Podcasts about shirow

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 15 Andy meets Tala, Jade and Whitney. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. "What's the agenda going to be like tomorrow?" Lily asked Andy while Ash got up from the table and headed outside so her conversation with Niko wouldn't disturb them. "Tour of the house first, a one on one with me and the reporter second, then a group interview with me and basically all the girls including the staff, then a handful of one on ones with some of the girls afterwards. I know Emily and Sarah are going to do one together, so they can talk a little about their relationship before the plague and how it affected them. Neither Sarah or Emily were out as bi before, and it certainly wasn't public knowledge that they were a couple, so I'm sure the reporter's going to have some questions on why they kept it quiet, but that's typical Hollywood bullshit. They'll handle it just fine without me getting in the way." "Didn't you say you had some girls showing up today?" Eric said. "Yeah, three people today, but I imagine they'll probably still be in the imprinting process by tomorrow, so they won't be around for interviews, although we'll see, I guess." "Speaking of handling it," Eric sighed, "how are you holding up with Matty's death? It's awful that he got sick and died from trying to help someone." "Yeah, but that was classic Matty," Andy shrugged. "He never stopped to think about these things if he thought someone needed his help. I'm dealing with it, some days better than others. From time to time, I just want to call him and talk to him about all of this, but then I remember I can't, and I have a good cry for a bit. But Xander's moving here to New Eden, and that's going to help, I'm sure." "Cool," Eric said. "Xander's always been a good guy, and it's smart to keep in touch with the people who knew you back when you were young and foolish." "I was young and foolish then, I feel old and foolish now." "Having Xander around will be good for you. He's always been better at calling you out on your bullshit than I am," Eric said, picking up a french fry. "And your long history with him means he knows when you're not saying something." "You know, I still think it's unfair you got both Sarah Washington and Emily Stevens, Andy," Lily joked. "You should've sent one of them over to me, er, Eric. I'm, I mean, he's jealous." "They're a set, Lily," Andy laughed. "You would've had to take both of them, and I think you probably would've gotten Sarah killed when she found out I was here. I know everyone's in love with Emily. You didn't strike me as a Dagger Academy fan when we were sharing the condo, though." "I'm not," Lily said, raising her empty glass, making sure a waitress caught her eye and started heading over to refill it. "But I fucking loved the Badass Ballerina movies, and I would've done Sarah in a heartbeat. Is she ask spunky as she seems on TV? That time she was on The Daily Show, and that girl in the audience told Sarah that she was on her boyfriend's list, and she started flirting with the guy immediately, that fucking killed me. Tell me she's really like that." "She's absolutely really like that," Andy said, as a waitress refilled all of their glasses. He'd been trying to cut down on his soda intake, but when he was stressed, he tended to double down on it a bit, so he was drinking Pepsi, same as Lily and Eric. "She's also a massive fan of the Druid Gunslinger books, if you can believe it." "Bullshit," Eric snorted. "I don't think there's any possibility she's a bigger fan than Dave, who got us in here just to get a copy of the new book six months early." "Wanna bet?" Andy grinned. For the next few minutes, Andy related the story of Comic Con panel from last year, where Emily and Sarah had participated in his Q&A, asking questions while being disguised in head to toe cosplay, so nobody could recognize them. By the point that Andy was telling them about how Emily had done her best to maneuver both her and Sarah into his care, Eric and Lily were both laughing quite openly, incredulous to the surrealistic twists and turns their lives had taken this year. "Holy fuck," Lily said. "I guess you weren't kidding when you Sarah would've raised hell if she found out you were here and she wasn't paired with you. I bet she fucking devoured the new book as soon as she arrived." "Well, I didn't tell her it was done until the day after she was imprinted, but yeah, as soon as I did, she grabbed it and refused to do anything other than read it until she'd finished it." "What did she think of it?" Eric asked. "She thinks it's the second best one in the series, after 'Have Totem, Will Travel.'" "Yeah, I still think that's the best one as well, but you're not done yet. On that topic, how's it coming?" "I've finally got a draft I'm mostly happy with, and I'll be sending it over for your thoughts probably in the next couple of days or so." Eric grinned from ear to ear. "Well, that just made my day. First draft?" Andy clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes in frustration at the challenge the book had presented to him in the writing. "More like fifth. I finished the first draft like a month and a half ago, but when I sat down and reread the fucking thing, I tore a shitload of it apart and rebuilt the entire second act so that it didn't suck." "I'm sure it didn't suck before." "Well, it's better now, that's all that matters." "Can I read it as well?" Lily asked. "I don't want to intrude if it's not cool,” "Of course you can, Lil," Andy told her, a little delighted and surprised. "I thought you weren't a fan of the books." "Well, I'd only read one of them before meeting you and it was the one you weren't a fan of yourself, so Eric made me read the first one about three weeks ago, and since then I've read them all. 'The Problem With Were Bears' really is a terrible place to start." "I know, I know, alright?" he laughed. "If I could unpublish it and rewrite it from the ground up, I would, but it's out there, and I can't." "Stephen King rewrote the first book of The Dark Tower and published it a second time," Eric pointed out. "Stephen King I ain't, Eric," Andy deadpanned in return. "So what's this new one finally called? You seemed like you went through a dozen titles." "It's called 'The Fatal Solstice,' although I have to see if Nicole thinks it works." "Nice fucking title, dude!" Eric cheered. "I think that sounds badass." "Sarah started reading it this morning, so she'll have my first set of fresh eyes on it." "You're just now letting her read it?" "I just finished the draft yesterday! I didn't want her reading it until I felt like I had a semi finished final draft." There was a jingle of a bell as the front door to the restaurant opened and Ash moved back inside, heading to the table, a grin from ear to ear on her face, one that almost worried Andy a little as the Irish redhead slid back into the booth next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. "Okay, I'll bite," Andy said, after a few seconds of silence, with Ash not saying anything, just grinning at them in an expression that bordered on derangement. "What's up? What did Niko have to say? Everything fine at the base?" "So Tala, Whitney and Jade will all be arriving soon," Ash said. "Tala seems like a gas. Niko let me talk ta her for a couple of minutes, and I cannot tell ya how glad I am you chose her, having now spoken with her a bit. She's going to fit right in." "Dare I ask what that means?" "She and Niko seem like kindred spirits, that's all I'm saying." "Yeah, well, Niko once blew me in a public park because she thought I needed to take the edge off, so maybe that doesn't put me as much as ease as it does you," Andy smirked. "Did it?" Lily asked. "Did it what?" "Did it take the edge off?" "I don't have to answer that." "I suspect it did take the edge off." Andy scowled at her, narrowing his eyes. "That's not the point." "I rather think that it is," she teased. "Fine," he admitted. "Yes, it did. But that doesn't mean it was a good idea." "No," Ash said, "that means it was a great idea. Waitress? Can we get the check please?" The woman at the counter nodded. "How do you want it split?" "No split," Andy said. "I'm covering it." "Andy, man, you don't have to do that," Eric said, looking a little pained. Andy waved his hand. "I told you that Watkins just gave me a shitload of cash, so let me spend a little bit of it on my friends from time to time. Speaking of which,” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a personal check he'd written a few hours ago, sliding it across the table to Eric. "That's for you." "What's this for?" Eric said, not even looking at it yet. "Look, I know you were undercharging me rent for years and years, Eric, because you knew I couldn't afford more, and because you liked having someone else sharing the condo with you, but now I do have a bunch of money, so consider it me paying off back rent." "I'll remind you that there were a couple of years where we were both out of work." "So that just makes it even in more important that I settle up my debts," Andy said, handing his credit card to the waitress, not even looking at the bill. Eric picked up the check, looking at it, shaking his head. "C'mon, Andy! Man! This is too much! I can't take this!" "You already did," Andy said with a grin. "I don't often get a chance to do nice things for my friends any more, Eric, so you're just gonna have to give me this one." "I mean, you brought me into New Eden," Eric laughed. "I think that would've settled all our debts right then and there. I mean, my house isn't quite as nice as yours, but it's still a fucking fifteen room mansion here in the Bay, so between that and this," he said, waving the check around, "we are now absolutely, unequivocally even, okay?" "Yeah, alright," Andy answered, as the waitress handed him the credit card receipt and his card. Andy filled in the tip amount at 25% of the bill, then signed the slip and pocketed the card back into his wallet. As soon as he stood up, Eric hugged him hard. "Thanks again, Andy," Eric said. "It's good to have friends in this place." "I always promised you that if I got success, I wouldn't let it turn me into an asshole, Eric," Andy laughed, as his friend finally released him from the bear hug. "I just thought it would've been from my own doing rather than the generosity of some random guy I played poker with." "If you think all of this isn't of your own doing, Andy," Lily said, giving him a quick hug, "then you haven't been paying attention." "I suppose." Lily and Aisling exchanged hugs and they all walked out together to the parking lot. Andy laughed, as Eric pulled out the keys from his pocket and pushed a button, as a red Porsche 911 beeped in recognition. Eric shrugged a little with a smile. "Came with the house. Seemed rude to say no." He and Lily hopped into the sporty car and sped off, heading back towards their house, which was just down the street from Andy's. Andy and Lily climbed into the Tesla Roadster and brought the vehicle into motion so they could head back to the house. As the Tesla curved across the road, Andy asked "So how did Niko sound after her interview? Was she feeling okay?" Ash reached over and took his hand in hers, squeezing it. "Yer always so worried about all of us, Andy. We're nae made of glass. She sounded fine, I promise. She was laughing about th' whole thing, and she said she thought you'll do fine. She spent a bit of time today talking with all three of th' new girls, answering any questions they had and getting 'em set ta get acclimated in the house." "Should I even ask what kind of questions the girls had about me?" Ash rolled her eyes with a smirk. "The usual kind of stuff. Anything they should know not to talk about, or things you particularly like. Nothing ya need ta worry about. But I have a request, for me, something that'll take a little bit of work on yer part, but you can manage. You just have to keep yer mind on it." "That sounds ominous," he laughed. "It's really not, love," she giggled back. "A few times over the next few days, you're going to feel like yer first instinct is to get mad at something, but y'need to promise me that you won't, alright? That you'll take a deep breath and you'll say thank you when yer given a gift. If you have any one flaw, Andrew Rook, it's that sometimes ya get inside of yer own head too much. So I'm going to need you to trust in others, that the amazing women who you've allowed inta yer life are doing not only what they think you want, but what they want as well. Y'think ya can handle that?" "I'm not entirely sure what the hell any of that means, Ash, but I promise you, I will try and keep my wits about me and not lose my temper at any gifts that I'm given." "That's all ya need to keep in mind, love." When Andy brought the Roadster back to the house and parked it in the garage, he saw that all the cars were in the garage, which meant both Niko and Lauren were home. Niko being home also clued Andy in that the new girls had actually already arrived a bit ago, which was good. It would've let all of them have a chance to talk with one another without the pressure of his presence. He'd sort of learned that the first time he met any new partner, there was the weight of expectations already surrounding his arrival. Some of the girls had been eager to get on with it immediately, some had been willing to chat and talk with him a bit before hand. As he'd done more and more first impressions, he'd gotten better and better at it. But these three, each was so unique, and so different from each other, and this was the most people who had ever shown up at one time, so Andy wasn't even sure how he wanted to approach this. He hoped that the girls would've mostly figured it out for him before he arrived. He got out of the Roadster with Ash, and they headed into the house. "I imagine they're in the main living room, love," Ash said to him, as they walked down the hallway. They'd had a few months to get used to the layout of the massive manor, but if he wasn't paying attention, he could still get a bit turned about. They arrived to the basement living room, and before they'd even gotten to the room, he could hear the rush of voices interspersed with bouts of laughter and giggles. The sound warmed his heart, and he was pleased to see all the familiar faces gathered around the three new ones, everyone turning to look at him when he entered with Ash pushing him on the ass when he paused a little bit in the entryway. "Hey there, ladies," Andy said, grinning. "Welcome to the House of Rook, I suppose." The first person to rush him was Tala Jordan. The Iranian American woman, Sheridan's friend, was certainly the curviest woman to join his family, dressed in a tight white t shirt underneath a pair of jean overalls that clearly seen more than its fair share of paint, and still bore a wild array of multi colored splotch scars. The shirt and centerpiece of the overalls were straining against her heavy tits that were large enough to give Hannah's a run for her money. The white shirt was semi sheer, and Andy could see the outer edges of her dark aerola just peeking from beneath the overalls. Her dark hair hung loose, long and down her back, framing her rounder face. She had painted her lips a bright shade of rose, lush and vibrant. And she had on the most shit kickery of brown leather cowboy boots that he'd ever seen. "Hey there, studboy," she grinned, as she strolled up to him with an overconfident saunter, reaching up to pull Andy's lips down into an almost domineering kiss, not giving him an inch of control. Not that he minded. While her tongue was busy burrowing into his mouth, one of her hands pushed down the front of his pants, rubbing against his cock before sliding back out as she drew back from the kiss. "Here we go now. Just what I was looking for," she said, raising her hand up to the light, a bit of precum gleaming on the skin of her palm. Before Andy could say a word, she snaked her tongue out and licked up that smear of clear liquid, and as soon as she did, he had to lunge forward to grab beneath her arms, keeping her from falling down to the ground as that priming orgasm shattered her mind for a moment, all without a fraction of a sound escaping her trembling body. A few moments later, her breathing had returned to normal and she looked up at him with adoring brown eyes, wide and aroused. "Fuck that was great!" she moaned, looking a little fuck drunk already. "Sorry, I just couldn't wait to get that first fix so my clock could get started." She flashed him a saucy little wink. "Sher told me all about that delayed activation she went through, and while she made it sound like hell for her, I think it sounds boss to me so I didn't wanna give you a chance to say no." "Well hello to you too, Tala," he chuckled. "I couldn't get those words out before you basically manhandled me." "Oh c'mon," Tala said, "you wouldn't have complained even if my tongue wasn't pinning yours down. And because I know you're gonna be worried about all of this, the reporter tomorrow's going to ask if they can get footage of someone being imprinted for the show, and I agreed to be filmed, but by Emily and not their camera person." Emily waved a little bit. "I've done some camera work before, so I know what I'm doing. I'll frame it so that you only see her face, Andrew, if you're alright with it. Katie Couric asked Niko if it was okay, since you did have three new women arriving today, if one of them could wait until tomorrow and get filmed being imprinted. She did say both you and the woman in question would have to give permission, but Tala volunteered, so it's in your hands." "I mean, if you're okay with the entire world seeing your sex face, Tala," Andy shrugged, "who am I to say you can't?" "Well, you're going to eventually be my husband, dude," Tala said, that wide grin of hers never going away. "So you can't just pawn it off as entirely my decision. If you don't wanna do it, we won't do it. But I think it'd be good for their story, and fuck do I care if people see my O face?" "You're also okay waiting a full day after being primed to be imprinted?" he asked. "That damn near drove Sheridan crazy." "Oh, I'm hella hoping it's gonna," Tala said, braggadocio and swagger in her voice. "But I'll manage. And if it's too much to take, we can do that as soon as Katie arrives, before you do any interviews. I'm a big girl, and I've got on my big girl panties. I'll hold fast and stay true." "I'll give ten to one odds that you aren't wearing any panties right now, Tala," Sheridan teased. "I refuse to cover those odds!" She giggled, leaning up to kiss Andy on the cheek again. "And I can't hog all of your time, so you and I will just have to have our fuckdate tomorrow." "Hopefully you brought all your music gear with you," Andy said to her. "I remember when you were fronting The Grendelles, because I saw you open for Mike Doughty at The Independent. You guys were pretty good, although your drummer looked like he was high as fuck, so his tempos were all over the goddamn place." "Yeah, Casey was a fuckin' drag and hella fucked up so many gigs," she sighed. "But he OD'd a couple'a years back, so that ended that band." "Thought the band name wasn't great either, but you made fun of it yourself at that show, so I figured you knew that already." She reached behind him to give his ass a quick goose. "Daphne, the band's guitarist, came up with it, and we got a little bit of heat, so we were stuck with it, at least until Casey died. Last I heard from Daphne, she was down in L A and had taken up working as a studio rat, engineering for other people's shit, writing songs for suckers that can't do it their own damn selves. But don't you worry,  all my gear'll show up in the next couple of days, and I'll turn one of the bedrooms into a little music studio. I'll even make sure it's soundproofed and a good distance from your writing nook, so you won't even know when I'm hella getting my jam on." "Damn, girl," Sheridan said, "you're gonna take up so much of our damn space, between your music studio and your workshop. Maybe you should just convert the pool house into your working area. You could make the living room into your wood working studio, convert one bedroom in there into your music studio and the other into your own little living quarters." "That's a dope idea!" Tala said, not letting go of Andy, keeping her full tits pressed hard against his side. "Assuming you're cool with me changing the living room over there into a maker's room. And sorta commandeering the pool house. I don't wanna come in here all Bossy Magoo and shit, but it would mean everyone else wouldn't have to deal with the sound of heavy saws when I'm working on furniture, 'cause even I get tired of that shit some of the time." "You'd have to make certain you came into the main house regularly, though, and didn't just spend all your time out there alone. I mean, it's probably fine, but let me have a couple of days to think about it before I say yes, okay?" "Oh, totes, totes," she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek again. "Anyway, don't let me steal all the spotlight." She pulled his head down in another firm kiss before she slipped away from him with a mischievous giggle. Andy immediately knew why all the girls liked Tala,  she was approachable, personable and generally just seemed like a good time. The second girl to approach him was Jade Dillon, who had decided to show up wearing her 49ers cheerleader outfit, gold hotpants shorts and white crop top that left most of her toned abs exposed to the eye, her skin a sun kissed tan that clearly had enjoyed having a summer off without any children to teach. She looked as fit as Sheridan, Piper and Lauren, but a touch more muscular and a little less flexible. Her honey colored hair hung in loose corkscrews down to the middle of her back. She, thankfully, wasn't wearing the sort of heavy makeup that seemed to be necessary for performances at football games, instead electing to just have some basics. Her eyes were a vibrant green, the shade of summer grass in its prime, and her smile beamed in his direction, her teeth an almost reflective level of white. She strolled right up to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging onto him tightly. "I know that we just met, but I just wanted to tell you how super grateful I am that you chose me," she said, burying her face in his chest. "I know you didn't have to take me in, and I'm sure that Lauren told you about my, ah, inexperience, and I totally know how that can make so many guys super nervous, but it didn't make you nervous, and that's great, it's just so darn great, and gosh, I just can't even tell you how happy that makes me, how all this makes me, getting to be a part of such a marvelous family. I know I'm talking like a mile a minute, but I have to get all of it out before any of it slips my mind, or I just get too nervous and tongued to talk." She was trying not to cry, and then she giggled to herself for a minute. "I'm Jade. I know it's silly to tell you that, but golly, I just feel like if I didn't, I'm not properly introducing myself." "Hey Jade, welcome to the family," he said with a smile. "Is it okay if I kiss you?" "Oh shucks, yes please! That sounds wonderful!" Andy helped her lean her head back so he could look into her eyes again, then leaned down and kissed her. She was only a couple of inches shorter than he was, so it didn't take much adjustment. Whereas Tala had been intensely eager, Jade was a bit more shy and reticent in her kiss at first, but she quickly warmed up to him, as if she was worried that she was being too reserved and was attempting to overcompensate by going all at it. "I changed into the Gold Rush outfit after I got here," Jade said, "because Hannah said she thought you'd like it. I can't say I blame you. Every man loves a cheerleader." She looked over to the curvy Asian teen, who gave her a wide smile and a pair of enthusiastic thumbs up. "You didn't have to wear it if you didn't want to," Andy said, a little shyly. "Oh, I totally don't mind! I mean, you're doing so much for me, it's the very least I could do!" "Thank you for accepting the offer to join the family, Jade." "No no, thank you! You have an amazing bunch of women here! So, I kinda sorta have a special request, if that'd be okay with you?" she said, looking up at him. She wasn't as massively confident as Lauren had made her out to be, at least for just that moment, but Andy was pretty sure he knew why. "All you have to do is ask, Jade," he said, trying to put her more at ease. "I talked with Niko about how this whole imprinting thing works, and, well, I'm very much looking forward to making love with you, but I don't want my first time,” She blushed a deep shade of red a moment before carrying on. "I don't want my first time.. having sex, I don't want that to be the thing that imprints me. So I was hoping maybe I could just, ah, go down on you to get imprinted? And then I can have my first time a little later? Without the added extra pressure of knowing it's doubly going to change my world completely?" She smiled up at him, that wide expanse of pearly teeth flashing at him. "Is that okay with you? I know it might be a bit much to ask, but golly, I feel like it's just so gosh darn important to me that I'd better speak up about it, right?" "That's not a problem at all, Jade, but I'm gonna have to ask a favor of you in return, if you're okay with it." "Oh, shucks, that seems totally fair! What can I do to make us square?" Andy laughed a