Thirty-One: Happy Halloween!

And Happy Birthday, Barnaby!

(Yes, I am wishing a fictional character a happy birthday - what of it?)

On another note, I really do hate 'dispassionate writers' - the ones who just go through the motions to produce something and never have a 'bad day'. All creative people have bad days. We all have days where we simply cannot work. We all have days were the thought that we suck is overwhelming. And if you don't at least have moments like that, chances are you aren't into the heart of the craft and chances are that you're just going through the motions.

I realise that a lot of people will scoff at this but passion for your work is very important and frankly if you never have those moments of doubt, I question your passion. Confidence is key, yes, but no one is without doubts. No one should be, in my opinion.

I think these moments of doubt are important. They mean that you're aware of your work and its potential place in a broader social sense. You're aware of your limits, your weaknesses and your issues.

But that's all just my opinion - likely to be just as flawed as anyone else's.

In a related matter, NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow.

I'm thinking of taking today and not doing anything really. It'd be nice to just not worry or be annoyed with people for a day.

Really, you cannot just offer me $100 a book to edit what is essentially a 376-page first draft. On top of that, don't ask for the books back if you know I've made notes in them. You'll get your books but you're not getting the notebook I actually used. You're not getting notes for free.

...

Some days I hate the living.

Anyway, I'm going to read back over my outline and see what I missed the first time around. I'm sure there's something.

I think I'll be able to just relax and write for a little while and I'm really looking forward to that. I feel like it's been forever since I could just... write.

I'm having one of my 'DO ALL THE THINGS' moments, probably because I'm annoyed, and I kind of want to get GIMP and Blender back so I can, you know, do more things like environmens and walk cycles and book covers.

All of this will probably fade out pretty quickly but still, I thought I'd mention it.

Certain people in this house always has game shows on an the TV up insanely loud. So that's really fun for me and my stress levels.

Well. Bye for now, everyone. This wraps up NaBloPoMo this month (w00t?) and I can't promise how much I'll be around during NaNo. Hopefully more than I think.

(I need to keep up with my project blog more, too... but for now I think I'll plan, crochet a little and watch tutorials in the hopes of becoming good at various free programs.)

*waves*

Thirty: Don't work for less than you're worth.

Just... never do it.

I don't work for less than a dollar a page.

I just don't.

And that's really the take-away here - don't work for less than you're worth.

It might limit the frequency of your jobs but I'd say it's worth it to avoid working for a fraction of the acceptable rate.

Also, NaNoWriMo this year is Lit Fic (Literary) and there's a fascinating (italics for sarcasm) thread on the NaNo forums about whether or not Literary is a genre. Sometimes I just want to grab people by the scruff and shake them. Calm the fuck down.

I would argue that Literary focuses on a much larger scale. It encompasses all genres, often by deconstructing them. In that sense, it's much like Speculative. It is not so much a genre in and of itself but rather a collection of smaller genres viewed through a social microscope.

But that's basically what I think of when someone says 'Literary'.

...

I'm in a weird mood again. Like, I want to DO ALL THE THINGS and do absolutely nothing at the same time. Very annoying, actually.

I feel... anxious. Like, wound up and restless.

Everything is really loud and annoying right now and that's not helping at all.

There's a lot of anger in this house...

Like, if I'm out here for too long, I can feel it. It just latches onto me and gets into my bones. And then I start snapping at people and generally being a bitch when I really don't need to be.

Plus, one of our cats is dying (skin and bones aside from her abdomen, which is full of fluid) and my grandparents refuse to do anything about it. So that's making me feel really good.

All in all, there's a lot wrong with this day. I'm trying to not make this just a place for me to complain but, really, my hair is driving me insane, my nails feel brittle, I'm breaking out again, I just kinda got slapped in the face with at least most of the negative stereotypes of self-published authors and I just want to scream.

So.

That's where that is.

But. It's NaNoWriMo pretty soon and without this to worry about, I can just write for a while. I think that would help quite a bit, actually.

Bye for now, guys. This was kind of rambling but I'll try to be a little less annoyed and wanting to stab someone next time.

Twenty-Nine: It's really important that you let me get to ten.

It really is.

I feel like all of today has been me slowly counting to ten and being interrupted every time.

(I mean it. Everything from the editing - my pen hates me, the authors don't seem to know their characters and can your phrasing not be awkward for, like, two paragraphs? Please? - to life in general - she was not out of line. You do not need to step in and apologise for her. - has just been... Yikes, you know?)

I think I'll wait until the end of the month for a response (a real response) to the email I sent. Longer than that and I start getting suspicious.

On the upside, this is giving me a lot of experience.

I'm kind of looking forward to NaNoWriMo just for a chance to get back to writing. There's a lot I want to do and I'm feeling like just want to jump in but, of course, I'm very tired by the time I get the chance to jump in and I don't want to wreck my sleep schedule. Again.

So.

