#but for a guest appearance the writing for Moon Knight here was a lot of fun

[age-of-moonknight]

“Case Number: 004 ‘Who Is Victor Shade?’” Avengers Inc. (Vol. 1/2023), #4.

Writer: Al Ewing; Penciler and Inker: Leonard Kirk; Colorist: Alex Sinclair; Letterer: Cory Petit

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: Learning to Crawl (issue 35)

Moon Knight, Issue # 35: Second Wind

Written by Tony Isabella and drawn by Carl Potts

Hey look! The X-men are in this one! And the Fantastic Four! That’s a lot of cross-over. As I’ve stated before, a lot of times when you have a ‘features’ on the cover, it means the characters show up briefly to do a one liner, then leave. A ploy to try to draw in more readers and sell more issues. Let’s see how much they all feature in this! 

And the plot summary? “Following last issue’s devastation, Moon Knight is at a crossroads on whether or not to continue his vigilante career. Guest-starring the X-Men and FF!” 

Now, keep in mind that this is a new writer (One that was acclaimed and recently retired that came out of retirement to guest appear) right after Moench left Marvel. So we're getting the character intro that feels more geared towards the writer than the audience. ALSO this is a cross over ultra long issue so they are hoping to have NEW readers that are here for the X-men and that will get interested in Moon Knight and then start reading regularly.

So we're not only going to get over intros of the characters, but we're also going to get a heavily watered down edition of the characters because the new readers aren't here for lore, they're here for X-men. 

We open at midnight in Manhattan. 

"It's Midnight when the man born Marc Spector (but who has long since glided into other identities as easily as he now glides over the city) spots the quarry that has brought him out into the darkness. 

Thus Marc Spector begins this in his identity as the costumed adventurer Moon Knight. When it ends he will know who he truly is...and why." 

His prey is "The Fly", who focuses on robbing rich vacation homes while the owners are away. 

After noting that The Fly recently went up against Spider-Man and lost, Moon Knight sneaks up on The Fly and immediately gets his ass kicked. He spends a lot of time on the ground. 

He’s doing well. 

OH. OH NO. I know this comic! (it may come as a surprise to some of you that I do not read the comics then write these analysis. I do a life reaction.) I knew this was coming but it had completely escaped me that THIS was how it happened. Oh. My. Khonshu. This is embarrassing. 

As always, Frenchie is up above keeping an eye on things. When he spots "The Fly" getting away, he radios down to Moon Knight. 

Worried for his friend, he climbs down from the chopper and finds Marc laid out on the roof, unable to move and barely able to speak. 

I must say, the art and colors on this issue are spectacular. 

Frenchie gets Marc to his chopper. 

"Moon Knight glides from pain to oblivion to delirium in no discernible pattern. Once he curses himself through agonized tears for being so sloppy this time. 

Once he wakes in madness to quote Keats. 'There is not a fiercer hell than the failure in a great object.'" 

Side note: We've seen Marc, specifically Marc, quote classical literature before. Marc is shockingly well read and it makes me wonder why he hides how smart he is. In later issues he talks about his struggles in school, but Marc Spector really is very smart. (An idiot but smart). 

John Keats is an English romantic poet. He is famously known for "Beauty in truth, truth in beauty".

Jean-Paul takes Marc to a private hospital that 'doesn't ask questions'. 

He undergoes surgery, but his spinal damage is great. They tell Marlene that they've done what they can and the rest lays in subsequent therapy. "I'm afraid it's entirely possible that Steven Grant may never walk again." 

We move to Paris where a young up and coming dancer is running for her life from some unseen danger. 

Her assailant is a woman who accuses her of abandoning Russia and taking all her gifts with her. The attacker uses the wind as her power and sends the girl off into the sky to meet a terrible fate. 

Back in Grant Mansion, we see one of the Moon Boys working on parallel bars to learn to walk again. The whole time, he curses himself for letting The Fly get away. 

Now, for the past couple of issues, Moon Knight has been facing another internal conflict of if he is doing any good. The people he was supposed to help turned out to be th villains and the villains turned out to be guided by circumstances and then paid a terrible price. 

"I'm not sure I should ever think about Moon Knight again... I mean, what if it's somebody else's life on the line next time I screw up?" 

Marlene calls an end to today's therapy session and helps 'Steven' back to his wheelchair. 

Samules, the butler, announces a guest and Gena busts in at full speed. 

"Guests, Sammy? We're family. Right Lockley?" 

"How's the kids, Gena?" (Jake is always such a sweetie). 

She gives him a hug and I may tear up. I love Gena so much. 

Crawley bursts in next. 

Jake's friends have always been his support and his heart. 

Jake is worried about the boys. 

Gena is too. "This sure isn't the easiest city in the world to grow up in...Even for good kids." 

They reflect on the gangs always recruiting new members. 

They talk about how Lenny, from the Music box issue, is serving time despite being a good kid. They reflect on the gang that was poisoned and attacked Gena in her diner. 

"Those are the reasons I'm thinking of leaving. My brother has a place in Houston. He needs a manager. Hard decision to make." Gena admits. 

"Do what's best for you and the kids. But... If you can --stay. You've got family here too." 

It's hard to let go of friends. Especially someone as important to their way of life and joy like Gena. Jake relies so heavily on his routine. He visits the diner for breakfast frequently and he goes there when things are stressful or he wants to get away from Steven's life and people. 

Gena heads out, back to the diner. Crawley lingers to have a word. 

Moon Knight used to pay Crawley for information. Crawley has always had a gambling problem and he admits that he's been in it again and is out of cash and overdue on the rent again. 

"I...I was wondering if Moon Knight would be requiring my services soon." 

I'm not sure who is fronting at this junction, but he's giving Steven vibes so I'll say Steven. 

Steven admits that he doesn't know when he'll be up and able to walk again, much less Moon Knighting... 

"I'm not sure Moon Knight will be back." 

Marlene offers to put Crawley on a retainer and holds out some cash. 

"Oh, no. I'm afraid I've gotten to enjoy working for a living again. Not to worry, my dear, I'll be fine." 

Crawley refuses help and asks to be notified if his services are needed. He heads back to the diner.

Steven is angry. "He's my friend, Marlene, and for the first time I'm wondering if it hasn't been my needs as Moon Knight that have kept him down in the gutters--While I come home to THIS every morning.

Maybe it is time to retire as Moon Knight." 

He heads into the room that houses his Khonshu statue. 

"What do you say, Khonshu, Old boy? Is the wheelchair and the legs that won't work some sort of sign that my tour of duty as Moon Knight is over? Have I paid for the crimes of my past? 

All the men I am... Can I put Mercenary Spector to rest? Can I stop driving Lockley's cab?

Can I finally be the man I want to be? I WANT to be Steven Grant, Marlene. He's a good man...The kind of man who could make you happy." 

"That would be nice. Let's talk about it...Sometime." 

"Right. Well, wheelchair or not, I've still got a life to lead. Let's get on with it." 

Narration: And if Khonshu has any thoughts of his own to add...He keeps his own counsel.

So we are dealing with Steven primarily in the chair. It’s interesting that Steven is the one dealing with the PT and learning how to cope. We get glimpses of Jake, but mostly it’s Steven wondering what sort of life he is supposed to follow. The desire to just be Steven. To be a good man. To make Marlene happy. 

Next we see Marlene and Steven going to a Ballet. Steven has sponsored the local ballet in an effort to be "just a good citizen doing what he can." 

Steven goes to meet the star, Sergey Valberg. He's brought along the media to help promote the company and get more people to the Ballet. 

As the media sets up, we catch a glimpse of the angry woman from before that sent the other dancer to space. 

Sergey has agreed to let the media record his rehearsal. They watch in amazement as he dances when suddenly...

A gust of wind knocks all the security around and the woman enters the room. "Sergey... Your dance is over." 

"Marlene... I think she's here to kill him! Try to cover me while I...I... Sit here like a helpless cripple." Steven is realizing he can't do anything.

Wind lady blows the chair over for his trouble. 

Sergey recognizes her. He calls her Bora. 

"I have heard...of a woman whose heart is as cold as the frigid winds she commands. I had hoped I heard wrong." 

She had once rehearsed under Sergey, dreaming of being a great ballerina. Then she found out that she was a Mutant as she not only gained wind powers, but she also grew to over seven feet tall! 

When she went to him for help, she found out that he had fled Russia to America. 

Her dreams of being a ballerina were over. 

"I awoke to find my long cherished goals thrust eternally beyond my reach, for what choreographer had ever conceived a ballet for a seven foot tall artist?!" 

So naturally she decided to punish all those who defected from Russia. 

She drops the temperature to below freezing as the winds swirl around them.... And Sergey starts to dance. 

"If I die, It will be as I have lived--Honoring life through my dance!" 

Steven is helpless to watch from outside of the rehearsal room as the temperature drops and the winds blow. 

"The Bora is a cold, dry wind. It can reach speeds of 125 miles per hour and has been known to overturn trucks. He lets the gusts catch him in mid leap.

His dance has become a language now... His movements its alphabet. The opposition of arms and legs create words. His dance speaks to Steven Grant. It speaks of courage unconquerable." 

Steven crawls to the glass and struggles to get to his feet. 

"The temperature in the enclosed studio is now sixty degrees below zero. The sentences form more slowly. Indeed, there is only breath left...for one... final... statement." 

Sergey takes a final leap. 

"The dancer is dead... But not his dance." 

The wind woman departs and Steven is left helpless. 

He has realized a truth. He asks Marlene to take him home. 

Love the imagery of Khonshu’s statue behind Marlene. “Inside the mansion there is a cold silence. It reminds Marlene of a tomb…in Egypt.” 

"Because I have to be here. Because I'm needed." Steven sits in the wheelchair clutching at the Moon Knight cowl. "You know what's out there. It's a world in which the savages all too often rule our cities, our streets, our souls. 

The Good citizens... The Grants, the Lockley's...They fight that tyranny as best they can. They aren't always enough." 

Steven is starting to understand that as much as he wants to be the good person and the only person, he can't. 

"Moon Knight is more than a good man. He's a force that transcends the brutality and the fear that are the savages' main weapons--Because he can use those weapons himself. 

He's a savage on the side of the angels. A protector of innocents... A symbol of vengeance and hope. And, God willing, If he does his job well enough... He'll be the last savage." 

It's an interesting understanding by Steven. Viewing Moon Knight a a necessary violence force. But does he see Moon Knight as his own person, as Marc Spector, or as all of them working together? 

I know how Moench would portray Moon Knight, but with him out of the picture, how is Marvel going to let the character of Moon Knight advance? 

Steven attempts to stand. 

He fights through the pain. 

For once, he’s not looking to Khonshu for support. Or a miracle. 

"This is the truth learned. That being Moon Knight is not a curse... Nor a state of penance. It is simply who and what he was always meant to be." 

So what is Moon Knight's first course of action? 

He goes to see Professor Charles Xavier's school for gifted youngsters. 

Alright. We are a little over halfway through the comic and we are finally bringing in the X-men. 

He speaks with the Professor himself. 

"The Russians have been unusually co-operative with the bare facts. She's fourteen, off her nut, and operating without their sanction. Not enough. I need to know how her powers work!" 

Moon Knight notes that there are four more defectors in the ballet company and he bets she'll strike again on opening night. 

Professor tells him how he thinks Bora's power works then asks if Moon Knight thinks one man can stop her. 

"I don't know. I don't see where I have any choice but to try. Thank you for your help, professor." 

Leaving, Professor X watches him go. 

"He has doubts. His injury--His recent failure....The pain that yet wracks his body. They all work against him. And still he strives to overcome. The man's determination is both inspiring and frightening." 

He calls in Colossus and Nightcrawler. 

Mostly because you can’t have a comic that boasts about an X-man crossover without the x-men. And any time there’s a one off X-men crossover, they tend to just kinda throw Colossus and Nightcrawler at the situation back in the day. (Current day it’s more like wolverine or some random side characters that Marvel wants to promote at the time for a smaller comic). 

Nightcrawler makes the argument that Mutants should deal with Mutants. 

"I would agree...Normally... But Moon Knight is at a crossroad in his life. He must be given the chance to prove himself to himself. He is a powerful force for good. 

Perhaps more powerful, in his own way, than we X-men. We will not interfere unless necessary." 

Yet... They do all agree that a night at the Ballet might be nice. 

Outside the school we find Frenchie chatting up Storm. 

Opening night, the theater is packed! And what's this? The Thing! 

He says his hello to Nightcrawler. 

Nightcrawler admits that he's there as 'unofficial back-up'. 

Ben laughs. "I guess that makes yours truly and pals the "Official Back-ups, then." 

It would seem that Moon Knight knew he wasn't fully up to full strength so he called in a little extra help. 

"The Fantastic four!" Kirk turns to his row and admits "I, too, came with 'Pals'!" 

And there we see more of the X-men! I'm not a big X-men reader, so I only recognize two, maybe three of the ones there. 

It's also interesting that Moon Knight would specifically ask for help from the fantastic four. He's only had run-ins with DareDevil, Ben, and the Hulk up to this point. Inviting Dare Devil to the ballet would be... a bit off. And the Hulk wouldn't exactly be good backup. 

It's also hilarious that to this day, Ben still considers Moon Knight a friend and every single year will send him Hanukkah cards. In later issues, Moon Knight admits that there aren't a lot of Jewish heroes and that Ben needs to meet others besides himself, since he isn't exactly the most observant. But it's still touching how Ben said "This is my friend." and clung to him for so long.

We see Moon Knight himself up in a box seat overlooking the stage. (And this image really tickled me for POTO reasons. If you know, you know.) 

"But if Kurt Wagner has gained new respect for the Moon's Knight of Vengeance, the object of that praise is himself still wrestling with doubts.

Bora has the power to level this theater. He was crippled by a glorified burglar. Memories of past failure assail him. The waiting is a battle in itself. And that he does not surrender to his doubts in those seemingly interminable minutes is a victory as great as any he has known." 

Okay okay okay. Let's take a moment to appreciate the actual Ballet! 

"Laurencia" - A story of love and tyranny. 

A ballet by Chabukiani. As wiki informs me, "Created at a time when 'choreodrama' was considered in the Soviet Union the only acceptable form of contemporary ballet.' 

Basically it stresses that dance was an ultimate form of expression and all movement should serve as a purpose. 

So ballet at the time seemed to focus heavily on drama based plays. 

The story the ballet is based on is one of a peasant revolution. Which, if you know the most basic of Russian history, this was a big deal for the Soviet Union. 

Now, Chabukiani created his own form of choreographic language in Ballet where he focused heavily on the Male Dancer and created 'the heroic male dance'. 

The play is pretty simple. Village awaits the return of some grand Commander with his army. Meanwhile a girl and her admirer are flirting. The commander returns and immediately desires the beautiful girl. She rejects him so he leaves with his army. The admirer asks the girl to marry him but she isn't sure and doesn't answer. The Commander returns and tries to have the girl. She rejects him again and this time he leaves promising revenge. The girl marries her admirer but the commander interrupts the wedding and arrests her groom. Pretty pissed off, she rallies the village and they storm the castle. They kill the commander and free the groom. 

The original story was written in the 1600s and was based on a real story. 

Back to the comic! 

Bora interrupts just as the revolt against the evil Commander is taking place. 

Winds batter around the ballerinas as Bora steps on stage. 

"The winds of retribution have pursued you from the homeland you hae betrayed! They have decreed your punishment! And they have named Me Your executioner!" 

The X-men and the Fantastic Four hold off, wanting to let Moon Knight take his chance to redeem himself to himself. 

(It's also funny to watch a woman command the winds and have Storm be there like, "Oh she is not going to get away with this".) 

Moon Knight leaps down onto the stage. 

She immediately blasts him with wind. This gives the dancers time to make their escape as he fights against the wind storm. 

Professor X had guessed that Bora's powers were psionic in nature. She was not generating the wind herself like Storm does, but she was opening a sort of portal to harness the winds from their original location. 

Off stage, Marlene and Frenchie flip on the lights and buzzers, giving Bora a massive headache and thus she loses control of her wind. 

The notion that Steven goes around building things ‘just in case Moon Knight needs them’ is hilarious. 

The Fantastic Four do their thing and ensure that the audience and fleeing Ballerina are not injured in the wild winds. 

You gotta love cross-over comics. The X-men could have ended this immediately. Much less the Fantastic. Both in the same building? Come on. But this isn’t their comic. They are guests in this comic so they gotta watch Moon Knight, a man without a single ounce of power who just finished recovering from massive spinal injury crawl across the stage. Look at him go. He’s used to being on the ground anyways. 

We get to see the Various X-men like Kitty Pride and storm and Colossus do their thing to help people. We also see the Fantastic Four do their own thing. 

Pretty pissed off, Bora now focuses fully on Moon Knight and he's getting blown around a bit. 

"The temperature drops rapidly, a full degree per second. He cannot feel what he clutches in his hand. He does not stop. Ice daggers cut deep into his flesh. And still he does not stop." 

Nightcrawler pops in just behind her, giving her a start. The momentary distraction is enough for Moon Knight to get to her and...

DID HE JUST CHLOROFORM HER?!

Yep. Sure did… 

Well... It worked. She passes out. 

Later, back at Grant Mansion Marlene and Steven talk.

"You're tired." "I am exhausted--and in excruciating pain--and feeling completely, totally wonderful!" 

"No more doubts?" 

"Lots. But I won't quit again. What we do is important." 

"I can live with that." 

And we end on Khonshu's statue gazing at Marlene and Steven embracing. 

OKAY. Coming from the future and gazing upon the past, we know what is to come in the comics much much distance from when this one was written. 

He does in fact quit again. He also ends up in a wheelchair again. What’s the difference? This time, it is Steven that handles it. In the future issue, it’s MARC that handles it. Another huge difference? In the future issue with Marc being left crippled, his friends have all left him and he suffers alone, angry, and in despair. This time, we see their friends rally around him. Steven is practical in how he confronts the problem, and Steven takes them through the rehab PT, he puts in the work, and he understands what it means to not be able to recover. He accepts potential failure and he makes peace with it. 

Marc does not. In that future episode, Marc pushes himself over and over again and suffers in miserable agony as he fails and fails and fails. Steven accepts that he is a good man and he can live with himself if he can’t be Moon Knight. Marc cannot. 

We also see the general use of ‘What WE do is important.’. He won’t quit again. He, being Steven Grant, acknowledges that he gave up too soon. He settled too soon and didn’t leave the others any say in the matter. He wrote off Jake and Marc and Moon Knight. Now he sees that he can’t do that. Moon Knight needs his place. 

What I also love is that this was again another show of a battle against oneself. We see him struggling again with his own failures and dip into self depredation. They suffer with imposter syndrome and doubt and depression. He acknowledges that the doubt is still there. That they are still struggling, but that they now know that they need to keep pushing on and forward. 

What I didn’t like about this issue? What happens to the girl? What happened to Bora after she is defeated? 14 years old and her dreams of ballet are gone and she is obviously not taking anything well. Do they just hand her over to the X-men to deal with? Also the main ballet dancer was killed! And the ballet just goes on? He was a pretty important figure it seems like! And the girl from earlier that was killed! I hate loose ends. 

Overall, I really did enjoy this issue, even if it was a cross-over with loose ends. This is the last we see of special guest writer Tony Isabella. In the next issue, we get our first full one from Zelenetz!

[treasureswordsgirl55]

Nice To Meet You, Baby

Pairing: Steven Grant x Fem!Reader x Marc Spector

Mentions: DID

Warnings ⚠️: Fluff. So fluff. Sexual Tension. The Boys and Reader are friends. First Meeting. Post!Moon Knight.

Author's Note: Hello everybody!

I'm posting this fic again 'cause I'm having troubles with my tumblr account and this fic doesn't appear in my main page So.... Here we go, again.

I'm here again with the fic that my beautiful cat Atlas (She) delete it from my laptop yesterday.

I re-write the best I could (and remember) and this is the result.

The Moon Boys deserves all the love in the universe. (And that "Baby" from Marc was enough for my heart ❤️)

I hope you like this one and thanks for all the reblogs, likes and comments. All of them are always appreciated! 💖💖

For last, welcome to my new followers and readers, enjoy the reading!

XOXO 😘 Noe!

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

- Steven?

I hear the sound of running water from the kitchen and as soon as I get closer, I see that Steven is finishing rinsing the dishes we used for dinner.

When we finished dinner, we had a little fight about who should wash them, and as much as I wanted to impose on it, he won the verbal battle claiming that, this time, I was his guest. So I didn't have to do anything.

I watch him for a few seconds, enjoying the familiarity of his movements as well as his home state, where he is more relaxed and natural than usual and I hear him mutter under his breath about self-inflicted silence, self-control, the restraints on his bed and I have no doubt that he is talking to Marc, his other identity.

Steven had changed a lot since I last saw him, and accepting Marc as a vital part of him helped the process along. Although I don't know Marc, I guess he's similar to Steven, because they seem to complement each other very well and that suits him, who no longer seems like the man who seemed to be stalked by the devil to take him to his personal hell.

- Steven? - He turns quickly with the yellow cloth in his hand while he gives me a shy and warm smile - I didn't mean to....

- Sorry, I was talking to Marc.

I nod as I get close enough to lean against the book-strewn table that faces the small kitchen, watching Steven put the rag away in one of the cupboard drawers before turning his attention back to me.

- From the way you murmured, I assumed you didn't want me to listen... Does Marc not want me here?

I joke as Steven walks over to me with a cup of tea and hands it to me as I nod my thanks before taking a sip and keeping from letting out a groan.

English Breakfast before bed is heaven for me.

Steven shakes his head as he leans against the kitchen table, crossing his arms over his chest.

"How come I haven't met her before, Steven? After everything we've been through together, are you hiding things from me now?"

- Quite the contrary - He mutters somewhat distractedly while smiling at something that he only listens to - He really likes the idea that you're here... Just like me.

I nod as I pick up the cup and take another sip of tea, trying to make my action cover the blush that invades my cheeks at his words, but I see that I fail miserably when I see that he laughs.

- You've become more confident.

He walks over to my side with his mug and sits on the free edge of the table, where he pushes aside the books about Area 51 and the secret US projects that rest on it.

- Marc helps - he lets out a sigh and several of his curls fall on his forehead with the movement of his head - He's upset that he didn't know about you before.

He lets out a laugh that echoes around his apartment as he takes a sip of tea from his mug and frowns at it.

- Let me guess... Marc hates tea and you love it.

"Steven... I need to meet her. Someone who knows I hate tea without knowing me is worth it."

- So much notice?

- Too much For a moment you made a face as if you were disgusted by tea - We both smiled and I let myself go for the moment, seeing him relaxed, calm and relaxed, and I approached him, leaving the cup in my place on the table, Enough to corner him against the table and I watch him as if discovering a treasure just by looking at him. He's so beautiful that makes my heart ache and just looking at him made my day better. I am so in love with him that with these moments of mutual company I am satisfied. I take a deep breath and reach up until I rest it on his shoulder and stroke my fingertips down his neck, close to where I can feel his pulse faster - What... what are you doing?

"Let me meet her Steven, it will only be a moment. I won't bite her... unless she wants to, of course"

- Can he hear me? Will I ever be able to meet him?

