Relika loves stories

Hi~ Call me Relika! I love any type of story! From webcomics, to movies, to even video game lore! And I made this blog to yap about them. Feel free to join along! 😊

[the-revolutionary]

Some trivia regarding Larisa Sticlaru!

A lot of my current cast of characters were made in 2024 as 2024 was when I really began to create some of the most familiar aspects and characters, Larisa being one of these more recent additions!

Larisa probably has my favourite design out of my original characters, which she would probably love to hear considering she is into fashion design!

Larisa wears a haircut known as a French bobcut!

Her favourite colour is heliotrope.

As specified in the post I made about my character heights, she is the shortest of my characters who have a larger role to play in my story.

One of the biggest reasons for making Larisa Roma is because, aside from being very interested in the history of the Roma diaspora, I, being part South Asian, wanted to include a character of South Asian descent in a story and considering the Romani people originated from Northern India and have a significant diaspora in Eastern Europe, I thought Lara should henceforth be Romani. Obviously, Romani culture has evolved significantly since their migration from the Indian subcontinent and differs immensely. Highly recommend checking out this guy’s channel on YouTube as he makes fantastic short form and long form Romani related content that has served as a fantastic resource for my research.

I also made Larisa Roma because I did see throughout my research process for my worldbuilding that apparently dhampirs originated from the Roma diaspora in the Balkans. I say apparently though because I haven’t seen anything specify whether dhampirs actually did specifically originate within the Roma or if aspects of dhampir lore were added onto by the Roma themselves. Regardless, it is a very interesting possibility!

Two drawings I did of Larisa are based on paintings! One is based on The Two Fridas by Mexican-German artist Frida Kahlo and the other is based on the painting Clytie by English artist Evelyn de Morgan (whose style I ESPECIALLY love).

I’ve already stated plenty of times that Larisa is named after Larissa ‘Lara’ Antipova from Doctor Zhivago, but she also has some more aspects of her relating back to the story! For example, Larisa’s face is heavily influenced by Julie Christie, who plays Lara Antipova in the 1965 David Lean film adaptation (my favourite movie ever by the way).

In the artwork inspired by The Two Fridas, the 14 year old Larisa sitting to the left is wearing a dress directly taken from a scene in Lean’s adaptation Doctor Zhivago where Larisa goes out to dinner with Komarovsky (I wish I could find a photo without a watermark but I couldn’t 😔).

There is a certain title of another film Julie Christie was in that I won’t specify but it is very coincidental to me…perhaps y’all can try to guess which title I’m referring to and in the future perhaps you might be correct… 👀

[comradezimovsmurdermysteries]

CZMM Pilot episode - Chapter 7 Highlights

I am going to summarize the questionings in this chapter, because honestly their delivery is kinda boring and holds too many unnecessary details. Here is the first one between Papirosna and the doorman of the radio:

The doorman last saw Luzhlyov on May 21st. He and Zaetskaya went out somewhere around 5:10 PM. She returned without him around 5:20 PM. On that same day Luzhlyov went out to meet someone after lunch. Around 1:30 PM. He didn't go out for long. He came back about 10 minutes later. At 6:10 PM a man around his early 30s, athletic, with short blond hair and green eyes came to the radio. He introduced himself as Andrei Vasilievich Dolgiy. He asked to see Zaetskaya, saying that he was her brother. The doorman explained to Dolgiy that Zaetskaya had already left and she had indeed left earlier that day. If Dolgiy wanted to see her he would have to come tomorrow. Dolgiy turned pale and asked if the doorman knew where Zaetskaya was. Dolgiy said that it was urgent. The doorman asked if Dolgiy really was her brother, why didn't he look for Zaetskaya at her house. Dolgiy replied that he had already been there, but Zaetskaya wasn't there. The doorman apologized that he can't help and Dolgiy left. The next day the doorman asked Zaetskaya about what happened, she said that she indeed met up with Dolgiy and they had come to an agreement about whatever the situation was.

Papirosna asks if anyone suspicious had ever visited Luzhlyov. The doorman says yes. A week before May 1st, the day Zaetskaya was to give a concert for Labor Day, a rather interesting-looking lady came. She was very beautiful, elegantly dressed, with a pale complexion, curly blond hair and emerald green eyes. But she spoke with a slight foreign accent. She introduced herself as Alice Meyer from GDR (East Germany). She presented to the doorman an invitation to work on a joint project with the radio and told him that she would meet with Boris Luzhlyov. Her documents were authentic. This was the only times she came. After that she didn't appear again.