I think I'm going to pack things up, laugh at people asking stupid questions (or just being funny) on the NaNo forums and then probably fall on my face. Mental work is often more tiring than heavy physical labour.

Bye for now, guys. (I really need to learn to start setting this stuff up earlier so I'm not so drug out when I'm trying to post.)

Twenty-Eight: *tears hir hair out*

Let me tell you about things that annoy me.

- Improper use of semicolons
- Missing periods
- Extra space
- Atrocious formatting
- Inconsistent atrocious formatting
- Not starting your first chapter on the correct page
- Using your usernames as your author names on the cover
- Not spacing your chapters correctly.
- Back and front pages are nowhere near industry standards
- Too many '-ly' words
- You gave him a name - f'ing call him by it!
- No. Show me.
- These are separate ideas - why are they in the same sentence?
- OMG with the commas!
- Really? You screwed up the apostrophe?

And that was episode one of Jezzy's Editing Exploits. And, honestly, I'm very glad to have these things on hardcopy because wow. I mean, the story is fine all in all it's just that the writing... yeah.

I'm hoping that they don't get ticked off just because I found a lot of stuff. Even if they do, I've gotten a lot of experience from the books.

(It's not like I hadn't read them before, it's just that I wasn't really writing things down and then I couldn't find my notes so I'm basically having to do it all again. And I'm finding a lot more this time. So, yeah. Ow. I just really hope this is appreciated and not seen as 'Well, we don't wanna work with you anymore because you're just being a bitch'. No, I'm not - I'm being a good editor. Which you clearly need.)

Anyway.

I'm getting worked up over something that hasn't happened and might not happen. So. That was my day, mostly. That and marketing ideas for things that aren't mine. And some things that are.

...

I'm basically planning on being JtHM when I'm older (Jezzy the Happy Mortician). Cannot stop laughing over how well that works out.

So... yeah.

As you can probably tell, I am very tired and I've only edited 32 pages today.

All in all, a productive and tiring day that has left me with a lot of work that I will be happy to fall asleep and ignore for a few hours.

Bye for now, guys. Sorry for the quick, slightly ranting update but, hey, NaNoWriMo starts soon!

Twenty-Seven: Headaches

It's just one of those titles that's just, like, a random word.

Do you ever have moments where you just hate yourself for no apparent reason? Just, like, suddenly everything's wrong?

I'm having one of those moments and it's really not fun.

In other news, I managed to find some very nice things in the mess the renter left behind. Among them:

A cute, short jacket
A Heritage computer bag
A Kenmore sewing machine
A pair of dress pants (that have apparently never been worn)
And a very nice tie.

There's probably more things I'd want in the pile of fabric that's currently hiding most of the dining room table, as well as the mass of left-behind items that are stacked under it but for right now, those are the main things.

The girl emailed me back about the editing work with some decent options for me to mull over. So that's good. I was really stressed about that for some reason. I think the first option (send her the books once the third one is done and have her send them back to me after they've transcribed the notes) might be the best one. That way I have time to make sure everything is legible and it doesn't cost me insane amounts of ink to print things out myself.

Of course, just having me use track changes would be easier on all of us, I'd think.

It might be weird but there's some part of me that likes having marked up copies of books around.

Well...

It feels way later than it actually is and I do need to get the book I've been reading done. I'm, like, two chapters from the end. Then I can (sleep first and then) go through the first two books again and see if there's anything I'd need to add or change. I marked quite a bit...

I'm kind of sub-conscientiously bracing for NaNoWriMo, I think. It's gonna be fun having to keep up with things for a full month but I just try to think of how much will be done and over with by the time the month is out and how much I'll have to work with.

That usually helps.

So, I think I'm going to scrounge up a red pen and a blue pen for tomorrow, get a notebook I haven't written in yet and just have things as ready to start as I can. Then all I'll have to do is stress over the email (like I always do, even with people I know well), finish reading that book, and go through all the mess in the dining room in case I want other things.

It'll be a rich, full day.

Bye for now, guys. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a little less stressful.

Twenty-Six: Beta Work and General Stress

Yes, I can't back out of it now...

(Just in case anyone didn't know, yes, I do offer editing and proofreading services.)

This is possibly one of the most awkward times but the beta-reading/editing thing is ready to start. I got an email this morning. (Technically, she said they're 'getting ready to get started on book three' so I'm not sure if she means starting writing or not. I kind of hope she does - that would give me some time to calm the hell down and read.)

I realise that this is a very good thing but still, kind of panicking about it.

Part of me is still kind of like this:

But the rest of me is pretty happy.

She offered to have me read and red line the first two books and mail them back instead of keep them so they could pay me for reading them and I might do that because, you know, money. I've made a lot of notes in the copies I have though, so if I could get new ones for that, it would be awesome.

Generally, red line editing just means going through and looking for things that would be underlined in red, like asdfghjkl;. It's basically proofreading. I'm not sure if that's what she means, though.

I also need to brush up my editing marks...

