#due to the huge volume of fan content. so much that I think we forgot how little there was in canon

[mintcaboodle]

bro klance was not queerbait in the sense that they ever had any genuine romantic interactions in canon, klance was queerbait in the sense that the showrunners were very aware of the queer leanings of the fanbase and continuously strung them along season after season with klance as their weapon

[howlingmoonrise]

Thoughts on Petshop of Horrors: Wandering Ark volume 3

(crossposted from dreamwidth)

me realizing a whole-ass 25 pages of the last volume of the papa series are just sensei's travel logs:

what did i do to deserve this, honestly? sensei i love you and all but THERE WERE SO MANY OTHER THINGS TO COVER ABOUT PAPA. AND YOU DIDN'T TOUCH THEM. AT ALL.

To start with, there's only two actual chapters in the volume, keeping in line with the previous volumes. A whooping total of 103 pages out of a 128 page manga - except, a good portion of one of them is pretty much just rehashing the events of the last volume of the original manga, so it's not exactly like they're overflowing with juicy new content. Vesca and Victor fans will be pleased at a new glimpse of them both though, with emphasis on Vesca. 

Oh, you wanted an explanation for the ark? For why Papa was going around supposedly through "space and time", with a reason other than "well, I wanted to draw stuff from other eras but I don't want to write a whole new manga with a D from back then"? There's none. N-O-N-E. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Niente. Nothing about his relationship with Sofu (though they do briefly meet on Victor's funeral - and wow, am I surprised Sofu deigned to show considering how much he loves humankind), nothing about D or Papa's relationship with him beyond an outsider's point of view on the events of the last manga, nothing about the D species in general or glimpses at previous Ds that were likely alive before our D came into being.

Another bad point: what the hell was up with the cover art? 

The top portion of it is fine, but why does the rest of it look like whoever painted it forgot how to shade things? Look at that belt. Look at those sleeves. That's all I have to say on this subject.

On to the chapters themselves!

--

First chapter:

Papa D helps with The Bachelor. No, really. It's literally a Bachelor-style show, recorded for TV, with one single man and twenty ladies competing to become his wife. Trigger warning for almost-rape in this chapter.

I'll be honest, I liked the main character for this chapter. She's a go-getter, and a survivalist, and prefers stuffing her face with food instead of flirting away the night. Honestly? Mood. I really liked the butler too. I was going on a "oh, is he going to be the actual love interest?" line of thought since he looked interesting, and then went "nah, they're not focusing on him at all beyond that one (1) scene where they were dancing, guess he's just a side character after all", only for him to actually turn out to be the final love interest. That was. Hm. To say that it was majorly underdeveloped is to put it lightly, but the "prince" wasn't great either. The attempted rape felt as if it was shoved in because they were running out of pages though, since the rest of what we saw from his personality seemed a lot mellower than that.  

The ?prostitutes? were an unexpected bright spot, even though they only showed up for a couple of panels, but it was nice that they gave her food (however dismissively) and tried to get the other guy to leave her alone, and that they were simply described as "beautiful" instead of anything else.

OH BUT. Papa hitting the would-be rapist over the head with an oar was great, it actually gave a bit more dimension to him since the Ds are usually so unwilling to dirty their own hands when it comes to violent business: at most they would usually let their pets do the work for them.

Which actually brings me to another question.

I've already said before that Papa is at most a side character on his own series, and that he actually barely gets involved at all apart from a few nudges here and there - but it's kind of jarring that he almost never "sells" a pet in this series. On all volumes including this one, there are only two chapters where he gives away a pet that was already with him and that didn't initially belong to someone else that he was just returning: the dogs from the Austria chapter, and the bird from Empress one (who was actually said to be given by Sofu, but I'm calling bullshit since he had long hair and this is supposedly a time-travelling ark). It's definitely a weird choice for a manga whose title is, quite literally, "Petshop of Horrors".

Also, for a FLYING ark there sure seem to be a lot of water-related incidents.

Thoughts on the family thing down on the general thoughts section. Also, WHY IS IT AN OAR AGAIN? WHERE DID THE BUTLER FIND AN OAR, SINCE IT SEEMED LIKE IT WASN'T PAPA LENDING IT TO HIM? I can't say the penguin thing was a huge twist considering previous chapters, but it makes me wonder that so many of Papa's stories are directly about either humans or animals, but rarely the conjunction of both apart from brief exceptions. 

--

Second chapter: Nice callback to the original PSoH on the first page: I'm extremely fond of that description of the Ds, and it's fitting for a final chapter of a PSoH series. 

This chapter is a cameo for Victor (from the Sofu series which I haven't read yet but know some things about), and a full appearance for Vesca. Victor seems to have chosen the same path as Leon, though arguably he'd actually have the money for it since he's a baron. Travelling the world following rumours and sightings, in search of someone they considered to be dear to them? Sign all three of these blonds up, because it seems to be a tradition at this point. The Ds really have a type, huh? Truth be told, from what I heard of Victor I didn't think he'd be the adventure-seeking sort, so this was a bit of a surprise. He looks cute and happy piloting planes and running from rhinos so I guess that's all that matters though.

BUT WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE POOR. He looks like a huge cinnamon roll so I feel super bad for him, I bet they all resented the money he spent trying to chase Sofu D across the globe once the Great Depression hit :/  

And then, bam! Sofu cameo. This is the chapter where EVERYONE gets a cameo, copy-paste of the last chapter of OG PSoH or otherwise. He's cryptic as usual, and I REALLY didn't expect him to remember Victor's name, much less show up to his funeral. Not that he even looks like he's grieving; he pretty much only speaks of Hitler and Eva Braun's kirin, to Papa's seemingly frowning disapproval (I haven't complained about the round art style on this volume's commentary yet so consider this to be it: the only reason why Papa even looks put out is because he has a Very Clear Frowny Line, because otherwise he just looks normal... and round). 

And then finally, some actual Papa content! Or, er, Vesca content. Both. Let's go with both. I don't want to make myself sad thinking about how little we saw of Papa on his own series. Here we see once again mentions of extinction and of resurrecting species, and finally a throwback to why the ark is an ark: "Noah's Ark". It took me RNS' translations of OG PSoH to understand the reference back on the original, because on Tokyopop's mangled translation the ark is merely a flying boat. 

It's nice to see that Vesca has a strong sense of justice similar to my dear boy Leon Orcot, since it was a bit iffy on the original manga. He's righteous (and right!) about the other Professor using Papa's research, and how Papa should have the benefits of it for himself since he was the one doing the studies. Papa, however, cares little about money or glory: even now his focus is on recovering the blind bird species from their trip to Greece (see: Shin PSoH), and here we see once again his hopeful view that one day he may be able to help them see again. Parallel to his own family much? Honestly, I feel for him.

WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE SHOOTING PAPA? At this point he's trying to reach for Leon's record - and failing, because Leon gets shot and mauled a frankly unholy amount of times during the original PSoH, so no one else can ever really compare. What really breaks my heart here is that he actually asks why. Sofu and D would both have simply taken it for granted, but Papa (seemingly, up until this point) doesn't automatically assume the worst of every human being he comes across. That pained why kills me a little bit, here, and soon after he grows cold and allows the more murderous side of that contract to go loose.

That page with Vesca going into the FBI really throws me back to the panels on the original PSoH right before/right when Leon decides to chase after D. Part of the background is blank, the other part a faint image of the city and Chinatown, with a sense of detachment associated with them. I could probably take the time to place them side by side and compare fully, but uh. I may or may not be stretching my workday bedtime a little too much to finish writing this, oops.

Also, an echo to the original PSoH with Papa's death, called back with him nearly being shot in the middle of the forehead. The actual event is brought in shortly after Vesca gets to mind-rant about the Ds and his search for a few pages, and then flashback flashforward time! A whole six pages which are just portions of OG PSoH's last chapter redrawn from another angle. It's implied that Vesca was able to board the ark like Leon did due to a similar scene with lying in the clouds and sighting the ship amidst them, though whether he was able to stay or not is a whole new story. This is where the actual story ends.

--

Sensei's travel logs: I'm not going to bother going into these. It was nice to see some glimpses of my son (forever a Leon stan here!) and a cameo for Taizuu also showed up a little later on if you're one of the people who liked him (personally, I would trade Taizuu in for a cornchip and a ball of lint). I'm going to make the executive choice of pretending that the D/Leon bits are what's actually happening right now after Leon caught up to D. It's lovely to see them on vacations, and Leon has mellowed out a little bit while D seems extremely comfortable and content with his favourite ex-detective's presence =v=

--

General thoughts: All the series so far seem to have some sort of theme, which kind of ties into the main character of it and their own arc. The original PSoH, for one, was focused a lot on family and greed and love and desire: our D, similarly, had plenty of unresolved issues surrounding his bloodline and things that he wanted but that he couldn't/was not allowed to have because of that very blood.

You'll have to forgive me if my interpretation of Shin is spotty since I only read around half of it (online scans only went up to volume 6 or so, physical versions of the Tokyopop translations were discontinued, and ruthlessnightsscans started scanlating it after I’d already read the available chapters for Shin), but from what I remember of it it seemed to bring in softer, more loving and lighthearted stories, usually tied around romance and being kept apart from things they want/love. The two non-Leon chapters that immediately spring to mind are the Romeo and Juliet Mafia AU, and the one where the lady got pregnant from her dead husband and was able to live on due to that renewed hope. D himself seems to have turned a new page: he hangs around humans on his leisure time (bless those drag queens), takes a vested interest in happy endings for others even if not for himself, and seems overall less inclined towards gruesome murder.

(You'll have to forgive me, but I actually haven't read the Sofu series at all yet so I can't analyse that one. I wasn't even aware RNS had scanlated it until recently, but then again I hold a lot of rage against that slimy bastard (Sofu, not RNS, RNS are baby) and so I'm putting it off indefinitely. Oops?)

And then there's this one. It's probably no coincidence that so many of the stories are about reproduction and birth and continuing a dying species: this is something that chases Papa all the way from his college days not even considering his childhood, which we don't actually don't know about but can make an educated guess at down to his issues with his son and the faint madness of his last years. Even his death plays into this theme, with it ultimately working as an way to keep the D line alive. It makes me think that Papa being kept from his position as a main character in his own series might actually be somewhat purposeful, though the decaying quality of the latest PSoH mangas makes me think this is not the case. I'll have to read the Sofu series to make a better judgement on this, depending on whether or not Sofu is or is not treated similarly. 

