#I go through phases of reading just one primary genre at a time

[witchcraftingboop]

Would you please recommend mangas?

I'm not gonna lie to you, baby, my tastes are trash. You can call me the garbage man because bish I'm swimming in that shit, scooping it all up and dragging it back to my lil apt-- or maybe the Grinch... oh well!

Anywhoville, here are the mangas I've read physical copies of since this all started back on April 13th:

Fangs by Billy B-something - BL - I like their take on modern vampires. Could do without the crazy dude randomly (coincidentally) escaping from jail

Kaiju Girl Caramelize by someone - Straight, Romcom (wtvr that is in manga genres), takes place in a high school - hilarious and I love it

SpyxFamily also by someone - Idk what genre this is honestly but it's funny and good and I love it

Sleepy Princess In The Demon Castle - I have all 20 volumes because it is just a cute lil fun lil read

So I'm A Spider, So What - Okay, does the mc grind like crazy to level up? Yes but it's also hilarious and a lovely lil isekai about how a high schooler is reborn as a weak bb spider and becomes super op and challenges gods and demon lords ... 10/10, have every volume out rn and love it

Heaven Official's Blessing (light novels) - BL, Danmei - Listen. I love these lil fucks and I love how these are written -> Currently on book 2/5 in my lil shelf, six comes out in Sept I think

Given - BL - It's an okay series. I read it all (that's out), and it is amusing while reading, but ultimately probably won't read again

Fruits Basket - grew up on it, love it

Chobits - unfortunately grew up on it (why do I not remember how sexual this shit was like jfc did that throw me for a Loop lmao)

Savior's Book Cafe Story In Another World - Isekai (of a 30yo, not a teen for once), romance -- I adore this lil series. It's a cozy lil hug in a book

Uzumaki by Junji Ito - Horror - classic, love his art style and story telling, I don't find horror manga or anime scary though so I read it more like comedy tbh

I Want To Eat Your Pancreas - Tragedy(?), Romance(?), set in high school - I went into this expecting and knowing nothing and I enjoyed it a lot

A list of BL I read and enjoyed: I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love, There Are Things I Can't Tell You(💜), Sotus vol 1, Killing Stalking (??? is it BL idk,, it's B), Midnight Rain, The Flower That Seems To Truly Dance, Loved Circus, The Snake Who Loved A Sparrow (look out for anatomy oddities), Sasaki & Miyano, Secret XXX, Therapy Game

The Witch & The Beast

A Silent Voice

Fire Force, omnibus 1 (dunno about later ones cause this is the only series I didn't just buy complete)

My next reads are gonna be the series I just bought, so Demon Slayer, Ouran Host Club (again, childhood fave), Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul Re, & Choujin X.

After that, the next batch'll likely be: Bofuri, Arifureta, & Overlord (all isekai - or in Bofuri's case video game life). Which I can recommend watching in the anime forms as well.

But yeah those are pretty much all the series I like that I can name off the top of my hear rn. There are definitely quite a bunch I'm forgetting, but I cannot be bothered because this lil answer has already gone on for a long time and been interrupted 4+ times by my Boss' after hours inquiries into his own goddamn schedule I'm going to beat this man with a sandal

But yeah that's it, anon, pillage through my wares as you please!

[yeollieayheehoo]

Jigsaw Puzzle

Summary: The two of you were made to fit together

Pairing: Chanyeol x Reader (female)

Genre: fluff, tiny bit of angst 

Rating:  PG 

Warnings: minor mention of alcohol use

Word Count: 2.8K

This really isn’t your scene.

You adore your friends, how they make sure to invite you to things, even if they know you’ll more than likely turn down the offer. Which is probably why they just said it would be asleep over tonight and failed to mention the major rager they had planned.

It’s not that you’re straight edge or anything like that. In all honesty, it’s just that you’re too shy, too socially awkward, find your personality too quiet in the midst of the Olympian sized ones in the other room.

So instead, you snuck away, curled up on the twin side top bunk of your friends’ younger sisters’ room. It’s quiet, or well, as quiet as it could be with the music phasing through the walls like a ghost. You know that your friend has chosen to play Primary in an attempt to lull you out of your hiding hold, but you cannot bring yourself out of the safety you’ve found in the covers.

You know the majority of everyone outside of this room, see them on campus and in class. They call you a part of their group, make sure to include you in everything they can, to purposely ask you things so you never feel excluded. Especially Chanyeol.

He asks you questions the most, wide eyes always on your face as you spoke, like he was memorizing your entire being. Maybe it was because it took him an entire semester to learn your name.

The day he finally said your name without having to ask first was the day you realized you were undeniably in love with him. It was the day you realized that somewhere between asking you questions and bringing your hands to his mouth to warm them when you complained of being cold, between they way he would pull your earbuds out of your ears to replace them with his own anytime he wanted to share a song with you and the way his face lights up when he sees you, that you know you’ve fallen for him.

You know he’s out there, can hear the bass of his laughter over the bass of the music, perhaps because your ears are attuned to it. You can almost see him, black snapback with some vape company he doesn’t even know on it, ears sticking out, smile the brightest thing in the room. You know he’s making rounds, secret handshakes being exchanged, hugs distributed, inside jokes shared. It makes you sigh in disappointment for yourself.

You know that if you were to join the party, they would welcome you fondly, would pull you into hugs of your own, know someone would pull you along with them so you were never alone, know they would go out of their way to keep you included.

Because they understand.

They understand your anxiety, your social uneasiness. They take it in stride and work hard to make sure you knew you were wanted, to make sure you knew you were their friend.

And you couldn’t even join the party.

You sigh again, burying yourself in the covers, trying to make yourself less of a mouse.

You don’t know how long you stay like this, trying to will a dandelion into a tree, but when you hear the door open you freeze.

“C’mon kid. Let’s get you in bed.”

“Yeol, I may have overdone it.”

“You think so?” Chanyeols voice is teasing as he helps Sehun into the bed below you. “But lucky for you, I’m partied out, so I’m on Hunnie duty.”

There’s no response from Sehun and you know from the soft snores below you that he’s passed out. You can hear Chanyeol sigh, a soft sound before you hear movement, what sounds like jeans against carpet. You’re careful to stay silent as you peak over the guard rail to find him stretched out on the floor, elbow over his eyes.

You know from experience that the carpet is uncomfortable and the floor unforgiving. You close your eyes and muster up every ounce of courage you’ve been channeling all night.

“There’s room up here, if you don’t want to sleep on the floor?”

“Y/N? I didn’t know you were here.”

“Ah, yeah. I didn’t know there was going to be a party. I was just told it was a sleep over. I probably wouldn’t have come if I had known.”

“You could have stayed with me out there, you know I wouldn’t leave you alone.”

“I know, but you know how I am. Can’t make a soloist out of a background singer.”

“You sound like Professor Harris.”

“Ah yeah, I got it from her. It’s what she told me.”

“Wait, I thought you were an English major?” It’s at this that he moves his arm, leaning on the elbow instead, looking up at you.

“Oh, I am. But I was a music major first semester.”

“Why did you switch?”

“Because of that.”

The conversation falls silent at this. The music has stopped in the living room and you aren’t sure if it’s because the party has ended or if everyone has passed out. You’re chewing your bottom lip, trying to figure out what else to say when Chanyeols face appears beside you.

“It doesn’t look like there’s a lot of room up here.”

“Oh, uh, here.” You scoot to the other side of the bed, showing him the space left. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I just didn’t want you to sleep on the floor. It’s up to you.”

“Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?”

“Make yourself small.” He tilts his head at you and you know your face is red. You shrug, unable to form words. It’s the first time someone has ever asked you that and you aren’t sure how to say you were taught to be neither seen nor heard.

“Let me empty my pockets.” He moves back and you can hear his wallet and keys against the dresser. “Is it going to bother you if I take my jeans off?”

“Not if it won’t bother you that mine are.” He grins and looks at you, something you don’t recognize painting his features. “That was funny.”

“Thanks. I channeled my inner you.” You can’t help but giggle as Chanyeol climbs the ladder. He’s’ only on the second rung and his head is already touching the ceiling. “How the hell did you get up here?”

“There wasn’t anyone else up here when I was trying.” Chanyeol huffs, and ducks as he climbs one more rung before slinging his leg over the guard rail and rolling into the bed beside you. You cover your mouth to keep from laughing any louder when Sehun moves below you. You think you’ve woken him until his snores resume.

“So, I’m up here. What should we do?” He’s on side, head propped up on his elbow as he looks at you.

“I really only called you up here so I could sacrifice you to the moon.”

“Sorry, the moon and I aren’t on the best of terms right now, but I’ll accept Satan.”

You hum to yourself in fake deliberation. “You’re too pretty to go to Satan.”

“Did you just call me pretty?”

“I did.”

“I’m flattered.”

“So how did you know about professor Harris?”

“I had her for a music elective.”

“Aren’t you a business major?”  You shift in the bed, turning on your side as well to face him.

“Yeah, it was required.” He shrugs.

“What kind of business?”

“Jongin and I have had a dream to open a record studio since we were freshmen in high school. I want to produce, but I don’t really need to go to school for something I’m already good at.”

“I didn’t know you wanted to produce.”

“That’s because I’m always asking you questions about yourself. Speaking of, why an English major?”

“I want to write. I’ve been told I have a way with words.”

Chanyeol grins and you know what’s going to come out of his mouth before he even says it. “You don’t talk much though.”

“I do too. I’m just not great with crowds.”

“You don’t seem to have a problem talking to me.”

“It’s cause you’re pretty.” You grin and bat your eyelashes.

“Lucky me then.”

It’s easy to talk to you like this Chanyeol finds. Outside of crowds, you transform into another person, one who’s all smiles, words and unhindered thoughts and Chanyeol finds himself getting lost in them easily. His eyes are on your lips as you speak, enthralled by the way they form syllables, hypnotized by the spell they unknowingly cast upon him.

It’s addicting, listening to you talk like this. Chanyeol can see the notes of your voice as they touch his ears, the soft scales climbing and falling down the lines on the music staff and he finds himself composing a song of it.

He grins at the realization, that it’s you. You’re addicting.

“Yeol? Are you okay?”

“What song is on your mind right now?”

“Nineteen by Tegan and Sara.” It says more than you know. It tells him things words cannot say, tells him things about you that you cannot bring yourself to vocalize. He can feel his heartbeat quicken and he chews on his inner cheek as he tries to subdue it, as he tries to figure out if you know that he has a playlist with your name on it, that song appearing twice. He wonders if you listen to it the same way he does, your face painted over the lyrics, senses drowned in you although you are no where near.

“What about you?”

“Are You Gonna Be My Girl.”

It’s the question that’s been on his mind for a while now. He wonders if you know that he asks you everything he can think of because your voice calls to him like a siren song, wonders if you know that he waits for you to say you’re cold so he can glue himself to your side because the coconut smell of your shampoo is intoxicating, wonders if you know that he always shows you new songs because your face interprets the lyrics along with your mind and it’s the closest thing he can get to reading your mind.

He wonders if you know that he pretended not to know your name for an entire semester because he was falling in love with the way that you said it.

You’re sure your heart is going to beat out of your chest. You know he’s naming a song, but the way the words fall from his lips turns the atmosphere in the room into a fragile thing and you’re terrified to open your mouth, too terrified to break the bubble the two of you have created for yourself.

Instead, you turn away from him, rolling over to face the wall, arm tucked under your shared pillow, eyes blinking back tears that threaten to fall as you realize you’re reading too much into his answer, the way you always do. Because truthfully, why would he ask you that?

He is Helios, his smile the sun. He is a warmth you do not think you deserve yet find yourself a glutton for. He is all laughs and words, wide smiles and crescent eyes. You find yourself wondering if he knows of the gravitational pull he has on everyone around him, or if he is simply floating through space, unaware of the beauty that is his entire being.

If this were a movie, you’d admit to your friends that you are not his type, middle too round, thighs too large and existence too small to be his because your friends would not be his friends. But this isn’t a movie, and your friends are mutual, and there is not a day that goes by that you do not see him, the small voice in the back of your head bringing you down as you try to stand in the light that he casts.

