#The Graveyard book Fan Art

[schoolbusgraveyardblog]

My favourite webtoon:))

#school #school bus graveyard #school bus safety #comic art #comics #comic books #original comic #web comic #fan comic #ashlyn harris #webtoon #grey #phantom ghoul

[tsyvia48]

Author & Mensch: Reflections on the impact of @neil-gaiman on my life, in essay and doodle

As a woman of a certain age, I am a well-practiced overthinker. Nerd, geek, know-it-all, intellectual, the names have been biting or praise depending on who wielded them. They’re all true, and I embrace them. 

In the early days of adulthood, when I was a wee 20-something overthinking nerd, geek, know-it-all, intellectual (20+ years ago), I became deeply interested in image and text and text-as-image. While friends were watching and arguing over Survivor, I was obsessing over Peter Greenaway’s The Pillowbook and Prospero's Books and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. (To this day my copies of the Sandman graphic novels and the English translation of The Pillowbook of Sei Shonagon are proudly displayed on the good bookshelves—you know, the ones I want people to peruse.)

Sandman isn't merely good storytelling and good art, it teases at some of the fundamental questions to which my religion-major heart was consistently and reliably drawn. It modeled a way of rendering the questions—and suggested answers—I would never have imagined on my own.

In those days, I created an artist's book: an altered gift edition of Hamlet. I explored Ophelia’s femininity and the inevitability of her break with her mental health, caught as she is between Hamlet and her father. I imagined her story if she’d had true agency. I investigated the way art (fan art?!) had shaped my understanding of the play and my relationship to it. I layered in my story—my resonance and dissonance with hers—and my art, along with images of famous and not-so-famous paintings of Ophelia. I proudly named Greenaway and Gaiman as influences. 

I imagined myself an artist. And, truthfully, I suppose I was one. 

I read Good Omens back then, too, delighting over the religious tropes and subversions, the humor, and the fundamental faith in humanity that shone through. 

In the two decades since then, below the din of “responsible” choices (that have mostly moved me away from imagining myself an artist) there has been a melody quietly bringing me comfort, shifting my perspective, and reminding me who I want to be. When I stop to listen for and name the music, I realize much of it generates from Neil Gaiman. 

The Graveyard Book gave me comfort and hope as a new parent. 

Ocean at the End of the Lane reminded me of the layers and the depths⏤the archetypes and metaphors⏤present in everything around me, if I am willing to seek them.

Neil’s anecdote about meeting Neil Armstrong has been a talisman against imposter syndrome. Or, more precisely, it has been a permission slip for forgiving myself when the imposter syndrome inevitably surfaces.

The episode of Dr Who he wrote (“the Doctor’s Wife”) changed the way I understand the entire Dr Who experience before and since. 

Lucifer (tv), which his work inspired, gave me joy, comfort and distraction through a tough time in my life. 

When, a few years ago, I realized he is Jewish, I had that swelling of pride and resonance that I always get when someone I admire shares that identity with me.

And now there’s the Good Omens tv series. It has opened something in me I didn’t realize was closed. Crowley and Aziraphale are helping me better understand myself, and love, and gender, and storytelling, and, believe it or not, Torah. I am writing again for the first time in ages. I'm drawing more often and with more joy than I’ve known maybe since childhood.

I’ve been getting back into my gratidoodle practice, drawing and writing what I’m grateful for. And when I decided to add Neil Gaiman’s face and some words about my appreciation for his work to my sketchbook, I realized he’s brought me full circle.

Text and image and text-as-image + Neil Gaiman + story is an old constellation for me. And once again, I find my thoughts dancing, shifting, blossoming to the quiet melody of (one of?) the greatest storyteller(s) of this generation. 

And now that I am actively engaging with other Gaiman fans, I see how responsive and kind and encouraging he is to those of us who love his work, and his name is permanently etched on my heart: a benefactor, a teacher, a role model.

How satisfying and fitting that such a powerful and resonant voice, miraculously, thankfully, beautifully, also seems to be a genuine mensch. 

B”H (thanks to God) that I am alive at the same time as such a one.

#I didn't realize I was going to write AND draw when I started this #but I felt I needed both #I wish I had a flatbed scanner #this photo doesn't do it justice #there's greater nuance in the color in person #Stories matter #Art matters #like, really matters #Neil Gaiman is a gift to this world #Good Omens #Crowley and Aziraphale #Ocean at the End of the Lane #The Graveyard Book #Neil Armstrong and imposter syndrome #The Doctor's Wife #So grateful for tumblr

#crowley x aziraphale #good omens #neil gaiman #david tennant #michael sheen #ineffable husbands #jewish good omens #aziracrow #jumblr #my art #ocean at the end of the lane #the graveyard book #the doctor's wife

[neil-gaiman]

Hello mister Gaiman,

I understand that you will probably never see this ask, as you are a very famous writer-type and I am one random tumblr user, but I might as well send it over.

I'm a very big fan of many of your works, and my very favorite would have to be The Graveyard Book. My parents bought me the graphic novel adaptation when I was little and it inspired my art and writing. When I was little, I assumed that you were working with the artists as they made the book so it would be the best adaptation possible. Now that I've become more aware of how publishing can work, I'm doubting that.

So my question is, how involved were you with creating The Graveyard Book graphic novel, if at all? Did you work with the writers or did the publishing house just have you sign a contract and hand it off to the artists?

Thank you for your time.

I picked P. Craig Russell, whom I'd worked with on Sandman and several other projects since then, and who had adapted Coraline, and whose work I had loved since I was 15 when he was drawing Killraven, to do the overall adaptation. Craig broke it down into his script (which is page breakdowns) and we went out to the various artists in the book to draw the finished stories. I was watching and signing off every step of the way, but there was very little to do because Craig is so brilliant.

[damiengravehill]

I AM MASSIVE GRAVEYARD BOOK FAN!!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR GORGEOUS ART!!!!!!!

Thank you, I appreciate it! I plan to post more art about it soon 🥀

#the graveyard book #neil gaiman #oc #original character #my art #illustration #doodle #sketch

[kuwdora]

The Locked Tomb Fanvid Recs

I have a few fanvid recs for you @sargassostories! Fanvids for book fandoms are incredibly special because the starting point is different than when you already have video to start with. The creativity of book fandom vids knows no bounds.

💀 💀 💀 💀

Graveyard Girlfriend by livrelibre. 2:26. This vid uses video footage of book reviewers and cosplayers! It’s so fucking delightful and the song choice is reallly on point. It's a lot of fun.

Necromancin’ Dancin’ by livrelibre. 3:55. I have been in love with this song forever and thought it would fantastic for these books and livrelibre went and did it! This vid is a collection amazing fan art and animatic of TLT and is really grooving with the beat.

Harrow the Ninth by resurrecho. 3:34. This is a fake trailer for the first book, using Kristen Stewart’s film Underwater as a grounding piece, but it also includes some Gregorian chanty music for Extra Vibe Effect, plus some other KStew films to build out some other character elements from the book.

barbie world by absternr. 0:50. This is about Alecto. I laughed so hard I was crying. Nothing I can say will fully prepare you. 🐄

#i haven't done a deep dive for animatics on youtube or tumblr in awhile so i know there's gotta be more out there #om nom nom vids #kuwdora recs #vid rec #tlt #the locked tomb #harrow the ninth #gideon the ninth #harrowhawk nonagesimus #alecto tlt

[thesims3help]

Sims 3 - Gameplay enhancing mods: In-game fixes, Store item fixes, No More and other mods - Part 2.

