Year in Review

"I've become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue.  Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live.  If I'm able to, then perhaps I'll be closer to portraying a true expression of love."   -Hayao Miyazaki

I always like to end my year with a quote, something that I want to take with me into the next one.  I thought this quote was exceedingly appropriate, because it encompasses a lot about how I want to make characters in stories - both in writing and in art.  Bryan Konetzko quoted Miyazaki after he publicly stated that Korra and Asami were a couple at the end of the Legend of Korra - that image of the two of them being not just the final shot of the entire series, but the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe (as far as Bryke has stated).

While I wasn't expecting them to be a romantic couple by the end of everything - personally, I just wanted Korra to have a gal-pal - I'm glad that Bryke did something completely bold in their storytelling to encourage same-sex relationships in kids' television.  It's not brand new, since Glee had Kurt & Blaine and Adventure Time has long hinted a relationship between Marceline and Bubblegum... but this is a main character!  It brought viewers to tears when the Korra and Asami held hands and stepped into the Spirit Portal, because it brought hope to this 21st century generation of kids that yes, LGBT relationships do exist and should be respected as any other boy-girl romance in stories.  It's also cute that Korra and Asami started out fighting over the same boy.  =)

Anyway... this year has been a tough one, to be honest.  Not as tough as 2011, but a lot of things have crossed my mind about adulthood and it's kept me awake at night with questions.  But I've had a great year with some wonderful highlights:

• ART/WRITING - not as much as I've wanted to do this year, but I did attend the Prairie Writer's Day Conference to network with a bunch of aspiring children's authors and illustrators.  It was a bit "cart-before-the-horse" for me, since I didn't have a real writing sample or portfolio to showcase for childrens' literature, but I did get to pass out some awesome business cards and get my art reviewed by Eliza Wheeler.  According to her, I just have to incorporate more of a background in my illustrations and show dimension with visual storytelling - no different from sequential art.  Highlight: I did an illustration for Lucy Knisley and her husband as a wedding gift!  Goal: write/revise/pitch a full novel, and to make weekly illustrations.
• FITNESS - running is still going strong!  Back in September I accomplished a second marathon, running non-stop this time in St. Charles, IL and cutting my marathon time by 2 minutes!  I also ran the hot-chocolate 15K, which was an okay experience in race organization-standards, but the chocolate was delicious.  I also did the usual Turkey Trot with Dad and friends for ThanksGiving, and it felt overall very nice to continue with running.  I'm a legit marathon runner now!  :)  Goal: work on my upper body, and prep for an international marathon in 2016 (place TBD)
• EMPLOYMENT - After 3 years of pursuing a full-time gig at a creative institution, it finally happened this summer at Columbia College!  Granted, it's in a department I didn't think I would ever be in, but I love the responsibilities I'm getting as an outreach coordinator for financial services, and after 6 months into the position, the job anxiety is slowly fading.  I just really need to "study" what I do and not feel intimidated about asking questions.  It's a lot, but I'm so happy with this job.  Second City is still going, a few hours a week, but I'm giving myself 'til the end of Spring 2015 to let it go so I can move on to other commitments. Goal: become more familiar with Student Aid & Marketing
• FINANCES - I paid off my student loans (yay!) and am finally starting to save $$ with the new job!  Goal: start researching on investments and buying a house.
• TRAVEL - I got to go somewhere unknown this year... Portland, OR... for my 30th birthday, which was definitely my kind of town.  I also flew to Colombia to spend time with relatives during the World Cup and watch our Team go as far as they've ever gone (yay James Rodriguez!), and visited the hot springs of Santa Rosa.  Good times!  And for the holidays, I road-tripped with the family to Virginia Beach to spend quality time with the Mazueras.  A good travel year, overall.  Goal: go somewhere new and warm, like Argentina.
• READING - I noticed that the trouble I had this year was finding books I wanted to read.  I liked Raina Telgemeier's graphic novels, as usual.  I tried Lord of the Rings, but set it aside, and also tried Ocean at the End of the Lane and Gone Girl, but they just didn't stick with me.  But... I finally got a hold of "Daughter of Smoke & Bone" by Laini Taylor and couldn't put it down.  I went through all three books in less than 2 months.  And now I'm back to Game of Thrones with Storm of Swords.  Goal: to read a non-fiction and a classic.
• HOBBIES - I got to do some voice work finally!  It started with a workshop at a studio in March, but then I started getting mentored by a Radio professor at Columbia College, and she's been coaching me ever since.  I'm putting my first Demo together, and I'll be taking a voice-over class in March!  Goal: to have fun with voice-over and to not see it as a profession, but a hobby.
• FAMILY - This is always the tough one for me.  I could talk more to them and not feel intimidated.  I did a lot of crying this year, mainly with adulthood just stressing me out, so I need to feel comfortable with them.  We're all going through life-changes right now, so I think it's best that we just stay in touch and support each other.  Goal: to call Mom & Dad once a week.
• LOVE - I take it back, THIS is always a tough one.  I've had a crush on this guy for 6 months to whom I've shared absolutely zero communication with.  I can do better than that.  Maybe I'm just not ready to fall in love.  Or maybe I'm just not the "falling in love" type?  I can't take any relationship seriously if I don't take myself seriously first, and that's what I've been working on for 30 years.  Goal: to bring out the best in myself next year so I can get boys to notice the happy me.

