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swampstew · 3 months ago

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What's the Magic Word?

Chapter 30: Son of a Witch!

Killer stood at attention as he watched over the men cleaning the riggings, keeping an ever wary eye on the…newer recruits. None had chanced an idle thought of malice since the binding ritual and while Killer liked the assurance, he was a naturally suspicious person. Stemmed from his childhood traumas.

The distant knocking of tools on wood echoed in the background, making him turn his head. Some of the original South Blue crew were aboard the vessel they nearly destroyed. Kid was supposed to be using his power to help hurry the repairs along, but instead, Bubblegum, Gig, Jaguar, Moai, Compo, House, Disc J, and Hop were the only ones on deck working together to get the job actually done. Kid was well, Kid was in the crow’s nest with Rowena and from what Killer could see, feeding her by manipulating her flatware and plate; Rowena reciprocated by using her magic to feed him back handsfree. Being unbearably fucking adorable, and happy, and…giggly.

Letting out a sigh, “Whipped.”

“You left the snail on, idiot,” the sound of Kid’s voice broke Killer’s drifting mind, nearly making him trip as he turned around to watch the men under his command. He brought his baby transponder snail to his helmet, annoyed smile hidden behind the mask.

“I didn’t forget,” he bluffed, “Just calling ‘em like I see ‘em partner.”

“—That’s mean Killer,” Rowena’s voice replied.

“No disrespect of course, I meant that as he’s whipped for you.”

“I’M NOT—“

“In that case, thank you.”

“Stop playing with the open line,” Heat’s annoyed voice filtered in.

From the deck, Killer could see the bluette’s face pressed against the glass of the crow’s nest. “Are we interrupting your surveillance?”

“…No.”

“Is Kid whipped or not?”

“HEAT DON’T ANSWER!”

“Let’s play a different game,” Rowena laughed.

“Fuck them, hang up. We’re on our honeymoon.”

“This is a shitty honeymoon, Kid.”

Heat could hear Killer’s fit of laughter from all the way up in the crows nest, “Yeah take her somewhere nice! It doesn’t count if you bring your crew with you.”

“Shut up, Heat,” Kid growled before he set the snail on the charred bench he was sitting on. “Well what do you wanna do?” looking expectantly at Rowena.

“Not fix a ship, or more training, or anything of importance, just hang out for a bit somewhere charming.”

“So we find an island, have the crew drop us off without mooring, and that’s it? Sounds boring,” he frowned.

“Hmm, sometimes boring can be fun too. Relaxing even. Not having to be restrained in the presence of others. Literally just do whatever we want and have a good time. Everyone needs a vacation.”

“Never done one before,” he tucked his arms behind his head and leaned against the stained and ripped seat. Looking around the tattered remains of the lookout point, “Ok I can see how this wouldn’t be the nicest place.”

“Besides, who wants to work when they’re supposed to be celebrating?” Rowena lowered the floating pieces of lunch spread. “If I’m going to expend energy, it’ll be for things that I enjoy,” she nestled into Kid’s side, prompting him to wrap his metal prosthetic around her shoulder and waist.

“I’m listening,” he smirked.

She giggled, “I guess I want to see what it’s like just being with you. Only us, is that so wrong?”

“’Course not. You don’t need to convince me. The next decent looking place we find, we’ll take a week to ourselves. How does that sound?”

Rowena kissed his cheek, “Like a good start. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my crew, a good break every now and then is perfectly acceptable.”

As the couple resumed their lunch, Killer sat on the deck drinking a glass of water to help him calm down from his outburst.

“If you want privacy we’ll give you that, but you’re not sending us away and leaving you two vulnerable. Out of the question. We’ll stay on one side of an island and you the other. Ok?”

“Buuuutttt Moooooooooooomm,” Kid griped back over the snail.

“Can it, or I WILL spank you,” Killer threatened.

Kid rolled his eyes before stuffing his transponder snail under his bulky coat. He turned to Rowena, “That good with you?”

Rowena shrugged with a smile, “Don’t think we have a choice. Better than not doing it at all!”

He nodded and pulled out the snail, “Fine, set course to the next available, uninhabited landmass, and we’ll moor there. Pick up some supplies and food if we pass by a bustling island.”

“Aye aye Captain.”

“It’s probably best to be on land anyways with the solar eclipse coming up.”

“What’s significant about it?” Killer asked.

“My power will get a bit…weird. It’s hard to explain, it’s like my power over the elements surges more than usual. Let’s just say that being on the sea may prove more hazardous to the ship if I’m around,” Rowena replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not losing control over it, I’ll have an overabundance of it.”

“So our honeymoon is the perfect time to kick back and relax,” Kid cuddled the Witch, “Good thing I’m kind enough to take you on such a vacation,” he teased.

“Ah yes, you’re So Gracious and Humble,” Rowena rolled her eyes, “That sound good to you Killer?”

“Aye aye Mrs. Captain.”

“Oh I have something for you by the way,” Kid turned his attention entirely to Rowena. “Happy…wedding?” He dropped all the flatware in the area, extending an arm towards the half blasted wall. “Sorry if it’s a cliché or some shit.”

Rowena quirked a questioning brow at his nonsensical talk, turning away when she could hear something flying through the air towards them. With a posh flex of his hand, Kid manipulated the cool, gray steel attached to the rich rosewood grain of the broomstick he had made for her, spinning it in place for her to marvel at.

Her eyes lit up as she took it in, rising from her seat and reaching out to touch it. Her nails scraped along the body, tracing against the tiny inscription that read: Property of Eustass-Cardenas D. Rowena

“You’re wonderful,” she gushed happily, taking it in her hands. “I’ve never flown one before if you can believe it.”

“Even if you can’t, I embedded the handle with a thin, steel rod so I can take over for ya.”

“Eustass Kid, you’re such a romantic!” she pointed at him gleefully, “If I can figure this out can I take you flying?”

His cheeks flushed but he shrugged it off, “Maybe we’ll make a bigger model for me to ride along. Get on it! Show me what you’re made of.”

Fixing the broom between her thighs, Rowena bent her knees and held tightly to the knobby handle, squinting her eyes closed as she conjured up her power.

After a minute, nothing happened.

“Want me to fling ya off the ship to get some wind beneath ya?”

“Actually, yes!”

“I’m just gonna push you over the edge.”

“Oh well that’s no fun. Wish me luck!” Blowing a kiss, Rowena kicked off diving down through the air.

With a sudden apprehensive feeling, Kid rushed to the edge to make sure she hadn’t swan dived into the deck below.

“Did I scare you?” Rowena looked up at him from just below the crow’s nest, smoothly gliding in the air as if she was born to fly.

“Not for one fucking second,” he grinned at her.

𓏧 𓏲 𓏲 𓏲 𓋒 𓏲 𓏲 𓏲 𓏲 𓏧

“Not bad for only 7 hours of work, you never cease to amaze me guys,” Kid beamed at the tiny shack his exhausted, disgruntled crew – who were splattered with debris, wood, and paint – had built from the ground up.

“Yeah, you only had to threaten them throughout it to get exactly what you wanted,” Rowena said dryly. That earned her some chuckles. “I left tins of pre-rolls for you guys in the kitchen. Should last you all week so don’t be greedy,” she winked at the Kid Pirates.

Kid nodded in approval at them, tucking the Witch tighter into his hold and turning to guide her to their little hideaway.

“Don’t bother us unless someone’s dying,” Kid warned.

Killer snorted in annoyance, “The crew or the tiny town that lives here?” He asked sarcastically.

Kid didn’t look back, simply held up his transponder snail, “Talk to the snail. I’m on vacation,” slamming the wooden door of the shelter shut.

“We needed a vacation from you too anyhow!” Killer yelled out petulantly.

“Smooth saving,” Wire tutted, slapping Killer’s shoulder in sympathy. “I heard Rowena even pre-made meals for us! Let’s go before these fat fucks get to it.”

Rowena hummed as Kid brought her to the bed, giggling earnestly as his fingertips ghosted across her skin, drowning in the scent of her hair as he buried his nose in her soft tresses as he laid on top of her. Kissing her sea-salt tinged neck while she wrapped her arms around his burly shoulders.

“Thank you for letting us have this,” she whispered tenderly to him. “I love you and the crew, but I love spending time with you a little bit more.”

“I know, I’m so awesome,” he boasted with a chuckle. “You’re right though, it’s never been just us. I’m happy to spend these days with you. Give me a little insight into our own future home, ya know? Well, obviously it’ll be nicer than here.”

“Yeah,” she sighed contently. “A nice, roomy home with a giant kitchen space.”

“I was thinking something like six, seven extra rooms. A room for Killer, a room for your crafting with a moon roof like you used to have, a workspace for me…” Kid listed, “Room for…a brat or two.”

“You’ve been thinking about it again?”

“No reason not to, seeing as we’re hitched and all.”

“I thought waiting until later was the plan…”

“It still is!” Kid raised his flesh hand in the air as if to stop her from attacking him, “It never really left my brain after the scare we had,” he admitted. “Can-can we talk about it some?”

They repositioned themselves to recline on the pillows and cuddle side by side.

“How many should we have?” she prompted with a twinkle in her eye.

“Shit, I dunno. A couple at least though, right? If you’re rebuilding your coven, you’ll need more Witches won’t ya?”

“That’s a good point, though I’m not sure I want to force our children into a coven-only life. It’s too restrictive.”

Relief spread on his face, “Yeah, plus maybe they’ll wanna take after their old man and try their luck at piracy!”

“The world wouldn’t be prepared to handle it!”

Kid chuckled, “Hnnh yeah. Wh-who’dya think they’ll look more like? Me or you?”

“I can’t say, we’re both so beautiful.”

“Ch-yeah we are,” he boasted proudly. “I want them to have your temperament.”

“Funny, I’d want them to have your indomitable spirit.”

He poked her side, “You have it too. I wonder what their powers will be like,” he sighed pensively.

“That’s a complete gamble. Every Witch is born with a unique ability, some carry down family legacies, and it common to manifest more than one gift though usually no more than six at a time. Seven or more is Supreme aligned. I’m not entirely sure if this is a gift, but I can see peoples auras sometimes. Either at first glance or if I can’t use my eyes at.”

Kid pulled her hand from his lap to his face, tightening his hold on it while pressing the back of her hand firmly against his clenched jaw.

“Did you see anything when you looked at me?”

“Red, like blood.”

Kid’s eyes shot to a random object in the room, unhappiness swelling in his gut, “Figures.”

“Not in a bad way,” she quickly corrected, “Blood is just as much about life as it is death. The aura I felt from you wasn’t damned, it was unfriendly sure, but it felt – you felt strong. Like you were going to stand out in history for certain but I couldn’t tell whether it would be a good or bad thing. Now that I know you, I still feel that way, gods know what you’ll do to this planet once you achieve your dream.”

Rowena cupped his opposite cheek, tenderly holding him between her palms, “I believe that you will be a titan. No one will never forget your name.”

He held her gaze before bringing her palms to his lips and softly kissed them. Pulling her into his lap, he threw the blanket over them and got them settled comfortably. “So if the crew blindfolded you on the other side of the island and I were to hide somewhere on it, you would be able to find me?”

“Yeah.”

“Neat. Now you can say you’ll never lose track of me and Killer’l finally chill the fuck out,” he teased.

Rowena looked magnificent as she rose from the ocean, water falling and glimmering off her like tiny jewels. She loved taking a long swim at the start of each day on their vacation. And Kid loved watching her, devouring the way water droplets ran down her perky body. If he hadn’t felt so enchanted by her image, he would have plucked her from the sea and taken her back to bed.

Kid watched as grains of sand floated into the air as the Witch took each step from the water. The tide itself seemed to drag itself up the shore to follow her, and he could even see the tiniest of silvery fish in the water dredges scurrying after her. If she passed a patch of wild grass or a coconut tree, the stems would bend slightly in her direction, only turning back into place when she was a fair distance away.

Rowena was walking towards the hut when the transponder snail rang for the first time since they had isolated themselves. She hesitated at the door, torn between wanting to ignore it and hear what was happening. Waiting to see what Kid would do.

“AUGHHH couldn’t go a second without us,” he grumpily barked as he rose from the lawn chair to the table. Before he could take out his annoyance to whomever was on the other line—

“I know I know. There’s some really weird shit going on at tiny town. Like REALLY weird shit. Is Rowena exhibiting any strange power?”

“Haah? No? N’who gives a fuck about the town?!”

“I have a really bad feeling about this Kid. The people are all dressed weirdly, chanting some foul language and they all have weapons and torches. Whatever they’re doing or dealing with is over here. Weather’s starting to turn too, can you feel it?”

At the mention of the weather, a sudden drop in the temperature came quickly, as did the strong gusts of wind that preceded the suddenly darkening sky. He could see moon and sun in the sky but both still hours away from their encounter. Towards the other side of the island, hell looked like it was preparing to rain down.

“Get dressed, we’re gonna check it out,” Kid sharply ordered as he rushed into the hut after Rowena. “Bring your gear too.”

Crossing the landmass in a quarter of the time it would have taken to walk, Kid steered the hovering metal machine powered solely by his magnetism down the coastline, coming up to the docked Punk as the crew was descending.

“Any changes?”

“It looks like they set up smack in the middle of the town. Someone was giving some speech but we couldn’t understand the language. Hop is in the crow scouting something to make out.”

“We sure this isn’t some bullshit new world weather and a parade day? Cause if you dragged me out of my—”

“—Killer, they cleared a space and put up an effigy. Maybe they plan to burn it. There’s also something on the ground, a circle or something but I can’t make out the inscription things,” Hop’s voice filtered from the transponder snail.

Rowena prickled, “A circle with drawings? That sounds like runes or even a magic circle. Who the hell would be doing magic here?”

“Dunno, this island is small and doesn’t seem to have government affiliation from what I can tell,” Killer replied.

The sound of drumming and chanting began to reverberate in the air, the atmosphere seemed to pulse in rhythm to the percussion as all the birds on the island took flight. There weren’t any storm clouds above them and despite it being early afternoon, the air felt heavy, muggy even.

Leaving a skeleton crew to guard the ship, the Kid Pirates made their way through the maze-like route to enter the double-fenced tiny town, left confused and suspicious of the area. From the outside looking in, the infrastructure was uniform with multiple buildings that looked more like warehouses lining the dirt trampled streets, not a single home or apartment building of any kind was in sight. As if no one had thought to add any comforts for a human being.

More like a hive for people preparing for long-time war and a short-term life expectancy.

The entry way held no sign, just an arch of twisted, knotted thorns made of silver. For a formidable looking place, they didn’t have high security.

