Imaginary Friends

It's quite common for children to have imaginary friends. I had one myself, and we had some great fun together. We usually put off these friends when we grow older, and so parents usually don't have to worry. 

However, you might want to start to worry when the imaginary friend refuses to leave. 

One of our characters have that problem, and here I thought I'd show you some of our inspirations for particularly stubborn invisible friends. 

Schizophrenia is a theme that is very popular in movies and such, the best example is probably Tolkien's Gollum, who after being corrupted by the Ring develops an evil personality that tries to take control over him, like in this scene, portrayed by (a very animated) Andy Serkis:

Another reoccurring theme is people, particularly children, who see ghosts or spirits around them. Sometimes they don't understand that the people they see are ghosts, such as the boy in Guillermo del Toro's 'El Orfanato'/'The Orphanage'.

 Whoever sees the ghosts can be used to them, but for others it can be a little creepy when someone talks to someone invisible. 

"I see dead people."

- The Sixth Sense (duh)

I guess the next step here is when your imaginary friends actually become so vivid that other people can see (and feel) them too. An inspiration for us was the three Alessa-s in 'Silent Hill' (only watched the movie though). 

In this movie a little girl is tortured so badly her hate turns into a demon that looks exactly like her (only dirtier and in need of sleep). The good part of her is reincarnated in another little, very innocent girl, who grows up with foster-parents, unaware of that her evil twin is currently wrecking her hometown and filling it with monsters. 

Normal kid:                                                                               Not so normal kid:

So, putting all of this together, you get Eliah. She's a tiny, clumsy thing who's really shy and socially awkward, but always sees the good in people. Unfortunately she was born with more power than her body can handle, and this creates a second personality that is pretty much pure evil. Yay. Eliah aslo sees dead people now and then, but the major problem is this second half that she has to keep under control at all times.

I can pretty much guarantee you more stuff on Eliah! Until then, here's a link to a short comic about her on DeviantArt: The Broken Mirror

The Continent - An Overview!

Okay, so Hannah told you guys about Leonidas. Well, there's another collection of states as well in the south-east, called the Empire of Teixeira. It's smaller, but still pretty hardcore, inspired by ancient Japan and China, Arabia and Africa. To begin with Teixeira was under Leonidas, but they decided to break free and form their own state. The climate is warm, especially in the desert, and they are a really proud bunch of pretty different people. 
We'll come back to Teixeira later!

Thought I'd show you a rough map of the continent to kind of get things in place:

So hopefully you can read that. Most important thing is that Leonidas is the blue blob and Teixeira is the orange. If you can spot a place called Eum, that is the one state that overlaps the border. This is because the Eumese are pretty stubborn and want to stay neutral in the war. They're our Switzerland so to speak. 

... did I mention that Leonidas and Teixeira are at war?

They are anyhow. To make it simple, Leonidas wanted Teixeira back under their control, but the Teixeirans weren't very keen on that. The war has been pretty calm (if you can call a war that) up till now, with confrontations limited to the border. The lands around the border are pretty harsh now though. 

So now you know more or less where things are! We're currently developing this world as we almost know our characters better than ourselves now, so keep a lookout for further updates!

I'm from Leonidas!

Cold as fuck

Actually, Leonidas was the heroic king of Sparta in ancient Rome, his name meaning "son of the lion". I used his name to create a whole new world, even some characters. So, Leonidas is both the name of a union of states and the king ruling them... like a mofokking dictator. Funnily enough, the capital of Leonidas is named Leonidas, because someone likes themselves very much. The capital is cold, very cold and has a strong segregation of rich and poor. Basically this means the ones living close to the Crystal Citadel on top of the hill has smooth houses of stone and shit, with turkeys and big fires. The rest of the population lives down below  the river that runs through the capital. Let me tell you one thing: it's not nice there.  

What made me come up with this idea? Weed? 

