#you have no idea how proud I am of the proportions thou

[strawbearri-frog]

oc stuff….. my baby Flight <3

[alexandersimpleton]

Y'know, I ended up rereading some of the series to make something, and I'm now starting to realize that Blaine is massive d***.

Even if you exclude the gaslighting and beating of Frederick, he's a total jerk to literally everyone. He basically bullies Dandridge (I'm probably spelling that wrong), because he has a crush on a girl. He's really egotistical, and has this holier than thou attitude with almost everyone, including his own family. He is a smug d*** in the worst way possible, and I'm saying that as a proud smug jerk, so you know it's bad. He lectures everyone else, and his inflated ego just makes me angry. I have no idea how I didn't notice this on the first read, but I'm noticing it now, and I'm pissed off that this borderline narcissistic behavior gets encouraged by everyone around him for almost the whole series. You could say that the recital was him comeuppance, but after it he gets comforted by Maria like he isn't a total b****. He's just so vindictive, he has an inflated ego the size of Jupiter, and he treats everyone around him like inferiors.

And again, this is almost completely excluding his relationship with Frederick. His holier than thou attitude is blown up to monstrous proportions whenever he talks with him. He beats Frederick, calls him names, and gaslights him, while still thinking that he's some perfect angel and that Frederick is at fault for everything. He's so hypocritical with Frederick, saying horrible things to his face, and then hitting him for saying something remotely similar about Gwen. He rats Frederick to their father, who he's said himself that he doesn't feel same around, for literally no reason other than spite. He treats his own brother like a god damn cockroach and it's encouraged by the narrative. Considering all that's happening to Frederick over a single insult, I'm franky offended by how Blaine and narcissistic, self centered attitude, not only goes completely unpunished, but gets encouraged. Later in there series, when they reconnect, there is no change whatsoever from Blaine. Sure he starts kinda thinking of Frederick better, but he doesn't try to treat him any better. I mean, he doesn't treat Frederick like a cockroach anymore, but he really doesn't treat him much better. He still talked to Frederick like he's some inferior being that he has to push along. And Frederick is just expected to play along. Frederick did agree to the marriages, but I think I know how Blaine would have reacted if he didn't. Blaine would have forced two LITTERAL CHILDREN to get married and spend the rest of their lives chained together, because he's Blaine, and Blaine is the only important person on the planet and everyone are inferior being looking up to their god in hopes of guidance. "Oh, who cares that they're 17? Let's get married!" "Oh, who cares that Frederick is afraid of Gwen and flinching when she makes sudden movements? Gwen is lovely and Frederick deserves to get beaten and coerced into child marriage by his own family, and this is absolute and right because I am Blaine and I think so and I an always right and Frederick is always wrong because I am a perfect angel sent from heaven and Frederick is just a dog at my heal."

In conclusion: BLAINE IS A FUCKING BITCH

[phoenixpinks]

