#but i especially like exploring his potential dynamic with the other ninja

[ravenrambles6229]

As someone that likes Morro but isn't nuts about him, I think it's because out of the original Ninjago cast, he's a relatively grounded villain (ironically. Hah hah.) Consider the other threats the ninja had to face, even going into the new series: giant world eating snake and snake army, demon man possessed by the embodiment of evil, embodiment of evil again, cultists, omnipotent genie pirate, garmadon cult, mad max dragon hunters, oni army, more snake army, evil video game dimension, evil sorcerer... so on so forth.

Most of these villains are pure evil villains. Slight exception of unagami and Garmadon (for whom it's complicated...) while Morro is... a kid that wanted to be special and died in a cave angry and alone, and came back to claim what was rightfully his. Like, there's IMMEDIATELY a very solid emotional core to him, and so many different ways to take him because of that. You don't get that kind of complexity from Chen. Then compare that to his potential (if underutilized) potential to interact with Kai, someone who also wanted to be the green ninja, and Cole, his opposing element that also died a tragic, unfair death-- and you just have something you're not going to get from Samukai or the Skull Sorcerer.

Not to mention his death. His death was frankly brutal. One of, if not the darkest in the show, and it's not been undone. He went out on his own terms just after giving the slightest inkling that he could change. That's compelling as hell. He wasn't redeemed, but he was redeemable. That's tragic, and it sticks with people.

Couple that with a cool aesthetic, and the fact that, aside from dotd, he hasn't come back or had his death undermined, you've got a playground for writers and artists. You want a twisted asshole that knows how to get into Lloyds head? Morro can be that. You want a sympathetic and tragic villain sabotaged by his own desire to be special? Morro can be that. You want to explore Wu's relationship to his other ninja? Well, showing how Morro affected him is a great way to do that.

Not to mention, aside from Garmadon, Morro has probably been the only villain to be so closely tied to the ninja. All the massive, world-dominating evil villains are a blast, but that just makes Morro stand out more. It's why people remember him from season 5, and not the Preeminent.

Tl;Dr, I'd say it comes down to a mix of factors. A compelling premise and design, a lot of potential for people to explore, some really memorable scenes, and just enough humanity to set him apart from the other villains in the show.

I think out of all the villains, him and Garmadon are the most interesting, and that it's not even close. But Garmadon fills a role that's so vastly different from Morro, hence Morro still being so popular today.

Listen, I know, I KNOW, I KNOW Morro is a fan-favorite here, everyone loves him, there's like a zine and Morrotober or something, I KNOW the Morro love is strong, but I've never quite. Understood it?

Like I've never understood why everyone loves Morro so much, he's always been kind of just there to me and it really feels like there's not much reason to love him aside from being an extremely tragic character whose own belief led to his death(s)...

If someone could explain, I'd love to hear it (I promise I'm not trying to sound mean about this post, I know people love Morro so I'm trying to stay as respectful as possible)

[sepublic]

Tbh I hated the whole prison-cop subplot in Crystalized and found it deeply frustrating, especially after sitting through the one we got in Skybound. I think way too much screentime was wasted on it, instead of properly fleshing out the actual villains, exploring/resolving other dynamics, addressing the Ninjas' feelings about certain events. But amidst all of the other wasted potential, I really think they should've replaced Hounddog McBrag (probably my least favorite character) with the snake warriors from the sets released earlier that year, as part of Ninjago's CORE line. Because unlike Hounddog, the snake warriors, at the time, were actual sets, and Crystalized later even brought the 4-in-1 mech into the story!

As for what they are, c'mon, it's obvious; They're Constrictai. They're black and orange Serpentine. One of them even has the short minifigure legs the Constrictai exclusively used. And it feels like them and the Fangpyre have gotten kinda forgotten in these newer years, with Ninjago usually defaulting to the Hypnobrai, and admittedly the Venomari in Legacy, when bringing back the Serpentine. So bringing back this tribe into the spotlight would be nice.

Just say these guys are Constrictai bounty hunters hired by the city to capture the ninja; Maybe they have a past vendetta towards them, related to the events of S1 and the Serpentine's failed plot to take over Ninjago with the Great Devourer. Maybe they haven't fully let go of old pains. With a lot of the setting at this point being in the desert, this also makes the tunneling Constrictai more of a threat because there's no structures to climb up, think Tremors. It makes a river an even more fitting way to escape them, if they're bad at swimming.

Instead of a whole army consisting of variants, just downsize them (for the sake of animation budget) into individual characters; Cobra Mechanic, Boa Destructor, Viper Flyer, Python Dynamite, and maybe Sneaky Snake. You could still retain the cowboy motif for one of them, given snakes are usually associated with cowboys anyway. You could even link Cobra Mechanic’s dual flamethrowers to Miss Demeanor by revealing they supplied her!

Have the snake warriors harass the ninja in the desert for a bit, and then they disappear when the Crystal King properly enters the plot. Then when they return, it makes more sense because they're not general keepers of the law, just bounty hunters hired for this specific mission, who already have a grudge against Lloyd and Garmadon and thus aren't really worried about maintaining the peace.

And when Lloyd does make peace with them, it's in the sewers where several crystalized Serpentine are; Seeing Lloyd and Garmadon spare these crystalized Serpentine gives the Constrictai bounty hunters more reason to pause and reevaluate their motives, especially when someone else is hurting their kind and not just humanity. And then maybe they can show up at the end to help against the Crystal King and with rebuilding the Monastery, I dunno. This could play into a larger theme of letting go of revenge, which is relevant to Harumi's story, and could play into Lloyd not wanting to embrace his anger as an Oni (plus the Overlord's return being fueled by hatred).

Dragons Rising still managed to acknowledge the CORE sets of its year with the Greenbone Warriors, who actually show up and play very brief, yet nevertheless antagonistic, roles. If we're not going to focus on the actual Crystalized villains even though these episodes are already airing during their set wave's release, you may as well allocate screentime to antagonists from actual sets instead of making up another generic human cop character.

[berryzawati]

Rambling about wolnpc....

One of the reasons why I'm so deep into multishipping hell with my wol is that I love genuinely love exploring dynamics with different npcs. FFXIV throws so many awesome npcs at me, how can I just stick with one or two?

Ok, there's also the fact that she fell in love twice and the first time her lover died and the second time, the guy was already dead BUT...

As far as canon goes Layla had a whirlwind romance with Haurchefant. They fell in love fast and the romance ended just as fast at the Vault. It was a very cliched romance, Haurchefant swept Layla off her feet. Often literally. He was very affectionate with her and often times Layla was a bit shy, especially when they are in public. But she loved him just as much.

Her love for Ardbert was doomed due to the fact that he was already dead and not from the Source. Ardbert fell in love with Layla during Shadowbringers too but denied his feelings for her until the very end.

Layla felt like Ardbert was truly her soulmate and often wonders if she would feel similar about the other Azem shards. By then, Layla overcame her timidly and often persued Ardbert romantically and Ardbert was often unsure how to react to her advances - all the while he slowly fell for her. Also I constantly think of newlywed AUs for them lmfao

Layla and Leofard are friends with benefits but on a non-sexual level, they enjoy each other's company a lot. Leofard understands that Layla comes from a very different background and starts to banter with her accordingly. I call their dynamics charming rogue x graceful, courtly fighter.

Layla may act as if Leofard's teasing bothered her a little but deep down she appreciates him as a dear, dear companion. Someone who understands that the world is vast and that there is still so much for them to discover...

When it comes to non-canon ships, I'm afraid this is where my brainrot truly shines. I ship my wol with so many npcs, I sometimes even forget which minor msq/general npc I ship my wol with. It do be like that. Though these days I often think of job/role quest npcs.

As someone who ADORES job quest npcs, I was extremely sad that the stopped doing them in Shadowbringers.

Some of my favorites include:

Gransonwol. They're both tanks and they both lost a loved one. In my mind, Layla and Granson lick each other's wounds and get closer in the progress. Their personalities don't clash at all and they go well together.

But Granson is from the First and Layla is from the Source. Not only are they griefing but it is hard to deal with physical distance. This often leads to conflicts between them. Will they be able to overcome this? Who knows...

Oborowol. The first thing I think when I think of Layla and Oboro was how when she became a ninja, Oboro asked her to teach him about the culture of Eorzea. But Layla is not a native of Eorzea either! I think this may have lead to funny moments to them, Layla loves helping people, so she often answered all the question.

The second thing is:

Oboro's Zadnor field note gave me a lot inspiration. Layla may be experienced in all things romance but she can get pretty bashful and lets her partner lead. Oboro however is not really experienced, so she waits a long time for him to make a move on her. So, here's a rare case of Layla often taking charge in the relationship. Oboro is often thankful but eventually overcomes his own shyness, methinks.

Widargeltwol. Probably the ship that is connected to Layla's lore the most, even more than her canonical ships. Layla is half Ala Mhigan and her Ala Mhigan mother is one of the last surviving monks. This had a huge impact on Layla growing up. Growing up her mother strictly trained her to become a monk but Layla could not open a chakra despite her apititude for fighting and her strong body.

It wasn't until she met Widargelt during the first monk job quest that she opened her first chakra. Widargelt realized her potential and made plans to use her for his revenge against the Garleans (as shown during the ARR MNK job quests). I love this because during A Realm Reborn, Layla felt connected to the Ala Mhigans and started to see herself as an Ala Mhigan more and more.

So, queue in the angst when during the level 50 quest, Widargelt tried to kill her. Layla quickly became fond of Widargelt, so her heart broke after this but during the Heavensward quests they've mended their relationship fast. Even in the canonical timeline in which they don't end up together, Layla sees Widargelt as one of the most precious person she has met during her journey.

It is worth noting that Layla has kept her mother's identity hidden but after the events of the last ARR MNK quests, Layla confessed to Widargelt and Erik that her mother was a monk as well. They were the first people, Layla has told about her mother.

I think out of all my ships, this one is the one I'd label a slowburn. They saw each other as siblings in monkhood first but I also think that their romance is also a very smooth one once they realize their feelings. No need for big words, both know very well that the other has nothing but love in their heart. But first steps are hard...

[ssasukewasright]

what dynamic in naruto that you think would of had a lot of potential if it was explored? (Ramble below)

For me I'll have to give it to Rock Lee and Sasuke. For Rock Lee, after his fight with Gaara his resolve and confidence in himself is one that can't really be taken away. He has one goal, be a splendid ninja. I feel like encountering sauske and having like a actual conversation wouldn't shake his confidence in his skills but rather shake the foundations of what he wants to become, a splendid ninja. If Itachi is one of the greatest for being so detached from the world and loving the village enough to kill his own family, what does that mean for Rock Lee. Does becoming splendid would mean that he might one day be ordered to kill his beloved might guy or his team mates? And if so, should he? Like I feel like more ninjas should really have gotten to question the villages without being villians out right. Also Lee's genuine comradrie with his team that is so fully returned might bring back memories for Sauske. We don't often get to see exactly what he's thinking so like that added bit of insights he would have in his interactions with Rock Lee which is so much like Naruto in personality would be excellent. Also they would absolutely push each other to new heights, I bet that they might even get excited to fight each other depending on the circumstances. Sharigan vs the potential of taijutsu would be so cool fight wise.