But that was the bombshell for today.

Along with everything else I was planning to try to get done.

I've also figured out that I need a cosmetology degree. Why? Because morticians who can also do hair and makeup (like, for open caskets) tend to be paid more since the funeral home doesn't have to outsource it.

Problem: It's eleven months and 8 thousand dollars.

So... yeah. I mean, you learn a lot but still, wow. 'Restorative Art' doesn't cover any of that or else I'd just do that and forget about it. (It's more about like mortician's wax and rebuilding facial structures - like, if you got shot in the face but you want an open casket. Neat, huh? 8D)

I also need a business degree, which really doesn't scare me - it's like almost any other college course. Thing is, if I'm taking the cosmetology course, I'll only have time for maybe one night class at the college and my schedule's pretty much full.

Then, it's four years (total) for a business degree and two years (almost) in mortuary school.

Stressful.

But that's were I am today.

I get the feeling that before too long I'll be all like 'Bring me my red pen'.

Because I'm stupid like that. (All I have to do is remember that all I'm looking for is flow and plot holes, basically. Their style is... not my style.)

So. I'm going to go and answer her email and see what she says. In the meantime, I think I'll go try to distract myself from the whole panic thing by working a little on that outline. The first couple chapters are starting to come together so I'm hoping that continues.

At least I can kind of plan in and around NaNoWriMo with all this. That's one good thing, at least. I knew I got that outline done early for a reason.

Things are slowly moving forward and that's a good thing. I'm actually really grateful for any work I can get like this - even if I am stupidly nervous. That's the thing though, I'm not perfect, but I've got a good eye. I know I do. Like with so many other things, I just need to start.

We'll be going to the rental house (the house we rented out) pretty soon to see what the damage is and start going through all the stuff they left behind so that'll be fun.

So, bye for now, everyone. I'm going to go write and try to figure out November.

*rolls away* *falls through trap door*

Twenty-Five: On Planning

(In which I try to be helpful.)

I was asked how I keep busy and keep working when I have multiple projects going on so I figured I'd try to answer here. (I'm not sure how helpful this will be, for the record. I'm just generally bad at this.)

For me, I think it's just that - having multiple projects. Well, multiple projects and good orgainisation.

Working on more than one thing 'at once' means that I can jump back and forth when I get stuck on one of them. By the time I've burned myself out on one idea and need a break from it, I've usually figured out what happened with the first idea that tripped me up.

That doesn't work for everyone but I've found it to be a very good way for me to work.

In addition, I keep a calendar (the one linked in the sidebar under 'Free Stuff') and try to slot things in where they belong. My calendar isn't a be-all, end-all but it gives me a pretty solid idea of what I should be working on, at least most days.

(You can click on the pictures to see them larger.)

Let's take a week as an example and say I have a fair bit I'd like to do. Like, say I have a crochet project that I want done, an outline that I want to get done, I want to finish a book, I have several fashion sketches I want to do (maybe character outfits?), and I need to study math.

Here's how I would plan the week.

Plan 'Immovable Objects' First

Work and school are generally a fixed schedule. Fill those in first so you can see where you have the most free time. If you don't have either of these things, use something that has to be done. For me, it's my math, but I need breaks in between, so the first week might look like this:

Pretty doable, right? There's a lot of free space in here.


Plan 'High Wants' Next

From there, plan out things you really want to do. My writing is always pretty high on the list for me so once that's added in, the week might look like this:

This is a little more intimidating just because every day has something in it. But that's just it. Everyday has something in it, but that's all it has in it. One thing a day. This way, I can get a fair bit done without overloading one or two days for the sake of freeing up others.

Staggering my schedule like this gives me time to stop and rest and work when I can on the 'task of the day'.

(Of course, I might also have 'Write Chapter 7' or 'Edit Chapter 4' in there too but for an example piece, this works just fine.)


Plan 'Middle-ground' Wants

In other words, things you want to do but that can be pushed around if they need to be. From the list I gave, finishing reading a book and doing my sketches are things I'd like to do but they aren't dire. With those added, the week would look pretty full:

A little fuller now, huh? Still, 50 pages is not an insane goal. It's something that can be done in the evening or over breaks during the day. And notice I only said 'Sketch'. I didn't give a number, or even a level of completion. Technically, one rough sketch would be enough.



Fill in the Extra Space

While I don't advocate running yourself into the ground, it's good to know how much you can take on without getting hurt. This is the time to add in anything else you have to do - mainly things that you aren't too crazy about doing. For me, I'm least looking forward to crocheting at the moment so that's my last entry.

Now my week looks like this:

And even though there is a fair bit on the calendar, I'm not overworked in the least and things are still getting done. The math work doesn't take me long and outlining a single section (or 'Chap.1 to Chap.6' maybe?) isn't too difficult. Reading is never a chore for me and I can do that at the end of the day to wind down a little. Even crochet work isn't too stressful - just a little time-consuming.