Things Team Lazarus said during EoD starters

"When all else fails, Lex Luthor intends to kill Superman with Death." "HOLY BAT, BATMAN!" "WAIT SO WAIT WHAT???" "We're not in any danger! We're just nerds solving riddles on the internet!" "I ain't dressing up every night to find someone to punch" "I don't need to dress up every night to find someone to punch" "my son won't respond to my texts about wearing a bullet proof best, he is so grounded" "HELLO NAUGHTY CHILDREN IT'S TIME FOR FEAR" "NO FORTS. ONLY JUSTICE." "we're conventing court in the fort" "We pun to forget tears though" "Im gonna release all of these come the end of this, nothing is sacred" "he faked his death to get away from us" "but, it's all in good pun" "This is our life now" "you could have fit a meme in there" "oh god it is going to be a time thing" "yes how dare you say a meme I don't know, or whatever that is" "it only hurts if you let it hurt" "lies, I almost cried last night I will have none of your nonsense" "i am of a sensitive disposition. everything hurts" "Worse than my solving my problems with ___ and cocaine idea?" "you don't mix ANYTHING with cocaine, instant death" "Can I mix water with cocaine" "I may not have a coffee problem but I am surrouned by 5 different types of soda cans rn" "the soccer van, but for super villains" "we can alwats tie some people to the top of the car with bungee cords" "free test subject right here" "Ya'll gnna get yourselves killed" "My guy I'm lowekey terrified 24/7." "you're always screaming" "ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT" "I'M NOT SURE ABOUT ANYTHING" "you do not need to focus on that" "bye whoever’s leaving, I can't keep track of all of you" "you're attractive and love crime, I'm attractive and love crime. Let's be attractive and commit crimes together." "Dr we will never send puns again if you promise to stop getting into death traps" "I only said it was nice to see him again with the living. I may not sound it, but I'm absolutely ecstatic" "wow I mean he's probably not the best at running" "Kick him in the knees" "Hes DIED, He'll be fine" "I COME HOME TO PAIN!!!!" "fuck you ____ you suck at taking care of yourself" "Yes now shut up and sleep in a bed tonight instead of a ditch" "Being unconscious does not count as sleep" "IT'S NOT THE PUNISHMENT YOU DESERVE, BUT IT'S THE PUNISHMENT YOU NEED" 'We need justice for these puns" "Honestly anyone int he crowd might have snapped and shit him just to shut him up" "it was me guys" "you did the world a service fam" "YOU HAVE TAINTED HIM" "WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE, ____" "Nnnnnng that hurt me" "i gtg, I want to finish this report before 3 A.M" "procrastination at its finest" "get in losers we're going spooping" "Why have we formed a cult" "This was not what i expected when i first asked to join the skype group" "All groups of friends make cults at some point" "would it be irresponsible of me to send a message saying 'run bitch run'? "WHEN I TOLD HIM TO KICK ASS AND TAKE NAMES THIS ISN'T WHAT I MEANT" "I GO ON WARCRAFT FOR TEN FUCKING MINUTES AND IT ALL GOES TO SHIT" "I instinctively covered my ears at the gunshots but then I remembered I was wearing headphones" *does the 'I'm so smart' dance "Mother always told me I was special" "I hope we're blowing this way out of proportion but at the same time this would be a hilarious plot twist" "WHOO BOY SCREENSHOT" "He's moved from senpai to fam" "He's probably lughing in his cellar" "dial dow the thirst there my dude lmao, ily thou" "I for one always overreact" "I never overreact. WHY. ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPLY SOMETHING" "___ ARE YOU ON HELIUM???" "I COME BACK AND WHAT DO I FIND" "WHY CAN'T THE RIDDLES LEAD SOMEWHERE SAFE!?! LIKW I DON'T KNOW! A DUCK POND OR I DON'T KNOW!!" "because my mind went from 'do we know any duck themed villains' to that weird French duck from courage the cowardly dog" "SHE'S HATING ON MY BOI JULIUS CAESAR" "it's been 2060 years __ im" "knife to meet your boi julius caesar" "Ok i'll hit you up next year when it's 2061" "YOU CAN HIT ME UP WHEN I'M DEAD FAM" "___ has nominated me as a Fish, or a frog, I don't even know" "if im bill the lizard youre gonna be a fish w me" "MAYBE I LIKE BEING DROP KICKED" "there is so much anger on that voice that is just covered layer of 'fuck this'" "Really? Legwork? Oh, this is grand." "give me your free time im dying in work" "it's a supervillainy way though" "I'm already dating a weeb and then I come here and WHAT DO I SEE" "I'm going to smack you all" "Everyone go stand in the corner" "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS OH MY GOD" "I never had an anime phase I win" "everybody loves him but the sentiment is not reciprocated" "i will be ashamed for the rest of my life, but sure" "time to Google... aight Google isn't helping" "Tfw you kill ___, Reblog if you agree" "he looks like you should just start punching him and never stop" "when did we start being about ____'s butt" "We're allowed to be proud because it's obvious the guy is salty and not happy with our success." "I'M DISOWNING YOU ALL, EVEN HIM" "oh hey it's midnight" "you can't cheat the champion of cheating" "you cheated and I shall cheat harder" "I'd hope that I'd at least be captured by honorable idiots" "NO DUMBO RIDES. ONLY JUSTICE." "you and I are on separate wavelengths than" "OKAY STRICTLY UPDATE THEY ARE NOW PLAYING WAKE ME UP INSIDE WHATS HAPPENING" "don't meme shame me bro" "Your memes are stale, and you are stale" "lol what is romantic human interaction" "what is human interaction" "what is interaction" "What is human" "this is the worst thing I have ever created and I will burn for this" "I look at him directly and said fuck you" "I gotta go eat dinner y'all are fucking insane" "I WILL RUN EXPERIMENTS IN THE BASEMENT WHO'S WITH ME??" "Do you have any redeeming qualities" "c'mon skype lemme transer sewing via you...." "are you kidding, this is better than all the tv shows I'm behind on" "MURDER ROADTRIP" "Rosaceae are refuscent, Violas are cerulean, Cane crystals are saccharine, homogeneous to you" "WE ARE THE BEST GROUPIES" "shes not even here, she chickened out of the fight" "Tfw your brain is memes" "Twf yer also an adult" "Yup. Exactly Sad O'Clock" "So sad o'clock is midnight o fifty, got it"

[osmw1]

Poison-Wielding Fugitive   Chapter 58

“Is something coming?”

I have a really bad feeling about this…

“Rumors say that something big lives in this mine. If all goes well, not only will we be able to upgrade your weapons, but mine as well.” “That’s if we win, right?” “If it is a monster that man cannot win against, then we shall retreat. It is not like I wish to die here either.”

Oh, is it an infamous boss monster then? Something even bigger and badder than Elbatoxin. Like, if it’s something on Veno’s level, then we should evacuate at one, right?

‘That is a given. And there are monsters that are rarely defeated by humans, no matter how strong they may be… like wyverns. Manticores, too, are only challenged and beaten by the bravest heroes.’

Veno begins to speak in a hushed tone. Us humans are weaker than I thought. That’s why they came up with magic like Forced Possession Summoning, I guess.

‘But if one were to wield a sacred sword, such as the Karma Blaze, it would be a different story. Even I would be no match against it. And, if wielding weapons made from dragon parts or other high-rank monsters, thou standest a considerable chance too. These “boss monsters” are not undefeatable after all.’

Man, that’s an inconvenient truth. I guess that’s why they targeted you too, huh?

‘Aye, that is likely.’

It might sting a little, but… can’t you pluck off a few scales for us? We can give them to Wayne to make us some new equipment. It’s the ultimate crafting material, right?

