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Not that anyone ever wondered who the bozos in my avatar were (as of writing), but I figured it’s about time I introduce these guys to the interwebs.

These are Ary & Lúcia, the two main characters of the eponymous illustrated book series I’m writing. I’m still working on a proper pitch, but the gist of it is this:

A family with roots in a lost ancient civilization decides to settle in a small town in the middle of Portugal. They bring with them a magic crystal with amazing powers, which is protected by an appointed Guardian; right now, that’s Ary, a 15-year-old boy with a no-nonsense, studious disposition. To his dismay, however, an overeager classmate of his named Lúcia breaks the crystal by accident, and the shards get scattered all over town. Now they have to gather all the pieces as fast as they can, because if the long-forgotten resident mythological creatures (all of them based on Portuguese folklore) get a hold of them, they become visible and tangible to normal folks, which can cause all sorts of chaos. Both teens then embark on a fantastical journey of self-discovery (whether they want to or not), all the while exploring themes such as Culture, Identity, Memory and Isolation.

Of course, there’s A LOT more to it, not the least of which are other characters, worldbuilding and cosmology, but I’m not going to post those here right now, lest I lose people’s interest FOREVER due to MASSIVE (albeit nicely formatted) WALLS OF TEXT.

So far, Vol. 1 is fully written (in Portuguese) and awaiting a final once-over before being sent to a publisher... Which I hear is kind of a bad thing, seeing as I should’ve started marketing this thing WHILE I was writing it. Ugh. Though I still have to work on the illustrations, so... we’ll see? I’m still majorly confused about what kind of marketing should I do, considering the language barrier. I do want to translate it into English (one of the perks of being bilingual: don’t have to hire translators) to reach a worldwide audience, but how the heck would I get this published in the English-speaking world?

Eh, whatever, I’ll think about that later. Just some random musings of a delusional would-be author...

Anyway, look forward for more art related to these clowns soon.

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You know, I should probably start posting art of characters people actually recognize instead of oldies or nobodies that only I care about because I grew up with them or something.

So anyway, here’s a character that has been around since the... 30s? 20s? Did Mary Tourtel create Pong Ping? Whatever, here’s Rupert Bear’s friend Pong Ping meditating. Not that he was ever shown meditating in any media, as far as I know. It does seem like something he’d do, though.

As a side note, the Rupert show from the 90s became one of my favorite shows of all time when I revisited it in 2013. Hearing the original version is still a little weird to me. Pong Ping in particular (voiced by Oscar Hsu) I was used to sounding pretty confident and wise, even a bit cocky, and the original is more delicate and innocent. On the flipside, a lot of the kid voices got dubbed by men in their 30s. Talented men in their 30s, but still, kinda weird hearing a baby badger voiced by a version of Iago...

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So after being spammed (in a good way) five ways from Tuesday by posts about Tangled: The Series on my dashboard, I caved and started watching the show. And since my birthday was coming up (OMG I’m 30 now wut), I decided to treat myself to this lovely doll... who, I just have to tell you, can stand under her own power if you position the hair juuuuuuust right. Which is just about all sorts of amazing.

About the show itself, I’m enjoying it a lot! I was never much into the movie (2010 was very meh in regards to movies that caught my attention. Don’t get me wrong, it did have very good movies, just none I fell head over heels for), but I did like Rapunzel, so a whole show exploring her character is something I can definitely get behind. I hear it gets kinda dark later on, I’m still not at the halfway point in the first season, so we’ll see...

Major shout-out to Bárbara Lourenço, who voices Rapunzel in the European Portuguese dub. It was her first big job for Disney, and she stuck around ever since... I may be a few years younger than her, but having heard her almost 10 years before she got this gig and seeing her grow just made me so proud. *sniff*

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Oh, what the heck, let’s just cut to the chase. My Character of the Year for THE YEAR 2000!!!!! ...is Misty!

Pokémon took about a year to arrive in Portugal (2, if you go by the Japanese release date), but still, it arrived in late 1999, which means Pokémania was in full force the following year. Like many other kids at the time, I was hooked the instant I laid eyes on it and, I can definitely see why. I’ll probably leave most details for an actual blog post, but, long story short, no show had the sheer amount of promise that Pokémon had at the time.

