Are you ready™?

Over the last six weeks I was fortunate enough to take another trip to Korea, and it was lovely going in the spring! We booked guided tours for the first time, traveling to various cities and getting to know more about the rich culture and history of the peninsula over the last one thousand years.

Not only was it a special experience to connect with my culture, but I also received a lot of inspiration for FSBM! Since last year's trip I had already decided that I very much wanted the story and visuals to be inspired by Asian culture. I wish I could spoil all of the new developments I've added to the story hehe, and more than ever I am so excited to get this webtoon up running!

My hope was to debut FSBM this fall, however the more I've worked on the story, the more I've found that there is still so much for me to do, particularly the writing and the script for season 1. I really want this story to be the best it can be, so if that means I need to do more heavy lifting and push back the release, then that's okay with me! For now I'm planning on a summer debut next year, so in the meantime I'll keep posting updates and sneak peeks along the way 😉

You guys may already know how much I enjoy character design hehe, so I really wanted to take this opportunity to both pay an homage to a beautiful Voltron OC, as well as add in a bit of my own style! Moonstance gave me permission to pick out the colors, and I felt that giving her the classic Galra royal red and gold was the way to go. My hope is to show her pride in her Galra heritage, something to be regarded positively rather than the legacy her grandfather Zarkon left behind, so now the red and gold can have a more positive connotation behind it, with a splash of blue for uniqueness. Hopefully the Altean elements shine through as well! Such as the slim silhouette, the cape, the accessory around the waist, and then of course the tiara, which I tweaked a bit to give her something new yet still elegant 😉 

As moonstance helpfully explained to me, Solaria's weapons are a scythe and knife, inspired by Melinoe from the game Hades 2 and Death from Puss n Boots 2. I tried to come up with some alien-ish designs for them which was a lot of fun! I think I might enjoy designing weapons as much as I do outfits now 😆 And the knife is very much based off of the sword Lotor uses when he wields the black bayard 👀 Moonstance also explained that the scythe in particular is supposed to be regarded in a positive light as well, with Solaria being a harvester and cultivator, not a destroyer like Zarkon. This further cemented my choice to choose primarily Galra colors for her, so that she can break the cycle and set a new and better precedent for the future.

Lastly, the hair! Since moonstance mentioned that they wanted Solaria not to be only be a fusion of her parents but rather her own person, I felt it was appropriate to try and find a hairstyle that was unique to her. And I found a really cute one on Pinterest! My hope is to capture a blend of Lotor and Allura's hair textures, as well as give off the vibes that Solaria is fierce and free spirited! At least that's how I saw her hehe. I hope that's okay!!