Another theme: being haunted by the dead. I think this is actually present on almost every chapter of the Wandering Ark series, though we may disagree on the levels on which it was shown and how easily it is or is not divorced by my previous point. A reader that reads this series on its own will likely find Papa a very bland character and will not grasp onto the nuances of these themes and how they are connected to him, IMO. These conclusions and these hypothesis are drawn by virtue of the first manga alone; it's because of it that we're aware of how Papa himself lives for the species who are long gone, his own kind included. Most of the characters on Wandering Ark push through the suffering and the sorrow of their dead to go beyond their limits and become greater and independent, which is another parallel to Papa since he's the only one of the Ds who has an objective beyond simple (and inefficient) vengeance.

Overall, there's little else I can say that I haven't said already, either here or on my previous post for the first two volumes of the Wandering Ark series. There's a real sense of isolation and detachment on Papa's side (though he seems more benevolent than the other two Ds were), but as I said I'm not sure if it's meant to be purposeful or not, though Sensei's choice to not give him an actual companion thorough his series is also telling. The pacing was also better than in the first chapters of this series, though there was that issue with the ending of the first chapter of this volume. I also still can't say this enough, but it's really strange that Papa is such a side character on his own series??

Final thoughts: we were robbed.

At least Sensei hinted that her journey with the Ds might not be over yet, though if we get another Sofu manga I can and I will riot.

[moriganstrongheart]

The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited! – Review

by Clint McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Griffin McElroy & Carey Pietsch 2019, First Second Books Paperback, 240 pages, $25.99 CAD

Rating: ★★★★★

Good: Character development, worldbuilding, excellent art Bad: Constrictive narrative, on-rails narrative

Since I spent far too much time on analyzing the podcast in my analysis of The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins, I will do my best to focus solely on the contents of The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited! this time around. The second arc of The Adventure Zone podcast isn’t something that made that much of an impact on me. I was still in the process of acclimating to the format and the McElroys’ storytelling style. While the Rockport Limited arc remains a favourite for many fans—due in part, I’m sure, to the introduction of fan favourites like Angus, Jenkins and Jess—I found the arc rough around the edges. Griffin was doing his best to create something new instead of relying on pre-written campaigns, while the rest of his family was still getting a handle on what their characters were and how they interacted with the world. Thankfully, some of this was smoothed out for the graphic novel. Perhaps thanks to improved writing or Carey Pietsch’s talents, I found the world much more cohesive and interesting than in Here There Be Gerblins, and I appreciated that the McElroys cut back on jokes and pop culture references. This helped to elevate Murder on the Rockport Limited! to a higher level of quality than its predecessor, though if I have one complaint, it’s that the events in the book feel too restrictive. It’s as if the characters have no agency of their own, being forced down the path laid out for them.

Though, it’s possible that a tighter, less expansive narrative is to be expected for Murder on the Rockport Limited!, for two key reasons:

Griffin ran the campaign on rails—and not just because it’s on a train.

I am familiar with the source material.

The first reason is a product of the format and the anxieties that the McElroys faced when embarking seriously on this podcast venture. They didn’t stray far from what Griffin had planned, and actively followed his story prompts in an effort to build a cohesive storyline. I can’t fault them for it; it’s to be expected that the graphic novel’s plot would be similarly unidirectional in order for it to be faithful to the source material. It makes me wonder whether or not my familiarity with said source material is the primary reason I felt the plot wasn’t fleshed out. I’d be interested to see what someone uninitiated in the podcast would feel regarding the novel’s plotting. Though, some elements in the novel seem to indicate that the McElroys intended to keep the story on rails, with the itinerary provided to the main cast at the Bureau of Balance being a good example of this. It’s also difficult for me to determine whether the story’s mystery elements were well adapted, given that I already knew the conclusion. I’d like to make it clear that I have a difficult time really considering any of these deal breakers; I find myself constantly flip-flopping on whether or not my criticisms really matter here. I enjoyed Murder on the Rockport Limited! immensely despite my concerns, so I feel like that whatever flaws I’ve noticed should be taken with a grain of salt.

The main takeaway from my analysis of Here There Be Gerblins is that The Adventure Zone podcast has many different “Levels” to it, but only a few of these levels translate well to print. I argued that the Narrative Level was the most important to the success of the podcast—and by extension—should be the focus for the graphic novels. I don’t have enough hubris to think my thoughts came into play when the McElroys wrote this second volume, but it seems that they did improve in this regard—e.g. they toned down the amount of goofs and pop culture references in favour of developing the narrative. In fact, we barely see Griffin as the Dungeon Master—to the point I forgot he was a character in this volume seeing as he was absent for nearly half of it. This made the experience a lot tighter, allowing the reader to focus on what’s going on, rather than having the comic book equivalent of cutaways every few panels. While jokes and pop culture references are fun, they shouldn’t come at the expense of building an engaging narrative. Though, I was surprised by an increase in fanservice. Where the previous novel made only a few retcons, Murder on the Rockport Limited! goes into overdrive, to the point that I’m ready to change my mind on whether any these changes were actually made to appease fans, or if they were included to make the world richer and more cohesive.

A good example of this is in Jess’ established role as a wrestler within the world and Magnus’ awareness of her career. At first, I thought this was a simple reference to the one-shot live show, but as other elements were introduced—like the developing friendship between Magnus, Taako and Merle, or Lucretia’s torment—I’m more inclined to think these changes are intended to flesh out the world, rather than just existing as fanservice. I don’t doubt that fan interaction has helped shaped the world over the years, but I no longer think that the McElroys are including these details to satisfy fans. The novel is certainly better for it. That isn’t to say there isn’t any pure fanservice; one of my favourite scenes is the Scuttle Buddy mini-advertisement, which was just a cute little distraction from the main plot In any case, I think the McElroys struck the perfect balance in this volume between keeping things fun and lighthearted, and ensuring the narrative takes centre focus.

I don’t think I can express enough how perfect a pick Pietsch is as the artist for these graphic novels. Her drawings have an inherit energy to them. They are fast and loose, never too pristine and just the right amount of scraggy. Her colours are appealing, being just cartoony enough for the story being told. Her expressions continue to be her greatest strength, adding layers to an already colourful cast. She also continues to excel at bringing the world around the main cast to life. Every location feels real, allowing us to slowly learn what kind of world this is through her illustrations. Much like in the first volume, my favourite scenes are her establishing shots with huge crowds fantasy people, all of them just as expressive and lively as any of the main cast.

The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited! feels a lot tighter than its predecessor, and part of me wonders if the arc’s more complex narrative forced the McElroys to narrow their focus, or if they simple realized the narrative should be the most important element going forward. I imagine it’ll become harder and harder to include everything that happens between now and the end of the podcast, considering how much more expansive the story got over time. I think regardless of their intent, it’ll be increasingly important for the McElroys to focus on narrative and character development. That doesn’t mean we should lose the fun, but I am entirely convinced that great characters and meaningful narrative are at the heart of what made the podcast so special to so many people. In any case, it’s an improvement over Here There Be Gerblins, and I hope to see the McElroys continue along this trend in future volumes of The Adventure Zone’s graphic novel adaptation.

Official Comic Book Website

[evanpeaters]

pegleg and lobster boy → 07.19

TIME FRAME: Friday 19th, July. LOCATIONS: World on Wheels, A&E, Los Angeles. DESCRIPTION: Evan and Madelaine decide to go to a disco roller rink, fully dressed up in 80′s gear, but things don’t go to plan.

@madelame-x

Madelaine: The redhead was sad she had to miss the wedding, she really wished she could’ve made it, but she had a commitment to the show and in the end, if someone had to miss it to go to the Convention, Lili was much closer to Saoirse, she’s gladly take the bullet to have her friends go and enjoy themselves while she stuck it out through all the panels. Madelaine loved conventions, she loved getting together with fans, filming content with them and just spending some time there before she either drove back home or retreated herself to the hotel room. Tonight though, it’d be a different kind of Friday night. God even knew how, but one way or the other, she’d flirted enough to get a date with Evan Peters. She’d gone back to LA for the night, figuring she’d wake up early on Sunday and drive to San Diego, so after getting ready in her best 80’s look, she was waiting for him while she munched on some cashew nuts and watched something random on the TV

Evan: Being a free, unemployed man had it’s ups and downs. For the most part, he was incredulously bored and rewatching seasons of shows that he’d never though he’d get to revisit in his life. While on the other hand, it kept him available for when random plans like going to a roller disco with Madelaine Petsch sprung up. He had no idea where he’d plucked the idea out of, only that he knew he needed to make it interesting to warrant the two hour drive for her the next morning. They’d found the perfect one in LA where the aesthetic was heavily based on the 80’s and of course, he was going to take full advantage of that - he was missing out on the 80’s season of AHS, so he’d damn well make up for it now by wearing short-shorts, an old windbreaker jacket and sports socks pulled up. Obviously that came with getting some odd looks as he strolled through the entrance of her housing complex, but he didn’t have it in him to feel any embarrassment. Pulling out his phone, Evan dropped her a text. ‘I’m here now. You better have matched my effort with your outfit, or I’m going to be sending you right back in’.

Madelaine: With her hair all done up to make it as fluffy as possible, a short neon pink short shorts and a crop top with heart shaped sunglasses, Madelaine picked up her tiny backpack and headed downstairs. She got the weirdest looks, but as soon as she laid eyes on Evan, she was pretty sure she wasn’t gonna be the only one turning heads around “All of a sudden, I feel like I’m in a movie” Madelaine said with a laugh as she reached out to greet him with a hug. “You ready for this? I’m putting a disclaimer out there, I’m incredibly clumsy so I’m sorry if I fall on you several times”

Evan: It was easy to spot Madelaine as she emerged, standing out from the others not only due to her outfit, but the way she carried herself. Embracing her back, Evan’s eyes gave her a once over and beamed in approval. “I couldn’t have even imagined you looking any more awesome” He stated in approval, wishing he’d also gone for the headband that he had dismissed as too much. “Is that a warning or a promise? Because I reckon I’ll be just as awful. I’ve never been able to master skateboarding no matter how hard I’ve tried, so I’ll be right down on my ass with you.” Keen to get moving, the actor led the female to the parking lot and clambered into his Landrover, immediately dialing the volume down as he had been blasting some Def Leppard on his way there - a far cry from the disco music they’d soon be surrounded by. The GPS was already programmed into finding the roller rink, and soon enough they were on their way. “You wanna be DJ? Cable’s right here..”