little. "You absolutely, positively have to ditch the fake cussing here in the house, before it drives me bonkers." Most of the other girls laughed at that, and Jade blushed a little once more, but she also smiled, maybe even a touch embarrassed by it. "I understand you've gotten into the habit of it because you're teaching young children all day, but when you're at the house, around the grown ups, you gotta either just swear or at very least stop using fake cuss words. It's like goddamn nails on a chalkboard to me." "I know, I know," Jade laughed. "It's really hard, considering I spend so much time teaching kindergarten, but I'll work on it, I promise. I mean, I am a grown ass woman capable of saying the word 'fuck' now and again." Lauren smirked and waggled a finger in her direction. "I've known you three years, Jade, and that's the first time that I've ever heard you say it." "I mean, is it really that big of a deal?" she asked, looking up at Andy. "It's, actually kinda creepy to me," Andy said. "Fake cussing drives me up the fucking wall. If you don't want to cuss, then don't, but please don't use that weird G rated shit in its place, because it's just, it's just unsettling." "And besides," Emily said to her, "Andrew truly does love actual cussing. When a girl is willing to get more and more salty for him, the faster his cock grows nice and hard for us." Sarah grinned broadly, moving over to put her arm around Jade's shoulders. "You know what you fucking need? A motherfucking profanity coach! And I'm the shit when it comes to swearing! The absolute tits! I can be! That! Fucking! Coach!" she said, punching the air with her other hand. "Well, no. I can be your coach on teaching you how to say 'fuck' a lot more, but not how to fuck. Although I suppose I could teach you how to do that as well? Whatever. We'll fucking figure it out. You just stick with me, bitch, and I'll turn Mary Poppins into a major slut in the best fucking way." Jade looked up at Sarah, a strange look on her face. "I don't think I can say no, can I?" she giggled. "A profanity coach? Really? What makes you qualified for that?" "Oh, I'm like the most fucking qualified," Sarah said, as she pulled Jade away from Andy slowly. "I'm more fucking qualified to teach swearing than any sailor you're ever going to fucking meet. I learned the power of a good swear word early in life, and it's, like, my fucking superpower. I can work filthy language into any goddamn conversation I want to, all without offending anybody, because I'm good and super fucking cute at doing so! You can be that way too!" Jade looked back at Andy. "Saying no to her isn't an option, is it?" "Oh, you could try," he chuckled. "But you're just going to lose in the end, so I dunno why you'd even want to try." "Wait!" Sarah said suddenly, as if remembering something. She slid away from Jade and ran over to grab Andy, wrapping her long arms around him to hold his body against hers as she kissed him hard and fierce, teasing her fingernails against the back of his skull for a moment, her body trying to press his into hers as hard as she could for what felt like an eternity before finally breaking the kiss for air. "That's for letting me read the new book before anybody else got the fucking chance to, even your goddamn agent or your legit best fucking friend. I have some notes and a handful of suggestions, but mostly? I think it's your best fucking work yet, absolutely lit. And the sex scenes were good before, but the one in this book? When Dr. Shirow practically fucking devours the Gunslinger? Ohmyfuckinggod, was that so fucking intense! I kinda broke out a vibe and had a go at myself when I was reading it. I'm not ashamed! Like, I totally knew they'd had, like, this creeping sexual tension in books before, but fuck was it hot when she just ripped his clothes off him after patching up his wounds, then fucked him on the operating table when he was too wiped out to do anything more but lay there and enjoy it. Total sploosh moment. She kinda reminds me of Niko a bit." Niko brought her hand to her mouth to cover her laugh, which made everyone turn to look at her. She was still in her camo from the base, not having changed into more casual clothes after getting home, meaning she must have brought the new girls right here and never left to get changed into something less intimidating. "Something you'd like to share with the rest of the class, dear?" Emily asked her, arching one of her finely plucked blonde eyebrows in amusement. "I dressed as Dr. Shirow for Halloween a few weeks back, at the party where Covington stopped by to convince Andy to play in the poker game that resulted in you and Sarah being here," she said, almost uncharacteristically shy for her. "After he agreed to do it, I, uh, might have kinda forcefully taken him later in the evening to say thank you, because he only agreed to go to protect my friend Charlotte, Asha's mom." "Remind me ta thank you for that," Asha said to her. "That got me here." "Did, did you base that sex scene on our little tryst in the bathroom, Andy?" Niko asked him. He looked around the room, realizing that every single other pair of eyes in the room was focused on him. "Uh, am I in trouble if I did?" "Not in the least." "I might have, sort of, kind of, just a little, I wrote it the next morning, and yeah, they say write what you know, so,” he said, trailing off. Niko started giggling furiously before Sarah brought Jade over with her, moving to high five the soldier. "Oh my fucking god. I'm a fictional super hot as fuck doctor now, and people all over the fucking planet are going to read about how great I fuck, this fucking rules," she said. Sarah grabbed Niko's face and leaned down to kiss the mixed race woman in a fierce mash of lips, while Jade was basically prevented from moving anywhere by Sarah's other arm. Niko moaned a little bit into it, even as the kiss parted quickly, Sarah biting onto Niko's bottom lip for a moment to pull it back then letting it pop from her teeth. "You, Emily and I have a date to have ourselves some fun in the next few days, bitch." Niko nodded, almost a little frantically. "Oh yes, please." "That sort of thing's okay in the house?" Jade asked Andy. "Definitely, if that's what you're into," he said, leaning against the arm of one of the couches. "Look, there's only so much of me to go around, and a lot of the women here are into other women, and that's safe and fine, so it's not only okay, it's encouraged, if that's what you want to do. Emily and Sarah were lovers long before they got here. Same for Lauren and Taylor, despite a rough patch in the middle. But for the most part, nearly everyone here is still pretty new to one another." Aisling nodded. "We may all feel like we've known each other forever, Jade, but I'm the first of Andy's partners, and we only met seven months ago. Lauren and Niko showed up a few weeks later, but after that, we remained as that group for a while." "Right, but Emily's got to be have been here for months, right? She seems like she knows Andy so well!" Jade said. Emily giggled, shaking her head, her blonde hair covering her face for a minute before she flipped it out of her face. "We've only been here a couple of weeks, love," she said, an almost shy smile on her face. "But Andrew, Sares and I have an indirect history that I might suspect contributes to us giving off that impression. We all still have so much to learn about one another, which is part of the reason I won't sleep anywhere that he isn't, ever ever ever." Niko reached to place a hand on Sarah's ass, as the tall redhead was framed between the smaller solider on one side and the 49ers cheerleader on the other. "Andy really is who I told you he is back at the base, Jade," she said, looking past Sarah. "Whatever you do and don't want out of this family, he's going to be completely cool with it. I've kinda wanted to play with Sarah and Emily a bit, and I knew Andy would be okay with it, but I just didn't know how to bring it up to them." "I'll bet he might even want to watch, or participate," Emily teased. "No comment," Andy laughed, "but you girls are more than welcome to have fun without me." "But if you wanted to, and you knew he'd be fine with it," Jade asked, "why haven't you?" Niko reddened slightly. "I mean, they're fucking gorgeous! I know they're going to be co wives with me and Ash, but Ash and I have had a lot more time to get comfortable with each other! I figured I'd get around to seeing if Emily and Sarah wanted to play with me when I was ready." Sarah reached down and bopped Niko on the nose with one of her fingertips. "You're totes adorbs, Neeks," she giggled. "I'm gonna enjoy making you fucking squirm when I make you cum. It's gonna be hella cute." "What.. what if I'm not into women?" Jade asked. The look on her face said that it was something she'd never really considered one way or another, and to suddenly have so many options in front of her was a tad overwhelming, like a starving man presented with an all you can eat smorgasbord. "Then you don't have to play with anyone you don't want to," Andy said. "But if you want to experiment, that's okay too. Lauren told me you don't have a lot of sexual experience, and that's completely fine. Nobody here is gonna judge you for it, and if they do, I'll paddle their ass for it, unless it's Lauren, in which case I'll just tie her up and not paddle her ass, because she likes that sort of thing." "Spoilsport," Lauren said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Look, Jade, before Aisling came into my life, the most adventurous sexual encounter I'd ever had was a slightly drunken threesome in my youth. Since then, I've have all sorts of wild experiences, and I've had space to learn what I do and what I don't like." Sarah leaned down and mocked a stage whisper to Jade. "Spoiler alert: He fucking loves a sweary slut." All the girls laughed at that before Andy spread his hands in a 'you got me' motion before continuing. "Nobody in this house is going to judge you for what or who does and doesn't turn you on, Jade. I do not allow kink shaming in my fucking house. Everyone here is getting something out of being here, being part of this household, but I'm not making anyone do anything they don't want to do. Nor will I, ever. Take Katie here, for example," he said, gesturing to the Latina groundskeeper, who had joined all the staff to meet the new housemates. "She's married to Jenny," he said, gesturing to the blonde cook whom Katie already had her arms around, "and she's entirely a lesbian. Completely sexually disinterested in men. But she and Jenny wanted the security of being in a house where they were safe and taken care of. Katie's said she's never going to want to fuck me, and that's completely fine. She needs to get my semen regularly, but the first time she did it, she and Jenny took turns blowing me." "The most recent time, I tried sucking some out of Jenny's cunt after he'd fucked her," Katie said, "and that worked just fine. Both Jenny and I got our fix from that one load. I might eventually want to try fucking Andy once, just to see if I can get my head around it, but I also may never want to do that, and he's okay with it either way. I was worried he was gonna be mad at us for lying to the government, claiming I was bisexual instead of a lesbian, but he wasn't. We got lucky. And so are you. I genuinely feel that way. So be you, ma'am. That's all I can tell you, and you'll do fine." "It's a little shocking, but it's refreshing to see everyone so open and body positive about their sexuality," Jade said. "And you three are all okay with being treated like staff instead of being treated like family?" "We are family," Nicolette said, "but we like being staff. Jenny and Katie are committed to each other, and Andy's cum is just part of their salaries. The same's true for me, but I also especially enjoy being submissive. And speaking of which,” With that, Nicolette brought Whitney forward. She looked much as she had in her pictures, her skin a shade of alabaster, her hair onyx black, her ocean blue eyes looking up at him behind large circular glasses with thick frames. She wore a semi sheer white silk blouse beneath a gray blazer, the deep crimson colors of her bra covering her apple sized tits visible plainly through the fabric. She also wore a black leather skirt, with gray stockings disappearing up beneath it. She was shorter than many of the other girls in the family, halfway between five and six feet tall, if he needed to guess, and slender, not so thin as to look unhealthy, but certainly the thinnest member of his family. (Andy made a mental note to insist that she eat a healthy amount moving forward, and not starve himself for his benefit.) Her lips were painted with lipstick the same shade as her lingerie, a lustrous red the shade of fresh blood, a hue meant to evoke both lust and portents. Nicolette's hand was on Whitney's back, almost gently pushing her in front of Andy. The pale girl had her arms in front of her, her wrists crossed, almost as if she instinctively kept them in that pose, in case they were about to be bound in rope. Her fingernails were painted the same color as her lips. Her black hair was drawn back, pulled tight along her head and drawn into a neat bun, with a single lock of it loose and dangling along the side of her face. Her head was tilted slightly downward, but her eyes were lifted up to focus on his gaze. "This slut is very pleased to meet you, sir, and hopes you will take her to be part of your staff and your property." The look in her eyes was smoldering with more lust than even Piper's had held when she'd nearly blindly raped him when they first met. "She very much wants that." "I, ah, I wouldn't have extended the invitation to you if I didn't want to bring you into the House of Rook." "This slut understands, sir, but there should be a bit of formality and ritual to all of this, rather than simply bringing this slut underneath your house's protective wing with a smile and a handshake." "That's fair, Whitney. So tell me what you want." "This slut wants a bit of ceremony to it, sir. For you to collar her, and then claim her by imprinting her, in front of as many members of the house as possible. In speaking with Nicolette, it was made clear to this slut that you might be a bit nervous about collaring her, but she wants to ensure to you that this is what she wants, what she truly wants." Whitney had a deliberate intensity to her that Andy might have found overwhelming if Nicolette hadn't helped prepare him for it. Thankfully, Nicolette had spent a few minutes each day since the decision was made to invite Whitney helping mentally prepare him for what to expect. "You brought a collar that you'll feel comfortable wearing?" "This slut has, sir." "Well, then. Would you like to wait or would you prefer to do it sooner?" "Sooner, sir," she said, clenching her fingers in and out of fists, as if the waiting was difficult for her. She leaned over to the couch, opening her purse, taking out a collar that was both simple and elegant, a long leather strip with a gold clasp in the front that featured a stylized rook chess piece on the face of it. She held it out to him, and he took it from her with his left hand. "This slut had originally hoped the ritual might take place outside, but the weather has gotten too chilly, so indoors will have to suffice, with your permission, sir." Andy reached down and brought one fingertip along Whitney's cheek, and she turned her cheek to lean into his touch, her skin cool to the touch, and her eyes never once leaving his face. She followed his finger back for just a moment longer than seemed necessary, a soft smile on her face. "So, attendance for this is entirely voluntary, and anyone who doesn't want to attend doesn't have to, but anyone who wants to is completely welcome. Tala, Jade, obviously, if you want to go pick an open bedroom and settle in, that's fine." Tala had a grand belly laugh at that, shaking her head, almost with tears in her eyes. "You couldn't fucking bar me from watching this, baby," she said, putting her arm around Sheridan's shoulder. "I already tossed my suitcase into the room next to Sheridan's so let's get the show on the road already!" Andy looked over to Jade, who smiled at him, shaking her head, adamant to remain in the room. "I'm getting into this family, by hell or highwater, Andy," Jade said to him, "so I definitely want to see if all the things they told us at the Air Force base were true. Well, I guess the whole thing about the first taste of cum making us orgasm is true. Tala just proved that." "God, bitch," Tala laughed, "you have no idea how fucking great that was. I've had a good amount of sex in my life, and that little taste was the best fucking orgasm I've ever had, so if the imprinting one is even stronger,” She shivered with an impish grin on her face. "The waiting is the hardest fucking part." "And I'm not ashamed about sex, Andy," Jade giggled. "I just haven't had it yet. I threw my suitcase into an open bedroom when I first got here. Lauren suggested I do it before you got home. So I agree with my new friend, Tala. Let's go team!" Nicolette made her way over to stand next to Whitney for a second, as Whitney unlocked her cellphone and handed it to Nicolette. "This slut would like her friend to film all of this for her, so she may watch it later, with sir's permission of course," Whitney said to him, as Nicolette stepped back a few paces, holding the iPhone sideways, to get a good wide angle that framed both Whitney and Andy in the same shot. "That's fine," Andy said, tipping his head a little. "Although I'll also want a copy of the video for myself." "Of course, sir." Andy gestured for the women of the family to move and form up around Andy and Whitney, a ring of beauty encircling them, giving the whole thing a bit more sense of ceremony. Then he turned his eyes back to Whitney. "Now strip." "Yes sir." First, she slid off the blazer, moving to fold it over the back of a nearby couch. Next she unbuttoned the white silk shirt that was so sheer, she might as well not have been wearing it at all. After that came the skirt, and when it dropped he could see she was wearing red panties that matched her lacy crimson bra, as well as a red garter belt that clipped onto the stockings. She unclipped them one at a time, rolling them down her legs, setting them with the rest of her clothes, never once turning away from him. When she removed the bra, her tits came into view, small and perky, with tiny pink nipples atop them that were rock hard, She slipped the garter belt off, then pushed her panties downward, crouching as she did, stepping out of them before laying them atop the stack of her clothes. She had a small thick triangle of black curls above her otherwise shaven cunt. Once she was naked, her arms crossed at the wrists in front of her once more. "This slut spoke with her friend, and she told her that you were fine with both shaven and unshaven cunts, so this slut tried to split the difference, but if you prefer something else, you need only speak and it will be done, sir." "Your body is your own domain, Whitney," Andy said. "You should keep your pubic hair how is most comfortable to you and you alone." Whitney frowned for just a moment, then nodded. "Yes sir." Andy knew it wasn't the answer she'd been hoping for, that he would dictate her every move, but Andy wanted to hold firm that she would need to decide a few things for herself. But, to reassure her that those things would be few, he decided to exert a bit of control again. He reached forward and grabbed one of her wrists, pulling her arm away from her body, then pushed it down the front of his jeans, before bringing it back out, making sure there was a streak of precum on her palm, as he'd intended. "Keep that hand out, and don't lick it until I tell you." "Yes sir." "Now get down on your knees." That made her smile again. "Yes sir." She moved down to her knees before him, but kept her head raised the entire time, her back not bending in the slightest, remaining perpendicular to the floor, sitting on her heels. The entire time, she kept her right hand palm up. "Thank you sir." "I'm still a little nervous about this, so I'm going to require you to ask me for what I'm holding in my hand here," he said, shaking the collar in her direction. "Yes sir," she answered. "This slut,” "No." The sudden interruption caught her off guard and she seemed confused, so he elaborated. "For this, in this moment where you are choosing to surrender everything to me, I want to hear it directly from you. None of this third person language. That's a passive way of doing it. If you want to return to that afterwards, that's fine, but for here, this singular moment, you have to be you. Either you want this, or you don't. And if you can't say it, out loud, to me, I'm not going to believe that you truly want it. You have to convince me. Try again." Whitney smiled a little bit more now in understanding, nodding once. "This,” she started before catching herself and beginning one final time. "I want you to collar me, sir. I want you to claim me, to put that leather around my neck, to make me your possession, a member of your household, but more importantly, a person that you own, that you have total dominance over, to exert whenever and where ever you want to. I, Whitney Ophelia Wells, want you, Andrew Rook, to give me a collar, your collar, that I can proudly wear, so that anyone who sees me knows that I am your property, by choice, and that knowing what I truly am is exposed to the world at all times brings me the greatest joy anyone could ever imagine. By placing the collar around my neck, you will take control of my body, mind and soul, and they will always be yours, to do with what you please, and that is what I want most in this world. So please, sir, fulfill my greatest wishes and desires. I want you to collar me, and make me your slut. Will you bestow upon me that most holy of honors? Sir?" "When this latch clicks, Whitney," he said, lifting the leather collar, bringing it towards her neck, "I want you to lick your hand, so the moment is seared into your brain." "Yes sir." He'd given this a bunch of thought over the last few days, and Nicolette had made it clear to him that he should try and imbue this moment with as much ritual and ceremony as he could, to make it feel like something that had been done throughout the ages, that there was a history to it, even if he was simply making it all up off the top of his head. He'd prepared a few things, in his mind, and he hoped they would be enough. As he began to slide the leather against her skin, seeing the tiny shiver of excitement from her body, he began to speak, trying to keep his voice steady and calm, as if he wasn't as nervous about all of this as Whitney seemed to be. "With this collar, I, Andrew Rook, hereby claim and take possession of you, Whitney Ophelia Wells, and bring you into the House of Rook, where you will serve the family as our technical expert first and foremost, but also as my personal plaything. You surrender your mind, your body, your will and your soul to this family, and to me, as its head. This is what you have chosen, what you have asked of me, and now, I have granted it to you. I claim you. I own you. You belong to me. You are,” He waited until he had the latch mechanism figured out and said the last word in time with his hooking of the latch. "Mine." Once the final word left his lips, she immediately brought her palm to her lips and licked the spot of precum clean. Her entire body tried to hold perfectly still after her tongue touched the liquid, but Andy could still see those blue eyes roll back into her skull in sudden shock and brainfry. Her eyelids fluttered frantically, but other than that, she held perfectly still and made no noise at all, despite the overwhelming rush of pleasure that was tearing through her body. All the women gathered around them closed in a step or two, as if tightening the circle in some long forgotten ritual. Andy hadn't asked them to do that, so he figured they were simply getting as caught up in the moment as he was. He didn't want to interrupt her moment, so he waited until she seemed to have regained her composure, her deep blue eyes opening to look at him once more, now in much more exposed adoration. "Your slut thanks You, Master." Andy had to prevent his smile from growing too wide, as he still had a part to play, but he immediately noted the change in her language. No longer 'this slut,' but 'your slut.' No longer 'sir,' but 'Master.' Before, he had simply been a respected man standing before her. Now, he had claimed her and given her Purpose. "She would very much like to be imprinted now, Master, if that is to Your pleasure." "I believe that seems appropriate," he said, and the gathered girls giggled a little at that. "Nicolette, I want you to sit down on the couch here. Whitney, you are going to stand up, keep your legs straight, bend at the waist, and place your hands on Nicolette's shoulders, so she can film your face the entire time while you're being imprinted." "Yes, Master. Thank You, Master." Whitney rose to her feet, then spun around, which was the moment Andy saw it, and everything nearly fell apart for a split second. There, on the small of her back, was a fresh tattoo, clearly less than a day or two old, as the skin around it was still reddish and angry, and the colors were still that insanely brilliant tone that only the newest of tattoos had. When the first Druid Gunslinger book had been nearing publication, the publisher had suggested Andy mak

