Monday, October 26, 2026

Legacy 117 -B’s Brotherhood, Virgil’s Friendship-

Hey Dad,
It’s me, Baby B. Did you have a good day? Good Day? I’m sure you can hear me bark from up here, right?

Or is it down there… At least it’s warm. Not in the Ninth Circle of Hell. How many times must I bark that you’re not going that way? Not even Virgil, living or dead. Treachery is not who my father is. Others, sure. It’s why I remain top of the heap, ain’t it? Always Dad

Number one. Top of the list. King of the hill. A number one. But like you say to 2-V and my potential future stepmom, it’s in our nature, isn’t it? Man’s Best Friend, like Shadow:

“We didn’t have to. It’s built in. Has been ever since the dawn of time… when a few wild dogs took it upon themselves to watch over man, to bark when he’s in danger, to run and play with him when he’s happy, to nuzzle him when he’s lonely. That’s why they call us man’s best friend.”
Shadow, Homeward Bound

And it’s only one more reason you believe you failed me. And you think you’re failing my brother. Man’s Best Friend. But what are you? Daddy, always and forever. Glory:

“And what are you?
So full of hate you wanna
go fight everybody…
…because you been whipped
and chased.
That might not be living,
but it sure ain’t dying.”
Glory

Why Can’t We Be Friends?

“Pinch me, pinch me
‘Cause I’m still asleep
Please, God, tell me
That I’m still asleep.”
Barenaked Ladies ‧ 2000

“Dead Like Me” much? For the record, the movie was garbage. One that I’m glad we didn’t sit through together. Friends, you, me, my Favorite Girl, maybe one day stepmom.

“Just because (I’m) dead doesn’t mean that I can’t move in with you.”

“And just because I’m (alive) doesn’t mean I can’t have a splitting headache.”
Dead Like Me

That’s what friendship is, isn’t it? Finding someone you can stand to be around… And by that I mean sitting in our reading spot, Dad, ordering all our yummy favorites, and watching anything and everything on the Glow Box, and occasionally sending me outside. Like time-out? I’m sure I don’t even want to know what you and my bestie saw.

“Wasn’t it you who said that true love is all about finding someone you can stand to be around for 10 minutes at a time?

“Yeah”

“You got 10 minutes”
―

My bro’s only done that once with you and my Favorite Girl. He was won over, far too easily, am I right? Another sign that he ain’t me. More like a Backrooms version, for sure.

So we’re really doing this. “Just call my name, and I’ll be there.” Any ole movie night sounds about right, Dad. So the Backrooms only I’m not Mary, and you aren’t Clark. Not Captain Clark either. A monster, which is what this is all about. You thinking like that, ha.

Who can be friends with a monster? “No face as hideous as my face…” “When does a man become a monster?” Here’s a question for you, my father. Why do you think we are friends? You don’t remember the day we met, the day you and Miss M Anime met.

However, V, Saturday, August 13. 2022. “You thought you’d find a friend.” And you did.

You? The Man in the Mirror… B’s Brotherhood, Virgil’s Friendship

“You might never become king of the world, but you may very well be treated like a king by the people that matter most.”
Dystopian Girls 7 by Rodzil LaBraun

“Heaven’s my witness, and the stars that look down on us, all he did was care too much for a luckless friend.”
― The Aeneid

2094 Days Without B III, Day 1535 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son

Monday, October 19, 2026

Legacy 110 -B In Melancholia, Virgil-

Hey Dad,
It’s me, Baby B. Did you have a good day? Good Day? You don’t want to answer that, I know. Peace and Quiet.

A kinder way to bark Melancholia. It took me quite a while to understand you, Dad. And me and Virgil’s Potential Future Stepmom, is trying her best. But right now you’d rather not bark another single word today. You always told me other humans barked too much anyway. Constant noise. At least when I barked, it helped you out; it actually mattered, Daddy. My voice.

What matters today? What has you Melancholy? I heard you last night, and it wasn’t the “Sleepy Time V, Good Night.” If you only knew how much I miss that, Dad. But you were so Melancholic this morning… I learned from you, Dad, so I learned from the best, hmm

The power of words, “The Power of Love,” I swear

“Pinch me, pinch me
‘Cause I’m still asleep
Please, God, tell me
That I’m still asleep.”
Barenaked Ladies ‧ 2000

Movies, music, and manuscripts. Well, not yet; let’s stick with movies. How will you be spending tomorrow with my brother? I’m glad you saw the birthday cookies in the Bad Place… I mean the other Bad Place. Turns out we have a few of those, Dad. V has seen his

One more reason you are lost to Melancholia. Six years old, that’s my baby brother, I know. And I was nearly sixteen, and you never missed anything with me, my father. Every check-up, you found a cute girl to bake me a cake, and I cuddled enough that M Anime is still trying to catch up. Hell, you wrote a whole universe, the Unfinished Archive, that now numbers 11 women?

