My husband is from Turkey and we were watching Erdoğan's big speech yesterday night. My understanding of Turkish is very limited so I only understood tiny bits and pieces but my husband translated some parts to me and I am just amazed.
First off I want to say that the concept of celebrating a politician like the masses at his speech and in their cars yesterday, even in the county we currently reside in Europe, is completely foreign to me. I have never experienced this for a politician who is actually supposed to work for the people not the other way around. Erdoğan's persona is more like a pop star. Which I also find curious because isn't that kind of forbidden to worship someone else than Allah, for all those hardcore religious people..
Second as I said I only have a limited of understanding what was said yesterday but one sentence stood out to me. That he thanked everyone who voted for him and who didn't and they're not angry at those who didn't. Kind of like he forgives them. That's just crazy to me. He is a president being celebrated as a sultan but almost half of the country doesn't want him! That's not a good result for any politician to stand there and swing big speeches. Half the people don't want you, but you forgive them?? You work for those people and you failed! I'm just really speechless as to how delusional one can be. That also goes for the people celebrating like that. As if the whole country was theirs, but it's not, there's another half devastated. Absolutely baffling.
Another one was how he started to attack Kılıçdaroğlu and brought up Demirtaş and the "terrorists" (a difficult topic I don't want to get into) and how the newspapers of various countries were against him and in essence Türkiye. So he's giving his victory speech but instead of focusing on the fact that he might have to change certain aspects because he just actually lost half the country he focused on hatred and how he can use this to further emotionally manipulate his following. This is not a politician that works for the good of his country and his people for me, this is a manipulator who is gripping to power with his literal last breath.
As I said I don't understand his appeal. I don't understand Turkish but I understand he seems to be good with words and as I said manipulation. But to me only hearing his voice and observing his face when he talks he looks like a wet cardboard, very empty and cold.
I wish everyone who is affected by the outcome of this election a lot of strength and I can only hope that things will not become even worse. Apparently there's light at the end of every tunnel, even if it's a long one...

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

♫ I love being a Turtle ♫

Mutated in the sewers of New York many years ago, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are the sons and students of Hamato Splinter, and act as a force of good in New York City, where they battle many evils, chief among them the threat of the evil Foot Clan and it's master, the Shredder.

Leonardo

Leonardo's always in control. The field leader of the turtles, Leo is the most responsible and focused of the team. Wielding twin katana and wearing blue, Leo's skill is unparalleled on the battlefield.
Full RT

Strength

• Cuts off a mech suit's arm
• Sends Dark Leonardo flying through metal doors, warping them
• Lifts a car off of Raphael
• Pushes over a large statue with his legs

Durability

• Takes a hit from Razorfist, who dented and sent a thick metal door flying
• Not cut by Stockman's cyborg blades, which cut a semi in half
• Blades break on his shell
• Caught in the explosion of a bomb that brought down a warehouse

Speed/Agility

• Cuts a bullet out of the air
• Deflects, dodges, and catches crossbow bolts
• Leaps between missiles in mid-flight
• Slices a gun and armor to pieces before they begin to fall apart

Skill

• Disarms the other turtles in a training exercise
• Defeats invisible Foot Tech ninja by blindfighting
• Cuts the string off of a bundle of newspapers, then cuts the newspapers into stars as they fall
• Manages to complete Splinter's stealth lesson where the other turtles failed

Michelangelo

The wise guy is Michelangelo. The goofball of the group, Mikey is happy-go-lucky and a jokester, bringing a sense of levity to the fight. Wielding twin nunchucks and wearing orange, Mikey's attitude belies his adaptable fighting style, which he has made use of to win many important battles.
Full RT

Strength

• Hits a Mouser into a concrete pillar hard enough to break it with his nunchuck
• Kicks Mephos through a thick wall
• Breaks shackles holding his feet
• Rips off a robot's arm

Durability

• Thrown through large metal doors hard enough to warp them
• Kluh's blade, which sliced through a log, breaks on his shell
• Blasted by the Foot Mystics hard enough to break a stone pillar
• Hit with a laser from Nano, which sliced through a large statue

Speed/Agility

• Dodges some gunfire
• Dodges a missile launcher
• Dodges strikes form Leonardo and Raphel in a training match
• Acrobatically avoids police capture

Skill

• Trained in every weapon form
• Takes down Kluh while standing on one hand
• Beats a stronger foe by using stealth and fog from a fire extinguisher to wear him down
• Hits off a man's belt with his nunchuck

Donatello

Donatello, he's the brains of the bunch. The resident genius of the team, Don's intellect and skill in all things machine is a boon for his team in their battle against evil. Wielding a bo staff and wearing purple, Don's wide berth of expertise and ability make him an integral part of all battle planning.
Full RT

Strength

• Smacks mutant Hun through a concrete pillar
• Shatters several robots with a staff swing
• Throws his staff through a large bone structure
• Flings a large armored alien on the end of his staff

Durability

• Gets sent flying by Jammerhead through a metal door hard enough to warp it
• Takes blows from a Foot Mech disguised as Splinter that warped thick metal with strikes
• Ok after a missile destroys the warehouse he's in^S3E18
• Hit by Stockman's missiles, which blew a hole in the floor^S1E23

Speed/Agility

• Dodges shots from gatling guns
• Swats and dodges missiles fired by Stockman's mech
• Dodges attacks from a large robot with water arms
• Pole vaults onto a ship

Skill

• Defeats a group of Foot ninja
• Creates a portal that allows the turtles to enter cyberspace as well as gear for them to use in there
• Rigs an EMP using his laptop and a roller coaster
• Fixes a busted alien hovercraft in seconds

Raphael

Count on Raphael to throw the first punch. The turtles' hothead, Raph is an angry and driven fighter in his family's battle against evil. Wielding twin sai and wearing red, Raph is a ferocious force on the battlefield.
Full RT

Strength

• Smashes a large stone monster's head using its arm as a club
• Carves through rock with a sai
• Breaks Foot robots
• Holds open the jaws of a mechanical dragon

Durability

• Punched through a building wall by giant Cyber Shredder
• Charged by a monster that smashes through trees
• Hit by a blast from the Sword of Tengu which destroyed a dock and heavily fractured the concrete ground
• Powers through an electric whip

Speed/Agility

• Catches a crossbow bolt
• Dodges an RPG
• Dodges strikes from 3 Foot ninja at once
• Leaps through a laser trap

Skill

• Manhandles some mobsters
• Beats a robot that can predict his moves by using Leonardo's swords
• Ricochets his sai off of trucks to take out Street Phantoms
• Sneaks up on two Foot ninja

Shared Feats

• Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo hold back a large robot^S2E1
• All four Turtles hold up a large piece of debris^S2E15
• All four Turtles lift Cody's Turtle X armor from the ledge of a chasm^S6E5

Turtle Gear

Shared Gear

• Climbing claws that dig into concrete^S1E2
• Shell phones^S4E3
• Gear designed to deal with a mutant outbreak^S4E19
• Dart guns that return cyber beings that got loose in the real world to cyberspace^S7E8
• Gear for fighting another mutant outbreak^S7E14
• Mech suits for fighting mutant dinosaurs^S7E14

Battle Shell I

Physicals

• Knocks over giant robot^S1E5
• Crushes a dumpster^S1E1
• Smashes through some gates^S1E1
• Smashes through a security shutter^S1E8
• Takes several hits from Nano^S1E5
  • In a weaker body, Nano punched through several prison walls^S2E11
• Unharmed by energy turrets that leave holes in the concrete floor^S1E21
• Unaffected by a flamethrower^S1E9

Gadgets/Weapons

• Shoots missiles^S1E9
  • Blows up a turret and a metal door^S1E21
• Shoots a single missile that blows up a thick metal wall^S1E21
  • Blows up a control booth^S1E21
  • Makes a crater in concrete^S4E15
• Tracks the unique energy signature of nanobots^S1E5
• Can be remotely called to a location^S1E8
• Activates boosters to ram a truck^S1E9
  • Uses boosters to tilt on its side to pass through a closing door^S1E21
• Uses a grappling hook to stop itself from driving off of a dock^S1E9

Misc Vehicles

• The Battle Shell II, allegedly an improved version of the Battle Shell that doesn't really get used^S4E19
• The Shell Cycle, a motorcycle stored within the Battle Shell^S1E4
• The Sewer Slider, a hoverboat^S1E2
  • Has a stealth mode^S1E13
  • Extendable bed^S2E19
• The Sewer Sled, a rocket powered watercraft^S5E6
• The Turtle Tunneler, a drilling vehicle^S2E13
  • Designed to withstand lava^S2E13
• The Shell Sub, a submarine^S2E18
  • Has depth charges and torpedos^S2E18
    • The torpedoes make a crater in the sea floor^S4E15
  • Takes fire from Shrednauts, which blasts through concrete^S4E15
• The Turtle Copter, an overhauled military helicopter^S4E24
  • Has energy weapons that smash concrete^S7E5
  • The weapons destroy mutant dinosaurs^S7E14
  • The weapons blow up Foot robots^F
• The Turtle Taxi, an armored taxi^S5E6
  • Knocks aside wrecked cars^S5E7
  • Rotates its wheels to drive sideways^S5E7
  • Has a grappling line it uses to tow away a car^S5E7
  • Has a fire extinguisher^S5E7
  • Has a jet engine in the trunk^S5E7
  • Rights itself after being flipped over^S5E7
• The Hover Shell, a futuristic hovercraft used while the turtles were stuck in the future^S6E2
  • The cockpit can separate and become a ground vehicle^S6E2
    • Also functions in water^S6E20
  • Crushes a car with its weight^S6E7
• The Turtle Hauler, an overhauled garbage truck with hover capabilities^S7E2
  • Gets hit with fire hydrant caps^S7E11
  • Has an energy cannon that breaks a support pillar^S7E14
  • Fires missiles^S7E14
    • Blows up a dog mutant^F
  • Engages a device that it uses to break support beams^S7E14
  • Drives straight through some mutant dinosaurs^S7E14
  • Flies through a concrete floor^S7E14
• Flight packs^S4E7

Leonardo

"Leonardo's always in control"

Leonardo is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, mutant turtles taught the way of the ninja by their rat sensei, Hamato Splinter. Leo is the most skilled and responsible of the turtles, acting as the team's field leader on missions against their enemies, most notably the ninja crime lord known as the Shredder.
Feats will be marked with the season and episode number (i.e. S3E5). Feats from Turtles Forever will be marked with F.

Physicals

Strength

Swords

• Cuts off a giant robot's arm^S1E5
  • Again^S4E2
• Cuts through a Triceraton hoverplatform^S3E2
• Cuts off the arm of Stockman's mech^S1E23
• Slices through a stone monster's limbs^S4E12
• Decapitates Utrom Shredder's armor^S1E23
• Penetrates Utrom Shredder's armor^S2E8
• Slices apart a robot^S2E20
• Cuts off a robot's arm^S6E3
• Stabs through a piece of machinery^S1E23
• Cuts apart Mousers^S1E1
  • 2^S1E2
  • 3^S1E2
  • 4^S1E2
  • 5^S1E2
• Slices through a stone sword^S4E14
• Decapitates a statue of Oroku Saki^S4E16
• Slices a small robot in half^S2E22
• Cuts through a thick metal roof^S6E21
• Slices an Utrom hovercraft in half^S1E26
• Cuts a metal pole^S1E14
• Cuts bus railings^S2E15
• Cuts cage bars^S1E8
• Cuts a gun in half lengthwise^S6E26
• Cuts apart a gun^S3E11
• Slices the barrels of laser rifles^S2E1
  • 2^S2E18
  • 3^S3E24
  • 4^S4E4
  • 5^S4E9
  • 6^S4E11
• Cuts a pipe^S1E4
• Cuts down metal supports on the roof of a sewer^S2E1
• Cuts down a metal chair support^S2E15
• Cuts through a turret^S3E9
• Cuts an elevator cable^S1E22
• Cuts through swords^S1E10
• Stabs the roof of a semi trailer^S2E10
• Cuts chain^S1E6
  • 2^S1E9
  • 3^S2E15
  • 4^S3E12
• Cuts through a tire underwater^S4E3

Striking

• One shots Foot Tech ninjas^S1E17
  • A Foot Tech takes a hit that launches him hard enough to warp a large metal beam^S1E7
• Kicks a large stone mutant into a wall hard enough to crater it^S2E13
• Kicks a Foot ninja into an hvac unit hard enough to warp it^S1E11
• Punches Hun into a chimney, causing it to collapse on him^S1E17
• Sends Dark Leonardo flying through metal doors, warping them^S6E23
• Punches a foe, sending him sliding across a bar and putting his head through the wall^S6E3
• Breaks doors^S1E22
• Knocks out a group of Triceratons with a kick^S2E3
• Kicks a zombie hard enough to snap a spear^S3E17
• One shots Foot ninja^S1E6
• One shots goons^S1E4
• With Raphael, kicks Casey into a large gong hard enough to damage it^S7E2

Lifting/Throwing

• Throws a Triceraton into a metal beam hard enough to warp it^S6E18
• Throws a Triceraton hard enough to smash a crate^S6E26
• Flings a Triceraton across a training room^S2E4
• Throws a car bench at a pursuing Triceraton^S2E2
• Forces open a mutant T-rex's jaws^S7E14
• Lifts a car off of Raphael with one arm^S6E4
• Moves a large piece of rubble off of himself^S7E5
• Holds up a Triceraton with one arm^S3E5
• Throws shuriken hard enough to embed in a gun^S4E4
• Throws shuriken hard enough to embed in concrete^S4E5 *With Raphael, holds up a large stone trap^S6E15

Clashing

• Matches a mace blow from Stockman's cyborg body, which used the mace to make shockwaves that knocked over semi trucks^S7E5
• Pushes back a strike from Dark Michelangelo^S6E23
  • Dark Michelangelo launched Michelangelo through a thick concrete wall^S6E12
• Locks blades with Hun^S1E10
• Locks blades with the Daimyo's guards, who can cut into stone^S3E23
• Clashes with and overpowers several Foot ninja at once^S1E11

Other

• Pushes over a large statue with his legs^S3E17
• Bends open a large metal door^S4E9
• Either he or Raphael flings Michelangelo through large metal doors hard enough to warp them^S6E7
• Disarms Raphael, launching his sai hard enough to embed in concrete^S1E10
• Stabs into concrete with a bladed gauntlet^S2E10

