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It's that time of year again folks!!!

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Transfiguration's gonna come for me at last

And I will burn brighter than the sun

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On this beautiful (two days after) Trans Day of Visibility, I give you a transgender kabuki actress!

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暁の物語 Akatsuki no Monogatari

光 Akane

(O-Akane or Akane-hime to be polite)

Asakura Heijirō (朝倉 炳次郎), better known by her public name O-Akane, is an onnagata: a cross-dressing kabuki actor specializing in female roles, as well as an oiran: a high-ranking courtesan; and she is Hikari's lover.

Born to a poor family but blessed with amazing looks and an ambitious mind, Akane turned to (male) prostitution very early on by necessity. When kabuki theater came into being, she found her calling: being onstage was not only a way to attract clients, but also to express herself, and to indulge in the femininity she had been hiding her whole life. She was soon able to make a name for herself, as both an actress and a cultured, high-ranking courtesan, allowed more choice and luxury than most of the women of the pleasure district.

She is the kind of courtesan who knows her own worth and knows how to use it to get what she wants. She is cunning (although not cruel), resilient and ambitious, which allows her to live a relatively enjoyable life in the pleasure district. Being able to live as a woman is more than she could hope for, and she can both put up with a lot and fight very fiercely to keep this privilege.

She met Hikari when he was visiting the pleasure district. He saw her perform onstage and was immediately struck and fascinated by her, enough to court her for many weeks before being allowed to meet her. Their relationship quickly grew beyond that of a client and a courtesan, into a romantic -albeit unusual and unstable- relationship. Akane feels that Hikari is the only person who truly understands her, both as a person, as a woman, and as a trans individual.

Hikari being a traveler, he only spends little time with Akane, which makes it all the more precious to both of them. Hikari sometimes still has his doubts about Akane's true feelings, which are something prostitutes often play with. Akane truly does love him, but she can't bring herself to dispel his doubts, because both of their lives are too complicated for clear-cut feelings.

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Akatsuki no Monogatari (the Tale of Dawn) takes place in the very beginning of the Edo era, in the transition years between the warring period of the Sengoku-Jidai and the two hundred years of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate. It is a story about change and beginnings, both of a person and of a country.

Some name lore and historical context under the cut!

Explanation of Akane's name:

Like most men of her time, Akane has a "public" first name (Akane), a "private" first name (Heijirō), and a family name (Asakura).

-Akane is the stage name she chose for herself. It is typically written 茜, which means "deep red" or "madder plant (Rubia cordifolia). But it turns out it can be written with 80 different kanji or combinations of kanji, one of them being... fucking hikari 光. Because kanji is a system created by the devil. So of course I had to pick that spelling.

Note that in the Edo era, women's names were typically written in kana, not in kanji. In a formal setting, she would normally be referred to as O-Akane, or Akane-hime (princess Akane - she is not a noble, it's just a fancy title like milady).

-Heijirō is Akane's male adult name that she received upon coming of age. It is normally written 平次郎 which means "even second son" ("even" being an auspicious adjective; men's names were often composed of a positive word and their order of birth). Except it turns out that "hei" can also be written with the kanji 炳, which means... bright and shining! Like fucking 光 (which means light). So I obviously had to choose that spelling. Maybe Akane was given the name "even second son" and changed the spelling herself to "bright second son".

-Asakura is Akane's family name, the spelling is inconsequential, I chose it simply for the sound.

A remark on Akane's gender identity:

She personally identifies as a person of feminine nature, insofar as she can conceptualize "identifying as a woman" in this historical context. In modern terms she is a trans woman; in the Edo era's society, she is a man who cross-dresses 24/7 For The Art. Yes that was a thing. I could not make this up if I wanted to. From what I understood of my research, Edo society kinda considered onnagata to be its own gender role.

