening   to   surface   the   moment   she   noticed   a   -   train   making   his   way   toward   her   .   ❝   .   .   .   and   as   i   have   told   you   before   ,   mister   franklin   ,   i   am   prohibited   from   attending   your   childish   interpretations   of   what   you   insist   on   calling   an   after   party   .   .   .   ❞   (   a   quick   exchange   of   wit   followed   before   she   handed   reggie   a   tablet   containing   various   statements   )   concerning   translucent   and   the   hospital   in   question   .   faithfully   ignoring   his   charming   attempt   to   earn   even   the   slightest   smile   from   her   by   deliberately   disregarding   her   proper   title   -   (   one   he   could   only   ever   dream   of   possessing   )   .

❝   .   .   .   you   do   know   ,   that   it   is   not   that   easy   ,   reginald .   ❞   first   name   basis   ,   under   the   assumption   of   a   private   conversation   .   a   rare   blessing   .   ❝   -   you   could   at   least   indulge   me   by   reviewing   these   answers   ,   if   even   a   single   detail   is   amiss   ,   i   am   left   dealing   with   a   considerably   larger   problem   .   ❞   eventually   ,   amelia   pressed   the   tablet   firmly   against   his   chest   ,   (   having   grown   tired   of   holding   it   solely   for   his   convenience   )   .   ❝   .   .   .   but   you   would   do   that   for   me   ,   would   you   not   ,   reggie   ?   ❞

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"of course, after parties are scandalous. all that debauchery, the fun ... that's no place for posh spice." the hovering buzz of makeup & wardrobe, photographers, all but drowns out their conversation to anyone else. "but legal counsel's encouraged to attend corporate-aligned functions." his voice lowers just enough to escape the high ceiling echo, "can you imagine the kinda trouble i could get into without you?"

stepping closer reveals genuine surprise wrinkling around his eyes like a true smile. "i could indulge you all you want right now, miss bach. but professionals like me save that for the after party." blue highlight glitters pridefully on his chest with the rise & fall of breath. the tablet reflects a sky blue tint before cold metal presses on his skin. it can't chill the bit of warmth that stirs to hear his real name, a hint towards humanity he'd bargained away. he watches her with the occasional glance towards the statement.

"the part about my community service? it's good, ames, but i haven't been back home in five years," says matter-of-fact without a look away from the screen. without all of manhattan's pretense, a-train was laid bare as the little kid who ran & turned his back to everything that made him. he meets her eyes still beaming despite the dimmer light. "too easy to prove. uh, you can say i'm a mentor to the new class of heroes at goldolkin, like translucent's son — i think his name's ... mickey? maverick? or somebody in combat arts. brink'll fall in line."