About Myself
- Name: Tara
- Age: 21
- Current Location: New Zealand
- Hobbies: Drawing, Animation and writing. And playing favourite games (mostly platformers). I sometimes get commissioned to do art too (by companies, though not recently lol)
- Likes: Working with Outcast Bandicoot and The Fallen Star, making animated movies, drawing, Steve, playing almost any platformer games, and other minor things like making games and writing. I like Trance and breakbeat music too (Especially Hybrid). And I adore the Crash games from the first one until Twinsanity, NO others after that. All the Ratchet & Clank games. And ok, I admit I like shopping for clothes too!
- Dislikes: Too much workload at once, thieves, hypocrites, 90% of hiphop & rap music, smoking, drinking alcohol.
Me in Real-life...
I thought it was about time I write a bit about what I really am in reality. Well, I am actually quite the same... in the way I type (speak). Though I suppose I am a lot shyer in real life and much less aggressive, but as I've aged I've become much less shy and able to talk with most people (thanks to my jobs) but I have trouble handling my anger (as in, I'm not good at letting it out when I have to, heh). I'm not very social, as I don't fit in very well with most people around here in reality (since I'm not a drinker nor smoker) and I dislike going to parties. I usually prefer just to stay at home and draw, or go online to chat with friends or work on stuff. But I do enjoy going into town with friends when I can, like the movies and shopping. And I like going on family holidays away from the city.
I've always loved to draw though, and did ever since I was 4 years old. I mostly drew animals, and I even did Sonic art during some of my very young years when I had a Sega back in the day. But then I became a big fan of big cats, especially Cheetahs. But during my young years, I was very adventurous and did a lot of 'dangerous' things. Like climbing huge trees up to 10 metres or more, just to see birds nests, catch cicadas and more. I had quite a few friends too, but most were never keen on going as far as me into these things! We even used to run on the roofs of school (in the weekends) roam the large parks and streets without any parents (we were like, 6 to 10 years old! It's unthinkable these days for kids...) and while on the farms, I used to always roam the high hills and explore, while few used to follow me as they used to get too tired while I never did heh.
But after I had an accident on the road, I started to slow
down a bit... though I did remain stubborn until around 12 years old, I stopped
it altogether and became a lot more careful and more glued to the pen and
paper... and then when I was around 13, I got my own computer, which is where I into the internet and
started digital
work.
But my schoolife was always hard for me, due to me being different from
everyone else. I had more friends while I was young, but as I got older I lost
them (mostly from moving away) and it became harder for me, a lot harder. I got
into trouble at school very often, since I used to fight a lot with bullies who
insulted me for drawing a lot. But once I was around 14, I stopped fighting as I
realized it wasn't worth the trouble, so I stuck with just ignoring insults and
such and it seemed to work. But it still wasn't easy being singled out often
(for not being promiscuous, or into drugs like most of the others, or a
'goodie-two-shoes') but I did have a couple of friends to stick with now and then, up until
my last year at school anyway. Though around my 2nd year at High School, the
teachers had interest in my OB work and they wanted me to be interviewed for a
newspaper article O_O and yeah, it happened....
Though I was never a very good learner at school, as I found it very hard to stay focused on anything, besides drawing and a few subjects I like (I was an extremely terrible speller before I came online... and writer, for my age! Online life helped me improve, a lot). But I did manage to complete the last year, and I had a scholarship. And I also started working at a job after finishing school. I was too nervous to get a job earlier, since my social skills were very low (since I was so used to being insulted at school). But I forced myself in, and it was a good result. I started to get much less shy, and more talkative with everyone, and I finally had more money! So this is when I started to save and buy a lot of things... and I started Polytech the next year after (it's like a College)
Unfortunately, I did not last long at Polytech though, mainly due to not getting enough money (I wasn't able to get an allowance) and I was getting very tired from working the weekends and going to Polytech everyday of the week, leaving me with no free days at all. So I canceled the course after a while, and just stuck with staying at my job for the meantime. I also had the same trouble as at school, I wasn't able to focus on the work provided, and I also made no friends at all (besides one anime artist, who only cared about anime), though I did get along with the other artists there, but didn't really connect with any... so I was still generally an 'outcast' hah.
