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separatist-apologist · 2 years ago

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The Enemy

I would make you the enemy if I could

Summary: In order to kill his most hated enemy, Azriel has to kidnap Graysen Nolan's fiance.

Should be easy, right?

Chapter 1/5: How You Get The Girl | Read on AO3

For @elainweekofficial- I am not following the prompts (as no prompts can contain me)

Azriel Moreno was going to kill Graysen Nolan.

He’d known he would for years, the impulse tempered by his brother—and boss—Rhysand. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. It would have been so much easier to kill him back when Nolan was nothing more than the city prosecutor. He ran afoul of criminals like Azriel all day. Any one of them would have liked to see his blood stain the pavement.

Rhys thought Nolan might be of use to them someday. After all, he’d been all too happy to take Rhys’s cash as a campaign donation in his race for state senator. And for all his talk about being tough on crime, Nolan never seemed to mind the way his corporate buddies polluted the air and soil in the name of shareholder profits. He didn’t bind busting up unions the way Cassian busted up knees, and if layoffs happened at Christmas so top execs could take home a bigger bonus? Well, that was just business.

And when Nolan peddled his conspiracy theories in order to crush his opponents, when he resorted to fear mongering attacks that caused a local high school to be temporarily shut down, Rhys had done nothing. He played local politics when it suited him, and Nolan had risen far higher than Rhys cared to police.

All of it might have been forgivable if Nolan hadn’t turned his attention to the city that had raised him and decided to bite the hand that fed him. He wanted to be tough on crime. He wanted to round up the gangs, the old families, the casinos, the brothels, the drugs. He struck—but it was clumsy. The police were thoroughly bought and the local politicians far too afraid of Rhysand to truly try and come for him. Nolan knew it, after weeks of leaning hard and seeing no results, he’d sent in state police.

And arrested Rhysand’s mother, sister and Azriel’s mother, and Rhysand’s. It had been humiliating, for the women, their faces splashed all over the front page of the papers. They’d made national news, though Rhys had managed, in the end, to spin it as more political ineptitude. Rhys had released five years of his taxes and gone on more than one podcast, schmoozing and lamenting his fathers legacy. As if Rhys wasn’t the master at straddling both worlds.

But Azriel’s mother was little more than a housekeeper and the aftermath of the attention had put her in the hospital. The stress had strained her heart, had left her exhausted and depressed. As if Azriel’s father hadn’t done enough damage to his mother—now a greasy politician with too straight teeth was trying to kill her.

Azriel wanted retribution. Striding through the halls of Rhysand’s elegant, sprawling home, he found his brother lounging in a high backed leather chair, pensive look on his face. Violet eyes found his when Azriel quietly closed the door behind him.

“How is your mother?”

Azriel’s fists clenched. “She’s been better.”

Rhys nodded, rage flitting over his face before it smoothed out. Family was important to all of them. “I could send a caretaker.”

“She’d never accept,” Azriel replied. He’d been trying to give her money for years. She was too proud, both of him and her own circumstances. His father had been in the Moreno family, one of Antonio’s inner circle. She’d been a housekeeper—and Azriel a bastard. She was proud to have escaped the worst of his father’s cruelty, for raising Azriel as a single mother despite his fathers wealth. And she was proud Azriel had taken his father’s place when the man died.

Sometimes Azriel wondered if she’d be proud if she knew it had been him who had killed him, in the end.

Rhys nodded, sighing heavily. “Something has to be done or he’ll try again.”

“Let me kill him.”

Rhys shook his head. “Too messy. We need something a little more subtle. A warning of what could happen if he tries again.”

Rhys reached for a plain manilla folder on his elegant mahogany desk. He slid to the end, prompting Azriel to step forward. Ignoring the cases of books, the sitting area where they occasionally smoked and drank, and the opposing leather chairs he might have sat in, Azriel reached for it.

“He proposed,” Rhys said, as Azriel flipped open the folder. How Rhys had amassed so much information on Nolan’s personal life was a mystery. Azriel flipped through photo after photo of a very public proposal to a woman just as immaculate and put together as Nolan was. She was, if Azriel was honest, absurdly beautiful. Untouchable, in her designer heels and her perfectly styled, golden brown hair.

She grinned, red lips stretched over straight teeth. Azriel thought her fawn brown eyes seemed tight, though he might have been projecting his own hatred onto whoever this woman was. She’d clearly said yes, and in the next photograph, while Graysen held her against his body, his new fiance held her hand out behind him, examining that massive diamond with an unreadable expression.

“You want me to kill his wife?”

Azriel didn’t hurt women.

Rhys scoffed. “Kidnap. Hold her up in the mountains for a week, maybe two. Long enough for Graysen to see what I might do if he comes for my family again.”

Azriel flipped shut the file, tossing it back to Rhys’s neatly organized desk. Paper and pictures slipped from inside, spread around them both.

“Ask Cass. I’m not a babysitter.”

“Her name is Elain Archeron,” Rhys said, ignoring Azriel’s protests. He recognized that name. Archeron was the name of some oil magnate—or was it shipping? Either way, Archeron was an old money name, the way Vanserra was. “She’s his middle daughter—some say his favorite daughter. I wonder how Archeron would feel knowing his soon-to-be son-in-law got his daughter roped into our bullshit. Or any of his daughters, really.”

Azriel stared flatly. “What are you playing at?”

“Cassian can’t deal with Nolan’s bride because he’s too busy with the eldest sister. She’s a big time lawyer…loves her sisters. I heard she’d do anything for them.”

Azriel looked up at the ceiling, sighing loudly. “You think kidnapping Elain will turn the family against Nolan?”

“I think Archeron has a lot more political capital than Nolan does, and pulls a lot of purse strings. Charisma doesn’t win elections—money does. Nolan needs a war chest if he’s going to win his reelection campaign, and I’m not stupid enough to imagine courting and marrying an Archeron doesn’t help him with that.”

“I don’t give a fuck about his political career—”

“You can’t kill a Senator, Az. You can kill a private citizen,” Rhys replied, holding Azriel’s gaze. “Two weeks with a dormouse. You’ve done worse.”

“He’d been tortured for longer than that. Azriel’s eyes slid to the picture on Rhys’s desk. His brother was right. This would be easy. He doubted he’d have to even tie her up after the first day or so. She’d do whatever he told her, too scared to argue or fight back.

“Stock up that cabin if I can’t leave,” he finally grumbled. “Weapons, food, clothes. Whatever she’s gonna fucking need to an extended stay. I’m not going to fuss over a princess.”

“Can you get her?”

Azriel rolled his eyes. “The day I can’t kidnap a society girl is the day you put a bullet between my eyes.”

ELAIN:

Elain stared at her phone with trembling hands. In front of her, Gray was talking with a group of her father’s friends, his megawatt smile on full display. He didn’t notice the way she’d gone silent, how she was no longer at this side, touching his shoulder and making all those men jealous.

I know you don’t know me, but I thought you should know what Graysen has been doing and saying when you’re not around. I’m really sorry. I just think you deserve better. You seem really nice…and I’m sorry that I helped to hurt you. If you have any questions, you can call me or text me. I swear I didn’t know who he was.

Picture after picture of Graysen and a very beautiful, very young, very blonde woman grinned. Selfies of them kissing, of texts where he swore he missed her, that he loved her—wanted to be with her. Elain wanted to scream. She hadn’t wanted to date Graysen in the first place. Right out of college, Elain wanted to travel. She wanted to see the world, to explore and do something besides get married.

Her father had pleaded with her. Meet him once. He’s a fine young man.

As if such a thing existed. Was she even in love with him? When she’d felt that thread of cold dread as he’d sunk to one knee and put the ring on her finger? She thought she was, even if she wasn’t ready for marriage. She’d told herself she’d get there. That this was merely the cold feet everyone spoke of.

Elain slid her phone into her pocket. Walking to Graysen, she slid a hand up his shoulder. This was not the place for an embarrassing spectacle. She’d confront him in private, after she had a chance to think about what she wanted to say and what she wanted to do.

But Elain knew there was no way in hell she’d marry him. She wasn’t going to live her life as a cliche, the wife who endured her husband’s infidelity with a smile. Elain sure as shit wasn’t going to one day stand behind him in a Chanel skirt, eyes pinned to the floor while her husband apologized to the nation. She’d end things quietly before campaigning even began. Tell everyone they’d parted ways amicably, that she wished him no ill will, even if that was a lie.

“Hey,” she murmured into his ear, revolted by how he turned. How he wrapped a hand around her waist and pressed a kiss to her neck.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” he said, earning appreciative chuckles from the men in the room. Elain’s skin crawled, though she plastered a pretty smile on her face.

What else do you like, Gray?

“I don’t feel well. I think I need to lay down,” she said, praying he didn’t override her and demand she stay. The day would drag into the night, brunch becoming dinner, becoming drinks and then smoking out on the terrace.

People meandered about Grayson's home, peering at his expensive art he didn’t understand and his curated furniture with appreciation. It looked as if he had style, had taste.

What he had was her fathers money and a designer who had put together every single thing in his home. Elain hated the Nolan residence, of which she would one day be expected to preside over. Graysen couldn’t even select his own silverware, let alone a chair.

“Are you sure?” he asked, though perhaps he cared less than she’d imagined. “I’ll miss you…”

She wanted to slap him.

“I know,” she said with a believable sigh. “Maybe if I take a nap I’ll feel better.”

“Upstairs?”

In the bed you’ve probably fucked a hundred other women in?

Elain couldn’t hide the tightness in her eyes. “At home.”

