#I NEED to draw fabien

[esmeamesart]

The bad kids sketches !

[seadeepspaceontheside]

I AM NOT GOING TO ADD MORE TOO THIS BECAUSE I GOT TOO MUCH ON MY PLATE but this was my KnightAu I had for Hob and Dream that you can read under the cut where I post about it earlier.

I am never gonna draw house of the dragon fanart but like I love insanity of how Cole and Alicient have for their former love (Rhaenyra) to fuck in her bed and thoughts of her non-stop. Which leads me to this Knight AU because I am honestly torn with the idea of a Dark!Hob that would do anything for their King until he was spurred because God Damn Fabien Frankel looks like a Young Hob. Or Hob Knight who is more like Harwin Strong/Ryan Corr who understands Dream's position and is loyal to him and is very much happy being the consort and a step-father to the King's children. Or even there are two Knight Hobs maybe either brothers (a year or two apart) or twins that are now at each other's throats over it. The older (Robert) who had the favour and then turned vengeful and vindictive not only his obsession with now King Morpheus while his younger brother/twin is now taken with the King. (Morpheus didn't think he would be King because of his older brother and sister. But incidents happen, so his brother Potmos/Destiny and the relm refusing Teleute/Death puts him in line of heir so he had to marry Calliope. Morpheus knowing that giving up the throne to his younger siblings was a bad idea. He would have run away with Robert when he wasn't heir. As well as his Calliope and Morpheus had an agreement that they could love others but Robert saw that as not being as in love with him) Robert hating how his younger brother mocks the nature of knighthood and coming to with such ease and now the King's favour and love. The Younger being always had feeling in his brothers shadow when Morpheus is with him. Hob had always feelings for the young lord when they were young but knowing that Rob and Morpheus were in love he was content with just being in love afar. It is not till later when his brother has no more right to the King's heart that he goes for it. And when his Older taunts him as a replacement and how the King has failed that he needs to be held back by fucking a hoard of knights from kicking the shit out of his older.

Much like Eddard and Brandon, I think just because Older Hob was his first love does not mean it was his real or true love. King Murphy would love Younger Hob knight as he is who he is and tells them apart a lot. And Morpheus has always cared for Hob but it grew into a more of a love. Much like later in life like Rhaenyra does hate Cole, he hates !DarkOlderHob for what he has become and how he makes his brother feel.

Either way watching HOTD gave me knight Hob feels. (seeing Harwin Strong do the thing with the nod and the rabbit I am like oh thats so Hob)

Also yes Dream does get kidnapped by the Scorned lord Rodrick Burgess and they cut his hair for proof to ransom! Also I said in the replies but *** Hob when he does get with Morpheus shaves to look more like Rob thinking it would be better to be basically his brothers replacement but Morpheus loves him the way he looks.

[ichimakesart]

4. Favourite things to draw?

5. Anything you haven’t drawn yet but want to?

7. Favourite works of all time excluding your own?

<333

♡♡♡

4. Favourite things to draw?

I've answered it but it's favorite things so here we go!

I really like to paint something with a little detail that viewers won't see right away. And read through the tags to see if someone saw it :3

Our dnd party in some whacky weird perspectives and places. With a stupid amount of detail so I can paint it longer. Anything to cope before next session. v.v

5. Anything you haven't drawn yet but want to?

I need to get my ass to draw more Science fiction robotic stuff and vehicles. It's a challenge to draw machines that well...make sense when you look at them XD

7. Favorite works of all time excluding your own?

Heavens that's hard.

There are so many amazing pieces out there....

Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples - Saga comics

Beautiful Darkness - Kerascoet, Fabien Vehlmann (Sorry for butchering the names)

Over the Garden Wall

Can't Help Myself robot - Sun Yuan and Pengu Yu (I saw it in person and fall in love with it on the first site).

Red Threads of the Soul - Chiharu Shiota (also saw that in person, absolutely stunning)

The question is so vast it can't be really answered completely truthfully to be honest.

Thank you for asking <3

I am SO sorry it took me this long to finish this answer, the last question got me stuck and life stuff reached me x.x

[babtqftimrewrite-babtqftc]

Just wondering when are you going to start the plot of the story I’m really excited about this and anything that trying to bring this story back to live I’m all for it and just want to give the crew some cookies 🍪

// Probably start the story soon, I just need to get a good schedule with the blog artist, they are drawing a full body art of a character so after that I'll tell about the idea and ask em the soonest possible time it'll be done

Just not tryna rush em

...speaking of that they ain't able to draw this one so it'll just be text, sorry! //

*Benny and Brandon's setting: Their home*

Benny: "Oh, Thanks!"

Brandon: *gasp* "Cookie! Thank You!!"

*Cameron and Markie's Setting, THEIR home*

Cameron: "I don't like sweets. But thanks."

Markie: "O-Oh thank you!"

*Fabien's setting, Forest*

Fabien: "Oh, thanks mate!"

[foone]

I was only about to scroll past this so many times, so:

Doom doesn't draw fucking triangles. GPUs draw triangles because it makes sense to build a GPU to do one specific thing! That way they can do it in parallel and very quickly. So GPUs specialize, they only do triangles. Need to draw a square? Use two triangles. A hexagon is like 4 triangles. A circle? Well, pick some number, draw that many triangles. They can draw millions per second, so the fact that it's less efficient to draw a square as two triangles doesn't matter.

Doom... Is not remotely like that! It's from 1993! Triangle-shoving GPUs? That's a late-90s thing.

Doom is a 2d renderer. It has no hardware acceleration, and it's drawing individual pixels in software.

It uses some BSP/raytracing math to figure out where the walls are, and draws them A SINGLE PIXEL AT A TIME individually. Like, one wall at a time. It uses some careful math to minimize overdraw, because it is expensive to waste time covering up what it already drew. The floors and ceilings are arbitrary polygons... Which it draws horizontally, no triangles involved.

(Image from Fabien Sanglard's website. They wrote the Doom Programming Black Book)

See? It's all individual pixels. This required a LOT of very smart programming just to get this shit to run at 35 frames per second on computers at the time. This is amazing for the time, sure, but it's a mess. You could only make Doom in 1993 because you had one of the greatest programmers of all time working on it. That's great for Doom, but these days you can make 3d games without a genius on your team: BECAUSE WE HAVE GPUs.

This actually makes Doom hard to run on modern hardware. It wants to use the CPU to draw individual pixels, and modern GPUs want triangles. It doesn't know triangles. Sure you could use our new faster CPUs to just do it the old way, but that means your GPU is idle. Your GPU is supposed to make this faster, right?

So a LOT of work has been done by clever people in the 28 years Doom has been open source, and they've figured out how to write a whole new triangle based renderer on top of the old doom code. It uses triangles, of course!

(fun fact: the floors and ceilings are the hard part. The walls and sprites? Easy. Two triangles each, apply the right texture, and you're done. Floors? Those are arbitrary polygons. Not even convex polygons, either. So there's a whole thing with triangluating the floors in a way that makes it into proper triangles that isn't too slow to do at level load)

But that's the modern source ports only. Gzdoom and descendants.

The old doom, even some of the slightly modernized dooms like chocolate doom? They have no triangles, just CPU-calculated individual pixels.

