#and also get them organized so that stories that go together are sequential chapters

[oxygen-masks-concept-art]

Writing Progress Post #1

So I learned that people like, blog about their writing process sometimes. Maybe we should do that! I have come to learn that writing about writing sometimes makes it easier to write later, when you can't manage to jump into it right away.

It's definitely been harder to work on this project that I want it to be. At the beginning of the year I wrote us a schedule for 2025 that would have the storyboards for the comic done at the end of the year. We already have a pretty detailed plot synopsis of the whole thing finished, and it can be broken up into 10 chapters/scenes, so that's 1 scene per month plus 2 months buffer. Seems simple right?

Yeah well, we're somehow a month into the year already, and I only managed to finish 2 storyboard pages, which were really just cleaning up sketches we already finished. And mind you I anticipate each chapter to be 20-30 pages long. So that's not working.

Turns out this is just even less of a Discovery-Writing-style book than I already thought it would be and writing scenes sequentially just isn't the way it will go. Which means pacing it so that I'm done by the end of the year is just going to be a shot in the dark.

It's so strange how our workflow for every project is just totally different from all the ones before it. Something something being plural probably has something to do with it. The workflow for this project looks like this:

Scene brainstorming(loose storyboards on paper) -> Refined storyboards (digital text so beta readers can read it) (the stage I'm in now) -> Beta reading -> page thumbs (thought this would be optional, is not optional) -> final page production

No script step at all, maybe that's because this is an action comic. Also I thought I was experienced enough to skip thumbnailing but when I sketched out the test episode we're in the middle of I absolutely regretted not doing it. Again, maybe because this is an action comic.

Anyway I also thought this brainstorming step would be optional and it was just happening organically whenever I needed to write down an idea really fast. But no I think it just needs to happen for the entire dang story. And then once I have all these disconnected scenes finished I can piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle during the refined storyboards stage. (and i do think our writing process is always going to work like this now post-syscovery but that's a story for another post)

So all that is to say, how do I set a new goal so I can finish this comic before I die 2027? Well, I'm trying to sketch out at least one page of brainstorming sketches (which is roughly equivalent to 2 storyboard pages and 2.5 comic pages) per day (Saturdays are optional because they're our busiest days at work). I set that goal last week but was only able to do one page every other day, but I guess that's better than nothing.

The new trouble is just deciding what scene to work on next. The solution is just... Whatever scene is the easiest. It seems like there's just this queue of scenes in my brain getting cooked up in the background all the time. I'm able to just pluck out whichever seems to be the most refined, and sketch that out.

So I'm a little worried about working too fast and then running that queue dry. But I guess I'll solve that problem when I get to it. I also have a feeling the pace of this queue is actually controlled by how full it is, so as long as I'm freeing up space by putting it to paper, it will always have new ideas. But try convincing my Procrastination Logic of that.

Oh and I also discovered another thing holding me up was not understanding some characters in the supporting cast well enough. So I'm getting that worked out too. I couldn't really write their introduction if I didn't know what they were like or what impression I wanted the reader to have, so jumping ahead to scenes that were more development-y and about how they impact the plot has helped too. I've been experimenting with writing drabbles and throwaway scenes that take place before the events of the book. It's hard to write stuff that won't make the final cut because it feels like a waste of time, but if it's to help figure out how the characters feel and interact with each other, it's still valuable.

[viralarcadian]

ikenie takes a rather.. unorthodox approach to telling its story. you actually start playing in the "epilogue", after the actual bulk of the story happens, as "yourself". gameplay is done in short chunks chosen from a menu and sequentially unlocked as you go thru them.

the final chapter of the epilogue is locked until you complete the playable chapters for three of the actual main characters + a final one that brings those three stories together, all taking place 24 hours before "you" get there. you play that final epilogue chapter, get the normal ending, and then go back and play that OTHER final chapter bc playing the last epilogue chapter has unlocked new content and context for the other final chapter.

still with me?

on to the story.

you have 5 main characters. pink, yellow, blue, red, and black. those are their default names bc their character models are all shades of those colours, but you can name them yourself. they've all decided to spend the night at a house owned by black's deceased father in the supposedly haunted tsukoyomi Valley. yellow doesn't arrive with the rest of them and had to take a later train.

anyways, over the course of playing as blue, black, and yellow the Plot happens. red gets ganked by a ghost, a whole bunch more show up, and the characters are continuously hunted by them as they try to stay alive, guided only by the ghost of a little girl who at times mistakes people for either her older sister or some unnamed caretaker.

the place is haunted and abandoned bc, like all good rural ghost stories, this was a rural place that had.. unorthodox religious rituals. every generation or so a woman was chosen to be the tsukoyomi, the one who receives visions of the future from the moon. in order to facilitate these visions, she had to consume "sacrifices", aka actual human flesh and organs. one of her visions would always be of who would become her successor.

the game doesn't really explain what happens when the tsukuyomi can no longer read the moon, and the way the notes about what happened to the last tsukuyomi makes it sound like they were doing away w the tradition altogether and that what they did w her was meant to end it.

anyways, the last tsukuyomi was, as you could probably guess, the little girl's older sister, and the locals bound her up in wrappings and threw her into an underground sea that may or may not exist on the border between the real world and the world of the dead, bc it's inside a mountain but has its own moonlit sky. the little girl had been acting as the one who interprets the visions her sister received, and she was to be killed too, but at the last moment black's father grabbed her and ran, intending to hide her from the locals.

turns out that when the lasylt tsukuyomi was tossed into the sea, the anger and fear she felt had "poisoned" the gift of moon reading. it didn't go away at all, and her ghost was still at the bottom of the sea and still demanding sacrifices, only now she'd just take people's souls and bind them to the valley instead of like. just needing to eat their innards.

black's father became one of those sacrifices, as for some reason those chosen to be so would start hallucinating loved ones, as though they were being "tested" in some way. i guess the idea is that if you "fail" it's what makes you into an actual sacrifice. he dies and fades away, leaving the little girl all alone and scared until she too dies.

back to present day. black starts hallucinating almost immediately and, in the course of trying to follow his dad's trail and find out what happened, ends up failing his test and killing pink w a chainsaw.

red and pink were also hallucinating, w red's ghost eventually.. becoming some sort of minion for the last tsukuyomi? it's unclear. he shows up as a giant ghost in one of either yellow or blue's chapters

yellow was the one chosen to be the next tsukuyomi and black, after killing pink and snapping, decides that to truly end the curse he needs to kill her before she can become the next vessel for the "gift". he gets stopped by blue, who talks him down but not really. black ends up dying in the first "next day"/epilogue chapter. blue tries to save yellow, but she panics and runs off, deciding that black was right and throwing herself off a cliff. blue leaves and the game ends, having lost all hope.

OR DOES IT

in the final "next day" chapter, "you" send some of your courage back in time to blue, who then chases after yellow and eventually makes it to the underground sea. there, w the help of the little girl, the last tsukuyomi is calmed and the curse is finally lifted.

watching an LP of ikenie no yoru/night of sacrifice and wow does this remind me of nanashi no game

both of them use fairly similar designs for their ghosts (hollow black eyes and slack mouths) and they also use the EXACT same sighing sound.

they both also have the worst controls in horror history bc they're tied to device gimmicks. nanashi uses the touch screen of your DS where you hold it like a book, and ikenie uses the fucking wii fit balance board

[victorluvsalice]

Fic Resolutions for 2023!

