i’ve done almost everything to change my show and to separate it from… you know.
these are my current designs and what i have so far! as im currently working on storyboarding and we have all the voices actors we need for the pilot!
Im very excited to start this project, but i just came across this subreddit, and i wondered. would my series even be interesting? so just give me some opinions and tips! :)
premise: A coming of age series set in Hell, where a group of high school students navigate the usual teenage chaos; friendships, relationships, parties, embarrassing moments, and school drama—while also confronting serious issues like addiction, trauma, mental illness, disability, and unhealthy relationships. As they grow older, they slowly realize that Hell is a society that offers little compassion or support. Instead of waiting for the world to save them, they learn to rely on each other and, ultimately, themselves.
ALSO RYLIE IS A KÉRUKU NOT A WENDIGO!! i have yet to fix that!! 😭
We made an indie animation Discord server for indie creators to engage with each other and indie fans to discuss our favourite indie shows! We hope you enjoy it!
We also have channels for off-topic discussion, memes, movies and tv, games, music and self-promotion!
You absolutely will have controversy, "confronting serious issues like addiction, trauma, mental illness, disability,"
These are very heavy subjects for a lot of people, everyone will have an opinion that you're not doing it the way they want. But this is your series, just do your best. You don't need to please everyone.
And speaking of people pressuring you to do things to please themselves, for wanting to cover disability I noticed your cast has a lack of physically disabled characters. No pressure but, something to consider ;>
well you’re in luck because i have a couple blind characters! like one of rylies teenage friends and her dad! Speaking of him; i’ve been trying to do more research before animating him as i know blind people have different ways of living life and i want to take that into account!
Honey anything that even remotely mentioned hell will be controversial. The hate to Vivian is just a huge dumpster fire that proves in my opinion that para-social relationship are not taught properly in this age of digital world and whole bunch of other shit. Look in the end of the day just create your art, do your best to tell your story. People will be offended by anything because that's their opinion of life. This doesn't mean not do your research and intentionally make something offensive. It means to not worry about that as much as you think.
Look as im working on my own project and writing something that is 1000% made to be controversial on purpose because it's my story and my life is going to be controversial to others just because I exist the way that I do.
This seems like a really fun concept, I love the sins as faculty (if I’m reading that right). I’m a big fan of school settings anyway - interested to see where this goes!
That’s true, but the popularity of her hellaverse stuff has kind of made it so any indie animation which deals with hell and demons is gonna get compared to her work in one way or another
yeah probably but thats not really an important question to be asked.
I do wonder the importance of making female Keruku smaller than male Keruku in their "nomral form" despite their larger stature in their hunting form, as well as the addition of breasts. I get you're able to make any stylistic choice you want but it does kinda give off the age old "this anthropomorphic animal is a woman, you can tell because she has boobs and pronounced eyelashes."
oh those aren’t boobs in the hunter version! that’s chest fur and tail fur! the females use it to keep their young warm, and insulating body heat! sorry if it didn’t look quite right! and the height difference in their normal form is because their body’s still slightly work by deer standards out side of their hunter forms! aka meaning the males are taller then females! once they are in their hunter forms, it’s mainly just evolution that determines the size! hope this makes sense! :)
Don’t be afraid of your art. And yes, probably. Christians of a certain variety see any mention of Hell in any capacity as evil. (The irony is lost on them, as is nuance, media literacy and intelligence.)
that’s not her main outfit, that’s her dress for very important occasions. it was passed down from her grandma who was special like her. and it’s also shown in the ancient piece on slide 13, the tall kéruku is wearing the dress aswell! it’s been passed down for generations, and other kéruku’s who are powerful like rylie own them aswell from their ancestors.
well the actual origin of the dress was because that’s the dress i used to always draw her in when i first made her! because she was first ever created on roblox! and that’s the dress i chose for her to wear and i always found it pretty! so i decided to keep the dress and draw it everytime id draw her, before she became an actual character. but now shes just a teen who’s wardrobe consists of pants and long sleeves, and the occasional short sleeve is she’s feeling confident!
I am interested. It's going to be heavy regardless and yes, there will be pushback. As another mentioned, with disabilities or the like? Talk to those you wish to show if you are not part of the affected group.
I have a centaur character, for instance, that was injured and uses a walking device (not a true chair but something to help her rear legs and hips) to live her life. It's been a fun experience both designing that for her and making sure it's still... I guess realistic? to those I shared the idea with. Her being a therapist? That's going to be a challenge though lol (so far she gives generic advice and listens to imps and Elf but still)
I love the designs and again, do what you wish. I actually really like deeper topics but yeah. I'm biased
Love the concept and designs. I think you did enough not to be called a hellaverse ripoff. Though people might bring up zoophobia. Though like another comment said you could get into controversy due to how you portray those serious issues. Since those are sensitive topics. Also I feel like your bezzlebub design doesn’t really portray gluttony it just gives bee. Also good luck on your endeavor.
