Tag: Zuko

seyaryminamoto:

In my life I decide and it turns me on
How I am, how I live, who I love
In my way, I feel strong, and it turns me on
In my life, I decide, I decide

Countdown: 3 days to Gladiator’s Fifth Anniversary

When it came to the Slate, I actually had no song in mind. I confess… I mostly wrote it listening to Two Steps From Hell, and of course, they don’t usually do songs with lyrics so I had to go browse my music library. After a few rounds here and there, I figure this is the best fit.

While I could have split the Slate with the Festivals/Ball, I couldn’t bring myself to do it when it really came down to it. Making a full one for the Slate was only right and fair, as it’s one of Sokka’s biggest challenges and achievements to date.

Of course, I did not feel confident enough to pull off the platform properly, so I settled for… the bars, really. Sorry to disappoint. But hey, you guys get to see the Millennium Dragon now! His body looks weird-ish but I kinda like how his face turned out. As for Sokka… I’m really enjoying all these angry action Sokkas. Can’t lie, they make me a happy fangirl. It’s so much fun to draw him like that. And this time he gets to wield Wolf’s Bane, another must because this is the fight where its skills with firebending were discovered.  

Ceremony Azula was a lot of fun too. Finally I’ve drawn her bending her gold fire, though admittedly making her bend blue and gold simultaneously is just an artistic liberty, as she can’t really do both at the same time. But you guys know that, just as you also know I just had to make her look as graceful as I could :’D I’m pleased enough with how she turned out.

Zuko and Suki’s intense heart-to-heart was nice to draw too, I particularly like how Suki turned out in this one. After all these years I finally feel like I’m doing the girl some justice! But I also… am really proud of Mai and Ty Lee here. I feel like I’ve made them look enough like themselves, while giving them what was needed so they’d look more aged up… and heh, Ty Lee’s hands. I… had never drawn someone in that position before. I am patting myself in the back for it, sorry not sorry.

There’s still three more artworks to go, so wait for ‘em!

seyaryminamoto:

After a short kiss, you were hesitating,
Strongly, weakly.
We’ll force a new beginning this time,
I don’t want to regret anything.

Countdown: 5 days to Gladiator’s Fifth Anniversary

Here we go with today’s round, hopefully putting behind the nonsense from yesterday…

This one’s a mix of the Ember Island arc (as must be obvious with the two scenes at the tp and the one at the center), the Notorious Stingray chapter/arc (bottom right) and Azula’s Birthday arc (bottom left). Trying to cram plenty of content into a single place. The chosen song is another of those songs I had always loved, but that became absolutely essential to my plotting of the Ember Island story arc. Listening to it was the best way to visualize what would happen there…

As I mentioned, the top pictures are from the famous Ember Island arc that made one too many readers cry. Zuko’s covering up his wound with his hand, that jaw was certainly sore for a few days :’) as for Baby Azula fleeing from her mother… I’m still pretty shocked it came out decent. Seriously. I’ve lost all touch with drawing children and I keep doing it wrong, but I think it’s not that bad for once.

Of course, the center piece is what everyone remembers the most about this arc, including me, and what made it so memorable. I’d never been able to draw anything from this scene successfully… lucky me that it paid off for once. Just in time, too. But yep, this is right after Azula’s mild breakdown, Sokka comforts her and manages to assuage some of her worst fears. Her problems weren’t  gone after this, everyone ought to know as much, but knowing she’d have Sokka by her side certainly helped her feel a little better about life. Poor girl has been lonely for too damn long and never had a genuine confidante she could trust the way she can with Sokka. He’s stuck it out with her through her best and her worst, and she finally embraced her feelings here (just like Sokka in the previous artwork). So… yep. I have so many feels about this still.

