Orchid and Boston are married and on the run. Morgan Le Fay wants the power Orchid carries: pure Magic, which she intends to use to restore her son and obtain what she has always wanted. Boston is still changing after the wedding, feeling both a pull and a push toward something.

With Grundy’s help, they enter the Grey. When their pursuers will not relent, Grundy stays behind to control The Rot and becomes Was, forcing his brother and sister out. His cry of “Wednesday” leads Orchid to Air and The White. She and Boston go to Sam and Alan, where the passing of Sam’s service brings him back into his love’s sight.

The Story

On the run

Into the Grey

Sam, Alan, and the note

Writer's Notes

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The Story

On the run

Orchid and her husband are on the run. Morgan Le Fay is hunting hard.

Morgan wants the power Orchid carries. Her visions are clear: Orchid is the real thing, the pure thing, all Magic. A walking, talking magic battery.

She wants to use that power to restore her son from what the amulet of first magic did to him, and to get what she has always wanted.

Meanwhile, whatever happened to Boston at the wedding is still happening. He can feel a pull, but also a push, toward something.

Into the Grey

Boston is both the embodiment of the Black light of Death and an Avatar of The Black. He is also The Void. His light and his Void can guide them through time and space in the Grey.

Orchid loves the intersection she sees in him: he is a two where, as far as she knows, she is a one.

They meet Grundy and enter the Grey through the same mushrooms. With his blessing, Boston can walk them safely through it to see what they need to see. Grundy goes with them to control The Rot.

“It’s Monday,” Grundy reminds them.

Grundy stays

Their pursuers come through the journey with them. Grundy controls The Rot, but the pursuers will not give.

He stays behind while the others retreat.

Orchid leaves. Boston—the Black, the Will Be—guides them. Grundy changes. He becomes Grey. He becomes the new Was.

Grundy wears the form of Was.

“Sister! Brother! Go!!!!!”

He pushes Orchid and Boston out of the Grey.

The Void closes on their pursuers, giving them a chance to go through it again.

“It’s Wednesday!”

Wednesday

Boston is back at Orchid’s side.

He tells her what happened: she has a new brother. A new Was. A new Grey.

“He said it’s Wednesday.”

In a familiar voice, Orchid hears it booming, echoing over and over:

“Air!”

She takes Boston’s hand and teleports them away.

Sam of The White

Sam stands unseen beside Alan.

Orchid and Boston appear. They can see Sam, and Sam can see them. Alan can see the visitors, but does not know Sam is there.

Orchid looks past Alan to Sam with a huge smile.

“Sam of The White, I am Orchid, The Color of Magic—I am one, but, I believe, your time as avatar has ended and my time as two has begun—I am Orchid of The White.”

The ethereal air, knowledge, and magic of Mercury—the lord of Wednesday—and all that makes The White move gracefully from Sam to Orchid.

Alan

Orchid and Boston fade away holding hands.

Sam fades into view before his Sentinel.

In tears, he is with his love again. His boon is granted.

“Alan?!”

About The Story

Morgan and the Color of Magic

Morgan sees Orchid as a walking source of pure Magic. Her pursuit names what she wants without requiring her to know the title Entity of The Color of Magic. Orchid and Boston face that pursuit while the changes in Boston’s connection are still unfolding.

Their relationship already exists; marriage begins this part of the journey rather than supplying a courtship plot. The honeymoon becomes a story of transformations and overlapping powers.

Despair in the Grey

The Grey exposes memories and despair. Specs’ earlier experience as Was was confinement there, under the favor that held The Rot back. Grundy’s relationship to the place gives him a different position: it is also his domain.

The Void draws the experience through time and memory. Boston’s connection to The Black and Will Be belongs to how those movements and passages operate, even when he does not consciously administer each one.

A new Was

Grundy’s connection to The Grey and The Rot opens his path to becoming Was (Entity of the Grey, Despair). He takes on a role Specs previously occupied through Gold’s collapse. The similarity of the role does not make their experiences of the Grey identical.

