#Mike Hickman

[ultrameganicolaokay]

DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack by Rachel Pollack, Joe Corallo, Michael Allred, Scot Eaton and Rye Hickman. Cover by various. Out in June.

"In the 1990s, writer Rachel Pollack did the impossible: she raised the bar for surprise and strangeness in her beloved run following Grant Morrison’s career-making Doom Patrol! This one-shot reprints the debut of the iconic Coagula, DC’s first transgender superhero, from Doom Patrol #70, along with the long-unavailable one-shot Vertigo Visions: The Geek (with superstar artist Michael Allred)! And in a final, original short story, Rachel’s most beloved creation, Kate Godwin, a.k.a. Coagula, returns to the spotlight in tale of triumph over death itself written by Joe Corallo, Rachel’s longtime friend and collaborator, and drawn by Rye Hickman!"

[smashpages]

Rachel Pollack, who passed away last year, introduced DC’s first trans character Coagula during her run on Doom Patrol back in the 1990s. As a part of Pride Month, DC will release DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack, which will feature reprints of Doom Patrol #70, Coagula’s first appearance; Vertigo Visions: The Geek, the long out-of-print one-shot by Pollack and Mike Allred; and a new Coagula story by Joe Corallo and Rye Hickman.

Read more

[haveyoureadthiscomic-poll]

[sinistermusings]

X-Men 10 (2020) by Jonathan Hickman & Leinil Yu 

Cover: Mike Mayhew (variant)

[balu8]

Common Grounds #4: Glory Days

by Troy Hickman; George Perez; Mike Perkins and Tom Smith

Image/Top Cow

[youtwitinmyface]

GOD IS DEAD #1

GOD IS DEAD #1

This book came out last month and I wanted to check it out. But Avatar Press, the company that published it, didn’t make their comics available digitally, which is the way I prefer to read my comic-books these days. Then I read 3 days ago on Bleeding Cool that Avatar Press Goes Digitally Exclusive With ComiXology, so I immediately went to Comixology and bought this. Created by Jonathan Hickman,…

[graphicpolicy]

Get a look at the new vision of Marvel's cosmology in G.O.D.S. #2 from Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti

Get a look at the new vision of Marvel's cosmology in G.O.D.S. #2 from Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti #comics #comicbooks

This week, readers discovered a side of the Marvel Universe they never imagined existed in Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti’s G.O.D.S. #1! The highly-anticipated issue will return to comic shops with a second printing on November 1, and a week later, a new chapter arrives in G.O.D.S. #2. See all three G.O.D.S. #2 covers, the main cover by Mateus Manhanini as well as variant covers by Alan Quah…

[comicbookclub]

G.O.D.S. #2 Sneak Peek

Writer Jonathan Hickman promised that he'd redefine the cosmology of the Marvel Universe in G.O.D.S. We didn't necessarily think he did in the first issue, but perhaps things will pick up in G.O.D.S. #2?

[comicbookclublive]

G.O.D.S. #2 Sneak Peek

Writer Jonathan Hickman promised that he'd redefine the cosmology of the Marvel Universe in G.O.D.S. We didn't necessarily think he did in the first issue, but perhaps things will pick up in G.O.D.S. #2?

[vintagetvstars]

CLOSED! Preliminary Hot Vintage TV Men List

Alright folks! We have one week left on submissions for the Hot Vintage TV Men's Bracket! As promised here is a list of all the Hot Vintage TV Men who have been submitted and passed our preliminary eligibility checks. There are a handful of guys on this list and one or two not on it that we are currently still debating on so reminder that this list is not final and subject to change.

Currently we have 231 Hot Vintage TV Men!

Also in advance of the competition I'd like to remind anyone submitting propaganda for someone that starred in a show that aired only partially during our timeframe or was under 18 for a part of a shows filming, to please make sure you are only submitting propaganda that is from within our timeframe and when the actor was 18 years or older. This is also just good to keep in mind in general as several people submitted actors for shows that aren't eligible for our tournament either because it was outside our time period or in one case the actor was underaged for the entirety of the show (though many were eligible for other shows they were submitted for). We do our best to screen for these things but sometimes it's hard to tell or it’s a show we don't personally know well enough so we appreciate help from y'all letting us know if you do catch anything.

