#eileen sycamore

[quibbs126]

More sketches from the past two days

So first I just wanted to draw Flora in that outfit she has during the credits of Curious Village, because personally I really like it, and I feel like it makes her look more similar to Luke and Layton’s type of clothing. Not sure if I would have preferred this outfit over the one we got, because I still like that one, but still

Next, I just wanted to draw something funny with Descole. I know DS games should be too modern for this world, but I swear I’ve seen some art where Luke has a DS, and I just think it would be funny if the one thing from modern times this series has is just. The DS. So yeah. For context, the game Descole is supposed to be playing is Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs. In it there’s a character called Leanne, who’s an archaeologist studying the ancient history of Oblivia, but also she’s married to Oblivia’s Area Ranger Rand, and has a daughter named Nema, and they all live happily. I feel like Descole would end up drawing parallels to his own family and get kind of jealous he can’t live that happy life Leanne is

Next, I was looking for some poses to draw in my photos, and I came across the one with three people, and initially I was going to draw it with Des and his old crew, but then I thought the pose would also work with the prequel trio, and I thought maybe I should do that instead. But I still wanted to draw the Des trio, so I just ended up making two different versions, as you can see here. I feel like Luke ended up looking a bit weird here

Oh yeah, and for context as to who the kid in the middle of the Des trio is, that would be Kyle Azan, or as he’s originally known at this time, Gabriel Redwood, who I’m just gonna say was Desmond’s apprentice back in the day, similar to how Luke is to Layton. Gabriel, Desmond and Eileen (along with Raymond) would go around the world in an earlier version of the Bostonius searching for ancient ruins and artifacts, having plenty of adventures along the way. Also for reference, I’m saying that Gabriel is around 12 years younger than Desmond, but they first met when Gabriel was about 9, so it was a pretty sizable age gap

Anyways, so after that I had some free space, so I decided “you know what? I complained about the villains not getting new outfits in the Layton cafe art, why not just try and do it myself?” And so I decided to start with Clive. I based this outfit off of a combination of his normal outfit and Luke’s alternate outfit. Also I lost the hat because from what I can gather, the hat was just part of his “Future Luke” persona, considering once we see him as Clive, he’s no longer wearing the hat, so I ditched it so that he’d stand on his own instead of just being Luke’s counterpart

But yeah

[danpuff-ao3]

Eileen Recs

Eileen Snape (nee Prince) is a character I always find myself curious about and drawn to. There are so many questions. Where did she come from? Why did she leave? Who is this person who helped shaped Severus Snape?

So here I've collected a few of my favorite stories about and/or featuring Eileen, and the various versions of her I've fallen in love with.

The Seahorse

by Acid (@ac1d6urn, @humblenug.) Rated M. 21k. Lee (Eileen) POV. Trans Male Character.

Lee is used to winning his Gobstones matches, and he thinks he can come out ahead in the game of life. If only things were as simple as when he first met Tobias at that pub in Cokeworth. In a perfect world, he sure as hell wouldn't be pregnant and learning his way around a Muggle kitchen, but it's 1959, and he is all bones and weary mind, weighed down by the flesh that doesn't feel like his own.

Underneath the North Star and the Sycamores

by Femme (@femmequixotic.) Rated M. 5k. Eileen/Tobias.

I'm restless, eager for something I'm not quite certain of, something I never thought I'd want.

Not Your Trophy Wife

by hermioneclone. Rated E. 20k. Eileen/Horace. Eileen/Tobias.

After a chance encounter with Horace Slughorn in Diagon Alley, Eileen Prince Snape realizes that he just might be the key to delivering the Prince family heir to her estranged parents and securing her own future. Horace is more than happy to uphold his end of the bargain.

Triptych

by kelly_chambliss (@kellychambliss.) Rated M. 14k. Eileen/Tobias. Eileen/Sybill.

He hadn't married the girl for love, Tobias was the first to admit it.

No Room for the Weak

by perverse_idyll (@perverse-idyll.) Rated M. 10k. Eileen POV. Pre-Snarry.

There's a Boy Who Lived and a boy who didn't, and even a mother can't always tell them apart.

Ghosts of Christmas

by PinaNaponi (@vulnerasanenturmyprince.) Rated E. 45k. Harry/Severus. Found family. Mental health issues. Mentions of abuse. Hurt/comfort. Injury recovery. Postwar.

Prompt #53: Harry visits a recuperating Severus at Spinner's End at Christmas and ends up learning quite a lot from Eileen, who has been taking care of him.

The Fair

by titC (@titconao3.) Rated G. 2k. Poverty. Unhappy.

Eileen and Tobias Snape take their six-year-old son Severus to a fair in Cokeworth.

Playing for Keeps

by vissy. Rated M. 5k. Eileen/Tobias. Eileen/Severus. Non-con. Incest.

Eileen Snape, former Captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team, is losing her marbles.

[broomsticks]

my lil baby ao3 account is a year old today and a year ago the end of this month is when i posted my first fic and so i wanted to take the opportunity to share this essay: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore on Writing on Your Own Terms.

When we write on our own terms, with all the specificity, nuance, complication, messiness, contradiction, emotion, confusion, weirdness, devastation, wildness and intimacy, when we write against the demand for closure or explication, we write against the canonical imperative, and instead write toward the people who might actually appreciate our work on its own terms. I mean we write toward our selves.

Over and over again we are told that in order to make our work accessible, we have to speak to an imagined center where the terms are still basically straight, white, male, and Christian. When we write on our own terms, and by this I mean when we reject the gatekeepers who tell us we must diminish our work in order for it to matter, we may be kept out of the centers of power and attention, this is for sure. And yet, if writing is what keeps us alive—and I mean this literally—if writing is what allows us to dream, to engage with the world, to say everything that it feels like we cannot say, everything that makes us feel like we might die if we say it, and yet we say it, so we can go on living—if this is what writing means, then we need to write on our own terms, don’t we?

Nothing is universal, not even the period at the end of this sentence. (…) Sure, we all experience rain, sun, water, earth. But as soon as we write about them, they change too. Try it. See if we can all agree about any of this. Eileen Myles writes, “As soon as I hit the keyboard I’m lying,” and we all know the truth in this.

Often writers ask me about how to write about people they know, what to keep in and what to keep out. And my first answer is always: write everything. Write it all. Especially the parts you are most worried about. You can decide later what to keep, but don’t hold yourself back, because then you’re censoring your work before it even has a chance to exist on the page. Before it has a chance to grow.

Maybe it’s about me, and maybe it’s about you. We are always in this text together, right? Maybe sometimes I’m writing into the gaps, and maybe sometimes I’m writing out of them. If I’m writing towards closure, but I never get there, isn’t this why we write? Not to close off, not to close in—an opening: this is what I’m after.

Sometimes I get lost in the text, and sometimes I know exactly where I’m going. Sometimes I know exactly where I’m going, but then I get lost. Language is a search for more language. To say what we can’t say. So we can say it.

Maybe I’m writing about how my body will never let go, and I don’t want to let go of my body. Maybe I’m writing about trauma, there it is again, I knew it would be here but I didn’t know where. There’s an inside, and an out. Writing is both.

[soracities]

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, “On Writing On Your Own Terms”

[Text ID: “Nothing is universal, not even the period at the end of this sentence. Okay, maybe trauma is universal, but not what trauma, who is traumatized, or how it feels to each of us, certainly not in language. Isn’t this why we write? Sure, we all must breathe to stay alive, but we all breathe differently. What language can we conjure to shift the breath? Sure, we all experience rain, sun, water, earth. But as soon as we write about them, they change too. Try it. See if we can all agree about any of this. Eileen Myles writes, “As soon as I hit the keyboard I’m lying,” and we all know the truth in this.”]

[almaasi]

3 million words fic rec (Destiel)

I’ve officially posted 3 million words on my AO3 account!!

Here’s all 115 of my Dean/Cas fics (as of December 30th 2019). They currently make up 85% of my total fics. I posted 42 fics this year, with a new Destiel fic once every 2 weeks on average, with 24 total.

(The rest, as of the last 6 months, are Crowley/Azriaphale (Good Omens) and Garak/Bashir (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). There’s separate fic recs for those. And here’s one Cockles fic.)

Fics listed by year (newest first), then by word count (shortest first).

--

2019

Just a Sniffle (2k / canon, Cas has a cold, Dean gives him a foot rub)

Hanukkahn't Resist You (2k, AU, teacher!Dean gives autistic Jewish teacher!Cas a Hanukkah greeting card containing a pickup line)

Brothers Don't Do That (3k / canon, Cas talks to Sam about how their feelings for Dean differ while ordering take-out)

Taste the Rainbow (In the Rain) (4k / AU, strangers sharing Skittles in the rain and kissing to help Dean quit smoking)

Hit Pause Kitty Claws (4k / AU, Team Free Will are cats belonging to Death!Billie, soft fluff and feline antics)

Weird But Confident (5k / canon, Cas finds Dean’s panties in his bag and thinks Dean slept with a woman)

Enemies Closer (5k / teachers AU, Dean keyed the wrong car, Cas runs AV club and Dean joins him so he has an alibi for his crime)

Snugglebird (5k / canon, Dean’s clothes are going missing, Cas is building a nest

Texted My Ex and Got You Instead (6k, AU, title explains it, fluff, asexual!Cas)

The Angel Cake Challenge (8k / canon crossover with Good Omens (book), Dean tells Crowley & Aziraphale they’re a cute couple and they encourage him to make a move on Cas)

Let's Play Doctors (8k / canon, smut, Dean asks Cas for medical roleplay and they use the machines to watch themselves have first-time sex)

Good For You (11k / canon, Dean teaches Cas to masturbate over the phone, then shows him properly in person)

BFBF (Best Friend's Boyfriend) (11k / AU, ft. Eileen - Cas has an absent bisexual boyfriend named Dean, Sam has an absent straight brother named Dean, oops they’re the same Dean)

Dean and Castiel's Lagoon of Love (12k, canon, Cas is cursed with tentacles and that’s Dean’s kink, they roleplay Dean’s favourite anime, smut and feelings)

Measure of Thigh Love (14k / canon, Dean is turned on by big muscles, Cas has some of those. smut, bottom!Cas)

Eleven Erogenous Zones of a Fallen Angel (15k / canon, Cas accidentally has physical wings and he hates them, Dean bathes and grooms Cas to soothe him, wing kink smut)

Two Heart Pose (17k / AU, overwhelmed papa!Dean, yoga instructor!Cas helps out with baby care)

Through the Lace (18k / office romance AU, desperation & pee kink smut, Dean in panties)

Sycamore Smile (18k / AU, professor!Cas, barista!Dean with a pet bunny, both are a hot mess, Dean helps Cas KonMari his life, ft. the purest fluff and sunshine)

Circuitry and Dust (23k / AU, demiromantic antique dealer!Cas, gaming lounge owner!Dean, Cas wrongly assumes his love is unrequited so helps set Dean up with an ex-girlfriend)

He's Kind of a Hairy Fairy (24k / AU, Team Free Will & co. running a summer camp, there’s only one bed in Dean & Cas’ cabin, Rowena curses Dean with fairy wings and he has to confess his feelings to get rid of them)

First and Only (35k / AU, Dean bets Sam he can have more sex in one year, Dean & Cas become fuck buddies, but Dean wants more so asks Charlie for help)

☆ Sleigh ☆ (46k / Christmas AU, makeup artist!Cas also works for Santa, Dean tags along delivering gifts on Christmas Eve, later a long distance relationship and eventual smut)

He's a (Zoo) Keeper (74k / AU, when zookeeper!Dean isn’t dating anyone, he and beekeeper!Cas have a BFF-roommates-with-benefits thing, but then Cas becomes a wedding planner and plans their fake wedding, drama with smut and feelings)

2018

Gulls N’ Roses (2k / canon, Dean hands Cas a rose, Cas interprets it as romantic)

Lost Night (2k / canon, Dean has nightmares, Cas dreamwalks to help)

He Called Me Honey (3k / canon, breakfast fluff, Dean dreamed he kissed Cas, talks to Sam, Cas shows up)

Note to Self: Cas Loves You (3k / canon, very drunk!Dean, Cas confesses his love)

I’m Dreamin’ of a Grey Christmas (4k / canon, Team Free Will 2.0 snow fight, Cas has some new grey hair, Dean has hearteyes, season 14 divergent)

Dry in the Downpour (5k / Pixar-short-inspired AU, umbrella-sharing)

Prince of the Ether Realms (5k / canon - season 13, must get married for a spell, Sam officiates)

Never or Forever (5k, canon, family dinner, Jody POV)

Without Further Ado (5k, canon, Dean has a list of “reasons not to be with Cas" but they’re all irrelevant now)

Wee Little Love Child (10k / canon, de-aged!Sam thinks Dean and Cas are his parents, gets them together)

Room for Two (The Mattress AU) (14k / college roommates AU, autistic!Cas, fake relationship, ALL the bed-sharing tropes)

Paramour by Post (18k / historical-ish AU, mail delivered to the wrong address, love letters, agender!Cas, bisexual!Dean)

Barbershop Duet (22k / Christmas AU, smut, shaving kink, domesticity, family gatherings)

The House That Wanted to Be a Garden (32k / AU, famous musician!Dean, gardener!Cas, fairies, accidentally moving in)

Duck Duck Boots (92k / ex-daredevil kindergarten teacher!Dean, agoraphobic Cas, small town magic realism & fate AU, looking after ducklings together)

2017

Unconditional (2k / canon - season 13, Dean explains why he loves Cas)

Mostly in Silence (4k / canon, Cas is depressed, Dean helps with self-care)

Restaurant Revelations (4k / canon, Dean and Cas tell Sam they’re engaged)

Whoa There Cowboy (5k / canon, cowboy-kink smut, porn-watching, magic fingers bed)

Pretty Panties and the Pool Shark (6k / kid!fic AU, autistic!Cas is scared of an imaginary shark in the school pool)

Purple Horse in a Coffee Shop (8k / ultimate office romance, pride parade, coffee shop AU)

Lucid Nightmare (10k / siren!Cas AU, dreamwalk-or-die, spooky fluff)

Stumble and Fall (20k / Team Free Will as dogs AU, search-and-rescue adventure, fluff & pining)