So currently, I still work but twice as much these days.... but earn more. And I have been able to save up and pay for a lot, makes me wish I started working years earlier... but I was just so hurt from people treating me that I had absolutely no courage at all to face up to it, but these days I am a lot stronger than before, but still not completely 'tough' yet. I'm not an abusive type at all too. In reality, I am actually far more gentle than most of you think. I'm very merciful. I even sometimes feel sorry for people who don't deserve it. However, I just feel 'stronger' online since it's just much easier to reveal your inner self this way, with just text and such. I'm sure it is the same for most of you too.
So as you can see, I'm really not all that 'famous' in real life, though many do know of me as 'The Artist' or "the Crash person" or the ones who don't know I draw see me as "That Girl" or others who don't know me at all just see me as an everyday person, since I have no visual signs of being 'too different' to the rest. But even though I'm 21, most do often mistaken me as being 17, since I don't wear makeup and I just happen to look very young! However, I have been in the Newspaper twice before, for my artwork related things.
So there you go, a bit about me in real life.
My early days on the Interwebs...
Back in mid 2002, this was around the time I first started to get into anthro art. I was never used to drawing them, only quads... so I started off rather poorly, but improved over time. It seems I was a better colourer than drawer. I was getting back into Crash bandicoot during the time too... I was actually a fan since 1997 but I lost my PS1 back then but got a new one in 2002. But it wasnt until late 2002, I finally tried out WoC and well... that's how it started.
I was just so inspired after playing it a few times, even though I only got up to the Wa-wa boss at the time but just seeing Crunch was enough to make me start "The New Mob" and it wasn't long until I got a computer, with dial-up internet (broadband was expensive at the time!) and I started doing digital art. But later, I was so amazed to see other Crash artists like myself, but I felt a bit mediocre with my art so I didn't show any online until around March 2003.
It was still crappy, but some people did give compliments to my amazement, and I also met my first online friend 'Silversister' (who is still a friend to this very day) I met a few others The Crash fandom was small but growing at this time, and my art was improving rapidly too, thanks to the inspiration a game character had given me.
*
Then in 2004, I finally changed the title to 'Outcast Bandicoot' and that's when
I finished the first story. My writing was very bad though, so that story has
been through countless rewrites and such, even today I'm not a pro with writing,
but not as bad as before. I also started OB2 right away, though it wasn't as
good but I knew OB3 would be a lot better once I got to start it (Since I had
it's plot planned since 2003, the basic plot anyway).
Then came 2005 and my art was still improving. And this is the year I wanted to start the OB movie, and I did in late 2005. Animation wasn't that good though, until in 2006 I improved a lot with Flash and that's when the movie finally came into place. I started the Outcast Bandicoot movie in late 2005 too!I also finished OB3 around early 2007.
*
I had a chance to do a LOT of artwork and movie during 2007 but then came 2008,
when I started at Polytech, which indeed was a waste of time since it drained
all my time, and I also had to work the weekends so yeah, it was awful. And my
money wouldn't last so I ditched the course, and worked instead, which was a
better option as I got more money and also got my brand new PC! Which is great
with a lot of ram, space and also it's Windows XP as I don't really like Vista
yet and some of my programs don't work properly with it. I did manage to get a
lot of the movie done during this time though, but after August, work increased
as I needed to save lots for the dental surgery I had... and that's why I
haven't done much at all after then.
But around 2008, the Crash fandom started to get really big and out of hand in some areas, and I was becoming increasingly put off the fandom, so I left the popular DeviantART site, as I was losing interest in it, even though I had thousands of views, favourites, comments, etc etc but I'm not the kind of person that cares about popularity and fame. So I dumped it, all of it. And came here to stay at my own website. I am still at Youtube however, but I don't do much there.
