This took me so long but I finally did it! Full body designs for the ninja (+ Pixal)!
To make them I broke down their canon outfits to see if there were any patterns in their style or the color palettes used. I drew inspiration from some fanart, especially this post by @asooffa , please check it out they're amazing (and they also inspired me to make the character sheets more interesting hehe).
(I do have other drawings about the detailed outfits and the design process, I'll post it in the future)
Some details:
Lloyd's Oni and Dragon form are not complete (I'll design those eventually). It's just to show how his general features change depending on what form he's taking.
Jay's bracelets were made by Cole and the other Nya. I meant them to be platonic but they can be seen as romantic too. The other charms represent the entire team obviously.
Between seasons 7 and 8, Kai tried to reconnect with his father and he finally learned how to properly blacksmith. From then on, all their weapons are made by him, which is why they have his signature.
I know I've only just done the main redesigns of the ninja, but I was still struggling with Nya's eye color! I've finally chosen to give her maroon eyes to complement the reds in her outfit, so this means Nya got Ray's eye color and Kai Maya's.
Hey I just realized that most of ur Ninjago fanart has Kai with a blind eye. Wats ur headcanon for the cause of it?
Hii! So that hc is a couple of years old and I don't really remember the full story I had for it ^^'
Moreover, I don't even have that hc all the time anymore. I'm trying concepts and stuff bc I still like the idea, as you can see here:
...but I'm not completely set on any one of them. So for now I just play around the design/idea, like a fluid hc.
The new story I have for how he got the scar is also somewhat flexible (I like the idea of playing around with it), but the basics of my current version are these:
It happened between seasons 7 and 8. The ninja are all divided searching for Wu, but after a couple of months with no results, they start to get desperate.
Some of the guys they fight notice how careless they've gotten because of that desperation, and with the advantage that they now usually work in pairs, they set a trap.
It's Kai and Zane who fall into the trap. There're too many enemies and they're both badly hurt. Just when one of the thugs is about to basically break Zane, Kai steps in to protect him, and gets hit in the face instead, getting his scar and losing his eye.
Zane panics but manages to escape with Kai and get him to the hospital. The ninja take the news of what happened somberly, and Kai spends a lot of the time of the timeskip learning to adapt with now limited vision. The ninja have also realized that it was their recklessness that allowed the bad guys to do this and so they start to be much more careful. Zane also reflects on what happened and is frustrated at his own uselessness when Kai was hurt, so he studies to become a doctor/medic to help his team whenever they are wounded (just like they repair him whenever he breaks).
That's basically it. There's a lot of angst potential to explore and also some opposite stuff because it’s still my fav ship of the show :>
I've seen a few takes on the eye-marriage obkk thing where the Uchiha tell Obito he must marry Kakashi. But really, the Uchiha and Konoha in general are set on maintaining a heteronormative society (tho it wouldn't be for long with Minato, Tsunade, Kakashi or Naruto as Hokage), which makes sense with the clan's focus on heirs and genetics, especially those with kekkei genkai.
So picture this: Obito, annoyed at the Uchiha pestering him about Kakashi's sharingan, escapes those conversations by basically breaking Fugaku's brain. Of course Obito is a dumbass and didn't check to see that he had indeed developed feelings for Kakashi and now has to actually try to convince Fugaku to let him marry him.
Minato always knew about Obito's plan but he also perfectly predicted that Obito would fall for Kakashi.
Kakashi meanwhile is blissfully unaware of all this.
It's pride month so that means lgbt content! (Tho most of my content is technically lgbt)
This time I bring you my Wyldfyre hcs: aroace and agender (any pronouns).
I just think it would be hilarious when the ninja explain the concepts of gender and sexuality to her and she’s like "Yeah, okay. I'm not doing that, nuh-uh".
However, I do like her ship with Roby (I'm still impressed by the writing). I've heard the excuse that "aroace people can date" and while I know it's true to some extent, I imagine their feelings and dynamics is completely different from allo people. If I ever do anything with Robyfyre I want to use it as an opportunity to explore how Wyldfyre's identity would affect their relationship. There's barely any representation, so I'm really curious about the experiences of aroace and aroallo people.
