Forum Advent Calendar 2021

[wavewright62]

Spoiler: open the door • show

Our newly anointed Forum admin Keep Looking brings us today's tasty mouthful.

Spoiler: show

The ocean here is bitter as the taste
Of tears that freeze before they hit the earth
Of ice and stone tossed with inhuman mirth
A churning giant that cares not for the worth
Of human souls that fall beneath its gates

And when the water numbs you, you forget
That there are places where the ice will melt
That there is sunlight shining somewhere else
On waters cool where frost is never felt
And yawning blues of sky by clouds unmet

.._.._..

The ground is smothered by a sheet of snow
That stifles all the life that lies beneath
The winter’s frozen earth a frigid sheath
Except for twisted things that through it creep
As up above, the flurries come and go

And when the very earth is cold and still
It’s easy to forget the shrill-click sound
Of crickets and cicadas on hot ground
The whisper-song of grasses dry and browned
That bend and shiver by the breeze’s will

.._.._..

The air is sharper than a hunter’s knife
That shows no mercy with its bitter sting
But slashes at your skin with cold that clings
And carries storm and sorrow on its wings
To freeze your breath and snatch away your life

And when the wind has cut you to the bone
The scents of summer almost slip your mind
All hot and heavy in the air entwined
With burning light that through the leaves unwinds
But even here, spring’s seeds by wind were sown

 
Keep Looking's notes: "It's inspired both by the aesthetics of SSSS (particularly the winter cold of Adventure 1), but also the experience of being on the internet as somebody living in the southern hemisphere! A lot of people find it really weird to think that while they're all freezing up in the snow, I'm sweating in the 40 degree heat...." 
Ouch, yeah, your humble mod does indeed relate, even if it is "only" 27C in my patch!

[Jitter]

Keep, a beautiful poem! Your sentiment comes through very clearly, it immediately got me thinking about you guys in Australia and NZ Incidentally we also just got the first heavy snowfall here (Helsinki area, most of the rest of Finland has proper snow already) although it’s still only about 2 cm of snow.

[Mirasol]

And even more lovely works over the last few days!

tehta, what a sweet story! I don´t know the original, but it really does fit Emil and Lalli so well!

moredhel, your interpretations of the star-signs are so beautiful! (And Tuuri got one! )

Grey, a revisit of the floating city! I still love the concept, and I loved your story! Especially the description of the light-bathed boats. The mental image alone is stunning!

I remember seeing the two works of Noodles and Temteno in one of the previous calendars. They´re both such fun (and accurate *side-eyes siblings*) depictions of baking! :'D I enjoy both of them a lot!

And KeepLooking, your poem is wonderfully bittersweet! Hehe, I do know the feeling of finding it difficult to grasp that whenever it´s cold here there´s parts of the world where it´s summer. :'D

[moredhel]

nice poem.

moredhel, your interpretations of the star-signs are so beautiful! (And Tuuri got one! )

sure got tuuri one. as I turned the image around to fit the swan, it sponataneously looked like tuuri bird to me.

[wavewright62]

Spoiler:  open the door • show

Once again, it's your humble mod wavewright62's turn to treat!

Spoiler: show

Tuuri scrutinises the samples Mikkel brought her for the naturalist diary she's keeping as part of her skald duties.  She was sure Mikkel said this was Trifolium repens, but this one clearly has 4 leaves.  She remembers reading about the significance of four leaves somewhere, but can't place quite what the significance was supposed to be.


(I still don't have my drawing tablet set up in my new place, so plain linework will have to suffice again.)

[wavewright62]

Announcement: I would like to feature a compilation of a series of little portraits of individual or groups of characters from SSSS: crew, HQ, family, trolls, secondary characters, background characters, OCs, self-inserts, deities... what the hey, even the bears!  I'm looking for face(s) or maybe head & shoulders miniportraits, any style.  Ballpoint on lined paper, sketches, fully rendered, pixel, photo of a face drawn with markers on a ping-pong ball, chibis, macaroni collages... The only real limitation I pose is if you're doing an edit, do not use actual artwork from the comic as basis.  I have put the call out on Discord already, but if you're feeling nostalgic for these characters, drop me a linkee on PM.

My target is to share with you all on Christmas Eve as the finale of this Calendar.  (I know, kills the suspense, but I think you'll be pleased anyway.)

[tehta]

Fell off the face of the earth a bit last week (insane work, followed by booster shot side-effects).
But now I am here to comment on everything...

wavewright: I am sorry to say that your picture makes me sad. The luck didn't help her... (Or is this an AU where it did?)

Keep Looking: I absolutely love the poem. Excellent rhythm and rhyme scheme. And there's some great imagery: you really capture the feel of both winter and summer. I think my favourite part is the middle one, with the ssss reference and the sounds of summer.

Noodles/Temteno: Having just baked four types of cookies myself, assisted by 'never-bake' friends, I have full sympathy for all baking disasters.

grey: My comment on your story was rushed for the forementioned reasons, but I really liked the way the different parts of Ensi's story was tied together by the theme of her learning new things: learning new facts/opinions, learning self-control, and of course learning more about her capabilities. And about the nature of the world she lives in, even.

And thanks to everyone who commented on The Book and the Brush. Especially, who called out specific moments. Nothing more satisfying for a writer...

[moredhel]

I like how the hard thinking is visible.

[wavewright62]

Spoiler: open the door • show

In today's entry from the archives, Antillanka brings us all that warm glow of the season...

Spoiler: show

The crew might manage decorating a tree...



Just don't let Emil help with the cookies - or the candles!

[thegreyarea]

Hey, I loved that one! I didn't know Antilanka's work, but is so good! I love how each team member has a fitting expression, and of course Sigrun over Mikkel's shoulders...    Excellent!

The small drawings are very funny too! I always wanted to see Emil's pyromaniac side... 

Tehta, thanks for the feedback! I'm very glad that you liked it, hopefully as much as I liked your (brilliant) story!

Wave, another great idea! Count me in for the portraits!

[moredhel]

 there are pbviously treasures hidden in the archives.

[Jitter]

Wave, your Tuuri looks like she's onto Mikkel's trolling, and is hard at work trying to figure out if this is one of those things or the genuine article.

Like several times before, here's some botany:

Spoiler: show

The Trifolium repens is very common in Finland too. The four-leafed one of course isn't.

Sweetness from Antillanka 

[wavewright62]

Spoiler: open the door • show

I'm delighted to present to you one of Clayres' splendid vignettes!

Spoiler: show

Clayres comments, "Lalli is definitely not using the 'loss' of his cape as an excuse to snuggle with Emil. Emil is definitely not 'overcooking' the last piece of boar meat from Sigrun's hunt yesterday. Mikkel definitely wasn't forced to quit cooking but 'retired' from said job to 'let a new generation shine'. Onni is definitely 'hungry' and not asking for seconds, thirds and fourths (and fifths) of the stew Reynir has been stirring for no other reason at all.

Tuuri is definitely alive though.  


(The song playing from the radio is Värttinä's Emotion, because I think it's nice, relaxing and fits the atmosphere I was going for, because I was drawing along to it and because I can.
Also have you noticed that all three of my calendar contributions featured a radio playing in some way or another?)"

[tehta]

I really like the composition of this picture: how the eye is drawn, in turn, to all the stories being told in it. (And told pretty clearly: I did not need to read your explanations to understand most of what you tried to convey!) I'm spite of that, the whole thing doesn't feel busy or complicated!

I also like the nighttime forest mood. Very cozy!

[Jitter]

Is Kitty playing with some snowflakes, or are they spirits? Sweetness everywhere!