*
And 2009, has been the quietest for me so far. Only a handful of pictures done, which is
shocking. I had to work a lot at my job to save up the few thousands of dollars I needed
for my surgery and holiday. I desperately want to work on the
movie too, but I didn't have time at the moment. I did a few commissions during
this year though.
BUT one of the most important events in my life happened during this year! It was when Steve came over to New Zealand to meet me in person ^^ you can read about it bellow, as I've written a whole article for it!
*
And now 2010... a year of change, big change!
As you guys have noticed, this is when I started The
Fallen Star; my story based on the life of Ace Hardlight. My new big series
(actually, it's not a series... just one big epic story, lol) and it's been so
fun to do, better than OB. It has helped me improve my style a lot, as well as
anatomy and colouring! And now I can draw armours and weapons, thanks to Ace! I
am now a huge fan of the Ratchet & Clank series... I have been a fan of R&C
since 2004, actually. And it hasn't let me down so far, unlike the Crash
Bandicoot series... but it is funny I didnt do any fanart for it until late
2009!
But this is also when I decided to cancel the Outcast Bandicoot Movie. It was
becoming a chore, a boring chore... as I had been working on for it 4 YEARS. But
I managed to finish about 55 minutes of animation for it, not bad ehh? For a
movie made by myself! But it was a good ride and I'll always treasure it.
But this is also the year I went over to Germany, to meet Steve in person ^^ I'll write more on that bellow in its own article...
***
And now time for...
The Time of my Life.... part one 2009
And now the time has come, for me to finally write a bit about my wonderful time
with my love, Steven :-)! Well now how can I start this off? It's been a bit
hard for me to start with this because so much happened during our month
together and I'm just kinda unsure where to start! But now, I'm finally ready to
write about our time together, not all of course! Just enough for you nosey
people to know about....
As you all know, I had been waiting months to see Steve... and he's been waiting months for his big trip over to New Zealand as well. And in case you guys don't know already, he IS from Germany. And that is almost exactly halfway around the world, like 20,000km away... and trust me, that is about as far as anyone can be from me. So during our time of waiting, anticipation and excitement was building up, along with some nervousness! But until the final day he was on his way here, the nervousness really started to set into me... and Steve. And just a few hours before he got here, I was feeling extremely uncomfortable and very nervous, so nervous I couldn't do anything but sit there and wait... until I got a phonecall from him on my mobile, telling me he was already in NZ! And this was the time I had to go down to the airport with my Mum and her partner...
I was still so nervous, and I just waited there at the airport for him to arrive and well, after a few minutes the plane finally landed and I stood at the gateway, looking out for him and there he was... suddenly I didn't feel as nervous anymore and we both just hugged instantly! I think I said "Welcome to New Zealand, Steve" But I remember being so hyped that I can't remember it much XD (and a lot of people thought we'd never hug that early, but yeah it happened heh) and then he was on the way back home with me. And as soon as he was at home, we were already talking a lot about things, like we were never strangers from the start (Which is true anyway, of course) but it was amazing that in reallife straight away, we were already communicating so much. Like best friends would... we also gave me a nice gift, which was for my Birthday but he didn't send it in the mail at the time because it was valuable, but I hugged him after receiving that XD
And as the days went by, things were getting better and we still talked a lot and were hanging out together in town and at the beach. The weather was sometimes bothersome though. But it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves! We spent a lot of time playing around on Clone Madness and working on some stuff together on his laptop (So we could lay down together with it, heh) and soon it was his Birthday! Only a few days after arriving here, heh.
This is one of the gifts I gave him, a Chris bandicoot sculpture! Standing there on his laptop. He hugged me for that too of course, and this was around the time we started to get more closer, like we were online. We were a lot less shy by this time and more than just 'friends' now. And everyone at home seemed to realize it too, which made me and him feel a lot better too. We'd cuddle up to each other without any awkwardness or uncomfortable feelings, heh. Oh and yes, we did kiss.... err I was the first one to do so xD and yeah, that was also our first times too of course. Since I never let any other guys that close to me in my life (none ever interested me, especially around here) and it was great, as more time went by we were a lot more close.
