#Extracted from my mind

[rayroseu]

I really appreciate the beauty of Malleus New Year's card. But most importantly, other than its gorgeousness, I also appreciate how it pays so much homage to his status and character, from the flowers, the clothes, and the setting. 🥹

We know that wisterias were prevalent in his Dorm Groovy SSR, this time its another flower which is the red plum blossom here😭❤️

In Chinese philosophy, the Plum tree’s blossom is a symbol of winter ending and a herald of spring. The tree’s pale pink blossoms are cherished because they bloom vibrantly and so bravely amidst the winter chill. They symbolise perseverance and hope, as well as, beauty thriving in adverse circumstances.

The way this flower's meaning is so matched with Malleus' character is so precious. We know he's "the herald of spring" because his birth brought forth a hope that the Draconias(or the faes in general) won't die out just yet (the ending of winter) and the fact that this flower blooms even in winter probably symbolizes the fact that when he was an egg, he was still perservering to live. This also applies to his life as he grows up. With the way even if his life is riddled with loneliness and exclusion, he makes an effort to go out and adjust himself with others, he doesn't give up even if his reality consistently places him in situation where his goals can never be achieved (that is, him being accepted socially and him being ignorant of human culture but still makes an effort to understand it), he just continues to be hopeful that someone/ some place will invite him, therefore his ability to thrive in adverse circumstances.

The way he slowly rises in this card makes me feel like it symbolizes how slow paced Malleus is "in going out/getting used to outside of his comfort zone", actually lol. He described his admission to NRC as him being nervous because its an unknown place but still hopeful for the experiences that he might get(acccording to the vignette of his GloMas SSR), just like him here rising from the snow and the way he lifts the veil which makes me think he wants to see the world outside of his country's point of view with his own eyes.

Japanese tradition holds that the Plum (or ‘ume’) is celebrated as a protective charm against evil, so the ume is traditionally planted in the northeast of the garden, the direction from which evil is believed to come.

I also read this symbolism which makes me tear up lmaooo 😭Because we know in Book 7, Briarland was invaded from northeast where the Silver Owls originated from 💀 The fact that the plum blossom is a protection flower and he's surrounded with it in this card makes me think that it symbolizes how protected he was during Briarland's era 😭and another thing to dissect from his slow rise from the snow with the fact the plum blossom signifies protection is probably the fact that he took so long to hatch despite many people caring for him.

Side note that in Malleus Bloom Birthday Groovy, it implied that he was born in daytime during a snowfall, and he was happy experiencing the winter, just like in this New Years card where he's smiling against the heavy snowfall 🥹

In Japan, plum blossoms symbolize good fortune, an auspicious flower, along with pine and bamboo, and the arrival of early spring. They are often used as the design for New Year’s greeting cards and other celebratory occasions. (And maybe this is just the likely reason why this flower is here in Malleus' card and I'm overthinking it above lol

Next thing I want to mention is his clothes, that attire reminds me of the formal outfit of a Japanese Emperor (From what I searched, its called sokutai, but what Malleus wears is much more simpler I guess, its a outfit derived from it which is called ikan.) This post is a great overview about these two outfits.

Ikan is the work clothes of nobles and government officials in the Imperial Court after the Heian period. Sokutai is a formal costume for those from the Emperor to the court nobles in and after Heian period (Heian costume). Ikan is called 'tonoi (nighttime) costume', whereas sokutai is called 'hino (daytime) costume'. (which probably references the fact that he's a night fae)

The point is, what Malleus wears in this card is a very traditional garment that only high ranking Japanese officials can wear. But what he wears isn't the clothes of an emperor yet, but just for a high ranking official, which is accurate to his status that he's still a crown prince not yet the king, because only Maleficia truly rules Briar Valley right now.

I love the decision that they made him wear such a prestigious outfit because the story of the New Years event is the characters working on customer service lol Its like his clothes is a reminder that he is still highly distinguished even if temporarily he's a worker.

Lastly the VEIL !!!!!! That's the thing that catched my eyes the most in this card lol I KNOW they're not referencing a wedding here because the veil don't look the same, but its so good not to mention that the one of the headress of a Japanese bride is called tsunokakushi and its description can be related with Malleus a lot lol.

The term is a compound of 角 (tsuno, "horn") + 隠し (kakushi, "hiding"). This derivation is listed in some sources as a reference to hiding a bride's "horns" of anger, jealousy, or other negative qualities, in order to present a more virtuous image for the wedding. However, this interpretation might be a folk etymology resulting from a shift in the reading and meaning.