What do you think? Do you disagree/agree with what I say and what kind of dynamic would you wish to be shown more?

oh god let me ramble about this

i never really thought about sasuke and rock lee but it makes sense?? I think they would have been a good team back at the chunin exams especially because sasuke never really trained taijutsu that much, i love how a lot of the fights in og naruto were inspired by rock lee? I mean we see variations of his moves with both Sasuke and Naruto.

I do think that Rock Lee would do anything to be a good ninja but he would never think of hurting his team, since team Gai is the only team that looked like an actual team? there's also the fact that he loved his team, he looked up to gai so much and the way he cried for Neji?. Also i feel like being in a team like team gai would have helped sasuke way more, team 7 was great but it was eer- not the healthiest team, but team Gai was them pushing each other to be better, which was something that Sasuke did for team 7 but never really got in return (He helped Sakura before the chunin exams and he pushed naruto with sassy comments to be better). also yes, I can see them enjoying fighting with each other as training, they can easily keep up with each other's moves and they could learn new things watching each other and it would be funny to see lee asking Sasuke to wear the green suit lmao

I said this before and I'll keep saying it, Neji and Sasuke would make a good team. Sure they are opposites with Sasuke loving his clan and Neji hating his but both of them are victims of a bad system, it would be cool to see them fight to change the shinobi word.

Maybe Karin and Naruto? both are Uzumaki and i think it’s so unfair that we never saw them properly interact. Also, there are a lot of missing opportunities, it would be interesting having the only uzumakis learning sealing techniques together.

also, I would LOVE to see shisui and akatsuki Itachi, only because i'm a firm believer that Shusui wouldn't agree with Itachi's mindset, he would call him on his bullshit

[myaekingheart]

20 [Fanfic Writer] Questions Game

Thank you so much for tagging me, @lemony-snickers! This is tons of fun, I love answering these kinds of big questionnaires 😂💕 Also putting mine under a cut because there’s a lot of questions and I like to ramble. 

Also gonna go ahead and just tag whoever wants to do this! 😅💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

As of August 27, 2021, I have a total of 77 works on my AO3! 

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Funny enough, I was just looking at this, specifically, earlier today and kind of laughing about it. Right now, my total word count across all my works is 1,148,941 😬 

3. How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Apparently 12, but some of them I don’t really consider “big” in my fandom repertoire. Naruto is my greatest fandom with a total of 60 fics so far, followed by The Chronicles of Narnia and Rise of the Guardians. The rest are ones I either did crossover fics with or just did one-off little pieces with--The Incredibles, Tangled, Brave, How to Train Your Dragon, Arthurian Mythology, Disney Princesses, Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms, Back to the Future, and Frozen. 

4. What are your Top Five fics by kudos?

The Scarecrow and The Bell (Naruto) - 470 kudos The Day Kakashi’s Mask Slipped (Naruto) - 139 kudos Sunflowers (Naruto) - 92 kudos Sakumo the House Husband (Naruto) - 81 kudos Someone to Lean On (Naruto) - 67 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to respond to comments, because I like to acknowledge when people respond to my work. I cherish comments like nobody’s business, especially when they’re kind and reactionary. I just really love seeing/hearing what people think of the way a story is progressing, or what they thought of a one-shot. Comments keep me going especially when it comes to longfic so I want to be able to let readers know that I do in fact see their comments, that I’m acknowledging what they’re saying, and that I appreciate them. Plus, it can be kind of fun to tease upcoming events in a fic through responses to people’s comments, too. Because I’m mean. 

6. What fic have you written with the angstiest ending?

Definitely Hothouse (Rise of the Guardians/The Incredibles; Jack Frost x Violet Parr; American Horror Story AU). This was the first multi-chaptered fic I ever wrote to completion and I honestly cringe when I remember it exists both because it’s so poorly organized (and full of nasty plot holes) and because I just went ham on the gore factor. It definitely has a really bittersweet and heartbreaking ending to it, too. 

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I think I’ll definitely have to say Temptation. The story itself was kind of a ride, and it’s only the first installment in a series, but it follows the plot of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe but remixed due to the presence of an original character, but the ending is still roughly the same as the original: they defeat the evil, the Pevensies are all crowned kings and queens, happy days. Reading the last few paragraphs of the last chapter honestly still gets me all up in my feelings. 

8. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I used to be more of a crossover writer due to one of my main ships being a crossover ship. They weren’t super crazy, though, because they were both CGI-animated films. The craziest crossover I’ve ever written is an in-progress/unfinished multichapter piece, Kakashi, Enchanted, that sees our favorite Copy Ninja get kamui’d into the Disney princess dimension and has to help the likes of Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel on his journey to find a way back to his own world. It’s a super weird premise but definitely one of my more lighthearted works and fun to revisit when I need to decompress. 

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think I’ve ever received hate so much as I’ve received criticism. The closest I ever got to hate on a fic, I think, was someone left an overly personal and mentally disturbed comment on a chapter of my main fic that made me convinced they needed to seek therapy and deal with their own personal issues rather than take it out on a fanfic about animated ninjas. 

10. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Maybe 👀 I’m super vanilla when it comes to smut, though. I think the wildest thing I’ve ever written in smut is breeding kink. 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, and I hope I never will. 

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet! I had someone ask to translate a one-shot of mine in Russian but I never got a response back when I laid out my terms and conditions. 

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not! I used to do paragraph-style roleplay which was kind of like cowriting fanfiction but writing is so personal and sacred to me that I don’t know if I could ever actually cowrite a fic with someone. I like brainstorming with other people, but writing for me is more of a deeply personal and independent endeavour. 

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Oh god, this is a tricky question because it depends on fandom. I absolutely love New Dream (Rapunzel x Eugene, Tangled) and have for the past ten years, and my love for them as only grown since watching Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. I don’t write or even really read a ton of fanfiction for them, though. I’m also still highly dedicated to my favorite crossover crackship, Frostfield (Jack Frost x Violet Parr, Rise of the Guardians/The Incredibles) and to this day, if you search for that ship on AO3, I am the sole provider of every single fic about them so far. I’m not as active with them as I used to be, but they got me through some really rough times back in the day and still mean so much to me. A lot of my favorite ships across fandoms, though, are honestly canon x OC ships of mine because I am a self-indulgent bitch who needs to project. So Peter Pevensie x Eilonwy (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Kakashi Hatake x Rei Natsuki (Naruto) are really important to me and I’ve poured so much of myself specifically into their stories. I think it’s safe to say Kakashi and Rei is my all-time favorite ship across all fandoms, though, just because of how much their story means to me. The Scarecrow and The Bell is my magnum opus, my pride and joy, and I’m sure it will be my biggest fandom footprint of my entire life. I’ve dedicated the past three years to this story and these characters and I intend to continue doing it until it no longer brings me joy (which I hope it always will). There’s just so much I could say about this story and Kakashi and Rei’s relationship but I don’t think we have enough time or space in this post for that 😅 Just know that they mean the world to me and I will always hold them in the highest regard as a beautifully messy, flawed, passionate, soulmate-y ship that I love with all of my heart 🥺

EDIT: I also feel obligated to tack on some of my absolute favorite Naruto ships because I may not have written for all of them (yet) but they still make me unbelievably happy or I find them really compelling and enjoy the idea of exploring them: 

Naruhina is precious happy sunshine and The Last honestly felt like a wonderful Disney princess movie to me, it was so cute and the romance was so on-point, Naruhina just makes me so incredibly happy and I love them with all my heart. 

MinaKushi also gets me all up in my feels and I adore them with every fiber of my being. Their romance also gave me Disney princess movie vibes which I love, their story is just so damn sweet as is their character dynamic and I am still so heartbroken that they never got to be a happy family with Naruto because you know what? It’s what they deserved!

SasuSaku is so compelling to me and I really feel like we were cheated out of seeing their relationship develop and evolve postwar in the same way The Last did for Naruhina. They’re my favorite angst ship and while I don’t think they were written that well in canon, I love the possibility and potential of them together and am excited to explore them more in-depth in my own writing. 

NejiTen is just too cute, I really love the way Neji and Tenten’s personalities compliment each other? I don’t have much else to say about them except that I really love them together and think they have so much untapped potential that I also can’t wait to explore in more depth in my own writing. 

15. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Paper Hearts and Impromptu Bookmarks, probably. I love the premise of this story a lot and I have so many interesting ideas for it but at the same time, it also feels kind of cheap and cringey to me, in a way? It takes all of these ideas I probably would have had if I had been into Naruto when I was a kid and kind of compiles them all into one big story. Kakashi and Aiko’s relationship and story is still really important to me and I want to continue it someday but for right now, I just haven’t had the motivation or desire to write any more of it. I think I’m just so overwhelmingly preoccupied with writing Kakashi and Rei’s story that I can’t imagine writing any other Kakashi x OC fics right now. 

16. What are your writing strengths?

I want to say that I’m really good at capturing complex emotion? I don’t know, I write a lot of angst and mental upheaval in my fics which can be really difficult to try and capture, but I think I do a decent enough job of it? And just writing difficult subjects in general. I think it’s really important to address difficult topics such as mental illness and relationship difficulties and everything but I also want to try and write those topics in a way that is both authentic to the experience while also still tasteful. I don’t want to drive readers away with heavy subject matter but rather present a situation that feels real and authentic while also still being digestible. I may not be doing a very good job of that during the current arc of my fic that I’m working on, but I’m trying haha

EDIT 2: I also want to add onto this to say that I’m really proud of my organizational techniques for writing longfic. It’s not necessarily a strength in terms of the prose itself but it’s something that’s taken me years to really get a grasp on and find a method that works perfectly for me and so far, it’s been extremely helpful and beneficial to me. I don’t know where I would be now as a writer without these essential tools in my pocket. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I feel like I do a really bad job of the “show, don’t tell” thing. It can be really hard to balance descriptive prose with straightforward writing that moves things along. I don’t want to dwell on mental dialogue to the point where you lose track of what’s going on, but I also don’t want my stuff to read like “Character A did xyz. Character B said abc. They went to 123″, whatever. Another thing I struggle with is sentence variation. I always fall into the same patterns when I’m writing prose and I get really self-conscious about it because I don’t want to sound repetitive or disrupt the flow of the writing. One of my favorite things about prose is focusing on the cadence of the words, I think it’s one of the most beautiful things about writing in general, but it can just be really difficult to get a good grip on that. I’ve been told in the past that I apparently have a really good grasp/control of the language or whatever but sometimes I just find that really hard to believe when I look at my work with such scrutiny. I think one of my biggest pet peeves with my own writing, too, is feeling like I start all of my sentences the same five different ways. I’ll read other people’s works and they’ll write sentences like “Glass-blue water lapped against the shores of a deserted beach as a lonely woman gazed off into the distance” and I can just never figure out how to realistically write sentences that start like that in the context of my prose and it drives me fucking crazy, like I’m definitely jealous  😅

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I’ve never really thought much about it before, but I think there are pros and cons! For bilingual/multilingual readers, I think it can be a really enriching reading experience because they know what’s being said in both languages. For people who only know one language, however, unless a translation is provided, I feel like it can be really alienating. I think the best use of that for both worlds is using it as a means for miscommunication humor. Other than that, I think it can be a slippery slope that depends on what kind of reader you are and how it’s written. 

