help!

okay, i need some help, guys! (if anybody still reads this blog....)

here is the latest Dinogeddon page i just finished:

i'm not sure if i'm happy with it, and i'd like some input before i'm done for sure. in the last panel, i have a little introductory blurb about Ronnie, obviously. i plan on having similar blurbs for all the main characters. the main reason is because it's a pretty big cast, and while i think everyone looks different enough, i wanted to give readers some tidbits of solid information they could grab onto to help them identify all the different characters, and help them keep track of who is in what gang, etc. and i thought it would be fun and maybe add a bit of humor to add an irrelevant factoid or two linked to the character's personality. but after getting the ball rolling with Ronnie's here, i'm beginning to second-guess myself whether it's a good idea or not, or if so, if i executed it properly.

i know my handwriting can be hard to read, but i like the look of my hand written lettering for the comic and don't really want to use a font. (and yes, i have tried making a font out of my handwriting, and it just ended up terrible.) i thought about having the blurbs in little boxes, but i was thinking that might be too cliche? i don't know. maybe it would be easier to read that way. and like i said, i'm wondering if i should do the whole blurb thing at all? maybe it would just be better to let the characters unfold for themselves over time? i don't really like it when comics have to have bio pages or whatever, unless it's like a series catch-up kinda thing, and eventually i'll probably have a character bio section on the Dinogeddon site, but....like i said, it's one of those ideas i originally really liked, but i'm not so sure comes off as well in practice. what do you think? keep it, lose it? change it? and how?

sailor moon saved my life

i watched this episode of Sailor Moon on a day i was feeling my depression really hard, and i wanted to vanish...and this scene brought me to tears. i felt like Sailor Moon/Neo Queen Serenity was talking directly to me, telling me that i'm surrounded by people who care, that she believes in me, and not to give up. i felt so much better after Usagi told me i'm not alone. :,)

i think i finally understand how a lot of people feel about their favorite heroes in comics...that's how i feel about Sailor Moon. i've never been into super hero comics and never really understood their appeal, but maybe now i do a little. i fell in love with Sailor Moon from the very first time i saw one of the horribly dubbed episodes on local cable tv...even though i hate getting up early and like sleeping in, i would get up extra early just to watch it. it was unlike anything i'd ever seen before...ordinary girls who became super heroines. and their leader, Usagi, was clumsy, did badly in school, and liked to eat too much and goof off...this was the first heroine i could ever really relate to! everyone loved Usagi because she had such a pure, giving heart, full of love for everyone. i think even for me.

Sailor Moon's always been my biggest hero, but now especially, more than ever. all of the sailor soldiers, and so many other characters in general are so great...my other favorite senshi, Sailor Jupiter, taught me that it was okay to be a big, boyish girl, and i shouldn't let that stop me from doing things i want to do. Luna, for always trying her hardest and even jumping into the fray, even though she's just a small kitty without any offensive super powers, she never gives up. and Sailor Uranus, my androgynous idol, helped me to feel more comfortable about my queerness long before i really figured it out. i really want to read the manga, but they're so hard to find/expensive...hopefully some day.

Sailor Moon Transformation Make Up Tutorial by Michelle Phan, YouTube

this video also made me tear up, i mean the message at the end, skip to about 8:08...it's so true. i want to try harder to make my dreams come true, and stop letting stuff hold me back. i want to start imagining myself as a super hero, like Sailor Moon, a sailor senshi, when i get scared, or feel powerless. i want to be brave, and full of love, like Usagi. thank you, Naoko Takeuchi, for giving me my hero.

thank you, Sailor Moon.

beastly

some concepts for an idea i had about a beauty and the beast story, but with the gender roles reversed and the man being the beauty and a woman being the beast. i've always been a little bothered by the intrinsic sexism in beauty and the beast and wanted to address it. i tried making the beast unattractive not by my personal standards or anything, but by what is conventionally considered ugly/beastly.

why must i stay here

a customer snuck up on me at work and caught me drawing this, then laughed and said it was funny...hmm, okay....

i haven't been posting/drawing much because i've been going through some stuff...i was (am?) in a really bad place with my depression and anxiety issues, and that combined with my job caused me to lose all passion and interest in life, and things i used to enjoy, like drawing. i knew i couldn't go on living this way much longer, so i reached out and am seeing a therapist for the first time in my adult life. it's a bit nerve-wracking for someone like me, but i'm beginning to feel like there's hope again. i started a new livejournal, dinosaurblood.livejournal.com, mainly as a coping strategy since i basically didn't have one, or utilized really counterproductive ones. it's mainly just me ruminating way too much about pointless stuff and venting about my personal stresses and trying to make sense out of my sad, rambling mind, so i totally understand if you don't want to be my lj friend and read it.

otherwise...i don't like my job and am going to start looking for another one. i'm reading a lot, that's one of the few things i still get enjoyment out of. oh, and Sailor Moon. i got Rob to start watching it with me and now we're slowly rewatching the entire series from the beginning. everything is going to be okay.

servitude