Avec le guide Little Africa, vous aussi, vous pourriez partager des moments uniques au sein du Paris africain. Alors n'hésitez plus! Rejoignez-nous le 11 novembre pour le lancement de ce projet hors du commun! http://bit.ly/lafevent
* quelques images prises après la réalisation de notre vidéo promotionnelle pour AirB’nB. Image 1: quelques plats camerounais et sénégalais dans un restaurant Image 2: essayages dans une boutique de prêt-à-porter en Vlisko. Oui, c’est moi….
Chers amis, j'ai le plaisir de vous annoncer que le premier guide de l'Afrique à Paris, Little Africa, sortira le 11 novembre 2016!
Ce guide présentera, en outre, le Paris des artistes africains émergeant ainsi que des quartiers, des anecdotes historiques, et toute une liste d'événements culturels auxquels vous pourrez assister. L'Afrique n'a jamais été si proche de Paris! Que vous soyez un expatrié africain à Paris, un amoureux d'Afrique ou simplement curieux, les expériences que Little Africa vous fera découvrir seront à la fois de qualité et gravées dans votre mémoire!
Alors n'hésitez plus! Achetez ce guide unique! En tous cas, tenez-vous prêts pour le 11 novembre.
So I have become a fan of The King in Yellow. Needless to say, I will write a review of it and True Detective (I loved the first season but couldn’t force myself to be interested in the second one).
In the meantime, enjoy my favourite illustrations of the eponymous character, the un-named king in yellow (no, Hastur is a different character, fellow nerds).
Here are the photo credits:
The latest French edition of The King in Yellow. My photo, taken this July. The silhouette is inspired by the winged, halo-bearing character depicted on the older American editions’ cover. I’ll discuss why the later irks me in another post. In any case, I like how one of his wings looks like a screaming face or a mask. That is very relevant to the first short story…
The king in yellow as seen by Michael Bukowski. Found here. I love how this illustration makes him look like an esoteric being or a chtonian entity.
I love this one because it has a Lovecraftian feel (the book did inspire Lovecraft, so that’s not too much of a stretch) and is based on the character as seen through the series True Detective while remaining faithful to the book. Marco D. Carrillo is an amazing artist. Find his works here.
Artist Elvasquito’s character design is really cool because it depicts the king in yellow as an alien monarch rather than as either a sort of mourning, crowned angel or as a reaper dressed in yellow (a depiction that is way too common for my liking and that totally demystifies the character, in my opinion). Kuddos!
Like I said, I dislike the “reaper in yellow” (or “yellow penitent”, or whatever) representations of the character, but this one is the only one that I find convincing and fearsome. Credits go to Luis Geber.
Santiago Caruso managed to give his depiction of the character the appearance of a blend somewhere in between a Byzantine emperor, a Catholic bishop (or pope) and a character from a tarot deck. I love the regal posture and details in this piece. Also, this would make awesome Black/Extreme Metal album art, in my opinion. Do check out his other works, from occult illustrations and horror book covers to Basque folklore and Luciferian aesthetics…
The king in yellow as an “emperor” card for a Lovecraftian tarot deck, by Alix Branwn. I absolutely love the amount of detail in this one, which includes the book’s plot, the series’ interpretations and additions, as well as Ambrose Bierce’s Carcosa and Lovecraft’s universe. Wow, just wow! I also love how he is ageless, and part-human, part-alien, part-deity. This is so relevant to the stories and difficult to illustrate.
GreenViggen’s king in yellow really looks like Aitrus or Gehn from the Myst series, which might be why I like this character’s design. I just love the costume and setting.
Verreaux’s king in yellow is so Tolkienesque but I love him. There’s definitely something frightening about this figure.
This one is very simple but beautiful in this detailed setting.
Reivaxbeastly sought inspiration mostly from True Detective for this piece, rather than the book, though I still love it. Credits.
Last but not least, Merlkir’s “King in yellow comes” is a gorgeous illustration of a fanfiction based on William Chamber’s works. I could not ignore it, even though the king in yellow himself did not look that impressive in this piece. The allegory for insanity and the play’s contamination, which are recurring themes in the stories, are very well depicted here. It would have been a shale not to add it to the list. So here it is.
Concept: an immortal who doesn’t shy away from photos or paintings. Draws self portraits on cave walls. Photobombs everything with a pout and a suave pose. Commissions numerous portraits of themself as a literary Romantic before faking their death. Tries to be at least slightly famous every time they have a new identity. Creates a conspiracy blog linking all their past photos together before mysteriously disappearing in mysterious circumstances. Mysteriously. Usually only disappears for 10 to 20 years after “"dying”“ before making another appearance. Everyone else in the immortal community lowkey hates them. “Ah, fuck. You’ll never guess who’s resurfaced again.” “Fucking… Dave?” “Fucking Dave.”