List below the cut

Preliminary Hot Vintage TV Men List

Dick Van Dyke

Alan Alda

Hugh Laurie

Peter Falk

Adam West

Donnie Wahlberg

Kevin McDonald

Scott Thompson

David Duchovny

Henry Winkler

Leonard Nimoy

Scott Bakula

James Garner

Tom Selleck

Dave Foley

John Astin

Joe Lando

Patrick Troughton

William Shatner

DeForest Kelley

Michael Ontkean

Russell Johnson

Kyle MacLachlan

Bruce McCulloch

William Hopper

George Clooney

Jeffrey Combs

Michael Horse

Mark McKinney

Jensen Ackles

Alejandro Rey

Mitch Pileggi

David Cassidy

Jeremy Brett

Anthony Head

George Takei

David Selby

Rod Serling

Paul Gross

Desi Arnaz

Tom Baker

Richard Dean Anderson

David Keith McCallum

Richard Chamberlain

Charles Shaughnessy

David James Elliot

Vincent Van Patten

Darren E. Burrows

David Hyde Pierce

Randolph Mantooth

Ricardo Montalban

Gene Anthony Ray

William Hartnell

Patrick McGoohan

René Auberjonois

Alexander Siddig

Reece Shearsmith

Michael T. Weiss

William Shockley

Spencer Rochfort

Danny John-Jules

David Hasselhoff

Conner Trinneer

Patrick Stewart

Jonathan Frakes

Paolo Montalban

Scott Patterson

Armin Shimerman

Anthony Andrews

David Schwimmer

Blair Underwood

Sylvester McCoy

Andrew Robinson

Pierce Brosnan

Thorsten Kaye

Anthony Starke

Darren McGavin

Clint Eastwood

Joseph Marcell

Michael Vartan

Richard Ayoade

George Maharis

Michael J. Fox

Dwayne Hickman

John de Lancie

Andre Braugher

Robert Carlyle

Dean Stockwell

Matthew Perry

Robert Fuller

Michael Hurst

Dana Ashbrook

Jonathan Frid

Dirk Benedict

Martin Milner

Demond Wilson

Robert Conrad

Telly Savalas

Peter Davison

Michael Praed

Jason Bateman

David Tennant

Brian Blessed

Miguel Ferrer

Micky Dolenz

Wayne Rogers

Mike Farrell

Michael Dorn

Cesar Romero

Eddie Albert

Nate Richert

Nicholas Lea

Brent Spiner

Dick Gautier

John Corbett

Jeremy Irons

David Suchet

Raymond Burr

LeVar Burton

David Wenham

Clint Walker

Larry Hagman

John Goodman

Matt LeBlanc

Tom Smothers

Erik Estrada

Jeremy Sisto

Colm Meaney

Stephen Fry

Ted Bessell

Ron Perlman

Luke Halpin

Ted Cassidy

Kevin Sorbo

John Cleese

Colin Firth

Colin Baker

Fred Rogers

Ben Browder

Keir Dullea

Randy Boone

Kent McCord

Jimmy Smits

Mark Lenard

Jon Pertwee

Fred Grandy

Mark Hamill

Ted Danson

Adam Brody

Noah Wiley

Eric Close

Lee Majors

Jamie Farr

Tony Danza

Kabir Bedi

Seth Green

Rik Mayall

Hal Linden

Diego Luna

Peter Tork

Sean Bean

Sam Neill

Eric Idle

Ted Lange

John Shea

Ron Glass

Tony Dow

Mr. T

John Hurt

Avery Brooks 

Billy Dee Williams 

James Marsters 

Robert Vaughn 

Kevin Smith 

Davy Jones 

Luke Perry 

Robert Duncan McNeill 

Simon MacCorkindale 

Keith Hamilton Cobb 

Chad Michael Murray 

James Earl Jones 

Bruce Boxleitner 

Timothy Olyphant 

Andreas Katsulas 

Valentine Pelka 

Peter Wingfield 

Sebastian Cabot 

Michael Nesmith 

Timothy Dalton 

Michael Shanks 

Joshua Jackson 

Michael O’Hare 

Robert Beltran 

Simon Williams 

Paul Johannson 

Daniel Dae Kim 

David Boreanaz 

Boris Karloff 

Robert Wagner 

Brandon Quinn  

Walter Koenig 

Richard Hatch 

Christian Kane  

Francis Capra  

Nathan Fillion 

John Forsythe 

Patrick Duffy 

Tony Shalhoub 

Ioan Gruffudd 

Garrett Wang  

Joe Flanigan  

Rider Strong  

Michael Tylo 

Bruce Willis 

Skeet Ulrich  

Jeff Conaway 

Paul McGann 

Scott Cohen 

Mario Lopez  

Martin Kove 

John Stamos 

Judd Hirsch 

Johnny Depp 

Tom Welling 

Matt Bomer 

Grant show 

David Soul  

Bob Crane  

Tim Russ 

Rob Lowe 

Neil Patrick Harris 

[godzilla-reads]

2024 Year of the Wood Dragon Reading Challenge

Since 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon, I thought I'd put together a reading challenge based around one of my greatest loves-DRAGONS! Here are some prompts for each month, along with a couple suggestions for reading. Feel free to read whatever fits the category, though!

