#cant believe i made that old fanart in 2018

[iaminjail]

*insert 0R30 song here*

fun fact: this is less of a fanart and more of a redraw since i didnt use alice as a reference, only my old art that i initially draw from memory soooooo yeah. looking much more plain than usual LMAO anyways TW: old shitty art under the read more

[ectodog]

it’s the 4th anniversary of the premier of vld which of course means i have assembled a rough timeline for my descent into voltron special interest hell. it goes something like this:

- june 10 2016: vld season 1 premiers. i am none the wiser

- january 20 2017: season 2 comes out. this fact is irrelevant to me

- august 4 2017: season 3 happens. still not entirely sure what a “voltron” even is

- mid-august 2017: one of my friends cosplays keith. that’s cool. who’s keith?

- october 17 2017: season 4 arrives. that’s fine i guess

- march 2 2018: season 5 has entered the building. i am vaguely aware that i have known people who watched it at some point. the fandom is apparently “terrifying” but i survived homestuck, so i scoff at the concept and go on with my life

- june 15 2018: season 6 drops. i see a bunch of cool gifs and pretty fanart. coupled with the hype i have absorbed from the lead up to it, i wonder if i should give the show a watch

- june 16 2018: i start watching vld. two (four) episodes in and i love it. i can already tell i’m a hunk kinnie, and this brings me no end of joy

- june 28 2018: within two weeks, i have caught up entirely. i am thriving in the post-s6 hype

- july 20 2018: at sdcc, the Big Reveal happens. shiro is gay. he is a disabled main character of of colour in a wildly popular show for kids, and he is kind and brave and the pinnacle of masculinity, and he is gay. no matter your shipping opinions, this is incredible news and it’s hard to Not ride the high, so why bother trying? they show a trailer and announce the release date for season 7, and within hours a bunch of booted recordings of s7e1 are floating around online

- july 23 2018: my interest level has gotten to the point where i need to make a separate twitter for it, so i do. (fun fact: as of today, less than 2 years later, said twitter has over 7300 posts on it. my main, 4x that old, has ~30k)

- august 10 2018: season 7 is online at 1am my time. im selling at an artist alley all weekend, starting the following morning. i binge half the season anyway before passing out, and completely avoid the internet until i can watch the rest later that day

- october 5 2018: at nycc, the trailer for s8 and release date are revealed. i immediately book the announced day off work because i know i will want to watch the entire thing at once the second it’s out

- mid-october 2018: “leaks” of s8 start appearing online. pretty much no one in the fandom believes them, because no one Likes them. they seem ridiculous. people start making “leakverse” fanworks to feed some of the finale anticipation into, including me. no one really thinks they’re plausible at all

- december 14 2018: season 8 airs. i post a quick but heartfelt fanart before gearing up for 1am. it starts, and i cry. the first time they form voltron, i cry some more. things keep happening, and i keep getting tears on my screen, and i have to pause and start it over and over, but i live tweet the whole thing anyway. the leaks were... real. i come out of it unsure how i feel, exactly, but i am exhausted from the marathon and so immediately pass out

- the same day, after some sleep: im upset and confused as to why the finale season was so hollow. i see im not alone. it’s a rough week, feeling like something i love so deeply let me down so much. i realize it’s only been 6 months since i got into it - but, clinging to a deep sense of betrayal, i cry some more anyway

- the immediate aftermath: there are petitions and accusations of censorship and conspiracies about where the “real” s8 is. it’s hard not to get caught up in, or at least dragged down by, the lack of hype. no one who worked on the show says anything for days, weeks, months. fix it fanwork starts cropping up, and i surround myself in them. none of the excitement from before is there, not the same way it was. i start a new and highly ambitious piece of art out of spite. it’s left unfinished

- january 2 2019: lion forge releases the third volume of vld comics. no one really cares. i certainly don’t

- the intermediate aftermath: it becomes clearer by the day that the season was, simply put, a failure and a flop. no one liked it. kids cried over it and parents had no idea how to explain it to them. the fandom and community dim for a while, but i keep immersing myself in the trove of fanwork that already existed, and i start trying again to make some of my own

- may 29 2019: lion forge comics announces that they are not renewing their license to make more vld comics. that, coupled with the abysmally rated final season, seems to be the nail in the coffin for this iteration of the ip. there won’t be anything else official for vld. somehow, this sparks a renewed interest in me. despite everything, im more dedicated than ever before to preserve and proliferate my good experiences. i know this won’t be a blip in my history as a fan, so i’m determined to be happy with it, as best i can be

