#shuimu

I may have fallen into the lmk trenches again

so have these sketches

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much. Marching band has got me by the throat. BUT WE PREVAIL!!

Mythology Mermay day 10 : SHUIMU

Shuimu is a Chinese river demon, who shape shifts between a human form and a snake or dragon.

She’s a pest to numerous gods and goddesses, including leading armies against them. One time, as comeuppance for her nuisance, she was tricked into eating vermicelli noodles that turned into iron chains in her body. 

I based my design on descriptions of her as a snakey beautiful young woman, but I based her outfit on this totally rad print of Shuimu from the 1910s.

You can get prints of my mermay art here

Feel free to join in with #mythologymermay2022 ! Use the hashtag and I’ll share all the artwork I see.

Gotta draw my silly water demon

Decided on doing a little more risky pose since I'm not used to drawing sitting poses. However I plan to do more! Next up is Tai, all of yall Tai lovers get ready!

guys I'm slowly becoming obsessed with my Shuimu x Tai ship HELP

fun fact!: Tai does have moon tattoos just like Hui Ying, but he just hides them cause it makes Tai feel like multiple people are staring at him all at once

Again, half of the time when Tai is crushing on Shuimu, Tai is literally terrified and hides from shuimu due to him being terrified about romantic love

Also did this small sketch!

But new fun fact!: all of Shuimu's accessories? ( Her earrings, sunglasses, different kinds of hair ties, etc) where all mostly gifted by Tai. Except some of the hair pins. Those where designed by Hui and Yujin.

(Secret fun fact: Tai can easily read and tell people's emotions and feelings about each other, therefore he knows when someone has a crush on him)

This is Shuimu' official design! I already found her color pallet so yk

Im honestly glad I added the earrings. It makes Shuimu's design pop

(Note: Shuimu is a LMK oc based off someone from Chinese myths. There is many tales about her, and I want to be accurate as possible. This is why I'm taking this seriously. Also, all of this info is from Wikipedia)

When you search up Shuimu, you'll find the Wikipedia. Shuimu is a woman from Chinese legend who usually depicts her as a demon, spirit or Witch. She also has several names to her.

Now, there is several legends about Shuimu, so how can I make a character out of Chinese mythology without completely massacreing it? By grabbing some bits of every legend I can grab of Shuimu, and put it into a plot line for her character development

So, let's get some things that is overall around in the Chinese folklore: Shuimu is responsible for submerging Sizho (Ancient Chinese city) under the waters of Hongze Lake, and has been sealed away in a mountain for it

Now, some depictions are different in areas are Japan. While Suzho, Anhui depicts Shuimu as a Demon Goddess, while in Taiyuan, Shanxi it is believed that Shuimu was a human woman who was gifted a magical whip that whenever she needed water, she'd just flick it and water would come. But when her Stepmother tried to use it, it submerged the city.

Now, that's a lot of information to process. The main question is: how can I grab small parts from different legends and make it into one huge storyline for my oc for lego monkie kid?

Well, from studies, Shuimu is described as a woman with a youthful appearance. Now, I'm guessing around early 20's youthful considering most of the LMK cast is around their twenties. (It's cannon that Mei is 24)

Now, lets properly plan this out. Since there is several legends, why not make it start when Shuimu was just a little girl.

Shuimu was a little peasant girl who was given a magical Whip by a mysterious old man. The man told her that whenever she needed water, just flick the whip and it would appear. After some years, Shuimu's stepmother uses it, and this time the water wouldn't stop flowing, to the point of it almost submerging the city

Of course after this happened, everyone in the city Blames young Shuimu for this. She was just given something help her, she didn't know it's effects. Due to all of the pressure put onto her, the whip corrupted young Shuimu, turning into a demon

Now, this is were the main story comes in. Due to Shuimu feeling betrayed of how much people mistreated her, she tormented her city yearly. The Jade Emperor decided to get involved, raising a army to capture Shuimu and deprive her of her powers. However, Shuimu was a good Trickster, and was able to trick the whole army and escape as she continued to cause chaos in the city. Shuimu didn't fully submerge the city until Li Laojun tried to trick her, and turned over one of his buckets, causing a massive flood.