Steven swallows hard but leans in when my fingers caress his chin and he lets out a sigh through his parted lips. I take a step closer, almost placing myself between his legs and try not to enjoy the closeness between us, but it becomes impossible when those moments seem too intimate to let them pass.

I feel my heart pounding against my chest and my breathing quickens until it's on par with Steven's, his eyes closed for a second and I imagine he's mine, mine to hold, to listen to him complain about Donna, to see it when I wake up in the morning and fall asleep at night, to enjoy it in ways I only imagine in the depths of my consciousness.

"Shit, let me in, Steven. If you don't make a move, I will."

- Yes Yes. He is always there. It's not that he has anything else to do, in fact, the only thing he does is annoy me - He opens his eyes and doesn't move away from my hand, but the flash of his gaze makes it darker and different from his sad look that usually accompanies him.

"Steven… I'll pretend not to hear that last part. Stop diverting your emotions and enjoy the her closeness. Move your hands up her body and caress her like she's doing with us… Tell her to come closer"

- He's listening to you - Steven's voice reaches my ears in the form of a whisper that makes a shiver run through my body while I feel his trembling hands rest on both sides of my waist - He wants you to come closer.

- Co.... Come closer? - Fear invades me for a moment and as if I had a thread attached to my back that pulls me, I take a step back fearing succumbing to Steven's closeness, to the warmth of his body that invites me to snuggle against him, to that scent to mint and shower gel that his body gives off that makes me addictive and the beating of my big love for him that clouds my good judgment for a few moments. I blink trying to clear my thoughts and take another step back, moving away from that line that I know that once I cross I won't be able to go back but one of his hands surrounds my wrist tightly stopping any movement on my part, and I feel his arm go by behind my waist and pins me in place preventing me from moving further away from him.

It takes me a moment to realize that those attitudes are not typical of Steven… Marc pulls me into his arms, leaving me standing completely between his legs and being locked in his arms, unable to pull me away. As soon as I look up from his chest, I meet those brown eyes wrapped in a more serious expression than usual, which sends a kind of chill down my spine, making me feel different, as if he wants our contact.

Or the contact of my body against his.

I raise my head a little since he is standing straighter and seems a few inches taller than Steven, but in his eyes there is not a hint of that insecurity and fun that Steven's eyes conveyed, but his gaze conveys security, confidence and a lot of, a lot of attraction.

I don't have to ask to know it's about Marc, but I still do.

- Marc?

He nods as he tightens his grip around my waist and pulls me even closer to him, to the point where I have to brace my hands against his chest to keep from falling onto him or ending up on his lap.

I close my eyes listening to his deep voice with a clear American accent, very different from Steven's characteristic British accent and I try not to make a fool of myself in our first meeting.

- Nice to meet you, baby.

[eclecticstarlightconnoisseur]

VISIONS IN THE SNOW

Good Evening All! I have a new one-shot that was inspired by the horrific weather that recently swept across the U.S. It caused so much grief, suffering to so many people. I hope this would bring a smile to some faces. This was written with one particular person in mind (and you know who you are) and I’m glad you like it.

Thanks as always to @scubalass for the read through. Your suggestions were, as always, spot on. It made the final story so much better.

Status of Edinburgh to Boston: There is progress but it is painfully slow. There are two characters that are essential to this chapter whose voice I do not hear as well as I do Jamie and Claire. I write something, then I delete it and I do the same thing over and over. We will come to an understanding at some point so dinna fash. There will be A/N at the end to explain words or terms.

Without further delay I give you Visions in the Snow.

Here goes nothing:

VISIONS IN THE SNOW

February 1968  - Boston

The responsibility for hosting this week’s poker game fell to Joe Abernathy.  He took his duties in this regard very seriously. It was the way the surgeons decompressed after a week of stressful surgical procedures and this week was no exception. 

“It must have been a full moon,” he thought. Motor vehicle accidents, stabbings, gunshot wounds, volvulus, a ruptured esophagus, the works. It was during these times that he dearly missed his friend. Claire. He cast his glance over to the card table set with one extra place, Claire’s place. On the seat was her green visor that she wore when she played poker with the boys. It sat in repose like a memorial to a fallen comrade.

Silly thing! She believed wearing it masked her glass face.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but none of her colleagues had the heart to tell her. They all knew what Claire Randall was thinking. So much so, they often let her win which caused her to think she was good at playing poker.

He glanced around the room and saw that everything was in readiness for the evening. The sideboard groaned beneath the bounty of food, snacks, and brews.  

Outside, the wind blew fiercely rattling the windows drawing his attention. Joe looked out the window watching the two front trees bowing to the brute force of nature. Their skeletal fingers scraped at the roof almost as if trying to gain entry. It had been snowing for the last six hours with no sign of it letting up. He had considered canceling the game but a majority of his colleagues soundly vetoed that idea. Only Callahan and Peterson dissented. Callahan’s wife would kill him if he left her alone to deal with their six small ones while he went to play poker. Peterson lived thirty miles away. The remaining players all lived a short walking distance from his home, on Doctors Row. It was so-called because many of the physicians who worked at the hospital lived on the same street.  These surgeons were gambling men betting they had enough time for some comradery, hands, and beers before the brunt of the storm arrived.   

For a Boston snowstorm, it hadn’t accumulated very much. Yet. Regardless, it would not hamper these hardened surgeons accustomed to driving through Boston’s worst to get to the hospital. Without warning, the storm picked up intensity driving the snow hard enough to erase the landscape before him. Amid the squall, a hazy light glowed like the high beams of headlights in the snow. A wraithlike figure emerged from its center. Joe wasn’t able to make out any of its features. Man? Woman? He wasn’t sure. But one thing was for sure, it was headed directly toward his house. 

Joe leaned closer trying to see if the person was in distress as they were caught out in the snow. Maybe they had abandoned their car and were seeking help.  His warm breath met the cold pane fogging it, wholly obscuring his view.  Using his shirt sleeve, he wiped away the condensation hoping to improve his ability to see. As the person drew closer, it became apparent that it was a young woman and her attire was totally inappropriate for the weather. She wore a long dress whose hem floated across the snow. It looked like a green and black plaid and a white scarf crossed her neck to cover her bosom. Her hair was dark, curly, piled high on her head, and tendrils framing her face. She looked a lot like… It couldn’t be, could it? She came closer. So close that he could see her eyes. Eyes the color of a fine whisky. Claire? Claire! How? She had left for Scotland, disappearing into the past, to find her true love.

Anxiety flowed through him. He needed to speak with the woman. He needed to know if it truly was Claire. Joe tried to open the window, but it wouldn’t budge. The frame had swollen from the moisture, he thought. He rapped on the window calling her name, but she paid no heed.

Claire was running and laughing bright and merry. Stopping suddenly, she turned and extended a hand into the haze. A man appeared laughing and chased after her. He was a big son of a bitch standing at least six feet four inches and as big as a brick…Well, he was big. He had a mop of red hair, but to simply say red would deny the richness of the color. It was a curly thick mosaic of cinnamon, auburn, gold, and cinnabar.  And his eyes were the deepest blue Joe had ever seen. The man was kitted out in traditional highland garb right down to the sword strapped to his side. Reaching her, the young man made a courtly bow. He straightened, then took her hand to bestow a kiss. A moment later, he lifted and spun her around. She tossed her head back and peals of joyous laughter rang through the air. He set her down gently settling his hands on the swell of her hips. His eyes danced with love as he lowered his head to kiss her most thoroughly. Joe felt his cheeks burn as he watched such intimacy. 

Time advanced in front of him. He became witness to a lifetime, to a marriage, to the bonds of love that could not be broken. The vision changed from the blush of first love through to a life fully lived.  He wept at their trials, tribulations, and heartbreak. And he reveled in their accomplishments, triumphs, and joys. But through all their hardships, and there were many, their love for each other never wavered, never changed. 

The final event showed the couple had aged. The woman, Claire, had streaks of grey in her hair while the man’s hair had lightened. They stood atop a ridge overlooking some land. The man had his arm securely around her waist pulling her protectively close to him. Claire stood on her tiptoes wrapping her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a fiery kiss. She nodded her head and started to pull him toward a cabin. He scooped her up and carried her across the threshold kicking the door shut. 

As the vision faded back into the vapor as a voice called out, “I am happy Joe. I found my Jamie.”

Resting his head against the cold pane of glass provided a sense of comfort to his unsettled mind and spirit. Uncertainty gripped him as he grappled to understand what happened. Had this been a dream? Or a hallucination? Or had the fabric of time somehow been rent apart? He shook himself, much like a dog dispelling the rain from its coat, hoping to lift his state of bewilderment. 

Psssst, pssst, ssssssss! The homely sound of the radiator hissing brought him back to himself and away from his ruminations.

Mercilessly, the wind blew about the house ferociously shaking the windowpanes in their frames then suddenly died away. Out of curiosity, Joe tried to open the window. This time it slid open with ease. The blinding snow stopped returning to light flurries. As he turned to walk away from the window, he noticed the clock on the mantel. It was one minute later than when he last looked at it. “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ,” he muttered.

Joe walked over to Claire’s chair and picked up the visor cradling it to his chest,  “Wherever you are Claire, I’m glad you’re happy and you found your Jamie. Jamie, if you can hear me, take good care of our girl.”

With that, the doorbell rang and Joe went to greet his guests.

                                                        *************

Claire woke with a start bringing Jamie to instant alertness. He grabbed the pistol he kept by his bedside in preparation for any threat. Seeing none, he turned to look at Claire. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

“Sassenach, what’s amiss? Are ye alright?”

“I dreamt...I dreamt I was back in Boston going to play poker with the other surgeons. It was our regular night to play. The game was at Joe’s house and there was this blizzard.”

“Poker? What kind of game do ye play with a poker?” he was afraid to ask. Claire had told him so many peculiar stories about her time that he thought this would be another one. The only poker he knew about was the kind used in a fireplace.

“It’s a card game. I was rather good at it too. Someday I’ll have to teach you.” Claire snuggled up against Jamie seeking his heat, his comfort. She yawned greatly, “Except I will miss my green visor.”

 “A vi-zor?” All he could envision was a knight’s helmet with a visor covering the eyes and face.

“It’s a sort of hat with a green brim. It shades your eyes and some of your face. People use it to hide their facial expressions when they bluff at cards.”

Jamie looked at her as if she were a bit daft. He knew nothing could hide her thoughts on that glass face. He tucked her head under his chin, “Come, Sassenach, rest yer head, aye? I think ye had a bit of the nightmare. I’ll keep ye warm and safe.” He lowered his head placing a kiss on the top of her head.

Jamie closed his eyes and thought about the black man he had seen in his dreams too. “Aye, dinna fash, Joe. I’ll care for her with my life,” he whispered just before lapsing into sleep.

A/N:

VOLVULUS: A volvulus occurs when part of the colon or intestine twists. The twisting causes bowel obstructions that may cut off the blood supply to areas of the bowels. This can cause the bowel to die or left untreated the person can die.

RENT: This involves a story. When I was in catechism class the teacher was telling the story of Christ’s trial before the Pharisees. When Jesus was condemned one of the Pharisees was said to have rent his garment. You say that to a bunch of kids and they start to giggle. They wanted to know who he rented his clothes to and for how much. So the teacher explained that to rent something meant to tear it apart violently. I fell in love with the word’s usage and I never thought I would get to use it in this way. But I did!

And poor Jamie, Claire’s stories always leave his surprised, confused, shocked among other feelings.

The truth behind this story was that it was supposed to be smutty. Instead, it evolved into this. It was supposed to happen that the Ridge was also snowed-in. Claire was bored with playing chess with Jamie and wanted to play something else. She wanted to teach him strip poker. So I left myself an opening if I chose to do a second chapter. But I have to finish E2B first.

I hope you liked this and it brought a smile to your face.

You can find me on AO3. There I am LadyJane518.

Thanks for reading!

[thisblogisalsoboundforglory]

WHAT I HAVE BEEN READING LATELY

Kage Baker’s Company Series

In the Garden of Iden

Sky Coyote

Mendoza in Hollywood

The Graveyard Game

The Life of the World to Come

The Children of the Company

The Machine's Child

The Sons of Heaven

The Empress of Mars

Not Less than Gods

Nell Gwynne's On Land and At Sea

Black Projects, White Knights: The Company Dossiers

Gods and Pawns

In the Company of Thieves

Ø  Science Fiction written by a woman with Asperger’s. Wildly uneven. Main protagonist is female, but there are lots of POV characters, male and female.

Ø  Big ideas.

Ø  Lots of adventure, some action.

Ø   Small doses of humor.

 Neil Gaiman

Good Omens (with Sir Terry Pratchett)

Neverwhere

Stardust

American Gods

Anansi Boys

The Graveyard Book

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Ø  Neil’s books are a road trip with Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and a baggie full of sativa.

Ø  Ideas are incidental. The Milieu’s in charge.

Ø  Adventure happens whether you like it or not.

Ø   Cosmic humor. The joke’s on us.

 Connie Willis’s Oxford Time Travel Series

Firewatch

Doomsday Book

To Say Nothing of the Dog (and the novel that inspired it – Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat)

Blackout/All Clear

Assorted:

The Last of the Winnebagos

Ø  Connie loves her historical research. Blackout/All Clear actually lasts as long as the Blitz, but anything in the Oxford Time Travel series is worth reading. Doomsday Book reads like prophecy in retrospect.

Ø  One idea: Hi! This is the human condition! How fucking amazing is that?!?

Ø  Gut-punch adventure with extra consequences. Background action.

Ø   I’d have to say that Doomsday Book is the funniest book about the black death I’ve ever read, which isn’t saying much. To Say Nothing of the Dog is classic farce, though. Girl’s got range.

Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash (After the apocalypse, the world will be ruled by Home-Owners Associations. Be afraid.)

Cryptonomicon

Anathem

Seveneves

Ø  Neal writes big, undisciplined, unfocused books that keep unfolding in your mind for months after you’ve read them. He’s a very guy-type writer, in spite of a female protagonist or two. Seveneves, be warned, starts out brilliant and devolves into extreme meh.

Ø  Big. Fucking. Ideas.

Ø  Battles, crashes, fistfights, parachute jumps, nuclear powered motorcycles and extreme gardening action. Is there an MPAA acronym for that?

Ø   Humor dry enough to be garnished with two green olives on a stick.

  Christopher Moore

Pine Cove Series:

Practical Demonkeeping

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (Okay, yeah, Christmas. But Christmas with zombies, so that’s all right.)

Fluke (Not strictly Pine Cove, but in the same universe. Ever wonder why whales sing? They’re ordering Pastrami sandwiches. I’m not kidding.)

Death Merchant Chronicles:

A Dirty Job

Secondhand Souls (Best literary dogs this side of Jack London)

Coyote Blue (Kind of an outlier. Overlapping characters)

Shakespeare Series:

Fool

The Serpent of Venice

Shakespeare for Squirrels

Assorted:

Island of the Sequined Love Nun (Cargo cults with Pine Cove crossovers. I have a theory that the characters in this book are direct descendants of certain characters in Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon.)

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal (So I have a favorite first-century wonder rabbi. Who doesn’t?)

Sacre Bleu

Noir

Ø  Not for the squeamish, the easily offended, or those who can’t lovingly embrace the fact that the human species is pretty much a bunch of idiots snatching at moments of grace.

Ø  No big ideas whatever. Barely any half-baked notions.

Ø  Enthusiastic geek adventure. Action as a last resort.

Ø   Nonstop funny from beginning to end.

 Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London Series

Rivers of London

Moon Over Soho

Whispers Under Ground

Broken Homes

Foxglove Summer

The Hanging Tree

The Furthest Station

Lies Sleeping

The October Man

False Value

Tales From the Folly

Ø  Lean, self-deprecating police procedurals disguised as fantasy novels. Excellent writing.

Ø  These will not expand your mind. They might expand your Latin vocabulary.

Ø  Crisply described action, judiciously used. Whodunnit adventure. It’s all about good storytelling.

Ø  Generous servings of sly humor. Aaronovitch is a geek culture blueblood who drops so many inside jokes, there are websites devoted to indexing them.

  John Scalzi

Old Man’s War Series:

Old Man’s War

Questions for a Soldier

The Ghost Brigades

The Sagan Diary

The Last Colony

Zoe’s Tale

After the Coup

The Human Division

The End of All Things

Ø  Star Trek with realpolitik instead of optimism.

Ø  The Big Idea is that there’s nothing new under the sun. Nor over it.

Ø  Action-adventure final frontier saga with high stakes.

Ø  It’s funny when the characters are being funny, and precisely to the same degree that the character is funny.

Assorted:

The Dispatcher

Murder by Other Means

Redshirts (Star Trek, sideways, with occasional optimism)

Ø  Scalzi abandons (or skewers) his space-opera tendencies with these three little gems of speculative fiction. Scalzi’s gift is patience. He lets the scenario unfold like a striptease.

Ø  What-if thought experiments that jolt the brain like espresso shots.

Ø  Action/misadventure as necessary to accomplish the psychological special effects.

Ø  Redshirts is satire, so the humor is built-in, but it’s buried in the mix.

  David Wong/Jason Pargin

John Dies at the End

This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It

What the Hell Did I Just Read?

Ø  Pargin clearly starts his novels with a handful of arresting scenes and images, then looses the characters on an unsuspecting world to wander wither they will.

Ø  Ideas aren’t as big or obvious as Heinlein, but they are there to challenge all your assumptions in the same way that Heinlein’s were.

Ø  Classic action/adventure for anyone raised on Scooby-Doo.

Ø  Occasional gusts of humor in a climate that’s predominantly tongue-in-cheek.

 Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St. Mary’s Series

Just One Damned Thing After Another

The Very First Damned Thing

A Symphony of Echoes

When a Child is Born*

A Second Chance

Roman Holiday*

A Trail Through Time

Christmas Present*

No Time Like the Past

What Could Possible Go Wrong?

Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings*

Lies, Damned Lies and History

The Great St Mary’s Day Out*

My Name is Markham*

And the Rest is History

A Perfect Storm*

Christmas Past*

An Argumentation of Historians

The Battersea Barricades*

The Steam Pump Jump*

And Now for Something Completely Different*

Hope for the Best

When Did You Last See Your Father?*

Why Is Nothing Ever Simple*

Plan For The Worst

The Ordeal of the Haunted Room

Ø  The * denotes a short story or novella. Okay, try to imagine Indiana Jones as a smartassed redheaded woman with a time machine and a merry band of full contact historians. I love history, and I especially love history narrated by a woman who can kick T. Rex ass.

Ø  The ideas are toys, not themes. Soapy in spots.

Ø  Action! Adventure! More action! More adventure! Tea break. Action again!

Ø  Big, squishy dollops of snort-worthy stuff.

 Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell Series

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

A Monstrous Regiment of Women

A Letter of Mary

The Moor

Jerusalem

Justice Hall

The Game

Locked Rooms

The Language of Bees

The God of the Hive

Beekeeping for Beginners

Pirate King

Garment of Shadows

Dreaming Spies

The Marriage of Mary Russell

The Murder of Mary Russell

Mary Russell's War And Other Stories of Suspense

Island of the Mad

Riviera Gold

The Art of Detection (Strictly speaking, this is in the action!lesbian Detective Kate Martinelli series, but it crosses over to the Sherlock Holmes genre. If you’ve ever wondered how Holmes would deal with the transgendered, this is the book.)

Ø  Sherlock Holmes retires to Sussex, keeps bees, marries a nice Jewish girl who is smarter than he is and less than half his age and he’s mentored since she was fifteen in an extremely problematic power dynamic relationship that should repulse me but doesn’t, somehow, because this is the best Sherlock Holmes pastiche out there. Mary should have been a rabbi, but it is 1920, so she learns martial arts and becomes an international detective instead. Guest appearances by Conan Doyle, Kimball O���Hara, T.E. Lawrence, Cole Porter, and the Oxford Comma.

Ø  Nothing mind-expanding here, unless the levels of meta present in a fictional world that is about how the fictional world might not be as fictional as you thought come as a surprise to anyone in the era of tie-in books, films, tv, interactive social media and RPGs.

Ø  If these two geniuses can’t catch the bad guys with their dazzling brilliance, they will happily kick some ass. Adventure takes center stage and the action sequences are especially creative.

Ø  Amusement is afoot.

 Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next Series

The Eyre Affair

Lost in a Good Book

The Well of Lost Plots

Something Rotten

First Among Sequels

One of Our Thursdays is Missing

The Woman Who Died a Lot

Ø  In a world where Librarians are revered and Shakespeare is more popular than the Beatles, someone has to facilitate the weekly anger-management sessions for the characters of Wuthering Heights, if only to keep them from killing each other before the novel actually ends. That someone is Thursday Next – Literature Cop.

Ø  Mind-bending enough to give Noam Chomsky material for another hundred years.

Ø  Adventure aplenty. Action? Even the punctuation will try to kill you.

Ø  This is a frolicsome look at humorous situations filled with funny people. Pretty much a full house in the laugh department.

 Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series/City Watch Arc

Guards! Guards!

Men at Arms

Feet of Clay

Jingo

The Fifth Elephant

Night Watch

Thud!

Snuff

Raising Steam

Ø  If this were a game of CLUE, the answer would be Niccolo Machiavelli in Narnia with a Monty Python. Everything you think you know about books with dragons and trolls and dwarves and wizards is expertly ripped to shreds and reassembled as social satire that can save your soul, even if it turns out you don’t really have one. Do not be fooled by the Tolkien chassis – there’s a Vonnegut-class engine at work.

Ø  Caution: Ideas in the Mirror Universe May be Larger Than They Appear

Ø  The City Watch arc has plenty of thrilling action sequences. Some other of the fifty-million Discworld novels have less. Every one of them is nonstop adventure. Most of the adventure, however, takes the form of characters desperately trying to avoid thrilling action sequences.

Ø  Funny? Even though I’ve read every book in the series at least ten times, I still have to make sure I have cold packs on hand in case I laugh so hard I rupture something.

[darkelfshadow]

Session Summary - 96

AKA “A whole lot of rub and no tug”

Adventures in Taggriell

Session 96  (Date: 16th October 2020)

Players Present:

- Rob (Known as “Varis”) Elf Male.

- Bob (Known as “Sir Krondor) Dwarf Male.

- Paul (Known as “Labarett”) Elf Male.

- Travis (Known as “Trenchant”) Human Male.

- Arthur (Known as “Gim”) Dwarf Male.

Absent Players

- John (Known as “Ragnar”) Dwarf Male. <Play by Rob>

NPC

- (Known as “Naillae”) Elf Female. <Controlled by Travis>

Summary

- Oathday, 11th Desnus in the year 815 (Second Era). Summer.

- The party begin this session, having just set sail down the inland river headed back towards the Golden Channel. Gim hands over his Lion Greataxe to Galin The Blacksmith on board the ship, to start the work needed to attach the Moon Gem to his weapon.

- The ship arrives five hours later, in the early evening, at the port city of Phlan.

- Captain Lerustah and his men have prepared the ship to look like a common merchant ship, as opposed to an armed military ship. There are less Cult forces on the jetty than the last time the party arrived during daylight hours, and after a cursory check, the ship is allowed to dock without incident.

