Remember Me

I live near a cemetery. When I was in middle school, I had a fort there with a friend of mine named Olivia.
A relative of mine was buried there, so whenever we visited the cemetery, I would leave her a flower.
Olivia didn't know anyone there, so she picked out a grave that looked forgotten. His name was Frank de Mara. She would leave flowers there.


These days every time I'm in the cemetery, I visit four graves.
One is the grave of my relative (my aunt's mom).
The second is a little girl that I've never met. But she was the daughter of one of my dad's students. She was only a year old.
Third is a boy that died while I was in high school. I didn't know him, but I did know one of the boys who was in the car with him when the accident happened. There's a sign at my school to honor that boy.
And finally I visit Frank's grave. I continue to leave flowers there.

Yesterday I walked up to the cemetery with my Dad. I hadn't been there in a while and I gathered four flowers before we walked up.
During this cemetery visit, I couldn't stop thinking about Coco.
I made my usual rounds, and finally ended up at Frank's grave. He died in 1909. He wasn't old either. A bit less than 40. I've never seen any other offerings there.
Who was he? What did he do? Why did he die? What kind of person was he? Is this guy forgotten?
Now more than ever I want to know something about him.

Before Coco even came out, this kind of stuff had been on my mind.
A couple years ago, during my Young Adult Fiction class for grad school, we read a book called "Love Letters to the Dead." One of our assignments was to write a letter to a dead person.
I wrote my letter to both of my Grandpas. I never met either of them (I did grow up with a grandpa - the best Grandpa ever - but he wasn't actually my blood Grandpa. My Grandma married him before I was born, after her first husband died).
I think that letter is when I started wondering a lot more about people that I'd never met.
Maybe that's one reason why Coco affected me so much.

Another thing that affected me about Coco was Mama Coco. I cannot see her without thinking about my Grandpa - the Grandpa who may not be related to me, but was as good a family as you could hope to get.
He died last year. He had alzheimers.
Even when he didn't know who we were, he still remembered his music. The last time I saw him alive, he sang Amazing Grace, and Red River Valley.
So that duet at the end of Coco hit pretty hard.


I think that might be one of the worst things ever. Even if your body hurts, you still have your mind. But alzheimers takes that mind away from you. It takes away memories of the people you love and scrambles the memories that are left.

There's a scene where Mama Coco looks at her daughter and says, "who are you?" A couple people in the audience laughed.
Let me tell you something. That is not supposed to be funny. If their own mother didn't recognize them, I doubt they'd be laughing.

Anyway, I recommend going to your family and asking about the people who are gone.
It's amazing what you can learn. And I'll bet your family will be glad for the chance to pass on what they remember about their loved ones.

I'm Only Un Poco Loco

Disney heard my wishes and a few days ago they posted the full clip of this song.



This song makes me want to dance. Though even the best dancer can't do what Hector does. Actually, I like his normal dancing even more than his loco dancing where he builds himself upside down and out-of-order.
You even get a glimpse of the beautiful Pepita in this clip.
How long can I go without mentioning Coco?
Who knows. I haven't had the chance to gush about this movie to anyone who's seen it. Except Dad. He's probably heard me go on about it enough already.
Which is why I'm gushing on my poor blog.
Might as well go on for a while, try to burn some of it out of my system. Usually writing stuff down means it stops speeding through my head.
Singing the songs would probably help too, but my voice still hasn't returned fully from my cough even though I'm otherwise recovered. Hopefully soon though. I've been learning them, so I'll be ready!

So, you may want to skip the rest of the post.

When I noticed that Hector had suspenders, I thought it was funny because I guessed skeletons needed them to keep their clothes on. But not so! You can see in this video that he takes them off in order to take his bones apart. Which means that his suspenders are not for his pants. They're to keep his bones together! XD
His clothes are so patched and he's so battered that his bones fall apart more than the other skeletons. Especially the arm without the sleeve, and the leg where the pants are torn off at the knee.
Also, I just realized he can take off his hair? And his goatee (which he then twists back on). @_@

Can I mention his goofy grins?



