#that's HER BELIEVE AS A CHARACTER

[1eos]

i was just thinking abt beloved heating up my pizza when i see a literal pro shipper say sethe is wrong for killing her child and that she should have just gone back to the plantation. and its an interesting desensitization to the horrors of slavery where you see being treated as chattel to be worked, beaten and sexually assaulted as a sensible choice over death. like 'oh just go back to the place where you were beaten nearly to death and assaulted by a bunch of men that's easy!' and its funny bc both that fucking idiot and the characters in the book have more revulsion for sethe than for the perpetrators of the other option. there was a high chance beloved would die at the hands of a slave master anyways like toni morrison isnt saying killing your children is the solution its that slavery is also death! it's death of the soul! and oftentimes death of the body! and the book doesn't even think sethe is noble like she suffers for her pride MULTIPLE ppl say this outright while also acknowledging the horrors of slavery. there is no 'right' answer there is literally no lesser evil......bc its fucking SLAVERY LIKE ARE U SHITTING ME RN

[ydteus]

Thinking of… her… after a workout..

I feel like Camilla could fix my depression

[turtletoria]

i wanted to try drawing older Mabel and Dipper !

[stromblessed]

Mizu, femininity, and fallen sparrows

In my last post about Mizu and Akemi, I feel like I came across as overly critical of Mizu given that Mizu is a woman who - in her own words - has to live as a man in order to go down the path of revenge.

If she is ever discovered to be female by the wrong person, she will not only be unable to complete her quest, but there's a good chance that she'll be arrested or killed.

So it makes complete sense for Mizu to distance herself as much as possible from any behavior that she feels like would make someone question her sex.

I felt so indignant toward Mizu on my first couple watchthroughs for this moment. Why couldn't Mizu bribe the woman and her child's way into the city too? If Mizu is presenting as a man, couldn't she claim to be the woman's escort?

However, this moment makes things pretty clear. Mizu knows all too well the plight of women in her society. She knows it so well that she cannot risk ever finding herself back in their position again. She helps in what little way she can - without drawing attention to herself.

Mizu is not a hero and she is not one to make of herself a martyr - she will not set herself on fire to keep others warm. There's room to argue that Mizu shouldn't prioritize her quest over people's lives, but given the collateral damage Mizu can live with in almost every episode of season 1, Mizu is simply not operating under that kind of morality at this point. ("You don't know what I've done to reach you," Mizu tells Fowler.)

And while I still feel like Mizu has an obvious and established blind spot when it comes to Akemi because of their differences in station, such that Mizu's judgment of Akemi and actions in episode 5 are the result of prejudice rather than the result of Mizu's caution, I also want to establish that Mizu is just as caged as Akemi is, despite her technically having more freedom while living as a man.

Mizu can hide her mixed race identity some of the time, and she can hide her sex almost all of the time, but being able to operate outside of her society's strict rules for women does not mean she cannot see their plight.

It does not mean she doesn't hurt for them.

Back to Mizu and collateral damage, remember that sparrow?

While Mizu is breaking into Boss Hamata's manse, she gets startled by a bird and kills it on reflex. She then cradles it in her hands - much more tenderly than we've seen Mizu treat almost anything up to this point in the season:

She then puts it in its nest, with its unhatched eggs. Almost like she's trying to make the death look natural. Or like an accident.

You see where I'm going with this.

When Mizu kills Kinuyo, Mizu lingers in the moment, holding the body tenderly:

And btw a lot of stuff about this show hit me hard, but this remains the biggest gut punch of them all for me, Mizu holding that poor girl's body close, GOD

When Mizu arranges the "scene of the crime," Kinuyo's body is delicate, birdlike. And Mizu is so shaken afterward that she gets sloppy. She's horrified at this kill to the point that she can't bring herself to take another innocent life - the boy who rats her out.

MIZU'S ONE MOMENT OF SOFTNESS AND MERCY, COMING ON THE HEELS OF HER NEEDING TO KILL A GIRL TO SPARE HER THE WORST FATE THAT THIS RIGID SOCIETY HAS TO OFFER WOMEN, AND TO SPARE A BROTHEL FULL OF INNOCENT WOMEN WHO ARE THE CASTOFFS OF SOCIETY, NEARLY RESULTS IN ALL OF THEIR DEATHS

No wonder Mizu is as stoic and cold as she is.

And no wonder Mizu has no patience for Akemi whatsoever right before the terrible reveal and the fight breaks out:

Speaking of Akemi - guess who else is compared to a bird!

