#darkness calls

[rogerthehomunculus]

on darkness calls now and I’m noticing a repeated pattern of hellboy getting so fed up and angry with things that he just chooses violence

“me, king of the witches. i mean, what the hell is that? i was so goddamn mad i thought, what the hell, why not fight a whole army of skelstons?”

[hellboysource]

Darkness Calls by Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (2007)

[harrypotterhousequotes]

SLYTHERIN: "All of us change. Everyone in this world, from birth to death, becomes someone new. Again and again, we are remade." --Marjorie M. Liu (Darkness Calls)

[silvereddaye]

The State of the Fics

Here’s an update on my fics.

Current Fics

The Mantra [AO3 / FF.net] I’ve officially discontinued this fic. It’s been over a year since I last updated. Plus I’ve lost interest in it. This was my first fic I ever wrote. It was very ambitious. I learned a lot from it. But other stories have been speaking to me, and I have forgotten where I wanted to go with this. I would like to one day completely rework this story and redo it. But for now . . . it’s dead. Sorry.

Darkness Calls [AO3 // FF.net] Not dead. I have yet to throw the towel in on this story, it’s just . . . A back burner fic that hasn’t been updated in 8 months. I do plan finishing this . . . eventually. Hopefully. I have a soft spot for this story, so as it stands it’s still “active.”

The Bargain [AO3 // FF.net] Active. I keep the latest chapter open almost constantly. I’ve been working on it in very small amounts. I’m just struggling with this lately. Originally the fic was supposed to end by now on a cliffhanger. I was then going to do a sequel fic, but decided I didn’t really want to break the story up into two fics. But now . . . I’m having doubts and with these long pauses I’m questioning if I’m keeping the writing consistent. I keep hoping I’ll eventually get past these bumps and will be able to write the ending because I do want to finish this story. 

Runaway & In the Past [AO3 // FF.net] [AO3 // FF.net] I don’t think I really need to talk about these as they have both been updated within the past couple of days. Clearly they are both very active stories I am working on. In the Past is in it’s last act. Hopefully will be wrapping up around chapter 100.  For a Sith to Love a Jedi [AO3 Caution: NSFW] Well I just updated this. So I guess it’s not dead, yet. I would like to finish it even though I have lost a bit of interest in it and am having trouble figuring out what to do with the plot. So we’ll see. 

Between the Light & Shadows: Luke & Vader One-Shots [AO3 // FF.net] Not dead, just haven’t written any new one-shots lately. I have plenty of ideas though. Just haven’t been feeling like writing one. 

--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--

Upcoming & Future Fics

Godhood [Preview on Tumblr] A Greek God / Myth AU.  This was planned to be a short chapter fic like Skyborn or Before the Emperor where I write the whole thing out first. Then I would update it a chapter a week. But then I hit chapter 10 and realized I was nowhere near the end of the story. And it was not going to be a ‘short’ fic. I’m currently writing chapter 17 and I now predict the story will be around 24 chapters. I still plan to finish writing it all before posting it up. 

Luke, Prince of Fashion Sequel to Vader, Lord of Fashion I have started writing the first chapter, but is currently on pause while I try to power my way through finishing Godhood because I’m just want to be done with it. Again, I did not expect Godhood to be as long as it is. This is what I will focus on once I wrap that one up. 

In the Gilded Pages This is a planned one-shot collection of fairy tale AU’s. My goal is that they are still happening with in the Star Wars universe instead of the SW characters thrown into the fairy tale world. I have started the first one of these: Anakin Skywalker and the Seven Clones. However, right as I started to write it, Netflix took down the Clone Wars tv series. I really wanted to watch some clone episodes to get the clones right. 

Vampire and Dragon AU These are two different ideas. Both have appeared as one-shots in my Luke & Vader one-shots. I have more story for both of them. Enough to do a fic for each. But it’s not up on my list of fics for now. 

[theblackestofsuns]

“Tell Me It Does...”

