#unicorn publishing house

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Poe - art by Greg Hildebrandt (1986)

#greg hildebrandt #stories and poems by edgar allan poe #horror art #gothic horror #the raven #the cask of amontillado #the fall of the house of usher #the black cat #ligeia #hop frog #dream-land #a descent into the maelström #the facts in the case of m. valdemar #the premature burial #morella #the masque of the red death #unicorn publishing house #1980s #1986

[nunopds]

Duas novidades da Nuvem de Letras

Duas novidades da Nuvem de Letras #loudemcasa #danasimpson #biaeounicornio #bandasdesenhadas

View On WordPress

#Andrews McMeel #Andrews McMeel Publishing #Bia e o Unicórnio #Comics #Dana Simpson #EUA #Loud em Casa #Nickelodeon #Nuvem de Letras #Papercutz #Phoebe and Her Unicorn #The Loud House

[galedekarios]

the splendours of waterdeep

Gale: I hail from Waterdeep, the City of Splendours.

we've all heard gale introduce himself and there's a certain pride that colours his voice. but what exactly are waterdeep's splendours?

1. general noteworthy things about waterdeep

i) waterdeep is one of the cleanest cities in the realms

this is not only achieved by having many of waterdeep's buildings and facilities connected to a sewer system, but also through waterdeep's dungsweeper's guild. the members of the guild make their rounds through the city, sweeping streets, collecting trash, litter and refuse.

this service is paid for by taxes.

ii) waterdeep's water system

waterdeep boasts an extensive water system that enables the city to have free access to clean water. this free access comes in many forms: fountains, wells and bath houses. some establishment even have their own access to fresh water in form of tap water "with the turn of a knob", as volo puts it in his chapbook about the city.

iii) waterdeep, city of light

waterdeep possesses many signs and street lamps that are lit with continual flame spells:

hundreds of driftglobes also illuminate the city each night:

A driftglobe was a small glass orb that magically floated in the air and emitted light.

in addition to these magical means, so called lamplighters keep the streets lit - with the exception of the field ward and more dangerous areas of the dock ward.

iv) waterdeep and literacy

waterdeep is one of the most literate cities in the realms.

the font of knowledge is a temple to oghma, god of the domain of knowledge, in waterdeep. priests of oghma "valued, preserved, shared, sought, created, or uncovered knowledge and learning. [x]" the priests there offer free instructions and lessons in reading to everyone. the temple has a library, known as "the great library".

the city has many publishing houses and printing presses. books and chapbooks (short books containing various topics from memoirs to romances, politics, etc.) are popular, as are small and large paper advertisements that dot the streets and alleys. broadsheets are popular too in the city:

A broadsheet, also known as a short scroll, was a short, printed document which usually contained tabloid-style news or political rants. They were common in Waterdeep, where they were sold by broadcriers on the main streets.

some of these broadsheets popular in waterdeep are [x]:

The Vigilant Citizen, which was one of the most reputable broadsheets in the city.

The Blue Unicorn, which reported paranormal events such as haunted mansions or undead hiding among the nobility.

The Daily Luck, a sheet aimed at gamblers.

Horkle's Gossip Cauldron, whose style of writing was said to be profane and blunt to the point of rudeness.

The Mocking Minstrel, one of the most read broadsheets in the city, known for its caustic and sarcastic tone.

The North Wind, which focused on nobility gossip and fashion.

The Merchant's Friend

Halivar's Broadsheet

restaurants and other establishments in waterdeep often have printed menus that are placed outside, as well as handed out to those who choose to eat there.

2. the griffon cavalry

"Waterdeep doesn’t have the fabled flying ships of Halruaa, but it does deploy an aerial defense force. Brave warriors of the City Guard light out from the Peaktop Aerie atop Mount Waterdeep, riding fearsome griffons that have been bred and trained for that purpose. Each of the riders is equipped with a ring of feather falling — not merely to prevent death from mishap, but to allow them to perform stunning feats of aerial acrobatics. In both martial displays and in real battles against flying threats such as manticores, harpies, and outlaw wizards, the griffon riders actually leap off their mounts into the open air! For a breath-stealing moment, they fall like stones, closing in on their targets at incredible speed. Their opponents rarely see the death blow, distracted as they are by other mounted griffon riders. When they are past the danger, the free-falling riders then suddenly halt in the air, drifting like feathers until their griffon companions swoop in and they regain their saddles. Working in concert with one another in this fashion, members of the Griffon Cavalry can rapidly eliminate any threat to the city — and even catch the body of the offender before it hits the rooftops below. Riders of the Griffon Cavalry are trained to stay above the rooftops, not because they fear crashing into towers and weather vanes, but because the smell of so much horseflesh in the streets below can sometimes drive their griffons into a frenzy."

[from: volo's waterdeep enchiridion]

3. the walking statues

"Over a century ago, just one of these eight behemoth statues stood visible at the northern foot of Mount Waterdeep, on a bluff called Gull Leap. Ninety feet tall, it resembled a bald human staring out to sea. Later events (discussed below) caused it to be transformed into the statue known today as the Sahuagin Humbled. When the Spellplague gripped Waterdeep in 1385 DR, six more walking statues suddenly appeared in the city, wandering to wreak havoc even as the Sahuagin Humbled remained motionless. The authorities and citizens of Waterdeep succeeded in stopping three of these new statues, breaking the Swordmaiden and the Hawk Man, and sinking the God Catcher into the street up to its waist. Then all the statues mysteriously stopped their rampage just as quickly as they had begun it. Tsarra Chaadren, the Blackstaff at the time, couldn’t command them to return to their former hiding places on the Ethereal Plane. Consequently, the city repaired itself and built up around them. Much later, in 1479 DR, the eighth statue — the Griffon — emerged from the Ethereal Plane to defend Ahghairon’s Tower against intrusion. It roosted there for a time before flying to its current position near Peaktop Aerie on Mount Waterdeep. Once more, this activity seemed to be outside the Blackstaff’s control. Thankfully, all the walking statues have been dormant for well over a decade now, serving only as beautiful, cyclopean reminders of Waterdeep’s might."

[from: volo's waterdeep enchiridion]

the walking statues are:

the god catcher

the griffon

the sahuagin humbled

the great drunkard

the lady dreaming

the honorable knight

the hawk man

the sword maiden

below you'll find more lore and backstory about these walking statues of waterdeep:

[from: volo's waterdeep enchiridion]

#gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #waterdeep #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 meta #ch: gale dekarios #vg: baldur's gate 3 #series: baldur's gate #meta: mybg3 #misc: reference #for all your waterdhavian lore needs

[gollancz]

Why I'm Not Allowed On Twitter Unsupervised Any More: A Photo Essay

Key Notes:

Since this was posted I discovered that the books had briefly been available in the UK under the name Peter Beagle rather than Peter S. Beagle in the mid-90s, which is why they didn't show up on the British Library search

The article by Tor.com @torbooks: Peter S. Beagle Has Finally Regained the Rights to His Body of Work

If you want our gorgeous limited edition, I believe there are still a handful left (except for the US and Canada, sorry lads), and you can get it here. I'm not kidding when I say I got a little teary-eyed when these showed up.

[Image Description: A tweet thread from the Gollancz twitter dated 20th July 2022, which goes as follows -

Tweet 1: You may have seen that we're printing a Brand New Edition of The Last Unicorn. We're very excited! I was asked to tweet about it. I wasn't asked to do it quite like this, but I also wasn't asked NOT to do it like this, and I have the twitter login so whose fault is that? (Thread emoji, and gif from the film Scream reading 'The Call is coming from inside the house!')

Tweet 2: Imagine, if you will, you are a small child in the UK during the late 80s/early 90s. You might look a bit like this, or you might have had parents who didn't choose suffering (ask my mum about The Saga of the Hat) (an image of a small girl approximately 3 years old wearing a blue dress and a big white hat)

Tweet 3: Imagine you have a cool older cousin, one who, as you get age, introduces you to fantasy films like Ladyhawk and The Princess Bride and has a post the whole family knows as 'the vampire and the naked lady'. She's extremely responsible for the way you turn out as an adult.

Tweet 4: One year, for your birthday, this cousin buys you a video. It's the first video that is yours, not to share. It has a bright yellow cover. The butterfly scares you. But you watch it on a loop. You don't realise how special it is, but it's a seed that burrows into your brain. (An image of a VHS of The Last Unicorn)

Tweet 5: A decade or so later, in your teens, you rediscover it. None of your friends have heard of it, despite also being fantasy-inclined. That's odd, you think. Is this an outlandishly weird title? Then you get older and you realise: no, it isn't. (Principal Skinner meme reading 'Am I out of touch? No, it's the people who don't know about The Last Unicorn who are wrong')

Tweet 6: Time and tech march on, you get a DVD of the film. You realise it's got Christopher Lee in it! And Angela Lansbury! Your mum tries to get you to listen to songs by America other than the soundtrack, but the only one that really sticks is the other one they did about a horse. (Gif of Walter White from Breaking Bad singing along to Horse With No Name)

Tweet 7: You realise that the film is based on a book. Like The Princess Bride, which you've also read (after spending longer than you're proud of trying to find an unabridged edition). 'Neat,' you think, 'I'll have to read that!'

Tweet 8: And then you can't find it. Because, as mentioned previously, you're in the UK. The Last Unicorn was published for the first time in 1968. But, if you look at the British Library's National Bibliography (super neat resource btw), that was, uh, about it. (screenshot of the search results from the National Bibliography showing four editions of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, one from Gollancz in 2022, one from IDW in 2019, one from Tachyon Publications in 2018, and one from Bodley Head in 1968)

Tweet 9: The Tachyon edition is the unfinished first draft of the story. The IDW edition is a gorgeous graphic novel. But in terms of the novel? I don't know how many reprints it had (if anyone knows, I'd love to find out), but there's a good chance it went out of print in the 70s.

Tweet 10: The film, however, was released in 1982. Although it didn't make it to the UK until 1986. Conservative estimates could put that between 10 and 15 years since the book was last available in the UK. This gives you a generation in the UK who only know the story through the film! (A screenshot of the IMDB page showing the different release dates for The Last Unicorn around the world)

Tweet 11: The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, and made by the legendary animation directors Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. That's right, the guys behind Thundercats and 2 out of the 3 films based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Tweet 12: The Book has been in print in the USA (and possibly all of North America) constantly since its publication, so it seems baffling that people in the UK haven't heard of it. As the internet became more prominent, however, it became easier to just... import a copy of the book.

