#thread: well met cousin ares

[personae-obscura]

"Agreed though as a sorceress and student of Headmistress Hecate, patience was a skill constantly drummed into my head. For good reason. Magick is finicky yet precise. A plant or herb picked at the wrong time and added to a spell can lead to disastrous consequences."

She ignored the way her skeletal arm pulsed with pain that wasn't truly there. She was used to the notion by now.

"I have yet to meet Athena or Dionysus. Of the family that was rightly focused on protecting Olympus, you are the first I have conversed with."

Completely true. And it never hurt to play to her relatives' ego a little. God's were a proud lot, Melinoë included.

There was no sign of Nike, Athena, Nemesis or other gods she would expect for a brewing conflict so perhaps it wasn't on the edge of beginning. There was plenty of fear in the air to catch her attention and then there was the reason that had her deciding to reveal herself to her cousin.

"I doubt it will be much longer. I was here to speak to a spirit assassinated and keep them calm before Hermes or Thanatos arrived to collect. They called for me first. Their final moments were praying to be reunited with their family in my father's realm. As soon as their physical body is discovered, I imagine there will be uproar."

"With Olympus under attack, I expected you to be focused on that as many of our family were." Another nod, and concession to his presence.

The war with Chronos had been trouble for everyone. There were several relatives Melinoë didn't get to meet that had met her brother; Ares, Athena, Dionysus just to name a few. And now, here they were, Chronos sealed away once more, and all able to return to their jobs to influence the world and the mortals. Ares can return to conflicts of mortals and revel in the bloodshed and Melinoë has begun to learn just what her sphere of influence is and how far it stretches.

"To the shades of Erebus and restless dead on the surface? Not so much, it was simply business. Better to temporarily end their suffering under Chronos' control than have them get in my way. But Chronos and his forces?" Here, he face split into a sharp smirk. "That was most enjoyable~ I may not have had the pleasure of receiving your boons-" It's always a good idea to play nice with her relatives; they were easily displeased and that was not a fight she wanted to have today. "-but I was lucky enough to receive assistance from many others who wished to see Chronos dealt with again."

She lapsed into silence again, simply listening to night creatures and enjoying the tingle of latent magic, knowing at least one of her comrades and family members were in the area. "What conflict has summoned you then, cousin?"

[rassilon-imprimatur]

The Bidmead Masterplan, or...

... the Birdseed Marzipan

Blair Bidmead. Obverse author. Faction Paradox novelist. Iris scribe. Champion of Original Characters and headcanon. Hartnell lover. A Bludgeon to canon.  

These are his stories. 

Señor 105: By the Time I Get to Venus: Señor 105 (when merely Señor 93) and the time traveling DJ Theo Possible travel back to the Venus of three billion years ago, a few relative years before the date and events of Paul Leonard’s Venusian Lullaby. There, 93 and Possible learn the art of the Venusian and train under Venusian aikido masters, with Mondasian Cyber(wo)man Litany Chromehurst, and a young First Doctor. During the training, Theo Possible, holding contempt for the Doctor and his people (a race of “trans-temporal aggressors”), beats the Doctor in combat, and leaves him with a limb that would require the use of a cane for the remainder of the incarnation’s life. The Doctor leaves Venus with a Venusian training stave (which would become one of his primary and favorite walking sticks). 

(Due to translation technology, Señor 105 only knows the Doctor as “El Jefe,” and Litany’s homeworld as “El Mundo.” Despite Bidmead’s use of the the title of the satirical deconstruction of the Doctor in the Iris Wildthyme story First Meetings, the “El Jefe” seen here is inarguably the Doctor proper.) 

“Significant Others,” A Target for Tommy: Prior to retiring from adventuring, Theo Possible begins to travel with Rose Tyler. Due to his trans-temporal nature, Possible is able to cross other dimensions and locked off timelines, and met Rose in Pete’s World. Feeling abandoned by the Tenth Doctor and now disgusted with the Metacrisis Doctor, Rose happily travels with Possible. The pair cross paths with the much older First Doctor in the Fourth Universe (on a planetary neighbor of Quinnis), realizing that their adventure was intertwined. While seemingly willing to let bygones be bygones, Theo is unable to get the Doctor to let go of old grudges, and the Time Lord totters off after telling Possible he “is not canonical!” 

