Artist Comment:
January 27, 2024
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Wow, wow, woooooow!!! I'm happy I got this piece finished~! ^o^ I have LOTS to talk about, and I'm so eager and excited about it! OKAY! So, this is Mara without her helmet! It's not often she takes it off, she actually prefers to keep her helmet on, unlike Gravel. And I'll talk more about that as well. >v<
But lemme try to do things in order, cause I'm getting scatterbrained here. XD
BUT!!!! Before I start rambling, I would like to thank an amazing fan for inspiring me to do this. They sent me a wonderful message back in December, and attached to it were some beautiful doodles! Lots of Gravel and Mara (With some Ellie, Gordon Ram and Bate sprinkled in, lol) But what REALLY caught my attention was a drawing of Mara unmasked! They drew how they thought Mara would look like, and that really got me inspired to make my own! ^o^ I wanted to incorporate some of their ideas into mine, (With permission!) and I'm so ecstatic how the end result turned out! >v< I'll list what I used from their design below~! =D
First off, the two giant frills to match Mara's helmet. Which makes sense since Mara can't share the same fill style as Gravel since her helmet design is very different. Mara damaged her helmet after her encounter with Bate, so they drew the left one being slightly chopped off. They also added the ruby and Diamond frill piece. (Also seen here in ASoR) Love the attention to detail, so I wanted to add that to her final design as well! \\ ^v^ // They mentioned her eyes being blue or silvery (To match the gem Mara is able to summon) so I gave her both~! ^o^ Also added the little snaggletooth and some scars. And I believe that's it~! Oh! Her cloak/cape/pelt (Whatever you wanna call it lol) was also a bit lighter in the doodles, so I changed that as well. I like to think maybe Atka gifted her a new pelt. Her old one is much too dirty, and it carries a lot of bad memories. Now Mara doesn't have to shoulder such a heavy burden from her past. It feels surprisingly lighter.
Their lovely ideas really helped me flesh out the rest of her design, and I greatly appreciate it~ So, adding to those concepts, I ended up giving her a huge floof of hair! =.D Cause everything is better with floof!! I wanted to put some of her diamond gems in there as well. Diamond flecks likely get snagged in her hair when she uses her ability. She doesn't bother getting them out anymore, it's too much of a burden. XD Mara is also VERY battle scarred. I think that's partly why she hides her face. She's ashamed- lots of the scars are from doing Shieffs bidding. Every time she looks at them, she's reminded of the unspeakable acts she did under his influence.
And another note! This does not excuse what Mara has done, but Shieff played a HUGE role for the acts Mara's committed. I have mentioned many times in my series how dangerous and influential Dark Matter is. They are masters at manipulating- heck, it even got one of the Legendary Three to do their bidding. Paverok killed his brother's wife, and Guardians under the guidance and control of Dark Matter. If they're able to manipulate a god, then doing it to a less powerful class is incredibly simple. Then again, is was SUPER easy for Shieff. Mara was already fueled with hatred and revenge. Shieff simply guided her along, and pulled the strings from behind. (Which has been shown here~!)
But Mara has to live with the choices she's made. She still had the power to leave. (Unlike Lucian who was controlled by the Demon Frog) But Mara stayed because she was filled with hatred of the one responsible for supposedly killing her brother. And Shieff promised she'll get her revenge at the end. So as long as Shieff used that to motivate her, Mara stayed.
Mara knows what she's done is unforgivable. She doesn't expect any forgiveness from Bate, Alba, Gordon or anyone she's harmed. But in the recent comics, she's doing everything in her power to protect Meta and co. Now that she knows what Shieff's REAL intentions are, she'll protect those kids with her life. It's the least she's able to do for Bate, she says to Alba.
