I Can't Always See The Stars, But I Know They're Still There:

Can I get a "Fuck Yeah"?!

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:18:56 GMT

FUCK YEAHHHHH!!!!!! Annise Parker just became the mayor of Houston. For those not in the know, Annise Parker is openly a lesbian. This makes her the first openly gay mayor of a major city in the United States ever. And it happened in my city! Not to mention in the middle of Texas, which is not always the most open-minded, liberal state (to say the least). I love my city, and all the people who voted based on politics, not prejudices.

In fact, I read in the newspaper the other day that roughly 80% of Houstonians said that Parker's sexuality was not an issue that would affect their vote either way. That is just so completely awesome that I don't even know what to say, other then that I'm really proud of my city right now.

And you know what else? A few years ago, a measure was passed, and then rejected by voters (I believe, it could be the city council). This measure was a anti-discrimination bill that stated that a person could not be fired from their job in Houston just for being gay. It was a blow when it got shot down (and barely at that, making the loss almost more bitter), but now there's a damn good chance GLBT folks here can finally get some protection.

Plus, I'm glad that Locke got his just desserts--he seems like a good man, but he did something that really pissed me off. There is an anti-gay rights activist here, who sent out some nasty mailers and has basically done anything he could for the last 20 years to deny gays equal rights, as well as basically just saying all GLBT people are going to hell. IIRC, he was a big part of the bill I talked about earlier being rejected. So this guy endorses Locke, and offers him lots of money. Locke waffles for a few days, and nobody knows if he's going to go for it, but then he does. He takes the guy's money and effectively says "I don't care about this guy's (horrible, prejudiced) actions." Seriously, that was the gist of it, I'm paraphrasing here. So, it makes me really glad that he didn't win, being backed by such a homophobic jerk.

So yeah. I'm so happy right now, you don't even know. Man, I fucking love politics.

I miss Rucka's Wonder Woman

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:24:57 GMT

I mean, she was awesome and funny and nice and confident. She knew what her mission was, and she was going to do it to the very best of her ability. She didn't hesitate and doubt, she did what she knew was right, even though the consequences were often dire. Plus, she had an awesome supporting cast...Ferdinand, the embassy employees, Rucka's pantheon, and Io (man, I love Io). She didn't have any awkward/ill-fitting love interest shoehorned in either. Plus, she got to fight monsters and villains from traditional Greek mythology. That was awesome and appealed to my history kink.

Now, I love Gail like a little kid loves candy, but her run on Wonder Woman hasn't exactly been great. It's not bad, exactly, just pretty solidly "meh." Her Diana just seems so...lost. Not sure what to do, always questioning herself, full of doubt, you know--she just seems stuck in a bad place. I admit it--comics are an escapist fanatasy for me. I read them to get away from the sometimes shitty reality of the real world.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd like to read about a strong, confident female hero again. Someone I could look up to and aspire to be like. No one wants to be lost, but everyone wants to be a hero.

Just checked out the new scans_daily digs

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:44:29 GMT

And they look pretty sweet to me. I especially like the new layout, what with the teal-ish blue and fun font for the banner. The Batman "my parents are DEEEEEAAAADDD!" bit at the top is genius. I lol'd when I saw it.

Anyways, I'm looking foward to s_d 3.0. I think it's also great that we've finally found a host site that actually wants us there as well. I'm also pretty happy that certain trollish members of the comm won't be following, I'll be glad to be shot of them.

My one regret is that I'm missing the moving day party over at noscans--my parents took my laptop up and I've been using my phone to get on the web the last week and a half. The party page is too big and won't load on my phone properly :(

This may well be the most awesome thing you see this week

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:22:59 GMT

My dear flist, I give you...Iceman freestyle rapping with Deathstroke the Terminator beatboxing! And they're pretty damn good, too.

What made it for me was Deathstroke's hip movements. You rock it, Terminator!

Plus, I've got so much respect for that Iceman guy, freestyle rapping is hard. I've done it before prior to basketball games to get pumped up (it's a pre-game ritual we have), and it's really difficult to rhyme and be clever and keep a beat off the top of your head! (It doesn't help that the only thing my name rhymes with is "harlot"--not real flattering, and my middle and last names rhyme with nothing).

I've never met another person who wears midriff shirts...

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:56:21 GMT

...so why are they so prevalent in comics? I mean, you can't flip through an issue of Teen Titans or Birds of Prey without seeing one. Not to mention all the stupid, stupid midriff-baring costumes that female superheros run around in. It makes more sense for the ones with invulnerability like Supergirl (though it's still pretty tacky), but for the badass normals like Huntress? Who already got almost fatally shot in the gut once? It's just plain dumb.

As y'all can probably guess, this little entry was prompted by the whole wanky Huntress costuming post over on s_d, specifically my back-and-forth with manofbats. I was dumb enough to get in an argument with him, and holy crap, that guy does not budge an inch (and he was rather rude besides). I really just need to avoid messing with him about anything to do with feminism in the future, it's just not worth it--too aggravating without any payoff. Anyways, we got into it a bit and he said something pretty mind-boggling: that midriff shirts are popular women's fashion.

