Secondlina's Panels

My brain seems to enjoy scaring me lately rather then giving me nice dreams. So i'll draw the dreams I want. Riding a ponycorn on a rainbow? Heck yeah! *hums robotic unicorn song*

I seem to be having bad dreams again. It's weird. A few people joke around that "a clean conscience means good dreams!" but really, even when i'm not stressed out or worrying or feeling guilty I still seem to have nightmares. Maybe it's my brain working too much. I'm always thinking, but I don't really do anything to tire my body out. Tired brain in ready-for-action body gives out messed up dreams? Maybe. I don't know. I wish dream catchers worked. I already have two in the apartment. *laughs*

Dreamcatchers are awesome. I wish I could buy a really big, crazy elaborate one. It would probably make my window look like it's got a giant spiderweb, but hey. To me, it would be cool.

Kinda makes me wonder about that whole "vivid dreaming" thing. My dreams are often logical enough (they sometimes inspired stories!) and I usually remember most of them. I seem to be rather lucid in dreams, and often eventually try to take control of a nightmare when I "realize" it's a nightmare. It never works though. Nightmares just get freakier. Like it's suddenly a battle. Kinda like in "Inception" I guess, but much less constructed and James-Bond-y (seriously, what was up with the James Bond part of the movie?) I also often die, fall and fly in dreams. It's suppose to be the elements people dream the most about. A lot of people try to analyze what it means. Nobody really agrees though.

I know one of the weirdest recurring nightmares I had was that I was in a weird metal/glass labyrinth with purple gas slowly poisoning people. And I have to get a character out. Often that character was an imaginary one and changed depending on my favorite book/comic/movie of the time. I never managed to get out of that darn labyrinth. Always ended up poisoned. :( Oh well.

What about you guys? How goes the dreamworld?

- Isa

We have the weirdest conversations while we are brushing our teeth ad getting ready for bed. This is one of them. Most of the time, it's my fault. I have faulty logic when i'm sleepy.

Aside from that OH GOD I'M FINALLY HOME. Bed. Beeeeed. I love you confortable bed. And food. Omnomnom. I really am turning into a hermit. I yearn for my apartment after a single full day away. But my apartment is really nice. Aside from the apparently leaky ceiling. What is wrong with you ceiling? Just don't leak on my drawings man. It leaked all over the carpet. and now the carpet is mighty stinky. It smells like copper. 

I finally backed up all my computer files. Drawings and music. Two very essential things. Before, I used to draw and color everything by hand. Nowadays, I use Photoshop a lot more. I think making backups is going to become more and more important.

Anybody else finds that covers to Nicolas Sparks movies all look the same? Are they any good? I,m not much of a chick flick person. But i,m amused by this.

So... I didn't get to meet the wiseman again.

It took me a while to post this, probably because it made me sadder then it should have. For those of you who don't know, the street wiseman was a homeless guy with a screwy eye that gave me hilarious advice that became a comic. He apparently knew the secret of life. It was a good secret.

I don't know why this affected me so much. Maybe it's the whole though of him dying alone, frozen to death, on a street corner. It seemed sad. It seemed to be the very definition of dying alone and unknown. I wonder if he had any papers on him? Or would he just be another Jonh Smith in a hospital mortuary and a government cremation center?

Unknown wiseman, I give thee these two comics. People might have forgotten who you were. But the people on this journal will remember you as a man with a good laugh.

- Isa

 ....Rent?

You know it's going to be a weird week when your coworkers tell you stuff like that. Oh well. At least, by working in tech support, I learn to listen to my fellow man whine and to not destroy them.

I think this week is going to be a little rough, but it's okay, because next week I AM GONE. Oh yes, I am talking a vacation. I asked my boss to move one of my summer weeks here, so that I could go visit family under the sun of Florida. I don't know if i'll be able to post much while i'm in Florida (most people don't have scanners). But i'll definitely DRAW. On a BEACH. Yeeaaaah. 

Until then, posts for you!

In another note, my sketchbook was indeed returned! ....With all the nude live drawings missing and a weird note. I think i'm going to lock my door tonight.

-Isa

To have a day where everything magically gets done for you and you can do no wrong? That would be sweet.

I think I figured out why Mary Sues are so popular.

And in case one of you still doesn't know, A Mary Sue is :  is often either a perfect or almost perfect character. They often appear in fan fictions and are sometimes based on the author themselves.

If the Mary Sue or Gary Stu is based on the author, they normally have qualities that the author wishes they had. For example, they wish to be more popular or better looking.When a Mary Sue or Gary Stu is written into a fan fiction, it will often cause canon (original) characters to become OOC (out of character). They often have terrible, grief-filled pasts and 'need' a certain canon character to understand them or they have a past that is the exact same or very similar to a canon character's. Mary Sues and Gary Stus are mostly found in new writers or written in fan fictions by more exprerienced writers for fun. They also tend to have either very common or extremely strange and exotic names or, if they are made for fun, will sometimes have the name Mary Sue or Gary Stu.

