Tumblr-based artist IguanaMouth has a vivid imagination and some killer drawing skills. These dragons are all after our hearts with their personal hoards of plenty.
I’m a Hufflepuff, and if you’re laughing, you haven’t thought this out.
Let’s address a few points, first and foremost.
*We are going off of the Hogwarts world, specifically the post-Voldemort one. Heroics are no longer necessary. This is just wizard school, and as normal as it can be within that context.
*We are operating on the assumption that you would live in this house, attend this house, and graduate as a member of this house as well, from first year to seventh year. These are formative years.
*I am not taking this too seriously. You, if anything, aren’t taking it seriously enough.
Okay, ready? Because I’m going to go through your favorite house and prove that Hufflepuff, long scorned and mocked, is the one you want.
I. Slytherin
Slytherin is the trendy pick for edgy people to consider themselves ambitious, or clever, or cunning or any variation thereof, and that level of trendiness makes it less edgy and more eye-rollingly obvious. Play it cool, Holden Caulfield. I get it. And I do get it. I do. There’s an anti-hero appeal of Slytherin, which, when combined with the American ideals of ambition and magic, forms a potent pair that could point you to the house.
But here’s the thing: Slytherin is just straight up evil. They’re unpleasant, they live in a dungeon, and they’re super racist. Plus, even the coolest, edgiest Slytherins get kind of embarrassing towards the end.
I’m looking at you, Malfoy.
I’m not sure why exactly Hogwarts let a quarter of their school be straight-up evil, and I know, I know, “what about Snape.” Well, how’s this for Snape: he worked for Voldemort before deciding, nah, he’s going to snitch. He was willing to sacrifice innocent people to save Lilly Potter, failed at saving Lilly Potter, and then worked as a spy because he was so sad about not kissing a girl who was already married all while while still being a huge dick to Harry Potter in deeply thorough and unnecessary ways.
So, okay, yes: Snape helped. He’s morally ambiguous at best, personally loathsome, and still definitely tortured and killed people pre-redemption.
You know who didn’t kill anyone, like, ever?
Hufflepuffs.
II. Ravenclaw
So maybe you’re a Ravenclaw? What’s not to like about being smart, right?
Besides how unpleasant it would be to hang with self-identified nerds, consider how annoying it would be to live with them. An entire house predicated on knowledge, in a magical high-school? Have some butterbeer, guys. Live a little.
But it’s wisdom, right? Arcane, cryptic knowledge, unfathomable mysteries that exist beyond the pale, for your use and exploitation. I’ll be honest- I almost just sold myself on Ravenclaw writing that.
Except for one thing.
Brains mean shit when it comes to magic.
In the real world, I’d respect Ravenclaw pretty hard. But this isn’t the real world. This is Wizard School, and the “wizard” part is way more important than the “school” half. Education is mad irrelevant in this book; all the crucial information is stumbled upon as the plot requires and given second-hand rather than “learned.” Yes, Hermione is easily the smartest character in the book, and while she should be a Ravenclaw, she isn’t (more on that latter.) It would be a wash for Ravenclaw is Hermione was in, and wisdom would obviously be proven to be crucial to the Harry Potter story at large. But Hermione isn’t a Ravenclaw. You know who was?
Luna Lovegood.
Yes, Luna is fun. From a distance. While knowledge is power, and magical knowledge is magical power, so far Ravenclaws share of the pie seems to just be “wacky and being incorrect,” or “blandly academic.” While that may be unfair, Luna’s placement in Ravenclaw shows that there is a tenuous at best relationship between wisdom and magical power, and, furthermore, a very broad definition of “knowledge” that further dilutes the potential value of Ravenclaws at large.
Similarly, if knowledge is power, consider that Ravenclaws don’t have that much power to begin with. Throughout the books, they’ve been little more than cannon fodder and sidekicks for Dumbledore’s Army. The top five powerful wizards and witches would be Dumbledore, Voldemort, Grindelwald, Snape, and McGonagall. If you wanted to round out the top ten to include Kinglsey Shacklebolt, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, or Mad-Eye Moody, I wouldn’t stop you either.
And none of them were Ravenclaws.
Brains and study don’t give you the edge in battle. When push comes to shove, books go out the window.
III. Gryffindor
Boy oh boy.
So it’s come to this. You had the nerve (or bravery) to decide you were a Gryffindor. Of course. They’re the heroes, right? The brave, dedicated, lovable bunch you’ve followed for seven books and eight films.
Except they suck.
We’re talking about the best house to be in, remember? So consider this story: a wealthy legacy kid gets a scholarship to a prestigious school, is given preferential treatment, and becomes a star athlete due to some rule-bending which gets shushed up and the entire school is warped around how special he is.
Sound familiar?
Harry Potter is a cool-kid jock in the coolest frat.