Plus his commentary on his photo is "muy guapo, eh?" He is actually guapo (handsome, if you don't speak español). It's just not really... reflected in this particular photo.
Imelda is beautiful while she's alive. Not quite so much when she's dead, but Hector looks cool both alive and dead.
Imelda is pretty awesome at the end. Do not mess with the people she cares about XD
And Miguel is cute too! "Dimple, no dimple! Dimple, no dimple!"

Angry flower shark



Maaan, his story is so freaking sad though. Even before he knows the whole story. But he's not a broken person. He must have had some terrible days though.
He may be, well, kinda unreliable at times (Why the heck would he lose that poor guy's femur?). But he's also super caring and outgoing. You can tell he has some self esteem problems, and that's not surprising at all. When Hector and Miguel are stuck together, he calls himself a sorry excuse of a person. TT^TT
He also takes pretty bad care of himself (and bad care of his stuff).

Plus people are so mean to him.
Miguel unintentionally makes fun of his limp. And other people taunt him for theoretically choking to death (Which feels even worse when you've seen the full movie). And that one lady almost drops a freaking staircase on him.

As I first watched the movie, I slowly liked Hector more as the story progressed. By the end I knew he was one of my favorite characters from the movie. But it wasn't until the next day that my brain had processed enough to go, "Man, I freaking love this skeleton!"


I wonder what Pixar's process was to figure out the skeleton faces. Sometimes it feels strange that their bone is also their lips. But it works.
Their level of research, on every level, is mind-blowing. They were accurate with the guitar, and everyone says they nailed the culture and the holiday. Which I know from experience is not easy to do. XD
Plus Disney has a history of not being very respectful to some of their subjects... Hence my initial worry about the movie.

I also wonder how written stories would affect the spirits in the Land of the Dead. For example, what if someone had a diary filled with stories about their family? Doesn't that count as having your family pass down stories about you? Would a skeleton be safe there as long as there was some kind of written record about them? But I guess not, because there seem to be written records about most people. I guess the stories have to be passed down directly.

I love that there are Español words and phrase scattered all over. Though there are a couple that I need to look up (once I can watch the movie with subtitles).

I also wish that they didn't have the term "final death." It would have been more powerful if it didn't have a name, I think. (Edit: Just learned that "the third and final death" is an actual thing, so I take this back).

I just saw Coco again today, with some of mi familia. When we stepped out of the theater, I went "Group family hug!" And bundled everyone together XD
Watching anime makes me use random Japanese words. Watching Coco makes me use random Spanish words (Except the Spanish is a lot easier for me since I studied it for three years XD). I am easily influenced by what I watch.

Christmas Stories

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wow, last night I did something that I haven't done in years.
I wrote one of Fern's stories.
I have a huge notebook full of outlines and stats and allies and everything. But I haven't actually written one of her stories in years. Possibly not even since high school.
Wow.
Mostly I just play them in my head, and write down the basics.
It was kinda fun to do.
Though I really need to solidify the group she works with. Heh.

(My aunt got me a tree fern for Christmas! )

Four Years of Drawing

Aah last night I finally finished the sketchbook I started back in 2014 XD
I go through sketchbooks pretty slowly, but I do have a few different sketchbooks for different topics, which makes it go even slower.

I like the idea of sharing my favorite pictures from my sketchbooks. I'd like to make a tradition of it, at least for my main sketchbooks.
So here we go again~


A color pencil picture of a werewolf version of Fang. The pose is taken from another artist, so I can't really take full credit for it XD
(That's probably true for most of the upcoming pictures, actually @_@ )


This is an image from Avatar: The Last Airbender that I had to redraw.
Zuko joining in the Dragon Dance.



I can actually take full credit for this one XP
The Phoenix dragons that appear (though briefly) in Katani's story.