Durability

Blunt

• Gets kicked by Utrom Shredder^S1E11
• Takes a hit from Razorfist, who dented and sent a thick metal door flying^S1E14
• Takes a hit from Stockman's mech^S1E23
  • Stockman's mech hit Shredder hard enough to make a hole in the wall and slammed him through a pillar^S1E23
• Punched through a building wall by giant Cyber Shredder^S7E8
• Hit by Dr. Dome's mech, which busted a large hole in stone^S2E22
• Takes a hit from Hun^S1E10
  • Hun hit Raphael hard enough to warp steel bars^S1E8 and swung a mace straight through solid metal^S3E25
• Gets thrown by Hun hard enough to warp a metal pole^S1E18
• Gets hit by Hun collapsing a steel cage on him^S1E8
  • Hit by Hun into a pigeon coop^S1E17
• Takes repeated hits from Foot Tech ninja^S1E17
  • Takes more hits^S1E21
    • A Foot Tech launches another hard enough to warp a large metal beam^S1E7
• Takes a kick from a Triceraton^S2E4
  • A generic Triceraton tears apart a hovercraft^S2E2
• Hit with a shoulder charge by Leatherhead^S2E12
  • Leatherhead rips a large metal gate out of the wall and throws it,^S3E9 punches a metal door out of its frame and warps it,^S3E25 and sends Mutated Donatello flying through a concrete wall with a tail slap^S4E24
• Takes blows from a Foot Mech disguised as Splinter^S2E19
  • The Mech warped thick metal with strikes^S2E19
• Kicked into a lamppost hard enough to bend it by the Ultimate Ninja^S2E10
• Hit by a monster that broke trees in half^S4E2
• Punched through concrete by Sh'Okanobo^S6E7
• Fine after being thrown into a large shelving unit hard enough for it to collapse on him^S1E21
• Flung back by brainwashed Michelangelo hard enough to smash a couch^S6E11
• Falls onto a car hard enough to dent the roof^S1E11
• Takes a kick from brainwashed Casey Joens^S7E2
  • Casey smacked Hun bleachers hard enough to collapse them^S1E8 and kicked a door open hard enough to break the cement bricks it hits^S4E5
• Jumps off of a building into a garbage truck^S2E1

Piercing

• Not cut by Stockman's cyborg blades, which cut a semi in half^S7E5
• His shell is uncut by a Foot Elite's blade^S2E20
  • An Elite cuts through a suit of armor^S1E18
• Blades break on his shell^S1E6
• Jumps through a window^S4E5

Energy

• Hit by a blast from the Sword of Tengu^S1E6
  • Again^S1E23
    • A cannon powered by the Sword destroyed a dock and heavily fractured the concrete ground^S1E6
• Fine after being caught in Tengu Shredder's energy tornado, which destroyed the top of his fortress and flung the turtles away^S5E11
• Blasted by the Foot Mystics, who launch Michelangelo hard enough to break a stone pillar^S1E22
• Hit with a laser from Nano, which sliced through a large statue^S5E6

Explosives

• Caught in the explosion of a bomb that brought down a warehouse^S2E14
• Ok after a missile destroys the warehouse he's in^S3E18
• Ok after a bomb collapses bleachers on him^S2E18
• Hit by Stockman's missiles, which blew a hole in the floor^S1E23
• Hit by missiles from Stockman's cyborg body^S7E5

Other

• Hikes up a mountain with a large pack on his back^S5E1

Speed/Agility

Against Projectiles

• Dodges a laser^S1E3
• Cuts a bullet out of the air^S3E11
• Deflects, dodges, and catches crossbow bolts^S2E24
• Cuts an arrow fired from behind out of the air^S1E10
• Cuts more arrows out of the air^S3E22
• Blocks arrows with a table after they're fired in a training exercise^S6E3
• Leaps between missiles in mid-flight^S7E14
• Dodges a missile fired from a Foot tank^S1E21
• Dodges missiles fired from Stockman's mech^S1E23
• Dodges an RPG^S2E15
  • 2^S2E16
  • 3^S4E11
• Dodges energy blasts from Stockman's robot^S2E14
• Deflects energy blasts from turrets^S3E9
• Deflects blasts from laser rifles^S4E9
• Dodges fire from a Shrednaut^S4E16
• Catches a blade thrown from behind just before it hits him^S2E10
• Dodges Stockman's flamethrower^S1E23
• Deflects shuriken thrown by the Ultimate Ninja^S2E10
• Deflects a hail of shuriken thrown by Foot ninja^S1E11
• Deflects more shuriken^S6E3
• Catches a thrown spoon between his feet^S6E2

Against Melee

• Dodges a sword swing from Utrom Shredder^S1E23
• Dodges a surprise punch from behind from the Ultimate Ninja^S2E10
  • Catches a strike just before it hits him^S2E10
• Catches a sword swing from Agent Bishop^S3E18
• Dodges an attack from Karai^S2E20
  • Karai (disguised as Shredder) deflects gunfire^S2E16
• Dodges attacks from a Foot Elite^S2E8
  • Elites deflect gunfire^S2E16
• Dodges a swing from a Foot ninja^S1E6
  • Foot ninja dodge^S2E14 and deflect gunfire^S2E16
• Dodges attacks from two alien gladiators^S2E4
• Easily dodges strikes from two Triceratons^S6E18
• Catches an axe swing from a Triceraton gladiator^S2E4
• Dodges a punch from a giant robot^S2E11
  • 2^S5E10
• Dodges a punch from a large monster^S4E2
• Easily dodges attacks from karate students^S7E2
• Acrobatically dodges large stone traps^S6E15

Cutting

• Slices a robot into several pieces before it begins to fall^S2E20
• Slices apart a gun and armor in the same way^S3E11
• Slices apart another gun in a similar manner^S4E4
• Slices apart another gun^S6E10
• Cuts apart a bat in a similar manner^S7E14

Movement/Agility

• Fights while balancing on bamboo poles in the dark as part of his training^S1E7
• Bicycle kicks Hun^S1E10
• Attaches a grappling hook to a truck and swings on it to attack his foe from behind^S2E10
• Takes out Foot ninja by jumping on their heads^S1E11
• Flips around rock spires to avoid a giant serpent^S5E5
• Jumps off of a wall to avoid a large monster^S2E4
• Recovers after being flung by a tornado^S1E22
• Flips across the lair to catch a tape after Casey drops it^S2E10
• Leaps through a laser trap^S3E9
• Leaps across rooftops^S1E1
• Leaps up bridge cables to reach the top^S2E10
• Scales a building^S1E1
• Wall runs^S6E2
  • 2^F
• Leaps up onto a ship from the dock^S1E6
• Flips up onto an awning^S1E1
• Jumps onto stampeding dinosaurs and then off to safety^S4E20
• Jumps onto a train as it passes^S1E2
• Springs off of a polearm over a group of guards^S3E23
• Swings from a grappling hook to catch Splinter as he's falling^S1E23
• Swings from a grappling hook onto the Foot's HQ^S4E16
• Walks across a tightrope^S1E25
• Catches up to a semi by moving through the trees^S2E10
• Outruns a rolling boulder^S1E13
• Flips up the line of the other turtles hanging from a ledge^S3E26
• With the other turtles, flings himself up to the top of a ledge while hanging from a rope^S1E13

Skill

Vs Single Opponents

• Defeats Karai^S4E16
• Defeats Rat King^S4E5
• Beats an undefeated Triceraton gladiator in a quick duel^S2E4
• Disarms Splinter in a spar^S4E14
• Disarms Karai^S2E15
• Disarms Tomoe Ame, a samurai^S3E22
• Disarms Jammerhead^S6E5
• Maneuvers in Hun's grip in order to twist his arm^S4E4

Vs Groups

• Disarms the other turtles in a training exercise^S1E10
  • Takes down Raphael and Donatello in a training exercise^S4E7
• Defeats a group of Foot ninja^S1E10
  • Defeats another group and an even larger group after fighting the Foot clan for over 12 hours^S1E17
• Defeats a group of Mogura ninja^S3E22
• Defeats Shredder's Foot Elite with the other turtles^S1E23
• Defeats a group of Triceraton soldiers with the other turtles^S2E3
• Defeats a group of Foot Ninja with the other turtles^S2E14
• Fights off a group of Neko ninja with Usagi and Gen^S3E22
• Trashes the Purple Dragons, the toughest gang in New York, with the other turtles^S1E1
• With the other turtles, defeats a group of Avian warriors while wearing a flight pack^S4E7

Blindfighting

• Defeats invisible Foot Tech ninja by blindfighting^S1E17
• Blocks strikes from Splinter in a blindfighting exercise^S2E9
• Cuts down swinging candles while blindfolded^S4E13

Cutting Precision

• Cuts the string off of a bundle of newspapers, then cuts the newspapers into stars as they fall^S1E10
• Cuts Karai's Shredder helmet to pieces off of her face without hurting her^S4E16
• Cuts a mask off of a man's face without hurting him^S4E12
• Cuts webbing off of Michelangelo and Raphael without hurting them^S2E13
• Cuts off Leatherhead's bonds without hurting him^S3E9
• Cuts off a man's pants without hurting him^S3E11

Accuracy

• Reflects blasts back at the turrets that fired them^S6E26
• Throws a sword through three candles while blindfolded^S4E13
• Throws a shield to hit an assassin in the rafters^S2E24
• Throws a shuriken to knock a knife out of a man's hands^S4E12
• Kicks a knife to pin a Street Phantom to some barrels^S6E5

Stealth

• Manages to complete Splinter's stealth lesson where the other turtles failed^S1E1
• Sneaks into the Foot Clan's HQ without being detected^S4E16
• Sneaks on board a Foot ship^S2E19
• Takes down some Purple Dragons in their hideout without being noticed^S4E4
• Sneaks away from a group of soldiers^S2E1
• Pulls a Batman on April^S1E3
  • Again^S1E16

Mechanical/Metalworking Skill

• Tricks out an armored car with the other turtles^S1E4
• Forges new swords^S1E20
• Forges new armor and weapons^S7E14
• Makes weapons and a windsurfer out of jungle supplies^S2E21

Precision Striking

• Discombobulates Hun by striking his ears^S1E8
• Uses a pressure point to knock out a giant alligator as a child^S1E19

General

• Trained in every weapon form^S2E12
• Uses a technique to slow his breathing and heart rate in order to survive without atmosphere^S2E3
• Flings an active landmine away from him with Donatello's staff^S3E9
• With the other turtles, defeats the Foot Mystics on the Astral Plane^S4E8
• The turtles were naturally resistant to a magic spell that made a demon invisible^S5E9
• Reconstructs what happened when Donatello and Splinter were attacked by the Foot in his mind in order to find where they have hidden, doing the same for Michelangelo and Raphael^S4E16

Gear

Swords

• His trademark swords^S1E1
  • Bounces back a laser beam^S1E3
  • Blocks shots from Triceraton blasters, which blow a large hole in a stone ceiling^S2E5
  • Witshands clashing against the Ultimate Ninja's kusarigama chain, which snapped a lamppost in half^S2E10
  • Withstands clashing against the Ultimate Ninja's swords, which cut through a bridge cable^S2E10
  • Blocks blasts from a robot^S2E15 that blew a hole in a wall^S2E14

Fast Forward

When the turtles and Splinter are brought into the year 2105, they are given special gear that provides them with a personal atmosphere, gravity regulators, and a universal translation device as well as futuristic versions of their traditional weapons

• Fires energy blades from his swords that cut through concrete^S6E2
• Cuts through a ring post^S6E4
• Cuts through a mech suit's leg^S6E10
• Cuts a monster's teeth^S6E22
• Cuts through metal cuffs^S6E22
• Throws them to cut through chain^S6E9
• Evaporates water with a sword, creating a smokescreen^S6E16

Cyberspace

When the turtles enter cyberspace, they use special armor and vehicles

• The vehicles can track energy signatures like Splinter's data bits or the Cyber Shredder^S7E3
  • The vehicles drive up falling rubble^S7E10
• Stabs his cyber swords into a data stream^S7E3
• His swords destroy Cyber Shredder's arms^S7E10
• In cyberspace, the turtles are capable of teleporting^S7E3

Chi

After training under the Ninja Tribunal, the turtles gain the ability to tap into their chi to enhance themselves

Enhancing Physicality

Though Leonardo is never seen using his chi to enhance himself physically, he received the same training as the other turtles and by all accounts should be capable of replicating their feats

• Raphael grabs a large stone golem and swings it into another, shattering both^S5E4
• Donatello punches through a large stone golem, shattering it^S5E4
• Michelangelo performs Hisomi's speed technique to reach a guarded cask unseen^S5E2
  • Hisomi used this technique to cross a 200 yard bridge so fast that nobody watching him saw him move^S5E2
• Michelangelo matches Hisomi's speed^S5E4
• Michelangelo saves Karai from a snake strike^S5E8

Dragon Form

By focusing his chi, Leonardo is able to manifest and embody his spirit animal, the dragon, on the physical plane

Fire Breath

• With the other turtle-dragons, matches a blast from Tengu Shredder with his fire breath^S5E8
• With the other turtle-dragons, blasts Tengu Shredder through the roof of a skyscraper with his fire breath^S5E8
• Blasts dragon Tengu Shredder through several buildings with his fire breath^S5E12

Physicals

• Gets blasted by dragon Tengu Shredder^S5E12
• Tackles dragon Tengu Shredder through some buildings^S5E12
• Destroys Tengu Shredder's helmet by stomping on it^S5E12

Misc

• Summoning his dragon spirit destroys nearby nezumi tengu^S5E4

Gunshin

Gunshin is a mystical sword and is the weapon that Faraji received from the Dragon Forge. Faraji gifted Gunshin to Leonardo on his deathbed, claiming that the sword was always meant for him

• Evaporates a river^S5E2
• Disintegrates a giant demon^S5E5
• Disintegrates the Wind Herald^S5E11
• Destroys a giant robot^S5E10
• Holds open the Herald's portal^S5E5
• Puts out the ring of fire surrounding him^S5E11

After a 1940 defined by gathering strengths and refinement across the feature, the early months of 1941 bring a few troubling portents behind-the-scenes for Fox's affectionately termed Grainy Gladiator. Nothing ruinous in itself, but signs of an upcoming radical shift away from what the character represented to start.
For one, the April issue of Adventure Comics (#61) brings with it a new cover feature, Ted Knight AKA Starman, courtesy writer-artist Jack Burnley. Already the second lengthiest entry in the book at nine pages, Starman quickly managed what neither Sandman nor Hourman could during their respective years as star attractions and upgraded to a full thirteen pages by his third appearance in #63. For context, Sandman only went from six pages to ten with its upgrade, while Hourman has remained rockstaedy at eight pages, and neither took down another non-superhero supporting feature to justify the page increase like Starman did Barry O'Neil and Mark Lansing. Moreover, from Starman's second appearance on, he is only drawn by Burnley; writing duties now belong to the Sandman's own Gardner Fox.
Which loops in with two other issues at play over Wesley's tossing, turning figure. Starting with issue #61, available online sources no longer fully agree who wrote what for the Sandman feature. You must understand, outside superstar figures with major pull like the creators of Superman or Batman, very few creative teams are properly credited in these Golden Age comics - my credits the last few posts have all been crossreferenced across numerous wikis and databases who owe their credits to investigative work by fans like Jerry Bails back in the 1960s. Such work was sadly not exhaustive, and while a few places (like DC Continuity Project and Wikipedia) state or else imply Fox stayed on as writer for the next few issues, from June to November there is no consensus as to who penned the stories.
I shouldn't be surprised if Fox's involvement terminated with the March issue, for April also saw All-Star Comics shift its format slightly, with Fox writing all nine interior stories for the 64 page mag in addition to his duties on the longer Starman feature. Man would have to work double time to keep pace, even if Sandman didn't drop to eight pages with #62 in May. Either way, Fox is certainly gone following #64 in July, as that issue features the final story drawn by regular artist and co-creator Creig Flessel, who departs to work on Shining Knight later in the year. As I say, things are changing fast for Sandman, and not all changes seem necessarily for the better. Best, however, to take the stories on their own level before drawing any final conclusions!
^{Coverage note: This entry goes to July rather than June for the sake of my sanity. If I stopped midway through the year, I'd only need cover seven features here, but the back half of '41 would require coverage of eleven. A nine-nine split feels much more feasible.}