That irritated him. They were surrounded by far too many people for him to truly protest. To cut her down with his words, wielded as effectively as any blade. Elain’s body tightened on instinct as adrenaline raced through her. Graysen’s brown eyes promised a fight.

Elain had never once won a fight with her fiance. He was so good at turning things around on her. At cutting her down to ribbons, making her feel small and worthless and stupid.

“Whatever you need, darling.”

She forced herself to kiss his cheek. Nothing was wrong, nothing amiss. Two people desperately in love and nothing more. Only then was Elain allowed to slip from his grasp and make her way to the door, her heels clipping evenly over the hardwood. He’d be watching as long as could, suspicious as to why she couldn’t get in his bed, where he could keep his eyes on her. He’d been arguing with her for weeks to move into his home with him and Elain hadn’t understood back then why she kept resisting.

She’d need to move out eventually.

Now she was grateful she’d listened to her intuition.

Elain didn’t think she took a breath until she was out in the gloomy, spring weather. Rain threatened overhead, filling the air with a warm, wet scent she’d always enjoyed. Elain exhaled roughly, turning to look at the white door of Graysen’s house. He lived in one of the old, historic neighborhoods in the city, gated from the rest as if he could somehow block everything out.

Elain wasn’t far, to be fair, though in heels it might have been several hundred miles. She hated the tall, black stilettos he demanded she wear, just as much as she hated how he forced her to straighten out her hair, how he wanted her in muted blues and whites. Elain had never forgotten the way he’d screamed at her over a revealed collarbone, or how he thought anything showing above her knees would be cause for a scandal.

No more strappy sundresses. No cute shorts, no unmade faces where the freckles that dotted her nose were visible. No curled hair—nothing that she liked about herself. Only the doll he liked to dress up and drag from place to place to place.

Look at beautiful Elain. Don’t you wish you could touch her, too?

Elain shook out her hands in anger as she walked, her mind racing. She needed to break things off. Somewhere public, somewhere her sisters could intervene. She could block Graysen and make a public statement about the whole thing on Instagram, forcing him to acknowledge it. To leave her alone before he looked insane.

Elain was all but bouncing when she arrived home. Pulling open the vibrant cobalt door, painted by her own hands two years earlier, Elain visibly relaxed when her own decor came into view. Twining plants curtained the windows of her townhouse, creeping toward sunlight and glass. Rose and cream furniture was set against pink walls decorated with a mix of Elain’s personal style and her sister Feyre’s art.

Elain ignored her growling stomach for the stairs, taking them two at a time once she’d kicked off those awful shoes. She wanted a bath, wanted soft, loose pajamas and then as much food as she could put in front of her while she binged watched television. Elain was in such a good mood that when she pushed open her bedroom door, the sight of an interloper didn't immediately ruin it.

Graysen had sent people to watch her before. They usually waited outside, but maybe Graysen had called the minute she stepped out the door in an effort to punish her. Gripping the doorframe, Elain sized that man up. He…wasn’t the usual type. Shadows seemed to slide over the sharp, elegant planes of his face. Hazel eyes more brown than green watched her with a predator's focus while his blue black hair all but gobbled up the light. He was tall, broad and muscular, like he’d been carved from marble rather than flesh. He was beautiful—all full lips and warm, brown skin covered in black ink. Only his hands, which were deeply scared, were untouched by the tattoos covering him. His hands and his beautiful, cold face.

“Gray sent you?” she asked with a sigh, stepping into the room. He tracked her movements without smiling, which put her at ease. If he thought to hurt her, she expected him to smile, to leer, to do anything but stand so strangely out of place among the soft, feminine space.

“You can wait in the living room,” Elain added, annoyed by the whole thing.

“And if I won’t?” he asked with a voice as deep and velvet as midnight. She whipped her head around to look at him.

“Are you planning to watch me bathe?” she snapped, heart racing. His brows pulled together, and it was clear things were not going how he’d imagined. “Get out.”

Elain pulled her phone from her pocket, heart racing. She hated Graysen for this, for putting that diamond studded leash around her neck and calling it love. Or safety. Or whatever this was supposed to be. She was going to call him and demand she call his dog off.

The man standing on her braided cream rug strode toward her, knocking her phone from her hand before she could do more than open the screen. He reached into the pockets of his jeans, chest heaving beneath his short sleeved, black shirt.

He pulled out a rag.

Elain understood, then, that this man had not sent by Graysen. He reached for her, strong arms gripping her around the chest as she flailed. Elain managed to graze her teeth over his forearm, sinking her teeth viciously into his flesh until she tasted blood.

“Fuck!” he swore, dropping her before he managed to get his rag over her face. Elain scrambled, racing for the hall, her pursuer just behind. He caught her just at the top of the stairs, though the weight of his solid, heavy body sent them both tumbling viciously to the bottom.

He managed to pin her to her back, thighs tight around her waist, both wrists pinned beneath one overly large hand.

She took a deep breath to scream and he grinned, savage in his beauty. It was a strange, hysterical last thought, because he brought that rag over her face roughly, holding it to her nose even as she struggled. The harder Elain fought, the more her lungs burned, until she had to draw breath.

And then another, panting in the overwhelming chemical coated against the cloth. Her head swam, vision blurring. The last thing Elain saw, before the darkness fully took her, were two eyes, more brown than green, staring down at her without emotion.

She was going to die.

AZRIEL:

“She fucking bit me,” Azriel snapped into the phone, sitting in his car just outside the cabin in the Illyrian Mountains. “Stop fucking laughing, Cassian.”Rhys was laughing too which only rankled him further. He had the passed out woman in his trunk, which in retrospect was unnecessary. It made him feel better, though. After all, she’d strolled right into that bedroom like it wasn’t unusual to see a stranger standing in her personal space.

What the fuck was going on with her and Nolan?

“You have her, though?” Rhys confirmed. “Did you ah…clean up the blood?”

“Fuck you,” Azriel deadpanned. Though he had made sure to clean everything up before hoisting her over his shoulder and dumping her in his trunk. The politician’s princess had teeth.

Had claws.

Azriel was willing to bet she’d beg, too.

“Two weeks, Az,” Rhys offered, his tone conciliatory. “I’ll reach out to Nolan tomorrow. Let them both stew a little.”

There was a pause, and then— “Don’t hurt her.”

Azriel tried not to be offended. “You got it.”

Once Azriel was freed of his brothers, he allowed himself one moment to close his eyes and take a deep breath of dry mountain air. Elain Archeron was just a woman. A beautiful, angry woman who would want to get home to her ugly, stupid fiance. If she were a difficult captive, he would have planned to tie her to the radiator in the basement.

She wasn’t, and Azriel anticipated he could tie her to the bed that first night, if only to scare her, and then allow her some freedom. Nothing opened from the inside without a key, including the windows. He’d lock her in the bedroom so he didn’t have to babysit her when she needed to pee and spend two weeks stuffing his face with snacks and watching television.

Better than anything else he would have done, at any rate. The thought was enough to motivate him to get out of the car, to grab his bag from the backseat, and then a drowsy Elain in the trunk.

“Bastard,” she slurred, trying so hard to keep her eyes open.

Azriel slung her over his shoulders. “Am I so obvious, baby?” She groaned before falling limp again. She smelled like jasmine and honey and he hated that he noticed that. Azriel was grateful for the dim cabin and the scent of cedar and pine that drowned out Graysen’s wife. She didn’t stir again as he took her to the main bedroom, deciding he’d sleep on the couch just in case she tried to make a break for the door at some point.

She didn’t fight him when he bound her arms to the headboard. He gave himself permission to look at her, dressed in an ugly, too tight, too beige dress. Still beautiful, despite it—tied to a bed, which might have been a fantasy of his had she not been so slick and perfect.

He left her, slamming the door behind him in favor of bandaging up his forearm and seeing what Rhys had left him in the fridge. Azriel was a dogshit cook and there was no way to order anything up the perilous mountain road. Rhys had stocked actual cooking ingredients—meats and vegetables and fruits—along with ramen noodles, chips, and other things Azriel could sustain himself on without ever dirtying a pot. So long as he had a microwave, he was golden.

Pulling open a bag of pickle chips, Azriel padded to the open living room and the leather couch just calling his name. He still remembered the first time he’d come up here as a boy, nervous on one of his fathers weekends. Rhys had been there, sprawled over that couch like a spoiled prince.

Want to play Super Smash Brothers?

Azriel had no idea what that was back then. He knew now. Maybe, if Rhys had never introduced him to it, he wouldn’t be so viciously competitive. Azriel had hated losing and, after begging his mother for both the system and the game, knowing full well she had to work so much over time in order to provide it for him, Azriel had spent day and night practicing.

The next time he and Rhys played, Azriel had wiped the floor with him.

They’d been friends ever since.

Turning on the television, Azriel flipped aimlessly, looking for something that interested him. He had the sense a basketball game was coming on, and swore he meant to watch the pregame show. Instead, he found one of his mothers soaps a few channels in and though he hadn’t got caught watching just behind her worn, floral sofa in a long time, Azriel was immediately sucked in, losing himself in the familiar spanish his mother still spoke when it was just the two of them and the characters that were still up to no good nearly three decades later.

He’d forgotten what he was supposed to be doing until he heard Elain scream. He jumped, sending chips flying in the air.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he grumbled, swinging his legs back to the floor. She could have woken the fucking dead with a set of lungs like that. Azriel let himself be loud, stomping toward her bedroom in hopes she’d settle the fuck down.

If anything, Elain only got louder.

Azriel pushed the wood door open, revealing a twisting, thrashing Elain against red and black plaid bedspread. “You’re going to give yourself a rope burn if you don’t knock it off,” he said dryly, bracing his body against the frame.