‘’Tis a shame, but due to the effects of Forced Possession Summoning, no parts of my body can pass through this dimension.’

What, despite your number one and number two being able to pass through?

‘Even I am unsure of the details of how it works. If thou truly desirest, I could force through the spell and potentially alert our pursuers.’

Ugh… you really like to put me in my place, don’tcha?

‘It would not be such a bad idea if the situation calls for it. However, I cannot ascertain how near they are as of now.’

While Veno speaks, the source of the thumping footsteps widens the shaft and it finally shows itself. It’s a giant, about five and a half meters tall, fully clad in armor. Its proportions aren’t like a human’s, but rather much wider and heavier. Oh? I thought it was armor, but it looks more like a mineral. A very pure mineral perhaps?

Safkrym

Its name pops up in my field of vision. Safkrym then grabs the hammer it has strapped to its back to have it at the ready. Behind their boss are his minions wielding bows and arrows. Following its lead, we ready our weapons too. Celes looks at me and shoots me a look with her eyes saying, “We should be fine.”

Is that right? But… are you including me in the fight too? I know that you’re super strong, Celes, and Arleaf isn’t far behind you either. But will I be fine with me and just my Poison Cooking buff? I’m worried for Muu, too.

‘… I came to check out this unusual presence and who do I find? Lil’ Veno Yveval, the Defiant, trapped in this vessel. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to make myself better known.’ “Hmpf… if you knew your place, thou wouldst turn tail and run. To overestimate yourself is… rather foolish. So, this is the den of an upstart? A place where humans roam freely and a hideout for thee when stronger monsters come along. Absolutely repulsive.’

Just like with Elbatoxin, Veno gets into a quarrel this time around too. In the middle of it, Veno explains how Safkrym gained fame. Originally, its name was Pure Orichalcum Magic Armor King. But over time, it gained Mana and strength, becoming the Safkrym today.

‘You don’t need to act brave. The weak human you call your vessel cannot possibly be as strong as I am.’ ‘What can I say? Thou hast yet to understand thine own self. Monsters who live alongside with humans tend to be overweening. How distasteful.’ ‘Dragons like you are all talk. I can never understand why you lot are so full of yourselves.’ ‘Proud, I may be, but because I know full well of my standing, I still breathe. Dost thou not understand, fool?’ ‘Have you forgotten that you’re branded as a backstabber?!’ ‘He wanted to create a world for no one but himself. There was no way I could accept that cold-blooded tyrant. I consider the title a badge of honor than a mark of shame!’ ‘Enough! I will shut you up then use your parts to build myself even stronger!’ ‘Thou shouldst have said so from the beginning! I shall have thee understand thou art smaller and weaker than any human!’

And, as always, Veno struts like he’s better than everyone. You know, that’s just gonna come to bite us in the ass, right?

“Umm…”

Arleaf looks over, confused as to how she should make of the situation. Yep, he was like this with Elbatoxin too.

“—!”

Safkrym bellows with a mighty noise and swings his hammer. Pretty quick for a heavyweight. But Arleaf easily dodges it and, it goes without saying, Celes does too.

“Muu?!”

Muu couldn’t react in time. It holds on to its cap tightly while being sent flying and I sidestep out of its trajectory. Muu tries its best to stay away from Safkrym while gunning for the minions who were trying to snipe us.

“Take care of them!” “Muuuuu!”

Muu rushes over with his axe held high. Them minions are nothing that Muu can’t handle.

“It may have seemed sluggish, but it is agile… we may be in for a tough battle.”

With a single hammer blow, Safkrym created a crater in the ground and shakes the mineshaft. It’s hard to keep my balance in this earthquake.

‘You may have avoided my feint, but you’re in a world of hurt if you think that’s all I have.’

It raises its hammer and begins to close the distance between us. That’s just nasty how it can move so quickly with that lumbering body. Safkrym has raw strength; it doesn’t need to rely on dirty tricks like Elbatoxin did. But Celes remains calm even while we have a lot on our plates.

“Aqua… Shot!”

Instead of casting out a single ball of water with Aqua Bullet, Arleaf shoots out many at once, much like buckshot from a shotgun.

‘It is the advanced version of Aqua Bullet. Though it requires about the same amount of time to cast, it is weaker if the user is inaccurate with it. Of course, if all shots do connect, it is quite powerful although not easily accomplished.’

As Veno finishes his sentence, all of Arleaf’s Aqua Shot manages to find its target.

‘The more Mana invested, the more accurate the homing is. Well done, Arleaf.’

The shots strike with a satisfying clunk, causing Safkrym to glare at her. Though, Safkrym is still charging forward targeting me.

“Let me handle it! Haaaah!”

Celes lets out a powerful shout and brandishes her sword… whoa! She’s lightning fast! Never have I seen someone move that quickly before.

‘Wha—?! How cocky of you!’

Safkrym sweeps with his hammer in a full circle, sending out a strong gust and shockwave. But, not only is Celes unaffected, she seemingly rides the wind and waves to cut the monster.

“Haaaaah! Luminous Blade!”

The blade glows as Celes holds it aloft. It comes down with such strength that it sunk into Safkrym’s armor.

“Tch… harder than I thought.” ‘What?! A lowly human managed to cut me?!’