Anyway, my point is, if you want to "run Doom on some kindergarteners", you only need big grid paper and some crayons. Tell them where to draw the walls, then the floors and ceilings, and you're done. No triangles needed. It's all paint by number.

Anyway: I know this because I'm actually planning to do it. Not with kindergarteners, mind you (I have none on hand), but Doom could be run "on a" human with paper and pencil, and I'm working towards doing that. It'll take a long while per frame (so I'm only going to do one), but I'll have to do a bunch of math on paper and then color in some grid paper with a large pile of colored pencils. But what I won't have to do is DRAW ANY TRIANGLES.

Kindergarteners will be so proud of themselves for being able to draw a triangle. My GPU can draw tens of thousands of those in a second. You are not special.

[ellie-bygrave]

FMP: Final Evaluation

Introduction

My project, titled “Life On Mars”, features a short film and a section of gameplay depicting the life of a lone astronaut on Mars. The astronaut is on a vital research mission in a race to save everyone on Earth from extinction. The idea for the short film was that it could act as an early cinematic trailer for the full game, if I were to continue development on it. I also wanted it to be an opportunity to produce some work with a focus on my strengths of prop design and storytelling to help with future job applications.

The gameplay that I’ve implemented for this project is a simple walk around of the environment that I made with some opportunities to interact with items found around the rooms. I wanted to keep the main focus of my project on the short film, but the film only shows off a few sections of the environment, so I thought having a section of gameplay would be a great chance to show off a bit more of the area.

These were my main visual inspirations. The first 2 are the concept art that gave me the initial idea for the environment by Fabien Daubet, however I wanted a different visual style to the marker and pen drawing. I was inspired by Deliver Us Mars and Jedi Fallen Order, probably for obvious reasons as they’re both sci-fi and set in space. But also I like the visual style they both go for where everything is fairly realistic in terms of proportions and materials and so on, rather than some more stylised games.

These are some of the games I had inspiration from for the gameplay. Essentially my idea was that I want the player to have to explore kind of unguided and complete puzzles that have seemingly not a lot to do with each other to solve an overarching mystery

Criteria for Evaluation

In order to evaluate my work i wanted to have a few criteria in mind. Firstly, how does my final artefact compare to the planning folder I submitted? Did I manage to meet the expectations I set out and, if not, why? Secondly, regardless of whether I met those expectations or not, am I happy with the work I’ve produced? And finally, has this project helped me gain the skills I need to get a role as a 3D artist at a games studio?

Modelling and Texturing

The first thing I’m going to evaluate is the modelling and texturing of the props I made. As a props and environment artist, the actual making of the props is arguably one of the most important things to get right. I’ve already shown some of the visual inspirations I had and I wanted to achieve a similar quality as those games, as they’re the types of project I would hope to work on in the future. So the first set of criteria I was looking as is whether I met my own expectations from the planning folder. Here is the list of deliverables I wanted to create:

Communications unit, plant pot + plant, magnetic whiteboard, coffee machine, air con unit, decorative poster set, datapad, coffee mug, wire, wire cutters, whiteboard pen, paper note, pair of glasses, TV screen, book, storage boxes, pack of cards, map sign, room signs, door buttons, welcome mat

I did manage to get everything done in time. I would say I’m very happy with most of the assets I made and feel that they meet the quality I was aiming for initially. I tried to look at real life reference for a lot of things to gauge things like the level of wear that would be appropriate and what type of materials I should layer in. There are a few assets that I actually added to the list later on:

Toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet, shower, sink, soap

This was in order to add an extra area to the level for gameplay purposes and was an addition towards the end of the project. I feel that these assets don’t really meet the standard I achieved with the rest of the assets because I was rushed trying to get them finished. Thankfully these aren’t part of the cinematic so ‘ve managed to maintain my ideal standard throughout that, which was the main focus of my project. So onto my last bit of the criteria: will this part of my work help me get a job? I definitely think so, not even necessarily because it’s a good addition to my portfolio (though I’d hope it is), but mainly because of how my skills have improved throughout. I think my modelling was already pretty decent to begin with but I’ve got much better and more confident with Substance Painter, as I hadn’t really ever used it before this project. It’s also helped me with my planning skills and working to a set list of items, which will be a good skill to have in the industry in the future.

Building the Environment

Putting all of these assets into the environment was the next thing that I worked on. I’d already done a block out and some storyboarding so I knew how I wanted the environment to be laid out, as well as taking inspiration from the concept art. My plan wasn’t to recreate this by any means but to take inspiration for the style and the way it was built with the panels and cupboards and so on. I used a modular approach to creating the shell of the base and then populated the interior with the assets that I discussed before. I think it was successful in terms of all fitting together and creating a cohesive environment. However, in terms of the aesthetic of the original piece, I think my work misses the mark a bit.

It’s difficult to translate a marker drawing into a more “realism” focussed style and I had some feedback that it was looking a little bland, which I definitely agree with. I think I didn’t really have confidence that I’d be able to create a more run-down and fleshed-out environment without it either looking over the top or too far from the idea I had in my head, and so I started out a bit too conservatively and by the time I realised it was a bit late to go back and start over with my own concepting and planning. I still think it serves it’s purpose well and looks good in the cinematic where I was able to direct the shots and focus on the more interesting parts, but the gameplay section, which looks more at the base as a whole, could do with a bit of a makeover to improve the visual quality. I hope that in the future, working with a full team and art director and concept artists and so on would help with this a bit, as the creative direction wouldn’t just be on me. But I’m still glad I’ve had this experience as it’s good to learn from and see how I could make sure this doesn’t happen in the future.

Cinematic

So both of the previous things I’ve discussed obviously went towards making this cinematic. I wanted to have each my hero props featured in their own shot, with each of them partly telling the story of the astronaut. Some of those definitely do that better than others, and part of that is what I was saying on the previous slide about fully committing to the run-down version of the base. For example, I think the shots of the whiteboard and the communications unit have a lot of environmental storytelling and include a lot of detail that, if you pause and look it over, give you a lot of information about who the astronaut is and what is happening in the background that isn’t explicitly mentioned. But then things like the coffee machine don’t necessarily expand on the context too much because I didn’t fully lean into the state of disrepair I’d considered to start with. But regardless of that, I think the shots all came together really nicely and tell the story I was hoping to get across.

Most of the feedback I’d received about this in class was really positive and mostly it was just some little tweaks, like the timing of the shutter going up or some of the camera movements. I wasn’t able to implement it all as some of it was contradicting what others had said, as is always the case with like a subjective piece of work, and some I just wasn’t able to because of camera constraints or timing issues, but I’m pleased with how it all came together eventually. Although as a props or environment artist I wouldn’t necessarily be responsible for planning or rendering out shots it was a great exercise to make me think about how my assets might be affected by the shot list and whether I’d model in the same way if, say the back of an item wasn’t going to be seen in a short film compared to if it could be picked up by a character in a game. The cinematic was the bit I had the highest hopes for and I think it turned out exactly as I’d envisioned.

Gameplay

As I mentioned earlier, my plan for the gameplay was to have the player walk around as the astronaut character and interact with various things around the base. I was very inexperienced with implementing any sort of gameplay before this project so I anticipated it would be difficult and that I’d end up with something very basic. Whilst it’s by no means a fleshed out game, I am pleased with what I achieved. I’ve got the character walking around, opening doors, picking up items, and I managed to get in a menu and some UI as well. Compared to my initial plan I actually managed to achieve more than I’d hoped with this.