 He shifts next to you and you prepare yourself for the loss of his warmth as you assume he is leaving, and instead freeze as the pillow moves, his right arm curled around yours, fingers tracing small patterns on the back of your hand. His left drapes over your waist and you stop breathing as goosebumps raise along the soft flesh of your stomach at someone else’s touch.

Chanyeol can feel you freeze under his touch but he doesn’t stop, left hand traveling north as it searches for your own, fingers finding purchase in your wrist as he pulls it from under your chin, tangling his fingers with yours. He can feel your pulse in the tips as he lets your joined hands rest on your hip. He is unapologetic as he scoots closer to you, shifting to nuzzle his nose at the nape of your neck, one leg tucked between yours and he wonders if you can feel the way his heart races too.

He knows your mind, knows your fight or flight response is kicked into over drive as your pulse pounds from every inch of your body. It doesn’t take long for yours to sync, hearts beating as one as the atmosphere turns heavy with words neither of you dare to say. So instead he does the only thing he knows to do without ruining the conversation your bodies are having for you; he hums.

 It takes a moment for your pulse to die enough in your ears for you to realize that he’s humming your answer, humming the song on your mind right now. The vibration against the back of your neck lulls you into a relaxed state, letting your body fall into his, trying not to think about how well you fit into him. Part of you says to turn over, to face him and address the thoughts running through your head, though the other half of you says not to move or you’ll ruin everything.

His grip on your fingers tightens as he feels you relax against him, pressing his body closer to yours until you are no longer sure where he starts and you end. His voice is muffled against your skin, warm like the rest of him, “do you want me to move?”.

You shake your head, throat dry as you respond with a dry “no”.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time..”

“Give me a heart attack?” He chuckles behind you, laughing with his whole body and you feel the final shards of fear melt from your skin with the sound.

“No, to touch you without you pulling away from me.” Your heart is in your throat at his answer, mind racing as you try to interpret what he could mean.

“Why…why would you want to do that?”

He’s silent for a moment and you can hear him swallow, his hand suddenly clammy in yours. You try to think of  another time you’ve seen him this nervous, but nothing comes to mind and you wonder what you’ve done.

“Because I’m in love with you, Y/N, is it really that hard to notice?”

“You can’t be in love with me Chanyeol. You didn’t even know my name for an entire semester of our friendship.”

“Yes I did. I’ve known your name since the first time Kyungsoo introduced us. I just liked hearing you say it and the way you smiled at me when I asked for it again.” His thumb rubs circles into your skin at his confession.

“Why would you be in love with me?” Your voice is small and he hates it, hates the way you’ve returned behind your wall, hidden back in your shell.

“It’s simple, why wouldn’t I?”

He doesn’t say anything else, and soon you can feel his breaths deepen against the back of your neck and you know he’s fallen asleep. Something in you tells you to let it go, to wonder what he could mean tomorrow when the world is back to normal.

So for now, you listen and tighten your grip on his fingers as you let yourself fall asleep, body pressed and wrapped up in the boy you love and the last thought that passes through your mind is that for once, you’re glad no one told you a party was going on.

[hoodlessmads]

I’m Caught Up With Bloom Into You

Gosh, where do I even begin with this series?

I watched the first episode, and by the end, honestly, I thought it was going to be pretty dumb. Cute! But dumb. And I do love me some dumb cute precious romance.

But W O W that’s not what Yagakimi is. It successfully pulls of an excellent bait-and-switch on the reader/viewer not just once but twice--the first is at the end of the first episode (the part where I assumed it was going to be kind of cheesy and dumb), and the second around halfway through the anime series. The first one is basically the premise of the story, so it doesn’t really count as a bait-and-switch unless you go in blind like I did. But the second one takes all of the reader/viewer’s expectations up to that point and turns it on its head. And even beyond that scene, the entire series is chock full of moments that demolish your expectations for what direction the story is taking and who the characters are. Every single chapter I felt like I was being thrown for a loop, and learning something unexpected and new about the characters. Even up to the most recent damn chapter I feel like I have no idea what Nakatani-sensei is going to throw at us. And all of this is me making a point that this manga is DEEP.

I could talk at length about how gorgeous the anime is, how well-directed certain scenes are, how incredible the Japanese voice acting was (didn’t see the dub, but if anyone can carry Touko’s emotional range it’s the fabulous Luci Christian so I’m sure it’s decent), or how much I stan Michiru Ooshima. It was a great adaptation and I sincerely can’t wait for Season 2. But I’m not going to talk much about that. Instead I just need to talk about the story (the manga).

(spoilers up through Chapter 39)

You know what one of the many great things about Yagakimi is? In spite of the fact that it deals with same-gender relationships and queer issues, and while it does periodically address those issues, they’re actually not the primary focus of the characters or their struggles. From day one, Yuu is much less concerned about Touko being a girl than she is about her own inability to feel anything towards her (supposedly). And that’s not to say that those issues are ignored, like they are in some anime of this particular genre. The characters don’t live in a paradisiacal vacuum where being gay in Japan isn’t a problem and everyone around them is magically super accepting. Yuu’s sister is incredibly sweet and accepting (I love her), but her dad makes casual homophobic comments. Even after Touko initially confesses to Yuu, Yuu brushes it off as something she “probably doesn’t have to worry about” because they’re both girls, and it’s weird. Riko Hakazaki has to hide from her students, coworkers, and workplace, that she’s living with her girlfriend, because it could cause legitimate problems for her if they knew. During Sayaka’s first lesbian relationship, when she is still figuring herself out, her own girlfriend tells her that it’s “just a phase” and that she’s sorry that she “made her” that way. Even much later, when Yuu is conflicted about how she should confess her feelings to Touko, her sister Rei immediately assumes (understandably so) that she’s conflicted because of the whole gay thing. Rei starts worrying about how the family will react, if they will be accepting and supportive of her sister. Little does she know, being gay is the least of Yuu’s problems at that point.

But is being gay and the societal backlash that comes with it really that inconsequential to Yuu’s story? Yuu Koito struggles to develop romantic or sexual feelings for anyone. She exhibits clear signs of depression--intense apathy, emotional repression, struggles to find genuine joy in anything. A lot of people have posited even that she exhibits signs of sexual repression specifically. And this is one of the core conversations we can have about Yuu’s character. How much of her “inability to love” is because she is legitimately somewhere on the ace spectrum, perhaps demisexual (she develops feelings after getting to know someone, to put it simply)? And how much of it is her unconsciously repressing her own feelings (perhaps homosexual) for her entire life, resulting in a scenario where even she doesn’t know how to get them back? There isn’t a clear answer here. No one knows. Yuu doesn’t even know. And that’s the point!

The characters. Are so. Good. Yuu, Touko, and Sayaka are the obvious powerhouses here, all three of them multi-layered people that I can and will analyze at length. But Yagakimi doesn’t sleep on the minor characters either. Yuu and Touko don’t exist in a vacuum. From Yuu’s sister and her boyfriend to Maki, the juxtaposing aromantic and asexual friend and ally, to Yuu’s surprisingly likable best friends, to Hakozaki-sensei and her girlfriend Miyako, to even Dojima. Everyone matters. Everyone gets their own little storyline. I’m tempted to be reminded of Kimi ni Todoke and the brilliant way it handled its side characters here. Although Bloom Into You is much shorter than KnT, and therefore has a lot less time to develop those side characters and relationships, it still provides them with their own layers, their own problems, their own mini-spotlights. And it makes me care about every single one. Riko and Miyako’s cute ass and wholesome adult love story, Akari’s dumb doomed crush on basketball senpai, Koyomi’s dreams of becoming an author and her infatuation with a certain idol of hers, Maki’s experiences as a contented bystander. I adore and welcome it.

Let’s talk about Touko Nanami before this gets any longer than it needs to be. To be honest, I have a type when it comes to characters, and it’s the ones that are suicidal and hate themselves, probably because I relate to that stuff more than anything (though I also relate to Yuu’s apathetic brand of depression). This character. This character. One of the things I love most about her is how consistently the reader is lured into thinking they know her, and then consistently proven wrong. (I think we share this experience with Yuu.) It takes episodes, chapters, volumes to slowly chip away at the layers and layers of personality we’re given before we finally arrive at the truly heartbreaking core, which is a girl with a fractured identity and deep, deep self-loathing that defies all logic. And it’s because it defies all logic that it’s so scary. Because that kind of self-hatred doesn’t just go away. You can’t just fix it. It’s there to stay, and it’s not just your friendly neighborhood self-hatred--painful, but an otherwise harmless roommate. It’s actually dangerous, and it has the power to destroy Touko’s relationships with others and even destroy herself. (The scene in the anime where she stands in front of the railroad tracks and almost takes a step forward, thus nearly giving me a heart attack, comes to mind.) It defies logic, so there’s no logical way to beat it, either. And it’s not just the self-loathing that gets me and makes my heart hurt for her; it’s the loss of oneself, the lack of one’s identity as an individual. The loss of on’s own sense of self, especially at such a young and vulnerable age, is debilitating. Touko is really good at wearing that super serene smile, but when the chips are down, nothing is going to stand in the way of her and what essentially amounts to obliterating herself from existence. Not even Yuu. And then we come to her crippling fear of being loved by anyone, which is an aspect of self-hatred that probably doesn’t get enough acknowledgment. She hates herself to the point that the thought of someone loving her, which should make her happy, actually hurts. How fucked is that.

But I never gave Touko enough credit. To be honest, in chapter 34 when Yuu (finally) confesses, I was expecting her reaction to be really bad. Like, really bad. I was expecting a shitshow, a blowout of their relationship (temporarily of course). I was expecting basically what Yuu thinks that she got. And for that one page, I swear I felt my heart forcibly ripped from my chest. But then I read the next page and was surprised to see just how much she’s changed over the course of the series, how unexpectedly maturely she took the confession and examined her own feelings afterwards, how quickly (and once again, maturely) she deduced that she’d been making Yuu suffer. It makes me appreciate their relationship even more than I did before, and it makes me want to root for them. (Not that I wasn’t already.) The chapters just keep getting better and better from here on, I swear.

Sayaka deserves her own post, but the queen has her own novel series at least. Sayaka could SO EASILY have been that bitch. Nakatani could have created this rival love interest who treated Yuu like shit and was a possessive asshole and just stopped there. But instead, we got Sayaka, who ends up being one of the best and most well-developed characters. And in the many many times where I was calling Yuu and Touko “you dumb bitch,” Sayaka was there, the smartest and most honest of the three by far, which was refreshing. Her backstory is utterly heartbreaking, her love for Touko touching as hell, and her rise from the ashes, so to speak, is inspiring. Fuck that senpai. Sayaka isn’t even that mean to Yuu, on top of it all. I mean, she can be kind of snippy. And understandably so. But they actually end up surprisingly getting along? I am shook to my core. Sayaka’s growth is one of the greatest sights to behold in this series. Her friendship with Touko isn’t sidelined in favor of Touko’s relationship with Yuu--far from it. Sayaka provides her own unique support and sparks Touko’s development in a way that Yuu never could. Their friendship is crucial. By the time Sayaka FINALLY confesses, I was so god damn proud of her and her bravery, I swear I could have cried. While Yuu was busy being in practiced denial for 40 chapters, Sayaka was OUT THERE learning to be completely up front and honest with herself and others about her feelings. (Not to knock on Yuu, because she has her own arc to go through to get there.) That whole fucking scene where they’re both just sobbing about shit afterwards Got Me.

Ugh. It’s been an emotional few days. I’m really glad I decided to start watching that first episode, because this entire series has been a series of pleasant surprises. This is a good anime, ya’ll. It’s a good character study. It’s a good love story. It’s a good gay love story. It’s all of those things. You could literally talk forever about all the nuances of this story and characters and all the things that make it as good as it is. This long ass post just brushes the surface. For now, I’m anxiously (ANXIOUSLY) awaiting chapter 40. If you know, you know.

[hisband]

A PROFILE OF YOUR MUSE.   REPOST, DO NOT REBLOG.

