A Patreon request of Coronabeth and Judith as Miss Piggy and Kermit. This one really got a laugh out of me, and it was fantastic to draw.

The Second House

Lovable Mercymorn

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Sounds interesting, Ianthe... Could you tell us more, please?

the lyctors are generally a lesson in irony but specifically the "saint of patience" being consistently fucked over by being too late feels especially potent. he's convinced he could have saved his brother, given five minutes to change his mind. he finally tells John to give up his imperialist revenge fantasy ten thousand years after it began. he doesn't go to bat for Mercy against John until she's already dead. patience was Alfred's virtue and inaction is Augustine's downfall!

NO PEACE IN THE VALLEY, THERE SHALL BE NO RELIEF FROM THIS GREAT WEIGHT

gideon nav’s guide to annoying your adept into making out with you

Alecto the Ninth cover

Gideon Nav from 'Gideon the Ninth' by Tamsyn Muir

p.s.: i took some artistic liberties, mainly handcanon-ing that gideon has a ton of freckles because she is a ginger also, i know the face paint is suppose to be black and white but i don't really enjoy working with greys so i went with that kind of hybrid purple/grape/desaturated magenta/wine grey colour instead which felt like a good alternative, sorry if it is sacrilegious to some

The Fifth House

Abigail Pent | Magnus Quinn

Don’t wake the Sleeper

Thank you @theriverbeyond for letting me use your cosplay pictures as a reference, and for creating such an awesome Wake cosplay! The moment I saw it, I knew I had to draw it.

Did we do a whole mini photoshoot?

Yes.

Is this random picture we took in the bathroom of the restaurant we ate at afterward the best picture?

Absolutely.

I think what bothers me most about how John is talked about in the fandom is the implication that a different (implied: better) person would've done things differently and somehow more right than he did.

When the text goes to lengths to explore how suddenly coming into an incredible amount of power in a fatally constrained situation cannot lead to a good outcome.

If you're putting John in dialogue with the concept of the "magical girl", which Muir has said he is (a little tongue in cheek, but)--these are young, often profoundly unready people, who often get taken advantage of by the people who give them their powers. And like, yes, John is not a teenager, but I think that's part of the point, is that at no point is a person really prepared to become as powerful as he did--even before he merged with Alecto. Even when he was fully in control of his powers, even when they were given with honest intent and trust, even when he used them with the best of intentions and tried to do the right thing, there was no way for him to be prepared, especially given the situation he was in.

And it's funny to talk about how bad John must be in bed, but also, this isn't a scenario where John is some self-deluding Elon Musk-like villain or loser. He is genuinely trying to do the right thing, in terms of rescuing the Earth's population, rescuing the Earth Herself, and doing it ethically (see: M--'s insistence that they perfect the cryo containers until they could transport pregnant women).

I really do think this is something people are blocking out, because it is one of the uncomfortable parts of Muir's message with the series. But ESPECIALLY because the people "critiquing" him as an embodiment of patriarchy and empire are failing to see that part of Muir's critique is of human vulnerability to power: That is, that power corrupts.

And this even has echoes with Gideon & Harrow's story! Harrow begins the series in a deeply unequal dynamic with Gideon! And she does horrible things, not just because she is traumatized, but because she is traumatized and has the power to act her desires out on Gideon. She might have the motive (trauma), but that's not enough without the means (power).

And, yeah, I do have a semi-salty angle on this because people are frequently loath to think critically not just about axes of oppression but individual relationships of power when it applies to them and to people they like. ESPECIALLY when there is a very vocal segment of the fandom that is enthusiastically pro-harassment. It's very convenient to villainize John and actively dis-identify with him, because otherwise, you'd have to face the question of whether you'd do any better in his place. But the thing is, the mission of revenge he embarks on is a lot closer to many peoples' hearts than they'd like to consider.

That's the whole point.

NOT enough people talking about the promised fancy outfits in ATN tbh

Harrowhark Book One vs Harrowhark Book Two

Remember when we thought she had her shit together?

this gorgeous art is a commission from @meowrty that @linguist-in-a-blanket gifted me for new year (and he has commissions open rn check it out!!)

it's amazing!!!! thank you both a lot I love it I can't stop staring at it!!!