Yeah, he’s brave. But let’s understand that bravery can cut both ways. The Gryffindor’s have bravery, after all: to do whatever they want. There are no consequences to the boldness the Gryffindor’s have: the same sort of boldness, I imagine, they’d use to magically shove you into lockers. They run the school and the house cup just floats to them every year, because Dumbledore is crazy biased. Besides stealing the cup, Gryffindor is such a jerk that it steals people. Ron Weasly is clearly a Hufflepuff, being loyal but not overly brave himself (spiders, yo) as is Neville Longbottom, who becomes the head of Herbology later, which is a classically Hufflepuff position. Similarly, Hermione is clearly a Ravenclaw and if I have to explain that, I’ve lost you already. But Gryffindor needed all the protagonists. The other houses get split second cameos outside of the eye-rolling bro-off between Gryffindor and Slytherin. And sure, when Voldemort was around, that made sense. But we’re in a post Voldemort world here. We are examining houses in a fully neutral context, and all that leaves Gryffindor as is a clique of jocks borrowing faded glory to keep up a beef that divides half the school.
It’s a magic frat with a magic frat way of life. Fine, sure, but be aware. Without purpose, Gryffindor might not be the most pleasant place to hang. They’re a bunch of duel-happy rule breakers more interested in their grudges than just living with magic.
IV. Hufflepuff
First of all, I get it. You wanted another house. One with more history, or identity than just the “good dude,” location and the one-book celebration that is Cedric Diggory but consider: the advantages Hufflepuff has to share.
Hufflepuff is clearly the stoner house. It’s both the herbology department and its name is derived from both “huff,’ and “puff.” It values loyalty, kindness and generosity which are all underrated virtues.
But that’s who you live with.
Would you want to go to your insane magical prep school living with the jockish Gryffindors who have a cult relationship with their star quarterback- sorry, seeker- who’s also, like, totally famous? Would you want to live in a dungeon with emo, evil weirdos who consider themselves edgy and, also, are unabashedly evil? I’ll be honest; living with Ravenclaw wouldn’t be too bad, but it’s a waste of magic school to worry about the school part. But Hufflepuff? They have no identity.
Break that down and understand the gift that is.
Finally, you’re free.
Hufflepuff don’t care about your ancestry like Slytherin a flawed metric of intelligence like Ravenclaw does. It doesn’t need to prove itself obsessively like Gryffindor: instead, Hufflepuff is content to simply allow magic to dwell within it, to exist free and to grow and flourish as it needs to. The other houses draft you into grudges and lives, predetermined, but Hufflepuff is open and free to anyone.
Remind you of anyone?
That’s right. Hufflepuff is America.
So next time you’re thinking about Harry Potter, remember for a moment the unsung heroes of the story. The actual, honest-to-goodness kids with straight-up magic who had the nerve to be undefined, who stood against insane, stifling labels shouted by a magic hat that would decide their lives and personalities. The Hufflepuffs stood divergent (see what I did there?) against the tyranny of titles. They fought fate and destiny to do their own thing.
I love having my hair pulled. Bitten. Pushed around. Told what to do. Nothing too rough, not saying I want to get slapped or punched or anything…but being bitten really hard whilst having my hair pulled just makes me go insane.
And I love scratching backs. To the point of bleeding. Mmmm.
Don’t have an SO but even people that I’ve had one night stands with that I’ve told just haven’t put the effort in or act freaked out. It bothers me a lot…Makes me feel weird for liking that sort of stuff and I just deal with doing the standard stuff
I like my tits slapped. I’m usually very open with what I like (even the odd ones like omorashi), but I find the way they hang when I’m on my knees to be unattractive, and don’t really want to draw his attention to it.
I wish she was more dominant sometimes. I have a slow libido and don’t get turned on by teasing, I’d rather just be grabbed and her have her way with me.
When receiving oral, sometimes I just want a bit of ass play. I think about it so much while it’s happening but can never just say “touch my butthole please”.
I really want my fiancee to stay dressed up during sex, she will dress up then just strip before the actual sex. If you are dressed as a slutty nurse then I wanna fuck a slutty nurse.
I feel that 19 out of 20 times I’m always initiating sex. I would really like it for her to, every once in a while, just grab me by the crotch on a random weekend afternoon with that “it’s on” look.
I’ve been wanting to try anal with my girlfriend for a while, the closest we got was one night I let her peg me and in return I’d get to return the favor, except when time finally came for my chance I barely even get the head of my dick on her ass when she screams bloody murder and we stop…
Rape play, specifically where she makes a slow transition from a struggling, angry victim to silent, passive denial to loud and eager indulgence and dirty talk. I’d never really hurt anyone that way and even fake crying would kill the mood, but as a role playing thing its always been a fantasy for me.
I am bisexual and I love being with another woman while my SO watches but I was always afraid to mention it while we (my ex and I) were together out of fear they would think I was using it as an excuse to sleep with someone else.
