Hello, good morning! It's December! The final month of the year, as we dread the cold, have our final monthly mental breakdowns, and enjoy our time with family. I decided to make another blog post since my last one was in October. This will (probably) be shorter than the previous blog, and this is because I'm not talking about some of the mental struggles I've gone through. I like to keep things a little fun on this side of the internet, so I will not be talking about it. I ended up deleting my Twitter, as I said I would. However, because I lost all my art files a few months ago, a lot of doodles that were on that account are now lost to time.

Anyway...

Drawing Tablet!

If you missed it, I was the 2nd lucky person to receive an XP-Pen tablet from the giveaway! Again, thank you to Tom Fulp and the rest of the Newgrounds community for making this possible! The tablet is quite huge to the point that it covers my lap (as I do not have a desk). It came with a drawing glove, a set of nibs, some ports, a cable, and a nice little pen stand! I want to keep the box in pristine condition since it was a gift, just like my original tablet!

Blurry image, but I hope this shows how big it is, LOL. I received my Wacom Intuos Art tablet from a STEM program I attended years ago and used it ever since then. I actually had to replace the cable multiple times during its lifespan, but it was always a reliable tablet. I'm going to hand the Wacom down to my sibling so they can create art too!

Movies!

As I said in my previous blog, I've been using my time to watch and consume a lot of media while experiencing this downtime. I stopped watching One Piece a few days after that blog because I needed a break at the time, and I just...never went back. I know the manga is recommended, but I haven't finished Sakamoto Days (a REALLY good manga) so I don't want to start something else. Adding on to this, I stopped reading Warriors months ago, so I'm still on the AVoS arc.

So what have I been watching lately?

Fullmetal Alchemist (+ Brotherhood)

I LOVE this anime. I ended up binging the original show, and now I'm currently watching Brotherhood. I heard a lot of people prefer the original show to Brotherhood, which is understandable. Brotherhood is more...comedic, but I don't think that makes it a bad thing. The only problem I have with FMA:B so far is that FMA did an excellent job of making you care for the characters; we got to see Ed and Al create bonds, just as we got to see their hearts break multiple times. I have not seen the '03 movies yet either, but I'm saving them for when I finish Brotherhood.

The Breakfast Club

TBC feels like one of those movies that you HAVE to see before you die, whether you're a casual movie enjoyer or a fanatic. When I was younger, I did not care for live-action movies because I always found animation better to look at; taking a film class this semester has changed that perspective. This movie is very sweet (loosely using that term) and heart-wrenching. It's really interesting to see how parenting can affect teens mentally, whether it's intentional or not. I love John, he's my favorite of the bunch and he always had my attention when I watched this film. His earrings, multi-layered clothing, biker gloves, and clunky (and sometimes mismatched) shoes caught my eye.

TLDR: I love John Bender.

Grease

I can't talk about this movie without talking about why I decided to watch it. I am not a fan of musicals, but this is another one of those films that people say you have to watch at least once. To be honest, I only watched this because of John Travolta, but I did stay to see how it would turn out. I found it to be really cute that Sandy ended up as this punk-like gal, while Danny becomes this softer, yet mature version at the finale. I wouldn't watch this again though...

Back To The Future

Another classic film. This was a nice one to sit back and turn my brain off to. That's all I can really say about it.

American Psycho

This was an interesting film for me to watch; I already knew the story and plot points, but never actually sat down to watch it. I'm not sure what to say about this one; this film leaves you wondering whether the events happened or not. Of course that does not mean it's bad if anything, I think it's a nice experience. I did laugh a bit at certain scenes because of the memes, but otherwise, it was smooth sailing. I didn't like the sex scenes though, it always feels a little awkward to me, lol. (This is not limited to AP)

Oddly, my favorite character is Paul Allen. He never shows up again after his death (though he is a recurring plot point), but he just...left an impression on me.

The Nice Guys

After watching Barbie, I've been a little infatuated with Ryan Gosling, so I watched to check out his filmography. I watched Blade Runner with a friend, but it was such a long film that I lost interest halfway through. I actually cannot recall much if you were to ask me.

That was a few months ago.

This time, I decided to check some other films and watch them; case in point: The Nice Guys.

I really liked this film while watching it! I never really watched comedy or buddy cop films (except for Rush Hour), so this was a fun break between rewatching Pulp Fiction and watching American Psycho for the first time. Also, the character Ryan plays is named "March". I just found it funny because my birthday is in March, LOL.

Lars and The Real Girl

The last film I watched recently, as of writing this blog. It's another Ryan Gosling film!

This time Ryan plays "Lars", a man who has traits of being shy and awkward around people. He has a difficult time connecting and because of this, it leaves him feeling isolated, to put it lightly. There's a better explanation than the one I just gave, but that's because I feel like you should watch this for yourself. Yes, the premise of the sex doll is a bit funny but as the plot progresses, it ends up feeling...depressing? Sad?

I teared up multiple times and actually cried at the ending. Good film.

I think that wraps it up for this blog! As I'm writing this, I'm getting film recommendations from friends since I would like to watch more over the break. I have my finals to work on, so I SHOULD be studying but...here I am.