- Trenchant uses one of his spells to disguise the entire party. Trenchant, now looking like a low and non-influential merchant lord, is accompanied by a group that appears to have scruffy looking personal guards, ugly hand maidens, and poor servants. The group leaves the dock, with a warning from a Cult Officer to behave themselves in the city or else face consequences. Trenchant shows the proper fear and submissiveness, to the Cult Officer, that allows them passage into the city.

- The party make their way over to the Tea Kettle, where the small female Halfling proprietor Madame Freona, greets them kindly but advises them that as the shop is due to close shortly they can not get service.

- When Trenchant, still disguised, speaks out loudly to Olisara Lightsong (Harper), seated in the far corner, the Harper recognises who the group is. Olisara tells Madame Freona to let these guests in and she does so, organising seats, refreshing drinks and an assortment of delicious tasting foods. The party can not remember eating this well.

- The party and Olisara, discuss what has happened since they left and about the new mission they are on. She tells them the Cult has taken over Phlan as a base of operations for locating a new Pool Of Radiance, somewhere south west, near something called Kranun’s Crater.

- The party learn that thanks to their information, Olisara is now in contact with one of the resistance leaders: Captain Jhessail Greycastle. Greycastle is now working with the Harpers and the location of her base of operations is now known. Olisara has been unable to find out who the other resistance leader is, “The Black Knight”.

- Olisara gives the party five monks robes, of the Order of Mishakai, who do regular visits to the Grimshackle Jail. They learn their contact in the Jail, Glevith, is a member of the Welcomers (Thieves Guild) and has been assisting the Harpers with information and other things during the Cult intrusion. Olisara warns the party not to attack or harm any of the City Watch guards in the Jail, as they are not bad people. She gives the party the name of one of the Watch Sergeants, Bhevek, who can escort the party to see Glevith.

- The party then head over to the Cracked Crown Inn. Ellywick, the female Gnome owner of the inn, lets the party inn. The party speak to Seranolla The Whisperer (Emerald Enclave) and discuss anything she might know about the Pool Of Radiance. She tells the party that this area has attracted many pure Arcane stars, falling from the heavens to make lakes or pools of power, known as Pools Of Radiance. A shooting star was seen heading south over Phlan a few months ago. The last known confirmed pool was just off Phlan, falling into Thorn Island where Sokol Keep stands. The stars fall all over this region, sometimes falling into the same place more than once, as if attracted to fall by some force. She believes Kranun’s Crater was a previous location where a massive star fell creating a lake size pool of power. She does not know exactly where this crater is, as this was a very long time ago, though she thinks it may lay south of Lake Enion, which forms the border of the Elvish lands. She warns the party to be on the look out for increased Bulette activity in that area.

- The party come up with a plan to enter Grimshackle Jail. The three Dwarves wait in a nearby sewer exit, keeping the Jail under observation, ready for trouble. Varis, Labarett, Naillae and Trenchant wear the Robes Of Mishakai, and approach the Jail pretending to be priests wishing to perform their regular services to the prisoners.

- The guards let the disguised party members in, and send for Sergeant Bhevek, when Trenchant asks for him by name. The Sergeant attends and leads the party away, recognising the party as the ones he was waiting for from Olisara. He takes the party up the four levels of the massive tower, passing many cells holding about a hundred prisoners. The guards are well dressed and well behaved. The prisoners do not appear mistreated.

- He ushers them up to an area that is sectioned off from the rest. A single door leads to a large cell that has no neighbours. Inside is a well appointed room, with a comfortable bed and chair, a writing desk with a papers and inks on it, along with a plate of food and cup with water.

- A figure with a stern thin face seats on the chair, holding a leather bound book. He looks up at the party, the light from a nearby lantern reflected on his slick greasy black hair. His thin lips smile slightly under a large bent nose, “I’m so glad you’ve come. I was beginning to worry that Olisara did not get my message.”

- Sergeant Bhevek moves to wait back at the door, just out of hearing, whilst the party speak to Glevith. They discuss what information he has. He confirms he knows exactly where the Cult is going, as some of his people have seen paper records and maps showing the location of Kranun’s Crater. He tells the party he is willing to give this information over if they agree to rescue his younger sister, Lilly, from her enforced servitude in the Red Glove. A brothel and gambling den run by a gang of criminals lead by an evil man by the name of Gillim. He describes his sister has attractive with long fair hair.

- The party quickly agree to this and leave Grimshackle Jail. Once back in the city proper, they head over to the brothel, a well made and maintained two story building. Trenchant disguises the party and attempts to gain entry, but when he enquires after the name of Lilly, they are refused entry by a suspicious female care taker called Madame Star.

- The party drop the disguise and approach the brothel as themselves and this time gain entry. The are greeted by Madame Star, who supervises the girls and entertainment. The party walk through a long and well appointed entry hall, under the watchful eye of two heavily armoured guards, and walking through a heavy red curtain enter a large drinking room. Various customers sit around the room, with serving girls bringing drinks and an assortment of naked women talking and laughing with the customers at the tables. A female entertainer plays a flute off to the side, with much apparent skill, as a girl dressed in translucent and revealing loose clothing, dances in front of her. Two more guards are visible standing in front of a set of large double doors behind a long wooden serving bar.

- Whilst the party remain downstairs, Sir Krondor and Trenchant ask Madame Star if they can pay to meet the girls privately. She has them disarm and leave all their weapons in a wall cupboard and then follow her up stairs to the private rooms. She makes five of the girls come out to line up for their inspection whilst Trenchant uses magic to read the minds of the presented girls to see if any of them are Lilly. When none are, he asks Madame Star about a door at the far end of the hall that has two armoured soldiers wearing House colours. She informs the pair that they are the personal guards of some nobles playing in the gambling den. The pair ask if they can join in and she leads them to the gambling den, a large lavish room, filled with more personal guards and with a round table in the middle of the room. Seated around the round table are three very well dressed men, obviously powerful merchant lords, with a large pile of coins on the table that glitter in the torch light. A thin attractive female with long fair hair, dressed in rich silk clothes, is serving drinks to the men. Trenchant quickly learns that this girl is Lilly. Sir Krondor and Trenchant have to improvise a plan to get her out.

- Not wishing to be left out, Varis decides to go out stairs too. He waits until Madame Star can show him upstairs, removes all his weapons (except for one dagger he hides) and he selects one girl to take into a private room. Once inside he begins questioning her about how many girls are here, the number of guards and other information that will help the party.

- Back in the gambling den, Sir Krondor declares he must have this serving girl immediately as she is the most beautiful thing he as ever seen. Madame Star takes Sir Krondor and Lilly out of the gambling den and into a private room, opposite to where Varis is. Sir Krondor tells Lilly they are here to rescue her but she insists that they rescue all the girls as they are all here against their will.

- Meanwhile, downstairs, Labarett has been stewing. He has been looking at the faces of the girls, which though are smiling are obvious they do not wish to be here. He can see faint bruises on some of them. His anger is building. His rage at this unjust treatment is building. He will not stand by and do nothing whilst these girls are being held, their freedom removed.

- Labarett stands up, determination on his face. Naillae looks across and sees the expression on his face, “Labarett, where are you going? We have to wait …”

- Labarett does not stop or respond, he continues to walk towards the bar, his hands moving towards his longsword.

- Ragnar quickly moves up, “Change of plans! Backup Labarett!”

- As he says this Labarett breaks into a run, his speed carrying him towards the first guard before anyone even knows what is happening. Mayhem breaks out as the battle starts. At first the guards are caught in surprise but they quickly rally and the ex-soldiers show they know how to handle themselves in a fight.

- The female entertainer, actually a Bard, jumps onto the bar and starts hurtling spells at the party. Ragnar tries to summon his Spirit Guardians around him but the Bard stops the spell with a well timed Counter Spell.

- The large double doors near the bar open as more guards appear and worse yet, a massive Flesh Golem charges out. Naillae, leaps up and slides down the bar, and then leaps towards the Flesh Golem her enchanted dagger hitting and slicing down the torso of the creature. She leans back in horror as she sees her attack did nothing, her daggers having no effect.

- Ragnar looks over at the Flesh Golem shouting, “Only weapons made of adamantine can harm it!”

- Naillae quickly disengages and moves away from the Golem. The party start to panic as they realise none of them have adamantine weapons.

- Meanwhile, upstairs, the sound of the battle can be heard. All the personal guards race to surround and protect their respective lords whilst Trenchant casts a powerful Mass Suggestion spell on the group. All but one guard and one lord, falls under his suggestion, which is to accompany him and guard the girls back to the jetty.

- Varis runs out of his room, the hidden dagger now in his hands and leaps towards two brothel guards waiting at the top of a set of stairs.

- Sir Krondor comes out too but pretends to be drunk and confused. Varis runs back away from the guards just as Trenchant arrives from around the corner, casting Fear on the two guards. They both immediately run down the stairs, terror on their faces.

- Sir Krondor tells Lilly to grab all the rest of the girls and follow them downstairs.

- Meanwhile, downstairs, the fight has been continuing, as more guards have arrived to join the fight, including the gang leader Gillim. Gillim stays back, firing crossbow bolts from his office.

- Ragnar, frustrated with the battle points his finger at the open office, where Gillim and the Golem are. He casts Fireball, a small orange point of light hurtling from his finger towards the open office.

- Gim and Labarett do not notice this, the battle lust over coming them. So too, the hostile Bard does not notice Ragnar’s spell, otherwise she would have not hesitated to Counter Spell it, knowing how dangerous that spell would be in a wooden building.

- Naillae, the only one to see Ragnar cast the spell, watches the fast moving orange dot fly across the room with a look or pure shock and fear. But before she can get the words out, “You stupid son of …” a massive explosion comes from the open office as the Fireball explodes.

- Heat and wind comes out from the room. Flames begin to spread over the carpet covered wooden floor, wood reinforced clay walls, and exposed wood beam ceiling. Black smoke begins to fill the lower floor. Screams of panic fill the air, as all pretence at fighting stops as everyone begins running towards the single locked front door.

- The others upstairs hear the massive explosion which shakes the building. Sir Krondor bellows, “One job! They had one job! Just wait for us! I’m going to…”

- Trenchant interrupts him, “Not now Krondor! We need to all run! RUN!”

- There is now a massive stampede going. Everyone is trying to run to the only door, which has a massive metal bar, and three turn locks on it. One of the brothel guards is trying to open it but in his fear and panic, seeing the flames and smoke fill the room, along with a massive Flesh Golem picking up people and throwing them out of his way, his shaking hands keep failing.

- The Brothel Bard quickly steps up to him, plunging a knife into his neck, so she can instead calmly open the three locks. Labarett leans around her and with a mighty heave, pulls the heavy metal bar away. As the door opens, letting in fresh cold air, Varis shoots an arrow at the back of the Bard, dropping her dead, and clearing the doorway.

- The others from above have run downstairs and quickly retrieve their stowed gear.

- Ragnar standing near the office which is now an inferno of heat and flames, is summoning food and water, by casting his spell over and over. Each time he directs all the water to appear at the front of the fire. This is slowing the spread but only somewhat, but it is just enough to buy everyone enough time to run outside of the front door.

- The party, still escorted by the two merchants and their personal guards under a Suggestion, casually walk down the street as the tavern flames lit up the entire street. A group of Cult forces and locals are running towards the tavern.

<And as the party walk away from the scene of destruction, the sound of fire and battle as the Flesh Golem begins randomly attacking the arriving Cult Forces, that is the end of the session.>

XP Allocation

Group - Combined (This is equally divided by the number of players who were involved)

Quests (Only quests that are completed or rendered undoable, during this session, are shown here)

- “Ships Passing In The Night” - Enter Phlan Undetected By Cult = 500 XP

- “In And Out Again” - Rescue Lilly Undetected = FAIL

- “Freedom For All” - Release Entrapped Women (12) = 2400 XP

- “Secrets & Lies” - Recover Blackmail Journal of Gillim = FAIL

Creatures Overcome

- Gang Enforcers = 3500 XP

- Bard = 450 XP

- Gang Leader (Gillim) = 100 XP

Individual (This is only given to that person and is not divided amongst all players)

Special Bonus (Outstanding Role Playing)

Nil

XP Levels and Player Allocations

Player : Start +  Received = Total  (Notes)

Rob : 125088 + 1240 = 126328

Arthur : 99794 + 992 = 100786 (Level up to Level 12)

John : 95611 + 744 = 96355

Travis : 114986 + 992 = 115978

Paul : 104469 + 992 = 105461

Bob : 115627 + 992 = 116619

NPC (Naillae) : + (496)

[iwriterpstarters]

200 sentence starters

part 5

“I gave them the city, and most of them were too frightened to take it.”

“I told them they were free. I cannot tell them now they are not free to join me.”

“Woman, you bray like an ass, and make no more sense.”  

“Woman? Is that meant to insult me? I would return the slap, if I took you for a man.”

“I say, you are mad.”  

“To be sure, I am only a young girl and know little of war. What do you think, my lords?”  

“I would call that proof of his sincerity.”

“All loyalties are uncertain in such times as these.”

“And I shall be betrayed twice more, once for gold and once for love.”

“But that was the tourney when he crowned Lyanna Stark as queen of love and beauty!”

“Princess Elia was there, his wife, and yet my brother gave the crown to the Stark girl, and later stole her away from her betrothed.”

“How could he do that? Did his wife treat him so ill?”  

“It is not for such as me to say what might have been in your brother’s heart, Your Grace.”

“The Princess was a good and gracious lady, though her health was ever delicate.”

“But I am not certain it was in him to be happy.”  

“You make him sound so sour.”

“Not sour, no, but... there was a melancholy to the Prince, a sense...”

“A sense... of doom.”

“He/She was born in grief, my queen, and that shadow hung over him/her all life.”  

“It was the shadow of Summerhall that haunted him, was it not?”  

“And yet Summerhall was the place the prince loved best.”

“He/She would go there from time to time, with only a harp for company.”

“Even the knights of the Kingsguard did not attend him/her there.”

“He/She liked to sleep in the ruined hall, beneath the moon and stars, and whenever he/she came back it was with a song.”

“It is Ghiscari, the old pure tongue. It means ‘Mother.’”

“Fire consumes.”

“It consumes, and when it is done there is nothing left. Nothing.”  

“Sweet friend. What are you saying?”  

“Nothing I have not said before.”

“Six times, ___? Six times is too many.”

“I dreamt a wolf howling in the rain, but no one heard his grief.”

“I dreamt such a clangor I thought my head might burst, drums and horns and pipes and screams, but the saddest sound was the little bells.”

“I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs.”

“I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.”[<- probably sansa] She turned her head sharply and smiled through the gloom, right at Arya.

“You cannot hide from me, child. Come closer, now.”

“I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death...”

“You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel.”

“I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart!”  

“My lady? You have a baseborn brother... ”  

“He’s with the Night’s Watch on the Wall.”

“Maybe I should go to the Wall instead of Riverrun.”

“___ wouldn’t care who I killed or whether I brushed my hair...”

“___ looks like me, even though he’s bastard-born.”

“He used to muss my hair and call me ‘little sister.’”

“Just saying his name makes me sad.”

“I wanted to be alone, away from all the voices, away from their hollow words and broken promises.”

“Once, at the Citadel, I came into an empty room and saw an empty chair.”

“Yet I knew a woman had been there, only a moment before.”

“If we leave our smells behind us when we leave a room, surely something of our souls must remain when we leave this life?”

“There’s the wench I remember.”

“You gave her a tourney sword.”  

“I’ll pay her bloody ransom. Gold, sapphires, whatever you want. Pull her out of there.”  

“You want her? Go get her.”  

“Well, what in seven hells do I do now?”

“I ought to lop my left hand off as well, for all the good it does me.”  

“And I’ll serve you the same if you give me trouble.”

“We’re taking the wench.”  

“Her name is ___.”

“I am grateful, but... you were well away. Why come back?”  

“I dreamed of you.”

“First I anger Brother, and now my son, but all I have done is speak the truth.”

“Are men so fragile they cannot bear to hear it?”

“My lord husband is dead, as is my father.”

“Two of my sons have been murdered, my daughter has been given to a faithless dwarf to bear his vile children, my other daughter is vanished and likely dead, and my last son and my only brother are both angry with me.”

“My children sons are dead and daughters lost. What could possibly be amiss?”

“She-bears, aye. We have needed to be.”

“The men would be off fishing, like as not. The wives they left behind had to defend themselves and their children, or else be carried off.”  

“Is this my punishment for opposing him about his brother? Or for being a woman, and worse, a mother?”

“I left my wife at Riverrun. I want my mother elsewhere.”

“If you keep all your treasures in one purse, you only make it easier for those who would rob you.”

“After the wedding, you shall go to Seagard, that is my royal command.”

“That had ended when father decided it was making me soft as a girl.”

“But if you’re stupid enough to try again, I’ll hurt you.”  

“Why don’t you just kill me like you did Mycah?”

“The next time you say that name I’ll beat you so bad you’ll wish I killed you.”  

“Even a fish might have trouble in this river.”

“Still, drowning might be better than King’s Landing.”

“Don’t even think about it.”  

“Then I’ll take as much gold as I can carry, laugh in his face, and ride off.”

“If he doesn’t take me, he’d be wise to kill me, but he won’t.”

“Too much his father’s son, from what I hear.”

“Fine with me. Either way I win.”

“So stop whimpering and snapping at me, I’m sick of it.”

“Keep your mouth shut and do as I tell you, and maybe we’ll even be in time for your uncle’s bloody wedding.”

“Be gentle with yourself.”

“It is good that you have woken, but you must give yourself time to heal.”

“We drowned the wound with boiling wine, and closed you up with a poultice of nettle, mustard seed and moldy bread, but unless you rest...”

“If we are offered refreshment when we arrive, on no account refuse.”

“Take what is offered, and eat and drink where all can see. If nothing is offered, ask for bread and cheese and a cup of wine.”  

“I’m more wet than hungry...”  

“Listen to me. Once you have eaten of his bread and salt, you have the guest right, and the laws of hospitality protect you beneath his roof.”  

“I have an army to protect me, Mother, I don’t need to trust in bread and salt.”

“But if it pleases Lord Walder to serve me stewed crow smothered in maggots, I’ll eat it and ask for a second bowl.”  

“Keep your eyes down and your tone respectful and say ser a lot, and most knights will never see you.”

“They pay more mind to horses than to smallfolk.”

“He might have known Stranger if he’d ever seen me ride him.”

“No one sang the words, but I knew ‘The Rains of Castamere’ when I heard it.”

“I will kill the old man, I can do that much at least.”  

“It hurts so much. Our children, all our sweet babes.”

“Please, make it stop, make it stop hurting...”

“Mad. She’s lost her wits.”

“No, don’t, don’t cut my hair, ___loves my hair.”

“Come with me. We have to get away from here, and now.”

“We have to go get my mother.”

“I am sorry, my lord.”  

“Why? Some cook should be sorry. Not you. The pease are not your province.”

“They are green and round, what more can one expect of pease? Here, I’ll have another serving, if it please my lady.”

“That was stupid. Now I have to eat them all, or she’ll be sorry all over again.”

“I won’t intrude. Dress warmly, my lady, the wind is brisk out there.”

“Kings are falling like leaves this autumn.” “

“It would seem our little war is winning itself.”  

“Write to Lord Frey and tell him. The king commands. I’m going to have it served to ___ at my wedding feast.”  

“Sire, the lady is now your aunt by marriage.”  

“A jest. He did not mean it.”  

“He was a traitor, and I want his stupid head. I’m going to make Sansa kiss it.”

“She/He is no longer yours to torment. Understand that, monster.”  

“You’re the monster, Uncle.”  

“Perhaps you should speak more softly to me, then.”

“Monsters are dangerous beasts, and just now kings seem to be dying like flies.”

“Aerys also felt the need to remind men that he was king. And he was passing fond of ripping tongues out as well.”

“When your enemies defy you, you must serve them steel and fire. When they go to their knees, however, you must help them back to their feet.”

“And any man who must say ‘I am the king’ is no true king at all.”

“When I’ve won your war for you, we will restore the king’s peace and the king’s justice.”

“Oh, my, hasn’t this gotten interesting?”

“___, apologize to your grandfather.”

“Why should I? Everyone knows it’s true.”

“My father won all the battles. He killed Prince Rhaegar and took the crown, while your father was hiding under Casterly Rock.”

“A strong king acts boldly, he doesn’t just talk.”  

“Thank you for that wisdom, Your Grace.”

“I don’t want any dreamwine.”

“Father, I am sorry. Joff has always been willful, I did warn you...”  

“There is a long league’s worth of difference between willful and stupid.”

“‘A strong king acts boldly?’ Who told him that?”  

“Not me, I promise you.”

“The part about you hiding under Casterly Rock does sound like ___.”

“And what were you telling him, pray? I did not fight a war to seat Robert the Second on the Iron Throne.”

“You gave me to understand the boy cared nothing for his father.”  

“Why would he? Robert ignored him.”

“He would have beat him if I’d allowed it.”

“That brute you made me marry once hit the boy so hard he knocked out two of his baby teeth, over some mischief with a cat.”

“I told him I’d kill him in his sleep if he ever did it again, and he never did, but sometimes he would say things...”  

“It appears things needed to be said.”

“Not Robert the Second. Aerys the Third.”  

“The boy is thirteen. There is time yet.”

“That’s unlike him; he’s more upset than he wishes to show.”

“He requires a sharp lesson.”  

“Wars are won with quills and ravens, wasn’t that what you said?”

“I must congratulate you. How long have you and Walder Frey been plotting this?”  

“I mislike that word.”

“And I mislike being left in the dark.”  

“There was no reason to tell you. You had no part in this.”

“No one was told, save those who had a part to play.”

“And they were only told as much as they needed to know.”

“You ought to know that there is no other way to keep a secret - here, especially.”

“My object was to rid us of a dangerous enemy as cheaply as I could, not to indulge your curiosity or make your sister feel important.”

“You have a certain cunning, but the plain truth is you talk too much.”

“That loose tongue of yours will be your undoing.”  

“You should have let Joff tear it out.”  

“You would do well not to tempt me.”

“Oh? Is this something I’m allowed to know, or should I leave so you can discuss it with yourself?”

“A tool for every task, isn’t that how it works? My tool is yours, Father.”

“Never let it be said that my House blew its trumpets and I did not respond.”

“I was made to suffer my father’s follies. I will not suffer yours. Enough.”

“Very well, as you ask so pleasantly.”

“It might serve, but the Snake will not be happy.”

“Far be it from me to question your cunning, father, but in your place I do believe I’d have let Robert Baratheon bloody his own hands.”

“I grant you, it was done too brutally.”

“The Princess need not have been harmed at all, that was sheer folly. By herself she was nothing.”  

“Then why did the Mountain kill her?”  

“Because I did not tell him to spare her. I doubt I mentioned her at all.”

“I had more pressing concerns.”

“That was the thing I feared most.”

“Nor did I yet grasp what I had in The Mountain, only that he was huge and terrible in battle.”

“If Lorch had half the wits the gods gave a turnip, he would have calmed her with a few sweet words and used a soft silk pillow.”

“So Lord Walder slew him under his own roof, at his own table?”

“Slain as well, I’d say. A pair of wolfskins.”

“Frey had intended to keep her captive, but perhaps something went awry.”  

“So much for guest right.”  

