#yes..the silver fox is the main selling point of him

[millythegoat]

https://www.tumblr.com/millythegoat/767852235860393985/uneventful-match?source=share

Literally never noticed Mr.Powrrs before until Tumblr and the silver fox is a vibe.

*we listen and we don't judge.

AHAHAHAHAHA

MHUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

YEESSSSS!!! HUAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA

[thewarriorandtheking]

I certainly believe in celebrating love, but Valentine’s has always struck me as such a manufactured holiday...these days it seems to exist mostly to sell cards and chocolate.  I had this idea for a scene with the Warrior and The King, I decided to turn it into a Valentine’s anniversary.

........

“What’s the occasion?”

Kaylea Wolf looked at the slim black box with a sense of apprehension. Today must be another special date that she had completely forgotten about. Thorin was so much better at remembering these things than she was. Kaylea knew it was the day men of Gondor celebrated their beloved, but Thorin had never bothered himself with the holidays of Men. This had to be something else.

The King of Erebor smiled at her. He knew she would forget which meant he got to surprise her, he always enjoyed that. “This is the day we first met, one hundred years ago.”  

Kaylea looked up at him, calculating the dates in her head. “So it is. I honestly do not know how you remember these things. Has it really been a hundred years? It seems like just yesterday.”

“I remember some very long years,” Thorin replied. “But it is hard to believe how much has happened since then.”

A hundred years, that did explain his choice of venue. Kaylea looked out at the view from their table, the city of Minas Tirith falling steeply away beneath them to the plains. The mountains of the Ephel Duath sharp against the evening sky, the peaks just catching the last rays of the setting sun. The White Fox was one of the most luxurious inns in the city, located in the sixth circle it often hosted visiting royalty and its fare was famous far beyond Gondor. The tables were full this evening as many noble couples were celebrating the holiday. Every head had turned when Kaylea Wolf and Thorin Oakenshield had walked across the room to one of the best tables, set apart against the windows and a step up from the main floor. Kaylea was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful women in Middle Earth and tonight she was not wearing her usual black traveling clothes, but a long red dress, mithril beads shining in her elaborately braided golden hair. The King was resplendent in midnight blue, a wide jeweled belt around his fur-trimmed silver vest. The first course had just been cleared when Thorin slid the box across the table.

“Are you not going to open it?” Thorin asked. Kaylea looked at it, her hands in her lap.

“Each thing that you give me is more spectacular than the last. They never seem fitting for an old warrior like me.”

“Nonsense,” Thorin said. He got up from his chair and walked around behind her, reaching over her shoulder to press the latch of the box. “There is a reason I asked you to wear your red dress.”

Kaylea gasped despite herself. It was a necklace made of three strands of tiny rubies interspersed with the occasional diamond, the chain between them fine as a strand of silk. Stones hanging from the lowest chain gave the effect the gems were dripping off. As everyone in the inn watched Thorin lifted the necklace out and fastened it around her neck, it fit perfectly in the low, heart-shaped neckline of her dress. Thorin kissed her lightly beneath her ear and walked back to take his seat.

“Now you look like my wife,” he was smiling widely, obviously pleased. Kaylea ran a hand over the necklace, the stones cold against her skin. She felt a bit self-conscious wearing so many jewels. She normally only wore jewelry for Thorin in Erebor and perhaps that was his point.   

“This is amazing. Must have taken you forever to set so many stones.”

Thorin chuckled. “One hundred. And yes, it took me some time but I always enjoy making these things. Though I do admit, I wish you would wear them more.”

Kaylea looked at him mischievously. “I hate to tell you this, but you married a soldier.”

Thorin laughed. “And you married a Dwarf. What a pair we are!”

Kaylea laughed with him, reaching to pour them more wine. “Thank you, my king. I will try to wear it for you often,” Kaylea raised her glass, clicking it against Thorin’s.

“See that you do,” Thorin said, in mock seriousness.

As they drank Kaylea could feel the eyes of many in the room on her. She felt a bit sorry for any man giving out jewelry tonight, everything would look pale beside Thorin’s work. The waiters had just served their second course when the man at the next table kneeled beside his lady, taking her hand. Those around them applauded as she said yes and the man slid a ring on her finger. Thorin was watching closely.

“That is a good stone,” he said, nodding approvingly at the ring.

Kaylea shook her head, remembering the time Thorin had done the same to her, so many years ago. “How did you know I would say yes when you did that to me?” She asked.

Thorin shrugged. “I did not know for sure, I only thought you would find it harder to say no in front of those Elves,” he grinned at her over his wineglass. “I thought it was worth the risk.”

“Every time you asked I found it harder to refuse you,” Kaylea said.

“I know,” Thorin smiled knowingly at her. “Why do you think I kept asking?” He looked out the window thoughtfully. “I resented you so much at first. You, and Dain, and Balin, and everyone who kept telling me to marry someone else.”

