paper&pen

I’m basically using this blog like Twitter right now.

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of videos about outer space, planets, dimensions, and the origins of humanity and Earth, so it was easier for me to imagine and understand the various ideas and problems explored in this novel. I’m amazed that a work like this existed even before I was born.

I was worried that science fiction might be too difficult for me to understand, but even someone like me, without much scientific knowledge, was able to follow it. Still, I think that’s something I can say now only because I encountered Outer Wilds and became a little interested in space-related topics. I feel that there’s a certain timing to reading books — a point in life when you’re able to properly understand and appreciate them.

I used to think I wasn’t particularly interested in science fiction, but after encountering Outer Wilds, I realized that I had actually watched many movies that would probably be classified as “SF” long before that. The reason I never noticed was because I didn’t think of them as science fiction; in my mind, they were mysteries, suspense stories, or human dramas. Even Inherit the Stars feels closer to a mystery to me, but at the same time, more than any other work I’ve experienced, it also gives me the feeling of “So this is what science fiction is.” It was an interesting discovery to realize that maybe I actually do like SF after all.

I’m not totally sure about the rules, but I guess I’m supposed to name seven characters from games I like (one character per game)? A lot of these are from older games, so there might not be many people who recognize them.

I don’t actually become obsessively attached to specific characters very often, so it’s pretty rare for me to create fan works in the first place.

As a side note, I just found out that Naruhodo-kun was localized as Phoenix Wright in English, and that genuinely made me laugh.I had no idea they changed his name that much. 😆 so he’s literally a phoenix? 😂

A little while ago, I went to see the movie. After watching it once, I couldn’t get Grace’s face out of my mind, so I ended up going again… And now I feel like rereading the original novel, and I’m sure that once I finish the book, I’ll want to watch the movie again—thus completing the loop. Sigh…　

By the way, quite a few people seem to feel that Outer Wilds and Project Hail Mary share a certain something. It might be the theme of “encounters,” or “sound,” or many other things—but I also thought it was a funny coincidence that Rocky is a lifeform made of something like rock (or was it metal?). The Hearthians are all named after minerals, after all.

…Right, as I mentioned before, I’ve replaced the post where I was serializing the manga with some sketches.They’re really just doodles, so I don’t think they’re particularly interesting, but feel free to take a look if you’re curious!

That’s because I began it with a firm resolve: that this would be my final creative work. A lot of sad things happened, and my health wasn’t great—I was truly feeling down for a while. Even so, I made that decision, and now that I’ve finished it, that resolve hasn’t changed.

But there’s one thing I want to allow myself. That this doesn’t have to mean I’ll stop creating forever.

After I’ve had enough rest, and once the sadness has fully healed—if I’m ever moved so deeply by something again—then, within what my health allows, I’d like to love it in the only way I know how: by creating.

I hesitated quite a bit. Even after finishing it, I still can’t quite shake the feeling that there might have been a better way to present it… but this is probably the best I can do right now. I don’t think the final page will take that long.

Wip. 34／35　

There are only about two updates left (probably). It should definitely be finished within April. Once the series is over, I’m thinking of keeping it only in my portfolio where it can be viewed in high quality. That’s partly to protect the images, but I also want to keep the original posts from the serialization. So I plan to replace all the current watermarked images with sketches instead.

Wip. 32／35

wip. 31／35

It might be the consequence of not drawing for a while, but I’m having a hard time getting it right and have been redrawing it many times more than this 😓

Skills really do decline fast.Maybe a little compromise is necessary in order to keep moving forward.

＊＊＊