Continuation of our category-based mod post. Mods and links previously featured in our Masterlist. All credits to their rightful owners.

Categories include small mods fixing in-game issues, Store items fixes, No More autonomous actions and mods that don't fit previous categories. Previous post here.

Fixes:

Plumbot Fixes Mod

Fix: Guitar needs less Space for playing

Fix: Bass needs less Space for playing

Potions (Alchemy) fit everywhere

Potions (Chemistry Lab) fit everywhere

Non Walkable Fences Basegame

Fix for wall with crown and baseboard moulding and trimmed border

Fixes for Three EA Wall Sets from the Base Game and Ambitions

Fix for the Normalmaps on Horizontal Timbered Wall SET

Horizontal Clapboard - Fixed

Wall fixes + one new wall

Sims 3 Hidden Stencils Unlocked + Fixed!

LN Celeb Fridge Texture Fix

University Life Alpha Omega Door Fix

Alchemy Fix: No more invasion of the spawners

Missing/Empty Book Title Fix

Crossed-Out Trait Thumbnail Fixes

Laser Rhythm-a-con Star Challenge Fix 1.0

Infinite Laundry Buffs Fix

Throw a Great Party Dreams Fix

No Relationship Decrease from Performance

Toddler Age-up Grammar Fix

Chemistry Lab Outfit Fix

Brass beds mask fix

SHT: Simply Stylish Wall -Fence Fixed!

Generations Wall Shelf Slot "Fix"

PermaWood Stairs Fix

Mags' Door - FIX

Ceci n'est pas white - Window Fixes

WA 'Shuttered Window - Open' - FIX

WA French Mailbox Buyable plus FIX

Scarab Rejuvenation Bed - FIX

Crowning Glory Window - FIX

Late Night Plant Fix

Late Night Camera Fix

More Efficient Upgrade Name Fix

The Working Sim's Bed - Minor bug fix 5.4.2014

Floor Fix - Short, Medium-Length Planks with Pegs

Fences - No Posts

KP's Watermelon Romper Fix - Updated

Hardcore Fence Unlocked

Haute Hacienda Fireplace Fixes

Fishing Box/Chest Fix (2 versions)

Ghosts Leaving Lot Fix, Graveyard and Other

Store Item Fixes:

Wonderfully Woven Hanging Chair Fix

Now & Then Manor Curved Staircase FIXED!

Amour Perfume Moodlet Typo Fix

Uber Sani-Sim Toilet *FIXED*

Spell Book Tweaks, with multiple flavors

Ultra Lounge unCAStables made CAStable

Hewnsman unCAStables made CAStable

Door and Window Fix

Store Fixes: Route Fail

Lucky Palms Window Fix

Vineyard Vittles Dining Table Fix

Banquett Fan Routing Fix

Tree of Prosperity - Pixies and Fireflies light Show Spawn Fix

No More Autonomous:

Sauna mods: no autonomous bath and no life extending after

No Autonomous Smustle Dance + No Smustle Dance Mods

No autonomy cat, horse and dog mods. Along with no booby traps.

No More Fire

No Uneven Cooking

No or less cold showers

No More "Tastes Like Fridge" Moodlet

ClaudiaSharon's Simblr: No more free vacations, a new mod (tumblr.com)

No Autonomous Build Igloo/SnowMan/SnowAngel

Stop Viewing Objects, Except in the Art Gallery

Other mods:

Name Randomizers

Simport Rewards Unlocked

Safe and Fun Bonfires

No_Mascot_CameraZoom

No_TimePortal_CameraZoom

Quiet Doors

Invisible Parking Space

Newspaper & Mail Mods (Compatible with Patch 1.63-1.67)

Jenesis' All Buyable Fish/Books/Fruits Mods (Compatible with Patch 1.63-1.67)

Welcome Wagon Mods "None/Less/More" (Compatible with Patch 1.63-1.67)

Bed Mods: [Never Oversleep] & [Always Make Bed]

Simstopics Higher Meteor Chances

Simstopics Mail Comes Different Days

ClaudiaSharon's Simblr: Buy and Sell Imaginary Friends! (tumblr.com)

New dance routines

#the sims 3 #sims 3 #sims 3 mods #ts3 mods #post 9

[greypetrel]

🙤 Enjoyable Things 🙧Rules: List five things you enjoy and pass it along!

Tagged by @shivunin and @demandthedoodles, thank you very much!! (I am an indecisive ass so limiting myself to five is... a struggle) (also am I the only one that started singing Favourite Things from Sound of Music...?)

Food. I know it will sound stereotypical as an Italian, but eating something I like gives me so much joy. I love eating and quite like cooking, even if I'm lazy. I am a vegetarian with a lactose intolerance, so I end up eating vegan most often, and I'm currently having lots of fun in trying indian recipes which are naturally vegan (or easily so substituting ghee/butter with oil)! This Baingan Bharta recipe by cooking with Manali is something that always gives me so much joy, paired with some jeera pulao!

The sea/going swimming. I don't live close to the sea unfortunately, but I spent quite a lot of time in my youth. I can dive (used to reach 10m with no oxygen back then, now I'm terribly out of shape) and I LOVE snorkeling and seeing the fishes, and when I'll be rich I'll go diving in a cage to see some sharks from up close. All marine life gives me so much joy (the jellyfishes are so pretty! From a distance).

Medieval and Contemporary History. In case you were wondering, I love history and knowing more about it, but I'm very selective when it comes to remember it. The Middle Ages and the first half of the XX century (up until the Moon landing) are my favourite periods. Oh and also Ancient Greece. LOVE Ancient Greece (with all its flaws). I love love LOVE museums. And strolling around Medieval buildings is just!!! AAAAH! The older the better, I LOVE gothic cathedrals, and those old castles! And Oooooh I'm not the biggest graveyard fan but Irish graveyards? I'd be there sketching every day, I visited some when I was there and they were so peaceful. I love trying to read the inscriptions, and they lack the baroque kitsch that I never like. (Ireland is another thing that gives me joy, I wasn't there for enough but every time it was just... Bring me back please)

Sketchbooks. I am a art supplies hoarder, but sketchbooks are the one thing I like the most. I don't go outside without one in my purse, the fact that you have a book to be filled with what you want is just HHHHHHHHHHH so nice, it gives me so much joy. I tend to be a perfectionist, but I'm slowly trying to get rid of it and just... Do it for sketches, who cares if they're ugly.

I love to glimpse of personality in art. For both books and paintings, sculptures, movies, comics... I just love when you look at some form of art and realise the little quirks, what the author didn't like to do, or what they just love. Tolkien going on for two pages to list plants in the Ithilien because he just loved greeneries. Pushkin being overly enthusiastic about feet (Pushkin was the biggest feet fetishist... And you can't hate it for it because the way he uses words...! AAAW.). Michelangelo that was perfect but couldn't bother to paint or sculpt women because he never saw a pair of boobs in his life. It's not highlighting mistakes, it's just... I think it makes authors human, and that much closer to us. What I don't miss about the academic field is this aura of sacrality about classic authors that's... Boring. I just love to spot these little things and remind myself that big ass authors/painter/artists were just humans like you and me, with all their flaws and all the things they didn't really know how to do... but did anyway. You don't need to be perfect if MICHELANGELO can allow mistakes, no?

