and so it mUST BE

However, while capturing the personhood of queer people; Danmei also captures the queerness of people because none of these stories would work if the characters weren’t gay/queer

Wei Wuxian’s absolute buffoonery of misunderstanding Lan Zhan’s feelings in a decade long telephone game in which neither of them open their damn mouth would never work in a non-queer story because between a man and a woman romance would be the natural assumption of everyone around them and therefore wouldn’t leave space for confusion. The misunderstanding of their romance is so closely tied to the plot succession that the plot would be… non existent without it

In TGCF Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s absolute aspirational love is literally in the backseat and front seat of the story. Not too different from a classic hero’s journey but instead of the hero being one person, it’s two people. They are so intertwined with eo that they become one character and witness a lot of the story together. Witness being a very interesting word choice. Their queerness doesn’t drive the story but replacing one of them with a woman would dampen the effect— it’d remove the uncertainty, the confusion from everyone around them, the genuine slow burn of the romance. There’s also this idea of Hua Cheng falling in love with Xie Lian so far separated from concepts such as gender or whatever which wouldn’t have been hammered home in a straight romance where those conversations aren’t always had between the audience and the story

And Erha.. well obviously. Half of Chu Wanning’s “this is so inappropriate” spiral wouldn’t exist if he was a woman. And, the idea of Mo Ran being a “cut sleeve” builds up the under current of his character being so far dismissed by society because he’s seen as immoral. Which just wouldn’t serve to the same effect if he was into exclusively women because so was every other character.

Imperial Prince Luke was Lord Vader's greatest pride and much beloved by the Empire. A bright and cunning man, the prince became his father's right hand in enforcing the emperor's will throughout the galaxy. He shared Lord Vader's skill in lightsaber combat, yet he was not cold and ruthless in the manner of his father; in fact, many of their enemies would come to vastly prefer meeting the prince in battle instead of the dark lord.

Contrary to what the rebels would have us believe, the prince was a strong advocate for justice and the welfare of others. He worked tirelessly to abolish slavery in the Outer Rim, bestowing especial favour upon Tatooine, and eradicated the Hutt Cartel among many other prominent crime syndicates. His philosophy was to rule with a kind hand rather than an iron fist; indeed, none could resist his benevolence in the end, and those that did would live to dearly regret it.

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Here is Luke's official portrait as the Imperial Prince, also commissioned by Vader as part of the dual set with Leia's! This one is entirely based on George IV's 1821 coronation portrait by Thomas Lawrence; George has a sweeping black cloak in that one which matches Queen Victoria's portrait very nicely, so I went with it XD

I added Bast Castle to the background to indicate Luke's loyalty and closeness to his father. That's not to say that Leia isn't close to Vader in this AU by comparison, but I imagine she'd vastly prefer the brightness of Coruscant to the depressing lava world of Mustafar loll And, just like his sister, Luke reaches for his lightsaber to assert his dominance and power, especially with the Dark Side ;)

Imperial Princess Leia was the jewel of the Empire and the star of Lord Vader's eye. Her beauty and elegance were unmatched, as sublime as the snow-capped mountains of Alderaan. Many suitors desired her hand, yet even those rare few who could win Lord Vader's approval found the princess's love still unattainable; her heart was as cold and sharp-edged as the clearest kyber crystal, and her interests lay in the cutthroat maze of politics rather than the frivolities of romance.

When the public discovered that she had been a captive of the Organas throughout her childhood, there was uproar and a call to have Alderaan's royal house executed. However, the princess, ever merciful and generous, appealed to her father to spare the Organas. Moved by her pleas, Lord Vader granted her full authority over Alderaan as a gift, and she thus enjoyed many visits of retreat among the planet's magnificent landscapes.

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First post of 2026! To kick it off, here is Leia's official portrait as Imperial Princess, commissioned by Vader XD It's entirely based on Portrait of Victoria of the United Kingdom by Winterhalter; I really wanted to give Leia a grandiose silhouette with a dark velvet cloak, and Queen Victoria really gave off those vibes, so I just went with it loll

I also put the Imperial Palace in the background to symbolize her ties to politics and the Empire; but she reaches for her lightsaber as a way to show dominance through power, especially with the Dark Side of the Force.

Here are some of my ideas for Leia's imperial outfits, some with moon/night motifs! I imagine her style would veer more toward Naboo's extravagance, which would also serve as a link to Padme. The third design is inspired by Padme's black corset dress from episode 2, and I imagine it'd nearly give Vader an aneurysm upon seeing it loll The fourth design (black hole inspired) is supposed to have intricate embroidery like the others, but I got too tired to finish it ^^;;

Hey guys, updating commissions info

Dm me here to commission/with any questions

More examples of my work — instagram

All practical info I could've thought of is in the slides, so I'll get a bit lyrical here.

Recently I quit my full-time IT job bc that's just not the way I want to live my life. I want to be able to focus on becoming a professional artist and developing my skills, and for that, I need to draw more, but also to eat, pay taxes, feed the doggo and drink some beer occasionally. By commissioning me, you'll contribute both to my finances, which are a bit bleak at the moment, but also to my feeling of fulfillment and finally doing what feels right to me. In turn, I can promise to treat every commission with as much love and care as humanly possible.