A Place and A Feeling (24k / AU, real estate agent!Cas, Dean looking for a house)

Night Exhibition (26k / AU, security guard!Cas at museum at night, friends to lovers, sex everywhere)

The Emporium of Christmas Enchantments (28k / Christmas, magic toyshop AU, kind of like a Disney movie)

Marshmalloween (33k / Halloween AU, Dean takes Sam’s teen friends to a haunted swamp, meet old bestie Cas, ghost adventures)

Our Garden Home (36k / everyone is a garden fairy, AU disabled autistic!Cas, found families)

The Wireless (58k / solarpunk carnival adventure AU, famous hunter!Dean, famous radio presenter angel!Cas, tent sex)

What We Ache For (93k / sex worker!Cas AU, Dean wants to make love, trauma recovery, Team Free Will & found families, a dog)

2016

Fight and Fool Around (5k / AU, bartender!Cas, Dean realises he’s bisexual, alleyway smut)

Tickle Fight Wasteland (5k / AU, fluff in a post-apocalyptic world, everyone is alive, tickle fight & cuddling)

Raising Hell in a Hotel (29k / kid!fic, living in a hotel AU, friendship, pining)

Welcome All Winchesters (60k / AU, snowy Christmas cabin, fake relationship, friends to lovers)

The Moonlighter and the Magician (67k / 1920s historical AU, asexual jewel thief!Cas, bisexual!Dean, running away together)

2015

What’s a Hickey? (1k / canon, Cas has a hickey, talks to Sam about it)

A Postcard for Castiel (4k / AU, kid!fic, autistic!Cas exchanges compliments with Dean, teacher!Charlie)

Symbols of Affection (4k / canon, Dean accidentally texts Cas a kissy-face emoji)

In Which Dean Frogs Up (6k / canon, Dean’s turned into frog in Moondoor, needs true love’s kiss to fix)

The One Where You Are A Guinea Pig (8k / canon, title says it all, Cas takes you to the bunker, Team Free Will interact)

We’re the New Romantics (8k / gifted & talented high school camp AU, aromantic!Cas, pop culture geek!Dean)

Waiting For That Final Moment (8k / AU, Cas interrupts Dean & Lisa’s wedding at a roller rink to declare his love, polyamory)

Delirium and Doctor Sexy (9k / canon, bisexual!Dean high on magical gas, thinks Cas is Dr. Sexy)

#ThankYouSammy (9k / canon, Sam prepares a Valentine’s Day dinner-date for Dean & Cas)

Dean Winchester the Puppydog (10k / canon, puppy play, submissive!Dean, hurt/comfort, non-sexual)

Father Material (12k / AU, asexual uncle!Cas, babysitter!Dean, kid!Claire, romantic attraction)

The Tailor of Fairy Ridge (17k / fairytale AU, tailor!Cas, fairy!Dean helps with clothing designs, good witch!Charlie, evil witch!Rowena)

Take You To The Country (18k / 1920s historical AU, pining, Dean reads an elopement proposal in the newspaper and realises it’s for him, running away together)

Sharing the Rain Dog (19k / AU, musician!Dean, FBI agent!Cas, sharing custody of a dog, have to move in to look after her)

Drop Anchor (42k / pirate!Cas, sailor!Dean, trapped on a deserted island and accidentally achieve domestic bliss AU)

Snow Place Like Home (But My Home Is With You) (47k / canon, Team Free Will in a B&B over Christmas, softness, smut & domesticity)

Held in Your Tender Hands (59k / AU, agender tattooed masseur!Cas, customer!Dean, workplace sex, paintball, found families, somnophilia)

2014

Cheek on Your Shoulder (1k / canon, Dean misses Cas, hugs him and can’t let go)

The Literal Bear Hug (1k / canon, Cas is accidentally a bear, cuddling)

If I Fall For You (2k / canon, Hannah likes Cas but Cas loves Dean)

If You Could Go Anywhere (3k / canon, Team Free Will ponder: all the drama is over, so what now?)

Cherry Pink Wedding (4k / AU, Dean & Cas both cry at Sam’s wedding)

Lettuce Share This Moment (4k / canon, Dean secretly likes salad… and Cas)

The Joke Is on You (And So Is Castiel) (4k / canon, April Fool’s Day, Cas pranks Dean & Sam when they pray for him)

Some People Would Call This Romantic (5k / canon, Dean and Cas take a long walk on the beach)

Panic Kiss (5k / AU, Dean has a panic attack, Cas calms him down, accidental kissing)

Boutique du Ballet (6k / canon, Dean loves ballet and wants to try the outfits - either crossdressing or trans-curious!Dean)

Minty Fresh Kisses (7k / canon, Dean teaches Cas to brush his teeth)

Sexier Than Doctor Sexy (8k / AU, doctor!Cas, Dean gets a prostate exam and enjoys it more than he should)

Sam Accidentally Sees the Whole Picture (10k / canon, smut, Sam is in the room while Dean & Cas do it for the first time, Sam POV)

Understanding Your Body in Ten Easy Steps (12k / canon, smut, Dean teaches Cas how to masturbate)

Roost (12k / AU, Dean and Cas are rescued fighting roosters, for some reason not that interested in girl chickens)

Dead Body Disposal 101 (14k / canon, angel!Cas wants to be a hunter so Dean & Sam show him how, Dean & Cas are bad at expressing feelings)

Of Shampoo and Fruit Flies (17k / roommate AU, autistic!Cas, confessing feelings surrounded by supportive friends)

Love Him in His Sleep (Love Him Always) (32k / canon, Dean has wet dreams about being cuddled, Cas is into somophilia and dreamwalks to gain consent)

Preacher Comfort (42k / AU, hurt/comfort, asexual preacher!Cas, nurse!Dean, hugs & cuddling, Halloween)

Nine Times We Met (And One Christmas We Parted) (58k / queer historical romantic angst AU, teacher!Cas, firefighter!Dean, meeting over the years & falling in love)

Hart of the Storm (119k / historical AU, hunter!Dean turned into a deer by shapeshifting god!Cas, magic forest)

2013

For a Scarf in October (1k / canon, Halloween, Dean wants to buy a ~women’s~ scarf, Sam tells him it’s okay)

Of All the Bars in the World (There Are None Between Us) (2k / prison AU, Dean and Cas are cellmates, discuss past and future intimacy)

Dean’s List (3k / canon, Dean writes a list of men he’d ~go gay~ for, Sam has a suggestion to make, bisexual!Dean)

Nobody’s Daddy (3k / canon, accidental baby acquisition, Dean breastfeeds, then Cas arrives with actual milk)

Foal Delivery Service (4k / AU fusion with ‘My Little Pony’ - kid pony!Dean finds out how heteronormative the world is, then meets agender pony!Cas, later have baby ponies together)

Winchester’s Rouge (6k / canon, angst, Dean tries on makeup and remembers his mother)

Manscaping (6k / canon, Cas cuts himself shaving his junk, Dean does first aid, boners)

Sharing Hands (6k / canon - season 8, smut, Cas is possessing Dean, masturbate together)

Play Nice, Kids (10k / AU or alternate canon, reverse-verse, angel winged!Dean, wing kink masturbation, sex toys)

Hello Night (11k / historical AU, demon possessing Dean, priest!Cas, crossroads sex to save Dean, Cas/demon & Cas/Dean)

Shadows Across the Camera Lens (13k / AU, smut, dominant bottom photographer!Cas, submissive top crossdressing underwear model!Dean)

Faerie Strange Circumstances (30k / AU hunters, fairy!Cas, fairy realm adventures, Bobby’s house, Charlie, Jody)

Bad Things With You (31k / AU or alternate canon, smut, catboy!Dean, catboy!Cas, mating urges, biting, licking, fake relationship is actually real)

Cowboys and Real Estate Angels (36k / AU, bisexual retired musician cowboy!Dean, old fan!Cas, lovemaking, falling in love in one night)

Try-Something Tuesday (48k / my most popular fic of all time, teacher!Dean, librarian teacher!Cas, smut in strange places, school trips, moving in together AU)

The Feline Perspective of a Guilty Conscience (51k / canon divergent - season 9, hurt/comfort, Dean transformed into a cat, sad angel!Cas, Team Free Will, forgiveness)

Foxfire Blossom (283k / AU, florist!Dean, rich!Cas, affairs, soap opera-level drama, sex, highly problematic lies, and cheating, ALL the characters)

2012

Angelhawke (407k / epic medieval fantasy AU, Dean and Cas are cursed to be animals in the day/night, travel with Sam and Bobby as they tell their story in flashbacks, quest to be together, based on ‘Ladyhawke’ but ~70% original story)

--

New fics are on their way in 2020! 

☆ Subscribe on this page if you want new fics in your inbox!!

☆ And you can support my writing, art, and other creative projects here~

Thank you all so much for supporting me all these years. I’m so excited to see what I end up writing next~!! ♥

Elmie x

[fincherly]

L and W 👀

uhhhh.......... hmm first i have to remember who my fave is

uhh i’d honestly ask for either some eileen the crow or the suspicious beggar/abhorrent beast!!

and UHHH ok gimme a second --

- shadow the hedgehog

- fenris (dragon age)

- miles edgeworth

- jean des...mond sycamore

- Lucretia from TAZ

[penniesforthestorm]

“There’s something wrong here”: Twin Peaks Recap, Season 2, Episodes 20, 21, and 22

Well, here we are. (Long strange trip, etc....) Below are the annotations for the final three episodes of the original run of Twin Peaks, along with some additional theories and observations. This has been a tremendously fun exercise; if you’ve been following along, pop on over to my inbox any time--I’m always up for more discussion. Stay tuned for my rundown on Fire Walk With Me, and very soon we’ll move onto The Return. Until then, I’ll see you in the trees...

Episode Twenty: “The Path to the Black Lodge”

-Windom Earle’s “pawn” was named Rusty Tomawski, and he was traveling with a band when their van’s tires broke down. Hope he made it to that great gig in the sky...

-Deputy Andy Brennan, on the environment: “Styrofoam never dies as long as you live.”

-Doc Heyward, to Ben Horne: “It’s what’s in your heart you should be worried about.”

-Wheeler’s business partner in Brazil has been murdered, so he’s trying to make tracks. Buddy, we hardly knew ye...

-Briggs shows Coop and Truman the Project Blue Book files on Windom Earle, including a tape of him discussing “dark sorcerers called Dukhpas” that inhabit the Black Lodge. Coop realizes he has mistaken Earle’s reason for coming to Twin Peaks in the first place.

-At the RR, Bobby Briggs and Shelley Johnson have about as much of a serious discussion as we’ve seen them have. This is the thing about Bobby--he might be a brat, but deep down, he truly loves Shelley. I believe he wanted to love Laura, too.

-Coop and Truman talk with Audrey, Donna, and Shelley, and confirm that they have all encountered Earle in various disguises, and that Leo Johnson wrote out the poem.

-Ben talks with Audrey at the Great Northern- when she leaves to chase after Jack, Ben is alone in the office, but he suddenly jerks around as if he hears something. Cut to Pete Martell in the lobby, crooning a lament for Josie Packard: “Josie, I see your face...”

-Earle captures Major Briggs. “Garland, what do you fear most in the world?” “The possibility that love is not enough.”

-At the Roadhouse, Coop teaches Annie how to dance, calling her a ‘queen’. The Giant appears, waving his hands and mouthing “No”, in warning.

-OK, as much as I would go fishing with Major Briggs, that goes double for good ol’ Pete Martell. Up around Seeley Lake, right at the end of July so we could get some huckleberries, too.

-In this episode, we see repeated instances of people’s hands trembling: a woman at the RR, Coop, and Pete as he waits for Audrey...oh, and whose arm is that, reaching out of the blackness in the woods?...

Episode Twenty-One: “Miss Twin Peaks”

-another directed by Tim Hunter

-Leo frees Major Briggs, whispering “Save Shelley”

-Norma was the first winner of the Miss Twin Peaks Pageant (quelle surprise...); in the discussion, Annie mentions Laura Palmer.

-Cooper makes the connection between BOB and the Black Lodge, and also with Josie’s death

-Donna confronts Doc and Eileen Heyward about Ben Horne; what I’m wondering is, where are the other two Heyward girls? (Also, it pleases me that Donna and I have the same middle name; it’s a common one, but still.)

-Major Briggs is in bad shape at the sheriff’s office, but he manages to tell Coop and Harry: “Fear and Love open the doors” to the Lodges. He also mumbles “Judy Garland”...

-And the pageant begins! I guess one of Annie’s convent sisters must’ve been a Rockette at some point; her form in the kickline is impeccable. And how about Lucy Moran, pregnant and still knocking out fouettes, pirouettes, and landing a split?!

-Audrey Horne: “When something you care about is in danger, you must fight to save it or lose it forever.” Annie’s speech is, of course, perfect. Donna confronts Ben Horne, and Lucy chooses Andy. Exit Richard Tremayne, to the collective relief of us all...

-And Annie is our queen. Really, who could begrudge her? I’m glad she gets her moment with her crown, her roses, and the adoring crowd, before the darkness falls.

Episode Twenty-Two: “Beyond Life and Death”

-Andy, reassuring Lucy: “I’d help you have that baby right there in the elevator, in front of God and everybody.” I love them so! much!

-Coop and Truman confirm the entrance to the Lodges at Glastonbury Grove, among the sycamores. I do love Pete’s interruption: “King Arthur is buried in England! ...Last I heard...”

-The Log Lady brings the oil from her husband, and Hawk brings in Ronette Pulaski to confirm the scent. This is one of my favorite details: way back at the beginning, it was Hawk that kept watch over Ronette in the hospital. Who knows what she remembers from that time, but I love it that she instinctively turns to him for refuge when the scent scares her.

-Annie officially meets Windom Earle; she is quite reasonably terrified, but strong enough to maintain a little skepticism, like, what is this dude’s problem?

-Some loose ends, tied (sorta): Nadine fully regains consciousness (I still don’t know what to make of the Mike business); Donna, with her bags packed, confronts Ben Horne and her mother, Doc and Sylvia Horne show up. Congrats, Ben, you’ve infuriated two families...

