#this is a counterpart to my avatar (which has already been posted). i adore these shots so much

[spinus-pinus]

Domestic Muscovy Duck Cairina moschota domestica

1/8/2023 Los Angeles County, California

[watchathon]

BONUS: The Last Airbender

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a show (or in this case, a movie) every one-to-two days, with a short blog post where I give my thoughts on what I’ve just seen. Each new point starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. 

But today, I’m subjecting myself to the notorious live-action film The Last Airbender, to... Well, to “celebrate” its tenth anniversary. I initially planned on doing it either after Book 1, or after Book 3, but for whatever reason, I have decided to do this now.

Fair warning, this is going to be one of my rare posts where I’ll be mostly negative.

So much for “gushing about things I like”...

Also, so much for “the rare occasion I cover movies”, but that I don’t mind so much. The Lilo & Stitch post was a ton of fun to make.

- So, first things first, I don’t tend to be a fan of live-action movies based on animated properties in general. But it’s not like I don’t give them a chance. 

Sometimes I even like them better than the original. I could never get through The Jungle Book in one sitting as a kid, but the 2016 live-action remake? I adored it!

Even the worst ones I tend to be “meh” about rather than flat-out disliking. But The Last Airbender? I hated it when I watched it as a kid... Emphasis on the past tense. I could well change my tune because of this, though I can’t imagine I’ll end up liking it.

- They recreate the “Water, earth, fire, air” part of the intro but without narration. Which, to be frank, just makes it look pretty silly.

- “The four nations. Water, Earth, Fire, and Air Nomads.” Sooo are they all nomads?

- Awvatar? Pronouncing Aang as Awng, I could sorta get, but... Awvatar? Really?!

- It feels oh-so-weird to see a white Katara and Sokka, when they, and all the people of the Water Tribes, had the darkest skin in the show.

- Something that really strikes me about this movie already is that it’s so... humorless. Sokka described himself once in the show as “the meat and sarcasm guy” if I’m remembering right, and not even five minutes in I can already tell we’re missing half of that description.

- Not only is this movie humorless, it can seem strangely... smaller, than the cartoon. In the cartoon, Katara got Aang out of the iceberg by accidentally using powerful Waterbending. 

But here, Sokka causes the ice to crack by accident, revealing the iceberg with Aang inside. Then Katara grabs Sokka’s boomerang and whacks the iceberg twice with it. 

- More about the lack of humor: There’s not even a mention of penguin sledding once Aang is out either.

- And not only are our most prominent Waterbenders white, the Fire Nation (who had light skin in the cartoon) have the darkest skin of the whole main cast. Juuust great...

- Aang’s heroic moment from the cartoon is taken away from him. In the cartoon, Aang was on his way out of the Southern Water Tribe when he saw the Fire Nation approaching, at which point he turned around and helped them.

Here? Aang sits in a tent until one of the Fire Nation soldiers sees his tattoos and drags him out.

- “We found that boy, he’s our responsibility!” Katara sounds like she’s talking about a stray puppy they found. “I’ll feed him, and bathe him, and teach him!”

- It crosses the line into unintentional hilarity when, as Katara and Sokka are discussing Aang, there’s just Appa noises in the background, entirely unremarked upon. The only take a glance in that direction once they’re done talking, ironically after Appa’s quietened down somewhat.

- Nobody gets out of this movie without major changes, but if it weren’t for Iroh referring to Zuko as his nephew, I’d have never guessed it was him. Also, Eeroh. Frankly, I’ll be surprised if Zuko isn’t pronounced Zucko.

- Katara and Sokka’s grandmother pronounces Avatar correctly. Why don’t Katara and Sokka? Or, heck, why doesn’t she pronounce it “Awvatar”? It’d be better if they stuck to one rather than the inconsistent pronunciation.

- I’ll give them props: The idea of testing if Aang is the Avatar by setting four objects representing the elements in front of him is pretty cool. Does become kinda silly, though, when the rock just... wobbles and goes upright. They could have had it, like, cracking, but instead, wobbly rock.

- I might be misremembering, but it felt like Aang’s escape from Zuko’s ship was a lot... more, in the cartoon. I know, time constraints of fitting a twenty-episode season into a two-hour movie. But I have to tilt my head at just how much shorter (and milder) this particular scene is than its animated counterpart.

- It’s weird how Katara’s narration calls Aang by name, then like a minute later (at most) we see her ask him for his name.

- Wow, is it weird to see Aasif Mandvi playing Zhao when I watched The Daily Show as a teenager.

- Exposition is always fun when it’s delivered in the form of a roast.

- “But we will let [Zuko] wear [the Fire Nation uniform] today, like a child wearing a costume.” And nobody even smiles at Zhao’s sick burn.

- Hey, at least they have Iroh drinking tea. But cartoon Iroh probably wouldn’t do that so casually while his nephew is fighting Zhao’s soldiers. And cartoon Iroh would probably smile. At some point in time.