Hurting the monster seemed to anger it and, in its fury, Safkrym swings its hammer at Celes again. But Celes avoids the strike by the skin of her teeth, using the centrifugal of her movement to strike back at Safkrym. Awesome… I’ve never seen such graceful combat before.

contents: /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /ch005/ /ch006/ /ch007/ /ch008/ /ch009/ /ch010/ /ch011/ /ch012/ /ch013/ /ch014/ /ch015/ /ch016/ /ch017/ /ch018/ /ch019/ /ch020/ /ch021/ /ch022/ /ch023/ /ch024/ /ch025/ /ch026/ /ch027/ /ch028/ /ch029/ /ch030/ /ch031/ /ch032/ /ch033/ /ch034/ /ch035/ /ch036/ /ch037/ /ch038/ /ch039/ /ch040/ /ch041/ /ch042/ /ch043/ /ch044/ /ch045/ /ch046/ /ch047/ /ch048/ /ch049/ /ch050/ /ch051/ /ch052/ /ch053/ /ch054/ /ch055/ /ch056/ /ch057/ /ch058/ /next/

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[pomegranate-salad]

Seeds of Thought : Wicdiv #26

Is it just me or we waited for this issue longer than the previous one ? Anyway, my tutorials haven’t started yet but that means professors are free to add as many lectures as they want. I was in class from 10 am to 9 pm yesterday and the day before with no interruption. Clearly my college’s motto is “we were so busy wondering if we could, we never stopped to wonder if the students could”. So that’s why this post took me a bit longer to publish. I need to start monetizing this gig somehow.

As usual, thoughts and opinion on the issue under the cut, spoilers included. Enjoy.

 ROLL UP THE PARTITION, PLEASE

 So far, Imperial Phase (part one) is a strange, strange arc. It feels both as the most Wicdiv thing Wicdiv has ever done, and as something from another series entirely. If Rising action was “an ideal jumping-on point”, Imperial Phase is an ideal breaking-up point. As the ellipsis that separated Rising Action from Imperial Phase portended, this is the arc before which the cards have been reshuffled, and all we’ve learned so far about the story and its characters comes into question again. And in that context, one of the most noticeable changes from previous arcs is the way it handles reveals. Aside from big twists and cliffhangers, Wicdiv has already been very careful to weave its more character-oriented reveals into the narrative flow, to make conversation between its characters as natural as possible when it came to what they were willing to say about themselves. Think of the way we learn Cass is trans, that Ammy lost her father… Giving the audience information always came second to the character’s own communication pattern, which more often than not only gave us snippets of what we wanted to know.

Meanwhile, Imperial Phase’s character reveals feel a lot more heavy-handed, calling a lot more attention to themselves. From literal interviews of the gods to them detailing their sexual orientation to each other, information just seems to fly left and right compared to how long some characters have remained a mystery until then. And this issue might be the most flagrant example yet. Over its course, we learn a bunch of things, some we already kind of knew (like Dio’s asexuality), some more unexpected (like Cass’ polyamorous lesbian relationship), and others long awaited (like Baal’s real name, which by the way confused the hell out of me at first because in French “Valentine” is a girl’s name). But when so many reveals are able to take us aback, just as the gods finally get an opportunity to spend more time with each other, a question starts to form : How well do we know these people ? And more importantly to the story, how well do they know each other ?

 It’s been over a year since the gods have started to interact, and something like two since Wicdiv has started, and yet at a point in which most series’ cast would already form a functioning crew, the Pantheon can’t make it past one simple reunion without breaking apart. The simplest dialogue seems to bring new, surprising information to both sides, and even Baal and Persephone who have been dating for six months apparently know jack shit about each other.

But if the reveals feel so oppressing in this arc, this might be because this is the first one in which the characters are actually forced to face them too. Looking back, the Pantheon has never known this kind of unity ; there’s always been some sort of division preventing any large-scale interaction. First there were characters seeking the truth versus characters willing to accept the Luci cover-up, gods versus yet-to-ascend Laura and Cass, Underground versus sky gods, and of course Team Persephone versus Team Ananke. As a result, gods mostly have been too busy picking bones to actually get to know each other. We know for a fact that some gods never even met before the Rising action arc. Worse, the Pantheon has consistently lost its most aggregating members : Luci and Inanna, who by virtue of their intermediary mythological positions and sexual pursuits had formed bonds with several other gods, Tara who was uniting everybody in their distaste of her, and finally Ananke who was supporting the entire structure of the Pantheon.

 The inevitable conclusion to this rundown is that, at the time when important decisions must be made, the people in charge simply don’t know much about each other. And this reunion could only go about as well as any assigned work group. Which is to say, badly. It’s kind of amazing how this Pantheon meeting is reminiscent of a high school project and its most cliché figures. First we have Baal assuming the leader role - now complete with a tragic spiderman-ish backstory - who only makes things worse by trying to make them absolute. Then we have Cass as the smarter-than-thou kid whose good intentions get hindered by their need for validation and their bad handling of criticism. And then we have Sakhmet as the kid in the corner who’s somehow proud of not contributing in the slightest.