-I had forgotten how much this cuts back and forth once Coop enters the Lodge; worth mentioning that Gordon Cole described Shelley Johnson as ‘looking like the babe without the arms’, and in the hallway of the Lodge, there’s a replica of the Venus de Milo

-The business at the bank, Audrey crossing paths with Andrew Packard and Pete Martell-- I’ve brought up before that the Eckhardt/Packard intrigue storyline never quite meshed for me, but I do like Packard quoting Marcus Aurelius like the pompous s.o.b. he is...

-Bobby, on the subject of Leo: “He’s probably up in the woods having the time of his life.” Well, in a manner of speaking, that’s not wholly inaccurate...

-OK, Theory Time (tm)!: Sarah Palmer, seen here delivering a message to Major Briggs. I believe that “Sarah” is a Lodge denizen, or intermediary of some kind, similar to the Giant or the One-Armed Man-- she is able to perceive BOB and the others, and to give warning, but cannot directly effect the outcome of a situation. Whether she always was, or whether, at some point, she was overtaken, I’m not sure, but I think this plays into her arc in The Return, and may explain some of FWWM.

-And into the Lodge we go. The Man from Another Place says, “The next time you see me, it won’t be me.” The Giant reveals that he and the waiter are “One and the same.” Coop meets: Laura (”See you again in twenty-five years”); Maddy (”Watch out for my cousin”), Caroline/Annie (”I saw the face of the man who killed me”/ “You’re mistaken, I’m alive”), and Leland Palmer (”I never killed anyone”). Windom Earle offers to take Coop’s soul in exchange for letting Annie live, and Coop accepts, but BOB intervenes.

-Cooper, regaining consciousness at the Great Northern: “I wasn’t sleeping.” And the mirror shows us the awful truth: a Return, of someone we hoped we’d never see, riding along with the last person we’d hope to see him with.

...Whew!! That’s all for now, though, of course, this is only a stop on the journey. Keep your owls close and your donuts closer, and...meanwhile...

[bluejay-boy]

lgbtqia+ representation: books + authors edition

books by lgbtqia+ authors with lgbtqia+ themes and/or characters

You Could Be Mine, Sara Farizan (she/her)

About a Girl, Sarah McCarry (she/her)

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Storied of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages, Saundra Mitchell (she/they)

Amateur, Thomas Page McBee (he/him)

Anger is a Gift, Mark Oshiro (they/them)

Annie on My Mind, Nancy Garden (she/her)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz (he/him)

Ash, Malinda Lo (she/her)

At Swim, Two Boys, Jamie O’Neill (he/him)

At the Edge of the Universe, Shaun David Hutchinson (he/him)

Blue is the Warmest Color, Julie Maroh (she/her)

The Brightsiders, Jen Wilde (she/her)

Caroline’s Heart, Austin Chant (he/him)

Changers, T Cooper (he/him) + Allison Glock-Cooper (she/her)

Chelsea Girls, Eileen Myles (they/them)

The Color Purple, Alice Walker (she/her)

Confessions of a Mask, Yukio Mishima (he/him)

Confessions of the Fox, Jordy Rosenberg (he/him)

The Danielle Cain Series, Margaret Killjoy (she/her)

Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Adib Khorram (he/him)

Dear Rachel Maddow, Adrienne Kisner (she/her)

The Difference Between You and Me, Madeleine George (she/her)

Drag Teen, Jeffery Self (he/him)

Eminent Outlaws, Christopher Bram (he/him)

Everything Leads to You, Nina LaCour (she/her)

Fat Angie, E.E. Charlton-Trujillo (she/her)

Fingersmith, Sarah Waters (she/her)

For Today I Am a Boy, Kim Fu (she/her)

Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (she/her)

Funeral Rites, Jean Genet (he/him)

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, Jaye Robin Brown (she/her)

Get it Together, Delilah, Erin Gough (she/her)

Girl in Need of a Tourniquet, Merri Lisa Johnson (she/her)

Girl Made of Stars, Ashley Herring Blake (she/her)

Girl Mans Up, M.E. Girard (she/her)

Gracefully Grayson, Ami Polonsky (she/her)

The Gravity Between Us, Kristen Zimmer (she/her)

The Great American Whatever, Tim Federle (he/him)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers (she/her)

Her Name in the Sky, Kelly Quindlen (she/her)

History is All You Left Me, Adam Silvera (he/him)

Hunter’s Way, Gerri Hill (she/her)

I Wish You All the Best, Mason Deaver (they/them)

If I Was Your Girl, Meredith Russo (she/her)

If You Could Be Mine, Sara Farizan (she/her)

Juliet Takes a Breath, Gabby Rivera (she/her)

Keeping You a Secret, Julie Anne Peters (she/her)

Leaving L.A., Kate Christie (she/her)

Let’s Talk About Love, Claire Kann (she/her)

Little Fish, Casey Plett (she/her)

Love Beyond Body, Space and Time (anthology)

Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey (they/them)

Maiden, Mother, Crone: Fantastical Trans Femmes (anthology)

Me and You and Daisies, Lily R. Mason (she/her)

Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science and Fiction from Transgender Writers (anthology)

The Mechanical Universe, E.E. Ottoman (they/he)

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror, Daniel M. Lavery (he/him)

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Emily M. Danforth (she/her)

Money Boy, Paul Yee (he/him)

Moon at Nine, Deborah Ellis (she/her)

Nameless Woman (anthology)

Nimona, Noelle Stevenson (she/her)

Not Otherwise Specified, Hannah Moskowitz (she/her)

Of Fire and Stars, Audrey Coulthurst (she/they)

Once and Future, Cory McCarthy (they/them)

One Man Guy, Michael Barakiva (he/him)

Openly Straight, Bill Konigsberg (he/him)

Patience and Sarah, Isabel Miller (she/her)

People in Trouble, Sarah Schulman (she/her)

Pet, Akwaeke Emezi (they/them)

Peter Darling, Austin Chant (he/him)

The Porcupine of Truth, Bill Konigsberg (he/him)

The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith (she/her)

Puddin’, Julie Murphy (she/they)

The Queen of Cups, Ren Basel (they/them)

Ramona Blue, Julie Murphy (she/they)

Resilience (anthology)

The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Patrick Ness (he/him)

Ruby-Fruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown (she/her)

The Shape of My Name, Nino Cipri (they/them)

She’s My Ride Home, Jackie Bushore (she/her)

Small Beauty, Jia Qing Wilson-Yang (she/her)

So Many Ways To Sleep Badly, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (she/her)

The Summer of Jordi Perez, Amy Spalding (she/her)

The Summer Prince, Alaya Dawn Johnson (she/her)

The Swimming Pool Library, Alan Hollinghurst (he/him)

Taking the Long Way, Lily R. Mason (she/her)

Tash Hearts Tolstoy, K. E. Ormsbee (she/her)

Tell Me How a Crush Should Feel, Sara Farizan (she/her)

The Tensorate Series, JY Yang (they/them)

They Both Die at the End, Adam Silvera (he/him)

This Book is Gay, Juno Dawson (she/her)

Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters (she/her)

Trans Power, Juno Roche (she/they)

True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, Gerard Way (he/him)

Two Boys Kissing, David Levithan (he/him)

Two Serious Ladies, Jane Bowles (she/her)

Unburied Fables, several authors

An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon (they/them)

Valencia, Michelle Tea (she/her)

We the Animals, Justin Torres (he/him)

What If It’s Us, Becky Albertalli (she/her, cis straight) + Adam Silvera (he/him, gay)

Wildthorn, Jane Eagland (she/her)

Will Grayson Will Grayson, John Green (he/him, cis straight) + David Levithan (he/him, gay)

The World Unseen, Shamim Sarif (she/her)

The Year of Ice, Brian Malloy (he/him)

[fableweaver]

Arc of the Bastard Mage

*Back on track

She sat under the shade of a sycamore tree, the summer shade dappled and the tree whispered with the wind. In her lap sat a flute carven of green stone, intricate work that made it a master piece. As she gazed at it she felt a longing for something she couldn’t quite grasp.

“Grandmother Rane,” she turned and looked down at a young child at her side. He was Aldan his ears pointed and hair a pale blonde. His face and features were so youthful he almost seemed to glow with it. His bright indigo eyes burned with color, like the twilight sky.

“Absalom,” she said kindly. “Do you know what this is?”

She handed over the flute to the child who took it with reverence though no obvious idea of what it truly was. He was her grandson, her future and the future of her kin. She could see his power in his eyes; his spirit was strong and burned almost as brightly as her own.

“No,” he answered puzzled.

“It is a singing stone,” Rane said kindly to him. “It can call back our lost kin, the Phay to this world.”

“Can I keep it?” he asked excited. Sadly she took back from him shaking her head.

“The outlanders are growing in power,” Rane said sadly. “Your great uncle Rena my twin is taking it to our long distant kin They Who Delve Deep. There the stone will be safe until the world is ready once more for the Phay to return.”

“When will they march?” Absalom asked with the solemn eyes of a child.

“I fear not for a long time,” she answered wearily. “Miread is in much turmoil and I do not foresee a time where peace will reign.”

“Then I will make peace,” Absalom said. “So that the Phay will return.”

She smiled at him, the smile of an adult indulging a child in his fantasies. Absalom then took the flute to his lips and began to play broken notes with no melody. She fell asleep to the garbled notes and the rustling leaves of the Deep Woods.  

Xavier woke to the sound of gurgling and dripping water. For a moment he could not remember where he was, lost a moment in the dream. It came back slowly and he woke enough to sit up. The cavern was a natural hollow formed by the tides, there was only one way in or out through the pool of water at the far end. At the moment the cave was dark except for the slight glow from the mage children.

Xavier stood and knelt next to the children, all asleep in a big pile on the large carpet. In the middle lay Martel, her ambient glow just a bit brighter. Xavier had never thought a mage capable of such power; she had saved his life with a miracle. He still felt a mix of guilt and pride at the thought of her saving his life; and he decided to let pride rule over guilt. Not that he had much to do with it, but he felt proud of her.

A soft splash of water drew his attention and Xavier turned to see Keone floating in the pool. He stood and walked over, but dared not brave the icy water. Keone swam up and he pulled her up on to the rocky lip over the water.

“I have brought food,” Keone said producing the bucket he had given her to collect muscles. “Do I get a kiss?”

“Of course,” Xavier said used to the ritual now. He gave her a kiss on the lips, neither small nor overly long. She smiled winningly all the same and he wondered at her for a moment. “Keone, do you love me?”

“Of course!” she laughed.

“Only me?” Xavier asked.

“No, I love many others,” Keone said with a grin. “There is Akoni, he is of my kind, and Kaleo, he is a sailfish that I had relations with just a few tides ago. And then…”

“Alright I get it,” Xavier said, deciding not to ask how she had gotten along with Kaleo. “But you keep coming back to me.”

“You are fun Xavier,” Keone said. “But I never abandon those I love. I go to Akoni tomorrow we are to swim in moon beams under the sea. You do not grow heartsick over this do you? Lokelani says that human men can be strange with love.”

“No Keone I’m alright,” Xavier said. “I just didn’t know Merrow women were so free with their love. I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Thank you,” Keone said beaming. “You always say nice things Xavier.”

She gave him another kiss and slipped back into the water. Xavier could only shake his head as he walked back to the little camp they had made. It was little different than the one they had in the roost, except a bit more damp and dark. Xavier walked past several gnomes, ignoring the little creatures as they ignored him.

He drew a fire sigil in the fire pit; they had no wood in the cave, and set the bucket of muscles over the sigil to cook. He sat back on his heels as he waited, staring at nothing lost in thought. His dream lingered at the edge of his memory; he knew it had been something important, something he needed to recall.

“Xavier?” the sound of his name broke his concentration and he turned to see Lycus awake. He had healed from his broken bones and cut and once again moved with the ease of youth. He detangled himself from the other children, pulled on his tunic and joined Xavier by the cooking muscles.

“Did you sleep well?” Xavier asked and Lycus nodded.

“You?” Lycus asked.

“I dreamed, but I can’t remember it,” Xavier answered.

“Was it a nightmare?” Lycus asked.

“No, I’ve had plenty of those,” Xavier said lowly. “This one I want to remember.”

“Can you remember any details?” Lycus asked. Xavier tried to think of anything from the dream, concentrating on the feelings he had.

“Trees, I think I was in a forest but…” Xavier trailed off, his breathing coming heavier. “I’ve never been in…”

Details started to surface, the sound of the wind through the canopy of leaves, the smell of the loamy soil, and two solemn indigo eyes looking up at him. He had called him something, Grandmother Rane.

“Rane!” Xavier said remembering something else suddenly at the name.

“What?” Lycus asked.

“Rane, She Breathes Deep,” Xavier answered. “She was Absalom’s grandmother. When I was in Myr a while ago I was in the Tower of Balal, the greatest library in the kingdoms. I was just browsing the books, but one had been her journal. She mentioned a treasure, a song, passed down through her family by their ancestor Eileen. She wrote that her brother took the song to the Dwarves in the northern mountains.”

“So the song is there?” Lycus said.

“Maybe,” Xavier said shaking his head. “That was centuries ago, over seven hundred years since it was before the Kingdoms formed. But my guess is the song resided in Alda until that time, Rane sending it away with her twin brother to the mountains. Only I don’t know if it reached it there. The Cursed Age of the kingdoms was a chaotic and dangerous time; it could be that he never reached the mountains.”

“So what are you going to do?” Lycus asked.

“Continue dreaming,” Xavier said. “That dream I had, I was Rane. I think she is one of Eileen’s incarnations. If that is true then that means that I just gained a memory from one of my past lives. Not only that but Rane had contact with the song after all that time. Kalyani said that I will be drawn to the song. I bet that I’ve encountered it through my past lives, and so if I gain those memories back I can find out where it has been and where it might be.”

“Does that mean we won’t be going to Myr?” Lycus asked and Xavier looked at him to see the boy looking disappointed.

“No, the opposite,” Xavier answered. “It means we are definitely going to Myr. I found one clue there but it is centuries old. We need more recent information, and we may find that in the Tower of Balal. My memories tell me some but not enough.”

“But what if the song did make it to the dwarves?” Lycus asked.

“I’ll tell Kalyani to send griffins to the northern mountains,” Xavier answered.

“Kalyani is outcast like the others,” Lycus said.

