#we diverge heavily right before the pasyon arc because i have other shit i want to do

[katabay]

THEY SAY THERE IS A CARPENTER FROM THE PROVINCE PERFORMING MIRACLES IN THE CAPITAL

another scene and some sketches of the fake byzantine empire ocs! thomas is a carpenter, john is a merchant. there's an emperor (two, actually) in here, looming ominously over everything.

(I call it the fake byzantine empire because the setting is playing with byzantine history that spans across three centuries, but it's also pulling from things like Statius' Thebaid and later medieval literature. folk catholic horror, probably. doctrinal debates and schisms are in here)

on the topic of nameless and unknown saints, tho, sometimes I think about this excerpt from an essay in Closet Queeries and the time I was on my way to Tanjay and saw an abandoned chapel along a road with a statue of a saint I didn't recognize inside

Closet Queeries, essays by J. Neil C. Garcia

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / tip jar!

#emphasizing the byzantine empire part lest someone call this bible fan art like what century do you think these things take #place in. come on #i will say there IS gospel narrative inspiration/parallels occurring in the story but it's NOT a 1-1 retelling in the slightest #we diverge heavily right before the pasyon arc because i have other shit i want to do #original tag #komiks tag #the carpenter & the merchant #ANYWAY i was visiting family in the ICU today so you will have to suffer my handwriting bc i simply do not feel like doing digital #lettering