Of course, things are never that simple, not even in real life. But as “human” beings, and specifically teenagers, the gods react like anyone who has to get through to people they sometimes barely know : communication is just as much about ideas that it is about personas. The gods don’t just want to convince, they want to make themselves look as good as possible in the eyes of their peers. This comes back to something I’ve talked about numerous times before : between the gods and their social self, there is a gap formed by how much they are willing to “be themselves” in the presence of others. We’re at a point in the story in which each god’s persona has been enforced on their peers and they must now carefully navigate to maintain this image and use it in the best way to convince. Their persona is as much a tool to shine as it is a straightjacket restraining their ability to reach out. And when twelve people are playing this game simultaneously, the most innocuous decision gets lost amidst the bid for the spotlight.

 Let’s take a moment to seize just how bullshit this whole voting plotpoint is : it rests on both a false premise, that any majority decision besides anarchy can be enforced, and a false dilemma between fighting and studying. The people who want to fight and those who want to study want the exact same thing, only in different capacities, and the people who want anarchy weren’t going to help in the first place. I feel confident in affirming that any voting outcome would have basically had the same result : people willing to help helping in the capacity they’re most suited for, while the remaining gods are sitting on their ass. So how did it come to a vote in the first place ? First, you have Baal and Cass vying for the Most Righteous trophy, which prompts Persephone to push towards the solution that will most restrict everyone’s responsibility in the decision (I’ll come back to that in a moment). Sakhmet lets them know she’s not interested in either choice, which would have probably remained an incident remark if not for Cass and Baal catching the soft ball and blowing it out of proportion. And here we are. Out of a simple discussion, they’re made a house divided. Somewhere along the lines, the reunion stopped being about what was right and became about who was right.

 Graphic analysis is not my specialty, but I find this whole theme to be reflected particularly well in the nine grid panel structure. There’s the obvious fact that most of the panels show only one god, each of them finding themselves oppressed and isolated by the delineation. But the backhand of the fact is that most of the panels do not show who the god is talking to. Even when the god is addressing a specific person, the conversation feels like a statement for the entire group. Everyone is painfully aware of the others’ eyes on them. Every panel has something of a Facebook wall to it : technically made to communicate, in reality used as a forefront for people to look at.

 There’s of course one exception, and once again I have to talk about Persephone. I find it odd that these analysis posts of mine always come back to Persephone when the story is clearly branching to other protagonists in this arc while she willingly adopts a recessed position. While in SOT#24 I talked about her lack of goal and in SOT#25 her rejection of responsibility, these themes come back in issue #26 in a more concrete and spelled-out way. If you’re an early Laura fan like me, it’s really hard to wrap your head around the journey from the girl who jumped in front of a subway to help her friend to the god who won’t even protest when some of her peers are trying to cast her aside. But as painful as this change is, it also feels justified and progressive. Of all the living protagonists, Persephone is the one who had to make the most choices, had to see the most people she cared about die, has the greatest power at her disposal, has the most blood on her hands. Not only that, she’s arguably the closest to an aggregating character we have left after Ananke’s death : she’s met all the gods quite early, has developed bonds with almost all of them, and cared probably more than any of them about their wellbeing. Imperial Phase had every card in place for her to become the undisputed central character of the comic.

And yet, while her peers are fighting for the spotlight, Persephone is sinking in the shadows. During the whole nine panel grid sequence, she’s colored in a somber tone, away from the lights above the table illuminating the gods’ faces. While the gods are sitting or static, she’s the only one walking around, ignoring the empty seats. And when she has to cast a vote, for the first time in the sequence we see someone who is only looked at, silent, with the camera on their back.

And then of course she chooses anarchy. Just like she would have gone with the majority if anarchy hadn’t been on the table. Why suggest a vote when you probably have enough clout to make the discussion go your way ? Because it requires the smallest involvement of every member. Even when you are the deciding vote, your responsibility in the outcome is only as important as anyone else’s. No one can say it was her fault without accusing everyone else of not swinging the vote. Just like there is no fault in crashing your motorcycle in a wall if you come out unharmed and you can get a new one. Persephone went from being the driving force of the plot to avoiding responsibility at every turn. The gods now need to make their own mistakes, because she won’t carry anyone else.

Should this be read as selfish, as Dio says ? That’s definitely the result, but in Persephone’s case, things aren’t as simple. You don’t have your choices determine the lives of everyone you care about and come out unscathed. Persephone crumbled under the weight. Worse, every new development points to her decisions being the root of the danger they’re facing now. Despite probably being the most powerful god, she is useless against the Darkness. One after the other, she is losing every footing she has in the group. It would be so easy to slip into a more comfortable villainess role. The Pantheon is divided. The emblem of her power is the emblem of their death. Will she make the jump ? Who knows. I still want to believe Laura and her courage, Laura and her faith, is in there somewhere. But so is Laura and her pain, Laura and her desperation, Laura who’s been through so much more than any other god will for her. In an issue in which, more than ever before, the gods wanna be adored, Persephone just wanna let go.

  WHAT I THOUGHT OF THE ISSUE :

 I knew I’d eventually come across an issue for which I’d struggle to write this part. One thing you consistently get thrown at you when you’re as critical as I am is how easy it is to throw tomatoes instead of praise, and I won’t disagree : divisive and controversial make for an easy blogpost, and you can even reap edgy points in the process. But it’s never been clear to me why it’s so much easier to explain why things don’t work than explain why they do. Maybe I’m just more reluctant to pick apart a functioning piece than a broken one. “Why doesn’t it work ?” I don’t know, let’s open it and take a closer look. “Why does it work ?” Who cares, just look at it running.