The brother-and-sister address joins Grundy, Boston, and Orchid through the roles they are taking. The Wednesday moment also points toward Mercury and the Air, knowledge, and invention that will pass through Sam to Orchid.

What Orchid knows, and what she is

Orchid understands herself as The Color of Magic. She is already connected to Life/the White as Ever, though she does not yet understand herself as a two. Boston’s ring at the wedding belongs to that overlap.

Sam’s gift of Air—wind, invention, and Knowledge—makes her a three. Her account of herself during the meeting reflects her own understanding, while the connections extend beyond it. “Orchid of The White” identifies her new service.

Sam, Alan, and the note

The transfer ends Sam’s time as the avatar serving The White and begins Orchid’s. Alan and Sam’s moment follows from that change. The personal encounter and the note provide the book’s final destination.

“For Allen” addresses the writer’s husband. The spectrum smear links it to the earlier conjured note. Alan in the scene and Allen on that page belong to the story’s connection with the writer’s life, with their names retaining their distinct spellings.

Ever, Is, Was, Will Be

Ever names Life/the White, the Beginning & End. Was is Despair/the Grey, the Echo or Transition. Is is the Unchanging. Will Be is Death/the Black and The Void, the End & Beginning.

Those names sit within language that can also simply speak of what was, what is, and what will be. Their double meanings become part of the echoes, vows, and encounters. The roles overlap with other connections: holding one does not describe every part of a person.

Writer's Notes

The first scene account — earlier version

This early outline includes the Grey, the change in Grundy, and the route toward Sam. The departure is staged differently in later accounts.

From the writer’s notes

Annnnd leads to JLD: Dead and Living Loud!

To be clear: Boston is both the Avatar of The Black as well as the new embodiment of the Black (light of Death). He’s an intersection that’s clear. This becomes a thing that Orchid loves: he’s a two where she’s a one, as best she knows.

Orchid is being hunted by Morgan Le Fay (see: Justice League, I think the ep is Child’s Play) - she wants to use Orchid to restore her son from what the amulet of first magic did to him and to get what she’s always wanted. But, the story has Boston being the hero in the end, his light, his void (oh he’s also The Void, the place between the Lords of Order and Chaos) is what’s needed to help them both be guided through what Will Be ti accept what comes next. They meet up with Grundy to visit The Grey (via those same mushrooms) because in The Grey (with Grundys blessing) Deadman can walk them safely through time and space so they can see what they need to see - and Grundy politely reminded us it’s Wendsday (that’s important) so he has to tag along to control The Rot … the idea is that they do the journey with the baddies, Grundy controls The Rot but in the end the baddies won’t give, so he has to stay behind while other retreat, he stays in The Grey, he controls the Rot, he watches as Orchid leaves and … his…brother, The Black, The Will Be guides them, and Grundy changes…he becomes Grey, he becomes the new Was … and just as The Void closes on the baddies, giving them a chance to go it again, the new Was forces his brother from The Grey, returning him to Orchids side shouting “it’s Wednesday” . He shares what happend with her, how she has a new brother, a new Was, a new Grey.”he said it’s Wednsday” and as he said that Orchid hears bomingky “Air!l echo over and over, in a familiar voice… she grabs Bostons hand and teleports them a way… to stand before …Sam The White, who’s standing unseen beside his Scott. Orchid and Boston appear, they can see and be seen by both, only Alan is unaware of a party. Orchid, ignoring Alan, looks to Sam with a huge smile “Sam of The White, I am Orchid, The Cilor Magic - I am one, but, I believe, your time as avatar have ended and my time as two has begun - I am Orchid The White” and the ethereal air and knowledge and magic of Mercury, the lord of Wednsday and knowledge and all that makes The White, move gracefully from Sam to Orchid, now two just as her love, as they fade out holding hands, Sam fading into view of his Sentinel… the last word, the last frame of this the final of the spectrum story: “Alan?!” In tears as he’s again with his love, his boon granted.

