#eric stewart fan fiction

[frootyrooties]

chances

CH 5: CHEAP THRILLS

plot: American photographer Leah Walker is ecstatic when she's presented with the opportunity to spend the summer of 1975 in Stockport, UK to take photographs of local English groups. Given her history of taking photos of big acts such as The Rolling Stones and The Doors, she is taken by surprise when told that her first clients will be the up and coming Manchester-based group, 10cc, who have kept a low-profile until recently, after gaining worldwide stardom from their hit I'm Not In Love. Leah knows little about the group and gets acquainted fairly quickly, but what she doesn't know is how much trouble she's about to get herself into with the group's beloved lead guitarist, Eric Stewart. She has all summer, come to think of it. The possibilities are endless.

themes: Eric Stewart, distressed about a girl (oh boy), fluff fest!, girl talk, rockstar children, cheeky, playful, cross dressing, consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and cocaine, pain and agony associated with a close encounter with…death

a/n: In life, our actions can sometimes have consequences. Most times, these consequences do not cause any long-term damage but other times they can, unfortunately, be dire and cause serious ramifications.

“Oh, Kevin..this is too much for me..he doesn’t deserve this..he is too young..too young..”

“Could you give a background on your photography experience..er..Miss?”

“Leah?” Eric gazes at me with his wondrous brown doe eyes, smiling at me meekly.

I am still in a trance given that I am seated next to, dare I say, one of the most enigmatic people known to mankind.

“Are you alright, Leah?” Eric reels me into him gently as he hooks me with his arm, squeezing my shoulder ever so prudently.

“What?” I manage to bring myself back to the present and meeting Eric’s eyes, I peer into them. Something about his eyes, and the way he looks at me somehow exonerate me from all my worries and fears. I would even go as far as saying that they provide me what one would describe as, divine solace. 

“Paul’s asked you a question.” Eric smiles at me timidly.

“Oh. Right. Um..well first off, I am greatly honored to meet you, Sir Paul..or do you just go by Paul these days?” I feel a lump going down my throat. I do my best to act natural. But gosh, it’s not everyday you get to sit and have a friendly chat with Paul McCartney of The Beatles.

“Paul is fine, love.” he declares casually.

  “Alright, Paul.” I smile sheepishly as my eyes travel from Eric then back to Paul. I carry on providing a brief statement about my repertoire.   

“I graduated photography school in New York City. It was a four-year program. My parents weren’t too happy about it as they had wanted me to go into law school but, they were supportive of my decision and now here I am today doing..” I take a quick pause. I notice how Eric hasn’t peeled his gaze since I’ve begun talking. I smile at him briefly then turn my attention back to Paul, “..the one thing I am so passionate about.” 

The two sit quietly, seemingly eager to listen to my saga. I carry on.

“Anyway, I’ve been doing professional photography for about five years now. Mainly taking photos of local musicians and groups. However, I have worked with a handful of big names in my experience.” I spit out that last sentence with gentle pride as I briefly reminisce on that moment of my life. I smile at the thought.  

“Wow…” Eric murmurs, raising an eyebrow subtly.

“That’s wonderful, Leah. You know Linda, my wife, she does photography professionally as well. She’s taken a long hiatus from it, though. You know..ever since she started touring with me..our group, Wings.” He takes a puff from his cigarette, then blows a cloud of smoke away from our faces, “..then came the babies, of course.” He chuckles, leaning into Eric playfully.

“Geez Paul, it seems poor Linda’s been popping them out like nobody’s business!” Eric shakes his head jokingly, then resumes peering into my eyes. I find myself mimicking his rather dainty smile.

I let out a faint gasp as he brings his hand next to my face and sweeps a lock of my hair behind my ear. He leans into me and mutters, “we have unfinished business.”

He speaks cryptically. Understandably so, given our recent short stint with…a strawberry, the forbidden fruit. 

I notice the subtle, devious smirk on his face as he peels away from me, and it takes me a brief moment to mentally process his subliminal remark. I raise an eyebrow at him to silently acknowledge him. The mind games with him are becoming second nature to me. Muscle memory, so it seems.

“Well you know we’ve been thinking about having two more, Eric.” Paul asserts.

“Are you really? That sounds lovely.” Eric returns his attention to Paul, smiling at him boyishly.

“What about you, Eric? Do you plan on giving Dieta a brother or sister?”

Eric immediately darts his head towards me. “I don’t know. What do you think, Leah?”

My eyes widen in a deer-in-headlights sort of way. A lump forms in my throat. I tensely clear my windpipe. My face feels slightly flushed. Why the hell would he ask me this? I glance at him from the corner of my eye.

“Well that’s not up to me, Eric.” I mutter to him.

We are suddenly approached by a woman with strawberry blonde hair accompanied by a very young girl with jet black hair. Her eyes, with hues of dark blue and green, perfectly complement her gorgeous youthful face.

“Oh good you found him, you know we’ve been looking all over for you, silly!” the woman gives Paul a quick peck on the cheek, “Mary and I got you fried plantains, as a treat.”

“Here you go, daddy!” the young girl presents Paul with a brown paper bag.

“Oh sweetheart, bless you.” Paul plants a gentle kiss on the girl’s forehead and brushes her hair with ease.

“Eric..” the blonde woman walks over to Eric and embraces him, gently patting him on his back. 

“Lind..oh, I’ve missed you both dearly. How have you been?” Eric smiles meekly through his sentence, enclosing his arms around her.

“Well I should ask you that question! What have you been up to lately, champ?” the woman exclaims matter-of-factly.

They strip away from each other, exchanging delighted expressions.

“Oh you know, busy as usual.” Eric states nonchalantly. It is evident that he and this woman are close acquaintances.

I have to admire his modesty despite all, what I imagine, he has accomplished as a professional.

“I see that. All that hard work has finally paid off, hasn’t it Mr. Gold?” she nudges him playfully.” 

“Well, I couldn’t have done it without Graham, Lol and Kev.” Eric says humbly.

He shifts his head towards me, his charming doe eyes glinting against the interior lighting.

“Anyway Linda, I’d like you to meet Leah. A fellow photographer. She’s American as well.” He turns to me, his aura bright and exuberant. “Leah, meet my dear friend and Paul’s sweetheart, the great Linda McCartney.”

THE Linda McCartney?!  I’ll be damned, who else am I going to meet today, Diane Keaton?!

She scurries over towards me briskly and scoops me in her arms, taking me aback slightly.

“Oh thank heavens you exist! I thought I was never going meet a fellow Yank in these parts!” she exclaims with sheer enthusiasm, her mild southern drawl sneaking through.

 “Well, I’m here.” I shrug, smiling at her timidly. “Such a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. McCartney. I am a huge fan of your work.”

I give her a gentle pat on the back.  We peel away from each other and carry on with introductions.

“Pleasure is mine. I love inspiring young, bright-eyed and bushy tailed photographers. Trust me, I’ve been where you are.”

“It’s not always easy, let me tell you.” I confess matter-of-factly.

“Well that’s with any job, sweetheart. But of course if you love what you do, the whole experience won’t even feel like a job to you.” The most comforting words that I wish my own mother would say to me.

“Alright. We’ll let you girls get acquainted. Eric, would you like to go for a stroll with Mary and I?” Paul hoists himself up from his seat. He seems adamant about giving Linda and I some girl time.

Eric glances at me then cranes his head back to Paul. He tenses his jaw.

“Sounds lovely, Paul. Let’s give these girls some time to themselves, hm?”

I take note of how Mary leans her head against Paul’s hip, biting her nails anxiously as she gazes at me. I smile at her timidly, and she immediately scurries behind her father. She pokes her head out a smidge and maintains her gaze on me. I wave at her daintily, which makes her grin bashfully. She nestles her face against Paul’s shirt and I am reminded of little Dieta. Speaking of which, I wonder how she and the guys are doing?

Eric gets up from his seat and standing in front of me, he closes the gap between us. He clasps my hand delicately, then brings it up to his face and plants a gentle kiss on my knuckle, a sweet gesture of his that I have grown accustomed to. He returns my hand.

“Don’t get lost please.” he utters playfully.

“And if I do, what are you going to do about it, hm?” I mirror his humor. I protrude my chin at him teasingly.

Our eyes stay fixed on each other. His faint smile complements his juvenile profile. “Well I wouldn’t have earned the nickname, Sherlock Holmes if I wasn’t so brilliant at finding things that have been lost. I’d wear that hat for the day, if that ever happened. You know, because it would concern, you.”  

“Aren’t you being a bit dramatic, Eric?”  chuckle, rolling my eyes at him jokingly.

“Why do you always roll your eyes at me?”

“Because you are always so dramatic!” I scoff.   

“Eric?” Paul calls out, raising an eyebrow.

“Right. Er...Lind? Look after her, please? She’s not from around here.” Eric sounds seemingly concerned.

“Eric, relax. She is in good hands with me.” Linda’s tone is reassuring.

Paul gently tugs Eric by the arm, breaking our hold.

“We’ll see you back at the studio!” Paul yells out, raking Eric into his arm while gently grasping Mary’s hand on his opposite side. “Come, Mary darling.”

“Where are we going, daddy?” the child gazes up at her father with wonder.

“You, me and your Uncle Eric are going to go for a walk now. Is that alright?”

Mary looks to her mother then back to Paul.

“Mummy’s not coming with us then, is she?” she furrows her brows.

“Mummy’s going to spend time with her friend now. We’ll see her a bit later, alright?” Paul’s tone is reassuring enough for the girl.

“Mmm, okay..” Mary smiles at him cheekily.

Eric shifts his head over to face Linda and I. He gazes at me with deep concern, then carries on facing forward. We watch as the lot of them disappear amidst the hordes of people in the market.

“That’s my husband for ya, always so bossy...” Linda states jokingly. “Anyway, shall we ladies go for a little stroll ourselves?”

 “Okay, sure.”

I hoist myself up from my seat and wave goodbye to Pietro. My eyes widen at the empty plate before me. I hadn’t been paying much attention at how well Eric devoured that plate of spaghetti. Goodness gracious, the guy must’ve been starving!

“Pietro, graze on behalf of Eric and I. Your food was mighty delicious!”

I only half-heartedly participated in feasting on that plate, but I was lucky enough to have a taste. Authentically Italian.

 “Of course. You and Ferrari, come anytime. Ciao, bella.” he states adoringly.

“Ciao.” I wave goodbye and just before I walk away, I notice the bag of strawberries on the counter. I clutch it quickly, then proceed to march off with Linda.

 We slowly make our way through the bustling aisles, heading towards the exit.

“What’s in the bag, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh this!” I snicker, “um..just strawberries Eric bought from one of the stands earlier. He wanted me to try one. Made such as big fuss about it.”  

We stroll along in silence for a brief moment, then she decides to initiate small talk.

“So whereabouts in the States do you live, Leah?” 

“New York City. Brooklyn. Born and raised.  

She darts her head towards me, her ocean blue eyes expanding.

“Well isn’t this world just getting smaller?! I was born and raised in New York myself! Boy, do I have some fond memories running around the streets of Brooklyn,” she reminisces, “what’s Brooklyn like these days?”

“Crazy. I mean, you’ve been there. Streets are always jammed, people have no manners. Everyone seems to go about their day mindlessly. Honestly, it was getting a bit too much for me, so I’m glad I took this job for the summer. I like Stockport. It’s so…quiet here. It’s refreshing, really.” I smile at her sheepishly.

“New York hasn’t changed one bit from the sound of it, has it? You know, Stockport’s become one of mine and Paul’s favorite little towns. We come up here occasionally on the weekends when Paul has himself booked to work at Strawberry. A little more peace and quiet for him, you know?

“Yeah, I’ll say.” I concur.

She smiles at me gleefully. We walk in silence for a brief moment, then she decides to break the ice.

“Alright, let’s just cut to the chase.” she declares.

My eyes shoot towards her, my brows furrowing in bewilderment.

“What do you mean, Mrs. McCartney?”

“Oh please. Call me Linda.”

“Okay…Linda.” A tiny smile spreads across my face.

“What do you think about Eric? I saw the way you looked at each other…there was definitely something there.” she smiles at me adoringly. Her bright aura provides solace.

“Um…” I let out a nervous laugh. I feel my face growing warm.

“Come on, we’re both girls here. We can tell each other anything. This would just be between you and I, Leah. Promise.” She has such a way with words.

“Do you mean from a photographer’s point of vi—”

“No Leah, what do you think of him?” Her tone is different this time. She is searching for a confession.

My face feels flushed. I cup my hand against my cheek and evidently, I feel the temperature on my face rising. I clear my throat and fix myself.

“Eric is quite the charmer, isn’t he?” I gaze at the blonde eagerly.

We approach the exit and reach the main quarter of town. We ignore the bustling crowd as we continue our banter, walking aimlessly.

“Yes. He certainly is. You know, Paul and I have been trying to get him to come out more and meet new people. This past year especially, he’s been a hermit working at that gosh darn studio. He almost never takes a day off. We think he needs a woman’s attention for a change.” She is straight to the point, and does not beat around the bush. I appreciate this woman’s audacity.

“And is that supposed to magically fix his problems?” I chortle with amusement.

“No, absolutely not, “ she darts her eyes towards me, “you know..I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you this but, he’s talked awfully lot about you. He’s very fond of you, I can tell.” 

I shoot my gaze towards her, gaping at her with eager eyes.

“What has he said about me?...if you wouldn’t mind sharing, of course.” This has piqued my interest.

“Well he and Paul talk almost everyday. Those two are inseparable, like two peas in a pod. They tell each other everything.” She scoffs, rolling her eyes playfully.

“Is that right?” I prod her to disclose further.

“This past week especially, we’ve noticed that Eric has been…beside himself. It’s one of the reasons Paul and I decided to come up here this weekend. But now, I see why he’s been acting a bit strange.” She beams at me, pursing her lips.

“I beg your pardon Linda but, I would still like to know what he has said about me.”

She comes to a halt, prompting me to do the same. She shifts her gaze from one side of the street to another, then peers into my eyes.

“Come with me.”

She clasps my hand gently and drags me towards a quiet street corner. I am eager to know what she has to say.

“Leah..I think Eric has very strong feelings for you.” She smiles at me brightly.

I widen my gaze at her. I feel another lump traveling down my throat. My jaw tenses.

“How do you mean, Linda?”

“I mean the guy hasn’t stopped talking about you! Lately, all he’s ever spoken to us about is how he hasn’t stopped thinking about a certain girl. He says this girl is simply wonderful and organic and was adamant about us meeting her. And today we are fortunate to finally be acquainted with this lovely young lady.”

She shovels me into her with one arm, gently patting me on the shoulder. I am at a loss for words. My mind has gone a bit fuzzy.

“..we are just so happy he’s found you,” she resumes, “we haven’t seen him this happy since, you know…before the divorce.”

There’s that word again. Divorce.

“Leah? Are you alright?” She furrows her brows, gazing at me with concern.

 “I’m sorry, Linda. I just…I’m trying to take this all in.” I blink at her nervously.

“Hmph, well at least that’s off my chest. What do you say we head back to the studio? Hopefully we’ll catch Mary and the boys in the nick of time.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

*********************************************************

“It’s called a gizmotron. Gizmo for short. ” Lol plays a simple note to demonstrate the function of the device.

I struggle to conceal my laughter. He, Graham and Kevin are all back at the studio and are now dressed in women’s clothes. I study the clever application of blue eyeshadow and light foundation on Lol’s face. His hoop earrings shine against the interior lighting as he allows them to dangle with every head moment.

“I’m sorry, Lol but I have to say..you look absolutely fabulous in your attire.” I peer at him with a toothy grin.

“Mm..Thank. You.” He chirps in his impressive falsetto, batting his eyelashes at me.

“Get a hold of yourself..” Graham sneers disdainfully, nudging Lol with his elbow.

I hear the sound of the front door opening.

“The troop has landed!” Paul’s voice echoes across the room.

“Honey, we’re hoomee..” Eric’s sing-songy, mancunian brogue channels through the studio.

“Daddy?” Dieta gasps, her eyes widening.

“Dieta?” Mary’s wanders deeper into the studio. Her hazel eyes look on to Dieta wondrously.

“Mary!” Dieta gasps as her gaze meets Mary’s.

The girls run towards each other ecstatically, colliding into a massive embrace.

“Alright, slow down girls.” Paul warns.

He and Eric step into the studio carrying bouquets of flowers.

“You will come downstairs to the studio with me, won’t you Mary?” Dieta gazes at Mary eagerly.

“Why yes of course!” Mary sounds elated.

“Come! Come! I want to show you something.” Dieta begins to walk towards the staircase leading down to the basement and Mary follows behind her.

“And just where do you two think you are going?” Eric follows the girls, raising an eyebrow at them.

“I wanted Mary to have a listen to my song daddy, is that alright?” Dieta gazes up at Eric.

“Yes, but please remember to be careful of the controls.” He gently reminds the girls.

Dieta’s jaw drops to the floor as she ogles at the lovely bouquet of peonies her father is holding.

“Are those for me, daddy?” the girl gazes up at Eric with a bright affect.

Eric doesn’t say a word and instead, he winks at his daughter.

“Oohhh…” Dieta giggles. “..right, we’ll be downstairs then.”

“Be. Careful.” Eric warns Dieta once more.

The girl sticks her little tongue out at Eric playfully. Her mischievous giggle becomes more faint as she travels further down the steps with Mary.

Eric laughs coolly, shaking his head. He turns his head to face me, and our eyes meet. He takes the short leisure stride towards me, maintaining his gaze on mine. 

“Hello again.” His tender voice tickles my eardrums.

“Again? Have we met before?” I smile at him cheekily.

“No. This would be the first time.” He plays along. His smile is infectious. “Anyway, these are for you.”

He hands me the bouquet of peonies and I accept them despite the slight pang of hesitation in me.

“Eric, you shouldn’t have…”

My eyes shift from the flowers then back to him. I reach over and plant a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you. These are beautiful.”

“You mean, like you?” he gives me a smug look.

“I can tell they gave you a nice rehearsal befo—”

“Hmph..” Graham walks up to Eric and I with a scornful expression.