Kaylea studied her husband, turning her wine glass between her fingers. “You did surprise me, when I came back and found you married. I did not think you would do it.”

“It was the right thing to do, in my heart I knew that. My people accept you now, I do not think they would had it not been for Shurri, and the heirs she bore me.” He looked back at her with a smile. “And it did work out in the end, I got to marry you not once, but three times!”

Kaylea smiled back at him, remembering each wedding. The first private ceremony, then the huge coronation in Erebor, the spring wedding her brothers had insisted on at Tor Graham. She reached into the hidden pocket in her dress and brought out a small metal case. “It happens that I also have something for you,” she said. “When you said we were dining here tonight I suspected you might be up to something so I brought it along.”

Thorin’s eyes went wide when he saw the markings on the box. He looked up at her in astonishment. “You never!”  

“I have had this for many years,” Kaylea said. “It was given in gratitude for services rendered. I had been saving it, and now I know I was saving it for you.”  

Thorin picked up the box, the markings were the language of Mhyr, source of the rarest jewels in the Empire. Fabulous gems that glowed with inner fire, shifting colors as they were turned. To find even one required many years of careful searching. This tiny box was worth as much as a small planet.

The King looked at her seriously. “You say I give you extravagant gifts! All the worth of Erebor could not buy this.”

“You are more than all that gold to me, husband. And what better gift could I give than one that even the Fair Folk would envy?”

Thorin glanced up at her, still amazed. In all his travels with her he had only ever seen one Mhyrstone, in the tiara of the Emperor’s daughter. He slid the box open to reveal not one of the multicolored gems, but two. Now it was the King’s turn to gasp. He did not want to lift them out of the case in the crowded inn, but moved them in their holders with his finger. They were nearly flawless, cut by a master. Thorin was stunned. The only gem that could outshine the fabled Silmarils of the Elves, and now his wife had given him two!

“After all these years you can still surprise me,”Thorin shook his head. “I will set these one in each of our crowns. As a testament to our love.” He reached across the table and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. “I cannot live without my warrior Queen.”

“And I cannot face life without my handsome King,” Kaylea replied with a soft smile.

Thorin looked across the table at his beautiful wife, her eyes shining over the sparkling necklace. He was very much looking forward to the next hundred years.

[richincolor]

Everyone, please welcome Cindy Pon to Rich in Color! Cindy's latest book, RUSE, came out earlier this month, and we're so excited to be able to talk to her about it. Take a look!

In near-future Shanghai, a group of teens have their world turned upside down when one of their own is kidnapped in this action-packed follow-up to the “positively chilling” sci-fi thriller Want.

Jason Zhou, his friends, and Daiyu are still recovering from the aftermath of bombing Jin Corp headquarters. But Jin, the ruthless billionaire and Daiyu’s father, is out for blood. When Lingyi goes to Shanghai to help Jany Tsai, a childhood acquaintance in trouble, she doesn’t expect Jin to be involved. And when Jin has Jany murdered and steals the tech she had refused to sell him, Lingyi is the only one who has access to the encrypted info, putting her own life in jeopardy.

Zhou doesn’t hesitate to fly to China to help Iris find Lingyi, even though he’s been estranged from his friends for months. But when Iris tells him he can’t tell Daiyu or trust her, he balks. The reunited group play a treacherous cat and mouse game in the labyrinthine streets of Shanghai, determined on taking back what Jin had stolen.

When Daiyu appears in Shanghai, Zhou is uncertain if it’s to confront him or in support of her father. Jin has proudly announced Daiyu will be by his side for the opening ceremony of Jin Tower, his first “vertical city.” And as hard as Zhou and his friends fight, Jin always gains the upper hand. Is this a game they can survive, much less win?

We loved reading and discussing WANT back in 2017, so we’re all excited to get our hands on the sequel, RUSE. Can you give us a quick refresh on the rest of RUSE’s main characters and their estrangement from Jason, the narrator of WANT?

Thank you! And of course. At the end of WANT, Jason Zhou has chosen to be with Daiyu and a rift develops between he and his friends, mainly due to grief. But you'll see for other reasons as well in RUSE.

Lingyi was one of our favorite characters in WANT. What can you tell us about her relationships with Iris and Jany in RUSE?

I love Lingyi too! She narrates part of the book, and struggles also with the aftermath of Jin Corp's bombing. Iris is there for her, but there is a tension between the two as Lingyi wants to avenge her childhood friend Jany's death, and Iris is terrified something terrible will happen again in their attempt to fight Jin. Is taking him down even possible? Or worth the risk?

WANT touched upon a number of current issues, particularly the issue of pollution and protecting the environment. What issues and themes did you focus on in RUSE?

