Comically bad doodles

Comically bad doodles for the silly urban fantasy universe I'm kind of obsessed with (and some other random stuff). World building fleshed out and a whole story evolving on DeviantArt, of all places, but that's just an outlet for my insanity. 100% SFW though if somebody can survive the AI slop visuals and, well, DA. That's the main gallery there if you're interested. https://www.deviantart.com/fcachronicles/gallery/99676961/main-story-line I'm also in the process of uploading the whole thing on AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/users/FCA_chronicles/works).

[laszloramirez]

I'm really busy at work and I can't seem to find the time for my OCs and writing. I've decided that I must at least doodle and sketch instead of doom scrolling. So here's to you Dante Alighieri visiting the Wood of the suicides (Inferno, Canto XIII).

You know, to cheer you guys up.

[laszloramirez]

'Who... who are you?'

'Did I startle you? I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd find anyone here at this hour.'

'Well, you did, I guess... But... oooh. You're the vampire, aren't you?'

'And you must be... Dragana's friend. The elf girl.'

[laszloramirez]

'...Saint Nicholas—Santa Claus in the States, through the Dutch Sinterklaas—was a bishop in what is now Turkey, though he was a Greek speaker. He had nothing to do with gift-giving, let alone flying sleighs and reindeer. He's best remembered for opposing the Arian heresy. He's the patron saint of Bari and, in general, a perfectly respectable Catholic saint. But for some reason, especially in German-speaking countries, he became associated with... well, a certain kind of pagan folklore. His feast day falls in December—the sixth, in Catholic and formerly Catholic countries—so you get all the classic winter-solstice themes: darkness, light, and so on. And then there's the whole... yes, Wild Hunt aspect of it. His demonic companions, such as Krampus or Zwarte Piet.'

[laszloramirez]

While getting older, I'm growingly more puzzled by the kind of stuff that people younger than me is fond and nostalgic of.

Let's start with the obvious, the Star Wars prequels. I was a 16 year old SW fan when the Phantom Menace got out. I was hyped out of my senses - I should have been the ideal target - turns out I was already too old. I wanted so badly to like it and admitting it sucked was a long grieving process. When Attack of the Clones hit the theatres, I was already a jaded cynic.

But apparently the prequels adjacent cartoons were good or something (never saw them - no streaming services in the early 00s, and I used eMule to pirate pretentious movies or unhinged horrors at that point) and one way or another people that's just a few years younger than me loves the prequels now. Lots of memes, lots of nostalgia.

Then there's the god-awful Hobbit trilogy. I thought we all agreed that was an unholy cash grab of an abomination. And yet... here on Tumblr I realized that the Peter Jackson's Hobbit fandom is an actual thing that exists.

What's next? People complaining that The Book of Boba Fett or Disney Plus' Willow reboot were cancelled ahead of their time? Tiktokers born in 2009 explaining why 'somehow, Palpatine has returned' is actually genius?

Tl;dr I'm old and boomery.

[laszloramirez]

Green are the emeralds

Purple the amethysts

[laszloramirez]

People bitching about Helen of Troy being black and thinking the Matt Damon could pass as Greek should have their racism checked because it's clearly malfunctioning.

[laszloramirez]

'I do not take omens lightly. The night I met the vampire who turned me, I saw... Do you know what a Munaciello is?'

'Yes. The "little monk." They don't really know wether it's a fairy, a demon, or something else entirely.'

'Neither do I. But I saw one — as clearly as I see you now. Just outside the opera house, beneath an oil lamp. Anno Domini 1763. It was the size of a child, though I knew at once it was no child. Dressed as a monk. I couldn't make out the features of its face. I looked at it, and in the next instant... gone into the dark. I should have gone home. I knew it was bad luck — more than bad luck, I mean.'

[laszloramirez]

Sometimes I think about all the tankies that putting to work their mad geopolitics skills explained to me that Trump at the White House was actually the better outcome for the world and wonder what they're take on US actions in Cuba and Iran.

Then I remember that they're all bravely fighting against gay nazis in Donbass and I take my pettiness down a notch. Just a notch though.

[laszloramirez]

I figure this has already been said but it's worth reiterating.

The unforgivable curses:

Crucio: nothing you cannot do with a baseball bat or a car battery

Avada Kedavra: literally just a gun

Imperio: closest thing to God mode in the Harry Potter universe, considering the cumulative powers of the wizards and witches you can control. Think Animagi, Metamorphmagi, the most badass Aurors, all kind of specialized curse breakers, healers... all on your side at a stroke of your wand. There's virtually nothing you cannot accomplish with it. Makes you wonder why the Death Eaters crumbled down when Voldemort went away they literally controlled the government. Also Death Eaters is a really dumb name now that I think about it.

