Consider: A fantasy series where the court wizard is treated and portrayed just like an IT guy.
Court Wizard, fixing the Queen’s magic mirror: has’t thee attempted cleansing and reapplying the runes anew?
Court Wizard finally fixes the magic mirror and sees a reflection of the Queen reciting: Show me beautiful forest nymphs. Show me where to find beautiful forest nymphs. Show me local witches willing to summon beautiful forest nymphs to my kingdom. Show me beautiful witches. Show m
The other day I submitted an article about two very transphobic school board candidates in the Ottawa area. The problem is actually bigger; it’s a coordinated, nationwide attempt at stamping out LGBTQ+ education and support from schools across the country.
This article is explaining the basics of the situation and what to do in the face of this right-wing attempt at taking over our schools and forcing LGBTQ+ youth back into the closet.
The far-right is trying to stack school boards. We've put together the background and tools you need to confront and prevent hate during the
To the parents who follow me and to the people in a position to run for school board: do not let these people stack our school boards. They did this back in the mid '00s to block LGBT education and general sex education, and were successful. We only recently began to see a reversal of these policies in some places. They are looking to finish the job, and that will make school and this country less safe for our children; for the next generation.
Give this article a read and help counter these extremists at every level of our government.
Fiat 126 Vettura Urbana, 1976, by Michelotti. Presented at the Turin Motor Show, a futuristic city-car concept based on the rear-engined Fiat 126. Despite being 26cm shorter than the 126 Giovanni Michelotti’s monobox design made room for four who accessed the interior via sliding doors
below is the letter received by Neil Gaiman from the “concerned mothers of america” in ‘92, and his response :)
he mentioned this letter in a recent interview with Pink News:
“I remember getting a very grumpy letter from the ‘Concerned Mothers of America’, informing us that due to the number of gay characters in Sandman they would be boycotting us and we had to repent,” he said.
“We never repented and the sales just went up, and up, and up. So I never really worried about their boycott.”
Do you feel proud of yourself for supporting crime and corruption which is engulfing our country? Violence and death rule the streets and thousands of innocent people are murdered in their homes and elsewhere. Its excessive and needless emphasis on homosexuality, profanity and Christian bashing is well-documented and intentional. The most effective way we know how to strike back is to BOYCOTT those who promote it, and unless you stop glorifying homosexuality, we will refuse to buy any of your comics.
We urge you to write to Don Wildmon, P.O Box 2440, Tupelo, MS 33803, telling him you are tired of lost sales and will honor our request and, after publishing it in the AFA journal, we will again buy your comics.
CONCERNED MOTHERS OF AMERICA.
Neil Gaiman's response, written in italics:
I have this vision of all the Concerned Mothers of America opening their American Family Association Journal and eagerly scanning the letter pages to find out if the boycott's over, to see if they can all rush out and start buying SANDMAN again.
That was a typed postcard, postmarked Steubenville, Ohio. The next letter was handwritten (and very impressive) parchment scroll.
Transcription of the letter from the second picture:
Dear Dream Scribes,
I have been following SANDMAN since the "Doll's House" storyline, thanks to a friend who introduced me to the book. Intelligent, well-written books are a rarity in this field, I believe, and I've been delighted with SANDMAN. This dark fantasy is obviously a labor of love from a very creative and talented writer and numerous equally capable artists. (And yes, I ended up buying the trade paperbacks as well.)
I'm writing because I want to thank Neil Gaiman for the current "A Game of You" storyline. There are several subjects that are taboo for comics (probably because of the "lowest common denominator" audiences of most books as much as any social stigma), including and especially gender identity. The subject has almost never been touched upon, much less dealt with in a mature, understanding manner.
Until now. The character of Wanda is one of the most articulate, fully-drawn portraits of a transgendered individual that I've ever come across. Every word, every reaction rings true. Frankly, I'm surprised... Transsexuals are usually stereotyped as freaks, drag queens or worse, instead of being treated as real people.
This storyline means something very personal to me, because I'm also a transsexual with much the same personality as Wanda. I keep feeling like Neil Gaiman has written me into the story. (Another friend of several years, who's been trying to relate to me since my "coming out," confessed that reading these issues of SANDMAN did more to explain transsexualism than anything else he'd ever come across. "That's you, isn't it?" he said to me. "I think I'm finally starting to understand.")
I loved Wanda's reaction to the "chromosomes" comment on page 19 of the current issue (#35). That's exactly how I feel.
Thank you for the most well-written series I've ever read, from the first issue to the present, and thank you for...well, understanding the subject well enough to create a true person in Wanda.
I realize this whole letter is focusing on what some would consider a mere supporting character, one who'll be gone when this storyline is finished, but it's these fully-realized touches that ultimately make up the rich texture of this series. Everything is important, and a good story depends just as much on peripheral elements as it does on the central characters.
Besides, I thought you'd appreciate some feedback from a real transsexual who admires what you're doing with these characters. I shouldn't have been surprised to find such insightful writing on the subject in the pages of SANDMAN; it is one of the most intelligent titles in the medium.
Sincerely,
Laura Adams.
bonus: since the whole page actually contains at least three letters (ones visible on the pictures provided by OP anyway), to the similarly nosy bitches that want to read the other letter, here's an extra transcript below the cut. this is the aforementioned "handwritten in a very impressive parchment scroll" one.
Salutations from the Dreaming,
These tales which you spin have not gone unnoticed. While the stories themselves are well told, and illustrated by fine artists, The Dreaming is hard to put on mere paper.
Indeed, when the Key to Hell weighed heavy upon me, I looked in my dreams to ease the burden I bore; however, this note to you, Story Weavers, was not just to tell you I have been watching!
I wish to ask you for help.
This book of my exploits has, to say the least, have made the others of The Endless jealous.
It is my hope that some of their tales may be told also. It will help to keep peace in the family, and Nightmares from your Dreams.
Sandman
and Gaiman's response:
And you were doing so well up until the end. He wouldn't sign anything "Sandman." Honest. (Also, if he ever threatens, he gets very polite and oblique, and he rarely uses exclamation marks.) But it's a lovely scroll anyway.
I've been muttering for awhile about doing a set of seven stories or comics or something, one for each of The Endless. We'll see. I'm just about to start writing a DEATH miniseries tentatively entitled The High Cost of Living. It's going to be drawn by Chris Bachalo of SHADE, THE CHANGING MAN fame, and it should be on [reply cut off from the picture] the end of the year.
Published with an "on sale date" of September 1992, which means it hit the comic shops at the end of July 1992, so people were reading this exactly thirty years ago.
you know how most of the things humans use as spices are poisonous or repellent to most other mammals? and you know how anything vaguely d&d inspired has dwarves being way more poison resistant than even humans?
dwarf cuisine shouldn’t be bland, it should be unimaginably spicy and potentially harmful or fatal to humans. like green potato and rhubarb leaf salad with a festive garnish of yew berries and deadly nightshade berries, that kind of thing.
Fun fact: the aril (or “berry”) is the only part of the yew tree that isn’t poisonous. Some people make jam out of it. The seed inside, however, is. I remember someone saying that they didn’t think it tasted good enough to be worth the risk
Holy hell. He has amazing technique AND he didn’t just transcribe the piece to piano, he essentially composed classical music (and honestly some neo-classical, lol) based on the melody. Plus, he kind of looks like Freddie.
Oh my god you can see him really acting natural with it, going where he wants, stopping and looking around, not confused or clumsy with it. they really gave this turtle a little mobility aid it took to.
blakekathryn
prguitarman
jacobvanloon
annaxmalina
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