- And movie Katara and Sokka have apparently gone all the way to the Earth Kingdom without learning that Aang is the Avatar.

- “He was bending tiny stones at us from behind a tree! It really hurt!” I gotta be honest, that’s not a bad joke. It does feel kinda out of place with the general tone of the movie thus far, but whatever. I’ll take the lighthearted fun moments where I can get them.

- I can sort of understand why they would want the Earthbenders imprisoned by the Fire Nation to have some sort of earth to bend without the Gaang going to all that trouble to get the coal. But putting them in a quarry is more than a bit overboard.

- Aang gets a big Katara moment from the cartoon. And the thing is, Katara doesn’t really get that much time to shine in this movie. She could have used a moment like this one. Heck, Aang could’ve joined in to confirm that the Avatar has returned.

But no... In this scene, Katara just shoves a Fire Nation soldier who’s being rude to Aang.

- Ah, the infamous pebble dance. And the thing is, in the cartoon, this would’ve been a joke. 

Aang would go through this huge, over-the-top dance just to make a relatively small rock float slowly towards a Fire Nation soldier. At which point, Toph would make the rock move much faster before teasing Aang about what he just did.

- Ohhh, gosh, I’m half an hour into this hour-and-a-half movie, and the post already looks like... this.

- “Teachers to teach you bending.” A lot of attention gets given to another repetitive line later on in the movie, but we shouldn’t ignore this beauty.

- Weird to see Ozai in plain view. Especially considering how, later on, he will be framed in shadow.

- Agni Key... What is it with this movie and changing pronunciations? I wouldn’t even care if that was the only problem, but with how it is, it’s one of several things that make this movie feel like “Avatar but wrong”.

- “Yip yip.” Gosh, does it feel weird to hear those words in a movie that tries to be more serious than the cartoon.

- I had to stop and continue this in the morning since it was late, so I might be forgetting something... But was it established before the Blue Spirit that Zuko knew Zhao would be hunting the Avatar?

- Hard to take it seriously when Zhao looks at his soldiers, chained by their hands to the ceiling, and simply mutters “fools.”

- “You think my son is this person the soldiers are calling ‘Blue Spirit’?” *pause of at least four seconds* “...Yes.”

- “My brother and the princess became friends right away.” First off, that’s really underplaying it. But second, Sokka’s face is so blank as Katara says this that I can’t buy even that.

- Zhao really becomes a much less threatening force when it’s Ozai who tells him to kill the spirits, when it’s Ozai who starts talking about their destiny.

- “HOOOOOOOOO” lives in a pineapple under the sea?!

- Everything in the Spirit World is compressed into this one dragon. Which makes it seem a lot less like a Spirit World than just the home of this dragon.

- I would say that the whole bit of Aang trying to avoid Zuko even though he’s right behind him is more like something from the cartoon... But, the dramatic music really makes it seem like this is supposed to be a serious moment. And it just doesn’t work as one.

- Iroh’s trying to stop Zhao is nowhere near as good as it was in the cartoon.

- “He’s making fire out of nothing!” I don’t understand why they made the change that this is uncommon. The Fire Nation are the villains, they should be stronger than other benders.

- “It’s time we show the Fire Nation that we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs.” I don’t understand how anyone thought this could work as a serious line.

- Back to the whole thing of this being smaller than the cartoon, Aang doesn’t turn into Aangzilla here. He accomplishes a very impressive feat of Waterbending, but when I just watched the cartoon version last week, it feels lesser in comparison.

- I imagine this is supposed to be Aang bowing in response, since he didn’t with the monks. But it doesn’t look like bowing. It just looks like an elegant dance move.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Yeah, I still don’t like it much. But I’ll say this: Now that I’ve watched it again, I appreciate the cartoon so much more.

I appreciate the characters. I appreciate the tone, I appreciate the pacing. And I appreciate all the things that are lacking from this movie.

I can only hope that the new live-action adaptation will be better, even if I know the cartoon will still be my preferred way of experiencing the story.

[littlemisssquiggles]

So I'm currently head-over-heels for The Dragon Prince and I don't think anything will pull me out of this obsession for a long time. While I'm crying over this show, what did you personally enjoy about the quality of the plot and the characters in general? I'd love to hear your opinion from your amazing writing while I (im)patiently wait for season 3.

Hey there Snowflake. Sorry for the late response. That’sactually a really good question. Admittedly, what first drew me into The Dragon Prince series was the fact that it was created by the one of the originalHead Writers for Avatar:The Last Airbender.

A:TLA will always remain a gem inmy all time favourite animated series list so knowing that one of the men responsiblefor shaping its story branched out and made his own thing immediately peaked myintrigue. It was basically the same sentiment Ihad when I first heard about RWBY being a fan of Monty since his fan made animations like Dead Fantasy.

It’s kind of hard for me to describeexactly what it is that appeals to me the most about the writing for The Dragon Prince. I guess if I’m being completely honest here, what I love mostabout this series are itscharacters. More importantly I love how theseries writes its characters and treats them.