You can get it from your local comic shop, amazon, book depository, and elsewhere (though I recommend trying your local comic shop first!).
Kill Six Billion Demons is a weird fantasy comic I started as a webcomic three years ago. This is the first volume of hopefully four more. If you like bizarre, inter-dimensional fantasy, gangster demons, and kung fu angels, this might be right up your alley.
I’ve ordered my copy, go get yours! The story continues to deepen and impress, and I’m thinking this blog will start seeing more of it again!
Totally unrelated, but this really captures the atmosphere I’m trying to convey in one of my short stories, “The Great Waelou”. There is something so beautiful and yet sinister about this. Wow!
the politics of light and dark are everywhere in our vocabulary…psa to writers: subvert this, reveal whiteness and lightness as sometimes artificial and violent, and darkness as healing, the unknown as natural
Some ideas for bad things that are white/light:
lightning, very hot fire
snow storms, ice, frost on crops
some types of fungus/mold
corpses, ghosts, bones, a diseased person
clothing, skin tone, hair, etc. of a bad person
fur, teeth, eyes of an attacking animal/monster
bleached out deserts, dead trees, lifeless places
poison
Some ideas for good things that are black/dark:
rich earth/soil
chocolate, truffles, wine, cooked meat
friendly animals/pets/creatures
a character’s favorite vehicle, technology, coat, etc.
a pleasant night
hair, skin tone, clothing, etc. of a good person
undisturbed water of a lake
the case/container of something important
valued wood, furniture, art
velvet
Think to burn, to infect, to bleach vs. to enrich, to protect, to be of substance.
^ THIS
Get rid of the idea that ‘Dark’ is bad or scary
Oddly enough I always associated darkness to peaceful nights, a sort of soothing cocoon, whereas bright white light hurts my photosensitive eyes (I get intense migraines from white light), and extreme paleness makes me think of death or illness. These things are cultural and can definitely be reversed.
having sex drive ( this is different than attraction )
having sex ( be it to sate sex drive or just because they enjoy it, one can still have sex even if they lack sexual attraction )
not having sex
lacking sex drive ( although you can lack sex drive and not be asexual )
enjoying sex
experimenting with sex
being sex repulsed
being interested in sex
being sex neutral
having sex to please their partners
experience aesthetic, sensual, and romantic attraction or any mix of those things
your character can have sex and still be asexual. asexuality is merely lacking sexual attraction. asexual people can still have sex drive and even enjoy sex despite lacking sexual attraction. asexual people can be sex repulsed, asexual people can have experimented with sex and decided it’s not for them. asexuality is merely lacking sexual attraction.
asexuality is not necessarily being 100% sex repulsed ( even though there are plenty of asexuals who are sex repulsed there are also asexuals who are interested in and / or actively have sex )
Curses and Magic: Jewish, Rromani, and Haitian Characters
Here are all the posts I’ve written for WWC about Jewish witches and wizards, in which other people added helpful things as well. Please read them and take note, especially the part about not using blood or any part of stolen Christian children/babies’ bodies for magic.
Opening this up to masc nonbinary Jewish followers for any extra input/suggestions on that front.
–Shira
I’ve actually answered several questions on this before. I’m very wary of non-Romani people writing magical Romani characters; there are many stereotypes about us putting curses on people or practicing witchcraft. These stereotypes are not only untrue but have also gotten us killed.
My go-to question for non-Romani writers is this:
Does this character have to be Romani? Does this character being Romani add something meaningful to the plot or is it just being used to fill some diversity quota? Are you going to research extensively? Which subgroup/vitsa are they?
Our cultures are not homogenous and many non-Romani authors do not do proper research and tend to mix and match customs, language and traditions. This is unacceptable and quite frankly racist. If you really have your heart set on writing a Romani character, it is your responsibility to do my culture and ethnicity Justice. Put in the proper research and write us with respect, or don’t write it at all.
–Tasbeeh
Much of the time adding Haitian people into a setting which is fiction and has magic/curses immediately means that There Shall Be Voodoo. Remember that since it is a religion and not just a set of magical practices, and since it has been featured in a fantasized version by multiple media sources (which are mistaken for reliable sources), you’ll have to do your research by consulting multiple sources.
Using something that is inaccurate is not bad; disrespectful execution is. So, since fictional Haitian Voodoo has its iconic traits regardless of each traits’ authenticity, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with them (such as the dolls) to make informed decisions on whether and how to use them in your work by not only pursuing authentic sources and historical sources, but taking a look at the sensationalized portrayals as well (like White Zombie) and seeing for yourself how the religious practice has been used in fiction over the years. A trip through our Voodoo tag won’t hurt either.