Um, I don't know what parallel universe he's living in, but I've never seen another girl wear a midriff shirt. And I would know current clothing trends, going to high school and all (I may not pay attention to all that, but I am surrounded by people who do). And yes, my school bans midriff shirts, but I've never seen anyone wear one outside of school either, not even at parties. Being cold's not even a factor down here (hell, it was still in the 90s last week), so I imagine there's even less midriff shirts up north (which is saying something, since that'd be less than zero).

Besides, (how can I put this delicately?) the "slut-factor" is a pretty strong deterrant. Not to mention that having a shirt that bares only your stomach isn't really a flattering look on most people...the only people I can think of that still wear that type of shirt are Britney Spears and Madonna (and also on Halloween costumes, but that's a different thing entirely). So where on earth is this "midriff shirts are what women wear" bullshit coming from?

I mean, it's bad enough that DC is putting it's female heroes in belly shirts, but to see it defended with such...odd...arguments is just plain weird.

On Babs, Charlie, and Abandonment Issues

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:04:51 GMT

I really did not mean to make another post today, but seeing the new Batgirl post on scans_daily triggered this. I do mean that in a quite literal sense, and this post, I'm warning you now, will more than likely contain some amounts of fangirl rage. It's about an issue that's a very touchy subject for me, and I really can't find it in myself to apologize for getting worked up about it. I am, however, going to try and remain objective and coherent as I can, it'll be good practice for writing newspaper stories about issues that upset me.

So, for anyone who doesn't know this, Charlie, aka Misfit, was an orphan with teleportation powers and a strong desire to be a hero who was taken in by Barbara Gordon, aka Oracle. Babs agreed to give her a home, training, and a family of sorts with the Birds. Great, right? Well, it was until Gail Simone left the book. It all went downhill from there, culminating in Babs abandoning Charlie via note to the care of Helena Bertinelli, aka the Huntress. Yeah, you read that right, Charlie didn't even get told to her face that she was getting abandoned.

I can tell you from personal experience that surprise abandonment is the worst kind. I said this was a touchy issue for me, and I meant it--I've experieced it firsthand repeatedly. Through circumstances usually not in her control, my mom's had to leave my family for extended periods of time on multiple occasions. Being abandoned sucks. You get it in your head that it's your fault, you made them leave, they couldn't stay because of you. It takes years to train yourself out of that kind of thinking, and sometimes it's easy to slip back into it. Pretty obviously, there's a ton of negative repercussions from abandonment.

DC didn't show any of these. Not a single one. Babs leaves Charlie out in the cold with a note, and all that we see is her happily riding off on a motocycle with Helena. I'm sorry, but it doesn't work like that. When a relationship gets severed, bad things happen. There's pain and loss and guilt and suffering. You wouldn't be able to tell that if your only exposure to the issue was Birds of Prey.

And that's what really gets me, more than anything else. DC handled this extremely poorly--it's not presented as an issue, it's presented as a solution. Yes, the solution to problems in your personal life is to abandon your kids. What a great idea. Not. I almost can't believe how this was handled--how could DC not see the issues this creates? I find it extremely disrepectful to the characters, to the issue, to anyone who's ever been abandonded. I would say it's glossed over, but I don't think you can gloss something over if it's not presented as a problem.

More than all this, I find it indicative of how little care is given to female relationships at DC, be it friendship, mentorship, or mother-daughter. Does anyone think that DC would have had Bruce abandon Dick during his first year as Robin? Of course not, that would be neglectful and seriously damaging to their relationship. Why then, does DC have no problem doing this with their female characters? It's a troubling pattern.

So there you have it. DC really dropped the ball on this one, and the end result is me not being able to really read and enjoy anything with Babs being in a mentor-y role at the moment without getting seriously triggered and having to go calm down by running or punching something or doing pushups. I keep clicking on the links because I really want to like the new Batgirl series, but man, it's messing with my mind at the moment, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep doing that.

And you know, I might do a post just on the "abandonment by note" aspect later, because that upsets me beyond all belief. There is just nothing about that whatsoever that is acceptable.

AUGH

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:04:58 GMT

Just now, while pulling on my sophie shorts, I somehow managed to get my foot tangled, causing me to hop around for a second before crashing to the floor and hitting my face on my bathroom counter on the way down. I don't even know how I did that, becuase those shorts are pretty damn short and there's not even that much fabric for me to get my foot tangled up in. Sometimes I think my life must be a slap-stick comedy and I just haven't found the hidden cameras yet...

But in happy news, a butterfly landed on my arm while I was checking the mail! I am so enjoying this return to the nice, warm, 90 degree weather, if not so much the humidity.

O_o

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:25:29 GMT

My friends just had an impromtu dance-off in the locker room. My life so weird.

ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:24:25 GMT

Last night I discovered that my sisters had scratched up my copy of Lego Star Wars beyond repair (the prequel edition). This was frustrating, yes, but I could deal--I would simply go buy another copy that they could help me pay for. Oh, how very wrong I was...

How hard should it be to find a pretty universally liked kids game, really? Well, it's a whole hell of a lot harder than I originally thought. I set off in my car, driving through the rain on my way to the local GameStop. And then I discover that our local GameStop no longer sells PC games. Yes, really. A bit discouraged, I head to Target (no luck), Best Buy (no luck), and then Toys 'R Us (again, no luck, they've quit selling PC games as well). Now, a ~~saner~~ less resolute person than I may have given up at that point, but I didn't. I decided to go to the other GameStop in the mall. Again, no luck, but at least the sales guy was very nice and recommended I try the Apple Store.