Eric’s takes one good look at Graham’s attire and the impressive cosmetic work on his face, then immediately bursts into laughter.

“Eh, what happened to you?! Why are you dressed in drag?” Eric exclaims, gathering himself.

“We lost a bet to a nine year old.” Graham maintains his glare on Eric. “And you happen to be that nine year old’s father so I am holding you responsible.”

Kevin waltzes his way towards us and loiters next to Graham.

“Personally, I think this look suits us. Graham doesn’t know what he��s talking about.” He shakes his thick, luscious curls before us pompously, then takes a quick hit from his cigarette, and blows a steady stream of smoke.

“Did Dee put you on to this then?” Eric chuckles, barely hiding his amusement.

“It was our fault, really. We shouldn’t have made a bet with a nine year old. That was our first mistake.”

“Mind if I join this little communion?” Paul enters the circle. “What happened to the lot of you?” He cranes his head from Graham then towards Kevin.

“I was just asking them that.” Eric cackle.

“Would you wipe that silly grin off your face, Stewart?” Graham blurts out scornfully.

“Aw sweetheart…if it makes you feel any better, you look beautiful in my eyes.” Eric peers into Graham’s eyes with pure adoration.

“You little menace...” 

Graham tackles Eric then the two proceed to wrestle playfully.

“Graham. No. Please. Stop. I don’t hit women.” Eric teases, struggling to break free from Graham’s chokehold.

“Alright, go on. What other smart comments have you got in you, Stewart?! Why don’t you just fight me like a man?”

“Boys…boys…listen,” Paul announces, “Next train to Manchester leaves in about 30.”

Eric and Graham peel away from each other, both exchanging baffled looks.

“What’s he on about?” Eric mutters to Graham.

“Not a clue.”

“Eric? Remember what we talked about earlier?” Paul raises at eyebrow at Eric.

“Oh. Right. Er…everyone, Paul and I were wondering if any of you would be interested in going out clubbing in Manchester tonight.”

“Oh yeah, I’m in.” Lol creeps in, resting his hands on his hips.

“Well hello, m’lady.” Eric chirps, ogling Lol from head to toe.

Paul wolf whistles with unrestrained exuberance, delighted by the sight of the beautiful piece of art standing before him named Lol Creme.

“Do you boys fancy my hoop earrings?” Lol exclaims in his trademark falsetto, moving his head side to side to dangle his jewelry.

Eric and Paul clap jovially in unison. They take turns whistling and shouting praises at Lol. The guy is such a sport for playing along. I stand quietly as I observe the way this whole circus act plays out.

It’s not long before the group disperses and Eric and I are once again left to our own devices. I marvel at this stunning bouquet of peonies I have been cradling since Eric bestowed it upon me.

“Thank you again for these flowers, Eric. They look wonderful.” I beam at him graciously.

“My pleasure, love.” His feeble smile instills warm energy in my core.

“Anyway, would you like to come out with us? I would love it if you came along.” He begs with his eyes.

“Well..it is getting a bit late, and I’ve got a session booked for tomorrow morning.”

“Come onn…please? One night won’t hurt, will it? Can’t you reschedule the session? You will have a good time. I promise.” He carries on pleading, trying his hand at everything to convince me.

I ponder the feasibility of joining tonight’s festivities, and the consequences of canceling tomorrow’s session. Come to think of it, I can always ask my apprentice to cover for me. I could use a little fun on a Friday night, I suppose.

“I’ll think about it..but if I am going out, I had better find something more suitable to wear.”

Eric examines my attire from head to toe then meets my eyes again, smirking.

“I think whatever you’ve got on is fine.”

“Please, I insist. Would you swing by my place in an hour? I’ll have a decision by then.” I am straight to the point.  

“Right, okay. Your place. In an hour. Sounds like a plan.” He sounds elated.

*********************************************************

We find ourselves at this versatile nightclub called Fagin’s right in the heart of Manchester. An hour into our rendezvous and already, our adrenaline is picking up. We are joined by the wives of Kevin, Lol and Graham. Our guests of honor are of course, The McCartneys. There is perpetual chatter all around me, and the music is blaring in the background. To say that I am a bit overwhelmed is an understatement.

Eric is on his third line, but his behavior has become quickly erratic. My gut tells me that he might have done a few more lines prior to us coming here. He wipes the white powder residue from his nose with the back of his thumb. He looks at me with a smug expression. The sunamagun looks so proud of himself, I ought to slap him.

“Leah. Leah. Leah. Leah..it’s your turn, my darling. Your turn. Make me proud. Just do it. Do it please.” He slurs his speech, and it’s only getting worse. I begin to worry about him. 

“Eric...I don’t think this is a good idea—”

“Just one line. That’s all I’m asking, my love.” He leans into my ear and murmurs, “it’s going to change your life…”

He nuzzles his nose against my face. He smells of bourbon, cigarettes and aftershave.

“Mmm..would do you it for me please, beautiful? And we can go dancing after if you want.” I can feel him smiling against my face. He feels warm to touch.

I examine the line of white powder sitting before me. I decide to go for it, but just before I do, I take a swig of whiskey from my shot glass. I take a deep breath in, then out. Here goes nothing..I lean closer to the glass table then proceed to inhale the white power swiftly, closing one nostril with my finger, then I sit back up. I am immediately hit with a rush of adrenaline, my heart feels like it’s about to jump out of my chest. I feel every pulsation against my head and neck. I can feel my blood rushing through my veins. My mood is uplifted, and my body is craving movement. The effects of cocaine are hitting me harder than I thought.                

“How do you feel?” Eric searches for my eyes, grinning like a chesire cat.

“I thought you said we were going dancing?” I raise my brow at him, tilting my head to the side playfully.

“Well why didn’t you say something sooner, madame? Come along then.”         

He stands erect, then snatches my hand and we march towards a staircase leading down to the basement. The music grows increasingly louder as we traverse deeper down this dark structure. I notice every pulsation thumping against my temples with each beat that collides my eardrums. My heart is knocking against my chest. I walk to match Eric’s stride to distract myself from thinking about every sensation.

Eric leans his elbow against the bar counter with undeniable suave. He fixes his gaze on me, his smirk is criminal.

“Can I get you a drink?” His smirk darkens.

“Whiskey. On the rocks. Please and thank you.” I mirror his sultry expression without peeling my gaze off him.

Eric makes eye contact with the bartender and responds to cue. He marches towards us.

“Two whiskeys on the rocks please.” Eric declares to the man.

“Coming right up, sir.” The bartender nods and scuttles towards the liquor display.

Eric narrows the gap between us, and I watch as the bartender effortlessly prepares our drinks. He returns with our beverages and places the glasses gently on the counter.

“Two whiskeys on the rocks. Enjoy.” He smiles at us cunningly.

We each take a glass and, as if muscle memory, we clink our glasses gently.

“Cheers, Walker.” His dark smirk broadens.

“Cheers to you, Stewart. Here’s to…your award.” I complement his smirk.

“Why thank you. I appreciate that.” He twists his lips into a smile.   

On the train ride to Manchester tonight, Eric finally shared with me how he and the group won a gold disc for their most recent album titled “The Original Soundtrack.” He had given me a copy of the vinyl earlier and I am looking forward to listening to it. If it won gold, it must be really good.

Suddenly, a familiar tune comes on. One would immediately recognize it from the first few seconds. It takes me a brief moment to remember the song title. Like a clairvoyant, Eric provides an answer.

“Lady Marmalade. La Belle. Shall we dance, m’lady?” He inquires politely, carefully snaking his long, skinny fingers through mine.

“It would be an honor.” I smile caressingly at him.

We take a massive gulp of our beverage, then head on to our mission. He leads me onto the dance floor where everyone and their mother is gathered. I watch as three women with beautiful, healthy afros wearing silver sequin dresses move to the groove. Their harmonies are absolutely stunning. I allow my body to move to the rhythm of the song, and Eric attempts to match my movements.

“I didn’t know you were quite the dancer, Walker. I’m impressed.” He chuckles, swaying from side to the side, seemingly invigorated.

“I can say the same about you.” I smile at him gingerly.

He closes the gap between us. This man is like a furnace but in human form, the way he emits an incredible amount of heat. We step into each other, one foot opposite the other’s. Then suddenly, Eric begins to lose his balance.

“Why I feel so fun..my chest..hurting..” His speech is barely comprehensible. He clutches onto his chest, wincing.

He falls into me and I catch him in my arms in the nick of time. His entire body feels limp. I lower him carefully onto the floor.

“Eric? Eric?!! Are you okay?! Eric Stewart!…” I shout over the music.

I kneel adjacent to his comatose body, hovering over him with a concern expression on my face.

“Eric! Wake up!” I shout once again, and I begin to get choked up as grim thoughts settle in my mind.  

I give his shoulder several hard taps, but he is not responding. I shake him around vigorously and still, no response. His chest is not moving, and my worst fear dawns on me when I check the pulse in his neck and I feel nothing. My adrenaline immediately kicks in. I quickly rip his white button down shirt open to expose his bare chest, and immediately resuscitate him.

“Help! Please! Oh dear God please, someone help me! My husband is not waking up!” I yell out to the crowd who now have their eyes on me as I struggle to resuscitate.

“Eric..come on, baby. Stay with me.” I am almost choking through my words as tears begin to trick down my cheeks.

“Ma’am, the paramedics are here!” A young man calls out.

Despite the tears streaming down my face, I maintain my gaze on Eric and continue to compress his chest purposefully. His face is growing paler, the rosy appearance of his cheeks is gradually dwindling away. His lips, what were once a vibrant pink, have now turned a touch purple. I maintain compressions as my tears fall onto his chest.

Suddenly, by the grace of heaven, the paramedics roll in in an orderly fashion. They have brought with them their emergency equipment.

A female paramedic taps me on the shoulder.

 “Ma’am, excellent job on compressions! But we’ll need you to step aside. We’ll take over from here.” She states matter-of-factly.

I follow their direction, and hoist myself up then stand back. I allow the squadron to perform their duties. I watch as one of the personnel delivers compressions and the other prepares to shock him. I observe another staff attempt to insert, what appears to be, an intravenous line in his hand.

“All clear please!” the female paramedic calls out.

The squad clears the space as the woman delivers a shock. Eric’s body jolts as she delivers the shock. I peel away from the scene as I cannot bear to watch another second of it.

“What the bloody hell is going on here?!” Kevin’s eyes widen as he watches this atrocious scene unfold.

The rest of the crew begin to trickle in and watch in horror.

“Oh, Kevin..this is too much for me..he doesn’t deserve this..he is too young..too young..” I throw myself onto him, soaking his shirt with my tears.

“There, there now...Eric will be alright, darling. He is one of the strongest people I know..” His voice fades as he stares off into the distance, brushing my hair gently with his fingers.

Lol attempts to run towards the scene, but is reeled back by Graham.

“That’s my brother! Save him..save him, please! I beg you! Eric, Wake up! Wake up! Please..please…please…” Lol yells out, his voice squeaking as he sobs hysterically. There is pain and agony in his tone, it is disheartening. He buries his face into Graham’s chest.

Graham does his best to console Lol, who has gone hysterical. I notice the tears begin to trickle down his face.

“Eric will be okay. Eric will be okay. He’s a strong lad.” Graham chokes through his words as tears stream down his handsome face, gently caressing Lol’s back.

“We’ve got a pulse and a normal rhythm!” the female paramedic calls out.

The room has gone completely silent. No music to be heard. The only sound that can be heard is the quiet the chatter amongst the medical crew.

They’ve got Eric on oxygen and hooked up to all sorts of wires. The female paramedic walks up to me briskly.

“Erm..ma’am? Are you this man’s wife?” her question takes me aback slightly, but I must cater to how grave the situation is.

“Yes. Yes I am.” I say without hesitation, raising my head from Kevin’s chest.

Graham, Lol and Kevin seem unphased that I’ve just declared myself as Eric’s wife. Understandably, they are still a bit shaken up from everything that just happened. They stand dumbfounded.

“What is your husband’s name?” the woman inquires.

“Eric. Eric Stewart.” I say monotonously. I am truly at a loss for words.

“Mrs. Stewart, I’m sorry but we’re going to have to take Mr. Stewart to intensive care for observation. We need you to accompany him.”

Intensive care? What?

Lol and Graham rush towards us.  

“Can we come as well?” Lol is almost begging.

“Sorry sir, only immediate family members are allowed for now. You may ask to see him tomorrow.”

“We are his family, you know.” Lol chokes through words.

“Is Eric going to be alright?” Graham’s voice is shaking.

“Like I’ve said. We will have to take him to intensive care and monitor him for the night. For now, his vital signs are looking alright. We will take him to the nearest hospital. He will be in good hands.” The woman reassures the group.

Next thing I know, I am getting whisked away with Eric and the rest of the medical team in the ambulance. Once inside the vehicle, the grasp Eric’s clammy hand and caress it with my thumb. As soon as everyone’s settled in, we drive off immediately. I hear the siren going off.

“Everything’s going to be alright, Eric. We’re getting you sorted out. Everything’s going to be alright, everything’s going to be alright.” I murmur this mantra to him, sobbing as I give his hand a gentle squeeze.

The most important person in Eric’s life comes to mind at this moment.

“We have a nine year old daughter. She can’t afford to lose her father..it would crush her. I declare to the crew. “Oh please save my sweet darling Eric.” I sob hopelessly.

———————————————————————————

<<previous chapter

please visit my masterlist if you would like to see some of my other work :)

[storiesforallfandoms]

Masterlist 3!

Here’s the third masterlist for all of my works! If you want to check out more of my work, here’s the links for masterlist one and masterlist two Imagines marked * are smutty imagines! Imagines marked ` are requests! Imagines marked ⭐ are personal favorites!

IMAGINES

STRANGER THINGS small ~ jim hopper` dance with me ~ eddie munson ⭐ starry night ~ steve harrington* (part five) ⭐ at the hip ~ steve harrington` ⭐ triple date ~ steve harrington (part six) ⭐ the freak ~ steve harrington (part seven) ⭐ oblivious ~ eddie munson ⭐ jason doesn’t know ~ eddie munson ⭐ this is music ~ eddie munson` ⭐

SUPERNATURAL strange human feelings ~ castiel` cleaning ~ dean winchester`

HANNIBAL into fiction` sob story ~ hannibal lecter

THE BOYS obsession ~ billy butcher* ⭐ herogasm ~ soldier boy* ⭐ alone on christmas ~ billy butcher can’t get too close ~ billy butcher ⭐ change in a heartbeat ~ billy butcher ⭐ the bad room ~ homelander ⭐

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY life father ~ diego hargreeves` rescue mission ~ klaus hargreeves’ ⭐

THE LAST OF US (HBO) friendly neighbors ~ joel miller ⭐ too sweet ~ joel miller

BARRY attraction ~ barry berkman` treat him better ~ barry berkman

AMERICAN HORROR STORY late night sins ~ xavier plympton (1984)*`

VICTORIOUS lost dog ~ tori vega` junker ~ beck oliver

HEMLOCK GROVE i don’t ever wanna see you with him ~ roman godfrey ⭐

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES roses are red ~ damon salvatore` ⭐

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH captive ~ blackbeard/ed teach ⭐

PEAKY BLINDERS moved on ~ thomas shelby

FUTURE MAN winner ~ josh futturman* ⭐

GAME OF THRONES littlest lion ~ oberyn martell (part one) ⭐ freedom ~ oberyn martell (part two) ⭐

THE WITCHER destiny ~ geralt of rivia

DOCTOR WHO looks of a princess ~ eleventh doctor ⭐

BRIDGERTON by the lake ~ benedict bridgerton

THE GENTLEMEN the assistant ~ raymond smith ⭐

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN spirit of nature ~ jack sparrow`

THE MAZE RUNNER i’ll keep you safe ~ newt`

MARVEL how things are now ~ marc spector and steven grant` ⭐ kneel ~ loki* the most wonderful time ~ bucky barnes fast ~ pietro maximoff ⭐

1917 early morning ~ will schofield*`

THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT happy birthday ~ javi gutierrez ⭐

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S i need someone older ~ william afton ⭐ the ice cream girl ~ mike schmidt

SALTBURN new toy ~ felix catton ⭐ partners ~ oliver quick ⭐

THE SANTA CLAUSE santa’s sister-in-law ~ bernard the elf

8 MILE one of the guys ~ jimmy smith jr ⭐

THE FALL GUY the space cowboy and the pa ~ tom ryder

A QUIET PLACE i’d find you in any life ~ eric ⭐

GLADIATOR II betrothed ~ emperor geta ⭐

PETE DAVIDSON your gift` favoritism`

HARRY STYLES the perfect tree a star in the making` sleepy head`

MACHINE GUN KELLY baby mama` ⭐ my queen*` getting your attention*` all the mistakes` not what it looks like` can’t keep doing this*`

EMINEM may the best artist win*` too close for comfort` ⭐ when it’s wrong but it feels right` in the dressing room*` he’s acting different` we have to stop meeting like this` every inch*` let’s surprise the world` i’m sorry i let you down`

GOODGUYFITZ wake up call*`

CORPSE HUSBAND letting go` they forgot` ⭐

ASHTON IRWIN home life` cover me*`

CONAN GRAY pushing`

MATTHEW LILLARD accidental drunk confessions`

JOHNNY KNOXVILLE feeling good*`

ALEX TURNER more than a song*` ⭐

BO BURNHAM can’t handle this right now ⭐ look at me*`

KRISTEN STEWART special customer`

TARON EGERTON he already has my approval ⭐

ROBERT PATTINSON my favorite superhero

GERARD WAY good girl*`

GWILYM LEE history repeats itself`

RYAN GOSLING play date`

JOSEPH QUINN bad idea, right? ⭐

RANBOO fluffy haired gamer boy`

JACOB ELORDI height advantage`

MOTLEY CRUE she is mine ~ mick mars`

CHRIS EVANS not used to normal` ⭐

SWAGGERSOULS our next step`

JSCHLATT too far ⭐ the hotel room* ⭐

JOHNNY DEPP just for us`

TRAVIS BARKER the parent trap`

SHIPS

family reunion ~ hermione granger x draco malfoy`

HEADCANONS

showing pedro pascal fan edits ⭐ sitting on jschlatt’s lap ⭐

NSFW ALPHABET

rook (jp capellette)*` eddie munson* ⭐ billy butcher* ⭐

[mutatismutandisx]

Shadow and Bone (Netflix Series Review)

No Spoilers!!!