Rowena and Kid entered the compound first when she was overtaken by sudden dizziness.

“Give her space,” Kid snapped at the crew crowding them, holding her steady, “Ro’ are you ok?”

After a moment, she let out choked sigh, “Ah-I don’t know what that was. It’s fading now.”

Standing upright, she cautiously moved her limbs to root out additional pains. Finding none, she frowned and walked towards the arch once more. Standing just behind the exit, she stood still and gingerly raised a hand in the air.

Her hair shot out in jagged waves as she cried out in surprise, “I can’t move past this arch!”

Killer reached her first, inspecting the air and gingerly stepping through the threshold. He had no problem. A few members of the crew that were larger than the average human struggled with the height limitation of the structure, and Heat started to then stopped. Standing next to the Witch with concern and anxiety on his face.

A strange look washed over her face, “It’s blessed?”

“What does that have to do with the laws of physics?” Killer passed through the arch again.

“…You only bless silver if you’re trying to harm a Witch,” she whispered. Her head and body whipped towards the direction of the chanting, “There’s another Witch here. THEY’RE KEEPING a Witch here!!”

Killer’s hand reached out to hold Rowena back by her shoulder, Kid wrapped his arm around her waist, Heat’s foot blocked her shins from moving forward, and Wire stuck his trident directly in the ground in front of her.

“Then you’re not kicking down their door. That’s our job,” Kid growled.

They took the lead towards the source of the chanting, Rowena boxed in between the crew as they followed their leaders. Killer moved ahead to scout and came back with unpleasant news.

“There’s a woman tied to a wooden cross outside of the circle boundary. The creeps are wearing hooded robes and I can’t see them but I can guess they’re all men. Can’t make out what language they’re speaking, and the circle had some runes I recognized from your collection Rowena.”

The ground began to tremble lightly, static electricity building up rapidly between punk-clothed bodies and a loud buzz droned in the background.

Rowena radiated with fury. Body trembling along with the ground as her teeth clenched, a snap and crackle ripped through the air.

“They’re performing a ritual sacrifice. Ancient, abandoned magic.”

Her eyes snapped to Kid’s, as if her gaze alone had the power to part way through his crew for their instant connection.

“Kill them all?” it was a question but his tone implied he was doing it regardless.

“Make them suffer.”

“Save the sacrifice when we overtake them.”

With a nod, Rowena hung back as the pirates continued. Kid waited until the last possible second to leave her side, doing so with a kiss.

Hanging back and seeking coverage, she waited through the sounds of surprise, anger, anguish, and fear. Pain. Unbearable misery and despair. She stealthily weaved towards the area, hiding in the shadows and edges, confronting the scene with a churning stomach.

Lavender eyes zeroing in on the pyre, she saw the Witch in question. She was in rough shape, not dead and not grievously wounded, bound, blindfolded, and gagged with such indignity. Unable to recognize her in that state, Rowena pressed on. Her sword vest felt tight, her heart was throbbing through the material. Rowena nearly dropped her broom when a dead hooded figure was splattered in front of her.

The rope bindings were tight and brittle, tearing small abrasions on her fingers as she tried to pull the knot loose. She sliced the rope with her wand, quick to shoulder the Witch from falling over. A muffled and questioning gasp emitted from behind the gag, flailing, and knocking into blade’s edge as it cut through the ankle restraints.

Dodging the flying metal, Rowena dragged the sacrifice away from the circle. Bodies piling up blocking their path to escape, they were forced into the open when they were confronted with a hooded figure wearing a peculiar hip cummerbund. He waved his bone white dagger and charged at the women.

Rowena didn’t need to dodge. Kid grabbed the man’s arm mid-stab and tore flesh and muscle from his shrouded body.

“Get to the arch, see what you can do for her, we’ll meet up to get you out.”

Following his instruction, she set her broom parallel to the ground, secured the exhausted woman’s frame on it, and dashed away.

Rowena was trembling as she set the stranger down, softly removing her bindings. Her eyes were blue. Once vibrant ginger hair now dulled from years of trauma and endurance. A sister she once knew, older than her and not a stranger yet Rowena couldn’t remember her name.

Blue eyes sharpened and then swelled with tears, “R-R-Ro-cough—“ she kneeled over to wrack the cough through her body. Her skin was uncomfortably warm to the touch and had gotten hotter in the time they had made it to the meeting spot.

Not a fever. A fire Witch. One of few in the already then-depleted Coven numbers.

“Sabina?”

The woman nodded weakly, tears running down her filth-stained face.

“Have-have you been here this whole time?”

With a choked sob and nod, the Witch dug her fingers into the patchy dirt. The dry grass began to kindle.

“And you?”

“Take this first.”

Rowena tilted a few tonics down Sabina’s body throat, her temperature went down several degrees.

“A few places. Most of them are horrific and not something I want to relive right now. I’ve been free for a year.”

“Anyone else?” she rasped out.

Rowena spoke glumly, “No one. Found the guy who sold us out to the World Government – tortured and killed him. Didn’t think it was possible for anyone else to survive.”

“Me neither. I wasn’t set aflame, at the last minute I was pulled away, something struck my head, was shoved in a bag, and woke up to this hell hole.”

The Witches stared at each other, silently crying in disbelief. In pain.

“If I got set aside, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else was also smuggled off our island. The scummy Marine that took me had a connection with a witch hunter, and that’s how I came to be here.” Sabina sat up, though still clutching her stomach. Still weak, “Y-you don’t h-ha-happen to have any food?”

With a crestfallen look Rowena’s face pinched with tears, “No, I didn’t know what to expect. But I can get you to food, a bath, a bed and so much more if you come with me. All I have are these tonics.”

“How did you come to have all this?”

“I was saved.”

The sky was still dark, now tinged rusty, with a swarm of clouds gathering overhead when the Kid Pirates returned. Heat set the arch on fire and Killer sliced the architecture clean in half with his swords, throwing such a forceful attack that it sliced through the ground itself.

In a way, it felt like a veil of dense humidity lifted from the air. Rowena strode determinedly through the blazing remains of the entry. Binding curse lifted, she turned back and rushed into Kid’s bloodied arms, soaking in the comfort of his embrace.

“This is Sabina, from my Coven. Sabina, these are the Kid Pirates, and this is the man in charge, Eustass Kid. My husband.”

Mouth gaping, “You got married? This is the man who saved you?!!”

“Erm, no. That was Monkey D. Luffy, my Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. I was…sent to stay with Kid for my safety until I can re-unite with my crew—“

“Pirates? Crew? YOU?”

With a wince, Rowena spoke tenderly, “A lot has happened in a short time. When I set sail, I firmly believed I was the only survivor. Until now in my travels, I’ve never come across any indication that would suggest otherwise.”

“So,” Sabina’s voice wavered. As the sky grew redder a sulfur odor seemed to waft in the wind. “You’ve been out here, having fun and a wedding while I was chained to a dungeon—for YEARS?!”

She picked herself up to stand, limping slightly as she slowly staggered to Rowena. Scowl growing angrier, air temperature rising, and odor getting stronger.

“DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH WAS SACRIFICED JUST FOR YOU TO SURVIVE THAT MASSACRE?!” Sabina screeched with a resounding echo that seemed to loop on end.

“What?” Rowena’s eyes were wide but her irises and pupils were so small, Kid feared the lavender would cease to exist all together.

Sabina’s chest swelled and fell heavily with each angry breath, “The so-called future of our Coven! Out here playing PIRATES!”

“WATCH IT!” Kid snarled at the battered woman, yet she did not waver under his glare.

“NO YOU WATCH IT!” Sabina bit back, the ground beneath her began to splinter. “Since the island’s formation, the Island of Thorns was supposed to be our SANCTUARY! Protected and Sacred! Guided and united under one Queen of Witches to ensure our continued survival, and all I see is a blubbering child playing games and shirking responsibilities! You said you were free but what did you learn? Anything?! Did you even TRY to find out if any of us were actually still alive or did you simply give up the second someone offered you attention?!”

Rowena wanted to fight back. To scream back that none of that was true or fair. But she couldn’t. While she was enslaved, of course she had hoped and prayed for survivors, and after years of being unanswered, her faith wavered. Then diminished in Thriller Bark. Was she really that selfish?

“YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SHE’S GONE THROUGH!” Kid screeched back, blocking the two Witches from each other’s sight. “EVEN IF SHE DID GIVE UP, NO ONE CAN BLAME HER! WE WENT BACK TO THE ISLAND AND IT WAS FUCKING HELL! EVERYTHING WAS GONE! FU—”

Killer yanked Kid’s shoulder back to keep him from towering over Sabina. What looked like trying to separate them was actually space Killer was giving himself to properly lose his own shit.

“You have some real fucking nerve to be spitting out this crap. No one said your situations didn’t suck, but you cannot put the blame of what happened all on Rowena! She’s a victim just like you, and as far as I’m concerned, YOU HAD IT EASIER!!!”

Heat and Wire had to pull the Supernovas back as they kept screaming at Sabina who wasn’t backing down. Volleying back a torrent of insults and misplaced blame.

Tears leaked down her eyes as Rowena went numb. The statements shooting right through her. Blaming her. Protecting her. Anger and admiration, hatred, and love.

Kid.

Protecting Rowena. Always. And now Killer too. How funny things turned out, people she was enemies with in their first encounter to this.

Just like the Straw Hats.

Both crews defending her. She felt she deserved all of it and none of it and that made her cry harder. She should have tried harder to find out if anyone had been taken hostage, to be used and defiled like she was. Could still be, just as Sabina was.

That shattered her frozen state.

“Help me find them,” she croaked out. Her words silenced everyone. “If we were taken to be used, then maybe there are other Witches out there. A-And not every Witch chose to live on the island right? There have to be more of us out there! So so help me Sabina. Come with me and help me find our sisters!”

No one spoke.

Sabina’s eyes had widened like platters at Rowena’s proposal. It looked as if she would seriously consider the offer, but then…

“What you’re going to add me to your little crews and we’ll all go witch saving together?”

A crackle of thunder snapped in the sky, followed by a loom of clouds coming from across the sky, towards the moon and sun’s closing proximity.

“Even if there are more of our sisters, I wouldn’t follow you as our leader. You’re not Supreme material. Quick to abandon our cultural observances and even flaunt them in my face! We have a sacred code to kill male witch practitioners and here you are fornicating with them!”

“He’s a Devil Fruit User!” Rowena snapped back.

Sabina cruelly laughed, “So you married an abomination?! Perfect. Just exactly the type of core principal our healing Coven should uphold! What’s next, breeding with men and letting them influence our children?!”

Her laughter became higher pitched, wicked, as the cracks in the ground deepened. Staggering forward some more, she pointed a twitching, crooked finger at Rowena.

“I’d rather kill you than see you become the next Supreme. I don’t care that our council performed The Sacred Taking – sacrificing their lives to imbue you with theirs, to let you inherit their gifts, all from one old crone’s vision that you might save our Coven!!”

Rowena staggered backwards in shock and fear, “Yo-you’re lying!!” she cried. Kid watched in horror as Rowena’s demeanor began to crumble. He was about to step in when Killer put a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait, we might learn something,” he muttered under his helmet.

Sabina’s onslaught continued, “AM I?! DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT MY MOTHER’S GIFT WAS?!!?!?!??!”

It took a moment; with a shaky breath finally Rowena choked out, “Resurgence…”

The rage in Sabina’s eyes were drowned by the tears spilling from them. She couldn’t speak as she sobbed, stifling her cries with the back of her palm.

Kid thought it was over. Thought things would diffuse now. Everyone cries and nobody dies!

Sabina lurched forward as if to swipe at Rowena; instead of making contact with her fingers, thin whirls of fire shot from them.

With a panicked screech, Rowena dodged the attack and stumbled to the ground.

Before the Kid Pirates could react, Sabina made an overhead kick in the air and slammed her heel on the ground. The earth that stood between the witches and pirates split with a jolt, deep cracks emitting throughout the land with more gases and small flame combustions.

Both sides of the split island trembled and quaked from the sudden shift, the very sediments and layers of minerals were pushing against each other.

Sabina shot out thrusts of flames to keep Rowena off her feet and falling over herself as she tried to gain her bearings. When Kid and crew attempted to hop the split border, Sabina reimagined the fire shooting from her fingertips to flame whips that sprouted from her palms. She slashed across the border to keep them at bay, merely a distraction for the lavender-eyed witch to gain the advantage.

“It doesn’t have to be this way!” Rowena pleaded, “I don’t want to fight you, no more dead witches!!”

Steam was rushing out from the cracked pathways on the land, obscuring everyone’s vision. Rowena could hear her adrenaline pumped heart over her panting, cautiously walking through to find Kid or Sabina.

Slashes of fire cut through the steam, Rowena just barely dodging them.

“There will be one more dead witch,” hissed behind Rowena, making her jump half a foot in the air. Sabina’s features had become grotesquely distorted, redirecting her body to twist and shoot fire at Rowena.

A burst of flames exploded in Rowena’s face. With a squeak and quick motion, she manipulated the ground below her feet to catapult her away. Fending off the flames from her face, she lost direction of where she was falling, landing in the middle of the panicked crew.

“RO’!” Kid threw himself to the ground, “What the fuck’s happenin?!” He cradled the bruises and burns on her skin as she trembled in his arms.

“She’s completely lost her mind! She wants me dead, I can’t get through to her. Her power is beginning to overwhelm her senses, I can see her form has already started deteriorating. Sabina will be lost to the influence of fire if she doesn’t turn back now.”

Rising to her feet with Kid holding her by the arms, “The eclipse is leaking with chaotic energy that her element will feed off, she will become a force of nature and near unstoppable. You need to raise the Punk’s anchor and get as far away from here as you can!”

“Why are YOU not including yourself in this plan?!”

“Who’s going to keep the ship AND crew safe AND deal with this shit?!”

“That’s why YOUR plan sucks, and we’re doing mine instead!” Kid retorted. “Listen up!! Heat, Wire, get the crew back to the ship and sail out 2 miles. Come back when we call you on the snail, not a minute before then!”

Wire and Heat nodded, about to do so when—

“WAIT!”

They all turned to Rowena, “Heat, your fire is strong enough to deflect hers, or at least a helluva lot better than mine! Swap places with Kid!”

Heat followed her order before halting his step, sweat rolling down his face from both the foul vapors in the air and deadly glare his Captain held.

“You don’t ORDER ME—” Kid was instantly interrupted.

“I’m NOT ORDERING YOU, I’m BEGGING YOU,” Rowena shouted, “I can’t let you become collateral damage for something that has nothing to do with you!!”

“Are you calling me WEAK?!?!”

