Tag Archives: James Weaselgrease

Hopeless inhabitants

The evolution of Jamesthulhu

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James first appeared in Personal Demons (first half of The Gathering) as the boy afflicted by the demon. He wanted to be able to go as himself to World Book Day, and Tom was obliging on this score. By the time the book came out he was a bit old for that sort of thing, but it was a nice idea.

In his teens, James became a founding member of The Hopeless, Maine Scientific Society. Here he’s setting fire to a tablecloth – he’s a bit of a pyromaniac. You may have seen him in online festivals speaking on behalf of Hopeless scientists.

Now as a member of The Ominous Folk, it’s possible that James has found his final tentacular form. It’s also entirely likely that he hasn’t. His powerful voice is a great contribution to the band, and his humour always adds to live performances. There’s every reason to think he’s going to expand Hopeless in new directions at some point in the foreseeable future, and when he does, there will be suitable noises. This may or may not involve screaming.

His stage surname of Weaselgrease is also derived from the project, having been abandoned by one of the characters in the tale.

Hopeless inhabitants

Stuffing your blunderbus

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Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves, shove a demon in your blunderbus and do your best to shoot the problem.

Demon Devices are a concept brought to the island by Keith Healing, during the period when he was working on the role play game. The premise is that you can get stuff done by binding a demon to a bit of technology. We now also have an Ominous Folk song about them, written by James Weaselgrease. At present the only way to hear it is as part of the opening section of Anomaly. ANOMALY PART I

Lilly May – as pictured above – is clearly the sort of person to go in for this kind of activity. If you’ve read the graphic novels you’ll be aware of the magical side of what Lilly May gets up to, not least that she’s the person who ends up with Annamarie Nightshade’s familiar – Lamashtu. Lilly May is also an inventor, something you only really see in the chapter covers.

If you’re a Dustcat over on Patreon, you’ll have access to Necessity, which features Lilly May and her demon devices far more thoroughly. https://www.patreon.com/NimueB 

At some point we’ll figure out how to get this story, and other new Hopeless tales into your eager little paws. We know you have eager little paws. You probably keep them in a dusty box under the bed, only taking them out on special occasions.

Hopeless Games

Walking with spoons

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James Weaselgrease has been with the Hopeless, Maine project for some time now. He’s in book 1, as the child Salamandra gives the bear to. He’s helped out at events, helped lug books onto trains, and he’s been part of the performance side from almost the start. He was singing with us before the idea of singing as part of the Hopeless, Maine project occurred to anyone. 

The picture above is James in Ominous Folk mode, or possibly as Jamesthulhu. There may well be an eldritch monstrosity pretending to be his hair.

This autumn, our James started a course learning how to make computer games. He’d been at it about a week when he made this little beasty. We bring you the first spoonwalker in motion, confident that there is more of this to come. We anticipate that there will be Hopeless, Maine computer games in our not too distant futures!

Hopeless inhabitants, poetry

James Weaselgrease and the bear

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The above image comes from The Gathering. The young man on the right is a very young James Weaselgrease (to use my son’s steampunk performance name). He is the child in this story who Salamandra rescues and to whom she gives her bear.

 

James Weaselgrease and the bear

 

She gave me this small toy bear

Torn, battered, restored with care

Softness in my open arms

Best of magic, best of charms.

 

Old toy bear to ward off fear

Wonky face and sewn up ear

Damaged but not yet destroyed

Comforting, my spirits buoyed

 

Courage with a messy face

Saved, repaired and full of grace

Saw who I could choose to be

Found the hope to uplift me.

 

Nights are long and dark and grim

Demons tear us limb from limb

Days are cold and grim and grey

Much to steal your life away.

 

Even in the darkness, light

Find the means to live and fight

Fill this time with something good

Do the best, the most we could.

 

In each tiny action seek

Kindest ways, protect the weak

Every chance there is for joy

All your wits and strength deploy

 

She gave me this bear to hold

Ease my fear and make me bold

Do for others what I can

And this is how my work began.

 

Image at the top by Tom Brown, poem by Nimue, bear by Dr Abbey.

Art of the island

The Hopeless Maine Scientific Society

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Those of you who followed the kickstarter obituaries last autumn may have noticed the presence of The Hopeless Maine Scientific Society. Membership of this organisation is generally a death sentence, and this picture, of the four key members, gives you some sense as to why!

This is a two page spread from the next Hopeless Maine graphic novel, and like most of our two page spreads it has nothing to do with the rest of the story. It is a peek into island life. What we’re doing in addition with these two page spreads, is to feature actual people who have played a key role in the Hopeless Maine project. And while these dodgy scientists may be the kiss of death on the fictional island, in real life they are hugely important to us.

Going left to right…

The young man setting fire to the tablecloth is my son and heir, James Weaselgrease (his steampunk name, not his real name). James is central to our song-based performances, and this is his second time in a comic. If you look closely, there’s a much younger him on a two page spread in The Gathering.

The gentleman holding the tablecloth is Robin Treefellow Collins, who is responsible for the hairy coffee, and who has written a number of ‘Daphne’ stories for this blog.

Next up, a justifiably worried Keith of Mystery, aka Keith Errington, who is responsible for Hopeless Maine prose novel The Oddatsea and without whom we would never have managed a kickstarter. He is an organisational force to reckon with. He’s also performed with us, and is responsible for the Hopeless Maine Home Companion, without which there would never have been a Spidermilk Biscuit song!

Finally, breaking the fourth wall to stare at you from the right of the image, is Keith Healing (whose title I won’t mention as he didn’t get the most dignified nickname). Keith is responsible for the Hopeless Maine roleplay game – an epic attempt at taking the madness of Hopeless and turning it into a coherent and playable system without sacrificing anything much of the magic and mystery.