Rose never learns the identity of the old man. 

“With All Awry,” Myth Makers: The Golden Years: After The Ancestor Cell, in an intermission before The Burning or a different temporal path entirely, the amnesic Eighth Doctor is given refuge from the universe in the Eleven Day Empire by the Faction. With his history damaged beyond repair, the Doctor is insubstantial and ghost-like, an echo. He shares his flat in the Empire with “Reg,” the equally insubstantial Ninth Doctor of Scream of the Shalka. The pair are looked after by Iris Wildthyme, at least at first. The few things that help the Eighth Doctor hold on to his existence are: a letter from Fitz Kreiner, explaining that the Faction are actually trying to help, and Fitz’s leather jacket, sent to the Doctor to ground him. 

However, a “large Northerner with close cropped hair” appears in the flat one day, using the Doctors’ remembrance tank bathtub to become real flesh and blood, seemingly with Iris’ help. The Eighth Doctor and “Reg” are evicted by the Faction, and before the ghostly pair can make it to the TARDIS, the “Northerner” steals Fitz’ leather jacket and the TARDIS. “Reg” abandons the Eighth Doctor and vanishes into the mists of the Empire. 

The final fate of this version of the Eighth Doctor is unknown. 

“Now or Thereabouts,” Faction Paradox: A Romance in Twelve Parts: After vanishing from the face of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Kelsey Hooper attempts to join Faction Paradox at eighteen years of age, wishing to gain the technology and means of destroying her ex-boyfriend Ryan (in truth a humanoid creature with a face of exploding glass). Now going by Ceol, she and a select group of young Siblings take part in Godfather Starch’s Apprentice-style media ritual. One of the many tasks Ceol is set to accomplish is to evict the Eighth Doctor and “Reg” from the Eleven Day Empire, and she witnesses the “Northerner” in the bath (as well as giving him a ride to the TARDIS). 

Ceol eventually becomes the victor of the media-ritual, gains a shadow weapon, and destroys Ryan. 

“Party Kill Accelerator!” The Panda Book of Horror: Calling herself Kelsey for simplicity, Cousin Ceol meets up with Theo Possible at the Zona Obscura Music Festival as part of a “cultural exchange.” She has an adventure with Iris Wildthyme and Panda after refusing to kill them at the request of the evil Jimmy the Mandrill. Before Kelsey departs, Theo Possible gives her his record box.

“Entirely Possible,” Webcomic: An unknown time between, before, after, or during all these stories, Theo Possible begins a new adventure. 

(This story is unfinished, but establishes that Possible’s primary time traveling is done on the Parallel Line, a literal railway through history and timelines (maintained and regulated by the Time Lords perhaps?). Theo’s compassion and pity for (what appear to be) survivors of the Anchoring of the Thread and time wars is made apparent.) 

“The Calamari-Men of Mare Cimmerium,” Iris Wildthyme of Mars- Iris Wildthyme and a Martian named Vardo discover Ares, the Greek god of war, drunk in a bar, locked away by Mars, the Roman god of war. The Roman god allied himself with the Calamari-men, whose Queen could produce an ink that could literally rewrite the pages of history. 

Faction Paradox: Weapons Grade Snake Oil: This story establishes the exsistence of Godfather Christèmas, the renegade Homeworlder the Hussar, brings the infamous Anne Bony into Faction lore, and gives us a wonderful new character in the form of the renegade timeship the Kraken. 

Several years after escaping the Faction, Cousin Ceol, now Sojourner Hooper-Agogô, led a rebellion against the company seen in The Sun Makers and became the president of PROTEC. The Faction drags her back into the mess (but certainly not without a fight). 

(This story established the concepts of “Oxbow Realities” (strongly implying NuWho is the end product of the Doctor’s protagonist syndrome) and “Elective Semantectomy.”)

