My friend *VidrioRoto is taking commissions, and you should check her out. $8 for a character, $5 for a chibi or $11 for a short comic, and...*late night television commercial voice* more!

Check out her journal here. [link]

You guys have got to stop this. I've bought like one and had it for five years. I'm going to get spoiled! (I didn't even tell anyone this time! I told one person! )

But really, thank you to the wonderful anon who gifted it to me. I am glad to be ad-free and have my precious visitor tracker back again. If you tell me who you are I'll write you something!

Once it would have been strange not for me to make a journal for two weeks. I'm not sure what's changed. I'm still very much around, collecting favorites and saying hi. I still feel connected to many people here. I don't believe that deviantArt itself is getting smaller, although I've read quite a few journals saying that. That statement is either self-evident or a self-fulfilling prophecy. I do believe that dA doesn't have its finger on the zeitgeist any more: the amount of fandom drama or hugely popular artists has fallen, or perhaps just become less evident to me. The decline in popularity of anime might be relevant: I notice there's not as much new manga on bookstore shelves either. I'm not sure what's changed. (The amount of art I produce for fun, that's for sure.) But I'm still here.

...who wants to make a motion comic with me? [link] There could be...*Hondo voice* profit!

You should also all feast your eyes on *InverseReality-2's page, where she helped me out with another project and is showing all of her glorious, glorious fanficshun to you. [link]

While I was in the middle of revamping my blog's visuals this morning, the news broke. The season finale was the series finale. The Clone Wars isn't coming back to TV.

And honestly,  I didn't shed tears. I've been saying for years that if the show didn't have the Star Wars name on it it would have tanked long ago. Luckily, it ended on a high note, with a strong arc to end the season.

However, I'm sad that I won't be able to do the reviews any more. I have so much fun with them, and this feels like the end of an era.

But I'm making it a beginning instead, sprucing up the blog and adding a Facebook page: [link]

The Clone Wars will live on in some ways, so check the link for a video with some cool aliens.

I'll be watching that, as well as whatever Disney has in store for Star Wars next.

Full review: [link]
Wow.
Coming on the heels of that other walkout in Red vs Blue that did not turn out quite so well for all involved (it will always be too soon), I feel for y'all Ahsoka fans. We may have our differences, but this episode was painful. Solidarity.
And also well-done. Full review later after I've digested it and gone to a shop.

Well, that was a fun episode. Full review here ---> [link]

Do you think the identity of Ahsoka's masked assailant is obvious, or still a mystery?

Full review here--> [link]

The episode I thought I was watching in the trailers was far more interesting than "Sabotage" actually was most of the time. I'd hoped that Ahsoka was going to be framed for the attack in this episode, and maybe that comes later. As is, the episode is a straight mystery, with an uninteresting villain and with Ahsoka not learning much. "This war is becoming less and less popular," said Mace, and we can see why here, but the Jedi are not actually at fault, and keeping them blameless seems like the easy way out.

I'm not a huge fan of Ahsoka: I felt that the show was pushing her at me asking me to love her, and I didn't like being told what to do. She's grown into her abilities in season five but can still be obnoxiously precocious.

Full review after my editor gets ahold of it. In other, more obscure Star Wars news, Ania Solo exists and will appear in comics form soon. I'm not entirely sold on that one, but maybe. A recent statement from the writers denying the importance of whose kid she is exactly kinda annoyed me. Am I the only one ticked off that we don't know genealogy for either Ania Solo or Darth Maul and Savage? If you want someone's family to be a twist at least offer a credible misdirection ("your father was a starfighter pilot") or if it's not a twist just state who her family is and don't bother with it any more. Sometimes an unanswered question is just an unanswered question.

Full review here --> [link]

It's taken me some time to figure out what I think of it. Long story short, Maul was awesome, Satine was useless, Bo Katan was useful, and things that were supposed to be sad were kinda sad. I like that it's open-ended. Full review coming after the Super Bowl!

Darth Maul returns some time in 2014 in a new novel by the author of 'Death Troopers'. I am super excited. Learn more here --> [link]

In other news, J. J. Abrams has not been confirmed to direct episode seven. Don't go spreading rumors of an impending Star Wars/Star Trek convergence around.

Things That Are Less Annoying Than I Thought They Would Be:

Tron:  Uprising

Things That Are More Annoying Than I Thought They Would Be:

The new "more like this" feature

Uprising started out cheesy but has got a lot to redeem it along the way, including beautiful background animation, thrilling fights, and some complicated and varied female characters.

"More Like This" is just way too big and distracting, and so far has pretty much only shown me other work from the same person's gallery, while also being in the way of the "gallery" button. I don't usually speak out against upgrades - it's like throwing a snowball uphill in an avalanche - but this one looks like it still really needs some work before it's useful instead of just cluttering up the space.

And now for something completely different - I've decided to go to RTX 2013 in Texas. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be my major vacation this year.

TO THAT END I am offering commissions - $5 per bust-up character similar to the ones below, which will go directly to plane tickets/hotel cost.



I am also offering FICTION commissions - $10 for one thousand words of prose (poetry can be discussed) featuring your characters or on a subject of your choice. No fan fiction please - the law is far too wibbly-wobbly and although I may not like it I don't want to break it either. Note me if you're interested.

To comment or not to comment, to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous opinion, or to take arms?

Look, I've pretty much given up on the idea that everyone having the same ideology is a good thing. I used to try to sway people to my opinions, but stopped out of a combination of no one ever swaying and I, and the world, having more important things to do.

