Varying fidelity
I did some minor cosmetic changes to my site, namely adding some flexbox positioning-related stuff so it wasn't just 1 column all the time. This is primarily to prep my site for upcoming comic festival apps and make things look less garbo on desktop.
One the tasks included drawing a more representative image for SitM for how the comic will probably end up looking like (feat. Mesha and Mason)!
When I started planning SitM I aimed to simplify my style for it, but I failed HAHA (me, a person who perpetually wants to hatch more). Instead I applied the same inking I used in MKISA.
Figuring out how to render Mesha's puffy hair took a few tries. I opted to keep the outer surface less detailed than the interior, and have the bottom ends curl inwards. Overall she tries to maintain a more triangular shape (flatter on top, puffier on bottom) for work, but it's more puffy at the top for casual wear (though IDK if we'll get to see much of that in the comic itself).
Mason looks like any other guy I draw so not much to troubleshoot for him, HAHA. Though maybe I should revert back to a wider/rounder chin? IDK. Maybe I'll leave it up to fate/whatever my hand wants to do when it's time to draw. Faces and proportions are also so dynamic when in motion.
Other notes:
- I drafted some writing for a maid/vampire comic. WHAT IS THIS? Time will tell...
- I signed up for a new payment processor, Helcim. Will see if it was a good idea or the same as the rest (stripe/paypal/square); currently trying to figure out how to not dox myself as a sole proprietary with WFH situation
- for no particular reason TD Bank closed my debit/access card and now I have to chase them to hold them accountable (yell)
- Maybe I'll do Sketch Like an Architect again this year (Oct 27-Nov 1 2026) though part of me is also feels "I should be drawing comics because I have 100+ pages to draw before April 2027" which now that I've typed it out, feels less and less realistic, haha
OC bday: Mesha
The star of SitM! Using a new-to-me Krita brush, inkP 21 Flat Rake. I decided to leave this more loose/messy than my usual tendencies.
1. Were there any educators Mesha absolutely loathed? Tell us about them. Certain baddie coworker elders that were more ignorant and backhanded in their teachings.
2. What light level does Mesha prefer to sleep in? Can sleep in any light level because she's used to falling asleep on public transit.
3. Does Mesha consider themselves a religious person? Do other people? No to both! (TBH as a person/creator who has no religion, I don't really ever delve into this side of characters by default)
4. How many languages does Mesha speak, and which ones? AFAIK only English hahaha
5. What is Mesha's least closely guarded secret (they don't publicize it, but they don't mind if someone finds out)? She plays handheld console RPGs feat. old people.
6. Has Mesha ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? Yes...that's what the entire plot of SitM hahaha
7. Does Mesha sing? Are they any good at it? She wouldn't perceive herself as being good at it, since she is baseline high anxiety and low self-esteem. Unknown how others feel about it since she wouldn't sing in public.
Fishlips
Kiryu-chan!
Wao so cool 😎 (fishlips transforms into a werecreature during certain moon-related times...)
It was my dear Fishlip's birthday on Oct 15. Happy birthday to my beautiful precious child. To commemorate, it was time to bring Fishlips into the physical realm...
Though in game there is no pumpkin (as hat accessory) AFAIK?! And no knife like this. This knife was suppose to be straight but it became more curved as I sewed it on ahahaha. There's a safety pin attached to the back.
I put the pin on my very yellow/orange corduroy bag hehehehe. They're so cute!!!!
Listening
BTS by Boooka.
Watching
No Time To Die: Daniel Craig is my fav Bond, but I wasn't really into this movie. I didn't really understand the motivations of the villain even with the monologue explanation?! And also don't remember what happened in Spectre, which this film is a heavy continuation of. I felt like there was never chemistry between Bond and Madelaine since Spectre. Did not like the child actor for Mathilde either: there's a really weird moment where she just stays put after commiting a violent-act, which was really awkward. I was so sure the mosquito bites were something more dramatic?! Red herring.
Also did not believe Rami Malek's chara was so much older than Léa Seydoux?! IRL they are only 4 years age diff HAHA.
Paloma was a great few-minutes-Bond-babe though. Whoever applied the boob tape to her + the dress needs a raise. Felix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hoppers: so cute!!!!!!!!!! I am biased because I love animals HAHA. I think the film has similar theme/heart-notes as most pixar/disney stuff. The emoji-mashing scenes made me shake from laughing (while I was on the plane).
Dark City (Director's cut): didn't know what to expect and definitely didn't expect what was served. The characters in this film are all...very subdued/restrained/concise in their dialogue? A lot of different and often creepy speech patterns. It's very ambiguous! I always like watching the commentary features hehe. Why is Kiefer Sutherland lasso-ing people hahaha. Loving the note about low budget = greater ideas. I starting wondering if they extracted my memories, would they just be shrouded in darkness with zero imagery HAHA.
The Forbidden City: a chinese gal who know martial arts travels to Rome to find her sister and basically goes berserk on everyone and beats up a lot of Chinese and Italian mafia. This was a random thing I watched with my mumz on Tubi (free). It is not a good movie HAHA she gave it a 1/5 star rating and 0/5 for story logic. I'm surprised it had higher ratings online. It feels really "straight guy action movie" formulaic with the extremely contrived 0 chemistry romance that they tried to stuff in. IDK if I have ever watched a movie with this much Italian in it, but I realized that I find the way that Italians say "no" quite fun because it sounds very similar to English pronunciation but more definitive intonation.