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Chronicles of Narnia! My very first fanfiction was a Narnia fanfic that I barely remember except that it laid the basis for Temptation and my Narnia fanfic series as a whole. I never posted this first iteration anyway, but I remember it was 2008/2009 and I wrote a solid 80 pages (which was wild for me at the time) and had gotten halfway through remixing the events of Prince Caspian when my computer crashed and I lost absolutely everything. I’m still heartbroken that it’s gone forever, not because I’d want to go back and read it necessarily (since I’m sure it was actually hot garbage) but at least for nostalgia’s sake. Either way, like I said, this long-lost fic laid the basis for the very first fanfiction I ever posted, the first published (and never finished) iteration of Temptation back in 2011 on deviantART and the since-defunct Figment. I fell out of the fandom around 2012/2013 and left the story alone for a while before ultimately deciding to completely redux and rewrite the story when the fixation swung back around again between 2016 and 2018. 

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Despite the fact that it’s still in-progress, definitely The Scarecrow and The Bell. This fic just genuinely means so damn much to me and I will cherish it for the rest of my life because of how much it’s given me, how much love and passion and time and even parts of myself that I have poured into this, and also just how expansive of a story this is. Not only does it touch on some very dark and heavy topics, but I’ve also created so much of my own characters and meta for this story that it’s almost an entire universe in and of itself. I’ve just contributed so much additional world-building and created so many new OCs to fill important roles in this story and in Rei’s life, and they’ve all become so deeply important to me as they’ve developed further over the years. I’ve come up with so many interesting ideas for everyone and their lives, which are all slowly becoming so rich and varied. Not to mention that it’s my most popular fic to date as well as my longest fic at 632k and counting. I’ve really just genuinely poured so much of my heart and soul into this story, it’s my absolute favorite thing I’ve ever done and I really mean it when I say that I will cherish it for the rest of my life. 

[leannetalksanime]

Shōnen Anime Through The Feminist Lens

During quarantine, there has been a significant rise in the popularity of Anime; this wave of new fans brought back memories of when I first started exploring anime and how I came to love this media. Anime is a confusing word: In the western world, anime a separate genre of animated shows and movies from the typical western cartoons (ie. SpongeBob, Tom and Jerry, etc.) while in Japan, it refers to any animation in general. But for the sake of simplicity, I will refer to anime as a type of animated show or movie that uses signature aspects of Japanese-style animation.

Usually, a person is recommended mainstream shows from the shōnen genre when introduced to anime. Shōnen anime and manga are marketed towards boys between the ages of 12-18, but a lot of people outside of that demographic enjoy this genre as well. I find myself watching and recommending shōnen shows because of how exceptionally written the plot, the character development, and worldbuilding are. However, problems with female representation stem from the misconception that shōnen is only for boys or that girls don’t enjoy these types of stories. It is frustrating to see how little action and development female characters are given compared to their male counterparts and how often they are sexualized for the sake of comedic relief or fan service. 

NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

The Naruto series follows the journey of Naruto Uzumaki as he achieves his dreams to be acknowledged by the village he lives in and become the Hokage (the leader of the village). It’s a story about saving the world, protecting your loved ones, and believing in yourself.

Almost every person who has watched more than 3 years of anime has seen Naruto; those who haven’t still can recognize characters, references, and general plot points. Yes, it is THAT popular. I knew about the show but, I put off this anime for so long because of the silly reason that Naruto was an annoying brat at the beginning of the series. It took me a few months to build up my courage to pick up the series again— and wow! I was glad I did! I restarted my journey about two months ago and, as of today, I have less than 50 episodes left to watch to finish the series (keep in mind that the complete series has about 700 episodes). I got attached to the characters for their development and their compelling stories. I saw Naruto grow from being a troublemaker to a dependable hero, watched Sasuke go down a dark path for the sake of revenge, and learned about Kakashi and Itachi’s heartbreaking childhoods. But the girls? Where are the girls?

As well written as the story is, girls in Naruto are viewed as support-type characters for the boys; their stories aren’t touched upon and remain the same throughout the series. The lack of development of the girls is best highlighted by Sakura— the main female character and the most hated person from the series, and dare I say, all of anime. At the beginning of the series, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura train together to become ninjas with their teacher, Kakashi. Sasuke was a prodigy and excelled in every task, Sakura was known for her intelligence and chakra control, and Naruto lacked skill yet impulsively charged headfirst towards his enemies. As the show went on, Naruto and Sasuke’s skills have grown on par as they continuously try to learn new powers to one-up the other. But Sakura stayed the same. Even though she gained super strength and trained to become a medical ninja under the Fifth Hokage, her abilities and progress are constantly shadowed by her teammates' flashy powers (look at the picture above). This gap is even more prominent after the time skip in Shippuden where she becomes a “damsel in distress” which annoyed a lot of fans. She had so much potential to become a great character. Even if she was not the strongest ninja, the show could have taken steps to make her valuable in some way even if all they did was make her an efficient support character to Naruto and Sasuke instead of making her seem like she is always in their way. The unbalance caused by the lack of active female roles in Naruto leaves the female audience unrepresented. The female characters' underdevelopment implied that the girls are incompetent and therefore don’t get to make an impact in the story.  

ONE PIECE

I can talk about this show for hours. With 950+ anime episodes and 1000+ manga chapters, One Piece is synonymous with art; it follows the story of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, on an adventure to find One Piece. Unlike other shōnen stories, One Piece immerses the audience into a mysterious world that is complex, dynamic, and feels real. Every single character is well developed— each of them have insanely detailed backstories, memorable personalities, and compelling motivations making them feel human. The story also tackles unconventional topics such as slavery, racism, the justice system, and classism. I could go on and on listing reasons as to why I love One Piece or why it is worth catching up to the 950 episodes, but I feel like you should let One Piece in and find that out for yourself. 

Unlike Naruto, women take on significant roles in One Piece and are often admired as role models. However, the lack of body diversity and the over-sexualization of the female characters leave a rather unpleasant aftertaste. 

As seen above, they all suffer the same-body syndrome— large breasts, impossibly tiny waists, and skimpy clothing. I get that these are common types of fanservice but, there are plenty of questionable design choices whenever fanservice is prioritized over logic (ie. the top-left girl is supposed to be a gladiator but her outfit does the very opposite of protecting her as it leaves her vital areas exposed). Another issue I have is with Sanji and his behaviour around women. He is the prime example of what the internet would call a ‘simp’ where his perverse tendencies and chivalry clash whenever he is near a female character. I feel like his overprotectiveness toward women and his willingness to die for them is counterintuitive to the powerful portrayal of women in the story. I understand that fanservice isn't going anywhere but the girls’ unrealistic designs and their treatment dilute their complex characterization to mere pretty and delicate objects.

CONCLUSION

From a feminist point of view, Naruto and One Piece have their own shortcomings when it comes to the inclusion and depiction of girls. I particularly chose to talk about them because they are the central faces of the shōnen genre, both of them depict common issues with female representation in most shōnen stories. It is understandable to a certain extent as to why the authors chose to draw/develop their characters, however, the lack of active female characters in shōnen stories fuels the ” shōnen is for boys, therefore, don’t expect female representation” narrative. It would do no harm to write stronger and more complex female characters in these stories, in fact, it would make the stories much more interesting as there is variation in perspectives and experiences— especially now because of the strong societal push toward feminism and the growing female audience consuming anime media. The fact that shounen does target boys is perhaps the most important reason to feature complex, active female characters in these stories—not only as supportive figures or dream girls, but as someone they can relate to and look up to as well.

EXTRA: NEW GENERATION SHŌNEN!

Naruto and One Piece have been in the anime scene for decades, but as societal values shift, many New Generation Shōnen are trying to tackle the inclusion of feminism in their stories. Here are some:

Boku no Hero Academia, one of the primary faces of New Gen Shōnen: A superheroes story where superpowers or quirks rule the world.  Physical advantages male characters may have during fights is insignificant as the winner is decided by their ability to use their power at its full potential and their compatibility with the opponent’s quirk. Women are shown to have different body types, breaking the skinny hourglass stereotype with healthy and muscular bodies. Read more on how BNHA is breaking the moulds here: https://www.animefeminist.com/feature-hero-academia-confronts-shonen-sexism/ 

Mob Psycho 100: A supernatural shōnen where the main character, Mob, struggles with masculinity, battles for self-improvement, and desires to just be an amiable and helpful person. His story breaks the typical toxic masculinity tropes in shonen stories and instead focuses on Mob’s emotional journey to being comfortable with who he is. Read more about this here: https://www.animefeminist.com/anime-feminists-top-25-anime-of-the-decade/

Demon Slayer, another progressive main face of the New Gen Shōnen: A historical supernatural story where women are given major roles and are never looked down upon by their male counterparts. As demon slayers, their attire is unique to each individual yet fit for their job and is not compromised for the sake of fanservice.

- Leanne.