But yeah, Mara is really scarred. Physically, and mentally. She's very worn and beaten down- always having a downhearted expression if one were to see her unmasked. She just has a lot of regret. And it shows. There's also one idea I've had for the longest time that I hope to post more about it one day. It's about Bate and Mara and Meta, and the trauma Bate still has anytime he sees Mara. (Mara DOES move to North Nova eventually.) But the incident I'm talking about is when Bate is still recovering. I always think about this scenario, because I suppose no matter how much one has resolved themselves, their past may still hold a lot of emotional damaged to some. In Bate's case, it's hard for him to trust and be around her. Anyways, the story is set where Bate sees Mara in the distance with her weapon in hand....next to Meta. There's no context to why she's next to Meta, but that doesn't matter to Bate. He ends up losing it, and flies over there at record speed, and beats the absolute crap out of Mara. (Mara was trying to help Meta get an apple out of a tree, and used her weapon to shake one loose.) She then feels 3 large talons gripping her helmet as she's being smashed into the trunk of the tree. Gordon ends up stopping Bate, and Mara is dazed and cowering back from the sudden attack. Bate has his own long road to recovery, and he does feel bad for his sudden outburst. Gordon had to snap him out of it 'cause Bate was literally blacked out in rage when his parental instincts kicked into high gear. Once Bate finally realizes what he's done, Mara doesn't let him get the chance to apologize. She just limps away, and does her best to keep her distance away from him. But yeah, that idea has been on my mind since the OMV arc, and now I finally have an excuse to talk about it. >v>
Anyways!!! Enough rambling, I got sidetracked. XDDD The last thing I want to discuss is her arm! I wanted to give her a prosthetic, BUT BETTER!! (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧ Mara lost her arm from Shieff's attack in a past comic. It couldn't be reattached in time, BUT she's found a workaround to this. So. Mara. She's VERY skilled and resourceful. She's the cream of the crop, and is supposed to rule after Orzon. Mara is a perfect leader- powerful, smart, skilled. So finding a resolution to her lost arm was very simple solution in her eye. She uses her crystal ability to form a replacement. She's able to move it on command like a regular limb. Still functional, and she's able to wield her weapon and everything.
So, why doesn't Gravel do this? He's not as skilled as his sister to form a working limb, and he's already adapted to only having 1 arm. He lost it quite young, so Gravel is able to function without it. ^v^
ALSOOOOO!!! I didn't know where to mention this, so I'll post it below!
Gravel in my series is called a Bukiset. But once he stopped wearing his mask, it was swapped to a Zoos. I already touched on this topic of my headcanon for the Bukisets and the Zoos. But I'd like to clear some stuff about it reaaaal quick. What makes someone a Bukiset or a Zoos? I will also be adding a new term!! Courtesy of the same fan I mentioned above! ^o^
Bukisets- Renounced their spiritual background and covers their face with their signature helmets. Lives deep underground in burrows in North Nova. Hunts and kills Landia for sport- aka their spiritual animal. Gravel was called a Bukiset for a long time before he reformed and became a Zoos.
Zoos- The original ancestor of the Bukiset. Very spiritual that has bonded with the Landia. (Or Winged Egger in other clans) They do not wear masks to cover their face. Lives in the skies above, and has the ability to form and make clouds.
Bukizoos- Bukizoos are a mixture of both. Slightly spiritual, and takes off their helmet occasionally. Accepts both Bukiset and Zoos lifestyle. I like to think Mara fits into this category. She accepts her brother's choice when he becomes a Zoos, and she does her best to take off her helmet from time to time when he's around. She is not able to form clouds like he does as she's not as spiritual as he is. She admires him for it, though. She would always say the following about Gravel. "While the clan keeps their head low to the ground when Gravel is around, he would always look up to the sky- to the clouds." Now she knows why. ;v; Mara also does not kill Landia. She tried to protect Gravel's Landia (Path) from Orzon, but sadly couldn't save her. I mentioned she saved a fang, and gifted it to Gravel. So he'll always have a small part of his companion besides him.
But yeeee! I did mention more about the Zoos in this piece here. (The description) For those who need a little refresher.
