Before you ask, I will explain this piece of art. In order to involve a horse, I wracked my brain and eventually remembered that I recently created an AU that involved a horse :3
Yes, this is the creature AU, where Jazz is a gytrash, a shapeshifting creature that is more often than not a horse or a dog, and where Cass is a vampire.
But why is Cass dressed like that? Bc specifically, she is a Chinese vampire, AKA a jiangshi. They’re different from western vampires but are still considered vampires! I then combined all of this in order to have a Lunar New Year art with a horse :,D it was quite fun doing so much research tho!
Extra notes below and short image description:
+ Jiangshi are also known as hopping Chinese vampires! You can watch a short dubbed clip from a movie right here, which I discovered while I was doing research! Jiangshi are known to wear clothes of the Qing dynasty, hop to move around, and also usually hop with their arms raised like a zombie.
+ Cass is specifically wearing a jifu gua (a type of coat) that is usually worn over a jifu pao (celebratory or festival wear). This type of clothing was worn during the Qing dynasty, when the Manchu people took over. What’s interesting is that most of their clothes were made very practical in order to hunt with arrows and ride horses. Jifu pao are usually considered festive clothing, but I wasn’t sure what funeral clothes they wore during the Qing dynasty, so in the end, I just chose it bc it gave off the same vibes as the official robes that actual jiangshi are usually shown to wear.
+ Cass is also wearing a jifu guan, a type of hat that is worn during the winter. I’ve been looking at pictures and couldn’t figure out what the collar was in paintings of people in winter, so I just gave her a fur collar :/ the world outside is cold, let’s just keep her warm
+ The “embroidery” on Cass’ jifu gua is technically important. She has flowers, ocean waves, lotuses, and bats on them. Some were intentional and others were added later (bc I forgot lmaooo)
+ The yellow thing on Cass’ head is a paper talisman. Depending on what rules/lore you use, it depends on whether or not the talisman is active, but it is generally created by a spiritual master to force the jiangshi back to sleep or weakens it.
+ Jazz is a gytrash, an English spirit that can shapeshift into various creatures and are usually omens, but sometimes are benevolent. As a horse, Jazz has a tricolored pinto coat of red, black, and white, as voted on in this poll!
+ Tbh, I can draw MLP ponies without looking at a reference, but somehow, I couldn’t translate that skill into drawing actual horses :( so I’m not rlly happy with how Jazz looks as a horse, but if I keep drawing the creature AU, I’m just gonna have to start practicing 😔
+ Why is Jazz not wearing a saddle? Uhhhh, bc Cass is so badass that she can ride a horse without one! (I just couldn’t make myself draw a saddle with stirrups 6+ times so I just drew the reins and was done with it)
+ Image description: 1) Cass is on top of a 3 colored horse that is likely Jazz, since it has red hair and turquoise ribbons. Both of them are riding across a grassland at night when Cass spots the viewer. 2) Cass guides Jazz into approaching the viewer. 3) Jazz rears up but Cass quickly stops her with the reins. 4) Jazz stops and Cass gets off of her, landing on the ground. 5) Cass rummages around in her robe for something, while Jazz watches the viewer. 6) Cass is able to find what she’s looking for and satisfied, offers it to the viewer with a proud smile. 7) The final image is a fully rendered image of Jazz and Cass for Lunar New Year and the message “马年大吉/Good Luck in the Year of the Horse!” in it, where Cass is now clearly offering a red envelope with both hands.
i saw a video of a cat rolling on her teeny babies and i couldnt help thinking of creature vash. mpreg guy seeing anything ever: how can i make this about mpreg