Papirosna goes to question the director of the radio, meanwhile we move back to Zimov's end of the investigation.

Now.... Prepare yourselves, because we are moving to the best line in this entire pilot! 👀👀👀

Zimov questions Dolgiy's cousin - Elena. Here is what we learn from her:

Elena confirms that Dolgiy was indeed visiting her from May 19th to 25th, because she and her husband were quite sick. However, on the afternoon of May 21st, Dolgiy received a letter from someone in Moscow saying that he urgently needed to get back there. Dolgiy said he would explain when he got back. He caught the first flight and spent the whole evening there. On May 22nd, he returned to Elena's place at around 10:00 AM. Elena asked him what had happened and where he had been, and Dolgiy replied that he had gone to a friend's house to help him with a very unpleasant pipe leak. Dolgiy's been acting pretty nervous since that day. We learn that Dolgiy has a sister - Anna Vasilievna Dolgaya. They were very close and inseparable before she left their home and broke off contact with their parents. Elena doesn't know the details there. They would have to ask Dolgiy. Zimov asks if Dolgiy shares about his personal life with Elena. She says yes. Zimov asks if he told her that he met the famous singer Zaetskaya in the Moscow region and that the two wanted to be in a relationship. Elena says she doesn't know of such a thing.

Prevous part / Next part

[comradezimovsmurdermysteries]

CZMM Pilot episode - Chapter 6 Highlights

This part of the pilot is one of my favorites. I have learned that in detective fiction, my favorite moments aren't the climaxes where the detective reveals the culprit after smirking under their nose the whole time. It's actually the moments where the characters sit together and discuss the clues they have so far and then make different theories of who the culprit may be or where the clues may be headed to.

So, the begining of this scene is a bit boring, so let me summarise it. Comrade Shlyapin had gotten some information from the investigation on Luzhlyov's disappearance. He disappeared on the evening of May 21st. According to his colleagues, he had been acting strangely for several days. He had locked himself in his office and only came out to drink his afternoon coffee at around 5:00 PM. According to Zaetskaya, on May 21st he seemed much more tense and worried that she finally couldn't stand it anymore and made him go with her to the nurse. The nurse gave him a sedative and recommended that he go home. Zaetskaya accompanied him to the bus stop in front of the radio station and from there at around 5:20 PM a car picked him up. Zaetskaya remembers it as a white Lada, but unfortunately she doesn't remember the details. This was the last time Luzhlyov was seen alive. Interestingly, that same day, at around 5:00 PM, a strange woman was seen near Luzhlyov's apartment building. This was testified by Grandma Siika, Luzhlyov's neighbor, who was at her terrace. This strange woman was veiled, of average height, plump, with quite elegant clothes. She walked around the block three times and then disappeared. The investigation questioned all possible witnesses and searched Luzhlyov's home, workplace and villa. Everything was confiscated. The most interesting discovery was in his villa. As Luzhlyova said, hidden in the top cabinet in the bedroom were documents for going abroad and a plane ticket to the USA. Initially, the investigation came to the conclusion that Luzhlyov had fled abroad, but it was strange that he had left the fake documents and his ticket. Fingerprints were also taken. There were those of Luzhlyov, his wife, Zaetskaya, Dolgiy and someone unknown, presumably one of the American agents. There were food products in the cabinets, vodka, cigarette butt in the ashtray and other such household items.

BTW, no offense to any of my American readers. Tatyana is just a fiery, communist woman...👀

So, I don't know if any of my Western viewers will get who Zaetskaya and her "admirer" are a referense to. I do want to go more in dept about it and why I made it this way, but let's save that for after I upload the whole pilot. That way, you will get every scene with them and I will explain all the references in one go. (if someone doen't beat me to it, that is... 👀)

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[inconspicuous-raven]

Fan art for @comradezimovsmurdermysteries / @vranelartbg !! Zimov is definitely my favourite character from their story, Comrade Zimov's Murder Mysteries, which I'm finding incredibly interesting so far! I'm excited to see where they take it in the future! 🫶

[comradezimovsmurdermysteries]

OMG!!! 💗💗💗 What an incredible thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning! 🥺

THANK YOU SO MUCH! Zimov looks absolutely AMAZING in your style! Your style is so unique and flowy! I adore it! I love his pose! And the note book! And the raven! And the two green eyes! 💚💚💚 Also the texture behind the mural is so cool!

