maiji: Northern God, Eastern King - now and then

[image set: A series of digital illustrations in an ink-brush style. Hokushin holds out a flame of energy in one hand while casting a glance over his shoulder, his other arm stretched out in a long ribbon encircling the space. Touou in dragon form spirals around him, echoing the movement of Hokushin's arm. 1) Hokushin in his present-day Yu Yu Hakusho Raizen's kingdom robes - a dark coat bordered with a diagonal pattern resembling a lightning bolt, and his head shaved in the manner of a monk. 2) The same composition reversed, with Hokushin in his North Bound commoner's robes with shoulder-length hair tied at the nape of his neck. 3) A collage of the two images facing each other in a mirrored effect - lineart only, then with full shading.]North Bound Hokushin and Touou, now (modern day Yu Yu Hakusho era) and then (circa Kamakura period). Flipping art is always an adventure, a.k.a. the game of “Is it gonna be AUGHHH?” I think this one turned out not too bad, though the initial cognitive dissonance always takes a moment or two. Dragon Touou is not to scale here. He’s a little bigger, but the composition required tighter size differences.Touou’s true form is technically a spoiler, but I already spoiled it years ago (2018!) in Evaluation. That’s what happens when you write prequels and flashbacks all out of order and stuff. But I thought it was super serendipitous that it’s the Year of the Dragon and I am finally at a point in the story where I’ll be writing Touou’s official appearance in joining Hokushin, Raizen and Seizan in North Bound! It will be the next story/focus in the North Bound comics!! …is what I had intended to say, except I already got distracted with two other short stories. Still part of North Bound, still with a Touou focus, so at least I’m consistent there. They’re more like “missing scenes” than short stories, so they should be done relatively faster at least!

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