A schedule like this looks kind of intimidating, especially if you've planned an entire month, but by breaking things down into one and two-line goals, meeting a larger goal by the end of the month suddenly looks much more doable than if you'd simply typed the goal on the last day.

I find myself doing this with pages or chapters as well. Writing one chapter doesn't sound nearly as daunting as writing a whole book.

Jumping between projects also gives me a chance to back away for a couple of days and think about one set of characters while I'm working with another. It tends to give me a new perspective on them when I'm away from the project, even by a little.

This won't work for everyone, of course, but I've found it works very well for me and I thought I'd share just in case anyone else could use it or tailor it to fit them better. Sometimes even having a rough idea of what needs to be done by when can really help.

Also, on choosing an idea:

What's always worked best for me is just to go down the list. What story do you connect with right now? Which one do you know the most about? Which on has characters that you know like the back of your hand? (If it comes right down to it, flip a coin. Once that coin is in the air, you'll know what you're hoping for and you'll have your project.)

I'll probably really hit this hard after NaNoWriMo so maybe I'll let you guys see what a full month looks like for me.

Speaking of planning, I really do need to get back on that outline of mine. I think I have the two main characters names now and that means progress.

I want to get section one done today or tomorrow, at least the rough draft of the outline. You can't improve what's not there, right?

Also, if someone's only suspected of being an assassin, there's nothing the police can do to him, right? It's very important that I know this and all related information. Because of reasons.

*suspicious glance at the door*

I'm insane, aren't I?

I thought so.

Well, I will be getting back to writing/planning/whatever now and I hope you all have a wonderful day. (Be sure to schedule yourself some time off.)

I'm very tired so I'll probably go scrounge some food and then try to get something done before I fall asleep.

Bye for now, everyone. I'll see you all tomorrow when I will probably cringe at this entry.

*waves*

Twenty-Four: Insomnia

or 'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love YouTube'

Really, I've learned enough algebra from YouTube that my math books don't scare me as much anymore. So, you know, yay!

I found an hour-long algebra video on there today and I wanted to do a back-flip. I'm becoming such a geek - it's great! XD

I'm kind of jangly in the nerve department right now but it's all good.

I'm hoping that I can just stay up today and sleep tonight and that somehow, magically, that will fix my f-ed up sleep schedule. Because it's really not helping my temperament.

Okay.

What do I have that should be getting worked on right now?

- One book (I need at least fifty pages... and I randomly thought that the human lead would probably taste like pleasantly stale coffee if you kissed him. I have no idea why 0.o)
- One new outline (to start on)
- One paper (one chapter/section shouldn't take me too long, if I'm focused on it)

I also have a book I need to finish reading. (It's good and I'm not sure why I haven't finished it yet. Weird.)

I still need to go driving, too.

Wow. I think the coffee might be kicking in. *wiggles*

Also, I forgot I had a Wordpress site. I might try to do something with that if I can stop hating the interface long enough. It wouldn't be a blog since I already have this one and tumblr, so it might be more of a small website than anything.

Anyway. That's something else on the to-do list.

Along with my now 102 ideas, losing weight, getting in better shape (so I can haul around bodies all day. You know... mortician.) and a host of other things I'm probably forgetting about.

But for right now, my mood is decidedly:

(Thanks to Hyperbole and a Half, ladies and gentlemen, for bringing 'X all the Y' into our lives! The blog is awesome; go read it.)

So. Yeah.

I should probably actually go and work on something, huh? Probably.

Bye for now, everyone! Bye for now.

Twenty-Three: Languages, Video games, and Vampires

I think a main character may have some Romanian blood in him. Like, maybe his mother was from there. This will likely have absolutely nothing to do with the story but, hey, it's a fun headcanon.

Romanian is actually a very cool language, I think. It just has an interesting sound to it and it sticks pretty close to Latin in terms of grammar.

So that's on the list of things I'd like to learn (along with German, Russian and Japanese). And a verity of conlangs that I likely never use for anything, ever.

Also, I'm switching games and playing through the Devil May Cry series. Mainly because I'm too frustrated with my lack of skills to continue with Dead Space 2 right now. (I love Dead Space 2 - I'm just stuck at a really stupid part and that's really bad for my self-esteem. So.)

I've been all over with Dante before so hopefully I won't want to kill my controller (as quickly).

And vampires. I'm on kind of a vampire kick again. Not as bad as the last one but still pretty noticeable.So, you know, you've been warned. Cybernetic vampires. From the future. In Space.

Do you ever have a character that starts out a book way different from how they'll be at the end and you're like:

through the first several chapters? (WTF is with the colours on this one? 0.o)


'Cause I had a moment like that earlier.

It was fun.