Madelaine: High top All Stars being rocked, she’d never felt more stupid but at the same time, more confident, which really gave her a good feeling about the night. “Thanks, I tried my best with whatever vintage shops had around LA but I’m proud of my look. You don’t look too shabby yourself” She said with a big smile. Walking side by side, Madelaine turned to Evan when he spoke back, laughing a little bit “Oh, well then, let’s just extend a blanket forgiveness for whoever injures the other, sounds good?” She teased. She scaled the step into the Land Rover and sat down, buckling up. “What is that… Give me that!” She pretended to be offended when he started blasting the music. Grabbing the cable, she opened up Spotify into the “All about the 80’s” playlist, Ah-Ha’s ‘Take on Me’ coming in full blast. She started dancing on her seat and chuckling “This is more like it!”

Evan: Now they were both fully warned on how potentially bad each other were going to be at the rink, Evan felt suddenly more reassured. It would’ve been just his luck to suggest something that the other person kicked ass at, while he was left behind, wobbling around. An unapologetic smile was shot over to Madelaine as she protested to his music taste, and he would’ve inflicted more on her just for kicks if he didn’t also have a mutual appreciation for the song she had put on. Wiggling in his seat, Evan tried his best to match her enthusiasm, though driving in LA was admittedly a huge ball ache. Settling on singing along to the playlist instead, Evan only got more and more into it with each surprising new song that came on next. By the time that they were pulling up to a traffic light, 'Hungry Like The Wolf’ was on, and in the car next to them sat a very conventional looking family, the parents looking bewildered and kids bemused as Evan rolled down his window and treated them to the 80’s throwback show.

Madelaine: With her eyes deep into her phone, Madelaine tried to make up a perfect queue with all the fantastic tunes that would match up to their 80’s fantasy. Having spent much of her lifetime stuck in LA traffic, the redhead had lost that habit though ever since she started working in Vancouver for 10 months out of the year. She tried not to get impatient and roll around with the music, stealing random glances from her skating partner, his windbreaker and the genuine smile on his face as he sang along were pulling the most of her attention. Laughing when he rolled the window down, the actress leaned forward and joined the serenade to the family SUV on the other side before the light turned back to green and they had to pull away from their stopping point. The looks on the kids were slightly lost and amused, but the parents were horrified. “How scarred do you think we left those parents?” She joked at him.

Evan: An entertaining car journey partner was always appreciated, so Evan couldn’t have been more thankful for the redhead joining in on their serenade rather than simply rolling her eyes. With one eye on the traffic lights, Evan floored it as soon as they turned back to green, leaving the SUV in their perplexed wake. “I feel like we just took them on a journey back in time to a time their minds forgot because they spent half of it on an acid trip. They’ll have good sex tonight. We did them a favor”. Doing that thing again where his mind drew completely random conclusions and his mouth brought them to life, Evan saw nothing presumptuous at all with his statement, and spent the rest of the journey going back to their vehicle disco. Within another ten minutes, they were pulling into the parking lot, and the male was pleasantly surprised to find it almost full. He’d kind of assumed that roller discos were something time had forgotten, but the beauty of nostalgia and wanting to experience a time you hadn’t fully got to live in clearly kept some customers 'rolling’ in.

Madelaine: Madelaine was about to talk into the beginning of his statement, but she was surprised when he kept on going and drew a full conclusion to the end, making her chuckle and shrug her shoulders a little bit “Maybe they fell in love in an acid trip, maybe they’ll try to re-live it tonight, we may have turned their marriage back into what they felt when they got hitched… We did good, buddy” She said with a small nod and a smile, giving him a clap on the shoulder and a chuckle escaped her throat as she did. The remainder of the drive was spent humming to the music and occasionally rocking out to banging tunes, but when they made it there, Madelaine was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the people were looked out like them “Well this is a party if I’ve ever seen one… Come on, let’s go” She said with a bright smile, all but jumping out of the truck and walking inside with him. Stepping inside the place, she felt a loud booming of the music, turning to look at Evan with a bright smile.

Evan: At least he wasn’t alone in his thought process, it sounded like Madelaine got exactly where he was coming from, and Evan nodded along in agreement. The rink certainly didn’t disappoint as they stepped inside it, the vibe was infectious, and he immediately felt as if they’d made the right call. “Alriiiight.” He exclaimed, excitedly, making a beeline over to the skate rental and trading in his size 10’s. “Aren’t you glad this is the way you’ve chosen to start your weekend off?” And they hadn’t even really got started yet, but he could already tell the day was going to go smoothly.

Madelaine: She could feel her body start to swivel and her feet got a little dancey when they stepped into the place. When he beelined towards the skating place, Madelaine stepped in time behind him and looked around, captivated by the flashing lights and the amazing colors, she looked like a kid in Disney on her first time. Asking for her 6.5 skates, they got handed their pairs and went to sit down on a stool. Slipping the skates on, she couldn’t help but to let out a nervous laugh. She was gonna make such an asshole out of herself, but it was gonna be a fun night. “I absolutely am… As much as I love the con parties, this is… Certainly a better activity” She added. She could’ve gotten vlogging content for her YouTube channel, but this… This was much better.

Evan: didn’t know what it said about him that he was /this/ excited to get out onto the ‘dance floor’, both of them had smiles which threatened to make their jaw ache later, just like everybody else in the place, and the whole atmosphere was infectious. Lacing up his boots, Evan had his on quicker than Madelaine so took it upon himself to get on his knees and lace her second one up. Any time not spent seeing how disastrous they could be was time wasted. Then, he attempted to skate to the rink, the padded flooring making it more of an awkward waddle over there. “Shit, I’m not holding out a lot of hope right now if I’m this awkwardly footed on the non-slippery flooring”, he spoke over his shoulder to Madelaine, flashing her a comic expression before gliding out onto the dancefloor

Madelaine: Long nails and tight laces weren’t really two things that should happen together, nope. The moment the redhead tried to pick the laces from the skating boots to tighten them, she found herself struggling like an idiot, so when Evan knelt down to help her, she picked up her lips in a smile as a quick thank you. The faster she could get this done, the more time they’d spend roller skating… or figuring out how to stay on their feet, actually. Laughing at the way he waddled down the narrow carpet towards the rink, Madelaine tried to calm herself down. He was probably just as awkward as she was, so if anything, this would be more fun than traumatizing. “Hey, I don’t think I’m gonna be much better” She said with a laugh, mimicking his expression. The moment the wheels under her feet touched a slippery surface, she gasped and let out a quiet squeal “Oh God!” Her hands grasped at the railing. Everyone around them looked like either professionals or uncoordinated idiots like them.

Evan: Like with iceskating, it was definitely a wobbly start while you were trying to find your footing - it didn’t help that the last time he had rollerbladed had probably been +10 years ago, but he was a show off at heart, and even though he was just getting re-acquainted with the skates, the actor turned to face Madelaine, rather slowly managing to skate backwards instead. 'Born to Handjive’ from the Grease soundtrack was playing, so he worked his best 'mashed potato’ hand movements until a couple who clearly spent far too much time here sped past, twirling their way across the dancefloor, sending him into a complete wobble. “Show offs”. He mumbled, rolling his eyes over at Madelaine. “How ya doing there, red? Did you uh…is it a personal choice to be travelling at the speed of a baby sloth?”

Madelaine: She wasn’t gonna lie to herself, hell no, Madelaine was terrified. She’d been a dancer for most of her childhood years, where was all that dexterity and capability now, for fuck’s sake! The music was relaxing her, and slow but steadily, she was starting to stop moving herself by gripping the railing and pulling on it to push herself forward, and letting go of it to actually move and shuffle her legs. Laughing at Evan’s failed attempt to dance and his face contorting back to a scowl when he saw the clearly very experienced couple, she couldn’t help it but laugh “Oh my God, shut up, I hate you!” She said with a loud laugh, looking down at her feet, terrified to even move too far away from the railing “Uhm, excuse me, I don’t see you moving all that fast and far away, buddy”

Evan: Glancing around to check the coast was clear of that distracting as heck couple, Evan made his way back over to where Madelaine had managed to…pull herself? “I’m only going this slow so I can stick close to you. You know the drill, never leave a man behind”. Okay, so maybe that was a stretch from the truth. Maybe he hadn’t grown the ability to speed off and weave in and out of the others yet, but he sure as hell was picking it up with more ease than the actress. A smile that struggling not to be smug on his face, Evan held out his hand for Madelaine, hoping she would substitute the railing for his own balance. “Come on, we’re getting in the middle”.

Madelaine: This should’ve been easier, come on Madelaine, get yourself together, you’re looking like an idiot! The redhead tried to convince herself, to pull some of Cheryl’s fake confidence to herself and with a deep breath, she let go of the rails and put her hands up to her sides to balance herself “Alright, alright, I’m getting there… Leave no man behind, you’re full of crap” She said, rolling her eyes before smiling back at him. Looking at his hands, she reached out to grab them, the first impulse in her body when she could take a grip of something was to go strong for it, so she almost even leaned a little bit into her arms when she felt the support from him “To the middle? Oh God I-Oh shit” She cursed out as she started slipping around. She wasn’t falling but this certainly was faster than desirable “If you let go of my hands, I’m going to murder you”

Evan: It really was rapidly getting easier for Evan, so with every surge of newfound confidence, he wanted to push Madelaine a little further and he couldn’t help but pull her along with him the more and more he sped up. “I’m not gonna let go, I promise. Although…you might start wanting me to, soon. I mean look at this, I’m pretty much pro now” gesturing down at the very standard skating that was taking place, Evan knew full well that if anything else was required of him - if he had to turn suddenly, or even try a jump - he knew he’d go crashing down onto his ass, so this would do for now. “You’ve also progressed to fully grown sloth now, so I’m proud of you”.

Madelaine: The middle of the rink was less crowded, with all the people who wanted to go fast and move at a faster-than-glacier pace moving out to the edges, they were left almost alone in the middle of the floor and with less people around, Evan was starting to pick up a little speed and oh dear, Madelaine’s pale delicate hands were about to squeeze the life out of his broad ones. “Well then, Mr. Pro, go on and do a fun trick for everyone to baffle at your wonderful skills” She taunted him and laughed, trying to look at his feet. He was getting the hang of it, so she tried to copy him. One foot outwards, then back in, then the other one. Okay it wasn’t that hard. Rolling her eyes at the comparison, she groaned “Next time, we’re going to a ballet studio and I’m showing you how it’s done” She said with a laugh, needing to prove herself “Okay this is- I’m… This is actually- Okay” She spoke to herself as she started gaining more and more confidence, the grip on the blonde’s hands starting to loosen but definitely still there, mostly for moral support.