“The blood is on his hands, not mine.”

“Explain to me why it is more noble to kill ten thousand men in battle than a dozen at dinner.”

“I had not forgotten, though I’d hoped you had.”

“I am not seeing the body, no, Your Kingliness.”

“Yet in the city, the lions prance and dance.”

“The Red Wedding, the smallfolk are calling it.”

“I was sick unto death of this wretched boy before he was even born.”

“His very name is a roaring in my ears and a dark cloud upon my soul.”

“He is mine own blood. Stop clutching me, woman.”

“And small men curse what they cannot understand.”  

“So tell me why you need this boy to wake your great stone dragon, my lady.”

“Only death can pay for life, my lord.”

“A great gift requires a great sacrifice.”

“Even an onion smuggler knows two onions from three. You are short a king, my lady/lord.”  

“He/She has you there, my lady. Two is not three.”

“A certain Lysene pirate once told me that a good smuggler stays out of sight.”

“Black sails, muffled oars, and a crew that knows how to hold their tongues.”  

“A crew with no tongues is even better. Big strong mutes who cannot read or write.”

“But I am glad to know that someone watches your back, old friend.”

“Will the king give the boy to the red priestess, do you think?”

“One little dragon could end this great big war.”

[rainydawgradioblog]

RDR Essentials - Hip-Hop/R&B (2/10)

RDR Essentials is a weekly newsletter of alternating genres that outlines key releases of the past month, upcoming events around Seattle and happenings in the specified music genre.

Made in collaboration between Rainy Dawg DJs and the Music Director.

Releases:

Playboi Carti- Whole Lotta Red

Playboi Carti’s long-awaited sophomore album, Whole Lotta Red, finally arrived Christmas day, and to say that the reception of the project by fans has been mixed would be an understatement. Discourse surrounding this album’s release permeated into the new year and further, with longtime fans finding Carti’s switch into a more aggressive and unrefined sound for much of the record off-putting. Yet, if there is any outstanding strength that this record’s allure can be attributed to, it is certainly that boldness, and Carti’s raw energy. Vocals are often rough, with Carti’s vocals ranging in inflection, volume, intensity, and even intelligibility all within a few bars. Tracks like the booming “Stop Breathing” and opener “Rockstar Made” demonstrate a Carti that sounds absolutely furious, straining his voice and almost screaming, whereas cuts like the nonsensical “JumpOutTheHouse” and “New Tank” feel like a punch to the face. This album is less filled with the usual sickly-sweet Pierre Bourne beats Carti’s previous work has become known for, to the disappointment of many fans. Yet that sugar-trap vibe combines with heavy bass and high-energy on highlights such as the demented ice-cream-truck-theme “Teen X” which sees Future even leaning into Carti’s lane. Further, the punk-meets-vampire energy that’s been ascribed to this project and its promotion manifests on tracks like “Vamp Anthem”, which sounds laughable on first impression but sticks in the mind like an infectious funeral accompaniment. It’s not a perfect record by any means: it’s far too long, with a second half that drifts into familiar yet almost lazy territory, and is populated by sparse features that either feel right at home, such as Kid Cudi on the ethereal “M3tamorphosis” to downright bizarre like Kanye West on “Go2DaMoon.” What it is, however, at least at its’ best moments, is genuinely boundary-pushing. Its highs are missing the sticky baby-voiced earworms of Die Lit, but in their stead comes a far more raw and unique sound. Carti’s new description of himself as punk and a “rockstar” has pushed the buttons of those who feel ownership over those terms: in a way, that makes him far more punk than anything we’ve seen in years.

- Casey Chamberlain

billy woods & Moor Mother- Brass

Few rappers are as veiled and unrelentingly hard to understand as MC billy woods, and few artists in the last few years have made as much of an artistic statement as poet Moor Mother. To see the two meet up on a full-length project sets a certain expectation, of grim realization and disturbingly poignant tidbits. Amazingly enough, Brass delivers on all one might expect from either of the two: a project draped in an ethereally disturbing energy and soundscape, and a vehicle for the dispersal of wisdom seemingly long locked away. The energy that woods and Moor Mother provide is often dreary, yet filled with understanding, with each retaining much of their signature style. Woods' verses feel laced with nods to vignettes and far away stories, as his best verses are want to do: “Cinders in the wind, ashes in your mouth/ It's too late to repent/ You owe and we here to collect/ You know how it go over in debt/ Numbers scribbled on butcher's paper/ A bad wager/ We waved every day, but good fences make good neighbors” woods relays on “Blak Forrest.” Moor Mother’s voice commands, filling the ears with an almost terrifying sense of understanding: “I only write for the dead, somethin' ELUCID said/ Wrong words get you cracked in the head” she asserts on “Gang For A Day”, referencing rapper ELUCID, with whom billy woods forms the duo Armand Hammer. ELUCID himself makes a few appearances on the record, alongside Mach-Hommy, Navy Blue, and Fielded, among others.

Tracks on the record range from terrifyingly chaotic, such as the vocal-less “Mom’s Gold”, morphing into a full on assault of harsh noise, to hauntingly gorgeous, such as on the flickeringly ethereal “Giraffe Hunts”: “It’s beautiful” woods himself remarks, prior to a verse that transitions into a sinister beat change which Moor Mother uses to offer a retort, as the track flips back and forth between this beauty and the filth. It’s perhaps this track which best offers a glimpse of the artistic contrast the two provide on this album. “The zoo had a decapitated giraffe/ A dedicated staff of volunteers, the acid was bad/ The gift shop was packed” woods relays, only to be cut off by Moor Mothers’ own ruminations: “Saw men draw meridians through life lines/ Why we tip-toe 'round these land mines and fault lines/ Feel the earth movin', flat earth see-saw/ Me and Woods in the rickshaw being pulled by horses/ I'm hearin' voices.” In truth, this is a record with many quotables, so infuriatingly dense and with so many thought-provoking segments that little does it justice apart from listening with full attention. An album like this feels like one that has lessons to be learned and knowledge to be gained; knowledge that perhaps should be known, but is hard to come to terms with. “But you the one what strung the rope” woods remarks. “We sacked Rome in ski-masks, stripped the pope/ Nowadays he never miss a lot, he be doin' the most... He be doin' the most.”

- Casey Chamberlain

Kid Cudi- Man On The Moon III: The Chosen

Few artists of the last decade have proven to have had such a large influence on the sounds that would follow them as Kid Cudi. The music of megastars like Travis Scott wouldn’t exist as it does without Scott Mescudi, an artist who has long been held near and dear by his fans due to his brutal honesty about his struggles with mental health, depression, and substances. Cudi’s 2009 debut album, Man On The Moon: The End Of Day, is held as a classic of its time, and for good reason, Cudi’s artistry, storytelling, and intimacy on that album is still astounding. With Cudi’s resurgence in the last few years following his critically adored collaboration with Kanye West, Kids See Ghosts, in 2018, Cudi has seemingly sought to continue his hot streak with the long-awaited third installment of the Man On The Moon series, being Man On The Moon III: The Chosen.

On first listen, this album sounds a lot like Cudi has been influenced by those who followed him rather than the other way around. Much of the first half of the record sounds like it would fit right at home on a Travis Scott album, much like last year's collaborative track between the two, aptly titled “The Scotts.” Tracks like “She Knows This” and “Tequila Shots” feature a spacey, drugged out trap vibe, with the former breaking into a groovy beat switch in its last portion. Meanwhile, other tracks branch out into new territory for Cudi, such as the drill-inspired and in-your-face “Show Out” which features a hook from the late Pop Smoke as well as a fantastic verse from Skepta, while “Rockstar Knights” features Cudi and Trippie Redd trading melodic ruminations. For much of this project, it would be easy to interpret much of this as Cudi’s takes on a number of styles birthed from his original run, and while it certainly is that, the wide swath of sounds that Cudi pulls from speaks more to his unseen influence than anything else, making much of the record feel like a statement: that without Kid Cudi, there is no Travis Scott and no Trippie Redd, so Cudi’s steps into their lanes feel like reclamation rather than imitation. Yet, the record’s strongest moments come mostly in the back half, where Cudi falls back into old habits and channels an almost updated version of the sound he originally burst onto the scene with. Tracks like “Solo Dolo III” and the gorgeous “The Void” feel like exactly what a matured “Man on the Moon” would sound like and tracks like “Lovin’ Me” featuring Phoebe Bridgers harken back to Cudi’s experiments in indie rock years ago, albeit more successfully. All in all, Man On The Moon III feels like a victory lap of sorts, a more mature Cudi revisiting the sounds he popularized and making a statement: that he is back, and better than ever.

- Casey Chamberlain

The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You

There is little an artist can do to combat the expectations they face after releasing a record like The Avalanches’ 2000 masterpiece Since I Left You, one of the most highly regarded plunderphonics records ever released. To follow up an album like that is no small feat, and the duos’ 2016 follow-up,  Wildflower, is a commendable release, although a different beast entirely. It’s with the groups’ newest release that their strategy with that record has been reaffirmed: the only way to follow up a record of such stature as Since I Left You is to simply not do so. The Avalanches’ We Will Always Love You is more 2016 Avalanches than it is 2000s; it’s a sprawling, grand project with features from some of the most talented artists working across the board, focused less on instrumental epics comprised of samples and more on flowing backdrops for their guests to flaunt their talents. Themed around the vastness of space and the Golden Record on the Voyager, the extraterrestrial-ness of the record permeates its every corner; its grandness feels like its statement, as it stands larger than the sum of its parts. An air of nostalgia flows through it, laced with voice memos from a woman professing, over the length of the record, that though she is now gone, perhaps departed from the mortal plane, she will “always love you.”

The features on the album are an achievement on their own: any album featuring this wide of a swath of talent must be commended for its boldness. To hear Denzel Curry, Rivers Cuomo, MGMT, Pink Siifu, Blood Orange, Kurt Vile, and countless others on a project together and have it sound cohesive is a miracle on its own. The interstellar nature of the album doesn’t always come across, and it’s a weighty record, at an hour and eleven minutes, and not every moment feels like it contributes to that runtime. It isn’t a perfect record by any means, and for many, especially those who fell in love with the record scratches and horse neighs of “Frontier Psychiatrist” are likely to be still disappointed in the trajectory of the prodigal sons of plunderphonics. Yet, if one can get past those expectations, there remains a larger-than-life moment to be lived through here, an intergalactic celebration of music, and one laced with themes of loss, pain, and nostalgia. The emotional peak of the record comes with the stinging “Always Black” driven by gorgeous piano and striking vocals, with a cutting poetic recital by Pink Siifu: “Stay, will you stay?” More than anything, the album plucks on that idea of staying and leaving and doesn’t let go of it. Starting from the voicemail left to the listener in opener “Ghost Story”, that feeling of love despite distance reverberates throughout the album’s highs and lows. Love has no distance limit, The Avalanches seem to be telling us. Across the vastness of space, that love persists.

- Casey Chamberlain

Channel Tres - i can’t go outside 

Channel Tres has no damn business being as smooth as he is. With an array of singles, remixes and an EP under his belt, Tres has seamlessly blended techno and house with West Coast rap and production to create a sound that is uniquely his own. And his voice is the icing on the cake. Tres moves effortlessly from rap to R&B, sometimes without a change in pitch. There are times when Tres sounds like he rolled out of bed and started recording and it still works perfectly. And on his debut album, i can’t go outside, Channel Tres is firing on all sonic cylinders. Tres has elements from techno, house, rap and R&B in his production arsenal and spreads them throughout the track list. The album’s opener (“i can’t go outside – intro) features a synth-focused, breezy R&B beat and the flick of a lighter, letting you know how to listen to the project. On “2000 chevy malibu”, Tres delivers lyrics to drive along the Pacific Coast highway to over hip-hop-based drums and encapsulating, spacey synths to make you stare out the window. Although overlooked due to its classification as an interlude, “broke down kid” is easily the most interesting track. Here, Tres rolls completely into house and techno to create a beat that could be a standalone instrumental. Sticking with his pattern of merging different, or even opposing, themes or genres into one, Channel Tres laces the bouncy, uplifting beat of “broke down kid” with lyrics regarding mental distress and unhealthy self-isolation. But you’ll never get the same song twice. Following the best interlude of 2020 (so far), Tres teams up with Tyler, The Creator for the bass-driven “fuego”. This track features glorious background vocals and some steamy lyrics from the duo. Although his debut was only seven tracks, Channel Tres has proven he’s capable of taking his sound anywhere. 

- Charlie Darnall

Kota the Friend - Lyrics to GO, Vol. 2

To be honest, I’m not sure Kota the Friend’s Lyrics to GO, Vol. 2 is essential to the hip-hop genre. I doubt Kota the Friend would even say the album is the best in his discography. But artists don’t have to make albums that make you rethink your life, win awards, or get radio plays. Sometimes artists just want to make something fun and positive to listen to and if there’s one thing I can say about Lyrics to GO, Vol. 2 is that it’s good for the soul. And we all need that right now. What the fifteen-minute project lacks in time it makes up for in storytelling, production and *vibes*. “Luke Cage” is the best example of an equal distribution of these qualities. On the track, Kota reflects nostalgically on past neighborhoods, romantic interests, and friendships. The beat is a coffee shop bop with a groovy guitar riff and the organs near the end. “Flowers” features Kota reflecting on growth over a perfectly placed piano sample that almost competes for the listeners attention. To me, this song sounds like what looking at a bed of flowers in full bloom looks like. If you agree, let me know – it’s 2am and I think I’m onto something. Ok, not to go deeper into this, but Lyrics to GO, Vol. 2 includes another song that (somehow) matches its sound to its title: “Living Room”. The sampling of distant conversation, acoustic guitar chords and Kota’s discussion of safe spaces and peace will make you want to curl up on the couch. Kota also further solidifies his flow as one of the best on this project. Most songs only contain one verse which makes it even more impressive that Kota can move between and within topics impeccably. I cannot think of a single time or situation where this album couldn’t make you feel even the slightest bit uplifted and, for that reason, it’s essential. 

- Charlie Darnall

Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

After the virality of Arlo Parks’ “Black Dog”, a song written so gracefully yet accurately about depression, showcased the singer’s incredible poetic abilities, R&B fans and critics alike patiently awaited her debut album. And with Collapsed In Sunbeams, Parks doesn’t disappoint. I have to start with Parks’ voice - everything else revolves around it. The lyrical content and production are great, but without Parks’ soft and angelic vocals, every song would sound like Robert Frost poems being read over a Wallows jam session. With the blessing of a voice that pairs well with anything, Parks is free to stray from the blueprint “Black Dog” created and enter new genres and explore new themes. Although placed only two songs above “Black Dog”, “Hope” functions as its antithesis. With breezy and gentle indie rock production to match, the chorus serves as both a reminder to the audience and to herself: “You’re not alone like you think you are.” But if “Hope” is Parks’ mental ceiling and “Black Dog” is her floor, then every other track must be a mix of the two. On tracks like “Too Good”, where Parks reflects fondly on her partner from a failed relationship, or “Eugene”, where she discusses falling in love with a friend, Parks expresses the complexity, and sometimes irrationality, of her emotions. Instrumental inspirations on Collapsed In Sunbeams include indie pop (“Portra 400”), folk (“Collapsed In Sunbeams”) and pure R&B (“For Violet”). Although sonically eclectic, every piece of production perfectly fits Parks’ lyrical themes. Through the highs and the lows, Collapsed In Sunbeams signifies the beauty in the struggle. This line from “Portra 400” does the best job at encapsulating that: “Making rainbows out of something painful”.

- Charlie Darnall

Upcoming Releases:

Slowthai- Tyron (2/12)

Few have the energy that UK rapper Slowthai has on a track. 2019’s Nothing Great About Britain saw Slowthai burst onto the scene and cause a commotion that feels like it hasn't calmed down since. On his new record Tyron, however, Slowthai seems poised to get a bit more introspective, approaching his childhood traumas and his newfound fame. The first single for the project, “feel away” featuring the signature crooning of James Blake as well as Mount Kimbie, feels immediately like a shift, with a more intimate sound. Other singles including the bouncy “MAZZA” featuring A$AP Rocky and “CANCELLED” with Skepta feel like a more refined version of the energy we’ve seen Slowthai channel before. The rapper’s sophomore outing will most certainly further shape Slowthai’s artistic direction. Tyron arrives February 12th and features Skepta, A$AP Rocky, Denzel Curry, Dominic Fike, and more.

- Casey Chamberlain

JPEGMAFIA- EP2! (2/12)

Not content with last years’ excellent EP!, the enigmatic JPEGMAFIA has announced plans to release a second EP this month, featuring his recent single “FIX URSELF!” as well as the previously released “LAST DANCE!” from his last season of single releases among a batch of new tracks, including “PANIC ROOM!” which features co-production from James Blake. The rappers’ steady output has been accompanied by a widening soundscape on his newest material, further setting Peggy as one of the most forward-thinking artists currently working. The aptly titled EP2! drops February 12th and features the previously mentioned singles along with new tracks “INTRO!” “KELTEC!” “THIS ONES FOR US!” and “FEED HER!”

- Casey Chamberlain 

[jayleeg]

What's going on with Marvels comics this time?

Okay, so this guy who called himself “The Whisperer” who claims to be a Marvel Comics employee dumped a crap load of company dirt onto reddit. Once those rumors surfaced Bleeding Cool ran an article about how it was all crap. And then the rumor leak guy fired back that Rich, the administrator of Bleeding Cool, got paid by Marvel to write the article debunking his rumors. Honestly the entire thing is like a soap opera.

I mean I shouldn’t find this stuff interesting, normally I don’t, I stay away from gossip sites for a reason (and that reason is most of it’s torrid and exaggerated) but as someone who’s worked in the market of business data and trends for twenty years I *have* been wondering why Disney hasn’t intervened with the comics division of Marvel when a) it’s going under, sales are way down and b) they’re ruining their brand with crap storytelling. So out of all of these ‘rumors’ the one I can actually believe is that Disney is staging an intervention and also toying with the possibility of moving Marvel Comics to Burbank, California in order to keep a closer eye on them all.

Anyway, the rumors that started the drama are copied and pasted under cut (and by pasting them here I am no way claiming or endorsing that they are in any way valid, they very well could be a bunch of crap) and I linked the Bleeding Cool article debunking some and taking credit for others above…

Editorial is miserable. Understaffed, under experienced and overworked. The direction at the top corporate level is a mess of politics and in-fighting. They all look the fool to Disney because of Feige’s split and the bad PR & constant gaming of their declining sales is wearing on them. Top brass want to make a hard left back to what worked with Steve, Thor, Tony, Banner and other recognizable faces. Editorial knows how bad it’s going to look to push all their diversity celebrations to the side. Reality is those books didn’t sell. A lot of it had to do with Marvel’s chincy practices finally reaching a breaking point with fans but the internal editorial spin is that comic shop fans aren’t ready to embrace change.

>The terrible reaction to Hydra Cap/Secret Empire forced a change in plans. Originally it was going to end with a quasi-Dark Reign scenario where Hydra is vanquished thanks to Kubik shenanigans and the World Security Council from the movies steps in to assume power over super heroes and everything has Civil War-era overtones with registrations, boot camps, the idea of an Inhuman ban. The Vanishing Point would be a way to bring back Steve, Tony, Thor, Banner; sort of like Hickman’s “Time Runs Out” jump-skip but in reverse, it would rewind the characters to before the Hydra subversion stars. The classic heroes realize that they have lost touch with the people and need to learn how to fight for them again. In the meantime, the new generation of Miles, Kamala, Riri and other Champions would form “the resistance” against the WSC state. (“Generation” was also planned to be the transition from the classic guys taking a step back and letting the new generation lead the charge).>>>Legacy is a rush-job. They can’t afford to take the classic characters off the table like that for so long but they also don’t want to piss off the new diverse audience they’ve been trying to court. They’re trying to have their cake and eat it too, and please all masters. It’s a scattershot way to buy time while they right the course on several books. It’s not going to be about “new number 1s” but milestone 500, 600, 800 issues. A lot of these big volume numbers are really stretching the definition but the constant relaunches have started to seriously damage the trade department’s ability to plan out long-term marketing.

>They’re bringing back the Ultimate line for the teen heroes. Miles will become Ultimate Spider-Man again. Siri becomes Ultimate Iron Man. X-Men Blue becomes Ultimate X-Men. Champions becomes the Ultimates. The only “adult” character that will be a regular presence is Captain Marvel because they want her to be seen a prominent character to the overarching power structure of the WSC/SHIELD and other elements that will factor into her movie heavily. They’ll still make guest appearances in the “main” books but don’t expect them to anchor anymore franchises. Bendis staying on Miles and Riri. Hopeless is still on Ult X. New Ultimates writer is Amy Reeder

>Waid is a stop-gap on Cap to bridge the Legacy launch, then takes over Iron Man with 600 (Doom will be the main villain). Coates is taking over Cap with 700. They want him on the book to endorse the image rehabilitation. There’s a lot of face-palming internally about the “cap is a nazi” talk. He’s on both that and Black Panther as long as his schedule allows.

>They got lucky with Greg Pak and Hulk. It leads into a Planet Hulk revival pretty seamlessly.

>Jane Foster dying was always the end-game with the storyline, but the positive response with female fans means they’re trying to find a way to make her stick around. Tentatively planning to make her the new Valkyrie as the movie version is a blank slate and no one cares about the 70s Defenders character.>Classic Thor will be space-bound for awhile. Definitely through “Ragnarok.”>>

>Slott is off Amazing Spider-Man. They’re going to move him over to Friendly Neighborhood; the fear is he would sign exclusive with DC if they took it away from him completely. Plus he struggles with deadlines and there’s less risk with him off to the side. They can’t ignore declining sales anymore and it’s time for a refresh.>Spencer was earmarked for ‘Amazing Spider-Man” for awhile but he’s “earned it” after taking the heat for Secret Empire. Plus there are fans of his “Superior Foes” book in editorial and the plan is to emphasize tech-based criminals, go smaller scale, focus on NYC. Yes, like the movie. No, they’re not going to de-age him to a teenager. (Although it is a corporate synergy idea that has been floated; editorial has been able to argue that there’s no great way to do it … yet. They’re hoping Tom Holland ages up and they give up on that idea. The time-displaced X-Men are an albatross brought on by First Class synergy).>No major plans for MJ beyond guest spots here and there. The marriage isn’t coming back ever. Renew Your Vows will stick around until its a money-loss. It’s just a spin-off that had some legs, like Spider-Gwen. Silver Sable/Black Cat plans are being developed. Big plans for the Venom series to have a central role in Marvel events.>>>The X-Men are still in a tight spot. ResurrXion was itself a rush job after the Inhumans movie push was officially kaput and there was no future for family of books. Because of the Fox issue, they still can’t create new ideas that could go toward the movies so its literally just nostalgia retreads. Uncanny will be back next year with Xavier. Old Man Logan is sticking around for the foreseeable future with X-23 becoming his sidekick, the book will be called “Wolverine.” They burned out Deadpool fans with the price gouging, so no plans for spin-off series, but there will always be mini-series on the side to line out trades.