[ratspberry]

many naruto thoughts head overloading

ok im only like 20 episodes into shippuden and i skipped a Lot of filler in original naruto bc i do not have the patience </3 (i will come back to the filler one day though) and while i love this anime theres so much i wish... was not written how it is

first of all sakura... i love her sm and i just wish her character was given some more care like at this point in shippuden im actually really enjoying the direction shes taken but i heard a lot of her growth is sidelined when sasuke comes back into the picture and thats my biggest issue. im sorry but if youre going to introduce a TRIO of main characters i want to see that main group equally fleshed out. first going all the way back to the beginning i wish that sakura was allowed to fight??? like we KNOW shes super smart and has powerful chakra so even when at that time she wasnt the most skilled fighter (as far as we KNOW at least. given that we barely got to see her fight who knows!) she couldve in the very least played a similar role to that of shikamaru as far as leadership and strategizing. and ok her crush on sasuke should have dissipated a lot more after the chunin exams. even though i do hate to see her spend so much time fawning over sasuke when hes not even particularly kind to her i think a crush in the beginning could still work IF the moment of her cutting her hair (“sasuke likes girls with long hair”) and her battle w ino during the chunin exams were like an eye-opening moment for her when she was like “wtf am i doing i am going to work hard as a ninja to prove that i can do this to MYSELF and MY RIVAL first” (which. ok she does get to this point later and again i love her learning chakra and getting strong as HELL during her training w tsunade but again. i want to see that REMAIN parallel to the enormous power level leaps that sasuke and naruto make. also let sakura and ino have a fun friendship rivalry that has nothing to do w sasuke) . i think it would be better if she naruto and sasuke were just friends who ALL help and motivate each other. and so when sasuke leaves sakura is STILL super fucked up over it and maybe even has a hard time trusting naruto again after he comes back? (but ofc she eventually does bc power of friendship) like IDK loss of one best friend, then almost immediately after your other best friend (who u just learned secretly is sealed w the nine tails and the akatsuki is after him just like orochimaru was after sasuke) leaves you for THREE YEARS??? kind of a salt in the wound moment! also im simply not even going to touch on all the comphet marriages in the end

next im going to talk about rock lee my friend rock lee who i adore. anyways he either should not have foregone the surgery from tsunade or died from it. HEAR ME OUT! this surgery was good in showing how powerful tsunade is as a healer but like? was it necessary? after she brought naruto back to life??? as far as lees characterization his whole thing is that he may not have special jutsu or the same prodigal abilities as his peers but he can still be as powerful or more powerful! and idk i hate when characters have serious life changing stuff done to them and not seeing it fully explored in the story. like ok so we’ve got tsunade telling lee (who cant be older than 12? 13?) theres a 50/50 chance he’ll die in the surgery to heal him. and then guy ENCOURAGES HIM, HIS FAVORITE STUDENT, to go through with the surgery so he could then go on to be a ninja and continue risking his life?????? so i thought that was pretty screwed up. which leads me to the two paths that i think would be interesting to see play out: 1. lee doesnt get the surgery, but continues to train as a ninja. his injuries still exist but lee learns to fight WITH the injuries and creates a really cool badass unique fighting style and goes on to be a great ninja like he dreamed 2. lee dies in surgery. id hate it i would and i dont WANT lee to die but it might be a fuckin wakeup call to all these adult ninjas urging kids into warfare. lee is beloved by all so it would be a good moment of pause for everyone to think like “ummm so the systems that be are kind of majorly fucked up.”

those are the two main ideas i had but heres a few misc things:

-jiraiya can be the author of as many trashy romance novels as he wants but him hitting on younger women and being like a peeping tom and UGH the way he was introduced w narutos ‘sexy jutsu’ is just. not good. take it out.

-let tsunade look her age. like the whole “she uses her chakra to make herself look young”? i dont buy it. i dont care that you just didnt feel like drawing a woman who looks over 20. you will do it anyways bc i said so.

-i dont dislike n/ruhina as much as i dislike s/susaku bc at least its clear theres a mutual respect and admiration there but hinata, like sakura, has so much more potential to be explored. idk if its looked at in filler or later in shippuden (id sure hope so) but i think her parallel to sasuke is kind of interesting? both have intimidating, extremely powerful older brothers (i know neji is technically hinatas cousin or smth but whatever older brother figures. also i know hinatas sister is also supposed to be super powerful but idk her yet) who are held in high esteem by their families and have all this pressure on their shoulders to want to surpass them? given that neji didnt um. do the things itachi did clearly its not the SAME between hinata and sasuke but i feel like examining the hyuga family dynamics would be SO interesting in comparison to sasukes arc. i didnt mind seeing hinata motivated by naruto the first few times but like. there is SO MUCH MORE THERE than JUST hinatas relationship to naruto.

-all of these kids need therapy but ESPECIALLY sasuke like the signs were there. halfway thru the bell test thing SUPER early on sasuke went into a full-fledged “i am an avenger.. i have to kill a certain someone” monologue and given the fact that everyone knows his entire clan was killed and that sasuke is likely VERY traumatized... who thought it was a good idea to let him become a ninja before addressing any of that. my god. like i love kakashi and i know he has his own devestating backstory and that hes a product of the system but why the Fuck would he let sasuke take the chunin exams. give team 7 a year more of training and getting to know each other and give sasuke some time to create bonds and maybe even open up emotionally and begin to heal and then MAYBE we can THINK ab chunin exams.

-asuma and ino apologize to choji for telling him not to eat as much challenge? did asuma not know that chojis clan uses food to replenish their chakra? it would make sense if ino didnt know but chojis teacher?? either way still p fucked, leave choji alone

-speaking of ino i want more of her character tok. why was she not included in that mission to save sasuke that shikamaru, her TEAMMATE, led?? was there an explanation for that?? i feel like her not being there was a missed opportunity for some real growth/bonding between team 10.

-speaking of the last bullet point shikamaru being like “ugh women 🙄” is tired and boring. very misogynistic “i hate my wife” facebook dad humor. cut that shit out

-orochimarus coding and his whole um. intent as a villain is just very. Hm. i dont think i like that very much but im not going to go into it bc im sure its been touched upon a million times

[dreamsandmirages]

Me, rewatching some 03 season one

Sees the scene where everyone kinda faces off against the five elements

Me: 👀 time to theorise and see what 03 might have (un)intentionally assigned an element to each turt and rat

Anyways this is just me rambling past midnight, I’m not the best at character analysis so I’m super open to other people’s thoughts and interpretations.

Anyways so if we go by

Turts/rat as the element that would destroy the opposing elemental guardian they are facing off with:

Raph is earth

Leo is metal

Mikey is fire

Donnie is water

And splinter is air/wood

I say air/wood because, while the og five element grid has no air, the cartoon added in air so uhh,

Also I mean splinter said sth like “I will quell the air” so hm that works out

Anyways, if we take a look at this gird/chart that google so helpfully decided to give me about wuxing, or also known as the five elements

It’s very interesting to see the relationships between each elements. While it isn’t 100% accurate to the tmnt dynamic, it makes for some interesting explorations. One element is a foil for another, but can also create a different element.

Also since raph is earth and leo is metal it’s fun seeing the “earth creates metal” because in a way, raph is one of leo’s, if not his biggest, supporters.

Also the fact that they have elements that INSULT another is hilarious when thinking about the characters

Anyways, going to wikipedia, you can read that these elements can be used as phases to describe the state in nature

Wood is spring. It’s a period of growth and vitality. Splinter is their teacher and father, being the roots of the family. He was the one to nurture the boys and train them.

Fire is summer. It’s a time of flowering and it’s filled with energy. Mikey, that’s mikey. Mikey is often known as a ninja who is brimming with energy, but also potential. He’s very much just flowering.

Earth, interestingly enough, doesn’t get ur typical season. It’s an inbetween period, or maybe a sort of extension of summer. It’s accociated with leveling and fruition. Raph is quite a steady force for his brothers. But I’ll get back on that in a bit

Metal is autumn. A period of harvest and collecting. Leo’s usually the one to harvest new skills in battle or ninjitsu. His plans can be seen as a way that they harvest a victory.

And finally water is winter. It’s a still time of storage and retreat, like tides coming back into the ocean I guess. Basically it’s bringing room for the cycle to start again. Donnie in 03 has been stated to provide a lot of stability and calm, as shown in that one episode COUGHSAINWCOUGH.

Each element also gets a north south east west connection EXCEPT earth. Earth gets, once again, the middle ground.

Moving on to the medical side!

So yeah these five elements also were connected to chinese medicine, specifically, ORGANS!

Wiki gave me this very intricate graph but here’s sth more easier to digest

There’s a lot going on, but judging from the wiki page each element corresponds to multiple aspects. Planet, mental qualities, emotions. There’s a yin and yang organ and body parts and fluids, taste and smell, as well as time and life. They really went ham, which, props to them.

I like how the emotion part has a negative and positive.

I can see why people might swap raph and mikey’s elements around. Heck, I do it too. Especailly looking at the medical side of the five elements. Raph seems more like a passion and hate and resolve guy and mikey seems to be more agreeable and joyful. But to be honest? They do kinda fit the elements that 03 might have given them. Mikey does have the capacity to be bitter and tough and raph DEFINATELY has the capacity to be sweet and honest. Also, as I said, these are not 100% what the tmnt are, just a fun link to them. Also it’s funny how Splinter, a Rat, got the scaly animal

Anyways, the wiki article offers lots more info, like martial arts and music

I’d like to focus on the martial arts side for a moment

This is mentioned in the first image as well, with water being drilling and metal being splitting. Honestly? It’s pretty similar to the tmnt characters

You might say again, “hey! Raph’s more like fire and mikey more like earth though, right?” Nah, you see mikey with those nunchucks? Sais arent exactly as explosive as a stinging attack from a flying wooden stick with metal chains.

Ahem, anyways

I really feel like mikey and raph are very two close elements (in their own way. Each of the brothers has a fun dynamic with each other). Even in the show (with what I’ve rewatched so far) mikey and raph provide a lot of tension and relief for each other. Especially mikey for raph. So in terms of the elements, mikey and raph are very,, interrwined? They both have a very outward appearance and first layer that makes u think, “well, they’d really match with this element” but but but, they also work well the other way around

Mikey is VERY energetic and explosive. He’s impulsive in his own way and burns bright with just this bright energy. Raph, while known as a hothead, is very much a pillar to his family. More often than not you’ll see raph backing up his brothers, defending them when they’re down. You’ll see him supporting his brothers off the battlefield as well, a steady force.

Anyways I cannot think of anything else to say rn so I’ll end it here

[vedj-f-bekuesu]

Arr, me mateys! I may have work to do in the day, but I consider myself a wee fast crewman! They even ran out of work to give me so I finished the day with long hours to spare. And since I got the time, ye bet I decided to use it to explore new depths of Ninjago with Skybound!

Okay, I won’t do that for the whole post. But honestly, I thought Skybound was...decent, but does have some drawbacks from how ambitious it was. Let’s just go through it.

