paskuda-lynx

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I'm trying to learn from the beautiful ATLA backgrounds by coming up with new background shots for existing sceneries. I'm probably not doing myself a favor by doing the lineart on paper, but it did feel good, at least for getting started. On to color now!

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Since I'm still stuck like a boat in arctic ice trying to get progress on my latest picture, I figured I might at least dump some messy paper sketches, mostly just so I could find all of these in one place if needed later (that's the literal reason why I created this blog, didn't I?)

Bonus: some drafts for actual illustrations

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Saw a wheelchair today with a lioness shaded by red savanna sunset print on the wheels And Damn It the design is a solid 10 looks especially wicked when the wheel is rolling

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art trade with Ksairan

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For all that A:TLA focused on the summer and winter solstices and balance, I'm genuinely surprised that it didn't do anything with the spring equinox.

Also the solstices seem to be the last day of their respective months instead of the first?

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Behold: Zuko has a taste of his incredible luck once again!

So. I didn't manage to finish any serious pictures before my steppe vacation, despite my best efforts. Yet here I am now, returned! And here is a deeply unserious fanart of the latest Perseverance chapter!

(because of course funny litle drawings made with barely any thought besides "I'm 100% sure hopping llamas are llama+springbok antelope hybrids lmao" are infinitely easier to finish than something more meaningful)

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Big ATLA piece!!

I've been watching the series while doing schoolwork lately and it felt comforting, so I wanted to make a scene where the gaang was just having a good time jsjs

I took the opportunity and did a forest study from a photo for the background, and I am so proud of it UvU

also heres a 1 minute timelapse for anyone interested hehehe

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i got really into avatar last year, and all i can show for it is this collection of doodles/wips where i am clearly fighting for my life on how i want to draw these characters LOL

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It turns out that the lich the adventurers had been hired to slay had never actually killed anyone before until the impulsive paladin of the group swung first. Now, as the healer tries to revive them, the rest have to calm the ancient undead mage down from what is undeniably a panic attack.

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Oh, the joys of being a social worker in a society which can spontaniously create housefires on high emotion. I personally tend to think that Civilian Unrest in the Fire Nation equals Arson In Public Spaces.

The whole Fire Nation school episode makes me seriously consider the implications of being a school teacher in a world where half the children are born with the power to shoot fireballs out of their fists. Even if teachers ever got paid enough they still wouldn't be getting paid enough. The most popular game on the playground is literally called "Hide and Explode."

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Sorry folks, Perseverance fanart was temporarily put on hold lately because of very important reasons:

dead adjutant bird

forecoming steppe vacation

Although I'll try my best to finish something in the following days before I'll board the train on Wensday Whenseday Wednesday (is that seriously spelled like that?! this is ridiculous)

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You can argue all you want with me, but in the Avatar state, your nostrils should light up too! Sorry, not sorry!

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Lineless practice while I get used to procreate, dug up an original air nun I made up a while back

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Analyzing Zuko's Character in the Preproduction Avatar bible [Or how they transferred some key characteristics from him to Azula]

So, for those who haven't heard, the preproduction series bible for ATLA has been leaked. It's a very interesting document. We shouldn't take it as the "original" form of ATLA, since the bible itself is the result of years of brainstorming and revisions, but it does provide some interesting information on how the creators imagined the series as they approached production. In particular, there's some interesting information on Zuko.

Zuko is an incredibly focused, teenage Firebender who bullies and intimidates everyone around him. He is obsessed by only one desire – to capture the Avatar.

As much as the ATLA fandom ignores it, this is essentially consistent with how Zuko's character was written, especially in Books 1 and 2. Take note of the mention of intimidation.

Prince Zuko is the oldest son of Fire Lord Ozai, ruler of the Fire Nation, and the greatgrandson of Fire Lord Sozin, who conceived the war. He is the rightful heir to the Fire Lord’s throne, but when Prince Zuko is 14, he speaks out against his father and the Fire Nation’s conquest. To teach his insubordinate son a lesson, Fire Lord Ozai forces his son to fight him in an Agni-Kai – a traditional Firebender duel. The Fire Lord makes an example of his son in front of his royal army and leaves him with a prominent burn scar across his face. The message is clear. Regardless of bloodline, anyone who opposes the Fire Lord’s power will meet a terrible fate.

Not content with physical punishment, Fire Lord Ozai strips the Prince of his birthright to the throne and banishes him from his homeland. His father tells Zuko the only way he will allow him to return is with the Avatar, dead or alive. The next morning, accompanied by a small royal escort, Prince Zuko sails away on an old ironclad ship. For three distraught years, he travels the world in pursuit of a hopeless goal. But Zuko’s life changes when he learns of the Avatar’s miraculous survival. He vows to capture the Avatar, even if he dies trying, in order to restore his honor.