“Grumpy Auld Men,” Battlefield by the Meadow: To the joy of absolutely nobody, Theo Possible and the Doctor cross paths again, the Doctor now in his twelfth incarnation. 

“Happily Ever After is a High-Risk Strategy,” Tales of the City: Now semi-retired from adventuring, Theo Possible goes to and fro through the universe lazily, and is capable of getting into the City of the Saved (despite not being human, and not being dead.) 

While in the City, Theo learns that Litany Chromehurst, the Mondasian Cyber(wo)man he trained with on Venus, was resurrected in the City. 

“A Hundred Words from a Civil War,” Faction Paradox: A Romance in Twelve Parts: Kelsey Hooper/Cousin Ceol/Sojourner Hooper-Agogô is resurrected in the City of the Saved with her cymbiont L-Event. 

[dancerofdarna-blog]

I had so many thoughts about Lene and Ares friendship today that I’m just going to make a post and tag Ares-mun because they’re all disjointed (and I didn’t want to spam IMs).

@nordionknight

Joining the Liberation Army cemented their friendship. Prior to that, both were still a little guarded emotionally although they were definitely comfortable around each other which, i guess, is a given since she knows about his feelings towards Sigurd and Eldigan.

Lene will never have a deep understanding of the nuances of politics so Ares would be much better off discussing those with the likes of Seliph or Leif. She can still understand him or try to uplift his spirits, but she won’t be of use to him in that sense. She’s just philosophical enough to not begrudge people their livelihoods.

She’s very upfront with him about everything. If he asks, she’ll answer truthfully because she’s honest like that.

She’s beyond thrilled when Ares gets to reunite with Diarmuid and Nanna, but it’s a little sad too. They both have fixations on their missing families and well, at the end of the day, Ares succeeds in reuniting with his. Lene doesn’t even know Corpul is her brother. She and Ares are just friends, so she doesn’t get a “claim” on him. He belongs to his family first. Not that he needs it, but she’s also his biggest supporter in encouraging him to get to know his cousins.

They can speak about feelings, but they really, well, don’t without a pressing need. Their relationship is comfortable, natural, almost instinctual. They’re content hanging out and sassing each other.

She enjoys treating him every now and then! (Mostly fruit like in our thread because she can’t really afford extravagant things- certainly not any material goods befitting his status.) But she does what she can.

Don’t know when or where, but I want her to run her fingers through his hair at one point or another. I was playing with the idea of her trimming his bangs when they get too long because I think she does her own hair, trimming, styling, etc.

Lene is most comfortable when she’s the one initiating physical contact. He’s obviously not as handsy as the men she’s used to, but she really really appreciates that. It’s on her terms. She’s a physically affectionate person anyways. Tapping Ares on the shoulder, nudging him after a remark, leaning (no pun intended) on him after a long day...

This is actually important that Lene copes best when the situation is on her terms. She takes things in stride because it’s better than being caught off-guard. She demands that he forget they ever met because if he’s going to leave, she has to be the one breaking off their friendship. It hits so close to home considering Sylvia left her at the convent. She doesn’t begrudge her mother, but the action still scarred. And Lene thinks of her when she sees Ares’ back ride off in the distance assuming he’ll never come back.

But he does! He comes back for her- to her rescue, no less. Lene has had to be self-reliant most of her life. But Ares proves himself to be someone she can rely on (even if he’s hung up on the fact that he was almost too late). 

I think Lene may actually have forgotten she told him to forget they had ever met (which is something he never will). She’s just like that: hot-headed and loud, runs her mouth in the heat of the moment. After what happened, it’s a blur. She doesn’t try to dwell on it. I’d like to see them talk about it, but I don’t know if they ever do.  

What if... the first time Lene and Ares initiate physical contact is after he rescues her because she starts crying again upon seeing him even as she tries to stop herself. And neither of them really know how to go about it, so he awkwardly lets her cry it out.

And it’s also the first time he’s seen her cry like this. Maybe he’s seen her misty-eyed with tears of frustration after a rough day of work before, but nothing to this extent.