I did want to touch on how this all differs from my inspirations that I spoke about in the introduction though. Obviously the character just walking around and picking things up is not at all what I described with the sort of unguided puzzle game with a big mystery to solve. This was intentional, firstly because I’m not a gameplay designer and it would have taken me way too much time, and secondly because the cinematic was always intended to be the main focus, so I didn’t want to take away from that by trying to do too much in the gameplay. So, whilst I achieved what I set out to do, I thought it was worth mentioning that my bigger plans for this project would involve more depth in regards to the gameplay.

Also, although I don’t have aspirations to really work on gameplay in my future career, it was a great chance for me to experience how my choices when making assets influenced how I integrated them into the gameplay. So for example, my choice for the doors to have button to push to open meant I had to work out how to make the doors slide open when the player interacted with that button, and so on. I think that will be really helpful in the future so I can make more mindful choices in my environment work if there’s gameplay that relies on it.

How I could improve

Number 1 is the bathroom. This, like I mentioned earlier, was an addition towards the end of the development so it was fairly rushed as I‘m sure you can see by the quality of the assets. I decided that the gameplay would benefit from having an extra area to open into, even if it’s only small. I had some issues getting the mirror reflections to work so I didn’t have time to refine the bathroom as much as I would have liked. If I were to start again I’d put a lot more time aside for this and definitely start adding this in way earlier in the project. I think this is where being part of a team is a big benefit. You can collectively make a decision on whether something is worth the time or if it wouldn’t benefit the project enough. I asked for feedback from family about this area and thought a lot about whether to include it but in the end I decided I would as I’d already put the time into it even if it wasn’t perfect. I thought it could work well as more of a basic concept of what I’d like to do with fleshing out the base more in the future.

The other thing I need to work on a bit is more of a soft skill but it’s my timings. This was a tricky one because for the most part I managed to stay really on track with everything and had points where I was ahead of my own schedule. But I did also trip myself up in a couple of places by deviating from it intentionally. The first time was, as you’ve already seen, the bathroom area. As I said, it was a late decision to add it in which means it’s suffered in quality compared to the rest. And then right towards the end of the project, I’d started working on the promo video and this presentation but I hadn’t fully finalised a few bits in the gameplay and cinematic, so I was trying to work on multiple things at once when a couple of those things were kind of dependent on some of the others being finished. It was getting to a point where I was going back and forth across a few different things and I just had to decide to put a cut-off on the cinematic and the gameplay and just be done with them so I could get everything else finished.

This is something I’ve always struggled with, as with art there isn’t really an objective “finished” piece, but I got them to a point I was really happy with them and left them there. Timing and planning is always something I’m trying to improve and this project did go a lot better than previous longer projects so I’m going in the right direction and I think being able to make and stick to a plan is really important for working professionally so I’m glad I’ve had the chance to make these mistakes now so I can build on it for the future.

To Conclude

As a final conclusion, I think my overall successes are the design and execution of the props in my environment which also contributes to the atmosphere and vibe of the final cinematic. It came out really close to how I’d imagined it at the beginning. I also think I achieved a lot of my goals with my own personal learning and really improved the skills I wanted to. I’ve already talked about things I’d like to improve but it’s mainly the environment aesthetic, so getting it closer to the original concept art and make it more run down and worn. And then the gameplay, I’d want to look into implementing the puzzles I have ideas for but that would be something I’d look to others for assistance on so I could focus on the environment work. And finally, working on sticking to my plan and ensuring I’m timing everything well to get it all done.

References

Daubet, F. (2023). Mobile outpost cut out. Artstation. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/DvWD39

Deliver Us Mars. (2023). PS5 [Game]. Frontier Foundry

Escape Simulator. (2021). PC [Game]. Pine Studio

Outer Wilds. (2019). PS5 [Game]. Annapurna Interactive

Return of the Obra Dinn. (2018). PS4 [Game]. 3909 LLC

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. (2019). PS5 [Game]. Electronic Arts

We Were Here. (2017). PS4 [Game]. Total Mayhem Games

[bunnipuff]

pride month is almost over but my wols are gay forever 💖

[gryffindormarveltwilight]

Sirius Black x Reader - Hogwarts Champion Part 2

A/N: Here is the second part to this series! These parts will probably go up quite quickly! We will see more Sirius and Reader relationship development in the next parts! As always any feedback or request are welcome! x

Masterlist

Part 1

Pairings: Sirius Black x Reader

Warnings: Angst, Rude Sirius, fighting, insecurity

“Y/N POTTER!”

I froze before a smile spread across my lips as the hall erupted in cheers, I look around the Gryffindor table where i can see everyone cheering even Lily and Marlene are cheering and smiling at me. We were friends sure but we were never really close me opting to spend time with the marauders. Thats when I turn to look at the group of boys i love so much, Peter looks shocked until i meet his eyes suddenly a smile spreads across his as he stands up clapping and cheering. Remus grabs my hand drawing my attention to him, i can see the concern in his eyes nonetheless he smiles and joins Peter standing cheering louder than anyone else in the hall. I then look across the table at my twin his face laced with concern and looks frightened, its now i realise he was scared for me to enter the tournament he nods silently then stands and leaves the hall, a wave of sadness hits me as i watch my twin walk out of the hall in the moment i needed him to be happy for me, the last face i see before i walk up the front of the great hall is Sirius, i wasnt sure what i was expecting, though what i was not expecting was the fury in his grey eyes staring at me, we meet eyes and he like James stands up and walks away. The hurt washed over me again i turn quickly and walk to where the teachers are standing, as i walk i see the proud faces of my friends in Gryffindor. I finally make it up the front where Dumbledore congratulates me and Minnie escorts me to the Vault below with the other champions. And concerned face that hold a wide smile.

“Congratulations Miss Potter.”

“Thank you Minnie.”

“Be careful, we need your help with the boys remember.”

I giggle at that and nod as she turns and walks out of the room, there had been many times when i had managed to reign in the boys pranks or stop them before they think it is a good idea to take on a group of Slytherins.

Dumbledore entered the room and gave a speech along with the minister of magic about who now we have been selected we stand alone but to be honest i wasn’t really listening i could not shake the look that James and Sirius gave me before walking out of the Great Hall. We were dismissed and I started the trek back to the common room, stopped occasionally by students congratulating me. As i said the password and stepped through the portrait door the Prewett twins came up to me.

“Well done Potter!” They said at the same time.

“Thank you guys.” I say with a smile.

“Best you go see your brother i think he has worn a hall in the floor of his dorm.”

“Thanks Fabien.” I take my leave and i cross the common room I see Lily sitting with Marlene Dorcas and Mary.

“James needs to see you Y/N.” Lily said walking toward me giving me a hug. “ he is terrified and i can’t calm him down, they won’t even let us near the dorm, him or Sirius.” I look and her a nod before running up the stairs to the familiar dorm. I knock on the door something i don’t normally do.

“Not now Lily!” I hear my brother shout.