• ADVENTURE COMICS #58 (January)

Orchids of Doom - Gardner Fox, Creig Flessel, Chad Grothkopf

Once again, a socialite friend to Wes and Dian is at the center of a minor mystery with big implications - namely, how can Pedro Nogades, father to Carla, rightly claim he breeds otherwise purely wild orchids in captivity? Investigating as the Sandman, Wes and Dian find a dead man in the Nogades greenhouse with his head stripped to the bone, and in following another fellow who sniffed an orchid before promising a shipment of such to some ruffians on the bad side of town, see his own face dissolve to bare skull. A visit to the police chemist reveals the orchids on the dead men's persons were laced to release a deadly flesh-eating gas on exposure to natural air, which is enough probably cause for Wesley to enlist Carla's boyfriend Bill in staging a raid on the Nogades manor. Some close shaves and fisticuffs end with the group discovering a diorama of the local coast, laid out to assist enemy agents in an invasion. Pedro is put away and the orchids revealed as concealing microfilm copies of the coastal plans, but how do we square the mystery that started it all? Simple: Nogades was no botanist, and called the flower by the wrong name when concocting his cover story!
An alright yarn to kick of the calendar year. As per usual when Fox tries for a somewhat complicated mystery, he's no adequate means of tying off loose ends other than large blocks of text, but it's lively and keeps the situation evolving with decent justifications for mid-story action and dragging Bill along for further fisticuffs. Hooking the entire mystery on, "Oh, the bad guy misspoke," is a tad lame, if understandable in the context of Fox's passion for slipping general knowledge flexes into his stories. Flessel and Grothkopf get some good mileage out've the skull imagery that crops up whenever the flower kills, and I rather like the brief bout of fisticuffs towards the end. The minor social awkwardness when Bill gets in the car with Wes and Dian is pretty good too, and I'm sorry to report I can't add this story to the "Wesley getting shot" count, as the bad guy only plugs his hat. Kinda funny having a Golden Age Sandman story involving orchids given Neil's own pre-Sandman work with Black Orchid, innit?

• ADVENTURE COMICS #59 (February)

The Story of the Flaming Ruby - Fox, Flessel, Grothkopf

There exists a ruby of blazing red, which has driven men to rage and madness wherever it appears, and today it sits in the hand of a young man in the local jeweler's shop, who flashes it cross Dian's vision. Later in the evening, she wakes in a trance consumed with the urge to kill her father, stopped only by Sandman as he rushes in from investigating a similarly queer case. A bank teller friend from his private life has found himself driven to steal from the vault and deliver it to some crooks on a lonely road every night, all after one of those men flashed him the ruby. Wes and Dian are unable to stop this night's transaction (on account of the ruby briefly turning Dian against Sandman), but seeing the gem in action gives Wes an idea on how to counteract its effects, and go into battle during the next drop armed with blue cobalt glasses. A brawl puts down all the blackmailers except one, but Wes opts instead to go after the head of the operation, knocking him out and lurking in the dark to catch the last as he reports in, revealing the bank teller! Turns out the ruby DOES have hypnotic properties and was used to assist their robberies, but the teller - hoping by playing at the victim to lure Sandman into his cohorts' midst and rub him out - spoke as if he remembered the whole experience, where Dian forgot herself on every exposure. Oops!
Same basic mystery structure and resolution type here as last month, complete with overly-wordy explanation, although I find the hook of pitting Dian and Wesley against one another gives it a minor leg up, as does the relatively straightforward nature of the criminal operation compared to planting microfilm in deadly flowers. There's a more even balance between the rush in bust 'em up style of crime-fighting the feature has developed and the stealthy skullduggery I think suits the character best, with nice action art to match each. Dian has some silly faces whenever she wakes from her hypnosis, and the four panel sequence of Wes halting her murder attempt works pretty well. This is, unfortunately, the final pencil-inking collaboration between Flessel and Grothkopf, and much as I've kvetched over the second man's solo work, I'm sorry to see the back of him in this capacity. When the two were in proper tune, they were the best artistic team Sandman enjoyed yet.
(Stop dodging bullets, I want to see you gunshot.)

• ADVENTURE COMICS #60 (March)

Mystery at Malay Mac's - Fox, Grothkopf

^{Hey, a rare post-Hourman, pre-redesign cover appearance! That's always nice. "Hello, officer? Yeah, coupla chucklefucks right here, the alley off Fourth, can't miss 'em."}
What's this? Dian breaking into a notorious criminal slumlord's safe in the bad part of town? A safe, as Wes discovers after he scares the lady off, filled to the brim with poison gas! Evidently not, as Dian is sound asleep when Wes arrives at Belmont manor to investigate, and a subsequent visit to Mister Mac reveals the only person who'd know the safe was booby-trapped is a local kidnapping organizer. Some blind, flailing fists turns up the girl, Dian's perfect duplicate, snatched from out of state to replace Dian and gain leverage over the cops. Too bad the kidnapper's made of strong stuff, knocking out Sandman and taking both woman for a ride to get back at Mac. Fortunately, Dian leaves Wes a trail of jewelry out the window, enabling him to follow and take down all the crooks with one throw of his gas pistol, revealing in the process 'twas Mac himself who tipped Dian's duplicate to his safe, in hopes of spoiling his rival's big plot.
Art-wise, this is probably Grothkopf's best work for Sandman to date. His tendency to exaggerate is translated into some properly goonish faces for the villains and really, really strong action poses, with some properly atmospheric shots sprinkled in for good measure. He cannot draw the gasmask for piss, but there's such an improvement I almost thought this was a Flessel joint before checking the wiki credits. Makes me wish we could see what he'd do if he kept on as a solo artist - free from the impulse to treat the feature as a cartoon, he produces damn fine work. As a story, this makes good time to mention my misgivings with Wesley's tendency to burst through windows and start swinging long before he thinks to use his sleeping gas. While it's great fun to describe and hype up as the mark of a madman who's even cooler as the badass normal than Batman, it also encourages a faster degradation in the character's identity. I'm sure you'll notice it's been yonks since lurking in the shadows and thinning the ranks by knocking them out in advance has factored into the stories. That Wes handles the bad guy by literally clonking him over the head with the gas gun rather than pulling the trigger speaks to the influence other, punchier superhero features have exerted over the strip.

• ADVENTURE COMICS #61 (April)

The Menace of the Metal Gun - Fox?, Flessel

From aboard a mysterious aircraft, a madman fires upon the city with a metal-melting ray that dissolves the skyscrapers into slag! Alerted to Doctor Borloff's activities, Wesley meets with swift defeat when the rogue scientist melts his gas gun and escapes in his cylindercraft to terrorize afresh. There IS a bright side, as seeing the ray firsthand gives Wesley some idea how to counteract its effects, and he sends Dian and her father warning for the local airforce to coat their planes in sand as a silicate buffer against the ray. Alas, only one officer heeds his message, leaving Sandman alone to get aboard the machine via his new wirepoon gun and defeat Borloff from within. For his brawling process, a good midflight fight is nothing if the hero gets tossed out an open door, but fortunately he can grapple onto the lone surviving plane, recover his bearings, zip back up, and put a stop to Borloff's dreams of world conquest once and for all!
Action is the name of the game here, and even without Grothkopf's inking enhancements, I think Flessel does a fine job on his own. I'm wary of the wirepoon in the future, as by year's end it will completely replace the gas gun as Sandman's sidearm of choice in further drift from the original Christman concept, but taken as a neutral in its debut, giving Sandman greater aerial mobility does lead to some cool shots and enhance the sense Wes goes stark bananas in the mask by pulling some stunts that would almost certainly pull his arms from their sockets in real life. There are, however, some particularly stiff action shots, and in one panel Flessel cocks up the design on the mask worse than Grothkopf last ish. Based on the opening vignette, Borloff decimated millions of innocent lives in addition to all the planes he melted out of the sky, making him easily the deadliest foe Wes has faced to date, and in turn making the "We did it, gang, everything is bright and peachy again!" ending sorta offputting. They'll have to organize mass funerals tomorrow, Wes. Show a little respect.

• ALL-STAR COMICS #4 (April)

For America and Democracy: The Grey Shirts - Fox, Grothkopf

In the top-level story, the JSA learn of their mission for the FBI: a group of Nazi insurgents known as the Grey Shirts are plotting subversive and destructive activities all across America, and are now posed to badly destabilize the nation in a series of disruptive attacks. Each is assigned a mission at critical points cross the nation, though given the widely-ranging disparity in their powers, their usefulness to the cause varies equally wildly. The Atom humiliates some goons spreading Nazi ideology at a single college, Hawkman barely prevents the destruction of an aviation plant in California, and Hourman's defense of an Oklahoma oil field ends with him toppling one of the oil towers to stop his quarry. Meanwhile, Green Lantern detonates a zeppelin secretly jamming radio transmissions nationwide, the Spectre casually annihilates some otherworldly vampiric globes sympathetic to Hitler's cause, and Doctor Fate uses his magic to out every single spy on the eastern seaboard. Uneven efforts or not, the group converge on the Grey Shirts' ringleader, and with a little help from Johnny Thunder, turn him over to good ol' J. Edgar Hoover's custody. Alas, Wesley does not get the blood he's thirsting after.
(Also Doctor Fate alerts Wesley to the identity and location of the ringleader before his mission starts rather than letting him figure it out on his own like everyone else. Prick.)
For his six-page leg of the assignment, the Sandman is off to El Paso, Texas to assist a local newspaper under threat from the Grey Shirts for printing pro-democracy and anti-Hitler editorials. Of course, this being Wesley Dodds on the job, he gets this information by roughing his way into the newspaper offices, then acts on it by beating on the guard at the Grey Shirts' camp and pounding down a band of brainwashed young men to prove he's a better American than them. After sending the wannabe Nazis for a whirl by running their bomb shipment off the road, Wesley doubles back to completely break the recruits' spirits, daring them to prove their hard enough by shooting an unarmed man in Hitler's name, chiefly himself. When none can cut the mustard, he marches them back into town with collars strapped to his car, and inspires the lot to join the Army to a few shirtless bars of "God Bless America."
Cripes but jingoism produces some heady results, doesn't it? I'm not sure I can rightly condone the ridiculous levels of patriotism on display here, even against such classically anti-American enemies as Nazis, yet at the same time, look at this and tell me it isn't the hardest shit you'll see all week. Again, though I've my misgivings about Wes as a brawler no matter how entertaining the results prove, there's something endearing about him being so raring for a fight his first move is to altercate the receptionist at the place he's assigned to defend. On the whole, Grothkopf's final Sandman contribution also shows refinement from his earlier works, the broader, thicker elements of his linework now tempers on a somewhat more grounded approach. Certainly the Sandman himself keeps a consistent look better than he does in any other issue published thus far this year. I DO notice he reused Flessel's design for the District Attorney wholesale on the newspaper publisher. Since he's going and heading out on a job well done, let's not hold it against him, eh?

• ADVENTURE COMICS #62 (May)

The Purple Death Ray - Fox?, Flessel

At the nightly planetarium show, a member of the audience screams and falls down dead, stricken by a litany of strange symptoms with no obvious cause. Wesley, believing the man was killed by a death ray, examines the auditorium's projector, only to find no obvious alterations or fault. Undeterred, he purchases himself a seat next to the murdered man's for the next show, which is now occupied by another fellow who received a last-second courtesy invitation. Acting quickly, the Sandman reexamines the projector from the shadows and finds a replacement bulb screwed into the socket pointed directly at the man's chair. With assistance from his wirepoon, Sandman swings down and wrenches the man from his seat just as the show starts, the bulb bathing his seat in deadly radiation. On learning the man is a former judge and the deceased a former DA, it's not long before Wes ferrets out the killer; it's the cashier, a former scientist sent to jail for misappropriating university funds years ago, out for revenge and now stopped cold.
See, while I'm skeptical about the growing presence of science-fiction elements in the series, they make fine fodder when they play to Sandman's strengths. Lurking high above a crowd of people seeking the answer to some deadly mystery is exactly Wes' bag, and plus or minus some strange mask drawings, Flessel captures that thrill of closely examining a big deadly machine in secret before it fires. I'd submit the page where Sandman saves the judge from the beam as an easy contender for best of the year thus far, and the shot where Wes pushes Dian away from the killer's bullet is another fine piece of work. My memories of this one before sitting down to reread and write were a lot chillier, probably because I wish the series remained in crime pulp rather than raygun pulp, but a good outcome is a good outcome. Seriously, though, why is the mask going so bobble-eyed of late?

• ADVENTURE COMICS #63 (June)

The Voodoo Sorcerer - ???, Flessel

As Dian and Wesley tiff over his interest in an exotic dancer they know through a mutual friend, the woman's tail-lashing dance is interrupted when she sees a great glowing triangle materialize before her eyes. With the shock straining her bad heart, the Sandman brings her to boyfriend's house, where he reveals the triangle is a voodoo witch doctor's means of accusing someone of murder - just as news comes over the wire that the man the woman lashed with her costume tail has died! Smelling a rat, Wes rushes to the scene of the crime to find the taile barbed with poison quills, only for the titular sorcerer to bumrush him out the window. It's a big misunderstanding, thankfully: he's as shocked by the murder as Sandman, and only summoned the triangle on suggestion from an acquaintance, forgetting the dancer would know its significance through her partner. By happiest coincidence, this provides Wesley the solution to the mystery right quick, for only his friend's chauffeur would have motive, opportunity, and knowledge to frame his employers and their associates for the murder of a stock broker who owed them money.
Hmm, ah, see, on the one hand, it IS nice that the voodoo guy is innocent of everything except a lapse in judgement and the real twist is an unassuming little man exploiting the mystery and fears around the craft to cast suspicion off his person. On the other hand, eek, yike, zoinks! None good. Bad, even. Outside unfortunate depictions of non-white persons from the 1940s, the story's pretty weak for a murder mystery, as numerous elements are evidently known to the characters well in advance, yet only made clear to the reader right before they become relevant, like the exact identity of the murdered man. It's only eight pages, so there's little opportunity to piece information together on your own time, and as such it is heavily reliant on narrative cheats to generate cheap surprise. About the best thing here is the big page-dominating panel of Wesley swinging through the city on his wirepoon, unconscious woman tucked under arm. Kinda hard to convincingly raise my dander about what it means for the character and his feature when it's successfully operating on the long-standing principle of "masked mystery men swinging on a wire through skyscrapers looks really cool." S'like a solid fifth of the formula behind why Spider-Man is so enduringly popular.
(Also not a big fan of how Wes dismisses Dian from participating in the case without any adequate reason why. She calls him out over it, even, and nothing in the story justifies his decision to fly solo on this one.)