"Be careful of powerful men" - Genya Safin

Welcome to the Grishaverse!

Shadow and Bone is Netflix's big gamble for young adult fiction mega-success, the kind we haven't seen since Jennifer Lawrence volunteered as tribute almost a decade ago, adapting Leigh Bardugo's popular Grishaverse novels (her debut trilogy Shadow and Bone and serving as a prequel for the Six of Crows duology), anchored by an incredibly diverse cast (mostly newcomers) and a huge production budget, showrunner Eric Heisserer, alongside Bardugo who serves as an executive producer, aim for Hunger Games and Harry Potter level phenomenon with their own fantasy epic.

To Heisserer's credit, he manages a great adaptation of Bardugo's novels, even if he falls prey to the same story tropes that made Bardugo's debut novels seem so derivative, Heisserer brings the Grishaverse to life in a (mostly) successful run of 8 episodes, and even if his grand tour of Ravka isn't the most organized or well planned, most viewers will still fall in love with this world.

Heisserer's boldest creative choice, and biggest deviation from the novels, is the introduction of Kaz Brekker and his Crows, Jesper and Inej, in this opening chapter to the story, characters that did not appear in Bardugo's original Shadow and Bone trilogy. Creatively and business-wise, his decision is an obvious one, Bardugo's Shadow and Bone novels, while a solid debut, are the typical young adult fodder that is bombarded to consumers every year, a largely derivative yet charming "chosen one" story that teens and tweens eat up every year and then mostly forget about when the next one comes around (less Percy Jacson and more Divergent if you will), truth be told Bardugo's Grishaverse only became a phenomenon after the release of her superb Six of Crows duology, featuring Bardugo's very own Suicide Squad, a ragtag group of crimials performing incredible, mind-bending heists in the tough streets of a fictional Amsterdam (and beyond!), all anchored by what is (to this day) Bardugo's best creation: Kaz Brekker, a Batman-meets-The Riddler machiavelic genius with a flair for theatrics, Six of Crows and it's follow-up Crooked Kingdom are surely the main reason Netflix even greenlit this series to begin with. And just like in the books, Brekker and his Crows provide a much needed bolt of manic energy to an otherwise very by-the-numbers storyline. Not to discredit Bardugo's talent as a writer, but her skills had simply not been honed at the time of her 2012 debut, a shortcoming that Bardugo would fix later on, in her follow up novels, through ambition and sheer force of will.

And yet, Heisserer stays extremely faithful to the books, whether it's to Bardugo's best ideas or her least creative ones, he adapts it all, while attempting to add his own flair into the mix (with varying results), take our main protagonist for example, Alina Starkov, to those unfamiliar with the novels, Alina is the Katniss Everdeen of this story, a mostly ordinary young woman who, by a struck of destiny, finds herself thrust into the spotlight in the hero/savior-of-her-people role (a most unflattering one might I add), and thus becomes an unwilling symbol to a cause she hardly understands, saddled with all the responsabilities and power that comes with the job, and with the inevitable political players and adversaries that may take advantage of her power for their own gain ("Be careful of powerful men" one of Alina's confidants warns her in episode 5). And did I mention she happens to find herself in the middle of a love triangle? Indeed Bardugo's original novel isn't the most creative, and yet Heisserer doesn't have much to offer as a way to reinvent the character, the best he can come up with is changing Alina's ethnicity (originally caucasian) to that of the fictional Shu Han people (read: China), and yet, nothing is really done with the change, it just sits there, (similarly to Alina everytime a background character hurls xenophobic abuse at her), it's not explored and hardly touched upon, which begs the question why introduce the change in the first place? While I commend the showrunners for casting a female lead of asian descent on a blockbuster property such as this, I would remind them that true diversity is more than simply ethnic tokenism. Perhaps there will be a bigger payoff for the creative change in future seasons (if we get them, season 2 has not been greenlit), doubtfull but I'll remain optimistic.

Tokenism aside, the diversity of the cast truly is commendable, and as expected with a young adult property, it's a very young and very attractive cast, on the one hand it's understandable, they need to appeal to their core demographic, on the other hand they commit themselves to one of the most glaring faults in Bardugo's Grishaverse series, Ravka doesn't seem to have soldiers, politicians or grisha over the age of 25, it seems like a huge oversight on part of a country (and Leigh Bardugo) to have the entire power of the government and the military reside upon a group of teenagers, but be that as it may, most of the cast, while young, is very talented, even if their characters aren't fully developed, they do their best with what they are given, some of the standouts are Jessie Mei Li as Alina, Mei Li is saddled with a character and plot that's as derivative as they come, and yet she finds nuances in her perfomance that are lovely to watch, she brings a sense of joy and determination to Alina that lesser actors couldn't even imagine much less portray, all that helps her stand out from most, if not all, the crowd of chosen one characters that have come before her, and even tho Mei Li doesn't reach Jennifer Lawrence levels with her performance, she certainly surpasses the Kristen Stewarts and Shailene Woodleys that have come before.

Ben Barnes is a surprise as General Kirigan, at first glance you might think him miscast (too young, too pretty to be believed as a stone cold, battle hardened general) and yet he still manages to make the character his own, a possessive, demanding, controlling, master manipulator who always seems to have the upper hand, Barnes is blessed with a tight script and he never misses a beat giving a subtle and nuanced performance. And then there is Kit Young as Jesper Fahey, sharpshooter, playboy, criminal with a heart of gold, Young is a revelation, he is as good in his role as Robert Downey Jr. is as Tony Stark, and that's all you need to know, Young was simply born to play Jesper, anchored by a strong script, he steals every scene he is in and far overshadows his fellow Crows. And as for the other Crows, Freddy Carter acts his heart out as Kaz Brekker, committing to a very physical performance, from scowl to limp, he embodies Brekker visually, but after the first 2 episodes you get the feeling the writers simply don't know what to do with his character, losing the spotlight to other actors blessed with better material, never did I think Kaz Brekker would be overshadowed by one of his fellow Crows, yet here we are. Carter's talent still shines through and his perpetual, omnipresent scowl as Brekker is a beauty to behold, even if his limping is somewhat inconsistent, which makes me hopeful he will improve when given more to do, still it's a shame to have the master strategist/evil genius Bruce Wayne replaced by a lowly con artist and not a very successful one at that. As for Amita Suman, while perfectly cast as Inej Ghafa, her character is severely underwritten, from her past work in The Menagerie, to her faith, to her interactions with Brekker, it's all done in the broadest of strokes, Suman isn't given much to do and therefore doesn't have the opportunity to excel as The Wraith.

You can feel the writers straining for time between developing this world and the large cast of characters they have to work with, inevitably some characters fall of the wayside, through none of the actors' fault. Daisy Head as Genya Safin is all untapped potential, even more underwritten here than she is in the books, which make later revelations about her character (the color of her kefta and shifting allegiances) barely register, hopefully they correct that going forward. Sujaya Dasgupta is another victim of a weak script and little screen time, Dasgupta is simply miscast as the powerful, acerbic, steely-eyed Zoya Nazyalensky, long gone is the regal, no nonsense, silver-tongued Grisha general, in Dasgupta's hands Zoya is just a watered down Grisha version of a Mean Girl, faltering every scene with the exception of one moment, as she makes her way through party goers at the Little Palace and she corrects Inej's ethnicity to a bystander, (her one good line reading in the entire show) "She's Suli", she declares, with all the strenght and defiance that's sorely missing from the rest of her performance, moving forward let's hope a stronger script can lift her performace off the ground, because right now all the wind is gone from this Squaller's wings. And as for Malyen Oretsev played by Archie Renaux, he is the Gale Hawthorne of this story, the undignified love interest, and Renaux is as boring in his role as Liam Hemsworth was in his.

Lastly, Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik and Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar, are equally terrible in their performances, from their accents to their interactions, none of it rings true, and it's particularly jarring when juxtaposed with the talent portrayed by the rest of the cast, we spent way too much time with Nina and Matthias, for absolutely no payoff to their story (yet! Fans will recognize them as 2 future members of Brekker's murder of Crows), but their little side adventure is so disconnected with the events of the main plot that I can't help but feel their story was better reserved for another time, hopefully with some better actors playing the roles. A lovely moment of playfulness between Nina and Matthias while they tread along in a barren, snowy hill, is the only glimpse of hope for Galligan's and Skogman's performances, maybe there is talent to be tapped but it certainly wasn't in display this time around.

The Grishaverse is simply too large and complex, so understandably Heisserer and his writers room have a lot on their plate, but while the character work is largely uneven, his world building is quite solid, based on the impressive foundation Bardugo set out for them, the showrunners are able to bring the world of Ravka to life, the costume design is stunning, from soldiers to Grishas, to royals and diplomats, the costume department does a fabulous job with every piece and every character, one of the high points in the series.

The VFX team also does a lot of the heavy lifting for Heisserer's world building efforts, realizing the different power sets of all the Grisha in a fantastical manner while still maintaining a realistic quality to them, ("you'll believe a man can fly"), but even with a huge production budget, Heisserer strains with this world-spanning adventure, so even though the set and production design is mostly impressive, some sets simply fall out of range for the show's budget, case in point, both Ravka's Royal Palace and the Little Palace are not fully realized, viewers are given a single outside shot of the Royal Palace (and from very far away at that) and the throne room is only visited once, and as for the Little Palace, it's stripped from many of the books most sprawling details, the training grounds, the Grisha school, the fabrikators workshop, the dining room, the palace's towers, all falling victim to obvious budget restrains. Not to mention both palaces are devoid of the classic Russian influences that permeate Ravka's world.

But Heisserer's skills for world building show the most limitations on the lore of the Grishaverse, the three Orders of the Grisha are never properly explained, with Fabrikators getting next to none screen time, Heisserer is never capable to establish a clear view of the world these characters inhabit, most viewers will be very confused about Ravka's shifting borders, the civil war tensions between East and West, and the adversary foreign nations (an inclusion of a map in the opening credits of every episode would have gone a long way), the sociopolitical elements that Bardugo has infused in her books are decidedly complex and the show doesn't do them justice, unfortunately. Perhaps most glaring is the very clear disagreements on what a Ravkan's diction and accent should be, since every actor has their own interpretation of it, an oversight that I hope is fixed in future seasons.

As the few completely negative points of the show, alongside Galligan and Skogman, the sound mixing is terrible (you will need subtitles to watch this show) and the cutaway flahbacks are quite sloppy.

To conclude, Shadow and Bone is a lovingly crafted, beautifully realized, world building adventure, it has a couple of missteps along the way (like all adventures do), but the final product is strong enough to overcome some of its creative faux pas, with a solid script and anchored by a (mostly) talented cast, Shadow and Bone doesn't reach Catching Fire levels of greatness but it far outpaces the rest of the young adult fantasy competition.

[fantastica-daily]

Richard Elfman on his new bizarro comedy - Aliens, Clowns & Geeks

By Staci Layne Wilson

When it comes to cult science fiction movies, Forbidden Zone stands tall. Richard Elfman's 1980 Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo vehicle was a one-of-a-kind film zooming down on a one-way street to a whacky conclusion that’s stayed in the minds of schlock cinema fans ever since. His latest film, Aliens, Clowns & Geeks is an equally wild and expressionistic indie featuring Austin Powers' Verne Troyer in his last role, promising that Aliens, Clowns & Geeks is the antidote to mainstream and a breakneck cure for the run-of-the-mill.

“I was fortunate to have my dream cast on this one, including Verne Troyer (Mini-Me) as my demonic clown emperor–his final film role,” says Elfman. “Our ninety-minute film has seventy-five minutes of driving music by my brother Danny (Elfman) and acclaimed animation composer, Ego Plum Guerrero. Along with Danny’s to-die-for clown and alien music, Ego added a Latin element with the band we play with, Mambo Demonico.” The score was composed by Danny Elfman, who wrote the theme song to The Simpsons, the music to The Nightmare Before Christmas and did the singing voice of Jack Skellington, and won six Saturn awards.

"Eddy Pine (Bodhi Elfman) is a jaded actor dealing with the cancellation of his series," reads the official synopsis. "To complicate matters, he wakes up with the key to the universe stuck up his ass. Apparently an alien Clown Emperor (Verne Troyer) is in hot pursuit of this, as are his rivals, the Green Aliens. Professor von Scheisenberg (French Stewart) and his comely Swedish assistants, the Svenson sisters (Rebecca Forsythe as Helga, Angeline-Rose Troy as Inga), come to Eddy’s aid. If only Eddy hadn’t fallen for Helga, and then the aliens manipulate his mind to confuse her with Inga! And when the mad little Clown Captain (Martin Klebba) steps on the gas and shifts his spaceship into fourth gear, all hell breaks loose.”

We had the opportunity to sit down with Richard to ask him about his movie.

Q. To what do you attribute your enduring interest in clowns? And why do you think they’re so fascinating to people in general?

As I’ve always said: “To be born a male redhead is to be born into a clown suit.” Hence my carrot-topped brother Danny and I have always had a fascination with clowns. Coupled with our wicked sense of humor and a love of the horror genre, it was an easy morph into thoughts of creepy clowns. Just like dolls and puppets—yes, I’m speaking Anabelle—clowns can have something “surreal” about them.  Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise really nails it. And I laughed my head off at Killer Klowns From Outer Space. (And we have honk-honking shit-load of killer clowns in my new film).

Q. How did the idea for Aliens, Clowns & Geeks come about? Is it similar to The Forbidden Zone?

 Joined-at-the-hip. Yes. And no. Forbidden Zone is basically a surrealistic “human-cartoon” set to musical numbers. So I was working on Forbidden Zone 2, a thematic extension of FZ but on a much grander scale. I did a successful crowd-funder to develop the project, then, with the help of my producers, raised about half the budget. They asked me if we could do something quick (and cheaper) in the interim to keep the momentum going.

So I basically locked myself in my roof-top writing garret with a box of cigars and many bottles of whiskey and banged out my Geeks script over the next three weeks.

Geeks is utterly zany and music-driven, but it’s not a “singing musical” so to speak like FZ. It has surrealistic elements, thanks to my insane special effects department--and a little help from Hieronymus Bosch—but I would describe Geeks having cartoony elements rather than being a total “human cartoon” as FZ was…if that makes any sense. (And please don’t try!)

 Q. Tell us about the multiple roles played by your family – and do you have role as well? What was it like working with your family – any funny stories?

My son Bodhi Elfman—a serious dramatic actor with 100s of credits--did a great comic turn as Eddy, the lead; a bitter out of work actor who wakes up with the key to the universe stuck up his ass. He also played the ass-kissing clown (literally) on the space ship plus the green alien network executive who orders the destruction of Earth. My wife Anastasia played multiple roles, everything from a nun to a carny slut. She also danced and choreographed the cabaret burlesque numbers as well as played a clown…until she got sick from the chemicals inside the clown mask and had to throw up—after we got the shot, of course--committed trouper that she is. When I met Anastasia she was a ballet dancer with a “day job” at a horror fx shop. She can dance with a broken toe but seems to have developed a sensitivity to certain shop chemicals.

I played a clown as well and almost threw up from laughing. I must say Geeks was a fun show to work on (my greatest joy is creating a sense of fun) and the actors and crew had serious trouble keeping from laughing as I directed in insane clown attire. What a fucking visual!

And brother Danny—what can I say? As an independent (hence lower budget) film maker it helps when your little brother in Mozart.

Q. Tell us how you ran away and joined the circus.

Actually, The Grande Magic Circus--a French musical theatre company. 1971, I was twenty-one, visiting the Festival of New Theatre in Montreal. I ran into a scruffy Parisian street troupe. They had something though, a charisma, an élan, whatever-- it attracted me. Director Jérôme Savary needed a percussionist—et voila, that was me! I persuaded them to give me several minutes onstage at the festival doing my comedy/horror piece set to an Eric Satie’s Gnossienne. When I “killed” the pianist in a pool of blood the audience was shocked. And they loved it!

Then, back in California, I went to see Marcel Carne’s masterpiece Les Enfant de Paradise , a three hour film set in the Paris theatre scene of the 1830’s. I exited the theatre, stopped, turned around and went back in and saw it again.

A few months later I received a letter from Jerome. Peter Brook, famed director of London’s Royal Shakespeare Company was backing the Magic Circus in a large Paris theatre. Would I like to join them? Bloody hell!! Hence, I ran away and joined the “circus.”

Q. Tell us something about your time with the Magic Circus, how it influenced you and also how your brother Danny Elfman joined the show.

I might say that working with Jérôme Savary was perhaps my single greatest influence. The troupe had classically trained actors from the Comedie Francais as well as more Avant guard performers. Jerome was a genius, his material had a sense of Absurdism that really struck me. I would later develop this absurdism in my own fashion. Certainly with my own troupe, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (later Oingo Boingo). By the way, my film Forbidden Zone was essentially our Mystic Knights stage show set to film.

Danny—several days out of high school--showed up at my 5ème, Rue Descartes doorstep with his electric violin. The company violinist was from the Paris Opera. Jerome liked to improvise. The opera guy couldn’t deviate one note from the written score. I believe my brother is Mozart reincarnated. He could follow any improvisation and got the job and toured with us for the summer throughout France. He and I opened the show with him on violin, me on percussion—the first music Danny Elfman ever wrote.

Q. Any other interesting experiences that you and Danny had there?

We were in a Basque town near the Spanish border. If I may digress, I am four years Danny’s senior. I went to a high school in Crenshaw (Boyz in the Hood), Danny ended up at a school with no guns. I was a tough boxer. Danny might be described as a bespectacled science nerd. So it’s Friday night, the audience was really rowdy and restless. My “street sense” knew it was just a matter of time before the fights broke out. We had an Argentine fellow in the troupe, “Katshurro,” nicest fellow. Drunks in the audience picked up on his accent and shouted terrible Spanish insults about his mother. Katshurro stopped mid-performance, his eyes bugging out of head, and he dove right into the audience swinging away. All hell broke loose. Everyone was fighting, sets crashing down. Danny’s glasses got knocked off. Well, and not for the first time, I managed to get Danny out of trouble with both his glasses and violin intact.