“NO!!!” Rowena weakly shoved against him, and when that obviously didn’t work, she let out a tortured sob into his torso. “If you die here, so does your dream!”

The deepening cracks in the ground started sporadically shooting out spouts of fire, causing Wire to command the crew to haul ass and not look back.

Kid lightly shook Rowena, “If anything happens to you, my dream dies.”

“H-huh?”

“It’s my dream to find the One Piece, but I also have another dream. A dream of what our future could be. That is damn worth fighting for.”

“KID!” Rowena sobbed, messily burying her face into, and clawing at his vest.

He hushed her, “Gush over me loving you later, get your head in the fight!”

“How can we fight against a witch, Rowena?” Killer’s blades were locked in place, tense and on the balls of his feet in anticipation.

The ground had gradually weakened in on itself, snapping the land in half like a cracker; Rowena threw herself to the ground to bring the dirt and soil back in place. She was able to encourage the ground to slowly re-root and fossilize. Killer and Heat guarded Kid who hovered over Rowena as she performed her magic to stabilize the island.

Sabina shot waves of fire and volleys of fire balls that the men deflected tirelessly, all while Rowena tried to help them strategize.

“Drive an iron nail in a witch’s footprint and you’ll root her to the ground – that can immobilize her and break magical enchantments but will only work so many times. Iron nails that scratch her will nullify their magic for only a fraction more of the time. If you really want to help me, you’ll stay out of my way and keep your distance. If you can obstruct her I might be able to bind her until she regains control or…release her if I cannot.”

“I need you to secure a space where you can inscribe runes in the soil that will act to defend, if things start to go tits up, stay there and I’ll instigate the emergency plan.”

Getting nowhere, Sabina showed herself to the pirates and with a hateful stride, shot flames of fire from her hands to run them down. Kid created a metal shield to block the flames, however the melting point reach was quickly reached and the metal began to wither under the barrage of flames.

Rowena sprinted away from the melting shield to get round Sabina’s blind spot. With a lunge of her right foot against the ground, Rowena created a triangle space with her hands and thrust them over her knee. The soil beneath her crumbled and shot at the fire witch, causing her to stumble and stop her assault on the pirates. Sabina clutched at her twisted ankle with pained cry.

Not letting up, Rowena grazed her hands against her torso to shoulders where she shot her arms up, fingertips meeting at the peak creating another triangle. Slabs of rock suddenly sprung from the ground, pinning Sabina upright by the shoulders and hips.

“Rowena! I think these are done right!” Heat called from the only patch of dirt not cracked or splintered.

She hesitated, not willing to leave Sabina alone especially with her body radiated so much heat that the slabs themselves were slightly smoky.

“They’re right Rowena, I’ve studied these when you weren’t reading your books. What’s next?”

“Yes what is next?” growled the pallid witch. Her body had thinned during her rage, leaving her disfigured, bony, and sharp. Her cheeks were sunken in, her irises had become distorted and blood vessels had popped in both her eyes, her fingers where clawed with curved talons. Her skin looked like it had splintered up and down her entire body and sprouting from the crown of her head – two spindly horns curved back.

“You understand what’s happening to you right?” Rowena’s voice was dry, all moisture gone from the air.

Sabina drew out a laugh, letting her head fall back and loll side to side, “My magics coming inside out. Gonna wear me like a glove. Have you ever felt the call? The tug, deep in your diaphragm that yearns to be released? Heh, its like its tickling me.”

Rowena nodded gravely, “I’ve felt it before, more than once. I’ve been tempted to let it take over and each time I almost did. I just had someone or something to anchor me down…”

“…”

Tears streamed down both their dirty faces, anguish heavy in the air.

“Well aren’t you so lucky,” Sabina laughed without humor in her voice.

“Ro’?! What are we waiting for?!”

Rowena’s eyes broke contact with Sabina and the moment they did, the lavender eyed witch was jostled in place, as if she had been suddenly shoved to the side. And seeing that her own body was moving while she watched it, Rowena held back a shocked cry as she watched her body walk towards Kid, not making it more than 7 steps before a wall of fire shot up and blocked Rowena from the others.

Sabina made the smoldering stone and dirt that confined her crumble away as she walked menacingly towards Rowena. Reaching the physical body, Sabina looked directly in Rowena’s eyes – not the body in front of her but the direction of Rowena’s consciousness.

“Run.”

Rowena broke out of her enchanted-like state and whipped her head to look at Sabina, still pinned in place, who gave her a sickening smug.

“Since you have Resurgence, I’m going to have to kill you a few times until you stay dead. I’ll do you a favor and make the wall to keep them out of the way, but if they interfere in any way, I’ll shove my fiery fists through their chests.”

The stone slabs that held Sabina were beginning to crumble. Lightning branch fractures broke through the soil, causing the structures to weaken and collapse.

“Though with the eclipse only minutes away, I wonder if I’ll only have to end you once. Y’know how fickle the energy gets.”

Rowena’s legs threatened to give out, “If the Coven were still intact and you were giving in to your power, they would grant you a mercy death before it rips you apart.”

“The silver lining is that if it destroys me, then it’ll annihilate you. Go say goodbye.”

Sabina made the slabs bend and melt to her whim, and with an angry sweep, she let out waves of fire that Rowena only barely dodged. The disfigured witch made no moves to follow Rowena, letting the steam completely over take her as Rowena scrambled towards the others.

The three pirates sandwiched Rowena between them, desperate to come up with a plan.

“We have to kill her,” Rowena tiredly croaked. “The eclipse is going to amplify our power and even you guys won’t be able to hold her off. Kid, Heat, stay within the rune parameters, I’ll engage her when the darkness falls. I should be able to keep her distracted for a few minutes, enough time to charge up an attack strong enough to defeat her. It will take all my strength.”

Killer stepped up, “I’ll help where I can, if I can buy you even an extra second to end this, I’ll do it. Kid, don’t leave this area.”

Kid wanted to scream at them that he wasn’t helpless, that he CAN help if they would just LET him.

“Hold my broom,” Rowena handed it to Kid, squatting to the ground and drawing a magic circle with numbers and runes deep into the hardened soil. “Heat, I need you to defend this spot. Keep Kid safe and keep making more inscriptions in the ground to fortify this spot. Take everything Setanta taught us and use it.”

“But Rowena, how will that help? Wouldn’t I be more useful fighting with you?!”

“Heat I don’t have time to explain, but I think you might be a witch. I fully believe in your ability to cast these runes. I trust you.”

His dark eyes shot open as if she’d told him the One Piece was right under his nose, “I’M A WHAT!?”

“HE’S A WHAT?!” Killer and Kid parroted back in total shock.

“Heat you know that feeling you get when you’re preparing to breathe fire? The way you explained it to me? It’s that exact feeling when you cast! Just will it to happen! I’m counting on you!!”

He could only sputter wildly at the revelation, looking at the others and trying to both defend and deprecate himself. Heat didn’t know any of this and he NEVER intended to betray or mislead his leaders. And he was definitively sure as fuck that he couldn’t do shit right now.

“SNAP OUT OF IT!” Killer shook the blue haired pirate. “Pirate or witch it doesn’t fucking matter! You’re our nakama, Heat. Do what you have ALWAYS done! Fight for Kid!! Fight for ROWENA now!!”

Kid nodded to agree with Killer, “I’ve always trusted you, that’s not changing just ‘cause you’re a freak of nature. Keep my wife safe. I-I can’t lo-lo-los—” he choked out a sob, giving Heat a tearful, pained glance, “Not again.”

Heat’s eyes welled with tears, feeling so embarrassed at how little he knew about himself and his family. He was overwhelmed with happiness too, that his bosses didn’t begrudge him or reject him.

His face turned serious, swiping his fingers across his face to collect his tears, he used them to moisten the soil and deeply inscribe the runes Sétanta had shown him before.

The sky was growing ever darker, the clouds and air looked rusty and hazy from the steam and random fire geysers going off. The moon was just shy of the sun, and the energy in the atmosphere seemed to almost still. Eerily calm. Like the calm before the storm.

Kid felt his spine shiver.

Looking at Rowena who was stepping outside of the rune area, he anxiously grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes. The lavender had darkened to a deep violet leaning into blue gradient, and there were light purple bands that encircled her pupils. They were shimmering.

Static electricity rabidly built up in the air, the hair on his neck standing straight up, and his coat felt featherlight and charged. He didn’t loosen his grip.

“What’s happening to you?”

She gave him a emotional smile, “This is the core of what we really are. Powerful, chaotic, natural disasters. Freaks of nature. Its why we can’t give in to the wrath, once you align with the violence of pure natural energy, you’ll destroy everyone you love. It does not care about our feelings, memories, or our connections – it will consume everything and give it back triple fold.”

“I’m tapping into the chaotic energy generated by the eclipse and fusing it to my own magic, I will have power rival to hers under full elemental control, without being consumed by my element. I can’t use it for long, I don’t know what the long-term effects will be for doing this in the first place...”

“There has to be something else, some way I can help!! Don’t sideline me here!!!”

Rowena clamped down on his hand, “Kid you have the most important job of all. If I need to go all out I’ll need to power up my attacks; I don’t think I’ll be able to focus on that and flying at the same time. When I tell you its time, I need you to repel me with the broom as fast as you can, dead straight at her.”

“You’ve gone insane,” he hoarsely whimpered.

“I have one shot to end her with my power at its highest potential. I’m hoping I won’t need to use it, but it’s my back up plan. And if it comes to it, you’re going to be vital in making sure that my attack is flawless. Guide me through it. I can’t do it without you.”

With a rough tug, he brought her hand to his mouth to give it a deep kiss.

“Cut that bitch down.”

Kid’s lips were met with a strong shock as bright purple sparks shot from her skin.

“Ow…” they said at the same time before softly chuckling to each other. Kid prepared himself for another one as he pulled Rowena into a tight embrace, lips smashing into each other pouring out hundreds of unspoken words. Be safe. Don’t Lose. I have faith. Love you so fucking much.

The energy in the air felt like it was popping sporadically making short static noises. With a final, lip wavering look, Rowena pulled back from his arms. Missing them so much the second they grazed across her skin to leave.

“Guys, no matter what happens – do not look directly at the eclipse when it starts. Don’t even look up, not for a second. It will drive you to madness.”

Walking away from the pirates, Rowena glared at Sabina who had appeared several yards away from them. Unsheathing her blades, Sabina gave Rowena an amused look.

“Oh sword play? Fine, I can do that too,” Sabina closed her eyes for a moment, focusing her power in between her hands until both were on fire.

With a smirk, she controlled the size of the flame until they were shaped and burning like blowtorches from her palms. Striking the ground repeatedly, she stopped when she had a log sized chunk of rock. With one hand she set the rock aflame and used her fingers to slice at it.

A long, onyx blade was the final result. “I’m not a swordsman but I’ll make do.”

Lightning crackled down, disappearing before it hit the ground. It preceded the beginning of the darkness, it became colder and a sliver of the moon’s shadow had begun to creep on the ground.

Sabina looked up. An unsettling smile grew on her face, so stretched with the already withered skin that it began to flake and tear. She broke visual contact and looked at the crew in front of her.

Sabina’s entire body began to shudder giving off a deadly aura; her eyes red with orange bands around the pupils, intermixed with wispy white patterns glowed vividly. It felt creepy. From below, heat and pressure released creating a small crater where she was standing, blowing up a column of smoke with flecks of fire and black lightning crackled in the air. The witch took a defensive pose.

Kid’s eyes darted to Rowena, her own body giving off an aura that felt different from deadly. Eerily poised. Pointed outwardly, her blades made a grating metal twang as she pulled them back, crouching slightly to give herself momentum. Again lighting struck down and this time it hit the ground, dancing around Rowena and crackling like it was purely contained and concentrated around her.

It was only a partial glance, as if she couldn’t not turn back to look at him once more before acting – he felt himself tense as the alien-like glow in Rowena’s eye made him feel like he would be eviscerated if he stared too long. It felt strangely sad. Almost like…like it was goodbye.

In a flash of lightning, she sprinted faster than he could see towards Sabina. The crazed witch swung her rock made sword and with it, a blast of fire shot out. One second Rowena appeared near the flame, the next she vanished and came running from a different angle. Sabina threw a shot of flames at Rowena who flipped over it, transmuting over Sabina’s head and swinging her swords down.

The crafted blade was surprisingly durable, Sabina was able to block the blow and send Rowena flying back, who was already trying her attack again. Kid was so focused on watching his wife’s every movement that he didn’t see Killer had left, stealthily approaching the two clashing witches.

Sabina hadn’t noticed him until he pierced his scythe in the ground a few feet behind her. She reared her head howling in pain and saw his curved blade in one of her embedded footprints. She swept her arm to send a column of fire at him, which he narrowly dodged with the ends of his hair slightly singed.

Killer’s distraction gave Rowena an opening and she didn’t waste it. Appearing right in front of Sabina, Rowena roundhouse kicked her, a bolt of lightning shot from the tip of Rowena’s boot striking Sabina, lighting her up with blinding light and punting her across the field.

The force from the kick dislodged Killer’s scythe, freeing Sabina once more who bounced back from the attack with spitting rage. Freely shooting wave of flames forth, Rowena jumped and transmuted across the field, slowly drawing Sabina further from Kid and Heat.

The sound of clashing swords was explosive, ringing across the field as Kid watched, rendered shocked and in awe from the sheer power the witches were exhibiting. Killer readied his second scythe while Heat continued adding more runes around, doing his damned best to fortify their entirely exposed position.

“I’m going in again,” Killer spoke too soon.

Sabina directed her attention at the pirates, turning to give them a vicious smile. She said something that made Rowena furious, Kid could hear her shouting but couldn’t make out the words. Sabina dropped her sword, seemingly making dancing motions when Kid realized what she was doing.

“OH SHIT, WATCH OUT!”

Massive balls of fire soared towards them, one after another as Sabina savagely targeted them.

Killer and Heat were able to cut through and fight back against some of it, Rowena shouldered most of the fire.

While she had not been overtly using her fire power before beyond some training, it came out surprisingly controlled. Rowena was able to create her own fire to block Sabina’s fire, and even mimicking her technique, to send it right back in equal power.

A gap in Sabina’s assault opened an opportunity for Rowena to act. In rushed movements she manipulated massive boulders and rocks to fly at Sabina. Sabina was able to burn the smaller pieces but she was barely able to dodge the rest as they sailed through her fire like falling comets.

Running to her sword, Sabina set it aflame and with a desperate wave, a wall of fire shot forth towards them. Rowena countered the fire with large bolts of lightning and the colliding attacks created an explosion that rocked the island.