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 5 More Chaos. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Chapter 14 It was a short drive into the community's center, a sort of tiny mini township surrounded by elaborate estates. Niko had insisted on driving, and it let Andy text both Phil and Eric that he was going to see the place, if they wanted to join him. Eric shot back that he'd be there within the hour, and Phil answered that his and his family were already there, having lunch at the diner. C'mon and join us said the text, just as Niko was pulling the Tesla into a parking spot in front of the 1950s themed diner. "I can't say I'm thrilled with the theme," Niko grumbled as she turned the car off. "But I guess I'll manage." "If they try and make you use a different drinking fountain, Niko, we'll raise hell," Andy said. "Damn straight," added Aisling. "Now let's go say hi to Phil and see how many women he has in tow." "More than he can handle, I'm sure," Andy chuckled. "He was barely okay with just Audrey." As soon as they got into the diner, it was relatively easy to spot Phil. Unlike diners of yore, where booths had typically held four at best, the interior of this particular 50s styled diner was lined with booths designed to fit as many as ten people each, with a few booths looking as though they could hold in upwards of 20. The booth Phil was in wasn't full, but he certainly had more people with him than the last time Andy had seen him. Sure, Audrey was there, snuggled right up against his side, but there were also two other women that Andy didn't recognize, a fit blonde woman with tightly cropped hair in camo and a curvy young black woman with her hair tightly braided. "Hey Phil," Andy said to him as he approached. "Audrey. You already know both Lauren and Aisling, but this is Niko. I know Niko's met Phil before, but I don't believe we've met your other two companions." "I've met one of them," Niko said, as she slid into the booth, offering half a salute to the blonde. "Captain." The blonde nodded in return. "Lieutenant. Hi Andy, I'm Linda, and this is Tamika," she said. "2nd Lieutenant Red Wolf and I are stationed together, although I suppose we're both stationed here now." Tamika seemed mostly interested in her cellphone, not even looking up to say hello. "Yeah, if you don't mind me asking, Captain, what are we going to do?" Niko said, scooting until she was right next to the captain. "They're moving all our work within the walls, so I guess we'll have a tiny base on site before month's end." "Roger that." "How you holding up, Phil?" Andy said, sliding in next to Niko, Aisling sliding in after him, Lauren moving in last. "I know you weren't originally planning on having multiple partners." "Well, the world's not up to what I want any more, Andy," he sighed. "But I'm making it work, even if I am a bit more tired than I used to be." "We had to set up a shift schedule of who gets intimacy time with Phil," Audrey said, giggling a little bit about it while poking Phil. "I'm surprised you haven't had to set something up like that." "Andy's learned that we keep his best interests in mind," Aisling laughed. "And we know about what his limits are, and rarely try and push him past them." "How's the new place?" Phil asked Andy, as Linda and Niko started having a quiet conversation with one another. "Bet it blew your mind when they drove you up there." "I still don't think I really need a mansion, Phil." "You say that now, but believe me, in about two week's time, you'll be thankful for all the room. There's going to be an influx of new partners quickly, as we're struggling to get as many people vaccinated as we can as quickly as we can, which means there isn't as much time as we'd like to let everyone get acclimated." "Mmm," Lauren sniffed. "The newest member of our family showed up just before we got here." "You sound unhappy, Lauren," Audrey said. "Well, she's my ex girlfriend who cheated on me, but we'll work it out, I guess." "Ouch. That sort of thing's not supposed to happen, but I suppose sometimes it slips through the cracks," Phil grumbled. "Everything's gotten so much harder to manage now that we're moving at warp speed. The death rate spiked on the east coast, and everybody freaked, so people who were hoping to get a later version of the vaccine without the, ah, side effects, are now practically storming the facilities, demanding to get injected with it, no matter what it does to them, as long as it protects them from the virus." "Yeah, I saw reports saying that a European company thinks they're close, but nobody's ready yet," Aisling said. "Are we shipping this vaccine anywhere else?" "Hell, Ash," Phil sighed, "we've barely got enough for the west coast right now. They're struggling to get more manufactured for the rest of the US, but we aren't in any state to be able to provide it to other countries right now." "I only ask for my brother back in Dublin. He desperately wants to leave the house, but I keep telling him, stay inside and stay safe." "That's all most people can do right now," Phil nodded. He glanced to the door and smiled. "Hey, look who's here! Slide into the bench, Eric." Eric had been standing in the doorway, with the familiar faces of both Lily and Jenny next to him, as well as a short, mousy Midwestern looking woman dressed in a giant t shirt, with denim shorts poking out from underneath them. "Hey everybody!" The new woman's name was Sarah, and she was Eric's new partner, only having arrived yesterday, so her head was still a little cloudy. When the waitress arrived to take their orders, the three households had been sure to divvy up the checks upfront. For the next couple of hours, everyone was trying to settle into their new normal. Andy, Phil and Eric got to talk in person, while all the women slowly started to figure out who out of each household they liked and wanted to avoid. It was a float of conversations, so many different discussions going at one point, that when Phil said he was going to step outside for a few minutes to vape up, Andy and Eric happily agreed to go with him, just so they could here each other clearly. "You holding up okay, Eric?" Andy asked. "You look a little overwhelmed." "Let's just say I'm a bit in social overload. That and trying to get settled in the new place is doing my head in." Eric leaned his back against the outside of the diner, stretching his arms over his head. "And I'm sore from all the fucking. And I miss the cats." "Why don't you guys come over next Saturday then, and we'll all hang out. Have ourselves a party like we used to. Any of the other members of the old gang getting moved into the complex?" Phil nodded. "Ari and his five women will be moved on site before the end of the week. He had plenty of space before, but when they offered him a free trade up, he didn't say no. Oh, and I don't know if you knew Jenna or not, but she's part of a family now, and they're being moved here next week, so a couple more people and the whole board game group will be back together again. We can play Ascension again, or poker, or both!" Eric nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that." "Cool. We'll consider it a party, then. Oh, hell. We can even make it a costume party for Halloween. I don't imagine we'll get much in the way of trick or treaters here." Phil waggled a finger at him. "You'll get trick or treaters, I'd bet on it. There's nearly a hundred children here in the village, so they'll make a point of hitting every house they possibly can." "All the better then." "So are you really doing okay with Lauren's ex being added to your household?" Phil asked. "I figured you might not have been able to speak your mind in front of her, so I thought I'd ask now that she can't hear." "It came as a bit of a shock, but we're making it work, I guess, or, rather, Lauren is," Andy said with a shrug. "I told Lauren that whatever she came up with, I'd go along with, whether that be sending her back to the Air Force or inviting her into the family. She, that is, Taylor, Lauren's ex, is being punished for what she did to Lauren before, but she'll eventually be allowed into the family, as per Lauren's decision." "Do I even want to ask how Lauren's punishing her?" Eric said with a laugh. Andy joined in the laugh. "You do not." He stopped, scrunched up his face, then smirked. "Well, you might, but let's just say don't fuck with the ladies of the Rook household. Payback is a,” "Hey!" Niko said, having just stuck her head out the door. "Get your asses back in here. They're bringing us desserts!" After a truly decadent sundae, everyone said their goodbyes, many of them excited about the prospect of a Halloween party, although a few of the girls complained that two days wasn't enough time to put together a proper costume. Everyone agreed they'd make it work, though. Phil and his family were heading home, while Eric and his family needed to go grocery shopping. Andy and the girls decided to walk around a little bit before heading home. In addition to the diner, there was a Safeway, a Target, a few restaurants (a Greek restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, and an Ike's Sandwiches), and, to Andy's personal delight, a bookstore, which they had to immediately stop in. It wasn't some chain book store, but clearly a local mom'n'pop establishment, and bore the mark of a highest quality bookstore, there was a cat living in the store. They decided to browse the bookstore for a little bit, and just before they were about to leave, the store clerk snuck up on him and asked for an autograph, which Andy gladly granted. The owner also asked if Andy would be kind enough to do a signing when the newest Druid Gunslinger book finally came out, and Andy was happy to acquiesce. They headed back to the house after that, with plans to come back tomorrow to get groceries. Andy felt exhilarated, being able to walk anywhere without a mask, being able to shake hands and hug friends. Barring the sea of gorgeous women around them, it had been nice to have a touch of normalcy. "Are you fully recovered from your time with the staff this morning, Andy?" Lauren asked him as they all walked from the garage into the house proper. "Yeah, I think I'm good to go. Why? You jonesing for a fix?" he said with a laugh. "We all are. And I want to show to Taylor what she's missing." She leaned down to kiss his cheek. "That okay?" "Sure, let me go check on Katie and Jenny and then I'll meet you ladies in the bedroom, okay?" "Don't take too long," Niko grinned. "We're, voracious today." "I won't, I won't," he laughed, waving his hand, hearing Lauren calling to Taylor like one would a pet as she walked towards the stairs. Andy moved to the pool house and poked his head in, finding Katie and Jenny still entwined together, asleep beneath the blanket he'd left them under several hours ago. He knew the imprinting process took several hours, but he'd never been sure exactly how long it took. He suspected the two might wake up in the middle of the night and head back to their room, but they'd be fine in the pool house if they slept there overnight, which was all Andy wanted to be sure of. He headed back into the house and walked upstairs. The door to the bedroom was closed, but a post it note on the door said "Cum in." He appreciated the pun, and opened the door. Inside, Taylor was on her knees at the foot of the bed, with Lauren's hand on the top of Taylor's head, Aisling and Niko sitting on either side of her. "Now, bitch, you're going to watch what a real man is like. Andy, come over here, would you?" All of the women had already stripped naked, so as Andy walked over, he kicked off his shoes, tugged off his socks and pulled his shirt up and over his head. When Andy neared the edge of the bed, Lauren raised a hand. "Stay there." She slid off the bed and moved to kneel in front of him, reaching her hands up to smooth them along his stomach before she reached over and pulled Taylor's hair to drag her close. "Here, I want you to get a front row seat to all of this, whore, but don't you dare stick out your tongue to sneak a taste, otherwise I'm doubling your time like this, you understand?" Taylor quietly nodded, as Lauren tugged Andy's jeans and boxers down, letting his cock slap her in the face with a girlish giggle. "That never gets old," Lauren said as Taylor let out a quiet little whimper. Lauren wrapped her mouth around the head of Andy's cock and then pushed her face all the way down until he could feel the tip of his cock sliding into her throat, Lauren trying hard to stifle the gag reaction before drawing back, taking a deep gasp of air. "You can smell my man's cock, can't you whore?" Taylor meekly nodded once more. "Don't even think about touching yourself. You're going to sit there and watch this. I want you to fucking drool, you want it so bad." Lauren started to push her face back down onto Andy's cock, and he was expecting a long, slow blowjob, but Lauren clearly had other ideas. She forced her face down until his balls were resting against her chin, then drew back suddenly before pushing her face down once again. It was fast and determined, and Andy almost jumped when he felt a hand cradling his nuts before realizing that Aisling had moved to one side of him, her fingertips holding onto his ballsack. "She was so apprehensive the first time, but look at her now," Ash whispered into his ear. Another hand reached to smooth along his hip, as Niko moved up along the other side of him, nibbling on his earlobe, her tongue lashing against his earlobe. "You're so going to be dead by the time we're done with you tonight, baby," Niko purred, curling her fingers to rake her fingernails against his hip. "You don't have to hold back, babes," Aisling giggled into his ear. "It's not gonna make us go any easier on you." Lauren's deep blue eyes peered up at him, and he glanced over at Taylor, whose eyes were fixated on Lauren's mouth thrusting up and down on his cock. It was an intoxicating sight, and Lauren's lips were clenched so tightly on his cock that he wasn't going to last long. Her cheeks caved in as she sucked hard on him, and before he knew it, his body was tensing up as he spewed a hot load of cum into Lauren's mouth. He was leaning back into the bodies of Aisling and Niko, who were keeping him from falling back, as Lauren finally drew her head back, her mouth full of his spunk, as she turned to show it to Taylor, who whined and whimpered, before Lauren closed her mouth and swallowed it all, licking her lips to make sure none of that treasure remained. He was a little surprised, because typically the girls liked to share a load, to ease all of their needs at least a little, but it seemed like the girls had other plans for today. "C'mon, you need to lay down now, Andy," Aisling said. "We're driving today." Andy let Aisling and Niko guide him over to the bed before he laid down on his back in the middle of the massive bed. Lauren had climbed off her knees, moving to help Taylor get up onto the bed, but immediately making sure she was on her knees off to the side of him, a good two or three feet of distance between them. Lauren then reached and grabbed one of the pillows, pulling it over, sliding it under Andy's head, as Aisling crawled on her hands and knees until she was looming over him. She moved to straddle his waist with a smirk, as she rubbed that fire furred snatch against his cock, sliding back and forth across it. "You're a good man, Andy Rook," Aisling said to him, "tolerating all the shit we're going to put this bitch through to make sure she's learned not to fuck with us." Niko slid along the far side of Andy and moved up along her knees until she was near enough to Aisling to grab the redhead's mane of hair, pulling her lips to press against her own, giving the other girl a ferocious kiss, tongues tangling with one another for a long moment, before breaking, giggling once more. "I can't tell who's more turned on by that, Andy, you or Lauren's fuckpet." Andy was about to answer, but Aisling had lined up his cock and thrust her hips down with a quick snap, stuffing his cock deep inside of her cunt, a sultry groan escaping his throat. "That's my fucking cock," Aisling moaned. "That's what I fucking wanted." Niko grinned, sliding one hand down to rub her thumb against Aisling's clit while the redhead bucked on his cock. "That's it. Show the fuckpet what a good slut looks like." She moved to kiss Aisling again, and this time the kiss was even more sloppy and sticky, tongues exposed as Ash bounced on his cock, thrusting down hard before drawing back up. Niko and Aisling continued making out while Andy, Lauren and Taylor all watched, but after a minute or so, Aisling reached down and grabbed Niko's hips, pulling her over until she was straddling Andy's face, and he knew what was being suggested, so he let his tongue stick out and began to lap at Niko's cunt, her hips grinding down onto his face, almost suffocating him, she was shoving against him so eagerly. "Fuck, Andy, lick my cunt while your first slut's bouncing on your cock, trying to milk your load out of you," Niko whimpered before kissing Aisling again. Aisling's pace was itchy, impatient. Other than the small amount of his spunk that she'd licked out of Nicolette's cunt yesterday, it had been almost five days since she'd gotten her fix. She'd decided to let off on her promise to milk a load from him every day when it turned out she was going to need to share with so many women, but now, Aisling knew it was her turn at bat, and as much as she was enjoying herself, she also wanted her fix, moaning whorishly into Niko's mouth. Lauren smirked a little bit, leaning in a bit closer. "I wouldn't keep your slut of a girlfriend waiting, Andy, otherwise she's likely to break this fucking bed. Look at her go, Taylor. She's already cum once, but I think she's about to do it again. Go on, daddy, give your good little whore her dose of spunk and blow her fucking mind when you blow in her fucking cunt. Do it, Andy! Cum in her!" He couldn't resist as he latched his lips on Niko's clit and buzzed them hard, his hands holding onto her hips as his back arched, pushing his cock towards Aisling's twat as much as he could, that orgasm blasting from him, firing shotgun sprays of hot cum into Aisling's cunt, setting off a third orgasm inside of the freckled Irish girl. When he finally started to come down from his orgasm, he slid his head down a little to see that Niko and Aisling were basically holding each other up in an upside V above him, a dry little chuckle rolling from his lips as Niko slowly moved to lower Aisling to one side, her body still going through aftershocks, trembling a bit in the afterglow of her orgasms. Andy's cock started to soften a little bit, even as Niko moved off of his face. "Oh no," Niko said to him. "You're not done yet." Andy sighed softly, letting out a heavy breath. "The mind is willing, Niko, but I don't know if the flesh is up to it." "Oh it will be," Niko said, a sly grin spreading on her lips. "Because today's the day." She crawled on her knees downward on the bed, reaching to stroke his cock. "This needs to get nice and hard for your little enlisted slut, Daddy. She has a need for it." "I'm telling you, Niko," Andy said. "I just don't know that I've got it in me to pump out a fourth load in a single day." "Sure you do," Niko purred. "Because today's the day I'm gonna take you in the ass." Andy's cock twitched, which made Niko smirk more broadly at him. "You haven't pressured, and I've been thinking about it every time Lauren or Ash does it. I kept wondering what kind of special day would be perfect to let you slide that thick cock of yours up my virginal asshole. Should it be an anniversary, or your birthday? But no, I wanna show off in front of the house pet. I wanna see her face when I take your fat cock up my untouched Asian asshole, wanna see that look of envy on her fucking face when I'm struggling to stretch and take you. Do I have to beg, Andy? Can you get hard so I can shove your cock in my perfect little asshole? So I can give you the last of my holes, so that you own every fucking inch of my body?" Andy's cock had already stiffened back to a full hard on, and Niko was slowly stroking it, a wild smile on her face. "Let me ride it, Daddy, so I can make sure I don't overwhelm myself, okay?" Andy nodded to her, as he saw Niko straddle his waist, but she was in reverse cowgirl, as she reached between her legs to grab his cock. "Fuck, I hope I'm fucking ready for this." "I came so hard my eyes rolled back into my head when I did it," Lauren said, moving to smooth a hand along one of Niko's thighs. "And you, Ash?" Niko said, lining the tip of his cock up against the pucker of her ass. "Oh, I squirted," Aisling giggled. "I'd never done that before, but it was so fucking intense. You're probably gonna cum just sliding it in." Niko's face frowned in amusement at Ash. "I somehow douo wow wow Oh Fuck!" she said, turning into a shout as the head of his cock popped inside of her tan asshole, Niko's whole body starting to spasm as Lauren and Aisling moved quickly to brace her and keep her steady so that she didn't overwhelm herself by dropping down onto his cock suddenly. He could feel Niko's entire body shivering atop of him for a good ten seconds or so before her voice pierced the air again. "Fuck., fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Niko finally panted out. "I think I just touched fucking God," she whimpered, her breathing shallow and ragged. "I don't, I don't, I don't know if,” Aisling smirked. "Silly slut. Never leave a job half done. Lauren?" she said, looking around Niko's body, as the tall blonde nodded, and both women started to push down on Niko's hips, forcing her to slowly take inch after inch of Andy's ruthlessly thick cock into her ass. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, that's such a fucking big cock in my ass, in my tight little virgin ass, oh fuck, oh fuck fuck fuck, I can't stop fucking cumming. Daddy, your little slut can't fucking stop fucking cumming from your big fucking cock up her tight young fucking ass oh fuck!" Just when she finally pushed down far enough for her asscheeks to rest against his hips, her body seized up and a clear jet of liquid squirted from her cunt into the air, splashing all over Taylor, who audibly moaned in excitement. "Please, daddy, please cum in my tight fucking ass., cum in your good little girl's virgin fucking ass, cream me up, baby, fill my virgin ass, I want your fucking cum, cum in my ass. Cum! In! My! Fucking! Ass! Please! Cum!" Andy's body finally yielded, and as soon as he started to cum in Niko's ass, he felt her muscles clamp down hard on him, the rest of her body shaking and vibrating before finally slumping back, Aisling and Lauren making sure to keep her from slamming the back of her head into Andy's face, helping to lay her down on the bed. "Fuck, we need a shower," Niko whimpered. "We all need a fucking shower right fucking now so fucking bad." "In five minutes," Andy grumbled, feeling Niko slide under one of her arms, Aisling under the other as Lauren moved to push a wide eyed Taylor off the bed and back to the floor, although Andy could see that her snatch was glistening something fierce. "But I'm not fucking anybody at all tomorrow. Got it?" Everybody laughed at that. Chapter 15 In the morning, Andy was woken up by the feeling of Niko getting out of bed. She tried to be as subtle and quiet as she could, but Andy still felt her slipping away. She smiled when she saw him with open eyes looking at her naked form as she pulled on her underwear. She brought a fingertip up to her lips, motioning for him to remain quiet, as she moved back over and kissed him on the lips, soft and tender, before she waved. "Go back to sleep," she mouthed at him as she pulled a set of fatigues from the closet. Today was going to be her first day on the base within the enclave, so she wasn't going to be late. Andy knew that and was glad to see she'd found a way to ensure she woke up in time, doubly glad that she'd done it without waking the whole household. Andy practically drifted back to sleep as soon as she started walking into the bathroom. A few hours later, he started to wake again as he felt Lauren starting to slide out of bed. Taylor was curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed, but Lauren had draped a blanket over her at some point in the night, so she wasn't cold. Andy found himself wondering if Lauren was already softening a little in terms of her anger towards her former partner, but certainly wasn't going to bring it up first. Aisling was stirring next to him, and he could hear Lauren turning on the shower in the bathroom. "Where is everybody?" Ash asked him, snuggling her face into his shoulder. "Lauren's in the shower, Niko headed off to the base early this morning and Taylor's asleep on the floor, so we have the bed to ourselves," he laughed. "Although we should probably get up anyway." "What about,” "You touch my cock, Ash, and it may very well fall the fuck off." She giggled a little bit mischievously. "I mean, I guess you did satisfy five women yesterday, so I suppose I can let you off the hook for today." "I mean, I'm not even sure if it's working any more. Here I am and no morning wood." "I feel like I'm letting you down, babes," she sighed. "I did tell you that you weren't going to go a day without giving me a load, and here I am, agreeing to let you have an entire day without it." Andy laughed, waving a hand in the air. "No no, I'm good, I promise. No sex today, so my cock can continue to function later." He started to stretch a little bit, seeing Lauren coming out of the bathroom, one towel around her torso, another tying up her hair. "The bathroom's steamed up, but I didn't leave it as a total mess for you two," Lauren said, as she smiled at them. "I gotta get toweled off and head to the training camp the '49ers set up in town, so I'll see you guys for dinner, okay?" Lauren