One more: anything Tolkien. There's just something so soothing about his writing and the way he shapes stories. I know the Silmarillion is heavy but... Consider reading his shorter books. Tree and Leaf is something that always moves me to tears, and please please do yourself a favour and read his children literature. "Roverandom" is a tale he invented for his son Christopher, to soothe him when he lost his favourite toy at the beach. He invented the story of that toy, a dog, to explain to the child that oh no don't worry your toy dog, Rover, was actually a real dog turned into a toy by a wizard, he didn't get lost, he just got home! He loved you very much but he had to return a real dog you see! You helped him find his way back!

... sorry I had to include another, hope you don't mind. :P

And HELLO new followers I'm Arja and when they distributed synthetical abilities I was trying to pet a doggo.

(also doggos gives me so much joy. If the day is grey and a doggo by the street sniffs my hand and lick me or let me pet them, the day is instantly saved.)

Tagging: @salsedine @coloricioso @heniareth @melisusthewee @rowanisawriter @zenstrike @eowyn7023 (hi!) @rosella-writes @scribbledquillz @herearedragons @idolsgf

And YOU!

#personal crap #enjoyable things #raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens 🎶

[gojosusedthong]

♱ Au/Character/Relationship Trope suggestions but they get more specific ♱ :

「 ✰ Red is my personal fav :- 」

Cocky Boxer x mature trainer

Tired sheriff x criminal who loves the chase

flower shop x tattoo shop

Dumb x dumber

Chubby (insecure about it) x finds it sexy

Hates touch x extreme ocd

Farmer x curious city boy

Too sober x too drunk

Reincarnated dude x lover from past life

Hot electrician x stay at home husband

Tall shy x small big daddy energy

Sylvia Plath girl x Albert Camus guy

Art school student x cocky engineering student

Rich modern artist x renaissance dick rider who hates them

Overly explains the history of ancient artifacts x "I know"

Sir you're not allowed to dress in a chicken mascot here x doesn't stop

Makes literature/book references x the only one who understands them

Avoids paying for meals in restaurants in creative ways x doesn't fall for any of their tricks

Breathes x JSVDJEJWMWNSN

Emo artist x bubbly scientist

Baker x single dad with 2 daughters

Arrogant celebrity x fan who pretends to not care about them (they're losing their mind)

Talkative coffee shop barista x grumpy insomniac who only drinks black coffee

Obnoxious x tolerant

Museum lover x hates museum

Poor asf x has money to burn

Electric guitarist x amateur guitarist

Bulky patient plumber x clumsy himbo

People only like them for their looks x blind

stalker x worse stalker who stalks the stalker

Apologist x why are you apologizing?

Angry villain asking 'who did this?' x hero who's severely injured by another villain

Bad first impression x doesn't let them forget about it

Rude asf x apologizes for them

Depressed x depressed but intellectually dramatic about it (reads Kafka)

Flirty x wants nothing to do with them but falls twice as hard at the end

Author who hangs out at graveyards x a really concerned passerby

lost man x letting lost man sleep in his house

Immortal x a really confused Grim Reaper

Prince who can't sleep x musician who can make them sleepy

Receptionist x highly annoying store repeater

Loves pottery x asks them to help with pottery

Underrated singer x is their Top listener

Librarian x guy who can't read but stays in the library anyway

Overworked student x student who always sleep but scores higher

Friendly gardener x cold businessman but has a soft spot for them

Visits abandoned buildings x coward (they're build like a tank)

"Wait...so you're not a girl?" x "I get that a lot"

Elementary school teacher x accountant who dislikes children (says they're annoying)

Demon who always visits earth x angel who has to drag them back to hell

world renown chef x harsh food critic who dislikes everything the chef cooks (the chef is determined to change this)

Hopeless romantic deity x the most stinky lazy bum to ever exist (the deity adores them)

Overly worried about what others think x fuck it we only live once + do it for the plot

'so there's this book I've been reading...' x 'tell me all about it'

Attention seeker x obsessed with fictional characters (attention seeker is jealous of this)

Loud neighbor hosting parties every week x annoyed neighbor crashing their parties in the most weird ways possible

Spoiled emperor who manipulates everyone with his power to intimidate them x too dense to understand threats

Lazy bum like a koala x nags a lot but finds them endearing

I can't shut up x the only one who can make them willingly shut up with just a glare

"At least I'm being brave about it" x "whatever you say"

Fakes headaches and always sleeps in the school infirmary x class monitor who won't let this slide

Fakes being perfect (really insecure) x knows the secret that they try to hide (they make a deal)

Popular as the Mr. Nice guy (actually two-faced and gets mad easily) x discovers their secret side and confronts them about it (Mr. Nice guy begs them to keep it a secret)

Beyond beautiful model x nerdy photographer

Scary on the outside (actually really soft) x nice on the outside (the one you should actually be scared about)

Soft spoken yoga instructor x easily flustered gym bro

Desperate Journalist x celebrity who loves pranks and disguises

Doctor in a small town x the same patient who keeps getting into trouble

"This particular detail symbolizes the emptiness residing within the frail human mind and the bleak nature of their demise. What do you think?" x "That's a triangle"

Small Streamer x CEO who watches their live streams and donates a lot

Ex-professional wrestler x idiot who challenges anyone to a fist fight at waffle house

Always arguing for some reason x tries to be nice but snaps and argues twice as much (they make out to make up)

Loves sweets x hates them but has a collection of sweets in case they want it

Childhood friend who remembers everything x pretends to not know them but has a deep crush

Dimension traveller who tries to change their lovers fate x their lover that is destined to die during Christmas Eve in every alternate universe

Rock collector x son of a billionaire who would shamelessly pick up rocks from random places to give it to them and gets articles written about his weird behavior

Coworker with no vehicle x coworker with a cool bike and is willing to give them a ride

Goes to the cinema every night, every day to watch horror movies x watches the same movie as they do every night and thinks they're a stalker (the other thinks they're a stalker too but they get along and discuss the movies they watch)

Do what you will with these ideas

🂱 If you write a fic inspired by them pls tell me the title on Ao3 or Wattpad so I could read it 🂱

#tropes #writing inspiration #alternate universe #fiction writing #writing characters #on writing #story tropes #relationship tropes

[jubilentj]

Okay so I saw the meta post regarding the Metatron, the book of life, and the looping reality. I unfortunately can't find it again quick enough to add this to the post.

Edit: I found it! And added it to the top.

It's not the first post like it and it won't be the last. I admit I'm not the biggest fan of it but it does make good points and is quite convincing except in one regard where it always rubs me the wrong way.

Maggie.

There's a lot of speculation that she isn't real or that she's the Metatrons puppet but I don't believe that to be the case for a couple of reasons.

Number 1 was pointed out by someone on Twitter. The birds on her sweaters are Swallows which have the symbolism of free will.

Number 2 is the spelling mistake. I honestly believe anytime we see a spelling mistake it's actually a show of free will. Muriel said something interesting. That angels don't make mistakes. That to error is to be human.