January- A Dragon Book With a POC MC

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott

The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill

February- A Dragon Romantasy OR A Talking Dragon

The Dragon's Bride by Katee Robert

Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

His Majesty's Dragon by Noami Novik

March- A Dragon Training Book

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races by K.D. Halbrook

April- A Middle-Grade Dragon Book

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

No Such Thing as Dragons by Philip Reeve

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville

May- An LGBTQA+ Dragon Book

The Dragon Festival by Kay O'Neill

The Dragon of Ynys by Minerva Cerridwen

Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells

June- A "Classic" Dragon Book

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

Dragon's Blood by Jane Yolen

July- A Children's Dragon Book

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame

The Book of Dragons by Edith Nesbit

August- D&D Dragons or RPG Dragons

Red Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weiss

A Practical Guide to Dragons by Lisa Trumbauer

September- Searching for Dragons

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

Hatching Magic by Ann Downer

The Dragon Ark by Emma Roberts and Tomislav Tomic

October- Dragons as Villains

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

A Town Called Dragon by Judd Winick

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

November- Graphic Novels Featuring Dragons

Tidesong by Wendy Xu

Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy- The Graphic Novel by Tui T. Sutherland and Mike Holmes

The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Guay

December- Ice Dragons

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin

Ember and the Ice Dragons by Heather Fawcett

Ice Dragon by Edith Nesbit

Happy Reading!

[tildeathiwillwrite]

Tag Game: Writeblr Interview

Thanks to @cowboybrunch for the tag, this looks fun!

Long post incoming.

----------

Short stories, novels, or poems?

I find I end up with novelette/novella-length stories more often than not. I've written plenty of one-shots and short stories for prompt events, and I like doing that especially when I'm doing fanfiction or nameless characters. When I write with ocs though I tend to stretch stuff out and what had originally started as a one-shot or short story ends up becoming a novella.

Don't get me wrong I have plenty of WIPs planned out to be novels (like Trials of the Six), but the first drafts of The Hunter, the Myth and the Cure and The Legend of Orian Goldeneye were both novella-length and will probably stay that way or end up being longer. My Hero x Villain series ended up being a novelette, so basically I can't plan for how long a story's gonna be lol.

I've written a little bit of poetry (heck, I wrote one for The Legend of Orian Goldeneye that may or may not get cut), but it's not my favorite thing to write because I way overthink things. But when I do compose poetry I usually do limericks.

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy, no contest. And within fantasy, usually High Fantasy with a lightcore or hopecore focus. I read some gritty stuff, but I find they tend to have elements I don't really like more than the ones I do.

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

Both? I like having an idea of where the story's gonna go, and I plan that out either before writing or while writing, so I don't get stuck. But it's really loose and gives plenty of room for the characters to go feral. I'm in the middle, but I lean more panster than plotter.