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BUT OKAAAAY!!!! I think that's all I have to say!!! Thank you to anyone who took the time to read through this. It's not often I talk about Mara, so I wanted to make sure I added everything I could think of. 'Cause I have no idea the next time she'll be in a standalone illustration. ,XP
And a huge thank you to the amazing fan who inspired me to do this! It was super fun to get some art drawn of Mara! I love her so much!!! ^v^
January 27, 2024
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Wow, wow, woooooow!!! I'm happy I got this piece finished~! ^o^ I have LOTS to talk about, and I'm so eager and excited about it! OKAY! So, this is Mara without her helmet! It's not often she takes it off, she actually prefers to keep her helmet on, unlike Gravel. And I'll talk more about that as well. >v<
But lemme try to do things in order, cause I'm getting scatterbrained here. XD
BUT!!!! Before I start rambling, I would like to thank an amazing fan for inspiring me to do this. They sent me a wonderful message back in December, and attached to it were some beautiful doodles! Lots of Gravel and Mara (With some Ellie, Gordon Ram and Bate sprinkled in, lol) But what REALLY caught my attention was a drawing of Mara unmasked! They drew how they thought Mara would look like, and that really got me inspired to make my own! ^o^ I wanted to incorporate some of their ideas into mine, (With permission!) and I'm so ecstatic how the end result turned out! >v< I'll list what I used from their design below~! =D
First off, the two giant frills to match Mara's helmet. Which makes sense since Mara can't share the same fill style as Gravel since her helmet design is very different. Mara damaged her helmet after her encounter with Bate, so they drew the left one being slightly chopped off. They also added the ruby and Diamond frill piece. (Also seen here in ASoR) Love the attention to detail, so I wanted to add that to her final design as well! \\ ^v^ // They mentioned her eyes being blue or silvery (To match the gem Mara is able to summon) so I gave her both~! ^o^ Also added the little snaggletooth and some scars. And I believe that's it~! Oh! Her cloak/cape/pelt (Whatever you wanna call it lol) was also a bit lighter in the doodles, so I changed that as well. I like to think maybe Atka gifted her a new pelt. Her old one is much too dirty, and it carries a lot of bad memories. Now Mara doesn't have to shoulder such a heavy burden from her past. It feels surprisingly lighter.
Their lovely ideas really helped me flesh out the rest of her design, and I greatly appreciate it~ So, adding to those concepts, I ended up giving her a huge floof of hair! =.D Cause everything is better with floof!! I wanted to put some of her diamond gems in there as well. Diamond flecks likely get snagged in her hair when she uses her ability. She doesn't bother getting them out anymore, it's too much of a burden. XD Mara is also VERY battle scarred. I think that's partly why she hides her face. She's ashamed- lots of the scars are from doing Shieffs bidding. Every time she looks at them, she's reminded of the unspeakable acts she did under his influence.
And another note! This does not excuse what Mara has done, but Shieff played a HUGE role for the acts Mara's committed. I have mentioned many times in my series how dangerous and influential Dark Matter is. They are masters at manipulating- heck, it even got one of the Legendary Three to do their bidding. Paverok killed his brother's wife, and Guardians under the guidance and control of Dark Matter. If they're able to manipulate a god, then doing it to a less powerful class is incredibly simple. Then again, is was SUPER easy for Shieff. Mara was already fueled with hatred and revenge. Shieff simply guided her along, and pulled the strings from behind. (Which has been shown here~!)
But Mara has to live with the choices she's made. She still had the power to leave. (Unlike Lucian who was controlled by the Demon Frog) But Mara stayed because she was filled with hatred of the one responsible for supposedly killing her brother. And Shieff promised she'll get her revenge at the end. So as long as Shieff used that to motivate her, Mara stayed.
Mara knows what she's done is unforgivable. She doesn't expect any forgiveness from Bate, Alba, Gordon or anyone she's harmed. But in the recent comics, she's doing everything in her power to protect Meta and co. Now that she knows what Shieff's REAL intentions are, she'll protect those kids with her life. It's the least she's able to do for Bate, she says to Alba.
