How to Admire Heroes

As I've been trying to catch up with the Marvel movies, there was a moment in Spider-man Homecoming that caught my attention. The bully says he admires Spider-man, and sees him as an inspiration to be a better person. Then he immediately turns around and starts bullying Peter. 

It made me think of someone I used to work with at the Zoo. He was a HUGE Marvel fan. But then he'd bully people too. Not as directly, but he'd spread malicious gossip about people - me included. He'd tell things out of context, and leave out details to try to make people sound as bad as possible. 

I wonder. I guess people look up to super-heroes, knowing they can never quite be like that. So do some people look up to nice people, but never bother trying to be a better person? 

 

So... it's the Nowhere King?

I'm researching Celestial stags for the short story about the plum trees. "Celestial stag" seems to be a poor translation, as they are found in underground mines. And there doesn't seem to be much solid history for where this creature came from. It may just belong to a class of undead demons in Chinese folklore. But they're dangerous - they will do anything to escape the mines and get above ground. And bad things will happen if they do.

So, undead beasts named for stags, and trapped in a place they try to escape imprisonment..

It's the freaking Nowhere King!