Deviation Actions
Description
“Never has any other man withstood my potion, never, once it’s past his lips and he has drunk it down. You have a mind in you no magic can enchant!”
How could this project possibly work without adding a touch of Greek Mythology to it? 
The same teacher I mentioned about three days ago had a wonderful class during my very first semester, about the Odyssey. I admit I wasn’t too knowledgeable about it until then, but that man opened my eyes to a heap of things I never knew could be seen in literature or even in life.
But one of the things that stuck to me the most was when he spoke of the encounter between Odysseus and Circe. And why? Well, because it made me think about my OTP!
Seeing things through archetypes makes it easy to extrapolate and to find mythical motifs that repeat themselves in many stories. One of such motifs is the coniunctio, the union of two opposites. And that’s what happened when Odysseus and Circe met, a full union between two opposites in lots of aspects, but with enough things in common for a real connection to be born. Odysseus, a man of wits and reason, meets a witch with dealings in dark forces, who transforms men into, literally, pigs. But she fails to do it to him, because he has a mind her magic cannot break…! But well, it’s also because he had some helpful advice from Hermes regarding how to deal with Circe, ehehehe…
Anyways, the two spend a year together, a year during which she falls in love with a man she knows cannot stay with her forever. Doesn’t stop him from staying for the whole year, though xD I can’t even remember how he came back to his senses and realized he had to get going again… anyways, she’s the one that helps him descend into the Hades, and she sees him off without a fuss despite knowing he won’t come back to her.
Why Circe, instead of any of the other love interests Odysseus had in this story? Indeed, we had Penelope as the wife, but something about this marriage just didn’t suit the way I wanted to portray Sokkla here. Calypso was slightly too clingy for Azula, her happiness 100% depending on having the man she loved with her eternall, and even Nausicaa was only ever smitten with him at a distance, nothing ever happened there… so, in conclusion, Circe wins! And it’s on great measure because, unlike how it was with Calypso, Odysseus wasn’t depressed and desperate to go home when he was with her. He practically forgot he was homeware bound! And that’s something I liked to see xD they had to part ways, sadly enough, but out of all the relationships Odysseus had, this one was by far my favorite.
… Let’s not get into the murky details, though, and let’s not think about how the son they had together ended up murdering him…
This was a very interesting piece, lighting-wise. Azula didn’t come out perfectly, but I sure liked Sokka’s outcome. I was surprisingly pleased xD
And here's Sokka whose practically got half of Odysseus's character down. He's seems cunning enough to play his part, gets into more trouble than he intends to, eats as much as Odysseus, and quite possibly has the most girls pining for him. I can totally see him getting into an adventure like Odysseus if he was to try and find his sword. Plus, his character demands that there at least be some humor involved, something that the Odyssey had elements of (I believe).
So, nice comparison. Would be fun seeing an Odyssey type adventure with Azula and Sokka involved.
And now for the art. Looking at this reminds me of looking at an ancient greek vase or urn with an illustration on it depicting a famous event in some story. Admittedly its hard to guess the context of this particular piece without having your description. With it I know that its Azula coming to the realization that she can't turn Sokka into a pig. Without it I'd imagine its Azula pleading with Sokka to spare her life. Azula (Circe) offering Sokka (Odysseus) the food and wine laced with magic would an alternative.
Azula could have been anyone of the women Odysseus encountered on his journey I believe. Circe is probably the better choice if its not Calypso.