After the fight that had nearly claimed his life they had barely escaped with the aid of the griffins that were sympathetic to the mage children. Unfortunately, none of the Elect were among them. Kalyani and the group of Griffins, Raja, Shankar, Vasu, and Kavi along with ten other griffins had been declared outcasts by the Elect. Kalyani had told Xavier that Anik had lived but he would never fly again, a terrible blow for any griffin. The Long Talons were debating on choosing their new leader since Anik was too injured to lead them.

Kalyani had managed to get them to this sheltered sea cave a few leagues away from the Broken Isle, and with the help of the Merrow they had food at least through the winter. The outcast griffins, now calling themselves the Wild Braves as if they were a new clan though they were a mix of all the types of griffins, were roosting on the island above them. There was little shelter there as it was a windswept bare rock, but Kalyani said they could endure it for the winter. Xavier and the mage children however could not, so they had taken shelter in the submerged cavern the Merrow had found for them.

“Kalyani said that Yama has at least met with her on occasion,” Xavier said. “I’m sure she can get him to at least consider sending griffins to the mainland and investigate the mountains.

“Once the winter storms are over Kalyani assures me she and the other griffins can fly us to Myr. Then you’ll get to see what has become of the mages.”

“What then?” Lycus asked and Xavier hesitated. “Xavier you’re our savoir and guardian, but we deserve to know what you have planned for us.”

“I wasn’t planning on staying in Myr,” Xavier answered. “I have enemies there and if they caught me death would be a mercy. So, we won’t be able to stay there long.”

“You can’t stay there long,” Lycus said. “But what about us?”

Xavier looked at him in the eye to see his red eyes burning.

“If I could leave you with a mage family that would adopt you and love you as all of you deserve I would,” Xavier said. “And I am sure such a family exists, one that wouldn’t be seeking elevation simply because of your power. But Lycus I don’t know who they are. There is no way to be sure I’d be leaving all of you in good hands. Only time would tell me that and time is something I don’t have the luxury of.

“After Myr I was planning on going to Alda where my father’s people live. They will take you in if I ask it of them, and there I am sure you can at least be safe until the world gets its footing again.”

“Why?” Lycus asked bitterly. “Why do you trust the Aldan more than the Dridians? You said you’ve never met them.”

“That is probably why,” Xavier said with a sad smile. “I know the mages all too well and what they are capable of. I could leave you with a kind family, but most likely it would not be a powerful family. Once other mages learn of your power they will all want one of you for their own. Not because they love you for who you are, but because you can sire children of power and elevate their house in political standing. Those powerful ones, the cruel ones, will take you from the kind ones. I’ve lived in a cruel house; you do not want that Lycus.”

“And the Aldan won’t do that?” Lycus asked, but some of the sting was out of his words.

“No, because they don’t seek power like the mages,” Xavier answered. “In all sense of the word, they don’t seek power in the High Magic, in the Elder Magic, or in any political power play. They have withdrawn from the world into their forest. I know you won’t be fully accepted there; I’ve heard that the Aldan have only been accepting to other Aldan. But they won’t abuse you like the mages will.

“It isn’t forever Lycus, once the Phay march and the kingdoms are stable again you can go wherever you please.”

“The world will never be stable Xavier,” Lycus said cynically. “It will never be safe, and you know that.”

“You’re right,” Xavier said after a moment. “Fine, then once you reach eighteen you can go where you please. The same for the other children. But no matter what age you are you can come and ask me for help any time you need it.”

“Then you can do the same with us,” Lycus said with a grin.

“Thanks,” Xavier said dryly and Lycus chuckled. “About the Phay marching, what do you think of that?”

His chuckle died and Lycus grew pensive again, he was thinking seriously but Xavier sensed he wasn’t displeased.

“I don’t remember the island at all,” Lycus said. “Martel said she hardly remembers it anymore either. I just remember the adults always being afraid and sad. I never actually saw Atlas, but my mother told me terrible stories about him and the monsters he made. So, when we were alone, trapped with the monsters our parents told us stories about, I was afraid.

“Then you came and said they weren’t monsters. I could see it too, how Kavi was like us just as scared but trying not to show it. It was like all the stories evaporated for me, all the terror of those unknown monsters, and I was free. To us they were the unknown dark terrors of the night, but then you brought them into the light and we saw they were nothing but big kittens. I’ve never experience anything so wondrous before, even the High Magic couldn’t compare.

“So now you’re telling me there are just as many new and different creatures waiting to come back to the world? I can’t wait. I’m no longer afraid of them because I know all I have to do is get to know them and they won’t be scary anymore.”

Xavier stared at Lycus feeling over whelming pride and a sense of accomplishment then.

“I did that?” Xavier asked.

“You did,” Lycus said smiling at him. “And I hope I grow up to be like you someday.”

Xavier felt a blush at that and turned to the bucket of muscles which was boiling now. He took it off the sigil, busying himself with the task to hide his embarrassment. Lycus had started to turn to wake the others but Xavier stopped him.

“Lycus,” Xavier said and the boy turned to look at him. “You’re a far better man than me. Thank you.”

Now Lycus blushed and he nodded to him as he went and woke the others. The children woke and joined Xavier by the fire sigil to eat. Xavier finished his meager share first and stood.

“Where are you going?” Martel asked.

“Out to talk to Kalyani,” Xavier said. “And to look at the weather.”

Martel nodded as he left, though she looked like she wanted to follow. Xavier noticed Lycus lean close to her then, her light getting a bit brighter as he got close to her. Xavier smiled a bit, leaving Lycus to fill her in on their conversation.

He walked to the pool and slid in, gasping as the cold water closed over him. He didn’t bother undressing, he had stripped his work clothes of the mage enchantments. He dove under the water and swam for the light he could see. Just before he could surface he saw someone waving at him. Xavier looked to see Keone in her Merrow form, her great green tail making her move fluidly in the water. Next to her was a male Merrow, Akoni Xavier guessed.

The two waved at him before circling each other and swimming off into the dark water, Keone chasing Akoni. Xavier shook his head and surfaced, gasping for air. He pulled himself out of the surf and onto the rocky island. The island was bare of even trees, a great finger of rock reaching up towards the sun. In the lee of this finger Kalyani and the other griffins had taken shelter.

They had made about five big nests with rocks and other debris in which they could curl up and sleep together. This offered them some protection from the sea winds, but it wasn’t meant to be a permanent place for them. Xavier cast a sigil to dry his clothes; glad he had learned the sigil from the books they had gotten from the mage ship. He walked towards the griffin camp only to duck quickly as a shape came hurtling at him from the air.

“Xavier!” Kavi screeched as he landed in a gangly pile of limbs before righting himself. “Good morning!”

“Good morning Kavi,” Xavier said used to the young griffin’s enthusiastic greetings. If Kavi was bothered by being exiled he didn’t show it, though his parents had stayed behind in the roost. “Is Kalyani awake?”

“She is,” Kavi said following Xavier. Kalyani had become Elect now of the Wild Braves, though she seemed to dislike becoming leader. Their band was almost evenly dispersed with two of each from the clans of the Griffins accept the Long Talons of which there were three. Raja had been joined by a couple, Nila and Jaidev. Nila was a sea eagle breed with a great large beak, unlike Raja and Jaidev who were both crowned eagles.

Besides Kavi there was an older Feather Tail Griffin by the name of Nagendra, he was a serpent killer so Kalyani had told him and revered warrior of the Griffins. Vasu had been joined by a female Griffin called Sati who was a peregrine falcon mix. Kalyani was joined by a Bone Eater called Reva. Reva was a condor griffin, her head covered in fine gray fuzz that made her look older than she really was. Shankar was joined by Durai, a snowy owl griffin whose entire body was white except for the black spots covering his wings and coat.

There were two Wise Wing Griffins, Rishi and Arjun, two brothers who were the oldest ones here according to Kalyani. The two Marked One Griffins were unrelated, Esha and Lila, but both were young females that had latched onto Kavi as their plaything. Esha was a goshawk while Lila was a sparrow hawk, both stripped as was their kind. Xavier wondered if the Griffins could breed between their tribes, he hadn’t seen any couples that were not of the same tribe.

He walked up to Kalyani’s nest and ignored Esha and Lila as they squealed and pounced towards Kavi. Kavi fled with his ears against his head and tail feathers tucked in, the two females in hot pursuit. Kalyani only shook her head at their antics.

“Good morning,” Kalyani said as she stood and stretched like a cat.

“It looks like it,” Xavier said looking to the sky. The day was clear; they had been storm free for almost a week now as spring was starting to take hold slowly over the northern sea. It was just after the equinox, a day of power so Kalyani said thought they hadn’t celebrated given their current residence.

“We will be ready to fly soon,” Kalyani said following his gaze to the sky.

“About that,” Xavier said and related to her his dream. “I’d like to travel to the dwarves to see if they have the song but I doubt it made it through the kingdoms. All the same contact should be made again between the Phay that are still here in Miread. I was hoping you’d have a word with Yama about this.”

“I would and I am sure he would listen,” Kalyani said. “But the other Elect will not listen to him. They know he has been talking to me. As an Elect he has this right to choose to talk to us, but he has said he has lost some of his voice in council when it comes to us.”

“I see,” Xavier said frustrated.

“Anik has recovered from his wounds but he will not fly again,” Kalyani said. “I fear Mahavir has been chosen as his replacement. He was one of the Griffins in the front lines against the ghost people; he lost an eye to one of their spells before he killed seven of them. He makes Anik seem levelheaded when it comes to the ghost people.”

“Do you think he was one of the Griffins that attacked Martel and Lycus?” Xavier asked.

“He was seen with a wound on his left shoulder after the attacks, so Yama told me,” Kalyani said gravely. Xavier seethed with rage, but quickly suppressed it. It was that rage that had nearly killed not only him, but his comrades as well. He had to learn to control his temper, he didn’t mind if it led to his death, but he had more lives to consider now than just his own.

“No doubt he has ordered a hunt for us,” Xavier said.

“Yama and Indira have managed to stave that off,” Kalyani said reassuringly. “But their blood is high for a fight now.”

“All the better reason to get them focused on something else like going to the dwarves,” Xavier said. “If only they would listen.”

“They may listen to you,” Kalyani said, and Xavier looked at her surprised.

“After what I did, they would want to eat my liver,” Xavier said.

“Martel interfered and broke the sacred law of battle,” Kalyani said. “A good thing she did, and I do not fault her for it. She is not a warrior but a healer, and it is the duty of healers to stop the bloodshed. You fought valiantly and the Griffins still hold some respect and awe of you. They won’t attack you on sight, and you might get a few words in through their thick skulls.”

Xavier wasn’t sure he wanted the respect of the Griffins, yet he felt a glow of pride at the thought.

“Alright you win,” Xavier said. “It will give me the chance to stretch my wings.”

“Want me to come along?” Kalyani asked.

“No, all of you have been declared exiles,” Xavier said. “The punishment of your return is death if I recall. I wasn’t charged with anything.”

“Only because you are Eileen and of a different kin of the Phay,” Kalyani said gravely. “Just because I said they won’t attack you on sight doesn’t mean this is a safe trip.”

“I know that Kalyani,” Xavier said. “I’ll be careful don’t worry.”

Kalyani’s ears flattened against her head and her eyes narrowed, her tail lashing showing her irritation. Before she could say more Xavier stepped away and let the aether wash over him. In the months of their winter exile Xavier had learned the Elder Magic at a frightening pace, the aether came to him so naturally it was like breathing.

In a matter of heartbeats, he had woven a skin of aether, picturing a bird form. He stepped into the skin and found himself in the skin of a giant osprey, three times the size of an ordinary osprey. Kalyani snorted unimpressed as Xavier took to the air. He lacked the natural elegance granted by a creature that lived its entire life in one form, but he took to the sky just fine. The skin had its own natural rhythms which Xavier had learned to listen to in order to control the body he wore.

He flew out over the sea, turning north. It was a short flight, only an hour, to the Broken Isle. The Griffins seemed to tolerate this distance, only because they knew the exiles would soon leave when the winter had passed. Xavier flew over the isle getting the literal bird’s eyes view of it. His vision had improved with the skin and he could see with the distance of an eagle’s vision. Looking down into the bowels of the roost he could see the Elect had gathered.

Unable to resist the dramatic entrance and the chance to ruffle the feathers of the Elect, Xavier dove. He dropped like a stone, his heart racing as the ground rose towards him at an alarming rate. He dove through the roost entrance and startled several flying griffins, aiming for the conclave of the Elect. A meeting had gathered, a number of griffins gathered around the Elect.

Xavier spread his wings, when his decent had slowed enough and he was close to the ground he stripped off the bird skin, landing gracefully in the middle of the meeting. The Elect cried out in surprise, wings flaring and heads turning at his sudden appearance. Xavier stood calmly regarding the Elect; his arms crossed over his chest.

“Xavier!” Jaya said flaring her wings. “Do not just charge into our meetings!”  

“Easy Jaya,” Indira said calmly and looked at Xavier. “So what has brought you here Xavier?”

“Do not think you are welcome here,” Mahavir said snidely. Xavier looked at the griffin, he was bulky and muscular, his one eye his distinguishing feature. “We only tolerate your presence among us because you are the only one to help our kin march.”

“Eat horse shit you over stuffed turkey,” Xavier growled and Mahavir stared at him agape. “I came here to tell you I had a dream of one of my past lives. In it I saw the song, it was being sent to the dwarves in the Weir Mountains.”

“Then go get it,” Mahavir said flaring his wings.

“What Mahavir is saying is that now you know the location of the song you must go find it,” Indira said smoothly.

“I know what he was saying,” Xavier said still glaring at Mahavir who glared right back at him. “I do not know however that the song is there. My dream happened centuries ago and in a time of political upheaval for the lands of men. There is no guarantee that the song reached the dwarves. I feel I must continue to try and regain more of my memories to see if I can locate the song more accurately. Or if that fails to search through records and legends of men and gage what they know of the song.”

“Very little I would doubt,” Mahavir answered.

“And you who are Phay don’t know anything,” Xavier said his voice rising.

“WE were sealed away for millennia because of those ghost people!” Mahavir shouted.

“Enough,” Yama said in a papery voice, waving his great wing in a gentle sweep as if clearing away unwanted dust. “I tire of this bickering. What did you come here to say Xavier?”

