@brooksiesbooks
An illustrator and Wigleaf-nominated author with 50+ publications and two MFA degrees! I post new Illustrations and microfiction every day. Art is the conduit of all things magical! I also post book reviews and publication news.
Freyja, a golden-haired goddess with two cats.
Freyja, love, beauty, fertility, war, and magic (specifically seiΓ°r, pertaining to divination, prophecy, fate, and fate manipulation.)
Her cats are Bygul and Trjegul, and in many versions, gifts from Thor.
#Illustration
#mythology
The stars love to watch the dance of solar systems.
Planets with rings and moons and satellites for #jewelry pirouette like children around their suns, always the center of attention.
But even they are dancing around the glittering skirts of their galaxy.
#vss365
Text: It's everything you could hope for and more. Rich, vibrant, dreamy fantasy that rings with the kind of truth particular to fairytales. Several themes stand out to me. Note: spoilers ahead. 1. Childhood At least, that's the best way I can choose to describe it. The unicorn represents a kind of everlasting purity, innocence, and magic that is typically lost to adulthood. To paraphrase the book, they stand still while everything moves around them, making them more "real" than mortals. They aren't subjected to life's dramas. Because the unicorns are symbolic of that elusive magic, that means that the threats to the unicorns feel someone evocative of predation, or simply the threats that innocent beings face.
2. Girlhood/Womanhood The Red Bull represents a force of traumatic, brutal masculinity, compared to the unicorns, which are also more associated with femininity, even the males. The fact that King Haggard wanted to possess and own the unicorns, menacing them with this bull that served as a symbolic extension of his greed, it feels similar to the manner in which a lot of powerful men want to possess women (and the way powerful people can subjugate vulnerable beings in general, including children). After her encounter with the Red Bull, the unicorn's traumatic transformation into a human leaves her feeling like a significantly reduced version of herself, and no longer comfortable in her body. I found it similar to how a lot of survivors of sexual trauma feel. I'll continue this point about womanhood with the next theme:
3: Fairytales. The unicorn represents a type of untamed femininity. She isn't bound by convention, and when she is a unicorn, she isn't bound by the rules of a fairytale. As a women, she becomes subject to the rules of a story, such as having romantic feelings for Prince Lir and craving a "happily ever after." I'm glad she didn't, even though she and Lir are left with a much more bittersweet kind of happy ending, where the world is a better place for their willingness to sacrifice their personal fairytale ending and they become better versions of themselves despite the grief of not being together. The unicorn is left different than the other unicorns, as she is no longer innocent for having been human and for loving Lir. But she also hasn't diminished herself in order to become a being who could marry Lir; it feels almost symbolic to how many women lose a truer version of themselves to marriage, even a loving marriage. Not blaming Lir for this, by the way, I love him. But he's extremely true to fairytale conventions, and I can't see the unicorn/Amalthea being with him without surrendering the part of herself that exceeds fairytales. I want to note here that I also love the other characters, and their awareness of being in fairytales that doesn't feel obnoxious or make the story feel less applicable to life. 5. What the unicorn represents Femininity, childhood, purity, innocence, wisdom, freedom. But beyond that, truth. The unicorns feel real. They ARE real in what they represent. Something elusive, a fraction of which is within us, but which we can't grasp. It's a book that will make you feel as though life is more magical than you could perceive before, and that there are unicorns lurking in every magical place.
Book 27 of 2026: The Last Unicorn! It's amazing, a must-read if you love the movie, and if you don't think unicorns are real this will convince you
#BookSky
Text: It's everything you could hope for and more. Rich, vibrant, dreamy fantasy that rings with the kind of truth particular to fairytales. Several themes stand out to me. Note: spoilers ahead. 1. Childhood At least, that's the best way I can choose to describe it. The unicorn represents a kind of everlasting purity, innocence, and magic that is typically lost to adulthood. To paraphrase the book, they stand still while everything moves around them, making them more "real" than mortals. They aren't subjected to life's dramas. Because the unicorns are symbolic of that elusive magic, that means that the threats to the unicorns feel someone evocative of predation, or simply the threats that innocent beings face.