I think the second books in my duologies are always dealing with the effects of what happened in the first book. So the group struggles with grief and loss and also asking the very important question of how much more do we choose to fight? I want the take away for the reader to be that we can fight in our very individual ways, maybe not as big as these characters, but every act of resistance counts. My way of resisting is through my storytelling.

What research did you do for RUSE? In our last interview with you when WANT launched, you mentioned being in Shanghai for a research trip. Are there any modern-day Shanghai locations readers will recognize in RUSE? What drew you to Shanghai?

Yes! I had the pleasure of taking a week long trip to Shanghai. I took many photos and many glimpses of that city (including a cat!) made its way into the novel. Of interest is that Jin Tower is actually based on Shanghai Tower, which had only recently opened when we visited in 2017. I had originally seen a documentary on Shanghai Tower a few years back, and remember specifically that they needed to use special cranes to lift the very huge air filters into the building. A seed was planted then!

The cover of RUSE (and WANT) are just incredible. Can you lift the curtain a little on how this cover came to be? And who is the cover artist?

Thank you! I feel so lucky to have these covers! The art is by Jason Chan, who is an incredible artist also kind enough to do commission work for the postcard and magnets I give away as swag. It all started with my first editor who acquired WANT, Michael Strother. He mentioned on twitter that WANT might need a cute Asian boy on its cover. A couple months later, I was able to see Jason Chan's first iteration of the cover art. It is not very different than what you see on the novel now. I was blown away!! My wonderful editor Jennifer Ung was the one who suggested Lingyi for the second cover, and I felt it was perfect, as some of RUSE is told from her point of view!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Before you leave, what are some Asian YA titles launching in 2019 that you’re excited for?

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo, Eclipse the Skies (sequel to Ignite the Stars) by Maura Milan, Rogue Heart by Axie Oh, Wicked Fox by Kat Cho, and in 2020 Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar, and Malinda Lo's Last Night at the Telegraph Club.

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by ALA Booklist and one of 2009’s best Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror by VOYA; Serpentine and Sacrifice (Month9Books), which were both Junior Library Guild selections and received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews, respectively; Want (Simon Pulse), which is a Freeman Book Award Honorable Mention; and Ruse (Simon Pulse). She is the cofounder of Diversity in YA with Malinda Lo and on the advisory board of We Need More Diverse Books. Cindy is also a Chinese brush-painting student. Learn more about her books and art at CindyPon.com. (Bio via Simon & Schuster)

[gamearamamegathons]

Dragon Warrior IV: Fantasy Day Job

Circe here! In the third chapter we meet Taloon the merchant. Apparently he wants to be the world's greatest arms dealer, which sounds somewhat less than noble when you phrase it that way, but we're really just talking about swords here I guess, so that's not so bad. Every hero needs a sword, right? I mean, okay, not *every* hero but -- look, you gotta get that stuff somewhere. I guess blacksmiths would sound more ominous too if we called them 'weapons manufacturers', which is technically true, so we'll just chalk this up to tonally clumsy localization.

Taloon starts out in his small hometown of Lakanaba, where he has a wife, a kid, and a day job. In this chapter, the game goes a lot heavier on event scripting, so you can actually work for the local weapons shop and everything, which mostly involves standing still while customers walk up to you and answering 'yes' to all their questions so they buy stuff. But it's interesting, and notably, Taloon starts out very, very weak even compared to other level 1 characters, so you actually have some reason to work at his job and make some money living his day-to-day life for a bit. In the morning, he wakes up, his wife gives him lunch, and he goes off to work. At night, he goes home and says goodnight to his wife before going to sleep to do it all over again. I'll admit, this actually got me in a bit of a roleplaying mood, and even when I had Taloon going out and poking monsters with sharp objects, I still tried to go back home every night.

Eventually, though, you've gotta get together your own weapon and armor and set out. Taloon's big perk is that he seems to get more money and items from encounters, which means that once you get going, it's a lot easier to kit yourself out with pretty good equipment. This makes the earliest encounter zones pretty easy to handle. The first big hurdle Taloon has to cross is heading to a dungeon to the north to find the Iron Safe, an item that stops you from losing any gold on death. Yes, that's right, with this item in hand, you basically suffer no consequences for dying. It's kind of awesome, actually. And it's important, because amassing large quantities of gold without losing a bunch of it is going to be integral to Taloon's quest. This dungeon is kinda fun, 'cause you gotta run away from a giant boulder and swap the treasure with a stone, Indiana Jones-style. It's definitely a lot more involved than a lot of the old stuff, and it looks like they really wanted to show off what this game's engine was capable of compared to the previous ones.