“That I think it wise you go to the Weir Mountains and make contact with your kin the dwarves,” Xavier said. “You’ve gotten together with the Merrow and Selkie, but they are not able to travel inland like you can. The Phay will need to stand together if they are to aid the Elder Phay in the march. Checking on the status of the dwarves is imperative.”

Silence reigned for a moment, only broken by the slight slap of Mahavir’s tail against his stone perch. At last Manisha spoke.

“We will take your recommendation to heart and bring it to the Merrow and Selkies for their consideration as well. Until a decision is made we will stay here.”

“That is at least something,” Xavier said frustrated, but knowing that was all he was going to get from them. “But don’t spend too long making up your minds about it. I thought you were warriors, those who charge ahead into battle instead of sitting around in laziness.”

Mahavir lost his temper then, hissing viscously and leaping to his feet. Xavier stepped into his bird skin before Mahavir could pounce on him, taking to the sky. Thankfully Mahavir did not follow; Xavier feared what a griffin could do to him in the air. He flew up into the sky feeling free in the sea wind. He caught a thermal and floated there among the sylphs who rode the wind like he did.

He flew to the mage ship then; the craft was still trapped as it had been since he had first seen it. They had long since taken what they could from the ship, but Xavier knew there were still many more enchanted objects and books that needed to be preserved. The enchantments on the ship that he had renewed would work to preserve them, now all he needed to do was protect the ship from the griffins.

They had yet to try and cause harm to it, probably because they were unaware of any of the power that resided in it. If they ever learned of that power, or if Mahavir chose to act petty in light of Xavier’s taunts, they would use their wings to tear away the sigils that protected the ship. Since Xavier could not use the High Magic to seal the ship, he decided to set and Elder Magic ward.

Warding seemed to be the one device the two magicks had in common. High Magic often had seals to keep something in just as much as wards to keep something out; Elder Magic had the same principle. Warding in the Elder Magic however was much different than the High Magic. Setting a protective ward in the High Magic was easy. A mage drew the power to them, wove it into a sigil, and set it around what they sought to protect. Most sigils worked that way; it was the lettering and formula of the sigil that determined what the sigil was meant to do. Once a Mage knew and learned a certain sigil and its formula they could form it. Errors would result in the sigil failing to work, or in some cases the power to explode out of it.

Xavier had learned with the Elder Magic that the act of commanding the power itself was different for not only every art, but every undertaking of an act of casting. So flying around the ship now he had to be creative in how to set a ward around the ship. Most wards of the Elder Magic needed to be anchored to the earth; this made them stable and resilient to the passage of time. That wouldn’t work here since the ship was exposed to mostly the sea and wind.

Soaring around the ship Xavier had an idea then, the wind. There were many rituals to forming wards of the Elder Magic, in order to form the aether to a specific purpose a caster had to perform a ritual to set their mind in the right order. The aether would then take on the will and intent of the caster, protecting what they desired to protect. Wards of both magicks could be made to let some elements in and keep some elements out, or they could be entirely exclusive. The High Magic did this with lettering, the Elder Magic did this with ritual.

So Xavier began the ritual of one ward of a high level of protection. If he were on the ground he would have started by drawing a circle which was the basic ritual for all wards. Since he could not draw the circle he began by circling above the ship. He set his mind to the ship he was protecting, those he was defending it against, but most of all he set his mind and will to the wind.

The Wild Kin were simply spirits that had manifested out of particularly powerful elemental lore of earth, wind, water, or fire. There were still the basic powers of the elements that could be tapped into and commanded by a witch with Elder Magic with the control of the aether. Xavier let the aether flow into him and empower his will to command the winds.

The winds were slow to answer; they were strong here over the sea and open air. It took Xavier ten cycles to get them under his control and set in the ward, but at last it was complete. He flew back to observe his work. Though little could be seen he could sense the change in the air as the winds blew about, nothing was going to be able to fly to the ship now. Sylphs also floated on those winds; their eyes sharp as they rode the circular path that Xavier had made.

Earth wards depended on walls often, but sometimes they depended on the very vibrations of the ground to deter people and animals from entering the ward. The wind now blew to keep any flying creature away, much like a wall of wind.

Xavier nodded satisfied and turned his beak back towards their refuge. He arrived back to find not much had changed, other than the time of day.

“How did it go?” Kalyani asked and Xavier told her after he stripped off the bird skin. He couldn’t talk in animal form, though he had learned to understand certain animals when they spoke.

“Good, I also set a ward around the mage ship, using the wind,” Xavier said.

“A ward set in anything, but the earth is impressive,” Kalyani said. “I’ve only seen such things from when the Phay were in high power. You are improving.”

“Yes, but at what benefit?” Xavier asked. “I still can’t sense the song, and what good have I done with this power? Every time encounter a battle, I resort to my fists instead of the power inside of me.”

“Maybe that is because Eileen was never a warrior,” Kalyani answered. “You have been formed into it through your life, but maybe in all your past lives you had a peaceful existence. That is why it is hard for you to use your powers in combat, because the nature that it is drawn from only has the experience of peace and healing. This is not a bad thing Xavier; this power could be misused greatly. I believe you are wise enough to know that.”

He only sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

A few days later had seen enough clear skies and warm winds that they decided it was time to set to wing and head for the coast. The mage children were brought out of the cave with the help of the Merrow, as well as their things wrapped in sigils to protect them from getting wet. When they had first decided to fly to the mainland, they had been presented with the problem of how to go about it.

They had tried a griffin towing a magic carpet behind them, but this resulted in Xavier being thrown off the carpet and having to transform midair into a bird. It had actually been his first time managing the transformation, he offered nothing but sympathy to the Griffins who were sometimes taught to fly by being tossed off cliffs.

Xavier had turned to the one material the mage ship had in plenty, sail cloth. He was amazed at the sigils woven into the great swaths of canvas, sigils of wind and speed. They were sails that had carried ships across oceans no one thought capable of crossing. He had thought of trying to make a ship or maybe a kite out of the material, but multiple experiments soon yielded the same results as the magic carpets.  

So, then they had tried harnesses made from leather straps gathered from the mage ship. This worked, but the Griffin’s feathers ruined any of the sigils the children wore. Since they needed a lot of the magical items that they wanted to bring they were left with the problem of how to transport them. Xavier found that when wearing his bird skin, he had a similar effect on sigils as a Griffin’s feathers, but not as strong. The touch of the skin of aether often caused the sigil to become corrupt, no longer functioning as it needed to or even ruining it beyond repair. Even sigils covered by something else that wasn’t enchanted, like canvas or leather, were corrupted or ruined.

To everyone’s surprise an old cooking pot had proven the solution. Xavier had brought back the pot to use for their usual meals. One day while cooking above ground as she sometimes did, Martel had shouted at Kavi to be careful of the fire sigil she had drawn to boil water. Kavi’s wing had brushed the pot and sigil under it, but the sigil had remained intact and Kavi’s feathers unharmed.

It turned out that iron was the solution. A sigil protected by iron could not be cut, damaged, or corrupted though Xavier had no idea why. So, he had the children melt down cook pots gathered from the mage ship using sigils, and then he forged them using tools from the ship as well. He made them into thin plates which the children then stitched into the lining of canvas bags.

The bags were attached to the harnesses they had made for the Griffins and filled with the books and other enchanted objects. They had to experiment a little with the weight and were forced to return some things to the mage ship when there wasn’t enough room for it all.

Xavier now stood out in the open sea air looking over the rag-tag group that he had somehow found himself in command of. Fifteen Griffins and thirteen mage children looked back at him. Some looked at him with hope, some with the simple trust of their young lives, some with admiration, some with interest, and some with the simple affection of friendship. Xavier smiled at them, feeling suddenly like a family with all of them.

“We are lost exiles,” Xavier said. “Our choices have brought some of us here, and some the choices of others. But we are here together joined by the desire to help those that need us and do what needs to be done to protect the world we live in. So as one, let us fly.”

With that he pulled on his bird form and leapt for the sky. Though he was a much smaller creature than the Griffins they followed him reverently and respectfully. They flew in a double skein, Xavier in the lead for a while until Kalyani took over as the lead wind breakers for the rest.

Xavier soared along with the other Griffins, feeling small in comparison to them. Yet it was much easier to fly in their wake, a boon to one who was not born to the wind. He wove between the Griffins checking on the children clinging to their backs. The children lay prone and strapped into the Griffins, yet all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Kavi and Nagendra were the only ones without passengers since they were the smallest, they just carried packs. Martel rode on Kalyani and Lycus on Raja, they had worked out which Griffin should carry which child by weight.

They flew for the whole day, Xavier flying between the griffins to make sure the mage children were all safe on their perches. They stopped for the night on an island little better than a spit of rock with a sandbar. The night was uncomfortable and in the morning,  spirits weren’t as high as when they had left. They flew for five days over the ocean, stopping at islands or rocks when they could. The fourth day saw no island and they were forced to fly on through the night, Shankar and Durai taking the lead through the night.

Dawn rose on the fifth day and on the horizon spread the dark line of land. The griffins all let out a cheer of relief at the sight and raggedly they flew for the coast. They landed on rocky cliffs among wind swept rough grass, Xavier quickly shedding his osprey skin. He shivered as it left him reluctantly; Kalyani had warned him that wearing an aether skin too long or often could change him into more animal than man if he wasn’t careful.

“Where are we?” Martel asked excited as she climbed off Kalyani.

“First see to the Griffins and help them out of their harnesses,” Xavier said. He hadn’t spotted any villages nearby so they had time to consider where they were without worrying about other people. Martel nodded and helped Kalyani out of the harness and packs she wore. Kalyani was panting, her beak agape as she took in great gasps of air. Once free of her harness she lay out on the grass and let her wings drop around her.

“You alright?” Xavier asked. She only nodded unable to answer verbally. Xavier went to help the other Griffins, the older of the children helping him as the younger stroked the Griffin’s in comfort.

“I think we should worry about food now,” Lycus said as he carried over one of the packs. It was full of smoked fish they had saved from the island. Xavier knew the Griffins could probably finish off the whole pack as they were, but he nodded.

“Go and get water from the sea and purify it,” Xavier said. “Feed the Griffins and help them rest, I’m going to go look around.”

He hurried off though his own muscles and fatigue called for rest. He went to a cliff that rose up over the sea and surrounding land stopping at the top to look around. At first all he could see were the cliffs spreading along the coast before it occurred to him to look inland. Sure enough he spotted a small village nestled in the arms of a dale in the middle of the grass swept hills.

“Do you know where we are?” Martel asked having joined him.

“No, I don’t think you understand how big the kingdoms are Martel,” Xavier said. “From what I read the island the mages came from was only a tenth of the size of Dridia. Dridia is the smallest of the Nine Kingdoms, or it was until Regis claimed half of Alda’s lands after the King’s Wars.”

“I don’t remember how big the island had been,” Martel said. “I only remember the Broken Isles.”

“Well those are even smaller,” Xavier answered. “A spit of land compared to the whole of the Kingdoms. It would take you at least a year to travel from Daun to Xin, and there are plenty of parts left undiscovered.”

He looked at her to see her eyes shining with both fear and anticipation.

“So, if you don’t know where we are what are we going to do?” Martel asked.

“I’m going to go over to that village and get information and maybe food,” Xavier answered. “Would you like to come?”

She nodded enthusiastically and they went back to the Griffins. He told Kalyani where they were going and left Lycus in charge of the children, though it looked like all the children wanted to come as well. Xavier set off at a fast pace over the sandy grassy ground, Martel struggling to keep up with his pace.

“Will I be able to understand the people here?” Martel asked. “I only speak Dridian.”

“Those translation amulets I made you translate everything,” Xavier answered. “But leave all the talking to me.”

He remembered then that the mages probably used those sigils all the time for themselves but had never sold them to others. It was one of the many petty ways they manipulated their powers to say useful.

They reached the village a few hours later, Martel breathing heavily though Xavier was barely winded. It felt strange to him suddenly walking back into civilization after being away for so long, it must have been even stranger for Martel.

The village was the typical Elmerian settlement, crude huts of turf and wood planks. The village had managed to only merit a post, not even an inn or Sect. The villagers were just coming out of their homes going about their chores and daily lives, all were Elmerian stock. Xavier walked along the main dirt road and the villagers stopped to stare at him and Martel. Xavier kept his hand off his sword but he made sure it was in plain sight as he led the way over to the post.

A few Rhodin wagons were sheltered by the post, their owners staring just as much as the Elmerians. Martel walked closely to him, looking around at the village wide-eyed. The post was distinguished by the tall steeple that stood over the small cabin, trade flags of various guilds flying in the wind from the flag pole. Xavier could smell the birds that roosted there, the sides of the tower stained white with their droppings.

Entering the cabin he was greeted with the earthy smell of grain and herbs. The space was full of trade goods from other kingdoms, grain and wool from Daun, Markian cloth and cheese, Nyrgardic furs and steel. Most seemed to be local produce and goods, but none told Xavier which Kingdom they were in exactly. The man at the bar was Elmerian, his face pudgy and skin swarthy.

“Greetings,” Xavier said in the trade tongue as he walked up to the counter.

“Greetings,” the man answered eyeing him with interest. Xavier first took out one of the blank silver coins and placed it on the counter but kept his finger on it.

“My mistress and I were blown off course at sea and I’m afraid we’ve lost our way a bit,” Xavier said. “Could you tell us where we are?”

“Mages, are you?” the man said looking at Martel.

“My mistress is a mage sir, but I am just her Aldan servant as you can tell,” Xavier said. “We left our party and boat at the cliffs so we could get directions back to Myr.”

“Well you’re just into Dridia,” the man answered nodding. “The border is only about a day’s ride to the west. If you follow the coast east, you should reach Myr in about ten days depending on the wind.”

“Thank you, sir,” Xavier said releasing the coin. The man took it and Xavier took out another. “We are also in need of supplies, food and meat.”

“The spring slaughter is in so there is plenty of meat,” the man said.

“Any fresh animals?” Xavier asked.

“I’ve a pig up for sale,” the man said.

“I’ll take that and what food I can carry,” Xavier answered. The man helped him fill a few bags with a couple of cabbages, potatoes, apples, onions, and some ears of corn. He also got some salt, herbs, and lard to cook with. Xavier also bought some trail bread and smoked sausages for the road. He paid the man in silver, knowing he was grossly over paying but he had silver to burn. He turned to Martel to see her examining a cloak of Daunish wool in amazement. “Mistress.”

