Astral Frontier

A currency that isn’t gold-standard/having gold be as valuable as tin

A currency that runs entirely on a perishable resource, like cocoa beans

A clock that isn’t 24-hours

More or less than four seasons/seasons other than the ones we know

Fantastical weather patterns like irregular cloud formations, iridescent rain

Multiple moons/no moon

Planetary rings

A northern lights effect, but near the equator

Roads that aren’t brown or grey/black, like San Juan’s blue bricks

Jewelry beyond precious gems and metals

Marriage signifiers other than wedding bands

The husband taking the wife's name / newlyweds inventing a new surname upon marriage

No concept of virginity or bastardry

More than 2 genders/no concept of gender

Monotheism, but not creationism

Gods that don’t look like people

Domesticated pets that aren’t re-skinned dogs and cats

Some normalized supernatural element that has nothing to do with the plot

Magical communication that isn’t Fantasy Zoom

“Books” that aren’t bound or scrolls

A nonverbal means of communicating, like sign language

A race of people who are obligate carnivores/ vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians (not religious, biological imperative)

Presenting Cure Lovely

Aka Cure Roughly.

For what feels like the first time, I have enough art from throughout the year to do one of those "one finished piece from each month" deals. Fun stuff!

Details below the cut.

Studies show that babies are not afraid of snakes

Can’t believe Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice in the 2000s

And in 2015 Emily Brontë released literary clsssic Wuthering Heights

a woman was the first known author/poet in 2300BC - Enheduanna

the first novel in recorded history was written by a woman in 1010AD - Murasaki Shikibu

the earliest example of science fiction was written by a woman in 1666 - Margaret Cavendish

horror science fiction was popularised by a teenage girl in 1818 - Mary Shelley

a Scotswoman expanded childrens’ stories from moralising tales into anarchic adventures in the mid 1800s, well before it became popular in the early 20th century - Catherine Sinclair

the masked/costumed hero archetype that inspired Batman and Zorro was created by a woman in 1905 - Baroness Emma Orczy

Hey there!

In case you hadn’t heard, we have a kickstarter coming soon for Celestial Bodies. (Please follow it if you haven’t already!) Today I’m gonna talk about the Titanic Eclipse Edition that we’ll be crowdfunding! Specifically, one of its contributors.

As part of the vision for the Titanic Eclipse Edition, we wanted a few little add-on zines to go along with it. Specifically, we wanted to bring on some other people to answer questions we didn’t want to answer: what WAS the calamity? Why was it so pressing that humanity leave for the stars? This is the kind of framing that can color a whole campaign.

Kyle Tam (@percypropa) is going to be one of those contributors! Her supplement will be premised on the calamity being a result of overuse of a new power source, and the kinds of people who took to the stars as a result. It involves quite a bit about big conglomerates maintaining their power despite being the ones who caused this all to happen, and scrappy transport cooperatives opposing them. But it also ties in the role of religion in the waning years of Earth: the reorganization of faiths as conditions change, as well as the creation of new ones as social needs present themselves.

Sound good? Well, get on board then:

Like. I remember back in my grocery store cashier days I did so much crazy shit.

When WIC (Women, infants, and children voucher program to help low income mothers/families with children) people were in my line I would pretty much know who they were. Before the cards they had to tell us upfront they were WIC and show us their vouchers for what they were allowed to get (it was awful some times. Like. 2 gallons of milk. $4 worth of vegetables etc etc). They’d always have items hanging back, waiting to see what the total was and if they would have to take it off the belt.

I began to place the fruits/vegetables a certain way on the register scale so that like 1/2lbs of grapes read as like .28lbs or something. Then act shocked when I said that they still had X amount of lbs left. They got all their fruit and vegetables.

I think it started to kinda? Catch on to the women? Because I would have the same moms in my line month after month. And even after they switched to the cards (they worked like food stamp cards?) I’d still do the same thing. They were able to get more produce for whatever shitty max amount Indiana gave them.