• ADVENTURE COMICS #64 (July)

The Unseen Man - ???, Flessel

Dian's purchase of paints from a local hobby shop includes quite the unusual accidental item: a paint that turns anything and everything invisible on contact. Determined to solve this mystery on her own, Dian investigates the shop with the dealer's cooperation, only for the dread Unseen Man to get the drop on her. Fortunately, Sandman is there to save her because he won't let Dian do anything on her own; unfortunately, Dian doesn't know Wes can see her attacker through his blue cobalt lenses and pulls him away, thinking him mad and letting the Unseen Man go free. As reward for her screw up, she's targeted in her home the next night, only for Wes to barge in again, having anticipated the only possible secret identity for the crook would make him likely to strike back at Dian. It is, unsurprisingly, the hobby shop owner, who Wes turns over to the police before heading out to patent his invisibility paint with the United States Army.
Alright, it's definitely not Gardner Fox writing anymore, because I cannot imagine Fox treating Dian so poorly. I gave her some dignity in summary, but this story is plain dumping all over her as a fussy, incompetent tryhard who fails at investigating on her own on account her womanly ways. Just look at the sheer antagonism between her and Wes; you two are partners, she's saved Sandman's skin like a dozen times, worn his costume and wielded his gas gun to do it once, even! Don't try to BS me into thinking Wes would run this paternalist "let me handle it, Dian, I wear the pants in this relationship" crap on her. You're only alive because she's worn your fucking pants. Otherwise, 'nother instance where the story and art alike don't give me much of note. I reckon Flessel was about done with the series with Fox gone and sorta phoned in his last few assignments. They're nowhere near the standard of his early solo artistic duties on the title. There IS another good wirepoon swinging shot, if one counterbalanced by a crummier instance with yet another weirdly-proportioned mask.

• ALL-STAR COMICS #5

The Mysterious Mr. X: The Kidnapper's Union - Fox, Cliff Young

The Justice Society are bored. Bored, bored, bored. Why are they bored? There is no crime. Not a single ruffian or scoundrel or roughneck lawbreaker anywhere in the city! Where did crime go? Crime has taken an enforced vacation, courtesy the plans of big crime boss Mister X (hats off), as prelude to his scheme for taking out the JSA and putting all his criminal enterprises back on easy street. It's quite the collection of rackets out against the superheroes - an arsonist ring for Flash, a jewel snatching gang for Hawkman, leader of the phony fortune teller underworld against Doctor Fate, even hard-pressing gym membership shakedowns for the Atom! Naturally our heroes triumph, though every one also encounters a strange little man idly strolling through their battlegrounds. He's so omnipresent despite his mousiness, he's even there when they convene at the police station to organize Mister X's (hats off) arrest. Except this unassuming slip of a man? He IS Mister X (hats off), and with the Justice Society having taken all the fun out've crime, he's turning himself in to live comfortably on the state's dollar in jail. WHOOPSY-DOODLE!
For his six-page part in the game, Sandman must contend against the kidnapper's union, who naturally enough have abducted Dian to get his attention. Not only have these lowlives taken Dian hostage (though she doesn't particularly mind), they've taken out phony accident insurance claims against themselves should the hero injure any of them en route to his untimely death! Nobody quite expects Wes to avoid the sniper-guarded roads to their remote hilltop hideout, though, and a quick wirepoon swing over the canyon (complete with Mister X - hats off - sighting) puts him right in the criminal den. From there, it's a simple biff wham boom to take down the punks and disarm their supporting fire. Alas, Sandman is once again only in the loop on the true nature of the threat against the JSA because someone notifies him from their own investigation, this time Flash via telegram. Let him do his own detective work, you pricks!
Right. You see these panels? You see Dian being calm and collected in the midst of a kidnapping operation? You see Wes trusting her with a submachine gun to keep watch on the fools who mean them harm? Yeah, THAT'S Fox writing Dian. Whoever's writing the Adventure feature at this time ought've taken notes. Artistically, Young makes a fine replacement for Grothkopf and Flessel in Adventure - he can match the first for goons, the second for action, manages a nice turnaround effect before Wes swings on his wirepoon, and even gives us a by-now all-too-rare heavy shadow shot on Wes and Dian. I'm a big fan of the lead kidnapper who calls the JSA the "Justiss Sassiety," and find this instance of Mister X (hats off) the second best in the book, behind only his appearance in the Hourman story, which I think speaks for itself. Probably the only time I'll express preference for something Hourman related over Sandman.
The loss of all three major contributors to the Sandman feature across early 1941 and the crunch down to eight pages has certainly made the Adventure Comics side of the Sandman line a rockier experience. It's still possible to derive enjoyment from the wonky mysteries and higher-concept criminals, but one must accept atmosphere and and particularity have been near-entirely sacrificed for generalized bombast and louder appeal. Don't misunderstand, I've become a fan of Wesley Dodds, Fist-Swinging Bullet Sponge, and my past praises for him aren't diminished by the realization of what this has done to his integrity as a character circa today's stopping point. The trouble is, while I enjoy this half-mad, impossibly reckless read on the character, it simply no longer bears any resemblance to the early days' lurking and creeping through the seedier parts of town. There's a great series of justifications running through the Sandman concept - he's no powers, so he uses the gas gun, so he needs the gas mask, which hides his identity so perfectly it frees him to wear the ordinary business suit, which highlights his vulnerability. Fling him around like a ragdoll who knows no fear of injury or death, although I'll clap for the bravado of it all, I must object if it means any notion he should be sneaky or cautious degrades.
Especially if it means the gas gun vanishes from the character. It hasn't met its final end just yet, but for this seven month block it's proven a very perfunctory aspect of the strip, hung by his side and occasionally brandished without acting as an integral part of the action or storytelling. The wirepoon has subsumed its function as the sidearm, and while I must stress there are plenty aces shots of Wes swinging that fully justify its prominence, taking precedence over the thing that makes him the Sandman, Crimefighter What Fights Crime By Putting The Criminals To Sleep plain rubs me the wrong way. Be awful nice i we could have both without the new toy putting the old out to pasture, y'know? It's not led to anything I'd full-throatedly object over just yet, but... ach, you'll see next time. Speaking of...
Next time! 1941 comes to a close as Wesley picks up another feature to his name, and also a stupid, ugly new costume!
(Previous write-ups: 1939, 1940 pt 1, 1940 pt 2)

I just left school and I am in England keep that in mind. I was highly respected I was a part of the student representatives i am not going into a-lot of detail about a-lot of stuff and change words to avoid anybody from my old school seeing this) but one day they decided to lock toliet. I hated this and made a petition got rejected and told I would be kicked out so people started a protest. It was going around tiktok so people were like heck yeah. I shared it didn’t do it but had something else planned. People were like why didn’t you do it because I am little snake. I want you to keep in mind my school was voted best in area county. I reported it to big newspapers and one for are area as soon as it was going down. It got accepted immediately because of the school high status and was reported on even did it under my moms name and they asked if I wanted to be named. Under a matter of hours it was all over the country to be honest I don’t give to if this get shared I am done with that rat nest they call a school. But it was on big newspapers I’m pretty sure you can find it. I’m not going to say who but somebody very high and I mean very high In the government is associated with our school because he lives here and was contacted for a statement. And our head teacher pulled us for an assembly the next day saying they don’t know how it got out little do know it was me. This got a lot of attention by small newspapers and was their highest story in a long time 200 comments on our schools protest story to 2 comments on their next post.

A terrifying movie or book or show gets your blood pumping in the moment of consumption, sure—we covered our eyes in Squid Game with the rest of the world. But for the most part, you rest easy afterward knowing that what you've witnessed is fiction, deliberately spun up to creep you out. When the real world gets eerier than anything Stephen King could dream up, that's when you have every right to get a little scared of the dark.
Once in a while, a story of a dreadful disappearance, demonic possession, or devil worship will land in the local paper instead of a pulpy old paperback. We've rounded up the most unnerving real-life tales below. In honor of spooky season, here are eleven we can't stop thinking about.

The Axe Murder House

The Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa is a well-known tourist attraction for ghost hunters and horror lovers alike. The site of a gruesome unsolved 1912 murder, in which six children and two adults had their skulls completely crushed by the axe of an unknown perpetrator, was purchased in 1994, restored to its 1912 condition, and converted into a tourist destination. It costs $428 a night to stay at the old haunted home, where visitors always report strange paranormal experiences, such as visions of a man with an axe roaming the halls or the faint screams of children.
But in November of 2014, the haunting took a darker turn. Robert Steven Laursen Jr., 37, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin was on a regular recreational paranormal visit with friends when true horror struck. Per VICE:

His companions found him stabbed in the chest—an apparently self-inflicted wound—called 9-1-1, and Laursen was brought to a nearby hospital before being helicoptered to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said Laursen suffered the self-inflicted injury at about 12:45 a.m., which is around the same time the 1912 axe murders in the house began.
Laursen recovered from his injuries, but has never spoken publicly about what occurred that day. For Martha Linn, the owner of the home, the incident was very upsetting. "It's publicity, but it's not exactly the kind of publicity you desire to have. I don't want people thinking that when they come to the Villisca Axe Murder House something's going to happen that's going to make them do something like that.” The house remains open for tourist visits and overnight stays today.
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The Haunted Doll

When you think of haunted dolls, it’s likely the creepy old Victorian-looking porcelain kind that springs to mind. None of which you probably have laying around. Still, don’t get too comfortable around any kids toys too soon, though: a Disney’s Frozen Elsa doll that was gifted for Christmas 2013 in the Houston area made headlines earlier this year when it seemingly became haunted.
Per KPRC2 Houston News:

The doll recited phrases from the movie Frozen and sang “Let It Go” when a button on its necklace was pressed.
“For two years it did that in English,” mother Emily Madonia said. “In 2015, it started doing it alternating between Spanish and English. There wasn’t a button that changed these, it was just random."
The family has owned the doll for more than six years and never changed its batteries. The mother says the doll would randomly begin to speak and sing even with its switch turned off.

The family decided to throw the creepy doll out in December of 2019. Weeks later, they found it inside a bench in their living room. “The kids insisted they didn’t put it there, and I believed them because they wouldn’t have dug through the garbage outside,” Madonia told KPRC2 Houston News.

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At that point, Elsa ceased to sing the English rendition of “Let It Go” altogether, speaking only Spanish when pressed. The family then double-bagged the bizarre doll and placed it at the bottom of their garbage which was taken out on garbage day. They went on a trip shortly after, but when they returned, Elsa too had come back, and was waiting in the backyard of their home.
This time, the family mailed Elsa to a family friend in Minnesota, who taped the haunted doll to the front bumper of his truck. It doesn’t seem to have made its way back to Houston yet, as per Madonia’s latest February Facebook update on the creepy doll.

A Deadly Exorcism

In August 2016 in North London, 26-year-old Kennedy Ife began acting strange and aggressive following a pain in his throat. He reportedly bit his father, threatened to cut off his own penis, and complained of a python or snake inside of him before his family restrained him to a bed with cable ties and excessive force.
As the BBC reported:

“The family then set about attempting to ‘cure’ Kennedy through restraint and prayer over the next three days, the court was told.”

His brother, Colin Ife, told police:

“It’s clear that thing was in him, what we believed was a demon because it was not natural. It was clearly trying to kill him,” he said.
“We had to restrain him for himself. It was clear if we didn’t restrain him, he could have tried to harm people in our family.”

Kennedy Ife had been bound to his bed for three days without medical attention when his brother called emergency services, explaining that Kennedy Ife was complaining of dehydration. He appeared to have developed breathing issues, and was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m.
As The Independent reported:

While police were at the house Colin Ife allegedly carried out an “attempted resurrection” by chanting and praying for Mr. Ife.

All seven of Kennedy Ife’s family members were accused of manslaughter, false imprisonment, and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. A post-mortem examination revealed over 60 wounds including a possible bite on Kennedy Ife’s body, and his father, Kenneth Ife, along with four of his brothers, sustained injuries as well.
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The BBC reported:

Kenneth Ife told jurors he ordered his sons to take shifts and use "overwhelming force" but denied that an "association with cults, occults and secret societies" played any part in the death.

After a four day jury deliberation, all seven family members were cleared of charges on March 14, 2019.
📷Witches prepare themselves for a journey by broomstick to the Black Mountain, circa 1650. From a 17th century Dutch copperplate by Adrianus Hubertus.Hulton Archive

Dead Animals in the Walls

When the Bretzuis family decided to insulate their home in Auburn, Pennsylvania in 2015, they discovered that it had already been—with scores of dead animal carcasses.
As Fox reported:

The dead animals were wrapped in newspapers from the 1930s and 40s and were among half-used spices, and other items.
After removing the items they sent hundreds of artifacts and carcasses to an expert in Kutztown.

The expert attributed the rotting animals in their walls to Pow-wow or Dutch magic, a ritual originating in the culture of the Pennsylvania Dutch to treat ailments and gain physical and spiritual protection. The Pennsylvania Dutch were a group of German-speaking settlers to Pennsylvania in the 1600 and 1700’s, and are often of Lutheran, Mennonite, or Amish faiths.
The Washington Post notes on the magic:

Many of the spells deal with the care of livestock, finding water, or the treatment of minor ailments, reflecting the conditions and concerns of early American settlers.
But powwow also has within it a tradition of darker spells, and even of such things as conjuring demons.

One notable ritual in their tradition is this hex to create loyalty in a dog:

To attach a dog to a person, provided nothing else was used before to effect it: Try to draw some of your blood, and let the dog eat it along with his food, and he will stay with you.

The mold found on the rotting carcasses in the Bretzuis home has caused illness among the family members, and they say that the odor hasn’t gone away.
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Florida Devil Worshipping

Friends noticed that Danielle Harkins, a 35-year-old schoolteacher near St. Petersburg, Florida, started acting strangely in June of 2012, developing an interest in demonic rituals.
Soon after, she was arrested for abuse of seven of her former students, as the Tampa Bay Times reported:

Danielle Harkins told the kids they needed to rid their bodies of demons as the group gathered before dusk Saturday around a small fire near the St. Petersburg Pier. They should cut their skin to let the evil spirits out, police said she told the children. Then, they needed to burn the wounds to ensure that those spirits would not return.
When Harkins held a lighter to one teen's hand, wind blew the flame out, police said. That prompted her to douse his hand in perfume before setting it on fire. The boy suffered second-degree burns, police said.
Another teen was cut on the neck with a broken bottle, police said. Harkins used a flame to heat a small key, which she then used to cauterize the wound.