And well... now that my commitment to the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe has come to its conclusion after 7 years of nonstop cosplay/art/fanfiction... I can now fully dedicate myself to Game of Thrones!   Well, not exactly to that "fandom" extent, but I'm still reading the books and watching the show, and... it's awesome!  

Yeah, reviews - I wasn't kidding!

I know it's been exactly one day since my last post, but I still wanted to make sure I got these out of the way, because they're just as precious to me.

First off, let me tell you a little about this short called "Duet" by Glen Keane - a Disney Legend.



I happened to watched it online before there was all this hype to it, fell in love with the simplicity of the chalk-like animation, slightly forgot about it... and then a week later, at the start of a very rough work week, it shows up on my phone as an 'interactive 3D animated short.'  You have to hold your phone and move the phone to follow along with what the screen is showing you.  0_o   The whole story was the same, but something about this second time made it feel less cheesy.  More real.  And heartwarming.  I had tears in my eyes.

It's a tale as old as time in the span of 3 minutes: boy meets girl as babies, they grow up leading separate lives... but 'brush' each other in small, intricately special moments and you can tell they have a connection without a single bit of dialogue spoken.  There's curiosity.  There's affection.  By the end of it, they're together, and the universe is as it should be.  Whenever I have a rough moment at work, I think about this work of art, and it just gives me hope.  Brilliant work.  10/10.

Another thing I almost forgot to mention was Legend of Korra Book 4: Balance.  The Final Chapter.



Okay, I will say I had a couple gripes about this last season having a very lousy marketing campaign.  It's like Nickelodeon higher-ups had too many new shows to worry about and they wanted to toss the last few bits of this franchise out for the fans to move on to bigger, sillier, more Nickelodeon-y-er things.  And I get it.  It's a business.  You see that your target-age audience for your channel is not exactly the audience that's watching this show, and it's a bad investment.  And that's exactly what's going on with Korra.

I look at the ratings when Korra first premiered in April 2012 with over 4.5 million viewers, and things seem to have gone downhill since then.  Right near the end of Season 3 back in July 2014, with just over a million viewers watching per week, it didn't surprise me when there was an announcement that the remainder of the season would be shown online.  And I was like, "fine, okay, I can deal with that."  The ending happened, and poor Korra is left recovering from poisoned and incapable of being Avatar.  Just before I even have the chance to get back into regular life, there's a a teaser trailer for Season 4, which premiered in October of this same year.  And it would all be online.  0___0   Ratings didn't matter anymore.  Nickelodeon just wanted this show out as quick as a cold.

In terms of quality, I will admit that Korra has had its weak points.  Multiple villains, toying with original Avatar Spirit World mythology, Varrick.... (x____x)... but you know what?  I kept watching it, and I love what Mike and Bryan have brought to this world in terms of visuals and action sequences and bringing a true girl protagonist to light with her strength and flaws.  Book 4 shows Korra running away from her weakness by pretending to be strong, fighting underground rumbles and then getting some guidance from Toph to lose that weakness to focus on her Avatar abilities, and to not be afraid of failure.  This season's villain is a dictator: Kuvira.  Her motivation is different from the anti-bending revolutionary Amon, the spiritually corrupted Tonrak, and the anti-authority nonconformist Zaheer.  What Kuvira wants is to make everyone part of the Earth Kingdom (no different than what Fire Lord Sozin wanted in Avatar) and she believes she can do it with exploiting spiritual energy.  She's a tyrant, but she's very convincing about not being one.

This final chapter is supposed to bring closure to a lot of questions about how the modern world will function with an Avatar, with the Spirit portals open, and with all the potential corruption that society shall continue to bring... but really deep down I just want to know who fathered Toph's daughters.  =)   I don't think we'll get any of those answers, but whatever.

It's been almost 8 years since I first committed to this Avatar universe, so it's nostalgia that's kept me going, and an appreciation for the Avatar world and hoping that by the end of it everything gets a decent ending.  Yeah, we know Aang and Katara made it, and their kids turned out alright (though I still don't get the purpose of Kya...) and maybe in a small distant universe Old Katara and Old Zuko might have a thing... but that's just my wishful thinking.  Anyway, I'm upset that Mike and Bryan haven't gotten the appreciation they deserve from this show/universe, but I'm glad they're putting together a decent ending with Korra for the committed Avatar fans.

Only a few episodes left to go!

=)