#heipaoshi

The inspiration lmaooo:

1 guardian--hahah not the fandom i meant but excellent gif nonetheless. i miss this show too

[image 1: digital ink-brush style illustration of Shen Wei/Heipaoshi from Guardian, in a reversible composition reminiscent of the design of a court card in a playing card deck. One orientation shows Shen Wei, eyes closed, a necklace with a rounded pendant floating just above his slightly-cupped hands. The reverse shows the masked Heipaoshi ("Black-Cloaked Envoy") with his sword extended above his head, pointed behind him, and his black hood billowing and framing his face. Organic, inky lines whip about the figures, creating the sense of ink trails, billowing fabric and wispy shadow, cloud, or wave-like forms.

images 2-3: very rough scribbly sketches of the above composition]

A commission for yaaurens of the two identities of the “Black-Cloaked Envoy” from the Chinese SF/fantasy-danmei drama 镇魂 (“Guardian”)! I haven't seen this series myself, but I learned a great deal while working on this, and it’s epic. I haven’t done a flippy reversible composition in a while, and it was awesome to get to draw such a fantastic character who is so perfect for a brush-style illustration!

It was really fun to conceive the image in a way that would show off what I call his super cool flippy-back sword move (I am not very good at naming moves) and lots of wispy brushy flowiness.

Thank you so much yaaurens for this opportunity to create this very special piece for you!

here, have some more recent Heipaoshi photos from this weekend!

I made a dark energy ball, which worked pretty well.

And I threw together a quick foamcore and foam dao - I really want to make a proper solid one though, out of wood or something, to give it proper heft and durability.

I went with the bb!Shen Wei long hair for HPS this time, because I had the wig and thought, “why not?” even though I know it was the wrong outfit for it. (I think the wig did make it hard to keep the hood up, though.)

When I was outside posing because I was bored while we were waiting for kiddies to show up, I had multiple people think I was a statue and get startled, which was hilarious. Apparently Heipaoshi is scary to children, since more than a few of them walked in a wide arc around me on the sidewalk. One actually shrieked. I’m not entirely sure how to feel about THAT, but it was definitely nice to have people compliment the costume! (So many ninja comments, omg.)

Fandom: Guardian (镇魂) Rating: T for shameless flirting Ship: pre-Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan Words: 3k Tags: case fic, fake dating, pre Identity Reveal, Masks Are Sexy @lienwyn said so, UST, flirting

Summary: In which Chief Zhao takes Heipaoshi dancing on a fake date for a case they're trying to solve.

A/N: Big shout out to @lienwyn for collabing with me on this Hallow Zine contribution, immortalizing my fave scene in this beautiful fanart here.

Also much thanks to my betas, @elenothar, DjinnCared2Much and Vasilias <3

*

Zhao Yunlan stuck a finger through the band of his bow tie and tugged, grimacing. The tuxedo jacket sat stiffly on his shoulders, something he only dug out for stuffy parties he was forced to attend. Pacing up and down the sidewalk, he nearly bumped into Guo Changcheng as the younger man rounded the corner.

“Here you go, Chief!” he exclaimed, thrusting a bag into Zhao Yunlan’s arms. Zhao Yunlan arched an eyebrow, and Guo Changcheng shuffled his feet. “It’s the best I could find on short notice.”

With a sense of trepidation washing over him, Zhao Yunlan opened the bag gingerly and peeked inside. His first impression was feathers, lots of them, in varying shades of red with some black in between. He pulled out the mask and inspected it, black with red, glittery highlights and tiny rhinestones glued onto it.

“I figured it should be black, too, since Heipaoshi’s mask is black,” Guo Changcheng rambled on, twisting his hands nervously.

“Let’s just hope he shows up,” Zhao Yunlan muttered, putting the mask on. It fit well enough, he supposed. “Or else you’ll have to be my plus one.”

“Me?” Guo Changcheng squeaked, eyes widening.

A whoosh of cold air stopped Zhao Yunlan from teasing him further. He turned around and found himself face-to-face with Heipaoshi as the envoy stepped out of his portal.

“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting, Chief Zhao.” His voice was its usual calm, mellow timbre, giving none of his thoughts away.

“Ah, Hei-laoge, when don’t you?” Zhao Yunlan joked, taking a small step back to appreciate his outfit. Gone was the hood, revealing long hair pulled up into a silver hairpiece. His usual black robes had fine, silver embroidery running along the hem. Even his mask seemed subtly different. Zhao Yunlan realized he was staring and decided to lean into it. “Aiya, you clean up nice, Hei-laoge.”

...