But that’s where we are with issue #26, an issue kinda too boringly perfect for me to really write volumes about. I don’t mean perfect in the flawless sense, but in the sense that it’s an issue with a clear goal, some specific formalist tools, hitting the mark perfectly.

We’ve been amped up this issue as the first capital one of this arc, and it feels exactly like this : it’s neither a letdown nor a complete rupture with the previous toned-down issues. We learn just as much as we need to feel the plot progressing while more and more questions are piling up. We’re introduced to a new status quo solidly built on the old one.

I want to say this issue is adequate in every way, but somehow it feels like an insult instead of a compliment. If I have one real criticism, it’s that this issue didn’t really elicit any emotional response from me, probably because we can see where this is going from the start. Thank in part the Image synopsis for that, which was way too explicit this month and ruined the surprise a bit. Also, apart from the whole Cass reveal, there’s not much there that made me more curious about a character than I was before. By the way, am I the only person who completely missed the bdsm meaning and thought Cass’ mind had been absorbed and was being controlled by the two other Norns or something before checking Tumblr ? There may be hope for my soul still.

So yeah, despite not hitting me in the guts, which to be fair is notably hard to do (I’m heartless), this is a virtually flawless issue, and trying to poke holes in it would only be creating problems where there aren’t any. As usual, it’s in the details that Wicdiv accomplishes the most instead of the heavy-lifting, and everyone’s micro-expressions are a delight. Graphic and coloring touches are a joy to discover upon rereads, and while the dialogue feels a bit more heavy-handed than I previous arcs, it’s in perfect synchronization with the turn taken by the plot.

Is there room for this arc to improve from great to masterful ? Definitely. Am I still disappointed that we’re apparently going with the Great Dark plot ? Sure. But like I said last month, not being what you wanted doesn’t prevent something from being the best version of itself. Well, issue #26 is the best version of itself. It’s the perfect version of itself. So no, I’m not about to look under the hood for my own critical satisfaction. I just want to reread the issue over and over. It just works.

[amityfoxx]

FAVOLE.

[3]

[Contents]

FILAGRANATA.

Once upon a time1 there was a poor woman who had a great fancy for eating parsley. To her it was the greatest luxury, and as she had no garden of her own, and no money to spend on anything not an absolute necessity of life, she had to go about poaching in other people’s gardens to satisfy her fancy.

Near her cottage was the garden of a great palace, and in this garden grew plenty of fine parsley; but the garden was surrounded by a wall, and to get at it she had to carry a ladder with her to get up by, and, as soon as she had reached the top of the wall, to let it down on the other side to get down to the parsley-bed. There was such a quantity of parsley growing here that she thought it would never be missed, and this made her bold, so that she went over every day and took as much as ever she liked.

But the garden belonged to a witch,2 who lived in the palace, and, though she did not often walk in this part of the garden, she knew by her supernatural powers that some one was eating her parsley; so she came near the place one day, and lay in wait till the poor woman came. As soon, therefore, as she came, and began eating the parsley, the witch at once pounced down, and asked her, in her gruff voice, what she was doing there. Though dreadfully frightened, the poor woman thought it best to own the whole truth; so she confessed that she came down by the ladder, adding that she had not taken anything except the parsley, and begged forgiveness.

‘I know nothing about forgiveness,’ replied the witch. [4]‘You have eaten my parsley, and must take the consequences; and the consequences are these: I must be godmother to your first child, be it boy or girl; and as soon as it is grown to be of an age to dress itself without help, it must belong to me.’

When, accordingly, the poor woman’s first child was born, the witch came, as she had declared she would, to be its godmother. It was a fine little girl, and she gave it the name of Filagranata; after that she went away again, and the poor woman saw her no more till her little girl was grown up old enough to dress herself, and then she came and fetched her away inexorably; nor could the poor mother, with all her tears and entreaties, prevail on her to make any exchange for her child.

So Filagranata was taken to the witch’s palace to live, and was put in a room in a little tower by herself, where she had to feed the pigeons. Filagranata grew fond of her pigeons, and did not at all complain of her work, yet, without knowing why, she began to grow quite sad and melancholy as time went by; it was because she had no one to play with, no one to talk to, except the witch, who was no very delightful companion. The witch came every day, once in the day, to see that she was attending properly to her work, and as there was no door or staircase to the tower—this was on purpose that she might not escape—the witch used to say when she came under the tower—

Filagranata, so fair, so fair,

Unloose thy tresses of golden hair:

I, thy old grandmother, am here;3

and as she said these words, Filagranata had to let down her beautiful long hair through the window, and by it the witch climbed up into her chamber to her. This she did every day.

Now, it happened that about this time a king’s son was travelling that way searching for a beautiful wife; [5]for you know it is the custom for princes to go searching all over the world to find a maiden fit to be a prince’s wife; at least they say so.

Well, this prince, travelling along, came by the witch’s palace where Filagranata was lodged. And it happened that he came that way just as the witch was singing her ditty. If he was horrified at the sight of the witch, he was in proportion enchanted when Filagranata came to the window. So struck was he with the sight of her beauty, and modesty, and gentleness, that he stopped his horse that he might watch her as long as she stayed at the window, and thus became a spectator of the witch’s wonderful way of getting into the tower.