She turned to him and he signaled her to follow him. Outside behind the post was a pig pen with several black and white pigs grunting around in the mud. The shop keeper caught one, tied a lead around its neck and it followed him out.

“The butcher is just down the way,” the man said.

“Thanks, but I know how to do it,” Xavier answered though he didn’t plan on butchering the pig himself. It was a medium sized pig but he hoped it would be big enough to feed the Griffins.

“Suit yourself then,” the man said as he shrugged. Xavier shouldered the bags and took the lead of the pig, walking back down the road with Martel hurrying after him.

“Should I take one?” Martel asked and he grinned at her.

“No, mages never carry things,” Xavier said. “Thank you for the offer, and I will take you up on it once we get out of the village. But right now the villagers would think it odd that you would carry anything.”

“Why does that matter?” Martel asked and Xavier laughed. He liked that she wasn’t like real mages.

He was so preoccupied with his burden however he almost walked into someone. He stopped in time, an apology on his lips when he stopped dead. The man was Elmerian, dressed in a dirty smock with a boil on his face. He was thin and Xavier didn’t recognize him personally, but he knew the signs of a Legionnaire of Kal Ba’el when he saw one. His blood ran cold as the man looked up at him with dark brown eyes.

“Watch where you’re going,” the man growled.

“Sorry,” Xavier said, lowering his eyes to seem less threatening. The man stared at him however, his dark eyes narrow.

“You’re Aldan?” He said puzzled. “Strange thing to see an Aldan outside of the forest now a days.”

Xavier could have lied, bluffed his way through it and kept going on his way. But he had already caught the man’s interest; he would report this sighting back to Tobias for sure. Xavier didn’t bother drawing his sword or dropping his burdens. He drew a dagger from his belt and stabbed the man in the heart before he could move. For a moment Xavier feared even that hadn’t killed him by the look of malice in his eyes, but then the man shuddered and fell to the ground dead.

“Run,” Xavier said lowly to Martel before he took off at a dead run. The pig smelling blood ran with him squealing. Martel followed a few moments later stunned as shouts followed them over the grassy hills. They ran for some time, leaving the road and heading back the way they came. At last they slowed to a stop in the lee of a hill to catch their breath.

“What was that?” Martel asked her eyes wide with terror. “You just killed that man for no reason!”

“There was a reason,” Xavier said dropping the bags. “I told you I have enemies and he was one of them.”

“He didn’t seem to know you,” Martel said.

“Not personally but I knew he was part of an order that is hunting me,” Xavier answered. “They call themselves the Legion of the Creed and worship an evil spirit as a god making human sacrifices to him. I recognized that man as one of theirs. He would have reported seeing me if I had let him live.”

He looked at her to see her staring at him in horror, the same look on her face that Zaire once had. Only Martel seemed afraid of him rather than Zaire who had seemed afraid for him.

“That man was evil Martel an evil far worse than Atlas,” Xavier said. “I know you only have my word for it, but my word is far better than you having to see it to believe it.”

She took several deep breaths and at last seemed to calm herself.

“You’re right,” she said at last. “I’ve trusted you this long, I should keep trusting you. I just never…”

Despite everything she had faced Xavier knew Martel had never seen anyone violently killed before her. All he could do was pat her on the head and shoulder his bags again. Martel took one and Xavier led the pig away from the tuft of grass it was inspecting. They arrived back to find the children and Griffins had made a little camp in the shelter of one of the hills. The pig nearly bolted when it saw the griffins, but Esha and Lila chased it down with enthusiasm.

“Thank you for the meat,” Kalyani said pleased, and then she noticed the look on his face.  “What happened?”

Xavier pulled her aside as Martel went to begin making dinner out of the supplies he had brought. He told her about the Legion and the man he had killed.

“Will they follow you?” Kalyani asked.

“The incident will be reported to several channels both legal and illegal,” Xavier said. “Since I never gave my name all they have is my description, which is prominent given I am Aldan. It will take some time however for the authorities to get word and just as long for the Legion to learn of it. The villagers will do nothing themselves.”

“Good, we have time to rest for the day and leave tomorrow then,” Kalyani said and Xavier nodded. She of course was taking this in much better stride, though something occurred to him.

“Kalyani have you ever killed?” Xavier asked. “I mean killed another thinking creature.”

“I’ve killed two other Griffins in battle,” Kalyani answered. “It is rare but it happens and our kind are built to deal with such things. But out of all here only Raja and Nagendra have also killed another Griffin. While we all say we are warriors few of us have killed others.”

“It is never easy is it,” Xavier said lowly and Kalyani sighed.

“No, it is not, but we know how to keep living in the face of death,” Kalyani said.

“Xavier!” Melissa shouted as she came running over with a steaming ear of corn on a stick, finely roasted. “This is so tasty have some!”

“Thank you,” Xavier said smiling at her as he took the corn from her. He took a bite as he started to walk over to the fireside.

“What’s it called?” Melissa asked. “I’ve never had that fruit before.”

“It’s a vegetable and it is called corn,” Xavier answered handing it back. “Eat up.”

She smiled at him and began munching on the corn oblivious to the darkness of the man that stood over her.

[printmakersopenforum]

Next participant up for PrintCamp2019 Session 2/2:

ELIZABETH CASTALDO

ON HER WORK:

I work in mixed media, combining collage, drawing, and printmaking to create works on paper and artist’s books that explore the connection of feminine sensuality to nature and its manifestations in modern culture. I work with themes such at generation, growth, sexuality, entropy and decay. I am inspired by the structural patterns inherent in plant and animal life that reveal an undeniable connection between humans and the natural universe. My compositions become multi-layered worlds filled with motifs inspired by human anatomy, plant structures, and geometry. A key theme throughout the work is the resilience of living things and the ability for adaptation, despite a natural tendency toward disorder.

I recently wrapped up a yearlong residency at The Center For Book Arts where I focused on making artists books reflecting on my personal connection with nature as well as conservation, community and preservation of the natural world for future generations. 

My work is process driven and each stage of the work is a reaction that is informed by the work that preceded. I work with pattern and layering, building up layers of hand drawn patterns, watercolor washes, original prints, collage, and appropriated imagery. Printmaking and multiples are central parts of my art practice and I am passionate about creating unique handmade art with a foundation in the practice and theory of printmaking. The layering involved in collage, printmaking and bookmaking provides the opportunity for concealment, excavation, and revelation.

 WHAT SHE WILL BE DOING AT PRINTCAMP:

I hope to focus on experimenting with intaglio and lithography, figuring out how these techniques can fit within my studio practice. I would like to experiment with approaches to each process but ultimately move towards combining them with one another as well as other media. My goal for the week would be to come out with a small series of prints with a longer term goal of setting a foundation for making further work and more advanced use.

SKILLSHARE:

I would love to do a book making demo, perhaps a quick non-adhesive accordion or other quick structure that would be interesting to folks.

RESUME

Education

 2013 MFA, Printmaking, Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA

2007 BFA, Painting, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

2012  SCAD Lacoste, Lacoste, France

 RESIDENCIES AND NOTABLE WORKSHOPS

2017 - 2018    Scholarship for Advanced Studies in Book Arts, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY

2018        “Paper Memory” with Sarah Rose LeJeune, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale NY

2018        Century Plate Lithograohy with Corinne Rhodes, EFARBPMW, New York NY

2017        “Experiments with Printmaking and Mixed Media” with Nandini Chirimar, EFA Robert Blackburn               Printmaking Workshop, New York, NY

2017        “Full Tilt Bookbinding” with Susan Mills, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale NY

2017        “The Working Artist” with Crista Cloutier

SOLO AND SMALL GROUP EXHIBITIONS

 2019  New Book Art: Scholar Residents of 2018, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY

2018  Art That Binds, Atlantic Highlands Arts Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ

2018 Some Assembly Required, Patchogue Arts Council, Patchogue, NY

2013 Solo Exhibition, Sensual Metamorphosis, MFA Thesis Exhibition

Dewberry Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2013 Pretty In Ink, Gallery Trois, Atlanta, GA and Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah, GA

2012 Freedom of Type, 2 Rules Gallery, Marietta, GA

2012  You Can’t Get There From Here, Emily Amy Gallery, Atlanta, GA

 SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

 2019  Freed Formats: The Book Reconsidered

2018  A Small Matter, Ann Street Gallery, Newbrugh, NY

2018  Windows on Main Street installation at A Lucky Cut, Beacon NY

2018 CBA Annual Benefit and Art Auction, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY

2018 Nassau Community College Art Faculty Exhibition, Plaza Art Gallery, Garden City, NY

2018 Exposed Strata, SGCI Conference, Las Vegas, NV

2017  EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Members Show NYNY

    2017        SCAD Printmaking Alumni Exhibition, SCAD Atlanta, Atlanta, GA

2017                  “Hello. I Love You. I’m Sorry,” SGCI Conference. Atlanta, GA 

2017        Nasty Women, ABD Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2016        Small Works Show, Catalyst Gallery, Beacon, NY

2015        RAW Montreal Holiday RAWK, Montreal, QC

2015        Traces, Howland Cultural Center, Beacon, NY

2013 - 2015    Monumental Ideas in Miniature Books III Traveling Exhibition, Exhibited at various institutions and             conferences throughout the United States. Organized by Hui-chu Ying, Profesor of Art, 

        The Myers School of Art, University of Akron, Akron OH. 

2015        A Show of Hands, The Hand Magazine at SGCI Knoxville, Southern Graphics Council 

        International Printmaking Conference, A1 Lab Arts, Knoxville, TN

2014        Narcissism and the Self Portrait, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY 

2014        RAW Brooklyn presents: SCOPE, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY

2014        Discordant, Mad Dooley Gallery, Beacon, NY

2013        ACA Library 6th Annual Student Artists’ Book Competition, ACA Library of SCAD, Atlanta, GA

2013        Georgia Artists: A Juried Art Exhibit, Abernathy Arts Center, Atlanta, GA

2013        Damn Fine!, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, GA

2013        Heart & Hands, 4th Annual National Student Juried Book Exhibition. University of Nebraska             Lincoln Love Library, Lincoln, NB, and University of Nebraska Omaha Criss Library, Omaha, NB

2013        Qi, Sycamore Place Gallery, Decatur, GA and Cherrylion Studio, Atlanta, GA

2012        Exposition des Etudiants, SCAD Lacoste Campus, Lacoste, France

2012        Figuratively Speaking, Gutstein Gallery, Savannah, GA

2012        ACA Library 5th Annual Student Artists’ Book Competition, ACA Library of SCAD, Atlanta, GA

2012        In, On, Of Paper Juried Exhibition, Paper Circle, Nelsonville, OH

2012        Oso Bay North American Printmaking Juried Exhibition, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christie, TX

2011        The Student Exhibit, 2 Rules Gallery, Marietta, GA

2011        Illuminations Juried Exhibition, Center Arts Gallery, Newburgh, NY

2010        Wish You Were Here 9, AIR Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2010        Images for a Godless World, Project Reach, New York, NY

2009        Think Gallery Affordable Art Series, Think Coffee Gallery, New York, NY

2008        The Print Show, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY

2007        Body Modifications, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY

2007        College Art Association Annual BFA Exhibition, Center for Art and Media Studies, New York, NY

2007        Tomorrow’s Artist Today, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY

2005        The Print Show, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY

 HONORS AND AWARDS

 2017        Scholarship for Advanced Studies in Book Arts, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY

2017 and 2018    Women’s Studio Workshop Summer Art Institute Scholarship Recipient

2017        SGCI Emerging Professional Grant Recipient

2013        First Place Purchase Award, ACA Library 6th Annual Student Artists’ Book Competition, ACA                 Library of SCAD, Atlanta, GA (Juror: Margot Ecke, Artist and Designer)

2012        Best In Show, Sidewalk Art Project, Atlanta Preservation Center Grant Mansion, Atlanta, GA

2012        SCAD Seen Gala Highlight Artist, Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA

2012        Honorable Mention, ACA Library 5th Annual Student Artists’ Book Competition, ACA                     Library of SCAD, Atlanta, GA (Juror: Eileen Wallace, Artist and Bookmaker)

2011        Dean’s Fellowship in Printmaking, Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA

2011        Second Place, Illuminations Juried Exhibition, Center Arts Gallery, Newburgh, NY 

        (Jurors: Stuart Sachs, Virginia Walsh, Martha Zola, and Peter Cody)

 ARTIST TALKS

 2019        Artist Talk for “New Book Art: Scholar Residents of 2018”, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY, 

        February 21, 2019

2018 and 2019 Visiting Artist, Muscota New School, New York, NY

2017 and 2018    Artist Talk on Book Arts for students of Professor Sondra Graff’s Bookmaking Class, Fashion                     Institute of Technology, New York, NY, November 29, 2017 and April 11, 2018

2015        Remote Artist Talk for students of Professor John Alfred’s Undergraduate Contemporary Art                 Classes, Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA, April 28, 2015.        

        INSTITUTIONAL COLLECTIONS

 University of Alberta, Bruce Peel Special Collections, Edmonton, Alberta 

Bowdoin College, Special Collections Library, Brunswick, ME

Carnegie Mellon University, Hunt Library Special Collections, Pittsburgh, PA

Duke University, Perkins Library, Sally Bingham Center, Durham, NC

Lafayette College, Skillman Library Special Collections, Easton, PA

Massachusetts College of Art, Godine Library Special Collections, Boston, MA

Ringling College of Art and Design, Kimborough Library Special Collections, Sarasota, FL

Savannah College of Art and Design, ACA and Jen Libraries, and the Office of the President, 

    Savannah, GA, Atlanta, GA, and Lacoste, France

SUNY Orange Newburgh Department of Nursing, Newburgh, NY

University of California Santa Cruz, McHenry Library Special Collections, Santa Cruz, CA

University of Puget Sound, Collins Library, Special Collections, Tacoma, WA

University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Seattle, WA

University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, Lawton Gallery, Green Bay, WI

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Library Special Collections, Milwaukee, WI

Yale University, Haas Library Artist Book Collection, New Haven, CT

 PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

Vamp & Tamp Booksellers, Birmingham, AL

EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York, NY

Center for Book Arts, Artist Member, New York, NY

RAW: Natural Born Artists

Southern Graphics Council International, 2010- 2013, 2017

[truecrimepodcast-blog]

FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW : Who Killed Ridulph’s, The Coldest Case In U.S History

1957. Sycamore, Illinois. Christmas was three weeks away, and seven-year-old Maria Ridulph went out to play. Soon after, a figure emerged out of the falling snow. He was very friendly. Minutes later, Maria vanished, leaving behind an abandoned doll and footsteps in the snow.