I don’t think she assumes that she’ll join him in Agustria post-war (barring if they’re paired in a playthrough.)

Because I love to suffer picture Lene asking him not to forget her when he inevitably returns to his homeland. (Which would parallel the last time they parted and she told him to forget her, ha h.) In response he asks what her plans are and when she hesitates, he offers her a place. 

In Agustria, Ares probably(?) encourages her to take better jobs, might put in a good word for her with some of the nobles. I toyed with the idea of him hiring her himself, but I think she’d feel weird about it. She refuses to charge him for it since they’re best friends and he buys her a new, high-quality scarf instead. She’s just like “Ares no”.

I feel bad for Lene not being paired with anyone (be it Ares or someone else) at the end of the game. Ares has his own family, his own life, his own lover, and their relationship may cause rumors which she’d feel bad about (because it is implied that she has feelings for him). Funny thing is, I think if she wasn’t romantically interested in him, she wouldn’t mind it. She’d just deny them or laugh it off and continue on with her day.

[tune-collective]

Colony House's Caleb Chapman Talks New Album & First Headlining Tour: 'We're Trying to Earn Our Stripes'

Colony House's Caleb Chapman Talks New Album & First Headlining Tour: 'We're Trying to Earn Our Stripes'

Growing up with a musician as a father, Colony House founding brothers Caleb and Will Chapman always had artistry in their blood. And after doing just about everything together throughout their childhood (including playing in their dad’s band), the siblings were always kind of destined to eventually be in a band together too — creating the foundation for their Franklin, Tenn.-based rock quartet.

In fact, Caleb (vocals/guitar) and Will (drums) were already paving their “brothers in a band” path as early as second grade: Two Car Garage, inspired by what their mom called Will’s mouth when he was missing his two front teeth. “It was pretty much like if Nirvana was in second grade,” Caleb tells Billboard. “We had a song called ‘Football in the Air’ that was literally about playing football. It was awesome.”

Although that name (and songs about sports) didn’t continue into their high school years, the boys played their own music while also backing their dad, Christian-rock singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman. Once they met guitarist Scott Mills through their cousin, the Chapman brothers and Mills began their venture as a band — first under the name Caleb after their lead singer, as they weren’t quite sure what direction the group would take or if it’d just be more of a solo thing for Caleb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBTB54ty-tc

After determining that they would officially be a band, the guys chose the name Colony House, in honor of the housing complex where some of the guys lived in Franklin. Shortly after, the alt-rock band released its debut album, When I Was Younger, in 2014, spawning a successful single with the bouncy “Silhouettes,” which caught attention on alternative-rock radio and has 10 million Spotify streams to date. The album gained enough momentum to get the band on notable tours with artists like Needtobreathe, Ben Rector and Switchfoot, also breaking into the Billboard 200.

While touring the first album, the then-trio realized they needed a bass player. They had met Parke Cottrell when he opened up for them at a small show in Knoxville, Tenn., and decided to enlist him — despite the fact that Cottrell had never played the bass before. Luckily he’s “really good at everything,” as Caleb says, so he ended up being the perfect addition. “He started as a friend, so there hasn’t been growing pains or anything,” adds Caleb. “It doesn’t really feel any different.”

Flash forward to Jan. 13, 2017, when Colony House dropped its sophomore album Only The Lonely, which Caleb says is “the story of our experience with the first album, and what doors it opened.” Inspired by the sounds of the late Roy Orbison’s era (whose classic 1960 ballad of the same name gives the album its title) Only The Lonely presents a bit more of an unpolished rock ‘n’ roll sound for the group, something that Caleb says was intentional, because they wanted to make the album more transparent than the last release — and because their live performances seemed to be resonating well with fans. 

In the two-and-a-half-year gap between their first and second records, the Colony House guys focused primarily on touring to, as Caleb puts it, prove that they could “make things happen” as a band. “We were trying to earn our stripes a little bit.” Additionally, the guys were more concerned with producing something they were 100 percent happy with than pushing another album out quickly. As a storytelling songwriter, Caleb is big on being vulnerable in his music — and Only The Lonely speaks to just that.