NO. I do not smoke weed, I have a broad spectre of experiences and imagination. My name is Hannah, and I'm from Norway! Our summers can be hot and our nature is beautiful... but dammit the winters are cold. Imagine four fucking meters of snow while the wind howls right through your flesh. Our country is old and proud with a lot of history, and it is not long since we were both poor and even colder. Now we are the wealthiest country in the whole world! Do we have the happiest people? Noooo... Norwegians are as cold as the weather, deal with it. So I would say Norway and Leonidas have some things in common (not the size as Leonidas is gigantic!).

Here are some proud, cold and inspirational pictures:

Rawr rawr motherfuckers

The splendid capital! (don't look below...)

Damn it's cold

Oh, how uplifting my dear coast

Now that's our unselfish, merciful and non violent king! Hurray~  

    
Keep going here and follow if you look forward to meeting the people living in Leonidas!

Distractions distractions...

oh well, what can I say? I'm not too good at focusing on homework I guess. This is what happened on Monday when I had a looong history essay due in two days that I hadn't even started:

By the way (in case you're reading this mum & dad) I DID deliver on time today because I woke up at 5:30 am and wrote like a maniac for two hours!

Comic Process Part I

Hey, thought I'd share how I work when I make a comic! 
I'm far from an expert, but I think comics are great fun to make and really want to get better.

First of all you've got to have an idea of course, a story to tell. For my part, there are loads of stories within the story that we're working on, for example from the childhoods of our characters. Just make sure it's a story you like, since you've got to spend quite a lot of time working details!

As in any story, character is important in comics. Just that in a comic, the appearance of the character is crucial. I've found that it really pays off drawing all the characters separately a couple of times, just to settle on a look. 
Here's an example from my current project:

The character is the older brother of my main character Adreana, he's called Fredrico and the son of the local mafia boss, the Don. This has made him pretty over-confident and, well, a good old-fashioned bully. 

Inspiration: 

Sonny Corleone (From 'The Godfather')

Turiddu (character from the opera 'Cavalleria Rusticana')

That's all for now, next time it's all about setting :)

The visual goodies

Mermaids and military

While Nora is a true genius with the atmosphere and creating a world, I love working on the characters and "special effects". Since the story is not about american teenagers gossiping around in a high school, I'm free to go outside the box and make the most orgasmic and exiting characters.

What would make it worth reading? What would make you love it?

    

<- I'll walk a jagged road to make you do this!

This is why I have made all the characters quite... special. How would you like to know:

The earlier Don of the Mafia in city Lemro and the one who lost everything trying to get his love?

A rude and tough girl who survived the streets only to face a bigger horror?

A little girl with some very unusual  skills?

The brother who is always keeping an eye on his clock, counting and waiting? 

The ginger straight from the golden fields, who wants nothing but  his life?

The overly dramatic honey blonde?

And the one focused on ruining everything.

Good Guy History

When you're writing a novel, and, as in our case, inventing a new world, it's always kind of hard to think out everything by yourself. Problem is; you can't exactly go and pick out stuff from other novels or movies unless you want to get sued.
Then there is this funny trick I've learnt: You can actually steal freely from the whole history of the world, and instead of being looked at as a copycat, people think you're really smart and well-educated. Huzzah! 
At the moment I'm doing history for my A-levels, and we're learning about the totalitarian states of Nazi-Germany, Fascist-Italy and the Soviet Union. Fittingly enough our story is about two totalitarian states at war. 
Another fun thing you can do is mixing time periods together, like we have some technology and style from the 20s, but the also stuff from, say, old Mongolia. 
So in the end, history's a nice fellow. Use it well! 
Some of my current inspiration:

Europe during WWII

Ancient Mongolia 

The Mafia in the 20s 

The French Revolution

What should I choose!?

To blog or not to blog - that IS the question.

Hey what's happening y'all? I was wondering if I should blog about unimportant stuff until I have attracted a lot of people, then move over to the serious business with arts and stories, or just go straight to second base and fill you up with love and art right away? Let's give it a shy try, eh? 

Made with love by me, Hannah Mileman.

What you are beholding this very moment, are two characters from the story you will learn more about. I named it "Battle scars" after the terribly catchy song named the exact same. 

