lb_lee | Headmates through the ages: Mori, 2000-2004, 2014-2023

For funsies, we thought it might be neat to show contemporary art of our headmates over the years, showing not just how our art skills improved, but also how we aged and changed over time! This means we're focusing on art that at least mostly depicts stuff that nonfictionally happened. We're going to do M.D./Mori first, since she was the first and easily has the most art devoted to her, making her easy to chart.

a childish pencil drawing of M.D. standing in sneakers, jeans with ripped knees, and a white T-shirt, partially untucked, with her name across the chest.

a childish pencil drawing of M.D. standing in sneakers, jeans with ripped knees, and a white T-shirt, partially untucked, with her name across the chest.

M.D. first appeared in 1999, but we don't have any firm dates on art before spring 2000. This one's probably from around March, and it has all her childhood hallmarks: bangs in her face, ponytail, busted up clothes, and the T-shirt with her name on it. She still every once in a while recreates it.

a pencil drawing of Mori, her hair hacked raggedly off to chin length, clearly done by herself. She wears a button-up collared shirt that's way too big for her. She's smiling, but there's a cloth bandage around her wrist that's stained and she holds a jacket behind her back that also seems to be massively stained.

a pencil drawing of Mori, her hair hacked raggedly off to chin length, clearly done by herself. She wears a button-up collared shirt that's way too big for her. She's smiling, but there's a cloth bandage around her wrist that's stained and she holds a jacket behind her back that also seems to be massively stained.

This one is from 2001, the truth of which we're least sure about, on account of our memory being blasted, but it's one of the only drawings of her from that year, so we're using it. In art, at least, she tried to hack off her hair multiple times--it was a fraught thing in our family. I can't tell you whether that was true for her in real life. As for the blood on her shirt... it references a specific scene in the story that doesn't make any sense, so we suspect she was already self-harming by this time.

a pencil drawing of M.D. with a big mysterious corked bottle in her hand, full of smoke. She has K-PAX tucked under her arm and is wearing black combat boots, and layers of too-big clothes, including the busted jeans, a T-shirt, and a chopped up sweatshirt over it that reads I'm Not Cycnical; Life Just Sucks. She's smirking and her hair is longer, matted, and hangs loose.

a pencil drawing of M.D. with a big mysterious corked bottle in her hand, full of smoke. She has K-PAX tucked under her arm and is wearing black combat boots, and layers of too-big clothes, including the busted jeans, a T-shirt, and a chopped up sweatshirt over it that reads I'm Not Cycnical; Life Just Sucks. She's smirking and her hair is longer, matted, and hangs loose.

October 2002. This used to hang on the inside of our locker door. It looks like she has dreadlocks here, but that's artistic failure on our part; her hair got matted and wild over time, but she never had locs. The clothes and taste in fiction are accurate for the time, though.

a pencil drawing of Mori walking down a street at night, head bowed and arms crossed behind her back in melancholy thought, hair hanging over her face and hiding her expression. A streetlight illuminates her from above. The street signs behind her show her at the corner of Here and There.

a pencil drawing of Mori walking down a street at night, head bowed and arms crossed behind her back in melancholy thought, hair hanging over her face and hiding her expression. A streetlight illuminates her from above. The street signs behind her show her at the corner of Here and There.

January 2003. She was definitely among the more outdoorsy of us; I never noticed til now how often she's specifically drawn OUTSIDE. (Then again, now that I check our records, even though our memory is blasted, we do have record of her referencing sleeping outdoors at this time.)

a pencil drawing of Mori on her knees, crying. She wears long sleeves, but one of her sleeves is slipping down her arm, showing bloodstained bandages all up her forearm. Someone off-screen puts a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

a pencil drawing of Mori on her knees, crying. She wears long sleeves, but one of her sleeves is slipping down her arm, showing bloodstained bandages all up her forearm. Someone off-screen puts a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

December 2003. Her self-harm was getting pretty bad by that point.

another pencil drawing of Mori, this one with shaded-in skin. She sits slumped awkwardly, arms spread. Scars crawl up her forearms.

another pencil drawing of Mori, this one with shaded-in skin. She sits slumped awkwardly, arms spread. Scars crawl up her forearms.

April 2004, though she was dead for a month and a half by this point. (And it's not till I made this post that I realized you can sorta chart her descent through these drawings. Man.)

a pencil drawing of Mori leaning against Biff's dilapidated porch balcony, looking up searchingly at him. He's giving her a resigned exasperated look.

a pencil drawing of Mori leaning against Biff's dilapidated porch balcony, looking up searchingly at him. He's giving her a resigned exasperated look.

May 2004, and although she was dead for two months by this point and this art got shoved through the fiction filter, it does depict real events of her inviting herself onto Biff's couch.

We're going to skip the art from the rest of the interim of while she was dead, since it wasn't of her nonfictional self. So skip a decade...

a rough pen drawing of Mori, freshly resurrected, rolling her eyes and snarling. She's in her black combat boots, a too-big leather jacket, too-short jeans, and her white M.D. T-shirt.

a rough pen drawing of Mori, freshly resurrected, rolling her eyes and snarling. She's in her black combat boots, a too-big leather jacket, too-short jeans, and her white M.D. T-shirt.

And here we are in 2014 with the advent of All in the Family. This was the first proper drawing of her after she came back, I think. We didn't realize until almost a year later that that manky leather jacket she traipsed around in all the time came from Biff.

