#sami beetles

[kommandonuovidiavoli]

Playtime w/ daddo!

Hype up!!!

Let's start!

Break time!

Play more!

Uh...

PLAY MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day over!

Goodnight!

[beehunterkisser]

stylised some MORE sonic characters for funs

[onlylonelylatino]

Blue Beetle and the Justice League by Sami Basri

[theseshipsshallsail]

Chapter 4

There’s no set pattern, he learns, as they stroll alongside the billowing bed linen strung up on the line to dry.

“One minute she’s condemning Bush’s war. Or telling Little Ollie how I jammed a shell up my nose when I was six.” Elio adjusts his sunglasses, wiping the fine sheen of sweat from his temple. “And the next she’s crying uncontrollably. Dismayed we haven’t paid the knife-grinder ‘cause it’s Wednesday afternoon, and she can’t hear the grate of his whetstone over the pasta machine’s rollers.”

Nodding gravely, Oliver dodges a cobalt beetle flitting by the honeysuckle. “It’s curious,” he says. “The sights and sounds on which we grow dependent.” 

We are all products of our subconscious, mon cœur, his invisible Elio pipes up.

Some more than others, Oliver acknowledges, closing the orchard gate behind them. “I keep listening out for Anchise’s hammer,” he says aloud, skirting a patch of ruby-red poppies. “The snip of his pruning shears as he goes about his grafts.”

Elio chuckles: sunshine after a hurricane. “The endless quarrels with Manfredi over dowsing his tomatoes…” Changing direction, he strides through the tawny rye grass. “We lost him to cancer, too, poor man. I used to think he was so old, but he wasn’t even fifty.”

“Mortality is no respecter of age,” Oliver says, longing for a glimpse of Vimini’s sombrero amongst the heavily-laden trees. “I had a Humanities colleague who’d argue it’s the breadth of one’s life that’s paramount. Not the length.”

Elio smirks in his peripheral. “Is that a euphemism?” he asks, and Oliver shakes his head as he plucks a glossy cherry from the bough. 

“Goose.”

They’d begun their jaunt with a brief inspection of Samuel’s former office: Oliver cradling his first-edition Heraclitus as a Compaq laptop and dial-up modem whirred gratingly where Pro’s clunky typewriter once sat. From there, they’d ventured to the living room - past conversations rising up like dybbuks when Elio whisked a glissando upon the Bösendorfer’s ivory keys - but the notable absence of the Perlman patriarch soon drew them to the gardens outside.

“I had no idea he was so sick…” 

“Very few did,” Elio’d revealed, standing shiva by the metre-high oak whose roots sheltered his father’s ashes. “There’s nothing Homeric in dying, mio figlio.” His impression had been uncanny. “So why set the cat amongst someone else’s pigeons?” 

“These walls aren’t meant for silence,” Oliver tells him now. “Micol and the boys… they welcomed the leisurely pace that weekend. Lazing by the pool. Eating their fill of Mafalda’s bomboloni. But without you plunking Bach as Busoni or Liszt -” Without his barbs. His wit. His challenging disposition. “It all seemed false. Tarnished.” Something that saw him weeping in Sami’s arms during his late-night meltdown. “I couldn’t get past it,” Oliver confesses over the chirping cicadas. “The double standards. The disloyalty. The life we’d had to sacrifice to bring my traviamento about…”

Elio pauses by a thicket of brambles. “All forms of obligation entail some measure of submission,” he replies carefully. “Mankind is flawed; in that, we’re all the same. The mandate pressure to conform. To appease. To be liked and esteemed... that’s the modus vivendi. It’s how society works.”

Oliver appreciates the tact, but: “That doesn’t make it right.”

“No,” Elio replies, chewing slowly. “It doesn’t.”

“And to see your family dote on mine as if they were - oi!” Oliver baulks when a squidgy projectile ricochets off his forehead. “Did you just throw a berry?”

“Technically it’s an aggregate.”

“Pardon me?”

“Single flower: multiple ovaries,” Elio says with deliberate insouciance, calmly partaking of a second. “You need to stop torturing yourself, mio amico. We aren't made for looking back; not with all that lies before us. What’s done is done.” 

If only it were that clear-cut. “I’d still hear you,” Oliver mumbles, snapping the cherry’s spindly stalk. “Talk to you - in my mind, that is…”

Elio’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “In your mind?”

“Sometimes out loud.” Oliver scrunches his face. “Like a wise-cracking Jiminy Cricket,” he says, earning a baleful glare, and the raucous scuffle that ensues sees them howling in fits of wild abandon.

“This stuff is like gold dust in New England,” Oliver explains, smacking his lips as he smears the condensation on his bottled Peroni. “I lucked out in Manhattan - mom-and-pop trattoria near the dry-cleaners - but Hanover’s liquor stores are… well…”

“Scraping the barrel?” Elio suggests, snickering into the dregs of his sparkling Negroni. “I had a similar problem my freshman year at Julliard. Got so homesick for melanzane alla parmigiana, Mafalda had to teach me some recipes over the winter break.”

