#hester shaw

[gloamses]

crazy how philip reeve invented the only characters ever tbh

[thejudeduarte]

Just a girl and her childhood book series against the world

[lunaactias]

and why not post a compilation of these two being all over each other on random thursday? featuring a sequel to an older art and an illustration for a fanfic I already illustrated once.

[the-jenny-haniver]

I am due for a reread...

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

I've been re-reading the Mortal Engines ('Hungry Cities') saga by Philip Reeve and by god is it a palate cleanser for some of the children's fiction I've read this year

Complex characters, solid but believable morals, a really original setting, characters with mixed motivations, characters that always stay true to themselves, a seriously morally grey heroine who nonetheless is portrayed sympathetically while the pitfalls of the morally pure male protagonist are also highlighted even while he is put on a pedestal... strong female characters, nuanced portrayal of mental illness, and all with the backdrop of a wonderful steampunk setting with tongue in cheek British Pratchett-style jokes...

This series is really good and I'm thrilled that I still have two more entries to go.

Slight spoiler for the series, I also remember how it ends and that it is very bittersweet. As an adult I'm preparing to cry, these things affect me much more now.

[sapppphho]

i need more imperfect mothers in media. mothers who look at their child and don’t like what they see and can’t hide it and can’t say it out loud either, can’t save them or spare them or hug them. mothers who see the worst of themselves reflected back at them and have to look away, who see the kids growing up safer and sadder than they did, becoming better people than them, becoming worse people than them. they’re your greatest failures and your greatest achievements. they’re the only things you love in this world and you’ll never say it out loud. you hate them sometimes and you scream with it but you’ll fight like a dog for them if you need to.

[padmesring]

"why isn't there any film/series where the woman is the monster instead, and she's loved?"

I know shrek is the closest we have, but let me introduce you to mortal engines. the female lead, hester, has a defining scar spanning half her face. she's also ruthless and violent. I know this doesn't even come close to the monster male variants (take the beast in beauty and the beast) but to my knowledge, it is the only piece of media I've encountered where the female lead is objectively described as undesirable. not in a shallow, pick-me manner, but in terms of both physical appearance and personality.

and tom falls in love with her anyway :))

[princess-serah]

Hester Shaw my fave. Queen of warcrimes. Champion of self hatred. No one does it like you. I hope in another universe you get in a toxic lesbian relationship with Freya Rasmussen