NAME.   murdoc faust niccals. he was born murdoc alphonce niccals, but changed his middle name as part of his bargain with satan. it’s just about the only part of the bargain he willingly held up. NICKNAME(S).    muds, mudsy, (uncle) murdy, and a handful of colourful insults we won’t be mentioning here. ALIAS(ES).    has gone through a number of different stage names and fake aliases over the years. he doesn’t bother keeping track. AGE.   verse dependent. 37 going on 38 in my main-verse with @grcndel ( which currently takes place in early 2004 ), a few months shy of 53 as of 2019. SPECIES.    has always believed himself to be human, but his green skin, long claws, sharp teeth and pointed ears suggest otherwise. he doesn’t think much of it and most people don’t bother bringing it up. GENDER.   male. ORIENTATION.    he’s a repressed gay man suffering from compulsory heterosexuality, leading him to believe he's bisexual. INTERESTS.    creating and consuming music ( his favourite genres being black metal and dub / reggae ), lyricism, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, reading / literature analysis, working with machinery ( especially cars ), engineering, biology, science, genetics, mathematics, astronomical studies, biological and paleontological research, video games, watching and analyzing films, studying / exploring / practicing the occult, marine life, sailing, falconry, avians as a whole. PROFESSION.    currently murdoc is the bassist, self-proclaimed leader and one of the primary songwriters of gor.illaz, an alternative rock band that’s been around since 1998. he also has an international baccalaureate degree in “antisocial anthropology”, a pharmaceutical degree ( a somewhat questionable one, given that he obtained it through a series of online tests in prison ), which he later bumps up to a full-blown phd in some verses. prior to finding international success with go.rillaz, murdoc was the lead vocals of numerous other bands that never really got off the ground, and worked multiple low-paying odd jobs in order to pay sebastian niccals’ rent. these included gravedigger, soup-seller, telemarketer and part-time mall santa. BODY TYPE.    very slender / rectangle shape. he carries most of his weight in his chest and belly area. his shoulders and arms are well-defined, and his thighs are strong, if slightly chubby. his chest, waist and hips are all roughly the same size, with a straight torso shape. he has gangly limbs. EYES.    light brown eyes that can appear hazel under certain lighting. he used to wear a bright red contact lens in his right eye to play up his role as a satanist. HAIR.    naturally inky black. he began to go grey, especially around the temples, when he hit his late 30s; he quick took to dying it to hide this. his hair is naturally wavy, something he “corrects” with product. in terms of style, he has shaggy fringe bangs a cowlick that sticks out from the top of his head. SKIN.    verse / phase dependent. he’s always been medium-to-dark skinned ( phase 1 ), but the colour began to shift to more of an olive-green ( starting in phase 2 ) as he grew older. FACE.    striking but odd-looking. very wide mouth. narrow chin. high, angular cheekbones.  squashed-looking nose with a busted bridge; very high on his face. extremely large, wide-set eyes. thick eyebrows that are usually hidden under his bangs. HEIGHT.    5′6″ barefoot, 5′8″ in his cuban heels. if anyone asks, he’s 5′9 or 5′10″. COMPANIONS.    his bandmates –  russel hobbs, noodle kyuzo and stu “2D” pot. they’re the closest thing to family he has and probably the only people on earth who can tolerate him for prolonged periods of time. ANTAGONISTS.    christ, who hasn’t murdoc made an enemy of at this point? but the ones who keep cropping up to cause serious trouble include satan himself ( or beezlebub; murdoc isn’t clear who exactly he made the bargain with, seeing as he uses these two names interchangeably ), possibly pazuzu ( assuming that pazuzu and gor.illaz’s version of satan aren’t the same entity ), little jimmy manson, the black cloud and the boogieman. seeing that cyborg noodle tried to kill him last time they were around each other, muds can’t say he’s keen on the idea of ever running into her again, either. COLOURS.    mint green, olive green, russet brown, smoky grey, jet black, royal purple, crimson red, white, ocean blue, turquoise. FRUITS.    dragonfruit, pomegranates, cherries, peaches, coconuts, starfruit, bananas, limes, strawberries, kiwis, dewberries, honeydew, cantaloupe, prunes, horned melons, lychees, passion fruit, longans, rambutan. DRINKS.    pomegranate juice, orange juice, strawberry-kiwi juice, peanut butter and banana smoothies, spiced cider punch. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES?    anything he can get his grubby mitts on, but especially rum, black vodka, whiskey, strongbow cider and vodka umbongo. SMOKES?    constantly. he’s a chainsmoker; it’s become compulsive for him. DRUGS?    he’s tried a little bit of everything, even developing a full-blown addiction to speed back in the early 1990s. these days, he tends to fall back on cocaine when he needs a pick-me-up, marijuana when he needs to relax, or LSD when he’s really hating himself.

DRIVERS LICENSE?    believe it or not, he does have one! it’s been suspended numerous times for driving recklessly or driving under influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

TAGGED BY:    by @grcndel / @pohocounty !! TAGGING:    steal it and say i tagged you !!

[justpeachy--keen]

Peach Blossom Clearwater -- Character Sheet

i was supposed to do great things / i knew the rules though / but i wasn’t raised to shoot for fame / i had the safety on / i cut my ties, i sold my rings / i wanted none of this / if you start from scratch, you have to sing / just for the fun of it

Archetype — The Creator Birthday — March 25, 2001 Zodiac Sign — Aries MBTI — ENTJ Enneagram — Type 7: The Enthusiast Temperament — Sanguine Hogwarts House — Ravenclaw Moral Alignment — Chaotic Good Primary Vice — Gluttony Primary Virtue — Diligence Element — Water

Overview:

Mother — Foster Mother: Angelica Martin; Birth Mother: Peony Cabrera-Rodriguez Father — Foster Father: Thomas Martin; Birth Father: Jesus Rodriguez Mother’s Occupation — homemaker/heiress Father’s Occupation — owned surf shop Family Finances — wealthy Birth Order — she was smack dab in the middle of her foster siblings Brothers —  Mark (17), Devon (16--birthday in December) Sisters — Rachel (13), Veronica (10) Other Close Family — None. Best Friend — Marta Tinney Other Friends — Patrick, Melanie, James, Malik Enemies — Georgia Pets — None. 5 foster children were enough. Home Life During Childhood — For an orphan, Peach was pretty lucky. She was never abused. Her first foster family kept her until she was eleven, even with her powers. The other kids teased her and she was a bit quiet and shy, but it wasn’t so bad. When she moved in with the Martins, she blossomed. They were a loving family and she thought that they might actually adopt her... Town or City Name(s) — Sydney, Australia! Born and raised--well, as far as she knows. (She was actually born in Rio de Janeiro and she likes to think she was born in Avalor.) What Did His or Her Bedroom Look Like — She shared with foster siblings. There weren’t a lot of things that were just hers, and she didn’t really get to decorate in her first home. In her second home, everything was pink, pink, pink! Any Sports or Clubs — Cheerleading, dance team, football, softball, she’s actually surprisingly sporty. She also loves to surf. Favorite Toy or Game — Clue was her favorite board game. She was wicked good at it. She also likes playing piano, her foster brother Mark taught her. Schooling — Public schooling, nothing special. Favorite Subject — Literature, definitely. Popular or Loner — Popular after she was in middle school, average amount of friends before that. Important Experiences or Events — being abandoned, changing foster homes, when she spied on her neighbor and found out they were doing very bad things!!, when her foster parents just gave her up without a second thought. Nationality — Australian Culture — ...Australian? (Barbies and the outback!!) Religion and beliefs — Kind of believes in “fate” and “destiny” more than anything else.

Physical Appearance:

Face Claim —  Camila Mendes Complexion — Tan skin, very smooth and pretty. Hair Colour — Black Eye Colour — Brown Height — 5’2 Build — Sporty, she’s got thick thighs and broad shoulders and strong arms because she does all sorts of dance and sports. Tattoos — None! Piercings — Ear piercings Common Hairstyle — Down, kind of wavy. But she’ll put it in a ponytail or pig tails or a little braid. Clothing Style — Very modern but vintage inspired so lots of knee socks and plaid skirts. That kind of thing. She wears headbands and pearls. Frilly blouses. But, she’ll also just rock t-shirts and high waisted shorts. It really just depends on the day, but she definitely keeps abreast of fashion trends (adding her own little twist to them.) Mannerisms — Quirks her mouth a lot when she’s thinking. Talks with her hands a lot, specifically claps them together or shoos people in her excitement. Loves to give high fives. Usual Expression —

Health:

Overall (do they get sick easily)? — Average. She gets colds a few times a year, but overall pretty healthy. Physical Ailments — None, she’s quite fit. Neurological Conditions — Uhh, none, really. She’s pretty fuckin’ sane, that’s weird. Allergies —  None! Grooming Habits — Takes very good care of her skin and hair. Shaves every day almost. Never leaves the house without make-up on. Sleeping Habits — She lowkey has a lot of trouble falling asleep, so she has a whole routine. And she says nighttime is when she does her best writing. Eating Habits — Eats pretty well, for the most part. But she also love, love, loves sweets. Eats a lot of candy and chocolate, for sure. Loves to bake. Exercise Habits —  Goes running, does pilates and yoga. Loves to play sports. Will try to get on the cheerleading team. Emotional Stability — Ummm. Honestly? Pretty good. She’s got some lowkey PTSD from the stuff she saw. And she’s got abandonment issues. Oh, also, she’s kind of a compulsive liar. Don’t believe anything she says really. Body Temperature — Average. Sociability — Very social. She doesn’t have the greatest social instincts though. She’s very good at reading people, but not at reading a situation, if that makes sense? Like she doesn’t always say the right thing, but she’s usually right about what she does say. Addictions — None. Uhh unless you count lying? Drug Use — Hasn’t done drugs!! (Yet) Alcohol Use — Got drunk once with her foster brothers. Devon tried to kiss her. It was really awkward.

Your Character’s Character:

Bad Habits — Lying. Creating a version of herself she thinks that people will like in order to gain status. Picking at her cuticles. Blurting out things that probably shouldn’t be said in mixed company. Good Habits — She’s really a great friend, very supportive. She’s super smart and analytical. Best Characteristic — Great friend, really. Worst Characteristic — Compulsive lying. Worst Memory — Her foster parents turning her away. Best Memory — “You know, it’s so much harder to think of bad memories than good memories, I wonder why that is?” - Something Peach has definitely written in her journal. Proud of — Her lying skills. Her writing. Her photography. Her dancing. Basically anything she creates. Embarrassed by — Her need to lie. Driving Style — She’d be a pretty good driver, too bad no one will teach her how to drive. Thomas was going to start in the spring, cry. Strong Points — Intelligent, analytical, clever, insightful, caring, curious. Temperament — Happy go lucky! Peach is one of those people who you will never see sad or angry if she can help it. Weakness — Getting tangled up in her own lies; wanting validation. Fears — People thinking she’s stupid or unworthy. Phobias — Minor arachnophobia. Not much else, she’s pretty fearless. Secrets — Who she is, basically everything about her, lol. Regrets — Having gotten caught spying on her neighbor and the whole mess she’s got herself in. Feels Vulnerable When — Someone catches her having an emotion that is not happy. Pet Peeves — uhm she tries not to have them, because that doesn’t go with her zen lifestyle. Conflicts — The fact she knows everyone would hate her if they knew she was lying to them. Motivation — To be admired. Short Term Goals and Hopes — Be admired, do well in school, make friends, explore. Long Term Goals and Hopes — Be a famous writer. Sexuality — Bisexual, probably? Mostly undecided. She probably thinks she’s straight but also knows sexuality exists on a spectrum. Day or Night Person — Day, or well, she wants to be day, but has insomnia that keeps her up late. Introvert or Extrovert — Extrovert. Literally got 100% extroverted on her Myers-Briggs. Optimist or Pessimist — Optimist. Aggressively an optimist.

