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operafloozy · 2 years

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Author's Commentary - Another Time, Another Place

I’m doing some End of Year Author’s Commentary on some of the fics I wrote. The fanfic in question is here, if you want a refresher. It's the This is How You Lose the TIme War Shadowgast fusion.

My First Critical Role Fanfic! Started at the height of my Shadowgast Brain Rot, I saw a tumblr post asking why there wasn’t a This is How You Lose the Time War/ Shadowgast fusion, and I’d thought ‘huh, that seems doable’.

This is honestly an atypical one for me to start with - I’m a genficcer at heart. But I can write romance, and I’m actually interested in writing romance when it’s weird enough.

Do you need to read This is How You Lose the Time War first? Nope. Honestly, I didn’t get very far in my reread before starting this fic - I realized I really didn’t want to try and imitate the prose style, so I just wrote down all of the things I liked about This is How You Lose the Time War and went from there.

The working title was ‘This is How Shadowgast loses the Time War’. Another Time, Another Place comes from The Starless Sea, but I didn’t realize that at the time - I’d read The Starless Sea earlier that year.

The work is done. Essek takes a moment to catalogue his emotions: euphoria and disbelief, chased with a dash of sadness. He has taken centuries of dunamantic knowledge and synthesized it. A chain of two spells cast - an inflection scry to peer into other possible realities and see where they diverged, and another to unravel time carefully, surgically, to the right moment. The smallest of changes, performed perfectly, to get the desired result.

So - setting up a couple of things right off the bat. First - Essek’s relationship to his feelings is very clinical. He examines them, acknowledges them, and then puts them away for safekeeping. Secondly, a lot of this fic was explaining spellwork, and here’s the first two. The first version of the inflection scy, and the time jump.

The work brings to mind a process he saw a weaver demonstrate for him at his tutor’s behest, back when he was young and learning the basics of the arcane weave by first being introduced to more practical arts. The weaver, in demonstration, brought everyone close before carefully untwisting the ends of two pieces of string, then brought the needle between the individual threads to bind them all together as if there was never a break.

What I’m describing here is called a Russian join (tutorial and example here.) It’s used more in knitting than weaving, but shh. I also love the idea of weaving and pattern creation as related to spellcasting, and this was my way of putting it in here. This metaphor is probably the most indulgent thing I’ve put in here - it takes too long to explain, the second part is a few thousand words down, and it requires specialized knowledge that I shouldn’t expect the reader to have. I don’t care, I love it.

He has achieved what he wanted, to his great happiness and disbelief. The war has been won, the empire’s new ruler a consecuted puppet of the Kryn dynasty, and any traces of Essek’s minor infractions have been swept aside.

This was written before we knew about Den Dwendalos, but it does still surprise me that there was a consecuted person in the line for the Dwendalian throne and the Krynn Dynasty didn’t take advantage of that. Anyway, here they do!

I think I should complement you on your fine spellwork - having such an elegant solution to a difficult problem is impressive. It has been truly a pleasure to spend time with your notes and learning from you, as unintended a teacher you have been. It is truly a shame they will never be shared with anyone else. It will have to be our little secret, you and I, but I believe that you should know that you have one admirer in your last moments.

Bren Aldric Ermendrud

First letter! Bren has a flair for the dramatic.

Every possibility, every chance and stray thought fractals before him, and he strives for the one that lets him live.

Originally I’d planned to do more with the idea of possibility and chance and time in the same vein as the section above, but honestly? It got kind of repetitive and boring. I still like it as an introduction.

The Volstrucker program survives the regime change out of what might have been luck, political maneuvering, time manipulation, or some combination of the three. It can be difficult to tell the difference between manipulation and luck when an expert is involved, and Bren knows that Trent had a guiding hand.

Bren’s first POV, with a major hint that becomes important later - Essek (and later Bren) may not be the only ones manipulating the timeline, and more timeline manipulations might have already happened that Bren and Essek don’t know about.

In another timeline they might have worked together, the three of them. One where Trent did not learn that the trio were much easier to control when pitted against each other, and one where Astrid was not responsible for bringing him back into the fold. Only one of them can succeed; even if they found it in themselves to work together, they would have to choose two to be punished, and Bren is all too aware of the likelihood of betrayal.

Trent: even more of an asshole. Also, Bren knows that Astrid managed to find Bren after he escaped from the Sanatorium and rehabilitate him as a Volstrucker. He does not know that Astrid has manipulated the timeline to do that, and Astrid didn’t do enough research to find out the consequences.

Trent informs him that he expects Bren to be the one to master these spells under the semblance of privacy, though they both suspect that Astrid and Eadwulf are listening in.

We learn later that Astrid has already manipulated the timeline and Eadwulf probably has the knowledge to do so. I never made it clear whether Trent was manipulating the timeline also, but . . . probably. So, while Trent is saying this to Bren, Bren is actually the only one who hasn’t figured it out already (through no fault of his own, he had a later start than the rest).

He’s always been good at theory, and the theory here is elegant. Simple, straightforward, clean. The equations are unusual but sparse, using only what power and materials are necessary. It is not too difficult to fill in the gaps of the inflection scry spell - a braiding together of scry, basic dunamancy, and divination to compare other timelines and find what particular incident separated it from their own.

Bren starts slowly falling in love with Essek through his spellwork, as well he should.

Once he has the basics of the spell down, he changes the parameters and looks in the present echoes instead of the past.

And what I love about Shadowgast - Essek is the teacher, but Caleb (or Bren) is quick to put his own spin on things. Here’s the first change to the spell, and one he uses to great effect.

Nevertheless, he decides to find the author, a Kryn drow, and is able to view facets of his potential personality through half a dozen interactions - a defector, a traitor sitting in the Empire’s cells, as his torturer, as his mark, as a teacher, as a friend - enough to learn how to bypass the drow’s wards and leave him a short note.

And the start of Bren scrying on Essek. Which he does, a lot.

I truly do not know if I’m dealing with hubris or idiocy - did you think I would not be able to escape a mangled version of my own spell?

Bren is dramatic, Essek is catty. It’s great!

Feeling Bren’s treatment of his spells, over and over again as they duelled between contradictory timelines, writing and rewriting history, felt like watching the weaver spit. Admirable only in its efficacy, with so much room for improvement. Correcting Bren’s runework is a compulsion, and Essek’s not sure how to catalogue the feeling he has when he realizes that Bren has taken his advice to heart. He should not want to make his adversary a student.

What I’m describing in this section is a spit splice (tutorial/explanation here). It’s useful, quick and a lot less finicky than a Russian join. One problem here is that it’s used with feltable fiber, which silk is not. But, shh.

I’m also giving Essek a reason to engage with Bren, and that reason is perfectionism.

Essek scries on Bren once, at least a version of him that seemed not too far off from the one that hounds his heels.

Times Essek has scried on Bren: 1

Times Bren has scried on Essek: Approximately 56.

They meet in the flesh soon after, but the dunamantic weight of all of the paradoxes inherent in tearing down each other’s timelines collapses reality with a handshake. It’s painful. He does not dare make contact again.

This comes into play later - why can’t they just run away together? Answer: all of the times they’ve torn down each other’s realities makes it so they can’t be in the same place at the same time.

Essek finds another letter from Bren. It’s on an octagonal piece of paper that was, for some reason, stylish in one of the discarded timelines. He assumes its use was designed to draw his attention. It makes him wonder if he has possibly missed something more subtle in a previous timeline. Or maybe Bren is the type to overdo things. It would certainly explain the amount of time that Bren spends on scrying on him.

The Octagonal paper is a homage to Battlestar Galactica, in one of the most effective practical design choices I’ve seen in a Science Fiction Show - how to easily show something as otherworldly without making it sleek or shiny or technologically advanced? Cut off the corners of every single sheet of paper. It works!

Of course, communication has its own risks, but we’ve managed so far. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.

Be seeing you,

Bren

Bren: Still dramatic and a little smarmy. Essek’s kind of into it. (‘Be Seeing You’ is from The Prisoner, because I’m that asshole about references).

He is no stranger to unusual alliances, he has even shared knowledge with others that might wish to kill him, but never with someone whose continued existence was predicated on the disruption of his. And yet. The secondary runework transposition was something that took Essek months to figure out - one of the reasons why he was able to spot it so quickly in Bren’s work. He would be wise to admit to himself that has been treating Bren as a student, that it had felt good to have his work seen and understood by this mayfly foreigner.

Essek does want to be able to have someone to collaborate with - he’s desperate enough that he’s willing to collaborate with Bren, even though they’re both trying to kill each other (and they can’t be in the same area without destroying reality).

His world has gotten smaller since this has begun - with days spent scrying and watching other timelines, plotting his next move has left little time for the Bright Queen’s court or anywhere else he might find himself placed by Bren’s changes. It’s not as if he’s ever had to face the consequences of his neglect. In these timelines, Bren is the only thing that feels real.

I didn’t get too far into it, but I do like that this is part of the attraction for the two of them. It works incredibly well for the heightened romanticism.

At least he takes comfort in the fact that Essek has stopped dispelling his scry once it appears - never warding himself, Bren notes, but he has always banished Bren with an elegantly executed rude gesture. Essek still looks for him now, but he only looks slightly annoyed, even angling his book to allow Bren to see if he is in the right mood. Once he was working on account reconciliation forms and he held it up to the source of the spell, gesturing at it, until Bren finally relented and left the scry.

This is starting the part of the fic that I like to think of ‘taking all of the suggestions on how to keep intimacy alive in a long distance relationship and do them badly’. This part: Video Calls! Their ability to communicate is limited, but I like the sort of playfulness that Essek is starting to exhibit towards Bren.

And so, Bren spends all the time he can finding out information on Essek, all Esseks, to better outthink him.

He also just likes the guy, not that he'll admit it to himself yet. Essek is very clinical about his feels, Bren is much better at lying to himself.

He begins to look at the versions where they are friends - Essek seems to not have many options; mostly himself, a brother, and a set of tieflings he’s seen a few times that seem to annoy him more than anything.

The tieflings are Molly and Jester.

He finds a version of himself, tired and sporting odd eye tattoos on his hand and neck, in a magical tower filled with starlight. This world’s Essek stands nearby, drinking in every aspect of this room, commenting excitedly about some potential. Meanwhile the echo of Bren is staring at Essek, cataloguing every aspect of his eyes, his cheekbones, his nose, the shape of his jaw.

This isn’t our version of the tower scene (Caleb’s tattoos are in a different location, as a hint), but it’s close to it.

Maybe Essek - the Essek who is currently looking for ways to destroy him - has the right idea. Maybe there’s nothing to be gained by looking at these alternate versions. There is too much noise in the data.

Bren isn’t ready to consider the fact that he might be about to fall in love with Essek, just yet.

A gift to start: you are right, I figured out something. I created an alternate version of Timejump that allows you to send information to a specific person before the spell fades. It is more expensive to cast, and a bit of a niche interest, but I think the two of us will get some use out of it. It is better with sound but can also send images. Now here, a test: I will send you a few seconds of this spell, written out, to see if you can copy it. And another spell - this one a variation of the inflection scry that allows you to inhabit the other version of you for a short time - see if you can get it to be more stable. I admit it is giving me a little trouble. Maybe if you use this one you can stop making every potential version of me so paranoid about who is scrying on them.

How quick is your mind, I wonder? I look forward to finding out. Don’t forget to jump before it’s too late. It would be disappointing if this were to be the end.

An alteration on the timejump spell, plus a suggested alteration on the timescry spell (which Bren later uses during the Essek at the Cobalt Soul scene). Also, Bren has been scrying on a lot of Esseks.

The longer silences seem to happen more often now that Bren has perfected his Temporal Transposition spell, as he calls it.

Temporal Transposition is the alteration on the timescry spell that Essek asked about last section.

Essek is working on selective memory removal, minding the long term effects of consecution and wanting to avoid something similar within himself.

Part of the reason why I had Essek made the connection between consecution and what he was going through was so he could make this connection - that maybe having dozens of competing memories was not the best for overall health. He’s essentially creating a pensieve, and one he can use later.

Do you ever rest? I know drow don’t need to sleep, but do you ever lay down your burdens, walk inland until oars become shovels, experience another life? Did you realize that you could?

This section is based off of one of my favorite parts of This Is How You Lose the Time War - where Blue goes and lives a full lifetime in peace, but ends up missing Red. I also like to imagine that this is their version of the ‘try to enjoy your time separated from your partner, but also check in on them’ advice.

In my mind, my existence at least, I have spent years at peace. When I first gained access to your spell, I did not use it against you, but instead fulfilled one of my oldest dreams.

This is referenced way at the beginning, that early disappointment. One of the questions I had to answer was why Bren/Caleb’s first response wouldn’t be to save his parents - and the answer is. He did. He just couldn’t live as that Bren anymore.

I was not wholly at peace but peaceful enough, and yet, I’ve returned to you. I could not help thinking about what I had left behind, thinking in contexts that only you would be able to understand. I missed the fight. I missed you.

And I felt the world begin to decay, just a little. You were still out there, presumably far away, and the weight of our combined paradoxes began to wear on reality. We’ve destroyed each other too often to live in peace, but I could not get myself to destroy you for good.

This is sort of the turning point for Bren/Caleb, where he actually has time to reflect on his actions and realize feelings.

The letter was not signed, not even orally, though there was a choked off k-- sound before the end.

This timeline is where Bren starts thinking of himself as Caleb, and he forgets he wasn’t Bren anymore at the end.

He does not remember. It never occurred to him that he would not remember other time jumps, even though he wrote the spell that way, because it had never occurred to him that anyone would redo their own work, or that there would be anything more than two wizards.

Jokes on him! There are more than two wizards.

Essek has started using inflection scry to check on Bren, different Brens (not always called Bren), in the quiet moments. He’s found him helping care for a halfling child, and with a tiefling or a half orc. With two other humans, or having joined the circus. The happiest version he found of Bren was as an island leader, completely without memory but surrounded by a community. That vacant smile will haunt him.

Running down the list - some version of Widobrave or at least Caleb rasing Luc, Widofjord, Widomauk, Widojest, Blumendrei, and a version where Caleb becomes a circus man. And then there’s the Rumblecusp failure scenario. Yes, this was an excuse to try to fit as many different Caleb ships into as small a line as possible.

But also - Essek misses Bren, too.

It is unusual for Bren to be as alone as the real version is. Bren, all of the Brens, draw people in, and Essek wonders if Bren knows that it is a talent or thinks it’s natural to never be alone. Essek also knows that he is not immune. There are worlds where their lives are intertwined in a more pedestrian way than they are now. Essek shies away from those timelines. They seem like a siren’s call, beautiful and tempting and painful. They are not his. Essek has never dealt well with the possibility of something out of his reach, so better to keep his mind away from it.

Essek, in some ways more in touch with his emotions and realizes he would like to be with Bren, but is also later to the scry on your partner game. Essek also brings this up at the end - Bren, unlike Essek, is a people person.

But he wonders - why is the real Bren different from all his echoes? What was the inflection that made him turn away from others?

Wonder if that will come up later!

Bren finds Essek in the Cobalt Soul by pure luck. Finding timelines where he is able to gain access to the Cobalt Soul’s library but not have to fight his alternate’s mind to do the research he wants is difficult, and he did not bother checking anything more than the basics of magical theory and his access to the Cobalt Soul before attempting the Temporal Transference.

So, important parts - the whole reason why I set up the idea of Temporal Transference is to have this section. Bren didn’t timejump here, he’s doing the modify scry spell that lets you jump into another timeline for a little bit. So he gets to actually interact with An Essek, but not his Essek.

This was before there was much (if any) Essek and Beau or Essek and the Cobalt Soul stuff in fandom, and actually have a good amount of backstory for this Essek and Beau’s friendship. It’s kind of far down on my to-do list for stories to write, but who knows! I might get to it.

Caleb, well, Bren - then he allows himself to be Caleb - he has been both, along with an Aldric and a Leofric and a Hunold and many more, but now he feels more like Caleb. And who would know, in the privacy of his own mind? Why should he fight it?

Hunold was the closest I allowed myself to get to a male version of Una, because Uno wasn’t going to fly. Also, after this, neither Caleb nor Essek refer to Caleb as Bren - the closest is when Caleb refers to a job the Bren in his current timeline had. Let's just say it awakened something in him.

There is an inn in Uthodurn that is a particular favorite - the next time you find yourself in a timeline where the Underrest exists (I’ve found it usually does), I recommend going there. I’ve spent hours there, reading The Song of Torros and Yanith with a bowl of their spider mushroom soup cooling next to me.

LDR Suggestion: Share your interests with your partner - favorite food and books, for example! (this is also partially taken from This is How You Lose the Time War)

Time unravels. Caleb jumps. He places one hand on the other, holding it, remembering.

There’s a reason why I tagged this ‘2005 Pride and Prejudice Handclench Energy’

It takes not a little bit of experimentation, occasionally with painful results, to discover that the effects of the paradox are lessened outside of the major planes. Caleb creates a mansion for them both to use.

LDR Suggestion: Take Vacations Together to meet up! This was the last section to be finished - and it changed a lot. It helped when I realized that Caleb hadn’t done any sort of gift giving for Essek, and how to rectify that.

Still, it’s a start. Essek works on his own demiplane - this one more permanent, if less spacious. It’s a bare stone room of thirty feet, but it will last as long as their current reality. Essek figures out how to slow time in the space - casting the spell on the prime material plane, but letting the inside last a day to the prime material plane’s hour. They can sit next to each other, speak to each other for full minutes before the paradox runs them both to ground.

The bending time and reality to be together portion, important for any shadowgast fic.

The one time Caleb’s thumb brushed Essek’s hand as they passed a note, the world disintegrated around them. Essek remembers locking eyes with Caleb, bright blue and fearful as his body blurred, becoming soft and out of focus before disappearing as Caleb finished his spell.

I think this is one of the first images i had for this fic, I still love it. A lot of the temporal paradox stuff came about partially because I wanted to explain this.

He doesn’t mind the letters so much. They’ll still send messages when they rewrite time, but he misses having something he can carry, something of Caleb’s that he can touch without consequences, something that won’t disappear in eight hours

More 2005 Pride and Prejudice Handclench Energy

Why Der Katzenprinz? It was a passing fancy, to be honest. I loved the story as a child. I did not have the most robust health when I was young (I see that you are shocked), and I loved the family cat, so it called to me.

I was a little worried that Widojest had claimed Der Katzenprinz and featuring it in a Shadowgast fic would be considered a faux pas. In my defense, I’ve dealt with some pretty harsh ship wars in the past.

If I could have more than one lifetime, I would still choose to share them all with you.

I had an idea that this was actually a line from Essek’s favorite book (that Caleb had just read), but it felt clumsy to mention it directly.

For once, he does not try to inspect and categorize his feelings, but he knows, he knows. And it is not something he can feel hopeful about, not yet.

Essek is too careful for an Oh moment, so this is as close as he can get.

Caleb has made it easy on himself in this timeline; Trent is dead, Astrid is the Archmage of Civil Influence, and Bren’s job is far more nebulous.

So! What’s Astrid been up to? Murdering Trent. She’s got her own version of timejump, but instead of Caleb and Essek’s version, hers allows her to specify who remembers each jump each time. Caleb just sort of assumes that Trent is dead here because it was Caleb’s idea. I didn’t specify this in the fic because a) there’s no reason for Astrid to tell anyone about it, b) it seemed like kind of a distraction and raises more questions that’d take more time to answer.

I have a tendency to have Astrid do a secret murder every single time she shows up in one of my fics (it’s happened twice, but still). I should keep it up.

Astrid leaves him a note coded to his eyes only. She’s more likely to deal with him indirectly in most timelines now, Caleb is not sure why but doesn’t typically object to the distance.

She’s fighting the same temporal paradox as Caleb and Essek, though at a much lower level. C’mon Caleb, there’s so many clues right in front of you! But yes, now that she’s gotten her number one goal of Trent Murder down, she kind of wants the timejumps to stop so she doesn’t have to worry about him coming back.

As a friendly warning, this world is going to dissolve approximately ninety seconds after you finish this message. See how easy that is? I think we are both due some basic courtesy at this point. I saved your notes, too, I’ll have you know. And the cat figurines.The furniture will need to be reacquired.

I love how Essek goes from sulky to worried in this letter. (Also, him saving the Cat Figurines, because he is in love)

They had tested the memory transference on each other first.

LDR Suggestion: Share your favorite memories with each other! (No! Not like that!). Also, this is the longest section, because there’s actually dialogue.

Caleb had tried to be clinical when choosing which memories to share; does he feel everything this much? How does he function? It is only through years of practice compartmentalizing his own emotions that he is able to stand with grace. Even then, Eadwulf smirks at Essek when he finds himself inspecting Eadwulf’s arms.

Demisexual Essek suddenly getting a taste of what it’s like to be Bisexual Maelstro- prone, and does not know how to cope. (I think this part is funny, but also was a little worried that it would skeeve people out. Uh, hope it’s okay.)