But finally during the 3rd week, we decided to hurry up and travel around New Zealand a bit! We took many photos too, over 1000.... XD (no joke!)
And I guess that's about all for the photos of during out trip together. But we had such a great time, that it's so hard to explain how it was! But I hope you guys like the photos I chose to share. There's actually over, 1500 photos XD!!! No way I'll show THAT many online.
But since we were enjoying ourselves so much, we didn't notice how fast time was going by... while we were together, it felt so normal that it felt like he has been here like... all my life. And Steve also said he felt like he was at home, in a way. Which surprised me too! But it was nice to know that. We were definitely one by now, and we really didn't like the thought of having to separate in only a weeks time from then. There was only a few annoying things, and it was to do with one of my brothers. But other than that, it was completely perfect. My family accepted him as one of us, and that also made it a whole lot better as well. We spent our last week mostly playing around on my new PS2 (about time I got a new one, the other one was fat and dusty, and broken too XD) we mostly played Crash Nitro Kart, since it's fun playing it in 2 player mode together, sometimes 3 player mode with my youngest bro. And we also worked a bit on the OB stories together! And some minor OB artwork as well.
But of course, then came the last day. We were starting to feel a bit unhappy, but also glad that our time together worked out so well and we had the best time of our lives. And also proved EVERYONE wrong, who doubted us. Both in real life and online (take that!) but the last day really wasn't the best of the holiday. He didn't want to go home, and I didn't want to be on my 'own' again (in real-life anyhow) but we both knew from the start that it'll never be easy, especially if it works out and it did, without a doubt. And that was the only thing I was afraid of, not being able to handle it when he leaves. It was one of the most painful experiences so far, but it was good as well, knowing that it was a good experience to be together.
But we both reassured each other that it's Not the End, and that's true. It's just a new beginning. True, that Long distance relationships cannot last forever, but they CAN start off this way. And I'm sure we'll both find a way to be together, without the long distance. I'll definitely be visiting him and his family in Germany next year, without a doubt. if I can save those thousands for the dental work I had done, then I know I can do this as well. even my family supports me with this now, and that makes it a whole lot better. Since not many believed it at first, until they saw us together in real life. But I do feel so empty without him around here. Before I was with him, I was already so used to being alone but now, it's not such a good feeling. But I know we can find a way through all this.
And also, if you are wondering what I actually think of all the 'backlash' towards us being together then well, what can I say? All I can say is that I truly don't care less about it, but I also think the ones who were so uptight and mad about it are some of the most lowly human beings I have ever had the misfortune to know of. My advice to idiots is to just move on with your own 'lives' (if you even have one, lol) and just get over it. Look at me, do I spend all my time with hatin' and drawing crappy hate art? Ha nope, never. I only draw what I love and want, and what I get paid to draw.
I suppose this is all I have to say for now too... but all I am doing from now on is building up my savings again, for visiting Steve. But however, I am working a bit less at the moment, so I have been working more with some projects again.
Peace out
And now time for...
The Time of my Life.... part two 2010
And so now comes my turn to travel ^^
I spent the past 6 months since Steve left, saving up for my trip to Germany.
And I did it. I booked and paid for the trip early 2010 and I was set to leave
in June! And then the day came and I was nervous, nervous and excited as hell! I
have never traveled alone before, especially to another country... ON THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE WORLD. No one in my family has ever traveled as far as me, so it was
a big event for the family.
The day I left... is the start of the long
LONG trip to get to Germany. I flew from Auckland to Melbourne in Australia,
that took 3 1/2 hours. I had an 1 wait in Melbourne, late at night and then the
long flight started... 13 and 1/2 hours to Dubai, in Saudi Arabia.
This flight was tough, but we had some delicious food on board with Emirates!
(the airline I flew with, BTW) but there were some crying kids and babies on
there and we did have some freaky turbulence about halfway to Dubai XD! But I
remember a clear moonlit night, flying over India (I could see some of that
country too). I got some sleep too since I was exhausted.