The two bottom pictures were also really important to me. I’d always wanted to draw Azula comforting Sokka after his disastrous fight against the Notorious Stingray, but it never worked either xD so yay! Success at last! And then there’s also that kiss on the ridges of the Capital’s crater, from her birthday… I think that’s a decent rendition of her birthday dress, but alas, as I didn’t have to show much of it, that’s as good as it gets (?)

… I’m proud of this one. Can’t deny it. But I also am proud of the next one, so I hope you’ll check it out tomorrow.

seyaryminamoto:

Right now, there are many things I don’t understand
But I’ll keep moving forward on the path I believe in
Regardless of what kind of foe or friend I face
There’s no way I’ll let go of your hand, it’s a crimson oath

Countdown: 6 days until Gladiator’s Fifth Anniversary

And things begin to look nicer for our two main leads once we reach the Emerald Rockman and the White Lotus Attack arcs! This artwork’s a bit crazy, blending multiple scenes this way, but I hope it works for you guys anyhow.

The song I chose really feels like the perfect song for Sokka at this point in his life. The determination to succeed and find his path, the hesitation when his reality seems to crumble apart around him, and the urge to protect that which he loves… that last thing is the reason why I decided to finish the artwork with that scene at the bottom. As some of you may recall, that’s when Sokka finally comes to terms with how he feels, which was a HUGE step forward in our slow burn affair xD

I’m rather proud of how Haru’s crystal/glassbending looks. I’ve always thought it’s interesting how there was crystal bending in the show, but no one ever went in depth with it over there. Because of that I figured it’d be fun to give Haru an extra ability, one he hadn’t demonstrated in the show but that the show itself had demonstrated as a possibility. I figured Haru has been fighting as a gladiator for quite a long time, and all those battles in sand rings allowed him to develop crystal/glassbending little by little. But, as we know, his lack of subtlety in most other regards got him into trouble with his old sponsor anyhow. Safe to say he’s better off now with someone who likes him just as he is.

Zuko and Suki were a must here, too. Their first proper encounter happened in this arc, subtle as it was. As they’re a prominent subplot throughout Part 1, they deserved their spotlight.

But the main fun thing I decided to do was have several scenes interacting with each other… which is, Azula’s last gambit when fighting the White Lotus mixed with Sokka fighting in the Royal Dome. Their lighting rod attack thing has always been a fun skill I’ve wanted to use more often in the story, and who knows, maybe I’ll get to use it again sometime :’D but as it’s something they discovered/developed in the White Lotus Attack arc, it had to be in here. It just had to! xD

Keep an eye out for the next one tomorrow! 😀 I really love that one…

seyaryminamoto:

Still feels like the first time
To stand here by your side
Together regardless
We’ll walk through the darkness

Still feels like the first day of my life

Countdown: 9 days to Gladiator’s Fifth Anniversary

Of all the things I’d always wanted to do but never felt confident enough to pull off, I finally decided to take the plunge with this one.

Finally, the insanely long project is revealed now! And the project was, in fact, an attempt at designing poster-like artworks for Gladiator’s main arcs. Not everything is directly based on scenes in the story, but most of them will be! 

This artwork in particular is more of a basic concept for the 22 chapters that comprise the very first story arc, which goes by the very creative name of Introductory Arc. I’d hope the composition speaks for itself, but if not, the main idea was to show the way their relationship worked at those early stages. When faced with a thousand foes, they teamed up to fight them but while keeping an eye on each other because they couldn’t quite trust one another at the time. The people behind them are all either featured or referenced throughout the arc: Zuko and Toph may be the only ones you can see properly, but the full list of characters back there included Piandao, Xin Fu, Smellerbee and even the Dart Slayer.

The song I linked above is the one I associate with this arc the most. It embodies something essential to Sokka and Azula’s relationship in Gladiator, namely the idea that they started to truly live their lives once they met each other and, in time, joined forces. I’ve always loved that song, and I’ve always thought it’s a great fit, especially for how Sokka feels throughout the Introductory Arc. 

So, alrighty… day one down, nine more to go!