Not just any dirty talk, like ‘oh, I’m such a fucking slut,’ no. I want the most debasing, wanton words out of her mouth. A stream of slutty confessions that would make the likes of Hiedi Fleiss or Pam Anderson blush. Degrading, humiliating things that she would never do in real life, but I want to hear her imply she would because I just bring those kind of desires out in here…
I have a tickle fetish. I’ve been wanting to ask my long term bf to just tie me up and.. well you get the idea. But I’m so afraid of his reaction. Help?
It reeeeally turns me on to turn a guy on actively. To have him get horny(er) because of something I’m actually doing TO him. Not just because I’m nice looking and provide a vagina.
I’ve really enjoyed fingering butts, sucking balls, giving blowjobs, licking/nibbling nipples, biting, light scratching, nibbling ears, licking ears, massages, licking inner thigh… probably more that I’ve forgotten about. But really, if I doesn’t outright disgust me (and only a few things do that I can think of) and it turns him on, I’ll find it the sexiest thing EVAR. It’s less about what I’m doing exactly and more that something I’m doing is turning him on.
It makes me sad that I now just sit there during sex. Trying to thrust back being the only thing I’m allowed to do just isn’t particularly enthralling. I still want and can enjoy the sex well enough, but it’ll never be mind blowing again unless something changes. Sigh.
I actually have tried to express it before, but it just made sex harder to come by and more anxiety ridden for him. I try hard not to ask for anything in the bedroom anymore for fear of scaring him off of sex entirely. I don’t even ask for sex at all anymore. Too much pressure.
I just want him to tell me I’m tight. I’ve heard it before and I do my Kegels. Dammit, it’s an amazing ego boost and I’ve complemented him similarly… I just can’t seem to give him the words I want to hear. The best I get is, “we fit great together” god dammit that’s not even close!!!
Pretty vanilla but oh, them feet. And I’ve never been with a girl with full bush but I’ve always wanted to try it, idk might be I’d hate it but it still feels weird to ask her to grow it.
I want her to put on her cutest panties, straddle me, and piss herself. I want to watch her panties get soaked, and the stream falling off of them, and feel it soaking into my shorts.
She knows I like pee play, but it skeeves her out, so I don’t bring it up.
Anything where I’m the submissive one. So, being told what to do, choking, anal, rough play, dirty talk, being talked down to, face fucking, DP, etc etc…
Last BF, I asked him about anal – he was grossed out and refused. Clearly not going to ask for anything about that. Sex was still good but I definitely was thinking about way different stuff then what was actually happening.
It sucks because I’m 32 and have yet to date a guy who is into any of this. I always date the nice guys so they just can’t bring themselves to do any of this. But dear god do I want it all
I don’t know if I like it because I haven’t had it yet, but another woman would be absolutely swell! Not sure how you make that happen in a natural, normal way, but I’m willing to find out
Doing butt stuff with him on the receiving end. I’ve gone farther with my current SO than anyone else but I’m really into the thought of going even further.
I have my girlfriend dress up really tom-boyish and I like her with short hair. The more like a guy the better. We role play about meeting up at a gay club and I take her (him) back to mine for drinks. We pretend shes a gay twink, while I ravage her from behind. Sometimes we throw on gay porn while I take her from behind.
When you mention your success, your friend’s face goes automatically sour. She may look like she’s eaten an entire lemon as she struggles to say congratulations. Or you receive a totally blank facial expression and no response at all, just a stare. She may even attempt to “one-up” you by mentioning her accomplishments quickly before you’ve even finished your sentence. This is the type of friend who is never happy for anything you do, and is secretly hoping you’ll fail so that she doesn’t have to feel so badly about her own life. This is toxic because real friends celebrate each other’s accomplishments, and even if there is any jealousy involved, they will put it aside in order to congratulate their friends. Instead of feeling despair at their friends’ accomplishments, true friends will be secure in their own accomplishments, and thus feel celebratory, inspired, and motivated to better themselves when they hear about the accomplishments of others.
2. They covertly put you down.
If you’re happy and cheerful for whatever reason, toxic friends find ways to rain on your parade by introducing little storms and tempests of invalidation, belittlement, and degradation. These are often disguised as “helpful” or “honest” comments that actually have no value at all except to make you feel less proud of yourself. They say things like, “Oh, anyone could’ve done that,” when you mention something you accomplished or, “That’s not a real major,” when you mention your academic concentration. They also seem sadistically happy when you’re failing or when you’re going through a difficult time. This is a sign that something is seriously wrong with them. Real friends don’t attempt to criticize or put down people just for the pleasure of making someone seem small. Only inferior people do that in order to elevate themselves. If you can’t be your greatest, authentic self around your friends without being constantly demeaned by them, then they’re not your true friends. They’re malignant bullies and narcissists. Get it straight and know the difference.