“Sorry Jamie, not Lily!” I yell back and the door flys open Peter stepping to the side as i walk in. Remus is sitting on his bed looking a the scene in front of him, Peter closes the door patting me on the back before going and sitting on his bed, Sirius sits on his bed not saying anything and has an unreadable expression on his face. James stops pacing turning to face me. At first I thought he was going to yell at me and give me some big lecture, what I was not expecting was him barrelling toward me pulling me into a suffocating hug.

“J-James, James I can’t breathe.” He quickly pulls back.

“I cannot believe you entered!” There it was.

“James you knew i entered you followed me!”

“Told you he would be mad.” Remus mutters.

“YOU KNEW MOONY!” James shouts.

“Yes he knew he worked it out but don’t yell at him he tried to talk me out of it.”

James was fuming and turned his attention back to me.

“Why on earth would you enter!?”

“Why did you! It is no different!”

“Yes it is!”

“No James,” I snap “it is no different! Why is cause i could get hurt guess what so couldve you or sirius, I might die so could’ve you!” The boys stare at me in shock even Remus.

“I am just as capable if not more than anyone in this room. So please do tell me what the difference is.”

“The difference is it is you, you are my sister! I don’t want to see you get hurt or killed!”

“And I want to watch you! No but I didn’t stop you Jamie.” I say my voice getting softer.

“I love you Y/N, and I am proud of you for being brave enough to do this.” He hugs me again. This time with a smile on his face. “Well Marauders looks like we have a Champion on out hands.” James yells. Peter Remus and I all laugh at his sudden change of heart and before I know it i am lying on the floor with three marauders piling on top of me. We all sit up and turn to Sirius.

“Sirius?” I speak to him “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be, not like my best friend is going into tournament where people have died.” He snarls.

“Sirius!” I say shocked, he had never directed that venomous tone toward me before.

“I think you a damn fool Y/N.” With that he leaves the room.

“Just give him time to cool off, he was more furious than James earlier, he will come around Y/N.” Peter says and I just nod.

It has been two days since i had spoken to Sirius, and I missed my best friend. Apparently he hasn’t spoken to any of the marauders, we were all concerned about him. I was upset that my best friend couldn’t be happy for me. Mum and Dad had written and said they were proud they wouldn’t let on that they were also scared. Later that day i walked up to the marauders dorm, the first task was in a week and I had no idea what it was. As i entered the room I saw all the boys sitting reading a charms book.

“You okay Y/N?”

“Fine Moony, just nervous.”

He nods and goes back to his book.

“I am sure you will crush it either way Y/N.”

“Thanks Pete.”

The door suddenly opens and Sirius walks through.

“What is she doing here?”

“Pads.” James says in a warning tone. I didn’t understand why Sirius was being like this I decided i didn’t have the energy to deal with him right now so i stood up not saying a word and walked out of the dorm despite the protest of the others. I walk toward the forbidden forest decided i needed a run. As i got to the edge of the forest i looked around after seeing i was alone i transformed into my Animagus form. Where i was standing now replaced by a White Wolf.

We all laughed when i first transformed as we were not expecting me to turn into a wolf of all things. I was slightly bigger then a standard wolf and was the fastest in the group. I take off running through the forest when i came to a sudden stop hearing a mighty roar, i look around and see some orange lights not too far from me. As i approach i hear another roar, the source suddenly coming into view.

Dragons. That was the first task.

I quickly ran back towards where i had entered the forest as i approached the edge of the forest i changed back into my human form and sprinted toward the dorm where i knew the boys would be. As i burst through the door all the boys looked up to look at me standing in their doorway out of breath.

“D-Dragons.” I stutter.

“What Y/N?” James asked.

“The first task…..it is dragons.” I watch all boys faces turn to worry as I said it out loud. Sirius got up and stormed out of the room anger radiating off him.

“How are you so sure?”

“I saw them, there was three one for each of us.”

“Well looks like we need to find out how to fight a dragon. Sounds kind of fun.” James said getting up off his bed. We all looked at him weirdly sure it would be fun to learn how to fight a dragon but actually doing it, I was terrified and Sirius not talking to me made everything worse.

“You and Pete go ahead James I need to talk to Y/N.” They both nod and leave the dorm headed yo the library.

“Are you going to talk to him.”

“Why should i be the first one to make contact he is the one who isnt happy i was selected and the one that is angry.”

“I think he is mad you kept it a secret from him.”

“Like he has never kept a secret from me.”

“Not a life changing one like this.”

“I didn’t tell him cause he would have stopped me, this is my chance to finally prove I am not just the other Potter even to our group.” Remus just sighed he knew he wasn’t going to get you to change your mind.

“Well then Luna, time to teach a wolf hour to fight a dragon.”

[wandsandwheezes]

Brat | G.W

George Fabien Weasley is a Brat tamer. This is not up for debate.

WARNINGS // SMUT 18+, rough sex, oral, throat fucking, brat, cheating, consensual relationship, breeding kink, dirty talk, degradation kink, daddy kink, dom/sub, brat taming, Husband!George <3

A/N // I can only apologise to my vanilla beans on this one... its pure, raw filth. 

The bass was pumping through your veins as you danced, swaying your hips to the beat against some poor man’s crotch, liquor glazed eyes locked only, however, on your boyfriend from across the dancefloor. He sat with his legs spread on a bar stool, his full body turned towards you as he observed your every movement. George wasn’t mad yet, you hadn’t quite pushed him far enough to get there but he could already feel his own possessiveness begin to creep up on him, while a part of him loved watching other men (and sometimes women) throw themselves at you, another part ached knowing full well he would always be the one to take you home.

Your hand was on the man’s chest as you leaned up to speak into his ear, shouting over the music. The way you pushed up onto your toes with that movement made your ass stick out perfectly, the skirt you were wearing riding up just enough to give your husband something to think about. You liked this game just as much as George did, having set out the clear rules of the relationship, way before you would have let things get this far; he didn’t stop you from kissing other girls at the clubs you went to, he couldn’t deny the way it made his cock twitch when he caught your lips locked with another girls. It would always drive him crazy, seeing you so needy but knowing that the true ache was only for him. You both drew the line at kissing other men however, unless you were searching for a particularly rough punishment, which tonight you were not; only wanting to play. 

Your hands were threaded in a gorgeous brunette’s soft shoulder length hair as you pulled her in for a kiss. She smelled divine, like the strongest flower in a whole garden and in that moment you were shocked to feel her pull a more dominant rank in the kiss, her hands firmly cupping your cheek as her tongue explored the dip and curve of your own. It was an unusual experience to be dominated by a woman but it was something you enjoyed, her touch more feminine than George's, but still just as firm, making you weak at the knees. She pulled away, ears pressed against your ear as she spoke.

“Guy in green by the bar can’t take his eyes off you, wanna give him something to stare at?” Your breath hitched in your throat as her lips trailed along your jaw, watching from across the dancefloor as he twiddled with the wedding band, no expression on his face but his eyes were locked on you. You breathed out a ‘yes’ in response to her, her hands coming up to grope at your ass as she went back in for another kiss. Something bubbled up inside George, wanting to tear you away but he was far too pleased with the show. So it seems, a few other men in the club, ogling at the sight of two gorgeous girls causing a scene. 