Likes and Styles:

Music — Pop is her favorite genre. Yup, she’s definitely that girl, though she went through her #scene phase. But her faves are people like Katy Perry and Carly Rae Jepsen (it pains me to put those two next to each other, but to Peach, they’re one in the same.) She loooooves to dance, so anything that gets her moving is going to be what she likes to listen to. Though, she also loves to belt it out with Adele, etc. Books — Gosh, the better question is what books doesn’t Peach like? And the answer would be none! Because there is something to be gained from any book you read! She’s an avid reader, though she kind of keeps it on the down low. But you can’t be a good writer without reading! Magazines — Got to keep up with all the latest gossip! Peach loves all magazines, but she knows to take them with a grain of salt. At least, tabloids. She doesn’t really read things like the Times. Foods — Like I said above–Peach is a huge fan of candy. But, she also likes fruits a lot. Really anything sweet. Though she likes savory and spicy too. Basically, she isn’t particularly picky. She likes lollipops a lot and definitely can be seen eating them quite frequently. Drinks — She doesn’t really have a preference to what she drinks. She likes water. She likes lemonade, juices, soda pop. She’s tried vodka before and was not a fan, but she won’t admit that to anyone and definitely would try alcohol again. Animals — Peach loves anything cute! She’s not a fan of creepy-crawlies or snakes or anything like that or “ugly” does like hairless ones or ones that drool too much. She’s a little afraid of any like–super big animals too (like horses, GASP). One of the first things she’s going to do is buy a cat, even though that is really not advised… Sports — Peach loves sports! Playing them, anyways. She’s not really into watching them on TV, but she’ll definitely go to like--rugby games or football games. And she loves cheerleading, so she’ll probably be at all the games. Social Issues — Her social awareness is still developing but she does consider herself a feminist. Favorite Saying — “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” - Ernest Hemingway Color — Pink! Peach loves pink, always has. Yes, it’s “stereotypical” and “girlie” but she loves it. It makes her happy–the brighter the better, and she often can be seen wearing it. Whenever she’s in a bad mood, she puts on some pink and instantly feels a little better. She’s easy to please like that. Jewelry — Her pearl necklace. Her foster mother bought it for her when she turned sixteen. Websites — Tumblr. Instagram. Twitter. Facebook. She’s big into all the social media stuff. TV Shows — Game of Thrones. Once Upon a Time (yes she knows it is problematic, let her live.) Shows like Gossip Girl and The OC. Lost. Star Trek lowkey. Anything with good writing and/or an interesting concept. She’s a big binge watcher. Movies — Oh gosh. She likes a good mystery, that’s for sure. Also stories within stories (frame stories!!) like Moulin Rouge, Princess Bride, the Fall, and Singin’ in the Rain. But, she really does like anything with a good story. She’s also not one of those snooty “book is better than film” because she can understand the merits of both. Some of her favorite book adaptations are V for Vendetta, Water for Elephants, and the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. Greatest Want — To be appreciated. Greatest Need — To be loved.

Where and How Does Your Character Live Now:

Home — Castle Suites 42W Household furnishings — Modern and sparse, she didn’t want to spend too much money on them, but her apartment is decorated very cute. A few paintings on the walls and lots of throw pillows. Favorite Possession — Her pearl necklace. Most Cherished Possession — Her journals and notebooks. Neighborhood — Gated community. Town or City Name — Sydney, Australia Details of Town or City — It was Sydney, Australia. Married Before — None. Significant Other Before — None. Children — None. Relationship with Family — Nonexistent now. Car — None. Career — None, but she’ll probably have to get a job. Dream Career — A famous writer. Dream Life — A famous writer, that’s it, that’s all she cares about. Love Life — Nonexistent, but she’s hoping that’ll change. Talents or Skills — Good writer, dancer, singer, photographer; she is not too shabby at painting either. Not bad at surfing and a few other sports. Intelligence Level — Too smart for her own good. Finances — Her foster family was wealthy and they did spoil her.

Your Character’s Life Before Your Story:

Past Careers — None. She helped out at the surf shop sometimes. Past Lovers — None, her foster brother Devon was her first kiss. Biggest Mistakes — Spying on her neighbor. (Though, does she really regret it? No.) Biggest Achievements — She probably won writing contests in school and ones she sent out.

[claydanceco]

Dance was something I always wanted to do. I was introduced to it while in primary and high school. So on leaving high school and while at University, I joined the Watoto church choir as my ministry and often looked on with envy at the select few who got to dance for God. A desire burnt in my heart to express my worship to God in form of dance. I waited patiently hoping that one day such opportunity would present itself.

There were various church dance groups at the time but I was not drawn to them for whatever reason; I guess I just didn’t belong there. My first opportunity came with the 2008 Watoto Conference; my sister Karen H. Kimuli who was in choir told me of an opportunity she had heard of to dance at the conference. Needless to say, I was overjoyed at the opportunity and took it without looking back, so much that at the first practice I showed up in my work clothes, a pink shirt and black almost A-line skirt not knowing that one needed dance clothes. More interesting was the fact that I did not have any dance clothes in my wardrobe. Of course this did not deter me. While experiencing this opportunity, I met with Merian Mwase who desired perfection and pushed us to the very end in order to deliver excellence as one of our church core values.

At the conference, the less than 10 minutes of performance were worth every minute spent in rigorous practice for the past two weeks. I blossomed the entire time; I can still remember the movements of the larakaraka piece. The ladies who did Bakisimba dance were Karen H. Kimuli, Norah and Hellen (a lady who passed on a few years ago) and we who did Larakaraka were Gyda Oyenbot, Cissy and myself. We were honoured to be part of this.

After the conference, I was basically elated hungrily looking for the next opportunity to dance which was not so forthcoming until there was an announcement to join an upcoming dance ministry under Watoto Worship. the ministry is what later became CLAY Dance Company, or CLAY as  many have come to know it over the years. As it was announced on the Church news, I could feel my whole body and spirit move in excitement at the long awaited opportunity to finally dance; just the thought of it now brings back very fond memories. I told all that I could master the courage to tell that I would be going for the auditions.

Audition day came and by then I had acquired a few clothes that could pass for dance clothes. I walked into the audition knowing that my most known or comfortable genre was traditional dance so I was not sure what to expect. We started with a contemporary piece to the Barlow girl song One more round which all of us were to learn as taught by Andre one of our international friends who we have met along the way; and thereafter each of us would do a solo in the genre of our comfort. I can assure you I didn’t clearly see how to do the traditional so I opted for salsa and some contemporary movement I think. Our judges for this audition were Andre, Merian Mwase and Catherine Nakawesa. I got a call back thereafter and most of it is history by now.

After some time, a showcase was organized and we really gave it our all in preparation. The other dancers who got a call back as far as I can recall were; Cmo Atuha, Aziza Shirazi, Florence Ndagire Senyonjo, Linda Mpanga, Louis Snappy, Nicholas, Barbara Nayiga, Arthur Mwanje, Joanne Buganda, Jasmine Namjua, Ernest Wolf, Jacque Tumusiime and others I may not readily recall. Some few joined us thereafter as time went on. We staged the showcase under the direction of Merian Mwase, Catherine Nakawesa, Andre, and some other external instructors from Break Dance Project Uganda and traditional dancers such as Sylvia. We also had input from teachers like Nancy Kacungira, Samuel Lutaaya and Jessica among others. The input was great and we were learning what it meant to dance, choreograph and go beyond bounds to learn dance besides what we knew and were comfortable with.

The showcase happened. What was appalling was the impact on watching our video of the showcase. Most of our jaws dropped because the energy we felt we were exuding was almost 80% less on the video recorded. We felt disappointed and the energy we had come with to watch the video dwindled by the minute. Catherine and Merian, our pioneers, had to give us a pep talk so that we could be encouraged to continue pursuing our dream of dance and ministry. I can’t help but laugh looking back at that moment at church, when we were so miserable thinking we had disappointed our enthusiasts including my Aunt Apophia, my sister Karen and my brother Edgar who had shown up among others and packed Watoto Church Downtown auditorium. One of the first lessons we learnt was that what you deliver on stage has to be about 200% of what you think you are actually delivering and that the level of energy you deliver in practice is what will flow through on show day

Watoto Conference 2010 found us already charged and was yet another opportunity to perform and tell the Watoto Children’s story alongside them in dance and drama. It didn’t leave us the same. Through the same interaction with CLAY Dance Company, an opportunity presented itself to go to Ecole des Sables in Senegal. I was blessed to share this with Catherine Nakawesa and I was glad to have her on board because I am not the adventurous kind but walking this journey beside her away from home always felt like home. I learnt and grew a lot. The Artistic Director Patrick Acogny once told us that we will not be the same once we came back to our countries. That after 2 months away, the growth would be evident. I could write a book on the whole experience; it was nothing short of amazing.

Through the years, CLAY Dance Company has interacted with teachers from all walks of life, different countries and genres. God has gifted us that way. When we started out as CLAY Dance Company, what we see now and the hundreds of dancers that we have interacted with leaves us awe struck at what God has done amongst us. As CLAY Dance Company started to grow, various disciplines were groomed amongst us including; whoever arrived first for practice had to make sure the dance space was mopped and clean, not wearing any form of jewellery during practice to prevent accidents, hugging and greeting everyone and inquiring as to their welfare before practice started, not talking or having non dance discussions during practice, Paying attention to whoever is in charge of the class session, practice being closed and fun clubs not being entertained during practice, everyone should be in position to learn whatever is taught for the day and so much more.

L-R Edna, Jessica, joanne et al at the Watoto Church Cantata 2010 Photo by Ismail Kezaala, Daily Monitor

In the growth of the Company, many more practices have been incorporated and embraced such as intentionally reading the word, reaching out to the community of other dancers and so much more. Our leaders have also taken gifting to another level. They have purposed every year end in the Christmas season as we remember the birth of Jesus Christ to give Christmas cards and gifts to the members who have been part of the journey throughout the year including the teachers, dancers and visitors, which is heartwarming. How can I conclude without making mention of the culture of photography. We love to take photographs in and out of season. We are always ready for a photo and I am sure our archives will speak for themselves.

Some of the giftings over the years!

CLAY Dance Company has not been a place void of struggles, tears and disgruntlement. These have been present in every phase but these have made us stronger in character, personality and resilience. It is never easy when you have multitudes of talent in one space and a few less opportunities like a small stage and limited time; CLAY Dance has managed and still tries to work through these phases while still growing and grooming the next generation of dancers. I have written a lot and feel like there is so much more I could put to paper. Maybe one day I will write a book on my life in CLAY Dance Company. So as a CLAY Ancestor (proudly so) I am grateful and honoured to have this family which I saw as a baby and now see as a ten year old. It is amazing, awesome, loved and so much more in one bundle of joy.

All in all, CLAY Dance Company was and still is a dream come true for me. It was a breath of fresh air at the time I needed it and it continues in this stance. I thank God. The very essence of the life of a dancer in our dance; CLAY Dance Company. Discover. Develop. Belong.

Humans of Clay | Meet Edna Winifred Dance was something I always wanted to do. I was introduced to it while in primary and high school.

[weshallneverrevolt]

[Guest] Why is Pitbull Good?

Today I am pleased to publish the blog’s first guest entry. It comes from Daniel Dockery, an editor for Cracked, writer for SyFy Wire, comedian, and the world’s leading scholar on Pitbull (that’s only kind of a joke.)

My wife recently got me into the Who? Weekly podcast, a show discussing reality show stars, one hit wonders, and other almost-celebrities on the fringes of fame. These people are called whos, whereas people like Tom Hanks are called “thems.”

Rapper Pitbull exists at the precise intersection between a who and a them, a pop star everyone knows but also seems to know nothing about. His music, though shallow, is a reflection of that personality...and Daniel has thought a lot about it. Without further ado...

One of the most curious times in college is the Freshman year pop culture purge. Your taste in movies, TV, music, video games, and books, a taste that you’ve been developing for the first eighteen years of your life, is suddenly judged and dissected by your new university peers.

Your favorite rap song was 50 Cent’s “Disco Inferno?”

“IT DOES NOT PASS” says the gods of Olympus aka the Dudes in your Dorm. “YOUR PENANCE SHALL BE 50 REPLAYS OF THIS SAME GODDAMN AESOP ROCK ALBUM, AND ALSO A QUICK SCANNING OF THE JEDI MIND TRICK’S WIKIPEDIA PAGE.”

Your favorite film was Pulp Fiction?

“NO LONGER,” says the gods. “THOUGH YOU SHALL STILL BEAR THE PULP FICTION POSTER ON YOUR WALL AS YOUR SCARLET LETTER. INSTEAD, YOU WILL NOW WATCH THERE WILL BE BLOOD AND HAVE LIGHT DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ITS THEMES WITH THE OTHER DUDES IN THAT ONE FILM STUDIES COURSE YOU WILL TAKE.”