[laszloramirez]

'Well, it all began when I was a young FBFCD* agent, fresh out of the academy, and I was sent to a Hasidic community in New Jersey for a suspected dybbuk case.

It was a dybbuk, all right. The victim was Rivka—already in her late twenties, unmarried, which wasn't that common in that community. Stubborn and headstrong, my Rivka. Even before she fell under the influence of this ancient demon that had somehow followed her ancestors from the Russian Empire to the East Coast.'

* Federal Bureau for Fairies, Creatures and Demons

Full chapter here on DA. CW: AI slop.

The whole thing (this far) also on AO3.

[laszloramirez]

The other day I caved in and started to watch One Piece with my daughter (7). Context: I'm old.

It was dumb, and violent, and uneducational, even if way less violent and uneducational that the stuff we watched as kids back in the 80s and early 90s (in my country you got on afternoon TV absurdly inappropriate anime shows that were clearly made for teens or young adults).

I loved it.

And I genuinely think that, sometimes, kids should watch stuff that's not right for them, just like they scrape their knees and eat junk food.

Am I turning into a boomer mistaking childhood trauma for cherished memories? Am I going to use the word 'snowflakes' like it's 2025 again? Please send help.

[laszloramirez]

'Here you are, Father. This is Mr. Colapesce. He's… he's…'

'The demon expert?'

'No, that’s on his way. He’s…'

'I’m the fuckups expert. Nice to meet you.'

Full chapter here.

The whole (indefinitely WIP) deal is now on AO3.

BTW the guy kind of looks like Mathilda's dad (the Quentin Blake one, not the Danny DeVito one).

[laszloramirez]

'I was looking for you everywhere. Do you... Wow. You look really somber tonight.'

'Do I? I guess... Did you see the Wild Hunt?'

'The... No, I didn't...'

'I thought I was just daydreaming, but then I checked my phone, and it seems everyone saw it.'

'Let me see... Oh, yeah. It's all over Instagram. When did it...'

'Just before sunset.'

'Golden hour. Sucks that you can't actually capture it in pictures... Mmmh... They say it's the most widespread Wild Hunt ever recorded... Bet they won't say it's just people influencing each other this time.'

The whole thing (an indefinite WIP anyway) is now on AO3.

[laszloramirez]

The record for the largest number of extras in a movie belongs to the funeral scene in Gandhi (1982).

To make it possible they actually killed Gandhi, who was still alive and relatively well at the time.

[laszloramirez]

My crap on AO3

To all of whom it may concern (nobody, I guess) I just finished uploading this whole thing on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83041541/chapters/218671596. It's also here on DA (https://www.deviantart.com/fcachronicles/gallery/99676961/main-story-line) but I understand if someone is weary of clicking on a DA link.

It's very much a WIP but it mostly stay this way forever, because it's structured more like a sit com than a novel, also written like one (a particularly bland one), in dialogue form, because it's literally the only way I can manage to write in English (obviously not my native language) while having fun. I'll add chapters regularly. It's just a bunch of OCs who I love and follow around in an urban fantasy setting. The story is working up to an apocalypse of sort (an elfpocalypse?) but it could take years to get there.

This is something I do for myself but I kind of feel compelled to share it too, for unknown reasons.

[oedipalrivalry]

being a team sports fan really is like oh what if you stanned the ship of theseus

[laszloramirez]

THANK. YOU.

[laszloramirez]

Tolkien pitching his dwarves.

'I was thinking to make them Jewish-coded...' 'Please elaborate.'

'You know, Wagner's dwarves were inspired by his antisemitism and I want to turn the trope on its head' 'Interesting.'

'You know, for instance their language has consonantic roots like Semitic languages' 'That's cool'

'And they use it among them, but they're kind of secretive about it. In general they're secretive and jealous about their culture and customs' 'OK, I guess...'

'Ah, and also they're sons of a lesser God' 'What...'

'Yes, they were created directly by Aule and not by Eru Iluvatar like Men and Elves' 'OK, let's put a pin on this...'

'Obviously they were forced away from their ancestral home...' 'Yes, of course...'

'...and when they come back the place is ridded with literal monsters...' 'Wait a minute...'

'...that they woke up because of their insatiable lust for precious metals.' 'OK, I'm gonna stop you right there.'