She turned to look at him, brown eyes flooded with tears. Predictable, the thought. “Let me go!” she ordered in the bossiest tone he’d ever heard.

Azriel ran his tongue over his teeth, pretending to consider. “No, I don’t think I will.” Her eyes ran up his body, appraising him as she plotted her next words. “Are you going to kill me?”

Tears slipped down her cheeks. Azriel could practically feel his mothers disapproval as he prepared to taunt her. He needed to silence that voice in his head, needed to be cold and cruel if only to keep this woman in line. “That depends on you, princess.”

“This is because of Gray, isn’t it?” she whispered, her voice breaking when she said her fiance’s name. “He’s mad and now he’s punishing me.”

Azriel blinked. “I—what?”

Elain turned her head, as if she couldn’t stand to look at him. Azriel had a million questions, all of them swallowed as Elain began to weep mascara tears into the black cased pillow. “I’ll behave,” she managed, gulping down a breath of air. “Tell him I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” The word was more accusatory than he meant. She was trembling and obviously trying so hard to stop her breathless sobs.

“For leaving,” she hiccuped, her eyes smudged and swollen.

“Oh for fucks sake,” he snapped. “I—” He didn’t even know where to begin. How had he become the good guy? In his entire life, never had Azriel ever been anyone's hero, their rescuer from someone far worse. No one was worse than him.

“I’m not going to kill you,” he said, pushing off the doorframe to stalk into the room. She cringed away from him which he found suddenly intolerable. “And Nolan didn’t send me to punish you. You’re here to punish him.”

“Punish him?” she whispered, blinking another fat tear over her make-up coated face. Azriel swore he saw a dusting of freckles just beneath, worn away from her fear and stress. Those, he thought, were pretty.

“Your husband is a bastard,” Azriel hissed, waiting for more sobs, more protests.

Her tears were drying. “You took me away from Graysen?” she repeated, pressing her knees together as he came to the edge of the king sized bed. “To teach him a lesson?”

Azriel hesitated for the first time in years. “Yes.” There was a beat. “Oh,” Elain breathed, which answered none of Azriel’s questions. She dared to look up at him again, her brown eyes flecked with gold. “Will you untie me?”

“Why the fuck would I do that?” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I won’t—” she sucked in a breath of air, her chest slowing as she calmed. “I won’t try and run.”

“They all say that,” he replied, though he was reaching for his back pocket and the blade he had concealed.

“I swear,” she said, blinking big eyes up at him. “I’ll do whatever you say.”

He bit his tongue, swallowing every lewd response that rose into his throat. “If you try to escape, I’ll tie you to a pipe in the basement for the next two weeks. Naked,” he added for good measure.

Elain nodded solemnly. Azriel cut the bindings he’d tied not even a few hours before, his effort wasted. She sighed, sitting herself up to rub the bruised, welted skin.

“Are you going to kill Graysen?” she asked him, not daring to look up at him as she asked.

“Would you like me to?” he replied, wondering if he’d honor her request if she asked. Elain shook her head back and forth, nose wrinkled with distaste.

“Is this for money, then?”

“This is a warning,” Azriel said, letting the hatred he felt seep into his voice. “Next time I won’t be so nice to his pretty little princess.”

Elain’s mouth flattened. “I’m not his princess.”

Azriel turned his back to her. “We’ll see.”

ELAIN:

Kidnapped.

Stepping out of the steam from her shower, Elain had to stamp down how giddy she felt. Kidnapped—by who, she didn’t know, and why, she didn’t truly understand. That dark haired man had said two weeks. Two weeks for Graysen to stew and Elain to work out how she was going to continue to stay gone once she returned to her normal life.

Wiping the mirror, Elain looked at her bare face for what felt like the first time in ages. There was no looming twelve step skin care routine she needed to adhere to, no mascara to coat over her lashes so Graysen would think she was naturally like that. Who cared if the terrifying man with the knife thought she was pretty? Elain didn’t. She ran a brush through her hair and slipped on a pair of swishy pajama pants he’d obviously swiped from her bedroom, along with an oversized band t-shirt from a concert she’d attended months ago. It was stained purple from paint and utterly comfortable.

Only when she was dressed did Elain dare to creep toward the door. She tested the handle, relieved when it turned without resistance. She could hear the sound of low voices coming from a television just down a long hall. The man was stretched over a leather couch, a remote in his hand as if he’d meant to change the channel but had gotten absorbed in the drama.

“Can I eat something?” she asked. He jumped, spraying a bag of chips in his lap all over a glass coffee table. He twisted to look at her, eyes narrowed.

“No knives.” Elain resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “You thought I was going to make you dinner?”

He scowled. “No knives, princess.”

She made her way into the kitchen, holding his gaze as she pulled a steak knife from a wooden block. “What was that?”

He shot to his feet, leveraging that large, muscular body and Elain hastily shoved the knife back.

“Okay, alright. No sense of humor, I see.”

He came to the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest. Elain pulled open the fridge, trying to pretend this was normal. He was still a stranger, still obviously dangerous. She hadn’t forgotten how he’d tackled her or how he’d pressed that rag against her face. Elain’s gaze slid to his arm, wrapped in a bandage.

Their eyes met and she smiled. “Do you have a name?”

He sighed. “Azriel.”

She almost laughed. Of course he’d have a name like that. “Is that your god given name, or something you choose for yourself?”

“Do I look like someone who has a stage name?” he deadpanned.

No. Humorless Azriel didn’t look like the sort to try and make himself seem more dangerous. Elain found a sealed tub of queso and an unopened bag of tortilla chips atop the fridge. She had to reach on tiptoes for it, dragging the bag down with her finger tips.

“Microwave it,” he told her, as if Elain were some kind of tasteless animal. Though, to be fair, she would have preferred to cook her cheese over a stove.

Elain was going to park herself in this cabin for two weeks and mourn the death of her relationship with Graysen, and then pretend she’d never met any of them.

“I think we should establish some ground rules,” Elain began, facing off the large man across the marble kitchen island.

He gaped. “That’s my line.”

“Yeah, I know—no escaping, no weapons. I have rules, too.”

“You’re in no position to bargain with me.”

Elain held his icy stare, waiting for him to back down. She had to fight her delight when he sighed, gesturing for her to tell him her rules.

“No touching,” she warned, holding up a finger like he was a child. Azriel rolled his eyes, but waved his hands for her next rule.

“I can use knives in the kitchen,” she said quickly. She’d seen several good cuts of meat, along with a whole host of vegetables. Did he expect her to sit around making conversation for fourteen straight days?

“And if I say no?”

“Am I supposed to eat chips and cheese every single day?”

He shrugged broad shoulders. “Why not? I don’t care if you enjoy yourself.”

Elain’s expression flattened. “Which brings me to my third point. At no point are you allowed to fall in love with me.”

A smile cracked his face, his amusement plain. “Does that happen often, princess?”

“You look like you’d fold with one kind word,” she shot back. That man was wound so tight she thought she could break him by telling him she thought he was lovely. Not that she intended to say so.

Azriel glared. “Falling in love has never been my problem.”

“Something we agree on,” she said cheerfully as the microwave dinged. “When this is over, I never want to see you again.”

He mumbled what she swore was “the feelings mutual, princess,” before turning back for the couch. Elain followed behind him, thinking it was the first time in who knew how long she was in shapeless clothes, eating actual cheese and chips in front of a man without commentary on her appearance or her weight.

If she’d been with Graysen, she’d have been in skin tight leggings or some silky little thing he could slide his hand up if he wanted to. Azriel didn’t so much as spare her a second glance when she plopped onto the opposite end of the couch, large enough he could stretch out his legs without ever coming close to touching her. Elain yanked the chunky white blanket draped over the back to her lap, not offering to share—not that he’d ever accept—before asking, “So. What are we watching?”

He cut her a suspicious glance. “Basketball.”

Before she could protest, Azriel flipped to the game, clearly hoping to be rid of her. Elain wondered what kind of operation was being run here that the best kind of torture he could manage was sports.

Though, to be fair, after ten minutes it was working. Elain drew her knees toward her chest and sighed loudly. Azriel didn’t react, though his eyes were glazed over. He was bored, too. Petty as she was, Elain could sustain herself knowing her kidnapper was bored and would rather watch a Spanish soap opera if he had the chance.

Besides—she was pretty sure he couldn’t kill her. And though she didn’t want to test it, Elain would have bet money that Azriel also wasn’t supposed to tie her up naked.

“What just happened?” she asked when a buzzer went off. Someone had obviously scored, but he didn’t need to know she understood any part of this.

Game on, asshole.

Azriel offered Elain a thousand yard stare. “What do you think just happened?”

Elain made her own eyes big and round. “Is he out?”

Azriel looked like he might strangle her. “Surely you saw the ball go through the hoop?” “Is that good?”

“Does this usually work?” he asked, leaning forward ever so slightly. She caught his biceps flex as his hands curled to fists. She wondered what had caused those scars, though there were some things she didn’t dare ask.

She was merely pretending to be stupid, after all.

“Does what work?”

“Your doe-eyed, dumb girl routine? I’ll bet men eat that shit up, don’t they?”

Elain narrowed her eyes. “Only because they can’t stand the thought of not being the smartest person in the room.”

She swore he nearly smiled. “It’s good to know how you make it work with Graysen.”

Elain looked away. She didn’t want to think about Graysen. Elain rose from the couch, kicking off the blanket so she could put away her chips and cheese.

“Did I hit a nerve, princess?”

