Strangish Things

    So, a lot of strange things have gone down these past few days, and we're kinda at a loss on what to make of it all. They're not just strange though... more like almost legitimately concerning- like call the authorities and report it- concerning. But, we're not sure we have everything we need just yet. And so, the next best thing would be to ask for help.

I had to call in the Ghostwriter team to help tackle this mystery. Ghostwriter came straight over and looked over all the clues I'd written down.

We have the identity of this person. Never hung out with them or really associated with them. They didn't say why or what they wanted. Just that they needed to speak with someone in particular- who was not at home. Regrettably, a personal phone number was given to them. This was the unfortunate byproduct of a gullible mind.

On the second visit, this person carried a white envelope with them. 6 minutes prior, they had made a phone call to the number they were given, and left no voicemail message. From a phony number. 

There are other details, but these are the most unsettling. We don't know why this person is showing up out of the blue, going to the house late at night asking for someone, and calling from a phony number. 

So, naturally, Ghostwriter seems to be the only choice we have. He seems confident, we just gotta keep getting more clues to help solve this case. 

(let me cope ok)

ANYWAY

 So, something really really neat happened. 

My horror manga senpai noticed my art uwu

It's probably nothing to him, but I screamed. He's someone I admire so much because... I mean look at this

SAME

And just the notion that the liked my piece enough to share it was really nice T_T because I worked hard on it lol. 

I mentioned in the last post that it took me months to do because I just didn't know what direction to go with her. And it wasn't until seeing other peoples' beautiful art at Designer Con that it really sunk in how much I wanted to do something with her. And... it's great that I did!

 Months ago, I started with the head. That was hard, because my experience with sculpting faces is minimal. But whatever lol. Then I stopped. When I came back to her, she was covered in dust. That was fun to remove. (it wasn't. took forever). And decided to make her body this weird spiral thing, instead of a normal human body. Because... she's cursed by the spiral. Just, differently. And I liked the result. Even though making the clay twist on a frame is STUPID AND NOT IDEAL but that's fine

I blasted her in the oven. It was horrific. Didn't even wanna take a picture because she looked roasted lol. Just wanted to make sure the clay was well done. And slapped paint on her, and used a pencil to sketch in details.

 The worst thing about being so meticulous and a perfectionist is that I want to do a good job lol. In EVERYTHING that I do in life, I want good results. This mentality makes projects like this a hellish challenge. Her face SUUUUCCKED. But I like it?

 Pastels were first to help cast shadows and other dark spots. Then acrylic paint.

 And the result, after a few coats of matte finish;

 I'm SO proud of this! Uzumaki was the first Junji Ito book I'd read and fell in love with instantly. And I'm glad he liked it too reeeeeeeee. My only wish is that there'd be more Junji Ito merch. And statues. That was the whole motivation behind this.

Beyond those things, this has been November- and Thanksgiving;

For Thanksgiving (actually Black Friday) we drove up to Chickens' parents' place to feast like mighty kings. No Turkey, but lots of crab, lobster, duck, clams, and massive amounts of curry. His mom knows how much I love curry. Dat curry hype

Dinner conversation consisted of how maybe what if durian seeds accidentally ended up in their back yard garden, by mistake, and started sprouting. That was met with laughter. And ultimately, that nothing would come of it because the climate here isn't ideal for durians to grow naturally. To combat this most unfortunate news, we visited the market on the way home;

 I didn't know these were a thing! When I made a small cut in the seal along the lid, the smell just... it was there lol. Immediately. When the lid came off... ooof! I love it. Boyfriend- not so much, but he tried it and didn't mind it. But the real way that we know they're good is that durian flavored burps followed later, so it's legit made with real durian.
We also got another actual durian. It's not yet opened, but the smell has gotten stronger, so maybe later today or tomorrow, I may crack it open.

And some of my stuff came in today. Bless Amazon Prime.

 It's been a LONG time since I've upgraded. There were multiple times when I could've, but felt content with my current set up that it didn't seem necessary. But, the time has come, and the prices were good. Eventually, my motherboard and processor will need to be upgraded as well, but for now, there's no need. My new tower comes in on Tuesday. It's so beautiful, I can't wait to assemble everything!

Cardboard discs are the future now.

Ah, Ghostwriter episodes are playing and boyfriend is hooked. Another victory for the Ghostwriter Team !

Maybe they can solve why buying digital codes is more expensive than shipping out a physical copy of a game code on a piece of cardboard. 

This post was brought to you in part by the corporation of public broadcasting and viewers like you.

D*Con 2018

  The Lucio-Oh's haven't been touched since Blizzcon. They're in my kitchen just sitting there, unopened, waiting for their moment to shine. BUT THE BOX IS SO PRETTY I DON'T WANNA OPEN IT?

Okay, so recently, someone from work was like, YOU WON'T STFU ABOUT DIABLO, HERE YA GO- just like that. 

Just kidding. He actually comes up to me and says "they're on the table" 

and I'm like wtf that's plural, 

and he's like *shrug* yeah, 

and I'm like whoa okay, 

so he brings them over and 

HEAVY BABIES ARE HEAVY

We can skip my emotional breakdown in front of everyone and go straight to the awesome contents of each CE. While I didn't capture everything that was inside, the most delicious guts were the art books. The art of Diablo is... so beautiful. There are some demented minds to come up with some of the concepts, much of which I find to be so..satisfying.

Another thing I find satisfying is having a nice bed. During Blizzcon, I noticed that one of the store items was a Horde insignia pillow that just so happened to look kinda like a coffin. It'd look great on my bed. But put the thought behind me.