The first Angels to make mistakes were cast out as Demons and if Satan wasn't trying so hard to emulate God then I believe we would be seeing a very different Hell. But this is a whole tangent on its own.

Back on the subject. In the meta post(s) it also points out the spelling mistake on the wannabe thug in the graveyard. Alluding to them being written in by the Metatron but that doesn't make sense to me. Why would it write in some wannabe thugs and allow Aziraphale to make this phone call to Crowley? Especially if the end goal is to separate them. I would think eliminating moments where Aziraphale and Crowley communicate would be the goal.

Which brings me to my next point. If there's anything that isn't real or is a construct made by the Metatron it's Nina's partner Lindsey. They're just like Heaven and the Book of Life. A constant looming threat in the background. The moment under the awning, that was working, would have been the moment Nina realized that Lindsey has no control over them or figured out that they aren't real. Until the awning broke and they couldn't finish their moment.

Another reason I think Nina is the one being controlled is when Nina and Maggie first interact, Nina recognizes Maggie not as skinny latte but as the record shop owner. It is not until after Gabriel shows up at Aziraphale's shop does she only remember her as skinny latte.

I believe Gabriel was bringing the Book of Life to Aziraphale so that Armageddon part 2 won't happen. What better Angel than the one that thwarted part 1 right? But the box was left outside. And if there's any substance to the theory then the moment the Metatron got its clutches on the book, it was that moment.

Wow, this is longer than I expected. 😅 If you made it through this whole thing thank you for reading.

Edit: I thought of more. There's also the ball. Nina is the only human not affected by it. And why is that? Because she's already being influenced by an Angel

#good Omens meta #good omens #good omens 2 #maggie #good omens spoilers #the Metatron #maggie good omens #nina good omens

[yourlakebed]

a couple days ago I sent a letter here on tumblr to @neil-gaiman , to which he did not respond (fair enough, he was probably on strike that day from what I've seen on social media, and he also has so many asks per day that I'm honestly amazed how he manages to live his life answering so many of them). but i decided that i want to leave it here anyway. because it came out much more personal than I originally intended and I'd like to have it as a reminder to myself about these part of my life and this version of me.

so the letter goes like this:

hi, mr Gaiman!

I sincerely hope you're having a good day. I'll try to be brief, which is barely possible as I have so much to say.

first of all, I cannot put into words how thankful I am for all your work and especially for what you've done to good omens. throughout the history of tv we were queerbaited and gaslighted to the point where it was even hard to believe that what I'm seeing on the screen had actually happened, and had actually appeared on other people's screens (and I know for sure that lots of people in this fandom share this feelings of mine about season 2). and it's not only about the queerness, but the depth of the story itself. i would very much like to go into all the details about the way your art influenced me on a deep, profound level and helped me realise and accept some very vital aspects of my personality (I was in agony for two months, thank you 🖤).

secondly, I want to thank you on behalf of all your Ukrainian fans. I remember the first months of russian invasion, when was forced to move to Germany, and suddenly found myself completely isolated from everything i knew. it felt like Death, like I was practically separated from Life. so I clung to any type of mental support from the creators I new and loved before. lots of them broke my heart.. and then there were you with all your posts about our situation and encouragement of people to do everything in their power, and your participation in Lviv Book Forum with Noah Harari, and your post here about that one old Ukrainian church (yep, I remember everything!). that meant the world to me and still does.

it was summer and "Sandman". and then it was autumn, and I found myself still in Germany, still completely alone and isolated on a bench in a park reading "The Graveyard Book". and then "Good Omens". I practically used the second season to survive the august, and in the end it helped me to make one of the hardest decisions in my life. now I'm home, in Ukraine again. right now when I was writing this the air alarm went on, but I am happier than i ever had been in this past two years.

i know the chances that you'll see this are very low. but i needed to get this out of my chest and let you know how grateful I am.

and the last one - i finally got my physical copy of Good Omens, and decided to customise it myself. mostly to make the soft cover harder, but also to make it pretty✨️

thank you, mr Gaiman, for everything.

#look how i customised my good omens book! #good omens #neil gaiman #ukraine #i have no idea how to tag this #aziraphale #crowley #aziracrow #david tennant #michael sheen #aziraphale & crowley #my thoughts #my art

[callmeblake]

Neil Sabatino (Pencey Prep) Interview

Feb 17, 2021

Neil Sabatino, former guitarist in Pencey Prep, lead singer of Fairmont, and founder of Mint400 Records, was gracious enough to listen to our Pencey Prep episode and answer any and all questions we had! He was able to tell us some incredible anecdotes from his time in the band, from the recording process to his thoughts on the record today.

My Chemical Fancast: Can you tell us your story of how you ended up in Pencey?  

Neil Sabatino: So I was in a punk band that played a lot with Frank's band Sector 12, he knew me for a couple years because I would book his band on shows and I always was the business person for my band band at the time. He heard I left that band and gave me a call to see if I wanted to join Pencey Prep like a month or two after he had started it. I was friends with Frank and his bandmate in Sector 12 Bruno so I was happy to join because at the time I was not in a band.

This episode (of podcast This Was The Scene) covers when I left the band in August 2001 to start the band Fairmont. It’s a little long but it’s basically the catalyst that lead to the band ending. I was in the band from summer 2000 through summer 2001. By that time we had written all of Heartbreak In Stereo, we had also started work on the second Pencey Prep album, which would have had the songs Home, Heroin Slow, Rebuilding Home, and Lock On The Second Floor Door. The second two I just ended up making different versions of and putting them on Fairmont’s first album. Once I left the band had been itching to be a little bit heavier so they wrote Attention Reader, Death of The Lionheart and a few others within the 9 months before they officially broke up. What led to the actual final shows was Tim was having knee problems and could not tour or play drums for extended periods of time. Frank had also been playing in My Chemical Romance for months by that point and Hambone was asked to join Sleep Station so it just made sense to call it quits then. Frank, Hambone and Shaun also did a short lived Pencey reunion as I Am A Graveyard with Ray Toro on guitar and Frank just sang. I believe that was only for a few shows or one show because MCR had started to take off and they were the opener for at least one MCR show in NJ at club Krome. Hambone and Shaun played together a little in a band that later formed called The Hostage a few years later. Then Hambone joined Fairmont for 2 albums (Hell Is Other People and Wait & Hope). After that Hambone joined Frank for some touring with Leathermouth. That’s been the extent of collaborations.

MCF: How did you decide on the cover art for the album?

NS: We actually had this really great painting of a robot that was supposed to be the cover, it was a piece I made that was hanging in my kitchen but the owner of Eyeball thought it looked too close to The Get Up Kids album that had come out a year earlier and told us to come up with something different. I think I brought like 4 or 5 drawings to Frank and he picked the one he liked best. I definitely did it rather quickly and didn’t give much thought to it. We basically only had a few days to figure the situation out.

MCF: There's some confusion among fans regarding who wrote which lyrics. Would you be able to shed light on who crafted the lyrics and/or what that writing process was like?