looked over at Taylor, who hadn't woken up yet. "Don't let her off easy. This is a month of punishment, so I want her to feel it. My wrath isn't to be taken lightly, and if you got light on this daffy bitch, she's only going to make us regret it. No clothes, no plates, no utensils, no exceptions, got it?" "Yes ma'am," Andy said, waving in her direction, as she headed into the large walk in closet. "We should go and get showered, Ash." Aisling groaned before she made an over exaggerated noise and then pulled back, sliding to the edge of the bed, reaching over to tug on Andy's ankle, as he moved to follow her. Their time in the shower was relaxing and Andy saw Taylor wake up when Aisling turned on the hairdryer. As Andy tugged on the boxers, he decided he should probably talk a little bit to Taylor, especially since she wasn't going to start any conversations under orders from Lauren. "You must've really pissed Lauren off something fierce, Taylor," he said, as he grabbed a pair of jeans. "She is the most gentle kind soul I've ever met, but you brought out an anger from her I didn't even know she was capable of, and we've been living together for almost two months now. I know you cheated on her, and that's horrible enough to start with, but there's more going on here. So what happened?" Taylor frowned, shifting a little bit beneath the blanket. "I fucked up. Sir." Andy cocked his head to one side before pulling the t shirt down over his head. "That's not an answer. Not good enough. What. Happened." Taylor's bright blue eyes watered up a little, as if she was going to break out into tears. "Lauren and I had been fighting. We'd both been so busy that we hadn't really had time for each other in weeks. My ex boyfriend was in town. We went out drinking, I drank too much and I, I just needed cock." A single tear dropped from one of her eyes before she took a deep sniff in, trying to steel herself up. "It's not an excuse. It was a mistake, a horrible one. I should've talked to Lauren about my needs, told her that I found myself needing a man's touch, but, like I said, I fucked up." "You understand that if you join this family, the only cock you're going to be getting is mine, right?" "I do, sir." "And you're okay with that?" "I am, sir." "What's changed?" She frowned a little, looking at her hands before looking up at him as the blow dryer went off in the bathroom. "I've grown up a bit. It's been half a year, and I've had a lot of time to think about it. That whole time I've missed Lauren crazy mad. And I just really like both men and women, so with your family, sir, I'll get both. Lauren was the best thing that ever happened to me, and if you make her happy, and it sure seems like you do, I know you'll make me happy as well." "Did you like what you saw last night?" "Yes, sir. Very much sir." "And are you horny right now?" Aisling asked as she walked into the room, completely in the buff. "Yes ma'am. Very much so, ma'am." "You're not going to get it today," the redhead said as she tugged on a thong. "You know that, don't you?" "Yes ma'am." "Good girl." Aisling smirked wryly, looking over at Andy. "What do you think of her, love?" "It sounds like she's learning, so that's something." It was a little odd to be talking about Taylor as if she wasn't in the room, but Lauren had made it clear that they were supposed to keep Taylor from being comfortable the whole time, and Andy couldn't think of anything that made people more uncomfortable than being talked about in front of them. "Quite the cracking body on her too, I'd say. Pint sized in height, but Jaysis, I'd kill for tits like hers." She pulled on a sports bra, shifting as she got it adjusted. "The advantage of youth, I'd guess. I'm surprised you're even old enough to go drinking, Taylor. How old are you, slut?" "I'm twenty five, ma'am." Aisling laughed and grabbed her towel, throwing it at Taylor. "Oh fuuuuuuuuuck you!" Aisling was giggling, shaking her head. "I'm only two years older than you." "I'm, sorry, ma'am?" "Oh, hush," Aisling said, shaking her head with a sly smile. Andy walked over and tugged the sheet off Taylor, who didn't blanch at all, staying on her knees, folding her hands behind her back to proudly jut those firm, natural double D tits at him. The pink nipples that capped them were stiff like pencil erasers. Taylor kept her eyes lowered, even as Andy reached a hand down at cupped one of Taylor's tits in his hand, hearing her breath catch when he did. "Lauren didn't say I couldn't touch her, did she Ash?" Aisling shook her head. "She said nothing goes in her cunt for the month, and that she wasn't going to get fucked for about a week, but I think that was the extent of her rules for you in regards to touching her." "I'm not usually the kind of man drawn to overly big tits," Andy said, "but I have to admit, it just sort works on Taylor." "Thank you, sir," Taylor whispered, each word almost strained. Andy couldn't help himself, and pinched one of Taylor's nipples, hearing a high pitched squeak emanate from her before she held very still and then forced a breath out, shivering quite visibly as she did, her skin covered in goosebumps. "Holy shit," Aisling said. "Did you just cum from that?" "Yes ma'am," Taylor whimpered. "Sorry ma'am." "You couldn't control it, so I suppose just good on you." Andy's hand left her nipple and then he scrunched his face up before he crouched down. He pushed Taylor's thighs a bit wider apart and then slid his hand between them, his fingertips just below her cunt, and then waited. A second or so later, he felt her drip onto his hand. "Dripping wet." "Yes sir. Sorry sir." Andy smirked as he brought his hand up to his lips, licking the taste of her snatch from his skin. "I think the only thing you really have to be sorry about is that you're going to be making a mess on the floor for a while now." "May I ask a question, sir?" "You just did, but go ahead." He thought he saw a slight smile from Taylor at that, as if the point was made. "May your worthless bitch clean herself up with toilet paper?" "Go on then," he said, as Aisling tugged on some yoga pants and one of Andy's t shirts. She had plenty of her own clothing, but had to wearing his t shirts as often as she could. "We'll meet you downstairs for breakfast. Yours will be in a bowl." "Yes, ma'am." Taylor headed into the bathroom as Andy and Aisling headed downstairs. After a quick breakfast (even though it was closer to lunch than morning), the two hopped into the Tesla and headed into town to get groceries. Andy was a little surprised it was a Safeway, but suspected that whoever had built this community had decided to go for convenience over rustic. Andy found the whole experience surreal. The people he saw coming and going were a weird mix of high fashion and modern style, and there were a lot more women than men, although he wasn't all that surprised by that. With the number of women that each man was expected to be paired with, he knew their little village was going to have a sizable imbalance, and he saw that reflected in the people walking through the lanes. As expected, there were many hot young women, but he was also pleased to see several older good looking women in their fifties and sixties. A community comprised solely of young fit gorgeous women would've made it all even more awkward than it already was. They were mostly done getting their groceries when Aisling tapped Andy. "Hey, I know her! Lisa! It's Ash!" Walking towards them was an older man in a ridiculously expensive looking suit, and a woman in a tight tube top and hot pants quite younger than the man she was accompanying. The woman, a stunning brunette, offered a slight wave, but didn't say anything in response. The man, however, immediately addressed Andy. "Hello good sir! Arthur Robert Covington the Fourth. You must be new to our little colony." He offered a hand out to Andy, who almost didn't want to shake it, but did so reluctantly. Some things were almost just reflexive. "Andy Rook, and this is my first partner, Aisling." "Nice to meet you," Aisling said, reaching out to shake the man's hand, but he'd lowered his hand to his side, so her hand hung awkwardly in the air for a moment before she finally took the hint and lowered her own. "I didn't know you were here, Lisa. I haven't seen you in, what, five or six years? Andy, Lisa was in a bunch of classes with me in college." "Oh, Lisa doesn't talk out in public any more," the pompous git said to them. "It's for both of our benefit. I find it's much better if women are just seen and not heard, don't you agree, Andy?" Andy immediately wanted to beat the shit out the pompous prick. "Can't say that I do." Everything about the man screamed old money, and it was taking all of Andy's willpower not to just walk away from them right now. Clearly Ash had some familiarity with the woman, and he wanted to support Aisling any way he could. "I find it's best to treat everyone you meet like an actual person, rather than some sort of fashion accessory." "That is so modern of you, young man," Convington said. "And so en vogue. You don't have to pretend here, though, young man. In this community, though, we don't answer to anyone but each other. You certainly are quite a bit younger than the majority of people who have been brought here, and perhaps you are expecting that you need to blend in to the modern times." The older gentleman smiled at Andy with a condescension that made him want to punch the guy until he was lying on the floor. "But you are among friends now, and we the elite men of the world have always been best supported by our women with their support and their stoic silence." "I couldn't disagree more, old chap," Andy said, trying to make it clear by his tone that he was mocking the man's arrogant tones. "While I understand that it's not very traditional, at least in the western world, for a man to have multiple wives, but I'm never going to ask them to be silent in public. I value their opinions all the time, and I see them as equals, not lesser people." "Well," Covington sniffed. "I imagine you'll come around eventually, but even if you don't, we're all entitled to our own lifestyles. Good luck to you both." Then the man, who had to be at least sixty, walked off with his twenty something woman, who offered a tiny wave to Aisling before walking away. Once they were around the corner, Aisling punched him in the shoulder. "If you think I'm better seen and not heard, you are in for a world of trouble, fella." "You heard me say that I didn't agree with him, Ash. Sexist pig." "Still. Don't want you getting ideas." Andy sighed. "I sort of suspected we were going to find some people like that here, but I can't say I'm thrilled about it. And we can't try and rescue her, because they're already bonded." "Do you believe Phil when he said the bonds are permanent?" "Phil's usually right about these kinds of things, so I don't think he'd lie to us about it." "Then I suppose I'm just happy that I'm not bonded to a total git." Andy and Aisling decided to spend a little bit more time getting additional groceries after the experience, mostly to cool off. They'd gotten a list of things from Jenny, which covered most of what they would be having for meals. Jenny had even told them that she would be happy to do all the grocery shopping, but Andy had insisted they wanted to see the town a bit more anyway before they left, so Jenny had made it clear that this was going to be an exception, and prepared them a list that she was strict they pick up all of. Most of what they picked up at the end were some comfort foods to go along with everything off Jenny's list. Candy, soda, chips, the kinds of things he suspected Jenny wouldn't approve of too much, but he wasn't ready to let go of his sugar addiction quite yet. As they picked up food that clearly wasn't good for them, Andy kept his eyes on the other people he saw coming and the mismatch of young and old he'd seen with Aisling's friend and the stuffed shirt seemed to be the norm. The men could occasionally be found chatting with each other, but for the most part, the women remained silent, although he did spot a couple of women following the same man talking between themselves. Andy was a little used to feeling like an outsider. When he'd gone and done his first sci fi convention, some of the older writers had thrown a lot of shade his way about his books. Many of them felt like urban fantasy was something of a slum compared to either high fantasy or pure sci fi. In fact, more than a couple of people he used to called idols had called his particular strain of fiction "juvenile," even going so far to describe the Druid Gunslinger books as "starter fantasy, for unsophisticated minds." It had almost made him want to not do any more conventions, but after a little bit of searching, he'd found a group of similarly minded writers, people like him who looked at genre boundaries as a roadmap of what rules to break and how. What he loved most of all, though, was that the fans didn't give a shit. Sure, there were detractors to his writing in the crowds, but they'd get booed down by the rest of the people who were there to learn more about where his books were going and what kinds of secrets he'd been leaving off the page. Most of the fans believed he lived in San Francisco proper, but Andy certainly hadn't made enough money off the books to justify that kind of lifestyle. There were other things about his books that had drawn people to his audience,  he wasn't afraid of writing sex scenes in his books, some of the supporting characters were gay or bisexual,  but the main reason they kept coming back was that the books were unpredictable. He'd killed off main characters mid book, he'd changed the city the protagonist's base of operations was in multiple times and one of the villains he'd introduced in one of the first few books had gone through a surprising redemption arc in the most recent book, something that the early readers had raved about how much they hadn't seen it coming. All that had instilled him a sense that he never had to go along with something just because it was what was expected of you, and he certainly didn't plan to change the way he treated people now because a bunch of blue blood uppity vampires thought he should join their little club. "It's so weird," Ash whispered to him. "Seeing all these beautiful women, being forced to walk a few steps behind their men. All of this pretentious bullshit, these assholes thinking their money makes them invincible. It used to be the stranglehold they had over women was figurative, financial. Now it's literal. They're literally dependent on these assholes for their survival. If they don't get their fix, they're going to go out of their minds. I mean, what are we going to do if you leave us? Or if you get taken away from us? Or get sick and die?" "I'm sure they're working on something to stabilize it, Ash, but until then, you're alive, I'm alive, and that's all that matters." Andy sighed. "But I'm still alive, unlike ten million other American men. And the death rates are starting to climb around the world too. So anything that keeps me alive, I'm going to take that as a win. Speaking of which, how is your brother doing?" "He's sheltering in place with the rest of my clan, luv. You don't really know my mother yet, but when you meet her, you'll learn how much of an iron fist she's got on the whole family. They'll do whatever it takes to survive. Your brother?" "He and his wife are doing the same. She ventures out from time to time, but other than that, they don't dare leave the house." Andy waved his phone over the credit card machine, and heard the telltale ding that meant the bill was paid. "Martial law got declared in Kansas City, though, and I know the tanks rolling down the streets have them more than a little spooked." "Whatever it takes to get through it, luv, we're gonna do it." "Well, not if it takes me turning into that asshole." Aisling giggled. "Oh, Andy, you're not built to be a snob." "Suppose you're right." When they got to the car, Andy couldn't help but start laughing a bit as he replayed the earlier conversation in his head. Aisling asked him what he found so funny. "I mean, he's the Fourth in a long line of pompous assholes, Ash. Why don't we understand how important that is?" That set her off laughing too. Andrew Rook continues to protect his family. Chapter 16 The day of the party felt like it came much faster than it should've. While everyone had a few days to prepare, they all felt like they were struggling to get their costumes together. Most hysterically, all the girls had made some sort of tacit agreement not to tell Andy what they were dressing up as for the Halloween party. They were all a little surprised he wasn't dressing up as the Druid Gunslinger himself, but they seemed okay with it. He told them he'd done the gear next year, but he'd literally worn the costume last year, and despite all the changes they'd been through over the past several months, he didn't want to do it two years in a row. While none of the girls may have seen him in it, he knew that both Eric and Phil would've given him an endless amount of shit for it. He loved vintage sci fi costumes, so for this year, he'd decided to be Logan from Logan's Run, the 1976 film he'd adored growing up. It was a relatively simple costume, a black turtleneck with white trim and a large white stripe over the chest, as well as a blinking red palm flower crystal. When he'd done the costume as a teenager, he'd had to use a bike light, which took over so much of his hand, but now he could achieve the same effect with a simple L E D light attached to a battery. It was much more convenient. A few hours before the party was to start, Andy was banned from entering his own bedroom as the girls had set up a sort of base camp there, working on all their costumes away from his prying eyes. The staff had decided to dress up as Clue characters, so Nicolette was back in her Yvette costume, Jenny R. was dressed as the cook (from the movie, not the board game) and Katie was dressed as Mrs. White. They had been a little surprised that they were invited to the party once the food was laid out, but Andy had been adamant that he wanted them to feel like members of the family as much as staff. He was glad to see they accepted that without too much of a fuss, although Jenny was insistent that she and Nicolette would be tending to the food all night, even while they were mingling. Surprising no one, none of the girls who weren't staff were ready by the time the first guests showed up. Andy wasn't shocked that it was Eric who arrived first, along with his whole group. Eric was dressed as Han Solo, with Lily as Princess Leia, Jenny C. as Luke Skywalker, Sarah as Chewbacca, and two other girls who'd recently joined his family “ Lara, a tall, statuesque blonde, and Nikki, a tiny little plump brunette “ were dressed as C3 P0 and R2 D2 accordingly. Phil and his family arrived next. They were all dressed up as characters from the video game Street Fighter, with Phil as Ryu, Audrey as Chun Li, Linda as Cammy, Tamika as Poison and a new girl named Yuko, who was dressed as Sakura. Andy, much like both Phil and Eric, had never been big on large social gatherings, but this felt entirely different. Perhaps they'd been so starved for company, or perhaps they'd been trying to make sense of the new normal for so long, it was nice to have a touch of the old normal, even if it was only a shadow of how it used to be. Dressed all in costume, the boys sat down to play poker. After Phil showed up, Andy's girls descended down the staircase and made a grand entry for themselves. Aisling had dressed up as Amy Adams' portrayal of Lois Lane from the Superman movies, in a white open shirt with a black vest, her hair done up in a smart ponytail, a black lanyard hanging around her neck that said "Daily Planet." Lauren had dressed up as the Black Canary, from the Green Arrow comic books, a leather jacket she'd stolen from his closet, a black leotard and ripped black fishnets that Andy couldn't deny made her pop even more. The biggest surprise, however, was Niko. It took him a few seconds to realize what she was dressed as, and as soon as he did, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. She was dressed in a white lab coat, with her hair up in a bun, held in place with chopsticks. Beneath it, she wore a deep purple shirt. It all looked vaguely familiar, but then she turned her head and it all clicked as soon as he saw that coloration done to her hair. While most of her hair was still jet black, on the right side, there was a blue stripe, followed by a violet stripe, and his heart stopped a beat. She was dressed as Doctor Erika Shirow, the coroner who often worked with the Druid Gunslinger in his novels. Around her neck hung a pendant of a celtic cross, exactly as he'd described it in the most recent novel. Shirow had been a regular recurring character, but she was easily what fans would've called "a deep cut." When he'd first introduced her in the second book, he suspected she was a character he would come back to, but hadn't planned her to have much impact on the overarching storyline he had in mind. Now, some nine books into the series, she'd actually appeared in more of them than any other character other than Dale Sexton, the titular Druid Gunslinger. Most of the time, she usually only appeared in a chapter or two, but now, seeing Niko dressed as her, he wondered if he'd been subconsciously building a relationship between Dale and Erika over the course of the novels. He made a mental note to ask Niko about it later. The girls wandered into the room and took their time showing off their costumes for everyone, but as soon as they did, Niko moved over to slide down into Andy's lap, sliding an arm around him. "You like?" she asked him, a mischievous smile on her lips. "No, I absolutely hate it," he laughed, sticking his tongue out at her. "You look stunning. You all look stunning." "Lauren worried she was too tall to pull off the Black Canary, but I told her that in those fishnets, you wouldn't give a fuck." "You would absolutely be right." Niko gestured for him to tip up his hole cards so she could look at them, which he did, and then tipped them back down. "Looks like you're doing well." "Ah, we're mostly playing for fun," Eric said. Niko winked over in his direction. "Sure. That's why your chip stack is so utterly small." "Absolutely," Lily said, moving to stand behind Eric. "And it certainly isn't because my man has no poker face whatsoever." Audrey moved to stand behind Phil. "Phil's usually pretty good at poker, though," she said, kissing his cheek. "Although I heard Andy's always been better." Andy shrugged. "I'm not bad. I mean, I wouldn't drop ten K of my own money to enter the World Series of Poker, but I usually come out at least a little bit ahead at poker nights." "Go easy on them then, I guess, Andy. How high are the stakes?" Niko asked, clearly wiggling her ass in his lap, trying to distract him off his game. "Are we rich yet?" Andy cocked his head to one side, mocking a frown upon his face. "Have you missed the mansion we now live in?" "Sure, but that's not money money," she teased. "What're you playing for?" Eric laughed. "Big, big money." He looked left, looked right, then leaned forward, putting his hand over one side of his mouth, stage whispering to her. "Twenty dollars is the buy in." He widened his eyes and nodded in her direction, like it was his life savings they were talking about. Niko rolled her eyes. "Forget what I said about going easy on them. Take them for everything they're worth." "Oh, and the loser has to buy dinner for the next game night," Phil said. "Or, at least, they used to have to, but that was before we all got our own private staff." "I can't remember the last time Andy bought dinner," Eric grumbled. "I don't know that he ever has," Phil sighed. "I think it's all the rest of us just passing the buck around." The doorbell rang, and Niko slid off his lap. "Who else are we expecting?" Phil rolled his eyes upward in thought. "Ari and his family are coming. Jenna's hooked up with some guy named Gary, so they said they'd stop by. Mel told me he couldn't make it this time, but would try and catch us for the next get together." "I'll go see who it is." Niko headed to the door and Andy could hear from outside the door as soon as she opened it a chorus of children shouting "Trick Or Treat!" They'd just resolved the hand, so all the guys got up and headed to the door to see five children, all dressed up in Minecraft costumes, holding out buckets, into which Niko graciously dropped a couple of candies each. There was a woman standing behind the children, back at the foot of the walkway up to the house, waving at them. It wasn't anyone that any of them recognized, but Andy was glad to see the children weren't out by themselves. For the next hour or so, every ring of the doorbell would bring either another gaggle of children, or another of the group's mutual friends, until the house felt like a booming party. The parade of trick or treating children eventually slowed, and it was almost ten pm when the doorbell rang again. Andy went to answer the door, holding the pot of candies, and as soon as he opened the door, he tensed up a little, even as he heard the shout of "Trick Or Treat!" There were only two children standing there, a girl dressed as Hermione from Harry Potter, and a slightly older boy, dressed as Draco Malfoy. But the children weren't the problem. Behind them stood Arthur Robert Covington the Fourth, dressed as Napoleon. Andy had to mentally tell himself not to curl his hand into a fist. "Ah, Andrew!" Covington said. "So this is where you live. I did wonder which of the open houses they'd assigned you to." Andy dropped candies into the outstretched bags of the two children. They shouldn't be punished for what an ass their father was. "Yes. Well. Here we are." He couldn't wait to get this