Elain spun on her heel, facing off with this much larger, far more dangerous man. “The idea that a man with a junior high education could ever touch any part of me is laughable. You think you know me with your snide princesses and that makes us equals somehow? That we’re on an even playing field simply because you have a gun hidden somewhere nearby?” He’d gone utterly still, his handsome face curiously blank. This was a mistake, she realized. He was dangerous and he had hit a nerve. But Elain couldn’t stop. She couldn’t say any of this to Graysen, who would have hurt her if she’d ever done anything but smile and play stupid—just as Azriel said.

The mobster was right.

And she hated him for it.

“You are no better than him.”

Azriel’s eyes widened, anger flashing over his features. It took every ounce of will to turn her back to him, to put away her food and then storm into her bedroom. Elain slammed the door as the day began to crash around her. Graysen cheating. Azriel tackling her, dragging her out here. Trapped, always trapped.

The outside of the door latched and too late, Elain realized Azriel had locked her inside. She twisted the handle to no avail before pounding on the wood with her palms.

And when that didn’t work, Elain turned to look at that room, unable to calm her breathing.

She did her best to keep her sobs silent when she couldn’t keep them in anymore. Hiding in the bathroom, knees hugged to her chest, Elain let herself really cry for what felt like the first time in her life.

#elain week day 1 #im just doing romance seven days straight #elriel #elain x azriel

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bllsbailey · 2 months ago

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Bruce Springsteen Delivers Dark Message and Dreary Bomb of a Performance at Kamala Rally

I know some at RedState have trashed Bruce Springsteen’s music, but I admit to thinking his “Born to Run” days were rock ‘n roll genius and his “Born in the USA” album was a radio regular in my ‘80s life. It wasn’t till later that I found out that the anthem “Born in the USA” was actually not particularly pro-America at all, it’s about a Vietnam vet returning home to find his life’s prospects grim. Although many to this day think it’s one of the most patriotic rock songs out there, it simply is not.

Regardless of whether or not I like some of his old tunes, I long ago tired of his politics. On Thursday, though, he seemed to stoop to a new low, delivering a dark, fear-mongering speech at a celebrity-packed Clarkston, Georgia, rally for Kamala Harris’ struggling campaign. He then proceeded to croak an out-of-tune, mournful version of his 1984 hit, “Dancing in the Dark.”

Trump is a "tyrant," he proclaimed:

This was his unifying message:

Bruce Springsteen urged voters to back Kamala Harris in the presidential election, warning that Donald Trump is a would-be “tyrant”. “I want a president who reveres the constitution, who does not threaten but wants to protect and guide our great democracy, who believes in the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power, who will fight for a woman’s right to choose, and who wants to create a middle-class economy that will serve all our citizens,” Springsteen said at the Thursday evening rally.

Like he could relate at all to the middle class anymore.

Related: Bruce Springsteen...Your Music Sucks, and So Do Your Political Opinions

This constant “tyrant-Hitler” stuff is getting awfully grating lately, especially as progressives just throw out the charge but don’t back it up. Trump was the leader of the free world for four years and showed none of the tendencies they’re so often going on about.

But if you didn’t like the message, his song was far worse. He sounded like a cat being throttled, and without the E Street Band, he seemed utterly punchless and adrift:

The internet weighed in with many messages like this one:

I also wonder if Bruce realized he was at a rally where you’re supposed to excite people? Take a look at some of the lyrics:

I get up in the evenin' And I ain't got nothin' to say I come home in the mornin' I go to bed feelin' the same way I ain't nothin' but tired Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself Hey there, baby, I could use just a little help

Be still my beating heart; that sure makes me want to run out and vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Also, was it just me, or was it a little weird to see him caterwauling about how horny he was?

Hey baby, I'm just about starvin' tonight I'm dyin' for some action I'm sick of sittin' 'round here tryin' to write this book I need a love reaction

The extremist Harris campaign certainly has their share of celebrity adherents, but are bleak performances like this one going to attract voters who are struggling to pay for their groceries? I can’t imagine they will.

It's coming down to the wire, election-wise, but the only poll that matters occurs on November 5th. To stay current on all that's going to happen, you should consider becoming a VIP member. VIP status will open a plethora of stories and podcasts here at RedState, but the most important benefit, IMHO, is that you get to be part of our rowdy comments section.

A Gold-level account gets you access to all of our sister sites in Townhall Media: PJ Media, Twitchy, Hot Air, Bearing Arms, and Townhall.com. And the shiny new Platinum level gets you all that plus access to a catalog of feature-length films, and a credit to the new Townhall store. Use promo code SAVEAMERICA for a 50% discount!

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onyxheartbeat · 2 years ago

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People do a terrible job raising their sons. Terrible parenting is a direct cause of a lot of the misogyny we’re seeing today in the world. No wonder so many men are paranoid and fear mongering regarding the big, bad “goldigging” women and “false accusers” waiting to jump out and scare them at every turn. I can’t tell you how prevalent is, especially growing up Asian, to see the double standards of how boys vs girls are raised. Boys are taught to come out on top, financially, no matter what they gotta do to get there, and to hold onto their money. Their parents actively tell them not let any woman “take advantage.” And their future wife better be perfect in every way. I’ve heard this rhetoric in my own family and it’s disgusting. It’s not even just with money, it’s with freedom in general. Part of your job as a parent or guardian of a boy is to teach them about sexism and double standards. And now with the trend of alpha-male “manosphere” podcasts and YouTube videos and TikToks where men act like women are not of value and men are kings and shouldn’t “simp,” it’s raising a new generation of fear mongering and irrational discrimination against women.

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bitchesgetriches · 4 years ago

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Noble citizens of the aspirationally decadent Conglomerated Nation of Bitches Get Riches: let’s have a lil’ chat, shall we? It’s been a while since we chatted about our favorite topic: ourselves!

We hope you’ve enjoyed season two of the Bitches Get Riches podcast. Recording it was a bright spot for us during this dumpster fire of a year, so thank you all for listening.

As we wrap up another season, we had a few notes to share with you. Including some more personal reflections about how we’re doing, where we’re at, and what the future holds.

Let’s get into it!

Merch is back online

If you visited our Etsy shop in the last few months, you might’ve noticed the physical merch—tee shirts and coffee mugs and tote bags and such—wasn’t listed anymore. Basically, when lockdowns started, it caused a lot of disruption and delays on orders. Not wanting people to be stuck waiting for stuff, we decided to take it all offline, and only offer digital merch.

As of today, we’ve reactivated everything! But please keep in mind that there may still be delays, depending on what’s happening in the world! We appreciate your patience, if patience is indeed called for.

Visit Our Etsy Shop

Season one transcripts

Next, we wanted to let you guys know that we now have transcripts available for season one of the Bitches Get Riches podcast!

We’re committed to making BGR as accessible as we possibly can. We know that some people can’t hear, or struggle to absorb information aurally, so transcripts were something we’ve always wanted to offer.

… But, you know, at the end of the day, we’re just two people! Transcribing and editing audio is time- and labor-intensive work, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day for us to do it along with the fifteen million other things we have to do.

We were able to offer season one transcripts thanks entirely to A Purple Life, a peerlessly talented and wonderful fellow blogger who selflessly made it happen. (If you don’t already read her stuff, you’ve already disobeyed us, as we commanded you to in 10 Rad Black Money Experts to Follow Right the Hell Now. And for that, we’re strongly considering smiting you.)

We’re incredibly thankful to Purple for her hard work on this. But we also feel strongly that this DESERVES to be paid work! So the release of season two transcripts is dependent on getting more Patreon donors to offset funding it.

Season 1, Episode 1: “Should I Tell My Boss I’m Looking for Another Job?”

Season 1, Episode 2: “How Should I Behave on My First Day at Work?”

Season 1, Episode 3: “My Parents Have Bad Credit. Should I Help by Co-signing Their Mortgage?”

Season 1, Episode 4: “Capitalism Is Working for Me. So How Could I Hate It?”

Season 1, Episode 5: “I Don’t Love My Job, but It Pays Well. Should I Quit—or Tough It Out?”

Season 1, Episode 6: “I Lent My Boyfriend Money. He Took It to a Casino.”

Season 1, Episode 7: “I’m Terrible at Budgeting. Do I Suck It Up—Or Is There Another Way?”

Season 1, Episode 8: “My Mother Demands Information About My One-Night Stands.”

Season 1, Episode 9: “I’ve Given up on My Dream Career. Where Do I Go From Here?”

Season 1, Episode 10: “I Want a Pedigreed Dog. She Wants a Rescue Mutt. It Turned into a Fight… and the Fight Got Ugly.”

Season 1, Episode 11: “I Feel Cornered by a Friend Who Keeps Asking to Borrow Money.”

Season 1, Episode 12: “Should I Believe the Fear-Mongering about Another Recession?”

Bonus Episode: Merry Bitchmas! The 2019 Star-Studded Holiday Spectacular

For transcripts, scroll to the bottom of each episode and click “episode transcript.” Or read them directly in the podcast player of your choice!

Podcast reviews

We also super wanted to thank all the people who’ve etched their names in blood upon the dusty pages of our dark grimoire written reviews for the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other places!

We are beyond flattered by the kind things you guys have said about us. Like MoonPetalLily, who described us as “the snarky older sisters [they] wish [they] had.”

FunshineKelly said our “advice helped [them] land a $20k raise and a signing bonus without crying even a little bit.” GOOD! We don’t support tears in the workplace! Not even in the sanctity of your car parked way in the corner of the parking lot. Keep it together!

And God bless MelHubbs, who said, and I quote:

They’re prepared, and still relaxed; informative, and still light-hearted; comforting, and still sexual. It’s everything you could ever want in a podcast, in an internet personality, in your sisters-in-arms against the terrible war between capitalism and what humans actually need to survive & thrive. One of my favorite things about them is that they don’t have any corporate sponsors or ads, so you know what they’re saying is what they mean, not what their advertisers want them to say. If you’re able, support them on Patreon! If you’re not, listen to their podcast, take their advice to heart, reflect on your options, make your moves, then, with your newfound financial independence, become a patreon!