While I do love a bug Kai au (and I'm definetly planning to play around a bug Kai design myself), I very much prefer the canon take on it. The fact that Kai's determination to see his family again is strong enough to triumph over the darkness of the Land of Monsters is awesome!
This comic is a representation of that. Sure, Kai has a few new scars, and he’s adopted a few bad habits like inmsonia and paranoia, but the ears are something he can’t hide from anyone or "heal" from. It's physical proof that he went through all that. More importantly, it's also proof that, though the Land of Monsters changed him, it couldn’t defeat him! His love for his family was stronger than the cruelty of that place.
Hey another question based on the last one. How is the easiest to draw from the akasuki and why? Also who’s your least favourite Naruto character to draw?
I think Deidara is the easiest, his hair is very characteristic and fun to draw, and he’s very expressive.
Though of course Obito is also easy, both bc of the mask and bc I'm very used to drawing him at this point.
I don't really have a least fav Naruto character to draw bc if I like them enough, they’re always fun. But the ones that tend to give me issues are Minato and especially Sasuke.
They are both a mix between sharp and gentle and balancing that is tricky, which also makes their expressions really complicated to do. I'm getting better with him but I'm not joking when I say I sometimes have to spend 30 min just to get Sasuke’s expression right.
As promised, the sketches of the new ninja + some side characters.
The side characters I picked are not necessarily my favourites, just the ones I was more interested in designing (and I didn’t want to draw the dragons or any other creatures for a similar reason). I really like the writing of most side characters, they are all very enjoyable.
Now my thoughts on the new ninja:
Sora: my babyyyy!!!! I love her so much!!!! She’s definetly my favourite out of the new ninja, her design is so cool (I love the dedication to putting cat ears in everything) and I loved her story and development. She’s also very trans coded so she gets extra points for that <3
Arin: to be honest I found him very boring during the first season and the first half of s2, but then his arc with Ras kicked off. I think his overall development is very well executed and I love that he's kind of a middle point between Ras and the Ninja. It's not enough to make him one of my favs but I do like him a lot, I'm curious to what they're gomna do with him now that he has his parents back (Also his friendship with Sora is so wholesome I love them so much <3<3).
Wyldfyre: I don't like the "savage kid" trope so I found her really annoying at first, then she got her episode with Kai and I loved their dynamic even if I still didn't like her character. However, I could see her potential, and I was proven right when she finally developed and became one of my favs by the end of s1. Her development through s2 was also great and she’s just a very fun character. I love her silly moments but also how she can be resourceful and smart in her own way. Her dynamic with Kai is awesome too (and I hc that her diva poses come from her copying Kai). She’s my second fav new character in all DR and I hope we get more development for her in the future.
Frak: my first impression was that he was fun but nothing stood out to me... and it kinda stayed that way. I feel like he's been done dirty by the writers bc even though he's been present since s2, he's not been given much development. He has the potential if they give him the time and s4 seems like It's going to do that but we'll have to see. I also don't like how his dynamic with Sora is done, I see the idea but the execution is not great, and the crush just makes it worse.
Other thoughts:
I love how the writing for the female characters is. Ninjago has come so far from how it treated its girls in the original. They got rid of so much of the original misogyny. These feel like interesting fully fleshed-out characters and I love it.
Side note- I found out about the Forbidden Five's tribes after I had done the designs so they're not accurate to the lore. I'm still going to keep these designs bc I prefer them (and I'm not good at drawing furries ^^'). I also wish we had seen more of them, they feel like such wasted potential bc Thunderfang was terrible. The FF should've been the antagonists of s3 instead of him.
Where is Jordana?? I feel so bad for her, she was just a brainwashed child looking for positive attention and she was forced to go through something incredibly traumatic. I just want to know if she’s okay pls Ninjago (Sora go hug your gf).
Hey remember this au I did a while ago? Well I did mention that I wanted to design the Akatsuki as pirates one day and here they are!
They are so fun and chaotic, perfect for a pirate crew.