The police were notified because a friend of one of the students who participated in the ritual raised alarms. However none of the students themselves told their parents about the event or would comment following the arrest of Harkins for aggravated battery and child abuse.
NBC reported:

Investigators said they've spoken to Harkins, but she didn't spell out what type of religion would require such drastic measures.
"She hasn't informed us exactly what she was trying to accomplish with this," Puetz [of the St. Petersburg Police Department] said.

The Death of Elisa Lam

Elisa Lam was last seen on January 31, 2013 in the lobby of the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. She was vacationing through the West Coast, documenting the trip on her blog, and checking in with her parents every day. On January 31 those calls stopped. Lam had vanished. Soon the police were involved and her parents arrived to help with the search.
They had nothing. That February, LAPD released elevator surveillance footage of Lam before her disappearance. The footage shows Lam behaving strangely in the elevator, appearing to talk with invisible people, peering around the corner of the door, crouching in the corner, and opening and closing the door. But what exactly is going on in this video raises more questions than answers. Theories range from psychotic episodes, to demonic possession, to unknown assailants just out of the camera's view:
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Around that time, hotel guests started reported weird things happening with the Cecil Hotel water supply. As CNN reports:
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"The shower was awful," said Sabina Baugh, who spent eight days there during the investigation. "When you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first for two seconds and then it was going back to normal."The tap water "tasted horrible," Baugh said. "It had a very funny, sweety, disgusting taste. It's a very strange taste. I can barely describe it."But for a week, they never complained. "We never thought anything of it," she said. "We thought it was just the way it was here."

On the morning of February 19, a hotel employee climbed to the roof and used a ladder to investigate the hotel's water storage tanks. That's where authorities found the decomposing, naked body of Lam, whose personal items were found nearby. After an autopsy, her death was labeled accidental. NBC Los Angeles reported at the time about the strange circumstances in the hotel's past:

The tank has a metal latch that can be opened, but authorities said access to the roof is secured with an alarm and lock.The single-room-occupancy hotel has an unusual history. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, who was found guilty of 14 slayings in the 1980s, lived on the 14th floor for several months in 1985. And international serial killer Jack Unterweger is suspected of murdering three prostitutes during the time he lived there in 1991. He killed himself in jail in 1994.In 1962, a female occupant jumped out of one the hotel's windows, killing herself and a pedestrian on whom she landed.

In February 2021, a Netflix doc called Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel explored Elisa's tragic case and the history of the "cursed" Cecil Hotel.

An Exorcism in Indianapolis

Last year, the Indianapolis Star published a lengthy report on a family terrorized by three children allegedly possessed by demons. The account of Latoya Ammons and her family tells disturbing stories of children climbing up the walls, getting thrown across rooms, and children threatening doctors in deep unnatural voices. It would seem like something straight out of a movie–a work of fantasy, except all of these accounts were more or less corroborated with "nearly 800 pages of official records obtained by the Indianapolis Star and recounted in more than a dozen interviews with police, DCS personnel, psychologists, family members and a Catholic priest."
One of the more chilling sections of the report includes a segment about the possessed 9-year-old:

According to Washington's original DCS report—an account corroborated by Walker, the nurse—the 9-year-old had a "weird grin" and walked backward up a wall to the ceiling. He then flipped over Campbell, landing on his feet. He never let go of his grandmother's hand.

Another segment of the piece reads:

The 12-year-old would later tell mental health professionals that she sometimes felt as if she were being choked and held down so she couldn't speak or move. She said she heard a voice say she'd never see her family again and wouldn't live another 20 minutes.

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Utah Murder-Suicide

In September of 2014, a Utah teen returned to his home to find his parents and three siblings dead. "In a notebook, a 'to-do list' had been scribbled on the pages ... The list looked as if the parents were readying to go on vacation—items such as 'feed the pets' and 'find someone to watch after the house' were written," The Salt Lake Tribune reported. It appeared to be murder-suicide, but there was no suicide note, no prior indication that they would do this, no explanation. Police could not figure out why two parents would kill themselves and three of their four children.
For a year, no one knew exactly what happened to the family, or what would drive the parents to do something so unthinkable. In January, police released more chilling details in the case. According to accounts from family members and an investigation by police, the parents were driven by a belief that the apocalypse was coming and an obsession with a convicted killer. As the Washington Post reported:

Friends and family told police that the parents were worried about the "evil in the world" and wanted to escape a "pending apocalypse." But most assumed they just wanted to move somewhere "off the grid." Investigators also found letters written by Kristi Strack to one of the state's most infamous convicted killers, Dan Lafferty, who was convicted in the 1984 fatal stabbing of his sister-in-law and her 1-year-old daughter. According to trial testimony, he killed the victims at the order of his brother, Ron Lafferty, who claimed to have had a revelation from God. The story became a book called "Under the Banner of Heaven."Police said Kristi Strack became friends with Dan Lafferty, and she and her husband even visited him in prison.

The Phone Stalker

In 2007, ABC news documented a series of cell phone calls to families with terrifyingly specific death threats. The unidentified callers knew exactly what families were doing and what they were wearing.

The families say the calls come in at all hours of the night, threatening to kill their children, their pets and grandparents. Voice mails arrive, playing recordings of their private conversations, including one with a local police detective.The caller knows, the families said, what they're wearing and what they're doing. And after months of investigating, police seem powerless to stop them.

This went on with the Kuykenall family for months, who reported a caller with a scratchy voice threatening to slit their throats.

When the Fircrest, Wash., police tried to find the culprit, the calls were traced back to the Kuykendalls' own phones -- even when they were turned off.It got worse. The Kuykendalls and two other Fircrest families told ABC News that they believe the callers are using their cell phones to spy on them. They say the hackers know their every move: where they are, what they're doing and what they're wearing. The callers have recorded private conversations, the families and police said, including a meeting with a local detective.

"The Watcher"

After moving into their $1.3 million dream home, a New Jersey family started receiving creepy death threats from someone who identified themselves as "The Watcher." As CBS News reported earlier this year:
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Since moving in, the owners said they have received numerous letters from the mysterious person. "The Watcher" claimed the home "has been the subject of my family for decades," and "I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming," Castro reported.The new owners have several children, and other letters asked, "Have they found out what's in the walls yet?" and "I am pleased to know your names now, and the name of the young blood you have brought to me."

The family was forced to flee from their home and later filed a lawsuit against the previous owners.

Issei the Cannibal

In 1974, 24-year-old Wako University student Issei Sagawa allegedly followed a German woman to her home in Tokyo, Japan, broke into her apartment while she was sleeping, and attempted to cut a piece of flesh off her body to consume. When she awoke, she reportedly fought him and he was later captured by the police. According to a 2012 Vice documentary that covered Issei's bizarre story, he was mistakenly charged with attempted rape and his wealthy father paid the victim a settlement outside of court to have the charges dropped.
Seven years later, in 1981, he allegedly committed a murder in France—shooting and eating a fellow University student, Renée Hartevelt. Issei creepily documented the entire experience with photographs and he was captured by authorities once again while attempting to dump the rest of her body in the Bois de Boulogne lake. He was deported back to Japan and committed to a mental institution. For reason unknown, his psychologists in Japan declared that he was sane. Furthermore, a legal technicality involving the French government refusing to turn over the documents from his case meant that his murder charges were dropped completely. He checked himself out of the mental hospital and has reportedly been walking the streets as a free man ever since. Issei has even become a controversial celebrity, writing over 20 books. According to Japan Today, he most recently fantasized about an unnamed TV actress, saying:
"I'll catch a glimpse of her thigh and think, 'That sure looks tasty.' But I don't feel like I actually want to eat it. As I accomplished the act of cannibalism once, there's no meaning to maintaining the desire for it anymore. In my book, I wrote that it [human flesh] was tasty, but that was not really true; I'd much rather eat Matsuzaka (Kobe) beef. But because I'd desired to consume human flesh for so long, I'd managed to convince myself that it would necessarily be delicious."
Issei Sagawa was also referenced in the Rolling Stones song "Too Much Blood," with the lyrics reading: "And when he ate her he took her bones/To the Bois de Boulogne." He is currently 73 years old and continues to live in Kawaski City, Japan. To this day, no one knows why France did not allow Japan to give him a trial.
📷MATT MILLER

THIS IS A LONG RANT: FELLOW DASHERS BEWARE! DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ IF RANTS UPSET YOU
To date, I have about 650+ DD deliveries under my belt. I've read other dashers messages that say they have thousands of deliveries. I'm impressed and I need your guidance senior dashers- or your flames. I'll take either as long as I can gain some knowledge from your experience.
I can deliver food now at a professional pace and I get good reviews almost all the time. I enjoy my customers, and they seem happy to see me.
I got into the red card game a little bit later after I applied to Doordash and DD set me loose on the streets. I thought, what the heck, get a red card and expand my horizons.
Red card orders are rare in my small town. I might get one or two a week so I am grossly inexperienced with red card orders. I have probably filled, or attempted to fill 15 or so red card orders.
All I know is without exception, when I accept a red card order, my day is about to take a turn for the worst every single time. Dollar General is out of an item (I can take a picture of the shelf tag and the empty shelf behind it), that always happens... Not a huge deal, now that I've learned what the app is going to throw at me in those situations. Completely out of a product as well as alternative product on the customer's wish list? Then things start getting a little ugly but I do my best to text and/or call the customer to come up with a solution.
Yesterday was yet another disaster. The customer wanted one item (a 12 pack of a certain brand of beer - bottled, with an alternate of cans). Customer was offering a fair tip too. Walgreens was out of both items - completely sold out. Bare shelves. I ask the annoyed cashier if she might have it in the back or maybe I'm overlooking the item location and she pointed at the wall and said "that's all we got". This was during my dinnertime rush hour so I'm losing money hand over fist pacing around Walgreens texting desperately to a customer and Doordash support that "they don't have it!". I'll be damned if I'm going to unassign and get on DoorDash's naughty list, I'm here! I'm already losing money, my customer is confused, I'm confused, and support just reads from the text. The Walgreen's employee is frightened because I'm pacing around her store looking for beer & text chatting with a customer. Ultimately I was able to text my customer through to cancel the order and place a new one, hopefully from someplace else. That is tricky given that I don't see what the customer sees, the customer thinks I'm an all knowing Dasher God and I should just fix it, and Dasher support is in a foreign country working from home with a house full of screaming babies in the background.
That was yesterday and that red card p*ssed me off. An hour of rush time lost wages that I will never recoup and an upset customer. I was wanting to cut my red card in two and notify Doordash "no more red card, get me off that list!!!!".
Stupid, stupid me though talked myself through and told myself "calm down, deliver some taco bell and you'll figure this red card thing out. Take every red card order you can for the training and you'll get better."
Today was an over the top disaster. Today started out good, I even delivered a stacked from Pizza Hut and my customers were thrilled to see me and tipped very well - CASH!
Then I got the dreaded red card order. Seven items from our local tractor supply store, delivered eight miles out into the county for a "Guaranteed $8.50!" I know it was a stupid order to accept, but these are my rules, I need to win a red card order, I crave a success story with this red card. I'll sacrifice my profitable afternoon to get one successful red card order.
I arrive at tractor supply and click to Doordash "I am here". DoorDash then gives me the shopping list.
1) One 35 pound bag of cat litter (fine, I found it)
2) Six 50 pound bags of Miracle Grow garden soil
No tip, and I was stuck trying to learn a lesson about how to be a better Red Card Dasher. I committed to the order with Doordash, I had to pull through.
I drive a little 2021 Mitsubishi Mirage that is small and nimble dashing through town, but it is not a "no tip" farm truck.
I was still committed though, furious at my own stupidity but determined to fulfil this order. I search the entire store and there are no 50 pound bags of Miracle Grow garden soil. I ask a store associate "Please sir, help me find 50 pound bags of Miracle Grow garden soil" and show him the picture on my phone. He walks me out to the selection of 50 pound bags of dirt and points at an empty pallet with one busted open bag of Miracle Grow garden soil with a giant weed growing out of it. Healthiest plant I've ever seen.
"That's all we got" the sales associate tells me.
I text the customer telling her the same thing I'm saying here. The customer replies back "What other garden soil do they have?"
The customer is nice, I want to be a good driver so I go out in the sunshine looking at the selections. They have 50 pound bags of top soil, 50 pounds of potting mix, and a skid full of 50 pound bags of humus and manure.
My customer chime's in "What did you find?". I froze up out in the sunshine. My only thought was "DoorDash, damnit DoorDash! I deliver food with clean hands and an honest heart! I can't deliver 300 pounds of busted open bags of garden soil and manure and then go back to handing out Taco Bell orders!!!" THATS GROSS!!!!!!!"
I didn't reply to my customer. I selected Unassign, knowing full well DoorDash corporate is going to put me on their Naughty list. Doordash replied "Why do you unassign?" along with a long list of useless canned selections to choose from. I chose "It's an emergency!" I'm about to have a nervous breakdown on this order. I was expecting Doordash to reply "What is your emergency?" but they didn't.
I feel really bad because my completion rate dropped by 1 point and I know Doordash corporate is going to send another fellow dasher to see the same thing I did.
That is my rant. I ended the dash abruptly and I came home.
Suggestions, tips, advice, rants, trolls, anything from a senior dasher? I'll take anything.
Tomorrow is a new Dasher day.

Hello all, I have a fair idea of looking up laws and such. Unfortunately, I am a currently unemployed single mother with no financial assistance in raising my daughter so I cannot afford a lawyer. I am trying to change her last name. Per my local county court, I have posted notice of intent to change (her) name. I then filed the petition for name change. I was contacted by the clerk and told I could use the newspaper to serve my daughter’s father (who has been absent for most of her life). In the petition I also mentioned that at the time of birth, I had submitted the form with her name but when he arrived at the hospital he forced me to change it. He was abusive to me. He coerced me into changing it, taking advantage of my state of mind and body immediately after giving birth. We were not married, he was on on the birth certificate named as father. Per NC law regarding naming newborns, § 130A-101 Birth registration, (f) which states “The surname of the child shall be determined by the mother, except if the father's name is entered on the certificate, the mother and father shall agree upon the child's surname. If there is no agreement, the child's surname shall be the same as that of the mother.” I believe I have the right to change her name. Anyway, the clerk told me to contact my local newspaper and ask about publication. However, neither of them knew what actually needs to go into the publication. I searched everywhere and cannot find anything on what I need to post. I am in North Carolina and cannot find anything stating what I actually need to include in the text. Would publishing the notice of intent to change name of minor suffice? Please help :(

Today thanks to a tip from Faraday_Rage, I bring you a ghost story from West Lake Hills, although saying that might be a bit misleading because West Lake Hills is a mid-20th century invention and the events of this story happen mostly before that. There used to be a village called Eanes in that general area full of farmers, ranchers, and cedar choppers before it was subdivided into one of the nicer suburbs.
There was only one bridge for vehicle traffic (besides the train bridge) from Downtown into South Austin before the 1940s. Because of this, the western part of Travis County was separated from the growth of Austin and the eastern part of the county, and remained sort of a wild frontier well after the surrounding lands were settled.
Among the early settlers in that area were two brothers named Alexander and Robert Eanes. There is a historical marker at the intersection of Red Bud Trail and Loop 360 which says the following:

Alexander Eanes (1806-1888) moved to Texas from Mississippi in 1845 and acquired this ranch by 1857. In 1873 he sold the property to his brother, Robert Eanes (1805-1895), who had moved to the area following the Civil War. A log cabin built on the Eanes ranch was the first Eanes school, and the community also assumed the Eanes name. Robert Eanes sold the ranch to his son-in-law, Hudson Boatner Marshall (1862-1951) in 1883. Marshall dismantled the ranch house and moved it to a site adjacent to the nearby creek.