Maybe. Maybe I’m buttering you up to butter up, Virgil.

If anything, you need to hear anything other than your own mouth. You’ll be no good to M Anime or your mini-mes. And you have a birthday to plan. A movie night? Something, my father. “You Were Loved”? No, Dad, today I am loved by you; Virgil shares this too.

I know it even if you can’t speak it. And we both love you. M Anime says she loves you; it’s the only reason I’m not haunting her. Or maybe I like hanging out with you, Dad, as we always barked: Always and Forever. Melancholy and all. Fur buddies. Children.

You’re not ashamed of our barks, growls, or paws. We make the madness, certain music selections, and Melancholia manageable. Sad? Speak. B In Melancholia, Virgil

“But when you spend a long enough time in a very bad place, your soul hungers for something that your brain no longer believes exists”
Dystopian Girls 7, Rodzil LaBraun

“He feigned hope in his look, and inwardly contained his anguish.”
From ― The Aeneid

2087 Days Without B III, Day 1528 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son

Monday, October 12, 2026

Legacy 103 -Savage B’s, Virgil’s Bestiary-

Hey Dad,
It’s me, Baby B. Did you have a good day? Good Day? The Bad Place. A cell, a dungeon, an easy escape. Hmm.

And yet we are here, my father. We’re not quitters; we’re not runners. Savages Daddy.

That’s what we are, Dad. Survivors always; we got souls, but we’re not soldiers, and Saviors… Yes, Dad, I remember. All those nights you told me to shut it, because of TWD, “The Walking Dead.” I am Negan! No, I am my father’s son, as much so as my brother.

And I know you’re giving me that look about not being a quitter, about being a survivor, my father. I invented that look. That savage look. And the fact that you remember means that “I’m Still Here,” And I’m not going anywhere. Neither are you, Old Man, no, not now. And why is that? Bradford Men. We said last week.

“Pinch me, pinch me
‘Cause I’m still asleep
Please, God, tell me
That I’m still asleep.”
Barenaked Ladies ‧ 2000

“We don’t bleed when we don’t fight,” but neither you nor I is a “Runaway.” Just because we don’t fight doesn’t mean we can’t fight. Or that we must not fight on these days, Dad.

Days you try so hard to salvage. Salvage or Savage? When was the last time you attacked the day instead of trying to pick up the pieces? Isn’t that how we got here, Dad? Today would have been so easy, and yet you wake up and suddenly. No, it ain’t love. Except maybe for your craft. Isn’t that where we should begin? Attacking your craft?

Daddy, it doesn’t matter how tired you are, the tons that this world places upon your shoulders, or the two tiny titans that you’re raising.

When it comes to being a savage, that’s what you do here. What we do here. 2-V as well as he cries his little heart out to join us… Someday, maybe he’ll understand, won’t he?

What about V and my “Potential Future Stepmom”? Does she understand? You haven’t even told her about everything… You know the stuff you would send me to timeout for so you could be by yourself. Eww! Yeah, I know, I know, who am I to bark, right? You still talk about me being in front of my favorite girl and “The Talk” we had, Daddy.

“Braxton knows better,” you’d tell her. But do you know better? The beast, monster, and savage you are. Stronger than anything. Savage B’s, Virgil’s Bestiary

“Everyone is a monster to somebody”
― The Book Eaters

“His mad lust for battle drove him upon his enemies in an ecstasy of passion… A savage lion.” The Aeneid

2080 Days Without B III, Day 1521 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son

Monday, October 5, 2026

Legacy 096 -Braxton And Virgil Barker-

Hey Dad,
It’s me, Baby B. Did you have a good day? Good Day? Father, my father, you don’t know whether to cry or rage.

Bark. It did wonders for me. And Virgil? We are our father’s sons. Bradford men. Not only the barker and the whiner. Do you think that’s why he’s been crying so much the past few days? Not hurt, and tis the season for ghosts. Is that what I am? Seriously!