MelHubbs, you joyful sonnet!

Your review is so good that it reads suspiciously like something we paid you to write! But we’re too cheap for that—IT REAL!

Bitches Get Riches at the crossroads

All right. Time to level with you guys.

In keeping with 2020’s overarching theme (“everything is pure shit”), this year has become a real “shit or get off the pot” moment for the two of us.

Although I’m comfortable and doing fine, Piggy is still unemployed. And last week she received the last unemployment check she’s entitled to. It sucks. And it’s scary.

Being a partnership is awesome in almost every way. But one way that it sucks is that we have to earn double the amount of money to be truly profitable! (And no, before you ask, it’s not possible for us to only pay Piggy. Believe me, that was our original plan—but it turns out that’s not allowed in a 50/50 legal partnership. We must pay ourselves equally, or Uncle Sam will spank us. And he doesn’t do it in the sexy way—only the traumatic way!)

Piggy is doing okay for now. She has freelancing work, and an intact emergency fund. But understandably, anxiety and worry take their toll. She’s pushing through it, but it’s hard. Creativity and passion can’t thrive for long without some measure of safety and stability.

During these scary times, our Patreon community has been a lifeline. As more and more of you have joined us, it’s slowly crept up from grocery money to grocery and utility bill money! So thank you, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts thank you to those who’ve stepped up and joined.

But we’re kind of at a crossroads. Because of Piggy’s situation, we really need it to become “paying the mortgage” money. And it’s gotta get there pretty fast. Otherwise, it’s just not fair to ask Piggy to invest so much of her time in Bitches Get Riches, when she could be taking on higher paying freelancing work to keep herself afloat.

And trust me, you do not want a BGR that’s too Kitty-heavy. I am longwinded af, slowly losing my abilities to think and spell, and take every possible detour to inject disgusting sexual comments wherever they are least germane (although idk maybe you’re here for that).

Our new goal for ourselves, and you

With all of that in mind, we have a new goal: to produce season three of our podcast, we need 500 total Patreon donors.

Today we have… 294. So that’s, uhhhhh… a really ambitious goal!

It’s probably too ambitious. We’re probably gonna fail. Who cares, it’s 2020! The planet is on fire and god is already dead, so we have no reason not to give it our all!

We are leaving this in your hands. We—Piggy and I—believe that the world would be a better place if people could hear reliable, relatable financial wisdom funded by regular people, untainted by corporate sponsors with deep pockets who want us to push their capitalist crap upon you. And 294 of you have already demonstrated that you believe that too. Thank you, thank you, infinity thank yous to all of you who are already a part of our Patreon community. You are shining stars that smell faintly of vanilla.

For the rest of you: if you like what we do and you want us to keep doing it, please show us that you believe in it too. You can do that by joining us at the Bitches Get Riches Patreon.

We hope to be back soon for a third season. Until then, stay safe, stay sane, wear your masks, triple-check that you’re registered to vote, and save room for dessert. (What’s for dessert? So glad you asked—it’s the rich!)

For now, Bitches OUUUTTTTT!

Join the Bitches on Patreon

#etsy #merch #bitches get riches #patreon #donations #personal finance #financial advice #money #adulting #money advice #advice #adulting advice

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peacelykerockets · 4 years ago

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Yeah man, I'm really not a Kanye fan anymore I listened to The Midnight Miracle, which is a podcast with Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), Dave Chappelle, and Talib Kweli. And all it reminded me of is how these guys remained grounded while Kanye is off on some bullshit. Now if you weren't around in those days (early to mid 00s) and don't know about the neo-soul, "conscious" rap days of those times, Kanye used to roll with Mos, he showed up on Chappelle's show like two times for performances. This was when Ye was coming up. This seemed like a thing at the time. All the names - Dave Chappelle, Mari Bin Ari, The Roots, Slum Village, Bilal, Erykah Badu, John Legend, Mos Def, Common, Alicia Keys... I could go on. Oh my fucking god it was a time. And early on Kanye seemed a part of these section in an overall magical era in black music. Now on The Midnight Miracle they did not say anything about Kanye. But mind you, being a teen around that time, obsessed with Chappelle's show, hearing The College Dropout, and just everything going in that segment of hip-hop and R&B at the time, it was just a wonderful time in the midst of all the bullshit going on the the 00s. This was Bush's America. War on terror, 9/11, constant fear mongering, and just being black in America period. As a teen who watched the towers fall, and reached high school in 2003 two years later, man music was a fucking refuge. Kanye came in with "Through the Wire" in 2003, and from that time I was rooting for a guy who I thought was a nobody. The song was so honest, so raw, something that we hadn't heard in mainstream hip-hop since probably 2pac or Biggie. That rooting must have worked because Kanye blew up, became a household name - but the going back and listening to that Kanye vs the Kanye of today, damn is it a stark contrast. Kanye was never humble, admit that. I remember watching him being "punked" on MTV's "Punk'd" and seeing it from right there. I remember being in school and my hip-hop head friends thinking that episode would ruin him. Even then we though 'yo what the fuck is wrong with this dude?' But it was all played down, the music was great, The College Dropout was out and we got hit after hit. Jesus Walks, Slow Jams, Kanye's Workout Plan, and I wore that damn [bootleg] CD out. In a few months I went from begging my moms to buy me Get Rich or Die Trying at Target to being a Kanye fan with my best friend handing me a bootleg copy of The College Dropout, and us vibing to that album all summer.

Maybe I'm getting old, I'll admit that as I get old my admirance of rappers and really all celebrities is wearing off. But listening to The Midnight Miracle made me feel something. People are talking about a 00s revival and I'm feeling that. Listening to that podcast made me: a 31 year old man, feel like a 13-15 year old teenaged boy again. It put me back in that era, makes me want to buy some earthtones and chill the fuck out and let the world fade into the back. Maybe it's because Kanye has seen more success in his career than Mos, and Talib. Dave I feel is Kanye level in his craft of comedy. But damn did Ye lose his head. Younger folk may not get it or remember Ye pre 808s and Heartbreak. I mean I was the dude who was all aboard with saying that if you want old Kanye then listen to old Kanye. Now I'm like yeah, where's my guy? Not the guy chasing trends, selling sneakers. The 40 something year old man who was hopping music trends where he really didn't fit, sounding awkward trying to ride beats and styles of younger dudes. I like how Dave, Yasiin (Mos Def), and Talib seem to be maturing and aging gracefully while Kanye is still chasing the bullshit Maybe I'm being nostalgic, missing a bygone era. Nah... I fully admit I miss that era. But shit seems to have come full circle. And for someone who seemed so forward thinking at a point, Kanye just now seems to be fallin behind, punching under his weight. I'm just hoping Ye can get his shit together at some point, and deliver some music that people really feel and fuck with at some point, And stop faking us out on album releases. The antics are getting old. I can't get with this dude anymore.

#Kanye #Kanye West #Mos Def #yasiin bey #talib kweli #dave chappelle #music #rap #hip-hop #rappers #00s #the midnight miracle #neo soul #rap music #black people #conscious hip hop #chappelleshow #podcast #podcasts

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warmbeebosoftbeebo · 4 years ago

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I just began listening to Kala’s podcast from last week. It was q+a style and Z*ck was asking her the questions. The topic turned to social media and how toxic it can be. Z*ck said he’s no longer on social media and that there is a “smaller group of people who are overly negative and overly hateful.” Kala chimed in and said how social media used to be a fun outlet for her but now has become a “weird, hateful place” that makes her mad. (timestamp @ 11:22 / Founders Q+A / Nov. 23) Well did they think social media was going to be rainbows and butterflies after 20+ women accused him of sexual harassment?! Do you think this is there way of giving the middle finger to all of the drama surrounding the accusations? That’s what I perceived it as just by the tone of their voices. Also, at the beginning of the podcast Zack said he was hanging out with Panic’s manager and helping him with a project for a friend. So he is spending time with the rest of the panic team. We know he’s still friends w/B. It infuriates me how someone could be accused and proven in some cases of sexual harassment and not have any consequences. Yes he won’t be around fans anymore but did he even learn a lesson if B and the people around him treat him like nothing happened.