You loved the way other boys would stare, It drove George mad; making him all the more possessive and commanding. When you broke away from her lips again, you caught your husband’s eyes once more, watching as he lazily beckoned you to him with his middle and pointer fingers, his elbow resting against his knee. 

“Mm sorry, I’ll be back.” you whined against her lips as she tried to pull you back in, focused now only on George. She gave you a wink as you slipped from her grip, the burning eyes of your lover drinking in the sight of you, making his heart beat out of his chest in sync with the bassline of the pulsing song playing.

“What was that all about, doll, hm?” his hand found your hip as you nestled between his thighs, your head resting innocently on his shoulder as you caught your breath, still winded by the intense kiss. 

“You know I like it when other boys give me attention, daddy” your fingers raked delicately through his hair, knowing you’d pushed him to the right space, your eyes trailed away from him, causing you to tilt your chin up so that your eyes could lock, he leaned in to press a tender kiss to your lips. It was all too sweet for now and it seems he was easing you in gently. 

“And other girls it seems, is my cock not good enough for you, princess?” You were fully aware that you were surrounded by other people, but the dirty looks the two of you got never seemed to deter either of you, knowing full well that you loved each other deeply, trusting of one another so much that you could do things like this. His hand reached into his pocket, pulling out your wedding band, slipping it back onto your finger. The sign he was ready to take you home, already riled up enough by what he’d seen. 

“It really is such a shame you’re such a disobedient little brat, we could’ve had lots more fun tonight” His hand held yours as he pulled you through the crowds, slipping past the bodies till you reached a hall, making you stop in your tracks, crossing your arms. 

“I don’t want to go.” you pouted at him, feet planted firmly to the ground in protest, you'd gotten this far and you were more than ready to push your luck. He instead stood there waiting, not even attempting to continue to entertain your charade, no matter how bratty you wanted to be. You stood with silence between you as the thump of the bass filled the air, elevating the tension. 

“Ready to behave and be a good girl?” He spoke softly as she shoved his hands in his pockets, watching you shake your head as you stood your ground. 

“No? Wrong answer” He mocked, while he quickly spun on his heel, heading towards the exit, leaving you to call after him, stopping dead in his tracks when when you yell his name at him. "Where are you going, George?" 

“Where am I going? I’m leaving you here, daddy doesn’t take bratty girls home, since you want to stay so much.” His tone made you rethink your action, quickly falling to his heel as your arm wrapped around his, pressing yourself into his side to steady yourself as he guided you out of the club. 

“That changed your tune quickly, still… you need a lesson in obedience, I think.” You walked along the bustling streets of London, finding a small secluded alley to hide away before you are apparated back to yours and George's shared home. He wasted no time, having you pinned against the wall as he kissed you hungrily, showing exactly who was the dominant one as his grip tightened on your jaw. You let him kiss you like a filthy whore, even let him pull away to observe how your lipstick smeared so perfectly with his rough kisses. 

It wasn't long until he had you on your knees for him, hand wrapped around his shaft as you stroked him gently, but your teasing touches weren't enough for him, holding your jaw open with one hand as he slapped the tip of his cock against your begging tongue. His eyes burning into yours with every passing moment. 

"Does my desperate little brat want her mouth fucked, hm?" You nodded eagerly as you began to take his length in past your lips, attempting to bob your head, but every time he pulled back, tutting at you. His fingers running through your hair to pull it out of your face into a makeshift ponytail as he used his other hand to tease your mouth in the same way he did your cunt when you desperately wanted him, pushing his head just past your lips before pulling back out and repeating it 

"Open that throat up for me, doll, you ready?" you hummed a quick please off of your tongue before his cock was pushing into your mouth, hardly managing half of his length as the tip hit the back of your throat, causing the sound of a gag to echo through the room. His hand was on the back of your head, pushing your mouth to take him a little deeper before pulling out completely. Leaving you gasping for air as a trail of saliva connected his cock and your lips together, mouth open and ready again to take his length. 

"Just like that, princess" He praised as you took him in once again, this time gagging as he held your head in place to push himself as deep as you could take down your throat once again, you were getting there, you just needed the training before he could really make use of your mouth. You were eager this time he pulled away, taking another gasp of air before spitting into your hand, pumping his cock before letting him slip inside your mouth once again. You let him push, let him sink his entire length in your mouth, feeling his cock slipping down your throat with every push.

"That's my girl, take it all in darling" The symphony of moans that fell from his mouth were hidden by the fact that he could hardly function. He slowly began bucking his hips as he fucked your mouth, the room filling with wet gagging sounds as you choked over him, saliva falling from your lips whenever he gave you a breather. His hand was smoothing down the hair at the back of your head gently while his hips set their relentless pace. You enjoyed this as much as he did, moaning over him as you looked up at him with begging eyes. 

"You look so pretty with your mascara running down your cheeks, baby." he cooed as his thrusts grew rougher and slower, causing more tears to spill from your eyes, drawing his favourite gagging sound from your lips more and more often. 

"Fuck, I love your Throat." He moved you to the bed, letting you lie down on your back before he was fucking your mouth again, at first his slow thrusts were to watch the way his cock made your throat bulge, hand coming down to press against it, the sensation made him twitch but he held himself strong as he fucked your throat until you were begging between every breather. 

"Use your words, brat, what do you want?" 

You were taking deep breaths as you tried to voice what you needed from him, reserved only to needy whines and moans for him, causing him to stuff his cock inside your mouth once more. 

"Daddy doesn't understand whimpering, Princess, words only." He pulled from you again, this time you found the breaths within you to attempt to ask for what you wanted. 

"Fuck me, Please." You begged, eyes desperately searching for his as you reached for him. Still you took deep shallow breaths as you watched him walk around you like a predator stalking its prey. 

"You think bratty girls get their cunt fucked? You've been a very good girl tonight though, I may have to oblige." He didn't take much convincing before he was buried deep inside you hands gripped possessively to your hips as he set his pace, begs falling from your lips every time he hit your back wall. 

"Want me to fill you with my cum, angel? Fuck a baby nice and good into your belly?" His delicious words ripped a moan from your throat as his hands brushed your hair out of your eyes, it didn't take long for you to be on edge, thumb rubbing across your clit as he fucked you. The way you squeezed around him as you came helped milk him of his cum, feeling it drip from your cunt as he pulled out. 

"You've been such a good girl, let's get that makeup off your face, hm?" He reached into your bedside table drawer, grabbing the makeup wipes, using one to glide along your tear stained cheeks, part of him guilty to remove such a stunning mark left on your face. He took extra care in gently caressing your skin as you came down from your orgasm. 

He ran you a bath, sitting outside of the tub as he helped clean the sticky sweat from your skin, massaging your scalp as he washed your hair and making sure that you were comfortable, relaxed and feeling safe. He had pushed you far this evening and it was only fair to check in and make sure you were happy and satisfied. 

He carried your clean body to bed, your legs wrapping around his waist as he carried you. you snuggled into your fresh, clean sheets that your husband had prepared, waiting for his presence in bed patiently, immediately feeling safe the second he was next to you. 

"Georgie, I was thinking… What if we stopped using the contraception spell?" His eyes went wide, pulling you into a cuddle as he hummed in satisfaction, fingers finding yours to tangle together. Bringing your hand up to press a kiss to your wedding band.