-Jay...hmm. Two minds about him. His arc at the start of the season (lasting about halfway) was clearly intentional and setup for his later redemption, and his character after that point is the best kind of Jay. And the reason for said start of season funk does make sense (unlike Home). On the other hand, yeah, the first half is pretty much Jay at his worst with bits sprinkled in to remind you that they still remember his good side. It’s not like giving him that sort of flaw is bad, but it pretty much dominated his entire character for that duration so at some point you just want to punch the little git. Also his parent arc is a bit undercooked, but he’s got plenty elsewhere so that doesn’t really bother me, especially when Ed and Edna ultimately get to have the crucial pep talk.  -Nya has a similar problem to be honest, although part of hers was also fabricated by Dareth being an absolute dick at the start (despite his moment in season 4). After that, it was fine for her up until she starts the whole fucking thing by being stubborn in such a perilous situation. And then halfway through they calm it down and make her realise she’s taken it somewhat overboard. Once that halfway point crosses it’s a lot easier to get behind the both of them, but mileage may vary on how much you can stand before then. I did like the lunchtime scene though.  -Zane doesn’t get much this season, but I did like his sass, it was a good check. Otherwise, not much happening with him aside from one scene that people immortalise due to how out of character it was for him, but since that has zero consequences I just brush that off as a one time gag. Pixal had like two scenes but they were both great scenes for her.  -Lloyd had more going for him this seasons than prior ones at least (even Possession), but he was still on the more bland side. I think every character got an attitude increase in this season though. Seriously, even the one-scene characters. But let me tell you; Lloyd Garmadon is no Rex Fury, that’s for sure.  -Cole and Kai...I think were on some substance or other during this arc, at least at the start. -Kai has Project Arcturus’ issue of playing his vain side up to the point where it’s actively jeopardising the mission (and actually could be considered as much responsible for starting the whole thing as Nya), but at least this time they reign it in to turn it into something of a clever tactic. And of course this is all absent when he’s freed from the Sword of Souls because Kai typically gets characterised into two modes at this point in the show. -Cole has a similar thing. I mean, eating tools...what? It’s mostly comedic and not that detrimental to begin with (aside from him straight up ditching Jay at the theme park. Not out of spite or anything, just because the plot wanted an extra minute I guess). Then Kai gets trapped and suddenly his character is all about being Jay’s best friend, which in of itself is fine until it again gets way heavy-handed about it. I’m assuming that the writers just wanted any potential remnants of Cole and Nya as a pair to just die (hence why he has no reaction to Jay revealing things about the caves despite Jay’s worry over it, and why this is the season he starts really taking potshots at Nya), but surely Versus was enough on its own combined with Jay and Nya’s arc in this season? Plus the ghost thing is almost entirely wasted this season, only serving a point where his invisibility comes into play (oh, and I guess a threat when he walks the plank).  -Despite the much bigger cast of characters, they don’t really get to do that much. The standouts are easily Soto (who’s just funny throughout), Dareth (who despite having a really bad start with being a misogynist for no reason, gets much better when he comes in second time) and Ronin (who I guess was still a writer darling at this point). Anyone else? You might get a moment for some of them (mainly Misako and Echo Zane), but eh. It’s a shame because Jay set up the ninja replacements like it would be this shining moment for them, but not really, and they just end up as fight fodder. And being a gag for hating Jay for being annoying despite him not doing anything to at least a couple of them. Also because of my other LEGO interests, every time I see Ronin whistle for the R.E.X, I expect the Rexcelsior to just come down and crush everything. That would have been a bad time for Kai and Nya.  -One thing I didn't mention in Possession is how the villain and lackey dynamics are developing into something actually worth investing in (beyond the tension between Pythor and Skales), and Skybound takes it even further. This is the first season where the villains are just as investing as the heroes, and I like how its a slow burn from Nadakhan and his crew having comradery, to Flintlocke slowly realising that Jay was telling the truth, to him and Dogshanks playing key roles in the final confrontation. -Speaking of which, Nadakhan was an interesting villain. I don’t like him as much as Morro, but he’s still got plenty to him. What I find most interesting is how the Jay seasons like to play parallels with the villains, what with Nadakhan being a reflection of Jay’s romance thing and Jay using his abandonment to find a way to connect to Unagami. Also the fact that he doesn’t even seem to care that much about doing evil in Ninjago at first. He does evil stuff, and they’d certainly need to find a way to fix Wu and Misako’s situation, but it’s just as a means to get home. Once he finds out that home is just about to die? He loses the plot entirely, and that’s fun to see.  -Ironically, the interactions I liked best this season were the more understated ones. For example Jay and Zane’s conversation early on (which doubles as foreshadowing to Zane’s demise) was really nice for characters who don’t usually get time to speak to each other one on one, and I wish more of the interaction in the season felt as natural as that in the first half. As a bonus, it wasn’t even wiped out at the end so that conversation still happened! -Yeah, plot. The story was interesting once we got to the Sky Pirates, not quite as engaging as Possession but it was clearly aiming at more individual dynamics than looking at the whole group and it definitely managed to balance that with the actual story and giving the villain perspective. The framing arc was less interesting, if only because even for this show everyone suddenly turning on the ninja without giving them more chance to defend themselves is laughable at this point. And as for the ending...eh, I’m ambivalent on it. Jay and Nya’s arcs remain no matter what so at least that stuff stuck around (by design). But you do lose the existence of the other Sky Pirates who made a good chunk of the good stuff. I guess the other biggest thing you lose is all the scenes where Cole reaffirms that he is Jay’s best friend, but he can do that in future seasons and not just drop it because they’ve settled the score on the love triangle...right? -Once again, it felt like a pretty dry season in terms of tone. I think this is a running theme. -At least the annoying slow-mo seems to finally giving way. It was used twice. One was random, the other was thematically appropriate. 

Overall, this season can be described as “heavy-handed”, moreso than any other story-heavy season so far. When it’s in this mode, it’s pretty annoying even if not terrible. But it still has elements to keep it going, and ends up in a pretty good place. Definitely comes down to individual taste on how much of said elements you can stomach, so I’m not surprised it has a marmite reputation. Out of the non-Possession story-heavy seasons I’ve seen so far this is the better one, but it’s still below S1 and S2 for me. 

Next time, I will not be doing a season. The writers seems to want to end Cole’s ghost arc and that’s exactly what they’ll do in Day of the Departed.

[theonceoverthinker]

How do you think Kim and Ron’s relationship and eventual romance was handled in the show?

I think both worked pretty well! So I actually spoke a lot about their friendship in this post, so I’d recommend checking that out because I’m gonna focus more on their romantic relationship here as to not repeat myself.

The fact that Kim and Ron’s romance was never thrown in our faces was their relationship’s secret ace in the hole. At the start of the series and until about Season 3, Ron and Kim were friends, they never had crushes on one another, and they both liked other people, and they both regularly casually conversed about their crushes with each other. That allowed for two and a half seasons of organic intimacy to build up between them because there was no stress to their dynamic for a romance by the creators.There was no carrot on the end of the stick to make the audience feel impatient as we waited for them to get together because it wasn’t even close to being promised. Like, Star and Marco from Star vs. The Forces of Evil were in-universe ship teased from like the tenth episode. So people who wanted them together were now stuck in this waiting period until the penultimate episode of the series until they finally got together, lessening the broader importance of their other romantic relationships and making every tease for Star and Marco agonizing. 

But with Kim and Ron, there was no such issue and it not only allowed us to see them together, we got them together ALL the time with none of the stress and groans that came with waiting for them to become a couple. Because of that and their already established friendship, they and the audience got to know them as both individuals and a team and fall in love with their dynamic before anything else happened. They got to explore other romantic options and see why they didn’t work where theirs might. And when the time finally came for these feelings to emerge, it wasn’t out of nowhere and knocked it out of the park. The idea of Ron realizing his feelings for Kim when she finally gets what seem to be a long term boyfriend in “So The Drama” – something we had never seen before in the series – made us feel that same punch in the gut that Ron did. We saw those moments of bonding between Kim and Ron lessen so dramatically as Kim and Eric’s increased and that sense of not knowing what you wanted until you lost it (Or her) resonated so strongly. Kim and Ron are still friends, but she and Eric are connecting and bonding on a level that used to only be reserved for she and her friends and Ron’s no longer a part of that. Even when they are together, there’s this clear distance in the shots that are used and Ron’s not an active part of the scenes in the same vein that Kim is, making the moments where they collide feel intelligently awkward and heartbreaking.

This got long, so meet me under the cut for more!

I think Kim’s development also worked, but to a slightly smaller degree. The entire series thus far has had an almost subplot of Ron showing that he was more than he seemed, and no one got a front row seat to that better than Kim. Aside from “Transfer,” Kim was around for everything Ron did – the mystical monkey powers, Ron saving Kim from the embarrassment ninjas, Ron travelling across the world to give her a good Christmas and find her library book, them literally swapping bodies – Kim saw all of that. And the mood modulator scene definitely helped as well, giving her a setting (Albeit, a crazy one) where she could live out a what-if with being in love with Ron. That development was all great and when paired with being Ron’s date to his cousin’s wedding showed potential for a relationship that Kim would enjoy and get something out of just as much as Ron.

And then in “So The Drama,” when the feelings came out, I think it worked…mostly. Ron’s pep talk after being trapped by Drakken was a great scene and set up the basis for why Ron is great, Kim believing Ron about the “evil toys” despite Ron having no evidence is practically applause worthy, we still see so much of their great teamwork throughout the film, and I can see Kim’s hidden feelings for Ron coming out in a similar way it did for Ron, but it never quite reached that level. Ron felt Kim’s absence whereas Kim was so wrapped up in Eric that it never hit her how much they haven’t been seeing each other nearly as much as they regularly did. And I think for the most part, that was fine. I just think a moment where Kim asked about Ron at the prom or tried texting him before dancing with Eric would’ve gone a long way to show that his absence was felt (I don’t count the clubhouse scene because that was literally after Ron had a mini tantrum in front of her, not something on her end). That would’ve served as more of a means of feelings for Ron penetrating through her relationship with Eric because as it stood, the relationship was a bit projected onto Kim by her mom and Bonnie and not the culmination of her own romantic feelings coming to a head. The story is really more about Kim overcoming the embarrassment Ron sometimes makes her feel more than a realization of deeper romantic feelings and those are two different things that aren’t guaranteed to mesh well. I mean, I can see it as a final obstacle between them and their relationship, but I don’t think that was set up well enough to work like that. To do that, they’d need something like either a moment where Kim lists out all of Ron’s great qualities, Ron and Kim have one of those small romantic moments that ends with Kim blushing or seeing a change in her expression earlier in the film, and/or some flirting between them, but as it stood, that didn’t happen. Or if they wanted to have Kim realize those feelings all in one go, that moment needed to be bigger. 

...I get the feeling that I’ve VERY alone in that and I even rewatched the film to make sure that I knew what I was talking about because I didn’t want to reach that conclusion, but yeah, that’s how I feel. But even then, it’s not terrible by any means -- I still think the development was there. It just needed to be a bit tighter.

But enough about the negativity because I still have plenty of positive stuff to say! Once their relationship really started, it was fantastic! 