Tweet 13: But! This also isn't quite as simple as you think. You see, until last year the rights to The Last Unicorn were tied up in legal limbo. And the US edition of the book contained changes that Peter wasn't happy with. (Link to the Tor.com article about the rights)

Tweet 14: Back to you, the 80s/90s kid, who is now an adult, happy that unicorns are A Thing again and you're living your best life. You're very easy to buy presents for. Your partner despairs of unicorns. You get a job working in books about magic and space. (unicorn emoji and photograph of a collection of unicorn memorabilia, including three different versions of The Last Unicorn)

Tweet 15: You mention that one day you would like to publish The Last Unicorn. That if you did, you would like to do a really beautiful edition of it. And you would like it to be purple. Because since the film is what you know, you associate it with purple.

Tweet 16: And, after taking a very circuitous route, here we are! This is the original text, that was first published in 1968. Reading it after you have only seen the film is the strangest experience - like being introduced to a very dear friend that you have never met before.

Tweet 17: Peter's screenplay kept the voice of the story so well, you can hear the characters when you read the book. But now there's so much more depth, softness and warmth to it. The butterfly doesn't seem so scary any more. And, it's beautiful. And it's purple. (Image of a hardback edition of The Last Unicorn, with a black base, purple background, and a linocut image of the unicorn in her wood. On the black cover underneath is a foiled unicorn with the moon and butterfly, the page edges are sprayed purple, and the endpapers are black with silver butterflies)

Tweet 18: Anyway, I've taken you on a three day trip that could have been done in a single tweet, but that's what happens when you let me drive. This edition is the limited exclusive one only available through the Gollancz Emporium and you can preorder here: (link to Gollancz Emporium)

Tweet 19: But there is also a standard edition available through all booksellers! You'll be getting the author's preferred text, with an introduction from Patrick Rothfuss. There's also a brand new audiobook and it will be available in eBook for the first time ever.

Tweet 20: It's like going from famine to feast, and I wasn't able to talk about this for months so now I am able to talk about it, I'm going to make the social media team cry. UNICORNS. SPECIAL EDITION. PURPLE. The End.

Tweet 21: Additional behind the scenes bonus detail - I did take this cover to the art meaning while wearing a unicorn onesie.

Tweet 22: The comms team wrestling me away from the twitter account: (gif of Ross from Friends shouting 'Stop typing! Stop typing!')

End ID]

#The Last Unicorn #Peter S. Beagle #Gollancz Blogging #Twitter Threads #Books #Long Post

[after-witch]

Can I ask for your book recommendations? If you haven’t done so before that is ><

oh sure! my book taste is all over the place, I'm not sure what to recommend, so here's a bit of everything.

Horror/Dark

Small Spaces Quartet by Katherine Arden (obviously)

The Collector by John Fowles

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

Dark Water by Suzuki Koji

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

IT by Stephen King

Carrie by Stephen King

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (really, anything by Shirley Jackson)

The Push by Ashley Audrain

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (okay, not quite horror but mystery)

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Goth by Otsuichi (Anything by Otsuichi; their stuff is really really dark, though, be aware)

Fantasy/Other

The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (doesn't come out until February)

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Prince Ombra by Roderick MacLeish **If you go for this one, DO NOT get the 2002 reprint. Only look for copies published before 2002. The 2002 reprint is heavily censored.

The Rumpeltsiltskin Problem by Vivien Vande Velde

Dragon's Bait by Vivien Vande Velde

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

#hope you can find something on the list!! #one of the things that made me saddest about moving is just--I had to get rid of like #a lot of books. hundreds of books #that I spent years accumulating. #because there just was not room. #I have picked up a few here and there this year but I have to be so much pickier about what books I physically buy and I hhhhate it #at the house I had just. shelves upon shelves. shelves in multiple rooms. so many shelves. also room to keep books in boxes. #here--not so much.

[sissylittlefeather]

This is the Story

Chapter 6

A/N: I'm super nervous to publish this chapter, for some reason, so if you like it please let me know! And I hope you do love it! This is so fluffy it's the unicorn from Despicable Me.

ICYMI: This is the one with the OC Grace Dubois, author and single mom of Wendy. It's set in 1973 and this chapter happens in November, just after Halloween. Need to catch up? Here are links:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Warnings: None really? Again. It's. So. Fluffy.

Word count: 2.9k

Song that inspired the series:

Both Elvis and Grace get ready for bed and attempt sleeping, trying and failing to think of anything but each other.

******

The next day, Grace takes her time getting ready to go to Graceland. She normally arrives around lunchtime, but today it's almost 2pm. When she finally arrives, she knocks on the door and Elvis answers. He gives her an awkward smile and coughs as he gestures for her to come in. They get up to his office and he seems to be having trouble sitting still. He keeps getting up to get a glass of water or an aspirin or to go to the bathroom.

Grace starts to think she imagined everything that she thought was between them last night. He seems to be doing everything in his power to avoid her. Why did he hug her then? And the almost kiss? What was that if he can't stand to be in her presence?

After about an hour of this, Grace is starting to get irritated with him. Eventually, he stops her from asking questions.

"I'm sorry; I think we're going to have to be done for today. I'm not feeling well." He smiles awkwardly and stands up to walk her to the door.

Now she's angry. Yes, maybe it was a little awkward after last night, but if he has to make up a lie about not feeling well just to get out of her presence, she's not going to force him. She nods curtly and heads for the door. When they get there, he acts like he wants to hug her again, but she walks straight past him to her car.

The next day is Friday, so she drops Wendy off at school and is ready to let Elvis know how she's feeling when the phone rings out of nowhere.

"Ms. Dubois? This is Jerry Schilling. Elvis won't be needing you to come to the house today. Thank you." Click.

He didn't even give her a chance to ask why or say anything at all. But if Elvis is that desperate to avoid her, then fine. She'll just wait until the weekly Sunday night call, when they make a schedule for the upcoming week, to let him know what she thinks.

But on Sunday evening, there's no phone call. Grace sits on the side of her bed trying not to cry. What did she do wrong? It felt like maybe she had finally found someone she could trust after all these years. But now he is reminding her of Wendy's father. She had trusted him and then he abandoned her when she needed him the most. Was Elvis doing the same thing? She wasn't exactly in a crisis, but he was already proving that he was untrustworthy.

Frank was right. She should've kept her distance.

"Mama, what's wrong?" Wendy comes into her room and sits next to her on the bed.

"Oh, nothing, I'm fine, sweetie."

"Is this about Daddy?"

"Daddy?"

"Mr. Presley!" Wendy rolls her eyes a little that Grace doesn't remember.

"Honey, no. It has nothing to do with him. And he's not your daddy. You shouldn't call him that."

"Why not? Lisa Marie said I could." Grace puts a hand on her forehead. The pounding behind her eyes is starting to get to her.

"You just... can't, okay?" Wendy nods slowly.

"Sure. I'll stop." She says it quietly, but she has no intention of stopping.

On Monday morning, Grace is ready to go to battle with Elvis. He has now ignored her for three full days. It doesn't matter how awkward it might've been on Halloween. He could at least apologize to her face and let her know he wasn't interested. Instead, he's sneaking around and avoiding her like a child. And he was mad that she disappeared?

She drops Wendy off and goes straight to the house around 9am. It's earlier than she's ever been there and she knows Elvis is probably still asleep, but she is fully prepared to stand in the foyer and yell until he comes down.

She stomps up to the door and knocks loudly. Jerry answers slowly.

"Ms. Dubois, what are you doing here? He's not..." Grace pushes past him into the front hall.

"Elvis! You owe me an explanation!"

"He's not here, Grace." She whips around to Jerry. Did he take off? He's probably back in Vegas.

"Where the FUCK is he, Jerry?!" Jerry shakes his head. He's obviously avoiding telling her. Just then, the phone rings. He walks to it and answers it carefully. Grace stands close by. She can hear Elvis's father, Vernon, on the other end of the line.

"What is it?" Jerry asks.

"He's asking for Grace. Should we call her?" Jerry turns and looks at her. He knows she heard that.

"We don't need to call her. She's here."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"I think I have to. Especially if he's asking for her."

"Well, alright then." Jerry hangs up the phone and looks at her nervously.

"Jerry, you better tell me what's going on right now." He hesitates before he opens his mouth.

"He's in the hospital. He has pneumonia. The doctors are worried..."

Jerry keeps talking but Grace doesn't hear anything else. Her heart sinks to her stomach and feels like it's in a vice. Everything starts to sounds garbled and her heart rate hits the roof. Her hands start shaking and without another thought, she turns on her heel and starts running towards her car. She has to get to him, now. She feels tears stream down her face as she tries to get her key into the car door, but she's shaking too much. Then, she feels Jerry's hand on her shoulder gently.

"Come on. I'll drive you." He takes the keys and guides her around to the passenger side. Once they're headed for the hospital, Grace begins to sob openly.

"This whole time I've been so angry and he's in the hospital."

"Oh, Grace, you had no way of knowing."

"What if he dies?!" She turns to Jerry frantically. "Please. He can't die." She's begging Jerry like he has some control over the situation.

"You really care about him, don't you?" Grace looks down at her hands and continues crying. She didn't even realize how much she cared about him until she knew he was in danger.

"I really do." Jerry smiles softly and looks over at her in the passenger seat. "Please don't tell him. I still don't know how he feels about me."

"Grace, I'm not sure I've ever seen him like this before. Usually between shows, he gets very sulky and spends most of his time in his room. But now? He's always so excited to see you. His mood is better than ever. Even the other guys have noticed. Don't feel bad for caring about him."

She swallows hard and thinks about what this might mean. Just then, Jerry pulls into the hospital parking lot. She can't think about any of that right now. Right now she just needs to see him and make sure he's okay.

******

Elvis has been in and out of delirious consciousness for the last two days. His fever is very high and he needs oxygen to keep breathing. Today is the first day he's been able to speak. He pulls the oxygen mask off again and gestures for his father to come close to him.

"Did you call Grace? Is she coming?"

"I'm not sure. We told her, but I don't know if she's coming."

He puts the oxygen mask back on for a bit. Surely, she'll come? If nothing else, she said she wouldn't disappear again. She said they could be friends. This is his last thought before he drifts off to sleep.

******

Grace walks carefully into the hospital room and her breath catches in her throat. Her hand goes to her mouth and she feels her eyes fill with tears again.