Evan: With less people around to crash into, Evan did feel like getting a little more experimental, though he was sure he’d come to regret it if he crashed and burned, not only infront of Madelaine, but everyone else in the rink. Plus, his white short-shorts threatened to rip if he tried anything too vigorous. “You told me not to let go of your hand yet, remember? So are you going to be doing this with me, or what?”. On his own, he probably would’ve just thrown his body down onto the floor, completed the worm and called it a day, but how hard could partner tricks be, really? “So bring some of that ballet grace here. Teach me how to pirouette, if you can. Which I reckon you can. You’re just in your own head right now because you’re worried about falling over and hurting yourself - but weren’t you like that on the first day of your ballet classes, too?”

Madelaine: When Evan proposed she’d do a trick with her, Madelaine’s big brown eyes widened and she shook her head “Oh no.. No no… No no no, don’t worry about me” She said with a laugh, licking her lips “I don’t think I could do any of that and ballet… In ballet you’re standing on your own feet, not on wheels! It’s like- For a pirouette, you just grab momentum and you have to go on pointe, lift your leg- And that’s just not gonna happen here” She said with a chuckle. “But here- lets see I… Mhm” She hesitated for a second before she pulled her hands back. Not too far, since she wanted to be right there if she needed to grab them again, but she straightened up her spine and looked up at him with a big smile, like a child coming back from school with a good grade “Look! Look I’m doing this” She almost yelled with pride, which turned a lot of heads who gave her some very weird looks, but she couldn’t care less.

Evan: In hindsight, maybe it was a good idea Evan couldn’t talk her into trying any tricks. He was just tapping into his inner motivational speaker when he didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about - pirouettes were hard enough to master on your own toes, never mind on wheels. Still, it seemed to have instilled some confidence in her as she let go of his hand and took a better stance. The looks she was getting for her outburst only made Evan want to her obnoxiously loud with her, which he did, whooping and clapping as the girl managed to skate alongside him unaided. “You’re a graceful motherfucking Dove right now. Dove Cameron, who? Here’s Dove Petsch, coming through!”

Madelaine: Back upright, strength in her core, her legs were strong but her knees were bent as she used them to push downwards and out, once each time, this was easy, no wonder Evan had picked it up so quickly. Laughing when he started cheering her on, the redhead rolled her eyes and scoffed “Oh my God, you’re such an ass” She said with a laugh, letting herself relax a little now that she’d gotten into the rhythm of things. “With normal skates, this would’ve been a lot easier, it’s this freaking shoe thing with the four wheels, it’s like stepping on a toy car and- Oh shit”. Madelaine squealed before launching herself forward after putting too much weight on one of the outside wheels and it gave out under her weight, twisting her ankle under her body and making her fall to the ground arms first. “Fuck- that hurt a lot” She said between laughs, turning herself around and laying on her back with her sore leg laying down “I told you this would happen” She couldn’t stop laughing, a hand coming over her eyes.

Evan: Evan felt like a proud father as he watched Madelaine fly the nest, her speed picking up as she put some distance between them…and then, she was crashing to the ground. “Oh…fuck” Evan let out, immediately skating to her side, a concerned look on his face as he practically skidded to his knees. Please don’t cry, please don’t cry, he inwardly begged, hoping she hadn’t hurt herself too much and would consequently hate him for bringing her there. Then, her body started rocking and Evan reached out to…cradle her? He guessed, he didn’t know, he was awful at this sort of stuff. Laughter replaced any tears, and without knowing what was going on, the actor let out a couple of nervous laughs himself. “Why are you laughing?! Oh god, is this a 'laugh so you don’t cry sorta situation right now? Are you actually hurt? Where does it hurt?”

Madelaine: She’d always been the kind of person who’d rather laugh at her own foolishness before everyone started laughing at her, and this was no different than any other case. Before Evan started laughing at her, at least he’d be laughing with her. Plus, the situation was incredibly comical, if nothing else. Watching him come towards her and cradle her, concern in his eyes as he tried to figure out why the hell was she laughing instead of bitching and moaning, Madelaine shook her head and smiled at him “I’m laughing because I just ate shit in tiny short shorts in front of everyone here, how could I not laugh” She said between laughs “I’m fine, I think I’m fine” She said, happily leaning on him for support and sitting upright “I’m okay, I’m- Oh, my ankle” She said as she pulled her leg back and her ankle twinged

Evan: Now that Madelaine was putting it into words, Evan could appreciate how ridiculous the whole scenario was, and actually let himself laugh along to it with her. Other people were skating past glancing their way, but the fact they were both laughing probably dismissed the idea of her needing help. Moving to get back to his feet, Evan stopped mid-action as the redhead winced in pain while attempting to move. “Shit.” he let out, his mind instantly jumping to conclusions that she’d broken it. “Can you stand on it at all? Here -” holding out a hand and supporting her under the elbow, Evan attempted to pull her up - a feat made a lot more difficult thanks to the rollerskates. In hindsight, maybe he should’ve taken them off first.

Madelaine: Keeping her foot off the ground, which was heavier even with the skate, the redhead tried not to wince too hard when she stood up and allowed her weight to rest on Evan “I.. Shit- I don’t think I can” She said with a small chuckle. Looking down at their feet, Madelaine looked up at him and narrowed her eyes a little bit “Two people and three legs on skates… Why do I have a feeling this is not gonna be a good idea”

Evan: Full time carer mode activated when Madelaine admitted she couldn’t put any pressure on her ankle, and he was definitely in agreement to it not being a good idea for him to attempt to skate along, dragging a one-legged female in his wake. “Yeah, you’re right, one second”. With one arm still around Madelaine, Evan fumbled with his laces until they were loose enough for him to pull his skates off, one by one, wobbling haphazardly the entire time. Once they were off, he ditched them in the middle of the rink and padded back to the entrance in his socks, rolling Madelaine along with him. In a way, their predicament had now come in handy so she wouldn’t have to hop along or get him to carry her - which wouldn’t be the case once they’d left the establishment, but the thought of giving her a piggy back around didn’t bother him in the slightest. Once they had left the dancefloor, Evan sat Madelaine down onto the nearest bench and got back to his knees, his eyes holding her own gaze as he spoke. “Alright so, I’m not gonna lie, this is probably gonna hurt…” trailing off, the actor attempted to get her skate off as gently as possible, which would’ve been a lot easier if they weren’t high-tops.

Madelaine: With one arm wrapped around Evan’s shoulders and the other one holding onto his bicep, Madelaine tried her best to keep her balance and roll her way from the middle of the rink to the small exit door, following him and trying her best to hop and scoot herself onto where they once sat to put these death traps on. “Yeah I- Oh ouch ouch ow ow ow!” She whimpered as Evan started to unlace the shoes and pull them off. She hated being the whiny girl, she was always so strong and fended for herself, so this was less than desirable. As he was managed to slip the injured feet’s skate off, the redhead bent down to try and take the other one off “I told you this was gonna end badly, I’m so sorry” She said, biting her lip and shaking her head as she kicked the other one off and sighed.

Evan: hated hearing Madelaine in pain, especially knowing he was the one that was sort of inflicting it on her by trying to get the boot off, but he couldn’t give up half way, and with the last little wiggle, he’d managed to free her foot. The sounds she was making definitely wasn’t promising, and normally he wouldn’t resort straight to this, but he knew she was a busy girl who couldn’t just let wait to let recovery happen without actually knowing what they were dealing with. “Don’t be sorry at all, if anyone should be sorry, it should be me. This was my idea, and you’re probably gonna hate me even more for suggesting this, but…I think we need to get you to the hospital. I can carry you out to my car? I know this isn’t exactly how you planned to spend your con weekend, and I feel so fucking bad”.

Madelaine: “Hey, no, don’t say that!” Madelaine said with a smile, shaking her head a little bit “I wanted to come here, and let’s face it, in the twenty minutes we spent in there I had the time of my life… Before my clumsy self kicked in” The redhead said, a shrug picking up her shoulders with a small smile to make him feel better. The rink people brought them their shoes over, seeing that Madelaine was struggling a little bit and Evan was helping, and she thanked them with a kind smile. “Really?” The girl asked her companion “Do you think it’s like… Hospital bad?” She asked, looking down at her feet. It was certainly swollen, but at least it wasn’t broken or anything, right? Hearing him offer to carry her to his car, Mads furrowed her brow “I haven’t had a good piggy back in ages… Turn around” She said, picking her Converse up by the high top and waiting until he turned around and lowered himself enough for her to jump on his back.

Evan: Evan’s concerned expression melted into a smile as Madelaine reassured him. He too had been enjoying himself thoroughly until the inevitable happened and one of them bit the dust. “Hey, if it wasn’t going to be you, it would’ve been me, so either way one of us was going to end up carried out of here, and I think you would’ve struggled a little more carrying my ass out. Also, it’s better to be safe than sorry, right? I’d rather them do x-rays on it now than to find out your ballet days are behind you in a few months when the bone fuses back together in some gnarly, unaligned way”. Scooping up his own shoes, Evan got into position for her to be able to hop on with ease, and made his way out of the building. “See ya later, 80th century. It’s been emotional”. He declared as they re-entered the parking lot, spinning back around so he could place her onto the passenger seat. “Alright, I know a hospital pretty close to here, and I’ll drive you to San Diego in the morning so don’t even…worry about that”.

Madelaine: He always had to make it odd, first with the couple who got married on an acid trip, now with her bones fusing into an anthropomorphic mess of a leg, and Madelaine couldn’t help it but laugh. Even if she was in slight pain and was getting carried out of a skating rink on the back of someone she’d only met today, she was smiling, and that meant a lot to her. “Well, I can’t have that! How’s the show gonna explain that? Oh, Cheryl got into a bad cheerleading accident and had to have her ankle and foot replaced by a stump, we’ve swapped her storyline, now she’s half pirate” She said with an eloquent voice, as if she were pitching the idea to show runners. Sliding herself onto the seat and buckling up, the concern in Evan’s voice made her heart melt “Hey, don’t worry about that… You’re doing more than enough now. I mean, sitting in a waiting room in those short shorts? They’re gonna wanna take -you- in for tests”

Evan: “I mean…a storyline like that would /definitely/ make me want to watch the show. You said she was a closeted bitch at first, so she’s changed slightly already, why not go the full stretch and have her be a pirate in the next season?” Sliding back into the seat that he was unaware he’d be sitting back in so soon, Evan buckled himself in and began the drive to the nearest hospital, chuckling softly at the thought of them sat side by side in the accident and emergency department dressed how they were. If anything, hopefully it would give the staff on shift a smile. “So what’s the story we’re going with? Are we gonna pretend you hurt it doing something a lot more badass than struggling to roller skate, or are we just going to hope and pray that they’ve had this kind of scenario before?”