I was dubious about trying the Apple Store, as I don't have a Mac, but hell, I decided to give it a shot. And lo and behold, I found it! I found Lego Star Wars! And then I saw, down at the bottom of the package, "compatable with Macs only." The sound which you may have just heard was me headdesking hard enough to leave a crater in the wood.

After that failure, I tried Borders and then Walmart, because I was determined, dammit! I had a mission and I would accomplish it! But alas, neither Borders nor Walmart had my game either. I drove home in the rain, wallowing in my failure (okay, not really, but it was freaking annoying).

And so now I have to order the game off the internet, which means that I'll have to pay shipping, and even worse, actually be patient and wait for the game to get here. And I really suck at being patient.

Hey, a wanky comics post!

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:16:39 GMT

Which is funny, because I'm not usually one to wank, but something has come to my (scattered) attention. Plus I'm cranky from not feeling good and being sick, so goshdangit, if I want to wank, I will wank. I'm also feeling incredibly ADD at the moment, so we'll see how long I can actually manage to stay coherent and on-topic...

So, what is so dastardly as to provoke a wanky post from me? Well, it's not so much an isolated incident as many, many incidents added up to annoy me to the point of this little exercise in letting my inner fandom-rage (well, rage is really too strong a word. Fandom-annoyance?) out. (Man, my sytax is getting a bit confusing, I really wish my thoughts would start being at least vaguely linear again. I can't even remember what I was thinking 30 seconds ago). Anyways, what is this awful thing? Well, in short it's how women's bodies are treated in comics. And yeah, maybe it's a lost cause, but I'm a wide-eyed idealist dammit, I'm going to have my say.

I guess I'll start with what originally prompted me to make this post--the stupid, stupid height/weight ratios the Big Two give for their female characters. Over on S_D, I was reading the newest Spider-debacle when I spotted the side-thread of discussion about Black Cat's given weight. And I realized they were totally right. There's no way in hell a woman of Black Cat's build and height would be 110 pounds. I mean, seriously. And it's not just Black Cat (that example was just glaringly obvious, since it was given in text and not the usual secret files thing). It's pretty universal. I've seen Huntress (at 5'11") had her weight given as 130 (side note: damn, she's tall. I'm jealous). Rule of thumb is generally that at 5'0", a healthy woman should weigh around 100 pounds, and add five pounds for every inch after that. Do the math, and Helena should really weigh somewhere closer to 155.

But realistically, she should really weigh more than that. Muscle weighs more than fat. A trim, athletic person will often weigh more than a more average person who wears a bigger clothing size. Weight is deceptive like that--the number doesn't actually mean as much as most people think it does. To be healthy, it's more important to exercise and eat right than to concentrate on getting lower numbers on that scale (man, I totally sound like an after-school special). But anyways, back on topic. Most superheroines should actually weigh more than the rule of thumb guideline. And they usually fall way, wayyyy short.

And of course, you're all going "But Bluejay, why does it matter? It's just a stupid number." And maybe it doesn't matter. But given the general amount of misogyny in comics, it just seems like it's yet another way in which comics (and some of the people who write/control them) just don't get women. It feels a bit like objectifying--"oh, of course the perfect woman doesn't weigh very much. She's supposed to be skinny." And that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Meme Train, Part Deux

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:50:52 GMT

You know, I really hope that's how you say "two" in French, because I have no idea. Perhaps I should have gone with Spanish...

1. Barbara Gordon
2. Sokka
3. Chewbacca
4. Dinah Laurel Lance
5. Diana of Themyscira
6. Toph
7. Cassandra Cain
8. Kyle Rayner
9. Darth Vader
10. Xena
11. Bart Allen
12. Lois Lane
13. Thomas Blake
14. ToonTitans! Robin
15. Kara Thrace

Toaster:

WHAT IF, 7 and 13 decided to start a new life in Canada?

Hmmmm. Cass and Catman in Canada (hey, alliteration!). I'm gonna assume you mean "living together", here. So...if Cass and Catman decided to start a new life in Canada, they would totally form an awesome crime-busting private agency (at first Blake would be upset to be put firmly on the side of the angels, but we all know he secretly wants to be a hero). They would do PI stuff, except without so much of that silly "investigation" process. Why use words when you can use your fists? Together, they would clear all the crime out of Canada (more alliteration! Hooray!)! Also, it would totally be the Bat/Cat Agency, just because.

What if 2 became Batman?

If Sokka became Batman, much lulz would be had by all. Also, Batman would fight with a SPACE SWORD! And that is just too cool.

AND WHAT IF, 7 ATE 9? HOW WOULD 6 AND 8 REACT?

If Cass ate Darth Vader, she would feel that the meat was just a tad too charred (oh man, I'm horrible). The Rebel Alliance would give her a medal. The Imperial Legions, meanwhile, would breathe a sigh of relief that no one else would be force-choked. Toph would laugh and ask if Vader was any relation to Sparky Sparky Boom Man. Kyle would wonder where the heck in the univese he was, this galaxy wasn't covered by his GL ring...