Taloon's travels take us south to the castle of Bonmalmo. It's actually not far from Endor, which is where Taloon wants to get to, but the bridge is broken. You might remember Endor as being the endpoint of Alena's quest, so things are starting to connect together. Unfortunately, the king of Bonmalmo wants to invade Endor. Our quest to solve this whole problem involves us rescuing a guy from Lakanaba who's been imprisoned in Bonmalmo, then borrowing his dog to rescue the king's architect from magical foxes (yes, really) and then, once the bridges are fixed, talking to the prince of Bonmalmo and the princess of Endor, who want to marry, and convincing the king of Bonmalmo that a marriage would be better than a war. Phew.

If we were paying attention last chapter (and I was, don't worry) we would've already met a man in Endor who had a shop he wanted to sell so he could retire. This is Taloon's next goal, to start his own shop here. But it's pricey, so we need to find a good way to make 35K gold. Luckily, we can pick up some rumors of a rare artifact called the Silver Statue, and it turns out there's a guy in Endor who will pay a lot for it. So off we go. This dungeon is actually pretty tough, but luckily Taloon can hire a couple folks to help him out -- a warrior and a spellcaster. Even with their help, it's pretty rough going, but remember, even if we die, we don't lose any gold, so with that in mind, I happily took much greater risks than I would have normally. And this, eventually, led me to the Silver Statue. Selling the statue to the collector, plus some money I already had on hand, is enough to buy the shop, and Taloon's whole family moves to Endor with him. So that's done, but Taloon's quest isn't over yet. He wants to find this one awesome legendary sword, but that means helping another guy dig a tunnel further east. That'll be 60K gold, please.

Getting together the money is a bit more straightforward this time. The king wants 7 broad swords and 7 half-plate armors for his men. That's a lot, but with a combination of Taloon's ability to scrape together money and the fact that he can get monsters to drop those items semi-regularly, I was eventually able to deliver the whole order and get enough money to help get that tunnel finished. Completing this task brings Chapter 3 to a close.

Chapter 4 introduces us to the sisters Nara and Mara, dancers who are traveling from town to town seeking to take revenge on the man who killed their father, named...Balzack. I really have nothing to add to that, chalk it up to clumsy localization again. Nara is a Fortuneteller, and she has healing spells and is pretty competent in combat. Mara is a Dancer, and she has offensive spells, and is going to take a while to even find a weapon we can equip her with. The two of them together are a lot stronger than Taloon was, although they're admittedly a bit fragile. I can't tell if it was my impatience or because this was intended, but when I took their first dungeon, they were very weak, so I wasn't able to travel very deep at first. The monsters did give pretty good experience, though. Funnily enough, we actually managed to find an ally in the dungeon who joined us, and he was a very heavy hitter with a lot of HP, so he managed to carry the party pretty far even though the sisters were pretty weak. Again, I can't tell for sure if this is how I was supposed to do things or if I was hugely underleveled, but oh well. In this dungeon, we also find the Sphere of Silence, which is supposed to help us defeat Balzack.

Our journey eventually takes us to Keeleon, which is apparently ruled by an evil king. We get word that this is where Balzack is holed up, but we have to find a way to uncover the king's secret chambers. This involves going into a mine in a nearby town to find gunpowder, so we can make a loud noise with it and scare one of the king's servants into fleeing back to the chamber and revealing it to us. This is where we fight Balzack, who has apparently been turned into a monster by...evolution, or something. With the Sphere of Silence, we manage to take him down, but then the real king of Keeleon takes us on, and he's also an evolution-monster, except he totally kicks our ass in a clearly scripted beatdown. So we end up in jail. Luckily, we're able to find a boarding pass to get on a ship and flee Keeleon, heading to a port town to the north and getting the heck out of this entire messed up continent. We failed to kill Balzack though, since the king intervened before we could finish him off. Darn.

That's the end of the sisters' quest for now, though. Now, finally, it's time to get started on the main quest, which means we're going to play as...me! Yes, that's right, it's finally time to be the hero. We find that our hero had been raised in a hidden village, far away from civilization, and trained to be a hero until the age of seventeen. Oh, and we finally have a female sprite, so, life is pretty good. Well, that is, up until Necrosaro's forces find the village and burn it to the ground and kill everyone pretty much. So that sucks. We survive by hiding in a hidden basement, and one of our friends disguises herself as us so that the monsters think they killed the hero. That...sucks a lot, jeez. So, now we're on our own. But at the very least, we know that there are allies out in the world, the characters we've already met and played as, we just need to find them. It turns out that our hidden village is east of Endor, so we can find Taloon's tunnel and travel there. In Endor we meet Nara and Mara, who join the party and give us some much-needed extra power.

One thing that's immediately noticeable is that in this part of the game, our allies are not directly controllable -- we can only tell the hero what to do, and for everyone else, we have to set a tactics mode that will determine how they act. I dunno if I'm a huge fan of this approach, but I'm getting used to it.