Your favorite book was Of Mice and Men?

“SO IT SHALL STAY,” says the gods. “BUT BE WARNED. ONE DAY, SOMEONE WILL HAND YOU A COPY OF INFINITE JEST, AND WHEN THAT DAY COMES, YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO ACCEPT SUCH A HALLOWED GIFT.”

And so, shedding your childish things, you enter the rest of college renewed. You’re now a person with “good taste in things,” which is the third greatest thing that you can have in college (The first is an ID, and the second is an uncle that owns a cabin.) And you take this “good taste” out of college and into the world. Though you may not discover as many “good things” due to having a more busy adult life, at least you will now be equipped to better judge between what is a “good thing” and what is a “bad thing.”

It was during this time that Pitbull hit me.

Pitbull, for those without radios or access to sports bars, is an American rapper born to Cuban parents. His hits, like “Give Me Everything,” “Don’t Stop The Party,” and “Fireball,” have become enormously popular, though he is probably just as well known for featuring on other people’s songs, signifying his inclusion in them with a “Mr. Worldwide!” and a “YEEEEEAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOO.” To his detractors, these probably sound like the two trumpets of the musical apocalypse.

But I adore him.

Now, admittedly, Pitbull isn’t the best lyricist. He can spit a very, very competent verse from time to time, like in “Triumph”…

But most of his songs are in the typical “Let’s get hammered and have some fun!” genre. And while his beats and production techniques have become more varied since around 2014…

…a lot of his tracks still follow that David Guetta pattern of “woop woop, woop WOOP woop, woop WOOP WOOP, WOOP WOOP WOOP” synth and noise lasers.

Also, his onstage persona of rapper/motivational speaker/geographer can be a turn off for some. I’ve seen him live twice (once at Madison Square Garden, and once at a music festival in south Florida) and between nearly every infectious, dance-ready song, he enters into a segment where he vaguely implores us to be better people and to also love the 305 (or whatever area code that you’re from.) It’s like a vodka-soaked inauguration speech, and in the middle of it, I’ve seen people in the audience go from “Yeah! This is different!” to “Can we get back to the grinding now?”

I obviously love Pitbull for all of these things, but they’re not what makes Pitbull good. No, what makes Pitbull good is his many, many quirks. Because while most consider him to be the Nickelback of rap music (with Flo Rida serving as the Creed of rap music, though that comparison is much more accurate), the world presented in Pitbull’s music is an insane one. For example, Pitbull’s tendency to constantly go by his alias, the secret agent “Armando Bond”, in various music videos about getting laid in hotels (He also goes by “Agent A” in his song “Back In Time,” a song created to promote Men in Black III. He works himself into the film in the video, nodding at Will Smith in a restaurant for no reason at all, and then leaving with his lady friend to go stand around in the MIB headquarters.)

Or maybe one of his catchphrases “But forget about that,” which he employs whenever the verse that he’s just spit is not in line with the chorus in the slightest. If the song is called “LET’S SEX IN THE POOL,” Pitbull would spend an entire verse talking about how kids shouldn’t use drugs, and then quip “BUT FORGET ABOUT THAT. YOU KNOW THE RULES/LET’S SEX IN THE POOL. DALE’.”

Or Pitbull’s bizarre relationship with jokes, a thing that he’s still trying to master the basics of. In “Come and Go,” he croons “Now you heard about me/And I aint gotta say much/I aint talking about cars/It’s automatic, I’ll pop yo’ clutch.” Normally, you’d say that thing about the clutch, and THEN reveal that you aren’t talking about cars. But Pitbull states that he’s not talking about cars, apropos of nothing, and then goes into his sexual metaphor.

Or his penchant for referencing the most miniscule aspects of famous pieces of pop culture. During his verse in “Can’t Believe It,” a song about huge asses and there is no second subject, Pitbull says “Call me Michael Jackson (HEEE HEEEEEE,) ‘cause I love to play with monkeys.” He’s like an encyclopedia in that way, reminding you that “Oh yeah, Michael Jackson did go through a long ‘I have a pet monkey’ phase.” Or in “Better On Me,” where he states “My name aint Max, but I always got headroom/ G-g-g-get it, g-g-g-g-g-get it?” First of all, who in Pitbull’s primary fanbases remembers Max Headroom, much less the fact that he stuttered?

Or the fact that, despite being very prolific on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Pitbull HATES social media. I’m serious. He says so in multiple songs. That dude LOATHES apps of any kind.

She Instagram? I’m off that. Communism? I’m off that.

Pitbull is good because Pitbull is rewarding. He’s like an auteur filmmaker that keeps using the same cast and the same themes. He is hardly deep, but for those willing to pause the song and say “Wait, what did he just say?”, his discography is a journey. His stage shows are filled with scantily clad dancing girls, but it also opens with Tony Robbins listing what is basically Pitbull’s resume over a Powerpoint presentation. He’ll sing a dirty song about getting to third base with strangers, and then the next song will be an anthem to single moms around the world.

The biggest problem with dividing things between “good” or “bad” taste is that it rids us of our curiosity. The good things become worthy of your obsession and your understanding while the bad things are just bad. And when something, whether it be a movie or a musician or an Arby’s roast beef sandwich, becomes known as an objectively bad, all discussion ceases about it. Because no matter how much you try to convince people to check it out and dig deeper and maybe get curly fries to compliment it, they refuse. Because it’s “bad.” And they have “good” taste.

Pitbull is good because he proves that having “good taste” in everything isn’t that fun. Sometimes, you just have to drink some tequila and jam to some Pitbull, and the people that find him uninteresting just haven’t been paying attention.

Further Reading

You can read more of Daniel’s pop culture takes on his Twitter.

You can hear Daniel and his collaborator Jason Edwards’ account of their first Pitbull concert on their podcast here.

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: K-On!

I haven’t over-talked about an anime for a while, have I? At least, not since October. Life’s been busy. Let’s fix that.

Lately, I’ve had contact with the greatest library system in the world,[1] and through it I have managed to watch one of the Essential Anime Series.

And, as always, I watched K-On![2] dubbed. Take that, anime elitists! Ha-ha!

It took me awhile to get through K-On!, longer than I would’ve liked, since I ended up watching it between two trips, months apart, where other commitments and activities forced me away from the television as I desperately tried to get through it, and maybe onto others shows I checked out (Spoilers: between the two trips, I only really managed to watch K-On!)

Luckily, its overarching narrative isn’t very important to follow closely, as it is the flagship of the ‘Cute Girls doing Cute Things’ anime set that evolved from Azumanga Daioh. It was often quipped, whenever someone tried to come in partway through, that there was no plot.

It’s not even Seinfeldian, since even that had actual stakes. K-On! really is a show about a small rock band of girls where nothing really happens. It’s very cute, endearingly so, but… well, I wouldn’t say you need to go out of your way to watch the show if you’re unsure. If you’re into anime and exploring the various genres, then yes, give K-On! a try, just to see if this sort of show appeals to you.

Actually, going back to my earlier snark, this is a show I’m really glad I could watch dubbed. I’ve previously outlined my reasons for only watching dubs, but in this case my penchant for multitasking was key for sitting through the series, while keeping an ear on the actual show. If I were forced to keep rapt attention, reading every line as it came on screen, there is no way the show would’ve won the effort versus reward balance.

K-On! is a good white noise show, which isn’t an insult. It’s just something that’s very easy to come in and out of as you do other things, or want to watch something without committing to depth. There is value to fluff and escapism, which you can find here.

The entire series is built to be disposable, with no drama. There are no romantic relationships, no major fights or tedious fall-outs. In fact, I almost want to say there’s zero conflict at all. Yet, despite what your writing and English teachers may tell you, the series works.

It’s a story carried by its cast of characters. They aren’t even particularly outlandish characters, compared to other shows. They have quirks and traits, but they’re low key, and I’m not even sure how well I can describe the main cast, as they tend to overlap with character traits.  The most obvious differences between them are whether they are extroverts or introverts. Still, it’s my style to talk about characters, so here’s my attempt.

Main Five:

Yui: The supposed protagonist of the series, or at least the focal character during the establishing phase of it. Her endearing characteristics are that she’s immature and physically affectionate! She’s also the second most extroverted character. At the start of the series, she’s directionless and unsure what to do with herself now that she’s a High School student, so she decides to join a club. Except she doesn’t really want to put much effort into it, so she joins the light music club, believing she’ll breeze by only playing simple percussion. But, she ends up having to learn the guitar. She also seems to be the main vocalist, at least for the opening sequences.

Mio: She’s the bass player and is left handed, but is also very shy and relatively serious. Thus, of course, she gets played up for the most fan service and put in uncomfortable situations, though she mellows out as the show progresses. She also gains a fan club, because why not? She sings the closing credits songs.

Ritsu: The club president and drum player. She’s tomboyish, loud, and impulsive, thus the primary driving force whenever she’s actually on board with something, and the one who first really wanted to form a band. Childhood friend of Mio.

Mugi: She plays the keyboard! She’s a little of the quiet, subtle type, but also has a rather wide enabler streak, as she uses her family money to buy her friends nice things, and is the person brewing (very fancy) teas and bringing treats for the club meetings. As such, she might be the one most to blame for how little the club members practice as opposed to just hanging out.

Azusa (Azu-nyan): Joins half-way through the first season as a second guitar player. She then quickly rises to become, if not the viewpoint character, then at least sharing the position with Yui. Unlike the rest of the band, she actually starts with a lot of musical knowledge, and really would like to practice from time to time. However, she lacks confidence to stand up to her “Senpais” (it’s actually interesting to hear the dub casually use the terms), so she gets swept into their usual tea times and Yui’s overabundance of physical affection. Also, she’s almost only addressed as Azu-nyan by the club members.

The  five live the expected high schooler lives, studying, hanging out, making jokes, visiting the beach, and in general growing to become a rather adorable group of friends. You know, slice of life stuff.

Though, I’d also be remiss not to discuss the secondary characters:

Sawako: A teacher of… something I forgot? But eventually the homeroom teacher of the senior band members. She’s the wackiest character, despite her efforts to appear professional outside the club room. She’s pretty casual with the Light Music Club, and makes cute costumes to try and force onto the band. She’s also probably my favorite character.

Nodoka: Yui’s childhood friend. She’s a member of the student council, and thus the one forced to try and get the band to actually do paperwork.

Ui: Yui’s younger sister, who is miles more responsible than her older sister. She also becomes Azu-nyan’s classroom friend.

Jun: Azu-nyan’s third friend. She’s a member of the Jazz club, and exists to make the kouhais a trio.

There are, of course, other bit players that pop up now and again for the sake of the plot, but none really matter outside these nine.

So the episodes go: the four (later five) band members interact, get to know one another, and grow as friends and possibly people, but not by a lot.

Honestly, the lack of in-depth and overarching plot makes talking about K-On! difficult because it’s not a show you watch to find out “Will these girls become a successful band?” or “Will the power of music defeat the evil aliens?” It’s just something you sort turn on so you have an excuse to melt into the couch, maybe browse social media, and listen to characters have a nice time.

Like Yotsubaa, though a little less goofy, and actually animated.[3]

So what is there actually to describe? It’s a pleasant experience, watch it if you're interested, don’t if it doesn’t appeal.

There’s the actual music. They are a band, and we do get to watch and listen to music being performed, though usually abstracted into some sort of music video. It’s nice music, and the Dub makes the excellent decision to leave the vocals in Japanese and subtitle it. I may be a staunch Dub advocate, but even I can admit it’s usually best to leave music as is.

It’s all very fun music that I wish I could listen to, but copyright bots have done an astounding job of keeping the songs off Youtube, and I can’t even find the music on any American music service.[5] The lyrics are a little silly, but in a fun way.

Fair warning, though, you will here the ending line of Fuwa Fuwa Time constantly. It’s their go-to ‘and the girls are done playing’ snippet. I found it amusing, quipping it’s the only song they play, but I can see how it might get tedious to hear.

So let’s go a little meta with it. What can I, as a creator, take from this anime?