Bluefall:

15 throws a party and invites all the evens. What's the theme of the meal, and what kind of party does it end up as - a volleyball match in the pool, a food fight, a beer pong tournament, an orgy?

Starbuck throws a party and invites Sokka, Dinah, Toph, Kyle, Xena, Lois, and Toon!Robin. Holy crap, that would be one hell of a party. The theme of the meal is "Let's Frak Some Bitches Up!", and it inevitably ends up as a party with arm wrestling, loud music, and lots of alcohol. Toon! Robin is scandalized at all the underage drinking going on, and leaves in a huff 'cause he's no fun. Xena wins the arm wrestling tournament in the championship with Toph, Sokka is horrified that the only person he ends up beating is Lois. By the end of the night, Starbuck has hit on Dinah, Lois, Kyle and been hit on by Xena. She ends up frakking Xena, and is disturbed the morning after by her resemblance to the Number Three Cylon Model.

3, 7, 9 and 11 enroll in the Iditarod. How do they place?

(*googles Iditarod*) Chewbacca, Cass, Darth Vader, and Bart compete in the Iditarod. Bart wins within the first two seconds, but the others unanimously vote that using the Speed Force is cheating and disqualify him. Bart is happy anyways and spends the rest of the time playing with the sled dogs. Chewbacca decides that he's furry and strong enough to pull his own damn sled, thank you very much. After Vader explains to Cass why you let a Wookie win, he takes first place without any competition. Cass then beats Vader, whose mechanical joints froze up in the snow.

1, 5 and 13 raise a kid together. How does the kid turn out?

Babs, Diana, and Catman raise a kid together. I'm thinking that kid's going to turn out pretty well. It's got Diana as a mom, and Blake's been shown to genuinely care for his baby with Cheshire. Plus, kid's got Babs to be the overprotective parent. Nothing is going to hurt that baby, ever. And if anyone does manage to, they better watch out, because they're going to have the JLA, Six, Batman, and Canary chasing after them. And they won't be able to hide, because Oracle is watching.

4 runs against 12 for President of the United States. Who (from the list) do they pick as their running mates, and which wins, on what platform?

So we've got Dinah running against Lois for Presidente. Dinah naturally picks Babs (who was after all a congresswoman) to be her VP, while Lois goes with grown-up!Toon!Robin, who is an amalgram of all three boy Robins, so we'll call him Jason Timothy Grayson. Barbara's got more Republican values (much as it kills me to admit it), but there's no way in hell Dinah's going to go Republican after being with Ollie for so long, so they compromise and run as an independant party. Lois is cannonically a democrat, and she's a reporter, so I'm definatley going with that. Toon!Robin (who seems like he'd be more right-leaning to me) being there helps balance out Lois's fierce liberalism with some conservative values (which is good, since too much either way is bad [though I personally lean liberal]). It's a very close election, but Barbara's extensive internet campain gives her a slight edge over Lois, and Dinah becomes the first blonde, female, and independent party president of the United States ever. Ollie did not see that coming.

(Man, I love politics)

2, 6 and 14 rob a bank. Who drives the getaway car, and can 8 and 10 stop them?

Sokka, Toph, and Toon!Robin rob a bank (clearly those Avatar kids are a bad influence). Kyle and Xena try and stop them. Sokka's the "plan guy", so he doesn't actually go on the heist (he's discovered these wonderful things called "walkie-talkies". He's quite enamored). Toph takes on Kyle while Robin fights Xena. Xena is very much suprised to find out that the skinny kid in brightly-colored tights can fight, and enjoys the battle immensely. They're about evenly matched until Robin notices that Xena has certain "assets" and becomes disracted for a split-second. Foiled by teenage hormones...Toph holds her own against Kyle until he realizes that she has no idea where he is when he floats in the air. Having made this discovery, the battle is soon over.

The odds have a drinking contest. Who wins? Who hits on who once the lowered inhibitions kick in? Who collapses under the table halfway through the night?

Babs, Chewbacca, Diana, Cass, Darth Vader, Bart, Catman, and Starbuck have a drinking contest. The others are shocked to learn that Vader has very little alcohol tolerence (it makes more sense when Chewbacca explains most of his body is gone. The man doesn't have a lot of body mass for the alcohol to dissapate in). Cass is out after two shots, having no experience and a low body mass (I promise, it is actually possible to be drunk after two shots). Bart is the winner, the alcohol is out of his system almost as soon as he drinks it with his superfast metabolism. Diana and Starbuck were the runners-up, with Chewbacca and Blake following right after. Everyone is highly amused that Babs is a happy drunk and gets intoxicated quickly, at that. By the end of the night, she's hit on Diana and Starbuck (Kara actually reciprocated, and Babs is still trying to track down that damn video Blake took and posted on Youtube).

Scotty:

1/2 get 3 mad at them. WHAT DID THEY DO?

Babs and Sokka got Chewbacca mad at them by beating him at holochess, of course. The wookie never stood a chance against two strategists...fortunately, no one got their arms ripped off.

Odds vs Evens! Fight to death!