>Seriously, don’t expect the classic Fantastic Four anytime soon. Ike has seemingly dug his heels in; even though Fox will probably never figure out what to do with them, he’s spiting the brand because of how bad the negotiations went. Sue & Reed and the kids are seen as “boring” enough to sacrifice. Two-In-One is basically a containment book for people to get their F4 fix. It’s an inventory book, no set writer, it’s like “Avenging Spider-Man” or “A+X.” Different writers will get to use different pet characters.

>Ms. Marvel is in a funky spot because most at Marvel are aware that something organically special happened with her book. She’s basically the new “Runaways,” a special project with a special writer’s connection. It will last as long as Wilson wants to writer her, with a focus on the bookstore market while she pops in and out of other books when relevant. They want the audience to have enough familiarity with her because it’s inevitable she’ll be adapted sooner than later; it’s way too soon for her to be introduced into any Carol Danvers sequels so the TV division might snag her for their Hulu/Freeform teen show pitches. (Moon Girl is saved by her trade sales but the threshold is much lower for if sales drop any lower.)

>Wilson is also taking over Captain Marvel. They need to make it work and she’ll do the best job tying the legacy together. Kamala, Monica Rambeau, SWORD — its all part of it.

>Runaways is just a mini-series. They just want the trade out in time for the Hulu show. They can’t seem to get readers to care if it’s not BKV but they know people still love the franchise.>Cloak & Dagger and New Warriors series are coming. Squirrel Girl is wrapping up and North is moving her storylines over to NW where she’ll be the main character.

>Elektra, Bullseye, Kingpin tanking so hard shook them. They need the “Marvel Knights Netflix” corner to be sustainable, so they’re relying on Bendis on Defenders & Jessica Jones for awhile. Say what you want about his other stuff, everyone here thinks its still his sweet spot.>Brian Buccellato is on Daredevil with issue 600.>Justin Jordan is on Moon Knight; big hope that he can give Marvel their “mature” critically acclaimed book that juices up that corner of Marvel.

>Secret Warriors and Royals are already wrapping up. Rosenberg is moving over to one main Inhumans book. Quake/SHIELD will be background characters until “Agents” wraps up (everyone knows this is the last season).>They’re going to give Ahmed a shot with Black Bolt until sales drop.

>No plans to take Duggan off Guardians. Gunn is moving full steam ahead with Adam Warlock weirdness and they want to make sure those characters/ideas are “accessible” but still fun.

>Punisher War Machine is just one storyline involving Stark tech. They want to pull the character back from some of the real-life darkness and imagery; Nate Edmondson’s rep + Secret Empire has made him “ugly” (plus no one cares about Cloonan’s run). They want to scale him back to the Spider-Man/Defenders side of street-level, with less focus on real guns and more emphasis on comic book-y tech.

>Al Ewing is on Spirits of Vengeance. Editorial likes him, but he can’t sell a book to save his life. They just want someone with a love of Marvel lore to write the magic/horror characters to have them prepped for future Movie Phase exploration with a Blade reboot. They know that corner of Marvel horror needs its own “Annihilation.”

>It’s just like … a Spencer plot device. It could have been WeirdWorld (oh boy that was a failed plan). It’s just Spencer’s take on a “place out of time” a la Morrison.

>There are no plans for a Spidey reboot like that. They can’t get readers to pick up a teen Peter Parker since Bendis killed off Ultimate.

They wrote themselves into a corner because no one cares about kids books like Marvel Adventures or that “Spidey” book from last year.

There has been some discussion about an “Untold Tales of Spider-Man” relaunch with teen Peter and the high school cast but they don’t want Busiek and there’s no market for “prequel” books.

There’s a thought (and I agree) that once the animated Miles movie comes out, they’ll have their “Spider-Man for kids” so we want to keep him strong in the comics and cartoon merch. The Sony deal is kind of closed off but in terms of brand direction, we’re all about synergy. The Gwen revival talk is dead now that the Emma Stone movies are done.

We’re just kind of waiting to see Sony’s next steps but there’s kind of like a prep for nostalgia for the Raimi trajection in terms of MJ & college.

We’re in the dark about a lot of the post Infinity War plans now but the overarching brand direction we were looking at was scaling it to revolve around Spider-Man even though Marvel can’t make a solo Spidey film.

I think Tom Holland is going to be the new lynchpin for the MCU. They’re not going to have a new “Iron Man” franchise but they’ve got Holland locked into a deal where he’ll teaming up with characters in their own stuff.

The original plan was to mirror the Civil War to Secret Invasion to Dark Reign arc.

There’s a reason this is called Secret Empire. The next step was “Nomad”‘ing the entire Marvel line-up. There was a lot of editorial excitement about saying something about Trump’s win and the baby boomer backlash.

No one was expecting the backlash to cap hydra and they probably could have kept the original plans intact but I think it was the sales/marketing push that buried it.

Not everyone is an idiot here; we are aware of how we price gouge comic shops. I think that was more the issue and once all the online fan political arguing started happening around the book, retailers just finally threw their hands cause it wasn’t worth the outrage.

Jason Aaron is off doing his own thing. His Avengers BC thing is just a Morrison mini series idea he has.

Spencer “made his statement” now that Captain Sam won’t be the status quo (that was the original plan while Steve goes back to the maskless “Super Soldier” identity).

I think everyone agrees it’s time to take teens away from Waid.

But the senior editors had big plans for that push and now there’s nowhere else to put it. But we can’t just get rid of it forever.

There was no plan to replace all the “white men” its just how the pieces fell into the place. Honestly, the Riri thing was the tipping point. It was Bendis’ idea, no one in editorial had a big plan for it and it hurt the big post-Secret Wars push to make Tony Stark the franchise of the MU.

Since it’s basically a book for his daughter, we’re kind of stuck keeping her in print.

Edit wants to have a fresh voice on a Miles book in time for the Sony cartoon. David Walker apparently had a pitch that got people excited.

But there’s just no way to take Miles AND Riri away from Bendis without burning a bridge with him forever.

I’m not kidding: the Slott FNSM run is going to marketed like Joss Whedon on Astonishing. It’s its “own thing” “unrestricted by the monthly continuity but still taking place in the MU” which is code for “if its late, its late.”

It’s going to be sold as “separate but equal” to Amazing. I have no idea how long it will last, but it’s to assuage his ego apparently as he was not interested in other books.

I don’t think anybody wants anyone else to jump to DC. The real fear is Disney seeing that Warner had success moving the comics office to Burbank and lining everything up under one roof.

Moving Marvel Comics out of NYC and onto the Disney lots is a real possibility. A lot of us will get downsized or just not relocate if that happens.

not surprised. just our typical variant trick that’s been meant with diminishing returns while contracts get lined up for new last-minute books to replace post SE plans.

shitty day for me because i had to handle a lot of the online damage control until like 8:30

This is how Marvel corporate works under Ike: we don’t give the fox and sony movies anything but we will milk the cash in on comics.

After X3, the plan was to do a teen focused reboot, so we were going to cash in on that. Not literally the movie cast, but remove the baggage and make them streamlined and accessible to younger demos.

Claremont is like the “Spider Man wedding” of X Men. Its this unwieldy thing that none of the senior editors like that they want to rewind but because of the movie deal we can’t make new IP.

X-Men has been a micromanaged mess since I started here. AVX was a sales team gimmick to replicate Civil War, which messed up Schism. Remender’s plans got hijacked by the time displaced O5 which was a pretty shameless Bendis pitch to corporate. There’s no central architect guiding the franchise, just big plans that get derailed by the next sales gimmick.

Then the fox talks started going really south and it wasn’t just “don’t give them new ideas” but actively scale it back.

Yes Ike and corporate really thought they could replace X Men with Inhumans. They don’t actually care what it is, just as long as they own it.

The 05 was seen as a way to scale it back and might as well “House of M” the last vestige of Grant Morrison’s run and just make Scott & Emma straight up super villains. But its been a mess cause no two writers are working together on the bigger picture and Gillen and Aaron and Remender all had different plans.

IVX was a mercy killing to a character that had been written into a corner

Carnage: big villain for the Venom plansPower Pack: early early development for a freeform show, comic would follow obviously

i’m writing this on my personal laptop out of the office. no one at marvel checks this place. and if they did, they just see 4chan as a bunch of trump trolls.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 6 November 2017

Quick Bits:

The Archies #2 kicks off the band’s inaugural road trip and, naturally for Archie, everything goes to hell pretty quick. There are some pretty funny moments throughout the issue as the band deals with their predicament.

| Published by Archie Comics

Birthright #28 is going to play with your expectations. Nothing is quite as it seems and Joshua Williamson is potentially turning things on their ear again with our understanding of the world and its adversaries. Andrei Bressan and Adriano Lucas again make it look gorgeous.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Centipede #4 somehow gets weirder. Kafka dreams and 8-bit graphics.

| Published by Dynamite

Coyotes #1 is one of the most beautiful, unique, and haunting debuts from Image that I’ve seen and it’s not like there’s a dearth of beautiful and unique Image comics lately. Sean Lewis and Caitlin Yarsky have managed to create something here that elevates the horror genre with a mix of a coming of age story and a kind of metaphor for the dogs of society. 

The art from Caitlin Yarsky is also absolutely gorgeous. Her art reminds me a bit of Emma Rios mixed with Jeremy Haun and Declan Shalvey and it has this interesting quality about it that just seems to blend the ephemeral and realistic. I’m particularly impressed by the way that the lettering is incorporated to tell us more about the characters as well. A lot of thought looks like it’s gone into the presentation of this story and it pays off in spades.

| Published by Image

Eugenic #2 jumps ahead to a society now ruled and manipulated by the Numans, subjugating the remaining humans to walled off ghettos and putting a lie to the concept that this new “perfect” race would be any better than its predecessor. 

I also appreciate the moment that James Tynion IV and Eryk Donovan take to comment about representation in media. It’s highly important and highly relevant and it’s nice to see that reflected outright in science fiction.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Grass Kings #9 shifts point of view again this issue, this time to Ashur and Pinball as they pick up some of the threads in regards to the investigation of Jenny Handel’s death. I really like how Matt Kindt has been weaving this story together, a patchwork of overlapping narratives building one upon the next.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Hack/Slash vs. Vampirella #2 has some great art from Rapha Lobosco again. I really like his style, at times I swear I’m looking at pages by Eduardo Risso, and that kind of dark, highly shadowed work fits perfectly with horror. This issue also seems to amp up the comedy aspect, bringing more of the feel of Hack/Slash proper to the crossover.

| Published by Dynamite

Harbinger Renegade #0 is kind of nice in the wake of “Massacre” to see HARD Corps get spanked so thoroughly. It’s also terrifying as Rafer Roberts and Juan José Ryp unleash the next nightmare upon the Valiant universe in this bridge to Harbinger Wars 2.

| Published by Valiant

The Harcourt Legacy #1 is something from a publisher I normally don’t pay much attention to, but the write-up about it sounded interesting. It’s a kind of family drama about a dying relative leaving his inheritance, the family fighting over the will, etc., but it’s also about magic and the interpretation of magic through music. Brendan Cahill gives it an interesting spin, with believable characters, and I’m looking to see what’s next. The art from Jason Federhenn is also very good, he’s got an angular style similar to Giuseppe Camuncoli.

| Published by Action Lab / Danger Zone

Harrow County #27 gives us Bernice kicking all kinds of ass, it’s very satisfying. Her confrontation with Kammi is just a wonderful thing to see, showing how far that she’s come and what she can really do. It’s just a shame what happens next. Emmy’s vengeance against Kammi is going to be epic.

| Published by Dark Horse

Injection #15 is very pretty. Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire seem to up their game again this issue and this is just lovely.

| Published by Image

Kid Lobotomy #2 does the nigh impossible and is somehow even better than that first issue. Gloriously insane doesn’t do justice to what Peter Milligan and Tess Fowler are creating here. Milligan is presenting a story of familial strife, blending literary allusions to Shakespeare and Kafka throughout, across a backdrop of madness that transcends even his work on Shade: The Changing Man. The artwork from Fowler also is wonderful. The layouts and character designs are enthralling, making the book as visually interesting, if not more so, than even the story. This is great stuff.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Kong on the Planet of the Apes #1 is the expression of a crossover of properties so fitting that you’re left wondering why no one thought of it before and secured the license and publishing rights. (It’s, of course, understandable why Universal and Fox didn’t do it themselves). This just works so well that Ryan Ferrier’s story is seamless, playing upon the scientific and religious implications of giant apes present in the Planet of the Apes world. It’s also nice to see Carlos Magno back working on both properties.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Pestilence #5 continues hitting hard with its medieval zombies. It’s also interesting to see the religious reaction to the undead as the Pope gives a deathbed confession, pushing our knights to search a new destination.

| Published by AfterShock

Port of Earth #1 is the new series from Eclipse’s Zack Kaplan with Andrea Mutti handling the art chores. It’s another interesting take of science fiction, turning a woefully technologically disadvantaged Earth into a way station for space vessels and suffering the consequences of murderous aliens. Mutti’s art really gets to shine, even with the kind of faded blue wash Vladimir Popov’s colours provide, giving us some great designs for aliens and their technology.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Redlands #4 veers left into an unexpected ghost story this issue, as Bridget, recovering from her injuries last issue, begins investigating a cold case from 1985. I really like how Jordie Bellaire is telling these stories and developing the characters in a very organic, flowing fashion. Although clearly thought out and planned, everything in the story just seems to flow together. Equally impressive is Vanessa Del Rey’s art. This issue brings back rounded corners, but this time only for the whole page. It’s a subtle technique, but it adds a different element to planned storytelling within a frame, rather than just discrete panels. It’s a nice touch.

| Published by Image

Slots #2 is good, damn good. Dan Panosian delves into the seedy backstory of Stan’s history with Les, while fleshing out more about the various characters across Vegas. His art is also incredible.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Star Wars #38 reunites the original Marvel Darth Vader team in Kieron Gillen’s first issue on the main title. It’s kind of a follow-up from Rogue One, as well as a surprise appearance from a character from the previous Darth Vader run, but it reads well enough on its own, setting up the stakes of this new arc. It helps that the artwork from Salvador Larroca and Guru e-FX is absolutely stunning.

| Published by Marvel

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #26 bills itself as the “zine issue” and as such is essentially an anthology of oddities with some guest art by the unusual suspects. It’s pretty hilarious with contributors like Chip Zdarsky, Carla Speed McNeil, and a Galactus short with Jim Davis.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Astonisher #2, Daredevil #595, Despicable Deadpool #289, Falcon #2, First Strike: Transformers #1, Jessica Jones #14, Half-Past Danger II: Dead to Reichs #3, Marley’s Ghost, Master of Kung Fu #126, Moon Knight #188, The Normals #6, Rock Candy Mountain #5, Royal City #7, Royals #10, Runaways #3, Scales & Scoundrels #3, She-Hulk #159, Slam! - The Next Jam #3, Spider-Man vs. Deadpool #23, Spirits of Vengeance #2, There’s Nothing There #5, TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 #2, The Unbelievable Gwenpool #22, Uncanny Avengers #29, Venom #157, X-Men Gold #15

Recommended Collections: 4 Kids Walk into a Bank, Black Panther - Volume Four: Avengers of the New World - Part One, Edge of Venomverse, Rose - Volume One, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

d. emerson eddy does not like green eggs and ham. He does not like them on a boat. He does not like them with a stoat.

[lastsonlost]

It’s time for that rumor mill to start spinning and it might be a big one. 

Word around the comic book campfire is that Marvel’s lines of comic books are a disaster behind the scenes and big changes are coming our way. You’re going to have to take this with a huge grain of salt but the news is showing up on message boards across 4chan on their diverse replacement characters – i.e.

 Amadeus Cho’s Hulk, Waid Wilson’s Captain America, and Jane Foster’s Thor etc. To add more to the salt, Marvel but be looking to bring back the originals to the Inhumans and X-Men in hopes to boost sales.

What’s adding more to the idea that this might all be smoke and no fire; the people at Bleeding Cool are stating that these rumors are just that…rumors.

Here’s the info that’s been popping up:

Editorial is miserable. Understaffed, under experienced and overworked. The direction at the top corporate level is a mess of politics and in-fighting. They all look the fool to Disney because of Feige’s split and the bad PR & constant gaming of their declining sales is wearing on them. 

Top brass want to make a hard left back to what worked with Steve, Thor, Tony, Banner and other recognizable faces. Editorial knows how bad it’s going to look to push all their diversity celebrations to the side.

Reality is those books didn’t sell. A lot of it had to do with Marvel’s chincy practices finally reaching a breaking point with fans but the internal editorial spin is that comic shop fans aren’t ready to embrace change.

The terrible reaction to Hydra Cap/Secret Empire forced a change in plans. Originally it was going to end with a quasi-Dark Reign scenario where Hydra is vanquished thanks to Kubik shenanigans and the World Security Council from the movies steps in to assume power over super heroes and everything has Civil War-era overtones with registrations, boot camps, the idea of an Inhuman ban. The Vanishing Point would be a way to bring back Steve, Tony, Thor, Banner; sort of like Hickman’s “Time Runs Out” jump-skip but in reverse, it would rewind the characters to before the Hydra subversion stars. The classic heroes realize that they have lost touch with the people and need to learn how to fight for them again. In the meantime, the new generation of Miles, Kamala, Riri and other Champions would form “the resistance” against the WSC state. (“Generation” was also planned to be the transition from the classic guys taking a step back and letting the new generation lead the charge).

Legacy is a rush-job. They can’t afford to take the classic characters off the table like that for so long but they also don’t want to piss off the new diverse audience they’ve been trying to court. 

They’re trying to have their cake and eat it too, and please all masters. It’s a scattershot way to buy time while they right the course on several books. It’s not going to be about “new number 1s” but milestone 500, 600, 800 issues. A lot of these big volume numbers are really stretching the definition but the constant relaunches have started to seriously damage the trade department’s ability to plan out long-term marketing.

They’re bringing back the Ultimate line for the teen heroes. Miles will become Ultimate Spider-Man again. Siri becomes Ultimate Iron Man. X-Men Blue becomes Ultimate X-Men. Champions becomes the Ultimates. The only “adult” character that will be a regular presence is Captain Marvel because they want her to be seen a prominent character to the overarching power structure of the WSC/SHIELD and other elements that will factor into her movie heavily. They’ll still make guest appearances in the “main” books but don’t expect them to anchor anymore franchises. Bendis staying on Miles and Riri. Hopeless is still on Ult X. New Ultimates writer is Amy Reeder

Waid is a stop-gap on Cap to bridge the Legacy launch, then takes over Iron Man with 600 (Doom will be the main villain).

Coates is taking over Cap with 700. They want him on the book to endorse the image rehabilitation. There’s a lot of face-palming internally about the “cap is a nazi” talk. He’s on both that and Black Panther as long as his schedule allows.

They got lucky with Greg Pak and Hulk. It leads into a Planet Hulk revival pretty seamlessly.

Jane Foster dying was always the end-game with the storyline, but the positive response with female fans means they’re trying to find a way to make her stick around. Tentatively planning to make her the new Valkyrie as the movie version is a blank slate and no one cares about the 70s Defenders character.

Classic Thor will be space-bound for awhile. Definitely through “Ragnarok.”

Slott is off Amazing Spider-Man. 

They’re going to move him over to Friendly Neighborhood; the fear is he would sign exclusive with DC if they took it away from him completely. Plus he struggles with deadlines and there’s less risk with him off to the side. They can’t ignore declining sales anymore and it’s time for a refresh.

Spencer was earmarked for ‘Amazing Spider-Man” for awhile but he’s “earned it” after taking the heat for Secret Empire. Plus there are fans of his “Superior Foes” book in editorial and the plan is to emphasize tech-based criminals, go smaller scale, focus on NYC. Yes, like the movie. No, they’re not going to de-age him to a teenager. (Although it is a corporate synergy idea that has been floated; editorial has been able to argue that there’s no great way to do it … yet. They’re hoping Tom Holland ages up and they give up on that idea. The time-displaced X-Men are an albatross brought on by First Class synergy).

No major plans for MJ beyond guest spots here and there. The marriage isn’t coming back ever. Renew Your Vows will stick around until its a money-loss. It’s just a spin-off that had some legs, like Spider-Gwen. Silver Sable/Black Cat plans are being developed. Big plans for the Venom series to have a central role in Marvel events.

The X-Men are still in a tight spot. ResurrXion was itself a rush job after the Inhumans movie push was officially kaput and there was no future for family of books. Because of the Fox issue, they still can’t create new ideas that could go toward the movies so its literally just nostalgia retreads. Uncanny will be back next year with Xavier. Old Man Logan is sticking around for the foreseeable future with X-23 becoming his sidekick, the book will be called “Wolverine.” They burned out Deadpool fans with the price gouging, so no plans for spin-off series, but there will always be mini-series on the side to line out trades.

Seriously, don’t expect the classic Fantastic Four anytime soon. Ike has seemingly dug his heels in; even though Fox will probably never figure out what to do with them, he’s spiting the brand because of how bad the negotiations went. Sue & Reed and the kids are seen as “boring” enough to sacrifice. Two-In-One is basically a containment book for people to get their F4 fix. It’s an inventory book, no set writer, it’s like “Avenging Spider-Man” or “A+X.” Different writers will get to use different pet characters.

Ms. Marvel is in a funky spot because most at Marvel are aware that something organically special happened with her book. She’s basically the new “Runaways,” a special project with a special writer’s connection. It will last as long as Wilson wants to writer her, with a focus on the bookstore market while she pops in and out of other books when relevant. They want the audience to have enough familiarity with her because it’s inevitable she’ll be adapted sooner than later; it’s way too soon for her to be introduced into any Carol Danvers sequels so the TV division might snag her for their Hulu/Freeform teen show pitches. (Moon Girl is saved by her trade sales but the threshold is much lower for if sales drop any lower.)

Wilson is also taking over Captain Marvel. They need to make it work and she’ll do the best job tying the legacy together. Kamala, Monica Rambeau, SWORD — its all part of it.

Runaways is just a mini-series. They just want the trade out in time for the Hulu show. They can’t seem to get readers to care if it’s not BKV but they know people still love the franchise. >Cloak & Dagger and New Warriors series are coming. Squirrel Girl is wrapping up and North is moving her storylines over to NW where she’ll be the main character.

Elektra, Bullseye, Kingpin tanking so hard shook them. They need the “Marvel Knights Netflix” corner to be sustainable, so they’re relying on Bendis on Defenders & Jessica Jones for awhile. Say what you want about his other stuff, everyone here thinks its still his sweet spot.

Brian Buccellato is on Daredevil with issue 600.

Justin Jordan is on Moon Knight; big hope that he can give Marvel their “mature” critically acclaimed book that juices up that corner of Marvel.

Secret Warriors and Royals are already wrapping up. Rosenberg is moving over to one main Inhumans book. Quake/SHIELD will be background characters until “Agents” wraps up (everyone knows this is the last season).

They’re going to give Ahmed a shot with Black Bolt until sales drop.

No plans to take Duggan off Guardians. Gunn is moving full steam ahead with Adam Warlock weirdness and they want to make sure those characters/ideas are “accessible” but still fun.

Punisher War Machine is just one storyline involving Stark tech. They want to pull the character back from some of the real-life darkness and imagery; Nate Edmondson’s rep + Secret Empire has made him “ugly” (plus no one cares about Cloonan’s run). They want to scale him back to the Spider-Man/Defenders side of street-level, with less focus on real guns and more emphasis on comic book-y tech.