Q. Tell us about the cast you assembled – which includes Verne Troyer in his final screen performance. What was he like? Who does he play in the film?

I really had my dream cast. Along with my son Bodhi we had lovely kung-fu kicking Rebecca Forsythe, versatile Angeline-Rose Troy who not only played Rebecca’s sexy Swedish sister, but donned prosthetics to play poor Eddy’s junkie/whore “Mom from Hell.”

Professor von Scheisenberg was played impeccable veteran French Stewart (Third Rock From the Sun). Another great vet was George Wendt (Cheers) as Father Mahoney. Six foot six comic Steve Agee (Sarah Silverman Show, Guardians of the Galaxy) played both a tough cross-dressing bar owner and a stuttering dufis in a chicken suit. Nic Novicki (Boardwalk Empire) played his nasty little-person boss. I was really blessed with a great ensemble to work with.

And, of course, Verne Troyer, our megalomaniac Clown Emperor. What a wonderful talent to work with! He was funny on set, insisted on doing things in spite of physical limitations and he gave us hilarious comic improvisations. Little body. Big spirit. I will certainly miss him.

Q. The music is by Danny and you also have great animation… please give us some details what it’s like to create worlds through music and manufactured imagery.

Danny, along with my band mate--award winning animation composer Ego Plum (Guerrero)—really gave it to us. Seventy-five minutes of music in a ninety-minute film. ♪ ♫ La, tee-da and a boom boom boom! ♪ ♫  Music is essential to everything I do—especially setting the tone of my films. I even play music before I start writing.

As soon as Danny saw our surrealistic Bosch dream sequence and goofy clown rocket ships he agreed to do the score…after he stopped laughing. I play percussion in a quirky Latin band, Mambo Demonico, led by Hollywood’s top tv animation composer, Ego Plum. He and Danny work with the same people, including Oingo Boingo lead guitarist Steve Bartek, who subsequently has done every one of Danny’s film arrangements. Steve and the original Oingo Boingo members all played on our sound track. I must brag that we do have great fucking music!

You know, Danny was a bespectacled science nerd growing up, basically stayed out of trouble. That was my department. Oddly, he wasn’t really into music. No bands, no concerts, no big music collection. Life is funny how things turned out. I showed him a rough cut of Geeks, he laughed his ass off and offered to do it. Yes, I’m very lucky to have “Mozart” as my little brother!

Q. Who is Aliens, Clowns & Geeks for? Do you think movies like this are more likely to find a mainstream audience?

Forbidden Zone may be a “cult” movie but it still plays all over the world--after forty years. Just this past month FZ played festivals in France and South Korea. Geeks is certainly not for everyone—no one falls in love then dies of cancer. But it will find an audience I am sure. Anyone who had fun with Killer Klowns From Outer Space, liked Rocky Horror, even What We Do in the Shadows in terms of a quirky, wicked sense of humor. I also think it will play well in mental asylums…it certainly shall send people there in any case.

Geeks doesn’t fit into the scheme of “modern films.” Actually, the shooting style and underlying three-act story structure harkens back to classic comedies (says the son of a former English teacher turned novelist). The trappings though, are insane and off-the-wall. You might say it’s just my own, goony creation. Love it or hate it, the humor is balls-out outrageous, definitely not for everyone--no one dies of cancer. Geeks is simply meant to be fun for essentially the genre audience.

Q. What’s your proudest moment associated with making the film?

Proudest moment? Maybe finally paying the actors. People say I’ve embraced the indie spirit. I don’t know how much I “embrace” it, so much as am fucked by it, having to work on such a modest budget. Although I’ve been a “hired gun” and directed scripts written by others, Geeks is really the first time since my 1980 Forbidden Zone that I’ve really done purely my own vision. Per John Waters, well, I’d hope he’d have something strong to drink and/or smoke and then laugh his ass off watching it! That’s what it was like creating the film: Drinking scotch and smoking cigars in my rooftop writing garret, laughing my ass off! The green aliens have a totally high-tech ship, except for the automotive steering wheel and four-on-the-floor to shift gears. For the clowns we went for an absurdly updated version of Flash Gordon. And when our tiny clown emperor takes possession of an earth body, he has little dummy of the earthling sitting in his lap, their heads connected by electrical wires. Absurd and ridiculous, and that’s my middle name.

Want to see a double feature of The Forbidden Zone and Aliens, Clowns & Geeks? You can! They will play at The Regency in L.A. as part of The Valley Film Festival on 1/30/21. Get tickets here.

Look for our review of Aliens, Clowns & Geeks here soon!

[himboholhorse-moving]

oo!!! 1 2 4 5 8 10 11 13 15 17 21 22 29?

Yeehaw !!!

1) If someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

How many showtunes can one listen to before being driven insane. But I’d say Falsettos and Fun Home. “Last Podcast on the Left” is what really drove me to get my podcast on campus. I’d also say to watch like, a TON of old movies because those are a Big hyperfixation of mine. In particular I love Peter O’Toole and James Stewart, as well as Malcolm McDowell. I’d also say Milk and The Times of Harvey Milk. “M*A*S*H” as well is really big to me, ofc. Mmmmm as far as reading I can’t really think of anything. I love the Romanticism-era poetry tho. I also really love “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” and “The Things They Carried.” Watching and reading Ordinary People is also very big and close to my heart.

2) Have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who?

I probably have but I can’t think of any rn h a. I CAN say that the symmetry of Wes Anderson films is intensely pleasing to my OCD ass. (Shoutout to Prozac btw.) Like, that shit is just SO good to me and I’m like Mr. Anderson. You Get It.

4) Do you like your name?  is there another name you think would fit you better?

I quite like my name and also like Sheridan, which was almost my name, whether I was born male or female. Would have gotten named after a tank tho so. We All Have To Make Sacrifices. Feel free to call me Hawkeye too!

5) Do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do?

Bro I’m just existing. I’m just kinda here doing shit and being shit and being perceived by others and not liking being perceived differently than how I see myself. But for like, my WHOLE life my identity was based around my academic achievements which blows so I don’t like to identify myself by anything academic now. I’d like to be identified by my kindness and passion for things.

8) What musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?

I grew up listening to the B.B. King and Eric Clapton album “Riding With The King” and I have a very vivid memories connected to that album, like ones of a better time in childhood. All Time Low as well, I’ve been listening to them since my freshman year of high school. Anything classic rock really but Journey has just been a big thing around me since middle school. MCR and FOB were also bands I listened to growing up, as well as Panic!. Franz Ferdinand I started listening to 2 years ago but I love their stuff. I also have a soft spot for classical music but can’t name any people in particular. I’m a big fan of Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”, the 4th movement specifically. It slaps. “Adagio for Strings” by Barber as well! I’ll also say Shura.

There’s a video of the 4th movement of the “New World Symphony” being performed for the Pope I believe and that conductor is just OFF THE SHITS it’s so good.

10) Do you have a creed?

Not really, not that I can think of. I just try and believe that I should give people the benefit of the doubt or at least, consider other emotions and reason why people are acting a certain way and not just immediately dismissing them. I try and keep an open mind about most things, just taking everything into consideration before I pass judgment or judgments.

11) Describe your ideal day.

Oooh, I’m going back into the brain bank for this one.

Bringing back “Riding With The King”, a cool summer day, doors open and letting the air come in. My favorite music played loud, I’m hanging out with my friends and loved ones, having drinks and eating good food out in the backyard, playing in the old inflatable pool by the back deck that made jumping in real easy. Having grilled shish kebobs, watching the sunset and looking at the stars in the night sky, chasing the dog around in the backyard, looking at the fireflies.

Another later memory was getting up at a good time, the windows are open and it’s a crisp spring morning, I’m at the desktop computer playing The Sims 2 loaded up with custom content from the now-defunct Sims 2 website exchange. My dad makes a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, English muffins with apple butter. He probably found a war movie on TV. I’m making plans with my best friend Kim to come over the next weekend or the weekend after. I just get to act like I’m a regular kid with a regular family and things are good.

13) Inside or outdoors?

INSIDE... unless it’s cool out, in which case outside. I’d love to have a screened-in porch someday. I hate bugs.

15) Five most influential books over your lifetime.

HOO okay let’s think. The “Shiloh” series and the “Warrior Cats” series. “The Things They Carried” as well as “Ordinary People.” I’d also say the “Harry Potter” series because that was really big for me growing up. I’m gonna fudge this and add “Twilight” and “Vladimir Tod” because I loved vampire fiction. “Frankenstein” as well, and “Hamlet.”

17) Would you say your Tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”?

I’m a lot dumber in real life. Beez pucciverse just saw a video of me last night eating a stick of butter. I’m just an impulsive idiot and y’all should be thankful and grateful I don’t post EVERYTHING going thru my mind because I have to weigh if it’s better for Tumblr or Twitter HSKDFHSKJF. But I’m very Not Smart.

21) Do you love easily?

I have a stuffed animal right next to me that I’ve had since I was 5 so I’d say so !! Cheer Bear has. Seen A Lot.

22) List the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.

OOO okay... Sleeping, watching YouTube videos/movies/TV, playing Revue Starlight or other games but that’s about tied with YT/movies/TV, listening to music/podcasts, and writing a podcast script!

29) Three songs that you connect with right now.

Mmm “What’s It Gonna Be?” by Shura, “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John, and “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie!!

Thanks for asking all these questions !! It was a lot of fun

[theonyxpath]

Figured that now would be a good time to take a look at how things are going with your favorite gaming company.

No, not them, I mean Onyx Path. Sheesh.

After all, we’re near the end of the year – at least the part before everything gets holiday crazy – and next week we start our They Came From Beneath the Sea! Kickstarter.

So let’s take advantage of the time period and have a little snapshot of where we are. We’ll do more of a “Year That Was” thing in a later blog, I think. (This one is long enough as it is – yeesh!)

2018 was a challenging year, but one where we were able to catch up – finally! – on a lot of projects and start delivering some delayed ones…as well as delivering a bunch of Kickstarter projects earlier than estimated!

If you recall from MMN blogs in the past, I started Onyx Path with a three-part plan for the sorts of projects we would take on, so let me divide my comments based on that.

1- Our Wholly Owned Games:

This category is perhaps our timeliest right now, with both books for Scion 2nd Edition and the Trinity Continuum Core and Aeon all having delivered their KS backer PDFs and in various stages of prepping for their traditional print-runs.

This is very satisfying to be able to say, because as our KS backers know, a large part of the delay in getting these two lines to this point was needing to create a system for them that wouldn’t fall apart at higher power play, and which, frankly, was designed with an eye towards the last couple of decades worth of how games are played.

And while still being a recognizable dice pool system for our fantastic fans of the first editions who kept these games alive all these years!

Just today, our old friend and long-time writer and developer Bruce Baugh posted a long and informative “review” of Storypath on his Facebook page and RPG.net, and I’m taking the liberty of posting some of his thoughts here:

I mean to say, if, on the other hand, you tell players that all active approaches are good – that every one solves some problems well and makes for entertaining drama in trying to solve ones it’s not so great for – the choice moves from “should I risk it?” to “_how_ should I risk it?”, because of course they’re taking the kind of risk and get to decide how. Presuming here that players want to have an adventurous good time, the game’s stepping up to point out the scenic attractions and give them a hand where the footing’s tricky. I love it.

Or take a situation where the character’s pursuing someone, using the Athletics skill. The Forceful character uses Might, running fast, bursting through barriers, maybe throwing things to bring down the pursued, and so on. The Finesse character uses Dexterity, perhaps engaging in impromptu (or prepared!) parkour and acrobatics. The Resilience character uses Stamina, and might look for shortcuts that involve kind of long falls, knowing they’ll be able to take the blow, shake it off, and keep going. Every option is good, every option invites the player and Storyguide to look for opportunities to engage with the setting.

Meanwhile, as those two lines move to printing, we have Scarred Lands, which seems to be living up to its name. After a decent start, we had to go back to square one and reconsider how to publish this classic White Wolf-created D20 game after the death of Stewart Wieck, who was originally my partner in publishing it.

I’m glad to say that we indeed have a plan for how to “reactivate” Scarred Lands and you can look for a Kickstarter for the 5e version of the famous Creature Collection early next year. We’re teaming up with a brand new design studio to bring you a gorgeous and exciting new version of SL‘s classic monster manual as the start of more Scarred Lands greatness.

If you’re looking for a Scarred Lands actual play, Travis Legge runs one on Twitch: They play Mondays from 2-4 PM CST at twitch.tv/plasticageplays and archive episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzVwM7FjhlU&list=PLmiXCaSrrCIjmCJQQ7oLwLNahmDbdn_2J and release it in podcast form via anchor at https://anchor.fm/mythsandmatchmakers

They Came From Beneath the Sea! art by Larry Blamire

And for the fourth of our Onyx-owned projects, the aforementioned They Came From Beneath the Sea! Kickstarter emerges from the waves next week on December 18th. Here’s a link to the teaser trailer, created by film legend Larry Blamire (Thanks, Larry!) and we’ll  be revealing an Actual Play vid later this week across our social media:

Matthew and I will go into some more detail on what led up to this most unusual tabletop RPG next week!

We have some possible new game ideas percolating away right now, but I’m not in too much of a hurry to launch a new one right away, there are still great expansions and ideas to explore for the ones we already have!

#2- Creator-owned partner games:

Headed up by Cavaliers of Mars and Realms of Pugmire (which includes Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, FetchQuest, and the upcoming Pirates of Pugmire).

These are different than a straight-up license, in that the creators are generally deeply involved with the project. Often they do a large percentage of the writing, or bring in teams they run for it. Depending on how we conceptualize the deal, they may have a lot of input on the art or just work on the concepts and let our art and layout folks do the voodoo that they do so well.

Scarred Lands was originally structured far more like this.

So, basically, I look for creative partners that have a very strong vision for the game world, and who I like and want to work with. From there, if the game line exists in the main book and some Stretch Goals, that’s cool. We made the thing and with the magic of the eternal shelf on DTRPG, that’s all it needs to be a success in my thinking.

If the line keeps gathering interest, we’ll try out more projects if the creator is cool with that. That’s the key, we don’t do anything if they aren’t OK with it.

For Cavaliers of Mars, we have just got the books selling into stores, and we’re going to see how things go. If you haven’t heard Rose talk about Cavs on the Onyx Pathcast interview that went live last Friday, it’s a great listen, and she gives advice on how to get started with Cavs as a bonus!

Here is the link to that: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/e/episode-29-rose-on-mars/

Roll of Good Dogs and Cats art by Shen Fei

Realms of Pugmire is the umbrella brand for Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau projects, and we still have a wide range of projects that came out of both Kickstarters. Here’s Eddy interviewed at PAX Unplugged by Gamerati: https://twitter.com/gamerati/status/1070095836233646081

I currently have two creators talking to me about teaming up for their projects, and again, I’m pretty good with our current slate here, but if the opportunity suggests itself I am open to adding more.

#3- Licensed games:

Which of course start with our WW-owned World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and Exalted gamelines, but which also include Dystopia Rising: Evolution, and Legendlore.

No doubt about it, this has been a challenging year with our White Wolf licenses. To give you an idea of the complexity, Matthew’s oversight is primarily “just” the WoD projects, and Dixie covers CofD and Exalted. Eddy covers all the rest, with Matt overseeing a bunch of our fiction projects.

The transition to Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition, and getting Mage, Wraith, and Changeling 20th projects to final stages at the same time was a huge effort, but seeing the success of the V5 Chicago By Night Kickstarter has justified it. We felt it to be important for Onyx Path to be able to show what we could do with V5 books, as we had a few pundits insist we could only do “old” Vampire.

Chicago By Night put the stake in that!

We’re moving along really well on Exalted 3rd projects as well, with Dragon-Blooded looking to release its Backer PDF several months before estimate, and Lunars looking good for having its complete text ready for an early 2019 Kickstarter. Meanwhile, there have been monthly PDF releases all year, and smaller EX3 books working their way through the production progress list.

I can’t say enough good things about the entire EX3 creative team, and I’ve just been impressed as hell with co-developers Robert Vance and Eric Minton. They work with their writing teams and with Dixie to maintain their vision for the line while incorporating the creativity of the team.

The Chronicles of Darkness game lines continue to come on line in terms getting their projects finished up in reasonable time frames, and Dixie is still working with the creative teams to emphasize their strengths, and bolster the areas that give them trouble. We’ve had some real movement VtR2, and the Night Horrors books, and then Mage2 is getting back on track as well.

As you can see in the project progress list below, we have some fantastic WW game line projects already rolling into next year, and a bunch of pitches at WW we are waiting to hear back on.

We ran the Dystopia Rising: Evolution Kickstarter this last year, and it was enough to seed several added projects as Stretch Goals to the line. I don’t think we actually reached as many of DR‘s fans as we could have, judging by the comments we’ve received after the KS was done, so it will be interesting to see how sales go once it is in stores.

We picked up this license for a few reasons. First, DR‘s top folk, Michael and Ashley, are extremely smart and creative folks who have innovated a lot in the LARP area, and we like people who can teach us stuff. Second, a new kind of zombie mythos that we, the horror “experts” hadn’t had a chance to play with.

Third: zombies meet Mad Max. Love that woohoo concept. Finally, and really most importantly, it gave us a chance to try the Storypath System in a world that was both grittier and more horrific than baseline Scion or Trinity Continuum. This was really important, and from I’ve heard it works really well for this sort of genre.

For Legendlore, well, apply what I’ve been saying about finding licenses that we can apply our aesthetics to, not visual aesthetics as we’re flexible about those, but design and thematic ones. For now, I’ll leave it at that, as the book has just appeared in the project process queue, and we’ll say a lot more about it next year.

