~dmitricassel

Let me be very blunt right off the bat. I love people, specifically human beings. Give yourselves a pat on the back or where ever you pat yourselves when you congratulate yourself. You are all very special and unique. Sometimes though, I wonder about people.

Let me give an example. I logged into my messenger and took a look at my friend's list to see if anyone I knew was on. Turns out someone is on, but set to Busy. This person puts as their little sub message (the small grey words next to their IM name) "Doing homework on my PC. IM if you NEED me."

Wait, why are you even online? If you're doing homework on your PC, what is the point of being on messenger? How presumptuous can you be to assume someone would NEED you? I guess they could be on talking to a group or something, but why not note that in your message? "I'm doing homework with my group, don't IM me." That's got a better ring to it. Why would you just note you were doing homework, all alone, on your own PC on Instant Messenger?

I'm probably just bitter because I was bored and wanted someone to chat with. Now I'm trying to decipher this message through a blog, proving that leaving me to think by myself is a dangerous thing. Next time be more clear so I don't have to write a blog!

So, it's been a month since I uploaded my little hot dog guy and staked my claim in the gold mines of Deviant Art and I have one blistering question that plagues my mind. A small inquiry that requires an answer, if not for me, than for everyone who uses this site.

What is it with the constant Naruto and Kingdom Hearts art?

Now I have my own opinions on fan art. It's a fun homage to the cartoons, games, books, whatever gives you joy. I'm not knocking Naruto or Kingdom Hearts either. They're both a rich universe of characters and settings that are more than deserving of their fanbase. Besides, a good piece of fan fiction or fan art can draw people to your portfolio to view your original work.

However, do we really need this much Naruto? Do we really need this much Kingdom Hearts?

Now I'm pretty familiar with both of these brands and I can only think to myself "why do these two stand out so much in the minds of artists?" When it comes to anime, there's definitely more anime out there that have more things that I would imagine would catch an artist's eye. Bleach and Ghost in the Shell come to mind immediately, being front runners of their respective styles. Naruto's definitely unique, but we can only see so many Sasuke with Sakura pics before we just don't care anymore.

Now I'm completely baffled with Kingdom Hearts. If I'm not mistaken, the game itself is one big fan fiction. A union between the incredibly popular Final Fantasy series of games and the staple of the American Way Disney, this game barely has ANY original characters. The few that are in there are apparently having a gay love affair because I keep seeing little romance scenes between the main character and his taller, white haired counterpart. I don't think I could write a fan fic for this game without feeling I was violating three different copyright laws all at the same time. This just irks me the wrong way because I feel like you should choose to do something based on Final Fantasy or based on Disney. It's just easier that way.

So there's my little rant. I know saturation isn't a new word when it comes to mainstream media, but as a website dedicated to artists, I just feel we could do better. I think a rule of thumb should be to have five original pieces of work before thinking about a fan work. Show people you can do something more than showing the 50,000th Sasuke and Sakura kiss. Everyone is more talented than that.

But hey, that's just me. I'm just a month old.