They’re seated underneath the tricolore parasol of the Pirozi’s open-air café. The exact same venue they’d loitered at the day Elio presented him a dedicated copy of Stendahl’s Armance. A mid-week market lays claim to the piazzetta, yet the grand, Baroque architecture draws Oliver’s gaze to the residential balconies above: where the same moss-riddled window boxes spill forth a scarlet cascade of geraniums; the petals of which create an arbour over the same slatted door by which their younger-selves would’ve kissed if they could. 

It’s about there, however, that the likenesses end, because the Zanetti’s bookshop has been replaced by a trendy wine bar, la osteria bears all the hallmarks of a pizza parlour, and the chalkboards advertising the traders’ wares tout the prices in euros, rather than lira. All in all, it should be jarring, but 1983 is another country, so Oliver revels in the casual brush of knees below the cast iron table, instead. The cathartic freedom that comes from such simple displays of affection.

“My roommates could barely make toast without setting off the smoke detectors,” Elio tells him then, wrinkling his nose at the exhaust fumes when a wheezing shuttle-bus pulls up by the Piave memorial. “We got by on takeaway menus and instant noodles for weeks.” A snort. “That all changed when I introduced them to torta barozzi and homemade ribollita.”

“I bet it did.” Oliver spies a cassocked priest disembarking the idling vehicle. “You’ll have to tutor me on ziti alla norma. Lord knows how Mafalda dices the eggplant that thinly.”

“Lo farò.” Elio leers. “It’s all in the wrist action.” 

“Reprobate.”

“You love it,” Elio says, taking an economic sip, and the bob of his throat makes Oliver’s mouth water for a delicacy more alluring than the deep-fried arancini they’d devoured earlier.

Because he does. 

He does love it. 

Loves him. 

And hard as it is to credit? Elio loves him, too.

“Do you know what else I couldn’t find in the States?” 

The other man tilts back in his chair. “Besides me, you mean?”

It’s coy to the point of transparency. “Yes, you miscreant. Besides you.” 

“Illuminami.” Elio swirls the melting ice cubes in the bottom of his glass. “What else couldn’t you find?”

“That.” Oliver nods at the harlequin awning of the gelateria. “The genuine article, at any rate. How about it, huh? A scoop of something cold before we hit the road?”

The tips of Elio’s ears rouge pink. “Are you asking me on a date?”

“And what if I am?”

“And what if I am, he says…” Elio bites his lower lip. “In that case, I’m ordering the stracciatella.” A beat. “Chocolate sauce, too.” 

“Chocolate sauce?” Oliver’s outright giddy; something he hasn’t experienced in a long, long while. “What are you? Twelve?”

Elio winks. “When in Rome…”

“Desecrate a fountain? Vomit in a trash can?” 

The gentle weight of a sneaker butts his canvas toe-cap, and Oliver grins indulgently as Elio hums a couple lines of Fenesta Ca Lucive. “Perhaps if I ask her nicely,” he says, low and teasing. “…Sofia might sprinkle on some peas…”

“A worthwhile goal is like a strenuous exercise, my boy: you must exert yourself to achieve it!”

That’s the mantra his zayde used to preach, giving his six-year-old self that extra boost when his stubby fingers couldn’t reach the rugelach cooling on his bakery counter. Solid advice, indeed - a motto that’s seen him through school and vocation, alike - so it’s no surprise that Oliver repeats it verbatim until the quad-aching moment he finally scrambles to the summit of San Giacomo’s spiralling belfry. 

They’d forgone their bikes at the base of the hiking trail; entrusted them to a crumbling cenotaph whose granite Neptune stood valiantly despite an encroaching veneer of bougainvillaea and silver lichen. Within minutes, Elio’d shunned the drab, wooden markers - their arrows so worn as to be almost indecipherable - and grabbing Oliver’s hand he’d leapfrogged a petering brook, steps brisk and undaunted on the cumbersome terrain.

“You know what?” Oliver says, bow-taut and gasping. “I stand by my previous assertion. I am too old for this kind of schlep.”

Both their shirts are dotted with perspiration, and Elio’s scoff bounces off the seventeenth century stonework as he doubles over; hip-checking him lightly. “Don’t be so defeatist. You’ve hardly aged a day.”

“Tell that to my joints,” Oliver grouches, rubbing his left patella. “Though I’d like to think I’ve gained some modicum of wisdom.” 

“You’ve always liked to think that.”

“Brat,” Oliver grunts, drunk on the build. 

They’re four-hundred metres above sea-level - if his sketchy interpretation of the bacheca informativa holds true - and when a balmy wind ruffles his hair Oliver leans into it. Leans atop the parapet, also; inhaling raggedly as he takes in the view. 

The vivid tapestry of poplars and cyprī woven into the verdant landscape.

The two-masted schooner where sky meets ocean.

The swarm of American sightseers clogging the tapered path, whose overbearing hubbub precipitated them taking Elio’s shortcut in the first place.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” 

“Bellissimo,” Oliver replies, sidling closer to where Elio’s propped his forearms on the rusty railings. “To-die-for,” he adds, evoking the parochial nickname. “It’s just a shame we’re not -”

“Da questa parte, signore e signori!” 

Oliver groans at the shrill interloper marshalling her troops in the flagstone courtyard below.  

“Riuniti in stretta. This way, please!” the tour guide continues, launching into a pre-prepared spiel on the history of the Franciscan watchtower. 