Everyone, please check out the incredible - @inconspicuous-raven! She is a very talented artist and is even working on a story of her own based on the French Revolution! I am so excited to see where she takes her world and characters too! And she also has an incredible and so unique artstyle! 🫶

Thank you so much for taking out of your time to draw my boi! Honestly, Zimov is a very important character to me and the fact that he already has fans is unbelievable! 🥺🥺🥺 I am so happy that he is able to entertain and capture your attention.

[comradezimovsmurdermysteries]

CZMM Pilot episode - Chapter 5 Highlights

Comrade Shlyapin calls Luzhlyov's wife - Elena, to identify the body.

Elena begins to tell them the story of when her husband disappeared. She starts with the day of Zaetskaya's concert. Elena reveals that she doesn't like Zaetskaya and doesn't go to her concerts even tho her husband is Zaetskaya's impresario.

Here we have a bit of a boring moment, I will summarize: Elena fiercely rejects the narrative that her husband was a spy or a traitor, insisting he was a devoted family man who was being set up/framed by a rival impresario named Mrazkov. They had a heated rivalry and Luzhlyov constantly complained about him. She states that if he was found dead that is proof of that. Shlyapin and Papirosna ask Elena about Luzhlyov's personality. She revealed he was a massive "eccentric"—someone who loved luxury goods (which was frowned upon at the time), had a short temper, and possessed a huge ego. She also reveals that he loved smoking, and had a very specific time for drinking coffee - 5 PM. The comment on the cigarettes, of course, lead to Papirosa flaring up.

Zimov asks if Luzhlyov ever cheated. His logic is that in the radio there are many conventionally atractive women. Elena defends Luzhlyov, insisting his gift-giving and devotion to her proved he was loyal, not a womanizer.

Next they ask for her alibi and we learn that the last person to see Luzhlyov alive was Zaetskaya, who claims that she saw him getting into a car outside the radio on May 21st. Shlyapin promises they will do their best to find the perpetrator.

Now we get to the fun part. At the time of writing this scene I really loved it. Let see if it still holds up to standard:

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[comradezimovsmurdermysteries]

CZMM Pilot episode - Chapter 4 Highlights

Here we have a very long monolog from Comrade Petrov, which I will summarize: Basically Comrade Petrov is very suspicious of Zimov. He thinks that the circumstances surrounding his move to Moscow and assignment to the unit of Comrade Shalyapin are weird. According to Petrov, Comrade Tumanich wouldn't just make a course for crime investigators and not inform the militia about it. Also, given Zimov's sharp mind, Petrov finds it suspicious that Comrade Tumanich didn't take Zimov to further train him to be part of the more elite levels of crime or political investigation like the KGB. Petrov's theory is that Zimov actually faked his documents to get into the militia. But for what purpose? Is he a weastern spy? Tumanich's spy? Or does he serve his own agenda? 👀

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[letsbeacouple]

Let’s be a couple Episode 1 Page 32

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[relikalovesstories]

We got a whole first episode! 🎉🎉🎉 I am actually a bit sad that it is over. 😥 Still I am excited for the next one! I love Violeta and her misadventures! 💖🌺😁

[letsbeacouple]

Let’s be a couple Episode 1 Page 31

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[letsbeacouple]

Let’s be a couple Episode 1 Page 30

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[letsbeacouple]

Let’s be a couple Episode 1 Page 29

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[letsbeacouple]

Let’s be a couple Episode 1 Page 28

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[polsterreich]

Julia slaying in male dominated fields: wearing uniforms (or whatever other sinister interpretations you want to have)

[vikkicomics]

Happy Women's Day! 💐 Bringing you some new OC's for a one-shot survival horror comic about two 13 year old girls. The girl in the sailor suit is Bea, who claims her family were killed by dragons. The girl in the pink dress is Irma, a popular girl who starts off bullying Bea, but they become friends. Three Days on Fire isn't a prioritized project, it's just something I wrote while stuck with the Moth scripts, and I wanted to finalise the main characters designs.