Babs, Chewbacca, Diana, Cass, Darth Vader, Bart, Catman, and Starbuck versus Sokka, Dinah, Toph, Kyle, Xena, Lois, and Toon!Robin. Babs and Sokka coordinate the battle, but Babs is better at strategy and that gives Team Odd an advantage. Catman and Starbuck take on Toon!Robin. Robin KO's Starbuck, but is about evenly matched with Blake. Dinah fights Cass, and only just breaks even with the Canary Cry. Toph kicks Chewbacca's ass, but Darth Vader takes out Kyle with a force-choke. Diana goes toe to toe with Xena, and it's a very fun fight for them both, but Diana wins. Barts simply runs Lois back to Metropolis, not wanting to hurt Superman's wife. Smart move, but Supes sends him back to Max, who won't let him go finish the fight. Team Odd beats Team Even!

4, 7 and 14 go clubbing. What kind of club do they go to, and does anyone get hit on?

Dinah, Cass, and Toon!Robin go to a fun nightclub with lots of dancing. A guy tries to hit on Cass, but she freaks out and nerve-strikes him. The guys stay away after that, though she does have fun with her buddy Zero on the dance floor. Robin is mobbed by girls (and a few boys), and promptly blushes and has no idea what to do. He stammers something about Starfire and runs to the bathroom. Dinah finds this hilarious as she attracts every person in the club over the age of 18.

5/12/15. Knitoff.

Diana, Lois, and Starbuck have a knitting contest. Starbuck manages to poke herself in the face with the needle withing three minutes while trying to untangle the mess she made of her yarn, and declares that she doesn't need no frakking knitting. Lois is very competitive, but has no techinical skill whatsoever. Regardless, she tries to keep up with Diana, who was taught how to weave (which is kinda sorta similar, right?) by Athena herself. However, she has to admit that her rather knotted finished product doesn't compare to Diana's lovely sweater, and concedes the match

...Whew. That took awhile.

Jumping Onboard the Meme Train!

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:43:16 GMT

Hee. I love these things.

I have made a list of 10 15 characters, it is a secret list. If you want, comment to this post with a question like, "2 and 8 have a dance off, who wins?" and then I answer them in a separate post and it is the most fun meme ever. And you can ask as many questions as you like.

Let the madness begin!

It Would Appear I've Caught the Fic Bug...

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:28:02 GMT

I think it's because I can't talk. All those words had to go somewhere.

Title: First Son
Fandom: Batfamily
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Pairings: none
Characters: Batman (Bruce), Nightwing (Dick)
Word Count: 150

--------------------

Dick knows Bruce loves him. He's the closest thing Dick's had to a father since his own parents died, though he doesn't often say that out loud (especially not to Bruce, who doesn't really do sentimental. He knows Bruce loves him. He just doesn't show it like other people do.

A gloved hand on his shoulder- "Good job, Dick." A smile under the mask no one else can see. A tone of voice reserved for him, Bruce's first partner (son).

A great shadow swooping down- not to terrify, but to save. A black hand reaching foward to comfort, not hurt. A bat who whispers instead of screeching. There are the things Batman was to the frightened young boy at Haley's Circus.

A boy that grew up into a man (hero). His name is Dick Grayson. He knows Bruce loves him. Bruce just isn't good at showing it like other people.

--------------------

Man, I really need a beta.

Gah!

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:21:37 GMT

So, my voice has still not come back. And that is driving me crazy, dangit. I am not a quiet person! I'm that girl who sits by a new person and turns and talks to them and is friends within five minutes. I like people, and I like talking. And for whatever weird reason, I'm good at making friends. But not when I can't talk! I think I'm going to go insane, seriously. It's been three days. Three freakin' days.

I mean, I talk to myself sometimes. I also sometimes sing little made-up songs to myself, which is weird since I'm not a musical person. But they're just little things about stuff I'm doing like "I'm gooooing to my pantry. To get some foooood, 'cause I am hungry." Stupid stuff like that (yeah, I can be more than a little bit of a Cloud Cuckoolander). But the point is, I can't even do that now!

And I also just don't like silence. I just like to talk to people, which makes sense since I like both people and talking. And I can't talk! Arrrrrrrrrrgggggg I'm just bursting with things to say. And I can't say them, since I have no voice. Writing them down and passing notes to people just isn't the same...

Plus I'm also the know-it-all that likes to give all the answers and be a smartass in class, and I can't do that with no voice. Which especially kills me in English, because I always volunteer to share my work in there. And also sometimes I'm the only one that knows the answer and it's frustrating when I can't say it and end the horrible, awkward silence of not-knowing.

And Homecoming is this weekend, and I've already got my dress and my friends and I plan to party it up at my house after the dance. I'm gonna be pissed if I don't have my voice back for that...

Ugggghhhh

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:08:50 GMT

Today was one of those days. You know, the ones where you wake up and it's storming and it just keeps getting worse from there. Today, I woke up way late (6:30, school starts at 7:20), got rained on walking from my parking spot to school (which is about a half mile away), started feeling really crappy, lost my voice in the middle of first period, found out in fourth period that in my haste to get out of the rain I'd left my car lights on, missed half of fifth period basketball practice to go check on my car (the battery died), continued to have no voice, sucked in practice because I'm getting sick, and then finally texted my mom and said I needed to go home because I felt like crap. Unfortunatly, Dad was in Dallas and Mom was Downtown going to therapy, so finding someone to pick me up took awhile. Then I came home and slept for three hours (which is weird, I'm an insomniac, I never nap). And I still haven't got my voice back, which is very annoying because I apparently talk a lot, and I'm a social person, so not talking is killing me. Bleh.

