Hi, all!
Sorry for the lame amount of posting currently. I was actually waiting for the results of a writing contest to come through before I posted anything else. I have a short story I wrote called "Locks and Keys" that I was actually going to post back with "Missoula," but instead I decided to enter it in a writing contest. If it had been previously published, it would have been disqualified. Not that is really matters, since I lost (ouch). I'm actually pretty bummed. But hey, at least I can put the story online now!
Locks and Keys
(I took this link down, revised it, and put it back up at least four times before coming to the version you see now.)
Locks and Keys Audio
(Sorry my S's are so loud.)
So...you enjoy that.
We've definitely done lots of other projects in Creative Writing this year, and I know that for this blog to become a good portfolio, I need to be prolific. But I also don't wanna post anything I don't think is good, so...we'll see what I decide. We're doing a poetry unit right now, so I'll probably do a post of a few poems later. I still have to edit some and write a slam poem.
Wish me luck!
-Allie H-S
P.S: my updated favorite webcomic list should appear on the side bar. New ones include Johnny Wander, Balderdash!, Paranatural, Monsterkind, Harpy Gee, and The Lonely Vincent Bellingham. Wow, that's a lot more than I expected. My friends say I have a problem....Haha...ha....
UPDATE: Eek look here I just learned I didn't lose yay!
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
March 10, 2015
October 4, 2014
Let's Just Go Ahead and Update You on Everything
Hi, all!
I've been kinda busy lately, what with school (school sucks, but less so than the last two years), the roleplay (we've been redeveloping everything), and debate (I also joined the debate team, just by the way). So sorry for not posting very often. I was going to compare The Maze Runner (book) with The Maze Runner (movie), but I get kinda rambly when I review. So maybe later. (Long story short: the movie was better. I know, I didn't believe it either.)
But yeah, this blog is a bit behind. I think it's time for an update post. So now, in no particular order...
Update 1: Yeah, seriously, I joined the debate team. I kind of regret it though, 'cause my most enthusiastic debate team friend (AKA: 70% of my motivation) has had to take a lengthy leave of absence. But I already paid club fees, hotel fees, and an extra sweatshirt fee, so yeah, there's no going back. Our first tournament is on the 11th, which is soon, so maybe I'll post about it after.
Update 2: School started a couple months ago, and my classes this year suck significantly less than they did last year. Unfortunately, I allowed myself to get discouraged around registration time and did not sign myself up for Drawing, but hey man, I took Photography instead. It quickly became my favorite class, so I call that a success. But more on that later. I'm also taking Creative Writing and Honors English, both of which should give me posting material (in the fullness of time). P.E. is dumb and Honors Math is dumb, but that's just two of eight classes. I got more than half-lucky this year! Yessssssss.
Update 3: Right but so photography. Photography is hard, so we're taking it slow(ly?), meaning we don't develop our first round of actual film until Monday. But earlier, we made pinhole cameras (mine was unsuccessful), and photograms (mine were very successful). So yeah, let's talk about those.
First thing's first: I have to explain how photo paper works. Basically, a bunch of goddamn magicians came together and created a type of white paper that turns dark when exposed to light. Well, okay, it doesn't turn dark until you put it in the developer chemicals, but the important thing is this: the parts that had light on them will be dark. Shine light on one corner? Dark. A different corner? Dark. A tiny spot in the middle? Dark. Just how dark it really gets depends on how much light hits the paper and for how long. If you shine a really dim light for a fraction of a second, it'll turn kinda grey. A glaring bright light for a minute or so should turn it completely black.
So, a photogram is what you get when you cover up certain parts of the paper to prevent the light from reaching them. In class, we stood in the dark room and laid a bunch of objects on our photo paper, put it under a light, and shined it on for a couple seconds, then put it in the developer chemicals. (side note: do not get developer chemicals on your hands. They won't hurt you, but you'll smell like old rubber and vinegar for the next two days, which makes you really sick really fast. It's gross.) My best four came out like this:
Maybe I needed the change of medium from drawing to art. I like this. I really do.
Update 4: Like I said, we've all been working on the roleplay, and I'm really excited about this. We've been doing this without actually roleplaying it though, which just means lots and lots of redevelopment with hardly any writing. Which I love, actually! It's satisfying and refreshing. And remember Raven? (I mentioned her briefly here.) I kind of killed her off and deserted her, but now I'm fixing her! I've been meaning to do this for months. It only came off the ground now because Mr. Parker (yeah so last year's English teacher is this year's Creative Writing teacher - cool beans, right?) assigned a short narrative written about a Facebook status. I don't have a Facebook, so I made a status up and ended up writing about Raven running away from home. It was almost kind of enlightening, actually. I always try and map out my character and storyline before I start writing, but this time I just kind of just let it go, and I learned things. Like that Raven is gay, or at least bi. Despite having a girlfriend myself (damn cutie she is), I am not usually prone to writing LGBT characters, so that was kinda surprising.
The real challenge here is going to be handling two developed characters in my head without getting more excited about one than the other. And if I succeed to love them both, the next challenge will be to kill Raven off anyway.
Yay!
Update 5: Okay, I think this is the last thing. Here, we have...webcomics! God, do I love webcomics.
CUCUMBER QUEST is really fuckin' cute, guys! These four hero people (er, *bunnies) have to travel all through these crazy kingdoms to collect some silly stuff and fight some ridiculous villains, and I won't lie to you, the whole quest thing is really just kind of inane (even to them). The heroes are all really adorable though, and like - I mean, can I be your friend, Cucumber? Pleeeaaase?? - and the villains are all really compelling, actually, with really interesting dynamics. (Like Nightmare Knight and Rosemaster. I really want to know what's going on there.) I mean, their quest is kind of frustrating, and a million times harder than it needs to be just because some of the characters are just stubborn, but the webcomic itself is so cute. Read it. You must.
BLINDSPRINGS is...ahh...I'm not sure how to explain Blindsprings. It's kind of involved, or at least, the whole story hasn't been revealed to us yet. As I understand it, a kingdom was ruled by a group of people known as Orphics, who were born with magical abilities that came from the spirits. But the Orphics were too oppressive of their people and the Academists (scholars who managed to invent their own, artificial magic) revolted, quickly taking over the kingdom. The Academists developed a way to seal Orphic powers, and quickly became distrustful and oppressive of all community members who were of the Orphic line. Now (about a hundred years later?), Orphic community members are beginning to revolt again. I think. Despite it being kind of complicated, the story is told with such incredible charm (and such a different and lovely range of characters) that it immediately keeps you reading. It's not very long, and updates relatively often, so if you're looking for something elegant and new, I recommend this one-hundred percent.
