Born to be Brave

The Expanse 2.10 Cascade Shohreh Aghdashloo as CHRISJEN AVASARALA

One time they get captured by pirates, just by unfortunate coincidence (and also probably the will of the Bastard), and the pirates end up paying a ransom to get rid of them.

This kinda applies to every protagonist in the World of Five Gods books, but: ongoing personifications of the idea that sometimes you receive a miracle, and sometimes you are the miracle for someone else.

Desdemona is scared of heights. One time, they have to basically rappel down the side of a cliff, and she explodes multiple seagulls to cope.

LMB is clearly having fun figuring out how you can cleverly use pure destructive power for good, or at least very selective harm, especially in the human body. Pen & Des are also having fun, Pen in a particularly nerdy way. As the series goes on, he gets increasingly disappointed that no one else knows more than him, such that they could learn by comparing notes.

As some of you might recall from this essay, I spent the latter half of 2025 working on a comic for the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum in Savannah, Georgia. Tania Sammons, a curator at the museum who had previously licensed my guide to sailors’ tattoos for a show, wrote to me with an irresistible pitch: four cartoonists would be hired, assigned a vessel from the museum's extensive collection of models, then given six months to produce a short comic for publication in an anthology alongside an accompanying museum display.

How could I say no?

My original brief was to research the Anne, the ship that brought the first colonists to Georgia, but in the aftermath of my dad's death the story took off in directions I couldn't have foreseen.

I'm releasing the whole comic online to coincide with the opening of Drawn to the Sea, the exhibition in Savannah. If you're in the area this week (or anytime over the next nine months!) you can stop in and see all the amazing work that came from myself and fellow artists Avery Hick, Rich King, and Sharon Norwood. Details about the museum show are here.

In the meantime, here's a very personal comic.

Content Warning: this piece deals with suicide and parental mortality. Readers with trypophobia may want to skip pages 14 and 15.

Is the best part that he got doxxed? No.

Is the best part that he got tracked down by a local and beaten? No.

Arrested on state at federal charges, looking at up to 5 years and 50K? Nope.

The best part is the local city council's reaction.

After the incident, another video went viral showing what appeared to be that man getting a beating. The Maui Police Department said they had no record of any reports of disorderly conduct or assault related to the monk seal incident.

ALL Doctor Who episodes, both new who and old who are on Internet Archive!

Along with copies of various Doctor Who books and magazines as well as ALL the Torchwood magazines and both yearbooks!!

Here’s the link to all the episodes:

Just like all of you, I get overwhelmed, stressed out, and mega doom-y sometimes too.  

Being unable to breathe and having a brutal headache from wildfire smoke while strangers rage at me about an enshittified Esprit sweatshirt is making me feel pretty hopeless about humanity’s ability to manage climate change and support one another. Seriously people on Threads will fight anyone who says that maybe they don't actually "need" a crappy sweatshirt that is exploiting our human tendency to find comfort via nostalgia during difficult times.

But...I still believe in us. And in the six years I've been doing Clotheshorse, I have heard every excuse and justification for fast fashion and AI "art." And definitely lots of strangers have told me that I'm a stupid, joyless loser because I don't think any of us actually *need* a SHEIN haul.

You know what helps me cope with despair and internet creeps? Making weird graphics using vintage books. A few hours with my scanner, Photoshop and a really good iced coffee is definitely my idea of a relaxing time! Another source of absolute inspiration for me is vintage craft books and magazines.   I have a whole routine every time I'm a thrift store: First, I check out kid's books.  Then I go to the cookbook section (in search of old cake decorating books). Then the "nature" section for cat books (obviously).  And lastly, the craft section for weird (and awesome) books. After all of that, I look at home goods, etc.