Earth Dragon Head

A close-up of what the Earth dragon's head looks like.
 

(What I once called Earth dragons are now the Iron dragons, so this is the new Earth dragon)

Tiger and Bunny on Stage

I just discovered a stage play based on the anime Tiger and Bunny. 

It's on Youtube, but it doesn't have subtitles. It was still entertaining. The actors really nailed the voices of the characters. The actor for Fire Emblem was perfect! Man, he looked and moved like a model. 

I forget what point I was going to make. Well, I'm lazy and I'm going to post this anyway XD

Zephyr Dragon Head

Finished drawing the close-ups of the dragon heads. This one didn't turn out quite how I wanted. The scales on the body should be even smaller - this type of dragon has very fine, tiny scales. 

But anyway, this is the Zephyr dragon.
 

Mistborn

Whoo, I'm still getting the shivers. 

I've been reading the Mistborn books. Several people have recommended them, so I bumped them to the top of my list. It's the first stunning fantasy series I've found since I read The Name of the Wind years ago. I finished the original trilogy last year. And now I'm reading the Wax and Wayne series (When I saw that's what the series was called, my first reaction was literally, "oh, you did NOT!" I may have actually said that aloud - though quietly -  in the bookstore. But I think it's hilarious).

(Spoilers from now on.) 

Man, this guy can WRITE! In the original trilogy, each book contained an impossibly huge task. A task no one was sure could be done. But they had to try. And through courage, determination, and smarts, they miraculously manage to succeed. (I was a bit disappointed that a battle of false gods ended up as a battle of real gods, but I have no right to complain. After all in the history of my own world, a war of gods and humans nearly destroyed everything).

His battle scenes are so vivid. You can really see them. There was one battle I just read with Wax that left me in awe.

Actually, I like the Wax and Wayne series even better than the first trilogy. Maybe because I'm already familiar with the world and allomancy, but also probably because this series makes me laugh more. The first trilogy did make me laugh out loud a few times, but it's heavier. Such great characters. Plus you get to look back at old friends from the original series. I think Wax is my favorite. Though Wayne makes me laugh all the time (and then he makes me want to smack him right after). That guy is crazy, and also brilliant. I finished the most recent book just now. Luckily it looks like the last book is almost out. I hate waiting XD I guess in that way, it's good that I usually get hooked on series long after they're over. 

The Bands of Mourning really got me this morning. The scene where Wax is shot, dragging himself bleeding along the ground, and finally ends broken and dying. And if that didn't hurt enough, Wayne, who never takes anything seriously, comes and finds the most important person to him dying. And it's good that I didn't start crying like Wayne was, because I was listening to an audiobook as I commuted to work. It wouldn't be good for me to start bawling on the freeway. But man, if they ever make a movie of this I'm going to be sitting in a puddle. (I've been crying at movies more than I used to, though I almost never do so with books. Huh.)

Three of the main characters in the last series died. Despite that,  I didn't expect it to happen to Wax. But then Marasi comes to the rescue. Wax wakes and throws the boulder off. Man, that whole part's been sticking with me all day. Whoo, emotional. Tragedy, then relief. Then time to kick some butt.

Wax is truly amazing when he's going at full power. Like Vin was (even with his normal powers - not just with the bands).

I'm surprised we didn't see Wayne's reaction when he finds Wax is alive. That should have been an emotional scene. Wayne was crushed when Wax basically died in his arms. We also didn't see Steris's reaction. And even though Marasi saw him come back to life, it felt like he just said, "you saved my life." I wish there was more. I wanted to see the characters feeling like I did during that scene XD

Yeah, still get shivers about that whole part. But this is the kind of scene that's always hit me super hard - when the strongest, most solid characters are beaten and broken (When I first listened to the audiobook Harry Potter scene where Dumbledore is drinking that awful evil potion, I was standing with my hands against the wall, in shock).

 

Okay, I started looking up some Mistborn art. There's a lot of really good pictures. But one cracked me up so hard. I clicked on an image of Wax in some of his different costumes. When I enlarged it, I froze. Then I jumped down to the image description. Yes, I was right. They had drawn Wax as if Hugh Jackman were playing him in a movie. 

That is awesome. Make it happen, world.

Soundtrack Only

I was checking out the bonus features on a movie, and I clicked on an option that I didn't recognize. To my surprise, it was a full-length version of the movie, but the only sounds was the music - no dialogue or sound effects. It had both the musical numbers and the soundtrack music. 

I have a lot of soundtracks, but I'd never heard the soundtrack to this movie before. There were some parts that I could tell exactly what was happening, just by hearing the music. And there were other parts where I'd never even noticed the music before. It was a fascinating way to watch a movie. I've never seen this option anywhere else. 

 

It reminds you how important music is to the feelings of a movie. 

 I did it again! I called Arith "Katani!"

Man, I haven't written anything for Katani in ages. I keep hoping my brain will reset at some point and just stick on Arith. But I guess I'll always be mixing up names for my poor characters. TT^TT

Character Development Lectures

My dad recently wanted me to watch The Birds with him. I'd seen it a while ago.  Well, a long time ago. You can probably guess how I feel about their portrayal of birds, but anyway. That doesn't stop it from being the famous classic it is. 

Now I often have to explain character development to Dad. People wouldn't care about a movie if they don't set up the characters. But he's been fascinated with The Birds lately. And he actually started talking about character development! He brought up the topic on his own. I was so proud of him.

And even better, he added that he liked the character development in Steven Universe. 

I never thought my talk of character development would rub off.

Don't Follow My Lead

I wanted to submit an article to a magazine. I don't know much about submitting nonfiction, but I do know that you're usually supposed to write a proposal. That means you have to give your idea to someone. And if they like you're idea, then you write your story. But I'd already written my article. 

I knew that was true of novels, but I didn't know it was also true of articles. A few weeks ago when I checked out their submission page, I found that the only entry field was for the proposal. I think the gears in my ind jammed. I'm not sure what I was thinking. I was frustrated and stressed about everything, so I just threw out a brief paragraph describing it, and the beginning chunk of the article, and hit submit. 

Then I realized that I hadn't even included contact information. Which was probably good. Now whenever I get the motivation to actually write a proposal (to an article that I thought was done) at least they won't know I was the idiot that threw some half-ass thing at them. @_@

But I really don't want to write a proposal TT^TT I know nothing about them. And I don't want to research them, when I already wrote my article. I'll get to it eventually...

Do you think if instead of the proposal, I could just slip in my article? XD

Anyway, needless to say, this is a stupid thing to do. Don't do it.

Plastic

Here's an important video about plastic:

Happy First!

 Hey, my neck is actually noticeably better!

Let's take that as a sign that 2022 will be a year of fixing things for everyone.