About 15 yards from them, the earth exploded in shattering rock and fire, lightning – both neon purple and black – repeatedly struck down creating an impossible storm of dust and dirt. Hold their arms over their eyes, the pirates squinted through the wreckage to find the women.

Debris and ruined earth was showering from the sky, the island looked like it had been hit by a baby buster call. Yet they couldn’t make out the witches through the chaos.

They could hear them though. Clashing swords echoed across the sky in chaotic cacophony with the destruction falling around them. Kid figured it out.

He almost looked up.

Kid actually tried.

Before he could tilt his head up even 5 degrees, Killer grabbed Kid’s scalp and shoved his and Heats’ heads down.

“DON’T LOOK UP!!” Killer hissed, bowing his head low to prevent himself from peeping as well. “Kid if there’s any scrap lying around make something to shield us!”

There was hardly any but Kid was able to make a small enough cover to protect them as they huddled closely together, nervously waiting in anticipation. Time seemed to drag on as they stood, rooted to spot as they flinched and scrunched their faces every time a roar of fire and heat could be felt or they saw a bolt of lightning hit the ruined field in front of them. Kid was shivering.

Blood turned to slush when they heard screaming. Rowena and Sabina were screaming at each other as they fought. They couldn’t hope to make out what was said. Then the screaming was only coming from one witch.

They watched in horror as a wildly burning comet fell – only the comet had Sabina in the middle, trapped between large rocks and being spun by air so quickly she was unable to stop her fall, creating an even deeper crater within the disheveled earth.

Rowena landed near the impact, quickly transmuting back to the Kid Pirates. Her face was bruised, cut, her clothes burned and ripped, and she was panting heavily.

“Get ready,” her voice was strained and gravelly, “She’s really pissed. This should help,” crouching down to the rune at the front of their makeshift base, leaving a heavily bloodied handprint seep into the dirt. “Using her blood will help strengthen the defensive magic here,” she looked to Heat, “How are you holding up?”

“Not good! What now?”

“When she attacks, manifest the runes to shield us from harm.”

“You say that like I can just DO THAT!”

“That’s the neat thing about being a witch,” she managed a small grin, “You CAN just do that. Believing in yourself is the hardest step to overcome but once you get over the mental block, you’ll open yourself up to new possibilities Heat.”

Rowena cut her own hand with her sword, smearing the blood across her palm and fingers, repeating the hand print process in the magic circle she had previously created.

“I offer my blood to invoke your power, father of all,” she said quietly before looking back at Kid, “It’s time,” she whispered. Tucking her head down, she softly but rapidly chanted to herself, placing each sword against the circle itself.

Heat stood behind the bloodied rune and flooded his brain with positive affirmations and frenzied words of panicked encouragement. Just do it Just do it Just do it Just do it Just do it Just do it Just do it Just do it

Sabina was shaking as she came out from the debris, all trace of humanity gone from her face. She didn’t even feel like a human being.

Readying her blade at her side, Sabina willed conjured flames around it, growing them until they were staggering and swaying blindly.

Rowena was still chanting but slowly rose, tilting her head to look at Sabina with no apathy on her face. The magic circle was starting to glow, little flecks shimmering around her feet. Kid felt in a trance-like state as he watched Rowena’s thighs part slightly.

Raising his hand, the broom he lovingly crafted came to sit snugly between her legs. He wasn’t making her fly or hover yet, but she already trusted him to put her entire weight on it to give all her focus on her attack. Still rapidly chanting but getting louder. Large rolls of thunder were booming in the air.

Sabina shouted something unintelligible, swinging the blade with all her might at the pirates. It was like a volcanic eruption violently shot from her swing.

Killer and Kid both gaped, Heat screamed, “JUST DO IT! PROTECT US DAMN IT!!!”

It did.

As the eruption split the land with lava spurting from the sword swing and the ground on all sides of them, they could only feel the mind-melting heat of the lava as the runes activated with a blue glow, creating a boxed barrier around them. Heat kept his hands raised in front of him as if he was mentally keeping the lava at bay, sweat pouring down his body, his heels digging into the ground as he was slowly pushed back from the force inch by inch.

Rowena’s chanting finally became a single cry, “GIVE ME YOUR POWER ZEUS!!!”

Her swords lit up as if shooting lightning off the blades, more purple lightning shot from the sky intermixed with the lava, destroying more of the island as it came down.

In Kid’s mind - at least he was sure it was his mind because he heard Rowena speak so clearly as if she was right next to him – he heard her say, “Now.”

With great reluctance, Kid used his power to repel the witch as she had commanded. He wasn’t sure if the purple lighting came from him or her, however, it took the shape of a charging bull outlining Rowena’s form as she shot forth in the blink of an eye.

All the pirates could see was the flashing of lightning that followed after Rowena, surrounded Rowena even, as it blocked her from the onslaught of flames and straight into Sabina.

A massive dome of purple, red and blinding white light forced their eyes close. It was followed by the ear-splitting sound of the world breaking in half. Boom after boom, blast after blast, strong waves reverberated across the island, making the pirates shake and stumble into each other.

Then there was nothing.

When they looked at the scene, red and black dust particles floating everywhere, they were surprised to see there was anything left of the island. There were small pockets of land still intact, and they saw something that made their heart stop.

Sabina.

Twitching.

Kid couldn’t register the moment. Wouldn’t believe what he was seeing. Luckily he didn’t have to for long.

Killer was in the air with a familiar lance in his hand. Pulling his arm back, Killer swung it down with everything he had.

The witch stopped moving.

Killer watched without batting an eye as the life left Sabina’s eyes, the lance wiggling from where it was rooted in her chest, drinking in her blood. The red pattern of the lance glowed vividly. Full.

It took them 10 minutes to find Rowena. She was hardly breathing, lying in a crater made from her body hitting the ground. She didn’t say anything, couldn’t say anything, just watched the men struggle to make sense of the situation.

They didn’t get it still.

She’d be fine. She knew now, with the power of Resurgence, her death would be temporary.

She smiled at Kid and mouthed out, I love you. Finally, she let her eyes rest.

“No, no no no no no no no no no no,” Kid wept, gingerly picking her body up to bring to his lap. His tears tracked down her face. “No no no no no, you can’t Ro’—” he hiccupped, “—c-can’t end like this. Don’t-don’t leave me. Please!” he sobbed.

Killer and Heat cried silently, watching solemnly as their Captain broke down. Kid let out strained cries of despair, cradling Rowena’s body, wishing he could go back in time and pick a different island for their mini getaway. If only if only if only if only—

Kid let out another sob, burying his face into hers.

He couldn’t see the figure stalking towards them. Neither could Killer.

Heat did though, but he couldn’t form the words to describe it. The figure glided right up to them, black hooded coat billowing around them, a daunting scythe in their hand. It was the hair that made Heat speechless.

The sound of the scythe hitting the ground got Kid and Killer’s attention. Their eyes went wide as they took in the reaper, watching in fear as it crouched to the ground, body shaking. Pulling the hood back, the stranger revealed a head full of long, blue locs.

“It’s you,” the stranger wept, taking down a black cloth veil that had shrouded her face. “My son! My boy its really you!” she reached her hand towards Heat but stopped herself.

“M-mom?” Heat whimpered.

It had been so long since she disappeared that he had almost forgotten her face. Seeing her gray, hollowed out cheek bones, somehow looking five times older than she had been when she was alive, Heat knew in his heart. It was her.

He reached his hand out, desperate to touch her once again, but she yanked her hand back.

“Don’t. You can’t. I am the line between life and death,” she said sorrowfully.

She wiped her ghoulish tears and Heat could see the tattooed roses on the backs of her hands. Just like he remembered she had. It was why he had tattooed thorns on himself.

With a sniff, she cleared her throat, “The witch will recover. Her body just needs some time to regenerate. She has more lives to spare, yet.”

Killer awkwardly raised his hand, unsure how to address her, “Uh what? Can you…explain anything?”

“What happened to you?” Heat followed up.

Kid just stared at her, “But she did die, right?”

The reaper nodded, “Her heart has stopped yes. She inherited the ability to come back from a spell that was cast long ago. It does have a limited number.”

“How many does she have now?”

“We have to wait and see.”

They all glanced to Rowena who still looked as before. Kid laid her down as he found her, unwilling to let go of her limp hand.

“When you were a young boy, you were so sickly,” the reaper sat across from Heat. “It felt like karma, for leaving the coven. I came from the same island as this witch, but when I discovered I was pregnant to have a male child, I had no choice but to leave. I was given an impossible choice, find a person who wielded the power to change a person from male to female, or give you up as an offering. It was both the easiest and hardest decision.”

Heat felt numb. Heartbroken. Even if she had chosen this for his sake, he still grew up without a mother.

“Not hard because I wished for different, harder because once I was exiled, I had no help to help heal you when you got sick. I didn’t have the power to do it and I all but gave up my magic to keep us safe from others. Then you got so sick, you died. You were so small, so thin, I didn’t want to give up. I couldn’t accept losing you—” she paused. “When a reaper appeared to take your soul, it was like my magic acted on its own. Attacked the reaper and killed them. However,” she looked away.

“Reapers still have their own souls, able to walk between the living and the dead, not dead themselves you see. I, I bonded theirs to yours and placed it within you. You came back right away, I watched you take that first gasp. I watched as someone found you and called for others. Soon they took you away. They didn’t see me, and neither could you when they surrounded you. I wasn’t able to walk away to watch over you. I should have been sent to hell, but instead I was made to be a reaper. I never thought I’d see you again,” she trailed off.

Heat nodded as the tears flowed from his eyes listening to her story.

He remembered waking up in a small room, alone, well alone but for some tall kid that was leaning against the wall of the same room. The boy looked bored, even when Heat finally sat up. Everything after that was the rest of his life until the present moment. He really wished Wire was here.

Everyone’s attention turned to Rowena as black smoke curled from underneath her. Kid went to move her but Heat’s mom scolded him.

“No, don’t touch her. She’ll be back with us soon.”

The smoke grew into black fire that seemed to sway underneath Rowena. Swaying softly, the flames didn’t seem hot or cold, hardly seemed like there was anything actually there if not for the spiral like licks of flame as they simmered.

It wasn’t long until a small symbol grew on Rowena’s forehead.

“She is now under the protection of Pluto. She has eight recincarnations left,” Heat’s mother announced, rising from her seat. “I can’t stay if I can’t collect a soul. It was, it was so good to see you, Heath,” she smiled as warmly as she could as her presence faded.

Heat’s normally pale, ashen face flooded brightly at the mention of his name. His real name.

Rowena’s diaphragm slowly moved as she began breathing again. Eyes still closed, probably still knocked out cold. The blue on her lips began to return to their normal color.

Kid let out a sigh of relief, checking to make sure the signs of life were not a delusion before cradling Rowena against him once more. Willing his body to stop trembling and get up.

“I’m not fucking calling you Heath,” Kid grumbled as he walked away.

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#eustass kid #eustass kid x rowena #what's the magic word?#eustasscaptainkid #one piece fanfiction #one piece #kid pirates #eustass kid x oc #firstmatesimp #rowena the witch #ao3 writer #eustass captain kid #raven's reading nook #ao3 fanfic #ao3 works

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borntobecheap · 8 months ago

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“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… THE NICEST KIDS IN TOWN!”

IF I HAVE one regret in life, it's that I wasn't a Buddy Deaner. Sure, as a teenager I was a guest on this Baltimore show. I even won the twist contest with Mary Lou Raines (one of the queens of "The Buddy Deane Show") at a local country club.

But I was never a Deaner. Not a real one. Not one of the Committee members, the ones chosen to be on the show every day—the Baltimore version of the Mouseketeers, "the nicest kids in town," as they were billed. The guys who wore sport coats with belts in the back from Lee's of Broadway (ten percent discount for Committee members), pegged pants, pointy-toe shoes with the great buckles on the side and "drape" (greaser) haircuts that my parents would never allow. And the girl Deaners, God, "hair-hopppers" as we called them in my neighborhood, the ones with the Etta gowns, bouffant hairdos and cha-cha heels. These were the first role models I knew. The first stars I could identify with. Arguably the first TV celebrities in Baltimore.

I'm still a fan—a Deaner groupie. I even named some of the characters in my films after them. So you can't imagine how excited I was when I finally got a chance to interview these local legends twenty years later.

"The Buddy Deane Show" was a teenage dance party, on the air from 1957 to 1964. It was the top-rated local TV show in Baltimore and, for several years, the highest rated local TV program in the country. While the rest of the nation grew up on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" (which was not even shown here because Channel I3 already had "Buddy Deane"), Baltimoreans, true to form, had their own eccentric version. Every rock 'n' roll star of the day (except Elvis) came to town to lip-sync and plug their records on the show: Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Fats Domino, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon and Fabian, to name just a few.

You learned how to be a teenager from the show. Every day after school kids would run home, tune in and dance with the bedpost or refrigerator door as they watched. If you couldn't do the Buddy Deane Jitterbug (always identifiable by the girl's ever-so-subtle dip of her head each time she was twirled around), you were a social outcast. And because a new dance was introduced practically every week, you had to watch every day to keep up. It was maddening: the Mashed Potato, the Stroll, the Pony, the Waddle, the Locomotion, the Bug, the Handjive, the New Continental and, most important, the Madison, a complicated line dance that started here and later swept the country.

Although the show has been off the air for more than twenty years, a nearly fanatical cult of fans has managed to keep the memory alive. The producers of Diner wanted to include "Buddy Deane" footage in their film, but most of the shows were live and any tapes of this local period piece have been erased. Last spring five hundred people quickly snapped up the $23 tickets to the third Buddy Deane Reunion, held at a banquet hall in East Baltimore, to raise money for the Baltimore Burn Center. Buddy himself, the high priest, returned for the event. And more important, so did the Committee, still entering by a special door, still doing the dances from the period with utmost precision. I was totally star-struck and had as much fun that night as I did at the Cannes Film Festival. All on tacky Pulaski Highway.

IN THE BEGINNING there was Arlene. Arlene Kozak, Buddy's assistant and den mother to the Committee. Now a receptionist living in suburbia with her husband and two grown children, Arlene remains fiercely loyal, organizing the reunions and keeping notebooks filled with the updated addresses, married names and phone numbers of all "my kids."

She met Winston J. "Buddy" Deane in the fifties when she worked for a record wholesaler and he was the top-rated disc jockey on WITH — the only DJ in town who played rock 'n' roll for the kids. Joel Chaseman, also a DJ at WITH, became program manager of WJZ-TV when Westinghouse bought it in the mid-fifties. Chaseman had this idea for a dance party show, with Buddy as the disc jockey, and Buddy asked Arlene to go to work for him.