Will we be adding more licenses this year? Well, discussions continue on several properties, so we’ll see. Basically, a license has to be either one that we feel we can create compelling worlds from, even if it is an already existing game, and that works well with our publishing model, or that pays us oodles of cash for very little work (riiiight, and if you find one of those, let me know!).

Trinity Continuum Core art by Pat McEvoy

We’re thrilled to be able to publish so many immersive worlds where players can find deep meaning in their game play. That’s a testament to the amazing writing and visuals that take us to all these places, and to an in-house team that has filled-in, rejuvenated, cajoled, encouraged, and relentlessly supported our out-of-house creative teams.

Mighty Matt and Mirthful Mike, and our trio of Dixie, Matthew, and Eddy, have pushed, prodded, pleaded, and practically puked to get our vast array of projects finished with love and care this whole year, and their efforts are paying off big time as noted above!

In fact, you can listen to the Terrific Trio every Friday on the Onyx Pathcast and often get some clues as to where the projects they are responsible for are headed, and the sorts of challenges they surmount every week.

This Friday, they flash back to the conventions we attended a couple of weeks ago and tell each other about their favorite characters!

Truly, this post has been all about our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Next up, we’re working on the Kickstarter for They Came From Beneath the Sea! (TCFBtS!), which has some very different additions to the Storypath mechanics we’ll be explaining during the KS.  They take an excellent 50’s action and investigation genre game and turn it to 11!

Check out the teaser above!

Looking to start on Dec 18th at 1pm EST but run it extra long into January!

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

https://ift.tt/2w0aaEW

And we’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This week, in celebration of both Monarchies of Mau and Cavaliers of Mars being live for retailers in Studio2, we have new themed merchandise on our RedBubble store: postcards and mugs and all sorts of stuff!

CONVENTIONS

Start getting ready for our appearance at MidWinter this January in Milwaukee! So many demos, playtests, secret playtests, and Onyx Path Q&As you could plotz!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Scion Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Development

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval:

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Editing:

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Adventures for Curious Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development:

C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Indexing:

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Dystopia Rising: Evolution – Finals coming in.

Geist 2e

The Realm 

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Chicago By Night – Contracting next bits.

C20 Player’s Guide – Still sketches and more sketches.

Aeon Aexpansion

They Came From Beneath the Sea! – KS prep.

EX3 Lunars – Sketches coming in, some finals already.

Signs of Sorcery

In Media Res

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Ex3 Dragon Blooded – 2nd proof.

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) 

Proofing

Scion Hero – Page XXs and then Indexing.

Scion Origin – Page XXs and then Indexing.

CtL2 Jumpstart – At WW for approval.

M20: Gods and Monsters – With Phil.

Pugmire Roll of Good Dogs and Cats

Trinity Core – Waiting for errata from Backer PDF.

Trinity Aeon – Waiting for errata from Backer PDF.

At Press

Wraith 20th – Waiting for new cover proof. Everything else good to go though.

Wraith 20 Screen – Printing.

Scion Dice – At Studio2.

Lost 2e Screen – Printing.

Scion Screen – Printing.

Changeling: The Lost 2e – Soon shipping from printer to shipper. PoD proof ordered.

Fetch Quest – Proof sent back to manufacturer, printing starting.

Exalted 3rd Novel – Prepping for release.

PtC Tormented – PoD proof ordered.

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: 

It’s 7th Sea creator John Wick’s birthday today. I’m sure he doesn’t feel a day older than YARRR!

[siphen0]

In 2019, fans of Fight Club, Fight Club 2 and Tyler Durden will learn the answer to a most unexpected question: “What’s the first rule of fatherhood?”

Bestselling novelist Chuck Palahniuk, Eisner Award winning artist Cameron Stewart, letterer Nate Piekos of Blambot, colorist Dave McCaig and acclaimed cover artist David Mack will collaborate on the follow-up to the New York Times bestselling graphic novel Fight Club 2. In the 12 part monthly comic book maxi series Fight Club 3, Marla Singer is about to deliver her second child, but the daddy isn’t her husband—it’s Tyler Durden, who’s very invested in his heir, and the world he’ll inherit.

Marla, her first son, and her husband—the unnamed narrator in the novel, who now goes by Balthazar—live in a run-down motel in a sketchy neighborhood. In the Fight Club 2 graphic novel Tyler transformed Project Mayhem into Rize or Die. Now, a new group has implemented a ruthless and deviant plan to fine-tune mankind, leading Balthazar to forge an unlikely alliance … with Tyler Durden.

“Fight Club 3 is about what happens when you need to team up with your enemy,” said Chuck Palahniuk. “And the situation is even more complicated here, given Tyler Durden and Balthazar’s unique relationship.” Palahniuk promises this go-round will unite the most unlikely elements of his fictional worlds.  “And, yes, bodily fluids will be exchanged.” said Palahniuk.

Fight Club 3 issue #1 will have variant covers by David Mack, Kirbi Fagan (Bait), and Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy: The Wild Hunt). Upcoming issues will have variant covers by a bevy of all star creators, including Colleen Coover, Francesco Francavilla, Steve Morris, Cameron Stewart, and Eric Wilkerson.

Dark Horse Comics will publish the first issue of Fight Club 3 on Wednesday January 30th.

NYCC 2018: Fight Club 3 Asks, “What’s the First Rule of Fatherhood?” In 2019, fans of Fight Club, Fight Club 2 and Tyler Durden will learn the answer to a most unexpected question: “What's the first rule of fatherhood?”

[lotrewrite]

LOT Chat Summaries (Sep-Oct)

Sorry this took so long! Find below the LOT Chat Summaries for the chats held on 16 September and 1 October. Includes the song recs and fanfic/fanart etc moments we’d like to see, as mentioned in the chats :-)

Episode 1

A gifset of Kendra flying, a flashback to a sepia-toned image, and then her saying “not another flashback

Gifset of Kendra saying she dumped Carter

One with Mick and Nate, with nate realising he’s travelling on his own

Something of Nate waving his pencil in Oliver’s face and complaining about his thesis

Run Boy Run by Woodkid

Don’t Let ‘Em Grind You Down by motörhead for Nate

Dust in the Wind by Kansas for Mick

Centuries by FOB just in general

Do it like a Dude for Queen Bee

Europa - Globus should be for WWII

40s music! There’s Torched Song from the L.A. Noire soundtrack and it’s so good for Mick

You Turn Me Right Round for the Lichtenstein anomaly Hello by Adele for Coldwave

Postmodern Jukebox

for the 40s in France music, there should definitely be Le Temps des Cerises

Legendary by Welshly Arms for the rewrite in general

Welshly Arms - Legendary for the whole season 

"Look What you made me do” theme for the Legion

 Our Corner of the Universe by KS Rhoads for Team Legends

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjiupe-odRQ Goldberg Variations

“Sexual Healing” for Queen Anne/Sara…

“House of Memories” by Panic at the Disco for 2 or 3

way to the future by kate herzig

Episode 2

Bambi

Bambi and Ray eating together

Ratigan riding bambi at one point

Bambi meeting Ratigan

Bambi in the remains of the other raptors

Ratigan standing on Bambis head, pointing one paw: ONWARDS, Waverider in the background, Ray and Mick screaming of screen “Come back you little shits!”, “Join the Legends of Tomorrow” text above, “Save the Timeline” underneath, think like an old style Soviet propaganda poster, Waverider in the background, Ratigan and Bambi up front, “Join the Legends of Tomorrow” text above, “Save the Timeline” underneath

Coldwave song idea- Whispers by Dave Baxter)

Angel with a shotgun (for song choices)

gregorian monks chanting modern songs?

Pull the monks from Monty Python

For Ray: “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts”

Gregorian version of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”

“I walk a lonely road” = Ray having a moment

We are the monks from the Galavant soundtrack

I’m a different kind of princess from the galavant soundtrack for Sara

Mick telling Jax to fly because he’s already had whiskey

Jax and Stein in the infirmary

More of Kendra’s incarnation’s story

Hotblooded for Mick

Fireball

arsonist’s lullaby

Sir Patrick Stewart played the Lionheart once

coldwave - fate don’t know you by desi valentine

a version of friar tuck as one of the monks 

Jurassic Park theme

Jon Bernthal’s character would be good for Peter

“Istanbul not Constantinople” by They Might Be Giants

“Jerusalem of Gold” by Ofra Haza

“Lanercost” by Steeleye Span

Episode 3

Ginnifer Goodwin as Nancy wake?

Melanie Lynskey for Nancy

Amaya and Sara’s conversations

The moment where Nate shouts “NANCY WAKE?!?”

le temps des cerises europa

fanart of that fight scene with everyone

Edith Piaf

Europa by Globus

“Le Temps des Cerises”

“La Vie En Rose” by Edith Piaf

In the Mood" by Glen Miller

la marsaillaise by edith piaf

The jukebox version of Seven Nation Army

Sentimental Journey by Doris Day for Amaya

Cover of paper planes done in a '40s style by jukebox

Hitler Has Only Got One Ball to the Colonel Bogey’s March

Nancy Wake’s song is Witness by Mindless Self Indulgence 

Episode 4

Watch Your Back by Sam Tinnesz for the second half with Eobard

Fanart of the moment Eo brings back Laurel

Sara and Laurel in the med bay

Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, possibly some ominous cover version, for the villains’ evil wall related schemes

Sara and Eobard drinking together

Every Breath You Take by Chase Holfeder. He does great minor covers of songs in major keys

99 Luftballoons by Nena

Something with Stein giving Marty his talking to, in the middle of the crowds in Berlin

Kim Weston – You hit Me Where It Hurts

The Ramones – Never Should Have Opened That Door

It’s So Easy when you’re evil

Rotten to the Core Disney movie descendants

When You’re Evil" by Voltaire for the Legion

Episode 5

Faroese Valravn or German Faun’s music

Mick Rory with the viking horns

Lisa

Wagner

Gunlod singing at the battle

ride of the valkyries

Looking too Closely by Fink for the end

Faun’s Walpurgisnacht would fit

fanart (gifset if possible) of Jax and Gunlod, being all flirty

Valravn has a version of Drømte mig en drøm

Jakob Oftebro for King Sweyn

Never Forget by Greta Salome

the fires

Mick headbutting the viking with his horned helmet

Paprika Steen or Hella Joof for Adisla

everybody talking to Lisa about their memories of Len, like one of those pics, with the bonfire and everyone around it, in the centre of the page, and then everyone’s memories in a circle around it

Eivør Pálsdóttir for Gunlød

“For the Love of a Princess "James Horner https://youtu.be/fckH2P0KK14

Episode 6

Uh, all of it

fancasts for our robot gangster

brent spiner

THE VOICE OF K2-SO whatshisname

Alan Tudyk

James Spader

we should just have ALL the famous robot actors hanging out

C3PO too

R2D2 and BB8

something frank sinatra

mission impossible theme

Robot Parade

"Mr Roboto”

A mix of Mission Impossible and the LoT theme

There’s a french revolution documentary with a song called rise of robespierre that sounds very steampunk and mechanical

Mick in his fireman clothes

the song from anything goes where she’s singing about her gangsters

Lisa kneeing Ray in the balls? like, I love Ray

like, every moment of lisa

“Weird Science” for the Stein/Dr Metcalf argument by Oingo Bongo

The Last of the Real Ones by FOB

Episode 7

Cisco getting thumbs up from Felicity and Winn when Lisa winks at him as she’s walking off

X-files theme somewhere along the way

seven nation army the original version would be good there

“Space Girl” for all the girls

salute by little mix for the girls

“Science Fiction Double Feature”

Episode 8

it’s a kind of magic

Lupita Nyong'o for Queen Bee

Magic Man" by Heart

Angela Basset

Taraji P Henson

viola davis

jada pinkett smith

Constantine interacting with the Legends

Something with the legends standing outside Zatanna’s place, looking frustrated at her “I’m not here” sign

Episode 9

Mick and Georgie, anything and everything with them

Is Anybody There from 1776

One of those things that fly across your dash with Ray and his rocket boot

Battle of Yorktown

fanart of that first confrontation when they meet Rip for the first time

Fanart of Washington’s ridiculous height

Georgie and Mick towering over everyone

Sara realising she just knocked back Martha’s eggnog and is actually talking to George Washington

Joke suggestion for Rip: I knew you were trouble, Taylor Swift

For Georgie storyarc, the Too Late to Apologize cover

mama look sharp from 1776

for Mick and Len and the hallucination arc, “Drumming Song” Florence and the Machine

“White Rabbit” Jefferson Airplane for Ray’s shrinking arc

 "The Battle of New Orleans"

Episode 10

black sails intro

pirates OST

Ray’s costume trials need “Sharp dressed man”

There’s a lovely cover by Jo Dee Messina

“Yo Ho A Pirate’s Life for Me”

Wolves of the Sea by Pirates of the Sea, the Eurovision version

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag music

I’m a Modern Major General for Stein in disguise

Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw for the legends at some point in some episode

Ray’s montage fanart

something from crouching tiger hidden dragon maybe

Ray dressing as blue beetle and everyone looking thoroughly unimpressed

Ray trying to be Cold, and Mick of taking back the cold gun

Mick and Ray arguing about pirates vs ninjas and Len in the back, very very frustrated

Fanart of what would happen if Len COULD change outfits at will, mick looks over and has to try not laughing if len could change outfits, Len shows up in a terrible pirate outfit, Mick spit-takes, Ray says “we have to re-shoot that”, Sara (from offscreen): “Where did you even GET that?”

Ming-Na Wen for Ching, Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, Fan Bingbing

Episode 11

Mick in shorts

“Down Under” by Men at Work, maybe for the sequence where Mick is being mistaken for an Aussie

fanart of that scene and also of everybody in their clothes

Everybody Wants To Rule the World by Tears for Fears

all the bad fashion

lost boys soundtrack

fanart of the intro scene of bby Mick and Len

people are strange by the doors; don’t cry little sister

Weird Al’s “Smells Like Nirvana” for the section that goes

we didn’t start the fire

Ngaire - Keisha Castle-Hughes

Episode 12

the alien theme

Sort of atmospheric background music

skittering noises

Space Girl

Ziggy Stardust

Lost in Space theme

Thus Spake Zarathusa

cold as ice for Len

AIDA from Agents of Shield in part inspired Grace, but she’s not the fancast

major tom 

sigourney weaver as the engineer

for fanfic, something about Mick as Chronos, or Rip and Miranda hearing the story of the Mosaic

The moment with the Captain is saving Mick

Len and Gideon

The ghost behind Sara, and of Medusa!Grace

scaredy cat Stein

Sara and Mick sharing the quiet moment next to the graves

From Space girl: “Travelled through the time warp in the Psycho Plan”

Len shouting at Mick not to go on the other ship

Episode 13

Some ironic/dark use of something from the Evita musical

Don’t cry for me, Argentina

Mercedes Sosa

Solo le pido a dios

Churros. Any pic set of this episode must include churros.

Saved the world by eurythimics

copa la vida by ricky martin, maybe for the sequence with the soccer reference

under my umbrella aka, “Bus Stop” by the Hollies

The Legion surrounded by umbrellas

when Mick and the others are in the bakery

Fanart of Len, Thawne and Dahrk replicating the Singing In The Rain poster

Episode 14

fanart of Amaya dancing while Jax looks on like a proud brother

Greensleeves

Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry

Pasttime in Good Company

Brian Blessed

Eric Bana 

Sean Astin

Mick sitting alone in the garden with his lighter while len looks at him sadly

the globe burning

Sara dancing with Henry, and amaya in the back like….oh shit

Burning Down The House

Talking Heads

Royals by Lorde

Sons of Serendip

Fanart of Sara and Amaya trying to get dressed

Natalie Dormer as Ann, Natalie Portman

prison themed music for the dungeon scene

Johnny Cash

lone blues harmonica 

Mood board for henry and anne (+sara)

Episode 15

New york new york

All the old Irish songs about New York

Streets of New York

Pogues and Flogging Molly 

Wolfe Tones

the legion in their “hq”

Queen Been in a barbershop chair

Amaya carrying Sara with spirit wings behind her.

Legion!Len being pissed at racists

Some dramatic baroque-layout style picture of the mob about to start, and the only points of colour in the pic are Sara, Amaya, and Darhk

Lily fanart

her and Rip working together to guide the team from the Waverider

Stein helping a tiny Lily make her first atom model

Episode 16

annoying game show background music

A montage set to the actual Legends of the Hidden Temple, or art with the Legends and Legion wearing those dorky outfits

Benny Hill theme song

The Chicken Dance song played in slow mo 

theme from Gremlins

Someone who does podcasts needs to do some lines from the announcers

Fanart of the renegades first appearance

Fan art of affronted Mick and Len

Those (song) in Minor Key posts, Maybe the Benny Hill theme in minor key for dramatic parts

Stephen Fry would probably be perfect for Ethelred

Some of the challenges in the labyrinth should come with really annoying early computer game sounds

Art of the game in the style of one of those old crappy text RPGs and at one point, there’s a sign off to the side that says “don’t go this way - you will be eaten by a grue”

The whole Legends in The Future, yelling at a computer

16 or 32-bit version of the characters

 in the year 2525 (song)

Episode 17

it's gotta be cassette quality 90's music

Green Day

Aqua barbie girl

drunk Legends

Spice Girls

lots of Madonna and Prince and Maria Carey

Jax and Jessica duke it out at the whack a mole

all the home alone sequences

Sound of Silence for the “Hello Darhk-ness my old friend” part

O!Len realising L!Len can see him

Jessica - Gina Rodriguez

“I put a spell on you” for the final sequence with Queen Bee

Any Jax/Jessica photoset would need their respective dolls

Episode 18

music rec: we will rock you. Nothing else will do for Sara’s gladiator appearance

the woman who played Lucilla in Gladiator for Fulvia

Centuries 

Marc Antony, the guy who played him in Rome did it

Is Anybody There from 1776 musical

Rome, Spartacus, The Gladiator soundtracks

Sara fighting Darhk

EVERYONE in ancient Rome outfits

Legionnaire!Len

Kendra and Fulvia, lounging on their seats

Legion!Len in his toga

Having scenes from this episode using dialogue from Life Of Brian.