At this point, I know we're supposed to find Taloon, but I'm a bit lost, so I just kind of wander around until I find another dungeon further east. This dungeon is strange -- it requires you to have three party members, and a little ways in you get separated from Nara and Mara, which sucked because they were like five levels higher than me. Then you find imposters who turn out to be monsters, and after you defeat them...you find more imposters who turn out to be monsters. What a mess. After meeting up with the sisters proper, we manage to find the Symbol of Faith, which is...uh...ah...? A thing. With no other clear direction, I rub the quest item on the immediate next obstacle, which is a guy who has a wagon we need to travel across the desert, but won't help us because he doesn't trust people. Apparently, rubbing this quest item on him causes him to realize the power of friendship, and he joins us and allows us to continue. After crossing the desert, I happen across another port town, and I hear people talking about Taloon preparing a boat, but it can't leave yet because of an...evil lighthouse or something, and Taloon's gone of to fix the lighthouse so it's not evil anymore. Uh, so I guess that's our next lead!

I'll admit, I'm quite wary of boats in Dragon Warrior games at this point, but we'll see how things go. I've quite liked traveling over the land with my companions and beating dungeons and meeting people and stuff, so I hope the game will continue on like this. The main quest is still in its early phase, so only time will tell where it will lead us.

[bjpb08]

I think for the first time it's finally clicking. Do not know I'm right, just feels more right. PRMO! I have let the pictures get in my way, they say a picture is worth 1000 words. We all say how miserable he looks at certain times with certain people. I know if I looked that miserable I'd want to run, get away...from the source! These last two days have been like halloween! There has not been this much visability or PDA since they started this charade, a decade ago.

It makes more sense to promote her in situations were you are getting the "biggest bang for your buck" with the added benefit of "straight" senerio. Not saying it's truly doing him any good or of benifit to his future lifestyle, he is selling a product. The product is not him. It is the show, RM and his plus one. Your right ajw720 this is his big brake but it is being sold for a piece of silver. I think the silver is a get out of jail card, but not for free. The payout; to insure her silence (for RM and fox). To perhaps move her along and asure her a page in history, perhaps even the Hollywood/famous scene. It seems...perhaps...maybe they are trying to erase the hands of time. We all know something happened and she knows that something.

My point...last night and the previous, as well as the last year has been a carefully devised plan (as has been intimated). Not one of our liking, just the same, plotted. I am not feeling an ending is on the horizon. That being said I think there will be a new dawn. I believe, while not the ultimate to end this all, the bar is being used as a sign...a symbol. To let us all know it will end in "her" time. Not sure I believe that, just saying that's what is wanted. Twice now it has not opened when believed. It is going to open on her terms, not anyone elses, if at all. I think she will be around at the Emmy's, just not sure what capacity, friend, gf, plus one, oh I remember you. A game is a foot and we do not know the rules. We know the board and the players as well as the goal we just do not know what it will take to reach that goal. We also know that in every round of a game players will fall. I think they begln to fall January 17, 2018 (I do not believe we will see the ripples of this). Yes, I believe RM stepped in to save the day, and he will help it end. I keep trying to remind myself he has his own agenda along with Fox. And Fox is paying the bills. ANNNDDD in the end RM has only one agenda...himself. I'm guessing he sold the plan to Fox, smarter than those who think they are invincible, I'll give him that Note, no pics of RM or the ACS cast w/M like the night before. Even though they shut her down, lesson learned, doubt it. Some never learn. This is my opinion, no facts.

When will I ever get to the point... I'm going to focus on the goal and two of the players Chris and Darren. I am going to try and pay attention to the outcome, not every move made. Yes, I will pay attention to the moves because they give us direction and to support D in his quest for freedom as we know the game has been sabotaged many times along the way. We must call those plays that are foul, and those that shine on the goal. If nothing but to protect the two main players. After all games are a spectator sport and SM is the biggest game of all. So play on to the best goal of all the freedom for Darren and Chris to continue playing on on their own terms.

[snickerl]

Blutendes Herz III

XF fanfiction

Blutendes Herz (Bleeding Heart) is not really a consecutive story but the chapters build upon one another somehow.

Part I can be read here, part II here.

You hear the grinding noise of heavy footsteps on the gravel in front of your house and you ask yourself who's coming out here on foot this time of day to pay you an unannounced visit. You hear a knock at the door. You sigh. You've just come home and were looking forward to some relaxation time on the couch with a movie and a bowl of popcorn. Out of habit, you put your hand on your hip where your gun used to be in its holster, but since you ran from prison you're not licensed to carry a gun anymore.

You're surprised when you recognize the person on your porch through the screen door. It's one you would never have expected to come by your place. You step outside to meet your visitor.

"How do you know where I live?"

The man on your porch shrugs his shoulders. He's tensed-up and rakes nervously through his hair with his fingers. This definitely isn't a goodwill visit.