"I love you, If you're ready to be a parent, we can try for a baby, as many times as it needs, if you want a baba, we'll have one, Princess."

TAGLIST // @starlightweasley​​ @slytherinsunrise​​  @gcdric​​​ @theweasleysredhair​​​ @whiz-bangs78​​​ @vogueweasley​​ @minty-malfoy​​​ @vivianweasley​​​​ @feetoffthetablee​​​ @thisismynerdyself​​​ @witch-and-a-half​​ @loony-loopy-lupinn​​ @rip-us​​ @hopemalfoyweasley​​ @pigwidgexn​​  @pansydaisy​

[secret-life-of-a-naturist]

Here's something extra for the upcoming graphic novel I still plan on getting released by Friday.

One of the scenes in the book involves Matias and Sage at Sage's parents pool.

I needed to add this panel for the context and flow of the story.

So I did the sketch this afternoon and then I scanned it to then upload to my drawing tablet using my drawing software, this being FireAlpaca.

I am by no means an expert, I have been learning as I go along with occasional You Tube tutorials .

The first step is to outline the drawing and then add the layers of colour.

The final step, once the highlights and shadow are done, I give it a transparent background so that I can add the final background layer.

Hope you like it.

As always, stay creative, safe and healthy.

Fabien

[nayarablueglasses]

AHRJFJS THAT WAS ME ISSOK THO DW

anyways my preferred fandom would be bnha or haikyuu for a cookie pleaseee :D

pronouns are he/him/his and im bisexual with no preference for guys or girls

my favorite color is orange

5 facts:

im hella extroverted ill talk to anyone and everyone, myself, hell ill even talk to things - i think my adhd plays a role into this

im going to be a tattoo artist when im older, ive always loved drawing/painting according to my parents ive been art since before i could walk

i love working out but i dont always time and stuff and that can make me sad bc im secretly sooooo insecure abt my body

i do weird illegal shit like steal chili’s signs, pierce myself sneak out to climb lightposts, sleep in basements with people i dont know, smoke weed, whatever if it sounds dumb im in

i value my friends before ANYTHING else; family? my friends are my family. music?money?fame? dont care i hold my friend deeply in my heart

sorry that was long AMBFKDJSK

lasdjhf i fucking wheezed at the stealing chillies signs part. steal some chipotle signes next for me

your romantic matchup is:

IWAIZUMI.

how did you end up with him?? he wonders this on the daily. but it’s fine, he loves you. even despite your... shenanigans. the first time he fell in love with you was when you were walking home with him and entangled your arm with his, closing your eyes to see if he’d lead you forwards or let you careen into a pole. he’s fascinated with any tattoo designs you’d come up with, we all know he’s not the best at art </3 likes it when you teach him some art things, though. he doesn’t really think you need to workout, since he just loves you how you are, but even so if you ask him for help he will be so happy to spend more time with you. sometimes he just... worries about your strange tendancies, but he can’t say they don’t make the relationship more interesting.

how’re y’all’s always getting iwaizumi </3 request something from my event here, maybe you’ll get iwaizumi too. requests are OPEN.

[[all images and works with the name “nayarablueglasses” on them are property of nayarablueglasses, Fabien and Roln. please do not edit, repost or claim as your own.]]

[sleeplessandstubborn]

Emily in Paris episode 3 or it’s still more accurate than American media recent coverture on France.

Ah, I had to write that title. And I am not even talking about American Twitter. But yeah. Feel better. Somewhat I have the impression that this is going to substitute the still a better love story than Twilight in my mind. But, I’m sorry, Stephenie Meyer, I am not here for that but to make a belated, totally improvised, not at all completely planned recap of Episode 3 of Emily in Paris, your favourite Instagram version of the French capital.

So episode 3 starts with our heroine running, as she usually does every morning. Why this Paris is more empty than the town where I live which has like 25,000 inhabitants? So many questions about where did people go. The case is her boss in Chicago calls. Yes, the one who speaks French and should be now best friends with Sylvie but it’s stuck in Chicago with her pregnancy.

I know, Madeline, I know. It would be frustrating for me too that the main trait of my personality was I’m pregnant and on my bed. They both exchange about how now that Doug dumped her Emily’s life is full of croissants and sex, when actually is about sex. Also Emily meets street furniture. As does Madeline, too. I guess that’s not the kind of idea she had of meeting French men. Thanks Anne! Hidalgo of course.

Madeline is sending Emily the corporate commandments for Savoir. Yikes, I thought again, a cultural clash is coming and what are corporate commandments anyway (I don’t know, sounds tacky, I’m just a puzzled European), but for now there are another problems to solve. Emily’s shower breaks, the building manager only speaks French and of course our leading lady is still struggling with understanding it. Also, sidenote: manager building is right with Miss Cooper. Only problems.

Fortunately Gabriel exists and he helps her to break the language barrier. But this isn’t going to magically repair her shower and so Emily has to wash her hair in one of humanity’s wonders, one apex of civilization, the bidet. It’s supposed to be a bad hair day for her afterwards but... Does she look that different? Well, not for me! Discuss:

This shows... A character development! At last! Emily is trying to learn French, and even if her beret isn’t going to help in the task, is good to see she’s trying to adapt. Still, she’s overdoing a bit with that Gioconda bag.

I mean, girl. Relax. In order to improve her knowledge, she tries to trick her teacher - who considers a working place full of French people must be an interesting environment where to study the behaviour of the Emily Cooperius Chicagoensis but refuses the pleasure of her company if there’s not a 50 euros banknote in between. Business is business after all. Cut to Emily reuniting with my adored godess Sylvie, whose elegance and beauty only can be matched with the flag of the twelve stars in the background. Ah, Freude, schöner Götterfunken/ Tochter aus Elysium,/ Wir betreten feuertrunken/ Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!

Well, the case is they are going to film the advertisement for De l’Heure today and it’s an important thing Emily keeps her mouth closed and unsmiling because she looks stupid, at least in Sylvie’s opinion. I’d say more scary but well.

Luc and Julien receive them with the enraged face of every European citizen who just met an aggresive attempt  of being forced into the American Way of Doing Things. Which they refuse naturally. Madeline just sent the corporate commandments and everyone is pissed at nonsense like giving praise in public and critizising in private. But off to filming the spot for the perfume. The location is the Pont d’Alexandre III that has featured in like 20,000 advertisement for fragrances. Here they met Antoine and Emily has the twentieth humiliating experience with languages telling she’s horny out of a sudden when she wanted to mean excited.

Emily meets the model, a Serbian blonde beauty that doesn’t speak French, that’s her personality trait. Our heroine seems rejoiced to find at least a kindred soul but we won’t have more time with the model, whose task is to walk across the bridge naked - or wearing the perfume, Antoine says - , while surrounded by men in costumes. The campaign Dream of Beauty, in short. Emily’s reaction is this:

Antoine argues this is meant to represent the woman’s fantasy, to be desired by all these men. Emily doesn’t think this is going to be appreciated by women at the other side of the Atlantic ocean and says the idea is sexists rather than sexy. Filming stop for they to debate, which seems expensive. Stopping, not debating. Without entering on what fantasies are valid or not and who actually pays attention to advertisements for fragrances - I am not one of these people - we don’t get to learn if Emily knows who Cocteau was.

