So…perchance mighta felt unfirfilled with that last one (which AUFHH THANK YOU SO MUCH🙏🙏) and mighta perchance made a second once which im MUCH happier with. Turns out i didn’t have art block/was burnt out, i was just doing a piece I wasn’t happy with😭 turns out i reallly like symbolism in my art
Oh also if yall haven’t seen season 2 of Apothecary Diaries, skip this :P (no visual spoilers unless u look closely but still)
Maomao is cracking the mask Shisui/Loulan wears while holding her face in a way that resembles like, caressing/cradling cuz she loves Shisui but tries to break that mask, creating a real issue of hurting those she loves. In addition Shisui is kinda like, held down by this, more so to visually show the aggressiveness of this action, but Shisui’s hair is all free along the ground, more so resembling the more romantic version of this pose (as free hair is often done to symbolize freeness, and it’s such a common trope for lovers to go like, idk stargazing and than they start playfighting—im just thinking of the Lionking istg).
Also I wanted the cracking of the mask to more so resemble something soft breaking rather than porcelain, like it has a thin layer of hardness—like those slime asmr. This makes it seem the mask isn’t PUT on top of her face but rather painted on, and the cracks being red implies blood. As Maomao tries to break open this mask she just breaks open Shisui. That’s ALSO why the red is actually red and not colormatched to the scene.
Going in the mask, it has parts of both Shisui AND Loulan on both sides of the face, despite them being 2 separate identities, they’re both masks Shisui plays, and neither are truly her, however they’re both PARTS of her, and they’re not 2 fully opposing forces, but more so 2 half’s of herself. And so the mask resembles that.
Okay getting into those 2 images, the bottom left on of the heart with Jinshi’s hair stick/the hair stick that Maomao gave Shisui. The hair stick saved Shisui’s life, and to reference back to something I said and expand upon it a little. My honest to God belief is that while life is meaningless, the closest meaning we can give to life is love. Once we’ve lost all of it, we have nothing to fight for (this includes love for yourself), Shisui was fully willing to die that day (not fighting for her life), however the hair stick Maomao gave her saved her life (the literal personification of the love Maomao has for Shisui saves her life AUGHH), and than she continues to fight for her life. So the hair stick sticks into the heart both as an illusion to how it stopped the bullet (though tbh in this case it IS the bullet lmao…but there’s no blood tee hee), but also like Cupid’s arrow.
And the praying mantis!! The praying mantis is a male praying mantis, tbh I was hoping to go for a species that’s sexual dimorphism was red and green or something to do a red-green colorblindness thing AUGH FUCK I should’ve made a female praying mantis red like a male counterpart bc red-green colorblindness and gay!! FUCK. The only reason I didn’t go for the brown/green praying mantis male/females was cuz ALL OF THE PHOTOS of male praying mantis were of them mating, which obscured them. Anyways, the praying mantis is male as it can be a metaphor for an entrapping relationship, and is a reference/illusion to the story Shisui tells, though who is who can be seen as either. I’m kinda seeing it as a metaphor for the relationship in of itself, both are the male praying mantis here because both are doomed/trapped by their love for each other in unique ways.
Oh also if u see Maomao’s reflection in Shisui’s eyes, pls ignore how I got it is, I was just trying to get the shadows of “she’s really upset” and she kinda looks like a witch💔 however her “really upset” look IS intentional, as Maomao has a pretty flat face, even when really upset, however Shisui can see/know how Maomao actually is, so the face is a little overdramaticized on purpose.
OMG I FORGOT THAT THE CRACKS ARE MEANT TO RESEMBLE TEARS I FORGOT FUCK
Okay that’s all of the stuff that might not occur immediately, and boy do I love to talk about art😭 this fic is so goated yall