Al Ewing is on Spirits of Vengeance. Editorial likes him, but he can’t sell a book to save his life. They just want someone with a love of Marvel lore to write the magic/horror characters to have them prepped for future Movie Phase exploration with a Blade reboot. They know that corner of Marvel horror needs its own “Annihilation.”

Replying to whether Marvel will have a black Mary Jane or what Vanishing Point was.

It’s just like … a Spencer plot device. It could have been WeirdWorld (oh boy that was a failed plan). It’s just Spencer’s take on a “place out of time” a la Morrison.

There are no plans for a Spidey reboot like that. They can’t get readers to pick up a teen Peter Parker since Bendis killed off Ultimate.

They wrote themselves into a corner because no one cares about kids books like Marvel Adventures or that “Spidey” book from last year.

There has been some discussion about an “Untold Tales of Spider-Man” relaunch with teen Peter and the high school cast but they don’t want Busiek and there’s no market for “prequel” books.

There’s a thought (and I agree) that once the animated Miles movie comes out, they’ll have their “Spider-Man for kids” so we want to keep him strong in the comics and cartoon merch. The Sony deal is kind of closed off but in terms of brand direction, we’re all about synergy. The Gwen revival talk is dead now that the Emma Stone movies are done.

We’re just kind of waiting to see Sony’s next steps but there’s kind of like a prep for nostalgia for the Raimi trajection in terms of MJ & college.

We’re in the dark about a lot of the post Infinity War plans now but the overarching brand direction we were looking at was scaling it to revolve around Spider-Man even though Marvel can’t make a solo Spidey film.

I think Tom Holland is going to be the new lynchpin for the MCU. They’re not going to have a new “Iron Man” franchise but they’ve got Holland locked into a deal where he’ll teaming up with characters in their own stuff.

The original plan was to mirror the Civil War to Secret Invasion to Dark Reign arc.

There’s a reason this is called Secret Empire. The next step was “Nomad”‘ing the entire Marvel line-up. There was a lot of editorial excitement about saying something about Trump’s win and the baby boomer backlash.

No one was expecting the backlash to cap hydra and they probably could have kept the original plans intact but I think it was the sales/marketing push that buried it.

Not everyone is an idiot here; we are aware of how we price gouge comic shops. I think that was more the issue and once all the online fan political arguing started happening around the book, retailers just finally threw their hands cause it wasn’t worth the outrage.

On what Ultimate comics are

just an imprint line. not a separate universe.

Jason Aaron is off doing his own thing. His Avengers BC thing is just a Morrison mini series idea he has. Spencer “made his statement” now that Captain Sam won’t be the status quo (that was the original plan while Steve goes back to the maskless “Super Soldier” identity).

I think everyone agrees it’s time to take teens away from Waid.

But the senior editors had big plans for that push and now there’s nowhere else to put it. But we can’t just get rid of it forever.

There was no plan to replace all the “white men” its just how the pieces fell into the place. Honestly, the Riri thing was the tipping point. It was Bendis’ idea, no one in editorial had a big plan for it and it hurt the big post-Secret Wars push to make Tony Stark the franchise of the MU.

Since it’s basically a book for his daughter, we’re kind of stuck keeping her in print.

Edit wants to have a fresh voice on a Miles book in time for the Sony cartoon. David Walker apparently had a pitch that got people excited.

But there’s just no way to take Miles AND Riri away from Bendis without burning a bridge with him forever.

On Spider-Man,

I’m not kidding: the Slott FNSM run is going to marketed like Joss Whedon on Astonishing. It’s its “own thing” “unrestricted by the monthly continuity but still taking place in the MU” which is code for “if its late, its late.”

It’s going to be sold as “separate but equal” to Amazing. I have no idea how long it will last, but it’s to assuage his ego apparently as he was not interested in other books.

I don’t think anybody wants anyone else to jump to DC. 

The real fear is Disney seeing that Warner had success moving the comics office to Burbank and lining everything up under one roof.

Moving Marvel Comics out of NYC and onto the Disney lots is a real possibility. A lot of us will get downsized or just not relocate if that happens.

On what it was like when the Legacy variant covers were announced

not surprised. just our typical variant trick that’s been meant with diminishing returns while contracts get lined up for new last-minute books to replace post SE plans. shitty day for me because i had to handle a lot of the online damage control until like 8:30

This is how Marvel corporate works under Ike: we don’t give the fox and sony movies anything but we will milk the cash in on comics.

After X3, the plan was to do a teen focused reboot, so we were going to cash in on that. Not literally the movie cast, but remove the baggage and make them streamlined and accessible to younger demos.

Claremont is like the “Spider Man wedding” of X Men. Its this unwieldy thing that none of the senior editors like that they want to rewind but because of the movie deal we can’t make new IP.

X-Men has been a micromanaged mess since I started here. AVX was a sales team gimmick to replicate Civil War, which messed up Schism. Remender’s plans got hijacked by the time displaced O5 which was a pretty shameless Bendis pitch to corporate. There’s no central architect guiding the franchise, just big plans that get derailed by the next sales gimmick.

Then the fox talks started going really south and it wasn’t just “don’t give them new ideas” but actively scale it back.

Yes Ike and corporate really thought they could replace X Men with Inhumans. They don’t actually care what it is, just as long as they own it.

The 05 was seen as a way to scale it back and might as well “House of M” the last vestige of Grant Morrison’s run and just make Scott & Emma straight up super villains. But its been a mess cause no two writers are working together on the bigger picture and Gillen and Aaron and Remender all had different plans.

IVX was a mercy killing to a character that had been written into a corner

Carnage: big villain for the Venom plans Power Pack: early early development for a freeform show, comic would follow obviously

And where all this was coming from.

i’m writing this on my personal laptop out of the office. no one at marvel checks this place. and if they did, they just see 4chan as a bunch of trump trolls

The thing that bothers me the most about the article is the ending where “leaker” mentions how easy it is to get the information out there for us to see. Marvel as been known to keep a tight lid on their material so all this info that has been dropped on us is suspicious at best.

What do you guys think? Do you think Marvel might be in a panic over their comic book division? 

[p-artsypants]

My Kingdom For a Heart- (5) Dance of the Daring

FF.net | AO3

Three guest rooms were made up, one for each teen. Sora reclined in his bed, sleep a million miles away. To him, everything that had happened today was just a drop in the trauma bucket.

He wasn’t expecting to stay the night. So, he didn’t bring his pajamas. He almost feared sleeping without them. Yen Sid had promised they’d help with his nightmares, and they had. Now when the heartless appeared in his dreams, he wasn’t afraid.

Rather, now he had other things to worry about. The nightmares of fighting had covered up other dreams he should have been having instead. Conversations with people he hadn’t met, feelings of things that never happened…he knew some of them were Roxas’ memories. But some of the others…he wasn’t sure. Either way, sleep was not enjoyable to him anymore.

Especially when he was alone.

Quietly, Sora stole from his bed and crept to the door. He didn’t bother to look at his clock, he knew it was some ungodly hour in the morning. He crept into the hall.

The castle was silent and still.

He glanced over to Riku’s room, knowing that his friend was probably in a hard sleep. Riku wasn’t the type to rest during the day. And with all the running in the woods he did, doubtless he was exhausted.

Instead, Sora snuck across the hall into Kairi’s room. She laid in the middle of the queen-sized mattress, dressed in a silk nightgown. The servants had taken good care of her, he supposed.

“Hey Kai? Are you asleep?”

Her eyes opened slightly and glanced his way.

“Sorry if I woke you up, I couldn’t sleep.” He crawled onto the mattress and laid down next to her. “It’s weird, I…I kind of get anxious when I’m not with you. Like…we’ve been separated on and off for two years now…and now that you’re with me…I’m terrified to leave you alone. Especially like this.”

He laid on his back, looking up at the bed canopy. “It’s stupid. You’re a princess and you’ve gotten to sleep in two castles now. And I’m not counting the dungeon in The Castle That Never Was either. And now…we’re going to go to all these different worlds, and I’ve decided to bring you along, because I hope that you’ll get to experience it…but without your heart, you’ll never…”

He went silent and turned back over to face her. “Do you remember when we were kids, and the very last time we played Princess and the Dragon?” He smirked. “You were the Princess and Riku and I fought over who got to be the dragon, but he ended up winning. So I became the knight. He placed you ‘under a spell’ of eternal slumber and said that it could only be lifted if I beat the dragon.”

He reached over and fingered her bangs. “And so I fought Riku again, and this time I took it really personal. Then he told me I could only wake up the princess with a kiss. And you actually pretended to still be under that spell. So I kissed you, and it was awkward for everyone.”

His voice was barely a whisper as he leaned in a little closer to her. “So in a way, you’re the sleeping Princess again, and I’m your knight.”

Kairi sighed audibly. A pleasant sound.

“But…the dragon is a little tougher now…and a kiss isn’t going to wake you up.” He glanced down to her lips and felt his stomach clench. “At least…I doubt it could be that simple. But I also don’t want to try that yet…since…well…”

He fell silent, not really knowing what else to say.

“I feel bad, Kai. We were separated for two years…not even able to speak to each other, and now we’re together and you can’t speak…” he frowned. “All of my friends are important to me. No matter how they change. Like Riku, he’s…a lot different now. It’s sad, really. But you and I…”

He met her glassy eyes and stared a little deeper into them. “Things will never be the same between us again, will they?”

Her eyes fell shut softly.

“I guess not.” He looked away to the window. The moon was bright, it’s light piercing the thin curtains. Sometimes, if he stared long enough, the moon took on a heart shape, and terrified him. But for now, it remained a circle.

“Things won’t ever be the same. Not for anyone.” Then he smiled, and looked back down to Kairi. “But you know, I’m okay with that. It keeps things interesting.”

With a tender kiss to her cheek, Sora settled down beside her and found dreamless sleep.

—

He had never been to a ball before. A dance, yes, when he was back at the islands. But never an elaborate, glamorous ball. Sora did his best to tame his hair, and polish up in the former daunting west wing. He wore a borrowed suit from the castle, and if he was honest with himself, felt a little silly. It was almost the opposite of what he had been wearing, since the pants were tight and the shirt was long and loose. High socks adorned his now monstrous calves.

“Ugh, my toes are so cramped in these shoes.” He muttered to Riku.

“That’s because you’ve never worn anything smaller than size 50.” He snarked back.  

"Big talk from someone who has the same shoe size as Goofy."

"Hey, I only wore those to make you feel better about your ugly hobbit toes!" Riku protested.

"Boys boys!" Cogsworth pleaded. It seemed like the 'honored guest' title had worn down quickly. "Of course we are very excited to have you two and your lady friend as guests, but I urge you greatly to be on your best behavior.”

“Why? It’s just a ball with the servants. Everyone already knows how goofy we are.”

“I’m afraid it’s more then just a quaint get together. One part of the curse was that the castle became unfathomably dismissible by it former occupants. Tonight you shall be presented to them along with the Master."

"Huh?"

"Adam's family is coming back and it will be the first time he's seen them since before the curse."

"Oh..." the boys spoke together.

"The queen passed away in childbirth. His father, struck with grief, travelled all around the world to forget her. All his life, he’s been trying to forget his son. And because of the curse, he nearly did. On birthdays the castle would receive a simple page boy who would open the front door and throw a letter inside, stating that the Lords of the castle hoped he was well and would be able to visit next year. The castle’s status was checked up on by his Uncle, Lord Gilbert…who was grossly negligent in that regard. We have received word that these two men, along with a hand full of other nobles, will be present tonight for the Master’s 21st birthday. So please, I beg you, be courteous."

Sora smiled, “No worries, Cogsworth! I've been around loads of royals. We can handle it."

Riku smirked, “Yeah, remember that one time the Emperor of China called me rude?"

"I mean...you didn't even introduce yourself."

"Introductions!" The majordomo exclaimed. "I forgot to write your introductions!"

"Can't we just introduce ourselves? That's a lot more friendly."

"Friendly? We want the proper etiquette! Most of these people won't even want to be friendly!" He dug through his pockets and found some notecards. "Here, write down your full names and titles and give them to the doorman before entering the Entrance Hall. Make sure you write one for the Mistress Kairi as well.”

"Titles?"

"Oh you know, The Duchess of Cambridge, The Duke of Wellington, Regent Prince Adam de Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry?" He giggled. "That last one was a test, that’s the Master's title."

"No wonder he went by 'Beast’,” muttered Riku.

"But we don't have titles like that!"

"Well, then make something up! You're both proud world savers and warriors! Travelers extraordinaire! We are trying to impress! How you are perceived will reflect upon Master Adam!“

“Impress, huh?” Sora smirked a horrible little smirk. “Okay. I can do this."

“Why oh why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this?"

Sora put his hands on the man’s shoulders and steered him toward the door. “You just go on ahead and worry about the rest of the house. You have our word that we’ll be on our best behavior and we’ll write some very nice and impressive titles.”  

“Oh all right…” Cogsworth relented. “There is a lot of stuff to tend to…just make sure you get those titles approved by someone in the house!”

“Of course!”

And with that, he was out the door.

“Here,” Riku handed him his notecard. “You can write mine, Eager McBeaver.”

Sora’s fiendish grin curled slightly. “Excellent.”

A moment later, Prince Adam paused timidly in the doorway. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Riku welcomed, leaning against the wall. “You all ready?”

“As much as I can be,” He admitted. “I’m not sure what I’m going to say to my father. I…don’t even really know him.”

Riku sighed, speaking to the floor. “I…think I kind of know what you mean. I haven’t been home in nearly two years. Before I left, I wasn’t really on good terms with my parents. We fought often, and I got in a lot of trouble. But I just kept pushing them away. There was nothing I would rather do than cast them off completely so I could be free to explore the outside world…but when I got out here, I realized how dark and lonely it can get. I miss them so much now and regret ever fighting with them.” He pushed off from the wall and clasped the man’s shoulder. “I think the best thing you can do is just tell him you love him and you want to get to know him.”

Adam nodded once, sagely. “I think I’ll do just that.” Then he turned and looked at Sora who was furiously writing something down on a notecard. He’d scratch a line, cross it out, tap the pencil to his chin and then write something else.

“What are you doing?”

“Writing our titles,” He answered simply. “Can you approve this?”

Adam took the notecard and gave it a withering glance. “I don’t know…I’m still practicing my reading. It’s not stellar.”

“Even better!”

The Prince read all the words he could. “It’s pretty long. But from what I can tell, it’s good.”

“Excellent.”

“What did you put for me?” Riku reached for the cards, but Sora snatched them away.

“You’ll just have to find out when you get introduced.”

A throat cleared at the door. “Your Majesty, your guests have arrived.”

—

In the Entrance Hall, Sora, Riku, Adam stood at the top of the stairs, just out of site from the crowd below. Riku peered around the corner to report. “I see the servants, and there’s a lot of other people here too.”

“Probably their families,” noted Adam.

“It looks like they’re starting the introductions.”

Sure enough, the doorman spoke loud and clear. “Introducing The Duchess of Cambridge, Marina de Coup Pans de Lyon.”

There was a short applause before the next guest was introduced.

“Alright, so apparently, once all the visitors are introduced, then they will introduce you three and then me. I think they will announce Kairi first.”

“Where is she?” Asked Sora, eager to see his friend all gussied up.

“She’s in the parlor, Mrs. Potts will wheel her out when she’s introduced.”

The guests kept pouring in.

“When do we start walking? When they say our name?”

“As soon as they start saying your title, go ahead and start walking down.”

Riku added from his vantage point, “wow, that’s a bit more than a handful.”

“How many?”

“A few…”

“How many is a few?”

“A couple…”

“Give me a ballpark figure.”

He sighed, “like thirty.”

“I knew this was going to happen,” Adam lamented, head in his hands. “I really don’t want to go out there.”

“Hey, it’s okay. We’re here, if you need anything, we’ll back you up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah!”

Riku grinned, “I am wonderfully capable of throwing punch on someone and making it look like an accident.”

“So you did do that on purpose!” Sora whisper shouted.

“Tidus had it coming!”  

Lumiere’s voice cut through the conversation. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce our guests of honor. The household extends our welcome to these three young warriors visiting from a far off world. Without their help, the castle would not have returned to the glory it once held.”

“Debatable,” Riku muttered.

“The Princess of light, Kairi Shimomura, daughter of Ansem the Wise, the Sage King of Radiant Garden.”

There was a humble applause as Kairi was presented on the floor.

“What does she look like?” Sora urged, trying to see over Riku’s head.

“You’ll see her in a minute! Calm down!”

“Get ready!” Adam scolded.

“The Former Prince of Darkness, Riku Nomura, Pupil to King Mickey Mouse of Disney castle, wielder of the Keyblade.”

Riku made his descent down the stairs as people applauded. Despite the opening, the name was pretty good.

“And of course,” Lumiere cleared his throat, like he wanted this to be perfect. “The Champion of the Gods, Hero of Olympus, Lieutenant of the Chinese Army, First Mate of Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl," Sora strolled down the stairs, a glow with pride.

Riku stood at the bottom, rolling his eyes and huffing.

"Advisor to Aladdin; Sultan of Agrabah, Consort of King Simba of Pride Rock, Escort of Princesses, Slayer of Dragons and Monsters, Pupil to Master Yen Sid, Knight of His Majesty King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle, Captain of the Starship Highwind, Master of the Seven Elements and Master Keyblade wielder, Sora Hikari of Destiny Islands.”

The servants went ecstatic. Cheers like none other rocked the castle as Sora cockily strolled down the stairs. The new guests just stared in shock, and a bit in awe.

"How's that for a title?" He snickered.

"Cogsworth is going to kill you."

"And now, if you please, a round of applause for your honorable and humble host, Regent Prince Adam de Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry..." applause started as Adam nervously descended the stairs. He waited on the ballroom landing.

"And his beautiful lady," Lumiere smiled as he looked up to the East wing. "Belle."

No title, no family name, just her first name, because that was enough for Adam, so it was enough for everyone else. The servants cheered and sang as the master and mistress of the castle met on the landing, smiling brightly at each other, seemingly lost in their own world.

“Thank you everyone, for attending this wonderful celebration,” Lumiere beamed. “Please, be our guest!”

Hired hands, not previously attending the castle opened the doors to the ballroom. Maestro struck up the band and the party commenced.

Now that he had a moment, Sora crouched a bit and took in Kairi’s absolute beauty. She wore a deep blue dress with silver trimmings and bows and ruffles. Her hair was curled and pinned daintily. Sora blushed as he smiled tenderly at her. “Wow Kai! You look like a Princess!”

“Should she not?” A woman’s voice cut through the moment.

Both Sora and Riku turned to greet a sour looking woman in clothes of grandeur and splendor, pinks and reds of all different shades and hues. All layered together in one big flowery mess. “I thought I’d make my acquaintance to such an esteemed Princess of such an exotic title…but if she isn’t actually a princess…”

Sora rubbed the back of his head. “Gee uh, ma’am. I only meant that she actually looked like a princess. Where we are from, we don’t wear clothing this rich and fine. And girls don’t wear dresses this poofy.”

The noblewoman narrowed her eyes slightly. “I see. I am Madam Vivian Antoinette, Duchess of Corsica. Prince Adam is my nephew.” She held her hand out delicately.

Sora took it and shook it with warmth. “Nice to meet you! I’m Sora! This is Riku and this is Kairi.”

She smirked, withdrawing her hand. “That’s how you introduce yourselves? How…civilian.”

Riku mentally tagged in to this boxing fight of wits. “Our culture is much different then you’re used to, and we apologize. We experience so many different types of cultures in our travels, we find it best to keep it simple.”

“I see,” The woman stated, placated.

Sora took note of the guests making their way into the ballroom. “Well, we should join them. Ready Kai?” He stooped and scooped her up. Automatically, her hands draped around his shoulders.

Aunt Vivian sneered at the sight. “Is it also…proper to hold a lady like that in public where you’re from? Are you married?”

“They might as well be,” Riku quipped.

Sora blushed. “Ah, no we—we aren’t. But uh, as you can see by her chair. Kairi is unable to walk on her own.”

“Is she also unable to speak of her own accord? It seems odd that a servant would be answering for her.”  

Sora’s eyes widened, not sure how to respond to such a rude response in a way that wouldn’t embarrass Cogsworth or Adam. He simply looked to Riku. Sometimes he had better tact.

This moment was not one of those moments.

“Look lady, Sora and I are decorated warriors and master swordsmen, and we deserve way more respect than you’re giving us now. I would have thought you’d be a little bit more polite in front of Princess Kairi, Duchess. And no, she can’t speak either. Very rude of you to point that out.”

The woman laughed a haughty little laugh and unfurled her fan. “I merely wanted to see what types of people you were, since you seem to be well acquainted with my dear sweet nephew.”

Riku folded up Kairi’s chair while Sora started up the stairs. “I hate to be the barer of bad news, but you make a poor first impression.”  

—

Meanwhile, Adam and Belle were approached by two older men. He knew them, but he wasn’t prepared for how much older they appeared.  

“Father, Uncle,” Adam greeted calmly and genuinely.

His father, King Reginald, smiled and shook his head with a look of disbelief. “You look so much like your mother.”

Adam looked away shyly, unsure of how to respond. He still wasn’t used to looking like a human in the first place.

“So, please tell us about this lovely lady.” His uncle changed the subject.

“Oh! This is Belle, she’s my uh…we are…”

“Adam has been courting me.” She curtsied politely.

The duke and king shared a knowing glance. “She’s very lovely,” Reginald praised. “How were you acquainted? As far as I know, you were never the social type, Adam.”

“Uh…well, she was my guest.”

“Adam was very kind to let me stay here while my father was away. You see, my father is a world famous inventor and he is well travelled to show his inventions to scholars.”

The king nodded with enthusiasm, “sounds like a very smart man!”

“And Belle is very educated as well,” Adam added. “She’s read over half the books in the library since she started staying here.”

“Charming, beautiful, and smart! My boy you’ve seem to found the perfect woman!”

Adam beamed.

“But if she is so well learned,” his uncle interjected, “why did she not take care of the house hold or go with him? I’m just curious.”

Adam swallowed. He was never very good at lying. Especially when he could just drop, ‘because I said so!’ and people would listen to him.

“Well, your excellency, I was being relentlessly pursued by a hunter who wanted my hand in marriage. And sought out your lovely castle as a sanctuary for a just a little time.”

“A hunter?”

“Yes, a man that was unafraid to kill any animal just for praise. He kept them all as trophies. He didn’t know how to read and he spent all his free time drinking beer.”

Adam scowled, hating the man even more.

The duke laughed, “sounds like an utter buffoon! You did well to seek out help.”

“So when’s the wedding?” The King asked.

At that, both Adam and Belle blushed heavily. “Well, the courting is only a recent development…” Adam cleared his throat. “That is, I do love Belle, and I would love to marry her, but I need a little time to get used to the idea.”

“Belle! There you are!” A man hustled into the group. “I saw you go into the ballroom and then I got lost in the crowd—this castle is so big, I still can’t—Oh dear, am I interrupting something? I’m terribly sorry.” Maurice looked up at the gentlemen gathered.

The king barked out a laugh and held out his hand. “It’s quite alright, monsieur…?”

