*crickets*

idk ill repost stuff here and draw idk

[coleseyebrows]

I know morro was really hell bent on destroying Ninjago and whatnot, but do you think there was anything he stopped to savor after possessing Lloyd? Like a full breath, the smell of flowers, the feeling of the sun's warmth on his skin, or even a gentle breeze in his hair? Sure he was on a time crunch but the living world is so insanely different than the cursed realm, I can only imagine he had to stop for a second to get his bearings.

[absolutelynotsanebaby]

Pretty boy cole mwahhh

[coleseyebrows]

Does anyone else stop and think about how the art they consume influences their perception of different characters and thus the way they draw them. Because like. I still draw Lloyd with red eyes because Erraday drew Lloyd with red eyes, even though it's not canon anymore, and the way I draw mouths is a direct result of me studying his work. It doesn't look the same anymore because I've developed my own way of drawing, but I learned to do it the way I do specifically because of his art. I use blocky shapes when doing my sketches, and especially when doing portraits, because I used to look at Baekim's art while I drew, and that was the style they had - sharp lines, defined shapes. When I was a kid, I was so inspired by ProNastya's work that it's like 90% of the reason I took up semi-realism as my style of choice. And I can still sometimes spot those influences in the way that I draw, what I choose to draw, and in my process. It's honestly kinda emotional because NONE of those artists are openly active anymore. It's a drag path. Rant over

[coleseyebrows]

Improvement is real, don't give up on your dreams, make art

[piranhakat]

morro and possessed lloyd doodles while watching evil dead ALL OF THEMM

citrus bonus they lowkey can’t kiss loseer

[coleseyebrows]

Staring at this redraw enraged, still, because I lost the most beautiful render of it, and now I have to start over.

[coleseyebrows]

So I'm sitting here thinking about rewriting Ninjago from bottom to top, as a sort of retrospective, and as I do, I have been thinking nonstop about how to recharacterize cole, or at least make his characterization consistent.

Like early in the series, ofc, he was actually snappier than he is now, more sarcastic, more witty, more blunt. And in that original context, there was nothing deeper, but now... Well he have the understanding that he went to train as a ninja very soon after his mother died, couldn't have been more than a year, right? And now, he's much softer, more gentle, and more interested in being altruistic than being perceived as tough.

This pretty much leads me to believe that, with that added context, this was a front for his grief. And considering he knew none of the ninja early on, and kept a lot of stuff to himself... that checks out to me. I mean it also kinda lines up with that little line about how grief takes many forms, some sing and dance, and some climb mountains. He may very well have just wanted to appear fine. Normal, even. Like that meme "PFFT could a depressed person do THIS?" *free solos a mountain*

So I think the angle I should take is one where Cole is more distant, stoic, and prickly. Not necessarily an awful, evil dude, but yk. A grief stricken kid who wants people to stay at arms length. Until he truly befriends them, then it's all ok again

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-m-e]

I ALSO HAVE MY OWN THING TO ADD

the grief thing is a rlly good interpretation and addition but Cole kind of stays in this odd. manly man likes punching things and eating cake and being vaguely goofy until abt s8-9, which obviously in meta is bc that’s when all the ninja got their soft reboot, BUT this could also be maturation in general since he only rlly confronts his grief in s13

so MY reasoning for it is ALSO

- the transition of Cole from tough guy fighter to silly guy foundation of maturity was (also) a manifestation of internalised homophobia

- Lou sending him to art school (gay as fuck) and him hating it so much bolstered an association b/n gayness and dance, song, etc. that he was desperate to get away from

- so even tho he may’ve had no issue with being gay itself, he was lowkey a macho alpha chad guy (but like. less misogynistic. LESS. not not. we remember “takes a lot of paint to make them look good”) in order to distance himself from Lou and his expectations

- he leaned into it even more after becoming a ninja (eagerness to punch stuff, being og leader and ‘more serious’, etc. etc.)

[coleseyebrows]

YOU GET ME

[coleseyebrows]

So I'm sitting here thinking about rewriting Ninjago from bottom to top, as a sort of retrospective, and as I do, I have been thinking nonstop about how to recharacterize cole, or at least make his characterization consistent.

Like early in the series, ofc, he was actually snappier than he is now, more sarcastic, more witty, more blunt. And in that original context, there was nothing deeper, but now... Well he have the understanding that he went to train as a ninja very soon after his mother died, couldn't have been more than a year, right? And now, he's much softer, more gentle, and more interested in being altruistic than being perceived as tough.

This pretty much leads me to believe that, with that added context, this was a front for his grief. And considering he knew none of the ninja early on, and kept a lot of stuff to himself... that checks out to me. I mean it also kinda lines up with that little line about how grief takes many forms, some sing and dance, and some climb mountains. He may very well have just wanted to appear fine. Normal, even. Like that meme "PFFT could a depressed person do THIS?" *free solos a mountain*

So I think the angle I should take is one where Cole is more distant, stoic, and prickly. Not necessarily an awful, evil dude, but yk. A grief stricken kid who wants people to stay at arms length. Until he truly befriends them, then it's all ok again

[coleseyebrows]

For the first time in ages I have sat down to draw something other than my zine piece (a redraw of something I did in January!) and I finished the most beautiful hair render of my life only for krita to fucking crash and not save anything past the lineart. And now I'm so mad that I might not even finish that piece. Forget this, I'm going back to fire alpaca

[coleseyebrows]

Do you like art? Do you like Ninjago? Do you like those things together? Well then you should check out the Unbreakable Earth zine on August 15th 😎

[coleseyebrows]

While making pancakes I had the horrible thought of

"Maybe Cole's so bad at cooking bc his mom was too sick to teach him, and by the time she passed away, his dad was too distant to teach him anything at all, so he just had to wing it"

I hate it here let me out

[coleseyebrows]

Additional thought about Cole's terrible childhood.

I used to think that Cole being lazy and shirking training was out of character for him, back before he had much of a backstory. Bc like he was meant to be serious and whatnot. But no it actually makes complete and total sense

I mean if you'd been forced to grow up as fast as possible because your mother died and your dad fucked off and left you all alone to do everything by yourself, probably leaving you no free time and no goof around time

Wouldn't you take the opportunity to not do a damn thing? I would.

[coleseyebrows]

While making pancakes I had the horrible thought of

"Maybe Cole's so bad at cooking bc his mom was too sick to teach him, and by the time she passed away, his dad was too distant to teach him anything at all, so he just had to wing it"

I hate it here let me out

[ninjagocolezine]

Charity Announcement!

Hey there everyone! We wanted to let you know that we've officially decided where any profits from our physical merch bundles will be donated! And that is...

Palestine Children's Relief Fund!

PCRF is dedicated to providing free healthcare for children. You can read all about their mission and learn more about the organization here.

If you want to support this very worthy cause and also score yourself some awesome Cole-themed merch along the way, stay tuned for when our preorders open! Any excess funding we receive after manufacturing and contributor copies will be going directly to PCRF!

Taglist (ask to be added / removed):

@littlepryingpandorica @cherrihoney @fireflyclub @beegs-bugs @jam-le-jesterrrrrrrrr @skee-ters @littlespirit-199

[coleseyebrows]

Oh my God Timo has art to post

[sunshine-vermin]

if you hate geo for ANY reason then js block me

[asexualbrigadier]

big shout out to tumblr for being the first major site in like two years to implement an ill-advised "feature" nobody wants, likes or respects that doesn't involve AI

[coleseyebrows]

Sorry for the inactivity I've been busy with zines and all kinds of chaotic stuff. But I do have plans to draw the zine pitches that don't get accepted and post them here so at least I'm thinking about it!