Elio sniggers when she starts in on the legends of the six copper bells - muttering his own annotations whenever she fudges - and Oliver’s forced to stifle a guffaw when the peeved woman glances up mid-flow; her entire entourage following suit like a mob of reproachful meerkats.

[justmoreocs-writing]

Divination was one of those subjects Hope hadn’t really wanted to take, but she’d taken it in the hopes that it might just be interesting. The fact she might just get to take the lesson with Cedric was the icing on the cake though. After years of being shoved into lessons with Slytherins - as if some strange attempt to make them all get along - she was grateful that this one might just be a little more mixed.

‘We gotta fly to the class?’ George asked, leaning across her shoulders as if he might get a better view of the trapdoor above them by peering over her head.

'Climb the walls,’ Fred countered as Hope shrugged his twin off and moved to the opposite wall. Any comment she might have made, any comments that Lee might have made, were lost as she spotted the ever familiar figure of her oldest friend.

'Well, look who finally decided to join us,’ she greeted Cedric, cutting through his conversation with his friends. She offered him a mild shrug of apology, but they were more than used to this. The little comments of distraction that came from her; they didn’t even dip in their conversation, just acknowledged her words with brief nods or rolls of their eyes.

'We’ve lost her,’ snivelled Lee, drawing her attention back to her housemates. He was leaning an elbow on Fred’s shoulder, hand to his face as if hiding tears. 'Hope Wood, I knew her well.’

'Get screwed, Jordan,’ she sneered, moving to push his shoulder gently. Her movement, however, was stopped by a ladder coming down from the trapdoor. Hope took a few steps away, bumping into George as she did so.

'I wondered when you’d swoon,’ he teased.

She rolled her eyes and motioned towards the ladder with a sweeping gesture. 'Guys before girls,’ she said.

George mocked a bow and started up the ladder quickly, Fred hot on his heels. He shot a wink over his shoulder, and Hope heard a few of the girls giggling.

'Never thought you’d back down from a ladder into the unknown, H,’ Cedric said, voice soft.

She smirked and turned to look at him. He stood a little behind her, and it was still taking some adjusting to him being that couple of inches taller than her. The summer had seemed to stretch him and most of the other boys out; something Lee enjoyed reminding her of. 'I know guys and their brittle egos, didn’t want to dent them.’

Cedric chuckled before motioning towards the ladder.

She shrugged dismissively. 'Forever the Hufflepuff,’ she told him fondly.

'Forever,’ he echoed, causing her to smile as she started up the ladder.

Hope hadn’t given the Divination room much thought, but she certainly hadn’t been expecting a classroom that looked more like some old cloying teashop than an actual room for learning. The air was heavy with a sweet - and somehow oddly tangy - smell; small circular tables were dotted around the space, surrounded by old looking armchairs. The windows themselves looked as though they’d give no real air, or natural light, from behind curtains made of silks that cast the room in an almost ethereal light.

'Well this is going to a great hour spent,’ George greeted her, voice low as he nodded to the back of the room. Fred had already made himself comfortable in an armchair, was lounging in it despite the fact their teacher - who looked something like a scarab beetle made human - stood at the front of the room with a serine smile on her face.

'Think I could say incense inhalation is the reason I’ve gotta pass on Potions?’ she whispered, only half joking.

George chuckled but followed her to the table. She didn’t take up the spare seat with the twins, instead left if free for Lee. The table next to them was just as good, and part of her hoped Cedric might just join her. Not that she minded either way.

'This seat taken?’ he asked, breaking into her thoughts.

'Oh yeah,’ she teased as he dropped into the seat beside her, 'my imaginary friends are having a party in them.’

'Didn’t expect anything less of you,’ Sami teased, dropping into the other spare seat. A look of apology flash across her face. 'Whose lap did I just sit in?’

'Rumpelstiltskin’s,’ Hope assured her, completely deadpan.

The Muggle reference wasn’t lost on her fellow half-blood, and she merely shook her head. A smirk tugged at the Ravenclaw’s lips nonetheless.

'Welcome,’ came a soft voice, miraculously cutting through the noise of the room. Every head turned to the front, even of those still trying to pick their way towards seats, 'to your first Divination class.’

Hope settled back in her chair. She had a feeling this might be an information dump she wasn’t truly prepared for. The late night that she and some of her classmates had had the previous evening, trying desperately to catch up with each other, suddenly felt as though it had been a terrible idea.

'My dear,’ Professor Trelawney said, coming to a stop in front of Hope’s table. Shocked back to the moment, Hope’s attention skittered around the room. All eyes were their way, and she realised that she must have fallen asleep for a couple of minutes. The smirk that lit Fred’s face told her just as much. Not that she cared, her gaze was drawn back to their teacher, who was looking solemnly towards Cedric. 'Oh, my dear.’

'What is it, Professor?’ Kenneth’s voice was almost reverently soft from the other side of the room.

Professor Trelawney shook her head, pity overcame her expression, but never once did her gaze move from Cedric’s face.

'Professor?’ he encouraged gently. There was a sure calmness about his voice that eased a little of Hope’s concerns. It was just her lack of sleep playing tricks on her, there was no -

'Some of our number,’ Trelawney said, voice trembling ever so slightly as she turned, as she picked her way back to the front of the class, 'will not finish Hogwarts.’