The girls are very similar from a distance, both in appearance and personality. Yes, they differ in some of the details (hair and major personality traits), but they mostly can fill any role needed for the typical K-On scene. Ritsu is rambunctious, sure, but she’s as susceptible to ‘cute’ antics and sentimentality as the others.

They are very flat characters, who all grow very little over the course of the series. Yui is as much of a childish airhead at the end of the series as she was at the start, if not more. Ritsu never learns to be responsible about club forms or her own actions. Mio is as reserved and nervous. Mugi still is content to sit back and watch. No one learns anything.

And that’s okay.

Because you don’t need to tell a sweeping epic or carefully plotted drama to tell a continuing narrative. It’s nice to have, yes, but it’s also acceptable to keep the stakes low and just enjoy the moment.

It’s also a great example of how to make very similar characters still have little unique traits, and how little differences can make a world of difference. The main characters all fall at different points of outgoingness, ranging from Ritsu’s energetic tomfoolery, to Mio’s desire to not be noticed. It affects how the five will approach a given situation, and gives space for potential conflicts.

And honestly, though I love the concept, the scenes built to show how two characters interacting when it’s only them aren’t the strongest of the show. Like the band itself, it’s an ensemble piece that’s at it’s best when everyone’s there, with the occasional guest performer.

To take another meta direction, it is a show about artists. Musicians, yes, which is an inexplicable magic I have no way to enter,[6] but artists nevertheless. So it’s a peek into the life of young artists, if perhaps slightly improved. Because these girls do have a following amongst their classmates, and thus are successful in that way. And they have, between the television episodes, OVAs, and movie, gotten a few outside gigs, which I never managed as a High Schooler.

Though I’m a writer, so that might explain it.[7]

Still, the world doesn’t just give them success. Though it’s mostly offscreen, they all do practice. They show the importance of networking, which is how they get their scant few outside gigs. With Sawako, we also see artists learning from an experienced artist, as well as an experienced artist helping and nurturing new talent, even if she keeps putting them in silly outfits. Most importantly, the band members support one another and working together to make Afternoon Tea Time (Ho-kago Tea Time) better, show casing the important role friends and colleagues have in an artist’s life.

Because, more than anything, Artists require support and encouragement. It’s difficult to create something and then not have anyone to turn to to evaluate and enjoy it. I’ve never had many people I felt I could hand writing to and expect them to actually want to read it, least of all my high school friends. Or most of my family, really. I’ve tried, in my youth, but always got such an indifferent response that I learned not to try.

So, I guess those are the important messages of K-On!: support your artists, not just financially, but also emotionally. Find what you love, and others will come to you. And sometimes it’s nice to just sit around with teas and snacks and good company.

Thanks for reading, and speaking of support, I have a Patreon.[8]

Kataal kataal.

[1] Could I legally sell merchandise naming the Santa Clara County Library? Seems like an obvious choice for Canvas merch. [2] I know the second season has two exclaimation points, but since animes are always a little odd with naming seasons, I’ll just use season 1’s pattern, like I usually do with Anime. [3] Which actually might just be Azumanga Daioh…[4] [4] Also, c’mon Kiyohiko Azuma! Even a one season anime of Yotsubaa would be amazing. It’d be so cute, and I could get at least two of my family members to watch anime with it! [5] Well, I haven’t tried iTunes, but I never want that on my computer again. It’s so needy. [6] Seriously, I have no rhythm or concept for how to compose original music. Or even words to describe what I want from people who do! [7] If there were a High School anime about artist friends, the writer would be the gloomy one who feels the others get more recognition and opportunities than them. [8] Ha! Smooth transition.

[sbcojn]

30 random facts about me for the sake of finding ourselves in the so called century of the self

...and because i am effectively trying to keep myself from studying for a statistics exam and from falling down a negative spiral of thoughts.

caution: if over sharing people annoy you do not read this, keep scrolling or log off. 

i have a long a*s first name, which sounds like math and let's everyone, who ever reads my name and who has not met me in person yet, think that i'm a dude. thx mom for adding a dutch variation to it as well and for wanting your kid to have an extravagant unisex name, which no one is able to pronounce correctly! :') 

my mom, my grandmas and my second oldest cousin are my idols and i talk about them all the time. i understand that it's creepy and annoying to my social environment but i can't help it and idgaf! i adore them, i want to be them and i love them soOoOo much! every single one of them is such a badass boss lady, who is not afraid of working hard, making sacrifices and never asking for anything in return. just by watching them handle life they taught me everything i need to know about it. i admire how they each are so comfortable with themselves that they don't ever feel the need to justify who they are and what they do. i am very blessed to have them in my life and to be related to them.

i lived in indonesia until i was 3-4ish. 

during an exchange program from hotel management school in switzerland my mom somehow fell in love with that country and moved here with me. 

here she met my stepdad, who for me is my real dad. he adopted me as soon as he met my mom and treated me as i was one of his own. i actually have most of my characteristic traits in common with my dad and that's why i hate when people remind me of the fact, that i am not blood related to him. just let me construct my own reality b*tches! i am thankful for everything he did for me and for all the sacrifices he made. in spite of being too young for that kind of responsibility he looked after his family with boldness and bravery. i love you more than everything and i am truly sorry for being such a hard a*s to you when i was little and when i was going through puberty lol! 

i have a little brother, who is 4 years younger than me. he is my true partner in crime and was ALWAYS on my side no matter what. i was so afraid when my parents told me that they are going to have another kid, because i thought that meant that they needed to get rid of me. but i was over the moon when he was born. he was such a cute fat a*s baby and i instantly felt the need to mother him when i was only four. lol sorry for treating you like a baby born bro! but i loved and still love you so much and i will always help you out like you did, no matter what happens! 

if you touch my family i will  D E L E T E  yours! 

when i was little i watched to many disney movies and sailor moon. i was  o b s e s s e d  once my dad caught me posing like sailor moon in front of the mirror and i wanted to die! another time he caught me singing disney songs on the balcony... and i didn't know how to speak english then. i only knew how to speak indonesian and german so i sang the songs in some kind of fantasy language, which to me sounded like english and tried to enact those dramatic singing scenes on the balcony or while looking out of my window.......

although i started my life as an extra af child i always acted shy in kindergarten and elementary school. through the entire time my teachers made it mandatory for me to visit an extra class for non-native speakers. for most of my childhood every teacher thought i could not properly speak german and i was too shy to tell them that i certainly could speak german. my parents were so confused because at home i would always order them around and as soon as i was in school i was even scared to breath too loudly. so fake though :') 

my chemical romance, nirvana, pearl jam, billy talent, radiohead, the flatliners, a day to remember, architects, new politics, jimmy eat world and paramore used to get me through every situation in puberty. i was kind of cocky and prided myself on my taste in music because i thought the music i listened to wAs So EmOtIonALLy dEep aNd No OnE mY aGe WouLD bE aBLe To ApPrEciAtE iTs dEpth. and to be honest, every time i listen to this kind of music now i am not able to appreciate it. it makes me sad and i am kind of emotionally stable now lol! kind of says a lot about the genius of this genre though but i can't do it anymore! listening to it takes my mind to places i don't want to go back to. thank you for your service but i am happy and became kind of an emotionally semi-stable mainstream b*tch, when it comes to music! k, thx, bye! lol

i have a scar on my forehead in between my eye brows. it was caused by playing hide and seek in the dark. me and my child hood friend thought this was a revolutionary idea and we got sooooo hyped. we ended up running into one another and her tooth finally got stuck in my forehead lol. 

i always did good at school but i don't remember how. i don't remember studying a lot. all i remember is how i couldn't focus on sh*t for longer than 5 minutes. this became a huge problem as soon as i entered middle school. from then on i always got in trouble with my teachers because they wanted to downgrade me but my parents never agreed to that. and they would always be angry at me for not doing enough for school but in fact i just didn't know how to effin' focus. i remember studying my butt off but still didn't know what i was doing exactly and somehow still managed to graduate grammar school after nearly dropping out twice and showing up for class for only like half of the time. since entering middle school i was an average to really really bad student, who got eaten from the inside by teenage angst and who had an attention span of a baby. after taking care of my ADD and growing up a little all i really want to do is study. but not math/statistics man. i still hate math though. i am one of the few asian people, who is bad at math. 

i love to consume pop culture in every format! in my opinion it is brilliant and entertaining. idgaf what everyone else thinks really. therefore...

i need to state that i am a huge supporter of kim k becoming a lawyer!!! yes, she is loaded but still the fact that she uses her platform and therefore her influence for a greater cause is more than admirable. as well as the fact that she has started to pursue a law degree after having four children, who are still small and managing a bunch of businesses at the same time. i mean studying law is hard af. just imagine being in your mid thirties, having to manage a dozen of businesses, keeping kanye west out of trouble, taking care of four small kids and studying law, while the world is publicly doubting you and hating on you for doing something more than great even. i mean i know people my age, who financially get supported by their parents, still live at home and have no other responsibilities other than their own education and they still can't do it. and i don't think it is something to be ashamed of because i know it is hard. but actually my whole point is that people love to hate on the kardashians and it gets boaaring. 

i actually think that ariana grande's music video to her song thank u next is a pop cultural masterpiece! 

i loved working at mcdonald's as a part-time job. i loved the people, who worked there. they were happy all the time and just cared about making enough money to look after their families. although mcdonald's literally stands for capitalism and commerce - there even is a term in political philosophy 'mcdonald's world' - and is one of the biggest corporations worldwide, i have never came across people, who are as precious as they are! they always looked out for one another and were all time ready to f*ck up everyone, who messed with their co-workers. i have never experienced a better working-environment since then. 

i am 25 years old and i still love playing sims. while i'm at it i love to watch dr. phil. recently i just spent my whole tip money on expansion packs. i am not even ashamed. but sometimes i have trouble adjusting to the real world after a gaming session. while walking around in the city i get inspired by buildings, which just make me wanna go home and build it. like what are friends, i don't need friends, i just want to build an imaginary fancy ass house. i also get upset about the fact that there is no cheat code in real life for deactivating your primary needs like sleep. i could have been a doctor and a piano prodigy by now man! or f*ckin' motherlode my bank account at least if you know what i'm sayinnnnn'. 

when i was little i dreamed of dying my hair blonde one day, getting fair skin, having blue eyes and a f*cking nose bridge. i hated my asian look. at some point i even got jealous of fellow asian people, whose skin was lighter than mine. then i went through a phase, when i kind of felt okay with how i looked but damned western beauty standards and mainstream media for making my five year old self and a lot of my other asian sisters feeling shitty about the way they looked. 

sex tourism was a huge part of why i struggled with my ethnic look as well. there were times, when i even felt slutty wearing skinny jeans. and i think this needs no further explanation. thank u next. 

i love the praisintheasian movements! and i adore the man, who in my eyes initiated that movement, mr. eddie huang! since fotb came out i stalked him on every platform! and while stalking (lol) i gradually began to understand how i can be okay with being asian and even celebrate being asian. i want to have coffee with this dude and i have so many questions to ask him and so many things i want to tell him! asdflkasjfd!!! but i am 500% sure that if i would ever meet him i would cry, vomit, laugh and then run away. or maybe i would act so creepy that he will put a restraining order on me. so writing down the possible outcomes of meeting eddie huang - maybe let's just not meet my idol then. 

when i'm retired, i'll own a bistro somewhere in indonesia with the best coffee, wine and my favorite food. and i'll give my best to use organic and regional food items and at the same time plan the menu after a zero-waste logic. every monday there will be book club. and every friday there will be local artists performing. i would recruit my staff properly and pay them a respectable wage. my bistro would be kind of a local meeting point. lol how realistic. let a gal dream! (the percentage of that happening is like non-existent. that's why i bought myself the sims 4 expansion pack 'dine out' lmfao)

one of my favorite books of all time is 'woyzeck' by georg büchner. just look it up! i am not worthy of describing this master piece. 

i will always chose hanging out wherever comfortable and chill over going out and partying. one of the main reasons is that most of the people there annoy me. in zurich the consumption of cocaine is insane and i find it annoying, unnecessary and petty. just go home if you're tired man. there is nothing attractive about a cocky ass person, who is high on cocaine! and maybe consider therapy if you need that kind of stuff to feel better about yourself. not really feel like wasting my time and money at those kind of venues. i am too boring for you anyways. srynotsry. 

something that has bothered me for a long time now.... to all those kind of feminists, who get offended by my perfectly winged eyeliner: you missed the point sis. bye 

i never understood how doing things that make yourself feel cute could be offensive to anyone or violate anyone's ideology. just don't look at me then ffs. thx muaaaachhhh. 

i am really bad at lending books from the library. i consider not doing that anymore until the day i'll become rich. from that day on i will hire an assistant, who will keep track of borrowed books. 

every time before my period starts i cry about dumb ass shit. and i am okay with it now. i am trying to keep in mind and actively remember that having my period could be the reason for this monthly emotional outbreak. but an individual still can forget the cause of the outbreak, which leads to a dramatic downward spiral every.single.time. howwwwww biiishhhh

i will not attend school/work/anything if i forget my headphones. i will turn around, go back home and get my fucking headphones. and at times, when the cash is flooooowiiiin' i'll just buy a new pair even they only pair available would cost me 40 bugs. but that is like the highest price i'd pay though lol. (7 lunch menus at my uni thoooo)

if you force me to read something in a car i will vom all over you! 

astrology kind of fascinates me and i am done being embarrassed about it lol. 