3. They emotionally exhaust you.
Have you ever had this experience? You’re on the phone with a friend. You ask your friend how she’s doing, and find yourself being “talked at” rather than “talked to” for hours on end — and this consistently seems to happen all the time. As you finally get your chance to speak, your friend suddenly needs to get off the phone because she is now so tired from all the “talking.”
Sure, we all have to vent sometimes and talk about ourselves. Certain situations warrant this type of behavior — such as a breakup, a loss in the family, or any other traumatic event. However, if this happens quite often and you rarely get a chance to have a reciprocal conversation with a person, you’re acting as their audience to a monologue and not as a friend. You also deserve to be listened to and deserve to talk about any problems in your life. Don’t let these toxic friends convince you otherwise. Stand up for yourself and tell them this is an issue. If they continue to do this despite you establishing that boundary, it’s time to forfeit the friendship altogether.
These toxic friends drain you and your ability to engage in self-care because they are emotional vampires whose only focus is them, their lives, their wants and needs. You don’t exist, or if you do, you only exist in relation to them. For example, if a friend hears your traumatic story and uses it to turn the conversation back to her life constantly, this is a red flag for narcissism, so be careful. Real friends would listen to your story and make sure to give you feedback that is helpful to you before turning the conversation back to them. Stay away from any people with whom you don’t feel there is an equal, reciprocal exchange of conversation, validation, compassion, and respect.
4. They are there for your good times, and never for the bad.
I mentioned in #1 that you should stay away from people who don’t celebrate your accomplishments. One caveat though: watch out for toxic friends who are only there to piggyback on your success. These friends only appear when you’re doing very well, and rarely show up when you need them during hardships. They use your presence to associate themselves with you, for the sole purpose of seeming more important via affiliation to your success. Or they enjoy your presence only when you’re in a good mood and they need you. Otherwise, when you have a health scare, or someone in your family has an accident, they are nowhere to be found. Real friends help each other through tough times and are there for each other even when times are challenging.
5. They’re not emotionally responsive, validating, or helpful.
What is the point of having friends if they can’t even respond to your emotions? If you find yourself dealing with a friend whom you can have great intellectual conversations with, but only hear the sounds of crickets when you tell them you’ve had a bad day or you just had a breakup, this friendship is a no-go. Feel free to keep those type of people for your LinkedIn, but not for your real life crises. At most, they are a professional or academic connection because all they can do is talk about things related to the mind but not the heart. Sure, some situations lead to a loss for words, but friends should be capable of basic emotional support, even if it’s a hug and the words, “I am here for you.” If your friend happens to be very emotionally invalidating, constantly telling you to “get over it” or gets angry at you expressing your emotions, leave them forever and don’t give them access to your life in any way. They don’t deserve to be your friend. Real friends validate each other’s emotions while still empowering each other’s personal growth.
6. They don’t stand up for you.
When an outsider or mutual friend makes a snide or insulting comment about you or does something hostile or horrific to you right in front of these toxic friends, you rarely see these toxic friends jumping to the rescue. They don’t advocate on your behalf even if they are the only ones who can. They don’t support you when you most need it. Real friends come to each others’ aid; they don’t have to “pick sides” in order to point out wrongdoing and consider your feelings. And also, when did we become so resistant to “picking sides”? Why shouldn’t friends advocate for victims or call out inappropriate behavior when they see it? These toxic friends will more likely either stay silent or even participate in the belittling behavior on your behalf. That’s when you know it’s time to stop making excuses and stop defending people who won’t defend you.
7. Their ego is bigger than their bond to you and they attempt to put a shade on your light.
These types of friends are extremely narcissistic, jealous and they will do whatever it takes to maintain their delusion of grandeur. For example, they might refuse to compliment you when you’re all dressed up, but compliment someone next to you who is wearing sweats and a t-shirt. They might put up pictures of themselves on social media with other friends, but avoid putting up pictures of you and them together because they think you outshine them in some way. Or they may hide or belittle your accomplishments to others while they brag about their own. These are superficial friends who can’t stand having someone outsmart them or be prettier than them. Real friends appreciate each other’s unique beauty, intelligence and charisma. They don’t attempt to obscure your light in the darkness just because of their own place in the shade.
8. They only communicate through the screen.
For this, I am referring only to “offline” friends who you have met face-to-face with. I know there are many online friendships that are built through supportive forums and I don’t mean to diminish the value of those. However, for friendships that developed face-to-face and for friends who live within a reasonable distance of each other, there’s no reason that both people in the friendship would make an effort to see each other in real life occasionally. You know, step away from the messenger and Facebook once in a while to actually make a face-to-face connection when possible. Be very wary of any friends who don’t have time to see you, but seem to have all the time in the world to be wrapped up in their new boyfriend 24/7.