Hellboy: Darkness Calls #4 (July 2007)

Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo and Dave Stewart

Dark Horse Comics

[eddycurrents]

Darkness Calls: Chapter Three

Words: Mike Mignola | Art: Duncan Fegredo | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in Hellboy: Darkness Calls #3 | June 2007

Collected in Hellboy - Volume 8: Darkness Calls | Hellboy Library Edition - Volume 5 | Hellboy Omnibus Volume 3: The Wild Hunt

Plot Summary:

Hellboy finds himself beyond the Thrice-Nine Lands in the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom at the mercy of Baba Yaga’s skeleton army, until offered a reprieve for the night by someone amused by the sport and then given the protection of Perun. For a little while, at least.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is solely in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything within the issue or collections.)

pg. 1-2 - Gruagach is a little shit disturber. It’s a wonder that someone else hasn’t killed him by now as he tries to push the discussion of who’s next to lead the witches in a darker direction.

pg. 3 - Like the gathering of witches, Duncan Fegredo does impeccable crowd scenes. Also love the contrast Dave Stewart gives of Hellboy’s colour against the blue-grey colour of the skeletons and the white of the landscape. It really makes Hellboy stand out.

pg. 4 - Seriously, this is beautiful. The full bleed, borderless panel, then the insets of the action, Hellboy’s red being the one real pop of colour amidst the muted tones and white. Incredible.

pg. 6 - The added effect of the borderless panel at the bottom with the white gives the impression that Hellboy is not only running from the army, but bolting from the comic itself. It’s a nice little meta effect.

pg. 7 - And then that open feeling of the white is cut off with this layout, the world being reduced to something inset of Baba Yaga’s reality. Really nice use of the comic format to produce a kind of visual storytelling that can’t really be reproduced outside of the medium. Great work from Mignola, Fegredo, Stewart, and Robins here to get the most out of a page and pull it off brilliantly.

pg. 9 - And a similar effect here as the wolves come to Hellboy’s aid, the panels and action getting a little more chaotic as the battle becomes pitched.

pg. 10 - Then a change to straight black borders while Hellboy’s being sheltered, giving the impression that he’s no longer “seen” by Baba Yaga.

pg. 11 - Getting shut down immediately as Hellboy tries to tell his story and thank his benefactor is hilarious. The Leshii is a Slavic forest deity, looking after all of the woods. I’ve seen him compared as cognate to Cernunnos and Pan before.

pg. 12 - Perun is another Slavic deity, god of thunder and lightning. He’s cognate to Zeus, Odin & Thor. It’s not surprising that he’d come to the aid of the Leshii or to Hellboy for that matter. I do find it interesting that it’s snow that he chooses to halt Baba Yaga’s forces, though.

pg. 13 - Out of the white again. The wolves definitely seem hungry and eager to keeping Hellboy to his limit of a day’s protection. That limited assistance also seems to be something borne from Russian folklore, that an offer of help has time constraints or restrictions and that help may only be fleeting. I wonder if it’s a reflection of the hardships and transitory nature of the seasons.

pg. 15 - Phenomenal establishing shot of Koshchei’s castle. Also another being out of Russian folklore. The double-headed eagles on the tables are a nice touch.

pg. 16 - Koshchei’s appearance in the Hellboy universe has always reminded me a bit of a cross between Ivan the Terrible and Rasputin.

pg. 17 - The lack of colour, even with Hellboy’s red pale and icy, has a chilling effect. As though Perun’s snowstorm is not just wiping the skeleton army out, but all of the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom’s existence for the time being.

pg. 20 - More from Slavic folklore with the Domovoi. Although there are other types, this one was typically the head of a hierarchy of household gods. Although diminutive, they were seen as the progenitors of a family line and continuing to look after their kin. This kind of ancestor spirit is somewhat similar to what you’d see in Ancient Roman and Japanese belief systems.

pg. 21 - I love the idea of this family’s Domovoi and Hellboy just sitting there, sharing cigars and a fire, and shooting about HB’s problems. It’s like what he was trying to do, but failed, with the Leshii.

pg. 22 - Great depictions of Perun here as the bringer of storms.

Also, yeah, Koshchei’s story really is that weird. Although some of the details are peculiar to Mignola’s version, he really did hide his soul in various objects rendering him deathless.

pg. 23 - The actual representation of Perun as a simple old man, drawing lines in the sand to cause the storm is an interesting counterpoint to the warrior god seen earlier.

pg. 24 - And damn Baba Yaga’s cold.

Final Thoughts:

Reading through this, I’m struck as to how awesome some of this might potentially look when the new movie comes out in March. I don’t know how much of Darkness Calls itself is going to make it into the film, but focusing on this and The Wild Hunt for the new one is likely going to be epic.

This chapter leans hard into Russian folklore and mythology and I think it’s all the better for it. It populates the story with some rich characters helping and hindering Hellboy and the Baba Yaga, putting the overall narrative further into the realm of the fantastical. It picks up on those earlier faerie tale threads and weaves the tale in a different way.

d. emerson eddy wonders what you feed a chicken-leg cottage.

[davidreadthat]

8/16/18

Hellboy: Darkness Calls, by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo, 2008.