[hopefuldreamerpatrol]

INTERVIEW WITH JANET NISSENSON

Today we have Janet Nissenson, author of The Girl Of His Dreams and upcoming release of The Player Gets Coached.

Thank you Janet for participating in our interview.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how long you have been writing 

I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area my entire life, am happily married, have an adult daughter, and an energetic Golden Retriever. I’ve been writing in some form or another ever since my school years, but my first official book wasn’t published until five years ago.

Please tell me about your book “The Player Gets Coached” the second book in the “Bachelor” series  and what gave you the idea for this one.

I’ve always wanted to write a story where the hero considered himself irresistible to women and was thrown off his game when a woman he winds up being extremely attracted to has no interest in him. When I first created the character of Finn – the hero – in book one of the series, I knew I would use that particular storyline for his book.

What sort of research did you do to write this book?

very little, actually. Since the majority of the scenes in my books are set in San Francisco, and since I’m a native of the city, I’m very familiar with the surroundings. And when I discuss a character’s job or profession, I usually don’t get into too much detail, since I don’t want the story to revolve around that.

Where do you get the inspiration and ideas for each of your books?

sometimes they are based on real life situations or I get inspired by a movie or song. I strive not to make the storylines too unrealistic or far-fetched while still keeping them entertaining.

Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?

First I write a fairly detailed overall plot, and then I get into a chapter by chapter summary of what I want to include. I don’t do an outline, per se, more of an overall summary. And of course things do change at times as the writing progresses.

How long does it take you to write a book?

between the outline, the writing, and editing, it takes around four to five months. I spend a lot of time on the details and like to produce a real quality product – quality instead of quantity for me.

Do you have an agent or a publisher, and if you can share, who they are?

I do not have an agent or publisher, have always been self-published. I do use a company called Bookbaby, though, whose primary functions are to professionally format the e-book for me and then submit the finished files to all of the various e-book publishers.

What are you working on currently / next?

Next up is book three in the Bachelor trilogy, which will be Max’s story. I’m just in the very beginning stages of plotting that one out, looking at a tentative release date of Spring 2019.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

writing days and promotion/marketing/social media days are very different. When I’m in writing mode I’ll spend three to four hours a day writing and then proofreading when I finish a chapter. If I’ve finished a book and am in the marketing phase, I spend several hours a day filling out review request forms, contacting blogs for shares, posting on social media, etc.

What does your writing space look like?

My writing space/office is also the guest bedroom so I have about a third of the space for my desk/computer. I try to keep it as tidy as possible since I can’t stand clutter!  (happy to share a photo – it’s attached!)

What do you do in your free time when you are not writing?

exercise daily – either a yoga class, run, bike ride, hike; walk the dog; run errands and do chores; I read a newspaper every single day; try to read as often as possible; travel several times a year.

Out of all the books you have written, do you have a favourite?

I think it would have to be Claim, the third book in the Splendor trilogy. It’s just pure, unapologetic romance between my two favorite characters, and is the culmination of their epic love story.

Do you have any favourite authors?

I love Nina Lane, Sylvain Reynard, Barbara Delinsky, Sandra Brown, Jessica Hawkins, Nalini Singh.

What books have you read recently?

I’ve read the first two books in Deborah Harkness’s All Souls trilogy – A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night – and I’m about halfway through the final book of the trilogy The Book of Life.

What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?

receiving emails and messages from readers telling me how much they enjoy my books.  It’s made all the work worthwhile!

What were some of the challenges you faced with your writing and on the road to getting published?

when I first began in 2013 there was very little information available about self-publishing and I made lots of little mistakes along the way. I wasn’t very adept at social media and really had to learn along the way. I knew nothing about author events or Facebook Groups and fear I missed making some valuable connections early on in my writing career.

Do you have any wisdom to impart to any aspiring writers?

learn as much as you can about the business before you start writing and marketing your book. Consider this a true business endeavor and even if you’re on a budget don’t immediately start cutting corners. At the very least you need to have attractive, professional, original covers for your book made, because that is going to be the primary selling point for your books. And try if possible to hire on a social media consultant, experienced PA, or promotional company.

And finally please let our readers know where we can purchase your books.

All of my books are available at the major e-book retailers – Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Google Play. Paperbacks are available through Amazon. The quickest way to find links to all of them is at my website – www.janetnissenson.com.

Janet is a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently resides on the northern California coast with her husband Steve and Golden Retriever Max. She worked for more than two decades in the financial services industry before turning her focus to producing running events. She is a former long-distance runner, current avid yoga practitioner, is addicted to Pinterest, likes to travel and read. She has been writing for more than three decades, and is the author of the Inevitable series – six interconnected but standalone books, and the Splendor trilogy.  Her writing genre is steamy contemporary romance, specializing in what she likes to call “romance for romantics”.

Social Media Links

Website/Blog – http://www.janetnissenson.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/janetnissensonauthor

Twitter –  https://www.twitter.com/JNissenson

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7375780.Janet_Nissenson

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/janetlnissenson/

Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/janetnissenson/

Amazon Author Page – http://amzn.to/2blpG6n

    #INTERVIEW – Janet Nissenson, Author of The Player Gets Coached – @JNissenson @BookEnthusiast1 @BuoniAmiciPress INTERVIEW WITH JANET NISSENSON

[alessio-cala]

A year on from writing my first novel.

Over the past few years I’ve found it hard to pin-point exactly what it is I’ve wanted to do with my life. I think any person can relate to that on some level and sometimes you just need to throw yourself into something to really know if it is right for you.

When I was younger I really wanted to be a movie director. I watched a ton of movies from all eras growing up and was inspired by other directors and what they had achieved to create their vision. The thing is, I also went through other phases too. I really love video games and how they’ve evolved over the years so at some point growing up I wanted to be a game designer. I wanted to be a video editor, an actor... Point is, I could never really decide exactly what I wanted to do, but what I really wanted to do, was create something.

Video Review by Poppy Sansom.

About five years before the release of Forgotten Liberty, I wrote out a draft for a movie idea I had. I jotted some notes then worked on writing it out as a full synopsis and thought it might be easier to create it as a piece of literature rather than trying to produce it into an actual motion picture. I didn’t really give any real consideration to motive, character arcs, plot development and pretty soon it ended up being just another unfinished project on my pile. I had a lot of unfinished projects...

Feeling uninspired, I dropped the idea for about two years and focused on my career. Two years later I came across this same unfinished project and thought about the time I had collectively put into this pile of other unfinished ‘nothings’. I was somewhat disappointed in myself for never following through with an idea right to the end and I was at a point where I really wanted to prove to myself wrong and complete something I could look back on and know I’d created a full and finished product.

Banner design created for a previous promo featuring Frank with Sam's mysterious black book.

I gutted the original unfinished draft down to its core and before I even put pen to paper I brainstormed and organised the story’s beginning, middle and end. I looked at what I wanted it to be about, key themes, genre, characters, everything. It had to be personal to me on some level otherwise I wouldn’t feel connected to it like it was my own. I thought about my world views, my views on politics, technology, religion, history, relationships, family and ancestry. I have to say that when really taking it to that next level I actually started to get excited about writing again.

I worked as a freelance camera assistant in broadcast at the time. I wasn’t getting a lot of work during certain times of the year and needed money so I worked part time behind a bar in a golf club. The manager was lenient and understood that cameras was my primary line of work and so the last minute nature of calls in that industry made the two jobs a good pair. Eventually I was entrusted to work the morning shifts alone, opening and setting up for the day. It’d be busy for most of the time but I’d become fast with the routine and there was always those few moments in the day where I’d be writing notes on my order pad for the book. I’d go home in the evening, take the scrunched wad of tickets from my pocket and write it out in full, then be back at the golf club drafting dialogue again the next day. Once it was all complete after countless drafts and edits, I pitched it to publishing houses but most stated they only represented those with an agent. I tried agencies but many of them were seeking those with a recommendation or somebody with already established work so it was a bit of a ‘chicken or egg’ type situation.

Some awesome people in my life who've supported my creative outlet.

I later discovered self publishing via amazon’s KPD and CreateSpace schemes for free and thought I’d give it a shot. Sure I had to edit, design and market the book all on my own which was scary as hell but I kind of liked the idea of having 100% creative freedom to do as I pleased and went ahead with it. I realised I wasn’t bothered about mass profit and fame as an author. Although that would be amazing and one can only dream, I know I was only able to finish the book because it was something I genuinely enjoyed writing. It was something I myself wanted to read (and hope maybe others might enjoy it too!).

I was so nervous about how it might be received because fiction and art in general is such a subjective form. The feeling alone of hearing that people had taken time out of their lives to read something I had written was so overwhelming to me. Those who enjoyed it questioned whether or not their might be a sequel which I hadn’t even considered before I found out that people had connected with the characters of Forgotten Liberty more than I had anticipated. I mean I knew they were important to me but I never even dreamed that others would express their feelings and opinions to me about Frank, Annie, Sam and the rest of the group. A year later I can certainly say it has been a been a fulfilling experience and I hope that my small dedicated audience will someday grow into something that will allow me to dedicate more of my time to continue writing the stories I’ve begun creating.

Cover Design - Forgotten Liberty by Alessio Cala

To support my work, check out my book, Forgotten Liberty. Leaving a review allows others to see your feedback and thoughts on the book. The more reviews, the more likely people are willing to give up their time to read it.