'Ten Galleons it’s yous,’ joked Lee, voice carrying through the tense air in the room. The twins chuckled, but they were in their own little bubble of humour.

All attention remained locked on their teacher, who was shaking her head ever so slightly. When she was finally back at the front of the classroom she glanced at all of them. Her lips seemed to tremble before she announced, 'One of you bears death on them.’

The room was ominously silent for a moment, each one of them trying to take in those words. Hope wanted to disregard the comment, to put it down to superstition or even only one possible timeline. But something about the reaction from their professor had her wondering, had her questioning it all. Perhaps she just really believed it all, and that’s what made it feel so threatening.

'It… it is you, my dear,’ Trelawney continued, eyes slightly glazed as she pointed directly to Cedric.

Cedric, for his part, wore a small smile. His usual air of cheerfulness, of optimism, appeared undented by the big reveal, even as all eyes turned to him.

Trelawney held his gaze for a moment before she went on talking about tea leaves, or whatever it was they were about to learn. All of it was a din of background noise to Hope, her attention remained resolutely on Cedric.

Slowly, he turned towards her. 'What?’ he asked in a low voice.

'How do you look so calm?’ she retorted, a mild annoyance bubbling up inside her. It was easier to cope with than the fear, the possibility that their teacher was right: he wasn’t going to finish his schooling because he was going to die.

'Did you not hear her warn Angelina about the chair that broke not a second later?’ hissed Sami, her own face almost grey.

Cedric offered them a shrug, a small smile, but he glanced briefly towards Hope. 'Didn’t you listen to your brother?’

She scoffed. 'I make it my mission to ignore Ollie.’

The smile shifted into something of a smirk, amusement bright behind his eyes. 'She predicted that Julia in his year was going to die,’ he said, and Hope felt the old memory clawing its way to the fore of her thoughts. 'Said something about before the winter solstice of their fourth year. And she’s still walking around the common room - alive - as far as I know.’

A little of the tense knot that had formed in Hope’s chest loosened ever so slightly. She tried for an easy smile, but wouldn’t have been surprised if it looked something more like a grimace. 'Good, because you’ve gotta finish this place with me, Ced. We started it together.’

'So we’ll finish it together,’ he vowed, their old shared promise, one that she repeated in her head a couple of times like a mantra, as if that might just make it true.

[8dpromo]

Ransel - The Colour And The Shape feat. Mari Boine (Beatservice Records)

8DPromo · Ransel - The Colour And The Shape feat. Mari Boine (Beatservice Records)

Ransel returns to Beatservice with his latest alluring studio manifestations, joining revered Sami singer Mari Boine on the hypnotically charged “The Colour And The Shape.” The Ransel project arrives via the fertile production mind of Øivind Sjøvoll, an artist who has long been a firm fixture in the Beatservice roster thanks to his routinely brilliant work recorded as Kohib. Here, he collaborates with pioneering Norwegian folk singer Mari Boine, an artist famed for her groundbreaking fusion of Sami joik singing and contemporary rock music. Unsurprisingly considering the protagonists, the music is utterly spellbinding, with each artist bringing their indelible sound signatures to the profoundly affecting composition. Built around a magnetic groove, “The Colour And The Shape” bubbles and broods over rolling percussion as Boine's distinctive vocals interplay with otherworldly synth refrains and menacing bass. The evolving music throbs and undulates to a dramatic climax as bewitching vocal lines soar into the stratosphere while intoxicating melodies gyrate below. This is genuinely mesmerizing work from Ransel, with this inspired collaboration proving to be some of his most memorable work to date.

Jon Wesley (Machine Friends) – “Great tune. I’ll definitely play it. Love that groove.” Nick Warren (The Soundgarden) – “This is very, very good.” Rory Hoy (Super Hi-Fi) – “Incredible stuff – love it!” DJ Hal 9000 (Excuse Me? Club) – “A magic and addictive track.” DJ Firefly (WRCT 88.3 Pittsburgh) – “Very hypnotic.” Simon Kirk (Stag Beetle Radio Show) – “Wonderful sonic spaciousness. Those drums are just immense against that beautiful vocal.”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.

[mythosblogging]

The slither of darkness on the moon is growing deeper. Will grow deeper until the very face of him is gone. But once that is over, he will return. Growing fuller every day

Mythos 

[hellyeahheroes]

We know some more about DC anthology starring Asian characters by Asian creators. Also, they revealed the alt-cover, which puts Cass Cain front and center. 

Titulat Parade of Heroes is Katana story, but it wil lfeature Cyborg and Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes as supporting characters.

Gene Yang and Bernard Chang will introduce DC’s version of the Monkey King, who will debut helping Shazam fight Doctor Shivana. 

Both Cassandra Cain (referred to not as Orphan but as Batgirl) and Damian Wayne will both get solo stories, former by Mariko Tamaki and Marcus To and latter by Aniz Ansari and Sami Basri. But they’ll ALSO both feature in a story by Dustin Nugyen which will also see return of long-time not seen friend of Damian, Colin Wilkes.

Greg Pak and Sumit Kumar are doing a team-up between Green Arrow Connor Hawke and Kenan Kong, Super-Man of China.