His borrowed emotions are so overwhelming that he almost misses that Astrid has the same faint static around her that he associates with Caleb now: one that has overwritten his timeline before.

You see Caleb, Essek notices.

“I brought him back, you know,” she continues. He did know, though the time in Caleb’s memories between his escape from Vergesson and his capture was too short for Caleb to have been going by any name. “Originally, it was only the two of us - Eadwulf and I. Trent gave us a complete set of your notes, and the first thing I did when I figured them out was bring him back to us. I should have been more careful on the other parameters, in retrospect.”

The reveal! The inflection point that made Bren a loner! Well, one of them - I assume that Trent also got involved to keep them separate, but also, he wouldn’t necessarily need to timejump to be manipulative.

“So you could have him fight me instead of you doing it yourself.” The accusation was too plain, all Caleb bleeding out.

Am I really writing fanfiction if there are no identity issues?

Astrid looks unimpressed, while Eadwulf looks downright contemptuous. “I have spent more time with Trent than he has in any lifetime. What makes you think we haven’t already done our own research?”

So, on one hand - Caleb was right that Astrid’s #1 goal would be to kill Trent. Unfortunately, he failed to notice that Astrid had already killed Trent.

“And you are keeping Bren as a collaborator. A few memories aren’t the same as a dialogue. How are you managing that, by the way?”

“I am not here to barter Caleb away - he is his own person, and he is making his own choices.”

Interesting note - one reason why this section is so long is that Essek is noting every movement Astrid and Eadwulf make. These are the only two lines that don’t have any dialogue tags, and it’s because it’s the only time that Essek reacts without thinking.

“I don’t know if you remember it,” and ah, that’s interesting, the way that Eadwulf comes to attention at those words. He wishes desperately that he could get his hands on their copy of the timejump spell, just to see what changes they’ve made.

So, what’s Eadwulf been up to? I always hate when he gets left out, but I didn’t want him to copy Astrid. So, I remembered his reaction to the modify memory in Nicodranas, and decided what he would probably want to do is have the ability to remember every single jump (there’s a wisdom save involved). So, not quite the timejump spell, but there’s a reason why Essek notices something here.

“Where did this take place?” Eadwulf asks, quiet and still. He looks less threatening and more deadly than he did a moment before.

Eadwulf remembers, of course - he’s testing to see if Essek does. But also - remember that theory that Essek had about how remembering too many timejumps would probably drive someone insane? Eadwulf is feeling the effects - there’s another reason why he would want the memory potion.

Eadwulf locks eyes with Astrid and gives the smallest of nods. “We only need a set of each, but we’ll take them - and your bargain. Tell Bren to keep the extra memories,” he says.

The Trent memories are going to be used for research, Astrid gets the Port Zoon memories.

In the end, Essek leaves four vials for Caleb: the two left by Astrid and Eadwulf, another vial with the borrowed memories returned as best he can, and the memory of his meeting.

Fellas, is it gay to share the final memories of your crush’s exes, where said exes flirted with you so they could flirt with him by proxy? I mean, I wrote this fanfic with weird moments of intimacy in mind, so.

The final jump feels anticlimactic. It feels like any other until they are there, in a grassy field at twilight, staring at one another.

The solution to all of their Dunamantic problems? Timejump into Pathfinder (kind of). Essentially, find a world where Dunamancy doesn’t exist. Which I made harder for them - I wrote up the rules, but essentially they set up the parameters and then had to use the wish spell to actually be able to use Dunamancy to jump into a timeline that doesn’t have Dunamancy.

After that, they only had to live with each other, and what they’ll have given up. Hopefully the cost will not prove to be too high. Caleb has no fears for himself - if anything, his time changing realities has made him realize how little he’d had before. But he worries for Essek.

So I have plans for a sequel - have since I published this, and have some of it half written (other stuff has gotten in the way). And a lot of that deals with this, but also - how isolated they are. I’m not actually the type of romantic who likes the ‘tight orbit, fuck everything else’ romance, and what would it be like, to find themselves on a world where they have no ties to anything and have to go out and, like, meet people.

Spoiler: They’re bad at it, they live in a shack and barely talk to anyone for a year until that world’s version of Beauregard knocks on their door and asks for the weird wizards’ help (the rest of the Nein are there too).

He breathes in Essek’s scent. He feels Essek shake, whether it is relief or laughter or tears he can’t tell, and then Caleb realises he is doing the same. He kisses Essek’s hair and memorizes the feel of it, of Essek’s jewelry against his shoulders and skin, things he never thought to imagine before. He traces the line of Essek’s ear down to his jaw, runs a callused finger across his lips. Essek is clutching at his back, his eyes closed, face half buried in Caleb’s chest as if he’s listening for his heart. Caleb takes a deep breath, then another, and Essek moves with him.

Look, it’s been a long pandemic, everyone just wants a hug. But also - I have to say that it’s pretty damn typical of me to write a romance where the characters can’t even touch each other without potentially dooming reality until the last two paragraphs.

This may be enough, Caleb thinks to himself. Being here, together, they may be enough.

Note to self: think up another ending besides characters deciding that what they’ve gotten is enough (which is my way of being like ‘yep, I’ve had an arc, I’m satisfied).

Anyway, thank you for joining me on this journey! This was a fun one to revisit.

#Critical Role #Shadowgast #Fanfiction Commentary #Long Post

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gold-kobold · 4 years

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ok so i decided to write out every single passing thought as i watched the show, so this post turned out EXTREMELY long of literally just me screaming, here you go, take my pain, all episodes under the read more lol

Episode 1

i’ve heard merlin say douxie’s full name like five times now and i STILL cannot pronounce it lmao

i CANNOT get over archie and his beautiful cat-dragon form!!! love it (also, seeing him without his glasses for the first time was EXTREMELY disorienting asfghdgfj-) double also, i love how they’re using the arcadian monsters’ love of eating cats as bait

i’m like five minutes in and i already love douxie and archie’s relationship SO much, i would die for these absolute bros

douxie you’re yelling about magic in the middle of the street, you are SO lucky everyone in arcadia is oblivious and stupid or you’d have been caught ten times over by now-

i LOVE that i’m seeing steve and aaarrrgghh and toby right now but i’m also laughing SO hard at their conversation because i’m trying to imagine how the people who haven’t seen trollhunters/3below are gonna react to those opening lines of “it’s hard to top destroying an alien god” and “i lost my butt-stomping, ninja-space-angel girlfriend and my creepslaying partner in the same afternoon”

HOLY SHIT THE THEME SONG IS ACTUALLY AMAZING THIS TIME????

archie setting some clear boundaries with aaarrrgghh, i see... lmao

why is there a painting of a dog in a knight suit in the bookstore? is this undertale now???

“did you lead them here?” “No!” “yes we did” ok it’s official archie is my favourite so far-

“ship just got real” STEVE ARE YOU KIDDING ME

aghsgfdfjgk archie does the go-on-the-shoulder thing i LOVE THAT they’re so cute alsO I SEE CUTE ELF FAIRY GIRL PERSON IDK WHAT SHE IS BUT NARI’S ALSO SO CUTE-

i am EXTREMELY loving how toby is already hella in murder mode towards green knight binch who hurt his friend, nobody messes with jimbo bean without facing toby’s wrath y’all

“oh, i hate that lady” you and me both, toby

rest in hecking pieces galahad (i’m sure he’s fine)

ok i SWEAR, that ice person of the arcane order HAS to be an akaridion, right??? right?????????

oop, never mind, ice person has normal feet, definitely not an akaridion lol

i love how the last episode of 3below ended on steve screaming, and now the first episode of wizards continues that trend lmaooo-

bro the end credits art is SO GOOD what the heck-

well that was one hell of a start... time to binge the rest of the episodes and die!!!

Episode 2

DID LANCELOT REALLY JUST PULL THE PRINCE CHARMING HAIR FLIP FROM SHREK. IS THAT WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. i am both appalled and thrilled

steve being a bi icon as usual... nice. (though i can’t tell if this reaction is just because lance looks like him or what lol)

steve i love your bi energy, i feel it in my soul, but can you stop being gay for a second, these racists boutta hang you all for having a troll friend oh my heckin god-

“thanks for always tipping, by the way” jim may not like douxie but he RESPECTS RESTAURANT STAFF LIKE THE 10/10 GOOD LAD HE IS, i love jim so much

i’m very much relating to claire’s reaction to morgana right now, but i understand that this is the past, and she technically hasn’t done All Those Horrible Things yet... still salty, though

i’ve known arthur for like two minutes and i hate him. like i get that trolls have definitely murdered his wife or something. but like. bruh i’m willing to bet cold hard cash that some humans in camelot have murdered each other at some point or another BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN 100% OF HUMANS ARE MURDERERS SO STOP USING THAT STUPID LOGIC ON TROLLS, ARTHUR

i’m not disagreeing with morgana in this episode at all but my fight-or-flight instincts are still being very much activated whenever i see her lol mostly fight

claire’s such a mood right now asgfhdfj

callista has so much salt and i am living for it, because mood

steve is taking this whole time-jump thing unsurprisingly well

D U M B L E D O R K

“well, here’s to hoping this doesn’t break the time-space continuum” -douxie, the least frustrating time-travel protagonist i’ve ever seen so far

watching morgana and merlin arguing (but while they’re still friends(?)) is so unsettling in the weirdest way... this show is going to destroy me, i just know it

douxie’s face when the vault got locked. omg

i definitely don’t think lance is steve’s dad, because like... time frame, obviously. but i feel like he’s gotta be at least SOME sort of ancient ancestor? the resemblance is too uncanny

slorrs terrify me more than any nyarlagroth ever did

claire looks SO uncomfortable with morgana right now, poor girl’s still traumatized from the whole possession thing and morgana doesn’t even KNOW, this is already messing with me oh no

... is morgana missing her hand already, or is she just wearing a glove...? i feel like she woulda gone apeshit if merlin took her hand by now, and i’m pretty sure she had both hands in one of the teasers???

ARTHUR YOU ARE TAKING ENTIRELY THE WRONG MESSAGE FROM THIS CONVERSATION

oh god, you guys are ALREADY gonna mess up history??? my heart can’t take this

steve finally getting the appreciation he deserves for his rapping

“your squire seems touched in the head” b r u h

go claire go, shadow-magic all their butts-

what thE FU- GUNMAR JUST??? SAVED JIM???? EXCUSE??????? WHAT??????????

ahh, it’s just a power trip for him, that makes more sense

i am VERY unsurprised at how fast merlin caught them lol

Episode 3

“my planning is flawless” merlin you and i both know that’s not true, i’m sorry dude but you mess stuff up just like everybody else

arthur. dude. why are you like this. “hurdehur i lost my wife so let’s kill my sister too” arthur you’re a dumbass

OH MY GOD I SEE BESSIE. OR BESSIE’S ANCESTOR. BUT S T I L L

eeeuuuggghhhh i’m not sure i like the possibility of this new timeline thing. this is what i was worried about, making the plot of trollhunters and 3below irrelevant... but i wanna trust this will work out somehow while not making all the previous stuff irrelevant

my heart is hurting for jim

and jim’s heart is just hurting, like in general lol

why is callista SUCH a massive mood every time she says anything oh my GOD-

OH MY GOD CALLISTA R U D E, NEVER MIND I GUESS-

“hug and make up and not die” is like. the ideal life goal. lol

i love how morgana’s name is just. chillin’ under arthur and gwen. lmfao, the big third wheel mood

arthur you bitch, leave cute child nari alone

STALKLINGS!!!!! also, oh nooo gwen, oh heckerdoodles

both morgana and arthur have VERY pretty eyes, it must run in the family

oooohhhhh no, they’re attacking a gumm-gumm, you IDIOTS-

BULAR HECK YEAH- i mean this is bad but yo i LOVE seeing bular again lol.

oh no you attacked gunmar’s SON oh heck he is going to get y’all’s asses, aaaAAAAAA

i’m already in so much pain you guys

OH YAY THEY’RE GOING TO OLD TROLLMARKET I’M SO EXCITED AM I GONNA SEE DICTATIOUS????

oh gosh... steve... you poor idiot omg how are you not dead yet

oh, we not in old trollmarket, we in tombro... i feel so bad for callista. :(

“he was tall for his age!” shgfdjfgkhj jim omg-

stuff is happening to jim and i CANNOT handle it, stop HURTING my BOY AAA A A AA A A A A A

uh-oh, i’ve seen THIS clip already... shadow clone jutsu time lmaooooo

steve is REALLY mvp in all these scenes lmfao

i’m liking these episodes, but this arc between morgana and claire feels a little rushed. like i get the general message and that the timeframe doesn’t allow for a lot of fleshing out, but they both seemed to trust each other a little too quickly, it makes the whole “betrayal” thing less heavy as it could be

“oh hey, feelings lol” callista is literally just all of us but saltier lol ...

OH HER HAND

W H A T

WHAT JUST HAPPENED

i was JUST talking about how things didn’t feel as heavy as they should’ve and then morgana got her hand sliced off and died holy CRUD what IS THIS

BLINKYYYYYY AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH YES HERE WE GO

Episode 4

oh dang, we starting out with claire’s trauma nightmares, why must you DESTROY ME LIKE THIS, WIZARDS?????

ok i gotta say it... merlin is a simp for arthur

“that doesn’t sound like a REAL problem steve” well if you take into consideration that steve’s dad probably gave him crippling self-worth issues, then it kinda could be

this ride to the lady of the lake is making me think of that one scene from half-blood prince with all the creepy water goblins... same cave/water aesthetic

AAAAAHHHHH DICTATIOUS THERE HE IS!!!!! HE LOOKS SO CONCERNED AND ADORABLE I LOVE HIM

dwoza!!!!

dictatious is being SUSPICIOUSLY nice during this scene lmao... i’m used to him being such a petty bitch

i love seeing archie transform omgggg he’s so beautiful

i knew merlin was going to have some angst, but i was not expecting this dark turn so early asgfhfjgk (i don’t blame him for not wanting to lose douxie after seeing morgana just die though tbh)

aaarrrgghh!!! AAARRRGGHH!!!!! kick gunmar’s ass bby

i very much do not like gunmar touching my boy aaarrrgghh

evil aaarrrgghh makes me so uncomfortable. but like. in the good way. this was the intended effect, i think. lol

“open up!” *steve starts talking about his problems and the doors actually talk to him about it* - this is the best play on this joke i’ve ever seen ashfgdgjfgkh it’s literallY LIKE THAT ONE FREAKIN’ VINE-

steve is CRYING oh my GOD lmao-

that was a REALLY ghostly flashback of morgan- oH SHIT THERE WAS A GHOSTIER ONE HOLY HECK I’M SLIGHTLY SCARED OF THIS-

oh god claire i am SO SCARED FOR CLAIRE RIGHT NOW WHAT THE F UC K

oh hey morgana’s... alive???

HOLY SHIT ARE THEY TRYING TO TRAUMATIZE KIDS WITH THIS SHOW???? those soulless black eyes, the way she turned her head, it was legitimately terrifying what the HECK YOU GUYS-

this episode is feckin me up you guys

!!!!!!! my boy dictatious again!!!!! i love him so much lol (i mean i know i’ve seen this scene already but i just love these stupid galadrigals so much aggshfgdfjg)

blinky you are RUDE my dude

oooohhh, i think i’m starting to see why dic switched sides. the whole “join gunmar or die” ultimatum makes that kinda clear now sgfhdgjgdhfsgdg

NIMUE!!!!!!! she’s so tall and pretty!!!!!

nimue is literally just calling out the whole team right now lmaooo

oh yay more nightmare fuel, thanks toa nowhere near as terrifying as claire trauma visions but still

“oh hey, merl” steve p l e a s e

FIRE-BREATHING ARCHIE IS MY FAV THING

merlin, why must you constantly incur the wrath of hyperpowerful beings

scary monster lake lady has departed. godbless

OH MY GOD

OH MY GOD I RECOGNIZE THAT ARM

OH MY GOD

MY SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THERE HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANGOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANGOOOORRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

oh hey morgana’s back

A N G O R R R R R R R!!!!!!!!!!!

this is my favourite episode so far, holy shit

Episode 5

nari you’re adorable

bellroc’s voice is freakin’ dope

mmmmm not sure how i’m feeling about this turn of the morgana arc so far

but oh GOD her design is still so cool and beautiful, even i have to admit

i’m very scared for angor though

like as excited as i was to see angor i physically cringed at him touching morgana, knowing the future shit that happens

OH SHIT HERE WE GO

dammit morgana LEAVE MY CHILDREN ALONE

oh shit, there goes morgana’s hand

suuuure, so long as magic’s healing his precious SWORD, it’s toootally fine

oh shit bular’s about to die(????)

dictatious!!! :’)

dictatious and blinky’s relationship here is GREAT, the sibling energy is high lmao

BULAR LOOKS SO TIRED OF THIS CRUD ASFGHDFJGKH

poor guy omfg

are they literally about to basically treat bular like a bear fight right now??? y’all suck

toothache is a great name for steve’s axe though lol

.... rest in feckin pieces, steve

AFDSGHDJF HE’S CRYING FOR ELI OMFG- gay

claire PLEASE don’t go making assumptions about edgy knights, he’s not necessarily a morgana person just because he’s edgy my girl

aaarrrgghh and jim fighting omg i’m LOVING this (also, y’all galadrigals are being useless af lol)

“blinkous, you know how we’re both complete cowards?” “you more than me” OK BUT THIS IS LITERALLY HOW MY BROS AND I TALK TOO ASFGJDHFJ

i am still SO suspicious of dictatious right now, wtf is going on-

callista is literally the only useful troll right now lmfao

DICTATIOUS AND BLINKY YOU ABSOLUTE SCRUBS

“we’ll torture him!” BLINKY DON’T TALK ABOUT YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND LIKE THAT

omg young vendel!!!! also vendel totally ships blaaarrrgghh already

oooohhhh claire gets to fight edgy skull knight boy!!!

CLAIRE GODDAMMIT WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT YOU IDIOT

CLAIRE I TOLD YOU THIS WAS STUPID

well... that escalated quickly

oh shit that changeling actually looks really cool???? this fight is awesome?????

DVARKSTONES YEEEESSSSSS

DVARKSTONES NOOOO-

i am REALLY loving changeling dude’s troll form though like for REAL that is an AWESOME design

past douxie you are NOT helping

merlin what part of “we have to go” do you not understand-

oh yay archie isn’t clipping through doux’s leg anymore in that one frame!

well... goodbye, cool changeling dude

arthur i still very much don’t like you

dammit angor why did you have to go and save her. i know she wasn’t evil yet but things went SO BAD SO QUICKLY

YOU BETTER APOLOGIZE TO THOSE GOOD TROLLS WHEN YOU GO BEGGING FOR HELP, YOU BITCHES

hoo boy here we go Eternal Nighting again i am DYING

merlin is a simp for arthur and gunmar is a simp for morgana no you cannot change my mind

Episode 6

yay, vendel helping jim time!!!

yeah, you better feckin’ bow to vendel, you absolute bastard

only equals when they’re serving you, huh arthur??? HUH????

every time dictatious or angor is on screen my heart soars

dictatious i love you but stop being rude to callista

!!!! blinky and aaarrrgghh time! i’m so excited (also those other trolls are absolute jerks wtf)

this is THE BEST blaaarrrgghh canon situation i’ve seen yet omgggg

i’m a sucker for developing relationships i’m sorry

oh shit callista IS deya isn’t she??? i saw theories, but i wasn’t sure if it’d actually be true or not

OH HEY IT’S DRAAL

SHUT UP DRAAL, IT’S TOTALLY GONNA BE CALLISTA

gunmar, morgana could beat your ass, don’t test her, man

this training montage is killing me jfc-

aaawww this is a sweet jlaire scene :’) date night!!!

A M U L E T T I M E

“at least she can lend a hand eh???” DOUXIE OMFG

i actually really like how merlin and douxie’s relationship’s been developing, it’s been frustrating at times but i like how it’s going

oh callista you have NO idea what’s coming lmaooo-

DEYA TIME HELL YES

DAMMIT DRAAL THIS IS NOT THE TIME

GODDAMMIT DRAAL YOU RUINED EVERYTHING

GODFREAKINDAMMIT

i’m so upset

“these creatures will never trust me” YEAH NO SHIT ARTHUR

wait deya was the FIRST trollhunter???? book and comic canon is garbage lol

aaawwww aaarrrgghh and blinky oh my GOD they’re adorable

IT’S ABOUT TIME, ARTHUR YOU TURD

YES SHE’S DEYA, Y’ALL WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG

fuck you gunmar you binch

“today’s as good as any to die, though i never learned to read” galahad channels his inner angor

will somebody GET THAT ROCK OUTTA JIM’S CHEST ALREADY IT’S STRESSING ME OUT

i’m not ready for this war you guys

Episode 7

poor jim is having such a tough time SCREW THAT DAMN GREEN KNIGHT AND THAT DAMN ROCK

oh shit here comes the eldbitch queen-

morgana you look SO COOL but i wanna FIGHT YOU, YOU ABSOLUTE HECKER

is... is merlin gonna die???

oh wait, merlin’s tomb, i guess that’s to be expected lol

oh shit is jim gonna die??? what the HECK???? DON’T DO THIS TO ME???

sfgghgdjhfgj they made morgana REALLY creepy in these things... i love it and hate it at the same time lol

STEVE VS BULAR OMG

STEVE VS LANCELOT OH BOY

... is it bad that i didn’t realize nari was that one girl on the poster until literally seeing the frame that was on there? lol

WHAT THE FUCK???? BULAR JUST SLICED LANCELOT??? IN FRONT OF STEVE???? OH MY GOD THAT POOR KID’S SO TRAUMATIZED

that was brutal, but it also doesn’t surprise me

OH SHIT

ARCANE ORDER WHAT THE HELL YOU GUYS????

welcome to wizards, where everything sucks all the time (but in a good way)

rest in fucking pieces, pendragon family

JIM NO

OH HELL YEAH, DEYA YES

and dictatious... still hasn’t switched sides. huh.