[the-revolutionary]

Let’s discuss something art related! So, this is one of MANY concept sketches I made for my character Mstislav’s birthday, which is now a month late 😭 and because I think artists I need to be more honest about their art processes, I’ll be honest about mine: I‘ve been having AWFUL art block lately! And here, it culminated in me having all the ideas and concepts for an artwork but not knowing how to compose it! Combine that with being busy with life stuff and the pressure of feeling “late” to a non existent person’s birthday and it adds on to the stress that is art block. It sucks! But I know it’s important to talk about! I’m not a perfect artist nor am I a consistent one, and that’s okay! Because I know eventually I will come up with a finished piece for Mstislav’s 2026 birthday art, whether it’s this month or the next or until freaking December 😤 so that’s why I’m sharing what my sketch for Misty so far has led up to!

My intention here is to have Mstislav sleepwalk because he indeed is a sleepwalker in my story (fun? fact: alcohol can be a cause of sleepwalking for some people). And I also wanted to incorporate a folkloric entity known as ‘The Wild Hunt.’ My reason for that being is because one, Mstislav is an ex illegal vampire hunter (yes, illegal hunter 👀) and two, in Belarusian literature there is a gothic book by Uladzimir Karatkievich called King Stakh’s Wild Hunt which incorporates aspects of the wild hunt in its story, and Mstislav is Belarusian of course! I also was inspired by the song Your Ghost by Kristin Hersh, the melancholic themes feeling really fitting for Misty’s character.

Also I’m aware it’s International Women’s Day which I am SO LATE TO but I DEFINITELY want to post something about it in the following days so keep an eye out for that! 👀♥️

[comradezimovsmurdermysteries]

CZMM Pilot episode - Chapter 3 Highlights

After questioning the village babushkas, Papirosna and Zimov go to find "the witcher". On the way there Papirosna has a crazy theory about the situation. Papirosna thinks that the babushkas have a strong intuition and they probably call the person "the witcher", because he is some lazy hooligan, a scoundrel, who came to the village because he couldn't find a job in the city. When he found out that foreigners had come to the village, he decided to rob and kill one of them for easy money. He knew that there is a pioneer camp and a lake nearby. The lake is the perfect hiding place for a corpse, and in the camp he can find something that would help him with his plan. He realized that Dolgiy carries the keys to the camp's shack with him, and one evening, while he was visiting friends and they got drunk, the "witcher" tricked him and stole his keys. He carried out his evil plan and returned them to Dolgiy, without him noticing. This is what Zimov has to say about the theory:

We find out that this is Comrade Shishichkov. He is from Bulgaria. (because of course! 🇧🇬) They ask him is he knows about Tomas Lyingtnon from the USA. He doesn't. But he does confirm what the babushkas say about Luzhlyov, Zaetskaya and that mysterious foreign lady. He even gives her a proper description.

Papirosna and Zimov ask Shishichkov about the situation with Dolgiy. He begins to tell them what happened on the evening between May 21st and 22nd.

Zimov and Papirosna look back at Zimov's notes to confirm a suspicion:

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[vranelartbg]

Happy 3rd of March to all my fellow Bulgarians! 🇧🇬

Today is the National holiday of my country Bulgaria - the 3rd of March. To celebrate, here is an old drawing of Comrade Petrov - our favorite Bulgarian pathologist from @comradezimovsmurdermysteries.

For nearly 500 years, starting in the late 14th century, Bulgaria lived under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout those long centuries, the dream of freedom never faded. Countless revolutionaries and "haiduti" (хайдути) dedicated—and often sacrificed—their lives to the cause of a free Bulgaria.

​The turning point came with the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). Russian troops, supported by brave Bulgarian volunteers known as opalchentsi (опълченци), fought a grueling campaign to reclaim the land.

​On March 3rd, 1878, the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano finally brought an end to the conflict. This historic agreement re-established Bulgaria as an independent state, marking our rebirth on the world map. Today, we honor the heroes who fought for our right to be free.

[vranelartbg]

Happy Baba Marta! ❤️🤍

On the 1st of March in Bulgaria 🇧🇬, we celebrate a holiday called "Baba Marta" (Grandma March). It is a holiday symbolizing the comming of spring and the end of winter. On this day we give each other read and white strings called martenitsi (мартеници), intertwined with each other for good luck, health and prosperity. There are many legends for the origin of this tradition.

In modern times, we also attach little ornaments to those strings, especially characters from beloved cartoons and media (mostly for the children to have a blast! 👀). So me and @illustrossi decided: "Why don't we make martenitsi with our own characters?". As so we did with the characters from @letsbeacouple!