The graphic novels fans will be happy to see that Sara Kuhn (Shadow of the Batgirl) is writing Emiko Queen story and Minh Le, writer of Green Lantern: Legacy, is back with main character of that book, Green Lantern Tai Pham.

There is a story by a yet unannounced creative team starring Grace Choi, Anissa Pierce and Black Lighting. It’s called “Family Dinner” so I’m just gonna tak @thefingerfuckingfemalefury here....

Finally, Ryan Choi and Cheshire stories, but we’re told this is only some of what’s coming. I remember older solicits mentioned Lady SHiva, for example.

-Admin

[geekcavepodcast]

DC Releases Details for “DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration”

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration is a 100-page anthology commemorating DC’s roster of Asian and Asian American characters. The anthology includes a forward by Jeff Yang and tribute pinups of DC’s Asian superheroes. The comic will also introduce a new character - the Monkey Prince.

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration will introduce readers to the Monkey Prince in “The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes” from writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Bernard Chang. The Monkey Prince is inspired by the Chinese mythological hero the Monkey King and Journey to the West. The Monkey Prince will battle and team up with Shazam to defeat Dr. Sivana and a Chinese deer demon spirit.

“Masks” from writer Ram V and artist Audrey Mok, features Jade Nguyen / Cheshire. Catwoman’s Shoes, Selina Kyles’ protégé, is having visions of being rescued as a child by Cheshire. Shoes decides to take the name “Cheshire Cat” and asks Selina Kyle to train her.

“Sounds,” from writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Marcus To features Cassandra Cain / Batgirl. Cain “struggles to understand words, but with her ability to read body language and uncanny fighting skills, she really doesn’t have to…until she meets someone and wishes that she had the right words—ANY words—to say to them!” (DC Comics)

“What’s in the Box?,” from Dustin Nguyen, follows Cassandra Cain and Colin Wilkes / Abuse. Damian Wayne has upset Batgirl and Abuse finds her sitting by a bridge.

“Dress Code,” from writer Minh Lê and artist Trung Le Nguyen, features Green Lantern Tai Pham. Tai is fighting Arkillo who taunts him for his costume “looking like a dress.” Arkillo’s remark “reminds Tai of a memory with his dead grandmother who he inherited his powers from.” (DC Comics)

“Festival of Heroes,” from writer Amy Chu and artist Marcio Takara, finds Katana, Cyborg, and Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle safeguarding an “Asian American and Pacific Islander community celebration against potential violence from a white supremacist group. But the heroes are quickly reminded that you don’t need capes, masks, or even special abilities to be a hero.” (DC Comics)

“Hawke & Kong,” from writer Greg Pak and artist Sumit Kumar, features Green Arrow Connor Hawke and Kong Kenan / New Super-Man. “Connor and Kenan need to do some quick thinking when a gift for Connor’s Korean aunt gets damaged in a battle with a dragon!”

“Special Delivery,” from writer Aniz Ansari and artist Sami Basri, features Damian Wayne / Robin. “As Robin ponders about his heritage, he slowly discovers that something about this pizza place seems off…”

“Kawaii Kalamity!,” from writer Sarah Kuhn and artist Victoria Ying, features Red Arrow. Red Arrow is reluctant to enjoy “kawaii” things “because of people’s general assumptions of what she likes simply based on her Japanese heritage.” (DC Comics)

“Family Dinner” follows Grace Choi who has to meet her girlfriend Anissa Pierce’s dad for dinner. Yes, Choi is dating Thunder and is about to meet her father Black Lightning.

“Perceptible,” from writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Alexandre Tefenkgi, follows Ryan Choi / The Atom. Choi will end up fighting a microscopic robot from the future in order to save reality.

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration, featuring a cover by Jim Lee and Alex Sinclair, a special Monkey Prince 1 in 25 variant cover by Bernard Chang, and a Cassandra Cain variant cover by Stanley ‘Artgerm’ Lau, goes on sale on May 11, 2021. 

(Image via DC Comics)

[smashpages]

Due out on May 11, DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration will include stories by Asian-American creators about Asian and Asian-American heroes. Here’s the list of stories that will appear in it:

The new character Monkey Prince will debut in a story written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Bernard Chang.  Monkey Prince is inspired by the Monkey King, legendary hero of Chinese mythology and the classic tale Journey to the West. In Yang and Chang’s 12-page story, “The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes,” Monkey Prince battles and teams up with Shazam! to defeat Dr. Sivana and a Chinese deer demon spirit. 

“Masks” – Ram V, writer of Catwoman, Justice League Dark, and The Swamp Thing, teams up with Audrey Mok, the artist of Sera and the Royal Stars, to tell a story featuring Jade Nguyen, a.k.a. Cheshire. Tying into V’s Catwoman run, Selina Kyle’s protégé Shoes has visions of being rescued as a child by Cheshire. Shoes takes these visions as a sign, donning a mask, taking the name “Cheshire Cat,” and asking Selina Kyle to train her. But is Catwoman ready to take on a sidekick?

“Sounds” – Detective Comics writer and Eisner Award winner Mariko Tamaki (Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass) and artist Marcus To team up to tell a story featuring Cassandra Cain, a.k.a. Batgirl. Batgirl struggles to understand words, but with her ability to read body language and uncanny fighting skills, she really doesn’t have to…until she meets someone and wishes that she had the right words—ANY words—to say to them!