On the air "before Dick Clark debuted," the show "was a hit from the beginning," says Arlene today.

The Committee, initially recruited from local teen centers, was to act as hosts and dance with the guests. To be selected you had to bring a "character reference" letter from your pastor, priest or rabbi, qualify in a dance audition and show in an interview ("the Spotlight") that you had "personality." At first the Committee had a revolving membership, with no one serving longer than three months.

But something unforeseen happened: The home audience soon grew attached to some of these kids. So the rules were bent a little; the "big" ones, the ones with the fan mail, were allowed to stay.

And the whole concept of the Committee changed. The star system was born.

If you were a Buddy Deane Committee member, you were on TV six days a week for as many as three hours a day-enough media exposure to make Marshall McLuhan's head spin. The first big stars were Bobbi Burns and Freddy Oswinkle, according to Arlene, but "no matter how big anyone got, someone came along who was even bigger."

Joe Cash and Joan Teves became the show's first royalty.

Joanie, whose mother "wanted me to be a child star," hit the show in early 1957 at age thirteen (you had to be fourteen to be eligible, but many lied about their ages to qualify), followed a few months later by Joe, seventeen. Like many couples, Joe and Joan m* through the show and became "an item" for their fans. Many years later they married.

"I saw the show as a vehicle to make something of myself," remembers Joe. "I was aggressive. I wanted to get into the record business" —and years later he did.

Joe started working for Buddy as "teen assistant" and, along with Arlene, oversaw the Committee and enforced the strict rules.

You received demerits for almost anything: Chewing gum. Eating the refreshments (Ameche's Powerhouses, the premiere teenage hangout's forerunner of the Big Mac), which were for guests only.

Or dancing with other Committee members when you were supposed to be dancing with the guests (a very unpopular rule allowed this only every fourth dance). And if you dared to dance the obscene Bodie Green (the Dirty Boogie), you were immediately a goner.

"I got a little power-crazed," admits Joe. "I thought I was running the world, so they developed a Board, and the Committee began governing itself." Being elected to the Board became the ultimate status symbol. This Committee's committee, under the watchful eye of Arlene, chose new members, taught the dance steps and enforced the demerit system, which could result in suspension or expulsion.

Another royal Deaner couple who met on the air and later married was Gene Snyder and Linda Warehime. They are still referred to, good naturedly by some, as "the Ken and Barbie of the show." Gene, a member of "the first Committee, and I underline first," later became president of the Board. Linda reverently describes her Committee membership as "the best experience I ever had in my life." They later became members of the "Permanent Committee," the hall of fame that could come back to dance even after retiring. "That was our whole social life, being a Buddy Deaner," says Gene. "It was a family: Buddy was the father, Arlene was the mother."

Even today Gene and Linda are the quintessential Deaner couple, still socializing with many Committee members, very protective of the memory, and among the first to "lead a dance" at the emotion-packed reunions. "Once a Deaner, always a Deaner," as another so succinctly puts it.

The early "look" of the Committee was typically fifties. And although few will now admit to having been drapes, the hairstyles at first were DAs, Detroits and Waterfalls for the guys and ponytails and DAs for the girls, who wore full skirts with crinolins and three or four pairs of bobby socks. Joe remembers "a sport coat I bought for $s from somebody who got it when he got out of prison.

I was able after a while to afford some clothes from Lee's of Broad-way" (whose selection of belted coats and pegged pants made it the Saks Fifth Avenue of Deaners).

One of the first ponytail princesses was "Peanuts" (Sharon Goldman, debuting at fourteen in 1958, Forest Park High School Chicken Hop), who went on the show because Deaners were "folk heroes." She remembers Paul Anka singing "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" to her on camera as she did just that. She became so popular that she was written up in the nationwide Sixteen magazine.

"On the show you were either a drape or a square," explains Sharon. "I was a square. I guess Helen Crist was the first drapette: the DA, the ballet shoes, oogies [tulle scarves], eye shadow—eye-liner was big then—and pink lipstick."

Helen Crist. The best little jitterbugger in Baltimore. The first and maybe the biggest Buddy Deane queen of all. Debuting at a mere eleven years of age, taking three buses every day to get to the show, wearing that wonderful white DA (created by her hairdresser father) and causing the first real sensation. She was one of the chosen few who went to New York to learn how to demonstrate the Madison and was selected for the "exchange committee" that represented Baltimore's best on "American Bandstand." She was the only one of the biggies who refused to be on the Board ("They had power; a lot were disliked because of it").

Helen's fans flocked to see her at the Buddy Deane Record Hops (Committee members had to make such personal appearances and sign autographs). "I got all these letters from the Naval Academy," Helen remembers, "so I went there one day, and all the midshipmen were hanging out the windows. It was a real kick!" Her fame even brought an offer to join the circus. "This man approached me, telegrammed me, showed up at the show. He wanted me to go to a summer training session to be a trapeze artist. I wanted to go, but my parents wouldn't let me. I was really mad. I wanted to join the circus."

Two other ponytail princesses who went on to the Buddy Deane hall of fame were Evanne Robinson, the Committee member on the show the longest, and Kathy Schmink. Today they seem opposites.

Over lunch at the Thunderball Lounge, in East Baltimore, Kathy remembers, "I could never get used to signing autographs. Why?' I'd wonder." She wasn't even a fan of the show. "It was a fluke. My mother wanted me to go; she took me down to the tryouts. At first I was so shy I hid behind the Coke machines."

But Evanne "used to come right home and head for the TV. I had always studied dance, and I wanted to go on (the show]. I'm the biggest ham." Although she denies being conscious of the cam-era, she admits, "I did try to dance up front. I wasn't going to go on and not be seen." But even Evanne turned bashful on one show, when Buddy made a surprise announcement. "I was voted prettiest girl by this whole army base. I was so embarrassed. Buddy called me up before the cameras, and I wasn't dressed my best. The whole day on the show was devoted to me."

BEING A TEENAGE STAR in Baltimore had its drawbacks. "It was difficult with your peers," recalls Peanuts. "You weren't one of them anymore." Outsiders envied the fame, especially if they lost their steadies to Deaners, and many were put off by boys who loved to dance. "Everybody wanted to kick a Buddy Deaner's ass," says Gene, recalling thugs waiting to jump Deaners outside the studio.

"It was so painful. It was horrible," says Joe. "I used to get death threats on the show. I'd get letters saying, If you show up at this particular hop, you're gonna get your face pushed in?" And Evanne still shudders as she recalls, "Once I was in the cafeteria.

One girl yelled 'Buddy Deaner' and then threw her plate at me. My mother used to pick me up after school to make sure nobody hassled me."

The adoring fans could also be a hassle. "I must have had ten different phone numbers," says Helen, "and somehow it would get out. There were a lot of obscene phone calls."

And the rumors, God, the rumors. "They all thought all the girls were pregnant by Buddy Deane," remember several. "Once I was off the show for a while, and they said I had joined the nun-nery," says Helen, laughing. "It was even in the papers. It was hilarious."

Some of the rumors were fanned on purpose. Because "Buddy Deane's" competition was soap operas, the budding teenage romances were sometimes played up for the camera. "One time I was going with this guy, and he was dancing with this guest I didn't like," says Evanne. "Buddy noticed my eyes staring and said, 'Do the same eyes.' And the camera got it." Kathy went even further. "I was with this guy named Jeff. We faked a feud. I took off my steady ring and threw it down. We got more mail: 'Oh, please don't break up!' Somebody even sent us a miniature pair of boxing gloves. Then we made up on camera."

Romance was one thing; sex was another. Most Deaner girls wouldn't even "tongue-kiss," claims Arlene, remembering the ruckus caused by a Catholic priest when the Committee modeled strapless Etta gowns on TV. From then on, all bare shoulders were covered with a piece of net.

Other vices were likewise eschewed. If a guy had one beer, it was a big deal. Some do remember a handful of kids getting high on cough medicine. "Yeah, it was Cosenel," says Joe. "They would drive me nuts when they'd come in the door, and I'd say, 'Man, you're gone. You are out of here. You are history.' "

Although many parents and WJZ insisted that Committee members had to keep up their grades to stay on the show, the reality could be quite different. With the show beginning at 2:30 in some years, cutting out of school early was common.

"I'd hook and have to dance in the back so the teachers couldn't see me," says Helen. "I had to get up there on time. My heart would have broken in two if I couldn't have gone on." Finally Helen quit Mergenthaler (Mervo) trade school, at the height of her fame. "The school tried to throw me out before. I couldn't be bothered with education. I wanted to dance."

"We had a saying: "The show either makes you or breaks you,'" says Kathy. "Some kids on the show went a little nuts, with stars in their eyes; they thought they were going to go to Hollywood and be movie stars."

Yet Joe was a dropout when he went on the show and then, once famous, went back to finish. And according to Arlene, Buddy encouraged one popular Committee member (Buzzy Bennet) to teach himself to read so he could realize his dream of being a disc jockey. He eventually became one of the most respected programmers in the country and was even written up in Time magazine.

WITH THE 1960s came a whole new set of stars, some with names that seemed like gimmicks, but weren't: Concetta Comi, the popular sister team of Yetta and Gretta Kotik. And then there was teased hair, replacing the fifties drape with a Buddy Deane look that so pervaded Baltimore culture (especially in East and South Baltimore) that its effect is still seen in certain neighborhoods.

Some of the old Committee kept up with the times and made the transition with ease. Kathy switched to a great beehive that resembled a trash can sitting on top of her head ("I looked like I was taking off"). And Helen, Linda and Joanie all got out the rat-tail teasing combs.

Fran Nedeloff (debuting at fourteen in 1961, Mervo High School cha-cha) remembers the look: "Straight skirt to the knee, cardigan sweater buttoned up the back, cha-cha heels, lots of heavy black eyeliner, definitely Clearasil on the lips, white nail polish. We used to go stand in front of Read's Drugstore, and people would ask for our autograph."

Perhaps the highest bouffants of all belonged to the Committee member who was my personal favorite: Pixie (who died several years later from a drug overdose). "You could throw her down on the ground, and her hair would crack," recalls Gene. Pixie was barely five feet tall, but her hair sometimes added a good six to eight inches to her height.

But by far the most popular hairdo queen on "Buddy Deane" was a fourteen-year-old Pimlico Junior High School student named Mary Lou Raines. Mary Lou, the Annette Funicello of the show, was the talk of teenage Baltimore. Every week she had a different "do" —the Double Bubble, the Artichoke, the Airlift -each topped off by her special trademark, suggested by her mother, the bow.

"We really sprayed it," remembers Mary Lou today from her home in Pennsylvania. "The more hair spray, the better. After you sprayed it, you'd get toilet paper and blot it. Sometimes you'd wrap your hair at night. If you leaned on one side, the next day you'd just pick it out" into shape.

Mary Lou was the last of the Buddy Deane superstars, true hair-hopper royalty, the ultimate Committee member. "We have a tele-gram," Buddy would shout almost daily, "for Mary Lou to lead a dance," and the cameraman seemed to love her. "When that little red light came on, so did my smile," she says, laughing. At her appearances at the record hops, "kids would actually scream when you'd get out of the car: 'There's Mary Lou! Oh, my God, it's Evanne!' Autograph books, cameras, this is what they lived for. They sent cakes on my birthday. They'd stand outside my home. They just wanted to know if you were real. I was honored, touched by it all."

Mary Lou was aware that in some neighborhoods it was not cool to be a Buddy Deaner. "Oh sure, if you were Joe College (pre-preppie), you just didn't do 'The Deane Show.'" "Did you ever turn into a Joe College?" I ask innocently. "No!" she answers, with a conviction that gives me the chills.

But as more and more kids (even "Deane" fans) did turn Joe College, many of the Committee made the mistake of not keeping up with the times. Marie Fischer was the first "Joe" to become a Committee member-chosen simply because she was such a good dancer. As with the drapes and squares of the previous decade, she explains, "there were two classes of people then-Deaners and Joe College. The main thing was your hair was flat, the antithesis of Buddy Deane," she says, chuckling. "I was a misfit. Every day I'd come to the studio in knee-highs, and I'd have to take them off. You had to wear nylons. Before long I started getting lots of fan mail: I think you're neat. I'm Joe, too.' There was a change in the works."

Part of that change was the racial integration movement. "I had a lot of black friends at the time, so for me this was an awkward thing," says Marie. "To this day, I'm reluctant to tell some of my black friends I was on 'Buddy Deane' because they look at it as a terrible time."

Integration ended "The Buddy Deane Show." When the subject comes up today, most loyalists want to go off the record. But it went something like this: "Buddy Deane" was an exclusively white show. Once a month the show was all black; there was no black Committee. So the NAACP targeted the show for protests. Ironi-cally, "The Buddy Deane Show" introduced black music and artists into the lives of white Baltimore teenagers, many of whom learned to dance from black friends and listened to black radio. Buddy offered to have three or even four days a week all black, but that wasn't it. The protesters wanted the races to mix.

At frantic meetings of the Committee, many said, "My parents simply won't let me come if it's integrated," and WIZ realized it just couldn't be done. "It was the times," most remember. "This town just wasn't ready for that." There were threats and bomb scares; integrationists smuggled whites into the all-black shows to dance cheek to cheek on camera with blacks, and that was it. "The Buddy Deane Show" was over. Buddy wanted it to end happily, but WJZ angered Deaners when it tried to blame the ratings.

On the last day of the show, January 4, 1964, all the most popular Committee members through the years came back for one last appearance. "I remember it well," recalls Evanne. "Buddy said to me, 'Well, here's my little girl who's been with me the longest.' I hardly ever cried, but I just broke down on camera. I didn't mean to, because I never would have messed up the makeup."

IN 1985 THE COMMITTEE MEMBERs are for the most part happy and healthy, living in Baltimore, and still recognized on the street. "They kept their figures, look nice and are very kind people," says Marie from her lovely country home before taking off for the University of Maryland, where she attends law school.

Most are happily married with kids and maintain the same images they had on the show. "We are kind of like Ozzie and Harriet," says Gene Snyder as Linda nods in agreement. "I'm a typical middle-class housewife," says Peanuts, "Girl Scout leader, very active in my kid's school." Mary Lou is still a star. That she has an affluent life-style surprises no one on the Committee. In her home, near Allentown, Pennsylvania, she serves me a beautiful brunch, models her fur coats and poses with her Mercedes. "When I get depressed, I don't go to the psychiatrist; I go to the jeweler," she says.

Oddly enough, few of the Deaners I've talked to went on to show biz. Joe Cash has Jonas Cash Promotions ("my own promotional firm—we represent Warner Brothers, Columbia, Motown-eighty-five percent of the music you hear in this market")-and Active Industry Research (a "research firm-I'm chairman of the board"). Evanne and her brother run the John Brock Benson Dance Studios and have a line of dancers who appear at clubs all over the state. But most have settled down to a very straight life.