So there was a man named H.B. Marshall who lived on the former Eanes Ranch with his wife Viola (Robert Eanes's daughter) and family.
H.B. Marshall was a Civil War orphan. His mom died shortly after childbirth and his dad died as part of Hood's Brigade. He spent his early life in Austin-area orphanages until he graduated high school at the age of 19. That was when the doctors of the era diagnosed him with "consumption", otherwise known as Tuberculosis today. There was no cure in the 19th century. Afflicted people were told to go live in the country and get some fresh air, and that's exactly what he did.
Lucky for him, HB's dad well fairly well off when he died and left him an inheritance. After he left the orphanage he used this money to buy the ranch from the Eanes family, met and married Viola Eanes, and started a family. Legends say a Mexican folk healer convinced him eating goat meat and drinking goat's milk was an excellent remedy for consumption, and so he raised goats.
The book Eanes Portrait of a Community has this photo of H.B. and Viola and their dog, along a brief biographical bit:

H.B. and Viola Marshall sold honey and butter and raised goats. At one time H.B. was president of the American Goat Association and traveled to Chicago to attend that organization's national convention. There he met and talked with Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. In its early days the Ford Motor Company used mohair from goats to make a soft, long-lasting fabric which was used to upholster the seats in its "tin lizzies". H.B. Marshall was one of the company's first mohair suppliers. Later, after Bee Cave Road became a better, more reliable road, Marshall, who was a skilled printer sometimes worked in Austin at that trade.

So HB Marshall and his family were very good at raising goats.
The Marshall Family were also beekeepers. HB liked to be called "Honey Bee" Marshall later in life. He lived the rest of his life on that ranch and died in the 1950s.
Now that you have that little bit of backstory, on with today's tale. The following article appeared on page 21 the Austin American-Statesman on May 16, 1966:

MYSTERY
Old Grave Beside Creek
The mystery of who is buried a shallow grave beside Smith Creek, seven miles southwest of Austin, may never be solved.
With it goes a tale of a robbery and killing said to have occurred more than 60 years ago on the Bee Cave Road.
But at least one story told by a man who died last year sticks in the minds of some residents of the hill country behind Zilker Park.
The man was long-time stock man and World War I veteran John Marshall, who lived out his life on the Eanes-Marshall Ranch seven miles southwest of Austin. His story told him as a child by his father, early Travis County settler and school teacher Hudson Boatner (Honey Bee) Marshall goes something like this:
In the late 19th century, a man from Bee Caves came to Austin with a wagon load of cotton. After selling it, he was returning home when his hired hand killed him and took the money. The slain man was not found for several days, and when he was, he was buried on the spot, several hundred feel off the road.
This is the way Cecil Johnson, of 1500 West Bee Caves remembers the story. He heard it in 1956 when he and his brother-in-law, Elmo Freitag, dug into the grave and found a skeleton. Freitag and Johnson went from where they live to buy a dog killed by a car on the Marshall ranch, Johnson said. "When we found the bones, we were pretty scared," Freitag said. "We went up to the ranch house to tell John Marshall about them." "That's when John told us the story," Johnson recalls. "He said we should cover the bones back up and let the old man rest."
The story was brought to the attention of the American- Statesman by Bruce Marshall of Houston, a nephew of John Marshall and an heir to 10 acres of the old ranch land. Others who lived along Bee Caves Road, or who knew John Marshall, recall hearing him tell the story, but no one contacted so far remembers hearing the story from anyone else.
Sheriff T. O. Lang said he has no records dating back that far, Marshall was born around 1887, and Johnson said the killing and robbery occurred "before John's time."
A check into the archives in the Austin Library's Austin and Travis County Collection reveals a similar crime which occurred in 1871. On Feb. 7 of that year, according to Frank Brown's Annals of Travis County, "an old citizen" named Charles Barnes, who "lived seven miles north of Austin," was killed and robbed after he had come to town and sold a wagon load of hay. He was shot and killed "probably for his money," and his body was found 30 yards from the road, three-fourths of a mile from his dwelling. A $1,000 reward was offered for the criminal, but he was never captured.
This "official" report is quite similar to the story told by John Marshall, but the directions from Austin do not coincide.
There are descendants or a family named Cotton who live in Bee Caves, according to Miss Jessie Roy, former teacher who lives on the Rob Roy Ranch on the Bee Caves Road two miles beyond the Marshall ranch. But she said she never heard of any of them being robbed or killed. Her family moved here in the 1890s.
Conceivably, with the tale handed down by word of mouth for three generations, the name Cotton, and the product "cotton" could have gotten confused. And the Brown report, probably taken from a newspaper account, could have been mistaken about the direction (north or west) from Austin where the crime was committed.
But if the wagon load was cotton instead of hay, the crime would have occurred most likely in October, according to Austin rancher and historian Carl Widen. Widen said in the old days Austin, it usually came from the south and west, from Dripping Springs and Bee Caves, in October, "in time for the circus." "The whole family would come to town with the load of cotton usually one or two bales to a wagon and after it was sold the women bought cloth for dresses and the kids went to see the circus. Then they got back home late that night.
Another hill resident, Charles Roberts, 80, who lives on a creek near the Rob Roy ranch, said he remembered people hauling cotton in trains of three or four wagons pulled by oxen, rather than by horses or mules. And Austin resident Charles Dellana said it used to take at least four mules to pull a wagon load of corn out of the bottoms or "The Narrows" between Bee Caves Road and the Colorado River. He opined that the murder and robbery must have occurred "earlier than 1903."
Besides the Cotton family out Bee Caves way, other family names familiar to those still living are Theodore Bose, Joe Beck, the Freitags, the Teagues, the Simpsons and the Moores. But who is buried beside Smith Creek on the Marshall ranch, how he died, and when he was buried, no one seems to remember.

Well this old story was apparently told far and wide. There was another article on that same day (May 16, 1966) in The Statesman: (h/t/ jbjjbjbb)

Ghost Hunters Have a Go at Ghosting
San Antonians Learn of Murder and Such Things on Austin Ranch
Ghosts, anyone? A strange tale of murder and theft was spottily told Saturday night by a "spirit" who was supposedly in communication with a group of ghost- hunters seven miles southwest of Austin. The ghost hunters, five people from San Antonio, gath ered on the old Marshall Ranch in West Lake Hills with two news reporters. They apparently believed they were communicating with a ghost named Tom Burns.
"Margaret, Margaret, Margaret," the ghost kept repeating through the automatic-writing technique of Mrs. Joan McKee, wife of Don McKee. McKee is manager of the Builders Exchange of Texas, in San Antonio. He and his wife say they are "student" parapsychologists. Spelling out the name of Margaret Owens, Tom Burns said, "She is dead now. She is my love."
The names of Margaret Owens and Tom Burns were interpreted by the McKees from an almost indecipherable scrawl which Mrs. McKee transmitted to sheet after sheet of paper with a pencil, while her husband held her elbow. They were seated at a table in the single upper room of the old Marshall ranch house. With them were this reporter, ranch owner and Houston Post business writer Bruce Marshall, and San Antonio residents Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gibson, Mr. and Mrs. John Mac-Donald, and Mrs. Mary K. Cook. The only light in the room came from a lantern.
"Burns" said Margaret "Owens" was buried on a mountain top east of the ranch, and had been killed in or near some water. Burns also said he had been killed by three men on a road near the ranch as he was hauling a wagon load of hay. Placing the date at 1904, possibly on a Monday, he said he was shot as he got down off the wagon to move a rock that was in the way.
Although at least two other spirits were supposedly contacted beyond the pale, that of Burns appeared to be the most communicative and the most interesting. It was either Burns, or a ghost named Nathan Anderson who spoke of a John Anderson who came "often" to the ranch to drink "rum from South America" with Robert Eanes.
Eanes, according to Marshall, was the first man in the family to own the ranch property. He died in the 19th century and is buried in a family plot on a hill near the ranch house. Marshall said later there had been a man named John Anderson who was a friend of the Eanes family. Marshall and this reporter have established, from local folklore and from written records, that a man, possibly named Charles Barnes, was killed seven miles from Austin around 1871, after selling a load of ether cotton or hay in town.
There is a grave of an unknown man beside Smith Creek on the Marshal ranch, not far off the Bee Caves Road, which is seven miles from Austin. Neither Marshall nor this reporter have verified that the grave on Smith Creek is the one in which the robbery victim was buried, but the coincidences of the known facts leaves room for speculation that it may be the one.
Burns said he had worked for a man named Cotton Roberts, and that Roberts had worked for a man possibly named Mitchell Treadwell. The name of Treadwell first came to the attention of the group when MacDonald, a former announcer for KONO-TV, fell into a trance through what was called auto-hypnosis. He said he got the name from a ghost present in the room, and that he also received "an impression" of the dates 1890 to 1901. Marshall later disclosed that the old ranch house had been built sometime between 1890 and 1905.
The name "Mitchell" was written on the paper when one of the persons asked aloud, "Does the name Treadwell mean anything to you?" Burns also spoke of his mother, naming her variously Mary Markham, Marstur, Masters and Markem, who he said had been sick in a barn and subsequently died.
Mention was made of a bearded man who wore a big hat and was deaf in one ear, of a box buried beneath a barn, and of wild mohair goats. Marshall said the last man to live on the ranch, his late uncle John Marshall, found a hole on the ranch about 30 years ago where a box apparently had been buried. This was when Miriam A. Ferguson was governor of Texas, he said.
He also said a bearded deaf man had once been a ranch hand there and that John Marshall's father, H. B. Marshall, had raised Angora goats on the ranch. Burns said Roberts had buried the box, and he (Burns) had dug it up. "Money means death," came the scrawled message on the paper.
Two of the most dramatic events of the evening occurred when the McKees tried to communicate with a ghost named "Robert" Both of them believed the ghost to be that of Robert Eanes, whom they described as having a very powerful, domineering personality. Mrs. McKee broke down and could write no more after transcribing the words, "My time is up now. Many have come but nobody will listen." Later McKee tried to communicate, and apparently went into a trance after receiving the word "yes" to the question of whether "Robert" had been born in July.
Just before McKee went into a trance, Marshall and this reporter were curious to notice that a strong wind the only one noticed during the entire night rattled the eaves of the house for about a minute.
The time was shortly after midnight Mrs. Cook, who writes radio and TV commercials, took down the following from McKee's barely audible words: "I have many children. I am as Abraham I shan't stay around where my people don't want me. It is dark. Darkness is in the land. We shall bring light."
Further efforts to communicate with "Robert" failed. After this incident, the "ghosts" seemed to leave the parapsychologists and their fellow delvers into ESP (extra-sensory perception).
A long vigil at the family cemetery until almost dawn proved fruitless. Gibson, sales manager for Pratt and Lambert varnish makers, whose supposedly "haunted" house in San Antonio was the subject of a Houston Post story several months ago, conceded with high good humor that he had seen no ghosts Saturday night "But Robert was around," he affirmed confidently.
Marshall and this reporter scratched their heads, totaling up the number of "unexplainable coincidences" which made the night at least a little provocative if not downright exciting. It would take a patient historian to check the names listed. As for the "ghosts" well, who knows?

H.B. Marshall had a son named John and he in turn had a son named Bruce. Bruce Marshall was an artist who spent most of his time in Houston but moved back to the family ranch in 1974. Marshall recounted the story of the 1966 ghost hunt in this 1983 article:

THE SEARCH FOR ghosts is not uncommon with visitors to the Marshall Ranch off Loop 360 South. It is the home of artist Bruce Marshall and his family and nine ghosts, those of seven people and two horses.
Marshall studio and gallery is a restored, pre-Civil War ancestral home located next to the family residence. Parapsychologists visited the building in 1966 and declared it to be haunted by a man who was attacked, shot and killed near the original entrance of the ranch. The ghost of the dead man, whose unmarked grave is still on the ranch, reportedly told the ghosts hunters about his fate. The ghost also admitted that he had committed murder, killing a woman named Margaret by drowning her.
There are two creeks near the ranchhouse that are the source of several other ghost stories.
"SUPPOSEDLY ONE GHOST walks the creek towards Eanes (Elementary) school calling for someone," said Marshall. "There were some kids camping near the creek about six months ago, they heard dogs barking and the noise of a wagon drawn by horses. The wagon has no driver and follows an old road which used to connect to Bee Cave Road."
Marshall said his family tries to play down the ghosts tales surrounding his homestead. "If we really become convinced that we're haunted, we really lose our enjoyment of the place. People seeking ghosts out here are very unwelcome," he said. "If there are such things, they don't bother me. They like me. They probably feel that if I go, the house goes, the property changes, and they're evicted.

In 1999 Marshall sold the house and the ranch to The Eanes Historical Society, who moved it next to the current location of Eanes Elementary School, where it has become the home of the EHS and serves as a small museum today.
So who is in the mystery grave at Smith Creek? I found one lead.
Back in February of 1916 a 20-year-old man named Albert Cook had an unfortunate accident and was killed. The Statesman reported it like so:

While setting a wolf trap on the Marshall goat ranch, eight miles from Austin, Alfred Lee Cook, 20 years old, accidentally shot and killed himself at 8:30 Friday morning, a charge of buck-shot from the left barrel of a double-barrelled shotgun entering his abdomen.
Cook was a laborer on the Marshall ranch, near Summitt. Early Friday morning he attempted to set a steel trap for wolves. He was carrying a shotgun and was accompanied by two small boys.
Setting his shotgun, both barrels of which were loaded, against a bush, he advanced to the trap. The gun fell across his path and he shoved it aside. As he did so, in some way the left barrel of the gun was discharged, the entire charge taking effect in his abdomen at short range and badly lacerating his body. Death was almost Instantaneous.
Justice of the Peace George W. Mendell, Deputy Sheriff Jim McCoy and Deputy Constable Matt Turner went to Summitt this morning for the Inquest. Justlce Mendell rendered a verdict of accidental shooting. The name of one surviving relative was reported to the Justice of the Peace, being Mrs. Rebecca Ann Brown, mother of the young man

Is this the person in the grave? I can't say for sure without DNA testing, but poor Mr. Cook might be the best candidate.
Time is short and space is long today so I'll leave it there. The Eanes-Marshall house today is called the Eanes History Center, and sits next to Eanes Elementary School at 4101 Bee Caves Rd. Bonus Items to follow:
Bonus Pic #1 - Photograph of Bruce Marshall standing next to the graves of his ancestors in Eanes-Marshall Cemetery - unknown date (mid 1970s?)
Bonus Pic #2 - "Photograph of Bruce Marshall and Dorothy Depwe in the Eanes-Marshall Cemetary looking down at a tombstone." - unknown date (mid 1970s?)
Bonus Video #1 - Eanes History: HB Marshall (from Eanes History Center)
Bonus Video #2 - Eanes History: HB Marshall Ranch House Tour (from Eanes History Center)
Bonus Article #1 - Masons BBQ meet at The Marshall Ranch - November 17, 1919
Bonus Article #2 - "Better watch out! Spirits on the prowl!" - May 14, 1966
Bonus book excerpt? - Notes from an interview with Earl Short (a reformed bootlegger), in which he mentions he saw H.B. and John Marshall setting up a soda stand one Election Day after he bribed some illiterate people for their votes.