Madelaine: “Of course the peg leg girl would attract the lobster claw boy” Madelaine said with an eyeroll and a laugh, her whole body semi-turned to face him as he drove her. He really didn’t have to, so she appreciated that he was taking the time to do this for her. Making sure she had everything she needed in her backpack, the redhead allowed herself to flump back down on the seat “I mean, with Riverdale you never know, maybe the next villain will be a crazy pirate and Cheryl will be his side kick” She joked. “Mhm…” His question took her a little off guard “I think they must’ve seen this before. Maybe not the disco rink, but the outfits? Definitely. Remember all the acid marriages, they need to re-live their golden years, and I’m sure there’s gotta be more than one fella who goes wild for these short shorts” She said, shimmying her butt on the seat for a second before groaning, she’d moved her ankle a bit and it stung again.

Evan: “Peg leg girl and lobster claw boy, now that sounds like a duo that I could…ship?” He stated, attempting to use the terminology that he’d seen fans use so many times. From the sounds of it, with their wacky plotlines, maybe Riverdale wasn’t so different from AHS afterall, only a lot less serious and a lot more camp. “I honestly think you should suggest that - a crazy pirate sounds like the perfect addition to your show.” Attempting to keep the conversation flowing to take Madelaine’s mind off the pain, Evan cast a glance over at the female as she shimmied and instantly regretted it. “Alright, you…stop being all bubbly until further notice, if you can. That’s doctors orders” He demanded, resuming more small talk until they’d reached the hospital, where he parked the car and got back into position for her to climb on his back again. Maybe it was a little extra, but it was a hell of a lot faster just to carry her than to make her hop alongside him, with a lot less movement on her part as well. Reaching the front desk of the accident department, the clerk saw to them pretty sharpishly once she realised Madelaine was on his back. “So uh, we have a case of terrible roller-skater here with possibly sprained or broken ankle…”

Madelaine: With a made up frown on her face, Madelaine tried to stay put on her ass while Evan drove them to the emergency room. Looking down at her feet, she couldn’t help it but laugh a little bit, throwing her head back to the head rest and closing her eyes for a split second, taking in a deep breath and letting it out with a grumpy sigh “I have to wear heels tomorrow for interviews!” She whined into the air before chuckling quietly. It could’ve been a lot worse. The pain, as annoying as it was, was completely bearable and she could put up with it until the end of the weekend. Watching him pull into the parking spaces, the redhead re-assumed her shimmying technique until the end of the seat and went up on her companion’s back, resting her head on his shoulders. The emergency area wasn’t too crowded, mostly people who were clearly not feeling well, but no actual emergencies they could be stopping. “Oh hi” She said with a bright smile, waving her hand to the nurse on the other side of the counter. “Oh, put her down on that chair, we’ll take care of it” The nurse said, pointing at a wheelchair with a male nurse holding it. Dismounting Evan’s back, Madelaine hopped onto the chair, handing her backpack and shoes over to the blonde boy “I’m sure I won’t be long. Just some X-Rays before I see the doctor, right?” She asked, looking back at the nurse. “Yeah, you can wait here, your girlfriend will be right back” He said as he started wheeling her away.

Evan: It was just Evan’s luck that he’d managed to hang out with some female company, and once again, they were whisked away by some hunky dude. Only this time, they weren’t dating, and afore mentioned hunky dude was simply her nurse. That was better than what he was used to. As they rolled away, Evan only just registered what the staff member had said, so had to raise his voice a little for his response to be heard. “Bold of you to assume I could land someone that hot!” he called out jokingly, sticking his hand into the bowl of candy that sat upon the desk, noticing the clerk giving him a judgemental look as he unwrapped the sweet and popped it into his mouth. “What’s up?” He spoke with no response. “...You come here often?”

Madelaine: It must’ve taken around half an hour to fourty five minutes before all the X-Rays were taken, but Madelaine really wasn’t rushed at all. Many nurses came over to ask her about the show, and she was happy to see the fans ranged from all ages and professions. If someone as serious as a doctor could watch something as camp-y as Riverdale, they were doing a good job. By the end of it, she was getting rolled back to Evan in the waiting room with a smile on her face and a bandage on her leg. “Hey, you” She said with a big smile “So, no big heels while standing up, you can wear them for interviews and photo ops, but try and get down to flats as soon as possible, and ice whenever you can, alright? The pain should be gone in 3 to 5 days, it’s just a hard twist, not even a sprain. You’ve got a very good friend here who made sure you didn’t step on it” The Doctor said while looking at Evan and then the girl “Thank you so much, Doctor- Oh wait, can I have your pen?” She said, looking down and then at Evan “Pass me my backpack?” She asked, quickly pulling out her wallet. Taking out one business card, she scribbled her signature and the names of the two daughters he’d mentioned were big fans of the show before handing it and the pen back “Make sure to have them come over to San Diego any time of the weekend if they want, I’ll walk outside to give them a hug… Or maybe this guy can give me a piggyback ride” She teased, looking at Evan and giving him a wink.

Evan: Drumming his fingers absentmindedly against the arms of the chair he was sat on, Evan didn’t even notice the looks the clerk kept giving him, his presence clearly irritating her. He was used to that. Blame it on his ADD, he barely even noticed anymore when he was being a little shit. Finally, there was movement out of the corner of his eye, and his 80’s clad friend was being wheeled back towards him. Getting up with a grin, Evan flashed her a thumbs up at the bandage. “Nice. I’m liking the SDCC accessory of choice”, he teased, knowing full well that a girl as fashion forward as Madelaine wouldn’t wear it and do her best to pretend nothing was wrong with her ankle tomorrow. He watched on as she refused to let herself leave without giving a little something back to the doctor who had taken care of her, and he had to smile, most people would’ve been in too much of a hurry to cater to their own needs to think about others. “Well, I don’t know about /that/, I’ve gotta be in Italy tomorrow…but tell you what, you need to rest, I figure we can’t do anything that requires you standing up anymore, so I’ll drive you to San Diego. Today, in your car. That way I don’t have to leave you straight away, and we can talk a little more? Or…carry on serenading random car loads of people?”

Madelaine: Rolling her eyes at Evan’s comment, Madelaine couldn’t help it but smile. He knew full and well that she wouldn’t wear the bandage, but she’d try to do the best with her ice packs and resting the leg, but Cheryl wasn’t gonna go down to her flats, and neither was she, so it’d just have to fix itself with time. Watching the whole medical staff wave goodbye and leave them, Madelaine reached up with her hands as if to ask Evan for a hand to hold and get up. She could hop towards the car, he’d carried her enough and as much as she joked about, he’d done more than she’d expected. “Yeah, I think I’m out of commission… I’m sorry I had to cut our night at the rink short, you looked like a natural” She said with a small smile “You wanna drive two hours to San Diego?” She asked, eyebrow cocked up. “I mean, yeah of course, I don’t have much to do tonight, but do you really wanna do that?” She wanted to invite him over to her house and they could talk there, he didn’t have to do all that for her.

Evan: Taking Madelaine’s hand, Evan helped her to her feet and propped an arm over his shoulder, both of them a little more lenient with how much movement she made now they knew it wasn’t broken. That had to be relieving for her, she had a heck of a lot to do that weekend and he would’ve felt endlessly guilty if she couldn’t dive into it as much as she wanted. Although, if he were honest with himself, he’d get a little kick out of seeing all of the professional shots of the Riverdale crew looking glamorous, with a wink to their few hours spent in LA together in the form of a bandage on her ankle. “It’s totally cool, if we had stayed any longer I probably would’ve grown /too/ good at it, and people would’ve been marvelling, it would’ve been embarrassing, you know?” Hopping back into his own car, Evan waited for them to settle on a destination before he bothered putting the key in the ignition. “I mean, it makes sense, you can’t really drive with a jacked up ankle, I don’t know how else your car would get to San Diego, and I can easily get a train or bus back, it’s chill. I’m making the decision for you”.

Madelaine: Hopping back towards the car, Madelaine gripped onto Evan’s waist tightly as she tried to steady herself and balance everything she had going on while they made it back. Getting on the truck was hard now that she wasn’t getting positioned from his back, but once she managed to get in there, she happily buckled in and let her foot rest on her healthy leg “You probably would’ve ended up getting like, scouted for a national 80’s roller derby team, and what would’ve been of your acting career? Someone with that much rollering skills can’t drop out of such a thing, you had to represent your country! Really, it’s for the best, I did you a favor in the end” She added with a small shrug, trying to keep a straight face for as long as she could before she cracked. Hearing him say that he’d happily drive her and taken a bus back to LA had the redhead shaking her head “What? No way, no, I refuse. We can go home, and open a bottle of wine and talk until the sun comes out if you want, but I’m not gonna let you do that. I’m… Very thankful, but I’ve got castmates who are driving from here, my stylist and make up team, an Uber, there’s plenty of ways I can get there. And you’ve got a flight to catch in the morning.”

Evan: Evan wasn’t sure what he expected Madelaine to be like, but honestly…this wasn’t it. He’d probably thought she’d take herself more seriously, so was pleasantly surprised to find out she can be just as goofy as himself - her next joke proved it. Shaking off the laugh that consumed them both for a moment, the male got the car started and buckled himself in. “Alright, if you’re sure. The option’s always there. But I like the sound of your idea, too....Your place or mine?”

[dreamwritesimagines]

Bad Habit 2- We Are A Fever [Billy Russo x Reader]

A.N.: Thanks to everyone who wanted a second part, here it is! I loved your feedback! <3

Special thanks to :  @boyfriendmaterialforyou @the-doctor-9-10, @jugheadjonss @vixsyncynco  @just-another-potterhead @fictionalthrill and lovely anons who  commented or sent messages! <3 

Characters: Billy Russo x Reader, Karen Page, Frank Castle

Summary: Dates are complicated

Read Bad Habit 1 here! .

Warning: Explicit language, cussing

Word Count: 2657

Please tell me what you think<3

Gif’s not mine

Karen watched you as you paced in the room, biting your nails. You had been staring down at the number on your phone screen for the last five minutes, feeling too scared to hit the call button and you turned on your heels.

“Maybe-“

“No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m gonna say!”

Karen rolled her eyes, “Some sort of a bullshit excuse to not to call the guy who you referred as ‘Personification of a wet dream’.  So no, stop being a coward.”