And none are bitter. Although the Committee was a valuable promotional tool for WJZ at the time, and belonging was a full-time job, no one (except teen assistants) was paid a penny. Even doing commercials was expected. Mary Lou laughs at the memory of doing a pimple medicine spot on camera. And who can forget those great ads for the plastic furniture slipcovers that opened with the kids jumping up and down on the sofa and a local announcer screaming, "Hey, kids! Get off that furniture!"? Or the Bob-a-Loop? Or Hartford Motor Coach Company? Or Snuggle Dolls? The Deaners didn't mind. As Marie puts it, "The rewards were so great emotionally that you didn't have to ask for a monetary award."

Many had difficulties dealing with the void when the show went off the air. Gene calls it "a big loss." "It was living in a fantasy world," says Helen, "and later on, growing up, it was a definite blow: reality." "I still have a whole box of fan mail," says Evanne. "If I'm ever depressed, sometimes I think, 'Well, this will make me feel better,' and I go down and dig in the box."

Holding onto the memories more than anyone is Arlene Kozak, who is by far the most loved by all the Committee members. (They gave her a diamond watch at the last reunion.) "Do you miss show biz?" I ask her. "Not show biz," Arlene answers, hesitating, "but the record biz, the people. Yes, I miss it very much. I don't think I'll ever get over missing it, if you want to know the truth."

Many of the Committee members' spouses faced an even bigger adjustment. In "mixed marriages" (with non-Deaners), many of the outsiders resented their spouses' pasts. "At twenty-one I married a professional football player," Helen remembers, "and he made me burn all the fan mail. I had trunks of it. He was mad because I was as popular as he was. He just didn't understand."

But some have dealt with the problems in good humor. When Mary Lou's husband gave me the long and complicated directions to their home on the phone, he ended with, "And there you will find, yes, Mary Lou Raines." He later confided that when he first started dating her, he had no idea of her early career. "Everywhere we went, people would say 'There's Mary Lou.' I wondered if she had just been released from the penitentiary."

THE BUDDY DEANE phenomenon is hardly dead. Each reunion (and a new one is in the works) seems bigger than the last. Deaners seem to come out of the woodwork, drawn by the memory of their stardom. Buddy returns on a pilgrimage from St. Charles, Arkansas, where he owns a hunting and fishing lodge and sometimes appears on TV, to spin the hits and announce multiplication dances, ladies® choice, or even, after a few drinks, the Limbo. Some of the really dedicated Committee members get tears in their eyes. Was it really twenty years ago? Could it be?

Why not do "The Deane Show" on Baltimore TV again? Just once. A special. The ultimate reunion. From all over the country, the Deaners could rise again, congregate at the bottom of Television Hill, and start Madison-ing their way ("You're looking good. A big strong line!") up the hill to that famous dance party set, the one that now houses a talk show. The "big garage-type door" they remember would open, and they'd all pile in, past George and "Mom," the Pinkerton guards who used to keep attendance, and crowd into Arlene's office to comb their hair, confide their problems and touch up their makeup. Buddy could take his seat beneath his famous Top 20 Board, and the tension would build. "Ten seconds to airtime. . . . three, two, one. Ladies and gentlemen. . . the nicest kids in town!"

John Waters (Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters, 1986)

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asidesandbsides · 1 year ago

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Starts With J, Part 1

The Jackson 5 - I'll Be There / One More Chance

The sound quality is decent, and it really must be said that Michael's voice sounds both impossibly young and disciplined. Kids that age (12) rarely sing this well, and while the songs are alright it's obviously the novelty of Michael's talent that's kept them remembered.

Michael Jackson - She's out of My Life / Get on the Floor

The sound is actually really clear on this disc, and again you have to marvel at what an incredible singer the adult Michael Jackson was. The A-Side is a very subtle ballad with a lead vocal that can break your heart. The B-Side has that jazzy disco feel so characteristic of the Quincy Jones years. You can't deny this is a quality record.

Tommy James - Draggin' the Line / Bits and Pieces

If you haven't heard Tommy James before, I'll tell you I think he's one of the best pop artists from the '60s to be flirting with obscurity in the present. "Draggin' the Line" in particular is an excellent track with an all-time killer guitar riff, and it sounds great here. I'm not as crazy about "Bits and Pieces," but it works as a B-Side.

Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit / Plastic Fantastic Lover

I wasn't optimistic when I saw all the dust on it, but the quality is not bad! Both sides still retain that signature psychedelic spookiness. If it's a contest between Grace and Marty, I think you have to give it to Grace, but "Plastic" sounds a little clearer.

Billy Joel - It's Still Rock and Roll to Me / Through the Long Night

Crystal clear, and a great pair of songs to boot. I didn't really know "Through the Long Night" before, and I think it's more than carrying its weight on side B. But the A-Side? It's lean, mean, and definitely not to be pushed aside.

#the jackson 5 #michael jackson #tommy james #jefferson airplane #billy joel

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fearsmagazine · 2 years ago

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THE VENTURE BROS.: THE COMPLETE SERIES - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment

SYNOPSIS: Twenty years in the making, one of the iconic pillars of Adult Swim, THE VENTURE BROS., comes to DVD and digital in a box set that includes the seven year run of the show, all 82 episodes (14 discs), plus every single piece of previously released special features.

REVIEW: Full disclosure, I have not gone through everything. I only got the package on Friday and there is just so much, and that’s just the episodes. What I have watched so far is a real “Wow!”

The series premiered twenty years ago in 2003. It was the year my daughter was born and it was one of the late night shows on Adult Swim that kept me company. It was a delight to go back and rewatch the early episodes, especially on a big screen TV with surround sound. Oh, and no commercial breaks. Twenty years may not be a lot of time, but the writing still stands the test of time. From the writing and the music, to the design of the series, THE VENTURE BROS. pays homage to many of the adventure animated series we grew up with in our youth but takes to a whole other level, an adult comedy level. Watching these episodes again was like a trip down memory lane and there were quite a few things I had missed and made me appreciate the writing even more.

I popped in all the DVDs to view the menus and see the list of extras. No wonder they didn’t list the special features in the press release because there are a lot of them. I had never watched any of them before so I took in a few. They were well made, entertaining and informative. As a fan of the show I enjoyed the insight they added to the viewing experience.

Regardless of your level of fandom with the show, THE VENTURE BROS.: THE COMPLETE SERIES is a nice package that provides hours of viewing pleasure for you to get reacquainted with an old friend. Regardless of the nostalgia, it is the writing that made the series a hit. Some of the episodes were saterial of the period they were written in, but the style is such that it remains timeless and the humor fresh.

The 14-disc box set has a combined runtime of 1,968 minutes.

The TV series was canceled in 2020, with the final season aired in 2018, but The Venture Bros. swan song is coming with the film The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart and will be available Digitally on July 21st and on Blu-ray Disc on July 25th, 2023.

CAST (voices): James Urbaniak, Christopher McCulloch, Michael Sinterniklaas, Patrick Warburton, Paul Boocock, Doc Hammer; plus a cast of hundreds over the 82 episodes. CREW: Creator/Director/Writer - Christopher McCulloch; Directors - Jon Schnepp, Ki-Yong Bai, Juno John Lee, Barry J. Kelly, & Ethan Marak; Writers - Doc Hammer & Ben Edlund; Series Composer - J.G. Thirlwell; OFFICIAL: www.adultswim.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/adultswim/ TWITTER: twitter.com/adultswim TRAILER: www.youtube.com/@adultswim for lots of clips and the show opening credit sequence. RELEASE DATE: Digitally and on DVD June 13, 2023

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

#dvd news #dvd review #VentureBros #complete series #Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment #adult swim #joseph b mauceri #joseph mauceri #Christopher McCulloch

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dustedmagazine · 2 years ago

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Heavy Blanket—Moon Is (Outer Battery)

Moon Is by Heavy Blanket

The backstory to Heavy Blanket is unusually entertaining — and possibly not true. The way it goes is that in 1984, about the same time when J. Mascis played drums in Deep Wound, he was also in the marching band. There he hooked up with two other derelicts, the fetchingly named Pete Cougar and Johnny Pancake. After a variety of adventures, the three ended up in a classic, heavy-guitar three-piece named Heavy Banket, but failed to record a note of it for 27 years. Then in 2011, Mascis and Cougar met by accident and reconvened the band, springing Cougar from an Ohio halfway house to make the eponymous first album. A collaboration with Earthless followed in 2014, and then a long silence, until Heavy Blanket re-emerged again this year.

Interested bystanders have noted how improbable the story is—and how like J. Mascis the drums and the bass sound. Besides Mascis, the men in the band photo, for one thing, do not look like they might have gone to high school in the 1980s. In any case, whatever you believe, the main reason you’re likely to be interested is Mascis himself, and he’s definitely here and in fine form, whether his high school buddies exist or not.

Listen to him tipping his habitual trucker’s hat to Radio Birdman in the opening “Danny,” which borrows the riff from “Aloha Steve and Danno” and sets it afire. That ratcheting, upshifting, familiar vamp runs into a cracker wall of exploding drum fills and spins under spiraling, careening wails of fuzz guitar. It sounds unmistakably like Mascis. Then, the homage turns Sabbath-ward in the swaggering “Crushed,” with its “Children of the Grave” staccato riff and rumbling, overdriven roar. “String Along” is the wildest, the wooliest, the longest display of guitar pyrotechnics on the disc, and every second pays the rent. “Eyevoid” against tips again in the direction of British metal, and “Say It to You” coats its primal ache in sludge, exactly like electric Mascis always does.

It's worth mentioning that Moon Is comes on the tail end of the pandemic, a period that evidently drove Mascis bonkers. He was among the first to play a show for people in cars and again the first to play live at an indoor venue (at least in this area), and he’s been churning out guest shots and side projects at an astonishing rate. So it’s not unlikely that Moon Is is just Mascis whiling away his down time, all by himself, on incandescent guitar, rocket-fueled drums and bludgeoning bass. Or it could be that his friends Cougar and Pancake really do live and breathe and play music. If so, good for them. Moon Is brings us some damned good heavy psychedelia, whoever’s playing.

Jennifer Kelly

#dusted magazine #albumreview #jennifer kelly #heavy blanket #moon is #outer battery #j mascis #heavy rock #psych rock #psychedelia

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sciencespies · 2 years ago

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The Webb Telescope Is Just Getting Started

https://sciencespies.com/news/the-webb-telescope-is-just-getting-started/

The Webb Telescope Is Just Getting Started

BALTIMORE — So far it’s been eye candy from heaven: The black vastness of space teeming with enigmatic, unfathomably distant blobs of light. Ghostly portraits of Neptune, Jupiter and other neighbors we thought we knew already. Nebulas and galaxies made visible by the penetrating infrared eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope.

The telescope, named for James Webb, the NASA administrator during the buildup to the Apollo moon landings, is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. It was launched on Christmas one year ago — after two trouble-plagued decades and $10 billion — on a mission to observe the universe in wavelengths no human eye can see. With a primary mirror 21 feet wide, the Webb is seven times as powerful as its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope. Depending on how you do the accounting, one hour of observing time on the telescope can cost NASA $19,000 or more.

But neither NASA nor the astronomers paid all that money and political capital just for pretty pictures — not that anyone is complaining.

“The first images were just the beginning,” said Nancy Levenson, temporary director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs both Webb and the Hubble. “More is needed to turn them into real science.”

A bright (infrared) future

The Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared view of the Pillars of Creation, which showcases the telescope’s ability to detect dust, a major ingredient in star formation.NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Deep in a cloud of dust and gas, a star is being born. At the center of the hourglass light from a spinning shrinking protostar leaks out the top and bottom of a thick disc of matter feeding it and illuminates surrounding gas and dust clouds.NASA, Esa, Csa, and Stsci, J. Depasquale (Stsci)

For three days in December, some 200 astronomers filled an auditorium at the institute to hear and discuss the first results from the telescope. An additional 300 or so watched online, according to the organizers. The event served as a belated celebration of the Webb’s successful launch and inauguration and a preview of its bright future.

One by one, astronomers marched to the podium and, speaking rapidly to obey the 12-minute limit, blitzed through a cosmos of discoveries. Galaxies that, even in their relative youth, had already spawned supermassive black holes. Atmospheric studies of some of the seven rocky exoplanets orbiting Trappist 1, a red dwarf star that might harbor habitable planets. (Data suggest that at least two of the exoplanets lack the bulky primordial hydrogen atmospheres that would choke off life as we know it, but they may have skimpy atmospheres of denser molecules like water or carbon dioxide.)

“We’re in business,” declared Bjorn Benneke of the University of Montreal, as he presented data of one of the exoplanets.

Megan Reiter of Rice University took her colleagues on a “deep dive” through the Cosmic Cliffs, a cloudy hotbed of star formation in the Carina constellation, which was a favorite early piece of sky candy. She is tracing how jets from new stars, shock waves and ionizing radiation from more massive nearby stars that were born boiling hot are constantly reshaping the cosmic geography and triggering the formation of new stars.

“This could be a template for what our own sun went through when it was formed,” Dr. Reiter said in an interview.

The Cosmic Cliffs, a region on the edge of the gigantic, gaseous Carina Nebula, as seen by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera.NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Annotated views of the Cosmic Cliffs, indicating some of Megan Reiter’s observations.NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Between presentations, on the sidelines and in the hallways, senior astronomers who were on hand in 1989 when the idea of the Webb telescope was first broached congratulated one another and traded war stories about the telescope’s development. They gasped audibly as the youngsters showed off data that blew past their own achievements with the Hubble.

Jane Rigby, the project scientist for operations for the telescope, recalled her emotional tumult a year ago as the telescope finally approached its launch. The instrument had been designed to unfold in space — an intricate process with 344 potential “single-point failures” — and Dr. Rigby could only count them, over and over.

“I was in the stage of denial,” she said in Baltimore. But the launch and deployment went flawlessly. Now, she said, “I’m living the dream.”

Garth Illingworth, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who in 1989 chaired a key meeting at the Space Telescope Science Institute that ultimately led to the Webb, said simply, “I’m just blown away.”

At a reception after the first day of the meeting, John Mather of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Webb’s senior project scientist from the start, raised a glass to the 20,000 people who built the telescope, the 600 astronomers who had tested it in space and the new generation of scientists who would use it.

“Some of you weren’t even born when we started planning for it,” he said. “Have at it!”