These are not your real friends. These are buddies constantly talking to you through a screen, and electronic communication is often a cop-out for emotionally unavailable people. If these friends emotionally exhaust you as well, they have no place in your real life or even on your messenger list. You might as well be engaging with the wall, although the wall will probably be more sympathetic and won’t hurt your feelings. Think of it this way: you’re wasting energy on these toxic people by constantly engaging with them online because they won’t grace you with their presence offline. They have shown you they don’t have time to do a simple meet and greet by taking a step outside, so why should you hurt your eyes or strain your fingers for them? Real friends make the effort to meet in person; emotional vampires, like real vampires, can’t stand the daylight and prefer the light of the computer screen.
9. They’re too busy for everything and anything.
Related to #8, if your friend is constantly always too busy to see you or make any type of contact, especially in the midst of a crisis, run, don’t walk away from the friendship. Yes, people have jobs, lives, and relationships to deal with. Nobody can always be there for you every time you need it. That’s all fine and dandy, but if a friend rarely even follows up on how you’re doing when you really need them and plays this “too busy” game consistently, this friend needs to get the door slammed in his or her face the next time he or she comes around looking for any attention.
Also, thanks to technological advancement, social media has made it quite easy to assess whether these friends are truly “busy” or truly bullshitting. If you see your friend claiming to be too busy to call you during a crisis but posting statuses or liking people’s posts on social media all the time, you have further confirmation that this friend is not a real one. Thanks, Facebook and Twitter for the head’s up!
10. Betrayal, breaking boundaries and disrespect.
I saved this for last but it’s the most important. If your friend disrespects you by: being flaky, multiple cancellations, chasing after or flirting with your significant other, calling you names, cursing at you, bullying you, coercing you, making you cry during an already rough time by being insensitive, pressuring you to do something, gossiping about you, or treating you with anything less than respect or consideration — it’s time to take your fabulous self out the door. There will be plenty of people in the world who won’t make you feel that way, so why not save your energy and invest in something that will have a positive return?
Life is way too short to waste our energy on toxic people, whether they be friends or romantic partners. Learn to recognize these signs and you will pave a better path to a healthier life, better support system, and more meaningful as well as authentic relationships. Once you’ve experienced an authentic friendship with love, care, compassion and respect, I guarantee you’ll never want to go back to one with the absence of these qualities.
Mainstream contemporary culture isn’t into the idea of a masculine hero being a cold-blooded murderer or having a young male lover. Weird, right?
Paramount Pictures
The new Hercules apparently wants its masculine hero to be eminently relatable. "I only want to be a husband and a father," he says. "I am no hero," this humble Hercules, played by Dwayne Johnson, contends. "Become the Legend," offers the website of the new Hercules, pressing you to put an image of your face in a hole underneath the hero's lion skin. Yet this modern modesty twist — Hercules as a family man who sees himself as a normal person who happens to be exceptionally strong — is fundamentally at odds with the hero's ancient origins.
The first written reference to Herakles (his Greek name) is found in Homer's Iliad; here and for centuries after, he was a Greek hero of the very old school. Classics professor G. Karl Galinsky explains that the "Iliadic hero is not a fiercely independent individualist but almost makes a cult of proper procedure (themis) and of paying proper respect (aidōs) to whomever proper respect is due." The very ancient Herakles was not even as modern as the Iliadic heroes. Thus in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Herakles is seen as hubristic and his behavior as shocking — he fights against the gods and is said to have killed a guest in his home, both sickening and inherently repulsive transgressions. The only way Herakles would have been "relatable" in the ancient world was as an athlete — poetry likened Herakles' deeds to athleticism, a line of thinking that suggests athletes should try to emulate Herakles. (Athlos, the word used to describe a sporting contest, was also the word used for his 12 labors.)
Herakles was, by ancient accounts, very sexually promiscuous. In one tale, he had sex with 50 sisters in one night. According to Aristotle, his virility produced 72 sons and a single daughter, but others report even more offspring. The canonical ancient stories tell of the hero murdering his wife and their (legitimate) children in a fit of madness brought on by the goddess Hera. His last mortal wife, Deianeira, inadvertently kills him because she is jealous of the slave-concubine he's brought home to live in their house. His is a story that makes little sense, perhaps, in the modern context, hence its sanitization.
During the Renaissance, the tale of his "choice between Vice and Virtue" became a popular Hercules story — he inevitably chooses Virtue. The Hercules of the Kevin Sorbo-led 1990s TV show was characterized in the opening credits as having "a strength the world had never seen — a strength surpassed only by the power of his heart." Hercules was born at a time when there was no chasm between thought and deed as now, hence the acceptance then of his brutality. To be a hero of antiquity meant to perform superhuman feats; to be a hero of modernity means to possess a capacity for deep morality.