NS: The very first songs that were Pencey Prep songs were 8th Grade and The Secret Goldfish. Those were kind of stripped down and really raw on the original demo which was called “Trying To Escape The Inevitable” (We liked that name, hence using it later on as a song title). The original demo has no lead guitar parts and the whole ending of Secret Goldfish didn’t come about until later when I joined. Those two were written by Frank as Sector 12 was ending. That first version of Secret Goldfish had Bruno Rocha from Sector 12 singing on it because originally Frank didn’t really want to sing.

Next we did 2 songs in the studio after we had been together for about 4 months, which were Yesterday and Lloyd Dobbler. Yesterday was just a 2 chord punk song before we started working on it as a band but that also was all Frank. Lloyd Dobbler was written by Hambone but he couldn’t really play it well so on the album I played all the guitars on it and Shaun just added some piano. I would say all the piano was written 50% by me and 50% by Frank which is why occasionally it overlaps and plays the same things as the guitar does on the album.

The first tracks I brought to the band were Ten Rings and 19, which I co-wrote the lyrics with Frank. Usually I would come up with the chorus or pre-chorus and he would flesh out the verses. Early versions of Ten Rings were weird. 19 spawned from the piano part which I wrote at a practice and it’s mostly lyrics about a break up I was going through at the time. Ten Rings was more about Frank’s situation with an ex that cheated on him but was still keeping tabs on him. I think we both fictionalized parts of each song to make them better.

Don Quixote, PS Don’t Write and Florida Plates were three of the Hambone songs that he wrote when he was younger but they were completely restructured music wise as he wrote them originally just on an acoustic guitar and we now had a five piece band playing them. I know Frank and I consciously wanted to have that At The Drive In playing back forth lead type thing going on with the guitars.

The last songs we finished were all musically written by me: Trying To Escape The Inevitable, Home, Heroin Slow, but Trying to Escape was Hambones lyrics about a situation a friend of his was in and yes that’s Hambone doing the talking part. Heroin Slow was all Frank’s lyrics, we used to jokingly tell him it sounded like he was saying Carl Winslow (From the show Family Matters)  in the chorus. Then Home was again Frank’s verses and my chorus lyrics. But let me tell you, I believe that is the most personal song he has ever written, if you knew his whole situation that song was his story at 19. We had two other very complete songs that never got recorded. One had no title but was heavy like Trying To Escape The Inevitable and the other was called Lock On The Second Floor Door and was the 3rd song I was singing with Pencey in addition to Fat & Alone and Rebuilding Home. We had 2 other songs that got thrown away much earlier that didn’t fit with the rest of the set but that was about all we wrote in that first year.

MCF: Who recorded the spoken part in "Trying to Escape the Inevitable?”

NS: That was Hambone. John Naclerio who owned the recording studio did the backing on Secret Goldfish. Bruno Rocha from Sector 12 who was in Pencey for a few months is the backing on Yesterday.

I am the backing vocal on the chorus of 19 and I sing Fat & Alone, Frank is the backing vocal on Fat & Alone, yes the high parts too. The Cartman impression at the end is Tim the drummer. At the top of the song the “Fat & Alone” that you guys say sounds Canadian or something is me - my wife is from Minnesota so I kind of have that Norweigan twang sometimes. The guy talking that says 5/29/01 take 1 is Antonio Valenti who owned the studio where we did Fat & Alone, Heroin Slow, Home, Rebuilding Home and Secret Goldfish Acoustic.

MCF: Were there any bands or albums that served as a main source of inspiration for Heartbreak?

NS: We seriously had like 10 records on repeat for every single drive and they were:

The Get Up Kids – Something To Write Home About At The Drive In – Relationship Of Command

Saves The Day – Stay What You Are

System Of A Down – Toxicity

Dashboard Confessional – Swiss Army Romance

Hot Rod Circuit- If I Knew What I knew Then

The Anniversary – Designing A Nervous Breakdown

Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American

Weezer – Pinkerton

The Get Up Kids – Seven Minute Mile

We listened to other stuff but these discs were constantly played for every drive to anywhere and on like 10 mixtapes that made the circles around the band. I was into slightly more indie and older stuff like The Pixies. Hambone loved The Replacements, Husker Du and The Misfits but Frank usually vetoed that stuff and I think even threw Hambone’s Misfits CD out of the van on the one tour. Tim loved metal so we would put in the System of A Down CD to appease him and Shaun always liked the more obscure emo stuff like Knapsack, Mineral and Jimmy Eat World (who were obscure then).  That list above though was what we all agreed on and that was mostly what Frank was listening to aside from punk stuff like Bouncing Souls, Screeching Weasel, etc.

MCF: Can you tell us about your songwriting process/thoughts behind the masterpiece, “Fat and Alone?” How did this gem come to be?

NS: I think Shaun and Frank were chanting Fat & Alone and it was a directed insult at someone and I just thought the phrase was funny and I was dabbling in singing my first couple of songs at the time and it just kind of happened. We definitely thought it was funny and pretty catchy. We also loved the idea of a hidden track. However fast forward 20 years and it’s kind of insensitive and immature and the guys wanted to leave it off of the album going forward. Which, if it was perceived as an insult towards anyone, I am on board with it not being out there. You can find it if you really want to on Youtube. When I personally sat down to write it, it was actually more me thinking of how I was a fat little teenager and was more self-deprecating, but I was pretty thin when I was in Pencey so who was going to believe me? For any big boned people who take it on as an anthem, I’m right there with you, it was written by a fat kid for fat kids. I have been on a diet since 1997 so that I can stay an average weight.

MCF: Can you talk about your experience recording this album, from the basement to the studio?

NS: Well, we did it in pieces basically. When we first started we knew we were working towards creating this album “Heartbreak In Stereo”. I don’t even know how we came up with that name, it’s like it just appeared to us and we were looking to make 10 songs that reflected North NJ teenage heartbreak in the year 2000.  We were all miserable single dudes who played music non-stop. We had like 7 hour practice sessions and really got so much better in a short period of time. By December 2000 we had played about 5 shows and thought Yesterday was the most ready to record and that Lloyd Dobbler would be an easy just throw it in there if we have time type track.

That initial 2 song demo was what we pitched to get signed but we basically told them, with or without you we are making this 10 song record. Originally we were supposed to be on Frank’s dad’s label Black Ball Music (He worked there, didn’t own it), which was in California, but we were too impatient to wait to see if they were going to fund it and we moved on. This is why a lot of the early promo stuff says Black Ball Music on it. In May we went to a local studio to do the demos of the stuff we knew would not be part of the album but we wanted to get them on tape, that was Heroin Slow, Home, Rebuilding Home, Fat & Alone, and Secret Goldfish Acoustic. By June we decided we were finishing the album no matter what at the same studio we did the 2 song demo at (Nada Recording). We finished the other 8 songs rather quickly and thanks to Alan Douches at West West Side Mastering everything we had recorded, 15 songs all sound cohesive because of the job he did.

I have been in many bands over the years and I can tell you the work ethic and how we constructed that one record was very intricate and more well thought out than something usually associated with teenagers and some early 20 somethings. We really cared about every detail of the recording and the story and vibe and what the listener is going to take away from it.

MCF: Since we are an MCR podcast, what was your impression of My Chemical Romance in their early days?