(this is rather jumbled, but i wanted to respond before spring rolled around)

i listened to it and the other ones with zack (unless there’s one with him from the last couple weeks, in which case i missed that one). is there a masterlist of what was said about zack? there’s been several accusations, but i don’t think it’s been anywhere close to 20 women for sexual harassment, and there was only one accusing him of anything physical/sexual assault (which gives me pause, because it’s the only one, and anonymous, whereas there’s patterns, corroboration, etc with the non-physical ones. i will say it says something that breezy found the sexual assault of the 13 year old plausible. that’s how awful she found him. that’s how awful her experiences with him were. him doing that was in line with her experiences with him. maybe they reflect “jokes” he made, for example.)

i can understand kala being upset; i honestly feel bad for her. especially considering how some people commented on her and her dog’s instagram going on about what trash zack was, that she should leave him, etc. but it’s kind of ironic for her to be talking about trauma, sexual assault, etc on her podcast but... she didn’t seem.. prepared or equipped to deal with this. i do like what she said about cancel culture, but it does leave me wondering what she’s read/seen. (obviously fandom twitter in particular is a dumpster fire but the whole fire zack hall thing started off mostly serious, honest, a lot less anonymous, little rumour mongering, etc and therefore, a lot more credible than what followed.)

it is of course a lot harder when it’s a man you love who’s accused of certain things and definitely did other things that are sexually harassive, unethical, misogynist, and/or pornographic. most find it easy to say “death to rapists” “believe victims” and whatnot until it hits close to home (husband, lover, brother, father...). especially when (and i’ve said this before) the man isn’t a monster (breezy and dallon probably disagree).

i don’t think he is. this isn’t a marilyn manson, harvey weinstein, r kelly, etc situation. (there’s no “fixing” those men, they won’t change, and i’m prepared to call those men and their ilk sadistic, psychopathic, narcissistic, punishing, etc and irredeemable. won’t be upset to hear that they died. i’d even say if a victim killed them, they should damn well get a fucking medal and a parade.)

this isn’t about the extremes of male sexual behavior and ethics, it’s about the normal. pretty much everything (except zack fetishizing people with amputated limbs that breezy alleged), barring touching the 13 year old, alleged and proven is completely within the realm of normal male behaviour. (and even men assaulting adolescent girls is a lot more common and normal than we think. even then, these are mostly normal guys, not diagnosable as psychopathic or “pedophilic.”) if he’s a monster, frankly so are most men (and some women).

that includes those outraged posters with uncles, dads, brothers, boyfriends...you probably love men and teen boys who have done the same kind of things. they likely even have women who are so hurt and disturbed by their actions they are where breezy was on him. i wonder what she’s read. has she read them all? has she read at least the named (breezy, ian, ian’s ex ren, dallon) and sourced allegations (links to his twitter)?

i wish things (behind the scenes/with panic, with b, with breezy, ian, dallon...) would come out, even if on the level of it being handled “in house”. it honestly being recognized, investigated, and handled. obviously, it done privately, we won’t know, but there’s obviously a lot that’s not been done. breezy isn’t making shit up for “outrage points” or “victim points” or whatever. there’s good reasons she thinks as she does about him. and i bet she’s angry and bewildered that brendon doesn’t see it, or why the fact that it is within the realm of normal male behavior provides cover for it.

the more common something is, the harder it is to see as wrong (harassment, misogyny, demeaning, etc). the more it is actually aligned with mainstream culture, masculinity and male sexuality, the more difficult it is to see the problem. because if one sees the problem, one sees most of male culture/sexuality/bonding/etc as a problem, most men as a problem. it involves looking at himself, his other friends, his male family members... too. looking at jokes he laughed at, jokes he cracked. what he and other men watch as humour, as porn. and so on.

#zack hall #brendon urie

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grimoire-of-geekery · 5 years ago

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I’m No Angel: An Update and Some Stuff Regarding Pedestals and Pits

Hey guys.

So I’d say I was sorry for not updating more regularly, but honestly, I’m so overwhelmed with everything I’ve been doing and everything that’s been going on in this world that I’m just not able to muster any sort of contrition. I’m a fairly private person by nature, even if I try to be personable and reachable. Sometimes filling out the mental questionnaire about “how are you feeling, what are you up to, who and what matters to you right now” and sharing it is just a lot more exhausting than it probably needs to be.

Some of that is because I run a blog that’s focused on a body of work and interest that is very specific, and I don’t really feel comfortable with posting personal stuff on my professional blog. That’s not what we’re here for. Well, I know that’s what some of you are here for, some of you follow my blog as a way to stay close to me as a person, and y’all know who you are, and you know I really appreciate the support. The rest, however, are here because they found my articles and my books and stuff, and they want to stay connected or involved in the work itself, for their own reasons and in their own ways.

That fact all on its own makes me incredibly happy. I’m a geek, and people who share my love and passion for my geeky subjects are hard to find, because I’m so specifically focused, so it’s wonderful to have people to talk with and share with. And I’m super grateful for the people who have shown support for my creative works, like Pack of Cards and the Clow Book and things like that.

If these are the things which brought you here, then I’m glad, and you have my gratitude. They’re what this blog, my side blogs, and my Patreon are about. I hope you continue to enjoy what I produce, and I hope you continue asking the thoughtful and insightful questions I’ve come to look forward to reading in my inbox and my message feed.

Just, keep in mind, I’m a person. I’ve got personality flaws, I try real hard and don’t always succeed or hit the mark, and I often make mistakes. Nobody is more aware of this than I am, and as a result, I get very nervous any time people start telling stories about me.

And I’m talking good stories or bad ones. The good ones, I feel like I’m pressured to live up to, like I need to start getting used to rarified air and elevated status, which makes me EXTREMELY uncomfortable. That discomfort is compounded by my equal dislike of being vilified or thrown down into a pit via someone’s narrative. The bad stories make me feel like I need to start sharpening weapons and preparing for trouble.

There’s this weird thing that happens with me and friends, which I and those close to me call “Angel or Devil Syndrome.” Throughout my life, a large number of people have followed a pattern where they get close to me, and lift me up onto a pedestal, treating me like their angel of providence or something (rarely with any sort of warning, or discussion or consent on my part). This lasts until they decide I’ve violated their sense of good in some way (again, rarely with any input from me), and then they cast me down into a pit and treat me like the devil. To be fair, some people move straight to demonizing me, and obviously others don’t do this at all, because I’m not really relevant in their life. Unfortunately, both the “angel” treatment and the “devil” treatment are common enough that aside from a few lovely exceptions in my life, I have had to be really wary of who I get close to, and how far I let them in. Because as we know from folklore, the Devil is supposed to be a fallen angel, so either way, I get treated like something I’m not, and often the backlash falls upon my family and friends.

And I’m not okay with that. With any of it.

Like, I realize everyone has the right to like or dislike people, but after nearly forty years of dealing with unearned notoriety and irrational-and-often-seemingly-disingenuous accolades, I can confidently say that not only do I not like people doing this, I also don’t think any of it is healthy.

Just in the last three months, I’ve dealt with two preposterous “rumors” about me and my family, one which could have proven very hurtful to people I care about. And these rumors came from people whose narrative was that they cared about me, and they were trying to “help.”

Rumors and gossip aren’t help. And it’s not as if it’s hard to find out what’s going on with me. I’m not that much of an enigma, guys. I’m pretty much what it says on the tin. I’m often cranky, occasionally snide, I value humor and hope and romance, and I’m prone to strong emotions and fits of something like artistic expression.

I like good people and bad witchy fiction, I’m a lover of music and contemporary/modern fantasy. I’m queer, half-Latino, polyamorous, and not at all a fan of bigotry or nihilistic rhetoric or effete behavior. I prioritize practical results and that which is relevant right now over ambition or ancient history (which I also love in a geeky way, but not in a way which insists it be put on the top of my list).

I think all of this should be apparent, and if it isn’t, I dunno how to make it clearer.

If a person sees these qualities as admirable, great, so long as nobody sees them as supernatural. If a person sees them as contemptible, that’s fine, so long as they don’t make their opinion into a problem for my life or the lives of those I love.

If I were to advise anyone getting close to me, I would say three things: don’t think of me as a paragon, don’t treat me like a monster, and consent is 100% required on all levels, so ask for it before you trespass all over my boundaries.

I don’t feel like any of those are unrealistic, y’know? And I’m at the point in my life where I’m really uninterested in people demanding explanations or trying to poke at me like I owe them answers. Questions, I like. Polite inquiry is the best thing ever. Rumor-mongering, malicious gossip, and drama cycles are not something I want as part of my life anymore. I’m theatrical, but the capes and the sparkly glitter are for fun and mood, not for stealing spotlights or seizing narratives, and if any of you are experiencing a situation where someone is doing either of those things, please please please get away from them. And definitely don’t involve me and mine.

Now, an update, since it seems like people were interested:

I’m still working on my next book, Paper Bones. It’s an uphill struggle, it’s not as easily written as Pack of Cards was.

I’m also working on my Patreon, and helping to maintain our community on Discord, Zoom, Second Life, and other locations.

I’m teaching more classes than I have in a long time, and it’s pretty tiring, though I do find the work to be its own reward.

I’m hanging out with my family and friends I’ve been sheltering with. They make me feel safe and loved.

I’m working on a new podcast, and that’s a struggle all on its own, as I don’t find myself as charismatic as I did the combination of myself and Felix, which is a pretty sore subject right now. In any case, I hope to have at least one episode out this month.

That’s about it. No plans of saving the world or dominating it. I just wanna live my life, do my work, practice my Craft and find joy with my loved ones. Things are scary right now, and I’m committing myself to protecting and nurturing those places and people which love and sustain me, and working to protect other people’s rights to have the same happiness I think we all deserve.

Feel free to ask questions if you’ve got them, any time. I’m happy to help in whatever way I can.

#yes I'm aware of what he said #there are a lot of people who know what happened with us and why I left him #and I'm not surprised he's saying what he's saying

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littlestsnicket · 5 years ago

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the witcher: four marks

I think it’s interesting that we meet Yennefer and Jaskier in the same episode

What is Istred doing here? Is he really trying to protect her from Tissaia? Cause if so, it’s not super effective, and I would think he would know that? Also, I feel like Istred would think it was best for Yennefer to study magic?

“That woman’s a witch, you know what she will do.” What is that supposed to mean? They certainly can’t suspect what she actually does to young girls that don’t make the cut.

It’s really cruel that Tissaia haggled like that. She could easily afford 10 marks for Yennefer, but she wants to make a point that Yennefer is worth less than a pig in the eyes of her father, and that is really messed up psychological manipulation.

Clever Ciri, hiding her hair! And she looks so cold, poor baby.