This might be an odd question to ask but have you ever been invested in a series where you got the sense that atsome point the show-runners just forgot how to write for their own establishedcharacters? So instead we get moments where characters behave out of characterbased on what the series has established as their personality and you get thesense that they are only acting this way for the sake of pushing the plot regardless of whether or not the characters’ actions makes sensein the context of who they are as…well…a character?

I’ll give you an example soallow me to deviate here for a sec. Are you familiar with a series calledMiraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir? In case you don’t know, it is aFrench 3D animated series following the heroic conquests of Ladybug and ChatNoir---two teenage heroes tasked with protecting the city of Paris from thenefarious masked villain known as Hawkmoth who uses butterfly-type monstersknown as Akuma to infest unsuspecting citizens; feeding into their negativeemotions to transform them into supervillains who Hawkmoth then task to stealLadybug and Chat Noir’s miraculouses which are the source of their power.

There’s also the titbit where Ladybugand Chat Noir are each other’s love interests, both in and out of costume. Ladybug isactually a young girl named MarinetteDupain-Cheng, who in her civilian form is in love witha boy in her class named Adrien Agreste. However unbeknownst to Marinette, hercrush Adrien is actually Chat Noir---her partner in crime-fighting and as Chat Noir, Adrien is inlove with Marinette as Ladybug.

The whole point of the series is that thesetwo knucklehead teen superheroes are in love with each other but as each other’s counterparts while being completely oblivious to the truth abouttheir respective identities. It’s a brilliant concept and if all of that sounds like something very interestingto you then it is.

Despite what I’m about to say, keep inmind that Miraculous is a really goodshow . In spite of my current misgivingsabout it as someone who has been with its since its first season, I would still recommend it to anyone curious about giving it a watch.

It’s a delightful cute show. I justhave some things to say about it but this is only myopinion . Even if you might appreciate mythoughts and views on certain things, my opinionis NOT law.  My opinion is only a representation of mythoughts and feelings toward a piece of medium I indulge in. It’s not a reflection of the overall quality of the medium. Those views are up to you. 

Forgive me if I sound like I’m ramblingnow but I genuinely feel it important to give that small disclaimer since wekind of live in an era of free speech where others use their opinions to lambastothers on why their opinions are right or wrong; based on their opinion.

I am not one of those people. You areallowed to like or dislike something regardless of whether or not you agreewith my opinion of it and vice versa. All I ask is for respect of my views and I shall give that of yours in return.

That being said, let’s talk Miraculous. Andin regards to how on earth this ties into TheDragon Prince, we’ll get to that surely.

At the start, Miraculous was one of my favourite animated series especially as a fan of 3D art and animation.I also couldn’t get enough of the whole Ladybug and Chat Noir love story especiallywith all the multiple pairings that branched out from this one couple---Ladynoir, Adrinette, Marichat and Ladrien. It was silly but adorable all the same and I ate up the fluff like the hopeless romantic I am. 

However; as the seasons went by, itultimately became rather difficult for me to remain truly invested in seeing these two characters achieve their goals since I couldn’t relate to them anymore. 

It’s glaringlybothersome to me now how everything is just always handed to Marinette/Ladybug, our so-calledbeloved protagonist; even when her actions of the day might prove that she doesn’t deserve it. And it certainly doesn’t help when this is done at time at the expense of Chat Noir/Adrien who is often kept in the dark when he’s supposed to be the deuteragonist who shares relevance to the plot as our main heroine.  

It’s hard for me to care aboutthe relationship between Adrien and Marinette/ Ladybug and Chat Noir anymorewhen the show constantly contradicts itself on wanting to show their relationshipmoving forward while also backpedaling in other episodes (for example: episodes such as Animaestro and Oblivio from the current third season).

This makes any progression the plotattempts to pull for their development feel pointless in the end and after three seasons of this tango, as a Miraculer, I’vesadly lost interest in wanting to see our two heroes get together.  This is sad because that’s technically the backbone ofthe show. Fans know that Ladybug and Chat Noir are going to get together because theplot has established that from the get-go and constantly reminds the audiencethat this is going to be a sure endgame. But where it ultimately fell short for me iskeeping me invested in the pairing. While I’ll admit that I was fully on board forthis ride when it first started, now after three seasons, I’m tired. The whole ‘Oooh! Will Ladybug and Chat Noir fall in love both as superheroes and civilians? Will they learn each other’s true identities’ song and dance has become stale for me and even the introduction of imposter love interests doesn’t help.

It only serves to kind of sour the pot for me. Why bother developing these fake relationships when you’ve done the equivalent of nothing to help progress Marinette and Adrien’s relationship both as themselves and as heroes. Season 2 started us off with something that could’ve been potentially great if furthered in its current season but so far, Season 3 hasn’t done much to service the development left behind from that last season.

All things considered, I still like Miraculous andI’m still going to keep tuning in for future episodes since thereare other aspects and characters within the show that I liked enough to keep medevoted.