GO DEYA GO, YOU BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL TROLL, YOU!!!!

GET BULAR’S ASS, STEVE

ASGHFDFJG OMG LADY OF THE LAKE, EVEN BETTER LMAO- just yeet bular into the void why don’t you, lmao

oh god, these poor pathetic galadrigals lmao

:D aaarrrgghh!!!! this is the best!

hhhhhh dictatious is gonna turn, isn’t he??? i’m still SO suspicious lmao

“spellcaster guitar, darling” DOUXIE OMG YOU ABSOLUTE NERD

this is a SICK battle jam though ngl

archie and douxie battling together is THE BEST THING!!!!!!

aaaaand back to the shadow realm the eldbitch queen goes... wow....

merlin get back up you old dramatic fart

i REALLY love how incredibly bi steve is for ANYBODY that can kick ass lmao

where did my coward boy dictatious go

oh my god bellroc cries lava-

GET GUNMAR’S ASS, DEYA

also i’m seeing a major lack of akaridions in this “everybody returns for the world of magic” thing

deya you’re amazing sweetie aaaaaaAAAAAA

how is lance’s face still in one piece

i know this is a kid’s show but bular LITERALLY SLICED HIS FACE

nari why are you with these assholes???

aaahhh so the book canon about dictatious was right after all

i always preferred the “he was a sympathizer/with them all along” theory, but this one probably makes more sense lol

YO IS JIM SERIOUSLY GOING TO DIE????

i DO NOT believe they would actually kill jim lol

so i guess the future still happens normally??? but nobody remembers jim at the battle???

“why don’t they ever talk about that in the history books?” “my burden to bear” oh boy looks like i’ll get my answer to that soon

Episode 8

back to the present we go!!!! i wish we had seen more angor rot, there was only like ten seconds of him :(((

OH NO, JIM D:

well, the future LOOKS normal so far...

“took you long enough” BRUH THEY WERE GONE LIKE TEN SECONDS TO YOU GUYS, CUT DOUX A BREAK

!!!!! shannon!!! be careful what you wish for girl omg

“i have magic powers!” AHSGFDJFGKHLJLK

so merlin remembers the past... i’m so confused about this

LEAVE MY CHILDREN ALONE, YOU GREEN-KNIGHT BASTARD

JIM NO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?????

WHAT IS GOING ON WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE THAT????? LEAVE MY JIMBO ALONE!!!!!!!!!

i love how incredibly used to the world-ending shit the arcadians are lmfao that is the BEST reaction

... will somebody please get steve out of the outhouse. please.

!!!!!! is it akaridion time???

KREL! KREL!!!!!!!

MY BEST ALIEN SON!!!!!!

zoe is doux’s wizard friend!!!! fandom also called it lol

or... is zoe an akaridion???

aww, poor uhl lol

oh, she’s a tech wizard!!! cool

THE GAY GIRL SHANNON KISSED IS A TECH WIZARD OMG!!!!

zoe has DEFINITELY dealt with her fair share of stupid customers

ohh, so these genesis seal things, was one of them that thing in the deep? it looks like that door that they used to get to gaylen’s core

jimbo :’(

SON of a BITCH is morgana coming back AGAIN???

GODDAMMIT YOU GUYS

i’m getting real tired of this arcane order, screw you guys

even morgana is sick of your bullshit lol

W H A T

ARTHUR IS THE GREEN KNIGHT????

not gonna lie i NEVER saw that coming, not in a million years

“PLEASE! YOU BOTH HAVE VALID POINTS” douxie is literally me trying to reason with fighting people jfc, big mood

“even I know it’s dumb and we’re STILL gonna go inside???” why is EVERYONE in this show SUCH a MOOD

come ON jimbo let’s GOOO don’t do this to me

GODDAMMIT ARCHIE WHYYYY

nari is so precious i love her

WIZARD DAD??? DID STEVE JUST CALL MERLIN WIZARD DAD??? WHAT

skrael’s little chuckle at steve lmfao, i died

okay, now that we’re back in the future, i don’t know if i can get behind a morgana redemption arc, but i know it’s what’s probably coming :/

i still feel bad for her, but she’s done so much extreme things of such a horrible degree

sfghdjfgkhl ARTHUR, HOE, YOU GOOD???

arthur needs to moisturize more

get their asses, merlin. i’m so tired of this arcane order

holy shit, merlin DOES die???

oh my god-

GET THEIR ASSES, DOUXIE

oh dang, good catch doux

he still gonna die though, oop-

this scene hurts, how DARE everybody toy with my emotions like this WHYYYYY

for real though the relationship between merlin and douxie was done amazingly in my opinion, even if the timeframe is a little tight, but i see what aaron meant by this being like a full-length action movie now (though obviously longer lol)

Episode 9

are we?? back in the past????

oh douxie, what are you doing...

oh, this is a flashback, i get it now

oof, my heart

omg the music here is KILLING ME you guys, my heart can’t take this

my heart is broken like the heart of avalon

ARE WE GETTING DRAGONS??? YOOOOOOOO

DRAGONS DRAGONS DRAGONS DRAGONS!!!!!!!!

shut up skrael you bitch

morgana are you ACTUALLY sad about merlin’s death when you just had a major murder boner for him at the eternal night in arcadia????

nari’s eyes are SO beautiful omg, the detail in her design is AWESOME

no jim soul :’(((

maybe jim soul????

DRAGON TIME

ooo, BIG dragon time

that is... not the face i was expecting for a dragon. but i’ll take it lol

awww, archie’s dad! :D they’re both stupid and adorable hsfgdhfjgkh

does... does morgana remember the past stuff too???? like, of claire?????

mmmm not trusting this team-up yet

GODDAMMIT CHARLIE.

oh shit, we have another “destroy the amulet” situation

JIMBO!!!!! OH NO MY SON D:

dammit morgana please don’t poke fun at claire’s trauma you gave her

AGH WHY DOES THIS SHOW HAVE TO HURT SO MUCH

archie has the same reaction to his baby pictures as i do to mine lmfao

my heart hurts for douxie :’(

OH BYE, I GUESS-

this cool blue weird room is hella aesthetic

OH, MERLIN’S SAFE HAD THE SEAL THINGIES

funky

oh shoot, arthur/morgana angst time

“i fought for magic’s freedom, not destruction” hoe you tried to kill a bunch of people AND killed a bunch of trolls don’t pull that card on me-

i’m still slightly sad about this though

ADSFGHDJFGKHL THEIR REACTION TO MORGANA LMAO-

yet ANOTHER episode ending on steve screaming, omfg i’m dying here you guys, i am a simple lady and that dumb scream cut-off makes me chortle like an idiot

Episode 10 (LAST ONE!!!)

gettin’ REAL TIRED of these arcane bastards

ALIEN KREL TIME YAYYY!!!!!

WHAT, WE MISSED THE AWESOME MAGIC FIGHT??? AWWW

of COURSE krel got his ass beat lmao

krel you are NOT helping-

are we boutta pull more time shenanigans??? i’m scared

“she’d leave any of you for dead if it meant her freedom” i don’t know if i should be annoyed or excited that i have a line EXTREMELY similar to this in htfas... different context though, obvs

not liking bellroc’s voice so much anymore

shut up skrael i wanna fight you

... uh. doux. what you doin. i’m. i’m scared.

DOUXIE YOU ABSOLUTE NERD

hisirdoux casperan!!!! we finally got a full name!!!!!!!!!!!

AHAHAHA USING TIME LOOPS AGAINST THE ENEMY OMG

that is GENIUS

“sorcerers give me heartburn” GATTO WHAT OTHER SORCERERS HAVE YOU EATEN MY DUDE

a+ for effort steve. lol

we got aaarrrgghh and jim fighting again, like at killahead... except it hurts more now :’(

GO DOUXIE GO HECK YEAH!!!!

mmmmmmstill not sure how i’m feeling about the morgana thing. i’ll never forgive her for the angor stuff, i’m sorry

“neither of us can escape gravity!” excuse me morgana but yOU CAN FLY FAM

adfgsdhjf they almost got eaten by a nyarlagroth omggg

ah crud, those arcane jerks are back YET AGAIN UUUGGGHHH

did douxie just call the arcane order BUTTSNACKS

iconic

oooooh, purple-eyed claire!!! very cool!

claire using beautiful magic powers gives me LIFE

oh shit, there goes morgana AGAIN

she must be getting real sick of dying at this point lol

i’m kinda sad toby has gotten swept under the rug yet again for another series

GOD, THIS MUSIC

SO good

JIM PROTECTED CLAIRE FROM THE BLAST AAAHHH

FINALLY GOT OUR FREAKIN BOY BACK

WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY ACTUALLY JUST KILL JIM???

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

oh nvm he’s fine

WHAT

he’s human again???

uuhhh

hmm

well that’s something i know is gonna be a topic of... possible disagreement in the fandom. lol

i’m not sure how i feel about that either...

rip douxie you shall be missed lol

this scene with doux and merlin is great

i really love that toa just. lets its male characters cry all the time. LET BOYS CRY, THEY DESERVE IT

ooo i like morgana’s death dress a lot. damn girl where do you get your afterlife clothes???

DID MERLIN JUST PEACE TF OUT WITH THE PUNK ROCK SYMBOL OMFG

archie is adorable i’m going to cry

i’m still VERY VERY unsure how to feel about the human jim thing. uuuhhh i’ll comment on that after some more thought, i think

JIM YOU ARE DEFINITELY STILL THE TROLLHUNTER YOU BEAUTIFUL BEAN DON’T YOU DARE DOUBT THAT

DOUXIE IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT

this music keeps absolutely murdering me every time it plays oh my GOODNESS

nari’s human clothes look SO cute *sobs* why is she so cute

i want to fight these arcane order jerks so bad come ON YOU JERKS

okay... wow. that was... a lot.

i need some processing time. (and a pee break)

i’ll try to collect my thoughts soon but god knows they won’t be coherent lmaooo

#toawizards #wizards spoilers #long #text post #goldie post

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uraharashouten · 4 years

Text

Pohjola, spirit dimension near Finland, late 1500s

“A letter of transfer?” Kielo eyed the document in her husband’s hand suspiciously.

“Our Queen is requesting our presence in the Eastern Branch of Soul Society,” replied Ilmarinen. “And by our presence, I mean our permanent relocation, and by requesting, I mean ordering.”

Kielo was speechless for a long moment. “We’re… being sent away?”

“So it would seem.”

“That’s – tantamount to banishment. Exile.” Shock was now giving way to angry frustration. “Why?”

“It’s -- really not... we’re meant to be ambassadors, in a sense. And you know why. Most of the folk to the south have become followers of that Hebrew fellow. When they die, their souls seem to be stuck with him. They don’t believe in the cycle, and they don’t come here. Even in the North, most no longer fear Queen Louhi, and Tuonela’s been all but forgotten. I blame the Swedes...” he trailed off, disgruntled, before recalling he was trying to make a point. “In any case, that’s not so in the East! ---Only there, they call it the Soul Society. And lately, the Living Folk are increasingly taking to ships and making their way to Eastern Seas. And dying there. Tuoni must’ve petitioned her for some representation.”

Kielo’s eyes narrowed. “That sounds like the official party line.”

“What do you mean?”

“I bet she’s still bearing a grudge over the rake. She never forgave your grandfather, your namesake, for making that thing to dredge up the scattered bits of Lemminkäinen from the river. He shouldn’t have pursued the Queen’s daughter. She gave him an impossible task for a reason, and I’m sure she would have preferred him to rest in pieces.”

“The rake was the least of the things for which she never forgave Grandfather. It was he who shouldn’t have gotten mixed up with any of her daughters. He was a decent husband to the first, but he failed to keep her from being eaten by wolves – and then he stole the second and turned her into a seagull when she refused him. Not to mention the embarrassing interlude in between where he tried to re-create his first wife from gold and clockworks. ---He had a spotty record with women. It’s a miracle he ever managed progeny.”

“I never believed that seagull story, and neither should you. She just couldn’t stand his singing, so she left. I refuse to include it in the official records.” Kielo sighed, already beginning to resign herself to their new fate. “Well… what’s done is done, and at least I have you. A good and decent man.” She threw her arms around her husband and kissed him. “And you may not be the great seppo he was, but you’ve certainly learned the arcane art of making magical rakes.”

“Indeed, ours is a harrowing tale,” Ilmarinen returned dryly, with a sigh, embracing her and pressing his lips to the crown her head. “But it seems to be our row to hoe, as it were. Our plot to plow...” Making mystical farm implements for the Queen of Pohjola was, after all, their family trade. At least… it had been. And now, it seemed they were being summarily dismissed from service.

“I’m sure there will be a place for both of us with the Shihouin Vault,” she replied encouragingly, sensing her husband’s despondence, and now trying to find the silver lining. She thought the reminder that Soul Society, too, had its guardians of heavenly artifacts and godly gears might be helpful.

He brightened at her words. “You think so? I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making… anything other than farm implements. And perhaps, our son – should we be blessed to have one—will rival Grandfather’s skill, and invent a heavenly artifact greater than the Sampo.”

“We’ll have to learn Japanese.”

“It can’t be that hard,” he grinned. “Certainly easier than convincing all of them to learn Suomi.”

“The writing, though,” she fretted.

“You’ll manage it. You always do. You’re a brilliant archivist, far more brilliant than you give yourself credit for,” he reassured his wife.

“And we’ll have to take a Japanese family name,” she added, not quite flattered enough to be mollified. “You know how bureaucratic they are.”

“That’s simple. My family are career makers of cultivating tools, aren’t we? It’d be nice if we can take a bit of our home with us, and pick something that describes ourselves in our old tongue, yet which also plays well with the new. Let’s just call ourselves… well, you know ‘Ura’ can mean either career or furrow, and ‘Hara’ means cultivator.”

“’Urahara”, she drawled, letting the cobbled-together, freshly-coined Suomi name roll off her tongue. “But what does it mean in Japanese?”

“Ah…” His face became sheepish. To answer the question would mean he’d already looked it up – which would mean he might have kept this letter of transfer from his wife longer than he’d care to admit. “As far as I can work out, it means ‘Field by the Bay.’”

“Well…” Her smile darkened into an accusatory smirk as it dawned on her what his guilty look meant. “With any luck, maybe we’ll find one on which to build our new home. Do you think they have beaches there?”

“I suppose we’ll find out.”

Kielo drew in a long breath through her nostrils and let it out slowly, eyes sweeping the beams of their oak-hewn home. Change, she supposed, was inevitable. “Without me around to keep the record straight,” she muttered, “Someone’s going to put that ridiculous seagull story in an epic poem someday.”

[[ see under the cut for notes on what the heck this is and why I wrote it ]]

For years, Kisuke’s parents have eluded me. Having had this blog for... five years now, I’ve revisited the question periodically. First, I imagined him as coming from some kind of agrarian background, some poor farm-boy from a vassal family to the Shihouin. That later evolved to them being members of the Onmitsukidou. At some early point in his life, he lost them. But beyond that, they’ve remained a mystery to me. Who are they? Where are they from? How did they come into the service of the Shihouin, and what were they doing during that time? And why does Kisuke have blond hair and blue eyes?

Enter Kubo’s Burn the Witch, and the Western Branch of Soul Society. Which... frankly failed to live up to my expectations. All the soul-balancing still seems to be handled by the Eastern Branch; this feels like a Hollow-harvesting field office. But at least this new material from the author allows for the possibility of other spirit-dimensions around the world, other regionalized death-management administrations. I’d long-wondered if Soul Society was meant to be a universal afterlife; I’ll just take that as a no. (I’m also going to assume that the Quincy are a cult offshoot of Judaism and Christianity, which don’t subscribe to reincarnation and hence problematically remove souls from the cycle, but that’s the topic of another meta.)

I was inspired by an epic of Finnish folk tales encapsulated in the Kalevala. They speak of a mythical land to the far North ruled by a cruel Queen named Louhi. Under her auspices also lay a land of the dead, Tuonela, which seemed about as a bleak an afterlife as Soul Society is to me. It felt like a good fit to Bleach’s whole holding-cell-for-souls-awaiting-reincarnation take on life after death.

This epic is long, and I’m scarcely familiar with all of it, but OG Ilmarinen was the smith of the gods. For a bride-payment for Louhi’s eldest daughter, he was compelled to create the Sampo. It was a sort of cornucopia of bountiful, endless harvest; a magical artifact of indeterminate type that brought riches and good fortune to its holder.

Smith and inventor of the gods, who created a magical wish-granting artifact? This was... beginning to sound a little familiar. Ilmarinen’s tales are many and tragic, and a bit too legendary to claim a direct connection to, so I imagined him a grandson. Someone with a pedigree, with the gene for gadgetry genius, but relegated to a life of relative obscurity.

As for the name... a few years ago I was playing around with phonemes, and just for fun went digging to see if I could find a cognate of ‘Urahara’ in any European languages. Thank you, Finnish!

tl;dr: Seretei: The Living World’s shores are crawling with Dutch! Western Branch send help! Some backwater of Northern Europe: sends their third-tier mechanic and his wife.

Sources: On the rake in question On Finnish spirit-realms On Tuonela On the Sampo On the Kalevala On Finnish speakers learning Japanese

#[[ slaps this on the dash with no context whatsoever ]]#[[ someday Kubo may give Kisuke an actual backstory #until then -- have this ]]#[[ drabble ]]#[[ headcanon ]]#[[ thank you #nightbeat-cat #for inspiring me to write this!#...also for helping me figure out Kisuke's birth date #which will be the subject of another post ]]

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buzzdixonwriter · 4 years

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My Five Most Influential

Someone asked: Who are the most influential writers in your life?

Good question.

The broad answer is that one gets influenced many different ways by many different sources. I enjoy poetry and song lyrics because they find ways of conveying the strongest emotional content in the most concise manner, music brings a sense of dramatic rhythm and fulfillment, the visual arts suggest ways of subtly adding many insights to a single strong idea, etc., etc., and of course, etc. (and that is also an example of a creative influence in my work).

But…to boil it down to those whom I most consciously made an effort to emulate, we find ourselves facing five creators that primed the pump.

This is not to say others whom I began following after them didn’t wield a lot of influence (thanx, Ernie, Bert, Jack, Bob, and Hank!) but these are the foundation of everything I’ve done in my career.

(And to those who notice a lack of diversity, I know, I know…but to be honest I have to acknowledge the truth, and the truth is for whatever reason, by chance or by choice, by fate or by fortune, these five dominated my sensibilities. I trust that I’ve grown and expanded my horizons since then, but they’re the hand I got dealt.)

. . .

Carl Barks

I loved ducks as a kid and my grandmother and aunt would always bring me a passel of duck-related comics when they came to visit.

There were some Daffy Duck comics mixed in there but while I know I looked at and enjoyed them, none of them stick in my mind like the Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories of Carl Barks.

Typically my grandmother would read these comics to me and I’d imprint the dialog and captions in my brain, replaying them as I looked at the pictures over and over again.

Barks never wrote down to his audience, and his stories covered a vast array of genres, everything from straight domestic comedy to oddball adventures to screwy crime stories.

Donald and his nephews encountered dinosaurs more than once (another big favorite of mine), and Uncle Scrooge setting out to explore the asteroid belt in order to find a new home for his fabulous money bin was another tale I loved literally to pieces, but A Christmas For Shacktown remains my all time favorite graphic novel.

I’ll concede there are better graphic novels, but none of them warm my heart the way that Christmas story does.

Barks showed it’s possible to combine heart (not to be confused with sentimentality or =yuch!= schmaltz), vivid characters, and strong, intricate narrative. His plots where typically filled with unexpected twists and turns but his characters were always deeply involved in them, not just along for the ride.

He’s one of the greatest storytellers in the 20th century, and his work remains timeless enough to last for several centuries to come.

. . .

Ray Bradbury

The first Ray Bradbury story I remember encountering was “Switch On The Night” in its 1955 edition, read to my kindergarten class towards the end of the school year.

