Six Months Later

I never planned for the interval since the last post to be that long, but things happened! I learned that Gilmore Girls and Rome are done (sob!) ! Yes, I get my news on TV stuff late. The Cubicle's current mother ship gets dragged down further for the vainglory of impractically idealistic chiefs gone deliriously mad (haply we see cult members who offer random strangers free grass), a co-worker went AWOL on us and then had the nerve to ask me to sign off her papers anyway plus write her a decent recommendation. And my boss resigned, too.

Honestly, this is probably the slowest self destruct sequence I've ever seen in my entire Cubicle life. I would have run for the hills or anywhere else that will better house the Cubicle STAT, only I had some personal projects that required me to put up with the muck if only to provide the steady cashflow. And then... I found myself on the verge of impending motherhood. Four months to go. Loving the thought of the baby. Worrying about actual parenting. Not loving the nausea and heartburns. I mean, I loved food! I took stuff from the standard food groups! I rarely said no to second helpings! And now that I need food more than ever, I find me needing to force myself to eat?! Now there's an inspiration for another stupid episode of One Tree Hill for ya. Get me my appetite back!

In between real life things and checking Voltron stuff we have... awesome fansite updates of other fans that never fail to make me remember the times I turned in blank homework. Sigh.

Just saw some hot words exchanged on a fan list or two -- been months since I last checked these, too. There's one on the difference of opinions that flared up because things became personal. Taking things personally's unnecessarily created a fuss on the latest fandom awards effort as well. The exasperated member who said this shouldn't be an issue at all put things best -- point should be enjoying making Voltron fan fiction and art regardless of what other people think about them. It's a bonus when people check out your work, or that the work gets nominated or voted for in made-up ceremonies, but these are mainly things we do for fun. Tell me we still leave the dying brain cells for the real world, please...

Updates so far on what might be the Voltron movie. Allura and Hunk in Mexico, unknown beast rampage in New York, Pidge as Wilykat, Keith and Lance a la Dukes Of Hazzard, and no Zarkon, Hagar, or Lotor and their minions. Hmm. Will also save my brain cells for the real thing.

Hey, I Can Kick Ass, Too!

Can't I just go on working on a sketch, you ask, until I finish it, then work on another one?

Obviously, I still can't.

And here is another, which I have to say, I really, really like! Personally, it hits a spot, too, because Pidge is the character who gets the least action in any form. Powers that be, if there will be further Voltron developments, please don't make him some kind of midget psychopath loser again. He's the weakest member next to the traditional Allura, sure. Genius stereotype, why not? We're used to it. I'm just saying he can be so cool!

Potentially to remain unfinished until the Pidge muse sees me through, yes, but it's one of the pics that turned out nicely, a welcome break from characters who have defined musculature. The weapon is a hack from an 80s kung fu movie rerun I saw... and nerd as I am, I especially liked the wristwatch mostly hidden by Pidge's left sleeve. Possible revisions, of course. Crossing fingers and everything.

Funiculi, Funicula

Between the last post and this, things happened again. The big heads processed reduncancies (again) and we who were asked to remain had to take pay cuts (not again, but not welcome, either!). Who signed those guys up to take over, I want to know!

And now, we have something that survived obsessive-compulsive sketch reworks! And inking! And color!

My Pretty

I think I became engrossed with putting folds in Hagar's robes, the fingernails, and the tooth and bone thingies (inspired by a dozen movies).

I was aiming for a tarot-like feel. Now that she's more or less shaped out (blue cat stuff next), I now see she's posed like duck-walking or something.

Grrr.

Scanners hate my graphite lines!

This is a Keith study for a group combat scene.

Atlas Bugged

I've manageed some updates and several posts in a row because I'm, er... rebelling. More people got sacked this week; some people were rewarded at the expense of those who don't resort to schmoozing up to the big heads.

So instead of becoming serious about Turnover Of Files week, I told requesting parties (including big heads) to %&#@ off for now so we can wallow in Thai food... and I can indulge in Voltron fan stuff. Is there any other way to cope?