Anyway. In really unrelated news, I slept from about 1 or 2 in the morning to about 4 in the afternoon and I don't know why. I'm not even sick - although I did feel pretty terrible for a while. Like, shaky and a little weak and kind of unsettled. I took a shower and that helped but now I'm like:

(I was looking for a good excuse to use that gif XD)

All I want to do is write, which is probably a good thing since I have outlines and things to be doing. Just being here kind of drains me though which is really irritating. I realise that I complain about it a lot but it's just way more noticeable than I thought it would be.

I'm also quietly spazzing over Iron Man. Tony Stark, everybody! *flails*

Wow. This was really just a random collection of sentences, wasn't it? Less of an update, more of a rambling note etched on the walls of my cell...

Yeah.

So, I'm going to go back to writing and then maybe read and hopefully sleep for a more reasonable length of time.

Bye for now, people. I'll try to be more coherent next time XD

(Oh, and I'm planning on kind of liveblogging NaNoWriMo so, be prepared for that next month. Whee! Time to kill my hands again! 8D)

Twenty-Two: Classical Music Flash Mob!

This is awesome!

Also, 200th post!

Unfortunately, today has been kind of awful. I get why there's so much stress in the house but wow, still.

It's definitely a Monday. I can tell because I just want to scream.

I'm overheated, I want to tear my hair out, I should be working (I'm very aware of this) but really, I'm just like 'Leave me the hell alone' to everyone.

I know it's just today. I'll be fine in the morning. But that isn't much help right now.

I think I'm just tired of it all. Not in a depressed way - in a ticked off way. The problem is that when I'm ticked off, I don't want to do better - I just want to quit because fuck it.

Obviously I can't do that so I'll be going back to work once this is up and hopefully that will keep me from wanting to stab someone.

...

I don't communicate well, I think is a large part of the issue.

Often when I comment about something, I'm not really complaining, I'm just talking. Sure, something might be annoying me but not enough for me to do anything about it.

I talk a lot about things that really don't matter.

Oh, well.

I'll stop feeling annoyed and sorry for myself here pretty soon. (Although I really need to learn to shield better.)

I think what happens is that it all builds up on me. I get distracted easily and when I have something I'm interested in and want to talk about, I wind up not doing anything different since (and this is really, unforgivably stupid part) I'm concerned about other people - about how they perceive me. Because I'm not consistent.

Get through that and I can get through anything. Get though that and I'm golden.

So bye for now, guys. I'll try to get something done tonight (maybe the outline you've been screwing around and not doing? Or the book? The book would be a good call. Even if you are still a little uncomfortable with this particular vampire character. Don't write hunters if you can't write prey).

Here's hoping I can sleep and get this character's voice right and that tomorrow doesn't suck.

*wanders away*

Twenty-One Point Five: *excessive headdesk*

Renters.

That is the problem of the day.

Let me walk you through:

We had a renter (well, my mum had a renter) and said renter was nice but fairly consistently late on the rent. Not too long ago, we found out that people who we had not authorised were living there. They were told by the renter that mum rented to that he (said renter) owned the property.

So, they're gone now, through an official eviction notice.

But the house is trashed.

So now we have to:

- Clean up all the trash
- Fix the broken blinds
- Replace the carpet in all but the master bedroom (it's torn out of one back bedroom and a section of the hallway and there are bleach strains on everything)
- Fix the front and back doors
- Fix the water damage around the doors
- Fix the water tank
- Wrap the water tank's pipes
- Inspect absolutely everything

So, all in all, maybe about $3,000 in damage.

Oh, good. Oh, good!

*headdesk*

I'm done. We're all just done with renters. The house can sit on the market, for sale, until it rots and it would probably be better for it.

So.

That's how the second half of my day has been.

I'm going to go and try to write something. (And also try not to be annoyed by people on the internet who meant no harm and have absolutely nothing to do with me.)

Twenty-One: On a Certain English Dub

(In which Jezzy has a lot of feelings and is a complete anime geek.)

If you really don't care about any of this, feel free to skip... most of this entry.

Time for the rare fandom post.

I realise that the dub of Tiger and Bunny has been kind of a base breaker among the fans (most either love it or hate it) but I have to say, I'm fairly impressed with it so far. All dubs are going to have their issues - I never expected it to be perfect - but I am really glad to see some very smart decisions made on the part of the script writers, translators and voice actors.

For the purposes of keeping this post a reasonable length, I'll just be focusing on our main two Heroes.

Some of the dialogue reads a little like it was from a comic book which is sort of a nice callback since the show was based heavily on American superheroes and the culture surrounding them.

Three episodes are out now.

Here we go (keeping in mind that this is by no means a comprehensive review - I'm just having feelings):

Episode One

Kotetsu -

In episode one, when we're first introduced to Kotetsu Kaburagi (Wild Tiger), his English voice is a bit of a jolt if you're used to the original Japanese version. His voice is lighter and maybe a little friendlier than in the original, which makes sense given the difference in language in general. Besides, his original voice actor (Hiroaki Hirata) has a rather distinctive voice which would have been hard to match in English.