2. Girlhood/Womanhood The Red Bull represents a force of traumatic, brutal masculinity, compared to the unicorns, which are also more associated with femininity, even the males. The fact that King Haggard wanted to possess and own the unicorns, menacing them with this bull that served as a symbolic extension of his greed, it feels similar to the manner in which a lot of powerful men want to possess women (and the way powerful people can subjugate vulnerable beings in general, including children). After her encounter with the Red Bull, the unicorn's traumatic transformation into a human leaves her feeling like a significantly reduced version of herself, and no longer comfortable in her body. I found it similar to how a lot of survivors of sexual trauma feel. I'll continue this point about womanhood with the next theme:
3: Fairytales. The unicorn represents a type of untamed femininity. She isn't bound by convention, and when she is a unicorn, she isn't bound by the rules of a fairytale. As a women, she becomes subject to the rules of a story, such as having romantic feelings for Prince Lir and craving a "happily ever after." I'm glad she didn't, even though she and Lir are left with a much more bittersweet kind of happy ending, where the world is a better place for their willingness to sacrifice their personal fairytale ending and they become better versions of themselves despite the grief of not being together. The unicorn is left different than the other unicorns, as she is no longer innocent for having been human and for loving Lir. But she also hasn't diminished herself in order to become a being who could marry Lir; it feels almost symbolic to how many women lose a truer version of themselves to marriage, even a loving marriage. Not blaming Lir for this, by the way, I love him. But he's extremely true to fairytale conventions, and I can't see the unicorn/Amalthea being with him without surrendering the part of herself that exceeds fairytales. I want to note here that I also love the other characters, and their awareness of being in fairytales that doesn't feel obnoxious or make the story feel less applicable to life. 5. What the unicorn represents Femininity, childhood, purity, innocence, wisdom, freedom. But beyond that, truth. The unicorns feel real. They ARE real in what they represent. Something elusive, a fraction of which is within us, but which we can't grasp. It's a book that will make you feel as though life is more magical than you could perceive before, and that there are unicorns lurking in every magical place.
Book 27 of 2026: The Last Unicorn! It's amazing, a must-read if you love the movie, and if you don't think unicorns are real this will convince you
#BookSky
Odin with two wolves and a raven in a snowstorm.
Odin π¨οΈ
February is a month of Love. Love gods and godesses cross the skies - Venus on the back of a swan, Eros on dove white wings, Freya in her chariot, to name a few - tossing Love down #magnanimously.
March is a month of rain, which so sweetly nourishes that Love to grow.
#vss365
Artist! Quote with long hair art! β¨
My Hero Academia: Team Up Missions Volume 4.
My goodreads review! The account is Brooksie Fontaine.
Book 26 of 2026: in the midst of my classic book binge, I can't forget I love my shounen.
MHA: Team Up Missions is such an adorable manga.
The dragon god Ryujin in human form, looking out over his reflection in dragon form.
Ryujin (ιΎη₯/dragon god) the Japanese dragon king of the sea! Really cool and beautiful myths surrounding him.
#Illustration
Kindred by Octavia Butler
My review on goodreads. My account is Brooksie C. Fontaine.
Book 25 of 2026: KindredBook 25 of 2026: Kindred!
This is an amazing book, thought-provoking, and absolutely gut-wrenching. Butler is one of my favorite authors ever (discounting Fledgling, hated that).
The review contains allusions to sensitive subject matter and some spoilers, so be warned!
Kindred by Octavia Butler
My review on goodreads. My account is Brooksie C. Fontaine.
Book 25 of 2026: KindredBook 25 of 2026: Kindred!
This is an amazing book, thought-provoking, and absolutely gut-wrenching. Butler is one of my favorite authors ever (discounting Fledgling, hated that).
The review contains allusions to sensitive subject matter and some spoilers, so be warned!
Human artists, use only once piece to convince people to follow you!