Yeah, I know I don’t usually post on Sundays anymore, but it’s just become the New Year, and I’d like to set my fic resolutions down early. So let’s see --

1. Finish the first draft of “Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland” at least -- Yes, I am still working on that story, it’s just slow going because a) chapters long and b) lot of looking things up on YouTube for reference to get dialogue right and stuff like that. I am a decent amount of the way through, at least -- Alice is currently finishing up Venus’s quests, and will be resolving the plaguebearers in the next couple of days. Then she’s gonna hit Grout’s, and this particular chunk of the story will end with LaCroix ordering her to Hollywood and Alice and Victor preparing to see what that chunk of the map is like. I certainly don’t want to say it’ll be posted in 2023, but I should be able to finish the first draft and hopefully get at least a teaser chapter up by the end of the year!

2. Edit and post the full version of “As Long As You Love Me” and at least finish the first draft of its sequel “The Joker And The Queen” -- the other major project I was working on before taking a break in December to write gift fics (and get the ideas for my other coaster OCs straight in my head), this one should be easier to complete. The first draft of “As Long As You Love Me” (well, the first draft of all the bits I wrote to link together my previous snippets) is completed, and I’ve gotten a couple of chapters into the sequel. . .dunno if I'm gonna try to finish the first draft of said sequel first, or if I’m gonna go back and edit the original for posting first, but both will be done at some point!

3. Post those darn Secundus drabbles already -- I never did it last year, so I’m gonna try to get it done this year. If I can finally decide whether I’m doing just one drabble a chapter or many. . .ugh, if anyone wants to chime in on what they would prefer on that front, it would be helpful! But yeah, if I can at least get a START on doing that (maybe this summer, as a bunch of them were written for a summer challenge on a LiveJournal community I used to be a part of), that would be great.

*nods* I think this all sounds doable without being too much. Wish me luck! Happy New Year!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 328: Pandora’s Box of Discourse

Previously on BnHA: DEKU TOOK A BATH.

Today on BnHA: 

Also Naomasa grew a beard. Goddamn. 

please let this be a cool chapter that plays nice with my ADHD lol

(ETA: lol I feel guilty because a lot of people hated this chapter, but I’m just happy there was a lot of stuff to make fun of, and also that I have another week to work on my backlog of meta posts since the kids were MIA.)

around one month ago?? ah, okay, so we’re gonna find out what was in that Tartarus security file huh

I love that they just randomly set the place on fire

was it necessary to do this in order to escape? no. was it a good idea to set the island they were occupying on fire while they were in the midst of still occupying it? uh. was it cinematic as fuck? fuck yeah

wow it’s a pervert!!

that’s so great that the villains set loose this fine fellow who I’m sure is definitely not a serial rapist. truly the LoV is so noble and misunderstood. they’re just trying to free society from its chains people

oh my god??!

SHANKED!!! oh my god I cheered for Stain before I realized what I was doing. time to have an identity crisis I guess

so he’s all “hey what’s going on.” which, while a respectable question, is something I personally would have waited to ask until I had put a bit of distance between myself and the fiery murder island. but that’s just my personal preference

Stain you really are tenacious I’ll give you that

“what’s the point of escaping prison if you’re not gonna be smart about it” well shit. anyways yeah you’re dead right, society is in the process of collapsing and the outside world is in total chaos, good call there

oh shit

I mean it’s not like we really expecting anything otherwise, but still. fucking brutal. I feel like these guys’ fates were decided the minute that one guy called AFO “scum” back in chapter 94. AFO is unmatched at getting long-term revenge

??

ahh, was it the security footage??

fdsdfk he’s still alive??

and he’s immediately launching into an inappropriately theatrical monologue even as the darkness closes in on him fdlfksjdlk. you know, was it ever confirmed that the other guy back in chapter 297 was Seiji’s dad? I’m just saying

very impressed that he’s still coherent enough to weigh the pros and cons before making the decision to gamble on giving this info to Stain, who at the very least has his own moral code and isn’t allied with AFO. it was definitely still a risk, but as we now know it was also the right call

what a weird alliance. so Stain tells him that he’ll give it to a just person, and the guy is all,

okay for real though I’m gonna need someone to run a DNA test on this guy. maybe it was some kind of cuckold situation?? the other guy had the family resemblance, but this guy absolutely 100% raised Shishikura Seiji and you are not going to convince me otherwise

anyway, so Stain is all,

PRISON GUARD: “???? ??????? what the hell. what the fuck does that fucking mean. I’m dying here, jesus christ, whatever man fuck you”

(ETA: I kind of feel like this might have been Stain’s last appearance in the manga, given all the fanfare. there’s not really much else he can do for the story at this point, and he seems to have gotten all the character development Horikoshi was planning on giving him. so if this really is it, hasta la vista and good riddance I guess.)

DWLFDKSLDK MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE

(ETA: I feel like this is meant to be evocative of that Sermon on the Mount painting, but in a really fucked up way lol.)

if it were me stumbling upon this scene I would just shake my head and walk right back into the flaming building. not getting involved in that mess. sorry not sorry. I’ll take my chances with the fire, especially given that it’s half-assed neutered BnHA fire lol

blah blah blah and so he decided to pass the info on to All Might -- HOT DAMN, HOLY SHIT

NAOMASA HOLY SHIT. THE APOCALYPSE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU, BOY

“I really like that facial scruff thing Aizawa’s got going on, I think I’m gonna get in on that” yes sir. “also thinking of ditching the tie in favor of the bulletproof vest look. also thinking of getting totally fucking jacked.” good lord. except I’m pretty sure that’s just body armor, but also I don’t care. anyway I should probably stop staring and actually read the fucking speech bubbles here lol

“All Might first handed this information over to Nao, and then went to see Deku, and then came back to Nao” thanks for that tidy little summary Horikoshi. we are capable of piecing events together in sequential order, I just want you to know that. but thank you

“so has Deku finally gotten a bath? also, sucks that Stain saved the day, but what are you gonna do” Nao I missed you so fucking much and didn’t even realize. how am I just now realizing that you are the perfect man

for a second I was gonna ask why Tartarus’s security systems would be cut off from the outside world, and then I remembered that’s a basic security control, and then I actually got impressed by how sensible that is. like, it’s been a while since I could genuinely say that the good guys (excluding class 1-A) did something smart. not that it helped them much in the end, but still

anyway so they’re talking about how AFO was able to coordinate the attack by communicating between his horcrux self on the outside and his ugly peanut-faced self on the inside

huh

okay you have my attention. I am taking notes here lol please continue

ah okay so he says that prior to Jakku, the transfer of information between him and his Vestige self was only one-way. but post-Jakku when Deku was in the hospital, he was able to tell what was happening inside the OFA Radical Lisa Frank Dead People Book Club Realm when he touched him. I feel like we established that before, actually. but he didn’t talk about how it actually felt, though

boy we already know this lol. yes AFO can talk with his horcrux self. and he can also communicate with his little bro in OFA too, let’s talk about that sometime why don’t we. what exactly does that imply, based on the rules we’ve established here

my god I cannot get over Naomasa and his fucking facial hair

no wonder All Might was in such a hurry to leave Deku and get back here

like I have no idea what this radio waves nonsense is but my god, people

that jawline. also so it’s a quirk, I see. except last I checked Deku didn’t have a radio waves quirk, so that doesn’t really explain his connection to AFO. but whatever, hopefully we’re at least getting closer to some kind of reveal here

(ETA: since I sometimes forget that other people’s lives don’t revolve around my theory posts, here are the two relevant links if you by chance want to know my thoughts about this.

Hagakure is still The U.A. Traitor™ regardless of whether Deku is passing information on to AFO through his psychic link, which he almost certainly is.

speaking of said psychic link, Deku is a horcrux.

just posting these now, because whenever trippy OFA stuff happens I tend to get an influx of theory asks. so hopefully this will be a bit of a time saver lol.)