I still like Adrien very much as one ofthe supposed main two characters (even when the show might make you thinkotherwise). But in regards to LB and CN’s whole song and dance with their so-calledlove story, it’s hard to cheer for a relationship between two characters whenthe show constantly flip flops on what their relationship is supposed to be.

One minute they are destined partners; made for each other because they are meant to be important to eachother. Therefore, their strong dynamic is meant to be proof of what makesthem work as both a team and potential lovers. Next minute Ladybug is a ‘strong, independent heroine who doesn’t needChat Noir’ and he’s painted as more of a liabilityto her than an asset---the loveable yet fumbling bumbling idiot sidekick whosesole purpose is to be a dude inthe distress for the sake of pumping up Ladybug’salready plot-inflated ego all the while gullibly kissing her ass even duringmoments when she treats him terribly.

I humbly apologize in advance if thereare any fellow miraculers reading this response post who might feel veryoffended by my comments toward Miraculous. I’ll admit. My words are indeed harsh. Sorry. But... I still wishto stand by them because they are a blunt representation of my current stancetoward the current state of writing within the show.

I used to reallylike how Miraculous portrayed itscharacters. Loved it even. For three years, Miraculous was my top favourite show and fandom. But following the end of itssecond season, I don’t know how to feel about it anymore. I still like it but its characters man---my interest in their growth is dwindling. 

I guess the biggest gripe for me with Miraculous atthe moment is that I don’t feel as if the characters have really grown at allsince the show first started. Even after two full seasons going into its thirdrun; despite the plot thrusting them into scenarios that one would assume would help them to change (for better or worse), these characters---at least our main ones feel thesame. I know the show has done things to show progression for its charactersespecially in terms of relationships. However it all feels meaningless in the end.

And the flip flopping doesn’t help thiscase. At times, I felt as if Miraculous was being written by two different typesof writers. One who wants to show these characters growing from the people theyused to be because they are meant to while another just wants to keep thesecharacters in the same tropes they started off with. I’m not sure if any other Miraculershares the same opinion but that’s how I feel.

That being said and getting back ontrack, it’s the complete opposite with TheDragon Prince. In this show, I can tell that theplot actually does affect the characters and they react to them in ways you might expecttheir character to react to it given their established personalities. I also lovehow the Dragon Prince has this nice balance to it.  It knows how to juggle its more and heart-wrenching serious moments with its comedy in a way that rarely feels jarring. At least to me.

In TDP, I get the stronger sense that thesecharacters shapes the story in the world around with their adventures and individual experiences being veyr important to the narrative as opposed to the contrary where the story is this and these characters are molded to fit whatever story the writers feel to thrust them into; if that makes sense. And this all boils back to just how much I lovethe characters of this show. I don’t think there is a single character in theTDP cast that I don’t like.

I even have a soft spot in my heart forthe supporting side characters who our Dragonic Trio occasionally interact with during their travels. This is why I was so relieved to see Grenfinally be freed in Book 2. It’s about time my beautiful strawberry man gotfreed.

The DragonPrince is so great that I even care about itsvillain characters as much as the heroes. Even though Lord Viren and hischildren: Claudia and Soren are painted as the antagonists to our Dragonic Trio, I like that there is so much more to them than just that. On the contrary, there are aspects ofthese three that makes me think they’re not villains. Particularly Lord Viren. The guy isn’t just the classic mustache twirling bad guy. He has layers. Depth. 

I understand that Lord Viren is supposedto the bad guy however; he’s not entirely bad. There is a good side to him and its evidence in his relationship with the royal family. You cantell that Viren genuinely cared for King Harrow and had great respect for Queen Sarai since she saved his life. 

I guess what I’m trying to say is thatthe characters of TDP feel real to me. They don’t feel like just characters in a story. They feel like peoplewith experiences that their audience can relate to. Connect with. The Dragon Writers know and understand their characters as people and know how to write for their characters and because of howwell they’ve portrayed them, it makes me as the viewer more interested in theirstories as the main plot carries on.

I pray that the Dragon Writers keepthis up going forward with the remaining books. Sometimes show-runners start to suffer from writer’s fatigue and/or forget how to write for the verycharacters they created the longer the plot is stretched to the point that the series comes to feel like it lost direction at some point (coughsVoltroncoughs). 

I hope this won’t be the case for the Dragon Writers.Two seasons in and these guys continue to keep me loving their world and Icannot wait to see these characters be fleshed out further in the upcoming book. The Dragon Prince Book 3 cannot come any quicker.

I can’t wait to see what Rayla and Callum’s adventures with Zym across Xadia will be like. I still can’t believe they separated the Dragonic Trio. Usually you have to wait like…what…three-four seasons to get the squad ripped apart but nah…The Dragon Prince did that in season two.

Still in shock over that. But as much as I’m going tomiss Ezran in the party, I’d by totally lying if my Rayllum shipping heart isn’t beyondecstatic to see what these two duo adventures together will belike. Particularly following Rayla’s near confession.