“What’s in the Box?” – Cassandra Cain steps into the spotlight once more, but this time with Colin Wilkes, a.k.a. Abuse (who first appeared in Detective Comics #947, October 2008), courtesy of words and art by Dustin Nguyen. Abuse finds Batgirl sitting by a bridge, upset by a comment made by Damian Wayne.

“Dress Code” – Green Lantern Tai Pham makes his first comic book debut in this story by Green Lantern: Legacy writer Minh Lê with artist Trung Le Nguyen. Green Lantern is fighting with Arkillo, and the villain taunts him for his costume “looking like a dress.” This reminds Tai of a memory with his dead grandmother who he inherited his powers from.

“Festival of Heroes” – In a story by writer Amy Chu and artist Marcio Takara influenced by current headlines, Katana, Cyborg and Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) are asked to safeguard an Asian American and Pacific Islander community celebration against potential violence from a white supremacist group. But the heroes are quickly reminded that you don’t need capes, masks, or even special abilities to be a hero.

“Hawke & Kong” – Writer Greg Pak and artist Sumit Kumar team up on a story spotlighting the return of onetime Green Arrow Connor Hawke and Kong Kenan, also known as New Super-Man. Connor and Kenan need to do some quick thinking when a gift for Connor’s Korean aunt gets damaged in a battle with a dragon!

“Special Delivery” – Master of None writer Aniz Ansari makes his comic book debut with artist Sami Basri in this story featuring Robin (Damian Wayne). As Robin ponders about his heritage, he slowly discovers that something about this pizza place seems off…

“Kawaii Kalamity!” – Shadow of the Batgirl writer Sarah Kuhn and illustrator Victoria Ying (Diana: Princess of the Amazons) tell a story about Red Arrow’s reluctance of enjoying “kawaii” things because of people’s general assumptions of what she likes simply based on her Japanese heritage.

“Family Dinner” – Amazon juggernaut Grace Choi has to meet her girlfriend Anissa Pierce’s dad for dinner. But when your girlfriend is Thunder, that means meeting the parents is that much more stressful because her father is Black Lightning!

“Perceptible” – The Good Asian duo of Pornsak Pichetshote (writer) and Alexandre Tefenkgi (artist) tell a tale featuring The Atom (Ryan Choi) trying to defeat a microscopic robot sent from the future…to save our reality as we know it!

[thebibliomancer]

Shadows of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 9

Shadows of the Dark Crystal by J. M. Lee because NAIA AND KYLAN HAVE FINALLY TEAMED UP!!’

Last times on book: To defend her missing brother from accusations of treason against the Skeksis, Naia sets off on a journey to Ha’rar. She stops at Sami Thicket where the Spriton are rude to her, she sees some Skeksis for the first time and she’s hype, and she meets Kylan the Song Teller. The next day, Naia defends Kylan from some bullies and against her better judgement, lets the Song Teller join her journey.

Woo! Kylan!

Chapter 11

Kylan and Naia set off together and they discuss a lot of cool lore. So much lore happens this chapter.

Having someone else on the journey lets Naia be the cool, seasoned traveler in comparison so while Kylan gawks at everything in wonderment, Naia is like yeah whatev I guess its ok.

Then Kylan asks how the Drenchen fly. Because Naia is a girl but she’s wearing a pack like a man, with two arm straps.

Some more subtle worldbuilding about how wings affect things!

Naia is too embarrassed to admit that her wings haven’t come in yet so she just says that its her dad’s pack. And thankfully Kylan changes the subject because he’s full of questions.

He asks about her momdra (”The Blue Stone Healer” That’s a rad title) and if Naia is scared of becoming maudra.

She laughed. “My family has been the maudren for as long as there have been Drenchen. I’m learning vliyaya, and I’m trusted with a spear and bola. I know Sog blindfolded, above water and below. What’s there to be afraid of?”

But she admits that she would have liked to travel Thra, like she is doing now. But this is also duty and there’s a lot of Thra that’s not on the way to Ha’rar.

So she asks if Kylan has traveled beyond the Spriton lands. And he hasn’t, not any further than where the Dark Wood begins.

And their journey is taking them past the Dark Woods, oh snap. But the song of Jarra-Jen and the Hunter is just a song, right? Naia hadn’t even heard of the Hunter before the previous night. And everyone has heard of Jarra-Jen.

“Songs carry truth,” he replied. “Jarra-Jen was a real hero, and the Hunter is a real villain.”

I see that present tense there, Kylan.

Naia remembers overhearing him saying that the Hunter killed his parents. And Kylan gets frustrated because nobody believes him and thinks the Hunter is just a tale to scare children. Everyone thinks his parents were killed by some forest creature or fell into the river and were swept away.

He even dreamfasted the memory with Maudra Mera, she didn’t believe him and only saw darkness in his memories.

Huh! Another way that dreamfasting can be kept from breaking the plot! I can’t tell whether Mera didn’t see anything because she didn’t believe slash didn’t want to believe or whether the memories were too indistinct and there’s room for interpretation even if Kylan knows what he saw.