*Been trying to write a short story/poem a day, so here's today's. Hope you enjoy!
When the older Mister Elway caked the hood of his car with wet meat and frosting, he didn’t know what’d hit him. A day later, he did–slumped in his Lay-z-boy for the eight o’clock news, a tray of chicken warming a chest which suddenly grew cold.
I mean, who could blame the man–who could have known in that weather? The snow was heavier than heavy cream, the kerbs iced, woods infested with deer who’d jump at the chance to kiss a bumper–see love, like a car, is a dangerous thing. And his bumper, the older Elway’s, was patched up before the sun’d even gotten a chance to comb the fields–all snowswept–with its dove-white glow, loosening icicles from their perches, blood from the slurry of ice and shattered bone and mud exposed to the winter air when a heavy something’d barreled across its tow. That same something’d made a shallow dent in the older Elway’s Ford, which pissed him off more than the act of killing itself (crashing’s cheap, fixing a car takes some coin). So he fished some duct tape out of his fat red Uline, plastered over the rough, called that night a night, and called the corpse on the roadside road kill–I mean, if he never investigated, what’s the mass at the foot of his wheels but a busted doe.
That’s what–what he was familiar with at least. A busted doe. Which is why that very first night, he consoled himself by whispering to himself, she’s childless–a remorse he rarely afforded deer. Didn’t dare venture beyond that realm of thought–that that body’s not a doe–cus he preferred his bitter cup of guilt a pooled pair of fawns, motherless, wandering the empty chambers of a hemlock grove searching for a teat that isn’t there. Because that kind of dying–the animal kind–was a familiar sight.
He’d hunted some times before, with his grandfather as a kid, his father as a man, his son as an older man, his grandson as an older older man. Killing was a disease of the blood for Elway sons, who through generations of tracking, shooting, hunting had forgotten what an empty freezer box looks like (a month later, his wife, the elder Missus Elway, would come to know: vacuous, sullen and a little more cold). Nevertheless, they'd always known venison on sacred sundays and how to strip hides; they’d stuff popsicles between the pink blocks to keep 'em cool in summer's hotter spells and string garland between the set of antlers that crowned their Christmas-time hearth once November had died down. They were a proud lineage, after all.
As a child, he’d ogle the court of heads that lined their silent antechamber. Kings who broke the vine rose wallpaper–all yellowed by water, peeling–with their ivory masts and royal, black eyes that’d glare back at him, his head rolling across the floor in awe. *That* him wanted nothing more than to be mounted on a wall, just as all kids, young and unknowing, expect things grand in their future. The truth was the older older Mister Elway had done a shoddy job stuffing those buck skulls. Wood wool puffed through half-broken seams. Their brow lines slumped a little too low. They furrowed at the indignity of their deaths, not the actual dying, but the mounting, the careless shear job done to their lofty tufts, the hackey-state they’d found themselves immortalized in. Like Annie Pork–as I said, meat–who’d be immortalized with a similar lack of care:
Acheron County Hit-and-Run Leaves 14-year-old Girl Dead.
“How sad.”
Now to the weather… a warm front, that his wife would later attribute to a garden-variety flu, crept slowly upon old Mister Elway’s forehead and stomach and chest and his heart, most of all, for the moment that headline fashioned itself across his screen, Mister Elway became the worst kind of killer–a killer without care.
“How sad.” he thought, “Who could do such a thing.”

Baymax

"Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion"

Baymax is a healthcare robot created by Tadashi Hamada, a student at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. After Tadashi’s death, Baymax took Hiro, Tadashi’s younger brother, as his primary patient. When Hiro decided to build gear to become a superhero and bring the man who caused Tadashi’s death to justice, Baymax joined him, along with Tadashi’s former classmates, to become Big Hero 6, San Fransokyo’s premier superhero team.
According to side material, Baymax is 6’ 2" normally and 6’ 5" in the armor, though he sometimes seems to be larger than that.
Hover over the feat for the source. This is the list I’m using for the episodes.

Physicals

Strength

Striking

• Matches blows with Yokai’s microbots, sending the car he’s in skidding back
  • Yokai’s microbots can throw a car down a street and throw a giant chunk of concrete
• Staggers the giant Kentucky Kaiju animatronic
• Splatters Nega-Globby
• Crumples a speeding car
• Shatters a falling piece of concrete
• Breaks through concrete pillars
• Smashes Yokai’s microbot tendrils
  • Again
• Kicks a Noodle Burger Boy copy into the wall hard enough to make a crater and knock down a billboard
• Punches a Buddy Guard, a military-grade security drone, into a wall hard enough to destroy it
• An unarmored copy of Baymax smashes concrete with a punch
• Shatters a warehouse door with a kick
• Breaks boards and a table with strikes
• Unarmored, hits a tennis ball through afence

Lifting/Throwing

• Rips a hatch off of a giant animatronic and throws it out of sight
• Stops a shipping container from falling on his teammates
• Catches a falling shipping container
• An unarmored copy of Baymax flings a car through the air
• Catches the hammer of Baron Von Steamer’s spider mech and throws it back a bit
• Catches a falling turbine
• Catches Mega Yama as it’s falling, breaking the floor beneath him
• Rips a bolted-down statue out of the ground and flies off with it
  • Could lift the same statue unarmored, though the bolts were removed beforehand
• Catches a falling concrete pillar
• Can lift 1000 lbs
• Unarmored, easily lifts a couch with three people on it
• Easily lifts a tray Cass struggles to budge

Pushing/Pulling

• Stops a train being powered by an energy amplifier that makes machines powered by electricity overclock until they break
• Stops a giant chunk of concrete from crushing his teammates
• Stops a runaway cable car
  • Again
• Bends open the lid of an armored crate underwater
• Stops and breaks traps about to crush Hiro
• Bends train tracks

Rocket Fist

• Shatters a giant chunk of concrete
• Knocks several shipping containers into the air
• Punches himself back into a car hard enough to flatten it
• Puts a large hole in the front of a warehouse
• Destroys a statue and puts a hole in the wall behind it
• Punches through the tooth of the giant Kentucky Kaiju animatronic and embeds in a billboard
• Punches through a shipping container underwater
• Makes a crater in a metal wall
• Blasts through a pile of microbots
• Pushes a large pod a fair distance through a portal
• Destroys a Buddy Guard
• While malfunctioning, breaks a streetlamp in half
• Knocks over a stack of crates
• After being redirected by Globby, causes a large explosion
• Supersonic Sue uses it to bust through a prison wall

Clashing

• Clashes with Nega-Globby
  • Nega-Globby can smash and launch cars and launched Fred a far distance away
• Clashes with Mega Yama
  • Mega Yama could float through a concrete wall

Other

• Go Go, Wasabi, and Fred fail to hold him back while he is uninhibited and attempting to kill Yokai
• A newspaper in the credits shows him stopping a runaway cable car
• Breaks off a vault door and throws
• Catches a thrown I-beam
• Flexes out of the ice encasing him
• His wings cut through metal cables
• Grips onto the wings of Greg’s jet engine hard enough for it to tear itself apart

Durability

Blunt

• Takes his own rocket fist to the chest and is ok
• Fine after stopping a giant chunk of concrete thrown by Yokai from crushing his teammates
• Gets sent flying by Yokai’s microbots
  • Yokai’s microbots can throw a car down a street and throw a giant chunk of concrete
  • Takes another hit from Yokai’s microbots
  • Again
• While unarmored, gets tackled by Orso Knox and is fine
  • Knox can overpower Baymax, pushing him back in a clash and toss aside cars, however, Knox was not trying to hurt anyone in this episode
• Ok after getting launched high into the air and landing on an iceberg
• Ok after getting sent flying by Nega-Globby
• Gets swung into concrete and a stage by Yokai’s microbots
• Gets tail-slammed by the giant Kentucky Kaiju animatronic
• Gets shoved through several pillars by Obake’s robot and has the ceiling collapse on him and sustains only minimal damage
• Takes several blows from Supersonic Sue
• Gets embedded in stone by Baron Von Steamer’s spider mech
• Gets hit by Globby swinging Go Go
• Gets checked by Jaq
  • Jaq lifts two tires to work out
• Gets knocked back by microbots
  • Again
• Ok after crashing to the ground hard enough to tear up the sidewalk
• Gets swung into a glass wall hard enough to leave a crater by Noodle Burger Boy’s mech
  • Gets punched into another glass wall hard enough to leave a crater
• Tanks several blows to the face from a Noodle Burger Boy copy
• While unarmored, tanks blows from El Fuego
• Slamming into a large piece of rubble hard enough to shatter it breaks his armor, but he is still functioning

Heat/Energy

• Gets hit by Greg’s energy bazooka and is fine
  • Greg’s bazooka spun a yacht with an indirect hit
• Fine after taking two shots from Mega Yama’s plasma blaster and crashing through a wall
  • Mega Yama’s plasma blaster made a large hole in a reinforced concrete wall
• Gets hit by Noodle Burger Boy’s lasers
  • Again
  • Once more
• Gets blasted by Mechadama
  • Mechadama launches a box truck with a blast
• Gets blasted by Buddy Guards, though they break his armor
  • The Buddy Guards destroy desks and computers with their blasts
• A copy of Baymax no-sells Fred’s fire

Electricity

• Baymax has a notable weakness to electricity:
  • Baymax’s endoskeleton gets taken down by Yama’s thug’s stun rod
  • Malfunctions after getting blasted by High Voltage
• Despite this, there are times Baymax has resisted electricity:
  • Seems to be unaffected by electricity that floored the rest of his teammates

Other

• A news report calls copies of Baymax indestructible and are too much for the police to handle
• Unaffected by a swarm of bees

Speed/Agility

Reaction/Dodging

• Dodges blasts from Buddy Guards
  • Dodges blasts from invisible Buddy Guards
• Saves Go Go from High Voltage’s electricity, then dodges more
  • Dodges High Voltage’s electricity underwater
  • Dodges High Voltage’s electricity ball
• Dodges a Noodle Burger Boy copy’s lasers
  • Dodges more
• Dodges a plasma blast from Mega Yama
• Dodges a blast from Hardlight
  • Dodges more attacks
• Dodges a blast from Noodle Burger Boy’s mech
• Dodges sword swings from Momakase
• Avoids getting grabbed by Noodle Burger Boy’s mech
• Dodges Yokai’s microbots
  • Again
  • Once more
• Dodges Baron Von Steamer’s heat ray
• Dodges the Kentucky Kaiju animatronic’s fire breath
• Dodges out of the way of Supersonic Sue and Baron Von Steamer after being knocked over by Sue’s electric wave
• Dodges a charge from Orso Knox

Movement

• Catches Juniper after she launches herself across a bank at high speed
• Catches Baron Von Steamer’s spider mech hammer mid-swing

Agility

• Outside of combat, Baymax is notably stiff and slow

Flight

• Catches and surpasses a train being pushed over its limits by an energy amplifier
• Flies at high speeds through San Fransokyo, easily navigating through obstacles
• Flies at high speeds through a portal realm, avoiding debris
• Easily catches Greg’s jet engine, despite his head start
• Catches a runaway cable car
• Catches Wasabi before he can fall into molten iron

Skill/Misc

Accuracy

• Takes down all three Mad Jacks with a single rocket fist
• Uses rocket fist on a seat to knock a robot into the air
• Destroys a drone with a rocket fist while stuck

Misc

• Lies to protect Hiro

Ultra Armor

General

• The Ultra Armor is armor made by Hiro that is a titanium-enhanced version of the Super Armor, giving Big Hero 6 greater durability

Strength

Striking

• Punches a Buddy Guardian encased in a chem ball into others hard enough to knock them over
• Knocks back Mega Yama with a clothesline
• Punches away a rocket-powered magnet strong enough to embed in concrete

Lifting/Throwing

• Throws a monstrous Mayoi high into the air
• Catches a falling helicopter
• Throws a log, destroying several Buddy Guards
• Easily lifts an I-beam

Rocket Fist

• Punches Orso Knox through several wooden beams
  • Knox was barely moved by Fred jumping on his face
• Uses both rocket fists to punch Mega Yama into a prison wall hard enough to crater it
• Destroys several Buddy Guards with the initial strike and one on the return

Clashing

• Clashes with Bessie
  • Bessie can crumple a bank vault door, break a boulder in half and bust through several bank walls

Durability

Blunt

• Gets thrown by Bessie
  • Again
  • Gets punched and thrown
• Takes his own rocket fist unharmed
• Gets tackled by a monstrous Mayoi
  • Mayoi in their non-monstrous form can toss cars with their feet
• Gets slammed into a wall by a Buddy Guardian
  • Takes another hit
• Gets hit by Fred getting launched by Nega-Globby in Globby’s body
• Takes blows from Supersonic Sue
• Gets kicked and slammed by Mega Yama and is fine
• Tanks blows from El Fuego
• Gets punched by Trina, knocking him back into Hiro hard enough to make a crater in the concrete wall
• Takes a swing kick from Noodle Burger Boy
• Ok after the roof of a warehouse collapses on him

Other

• Defends his teammates from a giant explosion
• Gets blasted by Trina channeling electricity from the city’s turbines
• No sells multiple ping pong balls from Nega-Globby controlling Globby, who can hit them hard enough to leave a crater in metal

Speed/Agility

• Dodges Bessie’s electromagnetic beam
• Dodges lasers from Noodle Burger Boy
• Dodges a barrage of blasts from a group of Buddy Guards
• Dodges and catches the training room emulating Supersonic Stu
• Dodges El Fuego’s fireballs

Gadgets

Scanner

General

Medical Usage

• Identifies that Hiro has an epidermal abrasion
• Identifies Hiro’s allergies
• Scans Hiro’s hormone and neurotransmitter levels
• Scans Yokai’s blood type and cholesterol levels
• Determines that two women are an exact genetic match
• Scans a man’s DNA to determine that he is not Alister Krei
• Identifies Callaghan’s daughter as still alive in the portal realm
• Scans Obake’s brain damage
• Determines that a pathogen will soon reach a contagion level of 10
• Determines that "mysteryloaf" is safe for consumption
• Identifies how healed a woman’s rhinoplasty is
• Identifies that a boy is overproducing earwax
• Identifies a fracture in Hiro’s leg that a doctor did not
• Scans the microbes in a ball pit
• Takes a DNA sample from a monster’s saliva and cross-checks it against every known species to determine what it is

