#[Drafted May 15 2018 but I'm right]

[fountainpenguin]

Chloe Carmichael soothingly calling her kids “Valued offspring” is such an adorable aspect of her character.

Her referring to them as “Monster children with evil in their hearts” is an equally adorable aspect of her character. Do not separate them.

[gollancz]

Why I'm Not Allowed On Twitter Unsupervised Any More: A Photo Essay

Key Notes:

Since this was posted I discovered that the books had briefly been available in the UK under the name Peter Beagle rather than Peter S. Beagle in the mid-90s, which is why they didn't show up on the British Library search

The article by Tor.com @torbooks: Peter S. Beagle Has Finally Regained the Rights to His Body of Work

If you want our gorgeous limited edition, I believe there are still a handful left (except for the US and Canada, sorry lads), and you can get it here. I'm not kidding when I say I got a little teary-eyed when these showed up.

[Image Description: A tweet thread from the Gollancz twitter dated 20th July 2022, which goes as follows -

Tweet 1: You may have seen that we're printing a Brand New Edition of The Last Unicorn. We're very excited! I was asked to tweet about it. I wasn't asked to do it quite like this, but I also wasn't asked NOT to do it like this, and I have the twitter login so whose fault is that? (Thread emoji, and gif from the film Scream reading 'The Call is coming from inside the house!')

Tweet 2: Imagine, if you will, you are a small child in the UK during the late 80s/early 90s. You might look a bit like this, or you might have had parents who didn't choose suffering (ask my mum about The Saga of the Hat) (an image of a small girl approximately 3 years old wearing a blue dress and a big white hat)

Tweet 3: Imagine you have a cool older cousin, one who, as you get age, introduces you to fantasy films like Ladyhawk and The Princess Bride and has a post the whole family knows as 'the vampire and the naked lady'. She's extremely responsible for the way you turn out as an adult.

Tweet 4: One year, for your birthday, this cousin buys you a video. It's the first video that is yours, not to share. It has a bright yellow cover. The butterfly scares you. But you watch it on a loop. You don't realise how special it is, but it's a seed that burrows into your brain. (An image of a VHS of The Last Unicorn)

Tweet 5: A decade or so later, in your teens, you rediscover it. None of your friends have heard of it, despite also being fantasy-inclined. That's odd, you think. Is this an outlandishly weird title? Then you get older and you realise: no, it isn't. (Principal Skinner meme reading 'Am I out of touch? No, it's the people who don't know about The Last Unicorn who are wrong')

Tweet 6: Time and tech march on, you get a DVD of the film. You realise it's got Christopher Lee in it! And Angela Lansbury! Your mum tries to get you to listen to songs by America other than the soundtrack, but the only one that really sticks is the other one they did about a horse. (Gif of Walter White from Breaking Bad singing along to Horse With No Name)

Tweet 7: You realise that the film is based on a book. Like The Princess Bride, which you've also read (after spending longer than you're proud of trying to find an unabridged edition). 'Neat,' you think, 'I'll have to read that!'

Tweet 8: And then you can't find it. Because, as mentioned previously, you're in the UK. The Last Unicorn was published for the first time in 1968. But, if you look at the British Library's National Bibliography (super neat resource btw), that was, uh, about it. (screenshot of the search results from the National Bibliography showing four editions of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, one from Gollancz in 2022, one from IDW in 2019, one from Tachyon Publications in 2018, and one from Bodley Head in 1968)

Tweet 9: The Tachyon edition is the unfinished first draft of the story. The IDW edition is a gorgeous graphic novel. But in terms of the novel? I don't know how many reprints it had (if anyone knows, I'd love to find out), but there's a good chance it went out of print in the 70s.

Tweet 10: The film, however, was released in 1982. Although it didn't make it to the UK until 1986. Conservative estimates could put that between 10 and 15 years since the book was last available in the UK. This gives you a generation in the UK who only know the story through the film! (A screenshot of the IMDB page showing the different release dates for The Last Unicorn around the world)

Tweet 11: The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, and made by the legendary animation directors Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. That's right, the guys behind Thundercats and 2 out of the 3 films based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Tweet 12: The Book has been in print in the USA (and possibly all of North America) constantly since its publication, so it seems baffling that people in the UK haven't heard of it. As the internet became more prominent, however, it became easier to just... import a copy of the book.

Tweet 13: But! This also isn't quite as simple as you think. You see, until last year the rights to The Last Unicorn were tied up in legal limbo. And the US edition of the book contained changes that Peter wasn't happy with. (Link to the Tor.com article about the rights)

Tweet 14: Back to you, the 80s/90s kid, who is now an adult, happy that unicorns are A Thing again and you're living your best life. You're very easy to buy presents for. Your partner despairs of unicorns. You get a job working in books about magic and space. (unicorn emoji and photograph of a collection of unicorn memorabilia, including three different versions of The Last Unicorn)

Tweet 15: You mention that one day you would like to publish The Last Unicorn. That if you did, you would like to do a really beautiful edition of it. And you would like it to be purple. Because since the film is what you know, you associate it with purple.

Tweet 16: And, after taking a very circuitous route, here we are! This is the original text, that was first published in 1968. Reading it after you have only seen the film is the strangest experience - like being introduced to a very dear friend that you have never met before.