"No." She whispers. He looks even worse than she imagined, with the oxygen mask on and the IVs hooked up to him.

When Vernon sees her, he gets up out of the chair next to the bed. She goes immediately to the side of the bed, taking Elvis's big, warm hand in her own. Then, she pushes his hair back off his forehead and feels his fever. He's so warm, it's scary. Her hands are cool, so she gently presses one to his cheek. She wants him to wake up, but he doesn't. Finally, she settles in the chair Vernon was sitting in. She lowers her head and presses a kiss on his hand and then holds it up to her face.

Wake up, Elvis. I'm here. Wake up.

She wills him to wake up, and somehow it's like he hears her. His eyes flutter open and she stands up, leaning over him again. He pulls the oxygen mask off his face. Jerry gestures to Vernon that they should give them the room. The two men walk out and leave Grace and Elvis alone.

"You're here."

"Of course I am." She smiles softly. "I promised I wouldn't disappear again."

He smiles weakly and tries to lift his hand to her face, but he can't. She grabs his hand and holds it, bringing it to her cheek for him. Then, she kisses the inside of his palm.

"What do you need? Can I get anything for you?" He shakes his head slightly.

"I just need you." He puts the oxygen mask back on and rubs his thumb over her cheek. She puts his hand back down and he drifts off to sleep again.

As soon as he's asleep, she uses a pay phone to call Paulette and get her on the first plane to Memphis. She'll need her to watch Wendy while she cares for Elvis. Luckily, there's a flight coming in around 2, just in time for her to be at the apartment when Wendy gets off the bus. She arranges with Jerry for a driver to pick her up from the airport and uses her work expense account to pay for the flight. Once Wendy and Paulette are squared away, she goes back to Elvis. She stays by his bedside for the rest of the day, not even leaving to eat lunch. He sleeps for most of the day, but every time he wakes up, he looks for her and she's quick to make sure he knows she's there.

At one point in the afternoon, the Colonel arrives to check on him. He's shocked to find Grace there and he's even more shocked to see how comfortable she seems by his side.

"Ms. Du-boys, surely you're not here collecting information for the book."

She whips her head around to him. Nothing could be further from her mind.

"Absolutely not. I'm just here for him."

"You two seem to have gotten close."

"We're... friends." She hesitates a little and she can tell the Colonel notices.

Evening comes and Grace, Jerry, Vernon, and the Colonel are all still there. A nurse comes in to tell them regular visiting hours are over.

"Only one of you can stay with him overnight." Jerry and Vernon both look at Grace. Again, the Colonel is surprised.

"I'll stay." She tries to say it with some authority since she's not his next of kin or anything, but the nurse doesn't seem to care.

She spends the night sitting in the chair leaned over asleep on the side of his bed.

******

At one point in the night, Elvis wakes up. Again he looks for Grace first. He's comforted to find her there, breathing softly, peacefully sleeping on the side of his bed. He lifts his hand and strokes her hair, which she's taken down to be more comfortable.

The moonlight streams in through the window, illuminating her features. She's so beautiful. His heart feels full and he prays that she never leaves. He's never felt this way about any woman in his life.

Before he goes back to sleep, he runs his fingers down her face gently, tracing her high cheekbones and the outline of her soft lips. Then, he drifts off more content than he's been in years.

******

Grace stays by Elvis's bedside for the next three days as he slowly comes back to health. She leaves only to check on Wendy and shower.

On the third day, the doctor comes in and tells them he can go home.

"It was touch and go for a bit, but he hit a real turning point on Monday. He'll be fine. He just needs to continue to rest for the next week or so. Does he have someone who can look after him at home?" Again, Vernon and Jerry look at Grace. This time Elvis does too. She had already planned on taking care of him, so she nods.

Wendy is safe with Paulette and when Grace tells her why she is going to be gone, Wendy smiles widely.

"Daddy needs you. It's okay." Grace rolls her eyes but doesn't correct her this time. She packs a suitcase and kisses Wendy on the head.

"I'll be back to check on you everyday."

"Take good care of Daddy." Grace shakes her head as she walks out the door. Where does that girl get her spunk?

******

Once Elvis is settled in his bed in pajamas that evening, Grace comes in to check on him. Part of him is shocked she agreed to stay with him while he recovers. He's starting to wonder if maybe she is feeling something close to what he's feeling.

"Do you need anything?" She says as she collects his dinner tray.

"Maybe some more water? Thank you, honey." When she comes back with the water, she sets it on the bedside table and starts to walk away. He grabs her hand.

"Hey, sit with me for a bit." He pats on the bedspread for her to sit down next to him. She positions herself on the edge of the bed, facing him.

"Did you need something else?" She's smiling softly.

"No I just wanted to talk to you." She relaxes a bit. He can tell she's a little nervous caring for him in his house.

"What should we talk about?" She laughs quietly. He looks over her T-shirt and jeans, searching for something to say. In reality, he just wants her to stay close to him.

"Would you like me to read to you?" He looks back up into her face, thankful for her suggestion.

"Yes, I would like that very much." He points her to a stack of books. She chooses one that happens to be a favorite of his and settles herself back onto the bed. As she begins to read, he watches her carefully. He loves the way she licks her lips as she turns the page and the piece of hair that's fallen out of her loose bun. If he had any kind of strength at all, he would reach out and touch her, but he's still weak from sickness. But if being sick is what it takes to keep her here, he hopes he's sick forever.

******

Grace does everything in her power not to lay down next to him on the bed as she reads. She wants to feel his closeness, not in a sexual way, but in a comforting way. The moment feels deeply intimate, but there's so much separation between them. And she still doesn't even know for sure if he would want that. She considers just asking him, straight out, but the thought that he might say no kills her. Better to just not know.

She reads for an hour or two with him listening intently before he finally gives in and goes to sleep. Or, at least, she thinks he's asleep, but when she closes the book and gets up to leave, she hears his voice softly behind her.

"Please stay."

"Elvis, it's late. I need to go to bed."

"Sleep here. Please." She looks at the bed skeptically. "It's a big bed. You don't even have to touch me. You know I'm too sick to try anything. Please?" She turns to leave. "Grace?"

"I'm getting my pajamas." She gives him a small smile and goes to the room where her suitcase is. Her heart is racing and she knows this is probably a bad idea, but she grabs her things and changes quickly. She's spent the last few nights with her head on the bed next to him anyway. How much different is this really?

******

When Grace comes back into the room in her pajamas, Elvis's heart skips a beat. He can't believe he asked her to sleep in the bed with him. He's not the kind of man to sleep in a bed with a woman before he spends time doing other things in the bed. But this is different. She's different.

She gets in the bed on the opposite side and lays down with a good bit of space between them.

"Thank you. For everything." He looks over at her. She scoots over closer to him until their arms are touching.

"Well the last thing I need is for Elvis Presley to stop breathing on my watch." He laughs and starts to cough. Instinctively, she rolls over and puts her hand on his chest. He stops coughing and puts his hand over hers. Then, he presses his lips to her forehead and whispers.

"Thank you."

They sleep this way for the next week and a half. And no matter how hard they try, they always wake up in the morning cuddled together in the middle of the bed.

******

Stay tuned! The next chapter should be a doozy!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taglist:

@ccab @elvisfatass @elvisalltheway101 @ashtag6887 @aliypop @your-nanas-house @dkayfixates @everythingelvispresley @xanatenshi @returntopresley @p0lksaladannie @deniseinmn @jaqueline19997 @that-hotdog @mykievolturi @18lkpeters @joshuntildawn13 @rjmartin11 @littlehoneyposts

Want to be added to the Taglist? Let me know! It's about to get 🌶️ spicy 🌶️ 😉

#elvis presley fanfiction #elvis presley #elvis fanfic #elvis presley fic #elvis fanfiction #elvis presley fanfic #elvis fic #elvis x oc #elvis presley x oc #grace dubois #this is the story #Spotify

[lilac-ravenclaw]

Hello! With finishing Hogwarts Legacy recently, I wanted to draw my mc, Raven Fawlty. Used Procreate to draw her, and I'm super happy with how she turned out. ✨🌙

⇩ Find more of my art here ⇩

General Info

Name: Raven Fawlty - { reason for her name for me } “Ravens” often represents ancient wisdom, transformation and intelligence. The name “Raven” means “dark haired or wise”. “Fawlty”… honestly this was a gimmick at first. As I love the show, Fawlty Towers with John Cleese. Ran in the 70s, with only a handful of episodes, but it was hilarious and it was the first name I could think of when creating my character.

Birthday: January 29, 1874 { The Raven was published in 1845 }

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Sex/Gender: Female { she/her }

Ethnicity: Latina and English

House: Ravenclaw

Wand:

Stalk: Dark Brown

Wood type: Willow

Core type: Unicorn Hair

Flexibility: Reasonably Supply

Wand Length: 12”

Handle: Checkerboard - Blue

Patronus: Black Bear

The Black Bear is known for their adaptability and resourcefulness. Others will see her as a fierce opponent who will protect herself and those close to her. Only those close to her will know of that softer side she usually keeps hidden away.

Physical Appearance

Eye color: Violet

Skin color: Tan/light brown, with olive undertones.

Hair: Long length and black, usually worn in a braid.

Height: 5’1” (155cm)

Weight: 110lbs (49kg)

Body type: Hourglass and petite

Birthmarks: small mole on the face, left cheek

Fashion style: Loves wearing a comfortable trouser, but will still wear a button up blouse and a skirt. Doesn’t care for the traditional school robe, but favors a nice blazer/jacket when needed.

Accessories: Pierced ears for small earrings, (wears a pair of snake gold snake earrings Sebastian gave to her as a birthday gift).

History

Place of birth: Somewhere in the UK

Childhood: Grew up in orphanage in London. Doesn’t know who her parents are, or her real name. She has a love for literature and took the name “Raven” after Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, The Raven. The orphanage she resided in was very strict and had a harsh living environment. The caretaker was mean to the children, much like a Miss Hannigan from the show Annie. So much so, that is how Raven acquired her last name “Fawlty”. A homonym for “faulty”, meaning of faults, inadequate, or wrong. (Which is also why the show, Fawlty Towers, got its name too.) Unknowingly to be a future Ravenclaw, took the insult of a name as a challenge to succeed and learn all she could and be the best version of herself.