Identifying

• Scans Globby to determine what he is made of and how he controls his body
• Scans a cable car to determine what caused it to go out-of-control
• Scans a present to determine what is inside
• Identifies that Hiro is feeling guilty
• Scans a glass of water to determine the percentage it is filled
• Identifies a dung beetle
• Maps Orso Knox’s iris onto a monster to determine that it is him
• Matches a woman’s facial structure to a database to determine who she is
• Scans a skyscraper to determine if there is any ongoing construction
• Scans a piece of cheese to determine what it is
• Scans a Mayoi to determine that it is a plant-mammal hybrid

Locating

• Scans the city for the heat signature of graphene
• Attempts to scan for a man using biometric data from his picture, but is interrupted
• Locates Sirque miles away
• Scans a building to locate a device
• Tracks the RFID chip in Honey Lemon’s school ID card
• Scans the Lucky Cat Cafe and determines Cass isn’t there
• Scans a room for a specific device

Range

• Scans all of San Fransokyo for a match to Yokai
• Scans the city to locate Fred
• Locates Mochi on the bridge from the middle of the city
• Scans for Yama, locating him a far distance away
• Detects a disturbance 9 blocks away

Medical Tools

• Has defibrillators in his hands
• Uses an anti-bacterial spray on Hiro
• Has a heater in his body
• Has nasal spray in his hands
• Has ammonium chloride cold packs in his skin

Knowledge Database

• Is programmed with over 10,000 medical procedures
• Downloads information from the internet about personal loss treatment
• Hiro gave him a chip that contained karate techniques
• Hiro gave him a chip that contained superhero knowledge
• Hiro gave him a chip that contained dance knowledge
• Has knowledge about Muirahara Woods National Park

Misc Functions

• Tracks a heat signature
• Acts as a flotation device for his teammates
• Prevents Hiro from opening his chip slots
• Plays back video he recorded
  • Displays an image of a badge on his chest
• Keeps a record of how many times Fred has said "secret headquarters"
• Can tell when someone is lying
• Vibrates his arms to perform Shiatsu
• Has flashlights in his hands
• Sprays water out of his finger
• Acts as a trampoline
• Has a fire extinguisher in his hand
• Has a laser cutter in his hand
• Can adjust his volume, making himself loud enough to shake Hiro’s house
• Has multiple language settings
• Hiro builds him an underwater suit
  • Has a sonic blaster

Overdrive Mode

General

• Baymax can enter a powered-up state called Overdrive Mode, though using it quickly drains his battery
• Baymax can call a jetpack to him that boosts his flight speed and acts as an reserve battery, allowing him to stay in Overdrive Mode for longer
  • Seems to make a sonic boom

Sword

• Using his underwater suit, destroys the giant container of Baron Von Steamer’s mech
• Destroys part of a cage made with special bars and part of the wall outside it, kicking up a massive dust cloud and damaging the floor
  • Wasabi’s plasma blades can’t cut the bars
• Cuts several Buddy Guardians in half
  • Wasabi’s plasma blades barely scratch them
• Hits mutated Momakase, sending her flying through the air and kicking up a lot of dust
• Cuts through the legs of Baron Von Steamer’s spider mech

Physicals

• [Strength] Launches a bunch of cars on a bridge through the air with the air pressure of him rushing forward
• [Strength] Punches down a door that withstood his rocket fist
• [Strength] Throws off the Buddy Guardians that were holding him down
• [Strength] Clashes with Momakase, knocking the sword out of her hands
• [Durability/Strength] No sells an attack from Supersonic Sue, then blocks a strike from Baron Von Steamer’s spider mech with his arm
• [Durability] Takes multiple graphene claw slashes from mutated Momakase without harm
• [Speed] Blitzes mutated Momakase
• [Speed] Flights high into the air very fast
• [Misc] After his leg is cut off, going into overdrive mode replaces it

"I cannot deactivate until you say you are satisfied with your care"

Happy Friday, everyone! With this installment, we finally get to the interview with Tansy and also conclude Part 2.
I'm headed down to Universal Orlando for the holiday weekend, so no updates during that time, but I will be reading any comments you dear readers might provide. I'll also see if I can pitch my banger of an idea for an annex to Wizarding World that's a walkthrough Denmark Street Office attraction and Tottenham Pub restaurant. I mean, who wouldn't want that?
If you're looking for the previous installment of this re-read, here ya go.
Chapter 2.11 - Rich Girl Thin
What happens:
The next morning, Robin informs a besuited Strike that Duffield is flatly refusing to meet or give any interview about Landry and Guy Some has similarly rebuffed her attempts. Rummaging through the pile of boxes that, like any other element of his living at the office, she is studiously ignoring, Robin finds his appearance like that of “a rugby player en route to an international.” He finally emerges in triumph with the invitation to Jack’s birthday only to realize that he cannot remember how old he is. [It’s ok Strike, we’ve all been there.]
Robin presents an appreciative Strike with an article about Freddie Bestigui that she has copied from the previous day’s paper, commenting, mildly, that he is “not lucky in love.” When Strike responds that this goes along with the impression that Wardle had given, Robin’s curiosity gets the better of her and she asks how he has police contacts. This leads Strike to tell her for the first time about his prior service in the Military Police and his departure after an unspecified injury. She is intrigued by this background which certainly goes a way to refute Matthew’s poor opinion of Strike.
On his way to the meeting with Tansy and Bristow, Strike peruses the article on the former’s husband. Born into wealth, Freddie parlayed his inheritance into a highly successful career as producer of popular films. His pending divorce turns out to not be Freddie’s only legal entanglement, as he is currently fighting it out in court with two newspapers which had reported on numerous allegations of sexual harassment and bullying of his female staff. Freddie clearly has more than enough reasons to avoid any more publicity.
Arriving at the upscale Cipriani restaurant, Strike is mildly surprised to see not just the lawyer and Tansy, but another woman, who turns out to be Ursula May, Tansy’s sister. May is married to Cyprian [a name that’s likely illegal to have unless you come From Money], a senior partner at Bristow’s firm, which is also representing Tansy in the divorce. This means that they had a tangential pre-existing connection to Landry, but this apparently never came up before her death.
Strike’s famous father notwithstanding, the sisters automatically place him as a class beneath and treat him dismissively as such. Nonetheless, Tansy wants to make one last try at getting someone to believe her story about the overheard fight, although adamant that she won’t go public again. Ursula, on the other hand, is against the whole thing, believing it could stir up trouble in the divorce.
Beginning the interview proper, Strikes pulls out his notebook, prompting a panicked Tansy to say she wants nothing in writing. Strike agrees to this, deftly setting his cell phone to record while putting his notebook away.
Lula had moved into the building only three months prior to her death and during that time, she remained basically a stranger to Tansy. Freddie likewise hardly knew here; however, not for lack of trying. He had made several invitations and followed her once to a party. Tansy supposes this was partly sexual interest, but mostly a desire to get her to play a role in one of his films. Freddie was obsessed with getting headline catching celebrities into his movies, to the consternation of the directors who have to shoe-horn them in. The business with the white roses was likely a similar ploy to strike up a relationship with Deeby Macc for the same purpose, but, to Tansy’s knowledge, the two never ended up meeting.
It looks like Lula never signed any sort of agreement to pursue a picture with Freddie; however, Bristow does reveal that a couple of weeks ago Freddie had approached his mother about making a biographical film on her life. Yvette turned him down and Tony later chewed him out, closing down the prospect of further contact. Bristow regrets this somewhat as he wonders if Freddie had dug up any useful information on Lula’s early life.
Moving to the events of the night of Lula’s death, Tansy’s account is broadly what we’ve heard before, with some alterations and additional details. She says that she had got up to get a glass of water from the bathroom, and, while on her way back to the bedroom, heard the shouted words that Wardle repeated to Strike on the previous day. Then she saw Lula fall, something she mimes while Bristow seems to react with nausea.
Tansy then screamed and ran out of their apartment, past Freddie, to get the security guard. She is still frustrated that Wilson first went out to check on Landry instead of going directly to her flat, which Tansy thinks could have let the murderer get away. When Wilson returned from the street, he told them to call the police, which they did, but not until Freddie dragged her back up to their flat.
At this point, the interview is paused as Bristow excuses himself to take a call from Alison, his secretary and girlfriend. While the lawyer is out of earshot, the sisters take the opportunity to share that Alison is infatuated with Tony and only with Bristow as a sort of consolation. They clearly take cruel delight in the gossip about Alison’s unrequited affection. Ursula, loquacious after the glasses of wine that she has been downing at an impressive rate, speculates to Strike that the call must be about the late financier Conway Oates’s executors, who are furious about the handling of his affairs. Tony and Cyprian are having John handle the shit work of trying to get things quieted and Ursula’s tone implies that Bristow doesn’t exactly enjoy much status at the firm.
Bristow returns and Strike continues the interview, this time pushing on the issues the police had with her account. Tansy claims that she had opened a window on the way from the bedroom to the bathroom as it was “stuffy”. When pressed, she admits to having used cocaine earlier in the evening, during the dinner they hosted. Tansy believes that the police have been deliberately trying to discredit her to cover up for their incompetence and inability to arrive quickly enough to catch the murderer.
Strike steers back to the line of questioning, clarifying that Freddie had been asleep and in bed, then woken when Tansy screamed. Tansy confirms this, leading Strike to point out an inconsistency: she had said that she ran past Freddie when going down to the lobby, but, if he had only just woken up when she screamed, how could he have made it to the room with Tansy so quickly? She is caught off-guard by this, then says she must have frozen from shock for a moment between screaming and running downstairs. [I don’t wanna be a cynic folks, but I’m starting to wonder if this lady is 100% trustworthy]
Tansy quickly moves to the subject of her speculation on how the killer got in. She’s decided that he must have followed Lula in and was missed by Wilson while he was in the back, her having already expressed her low opinion of the security guard. She doesn’t know how they would have had the security code, though.
When Strike asks if she could recognize the voice of the man if she heard it again, Tansy is doubtful. [Given present company, I’m gonna rate that a solid “no”] This leads to her speculation as to whether it may have been Duffield. Like everyone else so far, she has a low opinion of the heroin-chic rocker, and recounts how he previously had to be thrown out of the building by Wilson as he was shouting and trying to bust down Lula’s door. She knows his alibi seems airtight, though.
After a digression on how little the sisters think of Lula’s friends and some casual racism, the interview and meal begin to wrap up, Tansy reiterating that she wants everything she has said to be off-the-record. As they prepare to leave, they are shocked by the sight of a tall, smartly-dressed man near 60 entering the restaurant and striding directly to their table. This is Cyprian, who was definitely not told that any such meeting might be happening by his wife. After he escorts the sisters out, Bristow confesses that his senior partner will definitely be displeased that Tansy has spoken to Strike and speculates that Alison had ratted them out. Strike notices Bristow’s hands apparently trembling at the prospect of what might be in store when Cyprian inevitably tells Tony about what happened.
Making his way back from the restaurant, our detective is deep in thought until he is jolted back to the present when he almost catches a ride in the worst way possible while crossing the street. Finding a safer spot outside the way of both automobile and human traffic, Cormoran pulls out his phone to go over the recording of Tansy’s interview. [He’s also smoking, but he’s outdoors and standing still, so I think we can call that a given.] Strike listens to her account of the argument specifically twice, then begins to make notes.
Strike knows all about liars and how to spot them, and Tansy had just done quite a bit of that. Yet, that specific account of the argument, he was sure that at least Tansy believed she was telling the truth on that, however many other lies about that night's events she wrapped it in.
Commentary:
Ok, we’ve now got another crucial clue revealed in Tansy’s contradictory statements about where Freddie was. Have you put it together? Ready to find the murderer? Well, I wasn’t either, at this point: I had absolutely no idea where it was going.
I think there’s definitely good bits to this chapter. I would especially highlight the Sisters Sophisticate in their description, attitudes, and dialogue. Like:

They were both as pristine and polished as life-size dolls recently removed from their cellophane boxes; rich-girl thin, almost hipless in their tight jeans, with tanned faces that had a waxy sheen especially noticeable on their foreheads, gleaming dark manes with center partings, the ends trimmed with spirit-level exactitude.

and:

The unbuttoned neck of her thin silk shirt revealed an expanse of butterscotch skin stretched over her bony sternum, giving an unattractively knobbly effect; yet two full, firm breasts jutted from her narrow ribcage, as though they had been borrowed for the day from a fuller-figured friend.

Ok, that last one made me laugh. And I don’t want JKR to ever write a mockery of my appearance. We see that they are crafting a particular image to show the world which is as much intended to project a message of how they want to be perceived as a teenager’s choice of edgy t-shirt from Hot Topic.
Following that description, we get this exchange which says so much:

‘We could have met somewhere more discreet,’ commented Strike.
‘No, it’s fine, because nobody here will know who you are. You don’t look anything like your father, do you? I met him at Elton’s last summer. Freddie knows him. D’you see much of Jonny?’
‘I’ve met him twice,’ said Strike.
‘Oh,’ said Tansy.
The monosyllable contained equal parts of surprise and disdain.

Yet, at this point we’re going through our third account of the same night in the span of just a few chapters and, while there are details and clues to be found in each one, it’s getting a bit wearying. I think this is one of the things that makes Cuckoo’s Calling feel longer than something like Career of Evil or even Lethal White. It’s also something JKR avoids in the rest of the books. Growing pains, it’s understandable.
Alright, on to miscellaneous
Bristow’s apparently nauseated reaction to Tansy specifically talking about, and miming, Lula’s plunge. I’m not sure what this is. I don’t think he feels any remorse, but maybe he is still off put at the memory? He doesn’t seem like a person made of stern stuff. Or maybe it is just acting? Thoughts?
Although:

And Tansy made a tiny jerky movement with her hands that Strike understood to indicate flailing.

The image of this in my mind is actually funny and it’s possibly because I’m a terrible person.
We have Strike finally tell Robin that he was in the military and he was injured, even if he avoids specifics not wanting to see a “shocked expression.” I think it is a little bit of a deserved flex to just drop that he was SIB (yes, I know that SIB is a higher grade than just MP, work with me), kinda like casually mentioning an engineering degree from Stanford.
I’ll finish with this paragraph that I just really enjoyed:

Her [Ursula] antipathy towards Strike seemed to have evaporated. He was not surprised; he had met the phenomenon many times. People liked to talk; there were very few exceptions; the question was how you made them do it. Some, and Ursula was evidently one of them, were amenable to alcohol; others like a spotlight; and then there were those who merely needed proximity to another conscious human being. A subsection of humanity would become loquacious only on one favorite subject: it might be their own innocence, or somebody else’s guilt; it might be their collection of pre-war biscuit tins; or it might, as in the case of Ursula May, be the hopeless passion of a plain secretary.