-- wait, what

THAT’S what the recording was??!? holy SHIT. I genuinely was not expecting that. y’all wiretapped his fucking telepathy. fucking quirks, man. wild

AND THEY USED THAT POWER TO DETERMINE WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW, HUZZAH. GOOD SHOW

-- oh shit wait lol, except I forgot we’re not talking about 38 days from the present, we’re talking about 38 days from the date the conversation was recorded. heh. um

yeah that’s the face I would make too if All Fucking Might just casually told me we had eight days left until the end times

oh, pardon me. three fucking days

r.i.p. anyone who thought we were going to have another band arc sob. I sure hope Deku is enjoying that nap

(ETA: I realize people were hoping for a longer rest period here, but given that the man warned us all the way back in chapter 306 that we were entering the final act, you can’t really blame him too much when that turns out to be true. anyway but I do recognize that we’ve reached the point in the story where this kind of discourse is going to become a weekly occurrence, simply because there’s no possible way for Horikoshi’s actual endgame to line up perfectly with the variable headcanons of millions of fans, all of whom have wildly differing and in many cases contradictory expectations which can’t possibly all be fulfilled. anyway, so I’m already bracing myself for that lol. this coming year is going to be a wild ride.)

damn, U.A. out here looking like the motherfucking United Nations

-- is this U.A.?? I actually just realized, U.A. is four interconnected buildings, not two. wait holy shit is this Shiketsu?

wait holy SHIT

based on the overwhelmingly powerful vibes of bureaucratic incompetence, I’m thinking this really is the (future) U.N., or whatever organization it is that deals with international hero stuff

“just let them handle it themselves I’m sure they’ll be fine” yeah okay, thanks guys. appreciate it

wait oh shit did he say that it’s not just Japan?

soooo, what you’re telling me is that AFO is this close to bringing about the end of not just Japan, but the entire world, and you guys don’t think it’s a good idea to help the Japanese heroes stop him? so, genuine follow-up question: are you guys already planning your rich people exodus into space a la Wall-E, and that’s why you don’t give a fuck?? like, what??

omg international heroes

these guys are from World Hoodie Mission, right? is this Horikoshi’s way of reminding me to buy tickets

(ETA: and it worked too lol.)

WHO??? WHAT???

don’t tell me you’re introducing yet another badass new female character for me to fall in love with only to watch as you dismember them and/or blow them up, Horikoshi. I’m getting tired of playing this game my dude. don’t lie and tell me this time will be different. we’re not doing this again goddammit

noooooooooooooooooooo

god fucking dammit lmao. [sighs and rips the previous paragraph into shreds]

on behalf of Americans I apologize for our superheroes always being Like This

I also apologize because I love her already and I’m gonna be shameless about it. so fucking shameless you guys

is her fucking hair red white and blue. it is, isn’t it

this is the volume cliffhanger, 100% lol. it will take every ounce of Horikoshi’s willpower not to put her on the volume cover. he’ll have to settle for the spine or the inner cover this time because Deku VS his class 1-a superpals takes precedence. but it will be a close thing let me tell you

tbh it’s that smile that does it for me. she’s definitely All Might’s protege. get out there and show them how it’s done girl. and maybe call Salaam and BRD and see if you can’t convince them to play hooky from their governments as well. why not. world’s ending in three days you guys. “sorry, I’m busy this weekend” ain’t gonna cut it lol

so while I am not fully caught up with Vigilantes, I have read far enough to know that there’s an American hero named Captain Celebrity whose superpower from what I recall is being a humongous douchebag. and while I haven’t read far enough to know what happens to this guy, I can’t say I’m very disappointed to learn that he’s no longer the number one hero in the U.S. (actually, didn’t they kick him out and that’s why he moved to Japan to begin with?). anyway, so my thanks to Horikoshi for having a marginally higher opinion of Americans than Furuhashi, even though we have definitely not done anything to warrant said opinion lately, and you may have inadvertently opened the door to a pandora’s box of discourse lmao

(ETA: lol I went into the tags and they don’t disappoint. “why is she dressed like a flag” because she’s an homage to Captain America and Major Victory and literally every other character on this list. again, I apologize for fictional American superheroes being Like This. “oh boy another thicc waifu to make the fanboys happy” look, tumblr fandom never seems to have a problem thirsting over Dabi or Tomura or Aizawa or Nao, lol, I’m just saying. “where is Captain Celebrity” idk, probably murdered by the exploding bee cartel, let’s just be grateful for our good fortune and try not to Beetlejuice the man.)

anyway, so let’s see if Horikoshi’s recent character development with regards to making Mineta not terrible anymore will apply to other aspects of his writing as well. I know I was making light of discourse just now, but I do think the complaints about him introducing yet another new character at the 11th hour to be cannon fodder in the final battle are absolutely valid. and again, it wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t keep maiming/killing off his female characters one by one instead of developing them and letting them kick ass long-term. but that said, I will never complain about Horikoshi adding another female character to the series, regardless of how clumsy the attempt may be. go ahead and pander away, just give us more girl power lol

anyway so we’ll see how it goes, but I think I’m gonna be optimistic and let myself hope once again, even though I’m probably gonna regret it lol. it is what it is. she is standing on an airplane just chilling for fuck’s sake. I’m only human. anyway fingers crossed

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

10. Simon’s Deal

3878 Words. Trigger Warnings for self harm and inappropriate sexual joke content. I think that’s all in this one, actually.

I feel like I need to clarify something - I am continuing this story until I finish it. But, the chapters will no longer be standalone pieces. The rest of it will be directly a sequential story that would need the previous chapters in order to make the story coherent. Thanks for understanding. Happy reading, and please, if you like what you read, let me know. If you don’t, keep it moving, Shawty. Because, I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit.

Previous

Simon got up fairly early every day. He fed Samantha and let her out. She came and went as she pleased, and in the times that she returned, she would come to his window and yell. He… was probably going to have to bring her with him when he left home for good. He hated to do it. He never wanted a cat, but they had bonded over having the worst mom in common and it wasn’t her fault that the person who purchased her did so on a whim. 

He had a very strict exercise regimen, breakfast schedule, and things that he did every morning before starting on his day. Whenever he left home, he usually packed what he needed, and tended to use his mother’s old car. Was he legally supposed to be driving? No. Was he teaching himself how to anyway, because he knew he would need that skill and nobody else was gonna teach him? Absolutely. 

His summer had a lot of things packed into it, but he had everything plotted out in such a way that if he followed his schedule, he would still have plenty of time to rest well and even to keep up with Grace. 

She was having a blast. "I asked Ghairrisahn if I could smell her hair to tell my friend how it smells and she gave me a piece of it! I collected YOU a gift, this time!"

"You… have… some of her hair for me???" He asked excitedly.

"She pulled it out of her hairbrush! She says that it isn't even the first time. Her hair and her feet are apparently people's favorite parts." Grace held up a little baggy with curly hair in it. "I'll keep it safe for you. In the meantime, she smells like… geranium, bergamot, frankincense and myrrh."

"I… what?"

"Geranium, bergamot, frankincense and myrrh. Those are her go to essential oils, so everything she wears is one or a combination of those and no other scents, ever, so that she doesn't smell TOO strong. But, it's nice. I actually smell her hair for myself, now. Since she’s got all these oils on her body, I just say that I’m doing it for wellness."

"So jealous," he said, with a smile. “I saw that you gave her a lipstick print. She’s Apex now!”

“She said that she’s been a fan of my videos!” She sighed, "I wish you were here."

"Me too. I miss you."

"Are you holding up okay?"

Actually, my mom had the most violent outburst whenever I tried to get her into my grandmother's car and Samantha has been gone for far longer than usual. I don't know if she's coming back, I don’t even know if she’s alive…

"I'm fine," he said and saw an incoming call… from Mr. Monroe? "I...I've gotta go."

"I'm calling you tomorrow!"

"Yes, Ma'am." she hung up and he smiled, "Mr. Monroe! I didn't plan on hearing from you..."

.

Simon was at his journalism workshop whenever Shana sat next to him. He raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "Problem?" She asked, turning to look right at him.