In April, a spring thaw gave up Maria’s body in a nearby wooded area. The case attracted national attention, including that of the FBI and President Eisenhower. In all, seventy-four men and three women fell under suspicion. But no one was ever charged with the crime.

Incredibly, fifty-five years later, the coldest case in the history of American jurisprudence would be reopened. It happened after a seventy-four-year-old former neighbor of the Ridulphs named Eileen Tessier made a stunning deathbed confession to her family about a dark past, and a darker secret they knew nothing about. Two families would be joined by despair and retribution, and in an astounding turn of events, Maria Ridulph’s killer would finally be brought to justice. FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW-One Shocking Crime. Two Shattered Families. And the Coldest Case in U.S. History-Charles Lachman.

>>>> Click To Listen Audio FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW

[quibbs126]

So today I decided to just draw a bunch of Des’s spouses according to other people on here, as well as my own

I wanted to draw them interacting, but I wasn’t sure what to have them talking about. Originally it was gonna be Eternal Diva (since I’ve seen redraws of screenshots with two of them) only to realize the other two wouldn’t know anything about that time. Maybe I’ll draw them interacting some other time

Also I know that there are more spouses for Des around here, these are just the four I know much about

But I do very much enjoy these guys. I may wish that Level 5 told us more about Des’s family in canon, but I can’t complain about the interpretations people have made for them in their stead

Artemis belongs to @mortallychaotickingdom

Christine Jetpardon/Olivia Sycamore belongs to @sunnyskies281

Oscar belongs to @teenytinyapprentice

Eileen belongs to me!

*(Also, to clarify with Eileen since I realize I haven’t really explained her all that well, I’m saying that back in the day, she did a lot of crimes and had a similar personality to what Descole had, but without the empathy (I assume) he has. Also the mechanical skills or theatrics (she has stage fright); basically if Descole was much smaller scale. Basically she was the one to get Desmond into doing crimes, but over the course of her time with him, she learned to be better and feel empathy for other people, with him as her moral compass. I don’t talk much about her and her personality mainly because I haven’t really pinned it down and I’m still not sure what to do with her)

(Also she has a body count. She does not feel guilty about this)

[dreams2create]

Introducing the 2019 Holiday Visiting Artists

Uma Maheswari, Artist

I am a self taught Illinois based artist currently living in Bloomington. I first became interested in painting and crafting as a teenager when i had the fortunate opportunity to observe one of our neighbors back in my country of India doing sculpture and paintings for temples. It fascinated me on to see how simple brush strokes with colors can bring such exquisite beauty .

I create artwork in acrylic, clay , mixed media and paper that reflects my vision on the things that I see. I create paintings and crafts that Can add wonderful soul to everyone’s life. My works are mostly on nature, jewelries , decorative paintings with vibrant colors.

My desire as an artist is to share my dynamic cultural heritage and take the viewer of my paintings and crafts on an inspired visual journey – to breathe life, joy and peace into their lives.

Contact Uma at: Email: Umadec11@gmail.com Facebook: Classydio Creations

Theresa Chambers, Artist Eileen O’Malley Photography

Theresa Chambers has a strong appreciation for agriculture and expresses that in her photography. She is inspired by her parents. Her dad, a retired farmer, is where her appreciation of the land comes from. Her mom has always encouraged her art. So, when Theresa’s mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Theresa started to actively share her artwork with her mom to see her smile.

A native of Central Illinois, Theresa has her photography available at Inside Out Accessible Art Cooperative Gallery in Downtown Bloomington, IL. She was among the first artists chosen to paint traffic control boxes in the Downtown. Her box displays five scenes from her rural landscape photographs. She was the Adult Photography winner of the 84th McLean County Annual Amateur Art Show hosted by the McLean County Arts Center.

Contact Theresa at: Email: eileenomalleyphoto@gmail.com Website: eileenomalleyphoto.myportfolio.com Facebook: Eileen O’Malley Photography

Kelly Pile, Artist

Hi, my name is Kelly Pile. I spent many years keeping my art hidden away, afraid to show the world any emotion that may appear, but the past several years I have let go of that fear and I want to share all the beauty I see through my eyes with as many people that will give it attention. Much of my life I have admired artists from all over the world and have always been inspired by nature and environment to create Art based on my own perspective.

My visions tend to be of a free spirited nature with soft lines and free flowing colors. Even though I enjoy dabbling in many mediums, my favorites are acrylics, pen and ink, charcoal and wood burning. At times my brush strokes or subject I choose reflects my emotions and I love the connection I feel with someone that may feel or see the same as I do in pieces I’ve created, and I certainly admire and respect those that see or feel something completely different. Or maybe you just see it as a cool looking piece of art, and I love that too! 😊 Any way you look at it, my art is an expression of who I am and if it just makes you smile, I’m happy with that. ✌️❤️

Contact Kelly at: Email: hippichick29@hotmail.com Facebook: Peace Love & Hippiness

Rose Tuttle, Artist

Rose Tuttle is a local artist whose art is whimsical and happy in nature. Rose’s art is comprised of pen and ink, colored pencil, colored pens with some works in acrylic and watercolor. She is inspired by nature, but most pictures are created from her imagination. Her studio is wherever she is located at the time of inspiration. She creates because of her intense desire to draw.

Rosie Art Life is the current name for her online web site, with an art presence at the “Main Gallery 404” on Main Street in Bloomington Illinois and also at “Refine 309”, 200 W Monroe Street in Bloomington Illinois. She was one of the first artists chosen to paint traffic boxes in Downtown Bloomington, her fish design is located on Main and Washington.

Rose Tuttle is a member of the Art Circle of Bloomington and MCAC. Rose completed the Fundamentals of art through at Art Instruction School and continues to take classes when available. Life and art is always changing and there will always be something new we have not experienced.

Contact Rose at: Email: rse.tuttle@gmail.com Etsy: Rosie Art Life

Rachelle Toms, Artist

My name is Rachelle Toms, and I make macrame art of all sorts. I live here in Bloomington, but I am from Sycamore IL, a small town up North. I started making macrame art as a way to add to my newest obsession, plant collecting!

I grew up watching my Grandmother crochet and macrame, and went to her for my first books and cord from her 70s ‘stash’ to get myself started. My hobby quickly grew and my friends and family were buying my handmade macrame items. From there, launched my Etsy account ‘Knotty But Nice Art’.

Contact Rachelle at: Email: rachelletomsart@gmail.com Etsy: Knotty But Nice Art Instagram: @rachelletoms

Visiting Artists will be at the Art House for a meet & greet during Special Art House Holiday Hours.

Visiting Artist Schedule POSTED!

Introducing the 2019 Holiday Visiting Artists was originally published on LizBeth Ogiela-Scheck, Artist

[thejessica9309-blog]

Eileen Pressler - E S Pressler - Eileen Pressler - Eileen V Pressler - (513) 739 6248

New Post has been published on http://onlyscum.com/2017/10/17/eileen-pressler-e-s-pressler-eileen-pressler-eileen-v-pressler-513-739-6248/

Eileen Pressler - E S Pressler - Eileen Pressler - Eileen V Pressler - (513) 739 6248

imgfloat: left; max-width: 100px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; transition: box-shadow: 1s; img:hoverbox-shadow: 0px 0px 5px black; .msg display: none; .toggler width: auto; text-align: center; padding: 4px 5px 4px 5px; background: black; color: white; cursor: pointer; transition: box-shadow: 1s; margin: 0px 0px 20px 0px; .toggler:hover box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px black;

function showToggle(but, a) if(a.style.display=="block") a.style.display="none"; but.textContent = "Show user messages & calls"; else a.style.display="block"; but.textContent = "Hide user messages & calls";

Mr Rahn Avni also known as or Eileen Pressler – E S Pressler – Eileen Pressler – Eileen V Pressler – V E Pressler and works on – Hyatt Hotels – – University of Cincinnati – – Sycamore High School and lives on Sarasota, Florida – Cincinnati – Saint Augustine, Florida – Moved on January 21, 2016 or Ohio US or 7300 Dearwester Dr APT 527 Cincinnati. OH45236. He interested for unknown and birtday date is unknown. Accociated people are Eileen Pressler – Fred W Pressler – Tracy P Horsley – Douglas C Horsley – Frederick S Pressler – Marlene S Pressler

You can find his/her facebook acount here Releationship: unknown Report was created at 2017-10-17 09:56:08 Phone carrior: New Cingular Wireless PCS LLC – IL

Show user messages & calls

A call from 5137396248 with the caller name identification GREENBURG GAIL

Had a call duration of 22 seconds.

At this time and date: 11:07pm 2017-10-15

Text from 15137396248: Howdie

11:16pm 2017-10-15

A call from 5137396248 with the caller name identification GREENBURG GAIL

Had a call duration of 25 seconds.

At this time and date: 11:08pm 2017-10-15

[mysticaltidalwavedaze-blog]

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[theleaderdotinfo-blog]

COSTA BLANCA BOWLS ROUNDUP - 12 FEBRUARY 2017 has been published at http://www.theleader.info/2017/02/11/costa-blanca-bowls-roundup-12-february-2017/

New Post has been published on http://www.theleader.info/2017/02/11/costa-blanca-bowls-roundup-12-february-2017/

COSTA BLANCA BOWLS ROUNDUP - 12 FEBRUARY 2017

VISTABELLA BOWLS REPORT WITH LYNNE BISHOP

S.A.Enterprise league. The Albatrosses in need of important points got a good result from their home game against Greenlands Maples. L Bishop, SJ Broadhurst & J Bowman 26-9. T French, C Watkins & B Pain 18-10. G Paylor, S Allman & E Bishop 19-13. VB 113 (10) – 89 (4) G.

The Drivers at San Luis playing the Klingons managed to pick up five points, any points from there we should be grateful for! S Whitehall, M Foulcer & P Rafferty 23-16. J Chaplin, S Norris & I Kenyon 16-11. F Barclay, L Barber & G Thorpe 17-17. VB 86 (5) – 121 (9) SL. The Voyager league Eagles were away to Horadada Falcons and clocked up three wins, J Bagwell, P Cadwell & A Kendall 17-7. D Harwood, P Bagwell & P Tomkins 17-11. R Smith, K Rennison & R Pownall 16-13. VB 83 (6) – 98 (8) H.

Winter league was a windy affair, played at home against Javea Green we won on two rinks, lost on three but gained the overall shots. J Chaplin, M Foulcer, B Norris & E Bishop 24-12. L Bishop, P Tomkins, A Brown & I Kenyon 21-12. VB 86 (6) – 84 (6) JG.

Fed 4’s Vikings got mulched by the Emerald Isle Leprechauns, playing away from they lost on all three rinks, VB 45 (0) -84 (8) EI.

Southern league Lanzadores away to the Emerald Isle Cavaliers, two wins from J Chaplin, S Broadhurst & I Kenyon 19-16. B Regan, D Chaplin & J Bowman 17-14. Could have been better! Shots, VB 92 (4) -122 (10) EL.

Picadors at home v Quesada Swallows, three winning rinks, F Barclay, B Ewart & G Thorpe 27-10. K Hardy, S & B Norris 28-11. D Gunning, J Neve & M Foulcer 16-16. Shots,  VB 109 (7) – 97 (7) Q.

Conquistadores away to La Siesta Golds won on one rink, L Prockter, P Tomkins & B Prockter 19-11. Shots, 91 (2) – 115 (12) LS.

Sponsored by Venture Fleet, Autos Direct, Rivingtons Restaurant & TV Choice.

SAN MIGUEL BOWLS CLUB

All 3 San Miguel teams didn’t do too well in this weeks SABA league.  The Pulsars managed to get 4 points at home to San Luis Trekkers. Well done to Pat McEwan, Ron Nairey, Dave McEwan 16-13:  Peter Rees, Ken Hope, John Raby 15-13. There were some very close games with Sue Milner, Brenda Rees, Eddie Cowan losing 19-17:  Anita Brown, Sheila Booth, Gary Raby losing 15-14:  Ron Squires, Keith Green, Paul Thomas losing 18-16.  Shots for 89 – Against 106.

The Comets also picked up 4 points away at Emerald Isle.  Good result by Sheila Errington, Peter Ross, Brian Errington 21-10:  Carl Eagle, Jack Jackson, Bill Brownlee 24-9.  They lost the shots by 1  !!!!!

The Meteors had a really bad day at Quesada losing on all rinks, better luck next week!!  Jan Allen, Dave Greenland, Ian Rogers had hard lines and got beat 18-17.  Shots for 90 – Against 132.

The WASPS are still going strong, Wednesday at 1.30pm, Come along and have a try.  Suitable for all players.

For further information on San Miguel Bowls Club, please contact the President, Eileen Potts, telephone 966730376 or Secretary, Pat McEwan, telephone 966714257.

LA MARINA REPORT BY BARRY LATHAM

 I wish I hadn’t said anything about our best week being last week as we only had one win this week.  Explorers away at Monte Mar playing the Matadors had a good game so I am told but the Opposition won 9-5. Dave Hadaway continued his good form with Jim Reeves and young  Anne Stone winning 22-12.  Margaret Finlayson scraped through by one shot with the help of Rob Finlayson and Maureen Kidd. Mike Stone battled to a draw with Jim Manning and Janet Parsons.        The Pathfinders didn’t find their path too well either at El Rancho or as the Captain said “It was a bad day at the office.” Went down 12-2 with our only winning rink being John Withers, Martin Butler and Paul Tregoing. Still counting up the overall score.        Our first win this week came through the Winter League with us beating Monte Mar by seven points to five.