Once again, their relationship isn’t flung in our faces, but because they’re a couple, every moment that they are together gives us fans what we want! We see them working together, supporting one another, and all that good stuff, and the romantic moments we do get are the icing on the cake! And now, moments like Kim applying for colleges and Ron joining the football team have an added emotional weight that they didn’t before because of that relationship, but wasn’t done in a way that disrupted the comedic and absurd tone of the show.

And when we get episodes and stories focused on their romance, that’s doubly true! They’re a total unit during the hilarious double date with Shego and Barkin and they can practically read each other’s minds as they slip away from it. The whole matter of Ron worrying over KP’s safety and then his own because of statistics is just as absurd as it is heartwarming! He literally stuck himself in the equivalent of a nuke shelter! XD The matter of Ron being kissed by Bonnie has Kim letting Ron off the hook because it took years for him to kiss her, and the way Kim says that line is just hysterical!

Of course, we have to talk about “Clean Slate.” Kim knows Ron so well that she immediately gets him the perfect gift and her knowledge of how perfect that gift is was what reminded her about her feelings for Ron! That made for an adorable moment between them and probably one of my favorites in the entire series.

It’s kind of interesting that Kim and Ron’s relationship and its uncertain future is kind of a secondary running plot throughout the season. Between the aforementioned joining of the football team for Ron and college applications for Kim, the question of can Kim and Ron endure in high school and beyond is a topic that comes up a lot. Those are the big two, especially the latter two because Ron’s both never been portrayed as an excellent student nor are his contributions to saving the world highlighted nearly as much as Kim (if at all), and that’s what inevitably comes to a head in “Graduation,” but there are smaller bits. Ron’s inability to pay for fancier dates, Bonnie being a jealous homecoming queen to Ron’s king, and Kim getting amnesia all call into question aspects of their relationship, making it all the better when they’re overcome by Kim and Ron!

As I said before, “Graduation” is where it all comes to a head. The larger question of Kim and Ron’s future is directly addressed and both characters get to be afraid of what comes next, just like we might. We saw “A Stitch in Time” and how the long distance thing was tough when they were just friends! How are they gonna fare while in a relationship? However, by fighting the literal end of the world, both Kim and Ron prove on a meta level that they’re ready and completely able to fight for their relationship and themselves outside of high school. 

Kim and Ron have an incredible romance, one that was created with patience and care and because of that, paid off in such a satisfying way. While I took issue with a small part of it, where it mattered, their relationship didn’t just succeed, but THRIVED on our screens. I hope the new movies get a similar treatment if we get more and if we do, I have all the faith in the world that we will!

[tristala]

A Thank You To a Wonderful Show

  It was a rainy Saturday morning and I was bored. I didn’t have anything else to watch since I just got updated with all of the series I love and I wasn’t in the mood to read for the day. Then I remembered a new series that’s visually interesting was already out and has been airing a few episodes in that August so I looked for it and tried out OK K.O. Let’s Be Heroes! for the very first time. Needless to say I was immediately drawn to it. For one, I thought that the characters would be stereotypical (especially Rad and Enid) but they were actually good characters. I was mildly surprised when I saw how the teens first reacted to K.O. They weren’t jerks to him and even treated him nicely. I mean, the kid got our Enid say “Have a...nice day.” and meant it. Those first two episodes were great pilots. It established everyone and the world nicely. 

  The show was a bit foreign to me at first cause while it  is similar to Looney Toons or Wander Over Yonder it has it’s own flair with unique wacky expressions. Not a single episode has ever failed to make me laugh. The animation’s great, it has so much energy with it’s diverse angles/perspectives and I was never bored. It gave me genuine joy every time I watch it.

  The plot’s not bad and the series makes an effort to let it be it’s own thing. There are so many references, specifically anime references that I just can’t- I busted my gut from laughing so hard at how Enid wants to be a (Naruto) ninja and just being an all out weeb. Rad being a macho meat head with a heart of gold is nothing new but the way they delivered it was still very cute. K.O. is just a pure cinnamon roll (I seriously think that that’s the new secret formula these newer stories are coming up. There’s Steven, Deku, Tanjiro and Emma to name a few). They weren’t stereotypes. Enid may be the most “reasonable” out of the trio but she still acts as immature as Rad for the most part. I just said that K.O.’s a cinnamon roll but I love the fact that they decided to make him lock T.K.O. up. They felt real, for goofy characters at least.

  The characters are the shining glory of the show. They are three dimensional with different goals and passions. 

  K.O., Rad and Enid have such great camaraderie and chemistry and they just love each other so much and express it freely. It’s so pure but other characters’ relationships are as equally great too.

  Carol and K.O.’s mother and son dynamic is really adorable. The show doesn’t treat it as a weakness. In fact, they let us see that it’s pretty positive! Also, K.O. may be a mama’s boy but he’s not really spoiled, Carol has raised him well with discipline and a lot of love.

  Venomous and Fink are an adorable duo. Though unlike Carol, Venomous spoils Fink too much XD. Nevertheless, It’s still fun to see them care a lot about each other. Might as well replace boss and minion into dad and daughter.

  The Boxmore family is oddly sweet (just not Boxman’s treatment towards his kids) and with the merging of Boxmore and Venomous they became a whole lot more enjoyable to watch.

  It’s no surprise that I ship Voxman. I just find it so appealing. You have this villain who has potential and was just too dedicated in trying to destroy the plaza and an evil bio-engineer who loves the intensity and passion the other one gives off.

  Honorable mentions of relationship combos:

  Rad and Enid’s families, Nick and Joff, Red Action and Enid with Rad and K.O., Real Magic Skeleton and Brandon, Dendy and K.O.,Gar and Carol.

  It really bummed me out that it was cancelled, a great show like this doesn’t deserve this treatment. There’s still so much to be explored, so much more adventures that could be had. But I guess in the end, I’m still so glad I got to have this experience and this show will always have a place in my heart.

  The finale’s today and before any of us watches it I just want to say thank you to the fandom for making great content and let’s all have fun till the end!

  OK K.O. Let’s Be Heroes! is the very definition of wholesome. I love how it gets really insane and heartwarming. I love the world and art. I love the action and animation. I love the characters and their relationships. 

  I just adore everything about it. This show is a gift to the world.

  Thank you for making me really happy.

  And thank you Ian and everyone else who made this show!

[brightlotusmoon]

This is how much I an Old Fan approve so much of Rise of the TMNT:

Seriously though, I want to send Andy Suriano a fruit basket with a teddy bear. Grumpy fans of one of his great cartoon designs are ripping apart one of his other great cartoon designs in a show he made, with Creator Approval and everything, it even feels like a spiritual successor to Mirage and 2003 itself.

Of course it's a kids show, all the other TMNT cartoons were kids shows. Based on a violent parody comic that never expected to be so successful over thirty plus years.

It took over forty issues to even decide that Leo was the team leader. Casey Jones was created to be a love interest for April so fans would stop asking if the Turtles would date her, they were on the asexual spectrum and didn't want humans back then, even if fanfiction did what it wanted.

Michelangelo became a staple character for other fandoms but was also explored the most psychologically with his unique set of characteristics beyond the comic relief. Donatello became the fandom darling with his ability to do almost anything technologically technical and his knack for getting himself into sad situations. They both became symbols for neurodivergence before it was a thing.

Leonardo and Raphael had a dynamic echoed throughout other fandoms that was instantly recognized. Splinter became a staple character for both being a ninja master and unusual father figure.

The entire franchise is a satire of the Marvel character Daredevil's origins: Stick became Splinter, the Hand became the Foot, the Turtles became somewhat spoofs of action heroes like Wolverine and Cyclops and Spider-Man and Iron Man, and I'm realizing that a lot of new fans might not even know that history.

Also I like to think Mikey might have subconsciously helped shape Deadpool a little. They would be fantastic friends, especially with Spider-Man. Michelangelo the cinnamon roll ninja version of Deadpool fangirling over Spidey.

Wooo, tangent. My autistic special interest and ADHD hyperfixation with TMNT just took over this essay.

PS, if you're still mad about Leonardo and Raphael, remember that in Season Two, Leo will become leader. There will be some angst, probably, what with sweet teddy bear Raphie and snark master Leo potentially clashing. Remember, Leo was always punny and witty and Raph was always sweet and full of emotional love, which was always why the thought of Mikey being hurt tore him apart, and he just wanted to be a good big brother and he always was held fast by his passion and need to be wanted and seen as worthy and he tries hard. I already wrote a separate thesis on Leo. And 2018 Splinter may seem unfathomable in his different ways, and he may seem ugly in ways but he's far from awful, there is so much more to to him and he loves his kids. I. It's so good, the characters and the stories and the potential for deeper stories and canon divergence. I JUST. You know.

I just have a lot of feelings. And Samurai Jack was on Cartoon Network earlier, so. Feelings.

[digital-dragoon]

talk about some growth or a direction you’d like to explore with any of your characters? potentials or ocs too

let’s see…. in daisuke’s case, i would love to be able to see him feeling more confident in himself and his own abilities as time goes on! maybe through the work he does alongside sly? or just by hanging out with people that he ends up finding out have like… Ninja abilities or smth similar also?? but additionally, i am hoping to get to a romantic arc with him as it’d give more potential for like… Problems with him switching to dark and them both having to deal with that again in a new environment and around new people, alongside how they’ll have to balance things like that when around someone they like

with tigerstar, although he’d never be the type to just… end up Good or anything like that, i’d Love for him to end up faced with this dilemma of like… potentially losing his son? and how it would actually internally and maybe externally affect him. i feel that this’ll work really well in the upcoming fireplot that me, meeks and spear are all going to be taking part in and gosh it’s going to be cool to see how this plays out. also! the potential for him in a romance plot with badgerstripe! i still def want to explore this more alongside meeks and see where it could lead and… although tigerstar’s not Great as a partner, it’d be really interesting to see how their dynamics may end up shaping him 

also tomy! she’s…. an Awful little gremlin of a papihuahua and honestly? i wouldn’t mind to see her becoming more Awful as she has this potential to be a pretty nightmarish undercover weapons dealer and trader. she could end up as someone that a lot of villains and/or more malevolent types may turn to when in need of more stealthy based things and her being able to fashion a home for herself alongside more Villainous guys is a really cool thing i am v much looking forward to once twitterplot’s in full swing!

