An unusual turn round a dark corner takes you unexpectedly to a junction….

Unfortunatly no one can be told what the Cassanova Crowley is… You have to see it for yourself! Remember, I am only offering you the truth … Good, now take the red pill and chill, this won’t hurt a bit…

Take a deep breath… good, now relax… This is a journey like no other….

Your mind is not your own.. Why am I even looking for Droids? Who is number one?  I am not an animal! If you’re here then who’s holding the rope?

• There is nothing wrong with your television. Do not attempt to adjust the picture.

This is not a test… You are under the Influence of Mr Cassanova Crowley…If you are a girl you may already be pregnant… if you are already pregnant then you may be a girl…

Nothing is what it seems and nowhere is safe from the mental powers of Mr Crowley (particularly if you are a girl)…

You think you’ve seen it all then!

BLAMO!

BLAMO!

You’re helpless…and you’ve never been happier… Do you know where your girlfriend is right now? or your mother? The man that you can see on the Periphery, he’s your best friend, he’s the Duke, he’s A-number-one, he’s the Dude or El Dudeness, or Betty when you call him you can call him Al…

On odd days he plays the ukulele, tells stories with The Dark Design, and gets the girl…On even days he saves the world, kills the bald guy, and gets the girl…On the days in between, he tells stories to the world, kills the Ukulele, and gets the girl… (you’ll note… he always gets the girl…)

Ladies and Gentlemen, you have just had sex with Mr Cassanova Crowley and life from here on in will never feel quite the same…

He is adventure and if he had a middle name, it would be so dangerous that the very mention of it could destroy the universe in a technocolour explosion of gin,movie stars,fast cars, and obscene French lingerie…

So there you have it… Mr Cassanova Crowley has just blown your mind!!! And be thankful that’s all he blew…

And since you asked… yes!

Photo credit for Mr Cassanova Crowley by Anthony Edwards

A man with an eye for an eye

As we continue our run through the ship’s roster, please allow me to introduce a most essential member of our crew…

Tim – Tin Eyed Tink – Tinkerton – Accordionista , banjo dueller and Keyboarder for The Dark Design.

Tink lost an eye in a knife fight with a ship’s monkey and was given the gift of farseeing by way of consolation by her Greek captain who was on some kind of Odyssey. Apparently he got the strange eye from some weavers.. Unfortunately Tink is unable to control how far ahead his vision lets him see and it’s speeding up at an exponential rate.

Will he one day be able to see the end of time? I for one am counting on it…

Photo Credit Anthony Edwards

 

The Queen is dead! Long live the Queen!

More fuel for the fire!

I am affraid I must keep Ms Drusicilla Desilva’s story to my chest, as there are those around who would pay well for her secret and there are a lot of hungry eyes out there in the ultrarnet.

I will say this though, the circumstances surrounding her sister Julia’s death are most peculiar and I have sworn to investigate the matter thouroughly…You will no doubt have found her sister’s letter at the foot of this blog and if you have I’m sure you’ll have reached the same conclussion as I.

That said I can say that Drucilla plays the sax like a angel and sings like a demon!

I’m sure there are some more clues hidden in the lyrics of her solo number with The Dark Design – The Wages of Sin… If only I could decypher their meaning…

Picture credit of Drucilla Desilva Anthony Edwards

At The Bass Of Things

As we continue our introductions it is time for you to meet the engine room of The Dark Design…

May I introduce Mr Herashibold Endeavour

This expert in military subsonics who studied wave manipulation at Twaites Military Academy  is trapped in a state of flux between two dimensions thus never being entirely corporeal in either… In your universe I discovered him busking in Paris, whilst in his own he is a leading exponent of weapon based low frequency harmonics… In short a sonic sword smith like no other and he plays a mean bass and let’s not forget those amazing vocals.

One of the earliest recruits to The Dark Design, Herashibold is fundamental to the very cause and therefore arguably one of the most important and influential members of the team.

Photo Credit Anthony Edwards

The Design Darkens

So here’s the thing… The stories of The Dark Design are more than mere  songs, and the songs of The Dark Design are more than mere stories…

Each is a work of art and each exists as its own unique entity… What follows now is the The Tale of The Red Queen… An honest and stark warning about what truly lies on Mars the Red Planet… We will begin with the lyrics to the song and tomorrow I will post an extract from the forth coming novella of the same name… and sometime in the future I will post a link to the song itself… Then, when all three are ready we will release them all….

This image which I captured with my Spectramera of a latter day Boadicea conjures the image of the struggle beautifully and once again if this is you then please get in touch, for there is something you need to know…

Red Queen…

This is the tale of the Red Queen

or maybe it was all just an opium dream

I can pretend it didn’t happen if you think that will help…

I can’t tell you exactly how we got there, but I’ll tell why we went…

For Queen and country the letter said…

Determine the threat of invasion and if needs be prevent it…

But our mission To Mars was doomed from the start….

12 months of planning, but it still fell apart…

The letter itself was curt… Go to the red planet and neutralise the threat…

A service to the Empire… which we’ll never forget…

Well that was a lie if nothing else…

I don’t suppose we really had much of a choice…

But all I remember is death… and death had such a beautiful voice…

She Said…

Come to me my love…

It was January 1893 when I met the nine others who would travel with me…

There were ten of us at the journey’s start…but  I‘m the only one that made it back…

Death was with us before we left… it was almost as if our enemy lacked patience…

Jone;s went mad in the cold dark void and before he shot himself, he shot Smith and stabbed Jonny boy…

Cole’s cabin burned up on entry, I reached for the extinguisher, but found it empty…

Foley’s harness failed as we landed, and despite brave attempts, he could not be resuscitated…

Ten had set out for the surface of Mars, which only five us lived long enough to stand upon. And all the while I heard that voice…

It said….

Come to me my love…

I’d expected rocks, I had expected dust I hadn’t really expected much, but I never imagined that I would see a scarlet palace on a crimson sea…

We buried our dead, sang God save the Queen and then made our way to the palisade…If I knew then what I know now there would be four more men with me right  now…

As we approached from the southern shore we crossed a rusty drawbridge over a ruby moat…

There were no guards, no battlements the castle looked completely defenceless…

but that’s just what she had intended…and the voice grew ever closer…

It said…

Come to me my love…

And there on a throne of souls was the Martian queen in a robe of bones….A voice in my head said strangle Mcabe and I saw her smile as I turned to my friend…

As I reached out to grab his neck I saw Tommy Vines do the same to Dave… Old doctor Bill tried to escape, but the Martian queen wasn’t finished yet…

Life faded from my friend and he turned blue, I turned back to Tommy and he was finished too…the Red Queen had given Bill a knife and in return he’d given her his life…

In the end there was Tommy and I and we both knew one of us had to die… I knew then it wouldn’t be me… because only the winner would get the Martian Queen…

She said…

Kill for me my love…

and I did…

As I knelt before her with Tommy’s head in my lap, she smiled she laughed, then she clapped…

It was more than I could ever have hoped, but then she opened her scarlet lips and spoke..

Your planet had nothing to fear…

For I am just a prisoner here … I can never leave these walls

Let alone launch an assault…

But I greatly admire your desire…

And by feeding on it I survive…

And you brought enough here to me

To last a hundred years

But a girl’s got to eat

And soon I’ll need fresher meat

So I’m sending you home

So you can tell others to come…

Come to me My Love…