NS: When I first heard “Vampires Will Never Hurt You” I was so damn mad that it wasn’t something I had come up with. At the time when those guys had first started I had been kicked out of Pencey Prep and hated the owner of Eyeball Records with every fiber of my being. But I think by 2003 Hambone called me to wish me happy birthday and I had also run into Frank at a show soon after that and we all put any hate behind us (not for Eyeball though, I still hate that fucking creep). I was really happy for Frank, I had known him since he was 17. I knew Mikey because he hung around with Pencey when I was in the band and the other guys were super nice.

I met everyone at Hambone’s house at a Thanksgiving thing early on right as they were about to get signed or were signed. I got to open up for them at the Loop Lounge, they played acoustic at like 2am. They also had let my band hang out back stage at a show in like 2005. Every time I ever ran into any of those guys they were always so nice and whenever I read something like how the band did something pro-LGBQT, pro-feminist, anti-racist it made me proud of the fact there is some small connection from my band to their band through Pencey Prep.

When they first started I remember hearing Headfirst For Halos on the college radio station and I really understood what kids saw in them. They had this really raw hyperactivity about them and in their music that was quite viral. The thing was at that time most of Jersey was just punk and power pop, they were different because they were taking like the cool goth elements of The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and punk-ifying it.

MCF: What's one (or two) of your favorite memories from your time in the band?

NS: When I first joined the band all of us were single. We would play in Frank’s basement until his Mom made us leave, like it got past the 9pm curfew and we’d head over to this basketball court that the band referred to as Boystown and we’d play a game or two and then head to the North Arlington diner. The end of summer 2000 and that same routine for a few weeks is what Heartbreak In Stereo is all about. The core essence of the album was formulated all in that few weeks.

MCF: You’ve continued to play in bands and work in the industry. With that experience under your belt, how do you feel about the record now so many years later?

NS: I still think it’s a fun record. I couldn’t write that record without having been in that place and time with those guys. When you are in a band it’s total compromise of visions that everyone else has for what it should be. At the time I was dying to move on and do my own thing and I think the other guys too wanted to eventually branch out and do their own things without compromise. But looking back that experience and hearing it now, I get why people have latched onto it as kind of a cult record.

I think we weren’t idiots or anything, we said some things and had some ideas that were very poetically stated. I think that is why the whole Catcher In The Rye thing works so well for this release, it’s connection to a book about lost innocence and it’s a record about exactly that from three perspectives. From Frank the teenager who just had his heart ripped out by his first big love. Hambone’s quiet reflection on his younger years in songs like Florida Plates (which by the way is supposed to be about two kids with their parents on vacation who meet on the Jersey Shore) or Lloyd Dobbler which is specifically about getting friend zoned by that love that you are willing to stick around for even if it’s unrequited. And me, I was just dumped by my 2nd girlfriend, a love of my life and wrote from that perspective of nothing is ever going to work out whether you are a young or old. That record was one giant therapy session and seriously it’s so honest, genuine and heartfelt and that’s why people still listen to it. At least that’s what I hope.

MCF: How did you guys make the decision to re-release the record?

NS: If you listen to Casual Interactions I think Hambone made it clear he really wanted to have it out there again as it was one of the major things he contributed to in his music career. I think we just had this unwritten rule that we all had to agree if we were going to do anything with it for the future. Well it just kind of all finally worked out and we all agreed on how and when to get it all back out there.

MCF: Are you surprised at the response Pencey Prep still gets 20 years later?

NS: I do feel like the album does feel like that era, so I am surprised that people are still listening this much to it. But to me it also feels classic and it’s like opening up a photo album to summer of 2000. It’s nostalgia and with things like Spotify I’m glad a whole new generation gets to hear it and hop in that time machine with us.

MCF: What are you up to currently?

NS: Fairmont is the band I have been doing since the day I left Pencey Prep, 20 years this August. We have 11 albums, a bunch of EP’s and a bunch of compilation tracks. Pretty much the acoustic demos on the first Fairmont album were all in the running to be Pencey Prep songs, except the songs that are about Pencey Prep. We’re working on a Retrospective of the last 10 years for release later this year.

In 2007 I started Mint 400 Records to release Fairmont’s albums and it’s grown from there to over 370 releases and over 100 bands on our roster. That’s mostly what I focus on currently. I produce a bunch of the bands on the label, do album art and edit and direct videos, so the label keeps me busy.

My art is available on instagram @nsabatinoart and I’m available for hire for illustration and graphic design.

Aside from that I’m a special education Art and Graphic Design teacher with two daughters, a wife and dog.

© La Mantia & Potenza 2021

#my chemical fancast #2021 #frank iero #neil sabatino #pencey prep #february 2021

[cyberpilate]

True Stories from Comics Retail!

The year is... somewhere in the 2010s, I'm guessing. The place? Metro Entertainment, Santa Barbara's No. #1 Comics and Games store and here I am, working the register.

Now, please understand: the one thing I love more than anything in the world is recommending comics to people and, f I can allow myself a little sliver of pride, I think I'm pretty good at it. No complaints, yanno? There is literally nothing like showing a new fan or a new reader a comic book they never considered before and then BOOM - next week they're in for another one! I've made lifelong friends this way and it really warms up the soul.

So when this gorgeous woman, elegantly dressed and erudite, comes in and tells me that she just finished a class at UC Santa Barbara on comics and wanted to read more, I nearly vaulted over the counter to get her to our trade paperback shelves. She tells me she's read Sandman and my mind starts whirring with possibilities. We're looking for something with a high art quality, storytelling and myth, something dark and dreamy perhaps. I show her The Wicked + The Divine by Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillian and she shakes her head and says:

"No, I only read books by gay men."

This floors me. Wow! What a specific request! For the 2010s, mind you; it's not like I knew the personal love life of comic book authors at this time. Wracking my brain, I start to take her towards autobiographical comics, the only place I know where writers and artists had "come out of the closet", so to speak and she again says no.

"Books like Sandman!," she reinforces. So now I've practically blue screened thinking about who is a gay man in comics that writes dark fantasy?? I can't let her go with out a recommendation! She's so fancy! And she took a really rad course at UCSB and she wants to read them I can't gatekeep this young woman because *I* don't know enough about comics to know which gay men write dark fantasy-

-WAIT. Phil Jimenez! He was gay! And he was highly influential on Wonder Woman! (I just checked and no, the Omnibus hadn't come out by that time...) I think I have it!! Glowing with relief and pride, I take her over to the DC books and start explaining the mythological connections in Wonder Woman...

She interrupts me again. "No, books by <i>gay men</i>," she emphasizes.

That kinda puts me on the spot so I start to explain, "Well, Phil Jimenez is-"

"Like Sandman and the Graveyard Book, that author."

It hits me like a ton of bricks.

(Shout out to everyone who figured this out during the story - I am impressed by how incredibly smarter you are than like, 30 year old me)

"NEIL GUY-MAN," I say, totally pronouncing the man's name wrong to try and explain where I went wrong in this whole conversation. She does not agree with my pronunciation but I take her over to Murder Mysteries (when it was still in stock at Diamond, one of my most favorite short stories ever), the Sandman TPs, anything I can get my hands on. She does look them over, but doesn't want to buy anything and leaves me in my shame.

I guess I'm telling this story in hopes that Dark Horse puts Murder Mysteries back into print so I can sell the book to Good Omens fans and that maybe, just maybe, @neil-gaiman will forgive me for the butchering of his last name.