–

also since i was talking about and considering potentials earlier, i? wouldn’t mind doing more of an in-depth exploration of phoenix and apollo’s abilities tbh. both of them have some really cool potential for things, even outside of their jobs themselves, what with phoenix’s magatama allowing him to see psyche locks from those that are hiding things and apollo’s bracelet granting him the heightened perception capabilities to tell when others are lying…. i’ve not really seen them being talked or written about too much, especially in nick’s case, so seeing how they’d react to certain things and how it’d make them interact with others on denny would be super cool

also riven….. making use of [bargains] on denny…… oh n o. i am still v much in the process of working out how best to use them but! the idea of them having similar energy to rifts (thanks storm for the idea!!) is v nice so i may work off of that a little? but overall…. she could get up to so much cool stuff and it’d be so cool to see how things could go for her? i am potentially considering where i want to pull her from, timeline wise, but i may make use of like…. her taken self maybe later on as a plot idea? and work with that if i do go through with trying her out! i think depending on who she ended up granting wishes to could definitely alter how she ends up in the long-run, especially if she’s around others for so long, like she was with mara, as ahamkara seem to take, not just energy from the power of the wishes, but also, after quite a while of being around the same person or people, some of their traits too?

also… since i brought him up before, having tails on denny? connecting with scientific and technologically minded people would be absolutely fantastic! i just adore the idea of him like, chatting about that kind of stuff and getting all motivated to come up with new designs/concepts for things? and maybe helping people out through that, like… creating specifically designed devices or engines/vehicles for others? honestly i? actually like the idea of him working on small little robots too which would be cool to work with on denny!

[ahkaraii]

i love love love your comic and the beautiful dynamic art and particularly the excellent worldbuilding and Rin. just. anything rin.

THANK!!!! Aaaaa, I’m always so happy to read stuff like this~!!!

I’m a fan of plugging in holes so I tend to gravitate towards media that has enough interesting ones. Kakashi’s origins in canon are given a couple of glances and hints at but we’re never walked through the buildup of it, and it intersects so many crucial events bubbling in the background lives of so many other characters that it seemed to me to be just the perfect time to really delve and explore into a bunch of my Naruto headcanons. And boy, do I have a lot of headcanons. I often find myself trying to reign in my urge to go on a tangent for every new character we meet in the comic, lmao. Gotta keep my focus on the prize…!

One of those characters is Rin. I really like the potential of Rin.

The fact that she was the driving motivation (or at least a very important part) of Obito’s madness is interesting but it really only tells me about Obito’s personality – his tendency towards obsession and dehumanization, etc. But what we do know of Rin herself, independently of other’s idealizations of her, is that she was capable of doing eye transplant surgery in the field – not just to leave someone with a functional eye but a functional Uchiha eye – and I think that’s insanely incredible. Maybe she wasn’t a brilliant powerhouse like Tsunade and Sakura would be after her, but there’s a quiet talent and knowledge walking around inside this young woman. A question I wonder is why was she a field mission medic and not a hospital medic? Who choses that…? Additionaly: why was she specifically chosen to be the vessel for Ichibi by a foreign country? How did they discover she was even compatible or viable for such a laborious process? Hell, how did she graduate the Ninja Academy being a healer at all – did she enter a special accelerated medic program before she was 9 or was she recruited after graduation or?? So many questions, and my little plot-hole-filling brain lights up like fire.

Because there’s so much mystery around the essence of who she really was, unfiltered by Kakashi’s nostalgia or Obito’s obsession, she becomes the kind of character that can be just about anything. I sometimes play with the idea that she may have been a ROOT implant. As a toddler she wasn’t deemed good enough to be a core ROOT ninja – we never see her use ninjutsu so maybe she doesn’t have an elemental affinity that one could detect in an infant; her taijutsu is subpar as an adult so presumably it was abhorrent as a child; maybe her talent lies in genjutsu due to being able to resist it, but how could you measure that in a little kid? – so instead she’s steered towards become a child spy. Her parents are her handlers, and she reports to them. That’s why she befriended the emotionally exploitable and easily manipulable orphan Uchiha outcast – she could easily gain information about their eyes whenever there was a need for it, since remember this is an area of constant interest to Danzo (who clearly has an obsession with these eyes in canon so it’s plausible) – and that’s why she was able to do flawless field surgery on such a specialized eye as a teenager: she’d had years of studying just that. Additionally, being ROOT could explain her… bizarre tendency to smile. Like. What is up with this child who is always smiling and laughing in everyone’s memory. She grew up during a war, why the hell was she always so positive and laughing ??? I know memory distorts people into their idealized versions, especially after they’ve died and after many years, but it rang bells in my head since it was somewhat Sai-like.

At other times, I play with the idea that she was just a civilian-born ninja who had a good head on her shoulders and a good heart and wanted to help others but she kind of faded into the background, a little Hinata-like. Her parents were elderly civilian medics who moved into Konoha to seek shelter from the Second War’s devastation and conceived her there, so there was reason for her to 1) have no family to mourn her passing / visit her grave, and 2), for her to be so good at field surgery, specifically.

She was a living breathing human being so she must of had dreams and aspirations and things that she was afraid of, in herself and in others, goals and motivations that drove her to power through the ninja academy instead of a civilian school, drove her to try and keep up with an Uchiha and a child prodigy, drove her to chose to smile instead of cry in the middle of a war, and it’s a damn shame we didn’t get to see more of it from her side instead of through the perspective of those who mourned her passing and dehumanized her through their idealized distortions of her.

I just!! Really want more Rin content for Rin’s sake, you know? Maybe after I finish Five I’ll do a pseudo sequel with snapshots of Kakashi’s life, which will inevitably feature Rin since I believe she was one of his closest friends and it’d be a great opportunity to showcase what I believe she was like or could have been like…Either that, or I’ll tackle my Kannabi Bridge AU and/or my Jinchuuriki Rin Isobu AU again….

[assimkamukafmpy2]

FMP

Since this was an open brief, I decided to enhance my 3D tracking and comp skills. I like rendering things out from my and compositing them in Nuke so most of my ideas were designed around that process.

Ideas:

Losers:

My main idea was the idea I presented in the pitch, ‘Losers’, a 30 sec - 1 min World War 1 short film depicting lives of the young soldiers on the British and the German side. The goal was to explore their emotional roller coaster as the war progressed, starting from the feeling of patriotism and excitement to enlist to the hatred and resentment of the war.  

This is a big scale project which would’ve involve a lot of CG assets and crowds, as well as ideally having a built trench set alongside some costumes. It was very expensive and I tried to find ways to fund it but it just didn’t work it. It was £400 to rent 4 full world war 1 costumes for a week, I couldn’t find anyone willing to help me with the trench set which meant that it would have to be mostly CG. Even though I planned this project and had a good idea where it was going, I decided to probably save it for later and move on to my next options. 

Losers story board.

K.Academy:

Another concept that I developed was K.Academy which stands for killer academy, this was also a concept for my advanced compositing brief but I didn’t want to rush it because I want it to be well done, even now I don’t think that I have the dedication to execute, since it will require a lot of actors, some set design and props, so I decided not to follow it and save it for another time. I did go as far as drawing up a storyboard though.

K.Academy story board.

Hemomancer: 

Inspired by the League of Legends character, Vladimir, this project was going to portray his story and his abilities which is one of a Hemomancer, controlling their own blood and using it as a weapon.

Fluid simulation is a big part of this project and so is costume design. Both areas that I don’t have access too. I would really love to complete a project on this character though since I find his story interesting and the character so appealing with his unique power.

Death From Above

This the project that I decided to execute for my second year fmp.

The concept behind this project was unclear at first, I knew that I wanted to do something with swords in the sky and coming down. Inspired by Kayle from the game ‘League of Legends’.

Inspiration:

And also inspired by the character Erza Scarlet from the anime ‘Fairy Tail’ in her Heavens Wheel form.

Also some setting and final output inspirations.

Concept:

I came up with a rough concept of a someone being chased and targeted by a group of people. Until they eventually surround him in a field where he sits on a rock calmly. They charge him but he doesn’t break his stance. As they’re about to strike him swords come down from the sky smiting them all and the victim walks away as if nothing has happened. 

I started thinking about the time periods and what I want the environment to look like. Originally I was leaning towards the asian side, Japanese and Chinese architecture, as well was making the protagonist a Japanese/Chinese monk.

I even looked at potential costumes for the role.

I found this one being sold for £120 for the full thing. But I don’t have that amount just to spend on a costume.

I thought about not making the character into a monk but into a ninja since I found a cheap “professional Ninja suit” for £30. 

In the end I decided to wear my Arabian garment and maybe combine it with a hoodie and a scarf.

Swords:

Since the character uses his powers to bring the swords down from the sky I wanted to show the swords dwelling in the sky and also coming down through a birds-eye view shot. Inspired by this shot from a Gintama title sequence.

I started to expierment with the swords design, would I want a variation in the swords, so a lot of models just floating in the sky, or have them all be the same model.

I then decided that it would best to have a variation within the swords to add to the divine power that the protagonist posses, that he called upon many swords from all over the world to defend himself.

After I made that decision I went around and downloaded 3D models of swords and bought them in a scene together.

The perspective view in Maya were very useful.

To give the swords a little bit of dynamics and character I wanted them to rotate and bounce up and down to not just look like a 2D image. I considered using the MASH network in Maya which does that automatically and you could adjust the speed and height, the problem is that it cannot read more than one model. So I had to figure out another way.

Ignorantly I used a cylinder shape and tried to align the swords around it.

But then I realised that I could just use a ring curve and it won’t use up any geometry space and I found it much easier to work with.

Using the birds-eye view also helped me place the swords in a organised position so they wouldn’t be all over z-space.

I come up with a rotation animation and individual animations on the swords individually. 

I then duplicated the first layer and expanded it, added more swords to fit the circumference, as well as animating each individual sword again because animations doesn’t get passed on with duplicates. 

These swords were going to be used for two shots, the establishing “swords in the sky shot” and the “birds-eye view” shot.

I was considering adding volume into the scene to not make it look flat and dull, there are two different ways to do this in Maya, by using AI fog or using a fluid container with some smoke volumes that are shaped like clouds.

I started playing with the AI fog, trying different settings and angles. 

Even though it looks great I didn’t think that it was suitable for the scene and the project in general because it’s way to thick, the only way to increase the opacity was by pushing it further and this just made it even less transparent, so no background would be able to pass through it.

Coincidentally I was playing around with a 3D model I found online and I stumbled on Maya’s fluid presets, they had different versions of skies and stuff like that. So I applied it to the scene.

I thought it worked really well so I decided to keep it and use it.

Since the Swords in the sky shot was first, I worked on it first.

This is it fresh out of Maya with just a sky to light it. I rendered with AOVs so I could tweak certain elements separately without giving a full grade to the shot.

I boosted the emission which is the red lights on the swords and the brightness of the volume, this was a problem since the volume was giving of emission, so whenever I would tweak the emission, the volume would change as well. So I had to just balance the two.

Final colour grade to match the warmth of the scene.

For the Birds eye view shot I took the same approach and was faced with the same problem that the volume was changing along side the emission.

So I had to grade it accordingly.

Raw out of Maya.

Radial blur on the volume to depict speed.

Final.