Dara is excellent. He’s so patient with Ciri while she gets over being casually rude and dismissive. But he��s also never like a dishrag, doesn’t endorse her bad behavior. And she shares her gloves :)

“You think you're safe” of Jaskier’s song overlaps with Ciri entering the encampment where she thinks she will be safe!!! AAAAAAAAH!!! Also, what is up with Posada? That tavern is in an absolute batshit location that doesn’t really match with where they end up going looking for the devil.

All the tavern patrons just looking at Jaskier, lol. He’s also clearly dressed better than anyone else there. He can (or could until recently) afford really nice clothing but it

“They don’t exist” what was Jaskier playing before the “abortion” song cause I’m sure Geralt knows that people having ill advised sex exist.

So, I’ve seen people make fun of this (Jaskier stating the obvious that Geralt is a Witcher), but Jaskier knows who Geralt is, specifically, by name. And the kid that gives Geralt the job, even though he is clearly desperate, doesn’t approach him until after Jaskier has identified Geralt as a witcher.

“I could be your barker, spreading the tails of Geralt of Rivia, the Butcher of Blavikin.” Jaskier is not stupid. Does he possibly really think that Geralt is not upset about that story? Depending on how it is told, he probably comes across as competent and ruthless and efficient, and “taking no prisoners”, which would be good things for a witcher to trade in on for work. It does make a certain amount of sense to assume that a Witcher (especially as they are known not to have feelings) wouldn’t mind being associated with that story.

Tissaia’s outfits are all great, but I particularly like this pin-strippy one. The silhouette and the sleeves!

“You should have let me die, at least I had control over it” --that’s a big thing for Yennefer.

I like that they don’t try to hide how short the actress that plays Tissaia is. It makes her presence that much more impressive when she is so small.

The face Tissaia makes when Yennefer eats the flower, like she puts together where that came from that quickly.

“Doing my part to avenge the lives lost in Filavendral’s uprising” which WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IF THE ELVES HAD STAYED WHERE THEY WERE OUTSIDE OF POSADA!!! Actions having far reaching and unintended consequences is a witcher theme. What is Jaskier doing all the way out there?

(Since I paused to look at the map, Arteuza is really close to Oxenfurt, huh.)

“Oh child your shoes, let’s get you a fresh pair.” this is so uncomfortable. Like this woman is so cruel and racist (speciest?) but she’s kind to Ciri--possibly only because she can identify her as someone of high class. There’s a lot going on. (“Don’t worry, he’s one of the clean ones” eeeeeh!)

Jaskier clutching his lute case strap when Geralt moves past him too quickly. He has some amount of self preservation instinct after being sucker punched. But then he is also like “ACT TWO BEGINS!”

You have to admire Yennefer’s nerve just lying to Tissaia like that. That’s crazy.

“Even if you were a beauty, still no one will love you.” --this colors so much of Yennefer’s behavior.

Istred is so kind to her. Maybe he’s the first person to do so. “Are these the things you love? These are the things I thought you would love.” That is such a subtle poetic difference, I love it.

Shouldn’t someone know who Geralt is and be able to tell Ciri? There are a bunch of points where he seems like almost a household name.

“That’s impossible, No, it’s magic” it seems like Tissaia has taught them nothing.

“There are mages like Sabrina who ignore their emotions, then there are mages like us who are consumed by them” You have to wonder what Tissaia is like when she lets her emotions out.

Jaskier seems to speak Elder pretty well. And goes from delighted to concerned about Geralt headbutting elf lady so quickly!

Jaskier’s education on elves at least started as part of a deliberate misinformation campaign, though that was probably generations ago. It’s interesting that he seems to be fairly unquestioning about it while he clearly has his own highly developed skills in the area. But he does take being wrong in stride, so he must be well versed in propaganda, just hadn’t questioned that specifically?

Filevandral is “not a king, not by choice”

“One human, and you can let him go”

“The lesser evil, no matter what you choose, you’ll come out bloody and hating yourself.” --someone is speaking from experience :(

“They’ll make slaves of us, pharias of half blood children” — I doubt Yennefer’s deformity actually has anything to do with being part elf, sounds like racist fear mongering.

“Show the humans that you are more than what they fear you to be”

Oh, Yennefer is lying about being sent home. But i think most of this is her using her real feelings to manipulate Istred rather than actually lying.

“Rewriting history with the stories we tell, the songs we sing about our own triumphs, it’s what we do.” the “plot arc” in this episode is questionable at best, but all of the different threads tie together so nicely! They all build on one another despite taking place decades apart.

Stregobor!!! In this moment, he’s not doing anything worse than Tissaia, but he still makes me angry just by being there.

I don’t even know what to say about that bit with the mother and how the dwarf stabs her. I don’t blame him?

Dara rescuing Ciri!

So there’s a bunch of points earlier in the episode where Yennefer asks questions and is ignored. It feels important.

When are mages supposed to learn that Aretuza is powered by eel-girls?

So how did Jaskier end up with Filavandrel’s lute? Was he just like, you broke my lute give me a new one?

“That’s not how it happened, where’s your new found respect?”

“Respect doesn’t make history.”

The face Geralt makes is pretty close to “oh no what have I unleashed on the world? Should I do something to stop this?” he’s underestimated how clever and ruthless Jaskier is. And it’s also too late, this is Jaskier’s thing and Geralt does not have the skills to counter it if he wanted to.

“He wiped out your pest” also lines up with Yennefer sweeping the eels into the lake. (And of course, as the writer of the episode mentioned on that podcast, Yennefer is on screen with the line “a friend of humanity”)

Yennefer and Tissaia smiling at each other in that last moment. This is probably the one singular moment where Yennefer is taken in on the whole being a mage thing. It gets more complicated for her again very quickly.

#mayo blogs the witcher #the witcher #am i a little bit obsessed with jaskier and yennefer? maybe

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eddycurrents · 6 years ago

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For the week of 27 May 2019

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #10 somehow gets even more disturbing as we’re shown some of McGregor’s past as he was abused and set up as a suicide. The horror that Garth Ennis, Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina, and Rob Steen keep exploring in this series keeps getting more personal and seemingly has no limit to its depth.

| Published by AfterShock

Amazing Spider-Man #22 concludes (mostly) the “Hunted” arc as Kraven continues to try to convince Spider-Man that he’s a killer and to finally put Kraven out of his misery. It’s incredibly messed up logic, but Nick Spencer, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado, Erick Arciniega, and Joe Caramagna make it interesting. You could consider this end anti-climactic, especially after how long this has been, but I get the feeling we’ll be dealing with the ramifications for a while to come.

| Published by Marvel

Amber Blake #3 takes an interesting turn as an undercover operation into a modelling agency reveals that Amber’s childhood friend Amanda is still alive. The level of intrigue and twists in this story just keeps escalating, matching the density of the layouts and art from Butch Guice, Mike Perkins, and Dan Brown.

| Published by IDW

Angel #1 is incredible. Possibly even better than the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and that has set a ridiculously high bar. Bryan Edward Hill, Gleb Melnikov, Gabriel Cassata, and Ed Dukeshire embrace the darker, moodier feel of Angel consistent with the different atmosphere that was present in the television series, while diving deep into building up his dark past and conflicted future. There’s a lot that is new to this interpretation, which just makes it more intriguing. And the art from Melnikov and Cassata is gorgeous.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Ascender #2 advances the vamps’ plan to eradicate the remaining technology in the universe, as Andy is reunited with Bandit, and the vamps come to threaten him and his family. This remains an interesting new take on the Descender world from Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen, and Steve Wands as we see more of what’s happened since the end of that series.

| Published by Image

Batman: Last Knight on Earth #1 is an interesting debut from Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia, and Tom Napolitano. On its surface, it’s an “Old Man Bruce” story, as a previously comatose Bruce awakens in a dark and strange future. But this existence is weird and unreliable. Especially as Bruce awakens in a fiction at first, being told that he’s in Arkham and that all of his villains and time as Batman were fever dreams cooked up by a fractured mind. This may well be the best art ever from Capullo, Glapion, and Plascencia.

| Published by DC Comics / Black Label

Black Science #40 shows that the story still has some surprises in store as it rockets towards the end. Also some ridiculous jokes. Matteo Scalera and Moreno Dinisio continue to inventive as hell with the art.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Coda #12 is the explosive, brilliant conclusion to what has been on the best series of this year and last. Si Spurrier, Matías Bergara, Michael Doig, and Jim Campbell have delivered some stunning flights of imagination, tapping into some highly inventive nihilistic fantasy, presenting the final battle battle this issue, and, man, does it stick the landing. Phenomenal storytelling all around.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Daredevil #6 begins “No Devils, Only God” in a New York City without Daredevil. Lalit Kumar Sharma, Jay Leisten, and Java Tartaglia come on for art duties for this arc and it’s an interesting shift. Sharma’s style reminds me a bit of Klaus Janson’s, but without the heavy inks and shadows.

| Published by Marvel

Detective Comics Annual #2 heads into Year Two territory as we get a new Reaper from Peter J. Tomasi, Travis Moore, Max Raynor, Tamra Bonvillain, Nick Filardi, and Rob Leigh. This is a nice use of the annual format, giving us a satisfying single issue story setting up a possible future arc.

| Published by DC Comics

The Forgotten Queen #4 brings an end to this excellent series exploring the history of Vexana, War-Monger, from Tini Howard, Amilcar Pinna, Ulises Arreola, and Jeff Powell. Very interesting depth added to the character and interesting hints as to what more might be coming, hopefully.

| Published by Valiant

Hellboy vs. Lobster Johnson: Ring of Death elaborates further on Hellboy’s time in Mexico making wrestling movies in a pair of tales from Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Mike Norton, Paul Grist, Dave Stewart, Bill Crabtree, and Clem Robins. Seeing a presentation of the movie Hellboy starred in is a real treat.