When we finally got to Dubai, it was about 5am in the morning there but the sun
was already out. We also had to get out of the plane onto the field and OMG IT
WAS HOT. already about 35C outside... really is in the middle of a desert XD but
Dubai was a very interesting place to see from the Airport, and the airport was
huge ass and I thought I was lost at first! But I found my way around easy and
waited about 3 and 1/2 hours for the next flight... was feeling VERY tired too.
Then finally, the flight from Dubai to Germany, Dussledorf... which was 7 hours.
We flew over many countries to get there and I was so damn excited when I saw
that we were flying over Germany and the huge city of Dussledorf ^^ and when I
finally got out of the plane, and got my baggage...
I saw Steve and his parents waiting for me already. It was great and I hugged
him instantly, which what strength I had anyway XD it was such a great moment!
His parents are so kind and thoughtful, though they cant speak English well but
I didn't mind XD Steve had to be a translator a lot though (poor bugger!) but
man, it was so great to be with him again, I almost cried lol!
But yeah we went on a drive back to his home town and we couldn't stop talking
about everything, and we also had a yum cake and BBQ for lunch at his place! And
man, the weather was hot too, unexpected for me! And that was the last day I
wore a sweater too in Germany XD
We spent the first week mostly just getting to know his family and going around
his town and other nearby cities and towns. Also meet his Grandparents, whom
were both very kind and nice people ^^ had some yummy baking as well, everything
was great! Also, Steve has his own car and a full drivers license... so we were
able to go for drives on our own and do whatever we wanted to do XD it was so
great, just us two driving around Germany heh.
We also did some things at home, I brought my PS2 and games to Germany so that
we could play some games when we were bored and so... I let him play the Ratchet
and Clank series, and now he understands why I'm such a huge fan of it! We
played through Ratchet Gladiator in Co-op too. Fun!!! And now he knows Ace a bit
better too XD
But in the middle of the 2nd week, we already went to Spain! Mallorca to be
precise. We were there for 6 days and it was lovely. So much nice weather over
here and lots to see and do! We took plenty of photos too and videos, you can
see
some of the photos over here.
There was also nice shopping places and great sights... we also went to the
Aquarium there, so awesome! And the food was great at the Hotel too. It was
always 30C or hotter too over there, but I loved it. We wished we could stay
there longer but ya, time ran out!
But it wasn't all bad, hell no XD we did
so much more but it's so much that I cant even describe its awesomeness here...
those photos speak for themselves. But as for me and Steve, our bond was even
stronger than last time it was when he came to NZ. I had absolutely no stress
while I was with him. I didn't even get homesick at all ever since arriving
there. I loved it over there with him and his family. The only obstacle was me
not being able to speak German XD I sorta picked up on some words though after a
while, but I definitely need much more time there to learn sentences and really
understand it.
It was great being with Steve though, kisses everyday and hugs. Always something
to do as well, rather than be bored and sit at the computer lol. We also went to
a Safari Park where you can drive in with your car to see the animals, that was
soooooo awesome. And a few days after that, we went to a big Theme park, which
was awesome and you can see photos of that in my gallery too. We also talked
with my family often on the webcam, especially my Dad in Australia... which was
also funny XD me, Steve and my Dad had some great convocations and we definitely
want to visit my Dad together in the future!
Then of course, it was my time to leave. I felt unhappy about this since I really enjoyed it there and I felt almost as if I were at home already. On the final day, I kept crying many times, forgot how much XD but a lot of it was just tears of joy because of how awesome it was. It definitely was the best holiday we've ever had... it was perfect. I definitely want to go back again, it was painful having to go back home... though it was nice to catch up with my family at home. But I felt lonely for weeks after that, and that is another reason it took me a while to even write this experience here.
So that was my great experience. I'm definitely going back again, that's for sure! Maybe early next year, I'm not sure yet... but I'd love to. So now I'm back in New Zealand again, back at work... saving my money up again for another big trip.
TaraC (love ya always, Steve ^^)