Family history: Her father originally from South America and went to Castelobruxo, a wizarding school in Brazil. Being from the heart of the Amazon rain forest, he had a profound love for magical creatures. Which is where Raven gets her love for magical creatures as well. He had traveled all over the world and eventually made his way to Europe where he met Raven’s mother, was also traveling abroad as well. She had also attending Hogwarts in her youth, being a former Ravenclaw too. She loved astronomy, and music literature (her mother, Raven's grandmother, was a music instructor). It is unknown what happened to her parents in their untimely death, and how Raven ended up at the orphanage. **Keep in mind, Raven herself doesn’t know this. I just wanted to write this down to know where she gets her personality and interests come from ☺️**

Notable events/milestones: Raven always knew somehow.. she was different. Though, according to the wizarding world’s standards, it took a little longer for her powers to emerge. Even small things would happen here and there, without her realizing what had happen and that she was the cause of such strange occurrences. Until one day when the orphan keeper (the person who runs the orphanage) was “disciplining” one of the children and Raven stepped in to protect them and that enough was enough. She had forced a large shelf to fall over onto the orphan keeper… it was as if what she was thinking became a reality. Afraid of what would happen, Raven ran away, seeking shelter where she could. As Professor Fig was assigned the task of giving Raven her letter and bringing her to Hogwarts, it still took no time at all for Professor Fig to find Raven even though she was missing from the orphanage. She was hesitant at first but overall wasn’t scared at all, and actually was relieved to know there were others like her. A whole world like her just waiting to be apart of and that was the happiest day in her life.

Other notes: She had studied with Professor Fig for the duration of the summer before starting at Hogwarts. Having only gained her powers after the school year had finished. He had become the first father figure to Raven.

Psychological Traits

Personality type: INFP (Mediator) is a personality type with the introverted, intuitive, feeling and prospecting traits. These rare personality types tend to be quiet, open-minded, and imaginative, and they apply a caring and creative approach to everything they do.

Personality traits: intelligent, witty, adventurous, warm, courageous, emotionally intuitive, and quick-thinker.

Introvert/Extrovert: Sometimes both. Loves to be around her close friends, but doesn’t mind spending time alone reading a good book or flying on her broom.

Hobbies: Star-gazing, tending to the magical beasts in the Vivarium, reading, and singing.

Loves: Flying on her broom and singing in the choir.

Morals/Virtues: Values being compassionate and always being there for her friends/loved ones at a moment’s notice. Tries to do right by them and stand by their side when times are tough. She knows what it feels like to be alone in certain situations and doesn’t want her friends to go through the same thing.

Phobias/Fears: Being trapped in a “cage” and being forgotten.

Relationships

Love Interest: Sebastian Sallow… From the very beginning she felt like there was some sort of connection, but was a bit too oblivious to see it at first. He’s very charming and almost flirtatious with other girls, so figured she wasn’t any different. Sometimes she will catch him sneaking a glance in her direction during class, while studying in the Library or at mealtimes in the Great Hall. It was so easy to stand by him and help him find a cure for his sister without even a second thought. It may have been foolish, but Raven knows what it’s like to have no support when at your lowest. To feel like all hope is lost. She can understand losing your parents at a young age.

Parents: Deceased, Names Unknown

Grandparents: Unknown, Names Unknown

Best friends: Poppy Sweeting and Natsai Onai

Friends: Ominis Gaunt, Garreth Weasley, Amit Thakker, and Imelda Reyes

Rivals: Leander Prewett, not in a bad way. It's mostly a friendly competition when playing Summoner's Court.

Enemies: Peeves the Poltergeist, damn him for catching them in the Library!

Clubs: Crossed Wands, Summoner’s Court, and Hogwart's Glee Club ( was super hesitant in trying out for the school's choir, but her best friends Poppy and Natsai gave her the confidence she needed to try out).

If you’ve made it this far then thank you so much for reading. Hope you enjoyed learning about my MC✨💙

#hogwarts legacy #portkey games #hogwarts legacy mc #ravenclaw #ancient magic #hogwarts legacy fanart #procreate #digital drawing #ipad pro #character design #character sheet #character art #artists on tumblr #illustration

[girlactionfigure]

🟤 Fri morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

✡️ Erev (before) Shabbat - Parshat Kedoshim - Leviticus 19:1-20:27 - “You shall be holy, for I, the L‑rd your G‑d, am holy” followed by dozens of mitzvot (commandments) through which a Jew sanctifies him/herself and relates to the holiness of G‑d.  These include: prohibition against idolatry, charity, equality before the law, Shabbat, intimate morality, honesty in business, honor one’s parents, and the sacredness of life.

💩U.S. ARMS - THE JUSTIFICATION PHASE.. 

.. US State Department: We think that the Rafah operation will weaken Israel's position in the negotiations for the deal and its position in the world.  

.. The White House stated the United States provided Israel with alternatives for action against Hamas, and that Biden directed his team to continue working to inflict a "lasting defeat" on Hamas. (( Israel tried the U.S. suggestion, but was unable to convince the unicorns to enter the tunnels. ))

▪️LAG B’OMER IN MERON - CANCELLED.. due to the security situation and attacks by Hezbollah, Lag b’Omer celebrations by the Tomb of Rashbi are fully cancelled. 

▪️WEEKEND PRO-DEAL PROTESTS.. in Tel Aviv, much smaller than last week.  Still thousands, loud, fires (this time flares).  As has become the practice, the protestors also broke out of their protest zone and blocked and lit fires in additional areas.

▪️EUROVISION.. is a big cultural deal for Israel.  Israel’s contestant, Eden Golan, has made the finals!

▪️THE AID PIER STILL HELD UP.. CNN: many weather delays - the US humanitarian wharf for Gaza suffers from challenges regarding the manpower to operate it. Britain changed its mind and withdrew from a plan to station armed soldiers in Gaza to unload aid due to security concerns.

🔸DEAL ACTIVITY..  Egypt calls on the delegations of Hamas and Israel, which left Cairo, to "show flexibility" in the negotiations.

.. CNN: In talks in Cairo, Hamas demanded that Israel agree in advance to a ceasefire and a pause of 12 weeks, not 6 weeks.

⚠️NORTH TO GET HOTTER.. Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper, close to Hezbollah: Iran gave an order to Hezbollah to step up against Israel, even at the cost of starting an all-out war.

♦️IDF ATTACKS.. IDF: during the last day the Air Force attacked and destroyed about 40 terrorist targets throughout Gaza including: military buildings, observation posts, terrorist squads and other military infrastructure.

♦️EAST RAFAH.. In east Rafah, troops located tunnel shafts, while the Armored Brigade killed gunmen in close-quarters combat and by calling in airstrikes in the area of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt.

♦️GAZANS EVACUATE.. Gazans: large numbers leaving Rafah, much more than what is reported on Al-Jazeera.  Gazans also leaving Rafah from areas not yet warned by the IDF, with the understanding that the operation would advance.

⭕ IRAQI THREAT FROM SYRIA.. the Iraqi Najabaa movement (a pro-Iranian Shiite militia) published that it will respond strongly to the Israeli attack this morning on its building in the Sayyidah Zaynab area in southern Damascus (Syria).

⭕ ANTI-TANK MISSILES.. fired into Israel, miss but started fires near Maayan Baruch.

⭕ HAMAS ROCKETS.. at Sufa, Holit.  It appears they have only short range from Rafah in recent attacks.

▪️BRAZIL CANCELS WEAPONS ORDER.. with Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit, because Israel bad.

▪️UNRWA: We decided to close our offices in East Jerusalem after Israelis set fire to the compound twice.

#Israel #October 7 #Hamas Massacre #Gaza #Israel/HamasWar #Real Time Updates #Lebanon #Hezbollah

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

The Chimes of Midnight

Synopsis

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house not a creature was stirring...

But something must be stirring. Something hidden in the shadows. Something which kills the servants of an old Edwardian mansion in the most brutal and macabre manner possible. Exactly on the chiming of the hour, every hour, as the grandfather clock ticks on towards midnight.

Trapped and afraid, the Doctor and Charley are forced to play detective to murders with no motive, where the victims don't stay dead. Time is running out.

And time itself might well be the killer...

Propaganda

"Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without one of Mrs. Baddeley's plum puddings." And Christmastime wouldn't be Christmastime if I don't re-listen to this audio story at least once each year. (@youremyonlyhope )

It just wouldn't be Christmas without it (anonymous)

Unnatural History

Synopsis

""They called it the Millennium Effect"", said the Doctor. ""But the millennium was only beginning.""

San Francisco has changed since the start of 2000. The laws of physics keep having acid flashbacks. There are sightings of creatures from outside our dimensions, stranded aliens and surrealist street performers. The city has become a mecca for those who revel in impossible creatures — and those who want to see them pinned down and put away.

Sam's past is catching up with her — a past she didn't know she had. The Doctor is in danger of becoming the pièce de résistance in a twisted collection of creatures. And beneath the waters of the Bay, something huge is waiting.

With time running out, the Doctor must choose which to sacrifice — a city of wonders, or the life of an old and dear friend.

Propaganda

You too want to read a full novel explanation of why Dr Who canon is Like That (hint: it's little assholes who opt to look like 10 year olds wearing skull masks). Also unicorns in San Francisco. Unsurprisingly does feature Fitz being astoundingly gay for 8. (@eighthdoctor )

The villain of the week wants the Doctor to have a consistent backstory. This is bad because it’s not Doctor Who without plotholes and inconsistencies. Plus, it was published in 1999 (?) and there’s a line about how Gallifrey is always destroyed and un-destroyed. They didn’t even know… (anonymous)

#round 5

[chthonic-cassandra]

Top Reading Experiences, 2023

In a few categories, because lists are satisfying.

Series - Anne Rice, The Vampire Chronicles - I reread almost the entirety of the series (I skipped Memnoch), and read the weird ones that I had skipped the first time. Fascinating, wild reading experience to do it all together. Chronicled here, though it subsequently turned into my general VC tag. - C. J. Cherryh, Alliance-Union series - I reread Cyteen and then read Regenesis and 40,000 in Gehenna for the first time. While Cyteen is unmatched, I loved reading the others as well, and am looking forward to reading the rest of them slowly, gradually, and lovingly. Immensely satisfying experience of science fiction. - Tanith Lee, Tales from the Flat Earth - reread the first three, read Night's Daughter and Night's Sorceries for the first time. More to come on these. I haven't yet gotten a hold of the remaining few stories in the series, which were recently published for the first time. - Tanith Lee, Unicorn series - I started 2023 with these. Just a delight. - Pat Barker, Regeneration - reread for the first time in many years. Still so good, though the first is notably the tightest. Its reflection on moral injury felt very grounding right now.