“When you play 200 shows a year, you’re away from home a lot. And there’s this interesting thing that happens where you’re around people all the time, but you find yourself kind of lonely,” he says, speaking about the album’s inspiration. “I think we wanted to shed light on feeling alone, the issue of ignoring it and letting it swallow you up, or not ignoring it and making sure that you’re continuing to be vulnerable with people. We’re always looking for threads that weave us all together in music, and we felt like this is was a thread that is a universal thing.”

With When I Was Younger, Caleb had previously said that the songs involved questions he’d been “wrestling for months and years.” Some of those questions carried over into the second LP. 

“I think, as a band, something we’ve always wanted to be conscious of is asking questions, but not feeling like we always have to answer them,” he explains. “Because I think it can lead to really beautiful discoveries if you get to the place where you’re vulnerable and you’re okay with not knowing at all. We don’t fancy ourselves philosophers or anything like that, but we’re all just trying to listen and learn from people around us.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcoIbdT6n9I

The band will get a chance to listen and learn from fans for the next couple of months, as they kick off a 37-date headlining tour across North America. As Colony House’s first headlining trek of their career, Caleb asserts that “it seems like a next chapter” for the group. What they ultimately hope to do with this tour is inspire those who attend — whether they’re longtime fans or just getting familiar with the band.

“We don’t want our music to be an escape from reality,” Caleb insists.  “We want to be part of that reality with our fans, and we want to give them an hour-and-a-half of something inspiring and hopeful. Like, everything that makes a up a good movie: devastating, tragic, but also really beautiful.”

Transitioning from opening band to headliners is a pretty great indication that Colony House is on its way up with its latest album and beyond. And although this next chapter can be nerve-wracking, Caleb feels that the future looks bright for his band. 

“We’re just gonna walk through all these doors that keep opening. It feels like a ball is rolling somewhere, we want to just hop on and see where it take us,” he says. “We haven’t been this nervous and excited about something yet up til this point. So that’s kind of cool – whenever you’re nervous, it usually means something’s at stake, which means something big could come of it.”

Take a listen to Colony House’s latest record and check out their tour dates below.

Colony House Headlining Tour Dates

FEBRUARY 15 —  St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill (Duck Room) 16 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave Bar 17 — Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry 18 — Madison, WI @ The Frequency 19 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall 21 — Grand Rapids, MI @ The Stache 22 — Pittsburgh, PA @ The Club at Stage AE 23 — Columbus, OH @ The Basement 24 — Detroit, MI @ The Shelter 25 — Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern 27 — Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair

MARCH 1 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry at The Fillmore 2 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom 4 — Washington, D.C. @ U Street Music Hall 5 — Charlottesville, VA @The Southern 6 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle 7 — Charlotte, NC @ The Underground 11 — Birmingham, AL @ Saturn 12 — New Orleans, LA @ Parish @ House of Blues 14 — Waco, TX @ Common Grounds 19 — Houston, TX @House of Blues (Bronze Peacock) 20 — Dallas, TX @ Club Dada 23 — Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar 24 — San Diego, CA @ House of Blues (Voodoo Room) 25 — Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour 27 — Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory (Constellation Room) 28 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel 30 — Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge 31 — Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

APRIL 1 — Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret 4 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court Gallery 7 — Colorado Springs, CO @ Black Sheep 8 — Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room 9 — Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard 11 — Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge 12 — Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone 13 — Chattanooga, TN @ Revelry Room

Beginning with the March 2 show in New York City, the band will be selling Colony House Tour jackets (in partnership with JackThreads) at their shows and online at JackThreads.com, which will come with a digital download of Only The Lonely as well as exclusive content. In the meantime, check out Colony House’s “Styled By” feature on the site.

Source: Billboard

http://tunecollective.com/2017/02/16/colony-houses-caleb-chapman-talks-new-album-first-headlining-tour-were-trying-to-earn-our-stripes/