I'm just gonna go to sleep and hope I feel better in the morning, when I have to go to school because I don't currently have a fever. Also, I really hope I have my voice back.

On the bright side, tomorrow's Wednsday, which means new comics and also Mid-Week Madness.

MASSIVE Art Mega-Post

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:13:26 GMT

So, I finally got my lazy butt around to scanning in all the artwork I've done recently, and damn, it's been a productive few months. I'm going to have to break this up into separate posts! I'm breaking up the posts by category, and the artwork is in roughly chronolgical order...

Here's the inks to an old, old drawing of pre-OYL Tim. I think I drew this a year and a half ago? Maybe I'll get around to re-pencilling and inking the backround someday, as well as actually coloring the damn thing. It's not great, the hands suck, and his chest is too broad; but it's not terrible either. I did make a quick photocopy and slapped some colors on, so you can see that for how this will (eventually) look.

And, not sure if I posted this before, but the world needs more Grace anyways. I like the arms on this one, not so much the nose and hair. To be inked someday...

And now, for the "Bluejay takes coloring books too seriously" part of this post, I give you:

Batman colored pencils

Batman & Joker colored pencils (am I the only one that gets major slash vibes off this picture? I don't even like that pairing but I see it)

Bruce failing at keeping a secret identity (seriously, Bruce, if you don't want people to know you're Batman, don't wear half your costume in public. Somebody just might connect the dots:D) [markers]

Joker being a craaaaazy motherfucker (markers)

And now, back to your regularily schedualed art post...

This next one I drew while talking to my therapist, not really paying attention. Crappy linework, but I do like the composition, so I'll probably fix it up someday. Also, I don't know why I drew something so violent, but I did, so there it is. (Also, the graffiti in the back reads "Catch me if you can, birdboy")

This one was one of a series of six for a communications project, but the only one I like. It's small, about 3X3 in. Weird thing is, Hal's not even my favorite GL, but his costume was easier to draw than Kyle's.

And now, ladies and gents, Booster Gold! He turned out a bit long in the face, but I like Skeets floating there in the backround. (Another summer school drawing)

Cass thinks about her current position in the DCU...(summer school). And, uh, bonus random eye doodle.

For my last summer school doodle, I give y'all a quick sketch of WTF!Supes (who really looks like my dad, which is weird).

Happy Robin! I love drawing in pen.

Quickie marker sketch of Batman, ten minutes tops. No preliminary pencils. I really like how this one came out.

Bart! I wanted to draw YJ-era Impulse, but ended up looking a bit older, so we'll just say it's Bart deciding to go back to being Impulse again :) Also, this was totally a better use of my time than sitting in homeroom listening to the back-to-school spiel again. Seriously, junior in high school here, I get the whole first day thing.

Then I realized that I never draw girls in fanart (but plenty in personal art), so I decided to draw Babs, since she is awesome and I was bored in math class. I had to add that little "Dinah?" speech bubble in there, because Babs looked so happy and Babs/Dinah is totally my OTP.

Later that same day, I was bored in Physics, so I drew happy!dorky!Tim. I actually only meant to practice drawing a mask, but it just kinda took off from there...

Next day in math, I'm bored yet again, and realize a rather important fact: I have no idea how to draw the female body. Which sounds stupid, since I'm a girl, but drawing boobs and hips just completly baffles me. I'm fairly flat-chested and have very slim hips, so I can't use myself and reference it in the mirror. Furthur compounding the issue is that I get embaressed when I have to focus on those specific parts of the female anatomy as I draw them (which is retarded, since I'm the one drawing it, but it's true). And again, I can't use myself in my mirror to reference drawing a woman (unless it's of the young, girlish variety). I decide that I need to start working on that issue, and draw Zinda. It turned out fairly well, I think, and at least it looks decent.

Bored again in Physics (yeah, I spend a lot of time bored in school), I drew Dick!Bats and Damian!Robin. I'm very happy with how both these came out, but I especially love how much Damian looks like an arrogant little prick here (bonus origami doodles and physics formulas!).

And now, for the completely bizarre, my paper-Batman-chain! (It's all the costumes he's had, from introduction to modern age)

DOODLE TIME!
(though technically some of the above were doodles)

Lego Batman!

Superman burning up my bad, bad test score (this is from math last year)

Penguin Doodle

Aaaaand a quick comic I did in response to learning that Steph would be Batgirl (I didn't know what her costume looked like yet):

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Whew. That took awhile. Hope y'all enjoyed!

EDIT: I forgot to add this earlier. I don't know what to draw at the moment, so if you're my friend, make a character request and I'll try my best to get it done for you :)

Help Me LJ Flist, You're My Only Hope!

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:33:38 GMT

So, my mom randomly decided to start giving me an allowance for doing the laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, babysitting, mail-getting, and general chores that I do. Which was weird, and kind of made me WTF, because I've been doing that stuff for years without an allowance; but hell, I'm not going to turn down money! Anyways, now that I actually have an income to buy comics with, I've found I have no idea what to buy.