This would place the event sometime in the spring of 1959.

“Switch On The Night” captivated me because it was the first story I’d ever heard that showed what could be seen in the dark that couldn’t be seen in the day.

Even as a child, it made me realize the night wasn’t scary, but contained wonders and insights we miss in the harsh glare of day.

I don’t recall if the kindergarten teacher told us the name of the author, and if she did it didn’t stick, but boy howdy, the story sure did! Did it open the doors of the night for me, or was I already inclined to be a night person and it simply confirmed that as a valid identity?

I dunno, but I’m typing this right now at 12:24am.

And the thoughts Bradbury planted in little Buzzy boy’s brain stayed and grew and flowered, as you can read in my poem, “The Magic Hours Of The Night”.

The next time I encountered Ray Bradbury’s writing was in grammar school, certainly no later than junior high. I was already interested in science fiction by that point, and had read “The Pedestrian” in one of my school English books (we weren’t taught the story in class; the teacher skipped over it for whatever reason but I read it anyway then re-read it and read it again and again).

Anthony Boucher’s ubiquitous 2-volume A Treasury Of Great Science Fiction was in my grammar school library and in it was Bradbury’s “Pillar Of Fire” (which I would later learn was one of his alternate Martian Chronicles and a crossover with Fahrenheit 451) and in that story he offered up a veritable laundry list of outré and outlandish fiction to be tracked down and read, authors to dig up and devour.

Oh, man, I was hooked.

So of course I began looking for all the stories and writers Bradbury listed in his short story but I also began looking for Bradbury’s own work and before you could say, “Mom, can I get a subscription to the Science Fiction Book Club?” I’d read The Golden Apples Of The Sun and A Medicine For Melancholy and R is For Rocket never once dreaming that at some point in the future the roadmap Ray plopped down in my lap would eventually lead to us being co-workers (separate projects, but the same studio at the same time) and friends.

There is a beautiful yet deceptive simplicity to Ray’s work, and even though he wrote his own book on writing (The Zen Of Writing) that has lots of good insights and professional tricks & tips, he himself wasn’t able to explain how he did it.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a good Ray Bradbury parody.

I’ve seen parodies that clearly are intended to evoke Ray Bradbury, but only in the same way a clumsy older relative might evoke Michael Jackson with a spasmodic movement one vaguely recognizes as a failed attempt at a moonwalk.

But, lordie, don’t think we didn’t try to emulate him, and while none of us fanboys ever came close, I think a lot of us did learn that less is more, that the right word carries more impact than a dozen paragraphs, and that there’s magic in even the most ordinary of things.

And of course I discovered the film and TV adaptations of his work, and in discovering them I also discovered that there are some things that just can’t be translated from one media to another, and that the light, effortless appeal of Ray’s work on the page (paper or pixel) can at best be recaptured with a good audio book reader but even the best dramatic adaptions -- even those by Ray himself -- are cold dead iron butterflies compared to the light and lively creatures flying about.

So eventually I stopped trying to write like him, and instead picked up the valuable lessons of mood and emotion making an impact on a story even if the plot didn’t make much logical sense.

Decades later I would become a fan of opera, and would learn the philosophy of all opera lovers: Opera doesn’t have to make logical sense, it just has to make emotional sense.

Ray Bradbury, opera meister.

. . .

H.P. Lovecraft

As noted above, Bradbury’s “Pillar Of Fire” tipped me to numerous other writers, first and foremost of which turned out to be Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

Okay, before we get any further into this, let’s acknowledge the woolly mammoth in the room: H.P. Lovecraft was a colossal asshat racist.

He was a lot of other terrible things, too, but racist is far and ahead of the rest of the pack.

It’s a disillusioning thing to find people one admired as a youngster or a teen later prove to have not just quirks and eccentricities and personal flaws, but genuinely destructive, harmful, and offensive characters.

I’ve posted on that before, too.

How I wish it were possible to retroactively scale back that hurtfulness, to make them more empathetic, less egregiously offensive (in the military sense of the word), but that ain’t so.

We have to acknowledge evil when we see it, and we have to call it out, and we have to shun it.

Which is hard when one of its practitioners provides a major influence in our creative lives.

Here’s what I liked about Lovecraft as a kid: He was the complete opposite of Ray Bradbury.

Bradbury’s instinctive genius was in finding the right word, the simple word that conveyed great impact on the story, drawing the reader into the most fantastic situations by making them seem more familiar on a visceral level.

Lovecraft achieved the exact opposite effect by finding the most arcane, bedizened, baroque, florid, grandiloquent, overwrought, rococo verbiage possible and slapping the reader repeatedly in the face with it.

If Bradbury made the unreal real, Lovecraft made the weird even more weirder.

And let’s give this devil his due: The Strange Case Of Charles Dexter Ward and The Dunwich Horror are two masterpieces of horror and serve as the bridge between Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King, not to mention his creation of Cthulhu and other ancient entities existing beyond the ken of human knowledge…

…oh, wait, that’s where the story simultaneously gets messy yet provides a convenient escape hatch for fans.

While Lovecraft created Cthulhu, he did not create the Cthulhu Mythos.

That was primarily the invention August Derleth, a writer / editor / agent and H.P. Lovecraft’s #1 fanboy.

Lovecraft had some loosely related ideas in his stories and several themes he revisited repeatedly (in addition to racism).

He also had a circle of fellow writers -- including such heavy hitters as Robert “Psycho” Bloch and Robert E. “Conan” Howard -- who picked up on his ideas and, as way of a tribute, incorporated them in some of their stories.

Derleth took all this and Lovecraft’s unfinished manuscripts and short ideas he jotted down and turned it into a whole post-mortem industry, linking all of Lovecraft and other writers’ tales.

And he did a damn fine job of it, too.

So much so that the Cthulhu Mythos has taken on a life of its own, and pretty much anybody can play in that cosmic sandbox now (including Big Steve King and a ton of Japanese anime) and so Lovecraft’s works have an enormous influence on pop culture…

,,,but Howard hizzowndamsef can be -- and is -- cancelled.

Derleth and various biographers downplayed Lovecraft’s virulent racism for decades, and I don’t think Ray Bradbury was ever aware of the scope and tenor of Lovecraft’s bigotry when he name checked him in “Pillar Of Fire” and other stories.

In a similar vein Bradbury didn’t know -- because thanks again to overly protective literary executors, nobody knew -- just how big a racist asshat Walt Whitman was, either. It is one thing to call shenanigans on a Bill Cosby or a Harvey Weinstein or a Donald Trump because their egregious behaviors were noted long before they were held accountable, but quite another to do so on a creator who died while hiding their most awful behavior from thousands if not millions of fans who felt inspired and uplifted by their work.

It’s one thing to call out a contemporary bigot and not support them by not buying their work, it’s quite another when their bigotry has been shielded from view and fair minded, decent people have used their work to draw inspiration into their own creativity.

Of course, I had no way of knowing all this when I was in junior high and seriously began tracking down Lovecraft’s work.

He possessed a flair of the horrific and unearthly that to this day is hard to match (but easier to parody). He was a tremendous influence on my early writing (truth be told, I zigzagged between Bradbury’s stark simplicity and Lovecraft’s overarching verbosity, giving my early oeuvre a rather schizophrenic style) and the ideas he sparked still reverberate to this day.

If only he hadn’t been such a giant %#@&ing asshat racist …

. . .

Harlan Ellison

In a way, I’m glad neither Harlan nor his widow Susan are alive to read this.

I cherished Harlan as a friend and greatly admired his qualities as a writer.

But damn, by his own admission he should have been thrown in prison for aggravated assault on numerous occasions (he was courts martialed three times while in the Army).

We’re not talking about arguments that spiraled out of control until a few wild punches were thrown, we’re talking about Harlan by his own admission stalking and ambushing people, knocking them unconscious or causing grievous bodily harm.

We’re talking about sexual abuse and humiliation.

We’re talking about incidents he admitted to which if true put people in life threatening situations.

And yet ironically, in a certain sense Harlan (a bona fide Army Ranger, BTW) was like the U.S. Marine Corps: You’d never have a greater friend or a worse enemy.

I became dimly aware of Harlan in the late 1960s as I started diving deeper into literary sci-fi, transitioning from monster kid fandom to digests and paperbacks. Harlan first caught my attention with his macho prose (years later a similar style also drew me to Charles Bukowski) in stories like “Along the Scenic Route” (a.k.a. “Dogfight on 101”) in which Los Angelinos engaged in Mad Max motor mayhem but soon it became apparent the macho posturing was just a patina, that the heart and soul of much of the work reflected great sensitivity and often profound melancholy (ditto Bukowski).

Harlan was a fighter, and again by his own admission, he acknowledged in his later years that he was not a fighter because his cause was just, but rather sought out just causes because he knew he would be fighting regardless of his position, yet possessed a strong enough moral compass to point himself in the direction of a worthy enemy…

…most of the time.

He hurt and offended a large number of innocent and some not-so-innocent-but-certainly-not-evil people.

He also helped and encouraged a large number of others, people who had no idea who he was, people who had no way of adequately reciprocating his kindness and generosity.

He defended a lot of defenseless people.

He also mistakenly defended a lot of terrible people.

If someone tells me Harlan was a monster, I’ll agree: Monstre sacré.

What made his writing sacred was that no matter how outlandish the situation, Harlan dredged up from the depths emotions so strong as to be frightening in their depiction.

Skilled enough not to lose sight of humanity, outlandish enough to conjure up ideas and emotions most people would shy away from, Harlan hit adolescent Buzzy boy like an incendiary grenade.

Unlike my first three literary influences, Harlan was and remained active in the fannish circles where I was circulating at the time. He regularly wrote letters and columns for various fanzines, including a few I subscribed to.

In a literary sense he stood, naked and unashamed, in full view of the world, and that willingness to go beyond mundane sensibilities is what made his work so compelling.

He certainly fired me up as an adolescent writer, and proved an amalgam of Bradbury and Lovecraft that got my creative juices flowing in a coherent direction.

I don’t think I ever consciously tried to imitate him in my writing, but I sure learned from him, both in how to charge a story with emotion and how to fight for what’s right regardless of the blow back.

I loved him as a friend.

But, damn, Harlan…you could act so ugly...

. . .

H. Allen Smith

Who?

Most of you have never heard of H. Allen Smith, and that’s a damn shame.

I’d never heard of him either until I stumbled across a coverless remaindered copy of Poor H. Allen Smith’s Almanac in a Dollar General Store bin in Tennessee in the late 1960s (it was a memorable shopping expedition: I also purchased Thomas Heggen’s Mister Roberts and Let’s Kill Uncle by Rohan O'Grady [pen name of June Margaret O'Grady Skinner]).

Reading Smith’s editorial comments (in addition to his own essays and fiction he edited numerous humor anthologies) I realized I’d found a kindred soul.

Smith had a very conversational tone as a writer; his prose seemed off the cuff and unstructured, but he slyly used that style to hide the very peculiar (and often perverse) path he led readers down.

He sounded / read like a garrulous guy at the bar, one with a huge number of charming, witty (and delightfully inebriated) friends in addition to his own bottomless well of tall tales, pointed observations, and rude jokes.

Of all the writers mentioned above, that style is the one I most consciously tried to emulate, and one I seem to have been able to find my own voice in (several people have told me I write the same way I talk, a rarity among writers).

Smith was hilarious whether wearing an editor’s visor or a freelancer’s fool’s cap. If you know who H. L. Mencken was, think of Smith as a benign, better tempered version of that infamous curmudgeon (and if you don’t know, hie thee hence to Google and find out).

Compared to my other four influences, Smith didn’t need to add the fantastic to his fiction: The real world was weird and wacky and whimsical enough.

A newspaper man turned best selling author, Smith became among the most popular humorists of the 1940s-50s-60s…

…and then he died and everybody forgot him.

Part of the reason they forgot is that he wrote about things that no longer seem relevant (TV cowboys of the early television era, f’r instance, in Mr. Zip) or are today looked upon askance (and with justifiable reason; the ethnic humor in many of his anthologies may not have been intended as mean spirited, but it sure doesn’t read as a celebration of other cultures, viz his succinct account of an argument following a traffic accident between two native Honolulu cabbies rendered in pidgin: “Wassamatta you?” “’Wassmatta me’?!?!? Wassamatta you ‘Wassamatta me’? You wassamatta!”).

I’m sure I picked up a great many faults from Smith, but Smith also had the virtue of being willing and able to learn and to make an effort to be a better person today than he was yesterday, and better still tomorrow.

I’ve certainly tried applying that to my life.

Smith’s style was also invoked -- consciously or not -- by other writers and editors, notably Richard E. Geis, the editor of the legendary sci-fi semi-prozone, Science Fiction Review (among other titles). Smith died before I could meet him, but while I never met Dick Geis face to face we were pen pals for over 40 years.

Geis certainly sharpened specific aspects of my writing style, but the real underlying structure came from H. Allen Smith.

Smith’s work is hard to find today (in no small part because whenever I encounter one in the wild I snap it up) but I urge you to give him a try.

Just brace yourself for things we might consider incorrect today.

. . .

So there’s my top five.

With the exception of Carl Barks and Ray Bradbury, none of them are without serious flaw or blemish (though Smith seems like a decent enough sort despite his fondness for X-rated and ethnic humor).

In my defense as an impressionable child / teen, I was not aware of these flaws and blemishes when I first encountered their writing (primarily because in many cases efforts were made to hide or downplay those aspects).

The positive things I gleaned from them are not negated by the negative personal information that came out later.

I can, for the most part re the more problematic of them, appreciate their work while not endorsing their behavior.

Ellison can only be described in extremes, but his fire and passion -- when directed in a positive direction -- served as a torch to light new paths (his two original anthologies, Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions, pretty much blew the doors off old school sci-fi and belatedly dragged the genre kicking and screaming into the 20th century).

Lovecraft I can effectively ignore while finding entertainment value in the Cthulhu Mythos.

But I must acknowledge this isn’t the same for everyone.

For example, as innocuous as I find H. Allen Smith, if a woman or a member of a minority group said, “I found this in particular to be offensive” I’d probably have to say, yeah, you’re right.

But I can still admire the way he did it, even if I can no longer fully support what he did.

. . .

By the time I reached high school, I’d acquired enough savvy to regard to literary finds a bit more dispassionately, appreciating what they did without trying to literally absorb it into my own writing.

I discovered for myself the Beat generation of writers and poets, the underground cartoonists of the late 60s and 70s, Ken Kesey, Joseph Heller, Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. LeGuin, and a host of others, some already alluded to.

Some, such as the Beats and Bukowski, I could enjoy for their warts and all honest self-reflection.

Yes, they were terrible people, but they knew they were terrible people, and they also knew there had to be something better, and while they may never have found the nirvana they sought, they at least sent back accurate reports of where they were in their journeys of exploration.

By my late teens, I’d become aware enough of human foibles and weaknesses -- every human’s foibles and weaknesses, including my own -- to be very, very cautious in regarding an individual as admirable.

While I will never accept creativity as an excuse for bad behavior, if a creator is honest enough and self-introspective enough to recognize and acknowledge their own failings, it goes a long way towards my being willing to enjoy their work without feeling I’m endorsing them as individuals.

It’s not my place to pass judgment or exoneration on others bad behavior.

It is my place to see that I don’t emulate others’ bad behavior.

Every creator is connected to their art, even if it’s by-the-numbers for-hire hack work.

Every creator puts something of themselves into the final product.

And every member of the audience must decide for themselves if that renders the final product too toxic to be enjoyed.

#how this writer's mind works #writing #Carl Barks #Ray Bradbury #HP Lovecraft #Harlan Ellison #H Allen Smith #influences

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fuckblizzardbearlover · 5 years

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Why ppl who think the writers dont know exactly what they are doing with Sylvannas are dead, completely and utterly wrong: a Thread

from the official overview

“ The Broken Machine The machine of death is broken, and players entering the Shadowlands will find the realm of the dead in disarray. In the natural order of things, souls are sorted and sent on to an afterlife realm appropriate to the lives they lived, but now, but over the past few years, all souls who have perished—including the innocents slain at Teldrassil—are being funneled directly into the Maw. The Shadowlands are starving for anima even as the Maw continues to grow from the glut of fresh souls. Sylvanas has been seemingly perpetrating acts to bring about great amounts of death and destruction. In partnership with the Jailer, they have been working toward a common end for some time. “

so, i’m sure this will be one of the first things we learn in Bastion. or whereever.

emphasis mine.

past few years...BFA...Legion....ok thats a pair... So what if it is not exactly a few (3 ). Draenor sylvannas didnt have anything to do, But in MoP she didnt balk at causing death at Siege of Ogrimmar or Theramore and, in the Cataclysm she wiped out 3 cities. Catacylsm is the expasnion after wrath. After she died

From Sylvannas Windrunner: Edge of Night

“What did it matter if another corpse filled his vacant throne? Sylvanas Windrunner had her vengeance. The vision that had driven her and her people for years had finally been realized. And not a single fiber of her desiccated, animate corpse cared where the world went from here.It was over now. A part of her was surprised she was even still around, without his lingering presence always tugging at the back of her mind. She backed away from the throne and slowly turned to survey the cold gray world all around her. Her thoughts returned to that place of bliss, her half-remembered glimpse of what lay beyond. Home. It was time.

.............

She longed for it. A return to peace. The work she had begun in the forests of Silvermoon was finally complete with the death of Arthas. ,,,,,,,,,,,

...........

She could feel no cold, only a dull ache. She would feel nothing soon. She already felt her spirit reaching a place of calm for the first time in almost a decade. Her weight shifted toward the edge of the drop. She closed her eyes.

.......................

"There are so many!" he barked, falling silent as she raised a finger. "We have only two dozen rangers up there," he said, his voice now a whisper. "They cannot survive that!" Sylvanas didn't turn her gaze away from the dark mass of shambling corpses crushing its way closer to the river ford. It was the height of the Third War, and hours away from Silvermoon's fall at the hands of Arthas's army.

"They merely need to delay them as we fortify the Sunwell's defense," she answered, her tone measured.

"They will die!"

"They are arrows in the quiver," Sylvanas said. "They must be spent if we are to win this."

She was brash. Empty? No—a fighter. She had a warrior's heart.................

Before her waited a grotesque, quivering mass of corpses, their armor piecemeal, their bodies broken, the stench unimaginable. Their plaintive, desperate gazes reminded her suddenly of children. They disgusted her. But their need empowered her. "The Lich King falters. Your will is your own. Are you to be outcasts now in your own land? Or do we embrace the cruel cards fate has dealt us and retake our place in this world?"

.........

These poor people: peasants, farmers, priests, warriors, lords and nobles… they hadn't yet come to grips with what had happened to them. But for somebody—anybody—to assure them that they belongedsomewhere was electrifying.

--------------------------

Already he'd come to embrace his situation, referring to humans as if they were a separate race; she made a mental note to make use of him.

.........

"The humans will serve their purpose," she answered, her mind already calculating. "They believe they are liberating the city. Let them fight on our behalf and spend themselves for our gain. They are"—she stumbled upon an analogy she'd used before—"arrows in our quiver."

The heaving mass of undead clapped and coughed and hacked gleefully in assent. Sylvanas regarded the whole mob coldly. And so are you, she thought to herself. Arrows I will aim at Arthas's heart.

................................

No more would she be the vengeful leader of a mongrel race of rotted corpses. Her work was done, and her long-denied reward awaited her

...............

“"Your people will perish!" said the dark-haired Val'kyr.

.Sylvanas thought about her people. They had come far from their decimated origins, the yearning, confused mob of fresh corpses huddled about the ruins of Lordaeron's wrecked capital. The Forsaken were truly a nation now: a fetid, gore-caked, hideous mass of lifeless husks, skilled in combat, devastating with the arcane arts, and unhindered by fetters of morality. They had been honed into the perfect weapon. Her weapon. And they had struck the killing blow for which she had built them. She cared nothing for their fate."Let them perish!" Sylvanas cried. "I am finished with them!"“

........................

She saw only darkness.

And then she felt—truly felt, for the first time in a long while. She recoiled. In agony.

Here she was, her spirit once again feeling whole, only to feel it suffer. To feel once more, only to feel abject pain. Cold. Hopelessness.

Fear.

...................

There were others in the darkness. Things she didn't recognize, because nothing so terrible could exist in the world of the living. Claws tore at her, but she had no mouth with which to scream. Eyes looked at her, but she couldn't look back.

Regret.

She sensed a familiar presence. Recognized it. The taunting voice that had once held her in its grasp. Arthas? Arthas Menethil? Here? His essence rushed to her, desperate, then shrank away in horrified recognition. The boy who would be Lich King. Just a scared little blond child, reaping the aftermath of a lifetime of mistakes. If any part of Sylvanas's soul were not at that moment torn and tormented, she might have even felt—for the first time—the slightest glimmer of pity for him.

Now the others had her. Surrounded her. Gleeful, tormenting, tearing at her consciousness, delighting in her suffering.