Masamune Shirow y Ghost in the shell revolucionaron el cyberpunk y la ciencia-ficción. Su rompedora estética y visión marcó época y muchos recordamos todas sus series. Desde los tímidos inicios con Black Magic a la consistente Appleseed, pasando por la cómica Dominion: Tank police o las aventuras de Motoko Kusanagi, Shirow dejó un legado imponente, denso y en ocasiones ilegible. Junto a David Jiménez "Batto" de Ramen para dos y Kenny Ruiz, analizamos toda la trayectoria del genial mangaka .Además tenemos el enorme placer de entrevistar a Pepe Larraz, el gran dibujante Marvel de la actualidad que nos hable de su carrera y sus actuales andanzas dibujando a Peter Perker. Finalmente, tenemos tiempo de recomendar un montón de cómics: Tower dungeon, Transformers, Dibujo al natural, Las locuritas de Úrsula y Días sin escuela. Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

"Ghost in the Shell," an iconic tale of cybernetic evolution and identity, first materialized as a groundbreaking 1995 animated film, directed by Mamoru Oshii. Adapted from Masamune Shirow's manga, the film is a Japanese-British international co-production, visually melding traditional cel animation with CGI. Its narrative unfolds in 2029 Japan, focusing on Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg public-security agent on the hunt for an enigmatic hacker known as the Puppet Master. The film interweaves profound philosophical themes about self-identity in an age where technology blurs the lines between human and machine.