He shook it warmly. “Maurice, just Maurice. I’m Belle’s father. And you are?”

The man laughed. “King Reginald VII, at your service.”

“K-K-K-King!?” Maurice fell down to his face on the floor. “Your Highness! I’m so so sorry, I should have…I’ve never seen you in person, and I wasn’t expecting…”

“Sir, please rise. Since it seems like we’re going to be in laws in the future, there’s no need to be so formal.”

“In laws!? You’re Adam’s—“

“He’s my son, yes,” The king smiled.

Maurice stood on shaky legs, staring between the group. “Oh what have you gotten me into, my dear?”

“Oh darling!” A shrill voice beckoned. The duke turned to greet his wife, Aunt Vivian.

“There you are Viv, where did you waltz off to?”

“I went to speak to the honored guests, the two young men and the princess. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“Oh yes, of course you remember Adam, and this is his Beau, Belle. And her father, Maurice.”

“Ah, yes.” The woman smirked, “The girl without a title or even a surname.” She snapped her fan.

“Vivian,” her husband scolded.

Aunt Vivian gave her a cold stare. “So how did you end up here? I’m sure it’s a…riveting story.”

“Oh it is!” Maurice responded. “You see, it was a dark and stormy night—!”

Belle put a loving hand on her father’s shoulder. “Now dad, I’m sure Adam wants to get caught up with his family. We can tell them the story later, alright?” And she steered him toward the snack table.

“But Belle, don’t you think that’s important for them to know?”

“They don’t know about the curse,” She explained. “Cogsworth told me that his family just felt compelled to stay away. I do think they need to know about the curse but…not right now. Not tonight.”

Maurice nodded. “I understand, and I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for Papa.” She kissed the top of his head.

“If you don’t mind,” he began, his eyes searching the room, “I’m going to see if Mrs. Potts would like a dance.”

Belle giggled as he headed out into the fray. She proceeded into the room as guests and servants alike greeted her. Then, off in a corner, she saw the boy from Hollow Bastion sitting in a wheelchair, looking at a strange rectangular device.

She approached him quietly. “Now, I could have sworn you were the friend that could walk.”

Riku startled up from his seat. “Oh no, that’s not me…um, I’m just taking pictures.” He held out his phone so that she could see the images of the dancers taking the floor. One such image was of Sora waltzing with Kairi in his arms. Belle looked to the floor and saw him. He looked much more elegant in the photo. But he was happy, as Kairi had her arms draped around his shoulders and rested her head against his chest.

“Are you jealous?” Belle asked, a little bluntly.

Riku huffed. “You know, if you had asked me a year ago, I would have said yes without a doubt. But now I’m just sad.”

Belle turned her sympathetic gaze to Sora. “He seems to care a lot about her.”

“He loves her. He cares about everyone he meets, but he loves her. Did you know he took out his own heart for her? And because of her, he regained himself from a heartless.”

“I remember.” She smiled softly. “I remember waking up to Donald screaming for him. I remember mass panic as everyone left the great hall. But where were you?”  

Riku looked down in shame. “That was after I lost my body to the darkness. Ansem had taken control of my body and there was nothing I could do to stop it.”

Belle looked back at him. “Now everything makes sense.”

“How so?”

She smiled at him. “Several times in his travels, Sora visited our castle. He was looking for you each time. I could only wonder why. But now I know that the you I met back then wasn’t actually you.”

“In a way, it still was.” He sighed. “Before this whole thing started, when the three of us still lived on the island, I confessed to Kairi that I had a crush on her. She was really nice about it, but she told me that her heart belonged to someone else. I asked if it was Sora and she said it was. From that day on, I did everything I could to prove that I was better than him. I even teased him in front of her. In the end, when it mattered, I took a short cut to try to save her, and ended up bringing ruin to myself.” He crossed his arms, “when I kidnapped you, I had a major attitude problem. Since then, I’ve been severely humbled…and I’m sorry for what I did. It must have been traumatic.”

“Scary, yes.” She affirmed. “But I wasn’t harmed, and adventure never hurt anyone.”

He grinned. “In fact, I think it helps.”

Belle raised her hand out to him, “I would like to have a word with Sora, do you think you could help me out there?”

He bowed, “of course, m’lady.”

Riku and Belle danced out to the couple lost in their own little world. She tapped gently on his shoulder. “Excuse me sir, may I have this dance?”

Sora looked between her and Riku and nodded. Kairi raised her arms out so Riku could take her.

“Just so you know, I have two left feet.”

“That’s alright.” Belle grinned.

They awkwardly danced in the crowd of servants. “You’re so stiff,” She chuckled.

“I’m just not used to dancing!”

“Well, at least you aren’t looking at your feet. It took Adam a long time to figure that out.”

“To be fair, we aren’t really dancing…just swaying in a circle.”

“I don’t mind.”

“So…what’s the Beast—er, Adam up to?”

“He’s talking to his family in the grand hall. I don’t think his Aunt likes me.”

“Oh you mean—,” He pitched his voice high and made it overly proper. “Aunt Vivian?”

“You met her?”

“I was roasted by her. Riku and Kairi too! Some people are just awful.”

“I’ve dealt with worse,” Belle assured. “But, I’ve been meaning to ask you, I just haven’t been able to since you got here…what is wrong with Kairi? If I recall, she didn’t have any problems before.”

Sora looked away in sadness. “Well, you remember Xaldin, right?”

Her nose flared. “Did that awful man do this?”

“Not quite. He was a part of a group of Nobodies called Organization XIII. Their leader ripped Kairi’s heart out and shattered it. Riku and I are trying to find a way to restore it, since Kingdom Hearts is unstable without it.”

“Oh goodness! Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Actually…” He moved his hand to his pocket. As he did, there was a loud knocking at the door.

A hush fell over all the servants as they stopped dancing. Even the band stopped playing music. The guests looked around confused as nearly everyone looked to the door.

The knocks repeated.

Lumiere hurried from the ballroom and down the steps to get the door, but Adam was already heading towards it. As Belle and Sora reached the bottom of the steps, they heard Aunt Vivian scoff. “Answering the door himself? That’s a servant’s job!”

Adam adjusted his coat and opened the door with a welcoming air.

Lumiere paled next to Belle. “It’s her.”

An ugly old woman stood at the door, her knotted hands clutched a rotting cane. Her blind eye staring right into Adam’s soul. Though she never said so, he believed that she would return one day to test him.

Persistent rain pelted down on the stairs behind the woman. He couldn’t recall if it had been doing so when the guests arrived not long ago.

“Good evening, madam,” he greeted, a nod of his head.

“Please,” she begged. “Spare an poor old woman from the cold? I have but a rose to offer in return.”

“That’s very kind of you, please come in.” With a sweep of his arm, he gestured inside. “We are in the middle of a celebration, please enjoy the music.”

“That’s alright, what I’d really love is a warm bed for the night.”

Cogworth hurried up to Adam in a hushed panic. “All the rooms are full, and I know that our…distinguished guests would be…put out if your offered their room away.”

“Then the parlor,” Adam decided. “We’ll have a nice fire in the parlor and you can sit in my chair.”

Everything finally clicked in Sora’s mind and he joined the conversation. “Bea—er Adam, me, Riku, and Kairi have to get going tonight, so if you want to offer one of our rooms, that’s fine.”

“Ah! Thank you! There we go, a nice warm room for you ma’am!” He called back to the assembled crowd. “Is Mrs. Potts here?”

The housekeeper hurried down the steps to the Master. “Yes sir, I’m here sir.”

“I’m so sorry to ask this of you on your day off, but could you personally attend to our guest?”

“Of course, Master.” She curtsied.

“I’ve had just about enough of this!” Aunt Vivian exclaimed. “Treating this woman—this peasant with so much curtesy! It’s…well, it’s disgraceful.”

Adam cleared his throat. “Aunt Vivian, you don’t understand.”

“Oh I understand plenty! While we were gone, you resorted to rubbing shoulders with dirty commoners! You bring shame upon this family!”

The beggar woman looked at Adam, and smiled slightly. “Are you going to let her boss you around in your own castle?”

“You! You do not speak unless spoken too!” Vivian snapped. “Adam! This is a complete and utter embarrassment. If you will not do something about this, then I will.”

“Vivian, this is my castle now, and whoever needs refuge will get it. You must understand—“

But the woman was so lost in anger that she would not listen to him. “Guards! Anyone! Get this woman out of here!”

The old beggar woman narrowed her eyes. “Do not be deceived by my appearance. Things are not always as they seem.”

The resounding slap sent the crowd into silence. A maid sobbed.

“Get out.” Vivian snarled.

Instantly, the room was overtaken by a bright light. The old woman rose into the air and showed her true, beautiful form. Vivian fell to her knees in fear.

“Anger and hate will get you nowhere.” She proclaimed, raising her hands. “This is what happens when you let it fester!”

Prince Adam seized up instantly, pink magic surrounding him.

“Oh no!” Belle cried. “Please don’t!” She looked to Sora. “Please do something!”

Adam’s body was engulfed in light, as beams burst forth from his fingertips.

Sora drew his keyblade, but stood still, unsure of the right course of action.

“Steady your hand Keyblade wielder, I am not your enemy,” The enchantress claimed.

A horrendous roar shook the castle and the once handsome Prince was reduced to a Beast once more. He turned, snarling at his family.

The king took a step toward him, holding out his hand. “Adam…”

The enchantress lowered herself to their level and placed a hand on the Beast’s arm. “This is the product of your cruel, sad, sickening and hateful hearts. I once thought he was a spoiled, selfish, and wicked child. I now realize that he was merely a victim himself, of gross negligence and poor role models. These last ten years, he will never get back, and it’s all your fault.” She addressed the King, the Duke, and the Duchess.

The King was the first to act, in a way that no one would have ever expected. He ran to Adam and threw his arms around his son and wept. “Adam! My sweet little Adam! How cruel and foolish I’ve been!”

“Father?” The beast hated the gruff noise that was his voice.

The king looked up to him. “By god, you still have her eyes.” He clenched his eyes shut, pained. “Every time I looked at you, it hurt so bad. You took my wife away, but are the only thing I have left of her. And I chose to push you away and ruin your life. I know I can never make it up to you, but I will do everything I can to make up for it. I’m so sorry, could you ever forgive me?”

The beast hugged him back. “All I wanted was for you to love me.”

“Oh Adam, I did. I loved you so much…but I didn’t know how to show it. Anything would have been better than what I did. We’ll start a new, is that alright?”

“Yes…that sounds perfect.”

The duke approached him guiltily. “I don’t think I was much better. Your father asked me to watch over you, and I did a poor job. I have no excuse.”

The Beast clapped his shoulder, causing him to stumble. “You tried. And that’s okay. It didn’t help that I was awful to you.”

“I’ve long forgiven you for anything you did, my boy.” The duke assured.

The enchantress looked at the assembled and smiled. “Forgiveness is the mightiest sword. And with it, your hearts can be purified.” Then she turned her eyes upon the duchess. “But some hearts are so consumed by darkness, that they cannot be redeemed.” She raised her hand and a pink light surrounded Vivian, who still sat frozen on the ground. “You who have mocked and scorned others, who has pointed fingers and carelessly flung insults. You will have silence for the rest of your days. Nevermore will you sing your praises or defend your actions, and no one will stand up in your place. For you have damned yourself to a life of scorn and hatred as you have delivered it. There will be no redemption for you, for you have not learned this lesson yet.” And with that Vivian’s voice turned to dust.

“Vivian!” The Duke cried, running to her.

The Duchess finally snapped out of her trance and hurled every insult and swear she could think of. But it all remained unheard. Then, she hugged herself and cried.

Finally, the Beast spoke. “What must I do to turn back into a human?”

The enchantress graced him with a smile. “Through Belle’s love, and your love for her, your curse has been lifted forever. This form is for you to use as needed. I sense great danger in the future, and thought it might be of use to you.”

The Beast closed his eyes, and went still. Slowly, his form melted back into a human, as if there was never any change. Belle threw her arms around him in relief.

“You passed my test, young prince. And now my presence is no longer needed.”

“Wait!” Sora called.

She met his plea.

“Please, Kairi lost her heart.” He gestured over to the girl, still in Riku’s arms. “I hoped that you would know a way to regain it?”

The enchantress floated closer, examining him. “There is no magic in this world or any other that can regain a princess’s lost heart.”

Sora felt his stomach sink into his shoes.

“However, the item in your pocket holds the key.”

He pulled out the heart shard. “This?”

“Yes, follow your heart and it will lead to hers.” And with that, she finally disappeared.    

Once the staff realized that they weren’t going to be cursed again, the celebration continued.

Adam and Belle joined Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

“So that’s what you’re looking for?” Belle glanced at the crystal.

“Yeah, it’s a heart shard of a past Princess of Light.”

“Well, there’s going to be a lot of changes happening in the castle in the coming month. We will keep an eye out for one,” Adam assured.

Sora nodded, “I appreciate it. Stay safe you guys, I didn’t really like the warning the enchantress gave.”

“I’m not too sure about that either,” Belle confessed.

“Only a fool would try to harm anyone in my castle.”

“Your Beast is showing.” Riku smirked.

Sora clapped his hands, “Well, we have to get going. It is a long flight back to Hollow Bastion. But first, I’m going to get more of those little wienies for the road!”

[winterviewz]

Frankie Ennui Suburban Lawns

  When I first discovered your band I heard Talking Heads and Devo in your sound instantly. Is that the sort of thing you were listening to at the time?

Absolutely. I think several band members went and saw one of Devo’s earliest, if not their earliest, L.A. performance and came back raving about it. I am still the proud possessor of Devo’s first single, in the very cool cover it came in, Mongoloid backed with Jocko Homo. All of us were fans of the Talking Heads too, of course. Eno, Iggy Pop, Television, Richard Hell, and lots of other new wavers or punk rockers were also on my personal play list at the time

Which clubs did you play, and with which bands?

Well, we played all over the place here in the L.A. area. The Masque, The Whiskey a Go Go, The Hong Kong Cafe, Madame Wong’s (both of them), The Roxy, The Country Club, Club 88, the Cuckoo’s Nest, etc. A lot of our early shows were thrown at our own studio in Long Beach. We’d charge $1 for each band that was playing and usually had two guests bands. The ones I remember off hand were The Plugz, The Minutemen, The Brainiacs, The Alley Cats and The Suburbs (friends of Su’s from Minneapolis)

I think we played the Masque couple of times, with groups like The Bags. The first such gig might have been under the band name Art Attack or Fabulons (which we later changed to Suburban Lawns). On one of those occasions, The Ramones were in attendance and later that night we went and saw The Ramones at the Whiskey

We played with nearly all of the local groups in those early days. Beyond the groups already mentioned, we played with The Dickies, X, The Germs, Black Flag, Geza X, Human Hands, The Reactionaries, Fear, The Vandals and a ton of other local great bands

We played quite a few opening gigs for Oingo Boingo (including a show at the Whiskey when they were still the Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo). Danny Elfman was a big fan of Su Tissue. We also opened for Oingo Boingo at the John Anson Ford Theater and the Universal Studios Amphitheater and did at least a couple Halloween gigs with them at Cal Arts

Later, when we were with IRS Records, we opened for U2 at the Santa Monica Civic, opened for the Clash at the Sacramento Auditorium and played with other fairly big names like Siouxsie and the Banshees, 999 and Bow Wow Wow

What a unique vibe. All the bands were great. I think Vex (Billy) had some connection with Tex and her Horseheads for a while there. The OC scene was happening too, but the details, these many years later, escape me

And you played Magic Mountain..

Magic Mountain was probably our biggest (and best paying) headline gig. Great facility, loads of enthusiastic fans and we got to go to the front of any ride line that we liked

KROQ was a supporter of the band, and Rodney particularly, and you were on SNL. Did you think at that point you were going to have a career with SL?

Rodney and all the folks there at KROQ were great. Rodney loved Su too

Doing a video with director Jonathan Demme for Saturday Night Live was a real highlight. What a down to earth and nice guy Jonathan is. He later put one of my songs (with a band called Electric Sheep) in one of his movies, Something Wild (in which Su appeared)

Yeah, we had a recording contract on a label that had lots of top flight bands (the Go Gos, REM, etc.) and we were on T.V., we were making a little money and we were optimistic about the future but…

How did the band write?

Initially, I weaseled my way into the group that eventually (after Su came on board) became the Suburban Lawns by jamming with the other guys and offering up some lyrics for some of their music. At first, most of the music was written by Billy (Vex Billingsgate) Ranson, our bass player (and also a singer) and John McBurney, our lead guitar player, and I would contribute lyrics. So, at least initially, John and or Billy would come up with a riff or two and I would then try to write lyrics to match. That was how Gidget Goes To Hell was written: Billy wrote those great riffs and I added the words. Su added her unique vocal styling. Other songs, like Janitor, were created when John and Billy came up with the music, I wrote most of the lyrics and then Su added the infamous “Oh my genitals, I’m a janitor” tagline. Eventually, even Chuck “Roast” Rodriguez, our drummer, started contributing music, as in Mom and Dad and God, where he wrote the music and I added the words. By the time we did the Baby EP, however, we were collaborating less. The best stuff, in my opinion, was created by way of our collaboration

Do you have any favourites? I really like Protection. And Not Allowed and Mom and Dad and God..

My favorites are probably Green Eyes and My Boyfriend, but I love them all. Protection is a favorite of mine too

You wrote the lyrics to Janitor after some conversation you overheard between Su and a friend, is that right?

No. Although on Wikipedia (and elsewhere) it has been written that I overheard a conversation between Su Tissue and Brian Smith where the “Oh my genitals! I’m a janitor!” originated and that such conversation inspired me to write the lyrics, that story is somewhat backwards. The music and all of the lyrics except “Oh, my genitals! I’m a janitor!” were already written when Su Tissue added those lyrics (which lyrics really made the song, in my opinion). For good or bad, I’m generally pretty literal in my lyric writing (as opposed to poetical) and I’m not shy about using bad puns

Su was definitely more of a poet than I have ever dreamed of being. The lyrics, except for Su’s contribution, are pretty straightforward science-nerd stuff about all things explosive. Su’s addition, whatever the source (and I have no reason to doubt what Brian Smith has apparently written about how Su came up with that addition), gave the song a poetical spin that added the dimension it needed to make it interesting. That’s exactly why, in my opinion, our best songs were those that were written collaboratively

Was the Baby EP the last thing you recorded together?

Sadly, yes

After SL split, you formed the Lawns. Was that going to be a direct continuation of SL, with new band members, or was there a change in musical direction?

Actually, I think (despite what you may have read on the Internet) that Vex (Billy) was not part of that effort. I think it was Chuck, John, a great (now deceased) friend named Tom Corey (of The Fibonaccis) and yours truly that tried to keep things going. Su and Vex went their own way. But it wasn’t anywhere close to the same thing without them. That band, The Lawns, eventually fell apart and/or morphed into the Electric Sheep, where we had David Kendrick (from Sparks and later, Devo) drumming and a friend of mine named Gloria Dawson, singing. We were trying to get into more of a hybrid thing, mixing R&B with punk, but it didn’t catch on for us

Do you think perhaps you were a couple years too early, and with MTV a household name you might have been bigger?

Probably. MTV was around (barely) and we made at least one video (Janitor) other than the video that was on SNL (Gidget), but it was tough to get airplay in those days. We began a video for Mom and Dad and God but it was never completed.

  The Tea Party. A fascinatingly ill-informed, emotionally-stunted and easily-led group of middle American folk. All supporting the very people who are destroying them. Talk about “asleep at the wheel.” Is America more divided now than you can ever remember?

Yes, unfortunately I think it is, although ironically it seems nearly certain that we are going to end up with two relatively moderate politicians running for the presidency in November, Obama and Romney. No thanks to the Tea Party, however. The “I’m willing to drive the country off a cliff unless I get my way on spending cuts, but don’t tax the rich” attitude of the Tea Party People is disturbing and especially so where the economy is already a mess. Not that the U.S. Government doesn’t waste a lot of money, however, because it does. Not sure how the U.S. became the world’s policeman and why war seems to be the answer to every international dispute, but I’m pretty sure it has a lot to do with money. We need, at least to some extent, to get the money out of our politics, but our Supreme Court apparently differs with me on that one

What you said about supporting the people who are destroying them is, in my opinion, accurate. Why so many in the middle class support low taxes on the wealthy is difficult to understand. Maybe its an aspirational thing. Its puzzling and frustrating

What did you do after music?

I worked in computers for a while and then went to grad school to become a teacher. I taught history and social studies at a high school in Santa Ana for about a week and half before quitting and going to work for an attorney friend as a receptionist. Eventually, I went to law school and have been an attorney here in Newport Beach for about the past 20 years

But I have never stopped playing music and writing songs. After Electric Sheep broke up, I started playing with some old friends from junior high school and am still playing with those guys (John Bitterly, Mark Handley and, later, Rick McDermott) to this day. Our band is called Johnny Mark and the Ricks (for obvious reasons). We play all originals. Our theory is that if we keep writing songs, eventually we’ll come up with something good. One of our most recent songs is called “”T Party People” in which I attempt to channel James Brown and Sarah Palin at the same time. It’s not easy. We can be checked out atjohnnymarkandthericks.com or on facebook, etc. Our next gig is on Cinco de Mayo, Saturday, May 5, 2012, at DiPiazza’s in Long Beach at 8:00 p.m. Any encouragement received will be appreciated, but not necessarily good for us

My good friend, Billy (Vex), has, in recent years, been playing with former Suburban Lawns, John and Chuck. More about Billy and the others can be learned at www.myspace.com/pulsatormusic. Enjoy!

  You channel James Brown and Sarah Palin at the same time? Maybe something like: “You can see Russia, hit me nah!… From my hou..hou…house-ah! Good god, ain’t it funky nah! YAAAAAAY!!”   I can’t recommend the Suburban Lawns album highly enough; if you’re into art rock, and 80s New Wave, or if you like the B52s, Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich and/or the Flying Lizards, you’ll probably love Suburban Lawns too

Thanks Frankie  

[recentanimenews]

Squared Circle Otaku: How Anime Inspired Wrestlers

  Two rivals stand across from each other, ready to throw down. This is the culmination of weeks of blood, sweat, and tears of high emotion and raw power. Everything fans have been waiting for is about to happen in an explosive, no holds barred battle, where only the strongest survives! If you had to pick whether that passage described your favorite anime action series or professional wrestling, you might have a hard time picking between the two of them; the fact of the matter is that wrestling and anime have a lot more in common than most people think they do.

  Several weeks ago, we did a video on that very subject, focusing on the ways in which these two seemingly different types of entertainment crossover with one another frequently. But were you aware that many wrestlers are big anime fans? Whether its wearing gear inspired by their favorite series, special attacks with homage names, or simply wearing their love for anime on their sleeve, many of today’s titans of the ring have a deep love for anime. If you’re curious about some of them, we’ve got a few wrestlers to grapple with here, but trust us when we say this is just the tip of the iceberg! 

    If you’re already a fan of both wrestling and anime, you may have immediately thought of Xavier Woods, member of the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, the New Day, as well as host of video game channel Up Up Down Down. Xavier is a well known fan of anime and games, and the New Day’s Dragon Ball Z themed Wrestlemania entrance is legendary! But aside from that nod in the ring, Xavier has talked about his deep love for anime and gaming for a long time, and he regularly attends conventions such as Dragoncon in full cosplay, pulling off an impressive Sailor Mercury cosplay last year!