BFF COMIC is something I was only introduced to a couple days ago, but it is damn freaking adorable! I'm not far enough in to write my own description of it, so here's the author's: "Best Friends Forever is a (b)romantic dramedy about a dirt-poor quarterback and the nerd-chic president of the student council trying to hold their unlikely friendship together - despite the suspicions & meddling of their frustrating classmates." Honestly, I'm still early enough in the comic (chapter seven) that I technically shouldn't be reviewing yet, but it is so cute. Teddy (the nerdy kid) is adorable, and Vincent (the quarterback) is beautiful, and they're just...aw. You should read it. Please.
(UPDATE: okay so I caught up on it and it starts out adorable, but then it gets really angsty really fast. I'm not saying you shouldn't read it, but ahh, be warned. That's all.)
Oh Yeah and Also Update 6: I'm about 20 pages into 1984 right now. You know, that old dystopian classic by George Orwell? Yeah. It's scaring me.
Alright, so that's the last of my updates. I hope you guys are all doing wonderfully, and I myself have been doing pretty okay. I'll talk to you later!
-Allie H-S
I've been kinda busy lately, what with school (school sucks, but less so than the last two years), the roleplay (we've been redeveloping everything), and debate (I also joined the debate team, just by the way). So sorry for not posting very often. I was going to compare The Maze Runner (book) with The Maze Runner (movie), but I get kinda rambly when I review. So maybe later. (Long story short: the movie was better. I know, I didn't believe it either.)
But yeah, this blog is a bit behind. I think it's time for an update post. So now, in no particular order...
Update 1: Yeah, seriously, I joined the debate team. I kind of regret it though, 'cause my most enthusiastic debate team friend (AKA: 70% of my motivation) has had to take a lengthy leave of absence. But I already paid club fees, hotel fees, and an extra sweatshirt fee, so yeah, there's no going back. Our first tournament is on the 11th, which is soon, so maybe I'll post about it after.
Update 2: School started a couple months ago, and my classes this year suck significantly less than they did last year. Unfortunately, I allowed myself to get discouraged around registration time and did not sign myself up for Drawing, but hey man, I took Photography instead. It quickly became my favorite class, so I call that a success. But more on that later. I'm also taking Creative Writing and Honors English, both of which should give me posting material (in the fullness of time). P.E. is dumb and Honors Math is dumb, but that's just two of eight classes. I got more than half-lucky this year! Yessssssss.
Update 3: Right but so photography. Photography is hard, so we're taking it slow(ly?), meaning we don't develop our first round of actual film until Monday. But earlier, we made pinhole cameras (mine was unsuccessful), and photograms (mine were very successful). So yeah, let's talk about those.
First thing's first: I have to explain how photo paper works. Basically, a bunch of goddamn magicians came together and created a type of white paper that turns dark when exposed to light. Well, okay, it doesn't turn dark until you put it in the developer chemicals, but the important thing is this: the parts that had light on them will be dark. Shine light on one corner? Dark. A different corner? Dark. A tiny spot in the middle? Dark. Just how dark it really gets depends on how much light hits the paper and for how long. If you shine a really dim light for a fraction of a second, it'll turn kinda grey. A glaring bright light for a minute or so should turn it completely black.
So, a photogram is what you get when you cover up certain parts of the paper to prevent the light from reaching them. In class, we stood in the dark room and laid a bunch of objects on our photo paper, put it under a light, and shined it on for a couple seconds, then put it in the developer chemicals. (side note: do not get developer chemicals on your hands. They won't hurt you, but you'll smell like old rubber and vinegar for the next two days, which makes you really sick really fast. It's gross.) My best four came out like this:
 |
| This one's fancy 'cause I mounted it. (sorry the photo's not the greatest. I had to turn it in, so I took this one in class.) |
 |
| Admire the doll arm. (And wonder why the hell it has those shadow objects reflected on it. How does light work again?) |
 |
| I am so sorry about the dust. I tried to get it off, but in my house, it's pretty much unavoidable. |
 |
| b r o k e n l o c k e t (broken hearts) |
Maybe I needed the change of medium from drawing to art. I like this. I really do.
Update 4: Like I said, we've all been working on the roleplay, and I'm really excited about this. We've been doing this without actually roleplaying it though, which just means lots and lots of redevelopment with hardly any writing. Which I love, actually! It's satisfying and refreshing. And remember Raven? (I mentioned her briefly here.) I kind of killed her off and deserted her, but now I'm fixing her! I've been meaning to do this for months. It only came off the ground now because Mr. Parker (yeah so last year's English teacher is this year's Creative Writing teacher - cool beans, right?) assigned a short narrative written about a Facebook status. I don't have a Facebook, so I made a status up and ended up writing about Raven running away from home. It was almost kind of enlightening, actually. I always try and map out my character and storyline before I start writing, but this time I just kind of just let it go, and I learned things. Like that Raven is gay, or at least bi. Despite having a girlfriend myself (damn cutie she is), I am not usually prone to writing LGBT characters, so that was kinda surprising.
The real challenge here is going to be handling two developed characters in my head without getting more excited about one than the other. And if I succeed to love them both, the next challenge will be to kill Raven off anyway.
Yay!
Update 5: Okay, I think this is the last thing. Here, we have...webcomics! God, do I love webcomics.
CUCUMBER QUEST is really fuckin' cute, guys! These four hero people (er, *bunnies) have to travel all through these crazy kingdoms to collect some silly stuff and fight some ridiculous villains, and I won't lie to you, the whole quest thing is really just kind of inane (even to them). The heroes are all really adorable though, and like - I mean, can I be your friend, Cucumber? Pleeeaaase?? - and the villains are all really compelling, actually, with really interesting dynamics. (Like Nightmare Knight and Rosemaster. I really want to know what's going on there.) I mean, their quest is kind of frustrating, and a million times harder than it needs to be just because some of the characters are just stubborn, but the webcomic itself is so cute. Read it. You must.
BLINDSPRINGS is...ahh...I'm not sure how to explain Blindsprings. It's kind of involved, or at least, the whole story hasn't been revealed to us yet. As I understand it, a kingdom was ruled by a group of people known as Orphics, who were born with magical abilities that came from the spirits. But the Orphics were too oppressive of their people and the Academists (scholars who managed to invent their own, artificial magic) revolted, quickly taking over the kingdom. The Academists developed a way to seal Orphic powers, and quickly became distrustful and oppressive of all community members who were of the Orphic line. Now (about a hundred years later?), Orphic community members are beginning to revolt again. I think. Despite it being kind of complicated, the story is told with such incredible charm (and such a different and lovely range of characters) that it immediately keeps you reading. It's not very long, and updates relatively often, so if you're looking for something elegant and new, I recommend this one-hundred percent.
