Summary: “A ridiculous crossover fan adventure between Ubisoft’s popular Assassin’s Creed video game series and Andrew Hussie’s extremely popular Homestuck webcomic adventure.”
Truthfully, I know very little about Assassin’s Creed or Homestuck, but so far Assassin Bound is quite entertaining. My friend has wonderfully snarky humor and it’s fun to participate by offering suggestions as to what should happen next. Whether a diehard Assassin’s Creed and/or Homestuck fan or not, Assassin Boundis worth a look!
Yesterday, I was incredibly excited to discover that the awesome Ms. Blake Woodruff of imoutoart.wordpress.com (I’ll call her Ms. Woodruff as to not get confused with Mr. Blake!) posted a fan art of my graphic novel The Poet and the Flea. As far as I know, this is the first ever fan art of The Flea and feels like a huge milestone in The Flea‘s progress!!
I asked Ms. Woodruff for permission to repost her illustration here on my blog (see below) and hope that all my readers/followers will take a look at the impressive work on her blog and website!
I especially admire the deep colors/tones she used for this piece and get a total kick out of The Flea lurking in the background!
Next, I plan on creating a fan art page on thepoetandtheflea.wordpress.com and will post Ms. Woodruff’s piece there as well.
I wholeheartedly welcome all The Poet and the Flea fan art and would be more than delighted to showcase your work on my blog!
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I met my Barcelonian friend Elena in Tokyo of all places. We were both studying at Sophia University for a year.
We met through a mutual acquaintance and the three of us ended up on a three day trip to Okinawa. Both Elena and I share an enthusiasm for Okinawan culture and were so excited to go. We managed to see everything on our checklist and had an overall wonderful time there.
As it turned out, a few weeks later, Elena ended up moving into the same dorm as me. We ended up spending memorable times together, staying up to the wee hours of the morning chatting and eating candy.
Now, having only recently moved to San Francisco, we live on practically opposite sides of the globe. But we still Facebook and tweet at each other. And, most excitingly, we send packages through snail mail to each other, back and forth from Spain to the States.
While we were friends in Tokyo, Elena had no idea I drew at all. This was during my college phase of not having time to draw. Boy, was she surprised when she learned I was working on my graphic novel The Poet and the Flea. And, quickly, she became my #1 fan!
Elena became smitten by the rose from page 27 of The Flea (as seen on Part 4 of Behind the Scenes). So, for the winter holiday, I sent her the following ink and watercolor rose.
In return, at the end of January, I received a wonderful little New Year’s present from Elena (see photos below)! She sent me a delightfully long handwritten letter, a bag of candy, and a flyer of a favorite Japanese band called exist†trace (which I believe Elena was handed by the lead singer named Jyou after a The GazettE concert).
I would love for Elena to come visit San Francisco one day, or for me to visit her in Barcelona (when I’m not an unpaid intern making absolutely no money). Elena is really the only person I keep in touch with from my year abroad and I’m proud to have such an awesome friend! Maybe someday we’ll even return to Japan and even Okinawa together.
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Sent out some more fellowship/internship/job applications.
Worked on The Flea script.
Saturday, December 15th
Last day of cat sitting!
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Worked on The Flea script.
Sunday, December 16th
Went to see The Hobbit with Wes and the folks! I was a major fan of The Lord of the Rings films when they first came out (and still am), so of course I was (and still am) super excited for The Hobbit. Even my dad, who was skeptical and didn’t really want to come, loved the movie (and even shed tears at the bromance between Bilbo and Thorin, I kid you not). (^-^) I know this is bizarre, but I think my favorite part was when the Great Goblin’s secretary cackled as he ziplined through the air!
Wes is so sweet and got me a Rose Vampire figurine from Super7 – IT’S SO CUTE!
As usual, great meeting with Gabe. Working out the next few steps for Elias & The City of Cats and thinking about our future projects.
2:30 p.m.:Phone interview with The American Pavilion for the Cannes Film Program. I think it went pretty well. I’ll be hearing from them this Friday. Wish me luck!
Came up with a really cool idea for The Blanks screenplay collaboration. Wrote an e-mail to Gabe and waiting to hear what he thinks!
Thursday, December 20th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Applied to the Creative World Awards (a screenwriting competition). For more information, click here.
Worked on The Flea script.
Did some more research on fellowships/internships/jobs.
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 60 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following images or video!!
One of my favorite operas is Jacques Offenbach‘s The Tales of Hoffmann(Les contes d’Hoffmann). This opera is a fantastical retelling of the life of the German Romantic author E. T. A. Hoffmann, casting Hoffmann as the protagonist of his own stories.
Placido Domingo performing the “Chanson de Kleinzach” aria.
Désirée Rancatore performing ”Les oiseaux dans la charmille.”
Through The Tales of Hoffmann, I developed an interest in Hoffmann and his stories, quickly leading me to Sigmund Freud’s The Uncanny. In Freud’s essay, he uses many of the same Hoffmann stories as Offenbach, but in this case to prove a psychological point (not that Offenbach’s opera isn’t deeply psychological). If I remember correctly, Freud even mentions Offenbach’s opera.
Portrait of E. T. A. Hoffmann
I’m sure you are all wondering, “What does all this have to do with The Nutcracker?” Well, little do most people know, E. T. A. Hoffmann wrote in 1816 one of the earliest versions of The Nutcracker story, entitled The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Nussknacker und Mausekönig).
