#artist: denizens of the emerald city

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

No One Mourns The Wicked • Dear Old Shiz • The Wizard And I • What Is This Feeling? • Something Bad • Dancing Through Life • Popular • I'm Not That Girl • One Short Day • A Sentimental Man • Defying Gravity • Thank Goodness • Wonderful • I'm Not That Girl (Reprise) • As Long As You're Mine • No Good Deed • March Of The Witch Hunters • For Good • Finale

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[ellekhen]

The Dance [WIP]

Mirror, mirror - Chapter 25 - The gift.

Church gets a mischievous glint in his eye before he pulls a protesting Astarion into the fray. “Do you remember how to do this Hearth-style?” the tiefling laughs.

“Absolutely not,” Astarion sputters, fighting back a smile despite himself.

“Mind if I remind you?”

The elf finds himself laughing, dazed, as the tiefling pulls him in close by the waist — nearly nose to nose as he spins him around the floor, tail whipping with each flourish. He imagines they must make for an odd sight — the tiefling with his sharp-fanged, pale companion. He notices that most of Lydia’s regulars seem pleased to see the warlock, but there are a handful of grumbling denizens who take the tiefling’s arrival as their cue to leave for the evening.

Well, they can go fuck themselves; it leaves more room on the floor for the couple to get lost in each other.

Astarion is reminded of that first night he ever saw Church dance, during the tiefling party outside of the Emerald Grove. The warlock had scooped up one of the young Elturians, swinging her around in a tempest of raucous laughter and clumsy feet. It was a distinct contrast to the courtly dances the spawn had known from his time in the city.

No matter how clumsy it seemed, Astarion did envy how freely the tieflings seemed to move together. He didn’t miss how the Elturian batted her eyelashes and pressed her whispering lips up to the warlock’s ear. But the longer he watched, the more Astarion smirked at the Elturian’s best efforts. After all, he knew whose bedroll Church was going to end up in by the end of the night. And by the warlock’s wide, bright eyes and flushing face as he made eye contact with him during the dance, Astarion was confident that Church knew too.

In the present, the elf tightens his hold on the tiefling’s waist, burying his head in his shoulder as their spinning slows along with the music. Part of him wishes they had been bold enough back then for Astarion to pull the tiefling back onto that camp dance floor and show him off with his hands on his shoulder and the small of his back. Maybe it even would have saved Gale and Wyll from embarrassment in their future overtures later down the line…

But he shakes himself from his regret. Astarion is here, now, in front of these strangers savoring these moments of holding his Church close, letting the tiefling lead him in the quaint village dance that lets the elf bask in the heat of his body and his ebullient smiles and laughter.

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Author/Artist’s Note: Getting back into drawing, thanks to these two! Feeling pretty rusty but there’s been a ton of comfort in stretching that part of the brain again. Very much a work in progress (Church definitely looks a tad more buff here haha) but I already loved the lineart and wanted to share. :)

[suzylwade]

Inside Tangier “Tangier is indeed a strange, alluring place, one that seduced me from the moment that I first arrived in the sultry height of summer some thirty years ago. I was there to work on an Agatha Christie-themed fashion shoot and we photographed at the Minzah hotel, where the white-turbaned bellhops in their scarlet bloomers darted about bearing glasses of sugar-freighted mint tea, and in Majid’s magical emporium of ancient Moroccan textiles and treasures … before the handsome gateway to the square of the Casbah … and against the ancient doorways of the Medina, painted lapis and malachite and ruby. A beauteous troupe, we were soon swept into the whirlwind of Tangier life, spinning through the courtyards of York Castle for a “White Party” hosted by the gregarious Yves Vidal, and taking tea with the Honourable David Herbert, to the urgent chatter of parrots and cockatoos in the house on the New Mountain that he had painted the colour of raspberry fool. The artist Lawrence Mynott, standing in for Hercule Poirot for our story, liked the city so much that he never left. I discovered a windswept place clotted with memories borne by the eccentric denizens, many of whom had washed up on its sandy shores before Independence in 1956, when Tangier was a still a free port — the real-life model for the city that they called Casablanca in the 1942 movie. Paul Bowles was still very much a part of the city’s fibre, although he had largely retrenched to an ascetic dwelling in a dreary 1950s apartment building, but there were still many people who had cruised with Francis Bacon and Joe Orton and Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal, when it was, as Edmund White recalled, the “Sin City of the Western World,” and who had got stoned with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg and The Stones — and partied with the dime store heiress Barbara Hutton at Sidi Hosni, her lugubrious palace in the Medina where she strummed her lute draped in spangled saris and crowned in Catherine the Great’s emeralds.” - An excerpt from Hamish Bowles’ introduction to 'Inside Tangier: Houses & Gardens' by Nicolò Castellini Baldissera and Guido Taroni, published by ‘Vendome Press’. #neonurchin (at Tangier, Morocco) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sDTHNgYG1/?igshid=1mxi73kz0n2zq

[aion-rsa]

Zod Joins [REDACTED], Aquaman is Impeached in DC’s May Solicits Highlights

May promises to be a busy month for DC Comics, which continues to flesh out its Rebirth mystery with a revelation here and a tease there. But there’s a lot more going on outside of the “when are the Watchmen showing up?” mystery.

EXCLUSIVE: Dixon & Nolan Return to Bane for New DC Series

For starters, Batman’s most dangerous enemy, Bane, is poised to headline his own series when Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan present “Bane: Conquest.”

