Description
ELLEN IS DOING HER BEST.
Ever since the debut of Korps supervillain Redline, Ellen “Lawful Neutral” Foxpaw’s perfect win record has turned into a string of humiliating losses. As she and her twin sister struggle to pay rent, a sudden escalation forces Ellen to examine just how far she will go to keep her sister safe.
With her life irrevocably changed, Ellen finds herself grappling with new questions. Who is she, if not Vixie’s protector? What does she want to do when she’s not up against a ticking clock? Is there anywhere she truly belongs?
When the cape is gone, what’s left of her to love?
Cover by Eight-Stroke
Author: Bibi Heartsglow
Style: Literary Work
Content: Novel
Pages: 258
ISBN: 978-1-61450-675-1
Parental Rating: NC-17, sex scenes
Publication Date: July 2025
pj wolf (verified owner) –
Realignment, a Korps Universe novel by Bibi Heartsglow, is an anthology of sorts, centering around a super hero removed from the context of being a super hero… and what happens after.
Let me explain.
In a way, Realignment is kinda two stories in one, but the second story couldn’t be told without the first. And since it’s a Korps Universe novel with a protagonist that starts on the heroic side of things, you don’t need a section of the story that’s literally called “A Supervillian Korpisign Story” (pronounced “core-igin”, by the by) to know where the narrative is preparing to take the protagonist. But it’s the journey that’s important, and the journey is what is compelling.
Consider, if you will, Ellen Foxpaw. The demimorphic (akin to a “neko”, for the uninitiated) fox is a super, but because of her power, which is based on another person’s reaction to a joke she tells, she isn’t necessarily taken seriously. So in order to make ends meet, she takes a job at the Everyone’s Hero Association, a collection of superheroes with low ranked abilities, run by venture capitalist Jack Phillips. And the pay is not great, barely enough for Ellen to feed and house herself and her sister, Vixie, who has some collection of unstated mental disabilities that renders her with a stutter as the most outward sign of them. But she does have her powers, and did have an unbeaten win streak until she runs into Redline, the villainous red wolf who’s been lurking around almost all the Korps Universe novels. Here, she takes a prominent role as Ellen’s rival, who also becomes the infection point around when Ellen starts struggling in her job.
The second half of the book is Ellen in the Korps. And here’s the removal of context part I talked about in the beginning: Ellen’s whole deal in the first half of the book was as a protector. She protected her sister, primarily, but expanded that role to being Lawful Neutral and a Hero, protecting the city from villains like, say, Redline. And while she had a marginal, if prominent existence outside the Korps, within she’s mostly there for her sister who joined willingly, but also… she didn’t join for herself. So what does she do now?
What sets this book apart from all the others is the prevalence of puns and general comedy. Ellen’s power is based on jokes, so this is something to be expected. However, Ms Heartsglow is absolutely ruthless to her characters, and Ellen’s dignity is very easily sacrificed to the narrative gods for comedy reasons, among others. For example, the most prominent scene in the book to me is something I call The Rubber Match for reasons that people who read it will understand. This one chapter goes to show the extent of the humiliation Ms. Heartsglow is going to put her protagonist through, and it is to disgustingly evocative lengths.
If I can say anything in terms of criticism, it is perhaps the serial nature that this novel began with can be obvious. “A Supervillain Korpsigin Story” has seven parts, and they are numbered. Another chapter, titled:”Carmen and Ellen Watch Paint Dry on Growing Grass”, is not only exactly what it says on the tin, but is also kinda filler. But also, kinda not.
At the same time, here I am, picking nits to see what I can criticize in a review. And considering this is all I got in something as obvious as the Korps Universe, I very clearly have not much to go on. Ellen is a fantastic protagonist and deeper than one might expect from a pun-slinging super, and her loss is real. While I’m definitely looking forward to what else is in the pipeline for her, if her story ended here, then I would be okay with that. But the series isn’t called “A Korpsigin Story” for nothing, so she has more to go, and I am looking forward to reading it. Recommended!