But yeah, Mara is really scarred. Physically, and mentally. She's very worn and beaten down- always having a downhearted expression if one were to see her unmasked. She just has a lot of regret. And it shows. There's also one idea I've had for the longest time that I hope to post more about it one day. It's about Bate and Mara and Meta, and the trauma Bate still has anytime he sees Mara. (Mara DOES move to North Nova eventually.) But the incident I'm talking about is when Bate is still recovering. I always think about this scenario, because I suppose no matter how much one has resolved themselves, their past may still hold a lot of emotional damaged to some. In Bate's case, it's hard for him to trust and be around her. Anyways, the story is set where Bate sees Mara in the distance with her weapon in hand....next to Meta. There's no context to why she's next to Meta, but that doesn't matter to Bate. He ends up losing it, and flies over there at record speed, and beats the absolute crap out of Mara. (Mara was trying to help Meta get an apple out of a tree, and used her weapon to shake one loose.) She then feels 3 large talons gripping her helmet as she's being smashed into the trunk of the tree. Gordon ends up stopping Bate, and Mara is dazed and cowering back from the sudden attack. Bate has his own long road to recovery, and he does feel bad for his sudden outburst. Gordon had to snap him out of it 'cause Bate was literally blacked out in rage when his parental instincts kicked into high gear. Once Bate finally realizes what he's done, Mara doesn't let him get the chance to apologize. She just limps away, and does her best to keep her distance away from him. But yeah, that idea has been on my mind since the OMV arc, and now I finally have an excuse to talk about it. >v>
Anyways!!! Enough rambling, I got sidetracked. XDDD The last thing I want to discuss is her arm! I wanted to give her a prosthetic, BUT BETTER!! (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧ Mara lost her arm from Shieff's attack in a past comic. It couldn't be reattached in time, BUT she's found a workaround to this. So. Mara. She's VERY skilled and resourceful. She's the cream of the crop, and is supposed to rule after Orzon. Mara is a perfect leader- powerful, smart, skilled. So finding a resolution to her lost arm was very simple solution in her eye. She uses her crystal ability to form a replacement. She's able to move it on command like a regular limb. Still functional, and she's able to wield her weapon and everything.
So, why doesn't Gravel do this? He's not as skilled as his sister to form a working limb, and he's already adapted to only having 1 arm. He lost it quite young, so Gravel is able to function without it. ^v^
ALSOOOOO!!! I didn't know where to mention this, so I'll post it below!
Gravel in my series is called a Bukiset. But once he stopped wearing his mask, it was swapped to a Zoos. I already touched on this topic of my headcanon for the Bukisets and the Zoos. But I'd like to clear some stuff about it reaaaal quick. What makes someone a Bukiset or a Zoos? I will also be adding a new term!! Courtesy of the same fan I mentioned above! ^o^
Bukisets- Renounced their spiritual background and covers their face with their signature helmets. Lives deep underground in burrows in North Nova. Hunts and kills Landia for sport- aka their spiritual animal. Gravel was called a Bukiset for a long time before he reformed and became a Zoos.
Zoos- The original ancestor of the Bukiset. Very spiritual that has bonded with the Landia. (Or Winged Egger in other clans) They do not wear masks to cover their face. Lives in the skies above, and has the ability to form and make clouds.
Bukizoos- Bukizoos are a mixture of both. Slightly spiritual, and takes off their helmet occasionally. Accepts both Bukiset and Zoos lifestyle. I like to think Mara fits into this category. She accepts her brother's choice when he becomes a Zoos, and she does her best to take off her helmet from time to time when he's around. She is not able to form clouds like he does as she's not as spiritual as he is. She admires him for it, though. She would always say the following about Gravel. "While the clan keeps their head low to the ground when Gravel is around, he would always look up to the sky- to the clouds." Now she knows why. ;v; Mara also does not kill Landia. She tried to protect Gravel's Landia (Path) from Orzon, but sadly couldn't save her. I mentioned she saved a fang, and gifted it to Gravel. So he'll always have a small part of his companion besides him.
But yeeee! I did mention more about the Zoos in this piece here. (The description) For those who need a little refresher.
---
BUT OKAAAAY!!!! I think that's all I have to say!!! Thank you to anyone who took the time to read through this. It's not often I talk about Mara, so I wanted to make sure I added everything I could think of. 'Cause I have no idea the next time she'll be in a standalone illustration. ,XP
And a huge thank you to the amazing fan who inspired me to do this! It was super fun to get some art drawn of Mara! I love her so much!!! ^v^
Species © Nintendo/ HAL Laboratory
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem