ttfrs

I'm going to be vulnerable. My beloved cat passed away yesterday after an unexpected, rapid decline in health. I based the center cat in my Zine piece off of him and I couldn't stomach looking at the drawing the day he died. I can now, but I'm still struggling a lot with functioning again.

Thinking about him hurts but I can't stop thinking about him. I had him for nearly 15 years and he meant everything to me. I'm trying to keep myself distracted but I can't keep that up for long.

I'm actually not too happy with how the main piece looks, but I really stepped out of my comfort zone with lighting and background and am proud that I made the attempt.

I wanted to give Angie's redesign as a sailor more Polynesian influences since navigation is part of many Pacific Island heritages.

Her canon cultural background is vague and I made it Māori-inspired.

Her body type has a more solid build due to the career switch

Many Pacifika sailors nowadays tend to wear simple modern outfits like t-shirts and shorts. I tried to incorporate this while keeping her style in mind, switching out her original smock and skirt with a loose tank top (tied to be a crop top) and beach shorts.

Angie's jewelry:

Pendant: A Mainaia (more info in link), a mythological messenger between the earthly and spiritual worlds. Its symbol is a guardian against evil. Made of bone with pāua shell inlay. I wanted something with pāua shell to match with the one on Kiyo's necklace.

Earrings: A hei matau (fish hook, more info in link), which grants luck and safe travel over water. Made of beef bone.

Bracelet: Designed by @lilarus. A triple twist symbolizes the binding of two peoples or cultures for eternity. Made of pounamu, Made of pounamu, which is deeply sacred in Māori culture and depicting it should be researched.

Kiyo's fishiness is based off a crowntail betta. I would've liked to use a creepier fish but those didn't tend to have the beautiful colors and flowing fins I imagined.

I wanted to implement items of wildly differing themes and cultures into his design and environment to show his fascination with human culture regardless of its source. The keyword here is wanted, I didn't put in as much as I'd have preferred.

He's wearing a rose-gold charm necklace that he looted off of a human victim, but attached the actual shells himself. The central one is pāua, which matches with the same material on Angie's pendant.

enjoy!