What music do you listen to while writing?

Soundtracks, usually from videogames or movies. I really should start organizing my two writing playlists by vibes other than calming music and boss fight-type, but I'm pretty happy with how I have it now. I also have some seasonal aesthetic playlists which match the vibe of the current weather.

Field Music Playlist (calming background soundtracks)

Boss Fight Playlist (pump-up, more exciting soundtracks)

Seasonal Aesthetics: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Favorite books/movies?

Oh goodness.

Uhhhh. UHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

My knee-jerk answer for favorite movie is and always will be The Princess Bride. But I also really like Back to the Future, The Martian, and Clue.

With books I tend to separate them into categories. For fantasy I would say it's a tie between Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, The Death Gate Cycle: Hand of Chaos by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, and Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones.

For sci-fi it's The Martian by Andy Weir, followed closely by Skyward by Brandon Sanderson.

My favorite classic is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, followed by Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.

And for nonfiction I like Stuck by Justina Van Manen, The Healing Imperative by Mike Aquilina, and Beautiful Holiness by Kathleen Beckman.

And of course the Holy Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Any current WIPs?

This post is getting long enough already, I talk about my WIPs here and they're all linked in my pinned post in one way or another.

Create a character description of yourself:

Quiet, and keeps to herself. Never without a book, never without a rosary. Her brown hair is long, reaching nearly past her waist, and often kept up in a ponytail or a braid. She dresses mostly in dark colors, black jeans or skirt and a shirt or blouse that is black, navy, or gray, but occasionally wears a bright shirt. She wears little to no makeup unless she feels like being extra fancy. She always has a ring on her right hand, and usually a bracelet that matches her outfit, both of which she fiddles with. Her friends are few but she loves them dearly, and they are often on her mind. Though she may be quiet most of the time, she never hesitates to speak up for what she believes in.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

Eh... not really. I know my own thoughts and experiences much better than those around me and I wouldn't wish a lot of the stuff I do to my characters on the people I know so it just feels kinda weird to me.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

I find I like to bring my characters to the brink of death and back again rather than just killing them unless I want to write about grief. I'm more kill happy with immortal characters for the same reason.

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Usually just water, but if I can get my favorite iced coffee drink than I'd be happy to drink that.

Slow or fast writer?

It varies depending on the amount of research I have to do in a scene, but I think I write pretty fast. I haven't measured my words-per-minute in a while but it was pretty good if I recall correctly.

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

I'd love to be a guide of some kind, part of the group enough that I won't get killed off. I'm pretty good with navigation and maps, and I'd like to have powers (minor ones, not overpowered) but that would depend on the fantasy world.

Most fav book cliche:

Scoundrel with a heart of gold. I eat that up like a starving woman. Han Solo, Mat Cauthon, Ifan Ben-Medz, etc. Draven Cozenson, Diana Ozborne and Korfel Domin are two oc examples.

Least favorite cliche:

Love triangles. Frustrates me to no end, especially how most of them are resolved and how they really only seem to drive wedges in the fandoms (Keeper of the Lost Cities fandom, I'm looking at you.) I have no love triangles in my stories and I never will. I have minimal romance anyway but in the two I got there is no competition.

Favorite scene to write?

*evil grin* Love writing the whump or hurt/comfort scenes, all my ocs get whumped in some form or another, and I have fun every single time.

Reason for writing?

Creative expression, love for my ocs, with a dash of "I maked these :D"

In all seriousness, it's a hobby that I love. It sparks joy and it's a craft that I continuously improve upon and the more I write the better I get at writing. I also occasionally fantasize about publishing one day and my books having fandoms of their own. Maybe that will happen someday.

----------

This was fun! Tagging @fourwingedwriter @phoenixradiant @thewritingautisticat @writingphoenix @somethingclevermahogony

@agirlandherquill @happypup-kitcat24 @imsoveryveryconfusedatlife @geode-crystal @pluttskutt and open tag! :D

Blank list under the cut:

Short stories, novels, or poems?

What genre do you prefer reading?

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

What music do you listen to while writing?

Favorite books/movies?

Any current WIPs?