“Maybe we misunderstood it.”

Karen looked up, as if praying for patience.

“He gave you his phone number and asked you to call him, even threw me in a as a part of the deal- how exactly did we misunderstand it?”

“He’s way out of my league.”

“He’s an ass.”

“Why do you want me to call him then?!”

“One, for my career, and two, it’s obvious you’re attracted to him. What harm could it bring?”

You bit on your lip and shook your head, putting your phone to the small coffee table in front of her and ran your fingers through your hair, walking in the room.

“There’s no way.” You shook your head. “I mean- he probably forgot about me, or-or he was in a truth or dare situation or I accidentally spiked his coffee with hardcore drugs or alcohol-“

“It’s ringing.”

“What?” You turned on your heels and your eyes widened when you saw Karen holding your phone to her ear and you almost tackled her while snatching the phone from her hand but then froze when you heard his voice.

“Hello?”

Karen poked you in the ribs, mouthing ‘Speak’ and you took a deep breath.

“Billy?” You said, your heart pounding against your chest. “Hey-Hi! It’s um- it’s Y/N. From- from the coffee shop. You probably don’t remember but I-“ You were cut off when you heard his silent chuckle.

“I remember.” His voice was low “How are you?”

You fanned yourself with your hand, “I’m fine, thank you. How about you?”

“Can’t sleep, I guess your coffee was strong.”

“I guess I’m to blame for that.”

“I guess you are,” You could even hear his grin, “I wonder what we should do about that.”

You licked your lips, “I can give Karen some sleepy time tea for tomorrow?” You asked, “Careful not to spill it on your overly expensive coat though, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to pay for the dry cleaning.”  

“When do you get off work tomorrow, or did they fire you already due to your implacable serving skills?”

You snorted “I have many regulars, thank you very much.”

“Beats me why.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not because of my implacable suit wearing skills.”

“What time do you get off work?” You could even hear his smile when he asked you again and you tried to hold your giggle back.

“At 9.”

“I’ll send you a car then.”

You paused “No offense but I really don’t trust the places you hang out in.”

“Why is that?”

“I just have a feeling they involve too many forks,” You shrugged as you heard his chuckle, “How about I pick a place and text you the address? It’s really close to the café I work in.”

There was a pause, “Okay.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow then.”

“See you, Y/N.” He said in the same low voice that made you all tingly inside and you hung up, turning to Karen who was watching you with a smirk on her full lips.

“Uh huh. We totally misunderstood it.”

“Shut up.”

The next day you went to the café carrying a huge bag that had your clothes, heels and make up in it, all planned by you and Karen. For some reason, the more you tried to calm yourself down, the more nervous you got and you did your best to focus on work, but it was no use considering you kept checking your phone to see whether you got a text even if you had it on full volume.

Of course, there was also the fact that you were a blabbermouth when you were nervous, so by now almost everyone knew you had a date.

“Told you your prince charming would come.” Liz said and you scoffed.

“I’m trying to keep my expectations low.”

“Low as in…?”

“I have already planned my wedding dress and we will have two children, one girl and one boy.”

She raised her brows, “Very low.”

“Thank you.” You placed the tray on the counter as Vicky, another coworker stumbled into the café, shedding her coat.

“Sorry, sorry!” She said as she ran to the counter, “I overslept, is the boss here?”

“Nope, you’re on a lucky day.”

“Not as lucky as her.” Liz winked at you and Vicky smiled, still breathing hard.

“What did I miss?”

“Y/N has a date.”

“Which is such a miraculous thing that I feel like we should form a circle and start chanting to the ancient Gods.”

“Show me pics!” Vicky pushed your shoulder with hers and you googled his name, then handed her the phone.

“Holy shit, does he have a brother?”

“I have no clue, but you guys and Karen are wearing navy blue in our wedding.”

“Low expectations, Y/N!”

“I didn’t say what neckline, did I?” You wiggled your brows as you went behind the counter and Liz scoffed.

“I’m serious about the brother!” Vicky said and you gave her the Girl Scout salute.

“I promise I’ll ask!”

The rest of the day went in a blur, and before you knew it, it was time for you to leave the work. After spending thirty minutes to make your eyeliner look good, you decided you were at least content with how you looked, so you left the café and made your way to the bar, texting Billy the address.

Even if it was almost 9.15 when you got to the bar and he was nowhere to be seen, you decided it wasn’t a big deal, considering you had also just got there, so you climbed onto a bar stool, motioning at the bartender and ordering a beer.

You played around in your phone, huffing out as ten minutes passed and you were already done with your beer so you ordered another one, texting Karen, and drummed your fingernails on the polished, wooden counter as you watched the crowd. Everyone seemed to have fun – everyone but you.

When another fifteen minutes passed and there was no text or call from him, you felt your heart sinking.

“Of course…” You mumbled, “Makes sense.”

Your eyes were burning so bad with the humiliation but you bit on your lip, forcing yourself not to call him or ask him where he was. It was bad enough that he had stood you up, you weren’t about to make it a big deal and make a fool of yourself more than you already had. You put some cash on the counter, downed your beer and slammed the bottle on the counter, grabbed your purse and walked out of the bar.

When you reached home, you were almost shaking with anger as you opened the door, ignoring Karen’s texts and closed the door behind you, leaning your head against the door, trying not to cry. You dug the heels of your hands into your eyes, not caring about messing up your make up and heaved a sigh, then kicked off your heels and made your way to the bathroom. You carefully took your makeup off, put your hair into a bun, then unzipped your dress, grabbing the tshirt and shorts that were lying on the floor. You went to the kitchen, made some tea for yourself, then grabbed the ice cream from the fridge while it steeped as your phone buzzed on the table and you dug the spoon into the ice cream, then went to check it.

From: Billy Russo

I’m terribly sorry, something came up.

“Oh fuck off.” You said out loud, staring at the phone, then your phone buzzed again.

From: Billy Russo

Can we meet now? I’ll make it up to you.

“No we can’t, motherfucker.” You muttered as you grabbed the phone and ice cream, then made your way to the couch and switched your laptop on, then looked for a show to take your mind off the horrible events of the night as your phone started ringing and his name flashed on the screen. You shook your head slightly, turned silent mode on, then licked around the spoon as you finally found a show and leaned back, making yourself comfortable.

You were on the third episode when someone knocked on the door and you groaned.

“For God’s sake, Karen…” You muttered, putting the ice cream bowl on the tiny table and went to the door, then swung it open, ready to vent to Karen about how it wasn’t a big deal, but you stopped dead on your tracks.

Billy was standing at the door, his hands in his pockets as he shot you a small smile.

“Hey.” He said as he took in your appearance, “So you already knew I was coming?”

You looked down at your shirt which said “Go the fuck to sleep.” and then glared up at him silently.

“I uh… got your address from Karen. She said I had good references from Frank, I don’t even know what that means.”

“So being an asshole isn’t enough, you also gotta be a creepy asshole?”

“I had that coming.”

You rolled your eyes and attempted to close the door, but he stopped you.

“I have a taser gun, I also have knives in my kitchen, don’t test me motherfu-”

“I was about to leave the building, then something came up- which I can’t talk about right now, but-“

“I don’t care, screw you and to be honest screw your hair, my ice cream is melting-”

“Let’s go now.”

You gawked at him. “Excuse you?”

“Yeah- what bar do you wanna go? We can go now.”

You could feel the anger bubbling up inside you as you tried not to smack him across his pretty face so you dug your fingernails into your palms then gritted your teeth and turned around, made your way to the kitchen while he stayed at the doorstep. You grabbed a vacuum flask, poured the tea into it, then put the lid on and went back to the door.

“Your sleepy time tea, have a good fucking night.” You said, then slammed the door on his face, then let out a breath and went back to the couch.

Even if you didn’t feel like going to work the next day, you managed to force yourself to get off the bed, and got dressed. You hair was already in a good shape after you spent an hour on it before your non-date date, so you just brushed it, grabbed your bag and walked out of the apartment.

When you got to the café, Liz and Vicky were already waiting for you, and you tried not to show the sadness you felt, instead, you just smiled at them.

“How was it?!”

“Morning to you too.” You mumbled, hanging your coat and grabbing the apron from the kitchen, as Liz followed you.

“Come on! I wanted to call yesterday but I didn’t want to interrupt anything.”

“More importantly, does he have a brother?” Vicky called out and you took a deep breath.

“It didn’t happen.”

“What do you mean it didn’t happen?”

“He stood me up.”

“What?!”

You shrugged, “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is! The nerve of the guy-“

“Doesn’t matter,” You shook your head, “Let’s just- let’s not talk about it.”

Vicky raised her brows and looked over your shoulder.

“That might be a little hard.” She muttered and you turned around to see Billy standing in front of the counter, as innocent as he could look. You rolled your eyes, clicking your tongue.

“Vicky-“

“Dealing with the coffee machine!”

“Liz-“

“Sorry, tables need to be cleaned.” They both walked away and you gritted your teeth, then made your way to the counter.

“What do you want?”

“As always, amazing customer service.”

You rolled your eyes again, “I’m working, so if you could go now-“ You nodded at the customer standing behind him and he shrugged.

“I’m just here to get some coffee.”

“Make it quick then.”

“Sure. I’m gonna need twenty cups, five cappuccinos, five espresso shots, five cups of black coffee with no sugar, and five lattes, non fat, all to go.”

You, the customer and Vicky all stared at him.

“You need twenty cups of coffee.”

“Yeah.”

“All of them. You need all of them now.”

“Yep.”

The customer behind him just shook his head and walked out of the café, while Vicky heaved a sigh.

“Dude, why do you already hate me?” She murmured as she started preparing them and Billy leaned against the counter.

“Can we talk meanwhile?”

“I’m working.”

“I’m well aware. While I’m waiting for my order?”

“Jesus Christ…” You mumbled as he handed you his credit card.

“So while we’re waiting for those to be prepared, I figured we could have a date.”

“Are you high or something?”

“Better than waiting here silently.”

“You’re not half as cute as you think you are.”

“Completely irrelevant, do you have a brother?” Vicky called out and he chuckled.

“Nope.”

“Cousin?”

“No, sorry.”

You crossed your arms, “You can take a seat while you wait.”

“No I’m comfortable here. So, do you have any pets?”

You glared at him, “You expect me to drool for your attention after you stood me up last night? Not happening.”

“No pets then. Family?”

“A brother who could kick your ass.”

“I doubt it.”

“I don’t.”