Venus! π¦’
#Illustration
#GIF
Many many thanks to @brettpribble.bsky.social and Ghost Parachute for highlighting my short piece π₯° #writingcommunity
An illustration of the god Anansi, depicted as a beautiful man with multiple arms
Anansi! The spider trickster from West African (especially Akan) culture. I love his stories.
He sometimes appears as a human in illustrations, while still retaining spiderlike elements, and I wanted to depict that here.
#Illustration
Read my Oresteia review on my goodreads account, Brooksie Fontaine!
Book 24 of 2026: The Oresteia!
Five stars, one of my new favorite trilogies, and contains some of my favorite depictions of Athena, Apollo, and the Furies. And a divine courtroom drama about the very first trial.
Note that the reviews for the plays contain spoilers.
A cob centaur! He has long hair in a ponytail, a robin on his hand, and a bag of groceries.
Cob centaur for #MonsterMarch!
#Illustration
The selkies have their houses under the sea, embedded in the craggy rocks. Some of the mist over the waves comes from their chimneys.
Every morning, they stretch, plump and slender at the same time. They don their sealskins and swim, chill the #lethargy from their bodies.
#vss365
Read my Oresteia review on my goodreads account, Brooksie Fontaine!
Book 24 of 2026: The Oresteia!
Five stars, one of my new favorite trilogies, and contains some of my favorite depictions of Athena, Apollo, and the Furies. And a divine courtroom drama about the very first trial.
Note that the reviews for the plays contain spoilers.
I loved itπ₯
Nezha! Such a badass figure.
What do you do when your dad sucks but filial piety is sacred to your culture? Well, gruesomely return your body to your parents and reincarnate as a god, of course!
Investiture of the Gods is such a cool epic.
#Illustration
You only visit the pantheon for a night.
The gods, in their #splendor, shine like Leyendecker people.
You wake, thinking your suspicions were correct: it was a dream, it must have been.
And yet you shine a little ever after, with a drop of divinity, a party favor.
#vss365
The Epic of Gilgamesh.
My goodreads review: Such a beautiful book. It's fitting that the oldest story we know encapsulates themes that remain timeless: the fear of death, the urge to create something everlasting, the immortality of love. You can feel the echoes of these ancient myths in all of our modern mythos, and there's a sense of connection through them to every human who has ever lived and the chords of divinity that underly all our mortal lives.
Book 23 of 2026: The Epic of Gilgamesh! It's my second time reading it as an adult, but a different translation.
Such a resonant and appropriately timeless story. I love it so much.
#booktwt
The Epic of Gilgamesh.
My goodreads review: Such a beautiful book. It's fitting that the oldest story we know encapsulates themes that remain timeless: the fear of death, the urge to create something everlasting, the immortality of love. You can feel the echoes of these ancient myths in all of our modern mythos, and there's a sense of connection through them to every human who has ever lived and the chords of divinity that underly all our mortal lives.
Book 23 of 2026: The Epic of Gilgamesh! It's my second time reading it as an adult, but a different translation.
Such a resonant and appropriately timeless story. I love it so much.
#booktwt
"You can't just go on a #quest every time we have a family argument!"
"I know what I'm doing, I'm setting a good example for my kid! My dad became a legendary warrior by going on long-ranging quests! Right, Dad?"
"Frankly, son, I was avoiding your mom."
#vss365
A lion boy and sheep girl watching fourth of July fireworks. He's holding her on his shoulders.
Feeling nostalgic for summer! Even though I love the winter months, I'm looking forward to long days and balmy evenings.
This is July for my 2026 calendar. π
#Illustration
Loved illustrating this beautifully written, intimate story.
Read "Precipitation" written by @bestthingaround.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.
"I canβt afford heat, so we stay under the covers to trap the heavy air. We change positions to work up a sweat. Only when weβre about to suffocate do we pull back..."
tinyurl.com/3p9mratn
Loved illustrating this one. It's a beautiful and unique story.
A beautiful, sad, and inventive story I got to illustrate!