Horror.

This was to be her eternity: the endless void, the dark, unknown realm of anguish.

....

"Sylvanas Windrunner, Dark Lady, queen of the Forsaken… you may walk with the living again through the sisterhood of the Val'kyr. As long as they live, so too shall you. Freedom, life… and power over death. This is our pact. Do you accept our gift?"

.....................

This was her only way out. But she didn't want to give her assent out of fear. She waited until she felt something more. A fellowship. A sisterhood. Sisters. Separate, they were all trapped. But together, they were free… and with them, she could postpone her fate.

.............................

"I was once like you, Garrosh," she answered, her voice quiet and steady, loud enough only for the warchief to hear. "Those who served me were tools. Arrows in my quiver.

......................

What he saw was a great black void, an infinite darkness. There was fear in those eyes, but also something else. Something that terrified even the great warchief.

"Garrosh Hellscream. I've walked the realms of the dead. I have seen the infinite dark. Nothing you say. Or do. Could possibly frighten me."

The army of undead that surrounded and protected the Dark Lady was still hers, body and soul. But they were no longer arrows in her quiver, not anymore. They were a bulwark against the infinite. They were to be used wisely, and no fool orc would squander them while she still walked the world of the living.

------------------------------------------------------

Now, look at the description for the Maw

“ This horrific prison houses the most vile and irredeemable souls in existence—ones deemed by the Arbiter to represent a threat to the Shadowlands if left free. Ruled by the enigmatic Jailer who none have ever seen—at least none have seen and lived to tell—the Maw inspires nightmares and legends even among the denizens of the Shadowlands. No one has ever escaped this vile place, and any foolish enough to venture there are never heard from again. “

-------------------------------------------------------

So This short story was written before cataclysm launched in 2010. NINE years ago.

So yes “dur Blizz are bad writers that made sylvannas do a 180 and become evil for no reason”

NO. This was the biggest piece of characerization Sylvannas ever got outside of warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne. it establishes that she was a cold person more than willing to treat living people as objects to satisfy the needs of their military and their people. It emphasised MULTIPLE times that i highlighted that she HATED and was disgusted by the forsaken. ANd i emphasised at least twice that She has been using patriotism and their need for someone to care about them as a way to MANIPULATE them. And that was how she was. SHe didnt care about any of them They were just a tool to be used to kill Arthas. and with him gone she was ready to die.

The problem was she was ready to die because she HAD ALREADY DIED. we learn with the SHadowlands that good souls go where they are treated well, and even strong souls are treated well. but Where to evil souls go? either the maw or to the vampire place. She had died and started to enter the good place, Bastion no doubt. as a good protector of the innocent. but Arthas pulled her out and made her a monster

BUT SINCE THEN she became even more of a monster. She let her people embrace hatred. she allowed slavery and torture of prisoners for the sake of destroying life. she thought of nothing but how to USE and ABUSE people in order to get vengence so SHE could get her REWARD.

She became a “most vile and irredeemable soul”. So when she died her soul went to the Maw where it suffered with dark evil souls like Arthas’

and did getting rescued by the valkyre fix her outlook? No . she still saw her people as nothing. but she knew the horrors she’d face if she died, and so she viewed her people as a BULWARK against that.

But whats REALLY interesting is that I think Ion wasnt being completely honest . The lore says that “No one has EVer escaped the Maw of Souls”... however we know that we will do so. And we know that No one has been there. so how can anyone KNOW that no one has escaped. What if they just kept it a secret.

What if the Jailer started to, for whatever reason, decide to take over the afterlife. whether it was personal ambition or seeing the rest as redundant. And he saw this elf soul ESCAPE him. the only one to ever do so. By that Valkyre taking her place. The Valkyre are allegedly created by the souls of hte denezins of bastion, the angel people. So between having a connection to the lich king, guardian of the connection to the Shadowlands, and the fact that they are denezins of the shadowlands.. or were... it makes sense they might have had the power to rescue a soul from the Maw.....with the added help of the soul taking her place.

I emphasised other parts to because i think its important. the Valkyre USED to be denizens of the shadowlands. but supposedly Changed by the lich king. The valkyre emphasised it WASNT just a bond of sisterhood but a bond of hte Valkyre. I think in order to save her from the maw they basically had to enchant sylvannas to magically register as a Valkyre, and thats how they ‘made the switch”. so to speak.

Now remember what happened in Legion? She got a special lantern from Helya, the original Valkyr, who is a master of Death, trapping souls and creating dimensions And who has reason to hate Odyn who has his own form of afterlife?

So it seems to me that Sylvannas gained the attention of the Jailer when she was the first one to escape. and the fact that she escaped by utilizing Valkyre magic, but she wasnt bound to the ethos of most of the denizens of bastion. I think shortly after her original death she was contacted by him, possibly through the valkyre and they started their pact.

Ion said that Sylvannas does not have a master, she’s doing things for herself. However that doesnt mean that, just cus the Jailer isnt controlling her doesnt mean he might not be manipulating her.

Jailer starts to usurp the souls. Sylvannas, afraid of going to the maw. begins rampant death, in order to kill enemies and create a massive army of forsaken to use against any force that would come for her. This rampant death gains the attention of those in the afterlife, including the Jailer who gets more souls do to it. somewhere between Cata and the start of legion he contacts her. When vol’jin is dying he uses his influence to get Vol’jin to name Sylvannas warchief.

She uses her new power to go wherever she wants, which she uses to find Helya, another god of death who has a unique power. Realm magic. using the Lantern, Sylvannas uses the valkyre to send it to the jailer who cuts off the other parts of the afterlife, making it so ALL souls go to the maw. then now that the world threat is over, and she doesnt have to worry about dying herself, she uses her position of power to sew as much death as possible to feed her ally. with the ultimate plan of them destroying the natural order of life and death. She gets to be free of him and lets those she deems worthy live free. all others get to be the Jailer’s victims. no more souls wasted on the ‘good’ after lives or regeneration. no more foolish living to ruin a perfect, deathless world.

its all coming together.

#sylvannas #long post #sylvannas windrunner #world of warcraft #world of warcraft spoilers #wow spoilers #wow #warcraft

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bbreferencearchive · 4 years

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Viola Bonaldi interviews Bobby BeauSoleil

This is the raw interview Viola Bonaldi did with Bobby BeauSoleil in the summer of 2018. Viola Bonaldi wrote an article incorporating the raw material below for Salmuria.

You can read the English version here: https://salmuria.it/emailing-with-bobby-beausoleil/

… Or if your first language happens to be Italian, read it here: https://salmuria.it/corrispondenza-con-bobby-beausoleil/

How did your passion for art — first music and then visual art — come about? Do you remember a specific moment or an episode that enlightened you? Did the Sixties atmosphere play an important role?

As far as I can tell, I mean, to the best of my recollection, I already had a passion to express myself in creative ways when I was born. According to what my mother told me later, about the time I took my first steps I was playing her pots and pans and making drawings on the walls of the house.

Honestly, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t feel like I had something to say in the arts. I believe this is the case with most if not all artists. For some a passionate desire to express in the arts may lay dormant for a time, and then suddenly something happens that triggers the calling, awakening the latent artist within. In my case it seems that I was born turned on. I didn’t need the social explosion that happened in the 1960s to bring the creative urges out of me, but it did provide a playground for them, and sometimes I found inspiration in the passions of people I encountered during that period.

When you haunted the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles you were known as “Cupid”, the archaic Roman primordial god of love, because of the way girls liked to be around you, a young, vibrant, beautiful, multicolored artist. From that capricious god you eventually turned yourself into “Lucifer”, the “angel of light”, fallen from Paradise as a consequence of his pride. Your life is largely connected to archaic myths, and this is often reflected in your work as an artist, both musically and visually, which is full of esoteric symbolism. Now, more than four decades after your work on Lucifer Rising, who are you? Lucifer, Cupid, or some other “creature”? And how do you explain your interest in the arcane?

Wow! Big questions! Well, first of all, I have never pretended to actually be any “creature”, as you put it, that I’ve been associated with. I am just me, an innately nameless soul. As an artist, I have sometimes used my own physical being as a canvas, willingly adopting personas from mythology that others have seen in me. My parents gave me a name at birth and I have been happy to be that person most of the time. Occasionally I have taken on the personifications of archetypes from myth as a way of allowing them to live for a brief time, and in a limited way, in the world of the mundane. There are, by the way, some common traits between Cupid and Lucifer. Both of these mythological beings are imagined as angelic, both known to have a naughty streak, to be creatively rebellious, and both are associated with love. I can think of far worse things to be known for expressing in the world.

What attracts me to the myths is the wealth of story and allegory that can enrich our larger capacity for understanding. Myths are often used as a tool for deepening cultural identity, and to give a hand up by way of providing context and instruction to those who aspire to higher truths. And mythology is an artform that can inspire new art, and thus myths can be alive and continue to grow and influence. As for other arcane interests, I have found little of any real substance in the so-called “dark arts” or silly practices like devil worship. However, as a mystic seeker I have found that treasures are often hidden in dark places. Following a shadow to its source will invariably lead one to the light.

You write that your works are rarely borne out of direct observations of the natural world, from the perception of real things, but come instead from your own mental reinterpretations and from the world of dreams. Is this a consequence of your limited conditions in terms of the space you live it? What is your process for drawing subjects from your recurrent dreams?

Certainly, there are no beautiful vistas to be seen through the dirty windows of the place where I live. I can see moving images from nature in photographs and films, and sometimes these inspire me to produce a visual interpretation. For the most part, though, I tend to see the beauty of nature as paintings made by God, ever changing in the light of consciousness, awesomely inspired and breathtaking, far beyond the capabilities of any human artist to do them justice. Rather than producing poor imitations of the moving paintings created by God, my natural inclination is to make a few humble additions to God’s creation, as one of the forces of nature.

So, for the most part, I draw inspiration from my unfettered and fertile imagination. You can fly in your dreams, right? What can be seen, imagined or experienced is not limited to what is possible in the physical world in some states of mind. I cultivate some of these states of mind, such as lucid dreaming, as a source for concepts that may be made manifest in the physical world through my arts. This works for visual imagery and for music as well, and even sometimes for written words, like poetry. In the vast territories of dreams especially — both daydreams and the kind that happen during sleep — the mind plays freely, in safety, amorphously creating odd mash-ups, evolving patterns, astonishingly wonderous sounds. Much of my work is an attempt to bring these experiences into the physical realm, or at least to hint at them.

What does a young man think when he is sent to death row? You couldn’t play an instrument or have contact with other people, right?

When I arrived on San Quentin’s death row in 1970 I was a total wreck, broken and shattered, far more devastated than I ever let anyone know during that period. As difficult as it was, in some ways that 26 months I was on death row was a blessing. I needed that time alone to grapple with my conscience, to fully face what I had done head-on, to begin to learn how to think things through and begin the process of accepting responsibility for how I was going to deal with the consequences of my actions and eventually find a way to redeem myself. It was a tall order, one that seemed utterly insurmountable at the time. Think of a complicated picture-puzzle with about a million pieces.

Having a guitar was not allowed on death row, like you say, but I could get a little manual typewriter and a few pencils and sketch paper. Writing and drawing helped me to focus on my inner world and begin the process of putting the pieces of myself back together.

Where did you learn to create musical instruments? How did you manage to do that in prison?

Finding ways of making new or different kinds of sounds has been a fascination for me since I was a small boy. The first time I built a musical instrument was when I was about 8 years old. It was a contraption I called a “jazz band” — basically a percussion instrument made out of a wooden crate, with a variety of found objects like tin cans, pie plates, glass jars, spoons and whatnot nailed or attached to the crate in some way. I made a lot of noise on that thing, beating on it with sticks. A couple of years later I made an electric guitar — or rather, something that looked like a guitar I had seen in the window of a music store — in the workshop class at my school. It didn’t work, but from that experience I learned a lot about what is needed to make one that would. I have customized, or “hot-rodded”, every guitar I’ve had since, and built a few guitars from scratch.

In the mid-1960s, when I was putting together a band that would become known as The Orkustra, I was faced with the challenge of figuring out how to go about electrically amplifying different kinds of woodwinds and stringed instruments. This was a necessary step in fulfilling my desire to assemble the first electric orchestra. This experience became invaluable ten years later when I took on the Lucifer Rising soundtrack project. After I was given a permission from the warden at the prison to produce recordings for the project I successfully sought an additional permission to build some of the instruments I would need in the prison handicraft shop. I was allowed to build several guitars and keyboard instruments, and to experiment with music electronics and synthesizer design. This led to the invention and development of some instrument innovations.

Things have changed in prisons since then, with most of the prison handicraft programs having been shut down. Though I’m not able to build instruments at present, I still manage to find ways to hot-rod guitars. Fortunately, the technical skills I acquired earlier opened doors to my being in prison jobs that have given me access to advanced tools for producing work in various media, including video and sound design. I have been blessed with some unusual opportunities to employ my abilities in ways that are helpful and beneficial to others. Despite the imprisonment, I count myself fortunate to have had these opportunities, and I am grateful.

How can a human being detained for decades in prison survive in such a place without becoming a “monster”, as you have reflected in some of your writings? Can we say that Lucifer Rising saved you?

Prisons are unnatural places. They are ill-conceived responses to social problems like crime and mental illness — and in the US, anyone who breaks a law, mentally ill or not, is subject to incarceration in the prison system. In practice, imprisonment worsens these types of problems, generally speaking. Imprisonment warps the mind, not only of prisoners but also of the people who are paid to supervise them and keep them locked in.

Fairly early in my incarceration I became aware of the effects being in prison was having on me, and on others around me. By that time, I had already begun to slip into involvement in violent situations. When I saw what was happening I began to take steps to mitigate those negative effects. I resolved that I would never allow the prison environment to define me. Making a personal vow of non-violence that I have maintained to this day was one of those steps. By pouring myself into creative expression as an artist, along with promoting and maintaining healthy relationships with people on the outside, I have been able to gird myself against the insanity around me. It takes continuous effort and resolve, and a lot of vigilance, but it is possible to empower oneself to rise above the snares and pitfalls of prison life and maintain one’s personal integrity.

Yes, you could say that the Lucifer Rising soundtrack project saved me, in a way. It took years to complete the soundtrack compositions and recordings. During that time the project consumed me utterly. And it did so in a positive way. My concept for the Lucifer Rising themes was to musically describe the fallen angel’s desire to redeem himself, tracing his path through the dark passages he would pass through in his journey toward reconciliation and the light. The story, as I decided to interpret it, has certain resonances in my own life, so working on the project was cathartic.

Did you like Charles Manson’s music?

Sometimes I did and sometimes I didn’t. Charlie was a uniquely talented musician, but he had a tendency to be inconsistent in the way he approached musical performance. Much of this had to do with context. Some of his songs were a lot like songs for children, and were obviously meant to be sing-along songs for the people in his commune. Those songs would not have had much appeal to a general audience, and I have seen them used in sensationalist media to ridicule his musical ability. There were songs of Charlie’s that would not stand the tests of time, like much of the music that was made during the sixties, but many of his songs were entirely relevant for that period and some of them had real depth of meaning. The ones I liked best were those that he sang and played spontaneously, in a stream-of-consciousness style, like some rappers of today. As an improvisational player, I particularly enjoyed playing with him on songs he created in this mode. My accompaniment seemed to inspire him and helped to bring out the best qualities in his performances. This type of collaboration formed the basis of my relationship with him, such as it was. Unfortunately, no good recordings have survived.

You appear to have a deeply spiritual conception about purpose in relation to destiny. You have written that every person is born with some special ability or message they are meant to express in the world, a unique hand of cards to play in life. If you had not done “a bad thing” as your Professor Proponderus character said in the animated film you made, and been sent to prison, what do you think your life would have been like? Who would Bobby Beausoleil have become outside of jail? How would he have played his cards?

Taking my cue from the cards metaphor seems like the best place to begin a response to your questions ... The thing is, most human beings are not dealt only one hand of cards in life. Each time one makes a major decision in life, or has a significant accident, Destiny deals the individual a new hand of cards to play. It is impossible to say what my life might have been like had I not made the dire decisions that caused me to be sent to prison.

Some imaginative writers have postulated that each major decision creates a new timestream in a parallel universe. Well, I don’t know if that’s true, and it’s doubtful any of us ever will in our lifetimes, but let’s play along for the sake of giving due respect to what you are asking. Had I played my hand of cards differently in 1969 it’s conceivable that the Bobby Beausoleil of that alternate universe would have become a famous rock star, as I once hoped to be. Just as conceivable, the Bobby Beausoleil of another parallel universe might have wound up in some dark alley, dead of a drug overdose, something I have never had any aspirations to be.

We don’t get to choose beyond playing the cards we are dealt as well as we can in the hope that our decisions will take us to where we want to go. It is when we play our cards willy-nilly, without care, that we may instigate disasters in our lives and the lives of others. That said, I have done my best to play my cards well in the intervening years, and to overcome, to the extent that may be possible, the failings of my past. We shall see what the cards I play now will bring in the future.

Reading the transcript from your last parole hearing one can note that your artistic activity, and publishing communications with people outside of prison via the internet, has sometimes been used against you and your release. But you still do it. Do you do this out of a philosophical sense of duty, or because you feel safer in prison and don’t really want to be released? I mean, it seems like you’re shooting yourself in the foot ...My idea is that it’s only an excuse. It doesn’t matter what you do. For some people you will always be condemned because you have the Manson stigma on you.

Excuses are made by people who shirk the responsibilities they have agreed to accept, and who fail to have the courage to do the right thing and uphold those responsibilities. After long and very careful consideration, I resolved years ago that I would not restrict or limit my life in accordance with the excuses made by other people.

This is not an act of defiance by any means. I carefully follow the rules I am given to follow; none of my art or publishing actually violates any of them. And I assure you, I have no desire to wrap myself up in the dubious security of prison life. I want to get out of prison as much as any imprisoned person ever has. In the end, what it comes down to is that my spiritual obligation to fulfill my purpose in life trumps any of the rationalizations or excuses that may be used to justify keeping me in prison, and all the nonsense related to them.

A soul comes into the world for only a brief time and for the purpose, however slight it may be, to contribute to bringing sentience to the physical universe through expression of a God-given ability. This is called dharma, the purpose in life. Failing to uphold this responsibility is a breach of the sacred covenant a soul makes when coming into the world.

As an artist, it is my role to express creatively and to share the work I produce in such efforts with the world. Perhaps this will serve to uplift another soul, or to inspire someone to make their own dharmic contribution to the human mission. Or maybe it’s of no real value at all. In any case, I feel very strongly that I must remain true to my calling, and to fulfill my sacred obligation as a sentient soul, come what may.

In the years past I fought long and hard to restore myself to integrity. Too great an investment has been made to retreat from what I know I’m here to do, or to otherwise compromise my integrity out of fear of some arbitrary, politically motivated resistance. Clearly, nothing in the work I create is indicative of any violent tendencies. Excuses aside, this is what should be the focus in a parole consideration hearing. At some point I may be fortunate enough to have my case in front of arbiters who recognize that my creative efforts have been the instrument of my rehabilitation, restoring me to a responsible human being, and who will, in consideration of this, support my release from prison.

From your experience, what do you think of the use of social media and the internet?

My direct exposure to the internet has been limited by restrictive prison policies, but studying technological advancements is a hobby of mine. I won’t be left behind like Rip Van Winkle! As a multi-media artist, I am interested in how computers and computer devices like tablets and cell phones can be used to express creatively in new ways. There are artists out there who are doing amazing things with these new technologies!

The internet is a mixed bag, mostly because it is still like the wild west — a work in progress. For the everyday person to have rapid access to so much information is truly marvelous, extremely empowering, but this is only beneficial if the information is accurate. With every person able to have their very own pulpit there is way too much fake news and click-bait gossip poised to ensnare the unwary. I believe this will improve in time as the search engines incorporate better algorithms to snag and tag the suspicious content. On the other hand, there is the wonder of streaming media. I can’t wait to be able to catch up on come of the films and music I’ve been missing!

There is a lot about social media that doesn’t seem very sociable to me. The ability to communicate across vast distances in real time via texting and chatting on Facebook and other social media sites, with pictures and video, makes for an extremely valuable tool. That’s just it: a tool. There is no replacement for real sensory contact between human beings. We are hardwired for touch and direct eye contact. There are reasons why suicides are occurring more frequently in these times; it seems to me that too much reliance on social media platforms is part of the reason for this. It worries me that many young people will sit side-by-side and text to each other instead of looking at one another and talking. And too many people are cocooned in their personal bubbles, insulated from empathic connection to humanity, making derogatory, harsh, even hateful judgements of other people, often only because they are isolated and lonely and need to share their misery. Emojis are cute but they are a poor substitute for communicating real emotions. Humans are complex creatures. We can actually choose to be less anxious and depressed as a species by relying less on virtual socializing.