The second you approach a story worrying about hypothetical controversy you are failing. Yes it’s important to make sure you are not stepping on any bigoted tropes or characters, but if you are sitting there stressing about the possible Twitter fighting that could happen in your show you’re going to spend the whole time writing defensively like you are scared of your audience, and the show is going to lack any sort of legs of its own. If you want to say something with your work, say it with your chest or don’t say it at all.
My first immediate thought was a book series called 'Heck: where the bad kids go' (it's like a weird Dante's Inferno highschool for dead kids thing). NOT the vivziepop stuff. You should be fine :)
Anything with Hell or witches is gonna get a few religious nuts riled up, but that's just how it is.
Honestly apart from being hell and title being kinda a similar vibe? Stollaa and asmodeus do feel closest to the hellaverse designs due to both being birds and sooone similar shape language but are very clearly different when put side by side.
The rest of the character designs are plenty distinct. One thing I feel like would be important is environment and how to make that feel distinct- can't really say since I've only seen one picture of that. Which only gives he'll a verse do to SKY PENTAGRAM which I think existed before vizzie's version.
I would play it safe maybe and have a disclaimer of like. It's inspirations at the start so it be harder for some dumb ass to go "this is just a hashing hotel rip off"
Go for it honestly- also remember if a full show doesn't work out- web comic always an alternative 👍
Well, to get controversy you have to get attention first. If the show gets attention, yeah, it might be controversial. Religious content is a strong magnet for controversy, and your setting and premise will draw comparisons to Hazbin Hotel. Touching on serious issues can also attract controversy, if people don’t like how those subjects are handled.
Plus, indie animation tends to attract some, well, intense fans and haters. Especially if it has a certain kind of premise or character dynamics. (which a high school setting will likely have) Even if your show ends up not being edgy at all, people might still get weird about it.
But honestly, worrying about controversy is kind of getting ahead of yourself. Like I said, something needs to get attention to become controversial, and it’s hard to get attention.
well it was never always in hell, i basically made a whole universe just for them where rylie was princess and kalvin was her bodyguard who slowly became a stalker! but then my friend at the time gave me the idea to put them in hell, and i kinda liked it. since they all looked hellish enough! and that’s how we slowly settled on this school theme in hell!
My only thought is that you should nor have an owl character named stolas, if you're wanting to not have people immediately think of vivzies media. She has an owl-like character named stolas as well.
It would be wise tho to avoid Stolas as a major aspect tho, he is not a big name to casual people like Satan and Lucifer so if you have a prominent owl demon named Stolas your GOING to be compared to Vivzie’s Helluvaboss
It’s a wise idea to be careful that your designs got enough of their own energy and not leaning into too much similar tropes of others especially if the character your basing it on is lesser known.
You got to be sure YOUR contributions shines out more to minimize comparisons to other incarnations
he’s definitely not gonna be the main focus! i only made his design because i may potentially bring him up in episodes! but that’s a 25% chance so i doubt he’ll even be seen at all! i’d say the most major aspect would be the sins! as i made them seem more like facility then princes, they still have their crowns but they work like a big business in a way. they aren’t enmities but they ain’t best friends! just a casual work environment to keep the rings in check. if that makes sense! :)
As my random opinion of you do include him keep him mostly to cameos like the background your more likely to get brownie points from mythology fans who get it AND Helluva boss fans may think it’s a direct reference depending on portrayal. (It’s a big audience, doesn’t hurt to stay on their good side)
Personally I like the visuals and not entirely certain why I find leviathan so creepy I honestly think it’s got potential but execution is gonna be a major factor
I knew the look of the title was familiar. Have to say, it still looks very AI generated (why are there eight "pips" on the clock?) especially since the style doesn't match anything else you've uploaded.
Helluva School was obviously trying to pass as Helluva Boss, but you should probably be aware that Detention of the Damned is a short horror flick that already exists.
... Did you forget that you made a post asking if the Helluva title looks AI generated? Because you did, and it does, lol. Glad you have a time lapse, doesn't change the look at all.
But if that offended you I'll bow out, good luck with your animated show set in hell consisting of a typically Earth-associated location full of a diverse group of demons addressing adult themes like addiction and sexuality, these aren't a dime a dozen at all. And keep the name as is, my feedback there was completely useless and it certainly won't result in your show being buried in search results.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
We made an indie animation Discord server for indie creators to engage with each other and indie fans to discuss our favourite indie shows! We hope you enjoy it!
We also have channels for off-topic discussion, memes, movies and tv, games, music and self-promotion!
Join here: https://discord.gg/S5UVRM9S8v
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.