In Greece, Herakles became much more popular as a comic figure than a serious figure — Classics scholar Emma Stafford terms him a "a cheerfully promiscuous glutton." Many statues remain of a drunken Hercules urinating, some of which were designed as fountains. A fragment from Hesiod suggests that Hercules had a sense of humor about himself, which was likely present in oral folktales of the hero. His "active" sexual appetites are highly masculine — Classics professor Giulia Sissa writes that "[desire] is the reaction of a mature male body to another body, whose femininity strikes and stimulates (whether or not that femininity belongs to a woman or a young man)." Although insatiable sexual desires were usually associated with women and receptive male partners, Herakles was nonetheless a paragon of manhood, down to his perfect small penis. Galinsky writes that his prodigious progeny are an affirmation of patriarchal values, in which his many sons spread the glory of his own immortal father, Zeus.
AUTORES: Philippe Dupuy: Nació en 1960 en el extrarradio parisino. Desde principios de los años 80, forma junto a Charles Berberian uno de los dúos más curiosos de la bande dessinée. De su colaboración nació el autor bicéfalo Dupuy-Berberian, que ha escrito y dibujado a cuatro manos una obra singular. Desde Fluide Glacial hasta sus cuadernos de viajes, desde The New Yorker hasta la serie para adolescentes Henriette, su trabajo abarca, con el mismo virtuosismo, tanto el cómic como la ilustración. El señor Jean (Norma) los corona en Angoulême con el Alph´Art al mejor álbum en 1999. En ésta, su obra maestra, describen con agudeza y sensibilidad un mundo contemporáneo poblado por personajes familiares y entrañables.
En 1994, el Diario de un álbum (Planeta) permitió a sus autores dividir el trabajo en dos, para contar, dentro de un mismo libro, sus experiencias personales.
Con Obsesionado (Astiberri, 2009), que ha escrito y dibujado solo, Philippe Dupuy nos propone un sorprendente “primer libro”.
Charles Berberian: Publicó sus primeros cómics en fanzines en 1980.
En 1983 , conoció a Charles Berberian y comienza con él una colaboración aún con vida. Tienen más de 25 álbumes en su haber y muchos trabajos de ilustración, firmados Dupuy-Berberian.
Philippe Dupuy hizo una aparición en el cortometraje Mundo Exterior ( 2004 ) de David Rault, escrito por Michel Houellebecq y Loo Hui Phang . También escribió y dibujó uno, especialmente durante el "interludio solista" del dúo en 2005 durante el cual se publicó Fantasmas (ed. Cornelius ). Este álbum muy personal estuvo nominado para el Mejor Álbum del Festival de Angoulême 2006.
LA OBRA: Este cómic cuenta las correrías cotidianas de Jean, un escritor de cierto éxito, y sus amigos. A través de pequeñas historias, los autores van presentando un abanico de personajes y situaciones cercanos y variopintos. Con buenas dosis de humor y con un dibujo enmarcado en la tradición franco belga, Dupuy y Berberian, que dibujan y escriben los guiones al unísono, proponen un modelo de historieta corta, con distintos personajes que se entrecruzan en torno al protagonista de la serie. El secreto de su éxito es muy sencillo: el Señor Jean es nuestro propio reflejo frente a situaciones cotidianas de las que no siempre sabemos salir airosos.
El Señor Jean, cuyo cuarto volumen ganó el premio al Mejor Album en Angoulême 1999, es el mejor ejemplo de aquellas obras que empiezan haciendo poco ruido y que, al poco tiempo, se convierten en una de las series más alabadas por todo el mundo. es una muestra del mejor cómic francés de autor, un retrato hilarante de situaciones cotidianas narradas desde la sencillez, la ironia y la ternura.
Nos alegra ver que están exprimiendo bien el potencial que tiene una chica española amateur como Sol, capaz de hacer de todo y con una elegancia suprema. Qué delicia de rubia, cuerpo natural, sofisticada sin pretender serlo y sumado a todo el morbo del mundo. ¿Tendrá límites esta chica? Hoy está puesta bien a prueba en la serie de Porno dólares, una de las más solicitadas por la comunidad de FAKings. Disfrutad tanto como ella.
A ferramenta, que pode descargarse de balde, incorpora un dicionario composto de medio millón de entradas, preparado para unha ampla variedade de erros comúns con dez mil correccións preditivas e erros frecuentes.
Os voy a confesar una cosa. Bueno, dos. La primera es que la primera novela que escribí en mi vida (afortunadamente, inédita) estaba protagonizada por un grupo de moscas. La segunda es que pasé gran parte de los veranos de mi infancia y adolescencia en un camping que quedaba entre Pineda de Mar y Calella que, a la hora de la comida, cuando todos poníamos en marcha nuestras barbacoas, era asolado por ejércitos de moscas ávidas de comida.
Con esto quiero decir que he dedicado mucho tiempo de mi vida a observar a las moscas, y que también he leído muchos libros de entomología para conocer sus secretos. Sus vuelos acrobáticos en los que frenaban en seco gracias a sus halterios, que saboreaban las cosas a través de sus patas, que su visión semejaba un caleidoscopio, pueden agarrarse sobre cualquier superficie gracias a sus uñas y sus púlvilos… y también la razón de que se volvieran tan, tan pesadas cuando amenazaba lluvia.