¡Ya está aquí la ración semanal de vuestro podcast favorito! Con las voces de Juan Tejerina, Ramiro Díez, Javier Ruiz, Eric A. Piquer, Davinia Negrín, Abelardo González y Javier Bello, con la participación especial de Clow Shirow, cosplayer, streamer y desarrollador en Square-Enix. - Visítanos en: https://www.gamestribune.com - Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/GamesTribune - Escucha nuestros melocotonazos en: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4G0e96hcrEKgUokym8RUbs?si=XlqHby9PSWuI475putCLFQ Sigue a Clow Shirow en las redes: - Twitch: https://twitch.tv/clow_shirow - Twitter: https://twitter.com/clow_shirow - Cosplay: https://twitter.com/clowcos - Instagram: https://instagram.com/clow_shirow - Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/ClowChannel Actualidad: - La saga Persona goza de una salud magnífica celebrando su 25 aniversario, y especularemos sobre su futuro. - La estrategia de Xbox es clara, seguir produciendo juegos distintos y únicos. - Sólo un 20% de los jugadores de Returnal ha terminado el juego. - Final Fantasy XIV, historia de caída y auge abismal. - Culebrón entre la empresa representante de Takuya Kimura y Sega. El futuro de Judgment en peligro. Melocotonazo: - Name of the Game — The Crystal Method Impresiones: - Ya estamos jugando The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD y os daremos nuestras impresiones sobre el título. Entrevista: - Charlamos con Clow Shirow, un malagués que ha cumplido sus sueños de trabajar en Japón desarrollando videojuegos y nos contará su increíble historia. Trabaja para Square-Enix, es cosplayer, streamer y exredactor. La pregunta de la semana: - Nuestros suscriptores responderán a la pregunta de la semana, sorteando entre todos ellos una copia física de la carátula de Toni Infante de Zelda Skyward Sword diseñada por nosotros. - Finalmente, cerraremos hablando de los juegos a los que hemos estado dedicando nuestro tiempo ocio esta semana. 00:07:20 - Actualidad 01:20:22 - Melocotonazo 01:24:38 - Impresiones 01:52:15 - Entrevista 03:04:53 - El Socio Pregunta 03:46:22 - Estamos Jugando