Alexandre Dumas was also a fan of Hoffmann, employing allusions to Hoffmann’s stories in The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas even went as far as creating a revision to Hoffmann’s Nutcracker in 1844 called History of The Nutcracker (Histoire d’un casse-noisette), or The Tale of the Nutcracker.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, Hoffmann’s Nutcracker was adapted to ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, perhaps the most famous incarnation of the tale. I write this post because my dad purchased tickets to the San Francisco Ballet to see The Nutcracker at the end of the month. Perhaps later I’ll add my thoughts on the production to this post.
Tchaikovsky’s music is always wonderful, if not a little too overplayed for the holidays. A lot of people tend to associate The March from The Nutcracker or The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy not with Tchaikovsky, but with the thousands of Christmas commercials that use these pieces. This also happens with The Chinese Tea Dance from The Nutcracker with Disney’s Fantasia and The Sleeping Beauty Waltz with Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.
I believe the most creative and exciting production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker is Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut. The Hard Nut is set in 1950s America with a very retro feel inspired by the comic artist Charles Burns — a strange but brilliant compliment to the classical music. I hope to one day be able to attend a live performance.
Advertisement for The Hard Nut.
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Yesterday (December 3rd), I decided to try messaging a fellow webcomic creator that I strongly admire: Shelby Lynn Criswell, writer and illustrator of Awkward Shelby.
And, boy, am I glad I did! She’s not only super talented, but also super sweet! She even checked out The Flea and is now a fan! So I wanted to do everything in my power to promote her comic and share her work with all of you.
Awkward Shelbyis a series of autobiographical strips detailing the awkward moments of Shelby’s life. Shelby is a self-procliamed “androgynous weirdo,” but I think her awkwardness is very universal (or at least I personally relate to many of her plights). Her drawing style is very whimsical and full of movement and life.
Also, she’s working on a more serious graphic novel called This is Your Life, which looks very very very promising!
Below are a number of my favorite strips from Awkward Shelby.
The following images belong to Shelby Lynn Criswell.
For more Awkward Shelby, please check out the following websites…
Today, did some research about various production companies on IMDbPro.
Worked on inquiry letters. Dropped one in the mailbox and will be sending out a few more soon!
Thursday, September 27th
Continuing work on The Flea.
Went on a date with Wes to the California Academy of Science: Nightlife at the Academy. Saw some amazing sights (jellyfish, baby ostriches, etc.) and had a wonderful time with Wes.
Friday, September 28th
Today, met with Gabe and his friend, Masa — a film director. They asked me to collaborate with them on a screenplay called The Blanks. The concept is really interesting and I feel that I can use my expertise to really flesh out the characters and story. But I think I have to discuss everything further with Gabe and Masa to figure out exactly what they want.
Discussed children’s book further with Gabe. Scheduled next meeting for Friday, October 12th.
Watched the short film and read the short script that Gabe and Masa want me to collaborate on in order to expand it to feature length. Brainstorming ideas!
Reworked my résumé since it needed some updating.
Saturday, September 29th
Worked on opening scene and ideas/notes for The Blanks. Sent to Gabe for feedback.
Sunday, September 30th
Today, scanned all completed pages of The Poet and the Flea!!!
Working on cropping scanned pages of The Flea and adding to draft posts on WordPress.
★ Goals for the coming days…
Draft character designs for Gabe’s children’s book.
Sketch out cover and first 2 pages of The First Reich. Schedule next meeting with Shannon.
Close out GoFundMe.com campaign and launch IndieGoGo.com campaign.
Monday, October 1st
Disclaimer: I do not own this photograph!!
Happy Birthday, Laurence Harvey! If he hadn’t died of stomach cancer at the age of 45, he would have been 84 today. (Well, at least Larry’s on-screen mom Angela Lansbury is still kicking!)
Tonight, was supposed to attend the h. Naoto Designer Event with Wes, but had to cancel date due to stomach flu. (´Ａ｀。)
E-mail correspondence with Gabe.
Working on design for The Poet and the Flea postcards through Vistaprint in preparation for APE (Alternative Press Expo).
Tuesday, October 2nd
[Still sick... (✖╭╮✖)]
Happy Birthday, Mom! My family will be celebrating her birthday and mine (Oct. 19) together later this month. 〜(^▽^〜)
E-mail correspondence with Gabe.
Completed design for The Poet and the Flea postcards and ordered through Vistaprint.
Happy Birthday, Tetsuya, beloved leader and bassist of Japanese band L’Arc-en-Ciel!! You and the band have been going strong for 20 years now, and your fans can’t wait for more. (´∀｀)♡ [Watch "In the Air" from 20th Anniversary Live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by3axL-3gjM]
Working on adding scanned pages of The Flea to draft posts on WordPress.
Thursday, October 4th
Disclaimer: I do not own this image!!
Happy Birthday, Jeremy Blake! This talented American artist would have been 41 today if he had not taken his life after the death of his long-term girlfriend Theresa Duncan. Read more about Blake and Duncan here!
Working on making plans for APE (Alternative Press Expo).
Working on character sketches for Gabe.
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 47 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
My friend has wonderfully snarky humor and it’s fun to participate by offering suggestions as to what should happen next. Whether a diehard Assassin’s Creed and/or Homestuck fan or not, Assassin Bound is worth a look!
Portrait of E. T. A. Hoffmann