"Girl, leave me alone."

"Why are you so rude? Have I ever actually done you something, or do you just hate everybody that doesn't worship your girlfriend?"

"What difference does it make?" He and Grace never corrected people on the girlfriend bit. It was easier that way. They'd have to explain why they're so close and always together and never dating anyone else… like they couldn't JUST be friends? 

"You stole from me. I'd like to know why." 

"I've never stolen anything in my life. Your dad, on the other hand…" 

She gasped and he could tell from the look on her face that was a low blow. She looked like she was going to cry. "Wow. You're just as ugly as she is. I actually thought you were the nice one."

"You are the only person who's said that. Therefore, I'm going to presume that you're lying," he said, with a slight blush. People didn't often say that he was nice at all, and especially not when choices were between him and Grace - the professional people pleaser and part time peacekeeper. The number of times that she had to keep him from cracking something over somebody’s head alone was enough to warrant at least a collective “unfriendly.”

"Doesn't matter now. You're a complete asshole." He laughed at the bold declaration. It had been a while since someone dared to insult him, much less straight up call him out of his name. He didn't know if he had ever really noticed Shana before this moment. But… she and Grace had similar features. He'd heard her referred to as "Chemical Grace" before, because she straightened her hair and wore a lot of makeup and stuff (and was the only other Black girl besides a a handful of biracial ones). 

But, honestly… if Grace contoured her face, had straight hair, maybe less full lips and high cheekbones, the two of them looked a lot the same… to the point that Simon's imagination insisted that they were related.

Oooh… what if Mr. Monroe had a torrid affair once upon a time and had this daughter some months before Grace? That would explain their enmity too! 

"What are you looking at?" She asked, annoyed.

"You and Grace look like you could be sisters."

She glared at him, "I don't know if you think that we all look alike or if you just miss that dragon for whatever reason, (because you're a weirdo for genuinely liking her in the first place), but if you ever say anything that insulting to me again, all bets are off. I'm going to fuck you up, Simon."

"It was a compliment. Grace is the prettiest girl in school and you're like… a close second, on the grounds that you look like less organic her.."

"Please shut up. Why are you talking to me? Are you even allowed to do that?" She rolled her eyes, but he noticed that her skin tone changed just a little bit. He knew that look too. She was blushing. He caught Grace doing so a time or two. It didn’t look the same as whenever he did, for sure, but he definitely noticed. He smirked and texted Grace. She would be in rehearsals, but she’d see it afterwards. 

“Chemical Grace thinks I’m cute. (Smirk emoji)” 

A few short minutes later she replied, “Nothing else to do. Gotta set yourself on fire, bruh.”

He laughed and Shana looked over, but he just gave her a hard stare until she looked away, annoyed that she had even turned towards him. 

They were going to have to work together in journalism club, but he had always been surrounded by people he didn’t too much care for. At the time, he couldn’t imagine the amount of time that they might have to work together, with her being the managing editor and him being the copy editor (and photo/graphics editor, until someone else stepped up for that). 

"I still can't figure out if she's lucky or cursed to have you, but I'm sure hoping for the latter," Shana said as they walked out of the workshop, practically shoulder to shoulder. He just smirked. Her insults were… kinda fun for him. 

.

He had a couple of weeks between his engagements. Grace wanted him to fly out to meet her and fly back in a couple of weeks. She just needed him to agree and she would make sure that the tickets were purchased. He never minded accepting things from her before, but since she’d left him, things felt off for him. 

He wasn’t sure if it was because he was still a little bit hurt that she decided to go on the tour. It was a chance of a lifetime. He wouldn’t have wanted her to turn it down… but he did want that. He wanted her to be nearby and available, so that when he wasn't busy, he could have her to himself to recover from everything. 

That was no reason that he couldn’t go meet Ghairrisahn and see her shows for free for two weeks, though. So, he went!

Grace danced backup for some numbers and under the spotlight a couple of times too. Ghairrisahn praised her on the mic, hyped her up during her performances, thanked her by name at the end of each show, with the band and other important creators, and seemed to genuinely appreciate her. 

For Simon, it was like watching a shooting star go in reverse. Like… when he met her, she was beautiful, but just sitting in a crater, and he dug her out and she shot up and was flying into the night's sky. Beautiful to behold, but also… he doesn't know why he's not with her - Why they weren't one anymore. He doesn't know why she's so out of his reach now.

They clung to that old dynamic, for a few years that it wasn't working, and now, they were shooting in different directions. Where could he possibly want to go if Grace wasn't going with him? Why was it so easy for her now to go where she was going, without him? She used to… she used to wait for him. She used to shine a little less, if only to give him a moment to catch up. She used to care…

That's unfair. She still cares. She's just having fun and she deserves some fun… even if she never would have made it this far without your support. You built her a fan base from a bunch of snobby kids who wanted high school cool points into a public figure with a massive Internet presence. You took the photos that landed her a lucrative business deal at age 14. You turned her parents' heads in her direction every chance you got, just so she could be noticed by them and get a sparkle in her eyes. She owes you everything… and she won't even look at you as anything other than her favorite accessory. Something she never wants to leave home without, but if she does, she could just smile and keep dancing…

He didn't realize that he was shaking until one of Grace's team members asked him if he was okay. He nodded and then went to find some place to be alone. He took off his hoodie and pulled a dull pen from his pocket. His thoughts were racing and his emotions were such an overwhelming cluster of negativity rushing about that he almost felt immobilized by the onslaught. He sat down, lifted his arm and began to sketch. The pen scratched him, lifting the line on his skin, with minimal blood, but a few specks. He drew tally marks. There were a few older faded ones that he had counted. 

Whenever he felt hurt or weak or scared… things he couldn't say he felt. Whenever those feelings became too much. Grace had told him, "You just have gotta try to count up the good things about stuff."

"And how am I supposed to do that whenever my mind can't focus on anything but the bad stuff I'm going through?"

She made an "I don't know" sound, with the shrug of her shoulders, closed her compact mirror, looked at him with the warmest smile and said, "But, you're the smartest guy I know. You'll figure out a way to get on the path to thinking positive when your brain is mean to you." She smiled and a bird landed on her shoulder. She was petrified. "Oh my God… get… get this thing off of me Simon!" He swatted it and when it began to fly, she screamed, dropped her bag and ran. He laughed at the image as he picked up her stuff, but for that brief moment that she smiled, with an agent of nature perched on her shoulder, he got his moment of clarity. He found his way. It was her. It had been her.

Whenever he felt this way, he would center himself with a little bit of pain and just make a little mark of the good things about her that he could think of.

He hadn't done this (over her) in a while. Usually, she was the alternative medicine for hurt that his mom caused. Grace didn't hurt him very often, and the times that she did, he always made a tally to represent that she would never try to hurt him on purpose. 

That's where he began his new tally of marks. 1 She's not hurting me on purpose.  2 She doesn't know that I'm hurt and I'm not going to tell her because she needs this. 3 I'm proud of her. 4 At least I get to come along. 5 She tried to bring me with her and I had to decline. 6 She never would have left me behind on purpose. 7 It was my choice and she respected that. 8 She still loves me because she wanted me here as soon as I had time. 9 We're still the Apex…

"Simon, are you in here? They told me that you rushed off and you didn't look too good?" 10 She came to check on me as soon as she heard I wasn't okay… 

"Yeah. I just got overheated…" he said, pulling his hoodie back over himself.

"That's why I don't understand why you always wear a hoodie! It's summer and you sweat a lot! You're gonna make the bus musty."

"I'm gonna get washed up!" He opened the door and there she was, sweaty and musty herself, with full concern on her glowing features. She glanced at the pen and he put it away. "Fell outta my pocket," he said and covered the back of his neck with his hand, laughing nervously.