BFF COMIC is something I was only introduced to a couple days ago, but it is damn freaking adorable! I'm not far enough in to write my own description of it, so here's the author's: "Best Friends Forever is a (b)romantic dramedy about a dirt-poor quarterback and the nerd-chic president of the student council trying to hold their unlikely friendship together - despite the suspicions & meddling of their frustrating classmates." Honestly, I'm still early enough in the comic (chapter seven) that I technically shouldn't be reviewing yet, but it is so cute. Teddy (the nerdy kid) is adorable, and Vincent (the quarterback) is beautiful, and they're just...aw. You should read it. Please.
(UPDATE: okay so I caught up on it and it starts out adorable, but then it gets really angsty really fast. I'm not saying you shouldn't read it, but ahh, be warned. That's all.)
Oh Yeah and Also Update 6: I'm about 20 pages into 1984 right now. You know, that old dystopian classic by George Orwell? Yeah. It's scaring me.
Alright, so that's the last of my updates. I hope you guys are all doing wonderfully, and I myself have been doing pretty okay. I'll talk to you later!
-Allie H-S
September 9, 2014
Happy Birthday, Anthony! Brief Roleplay History?
Hi, all.
I know I haven't posted in a while. School started and I've been pretty busy ever since. I've been trying to find something to post about, and today is a special occasion. On this day, Anthony James Rousseaux (the namesake of this blog) turns twenty-three. He was born on September 9th, 1992. (Hence my username.) He is by far the best and most developed character I've ever created, and I just...I mean...he's cool. He's pretty cool.
In honor of his birthday, I thought this would be a good opportunity to tell you all more about the roleplay.
Some of this will be recap. Here I'm not rereading and adding on to my old posts about it, but instead, starting fresh.
The roleplay (sometimes known as "Divided") is a project my friends and I started in late fall, 2012. It was meant to be a silly writing project, just for fun. We each created our own characters, initially just one for each writer, but since then, things have grown. This may not be perfect, seeing how at the moment people keep changing their ideas, but as far as I know, the author-character chart looks like this.
Author Siri Reilly:
- Lizzie Tyler
- Hank Jacobs
- Meg Richards
Author Sara Williams:
- Shade Grey
- Darel Jones
- Nate Jones
Author Bailey Giauque:
- Bea Holmes
- Jade Young
- Lea Vindico
- Oliver Vindico?
Author Alix Kintner:
- Shizuka Maki
- Demon?
Author Madison DeCamp:
- Tyler Noel
- Cassie Reed
- Skyler Mills
- Scarlett Mills-Noel
Author Allie Hedderly-Smith (me):
- Anthony Rousseaux
- Raven Black
(We occasionally write one-shots including other characters, but overall, the rights to each belong to their respective authors.)
I typically have trouble staying interested in more than two characters. If we ever start writing again, I may try my hand in the supporting cast. (We don't have a lot of that.)
But anyways, we started it in 2012 (eighth grade) just for fun. One person would write a paragraph or so from their character's point of view (a post), and another would write a response paragraph from their character's point of view (another post). The responses were, for the most part, quick and interesting, and our story soon progressed into a gallop. At times, it got in the way of our school and homework habits; cranking out posts like we were born for it. As is the case with all great amounts of output, the new and sudden experience caused our writing styles to change dramatically. (Zen Pencils, anyone?) And I'm not kidding when I say "great amounts;" we ended up with three different Google docs because each doc only allows a around three-hundred and fifty pages. That's about one-thousand pages of writing. Sure, most of it was fluff that didn't progress the story, but still.
We all tried a few other roleplays (zombie apocalypse-themed, dystopian society-themed), but none of them lasted long. I think the reason this one was so successful was the appeal of the fantasy and freedom of our characters, but also mostly just that it was the first one, the one we all really got to know each other through. If the roleplay hadn't started, I likely wouldn't have the friends I have now.
But so, after three docs, summer vacation finally came and we got distracted. We've tried to start it again a couple of times, but haven't quite succeeded. And we've been toying with the idea of turning it into a book for a while - like a year. I think my co-authors would rather nobody posts any direct excerpts right now, but if we make any real progress, I'll let you know.
But so anyways, school has started, and September 9th has come. Happy birthday, Anthony! Someday I'll start writing about you seriously again, and you'll be back where you came from.
Talk to you all later.
- Allie H-S
P.S: Salt Lake Comic Con was exhausting; I didn't realize the Salt Palace was so big. (The vendor's room from last year was used this year for just the entrance.) I got ten cool little pins from some place called Akumu Ink, a fancy fascinator hat, and a black parasol umbrella. Now I'm completely broke. And that's really all there is to say on the matter.
P.P.S: I always feel like I need to leave a second signature to conclude my post-scripts. But I don't. So that's a little frustrating.
I know I haven't posted in a while. School started and I've been pretty busy ever since. I've been trying to find something to post about, and today is a special occasion. On this day, Anthony James Rousseaux (the namesake of this blog) turns twenty-three. He was born on September 9th, 1992. (Hence my username.) He is by far the best and most developed character I've ever created, and I just...I mean...he's cool. He's pretty cool.
 |
| look at these cool cards, guys. I own these. yeah. |
In honor of his birthday, I thought this would be a good opportunity to tell you all more about the roleplay.
Some of this will be recap. Here I'm not rereading and adding on to my old posts about it, but instead, starting fresh.
The roleplay (sometimes known as "Divided") is a project my friends and I started in late fall, 2012. It was meant to be a silly writing project, just for fun. We each created our own characters, initially just one for each writer, but since then, things have grown. This may not be perfect, seeing how at the moment people keep changing their ideas, but as far as I know, the author-character chart looks like this.
Author Siri Reilly:
- Lizzie Tyler
- Hank Jacobs
- Meg Richards
Author Sara Williams:
- Shade Grey
- Darel Jones
- Nate Jones
Author Bailey Giauque:
- Bea Holmes
- Jade Young
- Lea Vindico
- Oliver Vindico?
Author Alix Kintner:
- Shizuka Maki
- Demon?
Author Madison DeCamp:
- Tyler Noel
- Cassie Reed
- Skyler Mills
- Scarlett Mills-Noel
Author Allie Hedderly-Smith (me):
- Anthony Rousseaux
- Raven Black
(We occasionally write one-shots including other characters, but overall, the rights to each belong to their respective authors.)
I typically have trouble staying interested in more than two characters. If we ever start writing again, I may try my hand in the supporting cast. (We don't have a lot of that.)
But anyways, we started it in 2012 (eighth grade) just for fun. One person would write a paragraph or so from their character's point of view (a post), and another would write a response paragraph from their character's point of view (another post). The responses were, for the most part, quick and interesting, and our story soon progressed into a gallop. At times, it got in the way of our school and homework habits; cranking out posts like we were born for it. As is the case with all great amounts of output, the new and sudden experience caused our writing styles to change dramatically. (Zen Pencils, anyone?) And I'm not kidding when I say "great amounts;" we ended up with three different Google docs because each doc only allows a around three-hundred and fifty pages. That's about one-thousand pages of writing. Sure, most of it was fluff that didn't progress the story, but still.