Kendra in Rome getup

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Episode 19

Camelot from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Len’s ice ramp

Old school superhero comic style fan art of the knights

Joan (song)

everyone dressed up for dinner

Mick and Mordred

Colin Farrell for Jason Blood

Merlin - Taika Waititi

Eva Green for Morgana

Sofia Boutella for Nimue

Ivana Baquero ystina

Faun's Tanz mit mir for the party scene

Doomworld 1 & 2

crossover fan art of a certain Victor von Doom being angry with the Legion

It’s the End of the World as We Know It

Eurythmics "Sweet dreams are made of this"

Walking on the Ground

for Batman, Batfleck, Jason O’Mara

B: TAS theme

Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny"

Nathan Fillion - Hal

Don’t Mess With Me by Temposhark

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant

Ted - Danny Pudi

Everyone decked out in their doomworld versions

The fight between Mick, L!Len, and then the lanterns show up

all by myself to be playing in the background at the very end when Mick is left alone

Land of Confusion by Genesis, or the Disturbia version

Uprising by Muse

Believer by Imagine Dragons

Last Episode

Fan art of Bambi leaping joyfully into Ray’s arms

A gif set of Mick and Len hugging

fanart, specifically, of Ray and Bambi skipping through a field of flowers towards each other as “So Happy Together” plays in the background

everyone hugging Len, then Len and Mick hugging

A sweet piece of Sara and Laurel talking through the inter-dimensional skype

O!Len holding the spear, with the team in the back yelling at him not to do it 

The sequence where the jump ship explodes in the middle of the time stream

we are the champions

Legendary

[futuresofcolour]

We need Afrofuturism; not as a box to put people in, but as a lens with which to change the way we imagine and actualize an inclusive future. A future where black people are in control of their own destinies. Afrofuturism is not a sub-genre. For some, like Sun Ra, Afrofuturism (though the term was not coined until after Sun Ra passed away) is a form of escapism; a reprieve from violent systems of segregation and white supremacy. For others, Afrofuturism is a celebration of black innovation; filmmaker and author Ytasha Womack describes Afrofuturism as, “The intersection between black culture, technology, liberation, and the imagination, with some mysticism thrown in, too.” For some it is highly spiritual. Above all else, it is an ambitious vision of the future and mankind's place in it that is continually informed by black culture and history. What kind of message is sent when mass audiences are presented with visions of the future that do not include people of color? Since Hollywood has historically excluded black characters from leading roles in science fiction films, black people have had to envision and ultimately create space for themselves above and beyond the Earth's atmosphere. In DUST’s original series, we celebrate a handful of those people, and encourage you to dive deeper into the Afrofuture.

What kind of message is sent when future worlds are depicted without black people? Star Trek’s Nyota Uhura, a commander aboard the Starship Enterprise, was the first black character in a major role to be depicted in outer space. Uhura was played by Nichelle Nichols in the original series, and first appeared in 1966. In reality, it would take nearly 30 years for a black woman to make it to space – NASA astronaut Mae Jemison, in 1992. In episode two of DUST’s Afrofuturism series, Uhura beams up Sun Ra, Martin Luther King, and the aforementioned Jemison, as narrator Little Simz tells us the true story of how King convinced Nichelle Nichols to stay on the show after the first season. Nichols would go on to appear in 66 episodes.  

In episode three of DUST’s Afrofuturism series, George Clinton and the almighty Mothership emerge from a cloud of green gas to funk up the universe and expand the mythology of the philosophical and artistic lens that would later come to be known as Afrofuturism. From getting funky in front of a massive crowd on the moon to breaking bread with Jimi Hendrix and Sun Ra, George Clinton’s ultra funky contributions to the galaxy only serve to reinforce the idea that all motherships are connected.

In the canon of popular black musicians who have written songs about space, there are none who shook up the mainstream nearly as much as Jimi Hendrix. Like Sun Ra before him, Hendrix wrote songs about interstellar travel, even including alien characters in songs like “Up From The Skies” and “Third Stone From The Sun”, which was inspired by George R Stewart’s post-apocalyptic science fiction novel, Earth Abides. But Hendrix wouldn’t be able to bring his message to the masses until he traveled to England and battled God himself, Eric Clapton (then playing in a supergroup called Cream). In this episode of Afrofuturism, DUST presents the animated story of that fateful night. Originally intended to be a friendly jam session between God (Clapton) and one of his biggest fans, the then unknown Hendrix, Clapton walked off-stage in the middle of Hendrix’s solo, stunned by the no-name’s guitar wizardry. Hendrix’s performance that night forged a brotherhood with Clapton and is just one of many such stories of his mind-blowing performances that would carve out his place in rock n’ roll history as the unmatched greatest guitarist of all-time (according to Rolling Stone). Hendrix’s infatuation with science fiction, and his commitment to technological (and psychedelic) experimentation, pushed him to make his guitar sound like anything but, and has inspired artists of many genres to embrace their individuality ever since.

Missy was the first popular black artist to make explicit, recurring use of science-fiction in her visual offerings. For this reason, and because of the lack of representation of Black people in science-fiction films, Missy’s work can be viewed through the lens of Afrofuturism.

[ivytarablair]

WOMEN SWEEP THE HUGOS, I LOVE IT

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/11/16127310/2017-hugo-awards-n-k-jemisin-science-fiction-fantasy-books

https://twitter.com/SFF180/status/896094928215842816

WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY TYPE HERE??

From The Verge:  Women swept nearly every category at the 2017 Hugo Awards

by Andrew Liptak @AndrewLiptak  Aug 11, 2017, 3:31pm EDT

Here’s the full list of nominees and winners (in bold) for 2017’s Hugo Awards:

BEST NOVEL

The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

Death’s End by Cixin Liu

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer

BEST NOVELLA

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

This Census-Taker by China Miéville

BEST NOVELETTE

The Tomato Thief by Ursula Vernon

Alien Stripper Boned From Behind By The T-Rex by Stix Hiscock

The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allan

The Jewel and Her Lapidary by Fran Wilde

Touring with the Alien by Carolyn Ives Gilman

You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay by Alyssa Wong

BEST SHORT STORY

Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, Saga Press)

The City Born Great by N. K. Jemisin

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong

Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies by Brooke Bolander

That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn

An Unimaginable Light by John C. Wright

BEST RELATED WORK

Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016 by Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro

The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman

“The Women of Harry Potter” posts by Sarah Gailey

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening, written by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda

Black Panther, Volume 1: A Nation Under Our Feet, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze

Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Super Famous, written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa

Paper Girls, Volume 1, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matthew Wilson, lettered by Jared Fletcher

Saga, Volume 6, illustrated by Fiona Staples, written by Brian K. Vaughan, lettered by Fonografiks

The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man, written by Tom King, illustrated by Gabriel Hernandez Walta

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – LONGFORM

Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve

Deadpool, screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, directed by Tim Miller

Ghostbusters, screenplay by Katie Dippold & Paul Feig, directed by Paul Feig

Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, directed by Theodore Melfi

Rogue One, screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, directed by Gareth Edwards

Stranger Things, season 1, created by the Duffer Brothers

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – SHORTFORM

The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes,” written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough

Black Mirror: “San Junipero,” written by Charlie Brooker, directed by Owen Harris

Doctor Who: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio,” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Ed Bazalgette

Game of Thrones: “Battle of the Bastards,” written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Miguel Sapochnik

Game of Thrones: “The Door,” written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender

Splendor & Misery [album], by Clipping

BEST EDITOR – SHORTFORM

Ellen Datlow

John Joseph Adams

Neil Clarke

Jonathan Strahan

Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Sheila Williams

BEST EDITOR – LONGFORM

Liz Gorinsky

Vox Day

Sheila E. Gilbert

Devi Pillai

Miriam Weinberg

Navah Wolfe

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

Julie Dillon

Galen Dara

Chris McGrath

Victo Ngai

John Picacio

Sana Takeda

BEST SEMIPROZINE

Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, and podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews

Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, edited by P. Alexander

GigaNotoSaurus, edited by Rashida J. Smith

Strange Horizons, edited by Niall Harrison, Catherine Krahe, Vajra Chandrasekera, Vanessa Rose Phin, Li Chua, Aishwarya Subramanian, Tim Moore, Anaea Lay, and the Strange Horizons staff

The Book Smugglers, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James

BEST FANZINE

“Lady Business,” edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan

“Castalia House Blog,” edited by Jeffro Johnson

“Journey Planet,” edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Helena Nash, Errick Nunnally, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Chuck Serface, and Erin Underwood

“nerds of a feather, flock together,” edited by The G, Vance Kotrla, and Joe Sherry

“Rocket Stack Rank,” edited by Greg Hullender and Eric Wong

“SF Bluestocking,” edited by Bridget McKinney

BEST FANCAST

Tea and Jeopardy, presented by Emma Newman with Peter Newman

The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan

Ditch Diggers, presented by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace

Fangirl Happy Hour, presented by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams

Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch

The Rageaholic, presented by RazörFist

BEST FAN WRITER

Abigail Nussbaum

Mike Glyer

Jeffro Johnson

Natalie Luhrs

Foz Meadows

Chuck Tingle

BEST FAN ARTIST

Elizabeth Leggett

Ninni Aalto

Vesa Lehtimäki

Likhain (M. Sereno)

Spring Schoenhuth

Steve Stiles

BEST SERIES

The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone

The Expanse by James S.A. Corey

The October Daye Books by Seanan McGuire

The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER

Ada Palmer

Sarah Gailey

J. Mulrooney

Malka Older

Laurie Penny

Kelly Robson

[darkwarrior101-blog]

Best Tv Series Of All Time

'South Park' 1997-Present

Matt Stone and Trey Parker touched America somewhere specific and deep, and also you must respect their authori-teh. Year after yr, this cartoon began, Matt Stone informed Rolling Stone, "We would see achievement as lastly getting to the point where we get canceled because no one gets it." So here's to not exactly twenty years of failure – and hopefully 20 more.

'Monty Python's Flying Circus' 1969 74

And now for some thing completely various. The best comedy cock tail – five British intellectuals along with a token American clod, Terry Gilliam, running amok about the BBC. Monty Python were the Beatles of comedy, each one an indispensable aspect in the chemistry, from John Cleese rage to Eric Idle -stick wordplay. The Pythons were godfathers to all ambitious jokers who adopted – Lorne Michaels and Chevy Chase satisfied in line for an Ultimate Goal screening. But these 45 episodes stay the comedic equivalent of Mount Everest: the mountain with all the biggest tits on earth, forbidding, aloof, terrifying.

'Game of Thrones' 2011-Present

The night is dark and full of terrors, particularly. With its premise of "The Sopranos in middle earth," it is the HBO fantasy sequence that broke through style boundaries to stake its claim as one of the most compellingly realistic dramas on the air, going beyond George R.R. Martin's publications. It may grab attention with the nudity, the dragons and severed heads, but in your mind it's a thriller. As Martin told Rolling Stone, "History is written in blood, a gold mine – the kings, the princes, the generals along with the whores, and all the betrayals and wars and confidences. It's better than 90 percent of exactly what the fantasists do make up."

'Cheers' 1982 93

You need a place where everybody knows your title – even supposing it's just a dive-bar in Boston total of regulars with no place else to go. Cheers started with an emphasis on the mis-matched passionate banter between Ted Danson's washed-up Red-Sox pitcher Sam and Shelley Long's up tight bookworm Diane. ("Over my dead body!" "Hey, do not b-ring last night into this.") But it regularly renewed it self by bringing in new blood like Kelsey Grammer, Kirstie Alley and Woody Harrelson. Cheers was like that bar, to the point where you can tune in to see which regulars would hang tonight.

'The Daily Show' 1996-Present

The fake news show that became more credible in relation to the news. Comedy Central began The Daily Present in 1996, when Jon Stewart took over in 1999, but it hit its stride. The Everyday Present got more abrasive as the the headlines got worse. Stewart had the rage of a man who'd signed on in the end of the Bill Clinton years, only to finish up with an America significantly scarier and uglier for, and also the anger showed. "It really is a comic box lined with sadness," he advised Rolling Stone in 2006. While the franchise struggles on without him, Everyday alumni John Oliver and Samantha Bee keep that hardhitting spirit on their own shows.

'Twin Peaks' 199091, 2017

"These women are authentically dreamy," Twin Peaks auteur David Lynch told Rolling Stone in 1990. "They are all just chef chicks. And they're just jam-packed with strategies." The little town of Twin Peaks is complete of the women as well as their deadly secrets, from senior high school homecoming queen Laura Palmer that is murdered to alive-and- how seductress Audrey Horne. Several years after Blue Velvet, Lynch's surreal Pacific Northwest secret followed Kyle MacLachlan as FBI agent Dale Cooper, on a search for damn-good espresso along with the the answer.

'Deadwood' 2004-06

Al Swearengen's moral philosophy: "You can't cut the throat of every cock-sucker whose character it would boost." Spoken like a Founding Father that is true. He is the villain of David Milch's epic Western set in the mud and slime of an 1870s South Dakota gold-mining camp. At the center of it all (i.e., the saloon), Ian McShane's Al glowers, pours drinks, counts money and slices jugulars, in a frontier hellhole total of prospectors, whores, drunks and lost freaks looking for one last deadly fight to get in to (and often finding it at Al's spot). It was like McCabe & Mrs. Miller with mo Re depressing intercourse scenes. The first two seasons are strong gold, the third, flimsier, but Deadwood is about how communities get constructed – and every one of the dirty function that involves.

'The West Wing' 1999-2006

Aaron Sorkin gave America the the first choice we didn't really deserve in the benevolent President Jed Bartlet of Martin Sheen, a high-toned Catholic professor from New Hampshire. Premiering in late 1999, The West Wing played the same as a Bubba-period fantasy of the way the political potential would appear (like in case the Democrats had a little more bravery, or in the event the Republicans had a theory or two) that soon ended up being utterly out of step with the Bush-Cheney years. But Sorkin's trademark rapid-fire dialogue as well as the Bartlet administration's idealism created this a parallel-universe that was a welcome.

'Louie' 2010-Present

Louis C.K.'s stubbornly auteurist FX sit-com doesn't look or sense like any such thing else on Television – he writes, directs and stars as himself, a single-dad stand up comic in New York. If Louie wants to display himself in the car air-drumming to "Who Are You?" and mortifying his daughters, he goes for this. If he desires to abandon the half hour comedy format completely for an extended indie-movie vibe with Charles Grodin and Ellen Burstyn, he does that too. Louis C.K. May vanish in to his own head for whole seasons, however totally original emotional peaks are also hit by him just like the one when he inadvertently makes a buddy that is male and travels to Miami. (No, it does not last.)

Third Watch Season 6

'Star Trek' 196669

The Star-Ship Enterprise took off using a five-year mission: "To discover odd new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations," and it succeeded in making the most beloved of sci-fi franchises, maybe not just inspiring countless spin offs but also codifying fan fiction as an art form. Gene Roddenberry's original collection remains the the inspiration, with William Shatner's awesomely pulpy Capt. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy's logical Mr. Spock, Bones, Sulu, Uhura and Scotty. They speak to strange and inexplicable lifeforms – Romulans, Gorns, Joan Collins. During its three years, Star Trek endured low ratings until NBC pulled the plug, but thanks to the most doggedly faithful of TV cults (remember when "Trekkie" was an insult?), Roddenberry's vision lives long and prospers to the day.

[mrjohnangulo]

Game Overview: Paco Ŝako, or Combo Chess

by W. Eric Martin

During my youth in the late 1970s, I followed the path that many others had and read Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. I don't recall being a big fan of chess; rather I loved puzzle books, such as Martin Gardner's My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles and far too many other titles from Dover Publications. If you wanted to buy me anything for my birthday or the holidays, I would have been more than happy to mark off several titles in the Dover catalog, which in later years led to the discovery of books by Raymond Smullyan and Ian Stewart, then to Rudy Rucker's The 57th Franz Kafka, which felt tailor-made for my dual interest in math and science fiction. Sure, I played chess here and there, but I never felt a love for the game — only for every other abstract strategy game that I encountered. Chess carried with it hundreds of years of history, and the game never clicked for me as it did for so many others, so I was happy to explore those other games and leave chess behind. Decades later, my son Traver started learning chess at school and wanting to play against me at home or on the road or on an airplane's feeble online gaming system that allowed you to compete not against an AI, but only any fellow passenger who also happened to log on to play chess. I didn't enjoy the game, but he indulged me enough to play the games I wanted that I would sometimes play chess, too.

Flash forward to SPIEL '18, and I discovered that designer Felix Albers would be at the show with his chess-like game Paco Ŝako, a game that unlike so many other chess variants sounded like a unique design that would suit my interests. Midday Sunday during SPIEL '18, with my walking-around time almost clocked out ahead of my final hosting session in the BGG booth, I finally made my way to Albers' booth to talk with him about the game and its history. In the end, he offered me a copy of the game and I made sure to pack it in my bag instead of shipping it home so that I could try it out with Traver during our subsequent trip to Florence. Amazingly enough, we both highly enjoyed the game: Traver for what it is and me for what it isn't. In spirit, Paco Ŝako is very much like chess. Everything you know about the latter can be used to play the former — yet you need to know more, too, because Paco Ŝako isn't merely chess on a different board or chess with random elements or any of the other chess variants I've seen over the years. No, the hook of Paco Ŝako is that the game replaces capturing with embracing. When you move one of your pieces to a space occupied by the opponent, you combine your piece with the one already there to create a new piece of sorts. This combined piece moves like your piece on your turn and like the opponent's piece on their turn. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh", and all that, except that the one flesh isn't permanent. If I move another of my pieces onto the space where this combined piece is located, then this new piece replaces my old one, which is free to immediately move in its normal way, possibly chaining another move if it lands on a space occupied by a combined piece.