The reason why Obito distrusts Itachi is bc every ship of Madara's fleet has a single Uchiha, the captain, so Madara sending another one is... suspicious. But Itachi is not actually loyal to Madara, so as the geezer's lackey he wants Obito to keep watch on the boy. Being kind of a hostage, Itachi doesn’t like the Akatsuki that much either and Sasuke is still on Madara's ship, but eventually he warms up to the crew and they retrieve Sasuke.
I finally finished Dragons Rising!!
Here are my designs of most of the ninja after the Merge ^^ (those who aren't here, it's bc I see them the same, like Zane or Agent Walker).
OMG Dragons Rising was amazing!! Definetly the best the franchise has released since the Oni trilogy. There are a few flaws here and there but overall it's a massive improvement from the original show and I can't wait to see more <3<3
I've also done designs of the new ninja and some side characters, which I will post soon. In the meantime here are my general thoughts on the writing of the old ninja for anyone interested:
Kai: Absolutely perfect!!!! I heard they revived him but I wasn’t expecting it would be that good!! The characterization is the best we've had in years and I'm so happy to see how much he's grown and developed. The writers keep his funny and charismatic personality while also allowing him to be smart and mature! Words can't describe how much I love this Kai <3
Nya: Also perfect!!! I can't beleive they got rid of all the misogyny!! She finally feels like a whole character with so much depth and her dynamics with the other characters are just chef's kiss. She’s matured as well and I'm so happy she gets so much screentime.
Kai and Nya themselves are easily my favourite part of DR, but on top of that we also finally got a deep and meaningful relationship with them! This is all I ever wanted. They were even capable of adding many Jaya moments without taking anything away from the siblings or from Nya herself! My only complaint about both would be that I'm disappointed that all of their development happened off-screen, sure it's great to see them close their arcs but we never see how it happened.
Jay: The amnesia plotline was so interesting and so well executed! I'm happy that out of everyone it was Jay who got his own development, he deserved it. There's a few flaws here and there but overall I was so excited to see what would happen anytime Jay was on screen. Also his interactions with the other characters were awesome.
Cole: He’s my least fav of the main ninja (I still like him a lot, just like the others more) so I wasn’t that bothered by his lack of screentime. And every scene he was in was great! I also feel his characterization is very solid and I love how they used him to imply a gay relationship (yay representation), Cole and Geo are so wholesome <3<3. He's a married father of three and he deserves it!
Zane: Absolute brutal character assassination. It was so bad. For the first 3 seasons, Zane has been physically painful to watch. Thankfully s4 fixed him and I hope it stays that way! (please, I'm begging the writers, I can’t go back to that).
Lloyd: My biggest disappointment in all Dragons Rising!!! Sure his characterization is great but a lot of issues I had with his writing not only have not been fixed, but some of them even got worse! His character still feels isolated and the new special "chosen one" stuff sometimes felt forced or not satisfactory. I hate the "becoming new master" storyline and how the show never addresses his lack of agency. It's like they're putting Lloyd in similar situations over and over again without letting him develop and change. S4 within the ritual of unrooting was awesome tho, I adore the explanation of what his power is and all the concepts introduced in the ritual! However! They got rid of that development the second he got out!! HOW DO YOU FUMBLE IT THAT HARD!?!? Overall I have lost all hope on a good arc for Lloyd in DR. I am in pain ;_;
(I could yap more about this but it’s already too long upsie)
For context, Konoha kept most of the Uchiha documents and papers after the massacre, which now belong to Sasuke. There's your typical paperwork but also massive records of old traditions, legends and other cultural practices. One day Sasuke decided to finally go through the archive and he managed to convince Obito to help too, despite him not wanting to be involved with the Uchiha anymore (out of both guilt and resentment).
I love the idea of the "Sharingan marriage" thing between Kakashi and Obito, it's so funny. But I believe it's not something common bc of how dangerous a sharingan transplant is. Moreover the idea was meant to be between two actual Uchiha, whose bodies are prepared to hold the Sharingan in the first place, but of course Obito and Kakashi were just extra insane as always (Kakashi was lucky to just survive the operation, being able to also use the eye is very impressive, power of love I guess).
jacobvanloon
janainaart
titsay
izzy806
origamiaround