You took your freedom early, still a child, but soon you lost it. Unlike the stories of most prisoners, however, you affirm that your family situation was very positive when you were a child. Do you remember the happiest episode of your childhood, and the saddest one? Do you recall your childhood home and the scents of that time?

I remember my childhood home vividly, smells and all. Although I tended to be more adventurous than most of the kids I knew, my childhood was pretty average, growing up in a tract house nearly identical to all the other houses in the neighborhood. My happiest times were when I was sent off to stay with my grandmother during the summer, because the world seemed so much bigger in the Los Angeles area where she lived. My happiest memory there was finding an old guitar in my grandmother’s attic. Destiny dealt me a new hand of cards that day! The saddest day of my childhood was, at age 15, going with my family to my grandmother’s funeral. That was the day I left home for good, for some reasons that didn’t actually have anything to do with my grandmother’s death. I loved my family, but the family home was just too small.

Silvio Pellico, an Italian writer and patriot imprisoned for life in 1820, then given a commuted sentence and released after 10 years, stated that, without a doubt, free living is much better than living in prison, yet even in a miserable prison you can enjoy life. What do you think about this?

Prison is generally a pretty miserable place, that’s a fact. Spending my time in a puddle of self-pity has always been an option, just as it is for people on the outside. Choosing that option is what turns a miserable place into a hell. Many people in prison do just that. There is not only misery but a good deal of anger and rage in here as well. I mentioned earlier, I made the decision to not allow prison to define me. As a result, I have managed to do the extraordinary while in prison, and I have inspired some other prisoners to do similar things. While prison is a miserable place, being a miserable prisoner is not a must. Transcendence of misery is always possible no matter how hard it gets.

Your answer to a question no one has ever asked you ...

“Do you wear boxers or briefs under shorts?” No, I don’t.

Describe the room you live in and what your days are like at the prison where you live. What do you do for entertainment. How are you feeling?

My mind is much younger than my body, so naturally I have my share of aches and pains to deal with. To help preserve my health and activity I do hatha yoga on a semi-regular basis. I am also one of the two teachers for the yoga class here. A couple of times a week I play with other musicians here and once in a while we perform together in the prison house band. We have a music class once a week and I help with teaching guitar to students. Even though my spiritual orientation is grounded in the traditions of West Asia, I’m perfectly comfortable playing in the Gospel band in the prison chapel. Also once a week I take my guitar to the Hospice part of the prison hospital, and play music for men who are in the process of dying.

My cell is about the size of a typical bathroom in someone’s home. There’s a door in one end and a window in the other end that lets in daylight; there is a small sink, a toilet, and a large metal locker for storage. I use the top of the locker as my work surface. I’m using it now while typing these words. My bed is the size of a cot, a concrete block with a mat stuffed with jute fiber; of course, it serves also as a seat and a place where I set my art materials when working on a painting or drawing. My guitar shares the space, and I’ve got a small television and a radio. I would say that I live like a monk if my cell were not so cluttered with stuff for work, play, eating and sleeping. I manage to figure out ways to make the space work for me fairly well under the circumstances.

I currently have a job five days a week in the prison library. It takes up a bit too much of my time and sometimes conflicts with things I’m trying to do. But then, most people who have jobs have similar problems.

Much of my time has been going into writing and editing. A couple of books are in the works, one of which is scheduled for publication in 2019. This leaves me little time for reading, though I manage to find some time to read, mostly books on spiritual philosophy, mythology, media technology. But when it comes to words it’s the writing that gets most of the juice. I love good films and some television dramas, if they are done well. I will watch the TV for two or three hours in the evening if there is something on worth my attention. Some of my writing time naturally goes to communicating with family and friends, creative collaborators, and, when I can fit it in, some of the fans of my work as well.

My long-awaited double vinyl LP, Voodoo Shivaya, a concept album I worked on for seven years, recently debuted. The response has been gratifying, quite favorable so far, even though the music does not fit in any of the established categories or genres. So I’m feeling pretty happy that I’ve been able to share this music with the world.

Do you have a suggestion you can give us?

Try to avoid killing anyone, if you can. It is very very difficult to come back from something like that. And if you find yourself faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge, don’t be too shy to ask for help. The best place to look for help is deep within yourself where you will surely find great resources of strength and courage you may not yet be aware of. And remember, there is always at least one way to play your cards that will allow you to prevail over and ultimately transcend any challenge.

#bobby beausoleil #bobby beausoleil interview #bobby beausoleil salmuria #bobby beausoleil viola bonaldi

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jchb32273 · 5 years

Photo

Apologies that it took me a while to get this AMAZING commission posted! This is by the incredible @angelfolks and it shows Kylara in her new Arcane Warrior gear. I would love some reblogs to show off his gorgeous and unique style of art! <3

I have also written a segment of a chapter in progress to go with this wonderful piece of art! I hope you enjoy it! <3 (Oh, and just in case you are wondering, Ali and Ky’s crystal necklaces now allow them to communicate without speaking... that is covered in Chapter 34 of my fic. The armor is she is wearing, I call Wade’s Drakeskin armor, but the vanilla armor is so... blah. This is actually the Armor of Sacred Ashes -- from a lovely mod for DAO called RL’s Swan Song.)

~*~

I stepped out of Keeper Lanaya’s aravel, my new armor finally on. It had taken me awhile to get used to all the new straps and buckles on Wade’s drakeskin armor, but once I had it on, it felt… right. Like I had always been meant to wear it. The dye he had chosen for some of the armor was a bit on the loud side of pink (I had always preferred subtler shades of blue and violet), but the black and silver bits did offset the brightness.

I ran my fingers lightly over the silver scales that made up the midsection of the armor. They felt cool to my touch. I suppose that is what accounts for the fireproofing bit of the armor, I thought. Wade truly is a genius armor-smith. I hope Herren will lighten up someday and not be so hard on him.

I sat down on the edge of the aravel for a moment, my mind replaying all that the ancient elven spirit had “taught” me about being an arcane warrior. Spells would still be my primary way to attack, but I would no longer require a staff to channel. I needed a new weapon. I needed… a sword.

Alistair’s voice suddenly popped into my head. Kylara? How are you doing?

I am fine, I thought back to him as I gently held my crystal. I just finished getting Wade’s armor on.

Aww! And here I was hoping you’d need my help.

I grinned at the humor I could “hear” in his thought. You just wanted to see me naked.

When do I not want you naked, love?

I laughed out loud at that. Down, boy! Don’t you still have packing to finish?

It would probably go faster if you’d come to help.

Where is everyone else?

Off Maker knows where. He paused, which I took for a sigh. I guess they are all saying their goodbyes to everyone.

Yes, I will truly miss a lot of people here once we leave, but now that the treaty will be honored by Keeper Lanaya, we need to get back to Redcliffe.

I know. His thought seemed to waver with a tinge of sadness.

You all right, Ali?

Another pause, then, I just can’t believe it’s done… that we got all three treaties honored.

Duncan would be proud of you.

He’d be proud of you too, you know. You didn’t have any real Warden training, after all. You were thrust right into the thick of things from day one… and look how far you have come.

Now we just need to find that pesky archdemon and put an end to all this!

You make it sound so easy. I felt, rather than heard his chuckle.

Just trying to stay positive there, Alibear. I got up and started heading in his direction. In the meantime, let me come over and help you finish that packing.

I came into the clearing where Alistair was loading up all our supplies and weapons into Bodahn’s cart. He stopped when he saw me.

“Maker’s Breath, you… are stunning! That armor is perfect on you!”

“I’m amazed it fits so well!” I said with a smile. “Wade never once took any measurements from me.”

“Just goes to show that he is a true genius at his craft.” Alistair came up and embraced me, but he hugged me a little too tight. He saw me wince and quickly let go. “Oh, I am so sorry, love. Your back is still hurting you?”

“It is a bit tender. But I’m sure it will get better in time.” I sighed. “I just wish Wynne had been able to get rid of the scars across my back. From everyone’s expressions who have seen them, they must look awful.”

He kissed my forehead. “You are still every bit as lovely as the day I first met you. Don’t ever think otherwise.”

“But…”

“But nothing! Do you love me any less for my scars?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Of course not!”

“Then why should I think anything less of you for yours? If anything, it shows how tough and courageous you are! You went through all of that pain and yet you got right back up and continued fighting!” He kissed me deeply. Then with his forehead pressed against mine, he murmured, “I am in love, with an amazingly beautiful, brave woman… and I couldn’t be any happier.” As he kissed me again, birdsong filled the Brecilian Forest.

After a few moments, he pulled away with one last small kiss to my nose. “Thank you,” I whispered, “for believing in me.”

“Always, my love.” With a sigh, he backed away a bit, then cleared his throat. “Anyways… packing. We really should finish so we can get back on the road.”

I nodded. “Yes.” Then I noticed the hilt of a sword poking up at an odd angle towards the front of the cart. “Um, Ali? You weren’t just throwing things in here randomly, were you?”

He blushed. “Well… I might have tossed a few things in… I mean, it was just me doing all of the work.”

I sighed. “We need to keep things arranged neatly, or we won’t be able to find them when we need them.”

“I know, I know…” He grinned sheepishly. “Organization will set us free…”

I gave him a light punch to his shoulder. “Yes. Yes, it will.”

He gestured to the hilt poking up. “Should I get it?”

“No… I’ll grab it.” I walked around the cart to the hilt, but the minute my hand got near it, I felt an odd charge. I drew my hand back.

“What is it?” Alistair asked with curiosity as he watched me move my hand towards the sword hilt again. “It’s not going to bite you, you know.”

“Is this…” I started to say.

“Yeah. That’s the sword Levi’s brother made for us.” Alistair rubbed his chin for a moment. “What did he call it again?”

“Starfang,” I said softly. I grabbed the hilt and pulled it out. The runic designs on the sword began to glow.

“Wow!” Alistair exclaimed. “I’ve never seen it do that before!”

“I think I have found my new weapon,” I replied with a slight smile.

#other people's art #my fanfiction #dragon age origins #alistair theirin #alistair x warden #kylara amell #brecilian forest #arcane warrior #starfang

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askalucario-blog · 5 years

Photo

Caption: ‘yule’ when finished, Kennedy gives each of the masks a name and completes the project by posting an image online images courtesy of the artist.

Damselfrau interview: a peek behind the many masks of the London-based artist

if you somehow stumbled accidentally upon the work of Norwegian artist damselfrau, you’d be forgiven for thinking you had unearthed a cache of ancient vestments; something mystical, arcane—maybe even occult. defined by intricate beadwork, delicate lace and bold, bright color, damselfrau’s masks are at once visually arresting and bewitchingly unsettling. beautifully reshaping the face of the wearer, her work is laden with character, suggesting not just individual personalities, but whole narratives, histories, and worlds of their own.

the name ‘damselfrau’ is inherently contradictory. while ‘frau’ is a term used for married women, ‘damsel’ denotes one who is unmarried. combined, they form the paradoxical and provocative pseudonym adopted by artist magnhild kennedy—originally as a skype username, now as a professional alias—that she likes to interpret as ‘married to oneself’. it’s a fitting mantle for an artist who has become renowned for her masks; a craft that involves placing another ‘self’ on top of your own, creating both a combination of the two and suggesting something entirely new altogether.

damselfrau masks in vogue portugal, ‘the bold side of christmas’image by vasily agreneko, styling by pierre-alexandre fillaire

originally from trondheim in norway, damselfrau moved to london in 2007. while both of her parents are artists, she herself never formally trained. rather, kennedy’s practice originated somewhere a little less conventional: the dance floors of london’s nightclubs. working at a vintage designer shop in islington at the time, kennedy drew inspiration from the collection of clothes around her and was able to sew her own pieces behind the counter, which she would then wear clubbing. eye-catching, eccentric and strangely seductive, it’s no wonder that mask quickly became her craft of choice.

since then, damselfrau has made pieces for artists like mø and beyoncé, and collaborated with alister mackie and louis vuitton. beads, glass, lace, textiles, paint, hair, paper: everything and anything can be included in one of damselfrau’s creations. rather than chaos however, the result is one of organic artistry. ‘for me the mask is a place where different elements come together as situation,’ she says in her artist’s statement. ‘the work is about this place-situation, more so than the mask as a theme or category of form. the mask is a place’. livened by the found nature of the materials that comprise them, damselfrau’s masks perfectly walk the line between being delicate artworks of visual poetry and ghostly uniforms for the mystical.

damselfrau’s intricate gold face piece can be spotted at the start of this music video for mø’s track ‘kamikaze’

designboom spoke with the artist recently about her journey toward mask making, the best spots in london to find new materials, and her plans for the new year.

designboom: you come from a particularly artistic family. what was your own personal journey like as an artist in light of this? do you remember the first time you sat down and said, ‘right, I’m going to make a mask’? how did it turn out?

magnhild kennedy: I came to myself quite late. I’ve always made various types of stuff, but nothing good. I’ve known since I was a teen that I was going to have to head to london at some point, but it didn’t happen until I was in my late 20’s. I have no idea how masks became the format for me, I’m not particularly interested in masks as a category. I worked in a vintage design shop when I first moved here. looking at the old clothes, their details and decor gave me some insight into making. I went to car-boot sales every weekend to find utilities for our new life here, and started schlepping home all kinds of funny materials, textiles and bits I found there.

I had to do something with all these materials. it started with making masks for a party and the format stuck. from there it just grew slowly and organically. five years ago my husband robert started dalston pier studio. I got myself a proper work shop there and felt it was the time take it seriously. I felt like an imposter for the longest time. I’m self taught, I didn’t go to school past the age of 19. but growing up with two artist parents, it’s been schooling from day one

DB: you work a lot in found textiles and have spoken about picking up materials in car boot sales and the like. what is the strangest place you’ve ever found material for a mask, and when working on a new piece, do you have a go-to place in london to start looking for inspiration?

MK: I find things everywhere, I have picked fruit netting out of bins. one christmas in paris, they decorated the trees of the champs-élysées with plastic crystals. rouge ones had fallen off and been stepped into the dirt pavement and I scratched out pocket fulls. I’ve picked gold confetti off the floor at alternative miss world. friends bring me things from their travels too. a friend gave me a norwegian 1700’s hair wreath, a japanese friend gave me an antique geisha hair piece I crocheted into a mask. old tea towels. I’ll use whatever if it has personality.

just walking out the door is inspiration, really. I live in dalston. people from everywhere in the world, young and old. fashion kids. charity shops. I’ll go to sir john soane’s museum. the wallace collection. spitalfields on thursdays. dennis severs’ house. dover street market. a pub.

DB: how long does it usually take to finish a mask, and what is the longest you have ever worked on a single piece?

MK: anything from a day to forever! I have unfinished masks on my shelves that have been waiting for ‘something’ for months—years even. I’ll just have to wait until that right something comes along.

percifor’‘I felt like an imposter for the longest time…but growing up with two artist parents, it’s been schooling from day one’

DB: I know you originally made masks for clubbing in london. how has creating masks specifically for a club environment and club culture in general influenced the work you make? do you still wear your masks clubbing?

MK: it’s been a loooong time since I went clubbing! I might make myself something fun for halloween if I am going to some party. the ‘craft something from nothing’ element of the club culture was inspiring. what some people could make out of some egg carton, tape and paint, you know? there was no hierarchy amongst the materials. that is the main thing I learned that I have brought with me into the work.

‘uro’‘there was no hierarchy amongst the materials. that is the main thing (…) I have brought with me into the work’

DB: how do you personally feel when wearing one of your creations, and what do you hope the experience is for an onlooker?

MK: I don’t wear the masks much once they are done. I try my best not to make to many decisions for the masks. people see what they see. it’s none of my business!

DB: you have collaborated with a lot of really interesting people in the past. are there any artists you are particularly influenced by, or anyone you would love to work with in future?

MK: when I was a kid I saw moebius’ and enki bilal’s comics, and they definitely still inform what I do. I’m very interested in homes and how people surround themselves. I decorate a lot. I sew my own christmas ornaments. at the moment I am taken with the book ‘dawnridge’, about tony duquette’s wonderfully OTT home. he was an artist, film and set designer in hollywood. I like miniature model makers like charles matton and thierry bosquet.

I like spaces over-informed by the people who use them and live in them. I have always felt I work mostly like a decorator. my all time greatest obsession is versailles. I don’t have a particular person in mind, so my dream collab would definitely be with versailles.

DB: you often talk about your masks having a character and life of their own. how much of yourself do you see in each piece you make, or do you always see it as a separate entity from the start? what stage in the process does a mask’s character start to reveal itself, and what does that moment feel like?

MK: separate entity I think…it’s a kind of meditative state, making these things. i’m always surprised by what comes out and that I have made something. usually the character changes several times along the way. there are very few conscious choices taken along the way, or at least it feels like it.

I try to think as little as possible, really and just go by instinct. no overthinking. I have clear physical reactions in the brain to if something works or not. like two ant antennae meeting, releasing some warm spark. some severe chemical reaction, it’s totally a high.

DB: you have a strong presence on instagram and images of your work are understandably popular on sites like instagram and tumblr. how integral to your process is social media, and how has it impacted the way you make work, if at all?

MK: it’s a big part of the work. a mask isn’t finished until I have taken a portrait of it and sent it out on general internet high-ways like my instagram or blogspot. this way the mask makes a life of its own and communicates its own being. it’s how it has turned into actual work.

DB: are you working on anything at the moment you’d like to share with us, and what does 2019 hold for damselfrau?

MK: yes! I’m very excited. I have been invited to exhibit at the national museum of decorative arts trondheim in norway this september. it’s the first time I’ll show the masks in the flesh in norway, so it’s pretty grand for me. I used to visit this museum as a kid, I have strong feeling for this building. it’s surreal to be showing there. I am also working on an interesting project with queen mary university and designer rachel freire, incorporating technical fabrics and movement sensors with my masks. that’s a new universe for me—very cool.

DB: any personal mottos or words of wisdom you try to live by?

MK: ‘walk, don’t run’, as my dad always says.

#facemask

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bigbenalpha · 5 years

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I’ve Ben DMing, Session 25

So due to the size of the party not a lot happened in this session, but really, so much happened. The fighting took a lot of time but doesn’t require a lot of written description, while the crucial plot points at the end were quick to say but take many paragraphs to explain.

So, five of the party were brought back thanks to a mass healing spell and fight with the bandit leaders continued. The enemy bard took a good bit of damage then Glim used his bag of tricks to throw a bear at her. She vanished in a puff of brimstone. Nora got the last hit on the captain and Corvid dropped the warlock. Their spore druid revived and called lightning, taking out Surtur and Ogner, who had suffered a chunk of damage from a wall of fire and was already unconscious. Now he was dead. Again. The winged kobold rogue hit Eimir with a hold person spell. None of the party understands draconic, or they would have heard the dragon call the kobold a traitor, kobold reply, “why serve dragon when can be a dragon? she promised me.”

Their ranger decided now was a good time to duck out as well. The barbarian wasn’t quite done and ripped down a curtain revealing two invunche waiting to attack. A third came through the doorway on the upper ledge, and a fourth arrived from the passage that led back to the giant bee hive. This one was accompanied by Maw-Maw Sugar.

The green hag, using the fragment of an orb of dragonkind, ordered the wounded black dragon to use its breath weapon on the party. The only one in range was Nora, and she went down again. The hag moved on Nora and tried to drag her into one of the arcane ritual glyphs. Eimir dodged an attack from an invunche and got an arrow into the hag. She just smiled and laughed.

While Glim, Valik and Telamon contended with the other invunche, Kainos decided it might be time to duck out as well. Corvid engaged Maw-Maw and with the aid of several enhanced items landed a massive amount of damage on her. Boots of speed and ring of the ram, coupled with his monk skills resulted in a series of devastating blows that knocked her across the room and freed Nora from her clutches. As the hag was about to cast a spell (Bad DM can’t recall who) one of the party pierced her hand with an arrow, pinning it to the cavern wall. Before the next attack could land there was a deafening clap of thunder and the light filtering in the broken ceiling began to shift. The winged kobold and the druid used the new confusion to teleport their fallen comrades away, and the barbarian slipped out the back. The hag looked confused and frantic as she tried to free her hand.

The next sound anyone heard was a pair of well-crafted boots walking down the tunnel from the hive area. Entering the room was a tall, pale man with sharp Elven features. The hair on his head stuck out in every direction and from the neck down he was completely covered in a cloak made of fine, white feathers. He commanded everyone to stop what they were doing. Three of the invunche’s head exploded at his glance. The fourth ran into the swamp. The hag looked genuinely panicked now. Amnon attempted to ask a question but the man shut him down and walked up to the hag, telling her that she had dipped her toes into pools she was forbidden from. He then spoke to her in Sylvan. Telamon was the only party member fluent in that language so he filled in the gaps later. Several others speak Elven so they picked up a few words and phrases to get the gist of it.