Other notable rereads - Henry James, The Golden Bowl - Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre - Annie G. Rogers, The Unsayable - Caitlin Sweet, The Pattern Scars - Susanna Clarke, Piranesi - Elizabeth E. Wein, The Lion Hunter and The Empty Kingdom - Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children

Fiction, read for the first time - Wole Soyinka, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth - A. S. Byatt, Medusa's Ankles: Selected Stories - Dion Fortune, The Demon Lover - Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, Of One Blood - Maureen McHugh, China Mountain Zhang - Werner Herzog, The Twilight World - Vanessa Hua, Forbidden City - Marina Dyachenko, Assassin of Reality - Magda Szabo, The Fawn - Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Selby Wynn Schwartz, After Sappho - Maggie O'Farrell, The Marriage Portrait - Vajra Chandrasekera, The Saint of Bright Doors

Non-fiction, read for the first time - Artemis Leontis, Eva Sikelianos Palmer: A Life in Ruins - Shane McRae, Pulling the Chariot of the Sun: A Memoir of a Kidnapping - Claire Mac Cumhaill & Rachel Weisman, Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life - Simon Palfrey & Tiffany Stern, Shakespeare in Parts - Nayan Shah, Refusal to Eat: A Century of Prison Hunger Strikes - Hugh Ryan, The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison - Ron E. Hassner, Anatomy of Torture - Judith Herman, Truth and Repair - Julie Phillips, The Baby on the Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem - Nanno Marinatos, Minoan Religion

#books

[laurasimonsdaughter]

Folktales you can read as queer without squinting

Happy Pride everyone! Here is a selection of folk and fairy tales that I enjoy for both their plots and their queer vibes. I speak of vibes only, because I cannot say I have insight in the historical intention of these tales, but I do vouch for me presenting them to you unaltered, as I found them.

I will give the titles with links to the full texts here and summaries under the read more:

Gold-tree and Silver-tree Scottish fairy tale, collected by Joseph Jacobs, published in 1892. [Cw: abusive parent, murder.]

The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces Cape Verdian folktale, collected by Elsie Clews Parsons in 1916-1917. [Cw: attempted poisoning]

The Unicorn Spanish fairy tale, collected by Aurelio Espinosa in 1947. [Cw: murder, attempt at being outed, awkward use of pronouns.]

The Tale of Tamamizu Japanese literary folktale, written by an unknown author between the Muromachi period (1336–1573) and the beginning of the Edo period (1603–1867). [Cw: tragic ending.]

The Tale of the Marquise-Marquis of Banneville French literary fairy tale, published in 1697, authorship contested (suggested: François-Timoléon de Choisy, Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier, Charles Perrault). [Cw: gender dysphoria, age difference.]

Bisclavret French literary legend, written by Marie de France in the 12th century. [Cw: wolf-violence]

Gold-tree and Silver-tree

The beautiful princess Gold-tree is married off to a loving prince to protect her from her murderous mother Silver-tree. When her mother finds out where her daughter is she goes to visit her while the prince is out. To protect her, Gold-tree is locked in her room, but she is persuaded to stick her pink through the key hole so her mother can kiss it. Instead, the jealous queen stabs her with poison, killing Gold-tree. The prince is inconsolable and lays Gold-tree to rest in a locked room. In time he marries a second wife, who is of course curious to know what is in the room. She manages to get in and is so overcome with Gold-trees beauty that she immediately tries to wake her. She discovers a poisoned splinter, takes it out of her finger, and Gold-tree wakes up. When the prince returns home he is overjoyed and when the second wife offers to leave, he insists that she stays. The three of them live happily together until the evil queen finds out Gold-tree was revived. Once again she visits, but this time the second wife protects Gold-tree and tricks the queen into drinking her own poison. The queen dies and the three live a happy long life together, pleased and peaceful.

The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces

A king offers his daughter’s hand in marriage plus half of his kingdom to whoever can find out why his daughter wears out seven pairs of shoes every night. A woman’s only son sets out to discover the secret, despite the threat of being executed if he fails. On his way he meets the Virgin Mary and God in disguise, who give him a coat of invisibility and a special whip. These gifts help him follow the princess as she sneaks out of the castle, passing by three bushes who greet her as she takes a flower from each. So does the boy. They arrive at a great hall where the princess dances with a company of strange old men, until all her shoes are worn. The boy collects the worn pairs of shoes, makes sure to get back to the castle before her and pretends to be asleep. The following morning he reveals the princess’ secret and gives the flowers and shoes as proof. The king asks him if he wants to marry the princess, but the boy declines, instead returning home to his mother with half a kingdom’s worth of fortune, and builds her a new house.

The Unicorn

A young woman’s sweetheart is killed by another man who is in love with her and after avenging his death, she flees her home. In this new life she lives as a man and choses the name Carlos. He goes into service for a wealthy family and the daughter of the house falls in love with him. They marry and while Carlos is sad to explain the situation to his wife, she loves him all the same and they live happily together. The lack of any children makes her father suspicious, however, and he starts putting Carlos to the test to see if he will act like a man or a woman, but he’s never able to discover anything. Eventually he takes Carlos hunting, suspecting that he will not want to bathe with the other men. Before the bathing, however, Carlos meets a unicorn who gives him a blessing and changes his body so he can go bathe without fear. The father is proven wrong and Carlos gets to return to his worried wife, to tell her what happened.

The Tale of Tamamizu

A kitsune falls in love at first sight with a nobleman’s daughter and wanders what he could possibly do to be near her. After considering taking on the appearance of a dashing young man to woo her, he decides he doesn’t want to put her in danger by marrying a fox, and turns into a girl instead. She goes to a devout couple who have only sons and introduces herself as an orphan. They immediately take her in and name her Tamamizu. Once she is settled, she confesses she would like to be a lady’s companion and her foster family get her employment with the young lady she is so in love with. Tamamizu is a great favourite, but so afraid of dogs that the young lady orders that dogs are no longer allowed near her. Three years pass when a contest is held to find the most beautiful autumn leaf. Tamamizu goes back to her fox siblings, who are overjoyed to see her and they help her find the leaf to give to her mistress. It is so magnificent even the Emperor hears of it and invites the lady to court. Tamamizu is to go with her, but she cannot bear it. Before they reach the court and she has to see her beloved become the Emperor’s wife, she disappears, leaving behind a letter for her mistress to explain everything. Everyone misses Tamamizu and the young lady sorrows for her painful heart.

The Tale of the Marquise-Marquis of Banneville

The Marquise of Banneville becomes a widow while she is pregnant and while she first wishes really hard for a son, she changes her mind and begs heaven to send her a daughter who will not have do die in war like her husband. The child is born and regardless of physicality, is raised as a girl. She grows up a beautiful, charming socialite and is a favourite of high society. The little marquise Marianne meets the handsome Marquis de Bercour and they begin a flirtatious, deeply romantic friendship that leaves her mother anxious to prevent them ever thinking of marrying. Eventually she even tells her daughter about the complication of her birth, but after some intense unhappiness the affection of the marquis and his declaration that he wants only to be her best friend, she puts it out of her mind. When her mother dies, however, the two lovers are so much together that they have to marry to escape the gossip. On the wedding night Marianne finds her husband inconsolable and he confesses that he was born a woman. She immediately tells him her own situation and they declare their love all over, decide to keep living exactly as they do now and have a child just as beautiful as they are.

Bisclavret

A kind and handsome nobleman, beloved by his king, is asked by his new wife why he disappears for three days every week. He confesses that this is when he “turns bisclavret” and must go out hunting in the shape of a wolf. His terrified wife convinces a knight who was already in love with her to steal her husband’s clothes so he cannot turn back. After her husband’s mysterious disappearance she quickly marries the knight. The distraught king comes across a wolf while hunting, however, that treats him so affectionately that he takes the animal home with him. The wolf never leaves his side and is incredibly docile, but when he attacks first the knight and then the knight’s wife, the king’s advisor starts to get suspicious. They are arrested and confess everything. The nobleman’s clothes are found and the king brings the clothes and the wolf to his royal bedchamber and leaves them. When he returns the nobleman is human again, fast asleep in the king’s bed. The overjoyed king wakes him with kisses, restores him to his title, and showers him with gifts. 

Honorable mention for this mythic tale from the Bhuiya in India in which two women conceive a child together.

#laura retells #or close enough #queer representation #folklore #fairy tales #queer folklore #queer folktales

[spaceintruderdetector]

cheap truth / all isues - the house organ of the ocp (original cyberpunk) movement 1983-1986

''As American SF lies in a reptilian torpor, its small, squishy cousin, Fantasy, creeps gecko-like across the bookstands. Dreaming of dragon-hood, Fantasy has puffed itself up with air like a Mojave chuckwalla. SF's collapse has formed a vacuum that forces Fantasy into a painful and explosive bloat. Short stories, crippled with the bends, expand into whole hideous trilogies as hollow as nickel gumballs. Even poor Stephen Donaldson, who struggles to atone for his literary crimes with wet hippy sincerity, has been forced to re-xerox his Tolkien pastiches and doubly insult the public. As Robert E. Howard spins in his grave, the Chryslers of publishing attach rotors to his head and feet and use him to power the presses. But the editors have eaten sour grapes and the writers' teeth are on edge. Fantasy, for too long the vapid playground of MacUaffreyite unicorn-cuddlers. and insect-eating S.C.A. freaks, has some new and dangerous borderlands. Suddenly, perhaps out of sheer frustration, fantasy has movement and color again. It is the squirming movement of corruption and the bright sheen of decay.''

#cyberpunk #literary science fiction #science fiction #the 80s #zine

[lizzybeth1986]

Headcanon: Sloane's Kids - Hamza, Artemis, Orion and Zohreh

(FC: Sloane Washington (center) - Nelly Muse)

Everyone who has read my fics kinda knows I have three separate universes for PM, with some commonalities. One in which my MC dates only Hayden, and two in which they date all the LIs. Hayden and Sloane in two of these universes also actively date other people. So in all universes, Khaan is someone Sloane has a relationship with, as well as Alana. I do plan to develop a "childhood sweetheart"-like character for her sometime in the future as well. So Hamza definitely is like a firstborn child to her, even though Khaan and Sloane don't exactly marry.

