onemorevamp

the failure(s); the many loves of the vampire lestat

The full saga of Margie and the Nuns (so far). Realised I never compiled these in one place.! Also, bonus Margies!

this one is for Juniper Blessing.

Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore.

A few recent scene redraws from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film! One of my favorite movies ever.

Prints available in my shop!

Katara from ATLA

Some fantasy works of fiction make every solution feel like a deus ex machina and that is a huge problem because it means that there are no stakes. If it's a non-fantasy story, I know the basic limits of human bodies, but in fantasy that can be up in the air. I need to understand on some level if and how the characters can be in real danger.

Lord of the Rings never really explains its magic system very well, but it also doesn't pull random solutions from a hat, so you never feel that there are not stakes. We know the important things: Big Evil Ring can only be destroyed by volcano, none of the super powerful people can take it because if it corrupts them we are all Doomed. The magical items the Hobbits use are pretty straightforward (cloak that helps you hide, light that scares the cave dwelling spider, special sword that glows near orcs, super chain-mail). While these items help, the story is mostly about very human Hobbit endurance and people getting corrupted if they are too close to the Big Evil Ring. We all understand those stakes, even if what a wizard is exactly is kind of fuzzy.

Bad fantasy pulls random objects out of nowhere to solve problems (in LotR, the eagles appeared previously, the magic objects were gifts etc.). It leaves you wondering what could even kill that villain (we know exactly how to kill Sauron, it's just hard). Or worse, the hero can do something we've been told is impossible because He's Just Cool Like That.