In the 12-part series, the title villain will reunite with Bird, Trogg and Zombie, his henchmen that have been mostly missing in action since their introduction in the 1993-1993 “Batman: Knightfall” arc, but who re-surfaced as part of the “I Am Bane” storyline. According to DC’s official description of the series, Bane will take his criminal ambitious out of Gotham, in search of “new cities to conquer and new enemies to crush.”

Of course, the rest of the DCU has other things to worry about, from new enemies to betrayal by old friends, and yes, some more Rebirth developments. Here are the highlights of DC Comics’ solicitations for MAy 2017.

The Suicide Squad drafts its most powerful member ever, when Amanda Waller convinces General Zod to join her deadly team. The storyline crosses over with the latest “Action Comics” saga, “Revenge,” which sees the Rebirth genesis of the Superman Revenge Squad

Ryan Choi and Caitlin Snow are in love, or at least the early stages of it. “Justice League of America” #11 promises developments in the “budding romance” between Killer Frost and The Atom. But even bigger, the sopy declares we’ll see “a moment fans have been waiting for since DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH!”

Scott Snyder re-teams with his “American Vampire” partner Rafael ALbuquerque for a new arc of “All Star Batman.” Rather than focusing on the Dark Knight’s classic rogues, “The First Ally” will introduce new bad guys to Batman’s universe, and possible betrayal from “one of his closest allies.”

Aquaman finds himself more or less impeached in the first chapter of “Crown of Atlantis.” When the citizens of his kingdom grow tired of their constant battles with the surface world they attempt to overthrow the king.

“League of Shadows” concludes in “Detective Comics,” which teases the permanent loss of one member of Batman’s team due to the actions of Lady Shiva’s power play on Gotham City.

Stephanie Brown takes the spotlight in the next issue, when “Detective Comics” #957 debuts “The Wrath Of Spoiler.” The description teases a “very unlikely ally” will help Stephanie in her battle, so place your bets as to who will join her.

“Green Lanterns” #23 teases a possible break-up of the partnership between Simon Baz and Jessica Ruiz. The Green Lantern Corps strikes a deal with the Sinestro Corps resulting in one Green and one Yellow Lantern per sector, which means Sector 2814 has an extra Lantern.

Nicola Scott returns to “Wonder Woman,” albeit briefly. Scott joins Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp and a number of other artists for “Wonder Woman Annual” #1. Through several short stories, we’ll see Diana’s first encounter with Batman and Superman and learn how their relationships evolved over time.

The Legion of Super-Heroes Rebirth mystery deepens in “Supergirl” #9. Not only does the issue involve the Phantom Zone (ie: the place where Mon-El spent centuries awaiting a cure for his lead poisoning), it features the Emerald Empress and her attempts to build a team of villains. Chances are good we’re about to see the Fatal Five crash the Rebirth party.

We already knew about the Teen Titans/Titans/Deathstroke crossover, but the solicitation text for the 4-part storyline’s finale, “the consequences of which will be felt for years to come,” and Wally West’s role in the center of the conflict indicate that it will have massive repercussions on the Rebirth timeline.

Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello, Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson’s “Dark Knight III: The Master Race” concludes when issue #9 arrives in May.

“Bug: The Adventures of a Forager” brings Jack Kirby’s New Gods to DC’s Young Animal imprint. The series, by Lee, Mike and Laura Allred, explores Kirby’s Fourth World reality, following the adventures of one of its lowest denizens as Bug attempts to elevate himself to the status of a New God.

The post Zod Joins [REDACTED], Aquaman is Impeached in DC’s May Solicits Highlights appeared first on CBR.com.

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[suzylwade]

Inside Tangier “Tangier is indeed a strange, alluring place, one that seduced me from the moment that I first arrived in the sultry height of summer some thirty years ago. I was there to work on an Agatha Christie-themed fashion shoot and we photographed at the Minzah hotel, where the white-turbaned bellhops in their scarlet bloomers darted about bearing glasses of sugar-freighted mint tea, and in Majid’s magical emporium of ancient Moroccan textiles and treasures … before the handsome gateway to the square of the Casbah … and against the ancient doorways of the Medina, painted lapis and malachite and ruby. A beauteous troupe, we were soon swept into the whirlwind of Tangier life, spinning through the courtyards of York Castle for a “White Party” hosted by the gregarious Yves Vidal, and taking tea with the Honourable David Herbert, to the urgent chatter of parrots and cockatoos in the house on the New Mountain that he had painted the colour of raspberry fool. The artist Lawrence Mynott, standing in for Hercule Poirot for our story, liked the city so much that he never left. I discovered a windswept place clotted with memories borne by the eccentric denizens, many of whom had washed up on its sandy shores before Independence in 1956, when Tangier was a still a free port — the real-life model for the city that they called Casablanca in the 1942 movie. Paul Bowles was still very much a part of the city’s fibre, although he had largely retrenched to an ascetic dwelling in a dreary 1950s apartment building, but there were still many people who had cruised with Francis Bacon and Joe Orton and Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal, when it was, as Edmund White recalled, the “Sin City of the Western World,” and who had got stoned with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg and The Stones — and partied with the dime store heiress Barbara Hutton at Sidi Hosni, her lugubrious palace in the Medina where she strummed her lute draped in spangled saris and crowned in Catherine the Great’s emeralds.” - An excerpt from Hamish Bowles’ introduction to 'Inside Tangier: Houses & Gardens' by Nicolò Castellini Baldissera and Guido Taroni, published by ‘Vendome Press’. #neonurchin (at Tangier, Morocco) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sDTHNgYG1/?igshid=z5li0y07rwc2