I think when you're a writer Mary Sues can be really fun to play with. Unfortunately, when you're a female writer, if you have a character with a slight physical resemblance to you (such as being female and dark haired in my case) she will be called a Mary Sue right off the bat. Not all main characters are Sues. And heck, even some "Sue" accused characters, like Tohru from Fruits Basket or Sakura from Card Captor are actually amazing and fun characters. I don't think it's bad to create a Sue, as long as you write her well. Like every character, the quality of the writing will make her a good or bad character, Sue not withstanding.

In other news, i,m posting this from my brand new computer, all ready to be used thanks to Link, who even added some coolness and added a Slayers Wallpaper for me to see when I got home. Way to go the extra mile, boyfriend of mine.

Sleep now.

-Isa

Yes. THERE'S a pick-up line he's never gonna use AGAIN. What was he trying to do anyways? Best pick up lines of the 80's sitcom?

I love messing with people.

Hola, friends of the web! Did you all miss me? I'm glad to announce that Rose is OVER. All drawn and given to my awesome editor for him to create the book! EEEE! HAHAHAHA I AM FREE! I asked, and apparently when the book will be out (August 29, 2009), you will be able to purchase it from the publisher's website, so I will be sure to forward you the link. There is also a book launch party in Montreal. The book Launch is for all the books coming out under this editor's TRIP Label. The launch is in Montreal, Saturday August 29th
15 h to 19 h At Le Cheval Blanc, 809 Ontario Est, Montréal (514 522 0211 - Click here for informative webpage) I'm excited you guys! FIRST BOOK OF THE ISA. You can join the launch party if you are in Montreal! Bring your friends! It's going to be fun and i'll draw something in the book for you that is extra special! 

In other good news, they want me to draw them more comics. So I have two other projects that I will get rolling soon. Here is a little list about what I plan to do comic wise:

-Revamp portfolio site/LJ for the pretties.
-Take care of the distribution list for Rose
-Jabberwocky short comic (for the TRIP Label)
- Psychopomp, a comic similar to what Rose is going to be, again for the TRIP Label
-Finish Doujinshi forichiban_victory 
-Draw Slayers steampunk style fanfic/comic Slayers Gears!
-Finish the Oz comics
-Princess Tutu Doujinshi
-Various comics for the journal
-A few paintings
-Fanarts (of Zel/Emile? And Charlie/Carmen? And Avatar? You betcha!)
-And, if I can, I have been thinking of maybe doing a comic with the Secondworld characters following the original plot of the RPG... Of course I would need permission is this project is still far on my list but it would be cool.

Whew. I need to make some comic-drawing schedules. I'm gonna be a busy girl, but no joke I love this. I love being able to draw and be published and getting feedback on the stuff I post online from you guys. You all rock.

......I really need to clean my appartment. I've been neglecting it because I was spending all my time on Rose. I could have done some yesterday and today, but I feel pretty drained...Both mentally and physically. So I think chore day will be tomorrow! Tomorrow, tomorrow! The cleaning fairy shall pass!

Over and Out!

Or not quite, have this picture of Rose...because I am so happy!



-Isa

*ps - I also JUST noticed last week the number of people that friended me went up to 70. What? When? Aw, you guys. :D

 

Very girly type of concern.

I would envy the hippy-like girls in my classes that decided that shaving-waxing-generally-removing female body hair was sexist and unatural and had the guts to keep theirs. I'm too self conscious for that. Plus, soft legs are... so soft! Oh, the softy! I shave my legs so I can rub them together and feel the soooooftness in my satin pyjamas :D

I started working on the underaged badass heroes drawing. It's going to be HUGE. But fun. Plus now I have ideas for other badass group images such as Badass Females. Badass Minorities. Badass Mommies (Yes, Mrs Weasley, you're in here!). Badass sword masters, etc. I also wanted to do People who have badass pets. LOL.

Man, i'm so tired and sick this weeka nd nothing gets done. I spend my time sleeping, at work thinking about sleeping, and watching anime on my labtop in bed. Health fail I am.

Not much Rose getting done this week.

p.s. Toronto Anime North - Must remember to call hotel tomorrow to confirm reservations are still A-ok! :D

Isa

The story starts like this. Two young teenagers grow up and go to highschool in a small town around Toronto. They are called Stephan and Celeste. Stephan is gay, but has a rather doctrinal father that likes to repeat that being gay is an abomination of the lord and that his son is full of sin (I don't want to throw in the right/wrong gay debate, but I think everyone agrees there is a WAY to handle talking about it. to his son)

As a consequence,  Stephan goes out with Celeste for most of High school. Eventually the cat came out the bag but Celeste supported Stephan and even acted as a *cover up* versus his family. Then they both moved to Ottawa to attend university and distance themselves from various family problems.

At the university of Ottawa, these two best friends meet a strange, short geek with glasses. At first, the geek named Isabelle is shy around them. But as time goes, she becomes confortable and they get in all sorts of crazy shit, including running away from insane turkeys while taking photos in a field.