 After seeing this brief glimpse of some inspiration, I sure hope you are inspired to follow the blog as well! 

Some artsy stuff!

This is a little dump o' sketches with some drawings of the characters that Hannah and me are writing about!

 I've found that I like drawing and then colouring in photoshop. Photoshop is a freakin Narnia though, sooo much to learn in there... anyways, having fun and hope you people like it!

Deviantart - don't miss out!

Nikolas Brummer

I recently stumbled over this boy at deviantart, who is both extremely beautiful and talented! If I were you or a hipster, I'd definitely check it out!

http://nikolasbrummer.deviantart.com/

The BEST horoscope

As true as it gets 

Some time ago I went to the library and borrowed a really old book about the language of symbols. The wrapping was in worn leather and the letters faded gold. After a lot of interesting reading with a teacup by my side, I got to the parts about horoscopes, and the weird part was that it really matched! Well, I found a picture to present it for you in a more modern way - which pretty much sums it up. 

 

Heartache

I'm having the strangest feeling... I'm in love.

It really hurts, to feel this passion, knowing I ain't getting anything. We are just... million of light-years apart! Everything makes me think about the softness, just touching and smelling... 

Well, at least it's not like I don't exist! I got in touch, I really did. But still I will never be unified... it's never gonna be us! IT HURTS...

Oh, American Apparel, why can't it be the two of us? Why do you have to be so expensive!?

Well, here are some pictures of the clothes I love anyway:

Mother of colours... 

First Impressions of England

At the moment I'm doing an exchange year in England, and there has been a bit of a culture shock:

Happiness

What makes you happy?

Pictures makes me happy.

Music makes me happier .

But not as happy as boys with curls.

What makes you happy then? 

-Hannah

 

Let the Good Times Roll

Ho, ho, hoe! 

Hello dear might-existing-readers. I'm currently in math class, doing maths because everybody understands the simplicity and logic of mathematics. If you wonder how sexy and intelligent I look, I made a brilliant illustration just for you. 

Lush times

Luckily, the good times are getting closer, like a wonderful fluff of cosiness! Yes, I'm talking about Christmas. People killed a bearded man on a cross, and now he's back to give us presents! Only his beard has turned white after those those thousand of years. As the courtesy requires, you now have to go out and buy PRESENTS! Wooo... getting broke sure is fun! I have a much better idea. Go buy yourself a before-Christmas-present. I have recently got one myself, and it is called... *drum roll*  

Let the Good Times Roll 

mmm... oh, deliciousness 

 This turd-lookin' thing is a facial cleanser you mix with hot water until it's creamy. It exfoliates gently and leaves your skin soft with a scent of cinnamon and caramel. Just don't eat it, it only tastes good for a moment.

-Hannah

Why I'm Here

WRITERS GONNA WRITE (haters gonna hate)

Hey boys and girls! - sending directly from Mileman's head office.

Welcome to our blog. This is Hannah speaking, let me introduce myself before we do something drastic.

Oslo is the capital in Norway, where I live almost peacefully. Yes, it is far north, but we do not live in igloos and my pet is no polar bear. Actually I live a quite ordinary life: I go to an art school, I work at LUSH cosmetics, I have just started modelling for TEAM and if I have time I play with my friends.
If I could be described with one sentence, it would sound something like this:

I love you until you step on my toes. Then I steal your kneecaps. 

Yes, romantic.

Further are some pictures illustrating me and my life at the moment!

 
Well, that pretty much sums up me at the moment. Now, if you are interested, I WOULD LOVE TO TELL YOU what this blog will revolve around like the tornado who stole Dorothy away to Oz.

TG - A world in progress

TG, or Tidemand & Gude were two Norwegian artist who lived... some time ago. Me and my dear friend Nora, decided to call ourselves this after having started to work together. I'm Gude if anybody wonders. You see, I had this brilliant plan about making both books and films when I grew up. Unfortunately, I am a very lazy person. This is where Nora is a tremendously conscientious help. Together we write and draw and study the subjects needed for the story who has turned into ours. I'll come back to this later, aight?

-Hannah