No es que las moscas se vuelvan tontas, ni que sientan predilección por nosotros, posándose más que nunca sobre nuestro cuerpo, cuando se avecina un chaparrón. Es que, antes de la lluvia, el aire presenta baja presión (y, en consecuencia, baja densidad), y ello provoca que los insectos desplacen menor cantidad de aire en cada aleteo.
Es decir, a las moscas les cuesta mantener el control, les cuesta más volar, y además la humedad se acumula en su cuerpo y lo vuelve más pesado.
¿Estás harto de tiendas que te venden lo mejor para ti? ¿Lo mejor para hacerte la vida más cómoda y más útil? ¿O comprarías en una tienda que vendiera objetos divertidos, aunque no tuvieran ninguna utilidad? Ese establecimento existe y se llama ‘Basura’. El escritor David Nobbs la imaginó para Caída y auge de Reginald Perrin, la serie que la BBC emitió entre 1976 y 1979.
La tienda, –llamada Grot, en el original inglés– y el epónimo protagonista, interpretado por el estupendo Leonard Rossiter, vendía objetos caracterizados esencialmente por su total ineficacia: aros cuadrados, balones cúbicos o jarrones sin fondo, amén de vinos destilados a base de ortigas o cuadros pintados por señoras de mediana edad con serios problemas de gusto estético.
Perrin era un tipo mediocre, cobarde y huidizo, pero con un gran entusiasmo e ilusión a la hora de enfrentarse al mundo. Este ánimo a prueba de bomba le llevó a abrir esa tienda.
La cosa es que, viendo la peculiar tienda, es posible pensar que cuando Nobbs escribió las novelas se inspirase en el trabajo de Jacques Carelman. El pintor, ilustrador y diseñador francés llevaba investigando ya varios años con objetos, digamos, de dudosa utilidad. Con un espíritu tan entusiasta como el de Reginald Perrin, pero con mucha mayor delicadeza, Carelman creó artilugios cuyo diseño desafiaba las características cotidianas del objeto; a veces desposeyéndolos de cualquier uso y colocándolos al nivel de piezas artísticas. Pero con un enorme sentido del cachondeo.
En 1971 editó el Catálogo de objetos imposibles, que tenía el formidable título original de Catalogue d’objets introuvables et cependant indispensables aux personnes telles que acrobates, ajusteurs, amateurs d’art, alpinistes… (Catálogo de objetos inencontrables, pero sin embargo indispensables para acróbatas, ajustadores, artistas aficionados, alpinistas…). En sus páginas, Carelman despliega un descacharrante ingenio a la hora de reimaginar artefactos cotidianos, a veces variando su forma o sus materiales, y a veces mezclando objetos de distinta procedencia en divertidísimas amalgamas.
En Yorokobu nos gustan mucho estas marcianadas, claro, pero aunque no estemos seguros, es bonito pensar que el proceso creativo que siguió Jaques Carelman no le vino por inspiración divina, sino que probablemente recogía parte de las investigaciones que el dadaísmo o el surrealismo habían propuesto décadas antes en sus readymades. Al fin y al cabo, la Fountain que Marcel Duchamp “crea” en 1917 no deja de ser un objeto imposible y, al margen de su relevancia intelectual o artística, una maravillosa cachondada.
La Fountain de Marcel Duchamp, firmada con el nombre falso de R. Mutt (DP)
Lo bueno es que el catálogo tiene a la venta réplicas reales de los objetos que diseñó Carelman para deleite de todos los que, aunque no seamos acróbatas o alpinistas, nos apetezca vulnerar los límites de la utilidad a favor del puro asombro y la carcajada. Sí, quizá una mesa ondulada no sea la mejor superficie para jugar un partido de ping-pong, pero nos asegura echarnos unas risas.
CAFETERA PARA MASOQUISTAS
O para contorsionistas. O incluso para personas con una mano de madera.
MARTILLOS SIAMESES
Entrelazados en una abrazo sin fin. Unidos por el destino y el amor. Ni la alcayata peor atravesada podrá separarlos.
TENAZAS BLANDAS
Fabricadas en la goma menos rígida del mercado, garantizan su total inefectividad tanto sobre la alcayata que se enfrentó a los martillos siameses como con una siempre chincheta.
FUSIL PARA CANGUROS
Y así tener perfectamente controlada la trayectoria saltarina del marsupial.
CUCHARA-CROISSANT
De un solo uso, sí, pero un uso delicioso.
TÁNDEM DIVERGENTE
Especialmente indicado para cuando odias a tu compañero de viaje. Por cierto, que también existe una versión convergente, por si también le odias, pero quieres decírselo a la cara.