We all tried a few other roleplays (zombie apocalypse-themed, dystopian society-themed), but none of them lasted long. I think the reason this one was so successful was the appeal of the fantasy and freedom of our characters, but also mostly just that it was the first one, the one we all really got to know each other through. If the roleplay hadn't started, I likely wouldn't have the friends I have now.
But so, after three docs, summer vacation finally came and we got distracted. We've tried to start it again a couple of times, but haven't quite succeeded. And we've been toying with the idea of turning it into a book for a while - like a year. I think my co-authors would rather nobody posts any direct excerpts right now, but if we make any real progress, I'll let you know.
But so anyways, school has started, and September 9th has come. Happy birthday, Anthony! Someday I'll start writing about you seriously again, and you'll be back where you came from.
Talk to you all later.
- Allie H-S
P.S: Salt Lake Comic Con was exhausting; I didn't realize the Salt Palace was so big. (The vendor's room from last year was used this year for just the entrance.) I got ten cool little pins from some place called Akumu Ink, a fancy fascinator hat, and a black parasol umbrella. Now I'm completely broke. And that's really all there is to say on the matter.
P.P.S: I always feel like I need to leave a second signature to conclude my post-scripts. But I don't. So that's a little frustrating.
May 16, 2014
Pageviews, Concern for Ava's Demon, and 2002's "Spider-Man" (Respectively)
Hi, all.
So, first thing's first. You got me...
EIGHT EXTRA VIEWS! YOU WIN! WHICH MEANS I WIN! WHICH MEANS I LOVE YOU! Just to be clear, I loved you anyway. BUT NOW WE WIN! Thaaaaaank youuuuuuuuu! ^.^ *gives you virtual cake* Caaaaaaaake! (Next time you can, go buy yourself some actual cake. Because you deserve it.)
Second thing - I realize I talk about Ava's Demon kind of a lot on this blog, but I'm actually a little concerned because it stopped updating recently (I don't have the exact date) completely without notice. Maybe it hasn't been as long as I think (my memory is just shot lately), but the author's usually pretty good about that, so I hope she didn't die or anything? Also, I think she has a tumblr, but I don't know what it is, so if anybody has that info, I would like it very much. ((UPDATE: nevermind, it's here, and also she was just sick for a while. it's all good.))
Now. Let's get down to business [to defeat the Huns]. Because Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, every now and then I go on a Spider-Man media binge. This time, as I'm sure you can guess, the binge was brought on by The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So after watching that and its precursor movie, I grabbed the slightly older series, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (AKA Tobey Maguire/that-kid-from-Gatsby/early 2000's Spider-Man. That one). Because IMDb is the very greatest movie reference site ever, I have its Spider-Man page here.
I feel I need to point out that Spider-Man is in no way a prequel for The Amazing Spider-Man. I think people make this mistake because both came out so recently (in the same ten years, at least), but no, these renditions are in no way related other than that they were both based off of the original comic series. In other words, trying match up and then make sense of the storylines is like trying to match up Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises with 1995's Batman Forever. Both are great individually (Batman Forever has a special place in my heart), but make absolutely no sense put together, I assure you.
That said, let's review a movie, shall we?
Knowing me, this may take a while.
Let's start with a synopsis. In Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire plays high school senior Peter Parker, who is fairly smart but painfully awkward, has been in love with his neighbor Mary Jane Watson (MJ) since the fourth grade, and lives with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City. Here, dear Peter goes on a high school field trip and is bitten by a genetically modified spider that somehow got out of its container (which is never revisited or explained). He wakes up the next morning with spider-like abilities, such as that to climb and stick to walls and that to shoot webbing directly from his wrists. Additionally, his eyesight is now perfect (he previously wore glasses), and he has super-strength (he was a total wimp).
Meanwhile, Dr. Norman Osborn, father of Peter's best friend Harry Osborn, is the owner of Oscorp, the city's largest science research lab. Dr. Osborn has been working on a human performance-enhancer for quite some time, but his higher-ups threaten to pull his funding, so he skips through the process to human testing - the human being himself. A possible side effect of the performance enhancer was insanity, and thus it drives him insane, turning him into the Green Goblin.
Peter has a fight with his Uncle Ben, who tells him "with great power comes great responsibility" and is killed shortly thereafter by a street thug in a car robbery. Peter then decides to become a superhero and fulfill his responsibility to rid the streets of crime. You know, basically.
This movie is great because it's lighthearted and Tobey Maguire constitues a very likable Peter Parker because he's cute and socially inept and just completely lost for MJ. So if you're into that, go for it. Go see this movie for its cuteness, and to broaden your experiences of Spider-Man. It was fun to watch. (Particularly in a group.) But if you really break movies down like I tend to, um...be warned, I guess. There are a few kinks in the plan.
So when I watch or read things, I tend to put writers into two categories: those better at plot and those better at characterization. These were plot writers. To say the least. The most glaring example of this is MJ.
Mary Jane Watson is a perky redhead with subtly accentuated boobs who wants to be an actrice and
speaks in a softly sweet voice. She'd never hurt a soul, says things you'd sooner expect from a sugary romance novel, and must wait ten minutes for Spider-Man to save her from the crumbling ledge instead of just crawling off it herself. Mind you, I am being perfectly objective; even though no one beats Emma Stone, and my official OTP is Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy (which I am fairly, if not completely invested in), I actually quite like MJ. In other versions, she's been this sexy, green-eyed redhead with a sharp wit and a little black dress, a character who knows what she wants and always stands up for the little guy. But in this, MJ was basically the epitome of a weak female character. I am a bit influenced from also watching Spider-Man 2, in which this problem is I think exponentially worse, but still.
The other painful character is, I think, Dr. Osborn. One of the greatest things you can do for a movie is develop the villain, but they did not take that opportunity. His entire characterization is that he's a rich, uptight father turned crazy, bipolar scientist. His only reason for becoming a villain is that an experiment went wrong and made him a villain, which I think is a bit of a characterization cop-out. It started as just a conflict of interests - Dr. Osborn originally just wanted control of Oscorp back because the board kicked him off (because he's crazy), but Spider-Man fundamentally disagreed with killing the board members one-by-one, but he went after Spider-Man vendetta-style, like it was personal. Which is completely irrational. It's as if the writers couldn't think of a legitimate reason to make him want to kill Peter, so they just drove him insane instead.
My main dispute with stories is usually poor characterization because it's really important to me that characters - and by extension, people - are imagined complexly.
