Finally facing the music and coming off Anon. Find it here!

procreate sketch

(i was inspired by the prev reblog but i figure my tags were quickly devolving into a "make your own post" moment)

the thing about ganyu is that i REALLY like the lore they've provided us with, enough to construct a complex and nuanced character that goes beyond the few glimpses we see of her in the liyue archon quest.

my hot take is i actually, don't really care whether or not those things are explicitly shown in the main storyline. i ship gq for god's sake, and i've never wanted more than a nod for either (i feel like i always have to clarify: i don't particularly expect or even want them to become canon), because i love when the audience is trusted to connect the dots themselves. i know that in fanwork, there's a fine line between assembling the puzzle pieces deliberately left by the creators and making a sandwich out of discarded bread, but i like to think of it as the former.

but what i don't appreciate is yeah, why are they filling her precious screentime with fat jokes and being sleepy or timid?? chenyu vale already showed that they cannot be normal about a woman without injecting weight insecurities. the sleepy girl thing has also been done so many times that i could name like five female characters who have it as a core personality trait. i just don't understand the logic. hbomberguy once pointed out in his "why r*by is disappointing" video essay that it was almost like two opposing forces were writing the same characters and i see that here a little bit.

ganyu in the side materials (story quest, world quest mentions, body language in the CINEMATICS, etc) comes off as a very firm and wise person, while ganyu in the most recent lantern rite is in a constant state of fatigue or discomfort. neither of those are emotions or personality traits!! she's treated as a placeholder at times when they could easily call back to the other, more interesting things they've written about her in the game.

but as an aside: i don't actually agree with any sentiments that favor her soldier past over her secretary role. i believe both are important parts to her just as she is half qilin and human. to box her into one thing or another kind of misses the point of her character imo, that people contain multitudes, and can drastically change over a long enough stretch of time and circumstances.

hoyo did Ganyu sooo dirty they rly went ok let's create an extremely interesting character with a history longer and more complex than those of some of the actual gods in the cast who lives in a constant inner conflict of identity and her place in the world while holding onto her sense of duty and devotion to the god she once fought alongside as an anchor in an ever changing world, who once had to defy her very nature, the pacifism that runs in her blood itself, yet not independent from her humanity, to face a world of inescapable violent conflict, which still affects her even today, thousands of years later, living as she does as an outwardly gentle and meek soul, which is neither a mask nor anywhere close to revealing the true depth and complexity of her being

and then made 70% of her on screen appearances and a lore haha fat jokes, babyfication, and hornybait

what do i draw next

if the art gods ever smile down at me i think i’d like to make a qilin ganyu ganqing au doujin one day. like there’s a 99% chance that’s never gonna happen bc i’ve never made anything to that scale but i think it would be fulfilling. the ideas for that au practically write themselves at this point too and i’d love to tackle them all lol

that art... thank u sm 😭

the way u draw tiny qilin ganyu.... it needs to be a plush so i can hug it its so cute 🥹

thank you!! did u know i once took my drawing to a keycap maker and commissioned matching keycaps for me and my ganqinger friends...

(they look warped bc of the visual distortion from that angle but they are so cute)

i was happy with this one bc my attention span usually sucks and i either lock in and start/finish art in a few hours or i just get distracted and get nothing done.

ideation/sketching is like the WORST part of the drawing process imo, i actually dread it. but i forced myself to do the first 3 steps on ipad while on a drawing call w friends, and then the next day i did the last two steps on my computer. i also forced myself to do something i avoid all the time: Full Body Drawing. my absolute fave part of the drawing is lineart but i guess that's obvious.

personally, i actually kind of prefer it with flat colors only, but i think the shading is better for presentation online. if i ever got merch made of this though i would prob revert it to flats.

That One Time I Found An Injured Baby Qilin While On An Expedition And We Became Friends out in bookstores now

twt

cor lapis for brains

cloud retainer: one did not raise you to fumble a bad bitch

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afterdeath updated 👁️👁️

FIC PROMO LINK

did you read it? it's such a good fic kudos to the author 😩😩😩! this chapter made me cry ngl... (spoilers) but the author choosing to not only take away keqing's job, but her PASSION 4 FASHION (shopping) made me soooo mad. not to mention her 'estrangement' with ganyu lol. i like that ganyu tailed her too LMAO keqing thought she was being sooo slick but little does she know, ganyu ain't about to lose her again. they seem to have reconciled a little bit so i'm excited for the next installment!

my ganqing lantern rite offering

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Ganyu in Xianyun: Unfettered as the Wind

miss ganyu

how much would it cost for you to draw another page of qilin ganyu and keqing... ganyus tail showing up in xianyuns teaser has me thinking of your art again and im obsessed with that post in particular

my art muse or whatever you call it is so unpredictable (i prob have a long track record of saying “i’ll draw this” and not drawing it) but just for remembering my art i will (try to) draw this for FREE!!! :)

god bless cloud retainer/xianyun because getting lore for her family and ganyu in particular is feeding my brain…like everything about baby ganyu makes me want to cry. her tail is drawn soooo cutely (and if it turns out to just be her mullet then u know what her mullet looks cute there too)