Just a doodle of the “High Priestess of the Americas” from my one alternate-history story:
In it the Aztec Empire isn’t romped by the disease-carrying, horse-riding, gun-shooting Spaniards and emerges to be a modernized super-power alongside the U.S. The U.S. gets embroiled in a heated assassination scandal within the Aztec Empire, the two go to war and the Aztecs GODS literally show up and go “Lol, hey guys we’re real” and crush the technologically advanced American military. The Aztec Empire annexes America and forms the “Greater American Empire” and people are sacrificed to the gods (now taking “human” form on Earth) every 6 months.
The whole story follows a clandestine spec ops team sent by the remains of the U.S. government (hiding in Canada) back into America to literally kill all the Aztec gods to lay the groundwork for a counter-invasion and re-claim America. The High Priestess pictured here is named Yayauhqui, literally meaning “Black Smoking Mirror”.
Sleep Paralysis is a phenomenon in which people, either falling asleep or waking up, temporarily experience the inability to move. Scientifically its the transition state between wakefulness and rest characterized by complete muscle atonia (muscle weakness).
I’ve known several people who have had sleep paralysis, who have even made characters who share the same trait. I’ve never suffered from it myself but I find the folklore around it fascinating, because no matter what nation of origin it alwayshas to do with the visitation of a demon or vengeful spirit who either sits on, restrains, or strangles said victim. And so I drew my own little depiction of it, complete with a demon girl puking black stuff on a guy.
I dunno, sue me.
Fun Fact Of the Day #1 the myth of the succubus and incubus came out of the hallucinations people have when they experience sleep paralysis
Fun Fact Of The Day #2 this dude’s art is so fucking rad
oh god sleep paralysis
i once suffered from it every day for a whole year and i still do now occasionally and it’s not a good feeling