Sloane has three other children, twins from a fertility treatment as well as one daughter with Khaan many years later.

I see Sloane starting out trying to emulate Kim because she's such a fantastic role model, but she eventually gets her own groove and realizes she will be a different kind of parent and that's okay. Where Kim was more intuitive, Sloane is a consummate planner and she does bring that kind of energy into her parenting.

Tagging @sloanewashingtonappreciationweek and @sazanes for SWAW Day 2: Written in the Stars (since all Sloane's kids are named after certain celestial bodies).

Hamza Mousavi

(FC: Anthony Cyrus Keyvan)

• Born to an Iranian father and a Filipino mother, Hamza spent his first five years constantly moving house because his father Khaan constantly feared that Hamza would be targeted by Eros. Most of those early years feel like a bit of a blur in later life, because once the group entered their lives, things became far more settled for them.

• Hamza took an instant liking to Sloane the moment he saw her. She was shy and smart, was always sweet to him and tried to make healthy treats he would like, and clearly adored his dad. He definitely encouraged Khaan a bit to ask her out (in all universes).

• Hamza obviously is the oldest of the kids that came from the group, and revels in that fact. He is quite fond of bossing the kids around a little 😄

• His dinosaur-love eventually becomes a fascination for mythical beasts in general in later years. Unsurprisingly, his favourite genre for books is fantasy.

• At some point, Sloane revives her writing hobby, and starts writing books for children. Largely with Nadia's encouragement (she promises to do illustrations if Sloane completes a manuscript). Hamza very enthusiastically becomes the test audience for her first book before she sends it to publishers!

• Hamza got his love for healthy treats and a balanced diet from his father Khaan. It's an interest he grows up with. As an adult, he becomes a very sought-after nutritionist (to the initial chagrin of his siblings and cousins 😂)

Artemis Washington

(FC - Arsema Thomas)

• Artemis and her twin brother Orion were born around 3 and a half years after the events of the second book. Like her mother Kim, Sloane did want to have kids at that point, but wasn't ready to have a kid with the people she was dating. She did talk it over with them tho and instantly had everyone's support before she took the plunge.

• The names were of course a suggestion from all the Hayden's in all my universes 😄 Mostly coz Sloane had always loved that story, even before they came along.

• Arty loved to mix and match different pieces in her outfits from the time she was a kid, including a phase where she wanted to wear colourful underwear over her onesies at home coz it made her look like Superman. She was also known for layering different clothes over each other - there was a point at age 4 where she wore a onesie, wore a T-shirt over that, wore bright rainbow leggings over THAT, and completed that look with unicorn-printed shorts. In summer.

• She gets into haircare and makeup as an adult. Loves testing out different products and inventing new looks. I think she builds a brand of her own much later in her late 20s, when she is more confident of her expertise in the business.

• Her favourite film is the animated beauty "Hair Love".

Orion Washington

(FC - Kelvin Harrison Jr)

• Sloane always feels that Ori took after his Nana Kim in a lot of ways

• He loves cooking, and when he gets older loves experimenting with teas!

• Like Sloane, his favourite meal is also a DC Smoke.

• He loved being in the kitchen, loved mixing and matching things there. Sloane, Khaan and Alana would often find grapes in their cups of tea/coffee, an innovation 4 year old Ori would take pride in 😂

• Cooking is really this guy's love language. He does grow up to become a chef later on, joining culinary school early on.

• At some point both he and Hamza teamed up for a "Hello Fresh"-like initiative, where Orion would devise affordable and healthy meal kits, while Hamza assisted with consulting for meal plans!

Zohreh Washington-Mousavi

(FC- Yara Shahidi)

• Zo is five years younger than Artemis and Orion, and fourteen years Hamza's junior. The three of them did spoil their baby sister quite a bit in the early years 😂 She could bat her eyelashes and get away with practically anything - that was also a perk of being the youngest among the entire group of kids!

• Like her twin siblings, Zo's name was also astronomy-based. Artemis is a Greek name for the moon goddess, Orion is a constellation and Zohreh is the Persian name for Venus.

• The kids of the group (Hayden x MC's kids, Nadia and Steve's kids and Sloane and Khaan's kids) do have their own stargazing parties! All of them love looking out for rare astronomical finds, and have their fave constellations. Zo, tho, has a more scientific interest and cultivates it from an early age.

• Zohreh has her mother's interest in Astrophysics and both her parents' interest in tech, so she does actually enroll into NASA as an adult. She takes on a paid internship through the Pathways program after graduating, and that transitions into a full job there.

• Her favourite planetarium is the Hayden Planetarium in NY.

• Arty did plenty of hairstyling experiments on her baby sister as she reached her teens. That still doesn't change when they're adults and Zo has had a number of her friends vie and pay anything for her older sister's services after seeing her amazing hairstyles.

• Zo's fave dish that Orion has made is a Persian fusion dish - saffron chicken wings.

Family HCs:

• Sloane never actually marries, but she's pretty happy with the life she gets to live with the MC (in my poly universes), Khaan and regular visits from Alana.

• All my Haydens, and Sloane, are still close, and they're in fact is Orion's godmother/father in every universe. The MC is the same for Artemis. Nadia and Alana become Zo's godma's years later.

• As a kid Sloane always kept a stress corner for herself with things that would both calm her down and help her with stimming. She does keep one in the house for her kids and it really works for them.

• Hayden(s) kids, MC's kids, Sloane's kids and Nadia's kids all love to form their own group in every universe. Initially inspired by Hamza's stories about their parents, they also band together and envision scenarios where they can save the world 😁 Hamza is undoubtedly the leader haha, he keeps things from getting too out of hand.

• Sloane already looks up to Kim, but she does so even more after becoming a mother. She definitely does come to her for advice and suggestions from time to time.

--

Other HCs on the PM kids:

The Park-Young Kids (Hazel x Iris)

The Park-Tennyson Kids (Nadia x Steve)

#sloane washington #perfect match #sloanewashingtonappreciationweek #SWAW #SWAW Day 2 #SWAW Day 2: Written in the Stars #content: headcanon #lizzybeth1986

[sisteroutsiders]

An Unseen Photo Album Preserves Life of Audre Lorde

A photograph given by Lorde to Wiesen-Cook while at university together. 

Intimate family moments photographs circa 1968 by Cook.

Audre Lorde and her long-time partner Francis Clayton at the beach with Cook and Coss.

Birthday celebrations in Manhattan, 1977.

A photograph from the Gay March on Washington with Lorde in 1979 when she was a speaker and a poster by Ann Cammett from the 1990 "I Am Your Sister" conference in Boston with Jean Weisinger's photograph.

Lorde’s son, Jonathan celebrates graduation day at Vassar College in 1986.

In 1985, Lorde was honored with the dedication of the Audre Lorde Women’s Poetry Center at Hunter College, where one of Lorde’s students continues to lead the program today.

Book party at Hunter College in the spring 1991.

A pilgrimage to the Pele, visiting a volcano in Hawaii with friends, there for the 1991 Eclipse. 

Lorde’s lover Gloria I. Joseph said Lorde would make these small collages with images and text for her friends.

Lorde at a ceremony where Governor Cuomo named her poet laureate of New York State in 1991. A title she held until her passing at 58 the next year.

The final page of the album shows a puppet street performance, Holocaust memorials in Berlin on Cook and Coss's last visit with Lorde, and images celebrating Lorde's legacy after death in 1992.

Curator Victoria Munro writes:

“Powerful and Dangerous: The Images and Words of Audre Lorde” exhibition at the Alice Austen House is a celebration of the radical work of Black, lesbian feminist, writer, activist and poet, Audre Lorde. The exhibition was a collaborative process made with some of Lorde’s closest friends, colleagues, and sister comrades. I was so fortunate to have their guidance in the creation of this exhibition. Two of Lorde’s long-time friends, Blanche Cook and Clare Coss, guided my initial explorations into the personal realm of her writing practice. They welcomed me into their home to view their archive of personal photographs and ephemera which spanned decades of personal celebrations and professional intersections.

Cook, Coss, and I discussed Lorde’s time spent on Staten Island (1972 to 1987) raising her two children, Elizabeth and Jonathan, with her partner Francis Clayton. Cook and Coss illuminated the many wonderful afternoons spent on St. Pauls Avenue and the powerful writing and teaching that Lorde produced during these years. Some of these works included her most celebrated:  From a Land Where Other People Live (1973), The Black Unicorn (1978), The Cancer Journals (1980), and Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (1984). She also created a new publishing house with activist Barbara Smith called Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press.

The most revelatory object they shared with me was a large album of personal photographs they had created to celebrate Audre’s life when she passed in 1992. Up until this point, the only people that had viewed this album were Lorde’s children. I was so moved by Cook and Coss’s generosity when they allowed me to include this personal memento in the exhibition. The album was frail, and it felt urgent to protect and archive the documents so they could be shared with our audience and future generations.

To make this possible, I decided to create a self-published book that stayed true to the album’s arrangement, placement, and personal notes, and could be touched and shared. The entire album was carefully scanned by our archivist and brought back together digitally to make this a reality.

There are so many connections that these unique images make between lesbian artists, activists, and photographers. These images are essential to understanding the forces of creative collaborations and the lesbian community during that period.

This book represents an intimate portrait of Lorde celebrating her contagious energy, love of people, flirty fun lesbian play, and prolific writing practice.

Cook and Coss wrote this statement to accompany the album:

“Soon after Audre Lorde departed this earth, we found comfort and consolation in the creation of an album of our chosen family, featuring some of the happiest shared moments of our lives together. These snapshots illuminate high-spirited flirty fun gatherings: birthdays, holidays at Audre and Frances’ Staten Island home; romps in the Hamptons; Lesbian and Gay demonstrations in NYC and DC; Audre’s alternative cancer treatment in Berlin; our amazing Hawaii eclipse trip; Audre honored as NY State poet; the last sad loving goodbye days on St. Croix.

This is the first time we have shared this album with the exception of our god-children Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins MD and Jonathan Ashley Rollins. We thank curator Victoria Munro for her care and appreciation of our photo memories to be included in the Alice Austen House tribute to Audre Lorde.”

Source: "Powerful and Dangerous: The Words and Images of Audre Lorde," an exhibition at Alice Austen House. Shared by Plea for the Fifth. Explore the full exhibition online.

#Audre Lorde #Blanche Cook #Clare Coss #Victoria Munro #Alice Austen House #museum exhibition #photography #this is so incredible???