Morgan’s pursuit

Morgan recognizes pure Magic without knowing what title to give Orchid’s connection.

From the writer’s notes

okay, so we need to talk JLDS3… So, Orchid and husband are on the run… cause Morgan is out hard… she wants the power Orchid is carrying. She’s a walking, talking magic battery and she wants it… and her visions are clear: she’s the real thing, the pure thing, all Magic (this is Morgan defining the Entity of The Color of Magic without knowing to call it that).. .meanwhile, whatever happened to Boston at that wedding is still happening… it’s like he can feel a pull … but also a push… towards something…

A tour of her own despair — developing intention

The intended reason for bringing Morgan into the Grey is to take her through her own despair and try to make her recognize the pain she has caused. The precise form of that confrontation is still being developed.

Wednesday as an early signal

The earlier, off-brand Wednesday remark is intended to land differently when Grundy later drives them out and Orchid understands. The connection pays off through the transfer involving Mercury and Air.

The remembered expulsion

Grundy’s later memory of the moment offers another view of the brother-and-sister address.

From the writer’s notes

also, The Voice… still part of the story. Grundy goes through scene after scene… taken to a place, watch the moment, on to another… each time: Monday… but then, that memmory: Wednsday… when he became Was… but going backwards … his… brother… his … sister? Why those words? When he pushed them out of the Grey, why those words?!!! He’s watching them in that moment, moving backwards, forwards “Sister! Brother! Go!!!!!” and him pushing them out (we may need to tweak that scene, but that’s the momoent we’re watching)… Then GrundyWas blinks and is directly in front of Orchid, smiling at him.. “SISTER!” - Boston’s face, smiling at him “BROTHER!” Grundy shouts! Hawkgirl “BIRD GIRL!!!” … The image starts to flicker between momments… Gold and gold… Boosted Gold… Fate… BG…. FATE… in between that moment “BUCKET HEAD!!!!” Part happy, part frustration, all Grundy… and GOLD… as the scene stands solid again, True Gold is standing on that station, looking at Fate, hearing how they need a miracle…

The name she embraces

The wedding and the earlier Color of Magic conversation show Orchid understanding part of herself while more is already present.

From the writer’s notes

ooh, good point! Yes! Grundy AND Orchid AND Boston, who’s in there with them as Boston, has a weird… “black glow” fading in and trailing behind him when he moves . This is yet another reason Z thinks to take this to Constantine.

When Specs meets Orchid and it’s explained to what she is, the only question Specs asks is “Can I ask, why dya choose that form” “I don’t know… It just… felt like me…” Specs replies with a quote (as always) “Would you call that grape or aborigine?” (see: Steel Magnolias) “Pardon?” Specs chuckles “Nothing… I guess we can just call it the color of Magic” - this isn’t Specs declaring her that, its not till she puts the ring on Boston, making him a one (soon to be a two) that she decided it for herself… not her claming Entity status, just emrbacing what she is as she understands it… and not realizing that she is so much more (feels on theme).

The secret “Ever Will Be” excahnge here, leads into the honeymoon that is JLDS3… a story about Life and Death and Living Out Loud (Note: i keep trying to keep something realted to The Voice in the title… Dead and Living Out Loud would be awesome… but Living Out Loud is a movie, a really fucking good and underppreaciated one!!! See: Lush Life, thank you Ms Owens AND the increible lesbian fo-slo-mo dance scene swoons.

Life, Magic, and Air

The role explanation distinguishes Orchid’s own count from the connections she already carries.