However, to end this on a good not, I should point out that there is a character in this movie that I particularly like, and that is John Jonah Jameson! JJJ is the cheap-ass, no-bullshit, always-talking-never-listening, fast-paced head editor of the newspaper The Daily Bugle, which Peter is a freelance photographer for. He's not particularly nice, as you might imagine, but he's completely hilarious in his own blunt brutality (and doesn't mean half of what he says). And though I've been trying not to compare the two because bias, JJJ is the main aspect I'd pick of the Spider-Man series that's actually better than The Amazing Spider-Man series. The latter is seriously lacking, but JJJ in this is fabulous, and all in all, he makes me happy.
So that's it, I guess. A fair post with which to end the year.
Thanks for reading,
-Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
(not really, though. it's just me.)
So, first thing's first. You got me...
EIGHT EXTRA VIEWS! YOU WIN! WHICH MEANS I WIN! WHICH MEANS I LOVE YOU! Just to be clear, I loved you anyway. BUT NOW WE WIN! Thaaaaaank youuuuuuuuu! ^.^ *gives you virtual cake* Caaaaaaaake! (Next time you can, go buy yourself some actual cake. Because you deserve it.)
Second thing - I realize I talk about Ava's Demon kind of a lot on this blog, but I'm actually a little concerned because it stopped updating recently (I don't have the exact date) completely without notice. Maybe it hasn't been as long as I think (my memory is just shot lately), but the author's usually pretty good about that, so I hope she didn't die or anything? Also, I think she has a tumblr, but I don't know what it is, so if anybody has that info, I would like it very much. ((UPDATE: nevermind, it's here, and also she was just sick for a while. it's all good.))
Now. Let's get down to business [to defeat the Huns]. Because Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, every now and then I go on a Spider-Man media binge. This time, as I'm sure you can guess, the binge was brought on by The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So after watching that and its precursor movie, I grabbed the slightly older series, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (AKA Tobey Maguire/that-kid-from-Gatsby/early 2000's Spider-Man. That one). Because IMDb is the very greatest movie reference site ever, I have its Spider-Man page here.
I feel I need to point out that Spider-Man is in no way a prequel for The Amazing Spider-Man. I think people make this mistake because both came out so recently (in the same ten years, at least), but no, these renditions are in no way related other than that they were both based off of the original comic series. In other words, trying match up and then make sense of the storylines is like trying to match up Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises with 1995's Batman Forever. Both are great individually (Batman Forever has a special place in my heart), but make absolutely no sense put together, I assure you.
That said, let's review a movie, shall we?
Knowing me, this may take a while.
Let's start with a synopsis. In Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire plays high school senior Peter Parker, who is fairly smart but painfully awkward, has been in love with his neighbor Mary Jane Watson (MJ) since the fourth grade, and lives with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City. Here, dear Peter goes on a high school field trip and is bitten by a genetically modified spider that somehow got out of its container (which is never revisited or explained). He wakes up the next morning with spider-like abilities, such as that to climb and stick to walls and that to shoot webbing directly from his wrists. Additionally, his eyesight is now perfect (he previously wore glasses), and he has super-strength (he was a total wimp).
Meanwhile, Dr. Norman Osborn, father of Peter's best friend Harry Osborn, is the owner of Oscorp, the city's largest science research lab. Dr. Osborn has been working on a human performance-enhancer for quite some time, but his higher-ups threaten to pull his funding, so he skips through the process to human testing - the human being himself. A possible side effect of the performance enhancer was insanity, and thus it drives him insane, turning him into the Green Goblin.
Peter has a fight with his Uncle Ben, who tells him "with great power comes great responsibility" and is killed shortly thereafter by a street thug in a car robbery. Peter then decides to become a superhero and fulfill his responsibility to rid the streets of crime. You know, basically.
This movie is great because it's lighthearted and Tobey Maguire constitues a very likable Peter Parker because he's cute and socially inept and just completely lost for MJ. So if you're into that, go for it. Go see this movie for its cuteness, and to broaden your experiences of Spider-Man. It was fun to watch. (Particularly in a group.) But if you really break movies down like I tend to, um...be warned, I guess. There are a few kinks in the plan.
So when I watch or read things, I tend to put writers into two categories: those better at plot and those better at characterization. These were plot writers. To say the least. The most glaring example of this is MJ.
 |
| (courtesy of: nyctalking.com) |
speaks in a softly sweet voice. She'd never hurt a soul, says things you'd sooner expect from a sugary romance novel, and must wait ten minutes for Spider-Man to save her from the crumbling ledge instead of just crawling off it herself. Mind you, I am being perfectly objective; even though no one beats Emma Stone, and my official OTP is Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy (which I am fairly, if not completely invested in), I actually quite like MJ. In other versions, she's been this sexy, green-eyed redhead with a sharp wit and a little black dress, a character who knows what she wants and always stands up for the little guy. But in this, MJ was basically the epitome of a weak female character. I am a bit influenced from also watching Spider-Man 2, in which this problem is I think exponentially worse, but still.
 |
| (courtesy of: comicbookmovie.com) |
My main dispute with stories is usually poor characterization because it's really important to me that characters - and by extension, people - are imagined complexly.
 |
| (courtesy of: splashpage.mtv.com) |
So that's it, I guess. A fair post with which to end the year.
Thanks for reading,
-Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
(not really, though. it's just me.)
March 7, 2014
Shattered Teacups (and Anthony Rousseaux)
Hello, my friends. It occurred to me the other day that I haven't posted any art in a while. This is partly because my art lately hasn't been very good (or even interesting, for that matter), but I recently finished an art project that I actually really like. And I finished it on time for class, too! (because, you know, I did it as homework.)
The assignment was called "Cup Surprise." We all collected teacups or coffee mugs and chose an object to draw coming out of them to "surprise" my teacher. Anything we wanted. (School appropriate, of course.) So I started rough drafting (we need two rough drafts for every assignment - bluh) and I ended up with these:
Unfortunately, all too often my run-of-the-mill art projects just strike me as kind of...soulless. And as soon as that horrible feeling kicks in, I'm screwed. I look around the class, and see all these projects that look just like mine, and...I can't move on. I find it hard to see the point. But that weekend, I got lucky.
My mom broke her favorite teacup! Hooraaaaay! (We got her a new one, don't worry.) And that broken teacup gave me a lovely photo reference.
I actually sent this picture to Sara for some friendly critiquing. It went approximately as follows:
Me: Does this look like it's been dropped?
Sara: Um. Yes?
Me: Or should I move it?
Sara: uh...
Sara: wait a second...
Sara: Anthony...
Me: hmm?
Sara: A-Anthony! AnthONY NOOOOOOOOO! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM, ALLIE? WHAT DID YOU DO?
Me: uhh...
Sara: ANTHONYYYYYYYYYY
Me: I was just...
Sara: ANTHONYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I really should have had a story to tell her.