We can dream.

#murder mysteries #comic book shop #retail stories #neil gaiman #phil jimenez #wonder woman #the wicked + the divine

[arainmorn-art]

Do you like ciphers? I love a good hidden message and mysterious paintings, i really like how you set it up in deciphering, it's partially what drew me in to the comic, aside from your gorg art and funny&heartwrenching dialogue so. I was wondering if you liked mystery stories in general, what would be your favorite ones? Owo

Are you that mysterious person from DeviantArt who tried to decipher the canvas and Morse code sketches? If not, hi anyway! If yes, hello, dear!

The name of a last code type you asked about was really hard to track down because of some translation issue. I thought it was a cipher of the Knights of the Rose Croix, but Google was so confused it couldn't give me anything besides this next to the actual Rose Croix cipher, apparently.

And now I'm confused too, so let's make it easier and I'll show you the decoder. What is SPRC cipher Google doesn't know either.

And yes, I like ciphers, but before writing Deciphering I couldn't thought where I can use them. Now I know I can implement them into drawings x)

It's a little bit funny how I found out about ciphers outside of adventure and mystery movies. It may not look like this now, but in 2012-2014 I was pretty devoted fan of My Little Pony G4. I was 20 and went to Czech Republic to attend the pony convention Czequestria 2014. There was a quest, we split into teams and a part of it was to decipher little texts. It looked some gibberish and I couldn't thought what to do with it, until my teammate, a local guy Vojtech, took the paper sheet - and god damn recognised every type of coding was used. He was mumbling under his nose: "Ah, it's Caesar's one. Alright, rotate 4?.. No, it's rotate the alphabet 3 times". I was mesmerized. And you know what? We were the only team who finished this part and got the first place winning the quest - and all thanks to Vojtech! :)

Only a year after I've watched Gravity Falls - and still haven't figured that out how and where could I use ciphers.

And oh hell yeah, I love detective and mystery stories! As much as I love good romance stories, mysteries are my favourite genre. Isn't that the first reason a lot of us played Ace Attorney? It was mine for sure, besides being bored and wanting to play something silly. I didn't know ANYTHING about gay lawyers until I've launched the game last year.

What are my favourites, uf, that's a tough question.

I absolutely loved Endeavour TV series, watched 3 seasons in a row, and I should return to it. The main character is also so sweet, his large translucent blue eyes inspired me to paint Pheenie's eyes that way.

I also love The Silence of the lambs movie.

In terms of books I really love Alan Bradley's series about Flavia de Luce, the first part is called The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Flavia is a 12 years old genius chemist and the youngest daughter living in a manor with her father, two older sisters and several servants - and around her always happen murders. I like Flavia so much, I called my cat after her. She is so charming, funny and quick-witted, cynical and in love with chemistry, interested in poisons, graveyards, decomposition and, well, solving mysteries. It's really funny moments when adults are trying to hide her from corpses, but she leans in to investigate no matter what. She reminds me of Wednesday Addams, but still in a very fresh and entertaining way. I love a combination of sweet and jesus-fking-christ in one story, but it's mostly really sweet and wholesome. And, gosh, it's written so beautifully!

I also can recommend Daniel Pennac's La Saga Malaussene, first part is The Scapegoat. It might be not my favourite, but it is unforgettable experience for sure. The main character is an older brother of 10+ little siblings and the only adult, every one of his little ones are just a tiny bit magical, which makes the story a bit with magical realism. It also contains a combination of sweet and brutal, like Flavia, but here the contrast is even stronger. And the brutal murders, ouf, make the wholesomeness shine even brighter.

Woah, I feel like I should stop for now. Such topics make me really talkative, and I should go back to work. We can continue later, my inbox anywhere is open ;)

#ask #my post #detective #book recommendations #mystery

[allylikethecat]

Writing asks I came up with:

1. What got you into writing fanfic in the first place?

2. What boundaries would you not cross as a writer regarding content?

3. Has a fic ever made you cry? And if so, what was it about that fic?

4. How do you feel about abandoning fics?

5. Are there any novel authors you like that have influenced your writing style?

YAY!! Asks!! Thank you so much for coming up with these! Get exciting for me to ramble and overshare (but do you expect anything less?!)

What got you into writing fanfic in the first place?

I have been writing fanfic since before I was even old enough to know what it really was. I was always day dreaming and drawing pictures inserting my own characters into my favorite stories, or forcing my favorite characters into my own situations (my mother used to transcribe the adventures of various Disney princess for me lol) the first *real* fanfiction I remember writing was in 5th grade for the book Eragon. My childhood best friend and I had a red spiral bound notebook that we passed back and forth and wrote our fic in. In terms of The 1975- I've been a fan of theirs since the Robbers music video started showing up on my Tumblr dash back in like 2014? (I couldn't figure out who I wanted to be more... Matty or the Robbers girl and years later I still in fact do not have an answer for that one lol) And I realized they were the same band that sang the song Chocolate. However, I didn't start posting my writing for them until last year when I was Going Through It™️ and my Bestie encouraged me to use it as an outlet (sorry Fictional!Matty! that's why your life sucks!)

2. What boundaries would you not cross as a writer regarding content?

I don't think I've actually killed off any *main* character or public figure yet and I can't actually see myself doing that? At least in something that I post for public consumption? Honestly that could change though. I don't really have any boundaries I'm not willing to cross because I am a firm believer that fanfiction is still considered art and art is supposed to make someone feel something and even make them uncomfortable. I actually have a fic that I've been working on that I'm hesitant to share because I'm not sure boundaries exist and I don't want to offend anyone (again) 😂

3. Has a fic ever made you cry? And if so, what was it about that fic?

This question isn't fair. I am a cryer, everything makes me cry. I started crying the other day because I love my horse so much (he's totally fine he was just looking super cute and was all happy I brought him carrots.) So yes, lots of fics have made me cry. Anything that I read that I can tell the author poured their heart into writing is honestly going to make me at least tear up and I am not ashamed to admit it. That's why I don't wear mascara on my lower lashes and only wear waterproof eyeliner 😂

4. How do you feel about abandoning fics?

I've only officially done it once, for a Hockey RPF fic that I just, wasn't enjoying working on. Everything else is just on "Hiatus" until I remember it exists again even if it takes years. I don't consider myself a quitter and abandoning a fic that I've started posting kind of breaks my soul. HOWEVER I do have a folder on my Google Drive that's just a graveyard of abandoned and half finished fics that I never posted that I go and visit sometimes.

5. Are there any novel authors you like that have influenced your writing style?

Yes! For sure 100%. However, I am currently sitting here going "I have never read a book before in my life" which is obviously a bold face lie you should see my GoodReads page but not really because there is a ton of my real life personal information on it lol Even though he's not (technically) a novelist (even though he did write a book!) can I say Pete Wentz? He's probably one of the writers I look up to the most. The way he bends words to pen lyrics just... scratch an itch in my brain and I hope I can one day make someone feel the way Fall Out Boy lyrics make me feel and I 100% feel like the flowery way he writes has influenced my to some capacity.

Thank you so much for sending these in! It was fun!

❤️Ally

#allylikethecat #ask ally #anon ask #fanfiction #keep it kind #matty fic #questions #answers #sorry for writing you a tiny novel lol #i hope it makes sense!