Because after what happened, Kylan dreamed the song of Jarra-Jen and the Hunter. Came right into his brain. Neat!

Did he dreamfast with the world in his dreams?

Naia asks if he’s going to Stone-in-the-Wood for VENGEANCE

“I don’t believe in vengeance,” Kylan replied. He looked up. “But I don’t want what happened to my parents to happen to anyone else. I don’t know what I’ll do when I reach Stone-in-the-Wood, but someday, I’d like to find the Hunter and stop him.”

You’re the goodest best boy, Kylan.

Naia teases Kylan a little but it goes zoom over his head because he’s thinking MY PARENTS ARE DEAD. So she changes gears and instead offers that if he doesn’t find what he’s looking for in Stone-in-the-Wood, he should come back with her to the Sog. She could teach him how to throw a bola and he could be the Sog’s Song Teller.

Because they don’t have one. They don’t hold with all them time-wastin’ fanciful stories. Just the historical songs.

Like Mesabi-Nera’s first steps into the Sog.

Hey, lore! And Kylan recognizes it because bards get a ton of skill points.

“Ah, Mesabi-Nara is the Maudra of the Deep, is she not? Blue stone Gelfling, born in the sea, with lungs as well as gills to breathe?”

She invented healing vliyaya!

LOOOOOOOORE!

I love it.

... aw, I just made myself sad. All of this lore may have been wiped out by Jen and Kira’s time.

Then again, if the universe is going to shoot stories into Kylan’s brain, it can do the same for Jen and Kira.

... MAYBE THAT’S WHY THEY NAP SO MUCH! They were reclaiming thousands of trine of lost Gelfling history and lore!

I like this headcanon.

The two Gelfling (best buddies) make camp and Naia goes hunting. She catches this weird furry shrub beetle. Kylan argues that it might be poisonous and Naia is like nah.

“Anything you sniff and still want to eat can’t be poisonous,” she said. “Drenchen motto: Trust your gut.”

But he’s still suspicious because what if thats what the beetle wants them to think? BUT he’s also carrying a ridiculous amount of papers and scrolls and books and he finds a monster manual among the mess. The beetle is a burrowing noggie and its safe to eat if they shuck off the outer shell.

Naia says yup trust your gut and Kylan counters did her gut tell her that if you don’t shuck off the shell you’ll be bedridden for a week?

This is a fun interaction. I like it. Good stuff.

Naia is also impressed that Kylan can READ. Drenchen don’t have books really. Too soggy.

Not only can Kylan read, he can write! With magic! Maudra Mera taught him dream-etching or writing vliyaya.

Sooo. Do the Gelfling not have non-magic writing? I’m unclear if there’s a distinction because Naia calls dream-etching “words that stay” which was the exact same description Jen gave to writing in general.

I guess if you can magically write, you don’t need to learn to do it manually but Kylan mentions he was the only one learning dream-etching in Sami Thicket so its not like everyone can do it!

He stretched his slender fingers and held them over the book, focusing. His hands brightened with a gentle blue fire, and as he moved his hands, delicate spirals, lines, and dots lit the air in the path his fingers took. The shapes he drew settled into the pages, smoldering into deep lines of charcoal black. The enchanted shapes flowed from his fingers like music from his lute, all intertwined in long lines across the pages. It was like an intricate tapestry and so mysterious, for Naia could tell that the shapes were not only beautiful but meaningful.

Ooooooh this is the coolest biz! I love this, this is relevant to my interests!

He wrote about the noggie and Naia. And he points to a specific shape that means her name. He also wrote her words “Always trust a Drenchen’s gut!”

Hee.

Naia says that the Drenchen used to have dream-etchers who left behind some tablets and some stuff written in Old Smerth’s halls but the Drenchen only remember the meaning. The reading and writing have been left behind as not necessary to their day-to-day.

The next day, Naia and Kylan continue their journey. They travel in silence with Kylan still going ‘whats this whats this is it something new?’ and Naia just trucking along.

Then Kylan asks if he can ask about her business in Ha’rar.

Naia frets over how much of the whole situation to tell him and how much she feels like telling him.

“I’m looking for my brother, Gurjin,” she said instead. “He’s a guard at the Castle of the Crystal and he’s gone missing. The All-Maudra is looking for him, too.” And then there was the darkened Nebrie, and the crystal veins in the mud... “I have a message for her from one of her soldiers.”

Kylan asks her if anything is wrong and she doesn’t know what to say.

“I don’t know, but I do know that not everything is right,” she said.”

Except... Kylan somehow vanished while she was deliberating.

Dangit, I was enjoying this dynamic! Don’t leave me, Kylan!

[kommandonuovidiavoli]

Teen/adult AU KND meeting the Negative KND?

What a friendly meeting!

Bonus for the Adult AU when they meet again after 10 years!

What's going on???

[beehunterkisser]

lets go to the beach each lets go get away

[onlylonelylatino]

Blue Beetle, Power Girl, Max Lord and the Justice League by Sami Basri

[gardenhause]

gardenia, everlasting daisy? :)

I can always count on good old Sami! I hope you are doing well! :)

gardenia; what’s a promise you’ve recently made to yourself?

       -I’ve made a promise to be kinder to myself, in order to improve my relationships with others. 

everlasting daisy; what’s the last dream you remember having?