This is a scene I redrew from Steven universe: Jail Break.
"I think you're just mad cause you're single!"

And finally

Another I can take full credit for!
Muffet from Undertale. I really like how this one turned out. It might actually be my favorite. But that background killed my hand XD

I already have several sketches in my next book. Only a couple of them are colored, and my next project is to finish the others.

Taking Over the Brain

So, if you're obsessed with a movie and can't stop thinking about it, is it better to try and avoid it? Not watch any clips or listen to music so you don't add fuel to the fire?
Or should you go crazy and get as much of it as you can so you burn yourself out faster?

The first option has never really been that successful for me. XD
Or maybe my self-control just sucks.

I thought I'd write a couple short stories before I start my next Katani edit. I've had a couple of them in mind for a long time now.
Without thinking, I picked out the oldest short idea to start with. It's a scene that takes place after Katani's story. I started yesterday and wrote most of it (The day before was spent on a different writing project).
The moment I started writing, I realized that it was an oddly appropriate, yet inconvenient choice. Because this short story takes place during a Day of the Dead celebration. Not Dia de los Muertos. It's based off of some of the Asian day of the dead celebrations.
So of course that made me think of Coco all the more. And then I compare them, and mine seems much more dull XD (Although that may also be because I started coughing yesterday, and I haven't stopped all day, so everything seems a bit hazy).

I've got three short stories to think about.
If I can stop getting distracted by Coco.
I really want to see it again. But for now I have to make do with the clips and stuff on Youtube.



I freaking love Hector's animation.
Heck, I freaking love Hector.
I found a few clips from the movie. He is totally suspicious at the beginning XD
Poor guy.
I wonder how his bones got all battered. And then I think that it's probably just because he does stuff like chuck himself off a balcony so he doesn't have to take the stairs.

Complete!

Whoo!
I finished the first draft of Evva's story.
First drafts are always the most fun and exciting to write. With each additional edit, it gets a bit more tedious XD

But for now I'm stepping away from Evva's story. Time to let it sit while I work on a different project.
Which probably means one more read through of Katani? There's three things I need to check out, but those three things will probably require an entire read-through. I imagine I'll find some other stuff to fix while I'm at it.

I'm also toying with the idea of maybe starting a new story too. We'll see. I'll probably go through Katani once more, at least.

Stars and Skeletons

Wow, usually when I write the big finale of a story, I'm totally sucked into it.
But last night was not that way.
I kept getting distracted . Not even by the internet or anything. I just couldn't keep my mind on what I was writing.
The finale sort of comes in three parts for Evva's story. And last night I wrote the last part of it (I only have the end chapter left - the resolution).
I was surprised that I was having so much trouble with last night's scene. It was a scene that had been in mind since the very beginning.
But I guess in hindsight, it's not that surprising. Because I think I kind of hate what I had to do XD
I came damn close to crying, which I don't think has ever happened to me while I'm writing. It happened while I was the letter that Sol leaves for Evva.

Anyway, while I was supposed to be writing the final battle, I kept stopping to think about Coco.
I saw it yesterday, and I loved it. It's the first Pixar I've loved since Up (about eight years ago). I don't think I can resist writing at least a little about it.
Sure, it had its problems. It was fairly predictable, in the Disney way (At least for me. Plenty of other people were surprised by the twist).
Dante was on about the same level as the rooster in Moana (except Dante was a lot more useful than Heihei).
The whole "NO MUSIC!" thing was a lot like how Moana wasn't supposed to go to the ocean.
(And spoilers in these parentheses. The bad guy setup was a lot like in Up.)

Either way, I couldn't avoid getting sucked in.
The animation was outstanding. I've always loved Dia de los Muertos and the combination of skeletons and flowers and bright colors. I was excited to see they were making a movie about it. But I also didn't have a lot of hope. I also got exited when I saw the trailers for Brave, and that movie disappointed me.
This movie did not disappoint!