But so anyways. After drawing from that picture for the next handful of art classes, I ended up with this.
Signed and dated, my first really good project of the year. Hope you like it.
-Allie :3
The assignment was called "Cup Surprise." We all collected teacups or coffee mugs and chose an object to draw coming out of them to "surprise" my teacher. Anything we wanted. (School appropriate, of course.) So I started rough drafting (we need two rough drafts for every assignment - bluh) and I ended up with these:
 |
| Her name is Eleanor, if you were wondering. |
My mom broke her favorite teacup! Hooraaaaay! (We got her a new one, don't worry.) And that broken teacup gave me a lovely photo reference.
I actually sent this picture to Sara for some friendly critiquing. It went approximately as follows:
Me: Does this look like it's been dropped?
Sara: Um. Yes?
Me: Or should I move it?
Sara: uh...
Sara: wait a second...
Sara: Anthony...
Me: hmm?
Sara: A-Anthony! AnthONY NOOOOOOOOO! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM, ALLIE? WHAT DID YOU DO?
Me: uhh...
Sara: ANTHONYYYYYYYYYY
Me: I was just...
Sara: ANTHONYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I really should have had a story to tell her.
But so anyways. After drawing from that picture for the next handful of art classes, I ended up with this.
Signed and dated, my first really good project of the year. Hope you like it.
-Allie :3
February 3, 2014
Vital Vocab 19
You guys you guys! I hit 1,000 pageviews! I mean, they're probably mostly mine, and my friends' blogs hit that mark ages ago, but I did it! I did it! :D
Thank you to everyone who visits my blog. Yes, even you, vampirestat. Thank you for helping me to reach this milestone with your robot-y, blogspot-loving vampirism.
So anyways. It's storytime!
I really don't know what to do with this kid, and I am so sorry. I need to prewrite some stuff, because I do have ideas, but it's so much easier to just fudge a short post every week. Argh.
Prompt: -- ((why do I still put this up, anyways?))
Vocab: nebulous, nondescript, nuance, negligent, nurture
Commonly Confused Words: than/then
Grammar Focus: use parallel structure to format a list of adjectives
Isaac Bade-
I was about to leave again when I looked out one of the library's windows to see that giant, grey, nebulous clouds ((is that cheating?)) had drifted over the city and were quickly beginning to drip, drizzle, then pour, claiming it as theirs. I sighed. Why did it have to rain so much more now than it did the rest of the year? The girls left through the library's front doors, and then I could see them bolt across the parking lot to a small, nondescript shelter by the bus stop.
"Hey," Ava said, and I looked up. "Wait around for like half an hour, and I can give you a ride home, 'kay? 'Cause biking is kind of a horrible idea right now." I blinked and nodded, slightly surprised that she knew I biked here. "Beautiful. Okay, I've just gotta finish some stuff, first. Like making up for all the negligent volunteers here. I mean, how hard is it..." She went back to work, talking to herself about, like, nurturing the library and whatnot. I opened my notebook and started drawing again, dealing with the nuances of various pen strokes.
January 31, 2014
A Really Long Post About Art (updated)
Hi everyone! I'm going to take a short break from our regular Vital Vocab story to ask a question. Does anybody know why the Banksy website's down? I mean, it's not really...down, but it used to take you to a slideshow of his various graffiti pieces (not every piece, but a lot of them), and now it's just this page.
And that makes me sad. Because Banksy's one of my favorite artists.
By the way, am I the only one who's bothered by how much this
conflicts with this?
That first one is on Main Street in Park City. (The second is in San Francisco.) There are two other Banksy works in Park City, but that's the only one I've actually seen. And I can understand why they framed it, because everybody loves the piece and it's right where everybody's constantly walking by it, and that will keep people from vandalizing our glorified vandalism. (Like I said, I love Banksy, but what he does is technically illegal.) Except...it doesn't. Recently, someone broke the glass over the one on Main Street, and painted over one of the others. They restored them (and apparently caught the guy), but...still. That frame does nothing. *narrows eyes at the well-meaning frame*
ANYWAYS, I digress. This post is not just about Banksy. I also wanted to advertise two beautiful webcomics I've found.
So, I might have already told you about Ava's Demon, but look at this. Look at this!
Look at theeeeem! Ava's Demon is about a futuristic world where a girl who made a pact with a demon spirit person thing has to go find other demon spirit things and all the characters are really fabulous and unique and the artwork's just amazing and the author, Michelle Czajkowski, "interned at Pixar and worked with Dreamworks Animation," and it updates every Monday and Thursday and it's just really really cool. And you should check it out here.
Another webcomic, something I found through Tumblr (because I started following the author, modmad), is called The Property of Hate (TPoH). I don't really know how to explain it because it's pretty early on in the storyline, but it's really just...dreamlike and whimsical and pretty metaphorical, too, and the little girl, Hero, is just really just...really just...look at her! O.O
That actually doesn't express her adorableness well enough. She's just cute and brave and really happy-go-lucky and she has to be lifted off the top bunk because the ladder hurts her feet and she's cute. And like Ava's Demon, TPoH has a bunch of really creative and different characters, and there's also the other main character, RGB, but I can't even get started with him. He's just amazing and well-dressed and says "cheerio" and also his head is a television. (Yeah, I have no idea.)
And that makes me sad. Because Banksy's one of my favorite artists.
By the way, am I the only one who's bothered by how much this
 |
| (courtesy of: Russell Darling on Flickr) |
 |
| (courtesy of: stencils.tumblr.com) |
ANYWAYS, I digress. This post is not just about Banksy. I also wanted to advertise two beautiful webcomics I've found.
So, I might have already told you about Ava's Demon, but look at this. Look at this!
 |
| (courtesy of: Ava's Demon, Chapter Eight) |
Another webcomic, something I found through Tumblr (because I started following the author, modmad), is called The Property of Hate (TPoH). I don't really know how to explain it because it's pretty early on in the storyline, but it's really just...dreamlike and whimsical and pretty metaphorical, too, and the little girl, Hero, is just really just...really just...look at her! O.O
 |
| (courtesy of: TPoH) |
.JPG) |
| (courtesy of: TPoH) |
Mod (the author) updates I think one page every Sunday. It's beautiful and you should check it out here.
Another beautiful webcomic is Homestuck, but I'm not gonna get into that right now. It's amazing, but it's incredibly long. I haven't read in months (I think I was on Act 5, Act 2, just before whatever the big thing is that Gamzee does). If you wanna know more about Homestuck (which I highly recommend, regardless of length), read it here or read about it here.
 |
| (courtesy of: Siri) |
This post is pretty long. I'm proud of myself.
Until next time!
-Allie
P.S: remind me to illustrate that last Vital Vocab like I promised.