       -I really can’t remember the last dream I had, so I’ll just say that I used to have a reoccurring dream featuring scenes from The Mummy. I was somewhat terrified/fascinated by scarabs, but now I just read that they are dung beetles so they don’t seem that scary anymore.

[multipikblog]

Halloween Toys

Hello, little dog is the time to wake up only two hours for a small dog, this is a beautiful, bright day, but a small dog. Tonight is Halloween and you are holy and good Oops, I am better than the little dog dogs I see on the ground. Teddy bear. We can try on our clothes.Halloween Toys I wonder what we are wearing, I do not know if everything will come on the machine. What if you tried the first dress, everything was fine. I'll go back, I can't see. Which robot should I choose next stream, what can I climb on the wall? No, no, I ignore stupidity right away, I hope you chose something that is not scary. Hey, look a little confused, oh, you're so sweet. Well it’s up to me to move Skye to read Skye I would take something really good. Tad look at me witch hmm what about friend stuff. Well, go back to what you thought about Daughter, which is fine now. It was time for me to apologize, I asked what Chase thought I was that tongue. ‘Re is great, but not scary, try something else eh, but nothing scary. I want to vote for you. I’m a real vampire, don’t panic, don’t panic, I just chase vampires. Huh Oh stupid, I think I am not afraid of you, my clothes are not terrible clothes, we can pass tests or see people.

I think I think it's a little boring, oh wait. I'll be back now. I can't wait to see. Marshall took off his shirt. Ernie scurvy playing pirate. Teddy bear. It’s a great place to record amazing car costumes. Safety guides are important, so I want you to come first. The chosen heavens became three. Well, before we get started, everyone already knows how to plan or contract for example. Can tell us. Yes, how we cheat or trick from house to house. People are different and when they respond to you, you say deception or cure. They give you a wow tree, but after you heal it, you give it all the time. Say yes now we are ready to cheat yes now we should look at the house you are visiting. Let’s try everything first on the first plant. See how pumpkin cutting is a traditional Halloween. It's very good, it's good, I knocked on the door and you said deceit. Just eh-hey wake up, let's try the other house, let me knock on the door. Thank you for saying thank you Wow. Thanks, welcome to this wonderful friend.

We are here at another house and thank you very much. Happy Halloween all little dogs, this is our last home to cheat or cheat or I think. You thieves like me, thank you, welcome, you said marshal, thank you, they please. Teddy bear. All I like to know is your favorite good guys, but now is the time to leave. Home for all suitable men, you are ready to see Halloween aah brought that brings pleasure. I can't wait for heaven, yours is this. Oh, a lot of awesome trees, and I have a car. Hu hall right geez, your time is right now, I can't wait for me to fall inside and show that I have a good light. Huh, all that’s left here is a basket to scatter you oh wow, that’s a good step, I have a bubble. OH What's wrong with breaking some candy I'm peanuts, which is really bad. Because of this, I can not tolerate peanuts, if I eat something that can cause disease. Let me see this damage, you are right, they have Rob nuts they cannot eat.

But I have the idea that I used my power to create the magic of rebellious candies. Hello, good ideas from the leftover Skye Abracadabra Wow leftovers in your candy. Anyway, when we got to Skye, you could eat the candy bar thanks to the patience waiting for Marshall. It’s your time to earn money by looking at me for the equipment I need and see. I have a beautiful candy that is waiting for the time to add some of these candies. Don’t turn on now to lie wrong in this candy. It has no packaging, can be clean, although it is good. It can make you really sick, but don’t worry, you still have a really good candy. This is a sweetie ok, we can eat all the sweets now except for a lot of candy No, hey, Sammy let us back in when the good mates in the air were humming, Owen, yeah, I got it. This is Angry Birds Halloween for kids besides a fun game of Halloween games. Yeah Al sounds really ugly to me. Looks like BT isn't to me either. Before you know it, you want to play, I'm not surprised. So we repeat this, yeah, now and see, we have the back of the box. That's the game, let's open this Sonny thing, yes we want to play an amazing game of football. Find out and let us take a look at the contents first, you'll see what we found in some. A few pigs, a few birds, a few red birds, a few big hogs. I like this stuff. Is that yes, I'm not sure, I said, I saw someone asking people you know?I don't know very well, but I think you can only if you have multiple cards you can link them together. Yeah okay, let's take a look at other types of birds with mouths, we also have pigs. Huh, of course the pork and pumpkin head - yeah, that beetle hat is so beautiful and real. We had the top three because one of them was so good. Of course, let's have a look at the dress and see if it turns out any good, then we have a big red bird. We also have a yellow bird in the game that is a large species. Yes, and of course, the law only applies if you have a card that you know you are legally producing. Something like that and previous studies read to destroy the thing then you have 300 heads. Angry Birds Halloween Toy Okay with Sam building something so we built something like that and Sammy is ready to shoot. Yeah Al sounds really ugly to me. Looks like BT isn't to me either. Let me try again in the current situation and we have to try again. Yeah here we go okay let's do it again okay now we're building something like this and we're trying to show it. OH, Sammy good shot v big shot yeah try to shoot it and yeah you got another baby. Make this an almost perfect Sami place. You like this game, yes and the main thing is for today Read More...