About Misty herself, I loved that she could go toe-to-toe with the guys, loved that she was in a position of power as a Gym Leader, and loved her personality. She was confident, confrontational, but she also had a sensitive side to her that made me look up to her (the part in “Tentacool and Tentacruel” where she talks the giant Tentacruel out of destroying the city always stuck in my mind).

I still wonder just what the heck was her role going to be in the original draft of the first Pokémon movie...

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My Character of the Year for 1999 is Vitani, from The Lion King II!

Yeah, yeah, I know all the bad buzz around the Disney sequels, but hey, as an 11 year-old, all I cared about was that we had more lion cubs to have fun with (plus I was always a sucker for “just because we are different, doesn’t mean we can’t get along” stories, which is why part of me had a soft spot for Golden Films’ HunchbackOH MY GOD WHAT AM I SAYING DON’T LOOK AT ME). And I loved Vitani’s edge compared to Kiara or even Nala before them.

And yeah, I took a bit of liberty with this one, so allow me to explain: During the summer of 1999, I had this sketchbook that I filled up with pretty much nothing but the adventures of the anthropomorphized Lion King cubs (Simba, Nala, Kiara lived in one house, while Kovu, Vitani and Nuka lived in another). They would go to school, play pretend games, visit the beach, discuss current events, all sorts of things you’d see in a slice-of-life kind of deal, while their personalities clashed. This drawing of Vitani is based on those stories.

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I’ve never been a fan of this theory until I saw Stranded, and right now it does seem like the most plausible one. But before I even read this, what caught me off guard about Pink Diamond the moment I saw her was the way her bangs were shaped. The one part of this theory I don’t really subscribe to is Pearl being Pink Diamond’s Pearl. Don’t get me wrong, it does make sense, but the OCD in me says she’s most likely White Diamond’s Pearl based on her gem placement (I would say also her color scheme, but other than her gem and “skin” being white I have nothing). Then again, the stairs at (the very white) Moonbase did activate only when Pearl stepped on them... Maybe WD sent her Pearl to monitor PD’s progress and the rest is history? Argh, so many hints, so little answers... Well played, Crewniverse... Well played.

The “RQ=Batman, PD = Bruce Wayne” Theory

“Updated to include information (AND SPOILERS) up through the “Stranded” special.

I’m still in the minority that thinks RQ=PD. My pet version of it goes like this:

At some point during the colonization of Earth, Pink Diamond became enamored with organic life on Earth. In particular, she was fascinated by humans’ ability to choose their own destiny outside of a rigid caste system. She wanted to give gems the same freedom, but the other diamonds wouldn’t hear of it. So she decided to rebel against them. However, Pink Diamond realized that all of the gems serving under her were programmed to follow her orders, and would rebel against the other diamonds without question if she ordered them to. This would completely undermine her goal of granting her subjects free will outside of the caste system.

So, Pink Diamond created an alter-ego: Rose Quartz. “Just another Quartz soldier, made right here in the dirt.” Pink Diamond wouldn’t lead the rebellion, Rose Quartz would. And her subjects would be able to freely choose which side they wanted to fight for. Only one other gem would know about this plan: her pearl. 

Pearl:  It’s a secret, even to Garnet and Amethyst. Rose had a place that she kept hidden from all but me…

Steven:  Why’d she keep so many secrets?                                       

Pearl: She had to, Steven! It’s the mark of a great leader, knowing just what to keep hidden from everyone you’re trying to protect.

Garnet: Rose kept many things secret, even from us.

 Pearl: But not from me, I was the one she told everything!

For a thousand years, Pink Diamond led a double life, operating as herself out of her moon base and as Rose Quartz out of her secret armory and other rebel bases. Although in a position to try and minimize casualties, she also needed to give the rebellion the best possible chance of success while keeping up appearances with those gems who had remained loyal to Pink Diamond and homeworld. She would have been forced to make terrible, impossible decisions as she issued battle orders to soldiers on both sides, often sending gems who loyally served under her to certain doom.