I'll be getting Secret Six, but I don't know what else to pick up. BOP ended, and much as I love Gail, I hate the status quo in Wonder Woman right now. I don't really want to sink a bunch of money into a big event like Blackest Night, especially since I absolutley hate gore (so zombie stories are out for me). Batgirl is a possibility, but I have issues with how Cass was put on a bus and how Charlie was completely abandonded by Babs (which is a major trigger for me). Adventure Comics looks pretty good though, and the art is very pretty.

Long story short, any recs for me, oh flist of mine?

EDIT: You know, as long as I'm asking y'all for help, I may as well ask you about the two other things I can't figure out.

One: how the heck do you re-format your links so that it says words instead of the address? I tried googling it, but that didn't help at all. It was just confusing...

Two: No idea if y'all can actually help me, but I've been asking everyone. I really need to bulk up for basketball. Being 5'6" and 115 lbs is just not good when you're going up against 5'10" 180 lbs girls and bigger. I'm sick and tired of getting the crap beat out of me everyday, and ending up getting knocked to the floor and getting stomped on and yelled at. I've been eating around 3000 calories a day, and lifting weights Mon-Thurs, and running Mon-Fri, sometimes on weekends, but it's not working. I'm not losing weight anymore, but I'm not gaining either. And yes, I am eating lots of protein. Protein drinks and bars are my new best friends. Any other ideas (beside steroids, which I'm not gonna touch) to help me out here?

Totally Stole This Silly Meme from Bluefall...

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:30:14 GMT

Cliff, Shag, or Marry a Muse
Name three characters you know I know, and I'll tell you which I'd kill, which I'd marry, and which I'd sleep with, and why. No waffling, no exceptions, no "I toss Superman off the cliff because I know he'll survive it" or "I marry Voldemort, then smother him on our wedding night" - I've got to kill one, marry one, and shag one. Then post this to your own journal so I can ask you the same.

Well, this should be interesting...

Whut.

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:13:05 GMT

So, I was going to rant on Robinson gratuitously killing even more minority D-list characters, but then I found something that somehow managed to eclipse the horror of that...

This.

Yes, that is the new cover for Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. It's not a photoshop, fake, prank, or anything else. It's real. The cover for what is considered one of the great novels of the 1800's has a crappy Twilight rip-off cover and and endorsement by some of the flattest, full-of-unfortunate-implications fictional characters ever written.

Because seriously, don't even get me started on those books. I attempted to read the first one (due to my friends and thirteen year old sister recommending them), and I couldn't get through two chapters. The writing is terrible, the main character is a shallow self-absorbed bitch, the primary love interest is a creepy emotionally-abusive stalker, and the plot is stupid. And it just pisses me off that people are calling it "the next Harry Potter", because for all of HP's flaws, it was at least moderatly well-written and had some genuienly good messages like "friends are awesome" and "family is what you make it, you're not stuck with a bad one". Twilight's messages, on the other hand, bear more towards "if he hurts you, he still loves you, and you should stay with him" and "stalking = true love". And I find that disturbing, actually, because I know personally kids who will take those messages to heart because it's from their favorite book, and their "true love" is ~~sparkly~~perfect.

But so yeah. I'm pissed that a book that's good and a classic is getting advertised as Twilight 2.0 (though that should actually be .5, since it came earlier), and that it's being advertised by such a crappy series at all.

So, Disney Bought Marvel....

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:21:17 GMT

...and that totally made me do massive double-take. Because seriously, it kinda sounds like the punchline to a (nerdy) joke. I don't really know how I feel about this, it doesn't affect me since I don't read Marvel (only enough money for one universe!), but it's still damned funny. Plus, I've got this image in my head of Mickey!Cap chasing Donald!Red Skull, and that's pretty effing hilarious. I think I may have to go and doodle some mashups now...

Best Birthday EVER!

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:39:47 GMT

Seriously. It was awesome. I broke it in at midnight by watching a meteor shower, and ended it with a bonfire. It was great. I woke up and had cake for breakfast (as is my family tradition), and opened presents, all of which were impressively nerdy. Fittingly, for my 17th birthday, I got my first R-rated movie, Watchmen. And also the DVD with the Black Pearl and stuff. I also got the first season of Xena: Warrior Princess, which I am totally watching on the planeride back to Texas. Then, after that, we went and got lunch at this old timey diner place, and then we got to do Adirondack eXtreme (no, that's not a typo). It's this badass high ropes course all up in the trees like the treehouse in Swiss Family Robinson. There's five levels, easiest to hardest, and I got through them all! The last one was hellishly hard though, even for my 6'4" 190 lb dad, and holy crap, my arms were tired. But it was awesome. And then we went to this resteraunt called The Wells House, which T. Roosevelt apparently ate at once, and I got STEAK. Delicious, yummy steak. And then I went to the bonfire my extended family was having and my cousin Jess had made me this awesome ice cream/brownie/caramel/fudge/whipped cream cake up at the ice cream shop we run. I ate two pieces and it was the best cake I've ever had in my life. And then after some bonfire stuff I got really tired and went to bed. But anyways, it was a really, really great day.