A wayback machine

A deep-field image from the Webb telescope includes Earendel, the most distant individual star ever seen. Its light took 12.9 billion years to reach Earth.NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI

A close-up of Earendel, indicated by the red arrow, and the Sunrise Arc galaxy.NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI

Thus far the telescope, bristling with cameras, spectroscopes and other instruments, is exceeding expectations. (Its resolving power is twice as good as advertised.) The telescope’s flawless launch, Dr. Rigby reported, has left it with enough maneuvering fuel to keep it working for 26 years or more.

“These are happy numbers,” she said, as she and her colleagues rattled off the performance statistics of their instruments. Dr. Rigby cautioned that the telescope’s instruments were still being calibrated, so the numbers might yet change. Prepare to recalculate your results at the push of a button, she told a group of astronomers in the lobby: “Otherwise, you will hate your life.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise from the Webb telescope so far involves events in the early millenniums of the universe. Galaxies appear to have been forming, generating and nurturing stars faster than battle-tested cosmological models estimated.

“How did galaxies get so old so fast?” asked Adam Riess, a Nobel Physics laureate and cosmologist from Johns Hopkins University who dropped in for the day.

Exploring that province — “cosmic spring,” as one astronomer called it — is the goal of several international collaborations with snappy acronyms like JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey), CEERS (Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science), GLASS (Grism Lens-Amplified Survey From Space) and PEARLS (Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science).

Webb’s infrared vision is fundamental to these efforts. As the universe expands, galaxies and other distant celestial objects are speeding away from Earth so fast that their light has been stretched and shifted to invisible, infrared wavelengths. Beyond a certain point, the most distant galaxies are receding so quickly, and their light is so stretched in wavelength, that they are invisible even to the Hubble telescope.

The Webb telescope was designed to expose and explore these regions, which represent the universe at just one billion years old, when the first galaxies began to bloom with stars.

Left, an observation made by the Hubble Space Telescope of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey, or GOODS, in 2016. Right, the JWST NIRCam image of the GOODS South field, with four confirmed high-redshift galaxies.Left, NASA, ESA/Hubble; Robertson et al., arXiv:2212.04480

“It takes time for matter to cool down and get dense enough to ignite stars,” noted Emma Curtis-Lake, of the University of Hertfordshire and a member of the JADES team. The rate of star formation peaked when the universe was four billion years old, she added, and has been falling ever since. The cosmos is now 13.8 billion years old.

Astronomers measure cosmic distances with a parameter called redshift, which indicates how much the light from a faraway object has been stretched. Just a few months ago a redshift of 8, which corresponds to a time when the universe was about 646 million years old, was considered a high redshift. Thanks to Dr. Curtis-Lake and her colleagues, the record redshift is now 13.2, corresponding to when the universe was only 325 million years old.

Dr. Curtis-Lake and her team had aimed the telescope at a patch of sky called GOODS South, looking for galaxies that Hubble had been unable to detect. Sure enough, there were four of them, specters in the heat-fog of creation. Subsequent measurements confirmed that they were indeed way back in time.

“We didn’t want to say we believed it — publicly,” said Brant Robertson, a JADES member from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The record is not expected to last long. The CEERS collaboration has reported a candidate galaxy that could have a redshift of 16, from when the universe was only 250 million years old.

Experts are already arguing about whether these overeager galaxies reveal something fundamental, and overlooked, in current theories of the early universe. Perhaps some field or effect juiced up gravity back then and sped up the growth of galaxies and black holes. Or perhaps the discrepancies merely reflect scientific uncertainties about the messy details — the “gastrophysics” — of star formation.

For the last 20 years, astronomers have honed a solid “standard model” of a universe composed of dark energy, dark matter and a smidgen of atomic matter. It’s too soon to break that model, Dr. Curtis-Lake said in an interview; Webb has perhaps three decades of observing ahead of it. “We’re in early stages,” she said.

The closing talk fell to Dr. Mather. He limned the telescope’s history, and gave a shout-out to Barbara Mikulski, the former senator of Maryland, who supported the project in 2011 when it was in danger of being canceled. He also previewed NASA’s next big act: a 12-meter space telescope called the Habitable Worlds Observatory that would seek out planets and study them.

“Everything that we did has turned out to be worth it,” he said. “So we are here: This is a celebration party, getting a first peek at what’s out here. It’s not the last thing we’re going to do.”

#News

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disworl · 2 years ago

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Homestuck Music You Might Not Have Heard

[NOTE: Tumblr's formatting is really finicky so doing dual updates to this thing is not worth my time. If you want the most recent list, find it on Ao3.]

Yes, “MeGaLoVania” and “Time On My Side” are damn good songs, but a music catalogue this large is certain to have several diamonds in the rough. Here’s a selection of likewise lovely Homestuck music that you might not have heard.

V 1.0, updated 2022.10.10

I wrote this as an appreciation for all the wonderful music this comic has, and to give spotlight to the works that aren’t as well-known as “Black” and the like. Homestuck is a truly unique piece of media, and the soundtrack is one of the reasons why.

Great thanks to the HSMusic Wiki, which is what I used to check a track’s artist and contributor credits, whether it had been used in a flash, and what, if any other tracks it referenced. In my write-ups, I try to be as accurate as possible, but I’ve no music education aside from half-remembered childhood violin lessons. Apologies if I make a mistake.

I’m slowly working through the catalogue, so when I listen to more albums I’ll update this.

Full Playlist

Some Vague Guidelines

Official music only on Disc I Side A, with good semi-official unreleased tracks from the Homestuck Sound Test and some fan music on Disc I Side B. Disc II is the same, except in a bulleted list of every track covered, who it’s by, and what album it’s from, for the sake of readability.

The official music section is split into three categories: Deep Cuts From Popular Albums (popular being somewhat arbitrarily defined as Vol. 5, Strife!, Alterniabound, and both coloUrs and mayhem), Lesser-Known Takes on Something Else (for tracks that are well, primarily an interpretation of a pre-existing track, usually something more popular like “Doctor”), and Cool and New Music is for original compositions (though they may have minor references to other music).

Tracks are organized by chronological album release date pre-merger and the Vol. 1-4 re-release, and then by track order within the same album.

Nothing readily available from a Flash (so phonograph tracks and something like “Pony Chorale” are fine) is allowed.

Neither is anything with 1 million views or more (based on the most popular video at time of writing) on Youtube for Deep Cuts, and then for Lesser-Known Takes that threshold is halved, and again for Cool and New Music.

Themes from Alterniabound and the two ColoUrs and Mayhem albums ("Vriska’s Theme", "Green Ghost", "Rust Servant", et cetera) will not be included regardless of popularity because their obvious theming gives them an obvious profile for any fan of what character they’re for.

I will not be covering any albums released after Homestuck Vol. 10.

I want to keep featuring Toby Fox to a minimum – he’s a wonderful musician, but he is also by far the most well known member of the music and tends to overshadow everyone else by a wide margin.

Disc I - Side A

Side A Playlist.

Deep Cuts From Popular Albums

Deep Cuts Playlist.

“Light” by Erik “Jit” Scheele off of Homestuck Vol. 5 is a sort of comfortably adventurous composition that uses 413 as a chord progression. The piano melody that that leads off the track combined with the wind instrumentation gives the feeling of just a wonderful day, helped by the fan art for it in the Vol. 5 track art anthology fan project.

Also off of Vol. 5 , “Softly” by Robert J! Lake is a sweet toned electronic tune driven by a fuzzy, bouncing melody – though the beat gives it just a bit of an edge.

“Atomic Bonsai”, from hard-going solo album Strife! By Joren “Tensei” de Bruin, is the only kid strife track to not get used in some sort of official Homestuck-related thing (“Time on My Side” is a flash track, “Heir of Conditioning” was rearranged into flash track “Heir of Grief” in addition to being a phonograph tune in [S] Kanaya: Return to the Core, and “Dance of Thorns” was used in the Kickstarter video), and that’s a shame. It brings as much energy as the other three, and the combination of bass guitar and East Asian musical influence gives an equally unique sound with hook after hook.

Compared to the effervescence of Nepeta’s preceding music, “Catapult Capuchin” by Toby “Radiation” Fox off of AlterniaBound is nothing but the fierce hunter’s prowess on display in Video Game music fashion, as it was constructed from Mega Man X samples. It’s a high powerful ride throughout, but my favourite part is the bit at 00:33.

“Clockstopper” by viaSatellite and infiniteKnife off of coloUrs and mayhem: Universe B arguably counts for the first category, too, but I’m putting here because it’s specifically a symphonic rock mix of Beatdown, Atomyk Ebonpyre, and Upward Movement. The tension-building intro launching into the full force action of the flying strings always gets my blood pumping. My favourite take on Beatdown so far.

Lesser-Known Takes on Something Else

Lesser-Known Takes Playlist.

Humorous and infectious, “Pony Chorale” by Michael Guy Bowman with Tavia Morra off of Homestuck Vol. 4 is – well, it’s certainly a song! A mournful Western whistle on “Chorale for Jaspers” set to the beat of cartoonish hoof noises, punctuated by cymbals, all wrapped up with one simple word: neigh. And if you want some visuals for your viewing pleasure, there are two (probably not so) secret Flash pages for this song.

“Squidissension” by Mark Hadley, off of Homestuck Vol. 6 does an admirable and unique spin on the difficult job of combining the hyper-pop sugar-overdosed “Squiddles!” theme and the slightly ominous guardianstrife theme for Jade, “Dissension”. Serving as the main running melody, when shifted into minor key and given “Dissension” as a complement, “Squiddles!” becomes frantic instead of desperate, while “Dissension” is given that extra jump in momentum to keep pace, making for a track that’s something different, more adventurous, and more dire than either of its progenitors.

While it’s close to blowing the 500k Youtube requirement, “Anbroids 2.0” by Malcom Brown off of Homestuck Vol. 9 is still in the clear, so I’m putting it here as an early favourite of mine. With a very synthetic Strider sound, the track’s got a nice bouncy melody that serves as a fuller-realized version of the original “Anbroids” in the flash. Perfect for a rap-off.

“I’m a Member of the Midnight Crew (Post-Punk Version)”, by Michael Guy Bowman with Erik “Jit” Scheele and Marcy Nabors, from Homestuck Vol. 9, is a seedier, sharper, and stabbier take on the Victorian original and the acapella cover featured in the comic proper. The vocals just kill.

“II – Sarabande” by Clark “Plazmataz” Powell for her solo album Symphony Impossible to Play , is, unsurprisingly, a symphonic cover of “Sarabande” by Erik “Jit” Scheele. What might be surprising, however, is how much restraint is employed in it – the difference from the original is subtle, bearing a slowly rising string backing before the cello solo of the main melody kicks in around the minute mark.

Where “Homestuck Anthem” has a weird, portentous and artificial atmosphere, “Homestuck” a more present and traditional rendition, “Elevatorstuck” a dedicated – and listenable! – parody of muzak, and “Homosuck Anthem” a… copious amount of animal sound effects, “IV – Anthem”, also off of Symphony Impossible to Play brings a triumphant fanfare to the thematic melody for the comic. It is powerful and keeps the tension in the original throughout, driven by the backing – my favourite part is when the brass first cuts and you’re just left to bask only in the beat and the strings. “I – Overture” might have been the track to finish the comic, but I can’t think of a better track to end the album.

While the popularity of “Penumbra Phantasm” is debatable given that it’s never been released in full, “FantasyP”, by Erik “Jit” Scheele off of his solo album One Year Older, is a wonderfully hopeful and free take on “Penumbra Phantasm”, instead of referencing it as part of a larger composition. If you don’t know what “Penumbra Phantasm” is, prepare for roughly four minutes of “hey, that sounds familiar” while listening to just a really nice song – though, notably, it omits that one haunting piano riff from the original that serves as a code for a great many of the flashes. (One Year Older is available for free on Scheele’s bandcamp.)

“Another Chance”, a bonus track from One Year Older but done by Eston “silence” Schweickart”, is a synth remix of “Walk-Stab-Walk (R&E)” that gives the already good track some serious extra juice.

Starting off as a far-off sounding piano rendition of “Ruins” before crackling into a mechanized-backing of “Flare”, then bringing in clear, present electric guitar at 2:00 and finally adding in “Explore”, “Solar Voyage” by Marcy Nabors (with several others, check Disc II for full credits) off of Homestuck Vol. 10 definitely feels like a journey. The twists and progression on these recognizable musical staples are a sound to behold.

“Conclude” by Seth “Beatfox” Peelle, also off the same album, is the closer to the final volume of Homestuck music, and it lives up to the challenge. Beginning with a flying rendition of Sburban Jungle that turns the frenetic rush of the original into a hopeful retrospective, before switching to a bittersweet refrain of “Showtime”, the song then dives into original territory with a fanfare at 4:13, backed by “Skies of Skaia”, before closing with a soaring rendition of “Homestuck”, free and full of light in comparison to the pounding might of “IV – Anthem”. It’s a wonderful encapsulation of the complicated feelings flowing into one another that come with the end of a comic that means so much. My favourite bit is the far-off echoed “Showtime” at 1:19 – looking at the early morning of that April 13th, 2009. It did turn out to be a very long day, after all.

Cool And New Music

Cool and New Music Playlist.

“Squiddle Samba” by Michael Guy Bowman off of the album Squiddles! (no longer for sale, do with that information what you will), a thematic concept theme giving a whole extensive soundtrack to a fictitious children’s television show, is an energetic and bubbly jam that does not take the concept so far that an excess of irony is needed to enjoy it (though, the sugarily crystalline Squiddle voices appear for a scant fifteen seconds near the end, if that’s what you’re for).

Also off the same album, “Ocean Stars” by Mark Hadley is a calming, sweet and savoury treat to top off the excess of sugar cubes (and occasion tentacles) put on your musical plate. The layered build-up of the various elements is simple, befitting a children’s show, but done oh-so-well in a way that gives it meat.

“The Lemonsnout Turnabout” by Toby Fox for his solo album Alternia is a narrative piece wherein a young Trollian girl has an intrumental motif established (Neo-baroque harpsichord), and sets to take in a certain neon yellow draconian senator (represented by an oboe) for adjustments. In contrast to “Terezi’s Theme” and its more faster action, there’s a certain cerebral, well-plotted atmosphere to “The Lemonsnout Turnabout”. You can see the wind-up of the machinery fueling Terezi’s long noose in nailing Lemonsnout, echoed by the fearful groan of that oboe and the sharp jabs of the harpsichord in turn.

Also from Alternia, “dESPERADO ROCKET CHAIRS,” establishes Tavros with a Latin theme the way “The Lemonsnout Turnabout” establishes Terezi with the harpischord. It begins a short intro, before the horns really come in blaring – a far shot from the dying string reference of “Rex Duodecim Angelus”. Tavros is a dork, but he’s got fire behind him, and “dSPERADO ROCKET CHAIRS,” does a good job of showing that.