“I used to be a Special Forces soldier so yeah, you should doubt it.”

You pulled your brows together, “You have a company,” You said, momentarily getting distracted and he nodded,

“I started that after leaving the army,” he said, “So no, I’m not the rich asshole you think I am,” he paused when he saw your glances and took a deep breath, “Fine okay, I’m an asshole but I wasn’t born into this.”

You stayed silent,

“I actually grew up in the system. Orphanage, foster parents, you name it.” He said, “Then I joined the army. I was pretty good at it too, but then I decided I wanted to leave.”

“Why?”

“You grow tired of people dying around you after a while,” he nodded, “You grow tired of war. Me and Frank…” he trailed off, “Anyway, yeah. Then I started Anvil. We do a lot of business overseas, hence the fucked up timing last night.”

You scoffed, but didn’t comment on it.

“And I’m not a serial killer,” he stated, “In case you still haven’t looked me up on the internet.”

“Your order is ready.” Vicky called out and you looked up to see him looking at you hopefully, his dark eyes completely focused on you. You couldn’t help but to notice the way your heart beat sped up and you scolded yourself mentally.

“So I did all the talking this time, how about you talk on the second date?”

“She’d love to!” Vicky said and you rolled your eyes,

“Vicky, he doesn’t have a brother, chill out.”

“Oh come on Y/N, if you don’t want him, I can take him.”

“She’s joking.”

“Figured as much,” Billy stated, “So? Tonight? In a place which doesn’t need more than one fork?”

You licked your lips and nodded silently, trying to hide your grin but it was hard when his lips pulled into a boyish smile.

“Keep the coffee.” He said, winked at you and walked out of the café, while Vicky gawked after him and you leaned against the counter, shaking your head.

“I’m so screwed.”

Part Three is here! 

[herotheshiro]

ok so i’m gonna actually write out a post instead of reblogging and commenting bc i expect to go a little longer than i have patience for via tagging. EDIT: ok yes this did end up becoming a monster of a post. i apologize to those who actually try to read this/manage to read the entire thing

so this manga is called will you marry me again if i am reborn, it’s abt a couple who meet when they are 5yo and 9yo respectively (if i remember correctly, i just know their age diff is 4 yrs) and they basically have feelings for each other from day one so they get engaged at 26 and 30yo (synopsis basically of ch 1 lol). the manga consists of basically one-shots covering both the mains’ experiences growing up together and the experiences of the fam/friends around them. (i say one-shots bc the “story” usually gets resolved in 1 ch, there technically is a linear plot connecting the chapters but the main meat of the ch is usually not covering that plot specifically but rather talking abt things that come up due to that plot. this makes more sense if you actually have read the manga)

classic me decided to look this up on a whim despite having schoolwork to do after seeing it while going through my IG saved (i had seen this manga at least a yr or so ago but never looked it up) and damn ngl i was expecting it to be a one-shot but nah it’s 4 volumes and ongoing .......

at face value, i do like this manga ... the main couple is sweet and i’m weak to cute scenes, the women in this manga are badass and physically and emotionally wrecking havoc (not in a bad way, just like in a headstrong way) while the men weep (not like in an abuse way, just like they’re uselessly crying abt stuff), and i think the way the manga covers the history of this family/related ppl is interesting (i.e., it’s not a completely linear way, like 1 ch is this person. now the next ch is their mother. now the next ch is their father, etc etc). this manga does take place in japan in the 40s though, so note some social things still remain despite the switching of stereotypical gender roles (e.g., everyone is married at 25-30yo. like i kept getting caught up on this one like ‘why the fuck is every character married. like chill, you don’t gotta be married--oh wait nm i forgot back then ppl tended to get married p fast/early’).

on that note. probably my biggest complaint with this manga though is (spoiler) the pairing of chizuru and toyokichi. who have an age gap of 7yo and 32yo (AT STORY INTRODUCTION. thankfully they don’t get together/are really romantically involved until later but hold on let me say what i want to say first before i go into that). that’s right, what i thought was a joke premise (‘a pathetic man like you is still single rn? well i’ll let you marry me once i become of age if you’re still alone’) was NOT actually a joke bc later chapters reveal that they did get together as adults. which is FUCKED UP !!! like sure i feel like there are het couples irl who have huge ass age gaps and these relationships are for the most part accepted (or tolerated) then in the 40s and even now but that is so fucking weird that this man 25 yrs a girl’s senior still for whatever cursed reason married the girl in the end. (like legit. when the girl said that statement above, the man was like ‘damn i’d be committing a borderline CRIME if i did that’. not in a romanticized way though, like he was weirded out and that is so damn sad that i feel the need to clarify that. i have read too much shit and unfortunately some ppl do like that) 1. i don’t understand why ppl need to pair up all of their mains/introduced characters so bad. like... if needed it’s ok to introduce a side character who doesn’t get much focus. you don’t need to pair everyone up ages be damned; 2. the acceptance of such shit ... idk. i’m not saying older generations are all necessarily fine with such age gaps but also idk if maybe that shit just flies with older ppl and it’s not a big problem (i say that bc the adults in the story don’t really seem to be saying much abt it). then again, i haven’t seen what their getting together story is yet (we’ve only been seeing them together as they are in present time aka as adults) so idk if maybe ppl were against it but they still got together but man. that shit rubs me the wrong way.

as of right now, the ongoing story is focusing on the effect of ww2 on the mains’ and their families. tbh i was kind of surprised at how this story turned into a war story; i mean it’s to be expected if your story is in the 40s, i think most stories around the world that take place in the 40s HAVE to talk abt ww2 bc it’s not really something that can be glossed over easily since it really did impact daily life so much. but also i didn’t expect it ... i don’t really enjoy reading war stories, not only are they sad to read sometimes but also i feel like sometimes it’s glamorized to some degree. i don’t feel like this manga glamorizes it but i’m gonna be real i’m always kind of uncomfortable bc i’m used to hearing/reading abt nationalistic depictions (aka “hell yea go [insert native country], we are the best and fuck everyone else. also look at our causalities, we deserve to fight the other side for doing this to us”) and i never know if the author is suddenly gonna go in that direction. based on what’s been presented i don’t think it’s gonna veer in that direction but yeah.

otherwise, i think this manga is a cute read. it’s well-written enough that i kept going despite the hiccup covered 2 paragraphs ago, and i think emotional parts are handled relatively well. i think the characters are enticing for the most part, however i do feel that characters get paired up too fast (or the implication that they’re gonna get paired up). i understand that many of the characters’ stories are really only covered in 1 ch so you gotta just pair them up quickly, but for example the burned eye girl and the ex-yakuza ... i wish they hadn’t INTRODUCED the burned eye girl as being romantically interested in the latter even if it is true esp since their story is ongoing and wasn’t just limited to 1-2 chapters. like i get there’s history and we’re looking at “present day” where she’s head over heels for him but like ... idk. i’ve never been a huge fan of stories where it’s basically stated outright ppl have feelings for one another, like tangent but that’s why i didn’t really like j*son x p*per from the HoO series (i never finished this series btw lol. i think i only read up to h*ouse of h*des and even then i’m unsure if i even finished that book) bc they were basically introduced AS a couple and i’m like bro i barely know these characters, let me figure them out first before i pair them together. yes they took a break for a bit bc j*son literally lost his memory but all of their interactions from early on were then romantic to some degree as a result and i’m like bro. (on the other hand, that’s why i liked h*zel x fr*nk better. yes i believe fr*nk was introduced as having a crush on h*zel but i feel like their early development was relatively separate. also i’m censoring everything bc i don’t want the risk of pj0 ppl coming at me) i’ve also only been reading BL recently so i’m like ‘damn ok too many het pairings and not enough lgbtq content’; i mean it’s the 40s but also gay ppl weren’t invented afterwards or anything lol (that’s sarcasm. supposed to be a reference to that one tumblr post i saw where they’re like ‘we can’t have black ppl in this period piece’ ‘what, were black ppl not invented yet?’)

next paragraph despite same point bc these paragraphs are literally becoming walls. but while i think it’s cute, i prob won’t be actively following. i feel like it’s pretty standard fare for genres/topics like this despite the more unconventional storytelling. it’s relatively well done but there’s not really much new grounds being covered with this story so i don’t feel particularly inclined to pay strong attention. now that i’m at the end of this review, i’d just like to say godDAMNIT (spoiler) kenji died, and the irony hurts that kenji was like ‘kind ppl like you will die in war’ but then he ended up dying bc of his own kindness towards toyokichi ... i mean i knew he was gonna die, that’s just how the story was going but also damn it ... also if main guy’s older bro doesn’t personally meet main girl’s older bro in the story ... wtf. everything is pointing towards that happening

[christinaengela]

From the

Good morning, fans and friends!

My PA (and long suffering girlfriend) Kay (a.k.a. Wendy K. Gloss) suggested that I start doing a newsletter – so, this being my first newsletter, Number One, Nommer Een, Numero Uno, I’d firstly like to thank she whose latest personal mantra has become “Ow, my everything!” – for being my muse, my marketing manager and promoter, my main support – and the love of my life!

After spending almost every spare moment since October working on the next three books in the Quantum Series, I was getting a little frazzled. I hope you all will forgive me for taking a break over December-January! I really needed it, and since I was on holiday at home this year, Kay and I spent more time doing things in line with our actual hobbies, such as (in her case) art, and in my case, D.I.Y. stuff around our refuge – Fort Engela!

Thanks to all my readers, fans, and friends for your support over the past year. 2016 was a bit of a struggle, I’d say, globally – and it’s time for some change! I’d like to officially wish all of you a very prosperous and happy new year – may 2017 be all we hope it can be!

This newsletter will be sent out periodically – I’d like to say quarterly even, but it’s likely it will not be timed so exactly – more than likely, it will be sent out as time allows! That said, if you would like to be added to the mailing list – or if you would like to suggest this newsletter to anyone, please feel free to email us at fireraven86@gmail.com

Oh, and I almost forgot! Here’s your

FREE GIFT!

Now that all the formalities have been dispensed with, here is a free gift for you – a free downloadable ebook copy of a short story called “The Thirteenth Ship“. To download the short story in Kindle format, please just click on the cover image below! If you prefer your sci-fi in Afrikaans, kliek gerus op die Afrikaanse voorblad onder en U sal gratis ‘n Afrikaanse weergawe kan aflaai! Or just download both if you feel like it! Why not? It’s free – and you can share and pass the links around too!

  Now that’s over with, let’s move on! My website is full of information about the stuff I’ve already done and published – and so here are news and updates about what I’m busy with and what to expect during the coming year!