My Grandpa would have loved this.

Pepita was freaking gorgeous!


I also really liked Hector. I can't even pin down why I like him so much. I guess the combination of his character and his animation? But I loved Hector.

Except for some reason I cannot remember his name XD . I kept having to look it up the first day. And I still have to think about it. Hector! It's Hector!
Man, my first impression of him was way off. I didn't think I'd care about him much at all. Sneaking around, getting arrested and stuff. He just seemed like a suspicious trouble-maker.
Well, just a little bit XD

I feel like I'm finding a lot of awesome skeletons recently. I never used to think about them that much.

Designing a dragon

Since I've designed 14 different dragon species, I've come up with a sort of template about the different features you might consider while building your own dragon.
Of course, dragons can be whatever you want. The sky's the limit. These are just to get you started~

1. Body Type:
There's the western variety of dragon which is more or less like a winged lizard.


Then there are the bat-shaped dragons, like wyverns


And finally the long eastern-style dragons.



2. How many legs do they have? Are they like South American dragons, which have no legs?
Do they have only two legs? Maybe only hind legs. Or possibly just forelegs.

Maybe they have more than four legs.
Do they walk on their hind legs, or on all four feet? Do they have to slither like a snake if they're on the ground?
How many toes do they have? In China, only the emperor was allowed to wear anything with five-toed dragons on it.

3. Wings
Do they have wings, or do they float? Maybe they don't fly at all.
Do they bat-like wings, or bird-like wings? They might me insect-like wings.
If they have bat-like wings, how many fingers do they have? Usually there are one or more thumbs on the wing which they can use to walk on or grab things. And then there are the longer (usually more flexible) fingers that the skin membrane stretches between.
Do they have more than two wings?


4. Covering
Do they have scales, feathers, skin, or fur? Or a combination of them?
What colors is the dragon?

5. Head
What shape is it? Square, triangular, or more rounded.
Is the snout thick, or sharp?
How long is the snout?
How many heads do they have?
What shape eyes do they have? What color? What shape are the pupils?

6. Tail
They probably need a tail for balance while walking and during flight. What kind of tail? Lion-like? Lizard-like? Bird-like?
Does it have spikes at the end? A club,? A blade,? Maybe a spade end. Or a tuft of feathers or fur. Or frills to help it steer.


7. Horns and spikes
Do they have horns?
How many?
What shape? Think of curled ram horns, stag antlers, bull horns, antelope horns, etc. Do they curve down or up or forward? Do they curl or branch or twist?
Do they have any other kinds of spikes on their head? Anywhere else on their body, like ankles or shoulders?

8. Back ridge
Dragons often have something that run down the center of their back. It might be a mane, or a line of spikes or frills.

9. Ears or anything else on the head
Do they have ears?
Frilled ears? Cat or dog ears? Scaly shell-shaped ears?
Do they have any other kind of frills or ornaments anywhere else on their head? (Or anywhere else)

10. Ability
Finally, do they have magic? Do they breathe fire? Spit acid? Maybe they have some other elemental power. Breathing ice, spitting lightning, breathing poison gas, blasting wind.

Can they speak?
Can they use telepathy?
Can they control waters?

Anything else?
How big are they?
Are they benevolent, or chaotic?
Do they hoard treasure, or guard the rivers?

Have fun!

Of Course I Knew it!

I read Bakuman a while ago, and enjoyed it a lot.


It's cool seeing how people form stories, and I learned a lot about the manga process.
Manga is very different than writing a book. Obviously.
But especially because manga are published one chapter at a time. The author doesn't get to go back and revise older parts of the story to improve them or fix continuity.

I've had a bit of experience with that through fanfiction. But even then I have been known to jump back and tweak things once in a rare while.

I learned that the authors of Bakuman were the same guys that wrote Death Note, which was popular while I was in high school. But it took me until this year to read it.
Since I read Bakuman first, I could almost feel a lot of their thought process throughout Death Note.