[dotthings]

Just another reminder about being cautious in relying on sites like Variety or Deadline concerning the strikes.

At this point, Variety and Deadline especially are being used as a controlled faucet for planned AMPTP "leaks." They're literally used as tools of the AMPTP. This isn't the only situation or instance of biases in entertainment news media (or news media in general. News media is biased, it comes with the territory. There's also entire journalism classes on the subject). Or the only instance I know of where entertainment media is used as a "leak" mouthpiece for an agenda. But the strike "reporting" has made it very loud and even more obvious.

For context, let's go back to September 2020. Penske Media, which owns a bunch of stuff, went into a joint venture with MRC, which owns a bunch of stuff. Including Dick Clark Productions, a member of the AMPTP. They make TV shows. PMRC therefore has financial interests in entertainment media sites and a TV production company.

Penske Media Corporation (PMC) has joined forces with MRC to bring together entertainment magazines including Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, as well as create a new partnership for film and television content.

In joint statements released Wednesday, the companies announced they’ll each have stakes in two new joint ventures to manage the suite of influential industry titles. One entity, PMRC, will house publishing outlets of both companies, bringing together Billboard, Rolling Stone, Vibe, Deadline, IndieWire and WWD along with Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, and be managed by PMC. Another joint venture managed by MRC — producer of film and TV including Netflix drama “Ozark,” Hulu documentary “Fyre Fraud,” Lionsgate feature “Knives Out” and the Golden Globe Awards (via its Dick Clark Productions division) — will be tasked with creating intellectual property from across the publications for new TV, film and live events. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

When the WGA and AMPTP went back into negotiations, there was supposed to be a media blackout.

Instead, last night, websites like Variety and Deadline ran articles with "leaks" about how the talks were going. The leakers being the AMPTP as a way to try to control the narrative, mislead the public in the PR war, and cause discouragement or division within the WGA, and make the AMPTP look like they're being so amazingly generous when they're still giving the WGA almost nothing.

Some tweets from WGA members:

[Image ID:

@joerussotweets

There was no WGA strike captain meeting yesterday.

5:40 PM · Aug 15, 2023 ]

[Image ID: @jonrog1

Jesus, that Deadline article is more than just wrong, it slid into the hallucinatory. They may as well have added unicorns.

11:15 PM · Aug 15, 2023 ]

[ @Gennefer

I guess the AMPTP’s new PR firm went with the “planned leak during a media blackout to appear magnanimous in their counter offer so the WGA will seem unreasonable if they reject it” strategy.

Quote Variety Aug 14

AMPTP Would Give Showrunners Latitude to Set Size of TV Writing Staff https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/amptp-meet-wga-tv-staff-size-1235696391/

9:30 PM · Aug 14, 2023 ]

Be careful out there when you're linking to entertainment sites owned by giant media conglomerates.

#wga strike #sag strike

[historyhermann]

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal Spoiler-Filled Review

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is a mature supernatural fantasy comedy with steampunk elements. Genndy Tartakovsky, who is well-known in the animation industry, is the director and creator. He is best known for Dexter's Laboratory, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sym-Bionic Titan, and Samurai Jack, and more recently, Primal. This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, being reviewed here, wouldn't exist.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the forty-first article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on July 24, 2023.

This series has a simple plot: a group of heroes are inadvertently awakened by Copernicus, a steam-powered robot, in bodies of three teenagers (Emma, Alfie, and Dimitri), rather than in bodies of adults, like in the past. These heroes are opposed by a mysterious foxlike woman (voiced by Grey DeLisle), who embodies evil.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal drew me in as a person who enjoyed watching Star Wars: Clone Wars as a kid (and have re-watched it various times), and liked Samurai Jack and Sym-Bionic Titan. Voice actors like Jacob Dudman (voice of Edred) who voiced two characters in Primal, and DeLisle, voice of the mysterious woman and the original Melinda, strengthen this series.

Delisle is well-known for her work in animation, including voicing characters in Invincible, Kid Cosmic, The Owl House, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, DC Super Hero Girls, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Elena of Avalor, Star Wars Rebels, The Legend of Korra, Young Justice, and My Life as a Teenage Robot. In contrast, Hazel Doupe, the voice of Emma in this series, is unique. This is her first voice role, as she has only done live-action series before.

I wasn't as familiar with Jeremy Crutchley, Demari Hunte, Alain Uly, Tom Milligan, Ron Bottita, or George Webster, the voices of Merlin, Alfie, Seng, Lord Edward Fairfax, and Winston in Unicorn: Warriors Eternal. I say this even though Crutchley voiced Glad-One and One in Infinity Train, and Uly as Lieutenant Maylur and two stormtroopers in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Others, such as Hunte, Milligan, Bottita, Webster, appear to be new to voice work. Rosalind Ayres (voice of Lord Katherine Fairfax) previously voiced characters in video games while Robbie Daymond (voice of various one-off characters) lent his voice to the notorious Curious Cat in Volume 9 of RWBY! He voiced Jesse in Infinity Train season 2, Raymond in OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes!, and many other English dubs of anime characters.

The steampunk setting in Victorian London, in 1890, in this series, reminded me of Steamland in Disenchantment, the upper city in Arcane, or the similarly steampunk action anime, Princess Principal, which spawned a multi-part film series. The steampunk genre has even reached into indie animation and comics. It includes films like Snowpiercer, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Howl's Moving Castle, along with animated series like Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and The Legend of Korra. I am even reminded of an unaired 2001 pilot for Constant Payne, by Indigenous writer Micah Wright. It has a strong steampunk aesthetic.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is different than all of those previously mentioned. It is unique in its own way. Just as Samurai Jack was set in the future, with magic, robots, lasers, and the like, this series is set in an alternate world. Unlikely the haphazard and strange inclusion of futuristic technology in the far-too-short Yasuke, this series is much more complete. It draws inspiration from works by animators Max Fleischer and Osamu Tezuka, films by Hayao Miyazaki (like Howl's Moving Castle) and other steampunk aesthetics.

The show's character designer, Stephen DeStefano, worked on Sym-Bionic Titan, Primal, and other projects, with Tartakovsky. He pushed, as did Tartakovsky, to ensure the series had an "old aesthetic" but was told "in a very contemporary way". The studio producing the series, Cartoon Network Studios, has produced many of Tartakovsky's previous projects. Some of the same animators who worked on his previous projects may be working on this series.

These animators could not do their work without the writers. If a recently circulated spreadsheet is representative of Cartoon Network Studios as a whole, it would mean that, for animators, there is repetitive work, little opportunity for advancement, sterile environment due to the Warner-Discovery merger, disorganization, burnout, and overwork. There are two primary show writers: Darrick Bachman and Tartakovsky. While the latter is more well-known, the former is not, despite his work on Primal, Samurai Jack, Regular Show, Star Wars: Clone Wars, and many animated series, some of which he worked on with Tartakovsky.

If Glassdoor is accurate, each of these writers makes somewhere between $46,000 to $83,000 a year. I would guess that Tartakovsky is paid more than Bachman. In any case, the conditions the writers work in influences whether a show is "high-quality" or "low-quality". High Guardian Spice was said to be the latter, until it was revealed that the working conditions at Crunchyroll were horrendous. This does not appear to be the case for Cartoon Network Studios. The recent closure of the iconic studio's headquarters, with employees told to move to a sterile, lifeless Warner Bros. building instead, it does not bode well.

Even some predicted that under David Zaslav, it is difficult to "imagine a future in which the studio’s original animation output can match what it has been in the past," with a strong shit to reboots rather than original series. However, if the writers, and actors, are successful in their strike, these conditions may change for the better. On the other hand, the studios are doing all they can to burn down motivation of actors and writers, while stockpiling completed works and scripts before the strikes began.

Coming back to the series, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is a relatable coming-of-age story. The protagonist, Emma (who can transform into Melinda) is struggling to determine whether she is "Emma" or "Melinda". She loses control of her powers after any emotional outburst she has. Having one's powers tied to their emotions is not new. In the last half of Elena of Avalor's final season, the protagonist, Elena Castillo Flores, had to wrestle with the fact that her magical abilities were tied to her emotional moods. The same was the case for Steven Universe in the series of the same name, and in Steven Universe Future.

For Emma/Melinda, her anger and fury seem to be how she expresses her power, in a super saiyan esque transformation. While this expression of raw power can be effective in defeating enemies, it doesn't prevent her from hurting people, unintentionally, in the process. For instance, in the second episode, she uses this power to defeat a huge magically possessed elephant. However, her fiancé Winston is badly hurt in the process and the surrounding area is nearly obliterated.

The use of her abilities in Unicorn: Warriors Eternal are complicated by her relationship with Edred, a warrior elf. He reincarnates in the body of a wanna-be magician named Dimitri. After Copernicus resurrects him, he rushes over to Emma/Melinda, and kisses her. While he has memories of their relationship, Melinda-as-Emma does not. Making matters worse, she still has some romantic feelings for Winston, who wants to "rescue" her from her "new" form.

This contrasts with Edred. He can effectively fight with a sword in manner which almost seems reminiscent of the sword-wielders in anime or those in Western animations like Amphibia, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Steven Universe. Like all Tartakovsky productions, Edred has his own specific style. Every character is stylized in their own way. This is thanks to the aforementioned character designer, DeStefano, and work by many others at Cartoon Network Studios. The same is the case for their battle moves and attacks. It sets the series apart from others with similar themes.

The team of Emma/Melinda, a cosmic monk named Seng (in the body of a young Black ruffian named Alfie), Copernicus, and Edred, make an interesting combination. Each has personal issues they must overcome. Seng cannot fully comprehend the cosmic plane as a young child. Edred has a "clouded" mind despite having a largely intact memory and retains his power. Emma/Melinda has an identity crisis. She even tells Winston, at one point, that she isn't Emma anymore and that the Emma he knew is dead. This is a cold, hard truth which is hard for him to accept.

The complications in each character's lives make it an increasing challenge for these heroes, whose souls are tasked with protecting the world throughout eternity. With the scrambled memories, especially of Emma/Melinda, and the fact that only Edred remembers the most about their role in fighting evil, it makes the story that much more intriguing. The secretive villain is almost as devious as Shadowy Figure in O.K. KO!, but shares more characteristics with Kilgore in Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part 1. He aimed to change the Justice League into teenagers, so they are "vulnerable", are ripped apart by the world, and have to deal with emotions they ignore or regress as adults.