She doubted him for a moment. He saw the flicker of it in her eyes, but she smiled anyway, wrapped an arm around his back and pulled him along with her, "Come on, Your Ripeness." Simon wrapped an arm around her as well. He didn't feel any more distress. He wasn't overwhelmed or sad or angry. He had gotten “back on his positive path after his brain was mean to him.” He kissed her on the temple and she smiled and blushed. "What was that for?"

"For always being my best friend."

She tugged him down to kiss his temple too… since that's what they were doing tonight, she guessed. She winked at him and mused, "Back at cha, Gray Eyes." He melted against her and rested his head on the top of hers. Grace was… confused, but she just stood there, with his arms tightly wrapped around her. She didn't understand his sudden need to be affectionate, but she didn't want to interrupt it either.

.

His last night on the tour, after everyone was asleep, they snuck away, just to explore and spend time alone.

"So, guess what your dad and me discussed…"

"Ugh. You've been talking to my dad, still?"

"Um.. of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I'm not even there. What could you two possibly have to even talk about?"

"We have a lot to talk about! I'm very mature for my age and I have a good head on my shoulders."

"You head-butted someone yesterday," she reminded him.

"And I barely flinched. My head is that good...Wait…" she was already laughing at the slip of the tongue. He groaned. She was never gonna let him live that one down. "Let me finish!" He whined, laughing at himself.

"You gotta stop chillin' with my dad, Dude. He's not just an adult, but he's one of the ones that we know can't be trusted."

Mr. Monroe had been very helpful to Simon during the time while Grace was away and his parents were out of reach. Bit like a mentor, but not as warm. They did discuss Grace at times, but mostly the man had been getting him in contact with the right people to help him sort out getting emancipated and for assistance with the home front while there weren't other adults there. They didn't have heart to hearts and stuff, but he was definitely an ally, in Simon's eyes. "He's… not so bad, I think. He just doesn't understand you. But, he loves you. I mean..  I think he does. The way you made them sound is worse than they are. At least they aren't like my parents…"

She frowned. "I don't like it. It's weird that you're taking up for him, too. What have you got a crush on my dad or something?"

"… Did you seriously ask me that?"

"You're going on about how great and misunderstood he is, and I've never seen you date anybody. Maybe that's what you like. Old rich dudes that can be your sugar daddy." She stuck her tongue out and twerked a little.

He laughed, "I am by no means above doing what I gotta do with your dad, if it gets me ahead, but I think your mom would kill me." 

Grace laughed, "I would help her!" 

"Help her? How dead do you think I would need to be? Shouldn't one of you kill him too? He's the adult in this scenario! Besides, your mom wouldn't need any help. That woman could probably kill a gorilla with her bare hands."

"Well, she's always said that she can do anything she sets her mind to with the right pair of shoes." They both laughed about the image of Mrs. Monroe killing a gorilla with a pair of pumps on. Grace thought, she's WEARING the shoes, not using them and Simon thought that she definitely had in her to stab a beast to death with a high heel. 

"Talk about red bottoms," Simon said, trying to stop laughing at all of their add-ons.

"What's wrong with us? We're making jokes about my dad molesting you for money and my mom killing gorillas while staying fashionable."

"I think it poses the question, what's wrong with them?"

"Hmph. According to you, nothing."

"Not nothing, Grayyeeece… they just aren't as bad as a lot of other parents. Some of them never should have had kids." 

The tone was uncomfortable for her. Like, him talking about his parents never having kids made her feel like he was indirectly saying that he didn't like being alive and that couldn't be discussed. She wouldn't be able to handle a conversation like that. 

She smiled and said, "Anyways, what did you and your sugar daddy discuss?" 

Now, Simon's face lit up again and he smiled, "Okay, so get this… We were discussing my busy schedule and everything I have ahead of me next year and he started to candidly speak about your social media and the tour…" she groaned. She knew that her father didn't consider what she did real art. "And somehow, he got it into his mind that you'll need a man to take care of you, a hard-working one with more realistic goals…" she fumed. 

Need? A man? To take care?? Of me???

"Long story short, your dad offered to pay my college tuition, to any school that I want to go to in exchange for wooing you and being your stable man." 

She stared at him, expecting some type of twist. The gotcha or whatever. He laughed, but seemed serious. "My dad wants to pay you to try to be my boyfriend?"

"Technically, his word was to 'tame' you."

"TAME???"

"He thinks that you've blindly rushed into wild dreams and that you need a smart, strong boy to help you stabilize."

"Ugh!!! You know, he ruined my mom's career with that same line of thinking! And she had to live vicariously through me. I can't BELIEVE that he'd pay YOU for that job!" She was furious.

Simon looked offended, "Why'd you say it like that?"

"You're my friend. He expects you to just screw me over and play with my mind for some money."

"It's not THAT simple. For… an education that I work really hard to get, but still may have to settle on a scholarship that might not cover everything. An education that, if I had it, I could finally make something of myself in this world. It wasn't like he offered me a cartoon bag of cash. He offered me a future that I deeply want and need. Nothing cheap or meaningless.."

She intertwined their fingers, "Okay. Then… you'll get that."

"What do you mean?"

"He wants to give you college in exchange for making me your girlfriend, then he's about to pay for your college." 

"Are you suggesting that we officially openly pretend to be a couple instead of leaving it to mystery?"

"I'm suggesting that my father deserves for you to take every dime he's willing to pay you to manipulate me."

"I don't think that you realize that what he wants me to do is change you, and even if we could get one over on him, the act would have to last through my college career…"

"We've unofficially been a couple in people's eyes for almost that long already."

"No we haven't!"

"I am making you a counter offer. It's the very same deal as my dad's, but in this one, we stay the same, but he pays you anyway! So… be my partner, already." She held out her hand to him and he tentatively accepted it and shook it. She smiled. "We'll have to pace it, if he's expecting you to woo me. Gonna have to be a soft entrance and he'll have to notice a gradual shift."

He nodded in agreement. He knew that they were speaking about a fake relationship, but he still felt butterflies fluttering in his gut thinking about it. Being Grace's boyfriend… even if pretend… for years… There was no way that they could pull that off… but, what if it led to something? What if he could woo her, for real? Have her for real?

"Let's go be seen," she said. 

"What do you mean?"

"I'm an internet personality. If people spot us out and about this time of night, they'll talk about it. If we seem like we're trying to be secretive, they'll post about it." She took his hand and pulled him along. 

"We'll have to set some ground rules for this couple project…" he said.

She laughed, "You can set whatever rules you want. I'm doing everything that I've normally done, but I'll be letting my parents think you're my boyfriend so that you can go to school or whatever."

"It's risky. What about affection? What about if one of us finds somebody else that we like?" 

"You like somebody?"

"No. I'm just thinking about the complications to this ruse."

"You're a war buff… Just think about it like a secret identity that you have to commit to for an espionage assignment. The fate of your future depends on it, so in a way, it's a mission of life and death." His eyes twinkled at her and she smirked. He loved when she began to try to speak his language.

"I understand now," he said. 

Next

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Non-Sequential [Ch. 9]

Pairing: Pre-Serum Steve Rogers/Steve Rogers x Reader

One night, Steve Rogers met a beautiful dame named Y/N. He hadn’t intended on letting her get away. But fate had other ideas. Y/N appeared and disappeared in his life so hauntingly that Steve started to wonder if she was an angel meant to watch over him.

Word Count: 2,500

A/N: Inspired by the film The Time Traveler’s Wife. But not one of those fics that just literally rips off the whole movie and plugs in characters where they please.

Chapter 8

“Y/N! Y/N, look at me!” Steve urged as he practically ran her to the medical wing of the compound. He knew the jarring that came with his rush was probably causing her more pain, but he had to get her to a doctor as soon as possible.

Her eyes fluttered open.

“You gotta stay with me, OK?” Steve practically begged.