The following morning the plumber can’t fix Emily’s shower. His gestures are pretty easy to understand, as it’s an universal fact that often the pieces needed to repair are not immediately available. Anyway, Emily asks Gabriel to help her with translation again. She must pay him or something. The thing doesn’t get to be fixed and Emily gets to shower in Gabriel’s appartment.

Maybe he has a fantasy of some sort here? Who knows. At the office and after her class, Emily’s first conversation of the day with Sylvie goes, as usual, for a rocky start. She has made lost money and time to the company, her boss argues, and on top of that she’s the prude police. The final straw for Emily immediately after that is that someone (called Luc) drew a dick on the Sacred Corporate Commandments. Having forgotten the fact that drawing penises is part of the human nature since the dawn of times, Emily doesn’t take well the profanation. It’s too much so she goes to lunch with Mindy.

Mindy - who is celebrating a party later and invites her - rolls her eyes at the corporate commandments and more or less say she deserves the hate because she could not expect French people were going to receive that gladly because they are against all. Well, it’s one of their multiple charms. “People like me! That’s my thing!” , Emily argues. Oh my sweet Summer child... Once back at the office, the commercial is as nonsensical as your average perfume commercial. Emily suggests a poll on Twitter to decide if it’s sexy or sexists. Bad or good, they’ll have publicity. Sounds about right?

One day I want to be Sylvie when she answers, after Emily invited her to Mandy’s party: Sorry, I’m busy. Also when she goes on with a mini the reason you suck moment: “You come to Paris. You walk into my office. You don’t even bother to learn the language. You treat the city like it’s your amusement park”. Apparently Emily can’t wrap her head around the idea of not everyone liking her and that you don’t have why to be friends with your bosses or workmates. Girl, just a civilized relationship with them is enough. Anyway... Emily does invite her, incapable of taking a no for an answer.

As predictable - don’t say you didn’t predict it - the party is a bit crowded and, leaving aside Mindy, Emily doesn’t know anyone there. Because, Sylvie knowing better, she didn’t show up. Well done Madame. Out of water again, Emily finds an apparently cute boy who engages in a conversation with her. With hand kissing at the balcony at all.

All it’s very romantic until, when they are strolling the streets and after flirting a bit, Fabien I think was his name - sorry, not checking again - tells her he likes American pussies. This is too much information all of a sudden for Emily - even if it could lead her to learn another the meaning of a new French word, equally related with felines - and storms off to Gabriel’s restaurant. Why is a thing the chef is there, available to serve her a glass of wine, I don’t know, I didn’t write this thing. But finally, finally, FINALLY our heroine says she’s going to stop trying being liked by everyone. Thank you Paris, you inspired some adult realities on Emily’s brain. It’s also a productive night after all because Gabriel says he likes her. So... yay? Since many of you have already seen the complete season, you know that things are... more complicated than that.

Of course the last three minutes of the episode are reserved for Emily Was Right After All moments. The poll is a success even if the commercial is not universally liked - but as Emily has learn this is not that important anymore -, she takes revenge on Luc bringing a dick shaped bread, or cake - I don’t know exactly what it is - which is a funny and irreverent way to respond him aaaand... finds a present from Antoine on her desk, lingerie from La Perla. Which is, ew, a bit creepy.

Aaaand that was all. I had to rewatch it because it had been eras since I last wrote about this series. I promise to be more disciplined with the next ones. Until then.

P.S. Down with Corporation Commandments.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: May 2020

Well there’s another month come and gone. TV and books seems to be what I gravitate towards whilst in quarantine. Anyway here’s the month of May in a wordy nutshell!

……….FILM……….

Blockers (2018) I was mostly drawing while my partner watched this but from what I heard and occasionally saw, it was fun! Silly and gross and I’m not reeeeally sure who the target demo was, but it had a modern and more nuanced perspective on sexuality so that’s cool.

……….TELEVISION……….

Mad Men (Episode 1.11 to 3.03) WHO KNEW THIS SHOW WAS SO GOOD?!? The amount of screentime dedicated to advertising seems to be dwindling a bit, but oooooh there’s still so much juicy office drama (something I think I enjoy because of being self-employed and working from home). It looks like we’ll fail at our attempt to finish the series before it leaves Netflix in June but it was fun while it lasted.

Sex and the City (Episode 1.01 to 2.06) Returning to this for something when we don’t have time to watch Mad Men (or need something lighter) and it’s hitting the spot. We’re slowly getting past the era of randos talking to the camera (and mostly past Carrie breaking the fourth wall). I was in college when I first watched this and I’ve come to realize how much I’ve grown as a human as I only now have enough self-awareness to recognize I’m a Charlotte. 

Gravity Falls (Episode 1.09 to 1.15) We’ve since slowed down on this a bit but I’m really excited to get back into it as season 2 is just so good!

Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Episode 1.01 to 1.04) The first three eps didn’t really do much for me. The one on the directors was cool as I didn’t realize how many there were, but it would’ve been great if they talked a little more about what they brought to the table or why they took this on. Ep 4 on technology was more my speed but overall this still kinda just feels like surface level stuff. Loooots of time spent on actors and directors and professionals complimenting each other and I am not here for that.

……….READING……….

Illuminatus! Part 1: The Eye in the Pyramid by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson (Page 204/304) What a trip. It’s pretty much what I expected from an comedic book revolving around the illuminati/secret societies from the 1970s, though it took me ages to adjust to the writing style. I’m really enjoying it, but be warned that there’s no major break between narrators so it can jump between plots with each new paragraph. It feels, at times, like a tone poem, but maybe that’s me putting more of the generation into the text than was intended. Again, I think I like it, but am pretty sure I’m missing a lot. 

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Complete) Such a stellar read. I loved Novik’s Uprooted and while you could read either in any order, they both feel of the same world. Both books are full of fairytale danger akin to the traditional stories. They’re beautiful and uncertain and familiar and new. I realize I’m being super vague and general but it’s because it’s so hard to pin down what’s excellent about this book. It’s just good and if you like fantasy and classic fairy tales with layered characters and a more nuanced approach to good and evil then read this AND Uprooted.

Umbrella Academy Volume 3: Hotel Oblivion by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba  (Complete) It’s great to get back to this world but I think I need to give it another read. The first two volumes were frantic, but there was typically a clear drive or sense of what the big picture was. Volume 3 felt like a buildup or segue into the next story being told and that’s...not great.

Satania by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoet (Complete) I’ve rambled at length about how much I love past books by these two (particularly Beautiful Darkness) but this one didn’t connect quite the same. The story only scratched the surface of (admittedly really interesting) themes and I would’ve loved for it to get fleshed out further. The art is consistently incredible and their take on a subterranean world is breathtaking. I recommend if you want to read every book by these two, but wouldn’t suggest this as your first introduction (for that, Beautiful Darkness, or Beauty).

Hellboy Library Edition Vol 5 & 6 by Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo, Dave Stewart (vol.5 and 6), and others (vol. 6) (Complete) A return to form. Fegredo is such a great choice for taking over from Mignola for the main story. The final story in volume 6 is still a weird choice to me (especially since the penultimate one would’ve been much better) but I’m so excited to read the next volume. Such an cool chapter in comics history.