From the writer’s notes

Metatron The Voice of God, with title The Voice of God or just The Voice, he is the Entity of Voice, on the spectrum with Dissonance, Vertigo, and Syndrome, he is an Avatar of God… he overlaps that role, but that doesn’t have to be the case… There could be a Voice of God (say Specs) and The Voice (Canary maybe) There are things the universe decides … and by unvierse, I mean Many… but often, the overlap is inevitable (like with Boston and Grundy). Orchid is a fun: Entity of Life/the White (that happened WHEN she became The Color of Magic (when she was created)… up until (and also at the same time for a while, because what is time to an immortal) Specs was Ever… but, if you want to get technical, I suppose Orchid became Ever the moment Boston mime’d on that ring (it was White, right? Hehe)… and Deadman became the Black/Death and The Void at the same time… so what’s funny is, Orchid was already a two (The Color of Magic and Ever) when she met Sam, she just didn’t know it… but one day, it’ll make perfect sense that the couples first (and only as best we know) wedding gift came from Sam, and it was the gift of Air (wind, invention and Knowledge) which actually made her a 3 :-)

The Grey from Grundy’s side

The difference between Specs/Was and Grundy/Was connects this book to the later Grundy story.

From the writer’s notes

lets jump ahead… we know we leave Grundy Of The Grey/Was/of the Grey/of The Ro/GrundyWas in the Grey where he’s been letting The Void/The Black/the Black (the thing that Boston by this point is the entity of) pull him around time and space watching all his memories… including the good ones… they’re not as many, and he’s seen them all on loop… but … what is time to an immortal (I’ll take this moment to point out that those words orignated on a ship off the shores of Avalon (see: Gargoyles, Weird Sisters, Archmage arc)… if you’re an immortal, if time has no meaning, then all time has value: a second of joy is as valuable as a decade.

What’s happening now that’s different than when Specs was Was… is Specs/Was wasn’t also The Grey… Specs/Was was just trapped in the Grey (the Despair that is the color Grey), The Rot would have taken him but not for the deal … GrundyWas needs no such deal, this is his place… The Void/The Black/the Black wouldn’t take Specs because it just wasn’t the time for him, but it did what it does in the Grey, it shows you despair… it’s doing that to GrundyWas too, but the difference is: Grundy has always lived in that… here, the Grey is his too now… so he can tweak it… he can negoatiate with The Void that can’t force him to pas through to one side or the other… he can see the good memories too.

The Void/The Black/the Black… the Will Be (Boston) doesn’t have to understand an agreement anymore than Grundy did when he made the deal on behalf of The Grey/Rot… nor does Boston need to be there for the unvierse to work how it’s supposed to… just because it’s his domain doesn’t mean he has to be there all the time… I mean, the first ten yeas of marriage are important… this is the kind of “voice over” The Voice is offering us in Grundy’s book… Grundy isn’t a narrator… not is this story overly long… it’s a 45 minute movie maybe? A way to say “remember”.

GrundyWas is in more control than he realizes but if oyu think that matters you’re missing the point. But maybe he can teach it to you… it’s Monday.

The final page

The last page is black, carrying “For Allen” and the spectrum smear. It follows the Alan/Sam/Orchid scene. The personal dedication is the last thing in the book.

The four roles

The role list and the experience of Is developed alongside the distinction between Specs/Was and Grundy/Was.

From the writer’s notes

- Ever - Entity of Life/the White, the Beginning & End - Was - Entity of Despair/the Grey, the Echo (not The Echo)/the Transition (Echo/Transition are interchangeable like Grey/Despair, they mean the same in that one is representation and the other is cause) - Is - the Unchanging - Will Be - Entity of Death/the Black, The Void (which would stand between Order and Chaos in that trio), the End & Beginning

From the writer’s notes

Was, as we established late last night or early this morning (perspective), is also a representation of that quartet spectrum… the twin to Is (the Now), lol I can imagine them fighting over who has it worse, the one who can move but but is surrounded by no moment/progress or Was locked in the Grey (as we’ve only seen it) seeing things moving but unable to find the strength or desire or need to move and just hovers, blinking around space/time seeing mostly their own life moments, the dark ones, which occasionally let good ones slip in ..

Grundy dressed as Was

The visual of Grundy in Was’ form is part of the intended expulsion scene: the change of role is also something the audience sees on him.