She just nodded, failing to fight off a wince as her wound sent another wave of pain through her entire body.

Steve looked down at her seeping blood. Y/N wasn’t a superhero. She hadn’t made the decision to risk her own life, to take the injuries without complaint. She was just a civilian. She never asked for this life.

He shoved his way through the swinging doors of the medical wing. Suddenly a team of doctors came swarming over to him, asking him a million questions.

“I-I don’t know what happened. She just appeared back in the present with a bullet to her abdomen,” Steve tried to answer in his captain voice that the medical team was used to hearing. 

No matter how bad his or his teammates injuries were, Captain America kept it together.

But this was Y/N, his best girl. Captain America was nowhere to be found. This was just Steve seeing his girlfriend dying in his arms.

They had taken Y/N from his grip and lightly placed her on a gurney, instantly pushing her away from him.

Steve took a step to follow, but was stopped by a grip on his shoulders.

He looked over, ready to break the wrist of someone that tried to keep him away from Y/N.

When did Tony get here?

“I know you want nothing more than to stay with her, but you gotta let them do their job, Steve.”

Tony’s mature and serious tone actually made Steve feel worse. It was unlike his friend. Tony should’ve been making jokes and not taking anything seriously, like he always did. So his seriousness only panicked Steve more.

Steve put his hands on his waist and kept shifting his weight.

It was making Tony anxious. He’d never seen him like this before. “Tony, if she…” He couldn’t even finish the sentence.  

Tony gripped his shoulder. “Hey,” his voice was stern. “Hey, look at me, Cap.” Steve finally did as he asked. “Those are the best doctors in the world in there. They know they’re working on precious cargo. So, they’re going to do everything they can. You got it?”

Tony waited.

Steve nodded.

“So, what I need you to do is keep it together. Because Captain America causing scene isn’t gonna help your girl, OK?”

Steve nodded again and held back the tears that were threatening to fall. ———————————

Steve was sitting on the floor of the hallway when he heard footsteps jogging toward him. He slowly looked up to find that it was Sam.

“I came as soon as I heard,” Sam told him while he was out of breath.

“She just got out of surgery,” Steve told him evenly. “They won’t let me see her.”

Sam’s brow furrowed and he frowned angrily. “Why the hell not?”

“They think me being close to her might make her time travel. And if she does, she won’t survive it.” Steve’s tone had never sounded so numb.

Sam’s heart broke. He could only imagine how Steve felt after hearing the doctors tell them such a theory. And to Sam, it felt lazy and lacked research.

Sam slowly slid down the wall so he was sitting on the cold floor alongside Steve.

“Doesn’t make much sense, does it?” Sam thought aloud. “If she only travels to when and where you are, clearly her powers just want you. So, if anything, being with her will just make her stay in the here and now.”

Steve didn’t say anything.

A few moments of silence passed.

“I’ll distract the doctors and nurses, you sneak inside?” Sam asked.

Steve nodded quickly before shooting to his feet.

———————————

Steve sat next to Y/N’s bed, not feeling close enough unless his legs were touching her bed.

The doctors had finally let him sit in her room after finding that he had snuck in, and then both Tony and Sam had a yelling match with the medical team.

Steve had been reading one of Y/N’s favorite books to her, quietly.

It had been days since her surgery and she had yet to wake up. The doctors said Y/N was lucky that the bullet hadn’t hit any major organs, only skimming her large intestine. They kept talking about how much of a miracle it was. But Steve could only think about how Y/N never should’ve been shot in the first place – there was nothing miraculous about it.

“Is this what the patients feel like on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’? Just constantly waking up to hot doctors?” Y/N mumbled next to him.

Steve dropped the book to the floor and leaned forward. “You’re awake,” he breathed.

“Or I’m in heaven,” she smirked at him.

But Steve found no amusement. There seemed to be a permanent crease in his brow and his lips formed a completely straight light.

“Are you in any pain?” He asked her seriously.

She shook her head. “They must’ve given me the good stuff.”

Steve just watched her for a moment, taking in her face and her eyes that were open and awake for the first time in days. There were moments in those few days where Steve wasn’t sure if he’d ever see them alive again.

“Y/N,” he whispered. “What happened?”

She sighed, knowing that Steve wouldn’t rest until he knew the whole story. The problem was that she also knew how he was going to react when her learned when and where she’d been taken by her powers.

Her gaze lowered, looking down at her lap as her fingers fidgeted.

“I was at the Battle of DC.”

“What?” Steve shot back without helping it.

“One second, I was sleeping in bed with you, the next I was on one of the hellicarriers with people screaming and shooting around me.”

Steve was quiet. But the clenching of his jaw and grinding of his teeth told Y/N he was anything but calm.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Y/N finally looked at him with a narrow gaze.

Steve scoffed, “Is that so?”

“Yeah,” she sassed back. “I know that you think that this is all somehow your fault. That I wouldn’t have gotten shot if it weren’t for you being a part of my life.”

“Yeah, seeing as you were only brought there because of me, Y/N. Because I love you.”

“For once in your god damn life, can you not act like everything is your fucking fault, Steve?”

He went quiet again.

“It won’t work,” Y/N stated.

He narrowed his eyes in question.

“So don’t you dare try it, Steven Grant Rogers.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he mumbled.

She sat up, trying to hide her wince from the pain the movement caused. “Listen here, I’ve seen enough movies and TV shows to know how this goes. Guy sees his girl as a damsel in distress, all because she’s dating him. Guy leaves girl because he thinks it’ll keep her safe. Guy pushes her away. And guy breaks both their hearts in the process.”

Steve had nothing to say for himself. His eyes refused to meet her accusatory gaze.

“You should watch Twilight. That shit-hole of a movie will prove how terrible it would end for us,” Y/N teased lightheartedly.

He finally shook his head and huffed out a laugh, “You’re nursing a gunshot wound and convincing me not to leave you…yet you still find a way to be remarkably charming.”

Y/N giggled and then Steve knew he was finished.

His hand was shaking as he grabbed her’s, careful of the IV embedded in her skin. He kissed the back of her hand and she looked heartbroken as she saw the tears he was trying so hard to hold back.

“Y/N, I don’t think you understand… I can’t-If you ever…” then he was overcome with silent tears. He tried to hide them by dipping his head and moving his fist to cover his mouth, but it was useless.

“Hey, hey, hey,” she cooed. “I came back to you, didn’t I?”

“I can’t lose you, Y/N.” Steve was practically whimpering. “I feel like I finally just got you. And I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost you.”

“I know, Steve,” she shushed. “I know. I’m sorry for scaring you. I’m so sorry.”

She pulled his head so his forehead was touching hers. They both closed their eyes and just let the feeling of touching each other wash over them. It grounded them. She had to convince Steve that she was still here, that she was OK.

——————

Two weeks had passed since Y/N returned to the present with a bullet in her side. She recovered quicker than the doctors expected. While she wasn’t allowed to do any strenuous activity – sex included, to her annoyance and Steve’s amusement – but she was at least allowed to leave the infirmary.

Steve insisted she stay with him at the compound. That way she was close to the doctors and specialists if anything were to happen.

Y/N knew he was being overprotective. But he needed to be that right now. So she let him do it and decided to keep her sarcastic comments to herself.

However, as the days went on, Y/N started acting strange.

She was oddly quiet. And it didn’t get past Steve.

There was a piece of the story that she had yet to tell him. She didn’t know how he’d handle it. And not knowing his reaction was what worried her most of all.

Y/N looked up from where she sat on the love-seat in the living room of the compound.

Steve was never far from her these days. He was subtle about it, doing his best not to be overbearing or making it blatantly obvious how overly watchful he’d become of Y/N.

Now he was in the kitchen, surely making both of them lunch.

Y/N marked her spot in her book before getting up and slowly walking to the kitchen island and sitting in one of the high stools.