Wally Wingert has done a very solid overall job with bringing the sense of old-fashioned heroics and the kind of adorable single-father-trying-too-hard silliness that was present in the original Japanese version. He also manages to bring the sarcastic, tired side of the character through without dragging the entire performance to that snarky level.

Wally has a few weaknesses as Tiger, of course, namely that his lines sometimes aren't as smooth as they technically should be. Overall I think these issues balance out nicely and anytime it is obvious, the comic book 'origin' could be called in to cover any slightly awkward reading. All in all, even these smaller 'slip-ups' tend to work with Kotetsu's character for the most part since he is rather 'old-fashioned' in a lot of ways.

Favourite Lines:

'Seriously?' '

'Oh, boy.'

‘I caught the criminal – doesn’t that count for anything?!’

Barnaby -

Barnaby sounds his age, something I am infinitely happy about. He has a natural flow to his voice that one would expect from someone who always projects the image of, essentially, a pop star. He's much like what you would expect a young American star to be like.

In the first episode, he's portrayed as the classic young upstart hero - the talented rookie with too many fans for his own good, basically. Masakazu Morita did a very solid original reading and showed Barnaby as a real character, apart from his stage persona.

Yuri Lowenthal's portrayal of him in the English dub seems to have blended these two personae a bit more, leading to a very interesting reading of the character himself.

Favourite Lines:

(Tiger: ‘Who are you supposed to be?’) ‘The guy who just saved your life.’

‘Times are changing. Better keep up, Old Man.’

Episode Two

Kotetsu –

In episode two some of Kotetsu's lines reflect much more bitterness at being relegated to the sidecar, essentially replaced by a rookie, than his original lines did. This, to me, is a very smart decision as it shows Kotetsu still seeing himself as the hero he was when he first started out.

As we see more of his life and his relationship with his family, we’re able to see different sides of his personality in a more consistent light.

Lines like 'How'd I get stuck with you?' when speaking to Barnaby further reflect this. There's a fair bit of animosity between them early on, which was brought through quite nicely. Kotetsu is out to help; Barnaby is out for the points.

Wally has also made some very good decisions with regard to how Kotetsu talks with his daughter and brings him across simply as a single father with a demanding job in those scenes.

Favourite Lines:

'That's a brilliant idea - why don't we wait until the whole city's destroyed?'

'(to Barnaby) You sure? You don't want to touch up your makeup or [something]?'

'How'd I get stuck with you?'

'Sidekick to that showboat?! That guy's a costume clown!'

Barnaby -

Barnaby is of special interest to me because of Yuri's choices of tone for certain lines in this episode. In particular, in the famous 'My name is not Bunny! It's Barnaby!' scene ('I am not a bunny! My name is Barnaby!' in English), Barnaby's voice is fairly even, if annoyed, for those two lines however, once Tiger mocks him (I am not a bunny! I'm a Barnaby!), his next line - 'I don't talk like that!' - has a much different sound to it. He sounds as though he's largely dropped the act. He sounds younger on this line - his voice is higher for most of it - which leads me to wonder if Yuri will continue to play with the differences between the stage persona of Barnaby Brooks, Jr. the Hero and the real Barnaby.

Another example I've noticed is in the next episode preview. The preview for episode three has Barnaby reading. He sounds a bit bored and almost sarcastic at the last, especially over 'See ya!', which was almost always some degree of flirty or at least friendly in the original. I'm hoping that this was a conscious choice as it would reflect a certain level of annoyance. It would also be a good callback and commentary on young stars who are apparently very annoyed with their fans.

Of course, that snarky personality trait has been seen before, mainly around Kotetsu.

All of this seems to hint that Yuri understands the character in at least these two levels which bodes well for future episodes.

Even things that are very 'classic young American star' in my opinion (like, 'Hey! Who planted the bomb? I'm right in the middle of a freakin' interview here!') don't seem out terribly of place due to the delivery and the character's apparent attitude.

Favourite Lines:

'Just three and a half minutes of my life that I'm never going to get back. But, hey, don't worry about it.'

'Yeah? Good luck with that.'

'Great plan - worked out real well.' 

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it! What did you just call me? Did you just call me 'Bunny'?'

‘I don’t talk like that!’

Episode Three

Kotetsu –

We finally get to see a little of Kotetsu being a Mr. Legend fanboy. Wally’s starting to really find his stride here. Not perfect by any means, but good enough – which is really all I was hoping for in the first place.

He and Barnaby are slowly learning to trust each other here and I was a little concerned about the English version trying to make the jump too fast and throwing the pacing off but that fear’s been mostly stepped on. Things are evening out but they’re by no means settled, which is where they should be by this episode.

Wally still has lines where it doesn’t come across as natural as it maybe should have but one could also write the majority of those off as just being Kotetsu’s speech patterns by this point.

Favourite Lines:

‘Eh – I got nothin’.’

‘Yo, Homie… wanna, like, hang out?’

‘(to Barnaby) Yeah, well, I’m not you.’