"I was waiting for Dana in front of her apartment in my car earlier. 24-hour emergency shifts always take a toll on her, so I wanted to surprise her with Chinese takeout for dinner. Imagine my surprise when I saw her crawling out of your rust bucket when you dropped her off. I figured I needed to have a word with you, so I followed you."

You called the hospital earlier to find out when Doctor Scully's shift would be over. You knew her car was broken and you didn't want her to take the bus home after the 24-hour shift on her duty roster she'd told you about. She didn't know you were coming to give her a ride and when you opened the passenger door for her you could tell she wasn't sure whether this was such a good idea, but she was simply too exhausted to refuse. So she climbed into the passenger seat, buckled up and threw you a warm smile. 'Thank you, Mulder,' she said, 'very thoughtful of you.' You hoped to be able to talk to her, but by the time you left the parking lot, she was already asleep.

Turns out you weren't the only gentleman in her life. Her boyfriend also wanted to care for her with providing dinner. She loves Chinese takeout and you ask yourself whether he'd gotten her favorite dish, #37 of the Szechuan House's menu.

"I was being followed all the way from downtown D.C. and haven't even noticed? Wow, I guess I'm a little out of practice."

"I drive a silver Toyota Camry, you must have had a dozen of those in your rearview mirror on your way home, it's one of the best-selling cars in the US. When we got off the highway, I stayed behind as far as I could and let other cars come between us, and when you got out to open the gate to your property, I killed my engine. I left the car down there and walked the last part not to announce myself by stirring up the dirt on your private road. Well, I didn't know you lived two miles from the main road." He wipes his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I'm impressed. You're more circumspect than some of the trained agents I've worked with on pursuits. What do I owe all this effort for?"

"Dana told me about your kiss."

You flinch. Why did she do that? What good did it do either of the three of you to have it out in the open? You should've known though because she's too honest a soul to keep something like this from a boyfriend. So now he's here to confront you about it. Great.

"Shall we go inside?" you offer while opening the screen door. You don't want to discuss your feelings for Scully on the porch. It's too private. The next neighbor lives at least three miles away, not exactly within earshot, but you're so used to keeping your relationship a secret, you can't get rid of the habit. Mark follows you silently.

He looks around when he steps into your home, the one you shared with her for many years. He must recognize her decorating style from what he's seen at her city apartment. His eyes stay quite a bit on the picture of the two of you on the mantlepiece.

Maggie took it during one of the Sunday lunches she used to have at her house. It's your favorite because Scully looks so much at ease and cheerful. You're sitting in Maggie's backyard on the wooden bench under the huge chestnut tree. The afternoon sun sheds its warming rays on her hair and dip-paints the environment into soft shades of blue and purple. You have your arm around her shoulder and pull her slightly toward you. You huddle together as if you were sharing s secret, neither of you aware that you are being photographed. You remember the story you had been telling her when the picture was taken, it was some wild tale about a man-eating cult in ancient Egypt. You had made her laugh, something you were able to do back then. Maggie had captured the lightness of the moment and your togetherness perfectly. She gave the framed picture to you as a Christmas present that year and it's been in on the mantlepiece ever since.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" you ask your visitor to tear his attention away from the picture.

"Do you have a beer?"

"Only non-alcoholic, I'm afraid."

"That's fine."

You stopped drinking alcohol when you started your therapy because it doesn't go well with your medication, but a cold afternoon beer on a hot summer day is nice, so you tried all kinds of brands until you found a non-alcoholic beer you liked. It's a German beer, not available everywhere and quite expensive, but you always have a few bottles in the fridge. You open the refrigerator door, grab two green beer bottles and hand him one.

"Thanks," he says, twisting the cap off. He takes a thirsty swig, nods appreciatively, then places the bottle on the kitchen counter.

As he isn't saying anything, you also put the bottle to your lips and swallow a few gulps. It's refreshing and also a bit calming, although there's no alcohol in it. You're anxious to talk to him. It's not really an every-day thing to talk to the current boyfriend of your former lover and life-partner. After a while, you can't stand the silence anymore.

"Are you going to tell me why you're here, Mark?"

"What? Uh, yes. Sure."

He shoves his fists into his pants pockets and stares at his feet. He clears his throat before he eventually starts to speak.

"Listen, Fox...ah, sorry...Mulder. This calling you by your last name just doesn't come to me easily." He coughs uncomfortably. "I'd like to talk about Dana with you, well...about your relationship with her."

"Why don't you ask her about it?"

"All she tells me is that you were a couple and that you are friends now."

"It's the truth."

"Ah, c'mon, there has to be more to it. I'm not dumb. The way she talks about you, with so much affection. And I saw you gazing at her when you were at her place the other day. That's not how a man looks at a platonic lady friend. You still have a picture of the two of you in your living-room over there, for Christ's sake!" His fidgets with his index finger pointing in the direction of the fireplace.