To quote the book "Kabuki" by Masakatsu Gunji: "In the attempt, not just to express femininity, but to become a woman, [...] the daily lives of onnagata were lived in the same way as women in almost every detail. On the third day of the third month, they celebrated the Doll Festival; they did sewing in their spare time; and their clothes were those of women in every respect. This intense effort to become a woman, by being ultimately doomed to failure, served to create for other men a kind of abstract of femininity that somehow summed up its essence better than any individual woman ever could."

Disclaimer on historical accuracy:

I really cannot speak for the accuracy of Akane's costume. I did my best by referencing old ukiyo-e prints of oiran (courtesans), but at the end of the day this is a very approximate attempt on which I slapped some modern furisode (long sleeve ceremonial kimono) patterns. At least it looks rad.

Also, historically, it's not very realistic for Akane to be an onnagata. In the early days of kabuki, all the actresses were women, and a lot of them moonlit as prostitutes - the plays were a way to advertise themselves and attract clients. A shogunal ban was eventually placed on women in theater, displacing the problem and creating an opening for young male prostitution (and the basis for the future onnagata). Then young men were banned from kabuki for the same reason, and cross-dressing male actors had to be registered with the shogunate lest the audience thought there was an actual woman on stage (a scandal!).

From what I understood of my research, the direct ties between kabuki and prostitution seem to have been severed after the second ban (on young male actors), which was followed by an attempt by kabuki actors to appear more respectable. By the time kabuki was established as a proper art form and the onnagata became highly regarded trendsetters and fashion icons, actors were no longer prostitutes.

Akatsuki no Monogatari takes place in the early decades of the Edo era, so in the first years of kabuki, before onnagata became a thing. But sometimes, you just have to bend history a tiny bit to treat yourself to a cool transgender actress/prostitute.

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Please accept this humble offering of gays

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I have a new child! They just keep happening, HELP-

This is Ginger Sunweaver, my gnome cleric for a Pathfinder campaign I just joined!

She's a happy-go-lucky little gal, whose passions in life are adventure and alcohol. She's a cleric sworn to the service of Cayden Cailean, the "Accidental God", patron of beer, wine, adventure and freedom. Her goals in life are to taste every alcohol in the known world, and to free every imprisoned person/creature/entity she meets.

Her favored weapon is her tankard, which was a gift from the dwarven priest who introduced her to his faith. The runes on it read "Souvenir of Cloudspire". She is more of a healer and support than a fighter, but she will not hesitate to bonk you on the head with her Holy Tankard if you're being a dick.

She has a Shetland pony called Moonshine.

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Woe! Transgender samurai be upon ye!

-pulling my old OC out of the filing cabinet and giving him a shampoo- LOOK I HAVE A NEW CHILD!! :D

I've decided to rework an old story/universe from several years ago, so here we go again, from the top:

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暁の物語 Akatsuki no Monogatari

光 Hikari

Hikari, aka Shitaikou, is a young ronin, a master-less samurai, wandering around Edo-era Japan on a soul-searching journey.

He was raised as a girl named Sayoko (小夜子) by a samurai family, and taught swordsmanship and the arts like his brothers, although he was never destined to become a warrior. When the time came to find him a husband, he stole two swords, ran away and changed his name.

He now walks the roads of Japan on a quest to find [insert as-of-yet undefined quest here], and offers his assistance to villagers on the way. In doing so, he often runs into yokais and other paranormal occurences, to the point where in time he becomes an expert on the occult underworld of Japan and is often nicknamed the Demon Samurai.

Hikari is accompanied in his travels by Chihiro (千尋), a kitsune, and by Mochi (餅), a totally normal cat with the usual amount of tails and absolutely no supernatural powers, no siree. He is also regularly involved with an onnagata (a cross-dressing kabuki actor) and a yokai-hunting Buddhist monk, both of which I have yet to name (Mochi's name is also susceptible of being changed soon), and meets all kinds of strange people on his travels.

Hikari has a kind heart and a strong sense of honour. His driving force is his desire to help others; although he is very naive at first, and misguided altruism often gets him in trouble. As the story progresses, he will grow more mature and cynical, often preferring the company of yokais to that of humans, but trying to retain hope and faith in his fellow men.