But the battle between the geniuses got rather annoying. Mostly because they always seemed to be reading each others minds in miraculous ways.
"Hah! I knew you would do this, and I prepared the perfect counter attack!"
No one could predict things that well, even if you can understand someone else's thought process.

Do I have a point here?
Well, sort of. I guess for those creating stories, try not to make stuff sound too forced.

Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses

Last night I went to the first concert I've been to in a long time.
And when I say that, I mean as someone who bought a ticket, because I play in a couple concerts a year (Our band concert was on Thursday, actually).

Because I went to the Legend of Zelda concert.



It was awesome.
I kept thinking what it would be like to sit in that orchestra XD I guess I'm spoiled since I'm usually right in the center of all the music.

You may or may not know, but in high school I wrote a "Zelda Symphony." Not technically a symphony. I think there were twelve musicians in it. But I arranged eleven songs from Ocarina of Time (All the Ocarina songs plus Sheik's theme) into a ~10 minute arrangement. We performed it during our band concert.
It was a lot of fun.
I couldn't not go to a professional Zelda concert.

I wish they had a soundtrack of it (You can find it on Youtube though).

I'm not gonna lie. The best part was when the conductor pulled out a Wind Waker baton and used it to conduct the Wind Waker medley.
The whole thing was awesome though. Everyone was excited, and there were a bunch of people in Zelda cosplays.

Evva Update

Most of Evva's story is a journey. Yesterday I reached the end of the journey. The rest of the story will take place at the "destination."

I didn't really know what was going to happen at the destination. I knew in general, but I knew none of the details. This afternoon everything fell into place once I started writing.
Everything fits! Wow, even someone writing a story can be surprised by how stuff works out.

I realized today that one of my older ideas didn't really make sense for the world they're in. And a new idea popped into my head to replace it.
It solves the problem of Evva's animal partner. Up until this morning, I assumed that she wouldn't get her animal partner until after this story had ended.
But now it's suddenly working its way into this story.

But I'm also afraid that this new idea will come off as a bit tacky.
My story has unicorns in it. The traditional sort of unicorn that you see in old tapestries.


And now it also has the typical modern unicorns - the horses with horns that you see in movies like Harry Potter and Narnia.


I've known for a while that I wanted both of these creatures in my worlds. I've also known that the "horned horses" wouldn't really be unicorns. Instead they are horses that have been granted power by unicorns. Much like certain magical people might grant part of their magic to other people (or animals).

But having both real unicorns and "fake" unicorns together in the same story feels tacky somehow XD
Ah well. I guess most people who see any unicorn in a book will automatically think it's tacky.

I wonder if having crazy monsters in this book will balance it out for anyone who doesn't like unicorns.

Location Location Location

Heheh, I set a record for writing today. I haven't written this much in one day for quite a while. It feels awesome~

But ohmagawd, writing about "falling in love" and stuff feels so sappy @_@

At least I'm pretty much past that part (for now).

And it's so complicated to set a story that's based off an actual place. Evva's story takes place in my own world, but it is a world that parallels Earth. Very closely in some places.
Which means that I have to figure out the distances between places, how long it would take to travel between them in a horse-drawn cart, and what kind of weather and habitats they have. And even what stars are visible form them, since that's important in this story. @_@
Since this isn't Soreina, I can't just make this stuff up myself XD

Luckily I'm rather familiar with the setting for the last half of the story. Not so much for the first half. It will require a road trip at some point in the future.
I hope I don't have to do a road trip alone. Heh. I wonder if I'll be able to get someone to come with me.

Engaged!

Had to do a shout-out here, since it involves a person who wrote some blog posts here a while back.
Stephanie got engaged!
They're both creative writers. The guy does the best freaking voices when he reads aloud.
It's awesome! They guy is awesome too, so I'm super happy for them @_@