The Late Shift

I was really happy with the Fire Nation family tree I made and I was kind of itching to try it again...

So, here's the Kataang family tree!

There are fewer characters to fill in (only Kanna's husband and Aang's parents) but I had a lot of fun with their faces and outfits

Higher-quality versions below!

I've been needing a holiday, so I was looking for something fun to do right in my art comfort zone

That and looking back at the Avatar novels... well, what's more in my comfort zone than a bunch of busts?

I absolutely adore designing big sprawling families and figuring out the resemblances. The Avatar style is one of the biggest inspirations for my art style so it's fun trying to turn it back around

Generation versions below because tumblr's absolutely going to eat the quality of this

but I’ve concluded nothing would have happened tbh.

He’s already been shot in the head not once, but twice.

He has also had a technology implanted in his brain that shocks and tampers with it, because Spyral wasn’t exactly concerned with the long term outcomes of its agents, and we see it cause highly visible symptoms of trauma like brain lesions/swelling/etc (eye bleeding and fainting and seizures and whatever).

So like ngl I think if he were lobotomized it might’ve actually fixed something. Like when your remote is broken so you chuck it across the room and it starts working again. Either that or he would have just gotten up and proceeded with what he was doing like what he did the first time he was shot.

Idk Dick’s brain has to be like half gnarled scarring at this point, right? There’s no way an ice pick is gonna be the final say here. His sheer brain callouses would snap the pick in half. He would give the pick brain damage.

Oh totally.

It's not just the Ric runs, and it's not just the family. I've talked before about Dick's issues with autonomy and objectification -- how it seems everyone wants to own him. How he's this valuable, precious asset that makes others' lives better.

And this, frankly, extends quite a bit into the family. It's almost flattering in a way, and yet also toxic. It's like the cute version of something being morbidly funny to me, if that makes any sense.

There's the Ric arc, of course:

"So you'll remember." "And come back to us."

"He doesn't realize we need him." "...I need him."

But there's also how Dick describes his leaving of the Robin mantle in Action Comics #613:

"...ever since his parents were killed... he's had a problem with rejection".

"...he began fighting with me to make my leaving easier. That way, he could reject me before I rejected him... You know how people can be when someone they love leaves them."

In Detective Comics #1000:

"But he could make you better. He could be better. A hero forged in the light."

In Nightwing #100:

"...you saved me." "I know what could have consumed me if you weren't in my life."

And numerous, numerous other times when Bruce and the others reflect on their relationship to Dick, it's clear that they love him, but it's... different. I don't know how to describe it other than possessive. Like he's a thing to be preserved, delicate and fragile and theirs. Their light in the darkness. Their hope. Their salvation. I swear to god there are a million panels of this throughout the series. Every few years there's an issue of Detective Comics or something where Bruce is prompted to reflect on that. The ones above are included for posterity but it really isn't hard to find more. Look into the reblogs in a few days and I'll bet other will find better examples. I've just already spent way too long digging up panels.

And again, it's like... endearing, in a way that's almost a little psychological horror-y? Because they clearly love him. Bruce is clearly grateful for him. Dick's family clearly need him. But its... like... a liiiiittle bit off.