Boyfriend bought it anyway, and now my bat plushies snuggle it in my absence.

DESIGNER CON | 2018

Never been! Heard of it, was intrigued last year, but missed it. This year, one of my favorite artists posted about having a booth there, and .... 

 Designer con has got to be, hands down, my favorite con lol (aside from Blizzcon-for different reasons). This was a completely different experience from the usual comic or anime cons I've attended over the years. That's probably what I like about Blizzcon, too. But I digress. 

It's exactly what the name suggests. Designers from everywhere, honing every craft and skillset, come and set up their booths to sell their creations. Collectors and civilian attendees both come and get to enjoy the absolute insane amount of creativity just ... all up in your face. Everywhere. And it's fucking good.

Another thing I like is that there's no pressure to be social lol. There's so much to look at and shop for that socializing isn't priority like it is at other cons. There was barely any cosplay, and despite how crowded it was, there was still room to walk around without bumping into people stopping to pose, stare, or bottleneck in the middle of the aisles that make it difficult to see the booths- which is annoying for the artists, and for people who attend to see/purchase their merch.

After attending other cons for so long, it's easy to appreciate open space, order, and just... neatness.. in these kind of environments.

Or maybe that's just me. I don't really like to party or draw attention to myself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

D*Con was incredibly chill and laid back. Just artists trynna do their thing, and enthusiasts trynna support.

One of the first booths that stood out to me...

Slime Archetype

Was like, these little nut sac things, but they were so cute and other-worldly. This dude came from Oregon to vendor here for the first time.

but... there was still a lot to see before I threw my money at him

S O

C U T E

B A B I E S

O K 

 dope.

Favorite art at this con was this dude; horror, guro, vintage cartoons

I think I went into shock when we spotted this booth. Or came or started crying or got hysterical or hungry. I don't know. But my GOD I LOVE this guys' art

Frank Forte

These were just a few of the incredible pieces he's done. I wanted to buy several prints, but.. I'm severely lacking on wall space. So I bought one. It was an incredibly tough decision, but ultimately went with the long neck dude. But it was between these three

Did I impulse buy things? You betcha. BEHOLD:

Spicy Donut

This awesome b&w keychain, in vintage cartoon style,

inspired by the old ass film, "Le Voyage dans la Lun." 

If you've never seen it, it's like 10 minutes long, and old. Like, OLD. but it's so weird and abstract, that it's kinda awesome?

And right next to this booth was this vendor with the cutest characters ever I wanted to scream at each of them but that'd be a lot of screaming :\

SPRINKLEBAT

So I bought the ghost and gameboy sticker

sorry

Cont "n" Roller - Yosuke Ueno

I love this little guy :) Can find him on my bag, along many other enamel pins! I didn't budget for him, but he's going on my shelf some day lol.

The artist I came to see, was not surprisingly, sold out of most of his stock. Which is great, he deserves it.

Tokyo Jesus

His is some of the most beautiful figures I've seen. I admire him so much and hope to one day achieve this level of sculpting. He's crazy, I love his pieces. And it's awesome to see that so many others do, too.

Here are some babies;

 Another artist I admire was also there;

Peach Momoko

I've two of her prints already, and wanted to get her Bladerunner Rachel print, but boyfriend kept me grounded and reminded me that I'd be getting a beautiful piece, with no where to display her. Not in my room, at least. And I don't know how the roomie would feel about that lol. 

Next time. But it was a delight to see her there :)

Did I impulse buy another bat plushie? I SURE DID

weiner pistol next to bladerunner pistol

it's fine.

vajeener and nomples zomg

Another Tokyo Jesus piece on display

along side Luke Chueh

He also makes cute stuff, but he didn't booth this year. He had a few pieces up but they went immediately u_u

best boy being a sassafrass lookin all dope

Little dudes in the hoodies were so cute lol. I wannem!

That's the worst thing about this con- you find so many incredible pieces, that self-control becomes a challenge every 10 feet you walk.

y e s

@wayshak

This dudes' art was just... insanity. I wanna see his pieces come to life in animation. Or something. idk. Absolutely beautiful. 

Almost bought cup noodles plushie but bf was the voice of reason. 

Kinda glad I didn't get it, but still wannit :\

Dunnies are crazy right now. 

And some of the designs are just... ridiculous. 

I wanna get to that level tbh

NANI

LOOK AT MY DAUGHTER

GiGikatz

She instantly made new friends when we got home. I'm trying to expand my bat plushie collection by purchasing hand made ones when I see one I really like. So far, 4 (one's not pictured) of them were hand made, the other two are T.Y. beanie babies from forever ago.

annnnd last but not least, on our way out, I couldn't help myself, and bought a little nut-sac rabbit thing from the Oregon dude.

Seeing so many artists putting themselves out like this was pretty inspiring for me. So much so that it motivated me to revisit and finish a clay piece I started several months ago. So, I'm pretty happy that we ended up going.

I'll end this post with this;

If you wanna draw, draw. If you wanna paint, go. Sculpt, sew, glue, mold, solder... anything that you wanna create because you can and because it makes you feel good in a way other things can't- no matter how shitty you think you are at it- Do it.

I don't consider myself an artist; I can't draw, I don't map out what I'm gonna do because of the fact. But I take a lot of inspiration from things that bring me joy, and I manifest them in mediums that I can surround myself with. That alone keeps me motivated, and passionate. That, and resentment because the products I want can't be found in markets lol. 

But, if you wanna make something- do it; you're able to create something that didn't exist before you brought it to life. and.. that's dope.