(You can see older drawings of Hikari, including different outfits, here)

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Akatsuki no Monogatari (the Tale of Dawn) takes place in the very beginning of the Edo era, in the transition years between the warring period of the Sengoku-Jidai and the two hundred years of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate. It is a story about change and beginnings, both of a person and of a country.

Some name lore under the cut!

The kanji Hikari 光 means "light". Hikari is a "public first name", sort of an official nickname. It was common practice in feudal Japan (at least among the samurai class) to go by a public name and keep your real name private. In Hikari's case, that is also because he often frequents yokais and magicians, who could use his true name against him.

His real name is Shitaikou 志泰光 . The kanjis composing it mean "aspire", "gentle" and "light". He chose it as a reminder to himself to strive for kindness and to make the world a better place.

("Hikari" is the last kanji composing this name. When used with other kanjis, it is pronouced "kou". Such is the messed-up way kanjis work. -frustrated weeb noises-)

Hikari doesn't have a last name; he gave up his family's name when he ran away and saw no use in taking a new one: as a ronin he is not tied to any family.

His birth name, Sayoko 小夜子 , is composed of the kanjis "small", "night" and "daughter". Hence the title, Akatsuki no Monogatari, the tale of dawn, or how the night turns into the light.

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Et de 14!

WIP - Gwendalavir Tarot #14: Temperance - the Lady and the Dragon

(reminder that all those cards are works in progress, I am doing all the line-arts before I move on to colors)

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My sister is growing TOMATOES!!!! 🍅💕✨

Sketch by the amazing @aime-aine, line and colors by me 😊

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日本語を勉強する代わりに擬人化を作ります - I make gijinkas instead of studying Japanese

Featuring Duolingo, Anki flashchards, and Jisho.org online dictionary!

Bonus:

✋Doing my Anki (80+ words because I didn't touch it all weekend long)

👍Copying the lyrics of Senbonzakura in hiragana

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Bip-boop! I fill your tank with milk

This is Clappy, the main character of my BFF @aime-aine's novel!

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OCs de La Quête d'Ewilan

Ewilan's Quest OCs

Hey guys, guess who has two new children!!! (well, one and a half. Ewel has actually been hanging out in the back of my mind for a couple years.)

Luce: Shadowalker apprentice (kinda like a ninja but not really)

Ewelliottan: Analyst, a scholar studying the theory of magic (because she is crap at the practice)

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Luce, expliquant le concept de greffe à Ewel: Par exemple, Jorune Aénandra avait une greffe qui le rendait nyctalope. Ewelliottan, sans réfléchir: JE SAVAIS BIEN QUE C'ÉTAIT UNE SALOPE!!!!!! Luce: Luce, sortant un carnet et un crayon: Fascinant. Dis-m'en plus.

Ewelliottan: Sur une échelle de "Non mais allô quoi" à "Tu es triste? Arrête", comment tu te sens aujourd'hui? Luce: Quelque part entre "Coup d'boule, rien à faire" et "Il est lent, ce lait"; mais pour donner une réponse définitive je dirais "Mange tes morts". Et toi Ewel? Ewelliottan: Un bon "Macron, explosion." Salim: Je croyais comprendre le français, visiblement j'avais tort.

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(More character info in English under the cut!)

I'm aware that most people familiar with Ewilan's Quest speak French, but I am writing this in English for accessibility reasons. For folks who don't know the books: it is set in Gwendalavir, a country in a world parallel to Earth. Shadowalkers are an elusive guild of ninja-like people with a strong focus on freedom and communion with nature. Designers are people who have the gift of Drawing, which allows them to temporarily will things into existence.

This is set some ten to fifteen years after the events of the last book; Gwendalavir has tied economical and cultural relations with France thanks to Bruno Vignol. Most Alavirians are aware of the existence of the other world, and although unrealistic, for plot reason the existence of Gwendalavir is more or less common knowledge on Earth.

