Every month, I post a little something to my DA and FA known as "What's Up With Wolfie?" where basically I just let you know about little things that have been going on in my life. I typically post them in the middle of or at the end of the month, but I figured I'd go ahead and post it now since I pretty much know what's in store for my August already XP.

So August? How the heck are ya? I've been feeling alright for the most part, and as I recently picked my sister up from her pre-college institute at my university, I'm feeling it more than ever that I am no longer a high school student and will be going off to college soon. So far, I have a pretty big pile of stuff I am going to need to take with me for school (minus art supplies, clothes, and comfort items) and pretty soon I've got a feeling I'm going to have to pair down part of that gargantuan pile as I have no idea how I'm going to fit all of it in comfortably into my mom's car with room for my sister in the back seat. But I'll figure it out. I've also recently heard from my roommate again, so there are some things that she's bringing that I don't have to so that's a pretty good thing to hear in all honesty. Plus, I have a feeling that for the first few weeks of being up at my school, I might be taking a break from DA/FA/IG/Weasyl, etc. to get myself adjusted to life as a college student and living in a dorm. I have full days-worth of classes from eight-thirty in the morning until five in the evening pretty much every day this semester with the exception of Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so I've got a feeling that I'm going to be EXHAUSTED for the first few weeks I'm up there, not to mention the fact that I'm going to have a lot of art I need to do for my classes. So, if I don't see you again for a while, trust me, I'm okay- I'm just a little mentally and/or physically tired after having to adjust to a completely different schedule and a completely different lifestyle.

I've been wearing my fursuit a LOT lately (at least once for fifteen minutes or longer every other day) and I've been taking a lot of pictures of my adventures about my house while with it on. I'm just super happy I managed to make such an incredible piece of living art and I've wanted to use it as much as possible, even without having to go to a furry con or fur meet. HOPEFULLY, I'll be able to bring her with me, but as I've been saying I probably won't have enough space for her, so even if I don't I just want to keep on treasuring the few weeks I have left wearing her before I go away to school and have to part with her until November (and then I get to take more fursuit photos with Thanksgiving and Christmas themes yaaaay! XD (Even though personally, I would have much rather done Halloween ones ;w; ).

Pop-culture wise, I don't think I'm going to be doing very much new this August, especially as I want to surround myself with the familiar as much as I can before I face the changes of college life. However, late July was filled with some excellent movies and shows that I'd like to take a brief moment to review, like I always do. Mid-July, I got the opportunity to FINALLY see Tim Burton's rendition of Disney's animated classic "Dumbo". While I wasn't as overly impressed as I thought I was going to be, Burton's "Dumbo" still was overall a very good film. I really liked the fact that in the end of this version of the movie, Dumbo and Mama Jumbo are released back into the wild, and Danny DeVito's character I thought was hilariously excellent. Plus I also happened to love the fact that many other Burton vets had returned for rolls in "Dumbo", including Eva Green ("Dark Shadows", "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children") who played Dreamland's lead acrobat, and Michael Keaton ("Batman" trilogy, "Beetlejuice") who played Dreamland's owner and the villain of the movie. Overall, I think I'd give the movie a solid B; I like it a lot, but it doesn't really seem to have the quite the same level of Burton magic as say "Alice in Wonderland (2010)" did for me. Nothing will top "Alice" for me when it comes to Disney remakes or Disney movies in general to be completely honest with you XP. Needless to say, it's still a good movie and I'd recommend it.

Next comes the fifth (or sixth if you count their collab with Burton and Warner Brothers in "Corpse Bride") jewel in the Laika Studios crown- "Missing Link", following the story of cryptid-enthusiast Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) who is personally requested by Sasquatch (better known as "Mr. Link" or "Susan") (Zach Galifanakis) to take him across the world on an epic quest to take him to meet his extended family consisting of Yetis. Personally, seeing this movie and then comparing it to its 'older siblings' (for lack of a better term), one could say I was slightly disappointed. The animation, and the sets, like in all Laika Studios films, is positively breathtaking, but there was still something that this movie lacked than the others, besides maybe a child protagonist. In some ways, the story seemed almost rudimentary to me. There was no real "introductory"/"build up" time between when Lionel meets both Mr. Link, and all of the other characters, unlike in other films that make up the Laika quadruplets/quintuplets, and the main villain of the film to me was downright boring. I'm just saying, compared to the other four/five films, "Missing Link", for me happens to be the weakest link, if you pardon my awful puns. However, that's not to say that it's not worth watching (I did call it a "jewel", didn't I?). Like I said above, the animation in and of itself is FANTASTIC and the sets were probably some of the most beautifully-designed sets in any stop motion film, regardless of whether or not Laika had anything to do with it, I've ever seen. In addition, this film, in my opinion, happens to be the funniest Laika movie (most, if not all of the jokes, while on occasions crude, got me laughing out loud), and probably the most lighthearted out of all of the above (despite the fact that there are a small handful of character deaths in the film), so overall, to me, it's kind of one of those feel-good movies with a wonderfully sweet overarching message. Despite the critiques I gave it, I still think it's a wonderful film and that Laika did a positively fabulous job on it. I'd give it a B+ and I most definitely recommend it, especially if you're the type of person who enjoys animated movies that are physically and technically gorgeous.

Finally, I also managed to finish the "Beetlejuice" animated series and quite frankly, when I did, I actually cried a little. Very few animated series have ever done that to me before, and because of that, I knew this one was special to me. Apart from the fact that I am a Burton MANIAC, "Beetlejuice" is a gorgeously-animated series. Visually, the animation is wonderfully fluid and smooth, almost satisfying to watch, and the cartoon renditions of Lydia and Beetlejuice are absolutely positively my most favorite renditions of these characters. Their whole dynamic is adorable; there's something about best friends who argue like old married couples and just can't stand being without the other that really gives me the giggles and warms my heart. I totally relate to this version of Lydia especially, because while she's still undeniably goth, she's so full of warmth and joy that she makes practically everybody around her melt with happiness; Beetlejuice especially, as her sunny disposition seems to slowly but surely rub off of him as the series progresses. Overall, it's a lovely cartoon and I highly highly highly recommend it, especially to those who love the movie and/or musical that have not seen it or may not even know of its existence. It's different, undoubtedly so, but there's still something sweet about the differences between the original film, the musical, and the cartoon that make me enjoy the whole franchise even more. I would definitely give this series an A (not an A+ though, because that would be biased, and there are some things that are imperfect about the series, as NO series is perfect, but it's pretty darn close to being that for me at the very least ><). Believe me, I'm going to be re-bingeing my favorite episodes very very soon, if not when I come back home from school and being away from my DVD player XP.

That's a wrap! Thanks for reading my long-winded drabble XP.
-NeitherWolf (Peaches)