“Shade” by Clark “Plazmataz” Powell off of her solo album Medium, themed around the kid’s lands. A mixture of synthetic and often industrial noise combined with more organic instrumentation helps express the strangeness of these game worlds. In “Shade”, the shimmering melody that drives the track forward expresses the quiet and curious nature of the bioluminescence of LOWAS, before transitioning into a piano tune made for Typheus.

“Heat”, off the same album, takes a more hard-pressed approach, utilizing scissoring violin backdropped against industrial swirl to conjure up the swelter of churning lava in LOHAC. When the violin breaks free of that rhythm to climb, it only adds to the drama, and the song ends by sonically pulling away from the ebb and flow to leave the planet behind.

Starting off with thunder, “Exodus” by Tyler Dever for his solo album Sburb and performed by Erik “jit” Scheele, Exodus balances the apocalyptic severity of the meteors sent during the beginning hours of SBURB with skittering notes of the various players attempting to enter the medium. It closes out with a stark, last-second rendition of “Sburban Jungle” before quietly fading. (Sburb is available for free on Dever’s bandcamp.)

“Carapacian Dominion” by Seth “Beatfox” Peelle, opening the exile-themed album The Wanderers (also unavailable for purchase), sets the stage for the rest of the music by combining more unexplored, ethnic sound with a more Homestuck-typical industrial beat that’s perfect for the long trek along the desert of earth, years in the future (but not many).

In contrast to the forward-hiking rhythm of “Carapacian Dominion”, “Aimless Morning Gold” by Michael Guy Bowman off the same album is a track for staying in one place. Glittering synth (?) notes linger and warp in the heat, contrasted by the lazy ramble of the bass, all punctuated by a slight turn to Westerns with rattling machine gun shots.

And taking a strong turn from both of them, “Years in the Future” by Robert J! Lake, still off of the same album, is track following in Lake’s style of slightly eclectic, slightly choppy, but nevertheless catching and catchy electronic noise tunes. It takes a bit for the track to get going, but the combination of blips and bleeps that all call up the idea of electronic communication in the Can Town of the future makes for a wonderful swirl in the end.

“Derse Dreamers” might be one of the most famous songs in Homestuck, but that isn’t to say Prospit is lacking in terms of good music. “Center of Brilliance” by Solatrus for his solo album Prospit & Derse, themed around, well, you guess, begins with a shimmering chiming intro before bass and piano step in to bring a more full view of the center of the golden moon. The regal fanfare and drum setup ties things to Prospit’s formal atmosphere as a contrast to John and Jade’s instruments of choice. Something I like for all of the Prospit songs in the album is the bass guitar – it stands out as a driving instrument rather than just backing, and it’s true here, too. (Prospit & Derse is available for free on Solatrus’ bandcamp.)

“Song of Skaia” by Mark Hadley with Tarien Ainuvë, off of the same-titled album, is probably most recognizable as the bursting upswell chorus three minutes into “Creata”. Compared to that triumphant recital, however, “Song of Skaia” takes a more singular approach. It’s more minimalistic, and generally has the feeling of looking down from a thousand miles out in space.

“Cancerous Core” by Erik “Jit” Scheele gives a very short moment in the comic – the descent into Skaia – a full musical backing. The subtle brush of the air in combination with the restless roll of the piano in Locrian mode, accompanied by the ancient call of the wind instrumentation. It’s a track that definitely calls a strange and perhaps unsettling journey into some unseen world.

Alien and enchanting, “Voidlight” by Thomas Ferkol off of Homestuck Vol. 10 bears a flowing atmosphere that still contains a sense of drama. From commentary, it’s based on Calliope hiding in the Furthest Ring, which makes sense for the quiet not yet calm nature. The strings in the intro help convey the quiet, secluded landscape, and all around it’s a wonderfully ethereal piece.

“Feel (Alive)” by Luke Benjamins and Robert J! Lake from the same album, on the other hand, is a straight up chiptune rocker. It’s got raucous energy that absolutely earns its title.

Disc I - Side B

Side B Playlist (incomplete, not every track is on Youtube).

Homestuck Sound Test Gems

Sound Test Playlist (incomplete, not every Sound Test track is on Youtube).

“Cuttlefish Rag” by Alexander “Albatross Soup” Rosetti is a jaunty little ragtime tune originally written for Squiddles! , though you could also easily interpret it as a track for Feferi.

All memery aside, “Karkalicious (Guitarkind)” is a rockin’ guitar addition to a short excerpt of the Broadwaystuck classic. Yes, it’s hilarious. It also has some genuinely sick riffs. I daresay “Karkalicious” has never sounded so good.

“Mother (Davekind)” by Erik “Jit” Scheele is a take on “Mother” from One Year Older (can you tell I really like this album?) but in the style of Dave instead of John, trading out the slow, matured piano and strings for synths and turntables with a more energetic beat.

“Sea of Derse” got more instrumentation for the jazzy and relaxed “Breeze” in Homestuck Vol. 10, but in some ways I like the slightly more melancholic, stripped-down piano original.

“today i butchered a homestuck song (three in the A M)” by James “soselfimportant” Roach is a slightly weird, catching arrangement on “Three in the Morning”. In some way, it’s a precursor to what Roach did with “Karkat’s Theme”, “Terezi’s Theme”, and “Davesprite” for the Pesterquest soundtrack.

“Aggrieve (Piano) v2” by Toby Fox is… well, it’s a piano arrangement of “Aggrieve”, the second of three, and the best of them. I might be biased in terms of instrumentation, but what makes this track so good personally (and in fact, my favourite version of “Aggrieve”) is that it brings a level of energy that tends to be sublimated for a more measured and cerebral Lalondian pace – even in “Aggrievocation”. There’s a lot of great moments in this track, but my favourite bit’s around 1:42.

Fan Music Gems

Fan Music Playlist (incomplete, not every fan music track is on Youtube).

Found in the ~2011 Fan Music compilation of the Homestuck Archives, “Sunrise” by Yan “Nucleose” Rodriguez is a cheery guitar cover of the previously mentioned “Light”. It brings a sharper edge to the main melody, definitely befitting those first cracks of light over the horizon. I might like this more than the original. (Ironically, a later track by Scheele for One Year Older used the same title, and also referenced “Light”.)

“Sunshaker” by D. Crystal off of Land of Fans and Music is a very faithful jazz arrangement of “Sunsetter”. It’s mellower than both “Sunsetter” and “Sunslammer”, but still upbeat, all pinned together by that rolling piano.

Done by “Tarranon” for the concept album Sburb OST, “Amongst Smiling Faces [Prospitian Dignitaries]” is a theme for the agents of the Prospit. As its title might suggest, it takes a much more relaxed tone than Prospit & Derse’s regality, going downright pastoral with a sound not out of place for a first town in a JRPG.

“Waste of Space” by therosielord off of Songs for Monsters , is a lamentful fansong for Jade H arley on the occasion of her death in the Game Over timeline. The lyric s have some really clever moments underscoring Jade’s rise in agency, only to see that same agency fall by the wayside through death and grimbarkification. The ambling, almost slee py guitar backing only underscores the tragedy. (“Waste of Space” is the first of a quartet of songs for the Beta kids – the girls’ featured on Songs for Monsters , and the boys’ featured on Songs for Gods .)

The third in the Beta Kids quartet by therosielord and off of Songs for Gods, “Out of Time” is a fansong for, of course, Dave Strider. It’s a rambling, wordplay-laden tune that’s set to the relentless pace of Sburb on a single day in April, before scratching and resetting to a layered repetition of information and elements. The verse at 2:12 is my favourite of all of the Beta kid songs.

The twelve fansongs for the trolls might be PhemieC’s most famous contribution to Homestuck fandom, but the songs off of their other album, Songs for a Doomed Timeline aren’t slacking, either. “The Path” is one of their less well-known works – a fansong for Alpha Dave and Rose. Prognostic and methodical, it’s sung with the unclouded and heavy knowledge of the events to come, and the lyricism is sharp at every corner.

Yeah, I’m waiving the no character themes rule for Fan Music, because Fan Music is already niche enough. “♐Broken Strings♐” by psithurist off of Ancestral , an album dedicated to the ancestors, is an off-beat math rock styled string track for E%ecutor Darkleer. The odd rhythm and combination of strings and percussion is perfect for the loyal agent of the empire turnt exile.

“Of Rust and Royalty” by Grace Medley and off of the same album is a thudding nu disco take on the fight between the Handmaid and the Condesce, splicing up various elements of Rust Servant/Rust Apocalypse, Fuchsia Ruler, and Eternity Served Cold in a way that sells the power of the two (three?) individuals involved.

“The End of Something Really Excellent” by Rhyselinn off of Lands of Fans and Music 4 is, itself, a r eally e xcellent medley of “ The Beginning of Something Really Excellent” and a lot of narrative Homestuck hits. The tone is mostly relieved and a little nostalgic, like finally being able to catch a real breath after two very long days and three years of a suspense-building in-between – a nice contrast to the more triumphant and energetic musical recaps in Homestuck. The commentary has both and outline of how the song follows the plot of Homestuck and timestamps for each song referenced.

“Calming Quartz” by PoisonedElite is the opener for Xenoplanetarium, an album in a similar vein as Medium, only for the trolls’ planets instead. Whereas Medium touches on the at least tangential familiarity that comes with the kids’ planets by utilizing industrial sounds with organic instruments, Xenoplanetarium at its best gives an odd and isolated soundtrack to its subjects, and “Calming Quartz” is exemplary in that. The bounding piano reflects the glacial nature of the quartz in LOQAM, backdropped by music box melody fitting with the cardinal movement. That melody’s isolation and eventual fade into mechanized hum at the end might be my favourite part of the song.

Continuing in the steed of “Calming Quartz”, “Sandy Skyline” by Aris Martinian from the same album brings the ever-stretching dunes of LOSAZ with some notes in the breeze and strong low stringwork, set to a clicking rhythm. The echo processing effect is noticeable but not too excessive, all making for a track perfect for that orange expanse.

Disc II - Side A

Side A Playlist.

Deep Cuts From Popular Albums

Deep Cuts Playlist.

“Light” – Erik “Jit” Scheele (Homestuck Vol. 5)

“Softly” – Robert J! Lake (Homestuck Vol. 5)

“Atomic Bonsai” – Joren “Tensei” de Bruin (Strife!)

“Catapult Capuchin” – Toby “Radiation” Fox (Alterniabound)

“Clockstopper” – viaSatellite, infiniteKnife (coloUrs and mayhem: Universe B)

Lesser-Known Takes on Something Else

Lesser-Known Takes Playlist.

“Pony Chorale” – Michael Guy Bowman with Tavia Morra (Homestuck Vol. 4)

“Squidissension” – Mark Hadley (Homestuck Vol. 6)

“Anbroids 2.0” – Malcom Brown (Homestuck Vol. 9)

“I’m a Member of the Midnight Crew (Post-Punk Version)” – Michael Guy Bowman with Erik “Jit” Scheele” and Marcy Nabors (Homestuck Vol. 9)

“II – Sarabande” – Clark “Plazmataz” Powell (Symphony Impossible to Play)

“IV – Anthem” – Clark “Plazmataz” Powell (Symphony Impossible to Play)

“FantasyP” – Erik “Jit” Scheele” (One Year Older)

“Another Chance” – Eston “silence” Schweickart (One Year Older)

“Solar Voyage” – Marcy Nabors with Michael Guy Bowman, Clark “Plazmataz” Powell, Erik “Jit” Scheele”, Joren “Tensei” de Bruin”, Paul Henderson, and Jamie Page Stanley (Homestuck Vol. 10)

“Conclude” Seth “Beatfox” Peele (Homestuck Vol. 10)

Cool and New Music

Cool and New Music Playlist.

“Squiddle Samba” – Michael Guy Bowman (Squiddles!)

“Ocean Stars” – Mark Hadley (Squiddles!)

“The Lemonsnout Turnabout” – Toby Fox (Alternia)

“Desperado Rocket Chairs” – Toby Fox (Alternia)

“Shade” – Clark “Plazmataz” Powell (Medium)

“Heat” – Clark “Plazmataz” Powell (Medium)

“Exodus” – Tyler Dever and Erik “Jit” Scheele” (Sburb)

“Carapacian Dominion” – Seth “Beatfox” Peele (The Wanderers)

“Aimless Morning Gold” – Michael Guy Bowman (The Wanderers)

“Years In The Future” – Robert J! Lake (The Wanderers)

“Center of Brilliance” – Solatrus (Prospit & Derse)

“Song of Skaia” – Mark Hadley with Tarien Ainuvë (Song of Skaia)

“Cancerous Core” – Erik “Jit” Scheele (One Year Older)

“Voidlight” – Thomas Ferkol (Homestuck Vol. 10)

“Feel (Alive)” – Luke Benjamins and Robert J! Lake (Homestuck Vol. 10)

Disc II - Side B

Side B Playlist (incomplete, not every track is on Youtube).

Homestuck Sound Test Gems

Sound Test Playlist (incomplete, not every Sound Test track is on Youtube).

Cuttlefish Rag – Alexander “Albatross Soup” Rosetti

“Karkalicious (Guitarkind)” – Joren “Tensei” de Bruin

“Mother (Davekind)” – Erik “Jit” Scheele

“Sea of Derse” – Erik “Jit” Scheele

“today I butchered a song (3 in the A M)” – James “soselfimportant” Roach

“Aggrieve (Piano) v2” – Toby “Radiation” Fox

Fan Music Gems

Fan Music Playlist (incomplete, not every fan music track is on Youtube).

“Sunrise” – Yan “Nucleose” Rodriguez

“Sunshaker” – D.Crystal (Land of Fans and Music)

“Amongst Smiling Faces [Prospitian Dignitaries]” – Tarranon (Sburb OST)

“Waste of Space” – the rosielord (Songs for Monsters)

“Out of Time” – therosielord (Songs for Gods)

“The Path” – PhemieC (Songs for a Doomed Timeline)

“♐Broken Strings♐” – psithurist (Ancestral)

“Of Rust and Royalty” – Grace Medley (Ancestral)

“The End of Something Really Excellent” – Rhyselinn (Land of Fans and Music 4)

“Calming Quartz” – PoisonedElite (Xenoplanetarium)

“Sandy Skyline” – Aris Martinian (Xenoplanetarium)

#Homestuck #Homestuck Music #Playlist #Writing #Homestuck Music Recs #Music Recs #Andrew Hussie's Earthbound Fanfiction

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