"It's not so unusual to keep a picture of the person you were together with for so many years like I have been with Scully."

"Especially when you're still in love with her."

Your heart skips a beat. He challenges you, tries to worm a few details out of you. You doubt that denial is an option, all the evidence indicates that he's right. That's why you decide to be honest. At least, partly.

"We've been through too much together not to have feelings for one another. That's never going to change, but we aren't lovers, Mark. She left me a year ago and she is with you now."

"Is it a year now?" he deadpans grimly and you wince. He's alluding to you letting Scully and him know that you'd been very meticulous in timing the weeks and days of your separation.

"Yeah, sorry, that was absolutely inappropriate."

"If you think that was inappropriate, then what would you call kissing her as soon as I was gone?"

Way out of line? Bloody stupid? An unbelievable loss of control? "A terrible mistake and I'm truly sorry. You trusted me and I betrayed your trust. I wronged Scully. Hell, I more or less molested her. I overpowered her."

"That's not what she said happened."

"No?"

"She told me she hadn't encouraged you or started it, but that she reciprocated in a way."

In a way. Oh, yes. She reciprocated in a wonderful way. You remember what her kiss tasted like, and as much as you feel like doing right now, you mustn't lick your lips, because he definitely wouldn't approve.

"Don't hold it against her. She did it more by force of habit than anything else. The second I let go of her, she made more than clear that she's in a relationship with you and that us exchanging a kiss wasn't going to change anything."

"Oh, really?" He doesn't sound like he believes you.

"Really. She's serious about you, Mark. She's willing to rekindle our friendship, not more. I let it deteriorate, I treated her badly in the end. I was a regular asshole, actually. She gives me a chance to make it up to her, that's all."

You see him letting sink in what you just told him. It is the truth, albeit only part of it, and he senses it, but you won't give away more of what Scully's and your relationship consists of, of what brought you to the point where you are now. You're not going to tell him about how she entered your hemisphere, how she upgraded your professional as well as your private life, how she made you a better person, a father. You're not going to tell him about how you dragged her into the darkness with you, separating her first from her life as an agent, a friend, a daughter, turning her into an outlaw, and then eventually separating her from you and letting her starve emotionally right in front of your eyes.

"Hard to believe. You don't seem like the kind of man who contents himself with playing second fiddle."

The atmosphere between you thickens, the almost cordial mood of a few minutes ago is gone. He obviously wants to do some frank talking. You're not sure if you're ready for this. You haven't figured everything out about Scully and yourself yet, how can you make someone else understand? And it's definitely not getting any easier if this someone is a man fighting for his relationship with Scully. Your Scully.

"You want an honest reply, Mark?"

"Definitely. I'm an advocate of direct, straightforward communication."

He wants you to put your cards on the table? Alright, then. You're going to be as straightforward as he wants you to be.

"Okay, then let's talk openly. I am still in love with Scully, you're absolutely right. I can't even remember a time I wasn't. We have a history of more than twenty years together. We had our ups and downs, but the other had always been a constant factor in our lives. I thought this would never change, that she would always be there, but some time ago, I developed a severe depression, one she diagnosed me with, and that was what killed our relationship. I was a real prick. I mistreated her, neglected her, shut myself away from her, up to a point where moving out was the only way for her to protect herself."

"And what kind of relationship is it you've been having? I think I have a right to know!"

"It's always been very special. Our colleagues thought we were having sex long before we actually had it. They had a nickname for us, Mr. and Mrs. Spooky, because we were so close."

"Spooky?"

"Yeah, well, because of the cases we were dealing with, but that's not the point. What I'm trying to say is that Scully has been my closest ally ever since she was assigned back in 1992 to work with me. There was a time all we had was one another. I have difficulties picturing my life without her in it."

"How come you never married her? I went down on my knees and asked the woman I loved to spend the rest of my life with me."

"What would we have called each other as a married couple? Mulder and Mulder?"

You try to skirt the uncomfortable question, your feigned easiness nothing but a feeble attempt to hide how much this matter has occupied your mind over the years, but he looks right through you.

"Lousy joke, man!"

You chin dips on your chest. You feel caught, and you allow your mind to walk down memory lane. You've always enjoyed when you acted as husband and wife. You did once undercover and many times when you were on the run. You never had a problem introducing her as your wife, it never felt awkward. You did ask her once to marry you, over the phone. You were totally earnest but she thought you were joking. You never set it right, and you never asked again.

"I think I never proposed because I never saw the type of woman in her whose goal in life was to get married. She was always independent and self-sufficient and proud of it. She wasn't in need of a man to provide for her or to protect her. Heaven forbade I told her I was going to take care of something because I was the man." You chuckle, remembering a few situations she'd gotten furious because you had done just that, one where she called you a macho man in particular. "Turning her into a married woman, a better half, would've been like undermining her autonomy."