UPDATE: The Banksy site has now become this:
UPDATE: The Banksy site has now become this:
*sniffle*
January 27, 2014
Vital Vocab 18
First thing's first, I need to give a shout-out to my friend Sara, for being a hipster. (ahaha she's gonna hate me pretty soon....)
Okay so hi! I changed the end of last week's Vital Vocab because I really couldn't figure out what to do with Mrs. Hewett. I got the idea back in November and then it kind of died, so...I dunno. I'll bring her back later.
I'm kind of falling asleep as I write this, so...just know that I did my best, okay guys?
Also, I'll probably do what I did last week and post an update with a picture for this on Friday.
Prompt: --
Vocab: metamorphosis, malevolent, myriad, maxim, malleable
Commonly Confused Words: accept/except
Grammar Focus: use a colon to introduce a list
Isaac Bade-
"I'm not crazy," Ava said, moving various book stacks. "I swear, she was here like ten minutes ago. She told me to keep an eye out for you. Buuuuut, now she's nowhere to be seen. So that's interesting. Anyways...."
She went to check out the line of girls' books before they started to get too malevolent. A few of them turned books in, which she accepted, moving seamlessly through the motions except for when she had to tall one girl she owed fines, at which point the girl stopped and struggled to find money in her myriad and oversized purse. I watched idly, not having much else to do.
I wondered vaguely what it would be like if this library went through a complete metamorphosis one day and suddenly, there were people everywhere. The idea reminded me of school functions when I was a kid, things like parent-teacher conferences, where they'd put up inspirational quotes and various maxims on the wall just for the parents to see: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, or, shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. I'd see them so often that they became completely devoid of meaning. I remembered hallways being cluttered in the corners with tables showing off kids' art projects of various types, some papier maché, some paintings, some just jumbles of over-malleable wire. Every Monday morning now, I kind of wished I could go back to that.
Okay so hi! I changed the end of last week's Vital Vocab because I really couldn't figure out what to do with Mrs. Hewett. I got the idea back in November and then it kind of died, so...I dunno. I'll bring her back later.
I'm kind of falling asleep as I write this, so...just know that I did my best, okay guys?
Also, I'll probably do what I did last week and post an update with a picture for this on Friday.
Prompt: --
Vocab: metamorphosis, malevolent, myriad, maxim, malleable
Commonly Confused Words: accept/except
Grammar Focus: use a colon to introduce a list
Isaac Bade-
"I'm not crazy," Ava said, moving various book stacks. "I swear, she was here like ten minutes ago. She told me to keep an eye out for you. Buuuuut, now she's nowhere to be seen. So that's interesting. Anyways...."
She went to check out the line of girls' books before they started to get too malevolent. A few of them turned books in, which she accepted, moving seamlessly through the motions except for when she had to tall one girl she owed fines, at which point the girl stopped and struggled to find money in her myriad and oversized purse. I watched idly, not having much else to do.
I wondered vaguely what it would be like if this library went through a complete metamorphosis one day and suddenly, there were people everywhere. The idea reminded me of school functions when I was a kid, things like parent-teacher conferences, where they'd put up inspirational quotes and various maxims on the wall just for the parents to see: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, or, shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. I'd see them so often that they became completely devoid of meaning. I remembered hallways being cluttered in the corners with tables showing off kids' art projects of various types, some papier maché, some paintings, some just jumbles of over-malleable wire. Every Monday morning now, I kind of wished I could go back to that.
January 22, 2014
Vital Vocab 17
Hi, all.
This has quickly become mainly just a Vital Vocab blog. I still love Anthony and will probably post about him (among other things), but I recently kinda just fell in love with Isaac as well, so that kid may take priority for a bit.
One more thing. Do not try and relate this Eliza to the Eliza of months ago. Her character's preet-ty dynamic at this point.
Gosh, I really shouldn't be posting this scene yet.
Prompt: --
Vocab: jubilant, lucid, latent, kudos, laconic
Commonly Confused Words: accept/except
Grammar Focus: use a semicolon to separate two independent clauses
Isaac Bade-
I leaned against the counter, looking through the various bookmarks and flyers that sat in stacks around the library's ancient computer. Behind me, the girls - who I'd determined were mostly Freshmen (hence my not knowing them) - gradually started to chatter again, being many things, but not laconic. One of them mumbled something and the others all squeaked, suddenly jubilant, exchanging kudos. I smiled to myself; it was quite lucid that were the library not empty, Ava never would have accepted them in.
Empty, right. That is, except...
Someone came and stood next to me. I looked up. She was tall - taller than me, maybe - and had wavy auburn hair, shoulder-length. She held a stack of tiny chapter books, The Spiderwick Chronicles.
"Do you work here?" she asked, I guess because I was still flipping through the papers. I just smiled and shook my head.
"Oh hey, Eliza!" one of the girls behind me hissed, looking over at us. "Eliza, c'mere." She looked up but waved them off, holding up her books for them to see.
"I wonder if they know they're in a library." She - Eliza - laughed quietly. "Usually they'll quiet down, but they're not even trying today."
"Eliza."
"Shush! Okay anyways, I actually wanted to ask you something. I mean, I think I've seen you before, like, around town, so I was just wondering, like. Like. What's your name?"
I looked up and smiled at her.
"Eliza, hey!"
I opened my mouth, then closed it, rubbing my neck apologetically.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Elizaaaaaa."
"What? Is there, like, something behind me?" She turned in a circle, then looked back at me, confused. I laughed a little, quietly, and looked over my shoulder as she stood on her toes and craned her neck. Clearly, her friends now thought she had some latent quality for reading lips.
"Seriously, wh-what is it?" She looked back at me and I looked down at the counter, rubbing my nose and still laughing slightly. Finally one of her friends, a girl I'd seen before but never really interacted with, came and pulled her a few feet away to whisper something in her ear.
She stood up straighter, and slowly turned to look at me. "Oh..." she murmured.
I turned around, hearing the door to the back room open again. Ava stepped out and shrugged at me. I gave Eliza one last smile before heading over to her.
UPDATE: I'm recently getting back on Tumblr! I might not get into it immediately, but considering how addicting it can be, I'm sure I will soon. For anyone who's curious, you can find me here. I'm thinking of posting any art I do on there, particularly if it has to do with one of my stories or characters.
UPDATE 2: I was going to draw Isaac, but then I started reading this beautiful webcomic called Ava's Demon and those characters are just so fabulous and Isaac is just so constantly modified in my head that my brain kind of meddled them together. (Unfortunately, it does this a lot.) Which is why I can't draw people. Sorry guys, I'll try again later. But so I did draw you something. Here. :3
This has quickly become mainly just a Vital Vocab blog. I still love Anthony and will probably post about him (among other things), but I recently kinda just fell in love with Isaac as well, so that kid may take priority for a bit.