Environment:

This was my first time making a natural environment within Maya, since there was going to be a camera move I thought it would look better to have CG setting rather than a 2D projected setting, especially for nature. 

I also looked at other CG environment to see what is achievable with a 3D render.

These are from League of Legends Season 9 trailer, Awaken. I really like how the cg environment looks, the lightning and the particles, it feels very full and rich.

In my head I wanted the protagonist to be sitting on a rock in the middle of a field. I headed over to skethfab and turbosquid to find 3D models of rocks and I came across the perfect one, it had a flat surface on top and was photo-scanned so it looked stunning. 

This was so perfect because it would reasonable to sit on it since it got a nice flat surface.

Next I was experimenting with different materials for the plane. I looked into using PBR materials from textures.com. These textures come with height and normal maps that give the texture an extra authentic and bumpy feel.

But the height map will sometimes look weird and push the plane above it’s original position so I had to tweak the settings.

I decided on a leafy ground texture that will serve as a nice base for the floor.

It allowed me to blend in the cg grass well. I experimented with different types of grass in maya.

Short grass.

I also edited the plane to give it look more like a landscape rather than a flat ground. 

Maya also has a bunch of tree presets that you could in later on and change the leaves. I did this by using an atlas sheet to create the sakura trees which are scattered around the environment plane.

Slightly longer grass.

I decided to add more trees.

Made the grass denser, added some flowers and more trees.

Decided to add a fence just to give the foreground more character. I got the fence from sketchfab.com, it originally was a single piece with two poles, but I manipulated the faces and duplicated it to make it stretch out across the scene. 

I also played around with different lighting using aronld’s viewport to see it change and compare different light setups. Originally I used a hdri to light up the scene, but then I switched it up to a physical sky to give it an extra sunset feel.

Since one of the shots is facing the character I was figuring out what to put behind him.

I played around with cliffs but they just didn’t fit in. I don’t want it to look like it was made in a 3D program and i feel like the cliff is giving it away.

I decided to add more trees and maybe add some sort of a peasant looking house behind him.

Some tests for the birds eye view shot with extra trees behind the rock.

3D view of the plane.

The plane would be used in two shots, the Birds eye view shot and the tracking shot.

Birds eye view, plane:

Raw Maya render.

Defocused.

Radial Blur.

Tracking Shot environment.

Raw Maya render.

Grade and colour correct using a ramp mask.

Defocus.

I wanted to give the scene some depth so I decided to add a foreground element.

And then I blurred the living soul out of it.

For the tracking shot, something that’s troubling me is thinking about what to place in the horizon and beyond the hills, so I started to look at some field images online for references.

This image shows how things are lit, since there is a cloud above the hill in the distance its darker than the wheat field in the foreground.

Mountains are almost like a sillohaoite since they’re so far away and lose their colour and detail due to atmospheric effect. There’s also another hill that we could only see the left side of and its coloured different.

Matte painting I created in photoshop. I projected it onto a sphere to give it some sort of a realistic movement.

Environment final, merged all together.

Crowds:

Since the protagonist was being chased by a group of people I found more convenient to use a 3D crowd sim software. It was easier than hiring or finding a bunch of extras, dressing them up, working around their schedule, and achieving that bird eye view shot would’ve been tricky. But in a 3D crowd sim program you, the creator, have full control on camera angle and there are no problems with the sims schedules. 

I used Golaem crowds, since they had a free student version. Golaem crowds is a node based plugin for Maya which uses the Maya particle system to scatter a bunch of models around. In the node editors you could assign behaviours to the characters and can make them human like, assigning constraints, barriers and colliders to the characters, I didn’t really dive that deep into it I just found out how to create a basic running crowd sim.  

I had some experince with it before, but it had their watermark on it, so I had to ask the to remove it.

Success!

The agents being read into Maya.

Rendered scene of the crowd in the environment and light.

The plugin only works on windows so I had to export the plan and camera from the Maya Mac and open it on a windows mac, then to reduce render time I only rendered out the soldiers along their shadows. This also gives creative control on the environment.

Raw.

Grade and colour correct.

Defocus.

Merging the Bird eye shot.

I added a noise layer with a masked shape around it to give the illusion that clouds are zooming past. I also sped the time up by 1.75 to make it feel faster.

Final grade:

I wanted the over all feel to the piece to be warm, with the main characters being reds and oranges with highlights of greens to hit the sunset setting that I was going for.

Tracking shot final grade.

Swords in the sky final grade.

Birds eye view final grade.

Evaluation

Overall on this project I reached goals and milestones that I thought I wouldn’t be able to reach yet, the first CG environment that I created was pretty decent, also the matte painting matched it well. But it still lacked some realism when it comes to the trees, the leaves on some trees were weird because there was an overpopulation of leaves on a branch, the branches and the barks looked kind of flat but other than that it was ok. My maya workflow has gotten better, with lighting and applying textures correctly from models that I have downloaded from online, this is what made this piece really pop, the red glows on the swords.

Other things that I would change is the the cg clouds movements, I will drag them upwards whilst the camera and the swords are going downwards to give the speeding and zooming down effect.

I would also like to learn more about crowd simulations because the ones that I did in this piece, the crowds kind of looked funky up and close, also some agents would run through each other, in the future I would like to learn about setting constraints to the agents and have them interacting with each other.

I also didn’t get to execute all the shots that I wanted because of time and laziness I guess, every day that I’ve taken of could’ve been dedicated to a missing shot.

In conclusion I am not to mad with the final results of this project, I learnt a lot as well as experimented a lot. Improvements need to be made to the things that I have listed above and I need to dedicate myself more to my work to complete a project fully.  

[nanigma]

Are you still doing the "send me a character"? May i ask for the other hoshidan siblings and orochi?

Oh dear, this is going to take a while. Strap yourselves in:

Ryouma

First impression: *Kazahana voice* Dang he looks cool. Wish I had a brother like that.

Impression now: Tragic lobster, who’s way too tangled in that whole Bushido thing. More hotblooded than he cares to admit. Hit and miss at that whole big bro thing. Still manages to be pretty cool nontheless.

Favourite Moment: Birthright chapter 13, because only Ryouma can wear full-armour beneath another full-armour (and cram all that hair into his helmet). As tension breaking as it was, him telling Marx that he has a prettier face in Conquest chapter 18 (guess I just like Ryouma being ridiculous). Him freaking at Corrin for supposedly killing Hinoka and then the seppuku cutscene. Like with Takumi, the entire surrounding scene and circumstances do not count in this.

Idea for a story: His field trip to Cheve, along with meeting Crimson/Scarlet for the first time. Just would really like to have that explored. (Also because it would involve hotblooded Ryouma forgetting everything around him and just yoloing his way into the enemy country. Like I said, I love Ryouma the most when he is being ridiculous.)

Unpopular Opinion: I think the lobster armour is actually pretty stylish.

Favourite Relationship: With Crimson. Come on, they were totally dating in Revelations. Also like him with Rinkah and Oboro. And Family dynamics are important to me as always, with Hinoka being especially close.

Favourite Headcanon: (this one is pretty old) I think he is secretly a chuuni like Leon and Odin. Like he has given names to all his sowrd moves and secretly shouts them in his head whenever he attacks. I got this from how he shouts “OUGI!!” (”Special Move!”) as one of his crit-phrases in Japanese. It reminded me of the Tales series.

(Rest under a cut, because it got so long)

Hinoka

First impression: Damn this is either a very hot looking girl or guy. Win-win situation.

Impression now: Underveloped and deserved better. There is some great potential to expand on, but you’ll have to go deep-sea diving into her supports to find it. Still looking mighty fine though.

Favourite Moment: I don’t got anything besides Hinocopter, but that stunt was very memorable by itself.

Idea for a story: Queen Hinoka. There are a thousand King Leon fics of varying quality out there, but so far I haven’t seen anything focused on her that I liked (there are some where she is a background character, but that’s not the same). I would just really like to have her struggles and growth into a capable ruler explored.

Unpopular Opinion: Are there even any unpopular opinions on her? I can’t really think of one.

Favourite Relationship: I like her with Leon, Tsubaki and Asama romantically (even if Asama was sightly iffy). Obligatory family dynamics comment, with emphasis on Ryouma. Also like her and Orochi’s dlc convo, but it feels more platonic to me.

Favourite Headcanon:Not really a favourite one, but I like the thought of her having a hair man like Ryouma as a kid. She cut it partially because of Corrin, but mostly for practical reasons.  

Sakura

First impression: Aww, she is so cute. How could I not side with her?

Impression now: Cute and strong as hell. Has an incredible ride or die attitude.

Favourite Moment: Birthright chapter 7, when she insists on being taken into the war zone to go find her missing brothers. Birthright 25, where she headbutts (or at least I imagine her to) Iago to make him stop messing with Takumi. Conquest chapter 22 is an all around moment of awesome for her: First, she insists on staying with her soldiers, when she had every opportunity and right to run (RIDE OR DIE). Then she attacks Corrin head on. Because, you know, Corn has crossed a line they shouldn’t have with their oh so adoring imouto. (shame that this wasn’t followed up on)

Idea for a story: The story I wanted most for her has already been written (yes, I mean Senbonzakura), but I am always up for more coming of age stuff with her. Because it’s inspiring to see a young girl learn how to wield the inner strength she already posesses.

Unpopular Opinion: Best little sister character in all of FE.

Favourite Relationship: Her sibling-relationship with Takumi probably eclipses most of her romantic pairings for me. But otherwise, I really like her and Kazahana (both romantic and platonic). I also enjoy her with Saizou, Xander and Leon.

Favourite Headcanon: She eventually grows to be as tall or even taller than Ryouma, leaving Hinoka and Takumi to be hopelessly towered over. (I know girls usually stop growing once they are fifteen, but let me dream please.)

Orochi

First impression: She looks pretty nice (although her waistline could be higher) but.. I hope she isn’t just Hoshido’s Camilla.

Impression now: Great character that gets judged too harshly at times. Her teasing can go too far, but she has many sweet moments and obviously doesn’t mean to be cruel.

Favourite Moment: Her entire support with Kagerou. And especially her dlc support with Hinoka. Those really made me feel for her.

Idea for a story: Orochi’s life as a teen in Hoshido castle. Growing up with Kagerou and the ninja bros, being mentored and protected by Mikoto, plus her adventures in babysitting/co-raising Takumi.

Unpopular Opinion: Liking her as a character is already pretty damn unpopular.

Favourite Relationship: Kagerochi! Also like her dynamic with the ninja bros (platonic or otherwise). Her relationship with the Broshidos is also pretty great. She’s basically their step-sis. Just needs to learn when to tone down the teasing of a certain sensitive little bro.

Favourite Headcanon: Seems to be doing her hair by herself every day. No one has any idea how, but they suspect magic. In truth, she’s just that good. (and has Kagerou)