Luce Pezal

He's a Shadowalker apprentice, Salim's apprentice specifically (I wasn't gonna give him to a canon character at first, but I didn't feel like creating a whole-ass OC to be his master, so Salim now has to deal with him.) He is a very cheerful and friendly guy, with a rather nonchalant demeanour - he has elevated not giving a fuck to an art form.

He grew up in Al-Vor in a family of merchants, moved to the capital Al-Jeit to try and do something with his life, did a lot of small jobs trying to find something he liked, and ended up working as a stable boy in the stable that Salim frequents. Luce has always been fascinated by Earth, and latched onto Salim the second he heard he was from there. After some time Salim realized that Luce had the potential to make a good shadowalker, and offered to take him as an apprentice.

Their master/student relationship is a little unusual, as 1) they are both adults with only a 10 years difference, 2) they were already friends before Luce became a shadowalker, and 3) Luce's friendliness and nonchalance look like disrespect toward his master (they aren't). He knew close to nothing about shadowalkers before meeting Salim, so he is utterly unfazed about the fact that his master, great-master and great-great-master are all legends in the guild's eyes.

Luce highly dislikes fighting (although he fights very well); unfortunately for him, he is often targeted by thugs who think he'll be an easy mark because of his missing right hand (he was born without one). He'll avoid blades as much as possible, preferring to fight bare-handed or use cunning instead. He is great at sleight of hand and lockpicking.

He's around 20-23 years old, and he's gay.

Ewelliottan "Ewel" Ar'son

Ewelliottan was born on Earth to a French mother and an Alavirian father. Her parents own a convenience store. She went to Gwendalavir on a study program, and decided to stay there to study the gift of Drawing and become an analyst. She has a very small affinity for Drawing, but far from enough to be a proper analyst, so she compensates it with encyclopedic knowledge of Drawing theory. She is fascinated by all Drawing-adjacent unexplained phenomena, like hiatuses, the Eye of Otolep, the history of Al-Jeit and Al-Poll, variations of the gift, etc. If she could study Mathieu Gil'Sayan under a microscope she would.

She's seen as eccentric by her colleagues; she can spend weeks nose-deep in books in the depth of the Al-Jeit Academy's library, and talk anyone's ears off about Merwyn Ril'Avalon (in time she'll become the country's leading expert on him). Rather than doing analyses of Designers' gifts, she works as a researcher. She occasionally gives conferences or classes, and her students find her either riveting, or boring as hell, with no in-between.

She has some Faëls in her ancestry; the only consequences are slightly pointed ears and a tendency to tan very quickly. When she was little she wanted to become a shadowalker; she thought that her Faël blood would give her an advantage, but it turns out it very much doesn't, and she hates exercising.

She's a little older than Luce, by 3 or 5 years (I haven't decided yet). She's bisexual, and non-binary, in a "none gender with left girl" kind of way.

(There's a few other pics of her here!)

Luce and Ewel

Luce and Ewelliottan met on a solo mission as part of Luce's training. Salim had met Ewel through his wife Ewilan, who frequents the Academy in her Sentinel job. He found out that Ewel was going to Al-Far to give a conference, so he offered Luce's services as an escort for the trip, as the roads and the city aren't safe. Knowing Luce's fascination for Earth, and Ewel's origins, he thought they would get along well. What he hadn't expected was for them to come back with friendship bracelets, three hundred inside jokes, and probably a blood pact.

While Luce is not supposed to share shadowalker knowledge with anyone outside of the guild, he does tell Ewel a lot about his training, in exchange for knowledge about the other world. Ewel taught Luce Earth slang, and Salim is both confused and mortified because he hasn't set foot on Earth in like twenty years and doesn't understand anything they're saying.

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I realize I've never properly introduced my oldest and dearest brain-children here.

The Laufeyson family

also known as the Laufeyson Squad and the Independant Braincells, are "self-developping" OCs. They are somewhat aware of having been created as fully-formed people, and can interact with a version of me. I don't really make any decisions about their personality, they grow by themselves. They all have a lot of me in them, and their evolution has always been a reflection of mine.