Greg: I barely know you

Rose Quartz: That’s a good thing. 

Eventually, as the war became more and more desperate and the huge number of soldiers taking orders from the other three diamonds threatened to overwhelm the rebellion. 

Revealing her deception was no longer an option. Too many of Rose Quartz’s soldiers, like Bismuth, were now completely opposed to the authority of “upper crusts” like Pink Diamond. If they learned they had been taking orders from a diamond the whole time, and that their beloved leader had also been commanding the forces they fought for a thousand years, they would never follower her again. She would become an enemy of both Homeworld and the rebellion, and the latter would surely fail without her leadership.

There was only one way out. Pink Diamond would fake her own death and hope that the other diamonds would be sufficiently terrified of Rose Quartz to abandon Earth. How exactly did she do it? Shapeshifting? Holograms? Steven’s (and Rose’s?) possession ability? Maybe, since gems are artificial intelligences, she was able to upload her “program” to a blank Rose Quartz gemstone. I’ve described some of the possibilities in more detail here. However she did it, her plan worked, but she failed to anticipate the the other diamonds would emit the corruption signal before departing.

Greg:  In the end, your mother could only save a handful of her closest friends.

Only Pearl and Garnet had also escaped corruption, but the war was over. All Crystal Gems were now assumed by the other diamonds to be shattered or corrupted. The galaxy warp was smashed to ensure it couldn’t be used by Homeworld to return to Earth. 

Rose swore that, while she searched for a way to cure the gems who had served under her, the remaining crystal gems would limit their interactions with humans to protecting them from corrupted gems and otherwise undoing the damage Pink Diamond had inflicted upon Earth.

Although Rose Quartz always encouraged Pearl to think of herself as a free individual, Pearl remained hopelessly devoted to her. In the centuries to come, Rose  would always rebuff Pearl’s advances, preferring to take human lovers, because she couldn’t be sure if Pearl only loved her because she was programmed to.

Evidence:

Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond were both pink, had big hair, and their gem in their belly button.

Rose has a cave with a giant penny in it that only her most loyal servant knows about. Just like Batman. What is Batman famous for? Having a secret identity. So:

Pink Diamond = Bruce Wayne 

Rose Quartz = Batman 

Pearl = Alfred

Moon Base = Wayne Manor

Secret Armory = Batcave

It seems like Pearl was assigned (maybe even programmed) to loyally serve Rose Quartz.  Rose called her “My Pearl, ” and in the first two seasons, Pearl is constantly uncertain of her purpose in life now that Rose is gone. But why would a Pearl be programmed to follow a common Quartz Solider? 

In addition to the evidence that Pearl served Rose Quartz, there are also several hits that Pearl served Pink Diamond. (See numbered list below) This apparent paradox is resolved by the realization that Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond are the same person.

In “Adventures in Light Distortion” Pearl says, “When I still served ….Homeworld.“ Why that pause there? Why is Pearl hesitant to tell Steven who she used to serve?

Later, in “Gemcation,“ Pearl again seems hesitant to tell Steven something about her past. “There are things that are impossible for me to explain. But I want to. I– [covers her own mouth]. Steven I – [covers her own mouth again].

In “Back to the Barn,” Peridot says our Pearl “looks like a fancy one.” Fancy enough to be reserved for royalty?

Pink diamonds appear on Pearl’s flight-suit, hologram-Pearl, and on Sardonyx’s shoes. 

Steven and Rose are often associated with the imagery of royalty.

Bismuth believes Rose Quartz was made on Earth, but we know from flashbacks to Rose’s private conversations with Pearl and Greg that she’s from homeworld. Why would she lie to her fellow rebels about where she was made?

Rose Quartz’s power set seems to be completely different than any other quartz soldier we’ve seen in the show. Other than having the strength, durability, and ability to summon a weapon that all gems have, the only special power both Amethyst and Jasper have is the ability to perform simple ‘spin attack.‘ Rose Quartz has never been seen performing a spin attack, but she can float, heal gems and organic life, control plants and even instill them with sentience. In “The Trial,” Eyeball states that Rose Quartz was the only know gem ever to have healing powers, and none of the diamonds or zircons present disagree with her on that point. Why are the abilities of this alleged common quartz solider from earth so unique?