There's some interesting differences here, but most of this has already been known, such about 1/4th of the series bible was leaked in 2009. What I want to focus on is two things. First Zuko was exiled at 14 in the bible and is now 17, as opposed to being 13 and 16 respectively in the series. It's not clear if this is a deliberate or incidental change.

Second, Zuko's crew is classified as "small royal escort" here, presumably paid by and in the service of the throne.

Zuko’s relationship with his father is complicated. Zuko simultaneously hates him and longs for his approval. Like the Fire Lord, Zuko demands obedience from his servants. Though Zuko denies any similarities to his father, he is not above dropping Fire Lord Ozai’s name to get out of trouble. Periodically, Zuko honors his father with battlefield trophies like enslaved Earth Kingdom soldiers and the head of a giant sea monster. But Fire Lord Ozai rejects Zuko’s offerings as mere trinkets. Zuko also constructs great metal statues in his father’s likeness, but this only infuriates Ozai more. The Fire Lord accuses Zuko of wasting valuable metal and manpower normally reserved for shipbuilding.

Oh boy, there's so much here. Zuko constructing metal statues of Ozai and Ozai hating it is such an interesting touch. To some degree, this trait seems transferred to Azula, in a weird way. In Omashu, the Fire Nation was constructing a giant metal statue of Ozai, although they began long before Azula arrived, and she renamed the city "New Ozai" in an apparent effort to curry favor with him.

The "giving gifts" thing is also something you can see a hint of in the series at the very beginning, when Zuko says Aang's staff will be a good gift to Ozai, but Zuko takes it much further here, going so far as to enslave people and send them to dad.

Finally, Zuko name dropping Ozai to "get out of trouble" would be interesting. It doesn't really work in the dynamics of the series, because Zhao is the person Zuko gets in trouble with and name dropping Ozai wouldn't work on him, since he knows how little Ozai cares for Zuko. That might be why it was dropped.

Demanding obedience from servants is not at all inconsistent with Zuko's character in canon, but they didn't really emphasize it. Instead, they kind of made it one of Azula's traits.

Zuko is especially sensitive about his appearance. His scar is a constant reminder of his father’s scorn and he’s secretive about the nature of its origin. The more people know about his banishment, the less they’ll fear him and do what he wants. Zuko’s servants know not to stare at his scar too long or they might get one of their own.

We can kind of see the origin of Zuko's crew not knowing the story of the Agni Kai here. Far more interesting is that emphasis that Zuko deliberately rules through fear(which is also mentioned in a sperately section on Zuko's relationship with the Gaang). Ruling through fear is entirely consistent with how he was written in canon, particularly in Book 1 (see "The Storm," for instance), but they didn't really put a lot of focus on it. In Book 2, they kind of "transferred" the trait to Azula and put a lot of more emphasis, and by Book 3, the fact that Azula ruled through fear had become a sign of her mental illness, psychological derangement, and "mommy issues." Something which started out as a core characteristic of their male deuteragonist became a sign of "craziness" when transferred to his sister, a girl.

Also, "Zuko is volatile, prone to violence, and a threat to the people around him" is consistent with how canon Zuko was written as a character, but again they didn't make a huge deal out of it. It's not necessarily consistent with how Azula was written (she's more calm, empty threats than anything else), but that didn't stop the fandom from applying the trait to her.

Each day, Zuko studies Firebending with his Uncle, the Fire Lord’s brother. Zuko is a powerful Firebender for his age and he’s eager to develop his skills. But Zuko doesn’t know that Uncle is under strict orders from the Fire Lord to teach his son incorrect Firebending. It’s the Fire Lord’s insurance that his son’s powers will never surpass his own.

Zuko’s greatest weaknesses are his arrogance and impatience. He believes Firebending is the most dominant art and can never be bested by Water, Earth, or Airbending. When defeated by an opposing bender, Zuko blames his henchmen or Uncle, never himself. Zuko’s teenage overconfidence makes him believe he’s invincible. Zuko charges into conflict impulsively and without precaution. Over the course of time, Zuko realizes power is not in the bending, but in the person who uses it.

Again, most of this stuff was already basically known, including Iroh being evil. The interesting thing is in the last line, since I'm not sure it's something Zuko ever really learned in canon.

There is also an entire another section on Zuko's relationships with the Gaang, which I won't get into in this post, along with a synopsis of the entire series, which depicts Zuko as having a significantly different arc than canon. The last part was already known, due to the leak in 2009.

[paskuda-lynx]

That's rough, buddy

I LOST MY IDEA I was gonna write a parody of the ATLA opening monologue in the style of the opening speech from Romeo and Juliet, and I LOST IT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIOOOOOIOOOOOOOOOIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPOOO

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@zukoicism Wait hold on, you're onto something

AU where Aang isn't frozen but instead dies mid-Avatar State 100 years old. Zuko figures out that the Avatar hasn't Reincarnated into the next element so, very rationally, blackmails a spirit so he can travel back in time and kidnap the Avatar before he died.