Steve gave her a small smile at her joining his company.

“Steve?” She said gently. “I have something to tell you.”

He paused what he was doing to look up her worriedly.

“I didn’t tell you the whole story. There’s something else.”

Steve’s face visibly paled. What could be worse than her getting shot? He stepped forward and leaned over the kitchen island toward her, his hands gripping the edge of the countertop.

“I saw Bucky.” Then Y/N blinked. “Or, I guess, the Winter Soldier. But I swore there was a moment when it was Bucky.”

Steve frowned. “Y/N…was it Bucky? Was it Bucky who shot you?”

She blinked again, snapping out of the memory. “No, Steve. He saved me.”

He leaned back in shock at what she said. But he crossed his arms. His face was stern and made him look more like Captain America than Steve Rogers. He wanted – no – he needed answers now.

Y/N’s eyes glazed over as she was dragged back into the memory. “I was right in the middle of the fighting. A Hydra agent saw me. Decided I was an enemy and that’s when I felt the sting. I fell to the ground, convinced I was going to die there. I saw him walking toward me, obviously determined to finish the job.”

Steve was grinding his teeth together.

“Right when he raised his gun, finger on the trigger…there was a shot. But it wasn’t his gun. It was Bucky. He’d had shot one of his own men. He saved me. I looked at him, called his name.” She looked at Steve now. “I swear he recognized me, Steve. For a split second, his face changed like he remembered who he really was.”

Then she shook her head. “He picked me up…carried me to some semblance of shelter, away from the fighting. He looked at me for a moment before running back into the chaos.”

Steve seemed to relax. That was not what he expected to hear.

Y/N reached across the counter to grip one of his hands.

“Bucky’s still in there, Steve. He isn’t lost,” she whispered.

Steve felt a wave of hope wash over his heart. Yes, Bucky had snapped out of it that day when Steve fell from he hellicarrier. His old friend had a moment of lucidity and saved his life. But after Sam followed dead end after dead end, Steve became more and more pessimistic of ever fully recovering his best friend.

A new surge of determination overtook him. He didn’t want to just find his best friend. Now he also had to thank him for saving his girl’s life.

Later that night, Steve called Sam.

He was in Poland, following another possible lead that Nat had sent their way.

Steve often wondered why Sam continued on this wild goose chase. Bucky wasn’t his friend. In fact, he had nearly killed Sam far too many times. But Y/N reminded Steve that Sam was also his best friend. And helping friends was what people did. “You’re not the only person that’s allowed to be selfless, Steve,” Y/N had once reminded her boyfriend.

“He’s always one step ahead of us, Steve.” Sam sighed on the other end of the phone. “Whenever I get to the lead, it doesn’t even seem like he was ever even there. It could’ve been a completely fabricated spotting. This dude’s a ghost.”  

Steve glimpsed through the open crack of his bedroom door. Y/N was still sleeping soundly in his bed. He could hear her soft breathing.

“He saved her life, Sam.” Steve muttered sadly. “I already owed him. But now…I owe him everything.”

Sam exhaled. “I get it, man. Really, I do. But did you ever think there’s a reason he hasn’t come out of hiding? You know… a reason that he hasn’t come to you.”

Steve’s brow furrowed. “What are you trying to say, Sam?”

“Maybe he’s not the only one he’s trying to keep safe, Steve.”

---------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10

Let me know what you think :)

---

I do not do taglists. Here is the series’ masterlist: Non-Sequential

[allspark]

It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like Transformers, Transformers/Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, Usagi Yojimbo, and more! All coming your way for July 17th!

TRANSFORMERS #9

Brian Ruckley (A) Cachet Whitman, Bethany McGuire-Smith (CVR A) Umi Miyao (CVR B) Priscilla Tramontano

Time is running out! Orion Pax, his friends, and the Autobot security forces have to get a grip on their murder investigations as their superior, Sentinel Prime, makes his return to Cybertron! Secrets are revealed as loyalties shift! Sentinel Prime and his diplomatic entourage return!

TRANSFORMERS/GHOSTBUSTERS #2

Erik Burnham (A/CVR A) Dan Schoening (CVR B) Priscilla Tramontano

“GHOSTS OF CYBERTRON” Part 2! Okay. So. It seems as though there are giant robots who can disguise themselves as vehicles out there in the universe, and, as it happens, one of them as taken the place of Ecto-1. When the Ghostbusters discover this replacement, they naturally have a lot of questions-and this time, even the boys in gray might not believe the answers!

TRANSFORMERS #1 3RD PTG

Brian Ruckley (A) Angel Hernandez, Cachet Whitman (CVR) Gabriel Rodriguez

TRANSFORMERS #3 2ND PTG

Brian Ruckley (A) Angel Hernandez, Cachet Whitman (CVR) Nick Roche

TRANSFORMERS #4 2ND PTG

Brian Ruckley (A) Angel Hernandez, Andrew Griffith (A/CVR) Sara Pitre-Durocher

GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #264

Larry Hama (A/CVR A) Netho Diaz (CVR B) Dan Fraga

G.I. Joe battles for justice, liberty, and freedom around the globe, and with the evil terrorist organization known as Cobra slithering around every corner, the stakes have never been higher! Living Legend Larry Hama and superstar artist Netho Diaz continue the latest explosive arc of… G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! The first of two connecting B covers by artist Dan Fraga!

AMBER BLAKE #4 2ND PTG

Jade Lagard?re (A/CVR) Butch Guice

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA TP

Roy Thomas (A) John Nyberg (A/CVR) Mike Mignola

Advance solicited for July release! The comics adaptation based on the film from Columbia Pictures (Sony) and Zoetrope Studios returns with all-new colors. Mike Mignola is one of the most popular comic book artists of the past thirty years, known for such important works as Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Cosmic Odyssey, and, of course, Hellboy. Considered to be among Mignola’s greatest works, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was his last project before Hellboy launched and was originally released as a full-color four issue adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 movie. Updated with all-new colors! New cover by Mignola!

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE COMP LIBRARY HC VOL 03

Lynn Johnston (A/CVR) Lynn Johnston

No phone, no light, no motor car, not a single luxury-John and Phil’s canoe trip turns them into castaways on an island! Once back in civilization, John solves his mid-life crisis by buying a sportscar, and Elly improbably winds up in front of a judge as a result! Michael enters junior high school, but not before learning a different sort of life lesson at summer camp with a girl named Martha, while Liz loses her first tooth, gets her ears pierced, and finds herself in a “Mean Girls” situation with her friends at school. Then it’s wedding bells for Uncle Phil, and Lawrence moves back to town-with a new family of his own! Volume Three, which collects the complete daily and Sunday comics from July 6, 1986 through December 9, 1989, brings to a close the first decade of Lynn Johnston’s modern masterwork, but of course, the story is just getting started…

•   Advance solicited for April release! •   “An exquisite tome… Fans of the highest virtuosity in cartooning will relish this deluxe introduction to the Patterson’s heartfelt and delightful story”-Library Journal •   The beloved newspaper comic strip that chronicled the saga of the Patterson family in real time, over three decades, continues in this, the definitive edition.

FROM HELL MASTER EDITION #6

Alan Moore (A/CA) Eddie Campbell

“From Hell.” The narrative makes room for such figures as Aleister Crowley and William Butler Yeats while the killer writes the note which gives our work its title. Five unsolved murders. Two of the greatest creators in the history of comics. One sprawling conspiracy, one metropolis on the brink of the 20th century, and one bloody-minded Ripper ushering London into the modern age of terror. The award-winning bestseller FROM HELL, often ranked among the greatest graphic novels of all time, takes on haunting new dimensions in FROM HELL: The Master Edition, enhanced with impressionistic hues by Eddie Campbell himself. This volume contains Chapter 9, as well as all the original annotations.