I’m curious to see how that will affectthe way Rayla interacts with Callum from now on. I’m mostly just excited to see blushingRayla awkward about her crush on Callum. As of Book2, I think it’s safe to say that Callummight be over his crush on Claudia. Or perhaps his resentment over hers and Soren’s betrayal currently outweighsany former romantic feelings he might still have for her. Feels bad m’dude. I don’t ship Callum with Claudia at all but that doesn’t mean I want Callum to hate her.I really like Claudia as a character and I want the best for her and Soren too.My children are going down a dark path and I don’t like it. Especially Claudia. I still stand with my theory where I don’t think Book 2 will be the last timeClaudia will use the extreme form of dark magic to aid with Soren’s paralysis.I still think Soren is still permanently paralyzed and that Claudia’s spell isonly a temporary fix meaning that Claudia may have to keep performing Viren levels ofdraining magic from other magical beings to keep her brother stable…which is going taint herso much. I just hope that in the end, Soren will be the one to save his sisterfrom her own damnation.

At the end of the day, Soren and Claudia love each other and will do anythingfor each other. If there is anyone I trust to save Claudia should she ever loseherself to dark magic (which let’s just face it, will tragically happen down the line); it’s Soren--- thevery person she’s doing this for. Damn! The Writing for these two is so good! Megaprops to the Dragon Writers for writing such an engaging, strong brother andsister dynamic and sibling love and loyalty to one another without making it borderline…well…incestuous.  

I don’t want to see Claudia fallto the dark side, guys. Despite being a firm user ofdark magic like her father, Claudia is actually the opposite of her chosen element. I feel as if Claudia was willing to theput in the effort to awakening her arcana as Callum did, she could possibilitybe another Sky Mage like Callum or perhaps an Ocean Mage. Or maybe an Earth Mage? Who knows. It’s all just theories and speculation of mine for now.

Speaking of which; next up is Ezran. I’m excited to see what his travels will be like. Ezran is so young yet he’s sodown to earth and possesses a level headed maturity and outlook on the world around him that one can appreciate.Ezran will make a great king some day and if Book3 is the kick-starter to that part ofhis arc towards that goal then bring it.

I am ready to follow Prince Ezran on his own separate journey back home with Smexy Dreadlock Man (I’m sorry his name escapes me at the moment but his handsomeness doesn’t).

This also makes me curious if Ezranwill ever get to meet the young queen---the daughter of the Two Queens who gavetheir lives along with Ezran’s mom. I’m actually really, really interested inseeing Prince Ezran meeting QueenAanya.

I kind of low-key ship Aanya and Ezran. Yes, I know they haven’t met at all and we have zero idea of howthese two would get along should they encounter each other. Nonetheless, theidea of Ezran and Aanya coming together intrigues me because of how perfect itwould be should it happen.

I love the idea of Ezran someday possibly marrying Aanya with thetwo joining their kingdoms. After all, theQueens of Duran sought out King Harrow during their crisis in the winter andKing Harrow was willing to open his kingdom to the People of Duran.

Sure Viren tried to fight against it atfirst but Harrow stuck to his guns. Both Ezran and Aanya are currently the very young heirs to their respective thrones expected to lead their people. Aanyahas already begun her ruling and now Ezran is on his way to reclaim his throne. Bothlost their mothers who sacrificed their lives for their people. If Ezran andAanya meet, I think they can hit it off and make great friends. While I doubt romance willbe a thing for them since they are still children, I still want these two tomeet and form a close long-lastingfriendship that could one day potentially lead toa union that unites two kingdoms like their parents did long ago. But that’sjust me with my theories.

I’m hoping that Ezran’s adventures withSmexy Dreadlock Man will lead to him possibly passing through Duran while alsoencountering BirdHarrow along the way. That’s a reunion I’malso looking forward to.

And yeah, that’s pretty much all I haveto say for now on The Dragon Prince and its upcoming season. 

Fair notSnowflake, you’re not the only one excited for Book 3. Maybe you should follow Tim Kamiski on Twitter. I believe he’s an Art Director at Wonderstorm working on TheDragon Prince Game. He released a poster art for Book 3 that looks hype.

It’s a shame we’ll possibly have towait till early next year for Book 3. But until such a time, I hope my response toyour question was a good enough one to help you ride the Wonderstorm till the next season, fam.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

[brandonk10]

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MOAmdC3rcX7WNTQMGAZaNS_FMNDZI7oD

Above are the Images I did this summer that I’m really happy with!

So as a TLDR for the post,

-Animation Compilation below, has OC's in it, whom are credited to the creators.

-My favorite images from this summer that I did, either for commissions or fun, are in the comments with an additional image showing all the character models I made or tweaked in the past year, which tallied to 68.

-I'm fixing the storyboards for Jade's trailer to begin production once I get to college.

-JADE is moving from Remnant to a new world of my creation. They aren't RWBY OC's anymore. Answers to any questions you might have are possibly located in the FAQ part of the post that I'm sharing.

