Pastelbat @pastelbat@awoo.space

"This is an animal called the Yena [Hyena], which is accustomed to living in the sepulchres of the dead and devouring their bodies. Its nature is that at one moment it is masculine and at another moment feminine, and hence it is a dirty brute.

It is unable to turn round, except by a complete reversal of its body, because its spine is rigid and is all in one piece.

It frequents the sheepfolds of shepherds and walks round the houses of a night and studies the tone of voice of those inside with careful ear, for it is able to do imitations of the human voice. In order that it may prey upon men called out at night by this ruse, it copies the sound of human vomiting.

Such dogs as it has called out like this, it gobbles up with hypocritical sobs. And if by chance sporting dogs should cross its shadow while they are hunting it, they lose their voices and cannot give tongue.

This beast has a stone in its eye, also called a yena, which is believed to make a person able to foresee the future if he keeps it under his tongue. It is true that if a yena walks round any animal three times, the animal cannot move. For this reason they affirm that it has some sort of magic skill."

- "A Medieval Bestiary", Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986 (text compiled from various sources, I think)

[full book at: http://resources.metmuseum.org/resources/metpublications/pdf/A_Medieval_Bestiary_The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art_Bulletin_v_44_no_1_Summer_1986.pdf ]

Left Plate: TFW you belatedly realise not only is someone else cosplaying Captain Harlock for the big con this year, but theirs is way better

You: Knights were warrior-nobles clad in steel plate armor
Me, an Intellectual: Knights were just boys who liked high-heels, curls & frilly dresses

Let's deal with the serious issues of the day:

"Mysterium Cosmographicum" is a way cooler name for your Ominous Tome of Mind-Bending Knowledge than "Necronomicon"

(Also the illustrations of Kepler's Platonic Solid Solar System are amazing in a "Very precisely drawn but: What the actual what is going on here" M.C. Escher kinda way)

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterium_Cosmographicum)

Birmingham New Street has recently tried to update its image, presumably to drag itself away from its well-established national reputation as a Non-Euclidean Despair Warren.

(Whenever you mention you're passing through Birmingham New Street, the news will usually be greeted much as if you just said you're due to catch an unfortunate illness; A grimace, sincere condolences and hopes that it will pass as quickly and painlessly as possible)

Part of this attempt to update its image has been adding what can only euphemistically be described as 'benches' along the taxi rank;

For the understandably-confused, these benches can be identified as the row of angry concrete blocks with metal spikes jutting from the edges.

..Yeah, those ones.

If there were any proof needed that some spirit inherent in New Street has a seething hatred for humanity, this would be it.

(photo source: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5028555)

Some misc creature sketches for gamedev stuff

Idk if I'm even gonna go with a semi-specbio style, idk if it fits the game concept well

But I like this kinda thing a lot, and I'm trying to get back into drawing regularly again

So sketches

[Image CW: One design is insect-ish]