Create a character description of yourself:

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

Are you kill happy with your characters?

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Slow or fast writer?

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Most fav book cliche:

Least favorite cliche:

Favorite scene to write?

Reason for writing?

[bastieboi]

UH OH TWO LEGENDS SPOTTED!

The Love Invasion-DWM 355-357

Gareth Roberts- Script

Gareth Roberts/Clayton Hickman- Story

Mike Collins- Pencil Art

David A.Roach- Inks

Dylan Teague- Colours

[incorrect-oppenheimer]

Compiling a list of books everyone knows about. It's long so under the cut...

Novelty Books: Area 51 by Nick Redfern Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon Unleashing Oppenheimer by Jada Yuan Oppenheimer: The Complete Screenplay by Christopher Nolan Copenhagen by Michael Frayn The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer The Manhattan Projects by Jonathan Hickman

Books by others: The Advisors: Oppenheimer, Teller, and the Superbomb by Herbert F. York The Real Dr. Strangelove by Peter Goodchild The Tragedy of Edward Teller by István Hargittai Judging Teller by István Hargittai Martians of Science by István Hargittai Wisdom of the Martians of Science by István Hargittai Edward Teller: A Giant of the Golden Age of Physics by Stanley A. Blumberg and Louis G. Panos Energy and Conflict: The Life and Times of Edward Teller by Stanley A. Blumberg and Gwinn Owens Brotherhood of the Bomb by Gregg Herken The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes Atomic Spy by Nancy Thorndike Greenspan The Spy Who Changed The World by Mike Rossiter Physics and Philosophy by Werner Heisenberg The Meaning of Relativity by Albert Einstein Now It Can Be Told by Leslie Groves (With introduction by Edward Teller, who tried to be nice.) Oppenheimer: The Story of a Friendship by Haakon Chevalier The Man Who Would Be God by Haakon Chevalier (This is weird.) American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin Feynman by Ottaviani and Myrick Fallout by Ottaviani Trinity by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm Easton Press: Day of Trinity by Lansing Lamont The Man From The Future by Ananyo Bhattacharya The MANIAC by Benjamín Labatut Big Science by Michael Hiltzik Forks In The Road: A Life In Physics by Stanley Deser A Sense of the Mysterious: Science And The Human Spirit by Alan Lightman Pandora’s Keepers by Brian VanDeMark J Robert Oppenheimer by Abraham Pais An American Genius by Herbert Childs Lawrence and Oppenheimer by Nuel Pharr Davis The General And The Genius by James Kunetka J. Robert Oppenheimer And The American Century by David C. Cassidy Atoms In The Family by Laura Fermi Genius In The Shadows by William Lanouette Beyond Uncertainty by David C. Cassidy An Atomic Love Story by Patricia Klaus and Shriley Streshinsky 109 East Palace by Jennet Conant The Strangest Man by Graham Farmelo The Night of the Physicists by Richard von Schirach Oppenheimer and the American Century by David C. Cassidy Alvarez: Adventures of a Physicist by Luis W. Alvarez Oppenheimer by Isidor Isaac Rabi and more. Bomb by Steve Sheinkin Fallout by Steve Sheinkin Surely You’re Joking Mister Feynman by Richard Feynman The Feynman Lectures by Richard Feynman When We Cease To Understand The World by Benjamín Labatut Enrico Fermi: His Work And Legacy by Enrico Fermi Suspended In Language by Ottaviani

Oppenheimer: The Open Mind Atom and Void In The Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer (By everyone else.) These are the transcripts of the trials. Robert Oppenheimer Letters and Recollections edited by Alice Kimball Smith and Charles Weiner Science and the Common Understanding City of the End of Things by Northrop Frye, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Edward Togo Salmon Uncommon Sense Lectures On Electrodynamics

More added on reblog.