So I figured out why I suck at internet commenting

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:15:36 GMT

It's because my brain works too damn fast. Seriously. I usually have about two or three (mostly) coherent thoughts a second (often inconnected, related, or somehow correlated), and by the time I've scrolled down to comment, they're gone and I've got new thoughts that don't make so much sense with the situation. And then I have to slow down, and think at the same rate I type (which is pretty fast, about 90 words a minute), because if I don't, I lose all coherency. And it is really damn hard to stop like that and stay there, because my mind is already bored with it and analyzed it and is ready to move onto the next thing. So my comments come out rushed, or inartculate, or lacking overall cohesiveness and collection, because I can't slow down enough. The end result is that I sound more stupid and immature than I actually am. And it is very, very frustrating. I've had to stop and pause at least five times so far writing this, and go back over my thoughts just to make sure they're the same ones and the same point. Argggggg.

Holy crap. Do you know what? I'm freaking Impulse. I can't sit still, always ask questions, sometimes think in pictures, have trouble focusing because my brain's already moved on, and have huge feet. It all makes sense now. I am Impulse's other-dimension opposite-gender doppelganger.

What the eff, McKeever?

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:59:11 GMT

I just read my sister's two trades of Spiderman Loves Mary Jane. And they were awesome and fun and quirky and adorable. Then I looked back to see who wrote them. And I saw...McKeever. AKA that guy who made Teen Titans suck more. The guy who added more angst, snark, angst, bitchiness, angst, dickery, and angst to TT. What the hell happened? I mean, major whiplash. Major. O.o

Also, this is totally (and I mean totally) unrelated, but it was so hilarious I have to share.

Before I relate this to you, you have to know this: my aunt Dee is a frugal, practical woman. She owns about three pairs of shoes: hiking boots, sneakers, and practical flats for comfort. My mom on the other hand...well, you'll see.

Mom: Hey, Dee, you'll be so proud of me. I bought some hiking boots today!
Dee: Kirsten, that's great! You won't be walking those trails in three inch heels anymore!
Mom: Yeah, I had to get some hiking boots because sneakers looked terrible with my shorts. Hiking boots were much cuter with them.
Dee: *look of horror and increduality*

Seriously, the look on her face was pure gold. It was hilarious.

Never has my default been so appropriate...

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:54:04 GMT

So, I was packing last night since I'm headed up to New York again (and Canada!) today (currently, I'm sitting in a airport in Cleveland on a layover). And, since I was packing, I had to go through my clothes. While doing so, I found a pair of green tights and a pair of red briefs. I'm betting you can guess what comes next...

Man, I really need a haircut. And I look like a pre-pubescent boy

Yes, really. I had the cape, belt, and mask lying around in my closet because I'm awesome like that. And also because they're great for babysitting, but mostly 'cause of the awesome thing.

Also! Note to comicbook artists! This is what an athletic teenaged girl looks like in spandex! None of that busty, big-hipped nonsense (sadly). If you're gonna have a flat stomach, you aren't going to have boobs or a butt, unless they're fake. It's very sad, I know, but somehow we women of little curves must press on, and continue to try to not look like twelve year olds.

I Got A New Job---As ORACLE!

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:54:27 GMT

Well, kinda. It makes me feel like Oracle anyway. My aunt Joy (the one I sometimes stay with when things get bad with my mom) is an artist, and also not real good with computers or organization. So she hired me to be her agent/media consultant/promoter/webmaster. Which had been good, though a very, very big job. The pay's gonna be great once her stuff starts really selling though, I'll be working on a commision basis and her stuff right now goes from $200-1500. But I'm very excited about this.

But I really seriously feel like I'm Oracle when I'm doing it, which is kinda funny. I'll have five windows open and be working on about three things simultaniously (ex: uploading art gallary, studying copyright law, and organizing her computer files at the same time. Yeah, it's weird, but my brain just works in that fast, multi-tasky way). Not to mention the way I got the job in the first place was by hacking into her iPhone to play some games she had on there (to be fair, her password wasn't hard to figure out). My aunt's cool, and just laughed when she saw I did that and said she could use someone good with technology to organize her art stuff.

Also, having an eidetic memory is really good for a job like this. I literally can't forget stuff like passwords and domains, since I remember every single thing I read and type and experience. Sucks for things you wish you could forget, but it's awesome for doing this stuff.

Learning more HTML coding's been fun too, and I'm really getting hooked into the art scene, which is bueno. My aunt knows a lot of artists and musicians and stuff, which is very helpful for cross-promoting. She's been doing portraits for fairly well-known musicians like Frank Carillo, Dan Dyer, and the band Porterdavis, and getting them posted on their sites has definatly raised awareness. Also, having her hooked into the music scene is awesome because she always gets live music at her parties, and I get to meet them, which is so cool and so much fun. And hopefully I'll get to meet some more of the artists too.

But mostly, to be honest, this job is great because it means I get to spend more time at my aunt's house. It's always fun to be there, she and my uncle John are always really fun to be around and accepting and just a good place for me to go when I'm feeling crazy, because it calms me down. Joy helps me develop my art and actually talks to me as an adult, and when I came out to her she just hugged me and told me how proud of me she was. She was almost crying, she was so happy for me. And John's way cool too, and funny as hell. My cousin Olivia (11) is a great kid, and little Lucy's 4 and just the cutest thing ever to be around (plus she gives the best hugs). So yeah, just a good deal all around. I'm happy with it. Oh, and I'll be posting some more art of my own soon, I've just been pretty busy.