Bradford, that’s my last name; don’t wear it out. But you’ve been tired of it since… Well, before we ever even met. But when we did, “From that day on, I made a vow. I’ll be there when you want me. Some way, somehow.” Would you at that, Dad? I can sing too, can’t I? And you, Dad? You were ready to war and rampage. Well, maybe not all that, but get smart, I think…

“Pinch me, pinch me
‘Cause I’m still asleep
Please, God, tell me
That I’m still asleep.”
Barenaked Ladies ‧ 2000

“Oh look, I got dressed all by myself today so La-da-da-da-dah…” Who am I to tell you what to say, Dad? How many mornings, for how many years, did you listen to me bark obscenities to anyone outside ‘our chamber door’? Edgar Allen Poe? You can’t say it’s his voice you’ve been hearing in books lately. You don’t know how much I miss that, Dad.

Lying on the couch with you as you read. Not that it was boring. No, no! It was our thing.

On an evening such as this. When it was hard to tell if I exist… What Dad? You sing and/or paraphrase songs all the time? And I am my father’s son. But I do miss these evenings. They were easy.

I was about to say that barking was hard. But you know more than anyone that making noise is too damn easy. It’s the quiet that annoys, aggravates, and gets your attention. It was with me anyway. All the crying in the world, but when I stopped those years ago…

And maybe that’s why I’m here tonight. We both value the peace and quiet, father.

However, that’s not the quiet that you have been finding all this time, hmm. Your quiet is like mine, and ending. You need the noise, the ruckus, the madness, but not from others, my father. Yours. And no, I won’t go all Sara Bareilles\Katy Perry Brave\Roar. We are Bradford men now and always. But to bark… Braxton And Virgil Barker

“The real question is this, what do we want to be?”
― Dystopian Girls 6

“Let me rage before I die.”
― Virgil, The Aeneid

2073 Days Without B III, Day 1514 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son

Monday, September 28, 2026

Legacy 089 -Bees Dreaming Awakens Virgil-

Hey Dad,
It’s me, Baby B. Did you have a good day? Good Day? Mine? I’m still kinda buzzed since Friday. What! We were celebrating.

Not E-Day. Never Emergence Day. But you and Virgil ate slightly like kings, right, Dad?

Or is “Two Princes” more appropriate? Not to brag, but a lot of women loved my brother and me. But “Make Way For The King.” That is what you are to us. I know you’re thinking I must be drunk, delusional, or dreaming. I wonder which one is true, Daddy.

When you were busy talking to yourself yesterday, you brought up “Happy” moments of us. I know that’s a bad word. But you were something, and I must have been drunk when my Favorite Girl made me food, and I could only stare. I was, I can’t believe it, Full.

Delusional… The Rainbow Bridge? “Not Quite Paradise.” But feels like…

“Pinch me, pinch me
‘Cause I’m still asleep
Please, God, tell me
That I’m still asleep.”
Barenaked Ladies ‧ 2000

Home? Now that is a dream. And I know where you’re going with this, my father, so I’m going to stop you right there. You had an actual dream last night that you told…Her… M

Dad, I’m not jealous of Miss M Anime. If anything, it says… Girlfriend before son?

Never, ever. Even if I’m up here, The Unfinished Archive, or Quinn Manor/The Fort, hmm

Anyway, your dream, my father: You were in the Manor looking for my brother. You could hear Virgil barking. It was from the top floor, but there were no stairs. But you found a way to the balcony (Unknown Method), and you passed through a sunroom where Hayley Maeda was singing “Tonight.” You fell back to the first floor. Then you started building a tower of furniture to climb up.

Virgil was literally stretching a white wall, his face trying to get out. You grabbed hold, and the white paint broke, and he was free. You jumped down, carrying him, running away from the mansion, but it was no longer The Fort for “Into The Badlands”; it was Halliwell Manor. It was torn apart like something from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Then The Fort took its place again. A man who was a mix of “John” from The Simpsons and Peter Gallagher “Buddy Kane” walked up a quite visible central staircase and looked, saying, “This is quite the mess.” He wore a blue bowler shirt with a black collar and a black medical bag. Such a dream, Dad. Bees Dreaming Awakens Virgil

“Fuck!” I repeated my word of the day as I raised up onto both feet.”
Dystopian Girls 6, Rodzil LaBraun

Cease to dream that heaven’s decrees may be turned aside by prayer.
― The Aeneid

2066 Days Without B III, Day 1507 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son