-I'm not going to stop posting here, since it does not break any rules, and have spoken with an admin on a schedule. I will be able to keep my weekly schedule since it is only one post per week, and isn't diverting the group from it's primary focus. But if I do stop posting, then most likely I broke a rule.

Hello Everyone!

So I’ve reached the last week of my summer break before going back to College!  So I’ve got a couple of things to get to.

First of all, I have compiled all the animations from this year that have been posted on this page, but not on my youtube channel.  The finish date has been posted.  I’ve also attached the 3 Commission Animations that I did for Recent Commissions!

https://youtu.be/h0iylBttnTY

Second, here is all the quality images that I have completed this summer!  It contains plenty of OC’s that I did for either Commissions, or as fan art for my friends!  The OC’s and their owners shall be listed below!  On top of that, I did a tally image of all the models I have worked on, or modeled from scratch and rigged in the past year.  That tally reached 68 Models.  Now those OC’s will be listed with their owners below if they do not belong to me.  Now if we were to count models that weren’t rigged I technically have over 100 models, because of some fun requests I did around a year ago.

Thirdly, I am currently working on fixing up the storyboards to be easier to read in terms of poses and action.  I will be finishing up the storyboards over the next few days, and should be able to finish the animatic before going back to College.

Finally, next week I will be releasing a poster to announce the production beginning on Jade’s Trailer.  Now with that will be a visual reveal of something that’ll change how the series functions.  JADE is jumping ship from Remnant, and will no longer be considered “RWBY OC’s”, instead they are going to be characters in a world that I am currently creating.  It isn’t fully completed in concept, but the events of Jade’s trailer will be easy to pin in this world since the concepts of this new world that’ll be present in Jade’s trailer have already been planned out.  There are several reasons for me doing this, firstly, I really adore these characters and would love to make the series to it’s full completion, but unless I work for RT, they green light the show (Which their internship pages have illustrated that they are not looking for a new show concept, unless if you are a higher-up in the company, which is fair), and I’m given creative control on the project, I cannot create the show as into the future as I would love to, while being able to sustain myself without simply infringing on copyright.  Which is, again, a fair point.  Secondly, I am doing this because it would allow me to be more creative with the world, and improve my writing abilities by forcing myself to do research overload, a task I find oh so exciting.  Thirdly, it would probably be more appropriate for the series in reflection, because all drafts of any script or outline for JADE since beginning making RWBY OC’s in general involved me conceptualizing new ideas for Remnant ranging from locales, cultures, aura systems, and aura abilities making those drafts’ only attachment to RWBY seem to be the color team name, aura, dust, and semblance.  

To address some questions before they do come up, as they are fair points.

-I will be doing my best to separate JADE from RWBY as much as possible.  In fact, their team name was never based on a color in it’s origin, it’s actually an inside-joke amongst them.  So if I decide to keep the joke, I’ll keep the name, but if I don’t then the name will vanish.  As a warning for the future of this update, I will be using the Remnant counterparts to the systems in this world.  

-The “Aura” of the world, will not feature a primary defense mechanism, and is currently being conceptualized as an idea that groups people into various classes of combat, and life in general, since it can be used to determine personality.  I’m going to try to enhance upon that so I can differentiate between this culture and Remnant’s.  

-The “Dust” of the world, will not have lead to man’s creation, will not be explosive, will have additional types that will differentiate it from dust, and will need further tweaking to properly distinguish it.  

-The “Semblance” of this world will not be based on a personality trait, but a flaw, since a theme of the story will be about self betterment, or achieving perfection.  So the power is designed to counter-act that key weakness in their character, forcing them to begin to change, but not get the instant answer.

-The “Grimm” of this world, are different in every way I can imagine, as they were designed to, and will take on a more natural approach, as opposed to silhouette-like designs.

-Characters will not be named after colors, there will be birth reasons for it that aren’t related to colors.  Sadly, this is an idea I only realized was an issue recently, so I will be making an effort to properly think this through so it won’t be subject to an accusal of plagiarism.

-All-in-All I’m going to try to make the world as far from Remnant as possible.  

If you decide to stop supporting this project, I hope I’ve entertained you with my Animation, and that you have a fantastic life, and if you haven’t already, go watch NYON Episode 2, it’s just so much fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nXYbPGqVjA&t=447s

All OC’s to the best of my Ability from Left to Right in that Group Image:

From Left to Right (As Best I can):

Auburn Perrault: Aundreya Garcia 

Avena Sharpe: Garrett Calvery 

Noirie, Niya and Mella Mavros, and Jade Tengu: Gabe Chestnut 

Ivori Levina: James Wright II

Dage: Nico O'Gorman 

Marian Loreli: Kristopher Kernan 

Venus Rosebind: Jayden King 

Lavender Fairclough: Dre Taylor 

JC Avatar: https://twitter.com/jcthedawn

Rocco Obsidia: Kyle Duffy 

Kobolt Walthers: Michael Lopez 

Rai Tempest: Jezreel Deity Tuldague 

Artemis, and Yue Hinto: Demetri Li 

Verdell Hydra (Also Chibi), Elroy Minos, Nigel Harbour, and Magenta Rachnera: EL Austria 

Mourvédre Rolandé Vinvalier, and Regynt Richelle: Nico O'Gorman 

Vera: Maevis Tobi Richardson

Silver, Lavender, and Violet: Scott Callahan 

Mika Anuna: Christian Perez 

Grey Korudo: William Raymond 

Mallaithe o'lFreann: Sara Rhys Whipple

All Models were modeled, textured, rigged, and posed/animated by me.

