Where I put all my drawings and stuff! I might also put other stuff from my fandoms here. Animation alumni from Chapman university! Animator/Writer/Voice Actor
Because I myself don't want to attract drama towards me, the rest is under the cut, haha.
If you also don't get too involved with watching indie animation but are confused and distressed about the current state of the industry, then I think you'll find a kindred spirit here!
Even with indie productions, do you wonder if the creators know if/which of their characters will become viral hits nowadays? I mean, we've had well over a decade since Tumblr sexymen became a big thing, surely artists big and small have it down to a science, right? And before you say something, I don't just mean Tumblr sexymen- but just quirky marketable characters on the whole. The annoying little guy (who's totally not the same thing as when Disney or Illumination adds an annoying little guy to sell toys) or the emo boi, or the "lol mood" depressed one.
I've talked about it with friends before- It's happening so often these days with characters who have such similar aesthetics, that I can't help but wonder if they're just sitting at their desks purposely drawing a new character with the style of "Oh, they're confident but awkward and they have an edgy duality theme, and they're mean but not in a problematic way so they're still charming. That's going to make so many young adults thirst over them, write them OOC and start the nastiest flamewars imaginable." Like, even if the creators are sincerely drawing characters they think look cool- do they ever realize they've made another one of 'those' characters? Do they have to mentally prep themselves to deal with shutting down all the potential stans and simps before drama starts, as opposed to just making the character less 'like that'?
To sum it up- do you think creators go "I can't believe the character I made and wrote specifically with all the known traits to attract annoying parasocial viewers attracted annoying parasocial viewers!" or did they really not know?
I'm not saying this in a sarcastic victim-blaming way, to clarify. I'm asking because I wonder if people who are even more in tune with online culture than I am think about this stuff as much as I do. If they wonder if making characters who aren't like that would add a better variety of personalities to their storytelling and thereby maybe a more diverse and mature audience?
I've made it clear on this blog a while back that I really dislike a lot of the 1990s "XTREME" era of media- just lots of focus on being "radical" and skateboarding and eating pizza and drinking soda, and lots of grossout humor and way more sexism than nostalgic people who glorify the era would like to admit (SO many shallow token female characters in that era, ew) But those shows had very same-y aesthetics because of corporate executives who were making poor attempts of relating to kids. But with a lot of unrelated indie series now sharing a lot of tonal and design elements, it kind of makes me wonder if people are subconsciously becoming their own corporate executives in their head, if that makes sense...?
Idunno, a lot to think about, especially since I also want to get more involved in the indie animation scene. I just want to make sure I do the best I can if/when my turn ever arrives!
I'm having such a great time watching Even a Replica Can Fall in Love! If you're curious about the series, this is your sign to check it out- you can watch the first 5 episodes together like one big movie, and it's a really sweet and compelling story!
Or better yet- check out the manga and/or light novels! Personally I think the artwork and direction in the manga is even better than the anime!
A bit of an over simplification, but as someone obsessed with character dynamics, I wanted to highlight how genius the starting point was for the Toa Mata's personalities in Bionicle!
For added context, "Introvert" here is shorthand for "Doesn't mind if there's no team", and "Extrovert is shorthand for "Wants the team together"
Tahu- Wants the team together (So he can be their leader)
Pohatu- Wants the team together (Because he likes being with his siblings/friends)
Gali- Wants the team together (Because she feels a united team is most efficient)
Kopaka- Doesn't mind if there's no team (Because he's not good with other people, and sometimes finds them annoying. He's also not a fan of others holding him back and vice-versa)
Lewa- Doesn't mind if there's no team (Because he likes being independent and having to wait for others to catch up just ruins his fun)
Onua- Doesn't mind if there's no team (He's fine either way, but if the others dislike being together and want to split up, who is he to argue?)
Another detail I want to point out is that originally there were only meant to be 4 Toa like the 4 Greek/Avatar elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. So I wonder if, when they had to add Pohatu and Kopaka to the group, whether they made a chart like this and figured out their personalities by filling in the blank spaces?
I also want to add that this isn't the best or only way to craft a team of six- but it may be why the original Toa Mata left a stronger impression on me compared to their reboot versions.
I animated your predictions for the next Pokemon Adventures arc! I had so much fun looking through all the suggestions and working with the most talented bunch of VAs I've ever met!
Thinking about Vault Hunter #6 for Borderlands 4...
I've had fun predicting characters recently, so here's my wishlist for what kind of character the final Vault Hunter for Borderlands 4 should be!
We don't have a sniper or an explosive themed Vault Hunter in BL4 yet- almost all previous Borderlands games had them. (Mordecai/Zer0/Aurelia/Fl4k for Sniper, and Brick/Krieg/Claptrap/Moze for Explosives)
A Stealth archetype could also be good, too! Previous VHs include Lilith, Zer0, (kind of) Claptrap, and Fl4k
Personal bias, but I LOVE the design style of the Order synths and the Vault Guardians- for a Vault Hunter that's neither a human or a typical robot, that could be cool!
On that note, a Kairos native could be a unique addition to the group, since all of them are offworlders!
Or-! And I just thought of this- maybe someone who crash-landed from Elpis when it got teleported to Kairos! It's a concept they could explore further than they did with (ahem) Pickle in DLC1.
Normally I'd suggest that Vault Hunter #6 be a girl so the final group has a 50-50 split of men and women, but having another enby Vault Hunter (maybe even the first human one?) would also be cool!
It's harder to predict Vault Hunter personalities since they're all so unique but also still need to be gun-loving and violent enough for the job. But I noticed we don't have an especially angry Vault Hunter in the BL4 cast. We have Rafa (Suave and Carefree), Harlowe (Polite and Inquisitive), Amon (Noble and Boisterous), Vex (Sarcastic and Dorky), and C4SH (Patient yet Thrillseeking). A more temperamental Vault Hunter with an axe to grind specifically with the Order could be a fun addition! Which lines up even better with my hopes that they've been on Kairos longer and thus have more grudges (similar to how Krieg was a former Hyperion experiment)
I also just wanted to note this here for the record- I don't think we're getting another former gun company employee (not counting my Order theory) since Rafa already fills that niche as ex-Tediore, but the active gun companies who don't yet have Vault Hunter ex-employees are Torgue, Jakobs, Daedalus, Order, and Ripper.
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