The prince’s mind was soon made up to gain a nearer view of Filagranata, and with this purpose he rode round and round the tower seeking some mode of ingress in vain, till at last, driven to desperation, he made up his mind that he must enter by the same strange means as the witch herself. Thinking that the old creature had her abode there, and that she would probably go out for some business in the morning, and return at about the same hour as on the present occasion, he rode away, commanding his impatience as well as he could, and came back the next day a little earlier.

Though he could hardly hope quite to imitate the hag’s rough and tremulous voice so as to deceive Filagranata into thinking it was really the witch, he yet made the attempt and repeated the words he had heard—

Filagranata, thou maiden fair,

Loose thy tresses of golden hair:

I, thy old grandmother, am here.

Filagranata, surprised at the soft modulation of voice, such as she had never heard before, ran quickly to the window with a look of pleasure and astonishment which gave her face a more winning expression than ever.

The prince looked up, all admiration and expectation; [6]and the thought quickly ran through Filagranata’s head—‘I have been taught to loose my hair whenever those words are said; why should not I loose it to draw up such a pleasant-looking cavalier, as well as for the ugly old hag?’ and, without waiting for a second thought, she untied the ribbon that bound her tresses and let them fall upon the prince. The prince was equally quick in taking advantage of the occasion, and, pressing his knees firmly into his horse’s flanks, so that it might not remain below to betray him, drew himself up, together with his steed, just as he had seen the witch do.

Filagranata, half frightened at what she had done the moment the deed was accomplished, had not a word to say, but blushed and hung her head. The prince, on the other hand, had so many words to pour out, expressive of his admiration for her, his indignation at her captivity, and his desire to be allowed to be her deliverer, that the moments flew quickly by, and it was only when Filagranata found herself drawn to the window by the power of the witch’s magic words that they remembered the dangerous situation in which they stood.

Another might have increased the peril by cries of despair, or lost precious time in useless lamentations; but Filagranata showed a presence of mind worthy of a prince’s wife by catching up a wand of the witch, with which she had seen her do wonderful things. With this she gave the prince a little tap, which immediately changed him into a pomegranate, and then another to the horse, which transformed him into an orange.4 These she set by on the shelf, and then proceeded to draw up the witch after the usual manner.

The old hag was not slow in perceiving there was something unusual in Filagranata’s room.

‘What a stink5 of Christians! What a stink of Christians!’ she kept exclaiming, as she poked her nose into every hole and corner. Yet she failed to find anything to [7]reprehend; for as for the beautiful ripe pomegranate and the golden orange on the shelf, the Devil himself could not have thought there was anything wrong with them. Thus baffled, she was obliged to finish her inspection of the state of the pigeons, and end her visit in the usual way.

As soon as she was gone Filagranata knew she was free till the next day, and so once more, with a tap of the wand, restored the horse and his rider to their natural shapes.

‘And this is how your life passes every day! Is it possible?’ exclaimed the prince; ‘no, I cannot leave you here. You may be sure my good horse will be proud to bear your little weight; you have only to mount behind me, and I will take you home to my kingdom, and you shall live in the palace with my mother, and be my queen.’

It is not to be supposed but that Filagranata very much preferred the idea of going with the handsome young prince who had shown so devoted an appreciation of her, and being his queen, to remaining shut up in the doorless tower and being the witch’s menial; so she offered no opposition, and the prince put her on to his good horse behind him, and away they rode.

On, on, on,6 they rode for a long, long way, until they came at last to a wood; but for all the good horse’s speed, the witch, who was not long in perceiving their escape and setting out in pursuit, was well nigh overtaking them. Just then they saw a little old woman7 standing by the way, making signs and calling to them to arrest their course. How great soever was their anxiety to get on, so urgent was her appeal to them to stop and listen to her that they yielded to her entreaties. Nor were they losers by their kindness, for the little old woman was a fairy,8 and she had stopped them, not on her own account, but to give them the means of escaping from the witch.

To the prince she said: ‘Take these three gifts, and [8]when the witch comes very near throw down first the mason’s trowel; and when she nearly overtakes you again throw down the comb; and when she nearly comes upon you again after that, throw down this jar9 of oil. After that she won’t trouble you any more.’ And to Filagranata she whispered some words, and then let them go. But the witch was now close behind, and the prince made haste to throw down the mason’s trowel. Instantly there rose up a high stone wall between them, which it took the witch some time to climb over. Nevertheless, by her supernatural powers she was not long in making up for the lost time, and had soon overtaken the best speed of the good horse. Then the prince threw down the comb, and immediately there rose up between them a strong hedge of thorns, which it took the witch some time to make her way through, and that only with her body bleeding all over from the thorns. Nevertheless, by her supernatural powers she was not long in making up for the lost time, and had soon overtaken the best speed of the good horse. Then the prince threw down the jar of oil, and the oil spread and spread till it had overflowed10 the whole country side; and as wherever you step in a pool of oil the foot only slides back, the witch could never get out of that, so the prince and Filagranata rode on in all safety towards the prince’s palace.

‘And now tell me what it was the old woman in the wood whispered to you,’ said the prince, as soon as they saw their safety sufficiently secured to breathe freely.