- the rest: is, as they say, history. as of now, i have something like 20 fanworks of my own in progress for vld. my ao3 bookmarks number in the 100s, and my to-read list is at over 250. ive made a concerted effort to be more active and engaged in the fandom, because it came so close to fizzling out, for me and maybe for everyone, but it’s brought me so much goodness that i cant and Won’t let that happen, not without a fight

it’s been just under 2 years since i decided to watch voltron on a whim. and it has honestly become a central part of my interests and identity in that time - but for the majority of it, it’s been because of fandom and fanworks, and that’s maybe what made it stick so well to begin with: the creative, varied, amazing parts of it that no network mandate could have offered on its own

this started as a way to catalog my journey into and through vld but honestly it kind of became a love letter to the fandom (at least, my corner of it). that’s what’s made these last years so special - what’s made them simultaneously fly by and feel like a solid constant. a dedicated, talented fan base who are capable of so much more than the constraints of the source material

it’s amazing to look back on, and incredible to keep looking forward to. we’ve all been told - “go, be great”

we have been, and continue to be. like the stars, and like my love for vld, it’s inevitable

so thank you all for the years of “great”. 🖤

[avatarrewatch]

Hello and I hope you have enjoyed your stay in Ba Sing Se so far. I am your host Joo Dee. Remember, everyone is safe. There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Today we watched the following episodes in “Book 2: Earth.” We will also be watching the same episodes tomorrow (Sunday, March 18, 2018) at the same time.

2.13 

The Drill 

With the Gaang in Ba Sing Se, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee (whom I will dub “the Trio” moving forward) arrive in Ba Sing Se with the Fire Nation military and The Drill the episode is named for. This drill was created to penetrate Ba Sing Se’s impenetrable wall. Ba Sing Se’s General Sung seems to be so comforted by the presence of the wall, that it takes him no time at all to tell Aang that the Avatar is not needed, but the Gaang is not dissuaded. Aang, Katara and Sokka successfully sneak into the the drill to damage it from the inside. While Toph, refusing to be without her bending, commits to slowing down the drill from the outside. The Gaang encounters the Trio and a fight ensues with Aang showing off the earthbending he’s most recently learned. It was pretty impressive! Oh, and Momo got to save the day! I knew I always liked Momo for a reason. It’s not just because he’s cute. The Gaang escapes the Trio and the drill is successfully stopped.

Lee and Mushi (or otherwise known as Zuko and Iroh, respectively) arrive in Ba Sing Se as well. You’d think they were following the Avatar or something! But no, actually, Iroh’s White Lotus contacts decided since the pair are practically refugees, that Ba Sing Se would be ideal for them. Iroh flirts with a ticket seller to get into Ba Sing Se, while Jet (and his wheatgrass!) jeatgrass.tumblr.com flirts with Zuko to try and get him to join the new reformed Freedom Fighters. That’s right folks! Since the last time we saw Jet, he has decided to change his ways and only do what’s right. Let’s see if he’ll live up that goal.

2.14  

City of Walls and Secrets  

We see the Gaang on an earthbending operated train travelling to the inner wall. They meet me! Joo Dee. I introduce them as their guide and waive off any attempts the Gaang make to meet the Earth King. Because of course, “one doesn't just pop in on the Earth King.” How laughable! We meet the Dai Li (cultural authority of Ba Sing Se) and its leader Long Feng when Toph and Katara dress up like high society girls to sneak into a party in order to meet the Earth King. In the meantime, Aang and Sokka manage to sneak into the party as busboys. We see Bosco for the first time as he voraciously attacks the food in front of him. Long Feng takes the Gaang aside and tells them that the Earth King doesn’t have time to get involved in “political squabbles and the day to day minutiae of military activities. What’s most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se.” It is the Dai Li that oversees the military and other resources. The Gaang are warned that they will be watched very closely to make sure they don’t mention the war to anyone lest they be expelled from the city and be unable find Appa.

Jet, knowing Zuko and Iroh are Fire Nation after spotting evidence of Iroh firebending, starts obsessively spying on the two. Zuko and Iroh start working in a tea shop. After repeated attempts to catch Zuko and Iroh firebending fail, Jet decides to attack them at the tea shop in an attempt to force at least one of them to use their firebending. Iroh cleverly insists that Jet is just confused, everyone else comes to the conclusion that Jet is violently crazy and Jet gets taken in by the Dai Li. He is brainwashed to believe: "There is no war within the walls. Here we are safe. Here we are free."