Paco Ŝako — which is Esperanto for "peace chess" — expands the play space for chess, escaping the catalog of openings and strategies that kept me from being interested in that game. I never wanted to have to memorize openings, but to compete at any level against those who did, you'd have to do the same, which is why I bailed so long ago. Now you can take your knowledge of how the pieces move, and play something recognizable, yet brand new. You even have more movement opportunities available given how one piece combos with another, giving you more to consider on your turn, both on offense and defense, and it's interesting to consider how the best way to defend yourself against an attacker — which is what the piece still is, regardless of the "embracing" terminology — is to fill their arms with someone else, making them unable to embrace your king for the win until they can first find someone else to take their place in the embrace. I've played Paco Ŝako ten times so far, and I've been delighted by how well the game works and by how such a small change in the design has such a large impact on the gameplay and how each game evolves. All the pieces remain in play until the end of the game, yet they combine forces and change, giving you differences from the original chess such as having two bishops on the same color or a queen that doesn't stay put where you leave it, but in a non-random way, unlike so many chess variants before it. Kudos to Albers for not being afraid to tackle a game-design problem that many others have in the past and for finding a brilliant new way to play this classic game. Youtube Video from BoardGameGeek News | BoardGameGeek https://ift.tt/2BOALL6

[westmeathlibrary]

2017 Hugo Award finalist announced

Best Novel

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders check the library : https://goo.gl/HJ3YKu

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers check the library : https://goo.gl/oVCEIP

Death’s End by Cixin Liu  download the ebook : https://goo.gl/3YDwKM

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee  check the library : https://goo.gl/p5eooA

The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin  check the library : https://goo.gl/TvFNpU

Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer 

Best Novella 

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson 

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire  check the library : https://goo.gl/H4SIYd

Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold 

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

This Census-Taker by China Miéville  check the library : https://goo.gl/zqmWk6 | Download the ebook : https://goo.gl/9FCm9X

Best Novelette

Alien Stripper Boned From Behind By The T-Rex by Stix Hiscock

“The Art of Space Travel” by Nina Allan 

“The Jewel and Her Lapidary” by Fran Wilde

“The Tomato Thief” by Ursula Vernon 

“Touring with the Alien” by Carolyn Ives Gilman

“You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay” by Alyssa Wong

Best Short Story

“The City Born Great” by N. K. Jemisin

“A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers” by Alyssa Wong 

“Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies” by Brooke Bolander 

“Seasons of Glass and Iron” by Amal El-Mohtar 

“That Game We Played During the War” by Carrie Vaughn 

“An Unimaginable Light” by John C. Wright

Best Related Work

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher check the library : https://goo.gl/yf29oF

Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro 

The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman check the library : https://goo.gl/c51s8q

“The Women of Harry Potter” posts by Sarah Gaile available online : http://www.tor.com/tag/women-of-harry-potter/

Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016 by Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)

Best Graphic Story

Black Panther, Volume 1: A Nation Under Our Feet, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze 

Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening, written by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda  check the library : https://goo.gl/CIUaFP

Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Super Famous, written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa  check the library : https://goo.gl/uBYW7Q

Paper Girls, Volume 1, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matthew Wilson, lettered by Jared Fletcher check the library : https://goo.gl/Yzw5YD

Saga, Volume 6, illustrated by Fiona Staples, written by Brian K. Vaughan, lettered by Fonografiks  check the library : https://goo.gl/05n1hk

The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man, written by Tom King, illustrated by Gabriel Hernandez Walta  check the library : https://goo.gl/xDTSNm

Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form 

Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve

Deadpool, screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, directed by Tim Miller 

Ghostbusters, screenplay by Katie Dippold & Paul Feig, directed by Paul Feig 

Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, directed by Theodore Melfi 

Rogue One, screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, directed by Gareth Edwards 

Stranger Things, Season One, created by the Duffer Brothers

Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form

Black Mirror: “San Junipero”, written by Charlie Brooker, directed by Owen Harris 

Doctor Who: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Ed Bazalgette

The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes”, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough

Game of Thrones: “Battle of the Bastards”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Miguel Sapochnik

Game of Thrones: “The Door”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender

Splendor & Misery [album], by Clipping 

Best Editor – Short Form

John Joseph Adams

Neil Clarke

Ellen Datlow

Jonathan Strahan

Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Sheila Williams

Best Editor – Long Form

Vox Day

Sheila E. Gilbert

Liz Gorinsky

Devi Pillai

Miriam Weinberg

Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist

Galen Dara

Julie Dillon

Chris McGrath

Victo Ngai

John Picacio

Sana Takeda

Best Semiprozine

Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews

Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, edited by P. Alexander

GigaNotoSaurus, edited by Rashida J. Smith

Strange Horizons, edited by Niall Harrison, Catherine Krahe, Vajra Chandrasekera, Vanessa Rose Phin, Li Chua, Aishwarya Subramanian, Tim Moore, Anaea Lay, and the Strange Horizons staff

Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, and podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

The Book Smugglers, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James

Best Fanzine

“Castalia House Blog”, edited by Jeffro Johnson

“Journey Planet”, edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Helena Nash, Errick Nunnally, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Chuck Serface, and Erin Underwood

“Lady Business”, edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan

“nerds of a feather, flock together”, edited by The G, Vance Kotrla, and Joe Sherry

“Rocket Stack Rank”, edited by Greg Hullender and Eric Wong

“SF Bluestocking”, edited by Bridget McKinney

Best Fancast 

The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan

Ditch Diggers, presented by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace

Fangirl Happy Hour, presented by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams

Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch

The Rageaholic, presented by RazörFist

Tea and Jeopardy, presented by Emma Newman with Peter Newman

Best Fan Writer

Mike Glyer

Jeffro Johnson

Natalie Luhrs

Foz Meadows

Abigail Nussbaum

Chuck Tingle

Best Fan Artist 

Ninni Aalto

Alex Garner

Vesa Lehtimäki

Likhain (M. Sereno)

Spring Schoenhuth

Mansik Yang

Best Series 

The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone 

The Expanse by James S.A. Corey  check the library : https://goo.gl/BPqw2h

The October Daye Books by Seanan McGuire check the library : https://goo.gl/pRAJ0l

The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch  check the library : https://goo.gl/GIdO7V

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik  check the library : https://goo.gl/c1cOrM | Download the ebooks : https://goo.gl/eN4Zar

The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold  check the library : https://goo.gl/sHAx1C

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Sarah Gailey

J. Mulrooney 

Malka Older (check the library : https://goo.gl/rCgf0x)

Ada Palmer 

Laurie Penny (check the library : https://goo.gl/wx7yfm)

Kelly Robson 

[amazingstories]

The following are image captures from the Worldcon75/Helsinki Worldcon video announcement:

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 100%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Text via Tor.com

Best Novel (2078 ballots)

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Books / Titan Books) A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager US) Death’s End by Cixin Liu (Tor Books / Head of Zeus) Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris Books) The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit Books) Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)

Best Novella (1410 ballots)

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle (Tor.com Publishing) The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson (Tor.com Publishing) Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing) Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum Literary Agency) A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com Publishing) This Census-Taker by China Miéville (Del Rey / Picador)

Best Novelette (1097 ballots)

Alien Stripper Boned From Behind By The T-Rex by Stix Hiscock (self-published) “The Art of Space Travel” by Nina Allan (Tor.com, July 2016) “The Jewel and Her Lapidary” by Fran Wilde (Tor.com Publishing, May 2016) “The Tomato Thief” by Ursula Vernon (Apex Magazine, January 2016) “Touring with the Alien” by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2016) “You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay” by Alyssa Wong (Uncanny Magazine, May 2016)

Best Short Story (1275 ballots)

“The City Born Great” by N. K. Jemisin (Tor.com, September 2016) “A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers” by Alyssa Wong (Tor.com, March 2016) “Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies” by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine, November 2016) “Seasons of Glass and Iron” by Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, Saga Press) “That Game We Played During the War” by Carrie Vaughn (Tor.com, March 2016) “An Unimaginable Light” by John C. Wright (God, Robot, Castalia House)

Best Related Work (1122 ballots)

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley (Tor Books) The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (Blue Rider Press) Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro (Fairwood) The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman (William Morrow / Harper Collins) “The Women of Harry Potter” posts by Sarah Gailey (Tor.com) Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016 by Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)

Best Graphic Story (842 ballots)

Black Panther, Volume 1: A Nation Under Our Feet, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze (Marvel) Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening, written by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image) Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Super Famous, written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa (Marvel) Paper Girls, Volume 1, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matthew Wilson, lettered by Jared Fletcher (Image) Saga, Volume 6, illustrated by Fiona Staples, written by Brian K. Vaughan, lettered by Fonografiks (Image) The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man, written by Tom King, illustrated by Gabriel Hernandez Walta (Marvel)

Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form (1733 ballots)

Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve (21 Laps Entertainment/FilmNation Entertainment/Lava Bear Films) Deadpool, screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, directed by Tim Miller (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Marvel Entertainment/Kinberg Genre/The Donners’ Company/TSG Entertainment) Ghostbusters, screenplay by Katie Dippold & Paul Feig, directed by Paul Feig (Columbia Pictures/LStar Capital/Village Roadshow Pictures/Pascal Pictures/Feigco Entertainment/Ghostcorps/The Montecito Picture Company) Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, directed by Theodore Melfi (Fox 2000 Pictures/Chernin Entertainment/Levantine Films/TSG Entertainment) Rogue One, screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, directed by Gareth Edwards (Lucasfilm/Allison Shearmur Productions/Black Hangar Studios/Stereo D/Walt Disney Pictures) Stranger Things, Season One, created by the Duffer Brothers (21 Laps Entertainment/Monkey Massacre)

Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form (1159 ballots)

Black Mirror: “San Junipero”, written by Charlie Brooker, directed by Owen Harris (House of Tomorrow) Doctor Who: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Ed Bazalgette (BBC Cymru Wales) The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes”, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough (SyFy) Game of Thrones: “Battle of the Bastards”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (HBO) Game of Thrones: “The Door”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender (HBO) Splendor & Misery [album], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)

Best Editor – Short Form (951 ballots)

John Joseph Adams Neil Clarke Ellen Datlow Jonathan Strahan Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas Sheila Williams

Best Editor – Long Form (752 ballots)

Vox Day Sheila E. Gilbert Liz Gorinsky Devi Pillai Miriam Weinberg Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist (817 ballots)

Galen Dara Julie Dillon Chris McGrath Victo Ngai John Picacio Sana Takeda

Best Semiprozine (857 ballots)

Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, edited by P. Alexander GigaNotoSaurus, edited by Rashida J. Smith Strange Horizons, edited by Niall Harrison, Catherine Krahe, Vajra Chandrasekera, Vanessa Rose Phin, Li Chua, Aishwarya Subramanian, Tim Moore, Anaea Lay, and the Strange Horizons staff Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, and podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky The Book Smugglers, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James

Best Fanzine (610 ballots)

“Castalia House Blog”, edited by Jeffro Johnson “Journey Planet”, edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Helena Nash, Errick Nunnally, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Chuck Serface, and Erin Underwood “Lady Business”, edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan “nerds of a feather, flock together”, edited by The G, Vance Kotrla, and Joe Sherry “Rocket Stack Rank”, edited by Greg Hullender and Eric Wong “SF Bluestocking”, edited by Bridget McKinney

Best Fancast (690 ballots)

The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan Ditch Diggers, presented by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace Fangirl Happy Hour, presented by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch The Rageaholic, presented by RazörFist Tea and Jeopardy, presented by Emma Newman with Peter Newman

Best Fan Writer (802 ballots)

Mike Glyer Jeffro Johnson Natalie Luhrs Foz Meadows Abigail Nussbaum Chuck Tingle

Best Fan Artist (528 ballots)

Ninni Aalto Alex Garner Vesa Lehtimäki Likhain (M. Sereno) Spring Schoenhuth Mansik Yang

Best Series (1393 votes)

The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone (Tor Books) The Expanse by James S.A. Corey (Orbit US / Orbit UK) The October Daye Books by Seanan McGuire (DAW / Corsair) The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz / Del Rey / DAW / Subterranean) The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Harper Voyager UK) The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (937 ballots)

Sarah Gailey (1st year of eligibility) J. Mulrooney (1st year of eligibility) Malka Older (2nd year of eligibility) Ada Palmer (1st year of eligibility) Laurie Penny (2nd year of eligibility) Kelly Robson (2nd year of eligibility)

First comment: the new voting system has been at least partially successfully gamed by the Rabid Puppies. We have more work to do

2017 HUGO AWARD FINALISTS The following are image captures from the Worldcon75/Helsinki Worldcon video announcement: Text via Tor.com Best Novel (2078 ballots)

[comicsbeat]

  Image Expo is today and the announcement segment just wrapped up. The event was streamed live from Twitch and thanks to Twitter, our own ears, and even official PR here’s a list of the new projects and announcements:

• Image’s Eric Stephenson kicked things off with a keynote and mentioned big sales in 2017, comics aren’t for kids, etc etc.

• Perhaps of most interest to Beat snoopers, Image has officially been announced as the pblisher of Mark Millar’s first Netflix comic, The Magic Order, which has art by Olivier Coipel. Although many have speculated that Netflix would launch its own comcis division, I’ve been told by insiders that the line will stay at Image, so we’ll see.

NETFLIX’S MILLARWORLD TITLES LAUNCH WITH THE MAGIC ORDER Comics titan Mark Millar (KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE, KICK-ASS, HIT-GIRL, JUPITER’S LEGACY) announced that Netflix’s forthcoming Millarworld titles will be published by Image Comics, beginning with his first new project, THE MAGIC ORDER. THE MAGIC ORDER will feature art by Olivier Coipel (Amazing Spider-Man, Thor) and is planned as a six-issue miniseries.

We live in a world where we’ve never seen a monster, and The Magic Order is the reason we sleep safely in our beds. Magic meets the Mob in THE MAGIC ORDER as five families of magicians—sworn to protect our world for generations—must battle an enemy who’s picking them off one by one. By day, they live among us as our neighbors, friends and co-workers, but by night they are the sorcerers, magicians and wizards that protect us from the forces of darkness…unless the darkness gets them first.

The series will launch from Image Comics in Summer 2018.

Here’s all the books announced with a few bonuses:

BLACKBIRD by Sam Humphries & Jen Bartel Sam Humphries (NIghtwing, Green Lantern) and Jen Bartel team up to co-create BLACKBIRD a modern fantasy story best described as Harry Potter meets Riverdale. It follows a young woman named Nina who discovers a neon-lit world of magic masters in Los Angeles. Now they’ve kidnapped her sister, and Nina is the only one who can save her.

“BLACKBIRD is a labor of love, a coming of age story and beautiful people doing insane things with magic,” said Humphries.

The series launches from Image Comics in October 2018.

https://twitter.com/heyjenbartel/status/966387556244844544

Rob Liefeld’S BLOODSTRIKE will feature story, art, and cover by Michel Fiffe Michel Fiffe will write, draw, and color three exciting new issues of BLOODSTRIKE. The Fiffe issues will also feature two back-up stories by Chuck Forsman and Paul Maybury with pin-ups by Ed Piskor, Benjamin Marra, Andrew Maclean, and more!

In Michel Fiffe’s BLOODSTRIKE: BRUTALISTS, the creator of the indie hit COPRA shines a light on Image’s most extreme series and its groundbreaking carnage. Whether it’s the origin of our favorite undead strikeforce or solving the trail of mysteries that plague them, this mini-series picks up where the original title left off while introducing the concept to a new audience. Celebrate Bloodstrike’s take-no-prisoners legacy by looking forward as only the new wave of comic-auteurs can! Don’t “rub the blood”…drown in it.

CROWDED by Christopher Sebela, Ted Brandt, Ro Stein & Triona Farrell Sebela took to the stage and announced two new books today, one of which was CROWDED, which he’s co-created with Ted Brandt and Ro Stein—a cynical send-up of the app economy and online grudges.

“Josh and I have been working on this book for a few years now in secret,” said Sebela. “Just waiting for the chance to unleash it on readers and we’re kinda freaking out that this thing we’ve put so much time and sweat into is really real and really good.”

In CROWDED, a platform called Reapr allows anyone to crowdfund assassination attempts. The parody ignites when protagonist Charlie Ellison is forced to fend off a wave of hitmen with the help of a low-rate bodyguard.

The series launches in Summer 2018.

More at CBR.

DEAD GUY FAN CLUB by Annie Wu  Annie Wu introduced fans to the forthcoming DEAD GUY FAN CLUB. In this new series, the founders of a rock star’s fan club reunite in adulthood to investigate the suspicious death of their hero and the involvement of an unhinged member of their old flock.

“I’m thrilled to be writing and illustrating a new series,” said Wu. “I can’t wait to share this weird little black comedy with everyone.”

The series launches from Image Comics in Fall 2018.

More at Nerdist.

DEAD RABBIT by Gerry Duggan & John McCrea DEAD RABBIT is a new ongoing series from writer Gerry Duggan (Deadpool) and artist John McCrea (Hitman) team up with colorist Mike Spicer in a rackous series about MARTIN DOBBS, a hot-tempered, foul-mouthed former mercenary and gun-for-hire who’s forced out of retirement with predictably funny and violent results. With shades of UNFORGIVEN, THE EQUALIZER and ROBIN HOOD.

“Gerry Duggan! John McCrea! The peaches and cream of comics—though I’m not sure who’s the peach…,” said McCrea. “Anyway, this comic has Gerry’s and my heart and soul poured into it, pick it up, you will love yourself forever for doing so…”

The series launches from Image Comics in Summer 2018.

DEATH OR GLORY by Rick Remender & Bengal Fan favorite Rick Remender (SEVEN TO ETERNITY, DEADLY CLASS) teams up with brilliant French superstar Bengal to bring fans a high speed convoy crime thriller rocketing across the American West that examines our dwindling freedoms and the price paid by those who fight for an untethered life on the open road.

Meet Glory, raised free in a convoy, off the grid, amid the last men and women truckers fighting automation to continue living the American mythology of the open road.

Now, in order to pay for her beloved, dying Father’s surgery, Glory has three days to pull off a four dangerous cross country heists with mob killers, crooked cops and a psycho ex-husband all out to bring her in or die trying.

