I'm taking a break from the #JuuniKokki novels to read The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue. It's a great take on the changeling myth, very powerful and sad.

I'm watching #Shiki, which is also based on a novel series by Ono Fuyumi, but unlike #JuuniKokki, it's a #horror story set in modern rural Japan. As a #horror fan, I adore rural settings, and in most cases I actually prefer them over urban #horror (though small towns are okay), plus it's nice how in Japan, summer is THE season of ghosts and other creepy things. I love the combination of vast, sharply sunlit fields and the subtle atmosphere of danger. And the cicadas! 🦗

Okay, one more question: if monarchy is not hereditary in #JuuniKokki (because each king is selected by a kirin, and some kings were originally total nobodies), what is the... practical purpose of princes and princesses? They aren't going to inherit the throne, at least not automatically (of course, there's always this faint possibility that a king's son or daughter might ALSO be picked by a kirin), so why can't they just... be ordinary people with ordinary responsibilities?

That said, I still think #JuuniKokki is delightful, and my frustration on Suzu's behalf simply shows the degree of my investment. 🤣

Sorry for rambling about #JuuniKokki again (it's one of my current fannish fixations, so...), but my biggest problem with Suzu's arc is that Seishuu annoys me a lot more than Suzu herself does. Or rather, I dislike the way he's written. Objectively speaking, Seishuu IS extremely unfortunate, but does he really need to sermonize at Suzu all the time? Honestly, at this point I GET why Suzu is so jaded, and she isn't even my favorite character.

You know, much as I like #JuuniKokki, I also feel that the narrative is a bit too harsh, and even cruel, to Suzu. I don't remember my initial (#anime-based) impressions anymore, but in the novel, she's criticized for wallowing in misery all the time, and... I dunno. Maybe I'm prone to self-pity myself, but I can't really blame her?

I have a feeling that Taiki is Ono Fuyumi's favorite woobie. He's the protagonist of her short pre-#JuuniKokki story (I'll have to read it later), and in the main series, she dedicates many, MANY passages to his fragile self-esteem and anxiety. And of course his servants adore him. I mean. Yeah. It's very iddy. :blobmiou:

I'm reading Taiki's story, and it's super interesting how in the world of #JuuniKokki, some creatures are quite literally born for the sole purpose of loving and caring for the kirin (qilin). It's a fascinating fantasy concept, and the narrative makes it sound like a good thing, but it's also really easy to put a tragic spin on it if you want to.

painting process:
https://youtu.be/VD9jI4LvS1E
https://odysee.com/@Audranasa:5/0131:a
https://www.bitchute.com/video/o1GUn9Pw7Llq/
https://rumble.com/vtt6vx-drawing-process.html
https://www.tiktok.com/@audranasa/video/7059794549475921157

#draw #drawing #paint #painting #digital #digitalart #art #artwork #illustration #photoshop #timelapse #speedpaint #artprocess #process #keiki #fanart #12kingdoms #juunikokki #juunikokkuki #blondman #blond #goldenhair #kirin