[xenopoem]

Official Report on The Intransitionalist Chronotopologies of Kenji Siratori (TRS 109)

YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE INEFFABLE FOREST

Official Report on The Intransitionalist Chronotopologies of Kenji Siratori: Appendix 8.2.3 is a xenopoetic data/dada anthology that documents the activities of the artist collective The Ministry of Transrational Research into Anastrophic Manifolds. The anthology results from an experimental approach to impersonal literary composition. Similar to surrealist definitions, but on the scale of a technical document, members of the Ministry—poets, musicians, novelists, painters, curators, artists, scientists, philosophers, and physicians—were asked to offer a microfiction, poem, essay, fictional citation, or computer code, in the form of a footnote or annotation to a glitch-generated novel by iconoclastic Japanese artist Kenji Siratori; however, each participant wrote their contribution without any access to or knowledge about the nature of Siratori’s source text. After collecting the contributions, the “footnotes” were each algorithmically linked to an arbitrary word from Siratori’s novel. The result is a work of xenopoetic emergence: a beautifully absurd, alien document scintillating with strange potency. Bringing together algorithmically and AI-generated electronic literature with analogue collage and traditional modes of literary composition, the Ministry refuses to commit solely to digital, automated, or analogue art and instead seeks technological mutualism and a radically alien future for the arts. Accompanied by a groundbreaking original score by electro-acoustic duo Wormwood, the anthology offers the radical defamiliarization and weird worlds of science fiction, but now the strangeness bites back on the level form. Readers should expect to discover strange portals from which new ways of thinking, feeling, and being emerge. A conceptual and experimental anthology, Official Report on The Intransitionalist Chronotopologies of Kenji Siratori inaugurates collective xenopoetic writing and the conceit that the future of art will consist of impersonal acts of material emergence, not personal expression. Consume with caution.

AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS Rosaire Appel, Louis Armand, David Barrick, Gary Barwin, Steve Beard, Gregory Betts, Christian Bök, Mike Bonsall, Peter Bouscheljong, Maria Chenut, Shane Jesse Christmas, Roy Christopher, Tabasco “Ralph” Contra, Mike Corrao, R.J. Dent, Paul Di Filippo, Zak Ferguson, Colin Herrick, S.C. Hickman, Maxwell Hyatt, Justin Isis, Andrew Joron, Chris Kelso, Phillip Klingler, Adam Lovasz, Daniel Lukes , Ania Malinowska, Claudia Manley, Ryota Matsumoto, Michael Mc Aloran, Andrew McLuhan, Jeff Noon, Jim Osman, Suarjan Prasai, Tom Prime , David Leo Rice, Virgilio Rivas, David Roden, B.R. Yeager, Andrej Shakowski , Aaron Schneider, Gary J. Shipley, Kenji Siratori , Sean Smith, Kristine Snodgrass, Sean Sokolov, Alan Sondheim, Simon Spiegel, Henry Adam Svec, Jeff VanderMeer, R.G. Vasicek, Andrew C. Wenaus, William Wenaus, Eileen Wennekers, Christina Marie Willatt, Saywrane Alfonso Williams, D. Harlan Wilson, Andrew Wilt

early September release

[eriquin]

The Trolley Problem, part 47

It's been a while since I posted! Getting back to the story now. El is lost in the woods. Steve is grounded for the night, but Dustin left him a walkie so he got the word out. Someone should go look for her.

(master post)

Will was still up when his walkie started squealing. It was Dustin, contacting the whole party. Everyone was still up. He told them, in code, that El was missing. There was a beat of silence, and then everyone started trying to talk at once.

“I can’t believe that she’s lost in the woods again!” Mike said. “We have to go find her.”

“Steve said to ask Will’s brother for help,” Dustin said. “He said Jonathan could drive over there. Or that we should call Tommy. Over.”

Will put the walkie behind his pillow and poked his head out into the hall. Jonathan was home, but holed up in his room, listening to music. Mom was out in the living room, watching something on TV. He went back into his room and pressed the button to talk. “Guys, let’s think about this. She doesn’t know Jonathan. She knows us. Over.”

Mike was the first one to chime in with the same conclusion. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “We’ve got bikes and flashlights. We know the woods way better than they do. We could go find her.” 

“I don’t know, guys,” Dustin said. “It’s really late. Maybe we should just call Tommy instead. She knows Tommy. Over.”