But occasionally a quality artist draws something that even the creeps find creepy. It can be something graphic or violent, but the gist is that it's disturbing, and not in the "art is supposed to make you think" way.  I like the art but the ideology is so out there that I never even thought that sort of thing existed.

And occasionally, I just want to vent and choose not to do it.  

Golden rule, right? I don't want somebody commenting on my art just to say it offends them in some way. That and I kriffing hate arguments.

But I'm not sure what else to do besides unwatch them, which I don't want to do because good art.

Eh.

Thanks to everyone who sent me music. That's still ongoing, so feel free to participate!

Every time I post writing on here I think that maybe I should create an account for writing only. Tentacled women and poems about feelings aren't exactly likely to attract a crossover audience. However, I hold back every time.

The fact that it would mean I would have to do the "work" of switching accounts, and the fact that I would hate to push "Nemonus" aside or forget about it in favor of another account, was what stopped me today. However, my main reason is something I talked to ~Jspx about a couple days ago. It went as follows:

I value the "humanness" that comes with all parts of one's personality being lumped into one's online persona at once. There's something a little cold, to me, about writers who have nothing but fantastic poetry and Meaningful Quotes on their pages. I start to wonder if those writers have ever done anything that doesn't fit the pretty little mold they've made, and I don't want to ever come off as that cold, perfect thing. It makes me feel too fallible to see it. I guess I want the 'lesson' of my page to be that one person can be schlocky one moment and grand the next, and that the two things can coexist and stir into one thing that is pleasant in both high-culture (poetry, usually) and low-culture (fanart, usually) ways.

That's related to the reasons why I keep my old art up here, of which there are many - a.) it's good to see how I've progressed, b.) some people might like it, and c.) I've gone through a couple laptops/living spaces and might not even have the original copy any more.

Please tell me if you're vastly opposed to me posting poems on here, and maybe I'll make another account. But otherwise, I think it's all going to stay under one roof.

Stolen from :devglassolallas: : If you comment on this journal with a link to a song (on youtube or a similar site), i will write you a vignette or poem inspired by the song. there is, however, a catch: i will reply to you with a song that you have to write a vignette or poem for. Consider it an inspiration trading game.

Feel free to send me music from any genre, with or without lyrics (though expect the same in return). Prose pieces CAN be longer than a vignette, but you certainly don't have to write a novel. likewise, while there is no limitation on length, please don't write a novel

i will leave comments open until next Monday. After Monday, i will not be accepting any more songs, though i will run something like this again, once i receive all the response pieces (which are NOT due Monday but should still be completed in a somewhat timely fashion; let's tentatively say January 30) i will feature them in a journal and leave a critique/well-thought comment on each c:

Just kidding - it's late and it's not a summary of art at all, but here [link] I have the fanfic equivalent.

I also had some original fiction published in October or so, interviewed Shannon McCormick ( ) and Timothy Zahn (and Padme), and write some poetry. And got a job that allows me to write for a living. So that's good. I need to remember all of that to bolster my flagging morale sometimes, though, as the job isn't paying enough for me to live alone and I'm plagued with feelings of just not knowing where my life is going. These little rulers are good, though, and I might start focusing on posting bits of original fiction here. There is a good lit community here but I've hidden from it too much to find a good circle of feedback yet.  This time last year I was joining up with Fangirlblog, which has made a big difference in my life. (Speaking of, do any of you actually care about Clone Wars any more? The amount of feedback here has been small lately and I won't post about it if no one pays attention.)

Regardless, hopefully next year will see fewer changes, but the ones there will be will be nice and big, such as me finding my own place to live. Last year ([link] I wished for more changes. I certainly got them.

....I has it! [link]

I was privileged to talk to Tim Zahn about his new novel, Scoundrels. He and I have had some disagreements about female characters before, so it was super interesting to pick his brain about the diverse cast of women in Scoundrels.

This was a nice holiday gift to come home to right after a New Year's party, so Star Wars fans, check that out. (And Scoundrels really is worth reading.)



How was your New Year?

I'm doing a New Year's post early because I'll be out that night and now I have some free time. This year saw a lot of changes for me: new jobs, new lifestyle, finding what I can and cannot do, what I can and cannot stand and what that means. I wouldn't say it was a good year but it was a transition year so I believe good will come of it.

I also joined tumblr this year, and never expected it to be such an engaging, raucous, oddly vulnerable experience. I write a lot more there than I do here - this is, after all, an art site, although it's also great to meet people here. I've found that I talk less about Clone Wars like I used to, simply because not so many people respond, and more about life with the few close friends I have here.

Art-wise I'm not sure I improved, but I also can't blame anyone except myself. I drew less than usual this year and never made any serious effort to study. My oldest and newest pictures in 2012 are both alien women.



Progress is slow but that's okay.

I hope you all have a great New Year's celebration.  I plan on ringing it in with a bunch of college friends. There may be duels at dawn. Not a bad auspice, I think.

Unrelated, I think this sums up my day:

A friend and I might be moving to somewhere in the southwest this summer, and Phoenix, Arizona is our city of choice right now, but we're still doing the research. I know some of my watchers live in Arizona, so I'm wondering if you would have any advice. What are your favorite cities in the southwest? Would Phoenix be a good place for twentysomethings?

Merry Christmas! May your day be filled with gift art and your favorite ships. And also food and family. We have a white Christmas here. :3