All "Jade" Characters belong to me

I do not own RWBY, all ownership belong to Monty Oum, and Rooster Teeth Productions

If you're interested in seeing my Animations, my YouTube Channel is here: 

www.youtube.com/user/StopMotio…

If you want to be updated on things elsewhere, such as WIP's and Progress, here's my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TeamJADEAnimation/

[disneydreamlights]

So, the finale would involve the Player and their four Dandelion friends realizing that they're in the Unchained State after eavesdropping on Maleficent and Pete conversing in either Enchanted Dominion or Hollow Bastion (I might just leave out Hollow Bastion unless I make it about rebuilding Radiant Garden). And then form a plan to escape. There'd then be a multiplayer Story Battle unlocked on the cliff overlooking Daybreak Town. It would pit the Player against Pete.

Pete would be a Power Type enemy, with a Counter that buffs his defense whenever it's depleted. Your friends would be busy holding off the Heartless, while Neoshadows would occasionally join the battle due to Pete having an open Corridor of Darkness right next to him. It is a Multiplayer Battle. Defeating him triggers a Cutscene where the Player and their friends enter the Corridor of Darkness he was using, showing Daybreak Town's title card for the second time, signifying that you won't return.

Clearing that battle would drop the Player off into the Dark Corridor Trials Lobby, where a Story Battle now rests in the room's halfway point. Much like before, this Story Battle is multiplayer. It's actually a boss rush, with you teaming up with each of your friends to fight a Wretched Witch, Large Snowman, Ferocious Fin, and Mean Maiden. For plot reasons, you wouldn't activate the light bangles.

So uh, remember when I mentioned that Ephemer would go kinda off the deep end? Basically, Ephemer, Skuld, and Brain would all show up, with your four friends getting expelled from the Corridor of Darkness to be rebrainwashed. The Player, however, would break free and call them out for brainwashing them, and, when Ephemer says that it's for the greater good, the Player would say "Oh, you mean like how you killed Ven 'for the greater good'". Cue boss fight with all three Union Leaders.

Ephemer would be a Magic Type (because he was nearly defeated by a Speed Type Invisible when you first met him), Skuld a Speed Type, and Brain a Power Type. Ephemer would use his turn to revive Brain when he's defeated, Brain use his turn to revive Skuld when she's defeated, and Skuld would use her turn to revive Ephemer when he's defeated. They wouldn't recover a lot of HP when revived, but you'd still have to defeat all three of them in the same turn in order to end the battle for real.

Gonna break up the asks here. Answering this, then putting it under a read more.

Wow, last trip to Daybreak Town. A part of me wonders if this would be gameplay/story segregation or if after reaching this point in the story the player would no longer be allowed to return to Daybreak Town or any previous locations in the game. Granted this is supposed to be an MMO so it’d be difficult if you’re way farther in the story than your friends and party members, but it’d still be wild to no longer be able to visit Daybreak Town.

You know this only just hit me but I sincerely hope Ephemera returns to normal because I love him and we’re already putting one of my unproblematic favs through a lot of shit, putting two of them through shit is harsh too. ;w;

Boss battle sounds like a pain in the ass though. I mean granted I use mostly hit alls on my best Keyblade anyways but the idea of “You can’t use light bangles” implies that Guilt/Light version of Guilt is unusable and that’s the only reason my Lady Luck is so good.

In case your wondering, the Player's motivation for wanting to escape would be that they want to warn the worlds of Maleficent's upcoming invasion. They know they don't stand a chance against Realeficent (to distinguish her from the Holoficent the Player destroyed), because this version of Maleficent has had the chance to grow stronger than her counterpart. Ephemer's main concern would be rescuing and rebrainwashing the Dandelions so they can replace the Worlds whenever they're destroyed.

Replace the worlds? Basically you mean recreate holograms of them and such?

So, after defeating the Dandelion Trio, the player runs deeper into the Realm of Darkness. As soon as they're gone, Maleficent arrives on the scene and captures the weakened Union Leaders, remarking on how they'll make fine additions to her army. The Dark Realm Title would then appear. We then see the player arrive at the End of the World, complete with title, with Chirithy saying that there's no time to go back for the others, you'll have to work with your remaining friends to escape.