In the movie there's a gaudy fountain pen that the chinese gang boss calls "an antique" and I'm pretty sure it's either a Jinhao or Hongdian-branded modern fountain pen that costs less than $100. YOU CAN'T FOOL ME (a fountain pen nerd)!
Shoplifters: found family of shoplifters. Recced by Jocelyne because we were talking about Lily Franky. I thought the cast really delivered on an understated performance where less is said and more is either seen/interpreted/read between the lines (positive). Though some of the mouthed inaudible words would've been totally lost if not for the subtitles. I wonder how those moments landed for Japanese audience w/o subtitles.
Reading
It Starts with a Square: sewing book where all the patterns start with a square (usually resulting in less waste). So much math so I haven't tried, but more suited for ppl who want loose boxy fit.
Medalist #1-9: UGH this dokidoki girl and her gross worms LOL but I still support and cry. Also the drawstring worm comfort is so good...and the gestures and anticipation are so well depicted/beautiful! Why is Jun Yodaka such an edgelord weirdo?!!!! Hikaru is also a weirdo and I'm not sure how I feel about her...def has off vibes (dangerous and mal-adjusted?! Should not be with the edgelord to encourage this). I heard the series is on perma hiatus now though?!
I'M ONE OF THEM!
Really taking me back to my figure skating-watching era back in the...90s/00s haha. A NEW FAV SERIES.
SAME TSUKASA, SAME...
SAME INORI, SAME...
Smoking behind the supermarket with you #7: I often get confused with what's a flashback thought and or reality...
Billy Bat #1: conspiracy confusions...
Snow White with the Red Hair #27: Obi!! What is going on!!!!!!!
Firefly Wedding #7: !!!!!!!! HMMMM A REVEAL !!!!!!!!!!!!
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun #2: Given how unsmart Nozaki is I'm surprised his series is doing well (is the editor doing the heavy lifting? haha). I laughed at the comic-making moments again.
Very good drawing!
A+ inappropriate tone use
Fool Night #10: more unhinged characters appear...many gories...
ysym brainrot
They canceled the Tamura Yuto photobook that I was looking forward to... and every Yamaguchi fan is emotionally devastated. I had to go look at his other fashion photoshoots (e.g., 1PIU1UGUALE3 RELAX ~ONFF~ 2024 spring/summer, 2024 autum/winter, +phenix; Back Channel 1, 2, 3, ) to recharge. Why isn't this guy plastered all over Leon?!
Since the photobook was the main thing I was waiting for release date on, I decided to go ahead and try proxy ordering from Japan for the rest of my brainrot. I'm trying buydoujinshi service this time because they have 1 fee per non-Mercari shop VS per item, which was better for my scenario (and I am a pure Buyee/DHL hater). Will report back to see if it was a good or bad experience!
Like a Dragon rot continues
Related to proxy buying, I also shamefully bought 10+ Shishido + Tsuruno doujinshi HAHA (every in-stock one that I could find on Tora no Ana and Booth). Some of them are all-ages and some are not. It's nice to support indie comic/zine makers, OK!?
My ShiTsu brainrot continues to grow, and I'm sure that some of you are laughing/shaking your head/enjoying watching my descent into what is best described as, fujin'in out.
Misuse of resources My beautifully drawn unrealistic post-gaiden/pirates plot. SPOILERS!
Since Tsuruno's IRL actor (Yamaguchi Yoshiyuki) later plays live-action Majima in the Nihon Touitsu collab, I sometimes laugh at the thought of them talking to each other (talking to himself). I was obviously not particular about these drawings, except I tried harder to make Majima's goes-into-serious-mode-laser-dodging to look effortless in this scrungy form factor.
Musing about the ADULT continuation of mkisa, the fight that brought us together. The phrasing is meant to rhyme with mkisa title. There's also a 3rd title rhymes, the light is shining brighter. Why am I cursed with 2 other zine ideas...
Looking at this a later, I already see errors for later me to fix, and probably want to redo the design overall for a closer crop (later me problem if I actually draw this series).
Some smut is on locked on fedi because I can't upload here 😂, though I do have to learn anatomy + etc. to move forward.
Some slice of lifey pre-gaiden family moments. I want to draw more...
Sus drawings...
Recently, I've gotten tired of pattern transforming all the patterns so I'm manually drawing them again. Wahoo deloolooo! Expending a different type of effort!
I have too much Yakuza/LAD stuff now, floating in the ether.
Like Saejima with gators (this is my first time drawing less scrungo Saejima...), directly inspired by a photo by someone who posted a gator/croc figure on their Saejima plush's head.
I think baby gators and crocs are really cute (esp when they're just on top of their parents' head/back or in a group) but I don't actually know how to draw them (nor did I use ref for this haha).
WAHHH CUTIE PATCH!!!
Glad I saw your post - I have been busy so catching up.
You review of The Forbidden City is so funny... the other day I watched a kung fu movie with my family that my BIL and Brother really loved and hyped up. I completely forgot that they definitely have "straight guy action movie" preferences and the reason they loved it was for the non stop fight scenes (almost very MMA style). LOL.
Nozaki is so funny, I loved the anime. I think it will stay in that 4-koma format forever but it's really great to see all of the tropes that show up.
My fav panel is the big cats.....
I'm just always surprised that they managed to get the Yuzuru Hanyu for some of the Medalist anime promo (if you are already reading the manga, no need to worry about the anime). What is wrong with Jun!!! Why is he like that!!!!
Yay comic festival apps!