✨️Spa day✨️

I've had a little art burnout lately, so I thought I'd allow myself to post a sketch instead of a fully rendered one. Hope you all will forgive me🧎🏻‍♂️

short king regicide.

things i’m going crazay about today: the illustrations in the he who drowned the world illumicrate cover

(artist is glassbearer on ig)

are you there, god? it's me, petey. + exasperation

You know if the Witcher Netflix does take Radovid down his canon route/characterization (and aren’t just using his name cause they pulled it out of a hat), all the cutesy soft boy fanart of him I’ve seen is gonna be REAL funny REAL soon.

Medieval Mussolini in a flower crown holding Hozier Jaskier LPs.

hes high quality?!?!

i like drawing beautiful people so ill probably make the witch king hot ngl

Hijikata...

anybody else rly rly ill about the amount of grief in his eyes in this scene

[original screencap under the cut]

historically accurate trip to clifton's cafeteria!!!

[progress shots under the readmore]

ART REQ!! how’s about. tim and jay. just chillin. takin a break from the Horrors. maybe they r eating ice cream or watchin a movie or havin a sleepover & painting each other’s nails. the possibilities r endless!! anything can hadplen……

nothin fun to do in motel rooms except get drunk and fall asleep watching movies...

"what would your character be like without their trauma?" is such a hard question for me because it makes me feel like a massive asshole LMAO

(im attaching a picture of a tundra literally to add context to my ramble in the tags because my posts are structured by a sane person) (you should read the ramble in the tags i talk so much about rivers fsr)

People with tanks of fish for "decoration" can never know how beautiful actual fish tanks when fully done could ever look like. "It hides the expensive fish I got. >:((((" NO, it brings out the beauty of your fish. Your super expensive fish that you took time to research to ensure the most beneficial life for them look GORGEOUS when not in danger of a terrible tank nor other fish they wouldn't get along with. They vanish behind plants and you see glimpses of their colourful scales, and when they come out? It's better than seeing them 24/7 in A Void.

Anyway, taking this moment to say I went into a thrift store some weeks ago and there was just a big ass tank in the middle of it. Of course I'm not super well versed in fish, but I think I could spot fish that aren't healthy nor getting along, so I naturally went to it because if your store is going to want to be vibe checked so openly, then kudos. The tank was completely decorated and had mostly cichlids (if any other fish, I think just bottom feeders). It was clean, and I took time to inspect as many as I could and from what I saw, no injuries or illness. I was pretty surprised, but delighted, and I can only hope it was as good as I think it is. I'm so used to only seeing fish in stores for buying, so seeing an actual, complete tank like this was really fun. It was pretty big, as well, but I don't know my tank sizes, so I couldn't tell ya just how big. ^^"

Right! Not to mention, fishes are most comfortable in conditions suitable for them, with the company or lackthereof that they enjoy. Adding hides can even increase the time you see your fish, funnily enough, because it means the fish have more places to seek refuge in and therefore they can afford to explore a bit more knowing there is a safe place right next to them! If someone has the money to buy several expensive fishes, they should also have the money to invest in a large tank with lots of gorgeous and fitting decor. A beautiful aquarium truly does bring out the beauty of fishes even more; a daydream of mine is that if I had the space and the money, I would like a massive, massive blackwater tank with lots of driftwood, vegetation, and healthy, earthy brown water from tannins. I would then stock it with dozens of cardinal or neon tetras, or another iridescent fish. Tetras are usually recommended to be kept in schools of at least six, but in the wild their schools can be massive! A large aquarium would allow for the fish to have schools more like they do in the wild, and I bet that seeing dozens of shiny tetras swimming side by side would be amazing.

As for your friends adrift at the thrift store! I do not think of myself as a pessimistic person, but I must admit that more often than not, I expect aquariums in stores and the like to be rather badly maintained. I'm happy to hear that out there, there is a thrift store with a big tank and healthy fishes! Perhaps the owner(s) like fishes but were worried that being away all day would mean they can't monitor the health and/or enjoy their fishes as much as they like? In any case, happy to hear these news! :)

would you say macaque is something like a necessary evil in the novel?

I would say you are talking about the Six Eared Macaque right? There are a few Macaques in the story. I mean I wouldn't really say he is "necessary" as that isn't really the role he plays within the novel.

When I think "necessary evil" I think more like a force in society that is kept in order to keep the peace or to preserve other social forces that are considered more important to keep than to lose. A necessary evil is an evil that someone believes must be done or accepted because it is necessary to achieve a better outcome—especially because possible alternative courses of action or inaction are expected to be worse.

Which I do not believe the Six-Eared Macaque plays at all.

He is to play the role of the mirror to Sun Wukong. He is supposed to represent the absolute worse of what Wukong is capable of, not really being the opposite of Wukong but rather more of a foil to show Wukong what he could have been (I actually think another great foil character is Erlang Shen for different reasons). A version of Wukong that if he continued to be a warlord, continued to kill without regard for the value of life or consequences that the would turn into him.

The Six-Eared Macaque is not given a backstory so it's hard to say if they have similar backgrounds but rather it is that they are the same species and have the same drive that Wukong had at the start of the novel. Both being of immense power and, like Wukong, The Six Earred Macaque's greatest desire was to get fame and glory and to be recognized for it, despite the consequences.

Personally I believe that the Six-Eared Macaque was inspired by the Buddist saing “The dharma is not to be transmitted to the sixth ear" which means that there isn't a third person around to easdrop, usually between student and teacher. This is only used once when Wukong was speaking with Master Puti and this is where I think that the Six Earred Macaque learned the same skill that Wukong did.

Of course, this also means that he doesn't have a complete understanding. He would always be slightly off with his own teachings, always a step behind, and only be able to imitate what they were eavesdropping on as they were never told directly.

Kind of like how Wukong is supposed to be a master of transformation when he fought Erlang Shen and still lost the SIx Earred Macaque is supposed to discern and have knowledge but he is still just eavesdropping. He is never going to have the real thing.

Wukong is meant to represent Nothingness or emptiness, literally in his name meaning "Monkey Awakened to Emptiness" and how he and the Six Earred Macaque are meant to be of one mind but they are "two mind" that are fighting each other. One being one's natural impulsive thoughts and the other is the self-control people practice to think ahead. They are both inside a person's mind but only one can have full control of the body so to speak. I think a good western example of this would be like Ego vs ID but please don't take that as a one-to-one, it's not!

It is connected to how Wukong is the mind monkey and in order for him to reach his namesake that state of overcoming uncontrollable thought he needs to fight the worst version of himself, which is what I think the Six-Eared Macaque is supposed to represent. This actually goes with how I think Wukong and his connection with Bailong being the Horse of Will show how Wukong has gradually started to overcome his own thoughts and practice self-control though his dedicated willpower. (Bailong is an important allegory yet again.)

Long story short I think that the Six-Eared Macaque is to more represents Wukong's character growth. Rather than be a "necessary evil" he is another milestone to show that Wukong is about to look at the worst traits of himself and through fighting himself and wrestling with who he is, he is able to come to accept himself as well... and by defeating his doppelganger he shows that after battling himself he comes out the victor. Him moving on and changing throughout the journey shows him to be stronger and more sure of himself both mentally and spiritually.

i love how henry canonically has super speed and peter just thinks it's an inconvenience at most

and for some reason i find that delightful/gen