There is one major difference. The villain in Unicorn: Warriors Eternal never intended on awakening the Order of the Unicorn (Melinda, Seng, Edred, and Copernicus). Instead, she wanted to destroy Copernicus so the order would cease to exist. The villain exploits the situation for her own ends. She hopes that these heroes will be resurrected one final time. The heroes will do anything they can to stop this evil, with Edred declaring that the villain will "not succeed".

In future seasons, Melinda's insecurities may be exploited just as Invictus did with Ash Graven in Final Space. If so, she may turn against her friends. It is hard to say whether the series villain will be as devious as Aku, who had built an entire empire and dedicated many of his resources to track down Samurai Jack.

By the show's third episode, there is a clear focus on discrimination, specifically how humans will "other" that which they don't understand. The response of the British police and Scotland Yard to a theft of priceless artifacts bound for the British Museum is to arrest anyone engaged in "magic" in London. There are mass arrests of soothsayers, fortune tellers, and anyone else on Mystic Row.

To make matters worse, they put up a Wanted poster for Emma/Melinda. Even when two spiritualists, Clarice Leydoux and Lao Xi Sheng, tell the police detective the reality, he doesn't believe them. Clearly, the police in this series, including Inspector General Hastings (voiced by Gildart Jackson), do not know how to deal with the situation at hand. People such as Agatha (voiced by Rosalind Ayres), another royal official, try and put in place more order.

Through it all, Emma/Melinda tries to figure out herself. She isn't sure of her connection with Winston, who she inadvertently injured. She even goes to a seance which separated her two identities, making her question whether she wants to be a hero or not. As a result, she declares that she hates the other part of herself. Her father even realizes that she is different, remarking "that is not our daughter". Winston remains in pursuit, even when he clashes with Edred on who "truly" loves her.

After the first two episodes, the series explored the insecurities of Seng. The villains cause him to be swallowed by a cosmic fox. The latter, known as a Lady Fox, attacks them. An amazingly animated chase scene on the rooftops follows, reminding me of similar scenes in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Samurai Jack. In the fourth episode, this is more apparent. Seng is unable to use his powers while he is trapped on an abandoned ship with other Unicorn team members. He even starts to become translucent! Although they escape this predicament, it could foreshadow more trouble for Seng in the future.

As Emma/Melinda learns more about the story of her Melinda side, with the child version of original Melinda voiced by Marley Cherry Hilbourne. She learns that her mother, Morgan Le Fay (voiced by Peta Johnson), was terribly injured, thanks to her. It is revealed that Merlin (voiced by Jeremy Crutchley) is her father. The conflict between the two halves of herself remains an important part of the story. This is especially the case when they all fight a big squid threatening to destroy the town. Her attempts at reconciliation do not go well, even though she is making some progress by the seventh episode.

At the end of the fifth episode, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal takes a bold step: it appears to kill off one of its protagonists, Copernicus. This is comparable to a similar "loss" of Octus in Sym-Bionic Titan. While Emma/Melinda is most distraught, she works together with Edred to find someone to repair Copernicus. They find an inventor named Otto (voiced by Jason O'Mara), thanks to a robot named Dashwood (voiced by Chris Butler). He works on a huge floating airship, which functions like a space station.

He remarks that Copernicus is like a robot he hasn't created yet, but he says it feels familiar. Copernicus cannot fully come back until his magical power is restored. He is a futuristic magical being. The power from an ancient magical stone is used by Merlin. He brings Copernicus back to life. Even so, this sequence implies that Copernicus can die, in certain instances.

The seventh episode of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is a rollercoaster ride. It is revealed that Edred left his bride-to-be, in an arranged marriage meant to unite two clans, to be with Melinda. At the same time, it is further implied that Emma/Melinda somewhat remembers this. The quest to get the necessary magical power, the presence of Merlin, and restoration of balance, causes Edred's brother, Aelwulf (voiced by Jack Bandeira), to regain respect for him.

At the end of the seventh episode, the Unicorn team learns that they still have evil to fight, and that their time in this world has not ended. It is implied that Merlin will help they stop it. The eighth episode throws this into question. Out of nowhere, Merlin appears and tells them to come "quickly" to battle an evil machine killing the land. While they meet the mighty tiger Rakshasa (voiced by Sunkrish Bala), Merlin attacks Emma/Melinda, surprising them all.

The last three episodes of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal lay bare tensions between the group members. This is clear with the addition of a new member, Winston, who can become a werewolf. Predictably, Edred objects, as Winston has feelings for Emma/Melinda. All the while there is the fight against evil, which exudes dark magic.

This reaches a critical point in the ninth episode when the evil leaves Merlin and enters the cosmic realm. They meet an older Seng who has been fighting it for over 20 years, with no success. It is said that if the evil devours everything, the world will end. Merlin and Rakshasa remain optimistic until  Emma and Melinda are split apart.

I wish Unicorn: Warriors Eternal had been longer. By the eighth episode, it appears that Melinda is coming to peace with the part of her who is Emma, and vice versa. This seemed too quick. Her struggle with her identity could have stretched across an entire season of 20 to 26 episodes. Take Cassandra in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, for example. She is mentally manipulated by Zhan Tri. Even so, she tries to figure out her identity and how she feels about Rapunzel. Like that series, which ended with a bang, this series is burdened by compulsory heterosexuality. Tangled differs by featuring well-recognized gay vibes between Rapunzel and Cassandra, shipped by fans as "Cassunzel".

Much of the internal struggle that Emma/Melinda experiences is couched by a love triangle. Emma loves Winston, while Melinda loves Edred. However, Edred hates Winston and vice versa. Due to the propensity of male characters in this series, there isn't any character, female, non-binary, or otherwise, written for Emma/Melinda that would allow her to have a queer romance.

Even so, the struggle of Emma to reunite with Melinda, resulting in defiance of her by-the-book parents, is promising. Considering this series is set in the 1890s, it is no shock that Emma's parents try to hold her back. They think she is out of her mind and want to bring her to a doctor, who will commit her to an asylum. Her actions, including drawing on equations on the walls of the bathroom, akin to the oft-memed scene from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in which Pepe Silvia goes on a conspiratorial rant, don't help her case. In her defense, she is desperate and wants to get back to the cosmic realm at any cost.

This episode goes off the rails when two huge men try to capture Emma and bring her to "the doctor". What follows is an intense chase scene in which Emma has many near-death experiences, and barely escapes those trying to get her, even riding a steam-powered tram to Mystics Row. Two mystic warriors (Clarice Leydoux and Lao Xi Sheng) offer to help her. With their assistance, she uses the Heart of the Forest to get to the cosmic realm.

The Unicorn: Warriors Eternal finale concludes strongly. Emma inspires everyone, reuniting with Melinda, and convinces them to combine their powers into one. They strike a decisive blow against evil forces. This is blunted by the surprising revelation: Morgan is trapped in the heart of the evil beast! At the end of the episode, the protagonists find themselves in a bizarre world in which "the evil" has changed everything. Emma/Melinda gets the last word, noting their determination to save Morgan and defeat the evil being no matter what.

The ending is not definitive, but is open-ended. The central conflict rings true, especially if seen as a metaphorical extension of Genndy Tartakovsky as a Jewish immigrant who faced pressure to support his mother and live up to the myth of a "model minority". A possible second, or even third, and fourth season, could expand upon these characters and their struggles. Possibly, the series may go an Infinity Train route, having different characters for each season.

I hope that any possible future seasons of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal would increase diversity of the cast. Surely, there are talented voice actors like a Black men Demari Hunte (voice of Seng) and Victor Alli (voice of Adult Seng). They are joined by a Filipino man, Alain Uy (voice of Lao Xi Sheng), an American actor of Tamil descent, Sunkrish Bala (voice of Rakshasa), and a British actor of Iraqi, Lebanese, and Indian descent, Brian George (voice of Darvish).

From the available lists of the cast members, I'm not seeing much diversity beyond the aforementioned individuals. A quick read of the cast list for Primal, indicates that the series has a much more diverse cast than this series! Perhaps, this is just reflecting the fact that historically, London was ethnically homogeneous, composed primarily of White British residents, until after World War II. By 1891, over 5.6 million were living in Greater London, a number which would grow in later years.

Cartoon Network Studios president, Sam Register, is an executive producer, and Shareena Carlson is supervising director. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is expertly animated thanks to Studio La Cachette in France and Studio Zmei in Bulgaria. Cartoon Network Studios is the aforementioned production company. This is reinforced by the show's music, composed by Tyler Bates and Joan Higginbottom. It is effective, connecting the action with the story. It makes you excited to watch each episode, and become more invested in the characters.

None of this is much of a surprise. Bates is a well-known producer, composer, and musician, primarily of action and horror media, including the John Wick franchise. He was probably chosen because he composed the music scores of Sym-Bionic Titan, the fifth (and final) season of Samurai Jack, and Primal.

Similarly, Higginbottom was a composer on the same season of Samurai Jack, Primal, and John Wick Chapter 4. Tara Billinger, known as the creator of Long Gone Gulch and a storyboarder, did production work on the series as well. The animators either worked on French productions not known in the U.S., or series such as Love, Death & Robots, and Primal. Even Tartakovsky did some storyboarding. The animation, background art, and set pieces are strong in this series.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal may have been a passion project for Tartakovsky. However, it is incorrect that the plot is "humdrum". Furthermore, Emma/Melinda is not a "poorly written" character, nor does she have a "pat dilemma" or lack emotional complexity. Her struggles are at the series' center. On the other hand, this series, like Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sym-Bionic Titan, and Primal, is male-centered. In fact, Emma/Melinda is the only female protagonist.

The series has "urgent stakes" and the characters are intriguing. This accompanies amazing mythologies and some worldbuilding. It could be better, but it is not missing "the magic of Tartakovsky". Instead, this series is unique and different from other Tartakovsky series in the past. Surely, I'd love to have queer characters and even have a love triangle akin to the one between Hazumu Osaragi, Yasuna Kamiizumi, and Tomari Kurusu in Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl. Unfortunately, this series did not go that direction, instead having male-female couples, without any one-way crushes.

Overall, despite my criticisms, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is an enjoyable series and I'd recommend it. I can hope that it improved to become even better, breaking out of the good-evil dichotomy, and other common tropes used in Tartakovsky's work.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal can be watched on Adult Swim or streamed on Max, DirectTV, and Spectrum. It can be purchased through Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu, or Microsoft Store.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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