On my live show Cosplay & Comic Books, I love reading stories in character. It is a wonderful way to play and bring comic books to life. Additionally, I have found reading out loud has been such a different and magical experience. April O’Neil is a classic character whom I loved from the late 80’s early 90’s cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She is actually a big inspiration behind why I even ended up moving to Toronto way back in the day -to study Broadcast Journalism and get down to the truth in stories.
Now, one thing about the “Ninja” in Ninja Turtles. When I was growing up in the 90s, ninjas were all the rage. In fact, when I initally wrote my Dragon Warriors book - the boys were Dragon Ninjas as opposed to Dragon Knights. I will likely still incorporate Ninjas back in the story as a class, but we shall see :)
But what are Ninjas?
Ninja (aka Shinobi) were the specialised assassins, saboteurs, and secret agents of medieval Japanese warfare who were highly-trained proponents of the martial arts, especially what later became known as ninjutsu or 'the art of the ninja'. These special forces were adept at disguise, deception, and assaulting enemy positions and strongholds, usually at night when they moved like shadows in their traditional dark clothing.
I love how ninjutsu is condsidered the “ART of the Ninja”. After all, many of the fighting training undertaken by superheroes in general are called “Martial Arts.”
The etmology of “Martial” is:
late 14c., "warlike, of or pertaining to war," from Medieval Latin martialis "of Mars or war," from Latin Mars (genitive Martis), Roman god of war (see Mars). The sense of "connected with military organizations" (opposed to civil) is from late 15c. and survives in court-martial. Also, occasionally (with a capital M-), "pertaining to or resembling the planet Mars" (1620s).
Interesting right? It pertains back to the planet Mars.
Personally I have the planet Mars in the same sign as my Sun - so astrologically it is much like having your Commander on the same page as the Capatin of your Soul. It also does beckon to warfare, indeed - but oftentimes, to protect those that you love you must go to war. Mars rules the sign of Aries, which opens up the chart - it is our first breath and our first scream.
Hence, I find a lot of therapy through playing video games, where… I suppose it’s violent even if its animation right? Yesterday, myself and hubby spent some time revisiting TMNT: Shredders Revenge. We had to call it at the end because the boss got so hard! If you play on XBox or PC let us know, the more the merrier!
Share this post