‘It was this,’ answered Filagranata; ‘that I was to tell you that when you arrive at your own home you must kiss no one—no one at all, not your father, or mother, or sisters, or anyone—till after our marriage. Because if you do you will forget all about your love for me, and all you have told me you think of me, and all the faithfulness you have promised me, and we shall become as strangers again to each other.’[9]

‘How dreadful!’ said the prince. ‘Oh, you may be sure I will kiss no one if that is to be the consequence; so be quite easy. It will be rather odd, to be sure, to return from such a long journey and kiss none of them at home, not even my own mother; but I suppose if I tell them how it is they won’t mind. So be quite easy about that.’

Thus they rode on in love and confidence, and the good horse soon brought them home.

On the steps of the palace the chancellor of the kingdom came out to meet them, and saluted Filagranata as the chosen bride the prince was to bring home; he informed him that the king his father had died during his absence, and that he was now sovereign of the realm. Then he led him in to the queen-mother, to whom he told all his adventures, and explained why he must not kiss her till after his marriage. The queen-mother was so pleased with the beauty, and modesty, and gentleness of Filagranata, that she gave up her son’s kiss without repining, and before they retired to rest that night it was announced to the people that the prince had returned home to be their king, and the day was proclaimed when the feast for his marriage was to take place.

Then all in the palace went to their sleeping-chambers. But the prince, as it had been his wont from his childhood upwards, went into his mother’s room to kiss her after she was asleep, and when he saw her placid brow on the pillow, with the soft white hair parted on either side of it, and the eyes which were wont to gaze on him with so much love, resting in sleep, he could not forbear from pressing his lips on her forehead and giving the wonted kiss.

Instantly there passed from his mind all that had taken place since he last stood there to take leave of the queen-mother before he started on his journey. [10]His visit to the witch’s palace, his flight from it, the life-perils by the way, and, what is more, the image of Filagranata herself,—all passed from his mind like a vision of the night, and when he woke up and they told him he was king, it was as if he heard it for the first time, and when they brought Filagranata to him it was as though he knew her not nor saw her.

‘But,’ he said, ‘if I am king there must be a queen to share my throne;’ and as a reigning sovereign could not go over the world to seek a wife, he sent and fetched him a princess meet to be the king’s wife, and appointed the betrothal. The queen-mother, who loved Filagranata, was sad, and yet nothing that she could say could bring back to his mind the least remembrance of all he had promised her and felt towards her.

But Filagranata knew that the prince had kissed his mother, and this was why the spell was on him; so she said to her mother-in-law: ‘You get me much fine-sifted flour11and a large bag of sweetmeats, and I will try if I cannot yet set this matter straight.’ So the queen-mother ordered that there should be placed in her room much sifted flour and a large bag of sweetmeats. And Filagranata, when she had shut close the door, set to work and made paste of the flour, and of the paste she moulded two pigeons, and filled them inside with the comfits. Then at the banquet of the betrothal she asked the queen-mother to have her two pigeons placed on the table; and she did so, one at each end. But as soon as all the company were seated, before any one was helped, the two pigeons which Filagranata had made began to talk to each other across the whole length of the table: and everybody stood still with wonder to listen to what the pigeons of paste said to each other.

‘Do you remember,’ said the first pigeon, ‘or is it possible that you have really forgotten, when I was in that [11]doorless tower of the witch’s palace, and you came under the window and imitated her voice, saying,—

Filagranata, thou maiden fair,

Loose thy tresses of golden hair:

I, thy old grandmother, am here,

till I drew you up?’

And the other pigeon answered,—

‘Si, signora, I remember it now.’

And as the young king heard the second pigeon say ‘Si, signora, I remember it now,’ he, too, remembered having been in a doorless tower, and having sung such a verse.

‘Do you remember,’ continued the first pigeon, ‘how happy we were together after I drew you up into that little room where I was confined, and you swore if I would come with you we should always be together and never be separated from each other any more at all?’

And the second pigeon replied,—

‘Ah yes! I remember it now.’

And as the second pigeon said ‘Ah yes! I remember it now,’ there rose up in the young king’s mind the memory of a fair sweet face on which he had once gazed with loving eyes, and of a maiden to whom he had sworn lifelong devotion.

But the first pigeon continued:—

‘Do you remember, or have you quite forgotten, how we fled away together, and how frightened we were when the witch pursued us, and how we clung to each other, and vowed, if she overtook us to kill us, we would die in each other’s arms, till a fairy met us and gave us the means to escape, and forbad you to kiss anyone, even your own mother, till after our marriage?’

And the second pigeon answered,—

‘Yes, ah yes! I remember it now.’

And when the second pigeon said, ‘Yes, ah yes! I remember it now,’ the whole of the past came back to his[12]mind, and with it all his love for Filagranata. So he rose up12 and would have stroked the pigeons which had brought it all to his mind, but when he touched them they melted away, and the sweetmeats were scattered all over the table, and the guests picked them up. But the prince ran in haste to fetch Filagranata, and he brought her and placed her by his side in the banquet-hall. But the second bride was sent back, with presents, to her own people.

‘And so it all came right at last,’ pursued the narrator. ‘Lackaday! that there are no fairies now to make things all happen right. There are plenty of people who seem to have the devil in them for doing you a mischief, but there are no fairies to set things straight again, alas!’