The Red String of Fate

There are a lot of things I wanted to accomplish this year. One of those things is improving my illustration skills. In order to do so, I decided to participate in art events in the fandom I am in so I would be motivated to finish complete pieces. Week events weren’t doing it for me. There is no accountability in those since whether I contribute or not is completely up to me. Participating in fandom art events like bigbangs and zines however is a different matter.

These events includes pairs. I realized that having a pair makes you accountable to finish your work and not dip in the middle of it; or at least it makes you to think twice before deciding to not push through with the event.

Last 2020 or 2021 I was supposed to participate in the xuexiao zine. I already expressed my interest and all, and even got accepted (it was free for all) and was added to the discord group for the check ins. My cowardice and self doubt took the better of me so I end up quitting in the end. When the zine came out, I was jealous; so jealous in fact that I told myself I would surely participate when they announce another one. This event was one of the things that fueled my desire to participate in zines.

Early this year, I became a Scum Villain fan and was able to participate in the qijiu zine! It’s a free zine so you can check it out here.

This piece was one of the first artworks I did this year. I am proud and very happy about how it turned out.

The theme of the zine is red string of fate so we had to consider this when thinking of what to submit. I really had a lot of difficulties while trying to think about what to draw. Most of the pieces others submitted are concentrated on AUs; universes where qijiu meet and fall in love over and over again. When you read the zine, you’ll definitely feel this way; that indeed they are connected by the red string of fate because, in those many lives, they are still together and in love/care about each other.

My piece though is not an AU. It is my interpretation of the red string of fate that binds qijiu in relation to their dynamic in canon.

Shen Jiu, in his heart of hearts, and in his own way clings to YueQi. His Qige is the only person he can whole-heartedly say in his tsundere way, that he cares about. That’s the reason why I had him hold the moon. The moon represents YueQi.

Like the moon, YueQi, for Shen Jiu is hard to reach. His light is the only thing that dazzles the dark waters that surround Shen Jiu. The feeling he feels towards YueQi is threatening to drown him. But it’s fine. He believes this is his limit. He doesn’t value himself to consider that maybe Qige feels the same way about him, that’s why, I drew YueQingyuan embracing him as if to console him and remind him that he is loved; That they both care about each other in the same way.

While I enjoyed doing this piece, I really had a hard time painting this. My paint tool sai was literally dying on me because of the number of layers I had. XD

Overall though it is a good experience. After doing this piece, I feel like I am building confidence in myself in doing more digital works. That’s why I’m really thankful for the mods of this zine for organizing this project.