Also, they have superpowers. That kinda just... happened. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

🦊Lilith

Oldest in terms of creation; middle child in terms of age. She has an extremely chaotic personality, and no brain-to-mouth filter. She's loud, brash and unashamed. She loves her sisters more than anything, although it hasn't always been smooth sailing. She especially had a rough relationship with Elliott in the first few years of her life, and was low-key afraid of Raven when the youngest was born; but she warmed up to her quickly.

She's a raging fangirl, the kind that has full-blown hysterical feels attacks about her OTP. She tends to jump from fandom to fandom depending on what show she's binging at the moment.

She can modify her appearance at will, as long as she always "looks like herself". She mostly uses it to play with different hairstyles, move her tattoos around, and downsize or disappear her wings (although she feels naked without them). Don't be fooled, she's shorter than Elliott, she just has thicker soles. She is also capable of creating illusions - think Minor Illusion in DnD, but without sound.

She most likely has ADHD. She's pansexual, and surprisingly the only one of the group to not have something going on with her gender; she's solidly a cis woman without the shadow of a doubt.

🔨Sacha

Second in creation (but not by much), eldest in age. Her role in the family is to protect and take care of her sisters. She used to be very aggressive about it (it involved the hammer); she is learning to be more gentle (and to use the hammer on other people). She's the more mature and level-headed of the sisters, and is recognized as the figure of authority in the family. She doesn't boss people around, but the others know that when she makes a decision for them, she's probably right. She loves her family and would do anything for them, but she doesn't hesitate to call them out on their shitty behaviour.

She has the ability to feel her sisters' emotion; everyday feelings just register as a distant presence, but she feels any strong emotions coming from them. She can also teleport between wherever she is and wherever one of her sisters is, and take one person with her. She mostly uses it to check on her family in case of strong feelings, and get them out of dangerous or uncomfortable situations (often with Raven). One of her eyes changes color depending on her mood.

She's aro-ace (something I realized years after her creation, by trying to imagine her with a S-O and just hitting a mental brick wall). She's also agender; picture Janet from The Good Place and you'll have a pretty good picture.

🦇Raven

Youngest both in age and in creation (by a couple of years). Raven is pretty much defined as a person by her crippling anxiety. However, that is a step-up from the deep depression she was born with and has (mostly) come back from. She's learning to get out of the house more and have fun with her family, although she really doesn't frequent anyone besides her sisters and another family they grew up with.

At first she only ever talked to Elliott, until Lilith roped her in to her shenanigans. She's now very close to Sacha, who is an encouraging presence in her life, and defends her when Elliott or Lilith get mad at her, which happens occasionally.

She has what I call exopathy; she projects her feelings outward and other people can feel them. It's only the negative feelings though, and she can't control it at all. Her appearance changes slightly when she's having an anxiety attack or when she's depressed: her hair gets longer, and her skin and eyes get paler.

She has no idea what her sexuality or gender are, even after all these years; she's too anxious about meeting people to even think about dating. She tried he/him pronouns for a little while, but that didn't seem to lead anywhere. I think her gender is just "anxiety".

🎨Elliott

This is literally just me if I could manifest fully-formed human beings into existence out of my brain and then sustain a family of four on my own. 👍

The not-a-real-tattoos is the Japanese word ryōtōzukai, which means "wielder of two swords" and is a euphemism for bisexuality. I wish I had two swords.

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i am begging you all to stop treating this site like instagram if you dont want it to be content free by next year

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The girls are coming!!!!

I am absolutely incapable of drawing Lilith the same way twice. And I've have this kid for seven fucking years.

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I am absolutely incapable of drawing Lilith the same way twice. And I've have this kid for seven fucking years.

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Some very quick sketches of my favourite problem child Lilith, and Derra, my partner's OC.

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Have some Sun/Moon bisexuals (+ bonus sketchdump)

I think this is my first non-angst drawing of Yoko in years...