“Tommy’s the one who said we should man up!” Lucas said. “We can do this!” 

“Tommy also said they were going to have her try to contact Eddie,” said Will. “They probably took her to his house. Does anyone know where it is? Over.” 

“Hold on a second,” Dustin said. “I can get a phone book. Does anyone know Eddie’s last name? Over.” 

Will remembered back to Sunday, when Tommy and Steve were arguing about Eddie. “It’s Munson, I think. Over.” 

“I’ll look it up. Back in a second. Over.” 

While Dustin was gone, Lucas suggested that they get ready to all bike to his house. He lived closer to the woods than either Lucas or Mike, but further from the lab than Will. Mike agreed and signed off, saying that he’d meet Lucas in his backyard so they could sneak away. Lucas only stayed on the line a little longer.

“Will, we could come get you,” he said. “Me and Mike could bike past Dustin’s to your house first, so you wouldn’t have to go through the woods alone.”

“No, it’s okay,” Will said. He had already started packing his bag. “I know the way. I’ll keep the walkie on so you guys can hear me, and the light on my bike will tell me if the demogorgon’s nearby. I can make it.” 

“Guys, I’m back,” said Dustin. “There’s a W. Munson that lives at 8 Hickman Drive. I checked the road atlas, and that’s in Forest Hills. It’s not that far from here. Over.” 

“Yeah, we’re on our way to you,” Lucas said. “The three of us are biking over. Will’s going to have his walkie on him. Over.”

“We’re really doing this,” said Dustin. “Okay. I’ll raid the kitchen. If she’s lost in the woods, she’s probably hungry. Over.”

“See you guys soon,” said Will. “Over and out.” 

He finished packing his bag. Eddie’s broken sword was still under his bed, and for a brief moment, thought about bringing the hilt with him. It had a jagged shard of metal sticking out from it, and would probably work as a dagger, but it had also broken on the monster’s skin. If the demogorgon came back, it wouldn’t do him any good. He decided to climb out of the window instead of trying to sneak out the back door. It didn’t take much for him to wheel his bike out far enough that Mom wouldn’t see him from the house, and then kick off and get going towards Dustin’s house. He flicked on his light and then his walkie once he got to the end of the driveway. 

His heart was in his throat the whole ride, but he got there in one piece, with no sign of the demogorgon on the way. Dustin met him in the driveway, and Lucas and Mike arrived a few minutes later. They all had full backpacks, flashlights, and all the things they needed to explore the woods. Lucas had even brought a knife and binoculars, saying that they were his dad’s, from ‘Nam.

They pulled their bikes into the side yard, so they wouldn’t be seen from the street, and hid behind the woodpile to talk. “Okay, so how are we doing this?” Mike asked. “How long has she been missing?” 

“It must have just happened,” Dustin said. “Because Eddie’s uncle was bringing her to his house to look for him. Maybe something happened and it spooked her.”

“Okay, then she’s probably close to Eddie’s house,” Lucas said. “How far is it?” 

Dustin pulled a map of Hawkins from his backpack and they looked at it with their flashlights. “It’s right over here,” he said, tapping a spot that was south of his house. “We could bike down Kerley, over to Field, and then back up Route 14 to get to it.”

“That’s basically going back to my house and around,” Will said. “It’d go near the lab.” 

“Yeah, that goes all the way around,” Mike said. He looked up towards the woods behind Dustin’s house. “It’d be faster to just walk through the woods to get there.” 

Dustin seemed spooked by the idea, swallowing hard as the flashlight shook in his hand. “There’s a literal monster in the woods right now, Mike.” 

“I know, but El’s there, too.” He held up his flashlight. “We stick together. If she sees our lights, she might come right to us, and then we can bring her home.”

“We can’t hide her in my house,” Dustin said. “My mom will definitely find her.”

“We’ll bring her to my house, just like we did in Steve’s story,” said Mike. “We’ll hide her in my basement. It’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know, guys,” Dustin whined.

Will stood up straight. “We can do this,” he said. “Come on. No more debating it. Dustin, you have your compass and the map. You can make sure we stay on track. Let’s go.” 

Taglist: @neonfruitbowl.