2.15

The Tales of Ba Sing Se 

Katara decides to take Toph on a girls day out. After putting on some makeup and taking a stroll, they walk onto a bridge where some girls make fun of their makeup. Toph, ever unwilling to put up with such behaviour, earthbends them into the water. Katara then comforts her friend. I’m glad these two are actually getting along.

Aang, while looking for Appa, sees the state of the animals living in a poorly funded zoo and decides to free them. He causes a massive havoc and ruins the cabbage man’s cabbages again. At least that rabbaroo got to eat though! Aang forces the guards to open the gates and quickly makes a nice habitat for the zoo animals which the zoo keeper thanks him for.

Someone tries to mug Iroh. Iroh, being Iroh, corrects his stance and gives him some life advice. The mugger graciously thanks him and commits to seeking his goal of being a masseur. Just Iroh things! Iroh honours his son’s death as the entire membership of the Avatar Rewatch cries with him.

Zuko gets asked out on a date by a girl named Jin. I rather like her. Unfortunately for Zuko, he makes quite a few awkward and rather gauche moves. The two still end up kissing, but Zuko very quickly decides after that it simply cannot work between them. So sad. But I guess Mai is happy with this decision.

Momo gets chased around by some felines and does some impromptu street dancing before getting locked in a cage beside the same felines. He very easily escapes, and decides to graciously free his former pursuers.

2.16

 Appa’s Lost Days 

We see Appa being captured by sandsailers and sold to a circus. The animal trainer mistreats Appa, but he bonds with a little boy that feeds him. Appa manages to escape during a show after performing a few tricks. He searches for his air nomad with no luck as he retraces his steps. We are shown a flashback of Appa and Aang meeting for the first time as youngsters. And we see that Appa and Aang are thinking of each other throughout the night. Appa goes through so many hard times with humans and other animals, he grows defensive of anyone that may harm him. Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors find a hungry, dirty and injured Appa. After the Kyoshi Warriors take care of him for a little while, and gain Appa’s trust, the Trio attacks. Appa manages to escape with the Kyoshi warriors help.

Fanart

Joo Dee:

http://superootoro.tumblr.com/post/90039544929/joo-dee-was-scary-as-shit-old-one-from-2010

http://sailortenchi.tumblr.com/post/161387243649/joo-dee-brought-to-you-by-a-collaboration-with-my

http://airbenderbabe.tumblr.com/post/109199937761/hello-my-name-is-joo-dee-i-have-been-given-the

Fancy Earth Kingdom Toph: http://korraquality.tumblr.com/post/79851806814/made-a-fancy-earth-kingdom-toph-to-go-with-the

Appa: http://raphodraws.tumblr.com/post/162362518137/so-my-sister-asked-me-to-make-her-an-avatar-themed

http://biram-ba-gallery.tumblr.com/post/148396635372/book-one-water-ive-been-watching-avatar-

http://angi-pants.tumblr.com/post/168337532892/cute-appa-concept-3-yes-no

Jet: http://istehlurvz.tumblr.com/post/158382341744/i-cant-believe-i-always-come-full-circle-on-old

http://thesearchingastronaut.tumblr.com/post/171707418292/today-i-missed-atla-so-i-drew-jet-because-he-was

The Gaang: http://raphodraws.tumblr.com/post/162442066567/ok-so-after-design-no1-got-rejected-have-design

Bosco and The Earth King: http://zeddfro.tumblr.com/post/166491061201/inktober-day-16-fat-bosco-the-normal-bear

Suki: http://angi-pants.tumblr.com/post/171903584627/sneak-peak-suki-is-finally-ready-for-approval

Suki & Sokka: http://rebel-spore.tumblr.com/post/170879604308/sokka-would-so-be-all-about-valentines-day

Suki, Yue & Mai: http://puffycaveman.tumblr.com/post/120074866296/been-super-busy-lately-but-i-finally-had-some

Iroh’s tea time: https://huckdoodles.tumblr.com/post/171984618446/huckdoodles-sharing-tea-with-a-fascinating

Analysis

Caelum Blue's ATLA Episode Timeline (this is dedication!)  https://caelum-in-the-avatarverse.tumblr.com/post/171979806694/caelum-blues-atla-episode-timeline

Discord server: https://discord.gg/dtajJx3

Avatar Rewatch Calendar: http://goo.gl/NUV1Kp

(These beautiful episode title cards were created by the ever talented @ahhhsami)