Barnaby –

As we learn more about him, more of Yuri’s choices make sense.  I was initially a little worried since there were scenes where it had that ‘acting’ undertone to it. However, it seems to work with the character better than I thought it would, even in English.

Little by little, we’re being given glimpses into his past and what his life may have been, which makes this kind of reading understandable, especially for someone his age.

(At any rate, it isn't enough to bother me.)

The characters and actors seem to be sort of smoothing out as everyone finds their stride. Barnaby’s speech patterns vary widely depending on the situation and who he’s speaking with. Already, he speaks differently around Kotetsu, though it isn’t as noticeable now as it may become later.

Favourite Lines:

‘Okay… I guess I don’t get any privacy.’

‘Why are you talking like that? It’s creepy, man.’

‘Thanks for the sentiment but if I were you, I’d ditch me.’

TL;DR - All in all, I’m pretty happy with the job. What more can I say?

It's very possible that the dub will turn out better than its current detractors believe it to be. I certainly hope so. In any case, I'm currently a fan of both versions (and will hopefully be making the Blu-Ray release a kind of late Christmas present).

And this has pretty much been a fandom post.

And please do remember that these are just my opinions - likely to be just as flawed as anyone else's.

*****************************************************

Wow.

That was really rambling and I’m very sorry if you don’t care at all about this. But I had a lot of feelings. As you can probably tell.

Basically, both Wally and Yuri have moments where their lines just don't flow but because of the (sometimes very amazing) job they do on other lines and in other scenes, I can easily overlook these types of issues. It's by no means constant and will likely even out as the show goes on. Everything else is pretty stellar (in my opinion).

But yeah. This might be one of my longest posts yet.

On a completely different note, what I'm thinking I should do with my current issues with getting things done is just start from the top of the list and start doing outlines. If nothing else, it'll really tell me what ideas are workable and whether or not they're meant to be novels or would work better as short stories.

I wonder if I could do an outline a day? They really don't take me that long if I'm focused on them.

...

I love that when I get to work with a character, I suddenly want to know ALL THE THINGS about them.

Well... I should probably get back to some semblance of work that doesn't involve rambling about anime (although that section alone is nearly 1,500 words by my word counter. So yeah.)

I am sorry for the insane post length here guys. Seriously. I will try not to ramble so much in the future.

Your next entry should be delivered to you soon.

See ya~

Twenty: Quick Update

Wow. Late post today.

I guess it's just because I have a lot to say but it's going to take me a while to say it so I think it's better saved until tomorrow's post so I have more time.

...

My power was out for about an hour today. That was fun.

Now, I have an outline and one chapter to finish (I really just need to write that chapter and stop worrying so much. I can fix it once it's all down on digital paper.)

I'm not sure what the issue is but I just can't seem to get started on anything. I think I need to get at least the outline and chapter done before I start on anything else...

It's always frustrating when you want to work and get things done but you just can't for some reason. I know that'll fade but still - irritating. The energy level is just weird here. Ick.

Well, not much has happened because I've been asleep all day because I have not been sleeping well at all the past couple nights. It's really starting to mess with me.

So. This has been a quick update post.


Bye for now, guys. The next post might be a lot of rambling about the English dub of Tiger and Bunny so if you want to skip it, I don't blame you.

Nineteen: Strange Facts and Useless Information

At one point during the 1970s, musician David Bowie weighed a grand total of 95 pounds, hardly a healthy weight for a man standing 5'11" This would put his BMI at 13.2. The cutoff for underweight is 18.5.

For comparison, I am 5'3". For my BMI to be 13.2, I would have to weigh around 74-75 pounds.

This has been your strange fact for the day. Now, on to the Useless Information section of the post!

Wants:
A good (free or not) site
A forum for said site
A Wiki for said site

Needs:
To work on writing for said site
To work on other projects for said site
To work on said site
To work on said Wiki

So...

Anyone know of a good website builder? It needs to support a store and a forum (aim for the stars, right? I'm trying to plan ahead).

Webs.com is looking like the best choice, all in all if I'm going to have the store but I'd value other input.

Plus, I'll probably stick with Weebly for the actual previews and all that.

*sigh*

I want a business license when we get settled. And a solid block of ISBNs. And I mean, like, a block I could kill somebody with. None of that 'What, you call this a block? You call this a block? I wouldn't hit a guy over the head with this block!' kind of crap.

...

I'm wound up - can ya tell?

No, I just... it's been decided and now I want to, say it with me, DO ALL THE THINGS! (Very good.) But, of course, I'm limited by own work ethic at this point. That and an inability to do things without a business license... and an apparent inability to get past the whole 'what if this fails' thing. What if it does? That's why I'm using only free stuff right now. That way, if it doesn't fail, I'll have the money and the support to pay for my own sites and all that happy crap.

See? It's all fine.

Now, calm down and work, okay?

(Yes, I am talking to myself. What of it?)