“Rick and I have been preparing something for years now, it was a privilege to get to work with him, and an even greater one to take the time to develop something together,” Bengal. “I’m very proud to finally present what we’ve been cooking! I hope readers will enjoy this story as much as we loved doing those pages.”

The series launches from Image Comics in May 2018.

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ECHOLANDS by J.H. Williams & Haden Blackman J.H. Williams (Sandman: Overture, Batwoman) and Haden Blackman (Elektra, Batwoman) team up with colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Todd Klein for an all-new mythic fiction genre mash-up series in ECHOLANDS, a tale where the last war on Earth starts with Hope’s sticky fingers…

“ECHOLANDS has been in development for years, bubbling in the background as we worked on other projects,” said Blackman. “But it’s a world and a cast of characters that has always drawn us back, and we’re so grateful to be able to finally get the book out into the world.”

On a world that has forgotten its own history, the key to excavating the past is in the hands of a young thief who must escape a vengeful wizard and his unstoppable golem.

The series will be coming soon from Image Comics.

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FARMHAND by Rob Guillory Rob Guillory (CHEW) returns to both write and draw an all-new series in, FARMHAND.

FARMHAND follows Ezekiel Jenkins, a family man and new agrarian who returns to his family fields—but these nightmarish crops give a new meaning to ear of corn and fingerling potatoes.

“This is a story that’s been very near and dear to me for quite some time, and I’m absolutely thrilled to finally announce it,” said Guillory. “I can’t wait to introduce readers to the wonderful and horrific world of FARMHAND.”

FARMHAND launches from Image Comics in July 2018.

More at Paste

JOOK JOINT by Tee Franklin & Maria Nguyen  Fresh off the buzz for BINGO LOVE’s release on Valentine’s Day, Franklin took to the stage to announce a new project with Image Comics—JOOK JOINT—with Maria Nguyen.

JOOK JOINT is a 5-issue time-period horror miniseries about a brothel/jazz club exposing the social evils of racism, rape, domestic violence, and inequality.

Because of its subject matter, JOOK JOINT is set to launch in October 2018, in time for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Franklin and Nguyen will work with Image Comics on coordinating special charity variants to benefit Joyful Heart, a non-profit founded by Mariska Hargitay which places focus on healing, education and advocacy.

“As a domestic violence survivor, this is a story I’ve been working on for years. It’s been extremely cathartic and therapeutic. It was important for me to have an artist who understood what JOOK JOINT meant to me, before inviting them to embark on this journey with me,” said Franklin. “I appreciate that Image Comics has allowed me to tackle this subject matter, in addition to working with us on charity variants for Mariska Hargitay’s Healing Heart foundation. I now have an opportunity to use my talents to help survivors like myself. People have helped me when I was going through a rough time in my life and now I want to give back.”

More at Polygon

  THE LAST SIEGE by Landry Q. Walker & Justin Greenwood Bestselling creators Landry Q. Walker (DANGER CLUB, Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade) and Justin Greenwood (THE FUSE, Stumptown) team up for an all-new, ongoing medieval war story, inspired by the storytelling structure of classic Spaghetti Westerns.

“For years I have wanted to tell a medieval war story, one that pulls away from the fantasy elements the genre is so often saddled with,” said Walker. “Swords, castles, and rage, all in a world where life is cheap. No other frills or distractions. Seeing this book come to print is a moment I have looked forward to for a long, long time.”

Greenwood added: “Fast, gritty and full of action—I’d been looking for a book to really cut loose on and this project came along at the perfect time. I haven’t drawn this much dirt or blood in a long time and loving every minute of it.”

The series launches from Image Comics in Summer 2018.

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LEVIATHAN by John Layman, Nick Pitarra, & Mike Garland  Eisner-award winning, New York Times bestselling writer John Layman (CHEW) is back, teaming up with New York Times bestselling artist Nick Pitarra (THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS) and colorist extraordinaire Mike Garland in the all new, ongoing series—that’s Godzilla by way of black magic—in LEVIATHAN.

In LEVIATHAN, a group millennials try to do a black magic ritual for laughs and end up summoning a demonic giant monster determined to kill them all.

LEVIATHAN is coming this summer to Image Comics.

TODD MCFARLANE ANNOUNCES FIVE NEW PROJECTS Todd McFarlane, President of Image Comics and creator of SPAWN, took to the stage today to announce  five new comic projects. The timing of these come on the heels of his upcoming directorial debut for the new SPAWN feature film. The movie will be in production by late spring so these comics will hit shelf just as the SPAWN movie is getting wide publicity across multiple platforms.

To help retailers take advantage of the upcoming SPAWN news buzz he announced the five projects below:

1) MEDIEVAL SPAWN and WITCHBLADE crossover miniseries This May release is a re-teaming of two of Image’s most popular original characters. The new mini-series is written by Brian Holguin with art by Brian Haberlin with 32 full pages of story and art will also feature a special augmented reality cover for only $2.99.

Fan favorites Spawn and Witchblade together for the first time in two decades!

2) SPAWN KILLS EVERYONE 2 (mini-series) Due to the wonderful success of the one-shot, Todd McFarlane is creating along with Will Robson a four part mini-series that has our childish Spawn giving birth to hundreds of smaller Spawn babies who take his “kill list” and try to help out their new father.

3) MISERY (new ongoing monthly series) In the wake of the #MeToo scandals arises a teenage hero who is tired of being pushed around and abused by the actions of others. This new character, MISERY, will help out those innocent people who have been victimized by the evil that is spread across the entire planet.

Stories will go global as Misery tries to discover exactly how to control her powers and how to make others feel her…misery.

4) SPAWN (on-going monthly title) Comic Industry’s longest running independent title continues its march towards its 300th issue as well as tying into the upcoming movie that McFarlane is writing and directing with Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions.

The comic Spawn is setting the stage to flush out some of his biggest enemies that he has locked on earth. He will come face to face with the Clown, Overt-Kill and an all-new Violator.

5) SAM and TWITCH True Detectives (8 part mini-series) Detective “Twitch” Williams will be the main focus in the new full length film about to go into production and he will be introduce to a whole new audience with his appearance in the SPAWN film.

All eight issues have already been completed and will be released close to the film’s announcement and trailers. Much like THE WALKING DEAD, new viewers will be drawn to the stories and characters they will be seeing on the big screen and also a potential new TV series.

OBLIVION SONG by Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici Image Comics partner Robert Kirkman (THE WALKING DEAD, OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA) took to the stage to show off the OBLIVION SONG #1 trailer for a sneak peek at what’s in store for fans on Wednesday, March 7th when the new series hits stores.

PROXIMA CENTAURI by Farel Dalrymple  Farel Dalrymple returns with an all-new, six-issue miniseries full of psychedelic-science-fantasy-action drama in PROXIMA CENTAURI.

PROXIMA CENTAURI follows the teenage adventurer Sherwood Presley Breadcoat, “The Scientist” Duke Herzog, Dr. EXT the Time Traveller, M. Parasol, Shakey the Space Wizard, and Dhog Dahog. Sherwood is looking for escape from the spectral dimensional space zone and a way back to earth and his brother.

The miniseries will launch in June 2018.

THE RED HOOK, Vol 1: NEW BROOKLYN by Dean Haspiel  Emmy and Ringo Award winner Dean Haspiel brings THE RED HOOK to print for the first time.

The Red Hook is a super-thief who is bequeathed the Omni-Fist of altruism and is transformed into a superhero against his will or he will die a year after a sentient Brooklyn’s heart is broken and physically secedes from America to form New Brooklyn.

The graphic novel will hit stores in June 2018.

SHANGHAI RED by Christopher Sebela & Joshua Hixon Christopher Sebela and Joshua Hixson team up for a turn of the century revenge thriller SHANGHAI READ, a story that stretches from the deck of a boat outside Shanghai to the bleak streets (and the secret tunnels beneath them) of Portland, Oregon. A violent journey of vengeance, identity and family.

“Josh and I have been working on this book for a few years now in secret, just waiting for the chance to unleash it on readers and we’re kinda freaking out that this thing we’ve put so much time and sweat into is really real and really good,” said Sebela.

The series launches from Image Comics in June 2018.

SON OF HITLER OGN by Anthony Del Col & Jeff McComsey Acclaimed writer ANTHONY DEL COL (Assassin’s Creed, Kill Shakespeare), New York Times bestselling cartoonist JEFF McCOMSEY (FUBAR), and newcomer GEOFF MOORE come together for an action-packed, original graphic novel, SON OF HITLER.

The never-before-told story of Adolf Hitler’s secret child and how this son was the key to ending World War II is now revealed in this audacious graphic novel based upon one of history’s most intriguing rumors.

“Like any top secret mission, SON OF HITLER involved meticulous planning, maps, secret meetings and the twisting of arms,” said Del Col. “So now that our mission has finally been revealed we can get around to the execution of it. And by execution, I mean the planned execution of Adolf Hitler.”

In 1943 Nazi-occupied France a rogue British S.O.E. agent recruits a young baker’s assistant for a dangerous mission by sharing with him a revelation no one would ever want to hear: he is the biological son of Adolf Hitler.

The original graphic novel will hit stores in May 2018.

More at B&N

UNNATURAL by Mirka Andolfo  Mirka Andolfo brings hit Italian comic title, Contro Natura, to Image Comics in an English translated fantasy erotica title, UNNATURAL.

Leslie is a simple pig girl, she loves sushi and she is trapped in a job that she hates. She lives with Trish, her best friend. In her world, which is full of anthropomorphic creatures, the government interferes in the personal lives of its citizens, up to the point of allowing only relationships between individuals of the same race. The transgressors are punished. They are accused of being… unnatural! Leslie dreams of something different for herself. But these dreams are becoming dangerous, especially because they feature a mysterious wolf. And, when she wakes up, she thinks that she is being watched…

The series will launch in July 2018.

THE WEATHERMAN by Jody LeHeup & Nathan Fox Writer Jody LeHeup (SHIRTLESS BEAR-FIGHTER), Eisner Award-nominated artist Nathan Fox (DMZ, HAUNT, Dark Reign: Zodiac), and Eisner Award-winning colorist Dave Stewart (Hellboy, RUMBLE) merge to form an unstoppable sci-fi tour de force with THE WEATHERMAN!

Local weatherman and fun-loving amnesiac Nathan Bright was just a normal guy living the good life on terraformed Mars. But the past Nathan didn’t know he had comes back to murder him when he’s accused of carrying out the worst terrorist attack in human history—an event that wiped out nearly the entire population of Earth.

Confused, terrified, and ill-prepared for life as the galaxy’s most wanted man, Nathan’s fate lies in the hands of Amanda Cross, the disavowed government agent assigned to his case. Together the unlikely duo will have to rely on each other as they battle their way through the solar system in search of the truth buried in Nathan’s lost memory…and the key to stopping the real enemy from carrying out a second extinction-level attack.

“Series artist Nathan Fox’s work on THE WEATHERMAN will hit you like a bolt of lightning,” said LeHeup. “Vicious and vital, it’s high energy for even higher stakes. There simply aren’t comics more beautiful than this.”

Fox added: “Before I even finished Jody’s first script  I knew I had to tell this story. THE WEATHERMAN is one of the most inspired, relevant, and human stories I’ve ever had the privilege of contributing to and I absolutely cannot wait for people to read it.”

A full-throttle, widescreen, science fiction epic about the damage we do in the name of justice and what it truly means to be redeemed…

The series will launch in June 2018.

WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? by Matthew Rosenberg & Tyler Boss

Image via Sktchd The critically-acclaimed, breakout creative team behind 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK, Tyler Boss & Matthew Rosenberg come to Image Comics for an new series, WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE?

“I’m really excited to be making my Image Comics debut with a book that is very personal to me,” said Rosenberg. “And I’m thrilled to do it with Tyler, who I can barely tolerate as a person, but is a brilliant artist and collaborator. Together we’re working to make a book that we hope will impact people the same way so many of our favorite comics have impacted us over the years.”

WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? tells the story of a gang of young punks getting lost in the wasteland of America. After their youngest member disappears their quest to find her may put them in a fight to survive against the most deadly terrain, the most dangerous gangs, and maybe even each other. Or maybe not. Either way they’re going to find out how the world ended.

Boss added: “The story and world Matthew and myself have built is dense and (hopefully) exciting. I’ve never felt more creatively charged and I’ve been putting that energy into every page. I hope that old man Rosenberg can keep up.”

It launches in November 2018.

Image Expo 2018 Wrap-up with Netflix, Kirkman, McFarland, Williams, Wu, Rosenberg and MORE Image Expo is today and the announcement segment just wrapped up. The event was streamed live from Twitch and thanks to Twitter, our own ears, and even official PR here's a list of the new projects and announcements:

[viraljournalist]

Jayson Tatum and Nike are making 'lacing up' a thing of the past with the HyperAdapt BB

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Jayson Tatum and Nike are making 'lacing up' a thing of the past with the HyperAdapt BB

6:51 PM ET

Nick DePaulaESPN

Since his father first helped teach him the game, Jayson Tatum has been lacing up his sneakers to play basketball every day. That will change soon, thanks to Nike.

Wednesday night, when the Boston Celtics host the Toronto Raptors (8 p.m. ET on ESPN), Tatum will be the first NBA player to play a game in the new HyperAdapt BB, Nike’s first auto-lacing performance basketball sneaker, a concept more than 30 years in the making.

“Being the first person to wear it is a great opportunity,” Tatum said.

A decade before Tatum was born, Nike designer Tinker Hatfield received a unique request from Universal Studios. Director Bob Zemeckis was working away on the 1989 sequel to “Back to the Future,” and he asked Nike to help design a futuristic shoe for the movie’s 2015 setting.

The Nike Mag provided the inspiration for the self-lacing HyperAdapt BB. Courtesy Nike

Hatfield, now Nike’s VP of design and special projects, dreamt up the iconic Nike Mag, a futuristic, power-lacing sneaker unveiled in the movie by character Marty McFly. After recently recreating the shoe in 2015 — when the reality of the calendar caught up to the fictional world of the movie — Nike expanded the auto-lacing concept, first with the multipurpose HyperAdapt 1.0 sneaker in late 2016, and now with the performance-geared HyperAdapt BB, to solve problems for athletes of today.

“The idea was adaptability from the very beginning,” Hatfield said. “The [original] notion of a shoe that recognizes you and turns on, then adapts itself to you, is not very different than what we’re looking at right now.”

The HyperAdapt BB replaces traditional laces with an intricate series of cables, controlled by slide-touch bars on a syncing phone app or two toggle buttons on the side of the shoe. With power coming from a small motor in the shoe, the cables engulf the foot, providing varying degrees of support and giving players such as Tatum an exact, on-demand fit every time. The settings can be stored, much like an automatic car seat, returning to the same locked-in preference in an instant.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Tatum said. “Hearing about a shoe with all this technology and no laces, I didn’t know what it was going to look like. It really surprised me. It looked a lot better than I thought it would, and it felt great — that was most important.”

Though Tatum will begin wearing the sneakers now, the HyperAdapt BB officially will launch Feb. 17, just before the league’s 68th annual All-Star Game. Eric Avar, Nike’s VP of design innovation, said the company is hoping the $350 sneaker can serve as a foundational performance product that’ll eventually expand into other sports and uses.

“Good design is always taking and making the complex as simple as possible,” Avar said.

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The initial auto-lacing HyperAdapt 1.0 was priced at a lofty $720, and Nike admits it wasn’t necessarily geared for high performance. At less than half the price, the new HyperAdapt BB offers the next step in an ongoing process of making the concept more accessible.

“It’s like phones and other technical innovations that are more expensive when they first come out,” Hatfield said. “The more we keep engineering and rebuilding these motors, they shrink down, and we can put them into more sizes and fit women better, and maybe kids, too. Also, we could retrofit other shoes with this technology.”

As Avar explained, the basketball shoe went through hundreds of iterations and development samples — minor tweaks to the cabling would require a new design for the support panels. Deciding on the actual material for the cabling and the motor componentry was its own extensive ordeal. Senior innovation designer Ross Klein and a team of engineers ultimately decided to use what’s been dubbed a high-performance quad-axial, quad-fit system.

The look of the shoe had to fit with the technology, with Nike eventually settling on a simple upper, allowing the shoe’s light-up elements to draw the eye.

“It’s always a balance between art and science,” Avar said. “Maybe there was a little more science that went into this product, compared to your normal basketball product.”

After nearly two years of testing early prototypes at Nike’s campus on the feet of its elite-level product testers — former Division I players who now work at the company — the brand put the shoe through a critical workout.

Based on concepts from “Back to the Future II,” the HyperAdapt BB is a shoe 30 years in the making. Adam Levey for ESPN

During the last week of August, Tatum was joined in Beaverton, Oregon, by rookies Luka Doncic and Collin Sexton, fellow sophomores De’Aaron Fox, Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Bell, and WNBA stars Kelsey Mitchell, Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart. The group tested all aspects of the HyperAdapt BB. Longtime Nike innovation expert Kobe Bryant was there to push everyone along.

“As a kid, Kobe coulda wore anything and I woulda liked it. For me, it was just being associated with Kobe,” Tatum said. “Having his shoes on, it was like building that bridge, and that’s how I felt connected with him. That’s how a lot of kids think nowadays.”

Even in retirement, Bryant still meets and speaks regularly with Avar. Avar’s history of designing Bryant’s industry-shifting’s low-top signature series played a role in the HyperAdapt’s low-cut silhouette. As they work toward the next edition of the Kobe AD series, they’re also busy brainstorming insights that could help to propel concepts like the HyperAdapt.

“This project has influenced and sparked so many different ways of thinking about fit,” Avar said. “There are so many different projects, including the [Air Jordan] 33, and Kobe’s next shoe is heavily influenced by that.”

When Tatum syncs up the new HyperAdapt for the first time on the Garden’s parquet, that bridge and connection to Bryant will have been realized — a new generation of young players will be following in Tatum’s footsteps. Meanwhile, Avar, Hatfield and the rest of Nike’s innovation team will be back in Beaverton, working on the next evolution.

“It won’t be anything short of incredible, I’m pretty certain,” Tatum said. “When my son gets to be 20, the type of shoes they’ll be wearing might make you fly.”

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