The headdress and the veil aren't the same thing but I kinda feel like this is the idea they're going for considering the veil is 1) hiding his horns, 2) he's a character associated with being jealous, and most importantly, 3) only the person he is looking at can see his face (which is the point of most wedding veils/headdress, to hide the bride's face so that only her partner can see it).

But long veils, like the one Malleus is holding is also just a garment for a noble to hide their nobility. Which is this is probably the likely reason, considering he's using that veil to cover up his horns and his clothes, the most obvious features of his status.

Also, it could be just a fun reference to the fact that Maleficent in live action wore a long veil to hide her horns so that she wouldn't scare the humans lol

[flufflecat]

roughing out some concept sketches for more bill fashion designs

[sometimeswritingsometimesdying]

i know the novels are controversial but i mean? mastermind seiji? i need a secret spy au desperately

[adorablegorilla]

You can will one into existence, choose: A Girls' Last Tour movie finished up the last few chapters or a single cour of a Shimeji Simulation anime.

I can act like this is a hard choice and go over it in my head again and again but at the end of the day it was always gonna be the single cour of Shimeji Simulation Anime

[starlene]

I redrew the Utterson/Jekyll sketch that almost broke my scanner. The new one only crashed my photoshop once, which I'm choosing to interpret as a good sign.

Unfortunately though, as often happens with these things, I like the first sketch better despite everything wrong with it. So heck it. I'll just post them both.

Based on that fic I wrote last week.

[prettyokwizard]

I wish for this last week of crushing anxiety thinking abt making art to begone. Back ye demons!!

But in all seriousness I've been really thinking about what I've been sketching. I love fun no-think sketches! They make me happy! But I can't help but feel the want to keep pushing for more substance and emotion. I know it's gonna be hit or miss since plot writing isn't my strongest skill but I am coming to terms that that's okay. I will push past it and finish my short mourning ship comic now that I'm in the clear of busy times. I. Will. Finish. It. And feel good about it!!

[moretheta]

Death wasn’t something that residents of Meteor City could afford to be shy about. They didn’t have the luxury of averting their eyes from the corpse of a loved one, a mentor, or a friend. Canary knew this as well as anyone; the orphanage's dwindling numbers and hasty funerals weren't what scared her.

It was that they had no bodies to bury.

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than difficult philosophical questions

I heard somewhere that X-1 is one of the hardest X missions in UtK1, and having just beaten X-2 on my second try with no particular strategy, I think that's probably accurate.

Also, using healing touch in UtK1 is supposed to give you an automatic C-rank, but I got a B-rank in X-2 even tho I used healing touch. Turns out that fandom wikis are indeed full of lies.

[3moe5me]

thinking about how curly got put in that pod with soggy ass bandages

[ofj-art]

I’ve been away forever bc life has been a bitch but I swear I’m not dead

[tooies]

most of this past week hasn't been the best for my mind-music-studio but today has been really good

[olessan]

I love the fact that I can work as hard as I can manage with a broken tooth and a dying tooth (one on each side, I've been chewing on the cavity for a year) and I still cannot save even $10 towards getting dental treatment (2 impacted wisdom teeth, + tooth broken off under the gum, + bad cavity) because I barely make enough to cover my food and board and the insane energy bill

[yache-berries]

i'll see myself out now-

He's so tall he's basically a humanization of Eiffel tower

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

I started working (in a witchy way) with blue lotus and calling upon Cernunnos and “any and all benevolent spirits who are willing” to show me the world beyond and after meditating in a trancelike state with some incense late at night, I actually saw a string of images with it this time (in my mind’s eye, in the back of my mind with very little in the forefront).

Thank you!

[dragonomatopoeia]

i feel like i'm losing my mind why has the AI debate pivoted away from material/labor concerns back to debates about Real vs Fake Art. cannot express just how little i care about relitigating Art and high art and low art and skilled vs unskilled art. what i care about is the treatment and compensation of workers, the power corporations are exerting over intellectual property and creators, the continued extraction of resources, and the omnipresent glut of spam and disinformation with few or no regulations/resources that filter out the SEO AI generated nonsense

[and-fishing-equipment]

daniel after being turned by armand: well at least he can't read my mind to extract my worst moments as a punishment anymore

armand, who has spent the past 50 years studying daniel like a bug: i am about to recite your top ten personal failures from memory. i've made a tier list