  On his YouTube channel Xavier routinely plays anime themed and inspired games and occasionally talks about anime with his guests, such as one episode devoted to the Sailor Moon fighting game featuring fellow WWE wrestler and huge Sailor Moon fan Sasha Banks! Sasha has routinely mentioned her love of Sailor Moon in interviews, even stating that she identified the most with Serena/Usagi when she was watching the show while growing up. Longtime readers here at Crunchyroll may even remember that Sasha and Xavier appeared on an episodes of our very own Lighting Round back in 2016, answering our burning anime questions for them, which you can check out here and here if you’re curious.

    Xavier and Sasha are far from the only WWE talent that wear their love for anime on their sleeve, though. NXT Superstar Brennan Williams is another longtime anime fan, whose original signature move in the ring was the “Nico Nico Knee,” an homage to everyone’s favorite Love Live idol and gremlin Nico Yazawa. Williams is perhaps even more obvious about his love of anime than most, and with a Twitter handle like “GREATBLACKOTAKU,” it’s hard to argue with that! Brennan’s Twitch channel has a Pop Team Epic inspired logo, and he regularly posts about anime and games that he’s playing and watching when not training or entertaining in the ring. His streaming partner and fellow NXT Superstar Shane Thorne shares similar enthusiasm for anime, even having a Brand of Sacrifice tattoo on his abdomen and professing his love for Berserk on Twitter.

    Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, and Berserk seem to be big hits amongst wrestlers, as shown by WWE wrestler and former NXT North American champion Ricochet, who back when he wrestled mostly in Japan dressed up as Frieza for Halloween, accompanying fellow wrestler (and now NXT Superstar) ACH, who had dressed up as Ash Ketchum. ACH is perhaps another go to for wrestling and anime fans in the know, as he’s been combining his two loves into his performances for a long time. ACH’s signature ring entrance pose is inspired by One Piece’s Franky, would be introduced as hailing from the Planet Vegeta, and he even wears a Naruto ninja headband with his gear as well! In my own experience, I even got to see ACH after a show cradling a brand new Naruto figure he picked up while in town for a show, keeping his work life and hobby life alive at the same time!

Loving anime on your free time is one thing, but incorporating that love into your moves in the ring is quite another. Although some like Brennan Williams have found some success with it, there’s probably no greater nod to a love of anime than Samoa Joe, whose signature move the Muscle Buster is a very obvious homage to the famous Kinniku Buster from Kinnikuman! Although he hasn’t used the move in quite a while, checking out replays of his matches in NXT will give you a chance to compare the two; we have to say, Joe’s version is quite authentic and just as devastating as Kinnikuman’s signature finisher. Joe also posted back in 2017 that his youngest child had become interested in boxing anime Hajime no Ippo, and there’s nothing quite as heart warming as seeing one of the most destructive wrestlers in the world share his love of anime with his kids like a good dad.

But which wrestlers are the MOST anime? That is a bit of a hard question to answer (and, for the sake of simplicity, we’re not including wrestlers who are literally based on anime like Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask), but for this particular article we’ll leave you with two very special people: WWE’s Asuka and NJPW’s Minoru Suzuki.

  Asuka, who wrestled in Japan under the name Kana, has a long history of enjoying anime and manga, as well as video games. Aside from her wrestling career, Asuka owns a hair salon named Another Heaven, and worked as a graphic designer and video game journalist. Her background in these, coupled with her love of anime, leads to some pretty amazing moments, such as her Twitter re-creation of the infamous stand off between Dio and Jotaro, with herself and WWE’s Charlotte Flair taking the roles! Asuka has always had a flair for the dramatic, flashy, and colorful, and her non-wrestling related tweets tend to involve games (she’s a huge fan of Okami and retro games!), and just recently posted that she’s anxious to read the newest issue of Manga Action that’s due out in May. Asuka’s twitter is routinely filled with various games, anime, manga, and art that she enjoys, making her one of the most vocal wrestler anime fans by far!

    Finally, that brings us to Minoru Suzuki. Infamous for his extremely threatening aura and physical style in the ring, Suzuki is also a diehard manga fan, especially One Piece! There may not be a wrestler that is a more avid and open fan of anime than Suzuki, who has been such a vocal fan of One Piece that he’s even appeared in it, voicing the character Minoru Kazeno (A combination of Suzuki’s own name and reference to his classic theme song, “Kaze ni Nare”). If you want to see Suzuki in anime form, you can check it out right here on Crunchyroll! But it doesn’t quite stop there with Suzuki; he’s such a huge fan of One Piece that he shaved the Devil Fruit design into his hair, and has appeared on a few shows to discuss his love of the series. In an episode of the variety show SMAPxSMAP, Suzuki showed up as part of a trivia challenge, walking away the victor after a series of grueling superfan questions!

    And that’s still not all; Suzuki has even had his own official One Piece themed spin-off in Saikyo Jump’s One Piece Party, known as One Piece Corner, where he discussed things going on in and coming up in One Piece at the time. Suzuki also hosted a podcast called “Manga King Minoru Suzuki,” where he talked about manga he was reading and his opinions on them. And his classic theme song, “Kaze ni Nare,” is famously sung by Ayumi Nakamura, who has performed theme songs for shows like Magic Knight Rayearth. When it comes down to it, it’s pretty hard to beat Minoru Suzuki when it comes to that marriage of anime and wrestling, but take it from us, I think I’d let him win any manga debates he wanted to have…

  As anime and manga become more popular, its only to be expected that more and more people come to love and appreciate them, but it is certainly interesting to see the mixture of wrestling and anime take form in the way wrestlers bring their love of the hobby into the ring with them. And we’re sure that there are many more anime loving wrestlers out there, as this list is by no means exhaustive, but simply a way for you to see that anime really is for everyone! Now, we suggest you follow Suzuki’s advice, “be like the wind,” and settle down for some anime and wrestling binge watching! Nothing says anime marathon break like a few hours of amazing wrestling, right?

Did you find out anything about some of your favorite wrestlers? Maybe considering giving wrestling a chance if you haven’t before? Know of any wrestlers we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments!

----

Nicole is a features writer and editor for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1223

Monday, July 30, 2018

 Many comings and goings here recently. I had a visit with a friend from Victoria, BC over the weekend. Treated him to a fishing trip and he had a blast. My niece is moving to Bahrain tomorrow after being home from Japan for 8 months. I will miss her but we will keep in touch via social media. Penny is off on a road trip today to visit family up north and friends in Huntsville and Barrie, Ontario. She'll be back in time to welcome dear friends from Calgary, Alberta arriving next weekend while they are here visiting family. I'm not going anywhere soon but that's the way this homebody likes it.

 Detective Comics #985 - Bryan Hill (writer) Philippe Briones (art) Adriano Lucas (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). I like the short and sweet origin story for this new super villain Karma. We find out why he's terrorizing Gotham City and what his demands are. This is a really good challenge for Batman and his allies.

 Moon Knight #197 - Max Bemis (writer) Jacen Burrows (pencils) Guillermo Ortego (inks) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). It's a sit down dinner with a select group of extreme sadists. I question the "Teen+" rating for this issue. It definitely should have been rated "Parental Advisory". I mean, even I got a little queasy reading each guest's story. I kept waiting for the host to announce that they were going to kill someone for the main course. Yuck.

 Infinity Wars Prime - Gerry Duggan (writer) Mike Deodato Jr. (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This story starts off promising enough with Loki in a library reading old stories about himself. This leads to Loki going to the Quarry of Creation to find some missing parts to one of his stories. I felt like I was missing a lot as I continued to read since I did not follow the Infinity Countdown and related tie-in books. I was left wondering what the fork was going on when Adam Warlock pays a visit to Doctor Strange. By the time the inevitable super villain was introduced I was feeling so lost that I decided to skip this war altogether. Other readers may be intrigued enough with the mysterious character with the infinity goggles to want to see what happens to the stones. I was completely shocked by the one death in this issue though.

 Justice League Dark #1 - James Tynion IV (writer) Alvaro Martinez Bueno (pencils) Raul Fernandez (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). When Peter Milligan (writer) first introduced this team to the racks in 2011 I did read some of their adventures but I stopped before that run came to an end in 2015. I guess the team was disbanded but now there's a threat to magic in the DCU and all the mystical members have to join together to survive. This time they will be lead by Wonder Woman. Zatanna and Swampthing are front and center in this issue but there are plenty of other magic users waiting in the wings. I like the new Man-Bat but I'm not a fan of Zee's braid.

 Saga #54 - Fiona Staples (art) Brian K. Vaughn (writer) Fonografiks (letters). Many shocks this issue, the least of which is the announcement that Saga in going on a year long hiatus. Brian Michael Bendis (writer) walking away from Miles Morales bummed me out and this news also makes me sad. Having Hazel narrate this stunning issue prepares me for the major changes coming when this title hits the racks again next summer. I hope the creative team enjoys their much deserved break and look forward to the continuation of Hazel's story.

 Mr. & Mrs. X #1 - Kelly Thompson (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Love & Marriage part 1. I did not read the heavily hyped wedding issue where Kitty and Piotr followed in the footsteps of Batman and Catwoman so I don't know why they didn't tie the knot. Somewhere in there though Rogue and Gambit decided to take their on and off relationship and really get it on Marvin Gaye style. So we are gathered here to witness the wedding and part of the honeymoon until they are called to duty and have to retrieve something out in space. I like that Kelly toned down the southern drawl for Rogue and the Cajun inflections for Gambit so that their dialogue didn't get too annoying in my head. I loved the art and wish that Storm would wear her hair like that all the time. Very stylish and classy. Good job Oscar. Remy and Anna Marie make a cute couple and a surprise appearance on the last page will make for a fun threesome.

 Silencer #7 - Dan Abnett (writer) Viktor Bogdanovic (pencils) Viktor Bogdanovic & Jonathan Glapion (inks) Mike Spicer (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). Honor's mission to make sure Talia al Ghul stays dead takes her and her family into the friendly skies. Unbeknownst to her Cradle and Grave are on the same flight. I like how the inevitable fight shows off what her super suit can do. I know she won't be successful in killing Talia for good and gone but it will be fun to see her try.

 Doomsday Clock #6 - Geoff Johns (writer) Gary Frank (art) Brad Anderson (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). We're at the halfway mark and this is my favourite issue yet. It's an all villains issue. I like how the Marionette and the Mime's origin story is woven in. This mature version of the Joker is much more interesting and I can't wait to find out what he does with the incapacitated Batman.

 Multiple Man #2 - Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Andy MacDonald (art) Tamra Bonvillain (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). This story is confusing enough with the time travelling but adding in the many Jamie Madroxes makes it even more confusing. I was almost willing to continue reading more issues when someone who knows stuff showed up but she was only there for a cameo. Layla was my favourite X-Factor member.

 Action Comics #1001 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Patrick Gleason (art) Alejandro Sanchez (colours) Josh Reed (letters). One of my favourite things about Brian's writing is his nice flowing dialogue and there's plenty of it in this issue. We find out who is setting fires all over Metropolis as a new super villain is introduced. Her name is Red Cloud and she is as fatal as a sarin gas attack.

 Amazing Spider-Man #2/LGY #803 - Nick Spencer (writer) Ryan Ottley (pencils) Cliff Rathburn (inks) Laura Martin (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Back to Basics part 2. Boy, talk about getting back to basics. We start off with a little fight with Man Mountain Marco and the Ringer and then another fight with the Black Ant and Taskmaster. Gee, Stan the Man and Steve Ditko used to do this sort of stuff every issue too. What is really tickling my fancy are the changes going on in Peter Parker's life. For one thing Stan and Steve never showed Peter and Mary Jane waking up in bed together. Then there's the surprise on the last page. Who is that masked man?

 Marvel 2-In-One #8/LGY #108 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Ramon K. Perez (art) Frederico Blee (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Ben and Johnny are powerless now and stranded in a universe where Spider-Man is a despot. It's very dramatic when Johnny finds out that Ben didn't tell him that Reed, Sue and the kids are dead. I don't believe that for a second. Who's going to be in the new Fantastic Four comic book if that's true? Chip is doing an excellent job writing this.

 X-23 #2 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Juann Cabal (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The Stepford Cuckoos suffer a death in the family and they go cuckoo for real. This leads to Gabby being captured and Laura needing to come to the rescue. This book gets my highest recommendation.

 The Sentry #2 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Kim Jacinto & Joshua Cassara (art) Rain Beredo (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I was not prepared to like this as much as I do now. Jeff has made this character a lot more interesting with the crazy situations and supporting cast. This book and Moon Knight are weirdly psychological.

 Wakanda Forever: X-Men #1 - Nnedi Okorafor (writer) Ray Anthony-Height & Alberto Alburquerque (pencils) Ray Anthony-Height, Ray Anthony-Height, Juan Vlasco & Keith Champagne (inks) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). It's Storm, Rogue and Nightcrawler's turn to team up with the Dora Milaje to fight Malice and her doomsday weapon Mimic-27. So just three X-Men then. Colossus isn't in this like he is on the cover. This issue leaves Mimic-27 more powerful than ever so we'll see what the Avengers can do when Wakanda Forever: Avengers #1 hits the racks August 22. I'm going to guess that T'Challa is going to set the lovestruck Malice straight and Mimic-27 will be blowed up real good with the help of, oh I don't know, Captain America and maybe She-Hulk.

[riseofthebelieversrp-blog]

Hello, Storytellers~

Summer's in full swing! (Which is great, but up here it's kinda chilly. What gives?!) It's sunny, it's warm, it's beach season and we couldn't be happier! Summer is the season of high energy and high muse - which means lots of plotting, lots of writing! But don't forget to go outside for the occasional ten seconds of fresh air. <3

Welcome to our blog’s first newsletter! From hereon in, we’ll be submitting it every month on the first. Keep an eye out!

THE WELCOME WAGON

We're welcoming a total six new candidates this month! Say hello if you see them in the cbox! March, as brought by Shade! She's looking at the Obsidian King~ Cam, who has expressed interest in Dorothy! Gen, looking at the Merry Men of Robin Hood! Leopard, who totally slipped in under the radar - if you see this one, nab them and say hi! Rosary, a friend of Nico's! Shelby, who found us through an ad on tumblr! Last minute Zira, an old friend of Carma's, who's dragging York along with her!

IN THE WORKS

We're looking at fae, Egyptians and fairytales this month! Be sure and take a look at these apps, and stay tuned to see them complete~

March's Rauvelore ap Ievos

Gengar's Iollas Dacan

Hakuna's Osiris

Shelby's Maddie Hathaway

Nico's Alice Liddell

Though there's not yet an app, Rosary has a character named Lucy Seeker in the works! Wonder what she's all about!

ENTERING THE STAGE

We had a whole slew of characters joining us in May, including a grand total three canines, a feline, a few immortals and a Night Mare.

Ocean's Cafe Noir

Skel's Averin Lucida

Bass Invader's Pestilence

Spotteh's Gregorio Pantaleon

Momo's Pippa McBride

Micken's Ranger

Reed's Cerberus

Moulder's Pretty Boy

Lloydy's Asheton Hollins

Lulu's Jack Dawson

WANTED CHARACTERS

Of all the Big Five, a couple are still in need of filling! Those are North, the Guardian of Wonder, and Sandman, the Guardian of Dreams. Further, we'd like to take a moment to remind people of the Wanted Ads out there~ If you're musing on a character idea, take a look at the Wanted Ads out there to see if there are any roles your idea can fill! Don't hesitate to poke people and see if they're willing to be flexible on what they've got!

SITE UPDATES

It's Summer Skin time! As before, you have the option to choose between a DAY skin and a NIGHT skin. Go to your User Control Panel, and on the left-hand side, look for skin preferences! You should see SUMMER DAY and SUMMER NIGHT available. Special thanks go to Ionahi of tumblr, who we commissioned for the artwork in both skins! Tumblr Features: Starting this month we are opening up a new thread for Wanted Ad features! Those of you who would like a wanted ad featured on our tumblr page, post in that thread with the requested information! A single member can request a specific wanted ad once a month. That same member can request different wanted ads once every week. Guides: The community has done it again, giving us two new guides to pore over! First we have Shade's Guide to the Fae, formatted in a google doc, and second, Momo gave us the Land of Sweets from the Nutcracker. NPC Character Gudielines: Staff is going to be slightly revising the role that NPC characters are able to take! This shouldn't affect anyone currently, it will simply help to give a more distinctive boundary between "full character" and "NPC character", as we don't currently have much to distinguish them.

THE STORY SO FAR

The Starlit Masquerade is underway! So far most of the guests have arrived in some fashion; some have partnered off for a dance, while the rest are simply chatting it up in....what we can only hope is civil discussion. But soon, they will be joined by their most gracious host, with words on the Guardians! I wonder what all will be said - and how might that information be used by less savoury sorts? Could the Anti-Guardians be gleaning information from their enemies, even now?

SPOTLIGHTS

Momo's Poesy: If you've heard anything about the power struggle in New York's gang community, this girl's at the center of it. The gang scene has been severely shaken up ever since Poesy decided to dig her claws into it; she's clever, she's crazy, and she's on her way to the top. Moulder's Volker: This is a man who's lived a long life haunted by his family's curse. Male members of the family are possessed, through each generation, by a demon of sorts known as Oor, who turns the host into a sociopathic cannibal. With a son of his own, he's looking for a way to free himself of the curse before it passes on to his child.

GOSSIP INSIDER

Know the tricky thing about masks and code names? All the good gossip is speculation until everything is revealed! That said, the gossip rags are soaking up spilled tea everywhere! Let's wring 'em out and see what we can find out~ A masked lady in blue and silver was asked to dance by a dashing man in green - are those robes? Who wears robes in this day and age? And who taught this man to dance? He's crushed the lady's delicate toes! Wow, did you see the gown on that woman with the horned mask? The one with the emeralds and gold? Whew, she looks like she belongs in the Palace, that's for sure! But it also looks like she'd found her place with Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome over there~ Now there's an energetic duo on the dance floor! She's clad in gold and he in white, but if you squint a bit... I think - maybe - one of them is glowing? Perhaps it's just a trick of the many lights... Yeah, that's it. Couldn't possibly be...? Could it? Overheard in the Amber Room: two ladies discussing how overwhelming the party is! They're not wrong; the party is being held in one of the grandest locales in Russia, is being hosted by a being that hasn't been seen in several years, and no one knows who anyone is! It's the very definition of the word, but fear not, ladies - everything will be okay. Just enjoy the party~ Overprotective Chaperone Alert!! Hyperion has found himself in the company of two unchaperoned young women and is, apparently, very upset about this! So much so, in fact, that when one of the dates finally appeared, he was very curt with him. There's still one date missing and he seems to be silently fuming about this. WHAT KIND OF STRANGE DOG IS THAT?! It's not like any dog we've ever seen, folks, and I'm willing to bet that it's not a real dog! Honestly, we're still wondering how it even got in and to whom it belongs, but the guy in red seems to know it... Speaking of the guy in red... RABASTAN! That's his name! Yeah, he was overheard saying some rather rude things to a lady - granted, her words weren't terribly ladylike - but that was seriously uncalled for! And it just goes to show that words hurt - but fear not, Rasalas! A fellow lady is there to show solidarity and to give advice and comfort. Just let Gemma take care of you, it'll be okay~ Looks like the champagne wasn't enough for some! Arcturus set out to steal some wine and succeeded! Now, with stronger drinks in hands, he and several others in the Cameron Gallery are discussing the other guests in broader terms. People come to the balconies for fresh air and a reprieve, but they tend to leave in pairs - according to one set of loose lips. Several couples have been spotted, but the one that intrigues me the most is the man in the cape and his dazzling lady in blue. She seems tense... wonder why... HOLY MASQUERADE, BATMAN! Gotham City's Dark Knight has been spotted talking to a pirate lass, a pretty lady in yellow, and a gentleman who... ALMOST... got a date! In any case, I hope Batman has an eye on the two gentlemen in the corner; they are lowkey competing with him for the title of 'Most Likely to Brood at a Fancy Party'. And, thus the curtains close on the Starlit Masquerade Gossip Corner~ We shall now resume with our regular programming. There would appear to be an unattended child running around in Burgess with a bag way too big for him. Fortunately, a nice ol' dad is here to help him out. Hey, who said that you have to be a Guardian to have fun? Ginger's throwing her own shindig, and she's got all the really cool people there. Booze and soft drinks around! Seriously, who let Douglas take anyone for a tour around the Moon Clipper? At least Thoth seems to be serious about it... Avast, it's a meeting of pirate folk! Or...well, a former pirate and a cabin boy....girl. Wonder what the Jolly Roger wants with Asheton? Oh jeez, Jamie's gotten himself into the clutches of a rising power in the gang world. And who's there to save the day but one of Ryder's own gang members? Yeah, it's a bit of a hairy mess. Let's hope our belief-less boy comes out okay! Who's that sniffing around the fae world? Why, it's a handsome skeleton~ He's caught the eye of an equally curious hot mom. No, a real hot mom, as in she's on actual fire. It seems our favourite light sprite doesn't understand that wraiths don't like bright glowing girls. She just wants to make a friend, Sab, have a heart! Maidie's in a mess! A mess whose name is Hydra. Whatever dastardly plans does the snake man have for her?! Will she make it out alive?! Ever wonder what training a ditzy light sprite might look like? Well, Deit's about to find out... Tars needs to seriously stop getting caught unawares. It's happened with the wrong person now...wonder if Taer plans to tattle? The friendly mom routine is winding to a close~ Kary is about to learn the true nature of the Beldam. And it's a real shame, too; they were getting along so well. Oor seems to believe he can strike a bargain with the Nightmare King. Could he have anything in his favour, or is it a lost cause? Snow is beginning to uncover the mysteries that lie beneath Roman's mask....just how much will he share? Apparently mouth to mouth isn't an expression of romance in these two cultures; Emil and Sabellius have instead become a strange pair of friends. Or that's the idea, anyway. It's a bird! It's a plane! ...Actually a bird isn't far off, but Daniel's being a superhero again and Kay's left to wonder....huh? Stand aside Emil, there's a new dad for Maidie in town, and his name is Niulang! Well there's no lions or tigers or bears, but there sure is a wolf, and Frollo hates wolves. What's that? She's also a woman? Oh, now he hates her more. Burn the witch, am I right? It seems like the Aquarians are about to get themselves into a bit of a pickle...there's danger on the horizon, and only one of them seems to be aware. Ever wondered why the Guardians think how they do? Pandora's asked the Guardian Expert, Pitch, to explain! Wait.... Hold on, hold on! There's a gunfight by the lake, between two Guardians. Both of you, calm down! You're on the same side! What's this? Childhood friends?! West is about to learn a shocking truth about her sweet friend Pippa. The Lady of the Lake stands before the ruins that brought about the existence of the Stromkarlen. Is there any dark magic here to be revealed? Damn, what a view! Douglas sure knows how to treat a lady to a nice spectacle. I guess there are some perks to living on the moon, eh? An evil scientist and an evil potionmaster have finally met! Only one seems to be even remotely pleased about it.