When Eyeball says she witnessed the death of Pink Diamond, she is literally talking to a gem that is tricking her with shape-shifting.

Steven’s baby onsey is left partly unsnapped in a very interesting way for most of “Three Gems and a Baby.”

In “Lion 4: Alternate Ending,” we see two large pink structures outside of Rose’s Landfill. Most fans think these are either the fingers of Pink Diamond’s hand-ship, or the legs of her…leg ship, which could form a Voltron-esque robot with the other Diamond’s ships. Either way, this is Pink Diamond’s ship. So what’s it doing where Rose Quartz kept all her old things she doesn’t need anymore?

The “Wanted” special revealed that Pink Diamond was allegedly shattered with Rose Quartz’s sword. A sword its designer, Bismuth, said was incapable of shattering gems.

Rose Quartz is nowhere to be seen in Garnet’s brief flashback to fighting Pink Diamond in “Gemcation.” (Has anyone ever seen Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond in the same room at the same time?!)

In “Jungle Moon,” Stevonnie has a strange dream where they are acting out a memory of Pink Diamond from a time before she was put in charge of colonizing Earth. Why is Stevonnie remembering something that happened to Pink Diamond in the alien moon base at all? Because they have Pink Diamond’s gem?

There’s some interesting symbolism going on in the dream sequence in “Jungle Moon” as well. In the dream Pink Diamond, shatters her own reflection. Foreshadowing that she faked her own shattering?

It’s currently open to interpretation how literal any individual element of Stevonnie’s dream is, but it seems like Pink Diamond may have been significantly smaller than Yellow. Maybe about the same size as Rose Quartz? This seems to be confirmed by the height of the spot where she punched the glass, and the size of her chair back on Earth’s moon base, compared to Yellow Diamond’s on the alien moon base.

Pink Diamond’s lips and nose are nearly identical to Rose Quartz’s.

Oh, and look! It’s Pink Diamond with the shadow of her bangs hiding her eyes. Now where have we seen that before?

A crewniverse shirt may confirm that Steven’s gem looks rather…..diamondish? It has a pavilion, unlike the bubbled Rose Quartz gems we see in “That Will be All.”

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I should be watching Christmas specials and/or movies or getting into the Christmas cheer in general but instead I just keep browsing Naruto stuff

send help

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“Ooo, what does this button do?”

My Character of the Year for 1998 is Dee Dee!

I was introduced to Cartoon Network in late 1997, when we installed a satellite dish that just happened to get the UK version. Since then, Dexter’s Laboratory has been one of my favorite shows of all time. I can’t tell you how many times I still quote it almost daily.

By the way, it was thanks to my binging CN CONSTANTLY (to the point that I knew some episodes of not only DL, but Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken and 2 Stupid Dogs, among others, by heart),that I pretty much learned English by myself.

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So, this is it. The FCC is almost certainly going to vote to dismantle Title II Net Neutrality today.  Now’s the time to call your representatives to let them know what this means for you.  If we’re loud enough, we can make it a legislative issue they’ll have to run on in the future. But they have to know how important it is. Many representatives in Congress are of an older generation who aren’t likely to grok how much of the life of younger generations revolves around the internet.  It’s where we get our news, do our socializing, do our banking, pay our taxes, do our professional networking, find jobs, and independently earn our livings.  Allowing a handful of monopolistic cable companies (with histories of trying to avert neutrality, introduce access tiers, stifle competing services, and lobby to quash efforts to establish small community broadband networks) to be the gatekeepers of everything the internet is for us is unconscionable. Please call your representatives. You can use the link above or reach the US Congress switchboard here:

(202) 224-3121

In my experience, everyone who answers the phones at these offices is super nice and will let you speak your mind. You may also simply be prompted to leave a voicemail message. Either way, all you need give is your name, your zip code and a sentence or two about Net Neutrality. If you like, you might even cite this recent poll finding Net Neutrality is very popular across party lines even when respondents were presented with comprehensive pros and cons. —————————— Once Net Neutrality is dismantled, changes are likely to come just gradually enough to avoid sparking public outcry.  You’ll simply turn around one day and realize the open internet you once knew is gone, so now is the time.  Please don’t wait to speak up!