[the-lunar-library]

How I Spent Years Figuring Out My Book's Cover

I don't have any experience in advertising, and my digital art skills are limited, and every article on self-publishing urges you not to do your own cover, and probably they are right. But I did my own cover, and I thought I'd share some of the process. The figuring out how it should look part, not the technical part.

For a long time, I just practiced playing around with images. These weren't finished products by any means.

This image from early 2019 was one of my favorites. It's supposed to represent my protagonist Yew, reflecting on her ruined village and, by extension, some of her choices. The set up is straightforward – tragic woman gradating into a creepy graveyard. I felt it looked very similar to other covers I'd seen, which is both a good and a bad thing. A cover should clue you in to the tone and genre, so having set symbols and moods is helpful. On the other hand, you don't want your book to look like a million other people's.

Silent-film-era actress Mary Astor is standing in for Yew. The painting is by Caspar David Friedrich. To the best of my knowledge, both images are in the public domain.

For a while, I played with collages. (Pretty much all the stock photos/art is from Pixabay, which I found to be extremely helpful.) I liked the way these gothic windows formed frames, and I wanted to include both protagonists, Eider and Yew. This never made it fully into a test cover, but I did a few versions of this image, both with just photos and also including original art.

(Please admire my stock photo Iron Stag with his candle-antlers. I worked hard affixing each little flame to each little tine.)

The background I used here (Image Source: Freestock.com) is unromantically called “Plastic Chunks” in my files.

I also really like the ceiling paintings of Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise, so I experimented using one as a frame.

Above is a Yew cover, and below is an Eider cover.

I can't remember where I picked the asset(s?) for this background, but I suspect it was also Freestock.

I eventually decided on having both heroines front and center, each paired with an antler from one of the two mysterious stags in the story. This focal point would be a hand-drawn piece of art with less obtrusive public domain stock stuff framing it. I wanted the picture to be intricate, feel fairy-taleish, and include different elements from the story – a snake, a diary, flowers, mirror shards, a pear, seeds, antlers, and a hand mirror.

My first sketch had the basic idea down, but it was very long and skinny and with the title as part of the drawing it felt too tattoo-y to me. Though, looking closely, I see I included Pete the mule's head (upside down, just under the word “magic”), and it's sad he didn't make the final cut.

So I made the image more of a circle and worked really hard until I was proud of it.

From there, I just had to decide on which assets to use and what colors to go for. I really liked the combination of dark desaturated reds and blues in this one, along with the very gothic doily frame. However, it also felt somewhat cluttered, maybe a better design for a poster than something that was going to have text on top of it.

There's also a lot I like about this one, the cold colors, the blending of ice and aged iron. (The original title for the novel was The Iron Claws.) But again, that border felt like it would be fighting with any text thrown over it.

I was also concerned whether the central image would look too small and muddled in thumbnail, so I did this very stripped down version. I wasn't a big fan of it, but it's interesting.

(By the way, you may have noticed that none of these share the actual dimensions of my real book cover. I hadn't even done the page layout yet at this point, and this was all very much in the testing stage.)

As it turned out, I was on the right track with the earlier gothic doily cover. Aside from the hand-drawn image, I ended up going with different assets, most notably a smaller frame, deeper colors, and additional borders along the sides. (This image also isn't in the proper scale.) I did this cover over and over again, making little adjustments until I was satisfied.

What do you think? Did I make the right call?

Here’s info on the book itself: THE PRICE AND PREY OF MAGIC

#fairy tale #indieauthor #writers on tumblr #writeblr #fantasy #book design #yew bosse #eider isarna #iron stag #the price and prey of magic #long post

[game-boy-pocket]

Today, I beat Fester's Quest, another game that was featured in Nintendo Power #8. I think I may have actually owned this one as a kid, either that or I had a relative who owned the game... or maybe it was on an ad inside the box for another one of my games, either way, I didn't play it... there was just something about the box art for this game that I found so very... frightening.

Fester is suppost to be pretty ghastly looking, but as far as I know he was never pure white with blood red lips. And that horrid spider on his forehead, that gloomy mansion with the thunder clap in the background... aparantly I wasn't the only one this box art made an impression on, as KC Green parodied it quite clearly for the comic book Graveyard Quest.

Somehow not as frightening when it looks MORE corpse like than Fester does.

I wasn't an Adams Family fan back then and I still only think they're okay, I'm much more of a Munsters guy. This was released before the films made the series go back into mainstream popularity after nearly 25 years prior...

I don't know why Sunsoft wanted to make an Adams Family game, I hear the license was cheap... but they could have just made this game star Jason Frudnik and sold it as Blaster Master 2, because this game is almost literally Blaster Master without the tank in a very loose Adams Family Skin. Like, even the enemies feel more like they should be in blaster master... hell, the frog boss from blaster master is actually in this game as a shrunken down version as a regular enemy.

This game has a very pad reputation, and I can kind of see why, but at the same time, I'm probably missing something because I played a patch of the game that applies the changes Sunsoft made to the European version of the game after American feedback to the NTSC version, which fixes your shots being stopped by walls and lowers the health of enemies to make them less bullet spongey, while raising the price of healing items.

As for my experience.... 's alright.

The one thing i'll say this gets right where Blaster Master fails is that your weapon doesn't downgrade when you get hit. There are item debuffs that you have to avoid collecting. That one change would have made Blaster Master a lot better ( but not completely fixed it's problems )

I almost rage quit this game to be honest. The bosses are nearly just as bullshit hard as Blaster Master, but I learned something quite crucial to beating this game. You have to explore, and use your keys on the buildings to get essential items. An invincibility potion and a health refill potion being the most crucial, as well as a whip that is super effective on certain bosses, and an item that removes a the "slower walking" status ailment. And these items actually get refilled every time you beat a boss, the game is actually not so hard if you save these items on the bosses.

The game sends you back to the starting point if you die just once, which is kind of shitty, but all the bosses stay dead, and you don't lose weapon upgrades, I almost would have preferred Blaster Master do this instead of just not have continues. I actually let myself die to collect missing items, and it was pretty quick to get back to where I died. I think the worst thing this game does is hide one of the only two health upgrades in the game in a area that you can only access by walking through an invisible path into a secret house, I wouldn't have known about it but I had a video walk through playing to give me a boss strategy.

Do I recommend this game to others? If you liked Blaster Master, or you're just in general an NES fan, then maybe, sure, but do not play the vanilla USA version, get the patch I told you about. I'd link it but tumblr seems to have broken that feature. Good job tumblr. If you're an Addams Family fan... I'd say skip it, this has fuck all to do with the series other than you playing as Fester, and there being a few compressed JPEGs from the show... I guess if you want to stretch it Fester lights up the underground with lightbulbs like how he can power lightbulbs with his mouth in the show, but that's about it... there's a SNES Fester game that feels much closer in spirit to the show, and plays a bit like Zelda, but that will come later.

Last thing i'll say is, before issue 8 of Nintendo Power, Fester's Quest got a preview, and I love how the NP artist drew Fester as this funny little druid dude with a megaphone ( it's meant to be a blunderbuss. )

#pocket plays #nes #nintendo power #fester's quest #addams family