Suddenly all I want to do is find people who know FAKE well enough to write with me and do a criminal AU. Yes, I'm weird, but you're gonna hav'ta deal.

I am, apparently, weird enough to have an idea for a cyberpunk opera... when I'm totally not a songwriter.

So...

That's where that's at.

I'm gonna go and try to get chapter one of a thing I've been working on done, since it's kind of a test the waters chapter.

Plus, my sleep schedule seems to not want to be anything but f-ed up and I need to go driving. So that's frustrating. It's just so quiet and calm in here at night. Things get all bunched up energy-wise during the day. If you've ever been in a place where people are very stressed out and you can just feel it in the air, you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway. I will see you all later and I hope you have a very good day.

Bye for now, guys <3

Eighteen: My Spider has Icing Feet

Yes, you read that right.

This spider, to be exact:

I shall name him... Morri.

Also, I totally have this now, because my family is awesome:

You Jelly?

Oh, and sorry this post is later in the day than usual. I stayed up since... the sixteenth, basically, so I needed the sleep.

I also need to be writing. Like, on a lot of things.

I have a headache thanks to one of my wisdom teeth coming in, I have a stomachache for who knows what reason and I feel jittery and anxious. Hopefully this is not setting the tone for my twenties.

I'll be fine, I'm just very annoyed and in considerable discomfort right now.

What I think the plan is for now:

- Get at least a few more pages down on a book
- read for a while
- finish the outline for NaNo
- go work on the website or the Wiki or something

What the plan will probably wind up being:

- Roll around in pain
- Eat something small
- Work a little bit
- Try not to cry
- Cry a lot

It just feels like it's going to be one of those days, you know?

I woke up (for a little while, before the headache set in) having feelings over Amnesia: The Dark Descent and FAKE. Whenever a day starts out with those two things, it probably won't be a good one because FEELS.

For now I think I need to go scrounge something warm to eat and then hopefully I'll feel a little better and can get something - anything - done.

Bye for now guys <3

Seventeen: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEZZY!

No. I am not sorry for yelling.

But yes, it is, in fact, my birthday. I am Libra, hear me roar!

Or whatever.

*sigh*

I just want to go and, like, start a little publishing company. And we'd eventually expand to include a little film company and a fashion/makeup/perfume brand. And then I'd get to live in my fictional worlds and not have to worry about things like birthdays or any facet of real life aside from death and taxes.

Maybe it's like a birthday wish or something?

I don't know.

...

These headphones are a little tinny but at least I can hear out of both sides. So, you know, yay.

I get pizza for dinner, too. And a cake.

Also, I have pumpkins:

The bandages are so I don't tear up my hands crocheting. The yarn dragging across my hand gives me like this rug burn kind of thing.

But yeah, I made pumpkins.

Here they are again:

Okay? Okay.

And then I started wondering about hair products. Like, why are we spending money on things to make our hair softer when a vinegar rinse does the same thing? I mean, you can't use it all the time, but still.

Besides a lot of shampoo and conditioner... I don't know, I almost feel like it dries my hair out... Although, there's a brand called 'Yes to Carrots' that might not do that since it's natural. Anyway. Random thought.

I've been looking into random things like that. Just 'cause I can.

Also, wikispaces. Basically it's like Wikipedia but anyone can get on there and do their own thing. I'm thinking it could be a really good way to give out a lot of background information on characters and things like that. People love digging into the gears and guts of stories they love.

*sigh*

Screw it. I'm doing this artist thing. I'm sick of just talking about an idea I think is viable so FILDI.

(If you're not sure what that means, it stands for 'Fuck it; Let's do it.' I find it's a very useful acronym. Adopt yours today!)

This actually works out perfectly since I'll have time to do things and get things set up before the move so I'm not trying to scramble around school and maybe an outside, part-time job when we get settled. If nothing else I'll at least be a little clear on what exactly I'll have to do.

I'd just love it if my ideas had a home somewhere and, for personal reasons, I don't want an agent so my own company would be a pretty awesome step. (Note: I have researched this before; it's really not that hard to do anymore.) I could do a lot with an imprint. Maybe I can get other things out there too, not just writing. I mean I have a lot of crafty, artsy stuff too. Who knows?

I don't know, I'm just feeling all optimistic and wanting to work on things and crap such as that.

I might not be as loud about this later but I do still want to do something with it. I just need to get things started. Once things are started, I can usually keep them going, it's just that initial shove that... sometimes doesn't work so well.

But yeah. That was my 'I'm gonna do something awesome' moment for the day. Hopefully it sticks around for a while and things don't end up like this:

Life:

Me: OMGRUN!!!

Because that has been known to happen. Quite a bit.

I'm actually a little more like this right now:

I'm not entirely sure what today is going to consist of but I can be reasonably sure that it will be some degree of awesome.

Bye for now, guys. Have an amazing day ^^ and this 20-year-old (holy mother of NO) will see you all later.