Now, Celeste and Stephan just graduated and are headed to Vancouver, BC to start their lives as professionnals. Today is our last meeting for 2009.

I'm kinda sad they are leaving. Those two were excellent friends, but as per usual, i'm pretty good at long distance relationships. I'll miss Celeste's humor and wit. I'll miss Stephans caring spirit. They are awesome people and you can tell just by looking at them that those two are going to be together forever.

Goodbye you guys, it's been awesome.

-Isa

p.s. I am eating a butterball turkey sandwich. Turkeys are nasty. I feel no shame eating this.. Mmmmmh revenge is tasty.

 

And people wonder why easter and halloween are my favorite fake holidays. I can take in a lot of sugar. And I love it. really, it's a miracle I still have teeth. Oh Cadbury, you're magically delicious.



Work: In other news, work sucks this week. It's my week to do the events, so all my evenings are pretty much spent wearing a suit among various business people when I would rather be home in front of the tv or drawing. Or well, part of the job. If anything, this will allow me to accumulate "on the job" hours so that may take days off later.

Anime North: I discovered (and all you cats planning to go to anime north this year should check this too) that the long may break (aka Victoria day) is NOT on the same weekend as Anime North, as it usually is. I've asked my boss if I could take days off on that day and it's like pulling teeth! I get vacation days, so i'm allowed, but she doesn't want me to take them where I want to. Even though i'm asking a month in advance. This is the second time I propose to her a vacation date and she's not willing to let me take it, though she keeps asking me to give her a date so that she may incorporate it in the planning. My boss is weird.

Random: Aside from that, friends and myself are planning to go poke fun at Dragonball : the EPIC movie this friday, as it is the premiere. Prepare the LOL.

I caved and bought the first season of avatar: the last airbender. Oh, Nickelodeon, for 60$, I hope you do not deceive.

I,m also trying to draw batman villains right now. I love batman villains. He has the BEST villains. I'm trying to transform Bruce Timm's beloved designs (from the 90's Batman : the animated series) into The Dark Knight Versions of themselves. Okay, scarecrow and Joker and Two-face are done, but I really, really want to design Dark Knight Harley quinn and Poison Ivy. I'll let you guys see how this turns out.



Only reference picture of all the baddies I could find. And it's TINY!! I have larger references for their faces.

-Isa

Drawing by Yllya because she resumes it so well and I love her.

Around the LJ has been circulating some kind of  *express your geekdom* thing, du to the fact that the Sci-fi channel is changing it's name to Syfy to attract a larger demografic, play shows that don't fit in the Sci-fi style and also avoid being pinned as *a television channel for geeks, nerds and dweebs.*

Working in communications, I can see why they did that. Even if being a geek, or an otaku, or a nerd, or whatnot, is now a culture in itself rather then just a cultural sideline to the cool and normal people, most people still see it as a sub-culture of sweaty fanboys. Sci-fi (or rather Syfy) is not trying to offend geeks. It's trying to attract the muggles who still believe in the fanboy stereotype. I just hope they do it well, because in the process of gaining a larger audience, they might scare off their original audience who already openly mock them for trying. I admire them for trying, but I wish to remind them that a hell hath no fury like a geek wrongned and that while they try to call in the muggle democrafic, they gonna make sure not to flip off the geeky demographic that paid for their programming for 16 long years.

But back to the geek pride thing. Yes, geekdom has alwats been kindoff a sideline to the muggles. But now, it's a culture. And it's a pretty rich and economically flourishing culture. The same way homosexuality is now associated to a culture when it used to be all hush-hush. Now geeks stick out their palm pilots and wear their leet t-shirts outside in the real world because geek is chic. However, the flop-sweating fanboy still exists. That's the thing with stereotypes, they don't concern everybody, but the fact that they exist and resist to time so gosh darn hard is because they do live and breathe and small numbers. And those small numbers are what the muggles see because... well, the chic geeks look too close to muggles. They aren't scary and are therefore ignored (unless you climb a mailbox and scream yatta!) when the awkward fanboy in a corner is pointed and laughed at because he's got obvious defects. Ah, fear of the unknown...

The way it breaks down to is that ALL social groups are stereotyped in some way and that all social groups feed off the stereotypes of the other groups. The jocks, the pops, the fashions, the geeks, the nerds, the goths, the greasers, the punks, etc. Please confirm that like...a million stereotyped images jumped in your head when you read that. Otherwise you are lying.

Bottom line is, be proud of your demographic, and realise that others will always see in you a stereotype. But then they get to know you and realise geek is chic and you're pretty cool. Whether you're greatest memory when you were twelve was kissing that awesome boy in class or beating the crap out of Secret of Mana it's all okay. What's important is how happy you are. Don't be a geek just because you don't fit in with the other groups. Be a geek because you love it. I know I do.

As a final note, I think the best part of being in a democraphic like *geek* and loving it is that you yourself, get to openly mock your own stereotype.



Over and out.

-Isa