After Zohar

I appreciated What If...? stories in the Marvel comicdom. Granted most stories did not have good art (it was one of the titles usually given to newbies aspiring for their big break) and some concepts were kinda lame, but the premise is what fan works are built upon.

My fan works focus more on revamping the look of most characters to reflect more of the mystical and cultural aspects of the Denubian worlds. The character design part is probably what I enjoy the most.

This study is one of the scenes I've been slowly developing. It 'follows' and builds on the version in which Allura's parents died while she was a baby, and right after the murders she's taken and hidden by Coran, who's depicted here as a younger man (resting with the baby in a cave), and in Denubian Realm's Arusuian warrior costume (a cross between hobbitwear and early Charlton Heston stuff, maybe?). Coran also carries the sword of Alfor here, to be given to the princess when she comes of age. I'm supposed to work in blood stains on cloth that's wrapped around the sword and the baby swaddles. I'd also like to add a few battle wounds on Coran himself.

Hope to finish this soon.

Keep Lotor Good-Looking

Prince Lotor, son of Zarkon, was introduced somewhere in the middle of the series, after the show 'tested' and killed off several villains for the story. I'm guessing he came in when there were positive responses from the Prince Bokar appearance.

But I'm not very familiar with the original Hyaku-ju-oh Go Lion storyline -- only snippets here and there courtesy of a great fan site by SG-B. But I am assuming that's how they developed Prince Sincline (Voltron's Lotor) for the original series, as this was the case of Takashi Shirogane, who was killed off only to be revived in the form of a 'brother' character. These characters were merged for the US version of Sven.

In the late 90s, Voltron was revived with 3D animation, and because it would take way too much cash to make enough nodes for perfect anatomy, the characters mostly look like crap. Voltron was later even revamped to a robot formed by gerbil-looking lions! We know the number-crunching stuff involved are all necessary, guys, but you do know the character and robot designs are the things that sell the show?... hum. The guys who were in charge of that effort kinda think like our bosses. An epiphany suddenly crosses my mind.

There were other Lotor incarnations after the 80s cartoon, but the 3D version generated the most negative feedback -- Lotor becoming an ugly cyborg? Part of the show's appeal was the romantic tension generated by some of its lead characters! You make a bad boy even uglier with not much redeeming qualities and that aspect goes bland. And the chemistry with everyone else (who also got uglier) go poof.

For future official projects, I hope WEP keeps Lotor (and everything else that's supposed to be pretty) good-looking.

Sitting In A Tree

Fan fiction and fan art are such addictive things. In real life, I do not know anyone who'd spend time developing stories and pictures for franchises that don't belong to them, so it's comforting to see many who share the insanity online.

TV shows are particularly susceptible to fan stuff, expecially when there are so many potentially more interesting possibilities for favorite characters.

I love Voltron characters, both good guys and bad guys alike. Never mind what developed (and did not develop) in canon. On fan communities, the tendency to group according to 'pairings' is amusing, too. I do explore drawing pairings like Lance-Allura, Lotor-Allura, Lotor-Merla, Keith-Merla, Zarkon-Hagar. Fun. But I'm dominantly a Keith-Allura fan.

Bad Habits Die Hard

My Voltron fan site kind of suck. I've been tempted to call it The Sucky Voltron Site, or the Empty Voltron Site, or the Unfinished Voltron Site, like in The Lame Voltron Site. But doing that would insult The Lame Voltron Site, which is actually a very cool and inspiring fanfic site!

I've been resolving to fill the Legends Of The Denubian Realm with finished stuff for the past four years, and yet everytime I go in to update the fiction and gallery pages, I can't make up my mind how to format the pages. Also, I know it sounds strange, but I find the act of putting personal stuff online somehow similar to looking down before bungee jumping (exaggerate much?). I'm thinking right now if I stick to sketches, I can post a lot more -- I'm more of a notebook-and-sketchbook-toting person than anything else, anyway.