He told her that the ritual she was attempting could never work and the individual who gave her the idea had been manipulating her. Even though she had managed to ensnare a piece of an unborn god and house it the body of a dragon (one of the only creatures strong enough to hold it) the thing was not of this plane and could not be contained by anything of it. The source of Maw-Maw Sugar’s information has used her to create an imbalance in reality that is was going to exploit for it’s own purposes. He told her that he wasn’t there to punish her. His bargain was only to collect the godshard and return it home. He finished by saying, “You know who will be coming for you and soon, Jarella. Run now while you can.” Hearing her name spoken aloud enraged the hag and she attempted to claw the man but he dodged easily and backhanded her across the room. She morphed into a small bird a flew away. The man then walked across one of the arcane glyphs, causing it to pop like a bubble. He stepped up to the dragon and asked if it knew that it wouldn’t survive. The godshard would grow and consume the dragon, and removing it would also be fatal since it was bound by the dragon’s life force. The dragon snorted and asked him to make it quick.

The man produced an impossibility of item, a lean, curved blade that was only visible from a certain angle and caused light ripple around it, and he began to cut quickly. As the dragon breathed its last he leaned over and whispered, “He’ll remember you.” From inside the beast he puled out a large egg that glowed with golden white light. In his hand it turned into a sleeping baby- with one eye and hooks instead of hands. It stirred but he calmed it saying that he would be home soon, where he could cause the most fun.

In the shadows of the cavern small faces could be seen, and the man handed the infant god off to them. They produced something resembling a bassinet as the man instructed them to return home immediately with the utmost care. He’d follow shortly, he said, then he turned to the group and asked what he was to do with all of them. The party had all been revived, except Ogner, and Kainos managed to slip back inside the cavern. Be fore he did he saw Titus, badly wounded by bees, atop the cliff lighting a signal fire for reinforcements. As the man walked and surveyed the wounded Nora asked what his name was. He asked hers first and thought for a second. “Hmmm, close, but those first two letters... I do love to hear my name on the lips of others so you’ll have to listen for it.” Glim asked the man if he could bring Ogner back, because Ogner owed his soul to Glim. The man laughed and said Glim would have to get in line, Ogner was under the thumbs of beings who placed zero importance on the deals mortal make between themselves. He said yes, he could revive Ogner but what bargain did the party offer. As they thought quickly the man leaned over and with his impossible blade lifted Ogner’s amulet into the light. “I’ll take this, and your oath that you’ll stay out of my way as I gather the remaining shards and return them to their rightful place.” Eimir asked how they were supposed to know if they were getting in his way. “Your ignorance isn’t my concern. Decide!” Glim quickly agreed. As the man severed the cord of the necklace Ogner came back. He turned, “My business here is done. I apologize about your travel plans. Let’s not meet again.” And he turned into a large, white owl and flew away through one of the holes in the cavern ceiling. As the small faces in the shadows faded they all whispered, “goblin king. goblin king, goblin kiiiiing.”

Corvid, Surtur and Amnon did a quick check of the cavern exits and discovered that the swamp outside had been replaced with thick, temperate rain forest. The sky was twilight. The were in the feywild now. And that’s where we stopped.

And this is where I’m stopping being the DM for a while. Glim’s player is taking over that chair. When he’s done with his story I’ll pick up again for a session or two to add a bit more to my larger story. Then Amnon’s player will DM, then Kainos’s, with me filling in again in between them then coming back full time to wrap it all up. We should be at least level 25 by the time it’s all over. And if you’re wondering how a green hag could take so much damage it’s ‘cause I had to beef her up tremendously. There were eleven level five party members looking to bring the hurt so steps were taken. I won’t say what steps, exactly, in case she has a taste for revenge and manages to elude whoever is coming after her for what she’s done. I’m also done with writing recaps for the time being as well. Nora’s player is going to pick up the pen in my stead. I’ll be copy’pasting them here as she updates. If you’ve read along with any or all of these recaps I hope you enjoyed them.

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ART credit: Jareth the Goblin King by Marker-Mistress on deviantArt

#Dungeons and Dragons #D&D #bandits #green hag #invunche #black dragon #Goblin King #Jareth #feywild #gods #bigbenalpha

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terranoctis · 2 years

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put the record on

I’ve had the chance to consume a myriad of stories across different mediums this year and it’s something I’ve been so grateful for. Whether it’s sitting in the audience for the first time in awhile to see a Broadway play live or lying buried underneath my blankets reading a story I can enjoy alone, I loved it all. There are so many great artists and actors out there. Art’s beautiful that way, and it’s no wonder my heart is still drawn to it even after everything.

This post is a record for my own sake of my favorite stories I consumed this year, like I did in previous years. It’s always fun to give a retrospect into my favorite tales... at least the ones I remembered. There may be spoilers ahead.

Animation

1. Arcane

If you would have told me that my favorite piece of animated work in 2021 would have been a League of Legends show, I would have laughed at you. It’s undeniable how well-animated this work is though, and all the love that the studio artists and writers put into it. It’s a show that doesn’t require knowledge of the lore behind it because it weaves so beautifully into its exposition everything you need to know about Piltover. An issue I have with many animated shows and movies has to do with pacing, even my favorites. However, Arcane’s one of those rare pieces of gold that I find paces itself so well. The series effectively structures itself so well in a three-part season. Notable is the ending of the first part, the ending of episode 3, which cemented for me how much I was looking forward to the rest of this work.

Arcane is also one of the few shows I’ve found that has done so well a build-up of what is clearly a same-sex affection, and tastefully so. There’s the wonderful deconstruction of what makes a damaged villain like Jinx come into existence, and the empathy that we have as an audience with that. Arcane also does so well in balancing a large cast of main characters. Though Vi and Jinx are at its heart in driving this show, you are equally as invested in what the rest are pursuing. It’s also one of the few shows I’ve enthused about to both my geek and non-geek friends because I think it’s worth a watch from everyone. As someone who loves animation however, it’s a story I’ve loved all the more.

2. Raya and the Last Dragon

This is a movie I would have loved as a young girl, the same way I loved Mulan in my youth as a tomboy who loved playing with lightsabers and swords with all the boys she grew up with. It makes me so happy to see my toddler niece running around with a Raya sword because she wants to be Raya, and she sees herself as an Asian girl in Raya. Is it it the best Disney animated film? There will always be comparisons to previous films, but that’s not the question here. It’s genuinely one of my favorites in Disney’s history of films because of precisely how it hits on the head everything I usually love most in stories. That fantasy setting, that female protagonist, that animation of sword-fighting... There’s so much I could get into. It’s one of Disney Animation’s best work in terms of animation, from the way water was animated to how Raya’s fight with Namaari went. One of my favorite scenes in animation, period, is Raya walking up the stairs of Fang to battle Namaari. The score there is genius and the way the animation is blocked in that whole scene is stunning. It’s all the more impressive that this was largely completed by a team who had to work remote with the pandemic ongoing.

I do think there are pacing issues with the movie, which in some regards, may have been better executed as a TV series with the density of the main cast and the lore behind each nation. Nonetheless, I think the movie still does well with what time it is given and illustrates beautifully Raya’s journey--and by foil as well, Namaari’s character. The dynamic between Raya and Namaari is so well-written.

Games

1. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

I’m not quite caught up to Endwalker yet, but I’ve recently finished Shadowbringers. I understand finally why so many compliments were given to the story of this game as a whole. I thought Heavensward was what was the start of a great story, but Shadowbringers definitely surpasses it and elevates the game to another level. This may be perhaps due to all the years of content that came before it and allowed the world to flourish in Shadowbringers, because we see the story that started so long ago as a lowly Warrior of Light come to fruit. I can only imagine how much more that’s built upon in Endwalker, if anything of what I’ve surmised from the tail-end of Shadowbringers comes to light (pun intended).

Shadowbringers honestly has some of the best writing and plot across the entire Final Fantasy franchise, and I don’t say that lightly. Granted, I have not played all the Final Fantasy games, so perhaps my opinion is exaggerated in that regard. Nonetheless, what Shadowbringers allows itself to do with in the medium of the game is beautifully executed, from the minute details like the First being flooded in light constantly to all the conversations you have with your companions in the quests. Shadowbringers seems to have brought the game in general to a more fleshed out level, and doing it so in a separate world from the one you’ve been playing in. This has allowed it to be it’s own thing even while expanding on a world you know. I loved the world of the First, much more than the Source perhaps, even though our story remains with the Source. The finale of Shadowbringers with Emet-Selch has also been my favorite scene thus far. The Amaurot sequences by far are my favorite and I was quite invested with the whole story there. Emet-Selch’s quite a compelling antagonist because you empathize with his grief. Wouldn’t you too also tear to pieces a world that exists now for the world you lost?

Also, the story becomes that much more fun when you’re allowed to play as whatever you want in the game and experience it with others around you. The story weaves that multiplayer aspect quite beautifully into the finale. This is the only game I’ll mention for story this year because there’s no other story that has touched me quite as much as this one in the games I’ve played. Not that I’ve played much this year.

TV Shows

1. Wandavision

My friend and I had a long talk about what our favorite Marvel shows were, since we had several come out this year. When it came down to it, even though I found Loki the most fun and interesting (and will likely objectively be the strongest Marvel show), Wandavision was still my favorite in the long run. It’s not structured quite like what you would expect of a MCU work, but that’s what made it so likable to me. It also hit on the head for me all the warped senses of grief you go through as you lose someone, and does it so poignantly within a story of someone with superhero powers. There’s a thin line between a superhero and a villain with a powered individual because of how easily one can overwhelm the average human. Wandavision explores all of this and does it in such a witty and charming way, by framing each episode as a sitcom (and for good reason, you learn, by the end of the series). It’s a show that I don’t see the average MCU fan liking (as I learned from speaking to people in my life), but it’s what I absolutely loved. Elizabeth Olsen does such a fantastic job and I’m honestly looking that much more forward to the upcoming Doctor Strange because of this show and the setup from No Way Home.

2. You

I’ve been told numerous times about how good You is by one of my best friends and her boyfriend, so I finally started it earlier this year. I also recently finished the most recent season and somehow, surprisingly, for its concept, the third season still seems to be going strong. It’s a mark of a good TV show perhaps that the story still evolves out of a twisted concept of a man obsessed with love and affection. At first, I felt the first season was quite a good, completed story left open-ended. I would’ve been fine if it ended there, but the show somehow evolved and still got more interesting with the introduction and farewell of Love Quinn. Victoria Pedretti is phenomenal as always in everything so far, but this show works so effectively as well because of Penn Badgley. I’m not sure how the show will keep up its momentum in the next season, but here’s to hoping it does well, because thus far, it’s been a fun and twisted ride. It’s not the best story out there by any means, but it is a kind of sick fun to watch and talk about.

3. Squid Game

I won’t go into too much detail about this show because it’s been talked about to death by everyone I know. Nonetheless, I do think it is singularly one of the top shows of 2021 and deserves the mention in this post for record’s sake. It’s an absurd, yet wonderful piece of TV that is a larger testament to the problems of those in poverty juxtaposed against the top percenters who watch for their own amusement. Its themes are heavy yet it is also at heart, a classic battle royale of sorts. I do find it a little disturbing how much people like it, but at the same time, I like it myself, so I suppose I understand. It’s another display of Korean cinema at its finest which I’m glad is getting its past due attention in mainstream Western culture.

Live Action Films

1. Shoplifters

Early in the year, my friend and I went on a trip together to Sequoia. Every night of that trip, we saw at least one film that one or both of us were interested in seeing. One of the films I had always wanted to watch and one that we saw together was a Japanese film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda from 2018 called Shoplifters. It’s one of the few films I’ve seen in recent years that will perhaps come back to mind even years later, because even at the end of this year, I still think about it once in awhile. It’s a lonely, yet lovely film about a somewhat dysfunctional, impoverished family and the misguided way a family takes in a young girl (essentially kidnapping her) because she’s been neglected at home. They survive by shoplifting and the young girl learns how to shoplift as well while she stays with them. In a way, it’s a series of broken people wanting to take care of each other at its heart. The cinematography is lovely, but it’s the acting and the heartfelt story that cements it as one of my favorites, if not my favorite, of the year. Perhaps the film won’t be for everyone as an arthouse film, but it’s one I loved.

2. In the Heights

Despite the film’s controversy with colorism, and understandably so, I do think this was the most fun I’ve had with a film this year. I absolutely loved Jon M. Chu’s direction for the film and I loved the cast. I have yet to see the new West Side Story, but as far as I’ve seen so far, this is my favorite musical film by far. Ever. It’s modern and colorful, yet keeps the beating heart of what makes In the Heights so fun.

3. Spider-Man: No Way Home

I’d be remiss not to mention my favorite MCU film this year. How could you not love the culmination of what is years of Spider-Man in film? It’s a homage to all those who have grown up on Spider-Man films and also ones who have fallen in love with Holland’s MCU Spider-Man. In general, it’s just a fun Spider-Man film that feels like it has a fitting end that scales his stakes down to what I’ve always associated with Spider-Man--your local neighborhood Spider-Man in New York. It makes me so excited for the future of Spider-Man in the next film(s).

4. Dune

One of my favorite directors is Denis Villenueve One of the science-fiction books I respect the most (for its sheer influence on everything I’ve watched and read growing up) is Dune. It’s no surprise then that these two put together resulted in what is probably my favorite film I’ve seen this year. Is it a masterpiece film? Perhaps not in story, just yet, since the greater bulk of story comes in the latter half of the novel. But in terms of film, this is one of the best pieces of cinematography I’ve seen for any film and I loved deeply the way the story has been executed thus far. Dune is a dense world, so much so I had doubts about how they would execute this in a film. For its source content, Denis did a phenomenal job and it’s clear to me he knew the book as well as anyone else who loved the novel. This is one of the best sci-fi adaptations I’ve seen and it’ll only get better with the next part.

Miscellaneous Media

1. Hadestown

I got to see my first Broadway show on Broadway, and it happens to be one of my favorites. I was absolutely in love with Hadestown over the pandemic and it’s been one of my highlights in music for the past year. As it turned out while I was in New York, Broadway opened up again. So my friend and I went to see it and it was an absolute delight to experience. Don’t get me wrong, the soundtrack alone is already phenomenal, but to see it live is ten times more satisfying. You see the little details that go into building and crafting the setting of the underworld, such as the costume design of the workers and the depths that are painted with the stage and its rotating design. Eva Noblezada makes it seem so utterly effortless to sing live as Eurydice, and it was quite a joy to get to see her and Amber Gray live. I’m so glad I took the time to see this because live music is always a joy of mine.

2. Critical Role: Campaign 2 & 3

The year’s felt so long that I almost forgot Campaign 2 ended this year. What a joy to see the Mighty Nein come full circle to save Mollymauk, one of their original companions, and kill the being who was trying to use their friend’s body to resurrect an evil city. Though Vox Machina is near and dear to my heart, there was something about the Mighty Nein I was so utterly fond of. Perhaps it’s because they are more screw-ups that somehow came together. Vox Machina were always more heroes than not. The Mighty Nein were those trying to survive who got swept into larger plots in quite amusing ways. I’ll never forget, for example, how they accidentally became pirates when they had originally meant to just spy on a meeting. I’ll love Jester’s antics for the rest of time because it’s refreshing to have a group of fantasy adventurers where a young woman connives her way into people’s hearts by being a good one and bringing joy into their lives. The story of her and the Traveler makes me so utterly fond of everything that was her character and I don’t think we’ll ever have a character quite like Jester again in the series... which I’m okay with. The chemistry between the cast members remains whole and intact and it’s quite beautiful to see it flourish as they interact with one another as different characters and with different dynamics. The same can be said for Campaign 3, which I happened to get to see live in a theater with other fans. As always, it’s been a joy watching Critical Role.

Literature

1. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

I still think about this depiction of a multi-verse quite often. I’ve elaborated my thoughts in a previous post found here. Still utterly fascinating the way Cara, our narrator, came into where she is now. In every world, in every universe, perhaps there is a Cara that meets her special someone.

2. The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

Never forget the tale of Hamlet as told by a rock, as I like to joke about this story. Nonetheless, it’s quite a good read and a wonderful depiction of gods in a world of humans. It’s one of the few books I’ve read that so effectively hides details with the narrator and gives way at the conclusion when you understand the little comments the narrator has made along the way. A longer post about this book has been made here.

3. The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

I truly loved this book, and even though it was the first book I read this year, it’s still my favorite. It’s a love letter to New York overall, but it’s also a love letter to diversity and the way it comes together to be better. The concept of cities being living beings is so powerful and yet beautifully written in this novel. More thoughts on this novel can be found here.

4. Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

It was quite fascinating to finally read the details of behind-the-scenes work into investigating Harvey Weinstein and his years of abusing his power. I remember reading the piece years ago Farrow wrote for the New Yorker on Weinstein. It was more fascinating to read all about his work and the ways he was pressed not to finish the story behind it all. Farrow generally is also a witty writer so his story comes off in quite an engaging manner that I don’t believe all reporters have. As far as investigative reporting books go, this is probably one of the most engaging I’ve read.

#personal #readings and ramblings

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eddycurrents · 6 years

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For the week of 13 August 2018

Quick Bits:

Astonishing X-Men Annual #1 is a rather dark tale of reuniting the remaining members of the original five X-Men and the current creature claiming to be Charles Xavier running around as X. Given his attitude in Charles Soule’s run and now in this story penned by Matthew Rosenberg, there still seems to be something very wrong with the once altruistic, peaceful founder of the team. I personally don’t really like this character, but it still leads to a good story from Rosenberg, Travel Foreman, and Jim Charalampidis.

| Published by Marvel

By Night #3 is another fun issue with a bit of a twist as we follow Heather’s father and Jane’s co-worker instead of the women. The voice John Allison gives to Heather’s father, Chip, is hilarious, the perfect mix of no-nonsense “dad” thought and aimless absurdity.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / Boom! Box

Cable & Deadpool Annual #1 is a very entertaining issue of time-travel nonsense and Deadpool being tricked into a recreation of the plot of Terminator from an obsessive stalker. David F. Walker packs this story with humour, creepy lesson teaching, and a bit of a monologue on the nature of comics storytelling. All nicely illustrated by a rogues gallery of Paco Diaz, Danilo S. Beyruth, Nick Bradshaw, Luke Ross, Marco Rudy, Edgar Salazar, Flaviano, Francesco Manna, Leonard Kirk, Chris Sotomayor, and Jason Keith.

| Published by Marvel

Coda #4 packs the issue with more stunning artwork, from character designs to page layouts and panel transitions, by Matías Bergara (with colour assists from Michael Doig). This series is just a visual treat. It also helps that the story from Bergara and Si Spurrier is equally incredible, taking many of the traditional forms and modes of fantasy literature and turning them into something new. The opening poem outlining the fall of the world and the rise of Sir Hum’s wife is particularly inspired.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Coyotes #5 is a welcome return for this series after the trade break, beginning a new story-arc that goes more in depth to the history between the wolves and the grandmothers, as the book’s purpose pivots to the offence. I love the ingenuity of the mythology of this story being built by Sean Lewis and Caitlin Yarsky. Also, like the first four issues, Yarsky’s art is just stunning.

| Published by Image

Crowded #1 is great. The concept of tapping into our current app-driven and crowdfunded world is brilliant, especially as extended to an assassination app in reapr. Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, Triona Farrell, and Cardinal Rae seem to have captured magic in a bottle here and the execution is just phenomenal. The characters of Charlie and Vita are instantly relatable, the premise is on fire, and the art is exceptional. I really want to see what Charlie isn’t telling us.

| Published by Image

Ether: Copper Golems #4 is another stunning visual feast from David Rubín. Seriously, he has outdone himself this issue, as he handles the usual fantasy sequences, then changes art styles several times as we get our characters living out some of their fantasies. His work is just stunning. The story that he and Matt Kindt are telling just keeps getting better and better.

| Published by Dark Horse

Extermination #1 begins the next big X-Men event with a bang as past, present, future, and alternate universes collide in this explosive issue. I feel like discussing just about any piece of it is a spoiler, so I’ll just suggest that if you’re at all interested in the original five brought to our time, you need to read this. Ed Brisson, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Gracia present an impressive opening salvo.

| Published by Marvel

Flavor #4 is a bit of a piece-shuffling issue, as Xoo spends a bit of time in jail and we get a couple more hints as to the something that is being done with children. Although we still don’t know what, and a bit of a revelation of Anant’s mother. Joseph Keatinge, Wook Jin Clark, and Tamra Bonvillain continue to work wonders on this series. Highly recommended for all ages.

| Published by Image

Gideon Falls #6 ups the level of weird in this concluding chapter of the first arc. To say that the implications of that final page are confusing, compelling, and chilling is an understatement, as Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, and Dave Stewart construct one of the oddest instalments of this series yet. A lot of this series has been in building tone and atmosphere, spooky unexplained happenings, and here the story goes full David Lynch. It’s wonderful.

| Published by Image

The Gravediggers Union #9 is the conclusion to what has been an exciting and different take on the occult and elder gods mythology from Wes Craig, Toby Cypress, and Niko Guardia. Fittingly, this end comes down to the family conflict that this arc has revolved around, and it’s a well played out finale. I highly recommend this series.