Un manga creado por Masamune Shirow que no llego a realmente pillar fama hasta que Mamoru Oshii creo una película basado en la obra de Shirow. Ghost in the Shell es una película imprescindible y nosotros esta semana os la compararemos con el manga en el que esta basado. Podéis encontrar mas información sobre vuestra tienda de cómics favorita en siguientes paginas Nuestra Pagina de Facebook: www.facebook.com/losguardianesdegotham Nuestra cuenta de Instagram: @losguardianesdegotham GOTHAM COMICS BLOG: https://gothamcomicsmallorca.blogspot... GOTHAM COMICS FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/gotham.comics Nuestra intro fue creada por el gran y unico PEPMI. Podeis consultar sus trabajos y/o encargos en la siguiente cuenta de instagram o facebook: @pepmi_ilustrador Si tenéis cualquier pregunta, idea o tema que queréis que revisemos nos podéis contactar: losguardianesdegotham@gmail.com Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Ya tenemos aquí el videoforum de Dominion Tank Police, un anime de Masamune Shirow que seguro que no te ha dejado indiferente.Bienvenidos al videoforum Critiko-----------------------En este episodio contamos con la presencia de Sparco, Semy, y Toonir.-------------------------- Escúchanos también en:Spreaker:https://www.spreaker.com/show/ora-critikaPodbean:https://oracritika.podbean.com/Ivoox: https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-ora-critika_sq_f1629401_1.htmlYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0A3sb2t0-f-sGG5rc715_wSpotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/2HungdpDGdm1vltPb7NONz?si=D1nrJ5vZRfudEfRIyvCIEw&fbclid=IwAR0xxNNsfHUpjRJ0FRIhWSocyYiAS_xqW6ct_GwbHS3GfM1aWcHeZYXHoMoItunes:https://itunes.apple.com/es/podcast/ora-critika/id1440523280?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR2wKZ6xyCtYP99CNH4fDOPTtRNr4wMZLAOEJ6k3sDHv9g6BS0a2y5vAh0U-------------------------Musica:- BSO: Intro Dominion Tank police y Performance del primer episodio.¡Ayudanos, financia a resistencia!https://www.patreon.com/ORAcritika¡Tenemos APP!https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spreaker.custom.prod.app_54821Redes sociales:- Twitter: @ORAcritika- Instagram: @ORAcritika- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ORAcritika/

This week Darfox is back to talk about Weather with You and dakazu gets a behind-the-scenes look at Yoshihiro Togashi in Sensei Hakusho! Then we review our very first Western comic with The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network!!! Remember to send us emails! mangamachinations@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter! @mangamacpodcast Check out our website! https://mangamachinations.com Check out our tumblr! http://mangamachinations.tumblr.com Join our Discord server and come talk to us! http://discord.me/mangamac Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro Song: “rise” by Origa from Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG, Opening, Introductions 00:01:53 - Whatchu Been Reading: Transition Song: Dragon Ball Z OST “Prologue”,Darfox was impressed with bold stances Weather with You took 00:09:17 - dakazu is baffled about the existence of a manga where Stitch from Lilo and Stitch ends up in warring states period Japan called Tonosama to Stitch 00:12:30 - dakazu loved learning about manga artist Yoshihiro Togashi in Sensei Hakusho 00:18:33 - News: The Japanese Mangaka Association and publishers are discussing legislation to crackdown on piracy and manga aggregate websites with the Japanese government 00:21:51 - MyAnimeList adds In/Spectre, Drifting Dragons, and Smile Down the Runway to their free manga service 00:22:33 - Next Episode Preview and Rundown: Triple Dip where we read the first volume of three different manga, including: Devil’s Line by Ryo Hanada, Inuyashiki by Hiorya Oku, and Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama 00:23:20 - Main Segment One Shot: The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network, Transition Song: “Making of Cyborg” by Yoko Kanno from Ghost in the Shell, we review this anthology of stories that take place in the world of Shirow Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell done by Western comic writers and artists 00:24:58 - Automatic Behavior by Max Gladstone & David López 00:33:24 - dakazu did not like seeing one page spreads split into multiple panels 00:37:08 - Redbloods by Alex de Campi & Giannis Milonogiannis 00:44:35 - Darfox and dakazu debate whether themes of transhumanism were intentional in this story 00:47:24 - After the Ball is Over by Genevieve Valentine & Brent Schoonover 00:56:03 - dakazu notes how Western comics rely on colors to add texture to the art compared to the various inking techniques manga artists use 00:59:12 - Star Gardens by Brenden Fletcher & LRNZ 01:06:03 - We discuss how the characterization of Major Kusanagi doesn’t match her other iterations 01:13:16 - We discover that we might be the perfect audience for this book 01:20:09 - We share our final thoughts on this anthology 01:22:52 - Next Week’s Topic: Devil’s Line & Inuyashiki & Witch Hat Atelier, Social Media Rundown, Sign Off Song: “wish men” by sunbrain from Beet the Vandel Buster