A tiny scribbly pencil doodle of Sneak with pigtails, declaring, I am the best hairdresser! Then there's a scowling scribbly Mori insisting that this is what SHE looks like, with her haircut in two stages--first hacked off in a bob to her earlobes, then in a Chelsea buzzcut with her bangs long. In both, she has an akward case of new haircut.

A tiny scribbly pencil doodle of Sneak with pigtails, declaring, I am the best hairdresser! Then there's a scowling scribbly Mori insisting that this is what SHE looks like, with her haircut in two stages--first hacked off in a bob to her earlobes, then in a Chelsea buzzcut with her bangs long. In both, she has an akward case of new haircut.

December 2014. At long last, she obtained the dramatic haircut she so badly wanted! (And promptly had to deal with her hair not knowing what to do with itself, having been long for so long.)

A color bust drawing of Mori in her feathercut, but she's grown into it. Her expression is lazily sarcastic.

A color bust drawing of Mori in her feathercut, but she's grown into it. Her expression is lazily sarcastic.

May 2015. Her hair has calmed down now.

a comics page of Mori and Biff hugging in the Void. His back is to the camera, but Mori's expression, for once, has no sarcasm or anger, only bittersweet joy and relief.

a comics page of Mori and Biff hugging in the Void. His back is to the camera, but Mori's expression, for once, has no sarcasm or anger, only bittersweet joy and relief.

December 2015, from AllFam. Mori reuniting with Biff. (He promptly told her that her new haircut was shit, to which she responded, "Fuck you too." They have a high-impact friendship.)

Mori declaring, I choose you, Biffasaur! and pelting Biff with a Pokeball, which bounces off the back of his head with a doink. His facial expression is like that of a St. Bernard being badgered by a Chihuahua. Someone off-screen helpfully tells Mori, that's not a Pokemon. She only responds, YES IT IS!

Mori declaring, I choose you, Biffasaur! and pelting Biff with a Pokeball, which bounces off the back of his head with a doink. His facial expression is like that of a St. Bernard being badgered by a Chihuahua. Someone off-screen helpfully tells Mori, that's not a Pokemon. She only responds, YES IT IS!

July 2016, a very silly thing drawn on Livestream. We have Clip Studio Paint now! The difference is so noticeable.

A color bust drawing of Mori making a sneery pout, her hair a mohawk, with the buzzed parts shaved in leopard print.

A color bust drawing of Mori making a sneery pout, her hair a mohawk, with the buzzed parts shaved in leopard print.

2017. Mori changes her hair again. Even though the leopard print was extremely cool and took advantage of her coloring, it was way too high-maintenance for her; it'd come and go over the next few years.

A little ink scribble of Biff and Mori, in swimming trunks and T-shirts, the former chasing the latter with a squirtgun, chortling evilly while Mori screeches NOOOOO

A little ink scribble of Biff and Mori, in swimming trunks and T-shirts, the former chasing the latter with a squirtgun, chortling evilly while Mori screeches NOOOOO

January 2018. This is a very silly little doodle from when we went to a hot tub place together; Mori and Biff were the squad who swam in trunks and T-shirts. (And I just realized, a lot of her drawings post-resurrection involve her and Biff lovingly trolling each other, which is a nice change from the increasing isolation and sadness before she died.)

a grayscale inked drawing of Mori, backlit, giving the double middle finger salute and grinning maniacally, surrounded by the text GUNS BLAZING

a grayscale inked drawing of Mori, backlit, giving the double middle finger salute and grinning maniacally, surrounded by the text GUNS BLAZING

April 2018. This is what we consider one of the best distillations of Mori's personality.

a pencil drawing of Mori from the bus up, showing her in a mohawk, leather bomber jacket, and her old white T-shirt with M.D. in serif font on the chest.

a pencil drawing of Mori from the bus up, showing her in a mohawk, leather bomber jacket, and her old white T-shirt with M.D. in serif font on the chest.

February 2019. She's sliding increasingly into butch punk territory.

an inked doodle of Mori, gesturing with pizza hands at something below and to her left, braying FUCKZAT EVEN MEAN?!

an inked doodle of Mori, gesturing with pizza hands at something below and to her left, braying FUCKZAT EVEN MEAN?!

February 2020. Now she's trying to have earlocks sorta deal with the mohawk. This just didn't work out but damned if she didn't try.

an inked drawing of Mori in profile, making a facial expression like someone planning to rip off your car stereo. Her hair has once again changed, this time to earlocks and a leopard print crewcut.

August 2020. Hair shifting a little again.

an inked drawing of Mori giving a dramatic double thumbs-down and braying, Don't be a DWEEB!

March 2021, embodying her inner pro wrestler.

pen drawings of Mori, first in her ponytailed, many-layered '90s kid clothes twenty years ago, and now in her pompadoured adult self, grinning sarcastically and showing many crooked teeth.

pen drawings of Mori, first in her ponytailed, many-layered '90s kid clothes twenty years ago, and now in her pompadoured adult self, grinning sarcastically and showing many crooked teeth.

October 2022. She shifts to the pompadour, which she's managed to hang onto since. This drawing also very conveniently kinda shows her past and present self.

A colored drawing of Mori and Biff from the back, arms around each other, with the slogan Butches and trans men are brothers in arms. Biff has a red bandanna in his left back pocket; Mori wears a vest with a big lavender patch on the back with an inverted black triangle, a white labrys, and the words Butch In Total Control of Herself.