One more thing. Do not try and relate this Eliza to the Eliza of months ago. Her character's preet-ty dynamic at this point.
Gosh, I really shouldn't be posting this scene yet.
Prompt: --
Vocab: jubilant, lucid, latent, kudos, laconic
Commonly Confused Words: accept/except
Grammar Focus: use a semicolon to separate two independent clauses
Isaac Bade-
I leaned against the counter, looking through the various bookmarks and flyers that sat in stacks around the library's ancient computer. Behind me, the girls - who I'd determined were mostly Freshmen (hence my not knowing them) - gradually started to chatter again, being many things, but not laconic. One of them mumbled something and the others all squeaked, suddenly jubilant, exchanging kudos. I smiled to myself; it was quite lucid that were the library not empty, Ava never would have accepted them in.
Empty, right. That is, except...
Someone came and stood next to me. I looked up. She was tall - taller than me, maybe - and had wavy auburn hair, shoulder-length. She held a stack of tiny chapter books, The Spiderwick Chronicles.
"Do you work here?" she asked, I guess because I was still flipping through the papers. I just smiled and shook my head.
"Oh hey, Eliza!" one of the girls behind me hissed, looking over at us. "Eliza, c'mere." She looked up but waved them off, holding up her books for them to see.
"I wonder if they know they're in a library." She - Eliza - laughed quietly. "Usually they'll quiet down, but they're not even trying today."
"Eliza."
"Shush! Okay anyways, I actually wanted to ask you something. I mean, I think I've seen you before, like, around town, so I was just wondering, like. Like. What's your name?"
I looked up and smiled at her.
"Eliza, hey!"
I opened my mouth, then closed it, rubbing my neck apologetically.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Elizaaaaaa."
"What? Is there, like, something behind me?" She turned in a circle, then looked back at me, confused. I laughed a little, quietly, and looked over my shoulder as she stood on her toes and craned her neck. Clearly, her friends now thought she had some latent quality for reading lips.
"Seriously, wh-what is it?" She looked back at me and I looked down at the counter, rubbing my nose and still laughing slightly. Finally one of her friends, a girl I'd seen before but never really interacted with, came and pulled her a few feet away to whisper something in her ear.
She stood up straighter, and slowly turned to look at me. "Oh..." she murmured.
I turned around, hearing the door to the back room open again. Ava stepped out and shrugged at me. I gave Eliza one last smile before heading over to her.
UPDATE: I'm recently getting back on Tumblr! I might not get into it immediately, but considering how addicting it can be, I'm sure I will soon. For anyone who's curious, you can find me here. I'm thinking of posting any art I do on there, particularly if it has to do with one of my stories or characters.
UPDATE 2: I was going to draw Isaac, but then I started reading this beautiful webcomic called Ava's Demon and those characters are just so fabulous and Isaac is just so constantly modified in my head that my brain kind of meddled them together. (Unfortunately, it does this a lot.) Which is why I can't draw people. Sorry guys, I'll try again later. But so I did draw you something. Here. :3
September 27, 2013
OFFICIAL Blog Post 1 (Mr. Parker, look here!)
Okay, so last class in English, it was called to my attention that our first blog post actually had some criteria to follow. Because yes, in the end, this blog is an assignment. Whoops. Well, I already have, what, five posts? (Nerd, right?) So here's what we're gonna do. My first five posts remain my first five posts. But my first assignment post is this one. (Don't worry, there won't be a lot of these. In fact, according to Mr. Parker, this is the only post we'll have criteria for)
So, I am now to show you three blogs that I like. Such as...
The Oatmeal
(Note: the author swears a little. Sorry, guys.)
I actually didn't know about The Oatmeal until about a week ago, when we started looking at sample blogs in English. Basically the author, Matthew Inman, just has general thoughts about things, and he makes them into comics, which often turn out to be pretty awesome. And though a lot of them are just sort of weird and random, a few are actually useful, like his comic on how to use "whom." ("Do it for the bourbon. Do it for the mustaches. Do it for the steeds.") He also has a few comics on how to use other writer-y word tool grammar things (like that dreaded semicolon). So, um, that's useful.
ZenPencils
ZenPencils is another comic bloggy website thing I like. The author, Gavin Aung Than, takes quotes he finds to be inspirational and illustrates them. Most of the quotes are from famous people, and a lot from people I respect, like this one. (Nerdfighters? Anyone, anyone?) And in illustrating them, he generally uses everyday characters, making them seem more relatable and applicable to everyday life.
Writer's Mafia
Okay, so this is actually an old blog of my own. Is that cheating, to use your own blog? The thing is, it wasn't just my blog. It was my blog, but also fifteen other people's. We all met through a writing camp at the "U" a couple of summers ago (Sieze the Story 2012), all became friends, and all decided to create a blog so we wouldn't lose touch immediately after the last day of class. It was great for a while, and we had our own little critique group, but then we had some technical difficulties and a lot of our posts got deleted. After that, people just sort of forgot about it. But I still really like the blog, and it has a lot of great pieces of writing on it. (Wow, I forgot about some of those kids....)
So anyway, that's that. Sorry that my first few posts have been just these big blocks of text. In the future, I'm gonna try to post less wordy-word-wordness and more...well, more cool-looking stuff. Like art. (Notice how my first two blogs are comics? Visually enticing, my friends.) And also poems. Those are cool-looking, right?
Anyway, thanks for reading.
'Til then,
-Allie H-S
So, I am now to show you three blogs that I like. Such as...
The Oatmeal
(Note: the author swears a little. Sorry, guys.)
I actually didn't know about The Oatmeal until about a week ago, when we started looking at sample blogs in English. Basically the author, Matthew Inman, just has general thoughts about things, and he makes them into comics, which often turn out to be pretty awesome. And though a lot of them are just sort of weird and random, a few are actually useful, like his comic on how to use "whom." ("Do it for the bourbon. Do it for the mustaches. Do it for the steeds.") He also has a few comics on how to use other writer-y word tool grammar things (like that dreaded semicolon). So, um, that's useful. ZenPencils
ZenPencils is another comic bloggy website thing I like. The author, Gavin Aung Than, takes quotes he finds to be inspirational and illustrates them. Most of the quotes are from famous people, and a lot from people I respect, like this one. (Nerdfighters? Anyone, anyone?) And in illustrating them, he generally uses everyday characters, making them seem more relatable and applicable to everyday life. Writer's Mafia
So anyway, that's that. Sorry that my first few posts have been just these big blocks of text. In the future, I'm gonna try to post less wordy-word-wordness and more...well, more cool-looking stuff. Like art. (Notice how my first two blogs are comics? Visually enticing, my friends.) And also poems. Those are cool-looking, right?
Anyway, thanks for reading.
'Til then,
-Allie H-S
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