This week's manga log: "The Ghost in the Shell" written and illustrated by Shirow, Masamune.  Description (courtesy of MAL): In a near future, technology has firmly taken root into society at large. Cybernetic implants are nothing uncommon and robots roam as plentiful as humans, all connected through their ''ghosts'' to the electronic datastreams of the net. Major Motoko Kusanagi and the Public Security Section 9 find themselves in a constant battle with the newly created wave of technological terrorists and cyber-hackers. But things take a turn once Motoko gets involved in a certain case involving an extremely dangerous ''ghost''hacker nicknamed the Puppeteer, as she dives deeper and deeper into the limitless reality of the net, to reach her own startling conclusions.  Feel free to send your thoughts and questions via the Anchor app, the podcast e-mail: mangalogpod@gmail.com, or the podcast Twitter @mangalogpod. Next series: "Vinland Saga," written and illustrated by Makoto Yukimura. Music: "Eternal Youth" by RUDE. Please support him! (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uXHaVENo6E) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mangalog/message

Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell (1995) is a cyberpunk, anime, masterpiece that questions what makes us human. Is it the body or the soul (our ghosts)? The 2017 live action remake starring Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, and Michael Pitt attempts to expand on this idea. This week Invasion of the Remake explores this high tech world of cyborgs, espionage, and artificial intelligence as we compare the anime to the live action Ghost in the Shell (2017).   Support independent podcasts like ours by telling your friends and family how to find us at places like Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Google Play Music, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tune In Radio, RadioPublic, BluBrry, Libsyn, YouTube, iHeartRadio and all the best podcast providers. Spread the love! Like, share and subscribe! You can also help out the show with a positive review and a 5-star rating over on iTunes. We want to hear from you and your opinions will help shape the future of the show. Your ratings and reviews also help others find the show. Their "earballs" will thank you. Follow us on Twitter: @InvasionRemake Like and share us on Facebook & Instagram: Invasion of the Remake Email us your questions, suggestions, corrections, challenges and comments: invasionoftheremake@gmail.com Get an even better deal on the best seat prices for concerts and sporting events at SeatGiant.ca using our promo code: invasion at checkout! All prices in Canadian dollars. For our American listeners, fear not, SeatGiant.com also offers you the same great deals in US dollars and you can also use our promo code: invasion for more savings.

Time Codes: 00:00:26 - Introduction 00:02:26 - Getting back in the manga saddle 00:05:37 - Uncomfortably Happily 00:44:42 - Appleseed Alpha 01:22:55 - Wrap up 01:24:37 - Contact us The monthly manga series is back, and on this episode -- the first of two manga shows in October -- Shea and Derek discuss a couple of very different works. They begin with Yeon-Sik Hong's Uncomfortably Happily (Drawn and Quarterly). This is the story of Hong and his wife becoming frustrated with living in crowded and polluted Seoul, ultimately deciding to move to a house in a remote mountain community. As the guys reveal, the majority of the narrative is devoted to the everyday challenges the couple undergo, the quotidian tasks involved in living in such a raw, isolated area. Over the course of their conversation Derek and Shea address the question of autobiography: Is this indeed a memoir of what Hong and his wife actually underwent? Neither of the guys doubts that the story is anchored in Hong's real-life experiences, although Derek makes the argument that the construction of the narrative bears more of a fictional stamp than one of life writing. Next the guys turn to a very different kind of manga. Iou Kuroda's Appleseed Alpha (Kodansha Comics) is a manga based on Shirow Masamune's original Appleseed, as well as an adaptation of Shinji Aramaki's anime feature. Both Shea and Derek are impressed with Kuroda's art, dynamic and drenched in heavy inks, but they're not as excited about the coherency of the story. There are gaps in the narrative, the various events aren't necessarily linked cohesively, and the overall story can be a bit confusing at times. Nonetheless, the guys, especially Shea, are taken by Kuroda's efforts. Shea appreciates this follow-up to the Shirow's Appleseed, which he has read, and Derek feels impelled now to seek out the original manga series. At the end of month, Shea and Derek will be back with their second October manga show, a special Halloween show devoted to horror manga. Keep your ears open!

On this episode we answer an email and talk about Junji Ito manga, while dakazu checks out the end of Naruto Shippuden, (unfortunately)revisits Bunny Drop, and rants about Rin Okamoto’s new manga Parallel Paradise! Then for our One Shot section we discuss Ghost in the Shell!!! We compare the characters in the manga to their anime counterparts, cringe at Masamune Shirow’s love of fan service, and breakdown all plot points that were taken for the various anime adaptations!

Amelia and Peter welcome special guests Brian Ruh and Valerie Complex to talk about the representation of Major Motoko Kusanagi in the anime and manga versions of Ghost in the Shell. SPOILERS for the entire franchise of Ghost in the Shell 00:00 Intro: What has been your experience with Ghost in the Shell? 06:22 The manga, and manga artist Shirow's other work 10:48 Different versions of Ghost in the Shell and Motoko 23:29 Motoko's sexuality 30:24 Motoko's body and clothing 37:30 Differences in Ghost in the Shell: Arise 45:50 How could Hollywood have adapted Ghost in the Shell? 58:22 Outro Valerie: https://twitter.com/ValerieComplex Brian: https://twitter.com/brianruh Peter: twitter.com/peterfobian Amelia: twitter.com/neutralfemale Valerie's Rotten Tomatoes page: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/valerie-complex/movies Brian's book "Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii": http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137355676 Claire Napier's series "The Major's Body": http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2014/07/22/ghost-in-the-shell-the-majors-body-1/ Valerie's primer on the franchise: http://za.ign.com/ghost-in-the-shell-2017/105394/feature/ghost-in-the-shell-a-primer-for-the-anime-series Brian's post "Who is the real Motoko Kusanagi?": http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2017-03-22/who-is-the-real-motoko-kusanagi/.113722 Valerie's review of the remake preview: https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2017/03/10/ghost-in-the-shell-worse/ AniFem Patreon: www.patreon.com/animefeminist AniFem Twitter: twitter.com/AnimeFeminist AniFem Facebook: www.facebook.com/animefem/ Recorded Saturday 18th March 2017 Music: Open Those Bright Eyes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Time Codes: 00:00:30 - Introduction 00:02:43 - Apologies 00:04:14 - Revolutionary Girl Utena Complete Deluxe Box Set 00:51:13 - Ghost in the Shell Deluxe Edition 01:21:23 - Wrap up 01:24:26 - Contact us On this episode of the manga series -- a few days later than expected -- Shea and Derek discuss two new deluxe editions of older titles. They begin with Revolutionary Girl Utena Complete Deluxe Box Set, soon to be released by VIZ Media. This is a different kind of shōjo, one that the guys don't often encounter, and an aspect that makes this title stand out is its conceptual genesis. Revolutionary Girl Utena was conceived by the creative team known as Be-Papas but written and drawn by Chiho Saito (also a  member of Be_Papas). Shea and Derek discuss the "collaborative feel" of its genesis and the unusual mix of characters, costumes, and scenarios that define the series. Next, the guys turn to a new deluxe edition of Masamune Shirow's classic Ghost in the Shell, just released by Kodansha Comics. The paperback versions of this title, and of the two follow-up volumes, are still in print, but Kodansha now has these wonderful new hardbound editions. The new Ghost in the Shell volumes stand out because for the first time in English, the story is presented in the original right-to-left reading order, they retain the author's original hand-drawn sound effects, the translation has been updated, and everything has been done under the author's supervision. Both Shea and Derek have a great time revisiting Ghost in the Shell, and they hope that Kodansha will be bringing back more of Shirow's manga -- e.g., Appleseed and Dominion -- in these nice deluxe editions.

Welcome to Robots From Tomorrow! For this episode the guys have picked a couple of comics that will be hitting shelves this week and talk about why they're excited to read them. This (not quite) bite-sized audio nugget is the perfect companion for any Wednesday Warrior! Picks for Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Samuel- The Autumnlands Vol. 2 TPB & Snotgirl Vol. 1 TPB Greg- The Ghost in the Shell 1.0 Deluxe HC & Icon: A Hero's Welcome TPB Bonus: Samuel's notes for this episode! Robots From Tomorrow is a weekly comics podcast recorded deep beneath the Earth's surface. You can subscribe to it via iTunes or through the RSS feed at RobotsFromTomorrow.com. You can also follow Mike and Greg on Twitter. This episode is brought to you by Third Eye Comics. Enjoy your funny books.  

Cansados de la mala fama de los tebeos de los años 90, nos lanzamos a recordar qué cómics se editaron por aquella época en Japón, USA, el mercado franco-belga y España. De Japón nos llegan Alita, No se lo digas con flores, las obras de Shirow, Taniguchi o Urasawa, los neo-samurais de Kenshin o Vagabond y también Tekkonkinkreet o Uzumaki. En USA, Mark Waid y Kurt Busiek recuperaban a los superhéroes más clásicos mientras Vertigo arrasaba, nacía Hellboy, Frank Miller se convertía en una estrella, flipábamos con Clowes o el Odio de Peter Bagge o mataban a Superman. En Francia, L' Association nacía y Joann Sfar se convertía una estrella mientras el Peter Pan de Loisel o Titeuf arrasaban. Y en España mientras moría el kiosko y la revista de tebeos, un montón de editores independientes nos mostraban el trabajo de los mejores autores de hoy con obras sobresalientes como Mondo Lirondo, exitazos como Dragon Fall o curiosidades como la línea Laberinto. Los 90 fueron los años de efervescencia del manga en España, invitamos a Oriol Estrada (Capitán Urías) a sumarse al debate justo en el momento que edita su libro y documental Songokumania, el big bang del manga. Entrevistamos a uno de los mejores autores surgidos de la época Marcos Prior, creador de Potlach, Necrópolis o Gran Hotel Abismo y finalmente recomendamos tebeos de ahora: Innocent, Paper Girls y Ustedes.

Cansados de la mala fama de los tebeos de los años 90, nos lanzamos a recordar qué cómics se editaron por aquella época en Japón, USA, el mercado franco-belga y España. De Japón nos llegan Alita, No se lo digas con flores, las obras de Shirow, Taniguchi o Urasawa, los neo-samurais de Kenshin o Vagabond y también Tekkonkinkreet o Uzumaki. En USA, Mark Waid y Kurt Busiek recuperaban a los superhéroes más clásicos mientras Vertigo arrasaba, nacía Hellboy, Frank Miller se convertía en una estrella, flipábamos con Clowes o el Odio de Peter Bagge o mataban a Superman. En Francia, L' Association nacía y Joann Sfar se convertía una estrella mientras el Peter Pan de Loisel o Titeuf arrasaban. Y en España mientras moría el kiosko y la revista de tebeos, un montón de editores independientes nos mostraban el trabajo de los mejores autores de hoy con obras sobresalientes como Mondo Lirondo, exitazos como Dragon Fall o curiosidades como la línea Laberinto. Los 90 fueron los años de efervescencia del manga en España, invitamos a Oriol Estrada (Capitán Urías) a sumarse al debate justo en el momento que edita su libro y documental Songokumania, el big bang del manga. Entrevistamos a uno de los mejores autores surgidos de la época Marcos Prior, creador de Potlach, Necrópolis o Gran Hotel Abismo y finalmente recomendamos tebeos de ahora: Innocent, Paper Girls y Ustedes.

Appleseed Volume 1 and the OVA

This time around Edward Sizemore (https://twitter.com/edsizemore) and Vince A (https://twitter.com/VinceA) join us to talk about Oshii's 1995 film based on Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell

John, Mike, James, Brian and Adam spend much time philosophizing over animated breasts, as well as the relationships between Ghost In The Shell's different media incarnations.  Plus: Adam's Thundarr the Barbarian ignorance, more Frank Miller Spirit love with extreme torture methods, and concern over Amy Winehouse being targeted by Islamic fundamentalists.If you have a comment or question you can write us at theaftershowpodcast@gmail.com or call and leave a message at (206) 984-1298.  Thanks for listening.GHOST IN THE SHELL imdb Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113568/

James, John, Brian, and Adam talk a little Jewish folk legend and Philip K. Dick.  They may not comprehend all of it, but they know it's meaty.  Plus: James' big tip pizza deliveries.If you have a comment or question you can write us at theaftershowpodcast@gmail.com or call and leave a message at (206) 984-1298.  Thanks for listening.GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: Innocence imdb Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347246/

8 Man After