Staring off with the Best Girl, Whiteout. Couldn’t wait to do a fullbody off her. Especially her wings. I somehow managed to get them exactly how I pictured!
I’m also deciding on my headcanons for how hybrids colorings/patterns work. So maybe i’ll ramble about that on my fr/wof blog
Also i’ll put the prompt list here to show where I got them from and where i’m at.
so what’s ur favorite thing abt mei that u feel like nobody else notices but it adds so much to her and you feel like everyone needs to be talking about it
everybody needs to realize that before MK was dubbed and knighted—i mean, before MK was titled the Monkey King's successor and wielded the trusty staff, Mei was the powerhouse of the group.
literally remember how our introduction to her character was her saving MK's ass while he was being chased by Red Son, and girlie only thought they were playing a game. my initial reaction to her was "oh, so she's the first hero of the city!" LIKE THAT WAS WHERE MY MIND WENT!
1x06 has a special place in my heart because it shows Mei in her element! she's the motorcycle gal, she's the OG mechanic (SHE LITERALLY BUILT AN HQ FOR MK IN S1), she's the descent of Ao Lie, she's the wielder of the DRAGON SWORD (you know, the sword nobody in her family was allowed to touch because it was a prized artifact and it chose HER)
it is honestly such a struggle (for me) to simply place Mei in the "warrior" category of the hero/warrior duo because yes, MK and Mei are a duo (a dynamic duo one might say), BUT it is so different to swk and macky's duo. they are both the hero and the warrior. their narrative pieces collide and parallel and align so well or clash and-- omg look, another topic to add to my "MK and the gang's ultimate goal is breaking the narrative structure/fate/destiny" folder! (BECAUSE NONE OF THEM PERFECTLY ALIGN WITH THE NARRATIVE EVERYONE IS PUSHING ON THEM. NONE OF THEM FIT COMPLETELY FOR FATE TO WIN DO YOU SEE WHAT I AM SEEING! DO YOU SEE- *gets dragged away*)
*comes back covered in blood* but yeah, everybody start pay closer attention to my gal because her main character energy is real and important and will be crucial for the upcoming seasons. listen, even if MK wasn't there when Red Son and the fam released DBK, Mei would still be there to screw with their plans (I mean, it would have been easier for DBK to wreak havoc because of the energy source, but also MK would still make the impulsive decision to dive into DBK's energy thingy later but this post isn't about him <3)
Mei's awesome and intelligent and intuitive but also impulsive and prone to emotions before anything but i love her
I do find it interesting that ATLA managed to use a very black and white narrative (stop Evil Empire) to tell several character stories with some nuance, while TDP claims it has a nuanced conflict and flattens everything to try and make up for that, ultimately leading to protagonist centred morality more than anything. And if they didn’t want me to compare the two then they should have let go of the ATLA references right away.
you're right and you should say it.
the constant and shoehorned references to ATLA do not really do this show any favors. honestly might be part of the problem (why are there 7 primals with color-coded elves? to follow ATLA's pattern of marketable separable elements. why is it an adventure story with a core crew? because ATLA was like this too. etc etc.)
but anyway. yeah. ATLA had a very simple main conflict to provide a constant source of tension throughout the show (even if they dropped the ball at the last season re: the plot), and this structure allowed for episodes that explore other aspects of the setting and characters while still making everything feel relevant and tied together by said conflict. it's not some arthouse show by any means, but it has good compelling story work into it. genuinely great show.
tdp immediately opens up with the nuance and it never really delves deeper. you'd think that opening with characters being aware of the cycle of violence stuff would be interesting and the show would explore that more, but it just... flatlines there. there's no progression or graduation or exploration of themes as the seasons go on like in ATLA. very rarely are there new questions being asked or arcs that feel sensical.
honestly the main characters having to be perfect in every situation is the biggest problem with tdp. the mains are not allowed to have shortcomings or mistaken judgements or anything to meaningfully interact in any way with the nuanced set-up. they emotionally exist entirely outside it, which ends up making them the Messiahs of Peace Who Can Do No Wrong. good for fandoms i guess, people bitched and whined about bato and the water tribe for years. but it's not very good for storytelling.
and also, they're just bad characters and the writers can't put two and two together while still asking you to take their world very seriously.
anyways i'm just rambling at this point. good observation.
the background looks like baby vomit but ignore that lol
now it’s onto the guardians, any other major and side characters of arc 1 and then i’m done with this arc! hopefully itll be done by the end of summer break but don’t count on it lol
oh yesterday I got to see my favourite ever illustration in person, which is this dragon by Graeme Base
My beloved… I also saw illustrations from my favourite picture book of all time, The Eleventh Hour, which I got so overwhelmed by seeing that I didn’t take any photos :( but in my heart forever!!!
this is one of them if you haven’t seen it btw
In this image there is a code on the game board, three hidden mice, and a hidden clock. the whole book is like that, anyway it’s amazing if you didn’t have it as a kid.
These guys are a bit out of order, but here's OC-tober Days 10 - 14, the palette challenges! (in order from left to right, top to bottom: 12, 11, 13, 10, and 14)
Typically not a fan of palette challenges, but I used this as an opportunity to experiment. Twas fun~
First one depicts Miraya, fierce elemental dragon-mage and mother to my characters Connor and Russel.
Next has Corynn, a very complicated lady; Jade, a bright lil gem dragon; my sunny boy Connor; and finally a windy mage who I've given the placeholder name of Harper.
The thing about house of the dragon shipping is that you could pick any two characters and I mean ANY two characters and still write a convincing romantic story arc for them. They’re all weird levels of obsessed with each other, it’s crazy.