You also remember her sour face when people assumed she was your 'missus'. She fought half her life to be respected as an equal, and you have never seen anything less in her than an equal. If one of you wasn't able to hold a candle to the other, it had to be you.

"The general laws of romance somehow never applied to us. We didn't date, weren't each other's Valentines. I didn't buy her flowers and she didn't buy me ties. We showed our love and respect in other ways. Marriage simply was a concept too commonplace to live up to the distinct nature of our relationship."

"Hmmm, interesting. It's one of a kind, really. I mean, she left you, you're separated, if you had been married, she might have filed for a divorce, and still, she cares a lot about you."

Maybe it's not so bad you were never married after all because as an unmarried couple you never got a divorce. It would've been very painful for you, devastating probably. You doubt you would've had the strength to get treatment for your illness, had you been confronted with the administrative finality of divorce papers. What a lucky bastard you are, you think.

"You can say that again," Mark mumbles accompanied by a bitter chuckle. You must have uttered that last sentence aloud.

"Scully's friendship is very precious to me, Mark. It has saved me more times than I can count. I can't let her just go and leave my life."

"As far as I know, you already did. Dana told me you didn't even try to hold her back or convince her to stay when she moved out. She said you probably realized she was gone only days later."

"I was ill," is your feeble excuse.

"You were an inconsiderate asshole. And you think you still deserve her?"

Have you ever deserved her?

"And who are you to determine who deserves her and who doesn't?" Now that the tone has become considerably sharper between you, you decide that offense is the best defense.

"Well, I'm treating her like a woman, to begin with. I take her out to dinner, I compliment her, I buy her roses." - Yeah, you have noticed those fucking roses in her apartment! - "I don't call her by her last name as if she were some co-worker of mine and I certainly don't mount frenzied kissing attacks on her either."

Ouch, that last one hurt. You clearly mistreated her in that situation.

"I already told you it was a mistake and that it won't happen again. I told you more about Scully and me than I've ever told anyone before. What else do you want from me?"

He's eying you, weighing your testimony. He takes another swig of beer without taking his eyes away from you. "Why do I have the feeling there's more to your relationship than you're telling me?" he finally asks.

Because there is. There's a joined fight against an almighty opponent. There's going through thick and thin together, crossing entire continents to save each other from peril. There's a sperm donation to a co-worker and a child conceived in a natural way. There's pain and loss, but also unconditional trust and passionate love. There's so much more than what you told him, but you're not going to explain that to him. Your turbulent history belongs to Scully and you, it's almost impossible to make others comprehend even half of it anyway.

Your muteness upsets him, he throws you a combative look. "I'm not quitting the field for you if that's what you're hoping for."

"You'd be an idiot, if you did," you concede. Every man who gives up Scully without a fight is an idiot, so you obviously belong in that category.

"I love her, Mulder, just like you, and I'm going to fight for her. Right now, she's my girlfriend and I demand you respect that."

As much as his announcement causes goosebumps, you acknowledge that Scully's current beau is serious about her. She's no casual affair or meaningless bed bunny, he's in love with her, he cherishes and truly courts her. He's a real threat.

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife?" Your eyebrow takes a mocking hike.

"Something like that, yeah."

"Forget it, man! I can promise you not to force her into a kiss again but I'm unwilling to give her up like you are."

The two of you stare at each other like two boxers seconds before the referee tells them to box. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to settle this like in the old days, in some kind of a duel. Like whoever sinks more baskets from the three-point line or can do more push-ups gets the girl. He's in good shape though, you have to admit, although you have a slight height advantage.

"So we leave it up to her," he suggests.

"Isn't this the way it should be?"

"Sure."

Of course, there's also a chance that she thinks the two of you are being ridiculous to fight over her like two alpha male orangutans. She might consider giving you both the kiss-off.

"Alright then." Mark empties the bottle and puts it back on the kitchen counter. "Thanks for the beer. And the open words."

"You're welcome."

"I show myself out."

Without deigning you another look, he passes you and strides toward the front door. He grabs the handle, pulls it open, then hesitates. With his back turned to you, he says, "she's worth every effort."

"She definitely is," you can't but agree.

"Goodbye, Mulder."

"Goodbye, Mark."

Dammit, you really like the guy! He's a good person, decent, kind, understanding. Under different circumstances, Mark and you could be friends. He's definitely a man you could see Scully with if only you didn't want to be the man at her side so badly.

You look after him, how he walks the dirt path down to the street where he left his car. You could've offered to drive him, but you doubt it would've been appropriate. You're rivals in a battle for a very precious prize, and you want to be one coming out of it as the winner.

[jayleeg]

What's going on with Marvels comics this time?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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