| Published by Dark Horse

Immortal Hulk #18 leans hard into the body horror aspect of the series, debuting both Betty’s full form as this new Harpy and in the Abomination. Joe Bennett, Ruy José, and Paul Mounts just nail this perfectly.

| Published by Marvel

Killer Groove #1 is a great first issue from Ollie Masters, Eoin Marron, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. It’s a taut crime drama mixing a never-was musician with the potential of life as a hitman, as he lucks into a kill during a chance encounter. Great art from Marron and Bellaire.

| Published by AfterShock

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #3 advances the alien plot, sending Kamala and her parents off to Saffa to supposedly fulfill the role of their Destined One, saving the planet again. Saladin Ahmed, Minkyu Jung, Juan Vlasco, Ian Herring, and Joe Caramagna are doing some interesting world-building here, and ensuring that nothing is quite what it seems.

| Published by Marvel

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #5 is the beautiful conclusion to what has been a brilliant series from Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard, Mary Safro, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. It’s been a sequel, satire, criticism, and repudiation of Watchmen, but it’s also been an interesting mediation on “being better” while coming to terms with the nature of reality and learning to deal with the human element.

| Published by Dynamite

Queen of Bad Dreams #2 gets more into the grit of IJ Wei’s investigation into the escaped figment, delivering some great police procedural stuff. The artwork from Jordi Pérez and Dearbhla Kelly is wonderful. Reminding me a lot of some of the work from John Watkiss, particularly during a very impressive action sequence.

| Published by Vault

She Said Destroy #1 is an intriguing science fantasy debut from Joe Corallo, Liana Kangas, Rebecca Nalty, and Melanie Ujimori. It taps into Celtic mythology, presenting a war between Brigid and the Morrigan, but also appears to be telling a coming of age story with some members of the Morrigan’s flock as they try to combat Brigid’s oppression.

| Published by Vault

Star Wars #108 is essentially another one-shot in the 80th anniversary of Marvel celebration, with Matthew Rosenberg and a murderers’ row of new and old Star Wars artists delivering a tale set in the old Marvel continuity. While you’ll get more out of it if you’re familiar with the original series, with familiar faces like Valance Hunter, Domina Tagge, and Jaxxon, but it still works well on its own without having any foreknowledge of previous events.

| Published by Marvel

Stranger Things: Six #1 begins another prequel mini-series, this time introducing us to “Six” and looking into the experiments going on at the Hawkins Labs, from Jody Houser, Edgar Salazar, Keith Champagne, Marissa Louise, and Nate Piekos. I quite liked the first one that served as a view into the terror that Will went through during season one, but this one looks like it’ll be breaking some new ground. Very interested to see more of what happened earlier.

| Published by Dark Horse

Superman: Leviathan Rising Special #1 is a tease for Event Leviathan, the next turn in the Superman series, the forthcoming Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen minis, and the upcoming Supergirl arc once she returns to Earth, but it also manages to tell a fairly entertaining story in its own right as Talia al Ghul kidnaps Clark Kent.

| Published by DC Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #94 continues “City at War” as everything gets nastier and dirtier, and we still haven’t had a full-on incendiary spark yet to ignite even larger warfare. Dave Wachter and Ronda Pattison deliver some incredible artwork. Splinter is very chilling in this one.

| Published by IDW

Thor #13 will make you care about Cul Borson. At least, a little bit. Maybe. Jason Aaron, Mike del Mundo, Marco D’Alfonso, and Joe Sabino deliver on another single issue story broadening the bits and pieces of the War of the Realms.

| Published by Marvel

Transformers #6 takes a break from the ongoing narrative and gives us a look into the past friendship between Megatron and Orion Pax, from Brian Ruckley, Beth McGuire-Smith, and Tom B. Long. There are some interesting parallels between Megatron’s observations and the drifting apart of these two old friends.

| Published by IDW

Wolverine: The Long Night #5 concludes this adaptation of the podcast of the same name from Benjamin Percy, Marcio Takara, Matt Milla, and Joe Caramagna. This has been a mature, psychological thriller amidst all of the violence and darkness, with this final chapter delivering more twists even as it brings the answers.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Age of X-Man: X-Tremists #4, Bad Luck Chuck #3, Black Panther #12, Blossoms 666 #4, Catwoman Annual #1, Dark Red #3, Dead Kings #5, Delver #4, Dick Tracy Forever #2, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #8, Dog Days of Summer #1, Fantastic Four #10, Fight Club 3 #5, Four Sisters 2: Hortense, Grand Abyss Hotel, KINO #16, Life on the Moon, Lumberjanes: Somewhere Green #1, Major X #4, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #39, Princeless - Book 8: Princesses #3, Punk Mambo #2, Punks Not Dead: London Calling #4, Rick & Morty #50, Spawn #297, Star Trek: Year Five #2, Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #4, Superior Spider-Man #6, TMNT: Urban Legends #13, Thanos #2, Wailing Blade #1, War of the Realms: Giant-Man #2, War of the Realms: Spider-Man & The League of Realms #2, War of the Realms: War Scrolls #2, Wasted Space #10, X-23 #12, X-Men: Grand Design - X-Tinction #1

Recommended Collections: Death Orb - Volume 1, Dept. H Omnibus - Volume 1, The Goon: Bunch of Old Crap, Judge Dredd: Toxic, Punisher - Volume 2: War in Bagalia, Rick & Morty Presents - Volume 1, X-Force - Volume 1: Sins of the Past

For the week of 20 May 2019

Quick Bits:

Action Comics #1011 is the last stop before Event Leviathan starts in earnest and it raises more questions as to what’s going on. Brian Michael Bendis, Steve Epting, Brad Anderson, and Josh Reed have done a great job elevating tension through this lead-up and moving the pieces around the board.

| Published by DC Comics

Assassin Nation #3 is another brutal issue from Kyle Starks, Erica Henderson, and Deron Bennett. The body count remains high and we get more questions about who authorized the hit. There’s some hints that it may all just be misdirection.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Detective Comics #1004 gives us the life history of Astrid Arkham. It’s told largely in full page montages, really allowing Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, and Nathan Fairbairn to cut loose on the visuals.

| Published by DC Comics

Faithless #2 sees Faith go to a party, and then it gets weird. This feels like that Griffin Dunne film of him wandering around New York, only with more magic and gorgeous art from Maria Llovet.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Ghost Tree #2 delivers well on the promise of the first issue, going further with Brandt’s conversations with the spirits around the ghost tree, and setting up the possibility of something horrible coming soon. More gorgeous artwork from Simon Gane, Ian Herring, and Becka Kinzie.

| Published by IDW

Incursion #4 is a fitting conclusion to this series bringing Gilad back to a regular status in the world of the living, with some interesting teases as to what might be further down the line, from Andy Diggle, Alex Paknadel, Doug Braithwaite, Diego Rodriguez, Leonardo Paciarotti, and Marshall Dillon.

| Published by Valiant

Justice League Dark #11 continues “Lords of Order” and keeps burning down the magical side of the DC Universe, while diving very deep into the back catalogue to build up the new. James Tynion IV is developing a very interesting structure for what might be coming.

| Published by DC Comics

Middlewest #7 shows the sheer devastation that Abel can unleash as his powers manifest, similar to the rage that his father has shown, and how his newfound “family” can also let him down horribly. Great work from Skottie Young, Jorge Corona, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Nate Piekos as the story seems to be headed for more dangerous waters.

| Published by Image

Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Jabba the Hutt #1 is an entertaining little story of how Jabba manipulates others to accomplish his goals.

| Published by Marvel

Stone Star #3 gives us another surprise as Dail tries to save Kitzo from being eaten in the arena by Most-Maw. It’s very interesting how this series plays with elements of hero shooters and the designs for the characters and creatures by Max Dunbar are incredible.

| Published by Swords & Sassery

Other Highlights: A Shining Beacon, Age of X-Man: Amazing Nightcrawler #4, Animosity #21, Asgardians of the Galaxy #9, Avengers #19, Batgirl #35, Battlestar Galactica: Twilight Command #4, Bone Parish #9, Books of Magic #8, Clue: Candlestick #1, Cyber Force #10, Dial H for Hero #3, Doctor Strange #14, The Flash #71, Freedom Fighters #6, Gasolina #18, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #262, The Goon #2, Highwayman, Invader Zim #43, Invisible Kingdom #3, Martian Manhunter #5, Marvel Comics Presents #5, Mary Shelley: Monster Hunter #2, Miles Morales: Spider-Man #6, Monstress #22, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur #43, Mr. & Mrs. X #11, Redneck #20, Riverdale Season 3 #3, Road of Bones #1, Rumble #12, Runaways #21, Shuri #8, The Silencer #17, Star Trek: Q Conflict #4, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge #2, Tony Stark: Iron Man #11, The Unstoppable Wasp #8, Venom #14, War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery #3, War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #2, War of the Realms: The Punisher #2, War of the Realms: Strikeforce - The Land of Giants #1, War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #2, The Warning #7, Welcome to Wanderland #4. Wolverine: Infinity Watch #4, Wonder Woman #71, X-Force #8

Recommended Collections: Black Badge - Volume 1, Black Magick, Cover - Volume 1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Volume 1, East of West - Volume 9, Fantastic Four - Volume 2: Mr. & Mrs. Grimm, Friendo - Volume 1, James Bond: Blackbox, Middlewest - Book 1, Planet Terry Complete Collection, Redlands - Volume 2, Summit - Volume 3: Truth & Consequences, Wayward - Book 3

d. emerson eddy thinks there should be more hours in the day.

#This Week in Comics

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