The plumage is more colorful, a bit flashier. But a bird is a bird.

And, uh

Yeah.

I like to think that Mizu killing the sparrow is not only foreshadowing for what she must do to Kinuyo, but is also a representation of the choice she makes on Akemi's behalf. She decides to cage the bird because she believes the bird is "better off." Better off caged than... dead.

But because Mizu doesn't know Akemi or her situation, she of course doesn't realize that the bird is fated to die if it is caged and sent back home.

Mizu is clearly not happy, or pleased, or satisfied by allowing Akemi to be dragged back to her father:

But softness and mercy haven't gotten Mizu anywhere good, recently.

There is so much tragedy layered into Mizu's character, and it includes the things she has to witness and the choices she makes - or believes she has to make - involving women, when she herself can skirt around a lot of what her society throws at women. Although, I do believe that it comes at the cost of a part of Mizu's soul.

After all, I'm gonna be haunted for the rest of this show by Mizu's very first prayer in episode 1:

"LET" her die. Because as Ringo points out, she doesn't "know how" to die.

Kind of like another bird in this show:

[puppyeared]

who is your favorite AA character? 👁️👁️

ziska… I hope capcom brings her back someday

[loriache]

Thoughts of a newly resurrected girl

[bean-spring]

As somebody who has struggled with mental health all of their life and still does, Jinx's romance with Ekko means the world to me.

I'm sick and tired of people considering mentally ill people just "not interested in love" or, on the other side, "not healthy enough to be loved". Which is utterly stupid. Ekko falling for Powder but clearly showing signs of wanting to learn more about Jinx and on his way to love her too, realizing that her damaged past and issues do change her but she's still his girl. It's brilliant writing.

He can't be a savior to her, because there's nothing to save. There's nothing to fix. The whole message Jayce gives with "there's beauty in imperfections" goes hand in hand with Powder's "sometimes taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind". Ekko goes from wanting to save her to wanting to see more of her and leaving Powder behind to know about Jinx. With Ekko loving Jinx nevertheless it shows that mentally ill people can be loved. And with Powder reciprocating and Jinx making amends with Ekko (with the romantic context behind already seen) it's breaking the whole stereotype of her being this "insane maniac with no remorse and unable to show love".

So I guess what I want to say is that their relationship would've worked in another universe, but I want to believe it could've worked in this one (with time), too.

[wow-sofa-art]

(as always, refs under read more)

[koipepo]

That omake of little Kabru not being able to show off his howetown sweets because of Misril gets to me a lot so...

Here's a happier Kabru (and Lairu)

[eternalpariah]

sevika..sevika come home…the kids miss you…i mutter as the nurses drag me back to the psych ward

[mongeese]

she's middle aged. she's a serial killer. she insults a god to its face. she's a failed sacrifice. she's aromantic. she's a poor little meow meow. she's unkillable. she's so tired. she's god's favorite and she desperately wishes she wasn't. she's mean. she cares about people more than anything but doesn't want to be around them. she loves pancakes. i didn't say a name but she popped into your head didn't she?

[alabasterpickles]

Here’s a little family portrait I whipped up a few days ago because I had some questions about Makaria 😂 so I formally present —

Zagreus, Melinöe and the twins, Brimos and Makaria

Ages are 17, 16 and 5 (the twins were a happy accident hence the gap)

Second drawing is for color reference exclusively, it was my first pass! Everyone else’s designs are preeeetty much the same except for some minor changes tweaks with color.

Aaaand bonus smooches from a week or so ago while I tried to get back into the Hercules style (also because I wanted to draw some good ol’ fashioned lovin)

[bixels]

Scary Sunset.

I'm concepting things way outta order in this story, but I'm sure you can piece things together. Context is for a storybeat where, after defeating and capturing Adagio (thus having all three sirens in her possession), Sunset enacts her revenge plot to release the sirens on Canterlot as Thea discovers she's been manipulated. In a confrontation, the two scuffle and fight over the siren orbs while Sunset struggles with her conflicting wants and emotions.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Bonus 8: How met your mother (CSSR design by @qourmet!)

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[technically-human]

Your Charlie Rowland is somehow even cuter than your Charles Rowland !! I wanna cup her face and give her a million forehead kisses !!! Love your art, btw <3

A million forehead kisses for Charlotte!!

Thank u!

[spooky-activity]

Practicing my comic paneling and action poses with some Firefly/Stelle angst. Set immediately after the end of patch 2.1, where we find out Firefly is still alive!

+ bonus