Both won two and a half rinks each with ours being Shirley Hadaway, Don Harrison, Mike Smith and Anne Stone followed by Barry and Wendy Latham, Peter Parsons and Kathy Manning. The draw came from John Mallet, Mike Stone, Mo Kidd and Dave Bulfield.        The Sharks at home to San Luis Lions had a really close game and just lost overall by two shots with both sides winning three rinks. The winners were Alex Whyte, Jim Reeves and Kathy Manning;  Alan Castle, Phil Pape and Janet Parsons; last but not least Roy Hart, John Mallet and Andy Bartlett.        Seagulls flew over to Quesada to play the Swifts and were out flown by them to the tune of 10-4. The two winning rinks were Dave Taylor, Gina Hindle and Lynne Armitage plus Barry Latham, Wendy Latham and Barbara Forshaw.        The Dolphins played Emerald Claymores somewhere and lost 12-2. Our victorious threesome was Brian Duff, Martin Butler and Maria Duff. Well done to them.

MONTE MAR BOWLS CLUB

Saturday February 4th

Monte Mar Toreadors v Greenlands Sycamores

At the third time of arranging we were able to complete our match at Greenlands after bad weather had intervened previously.

After resuming on the eighth end and the previous scores a hard fought match ended with the Sycamores winning on four rinks with the Toreadors winning on shots. Well done to our winning rinks of Sheila Roberts, Danny King and skip Les Bounds. Cliff Norris, Howie Williams and skip Graham Smyth.

Shots Toreadors 97 – 91. Points Toreadors 6 – 8 Sycamores.

Monday February 6th

Monte Mar Toreadors v La Siesta Apollos

A fine all around performance by the Toreadors saw them winning on three rinks and drawing on one. Well done to the winning rinks of Sue Bounds, Les Bounds and skip Jan Gatward. Dave Thomas, Howie Williams and skip Graham Smyth. Steph Mathingson, Rita Towle skip Joan Harding and drawing rink of Sheila Roberts, Pauline Woodfine and Barrie Woodfine. Our two losing rinks both lost on the last end.

Monte Mar Matadors v La marina Explorers

Winning on three rinks and drawing on one well done to Sue Kemp, Harry Dobson and skip Brian Zelin 17 – 3. Geraldine Fisher, Mike Farrelly and skip Gordon Fisher 21 – 11. Ronnie Cairns, Alan Ashberry and skip Roy Mercer 21 – 13. Denise Ashberry, Dave Melville and skip Bill Young 18 – 18.

Shots Matadors 109 – 98 Explores. Points Matadors 9 – 5 Explores.

Wednesday February 8th

Winter League Monte Mar v La Marina

A bit windy for bowling but an enjoyable morning had by all. Winning on two rinks and drawing on one. Well done to Sheila Roberts, Ethel Finan, Val Hignett and skip Alan Ashberry. Jan and Bill Webster, Pauline Woodfine and skip Barrie Woodfine. The drawing rink of Ronnie Cairns, Howie Williams, Joan Harding and skip Barrie Woodfine.

Shots Monte Mar 72 – 93 La Marina. Points Monte Mar 5 – 7 La Marina.

Thursday February 9th

Monte Mar Picadors v Emerald Isle Shamrocks

Picadors still doing well winning on on two rinks.

Points Picadors 6 – 2 Emerald Isle.

Monte Mar Lords v San Luis Condors

Winning on one rink well done to Ronnie Cairns, Babs Caiger, Dave Melville and skip Bill Young.

Shots Lords 44 – 57 Condors. Points Lords 2 – 6 Condors.

Friday February 10th

Monte Mar Matadors v San Luis Tigers

Winning and five rinks a good all around performance, well done team.

Shots Matadors 121 – 73 Tigers. Points Matadors 12 – 2 Tiger

For further information about Monte Mar Bowls and Social Club check out our website www.montemarbowls.com. or email us at info@montemarbowls.com. We are also on Facebook.

LA SIESTA BOWLS CLUB BY ROD EDGERTON

The week commenced with a set back for the Apollos in their quest for promotion with a home defeat by Montemar Toreadors by 115 shots to 99. La Siesta securing 5 points to their opponents 9. Winners for La Siesta were Dawn Taylor, Norman Adcroft and Harold Charleton 19-16, Sheila Chorley with Bill and Sue Jordan 21-19 whilst Irene Laverick, Ramsay Sinclair and Brian Gardiner managed a creditable draw 19-19.

The Pioneers made the long trip to Mazarron with a depleted squad and lost by 135 shots to 76 the sole winners in a 12-2 defeat being Jean James, Tom Heaslewood and Val Dalton 22-13. Well done to Tony Dalton and his team in getting a full team together in difficult circumstances.

Things picked up on Tuesday with the Fed 4’s results. The  Parakeets at Home to San Luis Bazas won on all three rinks getting the full 8 points with a shots difference of 54-40. The biggest win came from Joy and Brian Gardiner with Tony Campbell and Pat Reilly who won 18-9.The Hoopoes visited Horadada and came away with a 6-2 win by 70 shots to 34 and the biggest winning rink was Val Dalton, Jean Hepehi with Florence and Mike Edwards who won 32-7.

The Winter League team carried on from last week’s encouraging result with a home victory against Finca Guila by 95 shots to 79 picking up 7 points to their opponents 5.Winning rinks for La Siesta were achieved by Jack Cooper, Brian Harman with Bill and Sue Jordan by 23 shots to11 and Irene Laverick, Tony Campell, Pat Harman and Jean Cooper who won 25-14. The rink of Florence and Mike Edwards with Pat and Trish Reilly secured a further point with a draw 19-19.

The Blues travelled to San Miguel to play the Cougars and came away with just the single winning rink of Dave Davies, Brian Gardiner and Harold Charleton who won 21-8. The overall shots being 75-118, thus La Siesta came away with 2 points to San Miguel’s 12. The friendly team of Alex Morrice, Ramsey Sinclair and Beryl Styring managed to win their encounter by 14-12.

Before the Golds home match with Vistabella a minute’s silence was held in memory of Dave Livesey who passed away this week. Dave has been a member of La Siesta for several years, he will be sadly missed by all, both at the Bowls Club, and by his many friends in the Monday Cribbage League. Our thoughts are with Aileen and family at this sad time.

Good news for the Golds was an encouraging 12-2 victory over the Conquistadors by 115 shots to 91 taking 12 points to their opponents 2. Star rink was provided by Derek Souter, Penny Porter and Johnnie Ryder 27-12. Thanks to Jim Hudson for stepping in and providing a good win with Tom Heaslewood and Hilary Clarke by 22-14. So well done everybody for a great team effort.

GREENLANDS BOWLS CLUB BY DAVE WEBB

In the Enterprise Division, The Maples were away to Vistabella Albatrosses. Final score was Total shots for – 89.  total shots against – 113.  points for – 4.  points against – 10.  Winning rinks were …………..Sheila Stead, Ann Butterworth, skip Jim Oliver. 16 shots to 15.  Jean Thompson, Joan Oliver, skip Marilyn Fryatt. 23 shots to 15.

In the Fed 4s The Bulls were away to Country Bowls Badgers. Final score was ………..Total shots for – 44.  Total shots against – 62.  Points for – 2. points against – 6.  Winning rink was – Janet Bliss, Jean Thompson, Rudy Wattley skip Graham Watt. 24 shots to 17. In Div A, the Maples were at Home to Mazzaron Miners. Final score was ……………Total shots for – 91, total shots against – 102.  Points for – 4.  Points against – 10. Winning Rinks were – Sheila Stead, Joan Oliver, skip Mel Brown. 22 shots to 9.  David Fryatt, Zoe Wilcock, skip Jim Wilcock. 22 shots to 10.

EMERALD ISLE BOWLS CLUB

3rd Feb, E.I. Claymores v  La. Marina Seagulls, 2 good teams in a tight match:   E.I  2 wins & 1 draw but winning the shots. 115-89,   Points  7 all.   E I. Winners: Alan Brown- Sue Johnson- Pete Willicott,  (34-7).    Carol Donnellan – Mary Malcolm. & Dennis Burkett (17-8).   Barbara Doran, Cas Thomas & Mike Thomas.  Got  draw.  Good Result.

E.I. Outlaws v Greenlands Cedars.   A great result for the Outlaws,  winning on 5 rinks, & taking points, 112-80.  Outlaw winners: Robin Adams, Mike Petty, Margaret Breen, (20-18).    Ann Ede, Sheila Wickens, Ally Burns. (16-14).   Linda Burns, Frank King, Ron Ede, (13-10).   Maureen Foulds, Joe Dear, Ernie Bennett, (30-7).  Sheila Adams, Reg Fooks & Stan Cheetham. (20-14).   The result we needed.

Fri 3rd, E.I. Cavaliers v Vistabella Picadores:  not the result we wanted,  winning on 2 rinks, losing shots by 89-104.    Points 4-10.  Cavalier Winners:  Pat Coffey, Jan Westall, Steve Westall, (17-14).   Linda Vincent , Glenda O’Dell, Mel O’Dell. (22-10).

Roundheads v Horradada Royals,  Bad day,  lost 14-0.

6th Feb.   Moonrakers v Quasada Diamonds:  Disaster Day for Moonrakers, 14-0 Nuff said!!!

6th Feb:   Neptunes v San Miguel Comets:  Good result for Neptunes, winning 4 rinks – 2

Shots, 98-97,  points, 10-4.      E.I.Wlnners, Graham Roberts, Len Fisher, Brian Kavanagh, 25-11.  John Jarvis, Ed Shepherd, Jim Mulloy, (18-14).   Barbara Doran, Cas Thomas, Mike Thomas,  (16-12).  Elwyn Morris, Barbara Eldred, John Malarky, (26-15).

Nice one Neptunes.

7th Feb, E.I. V Highjackers,  (friendly).  Good desultory for the Isle,  won on 4 rinks drawing on 2.  Winning 12-6.  Big money winners,  E.I. Winners, Steve Watson, Liz Page, Tony Kelly,      Hijackers, June, Eddie & Mike P. Thanks Hijackers for the usual enjoyable match.

8th Feb, Winter Leageu. E.I. V Greenlands. Perfect result for the Isle, winning all 5 rinks.& Shots by 96-71.   Points, 12-0.   Winners were: Dennis Rhodes,Mary Whitelock,John Pooley & Colin Lindgren , (22-10).    Jean Parkes, Mike Stacey, Jim Mulloy, Paul Parkes. (21-15). Sue Johnson, Mike Thomas, Dennis Burkett & Ian Brewster,(16-14). Cas Thomas, Jan Westall, Pat Coffee, Steve Westall. (16-14).   Mike Veale, Ron White, Ann Marie Stevenson @ Drew Gerrard  (21-18).   Just what we needed.

Premier Knockout, Sat 4th Feb.  Good win for the Isle, winning 3 rinks, & shots 70-55.

Winners: Colin Lindgren, (21-11).  Mike Veale, Paul Parkes, (21-10) Pat Heaney, Dennis Birkett, Ian Brewster, 15-14.   Well done everyone.

9th Feb, Fed 4s poor day for Shamrocks, winning only one rink, & losing shots,, 48-68. Points, 2-6.    E.I. Winners: Robin Adams, Sheila Wickens, Alex Malcolm & John Mularkey.   

Fed 4 s,   E.I. v Vistabella Vikings:   A perfect score for the Isle, winning on all 3 rinks, sorry I don’t have the individual names and scores, but a fine result, up to 3rd!!

Fri 10th,  Outlaws v San Lois Pumas:  a poor day for the Outlaws, winning on 2 rinks, & losing shots by 3.    Points 4-10. Winners.Robin Adams, Mike Petty, Margaret Breen. (21-12).  Maureen Foulds,Tony Harris, Ernie Bennett, (18-11). Unlucky, some very close games.

E.I. Claymores v La Marina Dolphins.   A brilliant result for the Claymores, winning on 5 rinks, & taking shots, 121- 93. Points 12-2.   Claymore winners: Margaret Riley, Jack Redfern, Bill Allen, (23-15).   Len Fisher, Cas Thomas, Mike Thomas (17-12)  Carol

Donnelson, Mary Malcolm, Dennis Birkett. (24-11).   John Jarvis, Ed Shepherd & Jim Mulloy, (22-12).  Alan Brown, Sue Johnson, Pete Willicott, (18-17). A great result for a great team,       Enjoy your BOWLS.     Robin (the scribe) Adams.

EL RANCHO BOWLS CLUB.

Monday found The Pintos playing at home against The Pathfinders from La Marina, a stiffish breeze making the bowling a little tricky and as you would expect the home mastered it more quickly than The Pathfinders. But it was a good match with most mastering the mat at some time during the game, but it can be a little disconcerting when the wind changes just after release of the bowl and in the end the Pintos took 5 rinks and the overall shots.

The Broncos had a bye and I believe were playing a friendly at Emerald Isle in the afternoon.

On Friday morning the Mustangs played San Miguel Jaguars at El Rancho, which was bound to be a tough match against the then league leaders. The stiff cold breeze proved a little tricky, but the lack of runs makes it a fair surface all round. I am sure the Jaguars were a little disappointed in going away with 2 rinks and hence 4 points, but the Mustangs will be pleased against the strong visitors.

Judy Foley, Keith Cunningham and Geoff Jones 19-12. Barbara Jones, Sheila Cooper and Carolyn Harris 18-26. Maxine Wright, John Skipper and Rod Wright 11-20. Henry Ryder, Jan Bright and Richard Lee 21-15. Irene Thomson, Jane Hamill and Eddie Jones 24-8. Bob Morgan, Merv Armstrong and David Whitworth 37-6.

In the afternoon the Raiders entertained the Roundheads from Emerald Isle, playing well and taking full advantage of the home mat to take rinks and the overall shots, a good result.  Ngaio Baldwin, Peter Baldwin and Graham Day 25-22. Helga Schiffman, Peter Blackburn and Keith Longshaw 11-15. Marion Haynes, Diane Yates and Dave Haynes 10-21. Ann C Taylor, Shirley Edwards and Bob Taylor 36-5. Gill Bartlett, Bob Easthope and Rob Clark 38-9. Fred Dunstone, Gary Dunstone and Gary Newson 27-12. For membership details contact Brian Taylor on 965077093 or  at briantaylor_es@yahoo.co.uk or Carolyn Harris on 966774316 or at elranchobowls.secretary@gmail.com