The Quantum Series

Readers of the Quantum Series have been asking me for follow-up titles for years – and it’s been a while since the last one (“Loderunner” – book 4) was released – back in 2007, so it’s about time! Books 5,6 and 7 should be coming out this year, as announced way back when, back in 2016!

These new books will form a trilogy in the Quantum Series, consisting of three titles (naturally, unless you’re thinking of a ‘trilogy in four parts’ ala Douglas Adams), namely “Prodigal Sun“, “High Steaks” and “The Last Hurrah”. As I mentioned in numerous tweets and posts in my Facebook group, I have finished the first two titles in the trilogy (barring any future edits or minor changes to ensure the story flows smoothly across all three books), and am now – up to the start of my annual holiday in December – almost halfway with the third book!

Progress has been good up to that point, and I’m satisfied with the result so far. I should be getting back into this project soon – perhaps by the closing end of January. I anticipate that all three new titles “Prodigal Sun“, “High Steaks” and “The Last Hurrah” will be completed and released by about May 2017, starting in about February with “Prodigal Sun“, with modest breaks between releases.

The Galaxii Series

After I finished and published “Dead Beckoning“, the third book in this series back in 2014, I still had a ton of old handwritten notes and story material lying around, crammed inside a number of old brown cardboard folders, just begging to be written into something amazing!

As a result, I am working on book 4 in the Galaxii Series – “Overkill” could hit The Crow Bar by mid to late 2017. Since “Overkill” is the original working title, this could still change by the time it hits my Shop page – so keep your eyes open for announcements in that regard.

There is still no cover design for this title, and I’m hoping that Susan Simone, who designed the brilliant covers for the first three titles in this series will be willing to do one for this title as well!

Short Stories

Recently, while spring cleaning, I happened across some of my old high school compositions, and have begun to redraft and edit them to bring them up to my current standard. I should be in a position to release a second collection – a follow-up volume of “Space Sucks!” sometime this year. I’ve decided to call it “Space Really Sucks!“

I’ll share a quick glimpse at one of these short stories, which will be featured in this new collection, with you – called “Code Red“:

“After an unexpected battle in orbit over a strange planet, the crew of the surviving Saman battlecruiser land to repair their damage – and to look for a good spot to plant the flag of the Saman Empire. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the planet was already occupied – by a people who took a dim view of that sort of thing, and who happened to have space travel – and a few colonies of their own…” “Space Really Sucks!“ is a second collection of short fiction by Christina Engela, following “Space Sucks!“, featuring completely new, never before seen stories.

Translations

Among the array of projects I’m working on, I am also overseeing the translation of all my work into Afrikaans! Kay and I have already completed translation of a number of my short stories, to which we’ve already received positive and encouraging feedback from a few select readers!

It’s slow going however, and since I can’t afford to pay anyone to translate these stories, time will tell when these will become available. However, the goal is to increase my readership, and to expand my market to include South African Afrikaans-readers, as well as ex-pats now living abroad. To this end, “Space Sucks!” will be released in Afrikaans sometime next year.

In the long-term I am also looking into expanding my translation efforts into German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian – basically any language where anyone shows interest! All that aside, I’m also open to any offers to convert stories into screenplays! If you are willing to help out with this project, please drop me a line!

Editing

On the other side of the street, I’m also acting as Editor on two distinctly separate projects at the moment – the first one being with LightBearer Publishing (through which I published both “Bugspray” and my father’s collection of short fiction “African Assignment“) in which I have compiled a number of poems for an anthology called “Vampyre Bytes – voices from the South African Vampyre Community”, which features Gothic poetry from participants in this fascinating subculture. The interior illustrations and the cover images of this book are by local South African artist and poet, Wendy K. Gloss.

What is this anthology about?

“The modern vampire (or vampyre) subculture spans the world. While stereotypes abound, there are self-identified vampi(y)res present in every other culture, creed, religion to be found in every country, and frequently with a thriving and growing subculture to match. They are not all goths, emos or metal heads. Most are ordinary folks – cops, soldiers, firemen, bankers, the girl next door, the guy on the bus, the old man behind the counter, the kid in your class.

Adherents of the ‘scene’ maintain that it is not so much a lifestyle, hobby or interest as a collection of people who share the same life experiences and needs – that is, experiencing awakening, a period of emotional turmoil in which their vampyric characteristics are first experienced, recognized and accepted – the sum of which mark them as something different – people with an undeniable need for prana, life-force, or vital energy.

Far from being the predatory monsters seen in fiction – those whom admittedly inspire the popular modern fictional vampire image – real living Vampyres and vampyric people are also typically intelligent, creative and productive members of South African society. They are socially responsible people who run NGO’s, protest cruelty against animals, host charity drives – and they like to party.

This anthology deals with the creative facet of the South African Vampyre Community – Vampyres and their friends. While the brief to all contributors allowed the use of pen-names, most participants in the subculture use ‘nightside names’, or names chosen by them to represent their unique identities. The anthology is intended to provide a holistic look at the vampi(y)re from a South African perspective.

Contributions will be categorized into several sections:

Awakening – Dealing with awakening and realization.

Being Thus – Dealing with being a vampyric person.

Frenzy – About the need to feed.

Tantric Vamps – The Power of Life.

Vampyre Love – poems about Vampyre relationships.

Submissions are still open!

  (Submission of material is not a guarantee of placement. LightBearer Publishing and its editors reserve the right to select content which is appropriate to the project.)”

Please mail me your entries/submissions at christinaengela@gmail.com

The other anthology is being published through Riot Pink, called “Embracing Justice”, a benefit anthology to fight anti-LGBT discrimination. This is a benefit anthology to promote awareness of discrimination against LGBT people, tell our stories and find resources. This will be due out whenever we reach enough submissions to go to press.

So far there have been quite a few poetry entries, as well as a few articles and short fiction items. More is always welcome, and in fact necessary in order to actually go to press!

What is the inspiration behind “Embracing Justice”?

“The huge increase in incidence of hate crime and violence reported across the USA against LGBT people – and in other places around the world, linked to an apparent rise in bigotry and anti-human rights sentiments – is nothing less than an outrage! There is also legal discrimination to contend with, where a vulnerable minority faces discrimination which although immoral, is nonetheless enforced by unjust laws.

The type of content we’re looking for will fit into four sections:

First-hand accounts of anti-LGBT attacks (i.e. from personal experience – what happened, how did it affect you, how did it make you feel?),

Poetry (about homophobia or transphobia etc),

Short fiction (also about homophobia or transphobia etc) and

Resources (information, links or organizations that assist LGBTI people, suicide prevention etc) – and since this project is open to international entry, these can be based anywhere).

Submissions are still open!

(Submission of material is not a guarantee of placement. Riot Pink and its editors reserve the right to select content which is appropriate to the project.)”

Please mail me your entries/submissions at christinaengela@gmail.com

Moving on from editing for other people, I will also be working on more of my dad’s work for possible release in the near future. Also, for the first time, I will be preparing my mother’s works for publication! Not too long ago I also posted a few tasters of my mother’s poetry. Once I’ve determined the way forward in this regard, a collection may be coming out soon as well!

Collaborations

During the next month or so I’ll be putting my head together with my friend and famed horror and ‘barfazo’ author Alex S. Johnson in collaborating on a sci-fi horror-comedy called – “Space Cases“!

Competitions

In 2016 we held two giveaway competitions, and I had the pleasure of sending prizes to several lucky winners who received ebook (Kindle format) copies of “Blachart“, book one in the Galaxii Series, and “Black Sunrise“, book one in the Quantum Series.

This year there will be  few giveaways planned, but the formats are likely to be different, and may include a paperback copy or two. Stay tuned for announcements in this regard.

On A Personal Note

As you can imagine, time is always too short over at The Crow Bar. There are never enough hours in a day to get to everything – writing, editing, design, marketing, promotion, translation, collaboration, strategics – and also having to balance all that with daily life, work, social and other responsibilities – and realizing that even a semi-human like myself needs rest!

This holiday has been filled with relaxing activities – and also more physically challenging ones, including the D.I.Y.ing sort, and I’ve managed to refurbish and paint parts of Fort Engela, ‘de-jungled’ the front garden by removing the infestation of wild, vicious prehensile ferns – and everything except the double-yellow hibiscus tree – and poured a concrete slab! Those wold prehensile ferns sure were vicious – they even ate my 30 year old, giant fat plant! The old partly-collapsed wooden grape-vine trellis along one side of the house has been replaced with a new PVC pipe framework, and I’ve used several old concrete fence slabs to form a wall along the garden bed under the trellis, to raise the height of the bed, and filled that with several bags of potting soils so we can start growing veggies! The grape vine is recovering nicely from mildew and a bout of pruning (to prevent it from escaping over the roof), and should give us some nice grapes either this year or the next. Hopefully. Maybe one day I can actually get enough grapes to give wine-making a try!

We also finished some outstanding projects at home, and did some tile grouting in the back garden, and resurfaced and painted the old Victorian clawed-foot tub we use as a ‘chill-pool’. Over all, Fort Engela is our little paradise, our refuge from the harsh realities of the world, and despite the aching muscles and occasional little bumps and scrapes, it’s well worth the effort – and come on, waking up and doing a zombie-walk down the passage while moaning “Ow! My everything!” is kinda funny! It also makes those moments in life spent enjoying the best hugs in the world, holding hands, and wiggling naked toes in beach sand, extra special!

Peace and love are the most important things there are in the world, because with those two in place, universally, everything else can follow.

In Closing

I got some amazing reviews and positive comments on my writing over the past year! I’m always willing to chat with fans of my writing, so if you would like to, please feel free to interact with me in my facebook group, or via email (christinaengela@gmail.com) or via the contact page on my website.

Your sketches or commentary about how you perceive characters or the settings of my stories are eagerly awaited and welcome – I would love to see and hear how you feel about them!

You can show me your support by leaving helpful reviews of my books where you purchased them, whether on Lulu, Amazon, Goodreads, Kobo, Lybrary, iTunes or Nook. You might not realize it, but it makes a difference – not just to me in seeing that people liked my work, but also to others who may be thinking about getting it, and wondering if it’s worthwhile since there aren’t many (or any) helpful reviews!

Thanks again for all your support and interest over the past year! Well done – keep it up! Let’s see where 2017 takes us! More next time!

All the best!

Christina Engela

News From The Crow Bar #1 – Jan 2017 From the Good morning, fans and friends! My PA (and long suffering girlfriend) Kay (a.k.a. Wendy K.