GRRL SCOUTS by Jim Mahfood (Complete) Very late 90s. Like soooooooo 90s. Some of the writing hasn’t aged well, but it’s interesting to see how much things have changed in...oh jeez 20 YEARS! 

……….AUDIO……….

Staying In with Emily & Kumail (Podcast) As a dedicated listener to their old podcast, The Indoor Kids, it’s great to listen to these two again. Also weirdly comforting that their dynamic and personalities (at least as far as podcasting is concerned) hasn’t changed over the years between then and now. It’s gotta be at least 4 or 5 years, right? Anyway, this is a good listen if you’re navigating the pandemic (jk, we’re all doing that).

Articles of Interest (Podcast) So I think this is technically a miniseries put out by 99% Invisible but I loved season 1 and season 2 is just as good. Every episode is concise and these latest episodes are really diving into new parts of the fashion industry. Very cool.

Unravel Season 4: Snowball (Podcast) I checked this out on a recommendation since our mutual friend went through a similar situation (getting romantically involved with a perpetual con artist) and it was so interesting to see the overlap. It’s just such a wild story of deception and habitual lying and theft and manipulation. Great listen.

Dedicated Side B by Carly Rae Jepsen Exactly the sort of pick-me-up we need right now. Good stuff. Always a treat. Very happy.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The latest session had the group spending...maybe 25 minutes sorting out how they were going to approach the Jolly Roger (ship of the dreaded Captain Hook). Their plan is a mixture of stealth and impersonating what amounts to Pirate Ship Quality Control. We’ll see how that goes. Anyway I’m really excited by how the group is exploring the island and for this book to come out in October!

D&D Homebrew Adventure (Menace of Merlin) The group is sorting out a curse/illness plaguing one of the character’s hometown and...the timing of this plot is not ideal BUT everyone seems to be okay with it. They took out some orcs and hopefully will be able to find the hermit that can help with the slow petrification of the village.

Tyranny of Dragons /Gainfully Employed (Wizards of the Coast) I’m not sure I posted about this last month but the party has just sorted out the cause of a failing lighthouse (that’s magical) and brought the culprit to justice! Now to head out of Phlan and sort out some silly rumors that I’m sure are nonsense.

And that’s it! As always, hit me with your recommendations if you have something I should read/play/watch/or listen to!

Happy Sunday.

[bookscritique-blog]

Review of the graphic novel “Beautiful Darkness”

The utterly different and morbidly fascinating graphic novel “Beautiful Darkness” written by Fabien Vehlmann and illustrated by Marie Pommepuy and Sébastien Cosset was published 2009 by Drawn and Quarterly.

Do not be fooled by the deceptively cute, childlike drawings. Do not buy it for your children, for you may scar their minds for a long time. And if you are sensible to violence and horror then this comic is certainly not for you.  

Everyone else who likes to be shocked by seemingly cute stories and is overall perceptive for disturbing images then is “Beautiful Darkness” the right comic for you! The contradiction between the cute and naïve demeanour of the little people, who are the centre piece of the story, and their cruel and jealous behaviour have certainly a profound effect.

For all the praise I have for this graphic novel, there is also some criticism. From the very first pages are raised several questions which are not answered throughout the whole story. There is certainly a lack of exposition. The unanswered questions leave the story with an air of serene desolation. I was a little dissatisfied with the open questions. But that is maybe even a good thing. Life and the Universe are full of mystery. We barely know anything if you look at the whole picture. This graphic novel captures through its storytelling the uncertainties which we encounter every day. Most of the time there are no answers.

The main protagonist of “Beautiful Darkness” is a petite girl named Aurora. She is like all her friends and acquaintances very tiny. Their size is comparable with that of a fly or other similarly small insects.  

The reader gets thrown directly in the story when Aurora enjoys some tea with her beloved Prince Hector. Suddenly their home begins to ooze with some unknown pinkish goo. Aurora and Hector, as well as many others are chased away from their home.  

As it turns out, they lived in the body of a little, supposedly human girl, who is dead now.  

Now the tiny people must cope with the outside world which is a forest full of different animals and insects. Given the small size of the people their life is threatened by those whose prey they become. They also need to build shelters for themselves, find food and do anything else to survive in the unknown environment. The protagonist helps out by gathering and providing food for the others and befriends many of them thanks to her kindness.  

Amidst them is another girl named Zelie who is terribly spoiled, manipulative and downright vicious. She has many worshippers who follow her everywhere and indulge her every whim. Little naïve Aurora falls also for Zelie’s manipulation and suffers the loss of some of her dear friends and her beloved Prince.

During their life in proximity of the girl's corps, lots of the tiny creatures find their deaths in many, often violent different ways. Greed, jealousy, murder and cannibalism also take part in the graphic novel.  

Thanks to Zelie’s antics and the ignorance of the others, Aurora finds herself lonely and abandoned. She tried so hard to help everybody, but they discarded her. Now disillusioned she leaves them and finds a new unexpected home. But when her new-found tranquil life is disturbed by her former friends, she “repays” them manifold.

The ending is not particularly surprising given the whole situation before. But it was a logical conclusion to this story in my opinion.

--There will be spoilers ahead. --

At the end there are no answers given regarding the existence of the tiny people. How did they live in the body of the little girl? Have other humans also tiny people in their bodies? Where came the furniture and cutlery from which they used inside the girl? Etc., etc....

Also, we will never learn why the girl died, whether she was murdered or not, why nobody is looking for her or why she was never noticed by anyone. It would have been interesting to know her story, too. It is certainly a pity that the mystery of her untimely death will never be revealed.

--End of spoilers --

All in all, I enjoyed “Beautiful Darkness” a lot. The direction the story took was certainly a surprise, but not an unpleasant one because I love horror novels/comics/movies. It is somehow strange to see such lovely and cute drawings filled with all this remorseless cruelty. The connection of those two elements (cuteness and cruelty) make the atrocities depicted there even more shocking (which was the intent behind it I guess).

[librarycomic]

Tyler Cross: Angola by Fabien Nury, art by Brüno.  Translated by Tom Imber. Titan Comics / Hard Case Crime, 2019. 9781785867316. 104pp. Publisher's Rating: Suggested for Mature Readers.   -   Tyler Cross left his beach house and his chica to help with an insurance scam, and he ended up in Angola. The prison is unforgiving -- he has to do hard labor as part of a chain gang, and the Sicilian gang inside puts out a contract on him. After a cop tries to kill him, he needs to form an escape plan. Step 1: Befriend the man who is spending time with the prison Captain's wife. Step 2: Scoop out someone's eyes. (It's not the most straightforward of plans.)   -   I've enjoyed Brüno's art in two graphic novels, Nemo (a beautiful adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and a western titled Junk (still only available in French, I think). His drawings always look a  bit more cartoony than gritty, but it's amazing to see the way he makes it work in this noir crime story. His style reminded me of when Darwyn Cooke's adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker books, plus Tyler Cross is the same kind of lives-by-a-code bad guy as Parker.  

[hcavensarrow]

Fabien as a Salve-Maker?

drawing muses as jrpg classes | accepting!

if i’ve learned anything in my experiences of playing jrpgs, it’s that having the alchemist / baker / salve maker class on your team makes you the world’s worst hoarder on the basis that “well shit, I might need all of these useless items later”. good luck carrying that giant fucking backpack, fabien.