GHOST TREE #4

Bobby Curnow (A/CVR A) Simon Gane

Mysteries are solved as an ancient evil rises. Will Brandt and his family be able to come to terms with their actions before the present is ruined? What does the future hold for those trapped in the past? The heartfelt conclusion to a most unusual tale!

GODZILLA KINGDOM OF MONSTERS TP

Eric Powell, Tracy Marsh, Jason Ciaramella (A) Phil Hester, Victor Santos, Bruce McCorkindale (CVR) Eric Powell

Advance solicited for July release! The King of the Monsters rises again, and he’s bringing lots of other beloved Toho monsters with him in one destructive saga! When Godzilla appears off the coast of Japan, the Japanese government must respond quickly to contain the disaster… but before long, other monsters begin appearing all over the world. Can humanity survive this mysterious onslaught of giant beasts? Featuring Anguirus, Battra, Destroyah, Gigan, Hedorah, King Ghidorah, Kumonga, Mechagodzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Spacegodzilla, and Titanosaurus. Collects the entire 12-issue series for the first time.

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: TEMPEST #6

Alan Moore (A/CVR) Kevin O’Neill

In Moore and O’Neill’s final comic book, this issue masquerading as a British science-fiction weekly, the plot-strands of our concluding volume and loose ends from twenty years of continuity are tied in an ingenious starry bow, as Mina Murray and her legendary confederates transition from the world of fiction past and present to the world of fiction future. Planets end in visual spectacle, lovers are united in the matrimonial event of the millennium, and deadly enemies draw close in the conclusion of their fatal dances. This is your last call for the immaculate crescendo of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. IV, The Tempest.

MARVEL ACTION CLASSICS CAPTAIN AMERICA

Scott Gray, Roger Langridge (A) Craig Russeau, Matteo Lolli (CVR) Clayton Henry

Four tales for the price of one! Captain America, living legend of World War II, battles spies in Hollywood and M.O.D.O.K.’s predecessor P.R.O.D.O.K…. but nothing prepares him for spending the next few decades frozen in ice! When he comes to in the present day, Hydra strikes and Cap learns the action hasn’t let up-the Marvel Action, that is!

•   Classic Captain America tales from the legendary vault of heroes! •   All-ages action in the past and present! •   Reprints Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #8 and #12!

RAGNAROK BREAKING OF HELHEIM #1

Walter Simonson (A/CVR A) Walter Simonson

In the end, the gods gathered together and met their foes on the Battle Plain of Vigrid. There, so the stories tell, the gods and their great enemies slaughtered each other, the stars fell from the sky, Midgard itself sank into the all-encompassing ocean, and the Nine worlds were destroyed. In this issue, Thor hears a voice out of the past and learns that not all the old stories are true, and that the path before him now leads to Helheim, the land of the Dead. Walter Simonson, legendary creator of Star Slammers, Manhunter and the Alien film adaptation (with Archie Goodwin), and the definitive version (after Stan and Jack) of Marvel’s Thor, presents the next thrilling chapter of his own post-Ragnarok Thor saga!

RIP KIRBY HC VOL 11 1973-1975

Fred Dickenson (A/CVR) John Prentice

The longest-running modern adventure strip continues with 11 new stories starring the debonair private detective, reproduced from the original King Features Syndicate proofs. In these stories, Rip Kirby takes part in an old-style shoot-out in a nearly deserted Western ghost town, battles the deadly Owl and the Pussycat over a hidden stash of heroin, and rubs a magic lamp the wrong way in a Turkish bazaar. After learning he is the doppelganger of the crown prince of a postage stamp-sized country, the bespectacled detective follows the train of a counterfeit two million before being framed by a paroled con man who wants to get even with Rip for making him play second fiddle in the prison orchestra. Plus-the long-awaited return of Rip’s original girlfriend, Honey Dorian, as well as his arch-nemesis, the deadly Mangler! The more than 800 sequential comics from January 22, 1974 to October 11, 1975 also feature Rip’s new girlfriend, Holly Glowstep, and standbys such as Desmond, Wiggins, and Ma Casino.

•   Advance solicited for July release! •   “John Prentice’s work is superb. He’s one of the few cartoonists who took an important strip by a great cartoonist and did it not only justice, but in some ways, was as good as-and in some cases better than-the originator.”-Tom De Haven, author of the Derby Dugan trilogy

ROAD OF BONES #3

Rich Douek (A/CVR A) Alex Cormack

There is no god but hunger. And the loss of their food has driven Roman, Grigori, and Sergei to the absolute extreme. Knives are sharpened and souls are searched as each man decides just how far he is willing to go in order to survive the brutal tundra. One thing is certain, though-one must die for the others to live. Escape from the gulag takes a brutal and horrific turn in Road of Bones #3, from writer Rich Douek (Gutter Magic) and artist Alex Cormack (SINK).

SONS OF CHAOS HC GN

Chris Jaymes (A) Alejandro Aragon

Oversized, panoramic graphic novel Sons of Chaos, exposes the quiet agenda of the Ottoman Empire’s most brutal dictator, and his fascination with a young Greek boy that led to a war that would define the Western World.

An immersion into the moments we never see, and the self-serving motivations that convince a nation that violence is warranted, and that war is necessary.

In honor of the 200 Year anniversary of the Greek War for Independence, Sons of Chaos presents the story of 1821 through the eyes of Marcos Botsaris, the son of a respected Greek leader taken prisoner as a child and raised within the dungeons of history’s most infamous Ottoman Pasha, known as the “Napoleon of the East”– Ali Pasha of Ioannina.  Over the next ten years, the bond formed between them would define history.

The Greek War for Independence was a conflict that quietly influenced the entire world and participants ranged from the London Stock Exchange to celebrities such as Lord Byron, as well as average impassioned Americans willing to transport themselves across the Atlantic to fight alongside the Greeks.

This conflict was the pinnacle of what we now know as the Romantic Period and yet, it’s a war that few know ever existed outside of the Greek and Turkish cultures; a war that stimulated the fall of the Ottoman Empire and shaped Western Civilization as we now know it, and in a sense is being fought today under a different heading amongst today’s political world leaders.

Hundreds of years of Ottoman rule gave the Greeks a reason to fight. Marcos Botsaris gave them a leader.

THEY CALLED US ENEMY TP

George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steve Scott (A/CVR) Harmony Becker

Advance solicited for July release! George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father’s-and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future.

In a stunning graphic memoir, Takei revisits his haunting childhood in American concentration camps, as one of over 100,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon-and America itself-in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love.

TREASURES RETOLD: THE LOST ART OF ALEX TOTH HC

Alex Toth (A/CVR) Alex Toth

A blockbuster collection of rare and little seen stories and artwork by the legendary Alex Toth. Included are complete stories from the 1950s and beyond, recently discovered color animation storyboards and presentation drawings, sketches and doodles, industrial comics, and individual pages from obscure comics and magazines. It’s a treasure trove that makes a fitting companion to the three-time Eisner Award-winning Alex Toth: Genius trilogy.

Toth’s significance to comics and animation art cannot be overstated. During his career, he was the comics field’s foremost proponent of modern design and composition. His work influenced almost every one of his contemporaries and has continued to work its magic on the generations that followed.

•   Advance solicited for March release! •   The Alex Toth: Genius trilogy won the Harvey award and three Eisner awards!

USAGI YOJIMBO #2

Stan Sakai (A/CVR) Stan Sakai

“Bunraku,” Part 2. Strange circumstances continue to surround a travelling puppet show as Usagi becomes embroiled in one of his most eerie adventures yet! Will the aid of a supernatural ally be enough for Usagi to prevent more death? Stan Sakai’s long-running epic continues its first thrilling storyline at IDW Publishing! Exciting samurai action, now in color!

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IDW Comics Shipping List for July 17th! It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like…