So, all the enemies outside of the World Terminus in the End of the World would be Nightmares. Inside the World Terminus, you'd visit post-apocalyptic versions of the Worlds from the game, in the same order we watched them disappear in the credits, with Daybreak Town being a burnt out husk of its former self. The enemies would be the Heartless from those Worlds. The Story Quests would require you to defeat 13 Heartless and 1 Raid Boss in each ruined World. It would all lead to a Story Battle.

You can only save those four and I guess the Union Leaders since you’re going to rescue them? Honestly that’s real sad. But damn good shit bringing back World Terminus since it’s like my favorite part of End of the World. 

Daybreak Town honestly sounds terrifying, it makes sense that it’d be destroyed like that but it still sounds depressing to see such an adorable town destroyed like that.

The Story Battle would be called "Case of Super" and be the FINAL Multiplayer Story Battle. The Player would be greeted by the Master of Masters (whom had up till now perioidically shown up to mess with the Player's head similar to the True Organization in DDD), who'd sarcastically congratulate you for falling right into his trap. He'd then reveal why he created Nightmare Chirithy, to motivate you into going into the Keyblade War, so he could use the repressed trauma to destroy your heart.

The MoM would then tell you your role in his plan, supply Guilt for Nightmare Chirithy to use to become a Nightmare and sow discord between the Foretellers, to set Strelitzia up to die by refusing to join the Dandelion, to destroy the World using the X-blade (the Player's Keyblade would transform into it after the Foreteller boss rush, with Ephemer pulling you into the Unchained State being what caused it to explode), and to become the is own Avatar in the Realm of Light.

The MoM, after piling all this guilt onto the Player, would finally introduce himself "Well, in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm the one known as the Master of Masters, but you can call me X-Super." Then, cue final multiplayer boss fight. X-Super's attribute would be whatever your Foreteller is weak to. He'd be Magic type in Unicornis and Ursus, Speed type in Anguis and Vulpes, and Power type in Leopardos. He'd attack using copies of the Foretellers' and Luxu's Keyblades.

X-Super’s kinda a dumb name. I know it’s tied to pride so it works with the Seven Deadly Sins and it’s probably just what he’s calling himself but that doesn’t mean I have to like the name. XD

Jeez, MoM is definitely insane though. I wouldn’t put it passed him to have set up everything, including the Nightmare Chirithy well in advance, but that doesn’t make him any less insane, so I mean...

When the MoM is defeated, the Player would suddenly start experiencing the same tiredness that Sora did in DDD. The MoM would then reveal the truth, everything after your battle with the Union Leaders was all in your head. You escaped the Unchained State, but you never woke up. And now, in fighting the fake MoM Nightmare Chirithy planted in your head, you've unintentionally opened the floodgates to let out all that repressed darkness, so the REAL MoM can use you as his avatar in the real world.

Luckily for the Player, the MoM isn't the only hooded figure in the Unchained State. Earlier story moments would reveal that there's a second hooded figure working against Maleficent. This hooded figure would be revealed to be Luxu in this one moment, as he sends the MoM away (the MoM not knowing that Luxu had ascended to the Unchained State), and sends the Player's unconscious body towards the Land of Departure, which would be added in the final month of service.

The Land of Departure would be represented as a Story Battle on the World Map, and you'd have to spend AP in order to enter it. The cutscenes for the Land of Departure would reveal that the Player has been laying there trapped in a Nightmare, with Terra, Aqua, and Ven doing what they can to keep them alive while Vanitas fetches Sora (Strelitzia would be absent). Sora would use the power of awakening to send Chirithy and the Pet into the Player's heart since he can't enter himself.

The final boss of the entire MMO would be Nightmare Chirithy. The Player would first fight the same boss they did back in Unchained X, with a few extra attacks. After defeating that, Nightmare Chirithy would morph into Phantom Chirithy, which is basically a Raid Boss. It's hands would be the other two types that it's head isn't, and give it two extra attacks. Chirithy would be your NPC helper, either buffing your or debuffing the Nightmare. Your Pet would eat Nightmare Chirithy after it's beaten

Ooooooh, okay, so this is like the “Hey were closing it down get ready for the grand finale” type thing where you’re not supposed to return really after playing it. Obviously they’d probably do a gameplay story integration thing then, and if you ask me I think it should be within the last week of service, because if it happened before this, then there would be some segregation between story and gameplay and honestly that’s kinda dumb at this point. This is the last thing the players should play in KHUx. Finishing it should basically lock you out of the game because game over. It honestly feels like it should be some kind of concluding fanfare except locking it to one time is unfair, but there’s no furthering to the story after this. This is it, and there’s no point in continuing to let people play imo if you’re shutting down soon unless there’s more events coming around the corner. (I just really like big fanfare finales to things. Like I think everything described right now should be the final month of service.)

Silly end to Nightmare Chirithy, but given the super cutesy art style of the entire game it kinda makes sense that there wouldn’t be some kind of super intense ending to the game, even with all the intense stuff beforehand. Or at least it makes sense to me there wouldn’t be.