GAFAS PARA ENAMORADOS
O para los del tándem convergente, si además son muy miopes.
PATINES PARA BAILARINAS
Mejoran la gracilidad que de por sí hay que tener cuando practicas el delicado arte del ballet.
TROMPA DE CAZA AUTÉNTICA
¿Por qué emplear un rifle y una trompa de llamada cuando sales de caza, pudiendo tener ambos objetos reunidos en un único dispositivo? Es como los teléfonos con cámara, pero pensada para los señoritos ingleses.
MESA DE PING-PONG OMNIDIRECCIONAL
El objeto estrella del catálogo. El que te garantiza que siempre ganarás tus partidos de tenis de mesa. O que siempre quedarán empate a cero, que es casi lo mismo.
by Isha Aran on Jezebel, shared by Katharine Trendacosta to io9
Yesterday marked the opening of the 8th Annual Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design Exhibit, a cool look at some of the iconic costumes from various television series. Costume Designer and showcase curator Mary Rose said that the items she chose weren't just about Emmy nominations, but what she liked. As reported by Variety:
Here's a clip from last night's Last Week Tonight, in which John Oliver breaks down the many problems behind America's broken prison system and takes a page out of the Sesame Street playbook by singing a catchy prison-themed tune with a group of puppets.
We've told you about the strange baby pears before on Neatorama, but I'm sure some of you haven't seen them before. So let's share in the horror joy of these delicious baby pears, found at a supermarket in Beijing, China.
According to Rocket News 24, these "happy/joyful doll pears" are shaped when growing on trees with special molds to make them look like sleeping human babies.
This Canada lynx kitten named Jasper seems to be having a ball at the Point Defiance Zoo, between the love he gets from keepers and admirers and his fondness for play. The nine-week-old kitten weighs approximately four pounds and is being hand-reared by zoo staff.
The Canada lynx is native to North America, specifically to Canada, Alaska and the northernmost parts of the United States. Adults of the species weigh 18 to 24 pounds on average and measure 19 to 22 inches in height.
The lynx is typically a solitary animal, although it may occasionally roam in small groups. The lynx roams anywhere from 1.5 to 3 miles per day. As they take shelter in areas of dense forest, they usually stay close to the treeline, however they generally like to swim. One researcher recorded a lynx swimming two miles across the Yukon River.
What? You don't know your progressive house from your deep disco house? What kind of a music lover are you?
But thanks to Every Noise At Once by Glenn McDonald, you no longer have to wonder the difference between "black metal," "pagan black metal," and "dark black metal."
McDonald, who works as "genre taxonomist" over at Echo Nest sure knows his stuff. His website not only displays over a thousand music genres, but you can also explore 30 seconds Spotify clips of music representative of that genre by clicking on the individual link.
McDonald wrote on the website:
This is an ongoing attempt at an algorithmically-generated, readability-adjusted scatter-plot of the musical genre-space, based on data tracked and analyzed for 1215 genres by The Echo Nest. The calibration is fuzzy, but in general down is more organic, up is more mechanical and electric; left is denser and more atmospheric, right is spikier and bouncier.
For example, clicking on "melodic death metal" plays a tune from that genre. Clicking on the double arrows open another cloud of bands that belong to that genre:
Not just death metal, mind you. Melodic death metal, which includes such bands as "Septic Flesh," "Dark Tranquility," and "Nightrage."
Post Disco? Disco is not over yet for me!
Apparently, Ninja is now a musical genre!
You can even find the musical genre classification of your favorite artist!
by Jason G. Goldman on Animals, shared by Robert T. Gonzalez to io9
The BBC has a new series all about animal communication called Talk to the Animals. Someone has posted the first episode online in its entirety, and it's well worth a watch.
Badass Digest claims to have details about the plot of Episode VII, and, if true, it's going to have a ridiculous MacGuffin. So, spoilers if you chose to read on.
101 Useful Websites is "a frequently updated list of lesser-known but wonderful websites and cool web apps. Here are some of the most useful websites on the internet that you may not know about. These web sites, well most of them, solve at least one problem really well and they all have simple web addresses (URLs) that you can memorize thus saving you a trip to Google."
101 Useful Websites is part of the Digital Inspiration blog, which also features a collection of how-to guides and software tutorials & is written by Amit Agarwal: "Some of his other tech projects include Zero Dollar Movies, Sleeping Time, Hundred Zeros, Podcast Gallery, Tall Tweets, RSS Search, HTML Mail, Online Dictation and the AdSense Sandbox."
Whereas Sounds was largely taken up with various hilariously mashed meditations on Smash Mouth's "All Star" and other '90s ephemera, Silence is a more diverse affair, mashing NIN with the Ohio Players ("Rollercloser"), Billy Joel with R.E.M. ("Space Monkey Mafia"), and System Of A Down with Elton John ("Crocodile Chop"), and many, many more.
