"... She Told Me That David Likes To Go Play Around "The Old House" - An Ominous Name If Ever I Heard

"... She told me that David likes to go play around "The Old House" - an ominous name if ever I heard one. She also told me that the roads to the Old House had washed out long ago, and the safest way to reach it was through the woods on the east side of the manor.

Left out of this description was the mud, the giant rocks, the oddly thorny trees, and the spectacular lightning storm with 20 mph winds that kicked up the moment I set foot outside the house."

*************************************************

Heya, I still have a few pages left of this story, so I'll be continuing into November! Yay!

"... When Mz. Collins said "The Old House", I thought it would be just another extension of the manor, or maybe another, smaller manor someone had built on the estate.

Instead, after my little adventure with the thorns and the mud, I stumbled into a clearing. In the middle of this clearing, covered in vines and moss and mold, was a cottage.

Even in the middle of what felt like a hurricane, I stopped for a second. Just to stare.

I could tell it had been a beautiful place, once upon a time. A comfortable, warm place. Lots of happy memories had been made there.

Even though it was in ruins, I could still feel that."

Was going to do comics, did this instead. At least it's art! I wanted to try a different digital painting technique here, which lets me paint like I'm doing traditional watercolors (light to dark, lighting first, etc.). I'm actually pretty happy with it! And yes, I DID get my reference from The Princess Bride, it's literally the only place I could think of with this specific sword pose.

There are many things to say.

But really, everything can be said in one image.

Handala is a character that was created by Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali. Handala is a 10-year-old boy who is a refugee, most often drawn with his back to the viewer - representing how the world has turned their back on Palestine.

Naji al-Ali was a refugee. He was forced out of his home with his family at the age of 10 during the 1948 Palestinian expulsion - an incredibly violent and excruciating event that was central to the current-day displacement and persecution of Palestinians today. Naji al-Ali grew up in a refugee camp. He went on to join the Nationalist Arab Movement, but was expelled several times and finally left altogether.

He eventually found his voice with drawing political cartoons, which were widely distributed and read. He was forcefully detained in 1985 by Israeli forces during their invasion of Lebanon, but managed to get out. He then left the Middle East altogether and moved to London, where he lived until he was shot in the neck outside of the office of the newspaper he worked for. He fell into a coma and died shortly afterwards. His assassin was never officially found, although there were strong suspects.

Naji al-Ali never committed an act of violence against anyone. He spoke through his art. Handala was/is his most famous character. al-Ali described him as being drawn as a humanisation of Palestine - channelling himself as the 10-year-old boy who was violently forced to leave his home, poor, wearing worn clothes and no shoes.

In al-Ali's words: "Handala was born 10 years old and he will always be 10 years old. It was at that age that I left my homeland. When Handala returns, he will still be 10 years old, and then he will start growing up."

He also said that Handala would "reveal his face to the readers again only when Palestinian refugees return to their homeland."

(Just to be clear, I'm pulling all of my info and a fair bit of wording from Wikipedia here, but you can easily find this information corroborated all over the Internet.)

With the current attempt at blatant genocide being perpetuated by the Israeli government against the Palestinians once again, artists all over the world are showing their support for Palestine by drawing themselves with Handala, or their own version of Handala. I'm not Palestinian, or even Arab. I'm just a white girl from California who barely knows anything. But this - I can at least do this.

I don't often talk about my Ph.D here, because it's usually so difficult to describe in such a way that I can convey its importance. I joke all the time that I'm just getting a degree in comics, but the reality is, it's much, much, much more than that. Comics are, in my opinion, the oldest form of art there is. And the reason comics are viewed as being a "low" or "crude" form of art - sometimes to the degree that it's not even regarded as "art" at all - is that they're accessible. They're so easy to read. They're so easy to publish. They're so easy to understand. And this accessibility has been recognized by artists and political authorities. Comics have been used as weapons to perpetuate political agendas. And they've been used to protest that weaponization. They've been used to spread lies, and truth. Sometimes both at the same time.

Naji al-Ali used comics to tell his story, and the story of all Palestinians - a story that is, horrifyingly, still being hidden. I would implore all of you to read, and to watch, and to listen, and to give whatever you can, to help the people who have been hidden all this time by hateful words and violent agendas.

I did

a very strange thing

well, okay, not that strange. I'm switching medications and my anxiety has been really bad today, and putting facial hair on Disney male leads seemed like a good coping method. I did try to give each character facial hair according to the time period from which their movie took inspiration (there is no such thing as historical accuracy with Disney movies, they're fantasy, guys). I.... kind of but not really succeeded? The ones I messed up: Florian. I just could not make him look not gross. I gave up and gave him a stupid goatee. Serves him right. Eric. He looks like a white suburban dad. And I really messed up the lines. Oof. Aladdin. I just screwed up. Feel free to improve upon it. Please. The ones I actually got to look not terrible: John Smith. The only one where historical accuracy WAS a thing - I referenced his portraits, but forewent the extra pudge, receding hairline, and brown hair. I got nothing against brown hair, I just didn't feel like putting THAT much effort into editing these screenshots.

Prince Phillip. He's okay. Not great. But okay. I'd let him meet my parents. Shang. DAMN. that's all. And that's my weird Sunday thing I did. Hope you liked it.

“They got you fighting a culture war to stop you fighting a class war”

Sticker spotted in San Antonio, Texas