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Super quick doodle comic based on a true story.

Two years ago, I watched Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. I was expecting a wacky Christmas romp (think Hillbilly Hare meets Rankin-Bass), but what I actually got was... THE FEELS. To this day I never recovered... Okay, that’s a lie, I did recover. But to be honest, as soon as Jim Henson’s name came up, I knew I wasn’t going to leave with my eyes dry.

I still haven’t watched Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree.

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My Character of the Year for 1997 is Esmeralda!

The Hunchback of Notre Dame went from being one of my least favorite Disney Animated Canon movies (because of course a sheltered 9 year-old would have the maturity required to understand it. Plus Hellfire was TERRIFYING to my young brain) to one of my favorites when I rediscovered it at around 18. Still, one thing that never changed was how much I liked Esmeralda. She was just about the coolest female animated character I’d ever seen. I mean, sure, Gadget was smart, Cleopatra had a commanding presence, and Sailor Moon had magic... But Esmeralda actually kicked butt. As in, with her legs. I liked Esmeralda so much at this age that I had an imaginary friend that was supposed to be an aged down version of her. I’m pretty sure I still have my drawings of that somewhere.

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For 1996, my Character of the Year is Usagi “Bunny” Tsukino, a.k.a. Sailor Moon!

Portugal got to air Sailor Moon in 1994, about a year before the U.S. did, but for whatever reason, I only watched what I believe to have been the first or second re-run, from late 1995 through 1996. So in a way, I was kind of following the U.S. airings.

I remember not liking anime very much as a little kid. I described it as “those cartoons with the big eyes that cry a lot”. Yes, really. To be fair, a lot of anime that got imported into Portugal during the 80s and early 90s was stuff in the vein of Candy Candy, Lady Georgie and Majokko Megu-chan (among many, many, MANY others), soooooo based on what I could observe, I can’t say my judgment was too faulty. Sailor Moon was the one major exception back then (before I learned that things like Heidi and Dogtagnian and the Three Muskehounds were also anime, shockety-shock), and would remain so for a few more years to come.

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This is one of my favorites so far: Barbie is my Character of the Year for 1995!

I never stopped being a Barbie fan, and the peak of my interest was around my 6-8 years of age. I looked up to her pretty much like a cool older sister, something that I, being the eldest, never had. My favorite Barbies were always either the sporty ones (e.g. Glitter Hair - pictured above, Rollerblade) or the impossibly-massive-ballgown ones (e.g. Sparkle Eyes). Nowadays I particularly love the hilariously 80s/90s ones (lookin’ at you, Rappin’ Rockin’). My interest in Barbie declined when the Bob Mackie mold started being the standard (nothing against it, but Superstar mold is my jam, mm’kay), and pretty much went into hibernation when the Princess thing took off, around 2001 with Barbie and the Nutcracker. Then in 2010 I found out about the used market...

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My Character by Year for 1994: Jasmine from Aladdin!

The characters I have for 94 and 95 are pretty interchangeable, but I do remember getting a Jasmine doll for Christmas this year, which makes me think maybe most of the drawings I made of her must’ve been from that time.

Though truth be told, the series didn’t start until next year (in Portugal, at least), so... Still kind of confuzzled.

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Who’s the Character by year gonna be for 1994? (That’s my birth year.)

Be patient, I’m going to keep posting them in time. ;)

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Johan and Peewit, my favorite Franco-Belgian comic duo next to Asterix and Obelix. Both of them just happen to have a tiny blonde guy. COINCIDENCE? ...yes.

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Just the art I made for PSWeasel’s Halloween Erika Plays this year, Erika Kurumi (from Heartcatch! Precure) dressed up as Jill Valentine from Resident Evil. There are a few issues with transparency but the most important part was the torso and up, so I got lazeh.