| Published by Image

Hunt for Wolverine: The Claws of a Killer #4 is probably the least satisfying “conclusion” of these minis so far, giving us a kind of hand-wavy explanation for what they were tracking, no insight into the organization who brought about these zombies while resurrecting family members, and Daken shuffled off to who knows where. Mariko Tamaki successfully captures the tone and atmosphere of many of the original Wolverine series stories laced with action and black ops, but unfortunately also carries on its tradition of obfuscation instead of an enticing mystery. Nice art from Butch Guice, Mack Chater, Cam Smith, and Jordan Boyd, though.

| Published by Marvel

Ice Cream Man #6 is highly inventive, even for a series as highly imaginative already that this one is. Instead of one story, here, W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran give us three different flavours to fulfill the “Strange Neapolitan”. It’s a mostly silent issue of three different paths our protagonist can possibly take with each of them presenting their own flavour of horror. This is a really great issue.

| Published by Image

Infinity Wars #2 is pretty damn epic. I know that the pieces will be reshuffled and everything will be put back together more or less as we found it, but hot damn are Gerry Duggan, Mike Deodato Jr., and Frank Martin working overtime to tell a heavy story here. The art is some of the best I’ve ever seen from Deodato and Martin and the stakes have just ratcheted through the roof. I’m loving every moment of this book so far.

| Published by Marvel

The Lost City Explorers #3 is still doling out the tension as the kids continue to try to evade Sagan security on their way to try to find Hel and Homer Coates’ father’s discovery site under New York City. We’re still only get bits and pieces before a revelation of whatever the discovery actually is, but Zack Kaplan, Alvaro Sarraseca, and Dee Cunniffe are still presenting a compelling story.

| Published by AfterShock

Luke Cage #1 is another digital original like Cloak & Dagger and Jessica Jones, and also like the latter series offers two chapters at once, and is really rather good, from Anthony Del Col, Jahnoy Lindsay, and Ian Herring. This sets up an interesting mystery of a strange kind of serial killer, the possibility of Luke suffering from CTE, and the wonderful family dynamic between Luke and his daughter.

| Published by Marvel

The Magic Order #3 continues as a slow burn as Madame Albany and her coterie keep working their way through murdering her family members, all while those family members attempt to track down information on who her assassin is and how to stop him. Mark Millar, Olivier Coipel, and Dave Stewart are crafting a wonderful story here that reminds me a bit of Wanted, but good and about magic.

| Published by Image

Multiple Man #3 takes a particularly dark turn as Matthew Rosenberg, Andy MacDonald, and Tamra Bonvillain toss us into the dark future where an evil Madrox reigns. Of the dark futures where the X-Men stories have taken place, this is probably one of the most twisted, even as Rosenberg peppers it with some nice humour. The throw rug in particular is hilarious.

| Published by Marvel

Ninja-K #10 is a single issue story focusing on Ninja-H and the horrors that soldiers can have to deal with and how they sometimes cope with it. It has some great art from Larry Stroman, Ryan Winn, and Andrew Dalhouse.

| Published by Valiant

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #308 is probably the best issue of this series since Chip Zdarsky and Michael Walsh’s single issue story of Peter and Jonah hashing it out in issue 6. Zdarsky shows us here that he really excels at getting into the head’s of some of the characters, giving us a good look from their perspective, and humanizing them. He does that here with Flint Marko, the Sandman, and it feels like an interesting transition to something else. It also helps that it’s wonderfully illustrated by Chris Bachalo and his usual team of inkers of Tim Townsend, Al Vey, Wayne Faucher, and John Livesay. This is a great start and I’m excited to see what comes next for this story.

| Published by Marvel

Rumble #6 begins this volume’s second arc and is the other series with glorious David Rubín artwork this week (this one with colours from Dave Stewart). I love this book, with its fun mix of humour and arcane magic and fantasy, and how John Arcudi, originally James Harren, now Rubín have built the characters, the overall story, and the absolutely beautiful artwork.

| Published by Image

Stellar #3 takes an interesting look at the existential price of war and at the notion of “you can never go home again” in this somewhat depressing, but no less entertaining, issue.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Thor #4 is the glorious conclusion to this opening arc sending Thor to Niffleheim to fight Sindr in this leg of the War of the Realms. The artwork from Mike del Mundo is incredible.

| Published by Marvel

Tony Stark: Iron Man #3 builds another largely single issue story into the larger arc, with a beta test of Tony’s new eScape platform. I like how Dan Slott and Valerio Schiti have been approaching this series and building up Stark’s supporting cast, while also progressing the recurring subplot of Bethany Cabe’s subterfuge and X-51′s newfound robot rights activism.

| Published by Marvel

Volition #1 is another interesting debut from AfterShock, this time focusing on a world featuring artificial intelligence that hasn’t sparked an apocalypse, instead adapting and continuing on as just another class within society, fighting to survive and combat prejudice like their human counterparts, as created by Ryan Parrott and Omar Francia. The art is gorgeous and a real driving factor for the story, Francia’s style reminds me a bit of JG Jones and it’s incredible.

| Published by AfterShock

Weapon H #6 continues to be that weird, offbeat comic from Marvel that used to be published in the ‘80s or ‘90s that nobody read, but was actually rather good. Greg Pak has been doing a great job of building up this rather eclectic cast of characters and the art has been wonderful. Here Ario Anindito takes on the art chores with Morry Hollowell and it’s quite nice. His style reminds me a bit of Brian Hurtt mixed with Leinil Yu and it really fits the gritty action of the story.

| Published by Marvel

Weapon X #22 is more irreverent fun with the “new” Weapon X-Force team as they follow the money instead of altruistic reasons for saving people (though their second mission out already sees a reversion to the old remit). It’s a not-so-serious take on what is almost a team entirely composed of villains with a good sense of humour and action from Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Yildiray Cinar, and Frank D’Armata. It’s also another good place for some obscure X-mythology insertions and follow-ups in the story.

| Published by Marvel

The Weatherman #3 continues to keep readers a little off balance with some of the elements in the story, echoing what’s going on with out protagonist, Nathan Bright. Jody LeHeup, Nathan Fox, and Dave Stewart are crafting something here that feels a lot like some of the zanier action strips from 2000 AD and it’s pretty glorious.

| Published by Image

Other Highlights: Analog #5, Babyteeth #12, Cinema Purgatorio #15, Crude #5, Deadpool: Assassin #5, Doctor Strange #4, Edge of Spider-Geddon #1, Evolution #9, Infinity 8 #5, Jeepers Creepers #4, Jim Henson’s Beneath the Dark Crystal #2, Jughead: The Hunger #7, Mage: The Hero Denied #11, Manifest Destiny #36, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #30, Mysticons - Volume 1, Proxima Centauri #3, RuinWorld #2, Sherlock Holmes: The Vanishing Man #4, Spider: School’s Out #6, Star Trek: The Next Generation - Terra Incognita #2, Star Wars: Beckett #1, Star Wars: Poe Dameron #30, Summit #8, TMNT: Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road #3, TMNT: Urban Legends #4, Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #5, The Wicked + The Divine #38, Witchfinder: The Gates of Heaven #4

Recommended Collections: Bettie Page - Volume 2: Model Agent, East of West - Volume 8, Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories - Volume 2, Kill or Be Killed - Volume 4, Old Man Hawkeye - Volume 1: An Eye for an Eye, , Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man - Volume 3: Amazing Fantasy, Rose - Volume 2, Transformers: Lost Light - Volume 3

d. emerson eddy has now been doing this incarnation of weekly round-ups for a year. Has it really been that long?

#This Week in Comics

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aliceflutez · 6 years

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@duskthicketbonepicker

Here you go! I’m hiding this under a cut because, well

Soot:

Mercenary queen with way too much attitude and a triple coal? I love her already tbh. Plus, what lesbian doesn’t love antiquing? She kinda just seems like every protagonist I’d love way too much.

Kizmetto:

A+ dragonsona, definitely has this adorable look of “scattered but ridiculously friendly” to her. She kind of reminds me of an old friend of mine in all the best ways. I’d let her decorate my house for sure, although I’d have to tell her to stick with jasmine since I’m not a fan of sandalwood. Some amazing art in her bio too!

Lotus:

So, my impression from just looking at her was geek, and then I read her bio and realized that she’s more of a socialite with her life 1000x more together than mine will be for years! I love her colour scheme, and all the little touches in her bio that make her really come to life. She just seems like she’s one of those people who it would be calming to even just be near. I love her.

Tolarian:

Tolarian just looked like a friend right from the start and oh boy was I right. I just want to sit with her somewhere in the resort and relax and chat about whatever she felt like that day. I think she’d have the same sort of vibe as my best friend. I’ve gotta ask, was she intended to be kind of autistic coded? The friend I mentioned has Asperger’s, and so many of her quirks seems similar to him.

Itzel:

Itzel seems like she’d be the sort of person who would be coming through my work ordering eight shots of espresso three times a day along with her boss’ coffee. Always weighed down with at least one massive bag and a list of things to get done before she could stop to think. I love the feeling of ambition and energy I get from her though? I’m guessing her relationship with Xoco is mostly strained because of her sister’s… religious choices?

Caius:

Caius just seems like he should be giving me a quest already. I’ve got such a clear image of him from just his bio though, I love it! Plus he’s got such gorgeous colours and an amazing outfit to go with it… I’d definitely spend a day chatting up that mysterious old guy on the beach. I think I’d learn a lot.

Rhonda:

Okay so I’m in love with this adorable lifeguard already? Her and Ketut seem like such a great couple, especially since you go into how much they’ve grown as a pair. I’m not generally into reading romance stories but oh my god I want to read about those two. Plus, she just seems like such a kind person in her own way? It just makes me happy that she’s happy.

Ketut:

The other half of the happy couple! And he’s a fellow bisexual who’s a little useless with his feelings, I love him already! He’s also another one who just falls into a personality type that I love the second I read about them. Totally unrelated to most of my thoughts on him, I have a feeling at some point he’s tried to make a drink to match Rhonda’s scales, but given up since he can’t make it half as beautiful as her.

Aria:

I remember seeing Aria when you first hatched her, of my gosh she’s so pretty gened up with that accent! I’m weak for skydancer girls even on the worst of days, but she just looks so delicately beautiful I want to protect her with my life? I can see her just lounging in the shade on the beach, watching some hatchlings splash and play in the surf and just loving life.

Jaya:

Right off the bat I just got the vibe of “Queen” from Jaya, but I couldn’t be more happy that I was a little bit off. The area where I live is a semi-desert, so the feeling of a warm summer wind is one that I’ve known all my life. All the dangling trinkets in her outfit are such a cute touch, I’m guessing it’s kind of a sensory thing with all the sounds of them moving in the wind when she flies?

Noir:

OH my gosh his backstory makes me want to cry. He definitely didn’t deserve to lose his charge, and yet he hasn’t let it make him bitter. I just want him to find a nice, loving home and settle down. He deserves it.

Aegis:

I have a vague memory of seeing him in posts of yours before since the second I read his name I thought “Oh you little shit.” I hadn’t read his backstory before though, and that would certainly explain some of why he might be a bit of a hooligan! I think he and my random progen Karmanor would probably get along really well, but get into way too much trouble.

Angelo:

My first thought with him was “What a soft boy” and then I read the first line of his bio and burst out laughing. I just want to sit with him in his garden by the lavender and relax? Also I hope that mysterious tundra gal is his sister, but if she hurts him I might die.

Rinoa:

Oh sweet, she IS his sister. And a ranger too! She seems pretty mellow, although that might just be the feeling I get from anyone who likes the smell of pine. It reminds me of hiking in the summers with my family, there’s not a more relaxing smell in the world.

Xoco:

Back to the little sister! I love her aesthetic, it’s an unexpected mix but it works so well. It adds so much depth to her character that she isn’t just your stereo typical vicious “A sacrifice for my gods” type. I like her more than I expected to when I heard about her rocky relationship with her sister?

Quill:

I had such a clear feeling of who he was from the first three paragraphs of his bio, oh my god! I’d love to be able to write like that. Plus, I’ve always got a soft spot for calligraphers since I dabble in it a bit myself. Do you think Lotus plays at his exhibitions?

Trellis:

The last sister! I love how each of them has such a clearly different personality from their apparel without sacrificing the colour scheme that makes it so clear that they’re related. It’s cute that she’s so shy with Dahlia, do they end up together eventually? Also, does she ever braid some of her flowers into Xoco’s mane? I’d kind of like to think that’s where she gets the roses from.

Karazh:

Oooh, progen time! He seems so nice and relaxed! I’m not much of a tea person myself, but I’d definitely give his a shot. I like that he has almost the same feeling to him as Caius, but almost… gentler?

Almasi:

And progen #2! I love how her personality is a bit of a foil to Karazh’s. It’d definitely take a lot of mutual respect for that relationship to be work well. Her bio seems to hint that she did something in the past that it felt like she needed to be punished for, was that how you switched from your old lore clan to the new one?

Apollo:

Oh my gosh, I love Apollo’s aesthetic, but that boy is just so damn bitter. Like, bought an entire hot topic and writes terrible poems bitter. I hope he gets a happy ending, but he’d better change that damn attitude to deserve it.

Zanthe:

I love the concept behind her backstory! I’m not generally a huge fan of pearlcatchers, but the kelpie mane looks great on her and really adds to that half-imp look. For her singing, is there a person you have in mind that she might sound like?

Ylva:

Ylva is tough as nails, and I’m not talking physically! I’m guessing she was a bit of a therapeutic character for you, and I’m so glad you let her have a happy ending! She kind of reminds me of my girl Nemesis when it comes to looks, although Nemesis is shade-touched.

Dock:

To be honest, all I can think to say about Dock is that he’s so completely dumb and I love him. Also he looks great with that skin! Seems like a nice buoy overall

Raine:

She almost gives off a kind of burlesque/jazz vibe? I love the mystique and charm in the way you write her, it makes me want to go hear her sing. I can see her singing Don’t Know Why (maybe not the original version by Nora Jones though)

Pjeper:

Pjeper just seems like such a chaotic little imp and I love him. So much energy and nothing to do with it, poor guy. Hopefully he gets a job soon.

Dahlia:

She’s such a stubborn, gentle mess and I love her? I’m always 1000000% here for ace nerds, and she just seems so sweet with her tea and her cats. I think she’d get along well with my progen Khione, although Khione’s research mostly focuses on magic.

Apex:

I love the fact that in spite of being an antisocial person Apex still does an incredibly important job at the resort! It kind of surprises me that she’d ever leave, even for important research. Is the resort her charge or does she not have one yet?

Toxicity:

Ooh, the radioactive version of my boy Visha! He’s definitely quite the character. I can’t decide if I love him or hate him, and I think that’s exactly the perfect place for him to be as a character. I wonder how a lab coat would look layered under his jacket, but I doubt he’d ever bother to wear one.

Nylon:

She gives off the creepiest vibe and I love it. Toxicity may be love/hate, but she’s definitely more love-to-hate. I feel super bad for their kid tbh.

Baleful:

Oh my gosh I want to rescue this potentially sweet child. I’m sure one of the dragons in my clan could make her some special sunglasses and noise cancelling headphones so she could go out and enjoy the world. Visha’s used to leaking toxins, I’m sure he could help with the spines.

Jargon:

I love this clumsy formerly little nerd? I mean, he might not have much in the way of social skills but by golly he knows what he likes. I feel kinda bad for Raine, Zanthe, and Khayyat though. Hopefully he gets the hang of dealing with things like that.

Glyph:

It hurts me a little that Glyph isn’t an Arcane dragon but I love her anyways? I bet she can do a lot just by humming with a bogsneak throat. Her art is so cute too, I love how innocent and sweet she looks in it!

Arjun:

At least he’s honest about being a jerk? Honestly though, all I can think about is which of the girls in my clan could kick his ass in the most humiliating way possible because pretty much all of them would hate him.

Fafnir:

Oh my gosh she’s so beautiful! Too bad she’s stuck with Arjun. I think my girl Nerio would literally love her to pieces. Her accent is amazing too, I might have to see if I can hunt down a copy.

Kataki:

Honestly from the feeling I get of her, that chibi in the top of her bio sums up Kataki perfectly. I feel like she’s always diving headfirst into literally everything in her life, and it’s such a beautiful mess. I doubt Fafnir always appreciates it though xD

Rosyth:

He seems like such a friendly, quirky guy? If he ever stopped by my clan he’d get along great with Nyx! I love that in spite of being an astronomer he’s still so social and charismatic, it’s a neat little detail to him.

Rug:

Ooh, another little twerp!! I can see some of his personality really suiting a ridgeback, but he’s so perfect as a mirror. Another boy Karmanor shouldn’t be allowed within a few hundred kilometers of or they’d somehow cause even more trouble than they normally would.

Fatalis:

Her art looks so cute oh my gosh! I love the concept behind her revival, and the detail with the wings. Hopefully she settles into modern Sornieth soon, she deserves it.

Xiack:

�� I just knew he was going to be a bit of a dick just looking at him. Awesome fandragon though, and I love all the little details about his radio station! (I’d probably listen to it)

Prompto

I love all his pets oh my gosh! I bet his room is stuffed full of photos of them all. I have a feeling he’s a fandragon for something I don’t know, but even without knowing he’s a really neat dragon. Based on his looks and the theoretical photos of his pets it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s made a ton of “memes” (or whatever Sornieth’s equivalent might be) based on them

Melon:

Oh my gosh that drink sounds delicious. And I’m so glad melon is as sweet as her drink! I bet she and Ketut get along great!

Pina:

Tiny dragon with a mouthful of a name there! She seems like such a sweet kid, I’m glad she’s found a great older sister! And that art is so sweet, it’s a whole story in one photo.

Levia:

Oh my gosh she’s beautiful! I have a feeling there’s some great big myth about what might’ve happened when someone ticked her off that she just laughs at. Her accent is incredible though, I might need a copy for Artemis.

Thayne:

Baby sis sea monster! She’s just so sweet and ethereal. I love that choice of gif for her bio too, bioluminescent algae is neat stuff.

Voltaic:

Oh my gosh poor boy! He did so much for Mercury… I don’t see him in your lair so I’m guessing nothing there ended well at all. I hope he gets over it…

Dune:

Oh my gosh that boy is so impossibly lucky! I bet his honey gets used in a ton of wines around the resort. And with all of Trellis’s flowers around they’d taste amazing!

Max:

Her bio really makes me want to finally play life is strange. I love the layout on it too, it was incredibly easy to keep reading through. Overall she’s a really great fandragon!

Chloe:

She’s so beautifully blue oh my gosh! Her outfit matches the character so well too. A great match for your Max.

Rachel:

Her outfit is simple but I like it? The fire is a nice touch from what I’ve read in her bio too, plus is brings out her tert so well! Maybe the teardrop jade earrings would match the ones she wears in the gifs?

Ixalan:

I love how humble Ixalan is about his skills! He seems like an incredible person to work with/under, I’d love to have a mentor like that someday myself. That’s some awesome pixel art in his bio too, it’s a great touch.

Swampthing:

Oh my gosh she’s the most catlike griffin I’ve heard about in a long time. Hopefully the hatchlings stop treating her so badly eventually, she’s just trying her best. Also, I feel the pain of that scatter history, that’s why I stopped keeping them.

Aquila:

I just looked at him and gasped tbh. That accent looks so gorgeous with his colours! He may not have much lore, but damn that boy is a warrior.

Aerie:

Oh my gosh she’s so striking! If she’s a little arrogant at times she’s earned it in my opinion. Who’s her main contact at the resort? I can see so many funny communication errors happening with her and a few of the dragons xD

Escha:

Almost as striking as Aerie, but so much gloomier, geez. He’s like the worst traits of a vulture and a magpie all rolled up into one. I’d say he’s quite the character telling stories around the fire, but he probably avoids them like the plague.

Odary:

She may not have lore yet but oh my gosh she’s so elegant! I could totally see her being some type of priestess or dancer. Either way she’s amazing.

Horus:

Well this boy is just a recipe for disaster. Amazing outfit and accent though, I love how the light plays against the dark.

Gil:

Oh jeez Gil don’t let Tox and Nylon make the next Frankenstein. I love his colours though, that greyscale with the hints of blue and red is incredible. I never realized powerpack added those extra horns until I saw it on him. I think my brain is broken now.

Matoya:

Such a gorgeous geode oh my gosh! Now if only all her grandkids weren’t so darn ungrateful… At least she has Jaya and Angelo around. I didn’t realize her name was from final fantasy until I clicked on the theme song link, but I forgot how much I love the soundtrack for those games! (Never played them, just love orchestral/classical music)

Eirin:

Jeez, what a nerd xD He’s such a sweet boy though, and I love that idea of the comet being used as a lens/projector! Maybe since he’s from wind he could even have enough magic to stir up a fog and do some 3d?

Able:

Such a cute messy boy! I love that autumn aesthetic, and the flower nymph is a perfect match!

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