This page has so much hair on it. I think...most of the time it took to draw these last two pages was devoted to hair. Which is fine, because that's like, my thing I guess. I enjoy it. Maaaybe too much? Am I compensating for my own flat and boring hair? IDK. This page serves multiple purposes! As much as I'd love to send both of these guys off to help our basement dwellers, like some bad ass lady werewolf cavalry, that would sort of fuck up the whole "hero faces their fears" story arc or whatever. So, Marin has to stay behind. Reluctantly! Which is kind of a shame, because I really want to debut werewolf!Marin, because despite her general elegance, she's a total bruiser in werewolf form. Elias is speedy, Marin is tall and strong, and Malaya is a balance of strength and speed. But hey, no spoilers, but the second...arc? of this story will focus more on werewolf fighting time. Now, we gotta set up all these people so you actually care about them, otherwise no one would care about what happens during werewolf fighting time. We're a long way off from all that, though. The second purpose of this page is to set up what went down between Sara and Marin (and to actually mention Elias's mom's name in context, whereas before, I just told you guys in my blog...Elias isn't going to call his mom "Sara" after all). I'm focusing on Marin's back story next chapter, as a sort of palate cleanser after this long, long ass chapter. Marin hasn't been much of a character yet, because a lot of who she is depends on knowing her back story and why she's a werewolf, but there's not a good way to tell that until her and Malaya met each other in more than passing. Writing is very strange, because you kind of have to reveal everything to the audience in the same way that you reveal everything to your main character. With Mal being the focus of this story, it would be weird for anyone to tell her all about Marin's life without her really meeting Marin for more than a few minutes. So, it gets pushed back until it feels more appropriate :). But without that need for Mal to know anything about Marin, I could throw her origin story in wherever, I guess? This story is operating in third person limited rather than third person omniscient, so I gotta stick to that or it gets weird. Anyway, I finally had quality human interaction with another person last night, after spending all weekend trying to catch up on work inside like a hermit. I went to see Kubo of the Two Strings last night with my friend, and also because tickets are cheaper on Tuesdays :D. I liked it! Though I can also understand why it's not making bank at the box office. Kubo ends up being pretty dark, and I think if you're not familiar with Japanese storytelling and traditions, it feels like a foreign film in a lot of ways. Which, actually, is impressive that they made something that felt generally authentic. Because it's stop motion, the whole film feels very well planned, which it would have to be. The pacing was solid, and it never felt like the narrative lingered or got awkward or boring. It was definitely a movie that felt like we were on a Quest, though it came around by the end to kind of subvert that trope, which I liked. Overall, good movie, VERY pretty to watch, but also got pretty dark at times. I'm not sure what demographic this movie is aimed at, because it felt a bit too adult for little kids. Maybe like, 4th grade and up? I would've fucking loved it as a little kid, but I was secretly goth when I was like, eight. Creepy stuff was my poison. I watched Tales from the Crypt like it was normal to be watching soft-core torture porn when you're ten. Fun! One of the previews during Kubo was a bewildering movie featuring a handsome teenage boy who is undoubtedly at least 25, and his pick-up truck that's suddenly inhabited by an alien monster for some reason. I told my friend while watching this trailer that this movie is surely called "Monster Truck", and it was a really triumphant moment when I was right. (Well, it's called "Monster Trucks" with an S because it turns out there are many trucks inhabited by monsters???) I have no idea who this movie is meant to appeal to. The "teen" stars seem too old to appeal to little kids, but the plot of the movie seems too stupid for anyone over 11. The handsome lead actor seems like he'd appeal to girls, but wouldn't be relatable to young boys (who, I assume, mostly relate to other young boys). IDK it's a mess. Watch for it! I'd love to know who greenlit this picture and also how high they were at the meeting where they gave it millions of dollars for its production budget. Okay, I'm off to eat breakfast and paint a kitchen!