Hay doods! My name is Daniel, and I was born in 1985. I live in the Netherlands. Online I’ve gone by the nickname Ninjy since forever and a day.
My interest in recreating props from video games, movies, anime, and so on only really started in 2018. I’d been following a variety of cosplayers for a year or two already. What started out as a casual interest kind-of gradually shifted through curiosity and straight into wanting to be able to do these things myself. I was pretty confident I wouldn’t be up for it. For one, I have absolutely zero artistic experience, aside from some casual editing of family photos for fun. for reasons I’ll get into later… but I needed something more creative in my life, and I figured the only way I was going to see if I could do it or not would be to just start doing. So I did. Just like that. I’m not a person known for trying things on a whim, but for once in my life, I decided to take a chance.
It’s why I’ve decided to call the blog you’re on right now, and indeed this endeavor as a whole, NinjyProps. Because I’m Ninjy… and I’m making props! Well, sort-of.
I’m, uh… planning to try? That’s something!
What else is there to say about me? I’m autistic. I’ve got a reasonable handle on that as long as I can avoid my triggers, most of which I’m now intimately familiar with. I have chronic joint issues, especially in my fingers, ankles, and knees. I can carry a 20 kilogram sack of potatoes one day and be unable to keep a good hold of my dining utensils the next. I used to love working out, but that all went to hell in a hand basket when the joint issues got worse. I’ve always had an issue with weight, but I’ve gotten generously fat over the last couple of years because I can’t work out consistently anymore because of the aforementioned joint issues. I have struggled with depression for most of my life and will probably always continue to do so if it doesn’t get the better of me. I have almost-chronic headaches that occasionally skip a day, and for that last part I am grateful.
Which is basically to say that, hey, I’m a bit of a wreck! And spending what little money I have on building a room to work in, and buying tools and materials, is probably somewhere between severely ill-advised and monumentally stupid. I’m a clever enough sort on a good day, but the net sum of all my issues means I can’t do anything consistently – and when I try, my body inevitably and unfailingly punishes me for the attempt. In increasingly creative and painful ways.
Still, far be it from me to let something as trivial as that stop me from trying something new.