Hello there, this is Katana, also known as Kat in some circles. I'm your friendly neighborhood twenty-two-year-old illustrator/writer whose sarcasm is second to none and harboring the ability to verbalize the parentheses in stories. I drink coffee and draw like an addict and am liable to get you into things that I like. Currently the wielder of a BFA in Illustration and a minor in English.
Questions? Comments? Death threats? Feel free to PM or message me in some iteration. I'm always around, you just don't know it.
"Some of the great artists of our time started off by doodling in class. ...Maybe. Oh heck I dunno."
- Miss Anonymous
I say this in the video, but I'm not qualified to talk about SOPA. But I give it my best shot (as good as I can while on cough medicine and with a Rachel Ray voice). Anyhow, the first 2/3 of the video are about the SOPA bill, and the last third is why I think so many photographers are in support of it.
Mr. Awesome Goes To Washington - From Nostalgia Chick, a sort of v-log of the group's trip to DC to talk to committees about SOPA. Provides insight about what their worries are.
It was about, what, a week and a half ago, when Waffuru turned to me in Grammar and went, "You know, we should play Persona 4 over winter break. 'cause neither of us is employed or has played it." And the underlying message of that sentence was "If we're going to be making jokes from the comic dub, we really should play that game. Your watching the anime doesn't count."
So one winter break start and an Amazon order later, a fresh and plastic-wrapped copy of P4 showed up on my doorstop. Today we began our first day of Persona-ing.
I told Waffles right off the bat that I heard the first hour is basically a cutscene. Little did I know the first two, three hours are like that. It was a lot of X-button hitting, giggling at random dialogue, and getting really annoyed at the anime-habit of repeating sentences that have just been spoken.
Don't take my complaining as my opinion of the game. When the game allows me to play, I really like it. And I have been told by a few different people that yeah, P4 takes a while to get going. I think we split at around the three hour mark, right after battling Shadow Chie. It seemed to be picking up, giving us the ability to free-roam a little bit in Yukiko's Castle and battle monsters and try to figure out all this stuff. The battle system is strange, not something I, at least, am used to (like, it's turn based, but that can be changed depending on what you do, etc.).
We also keep throwing out lines from the comic dub when they pop up. And the popular phrase right now is "Wanna make-out behind the dumpster?"
Neither of us feel quite prepared for normal mode, so we're playing this on beginner, which thankfully doesn't affect the outcomes available. And after some Googling of generic Japanese names, our guy is named Yoh Eda.
Depending on how exciting or not this turns out, I may or may not keep up on doing these posts. We shall see.
I'm home for winter break, and I could not be more relieved. I've basically got five and a half weeks until the next semester begins, and that is just great. My previous posts give a pretty good idea of why I really need this break.
I also think I ended the semester on a higher grade note than previously thought. I believe I landed an A in Graphic Design, along with Photography and Intermediate Drawing. The B in Illustration was verbally relayed, but the only officially posted grade thus far has been in Grammar. Deep breath...a B! Oh thank the Lord!
Going back to winning, I won the boxset for series 6 of Doctor Who courtesy of the official DW Tumblr. All I had to do was go on a scavenger hunt and find things. And then I won!
Today was also a high point in that there were two cards waiting for me when I came home. One was from Beth, the other Laura, and they made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. Thanks gaiz~
Dang howdy, I'm done with my fifth semester of college. And if things go as I have planned, then I've got three more to go. In summary, I'm over halfway and it terrifies me.
My last final was technically picking up stuff from Graphic Design, but the last one I actually had to do stuff for was Grammar yesterday, in the form of a test. I'm a bit wary, considering how I didn't think it was all that hard, but that probably means I bombed it.
What marked the finale was the one-on-one with my Illustration professor. I asked if I could just do it while I was there for Graphic Design, since it's the same teacher, and she was like "uhhh sure if you want". It went a lot smoother than I thought it would, and it really boils down to me being hard on myself. According to her, Intermediate Illustration (which is this whole year) is about struggling, being frustrated, and figuring things out. My hangup comes from being surrounded by massively talented people who can just poop out greatness, and she understands that and also how terribly frustrated I am because of that.
I've got some stuff working for me, she says, like color and relationships and the like. But there's stuff to be improved upon, which, I mean, is obvious. (Though I'd like to argue against composition - it's not exactly a weak point of mine, so whatever.)
Part of my struggle was experimenting and not quite succeeding in my experiments, rather than everyone else who worked in mostly the same stuff (paint). I'm want to try out a bunch of different things to see what works and what doesn't. I'm also turning into a mixed media person, because I know what tools give what effects, and at this point it's me trying to put them together cohesively.
tl;dr I'm not as bad as I think I am
I'm thinking of streaming tonight, sometime after 7pm 8pm CST. I'll be working on coloring this. I'm thinking of doing a Skype and stream, so if you wanna come...uh, be ready for that...? It'll be at the art corner of doom, as per usual.
This started as a reply to snow fox (hi! nice to see you back), but then I figured I'll make it an actual post since I got a lot of kind words yesterday.
I think the reason I sort of snapped is due to the slow descent into constant frustration I've been riding this whole semester. I didn't start on a high note and whenever I worked myself up for a project, I never quite succeeded (see: the Embrace project, all my confusing grades in Photography, my continuing annoyance at Grammar). And when you keep getting pumped and then keep falling on your face, it starts to grate on you.
Outside my academics, it's been a rough semester. Between betrayals and getting so fed up with my job I quit it, I haven't been too hot.
I never intend to quit what I'm doing, though. I figure now I've sort of hit rock bottom (there's a couple other things at play that I don't feel like discussing), so the only way to go is up. Exactly one week from now, I'll (most likely) be at home for winter break. All my finals will be done in six days, all of the ones I still have to do stuff for in five. The end is very, very close. I just have to get there.
Sometimes I feel a little awkward posting about my not-so-highs here on Oh My, Plotholes, because for the most part I really am a pretty upbeat person. But on the other hand, this is my journal, the one place I really do get to vent. I've never been able to keep a physical diary, so this is where I stash away my important things. With that in mind, I post however I please, and the people who matter will take notice (whether you comment or silently lurk). It's about all I ask for.
Anyhow. Thanks for the comments, guys. They were very encouraging, even if I don't believe the stuff about being an amazing artist and I'm impressed at the novels most of you left. XD