Tweet 17: Peter's screenplay kept the voice of the story so well, you can hear the characters when you read the book. But now there's so much more depth, softness and warmth to it. The butterfly doesn't seem so scary any more. And, it's beautiful. And it's purple. (Image of a hardback edition of The Last Unicorn, with a black base, purple background, and a linocut image of the unicorn in her wood. On the black cover underneath is a foiled unicorn with the moon and butterfly, the page edges are sprayed purple, and the endpapers are black with silver butterflies)

Tweet 18: Anyway, I've taken you on a three day trip that could have been done in a single tweet, but that's what happens when you let me drive. This edition is the limited exclusive one only available through the Gollancz Emporium and you can preorder here: (link to Gollancz Emporium)

Tweet 19: But there is also a standard edition available through all booksellers! You'll be getting the author's preferred text, with an introduction from Patrick Rothfuss. There's also a brand new audiobook and it will be available in eBook for the first time ever.

Tweet 20: It's like going from famine to feast, and I wasn't able to talk about this for months so now I am able to talk about it, I'm going to make the social media team cry. UNICORNS. SPECIAL EDITION. PURPLE. The End.

Tweet 21: Additional behind the scenes bonus detail - I did take this cover to the art meaning while wearing a unicorn onesie.

Tweet 22: The comms team wrestling me away from the twitter account: (gif of Ross from Friends shouting 'Stop typing! Stop typing!')

End ID]

[otp-holic]

Stucky Week: Kisses

Little drabble + Heavy on pictures for @stucky-week

Kissing for the world to see (also in AO3 where I will surely edit as crazy, haha)

Steve wants to kiss Bucky in the street. But he can’t, so they come up with a little something.

600 words. Drabble. Heavy use of Steve and Bucky's font. Bucky writes all Caps 8hehe), Steve not. My computes is basically dead by heat, so images are of questionable quality.

Their little scheme is born out of his sheer need on September 30, 1938. Steve remembers the date because it was on the paper he used.

It is his first time going for a walk around the block after yet another close call after dealing with a nasty ear infection gone south. And yes, it is their first time walking around the block because Bucky took the day off to celebrate. And probably because he didn’t trust Steve not to push it too hard.

Autumn’s beautiful golden light, street bursting with people enjoying the warm weather, Bucky talking non-sense right by his side...

And right at that moment, Steve feels actually good and happy: he feels healthy and so so in love that the need to kiss Bucky right there in the middle of the street paralyzes him and he has to stop for a second.

“You ok there, pal?”, the fact that Bucky realizes something is not right in less than a second doesn’t make things better.

“I’m ok, Buck,” he smiles at him and it works as reassurance. “Just… one second.”

Steve takes a piece of discarded newspaper from the floor, and uses the pencil he always carries with him to write something, handing it to Bucky.

“This is me, kissing you on the lips sweetly and way too long. As a thank you and because I love you.”

This is how it starts, but it’s now how it ends: It becomes something they do and it feels right, like a victory. They are much more subtle that Steve was on that first newspaper, but they just know that when they get those little notes, they are kissing for the whole world to see.

FIRT KISS SET:

January 23, 1940: Bucky on Steve’s notebok. “On your eyebrow, punk, you had bags under your eyes.”

May 19, 1941: Baseball during a match “See those lovebirds two rows down? Just like that”

December 9, 1941: On Bucky’s Draft letter, when they go to tell Bucky’s parents “Under your right eye. Sad and salty.”

March 10, 1942: Hot dog napkin while eating outside. “This tastes like mayo, but I’m not sorry. You’ll understand later. Happy birthday”

SECOND KISS SET:

June 14, 1943: on the 4F paper at an alley. “This one is angry and desperate. Sorry for the blood taste, they burst my lip”

June 15, 1943: Old paper left on the kitchen. “On the forehead to remind you about stopping with the stupid. And since we are home, an extra one on the lips. for luck.”

November 3, 1943: On Steve’s Notebook passed on to Bucky after rescuing him. “I’m keeping this one for later. A paper won’t be enough.”

November 15, 1944: Note on mission’s map, at a meeting. “That star on your chest. Over and under. For hours.”

THIRD KISS SET:

February 7, 1945: On a bottle at a destroyed tavern “On your hand holding mine. this is stupid now.”

April 11, 2011: On his own sketchbook, alone. “I would kiss you in public. I guess I could now. If.”

May 21, 2011: On Captain America’s Expo ticket. “Right at the corner of that smile you would have right now after reading all this bullshit.”

July, 2012: On a wet tree leaf by the Potomac. “I would…”

FORTH KISS SET

June 28, 2015: On a pride notebook. “Filthy on the street, feeling you up. But you are not here, so I just can imagine.”

July, 2016: On Bucky’s journal. “Your forehead. Sweetly. Because I remember.”

July, 2018: On a note passed on the Wakanda shore surrounded by children. “While dancing to 40s music. Inside now to make it happen? (I love you in wakandan)”

March 10, 2022: On a missing people poster. “Today I'm asking for one on my neck. To give me the strength to keep on trying.”

HOME

July 3, 2024: On a note inside Steve and Bucky’s book

“All over since we are both naked. Why aren’t you home yet? We can kiss on the porch now”.