[prussiantique]

Ode to Hushabye Valley – Notes

Sweet and sincere; apropos for the good lady @hushabyevalley​ whose art inspired it, I should hope. Here’s the usual note that accompanies most of my poetry, and I must apologise: it’s long and while I would be overjoyed if one were to read it, I do realise it’s not particularly interesting. Nonetheless, I would like to explain the hows and whys of a dedicatory poem, so if you want to understand all the allusions of the poem, please read the bit up till the second line of ‘===’s. Under those will be a more technical look into the workings of the poem. If you happen to stick with me from start to finish, then you have my sincerest thanks :) === So, the poem begins with an invocation to Hushabye, the eponymous lady of both the fantastical valley and the castle that is situated therein. Please visit the good lady here or here. Now, world-building is a fundamental aspect of high fantasy and science-fiction, and the world of Hushabye Valley is, at least to me, one that is suffused with romance, timelessness, fantasy, and quiet pathos,– something which I find in all three of the good lady’s ‘tales’: Hushabye Valley (fantasy), Calabi Yau Forest (fantasy), and Ada (sci-fi, but otherwise suffused with the same charm as the others). While the combination is becoming far more popular these days, high fantasy and slice-of-life are not related genres traditionally, as high fantasy is predominantly preoccupied with grand narratives and quests (think C. S. Lewis or J. R. R. Tolkein) while slice-of-life is focused on the memorable moments of everyday life. I find the good lady makes them work wonderfully well, hence the rather odd turn of phrase in ‘complete with beauty, mild and grand’. ‘Mild and grand’ are not cognate ideas, but by placing them both as interlinked qualities of a singular ‘beauty’, it (hopefully) suggests the all-encompassing nature of the splendours that Hushabye portrays in the valley. Puns and allusions are important in an ode of this kind: in a celebratory poem, it should be evident to the addressee exactly what it is that they have done or created that has garnered said praise. In equal measure, if one is sincere about one’s praise or admiration, one’s writing should show a certain amount of knowledge and love of that which is spoken. Some of these are, admittedly rather straightforward, such as ‘misty’, which alludes to the good lady’s tumblr ask: ‘Throw a question into the mist’; ‘a face of marble’, to the rather adorable groundskeeper and main character of Hushabye Valley, Marble; and ‘the archways of a bygone year’, to the banner of Hushabye Valley’s Patreon page. The last one is a little tenuous, if I had to be honest, as the emphasis in the banner is on the four plinths that flank Marble, but I felt ‘archways’ scanned better poetically than ‘plinth’. If I had to use ‘plinth’ instead, I’d have rewritten the line as a hexameter one thus: “Between the plinths engraved with words long worn away;” ‘Queer’ is another word I chose due to its double meaning, due to both its more traditional sense of strange or unusual,– and thus apropos to describe the faerie aspect of Hushabye’s ‘tales,– as well as the presence of yuri/girls’ love therein. I do realise that queer is a complicated word today, but I hope the phrase ‘love sincere’ dispels any doubts regarding which side of the fence my sympathies sit regarding the matter. The word ‘art’ ties into the idea of magic and fantasy as magic, like alchemy, was considered a branch of learning historically, and thus described in the same way we would talk about liberal arts. Of course, Hushabye herself is an accomplished artist of the visual kind, making this another fairly straightforward piece of wordplay. ‘Enfold me in your art’ is just something that I ask of good narratives: I like being immersed in something if I sincerely enjoy it. This ties into the last line and my word choice therein. Castle Hushabye is ‘a fonder home’ to the speaker of the poem, and it’s important to note the use of ‘fonder’ quite specifically. ‘Fonder’ is a comparative adjective, and when considered alongside the context of the speaker, who is evidently a traveller, it suggests that home or haven offered by Hushabye is a place that the speaker finder more loving (not merely lovely) than wherever the speaker originated from. Considering the state of the world today, I would happily escape into the good lady’s worlds and narratives and stay there. While reading, I am reminded of one of Tennyson’s lyric interludes from The Princess: The splendour falls on castle walls                And snowy summits old in story:         The long light shakes across the lakes,                And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.         O hark, O hear! how thin and clear,                And thinner, clearer, farther going!         O sweet and far from cliff and scar                The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.         O love, they die in yon rich sky,                They faint on hill or field or river:         Our echoes roll from soul to soul,                And grow for ever and for ever. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying. Beauty and pathos mixed into one, much like the good lady’s tales. <3 === Now to the more dry and technical parts of the piece. If you’ve no interest in the mechanics of poetry, feel free to head off. I promise I won’t mind. I will admit, the poem was intended to be a far longer work when I first started work on it, but that was quickly whittled down when I decided it’d be an acrostic. Long poems are, in addition, generally not something that most people enjoy reading. As this was a poem intended to be read by the good lady herself, it had to be kept short. The main thing I am genuinely unsatisfied with is the unusual rhyme scheme. It’s not irregular, per se, but rather it lacks a certain symmetry that I would have liked to have seen in a poem for someone whose work I sincerely enjoy. The poem’s rhyme scheme follows thus (each letter representing a rhyme word): a b b a c d d c || d e e d f f The ‘d’ rhyme appears four times in the poem as opposed to the two times of every other rhyme, which is, from a poet’s perspective both incongruous and weird in a rather untidy way. Now, ideally, the rhyme scheme of the poem would have looked like this: a b b a c d d c || e f f e g g which would have been better as each quatrain is kept self-contained in terms of rhyme; or, alternatively: a b b a b c c b || c d d c d d would have been another acceptable alternative, slowly phasing through interlocking rhymes in a similar manner to Terza Rima or the Spenserian stanza. An acrostic does pose a challenge poetically as, if I may put it this way, not all letters were created equal from a poetic stand-point. Different opening letters can create difficulties, whether it’s finding words with the correct rhythm or finding words that have a relevant meaning to the poem. Very frequently, the primary problem posed by an acrostic falls into one of three categories: words that begin with the correct letter but have absolutely nothing to do with the contents of the poem; words that fit perfectly into the poem but begin with the wrong letter; or words that have both the correctly letter and meaning but do not fit the rhythm. This last point is actually the cause of a great deal of the metrical irregularity of the piece, with frequent trochees,– as seen in the first foot of lines 1, 7, 9, 11 and 12,– and more occasional spondees,– as found in the first foot of lines 3, 4, and 14,– beginning the lines of what should be  predominantly iambic poem. Just a reminder for anyone who is less familiar with the poetic terminology, iambs, trochees, and spondees are metrical feet or stress patterns in poetry: iamb: ˘ ¯ or unstressed-stressed  (e.g. To be or not to be) trochee: ¯ ˘ or stressed-unstressed  spondee: ¯ ¯ or stressed-stressed In a short poem like this, one good skill to have is the ability to juggle the competing demands of metre and expression without being gagged by them. While one needs to express an idea within a confined space and obey the rules at the same time, one has to do things tastefully after all. An example of this would be in line 3:   ¯          ¯     /  ˘    ¯   /  ˘         ¯      /   ˘   ¯ / ˘     ¯ such   things   I   ere   had   scarce   partaken   in. While it does scan properly, it also falls rather awkwardly from a modern tongue due to the fairly archaic, but more flexible, syntax. Now if we were to expand it and rearrange the line into something more commonplace today, we can not only see how poetry condenses and re-patterns thought, but also how we ourselves have to ‘translate’ archaic poetry mentally to properly understand it.  Thus: such things I ere had scarce partaken in can be expanded to: such things [that] I [before] had [rarely] [taken part] in and can be further rearranged to make: such things [that] I had [rarely] [taken part in] [before] Moving onto structure: although I’ve split it into two stanzas, I would like to argue that the poem could and should be read, structurally, in three different ways: as an acrostic of two words, Hushabye and Valley; as an ode, with an unequal tripartite structure of strophe, antistrophe and epode; as a sonnet, with a false volta in line 9, and a true volta in line 13. I need not go into the acrostic, I think, as it’s probably the most straightforward part of the poem. The ode is where the invocation to ‘Hushabye’ plays its part. Ode are explicitly poems that laud something or someone. In addition, the structure of the poem’s primary movements can be split into three, albeit unequal parts: the strophe, in which the speaker invokes ‘Hushabye’ and describes the initial wonder that he/she experiences; the antistrophe, directed instead to the ‘Valley’ itself, where the beauty that is lauded by the strophe is exchanged from more enduring qualities like ‘tenderness’ and comfort, ‘as suggested by the word ‘languid’. The epode is the sudden change from invocation to imperative as can be seen in the verbs ‘Enfold’ and ‘bid’. As a sonnet, we have to read the poem as a single stanza. The rhyme scheme, however, supports this as it can neatly separate the poem into three quatrains and a couplet, the very same as many types of sonnet. From this perspective, the four lines beginning with ‘Valley’ instead belongs to the same continuum as ‘Hushabye’ and ‘A face…’, rather than being a distinct stanza of its own. This final way of looking at the poem, as a sonnet, is perhaps the only one which also offers a reason for the metrical shift in the final couplet. Rather than being in iambic pentameter, the two lines are actually alexandrines, i.e. iambic hexameter, with a caesura or break in the very middle of those lines, as can be clearly seen in: ‘Enfold me in your art, || and bid me never roam:’ The alexandrine is fairly unusual in English poetry but, when used in a predominantly pentametrical context, serves to slow the pace of the iambs and to create a falling motion, a perfect technique if one wanted to finish a poem in a manner that suggests as much affection as ease. === Long way to go, but if you’ve managed to get here, then you have my sincerest thanks and affection~

[littleyellowdevil-blog]

[Final Evaluation]

This final project had us planning, designing and creating a game that was aimed at a specific target audience. Before anything else was done, we had a vote for who we would be aiming this game at. We ended up with a 3D platformer aimed at 13 year old girls, but the game had to be suitable for people aged 7 and up. We then interviewed for the roles that we wanted to take. I chose to go for the role of System Designer, as I enjoyed the coding aspect of the final project of the first year and wanted to learn more from this role. I also took this role as I was concerned that very few people would want to take this important job, so I wanted it in order to try and make a better game.

Before I could get to do any system design, I needed to do two important things. First I would need to learn how to use the game engine and then research what systems are used in games that are similar to ours, as well as explore how these can affect our game as a whole. As another member of the system design team wanted to do character movement, I decided to look into doing collectables and hazards.

 I began by looking into games that had collectables. I wanted to learn why they include them and their purpose. From this research I found uses of them that I felt were both positive and negative. This led me to decide that if our game would have collectables then they should serve a purpose and not be there to just be collected. I then used this at a later point and attempted to create a mini game that had the player control a ball trying to pick up some mini cubes. This was to both help me learn the engine and learn things like how to make an object be picked up by a player.

My next step was to look into the other aspect of system design that I would be doing, that being the hazards that the player would need to overcome. Similar to how I did my research on collectables, I chose a couple of games, one that was aimed at a similar audience and had a similar genre while the other aimed at an older audience and a slightly different genre. This was to compare the differences of the hazards. Doing this I found that the hazards from the game aimed at an older audience required more thinking, while the ones aimed at younger audience were more reactionary and required less thinking. I would later try to incorporate this into the game by having the main hazard in the game be reactionary, but also have a little timing in as we are aiming for a slightly older audience that the one I looked at.

This is where we hit our first hurdle. The game engine that we planned to use, Unreal, would not work on the college computers. This meant that we had to switch to Unity, meaning we had to go through several weeks of installing the new engine before it was useable. In order to ensure my time was not wasted I decided to do some work to help with the progress of the game that did not require the game engine.

As part of the project I created an asset that could be used in the final product. This was a Window, but I also decided that with a simple change then it could easily be a Mirror. Before designing the shape I looked into the art style of our game, that being Gothic. More specifically how it has been used in architecture. I used images of existing Gothic windows and some reading I did in order to develop the shape of the window. I also explored possible designs of the inside of the window from some primary research I did in Plymouth. The final design was made in Maya, a 3D modelling program. This would allow easy transfer into Unity at a later point. I also created a 3D model of a bath design by another person, as we needed some more assets and Unity was not ready.

  This is when we were hit with a major setback. About halfway through the project, my fellow system designer had lost all his work due to an unknown computer issue. This set his work back by several weeks. While at first I did not worry too much, as I expected him to get right back to work and catch up, I soon realised that he had lost all motivation. After about a week we decided to move him onto other, smaller pieces of work, but this left a massive component to our game missing. I decided to take on this work myself as I had already dabbled into character movement, so felt that I would be able to get it done the best out of the remaining designers. This did impact my work and would end up costing the game any collectables. We also had a group talk where I voiced my opinion on how to proceed with this game. I convinced the rest of the team that we should put all of our efforts into doing ONE level rather than a whole game. This would refocus our efforts and allow us to have a more polished product.

After this issue had been sorted out, I began to create all the systems that I would need in the game. This included a moving platform, a pushing piston and the character controller. One issue I had with the moving platform was that the character would not stick to it and the platform would move out from under their feet. To fix this I had to create a piece of code that told the engine to make the character a child object of the platform when they collided and remove it when they were no longer touching. The bigger issue however was finding a character control system that worked. I went through three different movement systems before settling on one. This was due to various reasons including; one not working, another being too clunky and another being too difficult to add animations to. Eventually I did find a system that worked, even learned a little about skeletal animation in the process and how to use Blender, Maya and Unity together in order to make high quality animated characters, as well as the importance of using the correct program for the correct job.

Once I had everything set up I finally received a copy of the first level, so I began to get it all working inside this level. This was going well, but I encountered several issues that I would need to sort out. These were no gravity, no collisions and cluttered asset window. The third was simply a matter of parenting assets to empty objects. But the others required a little more looking around for a fix. After Several hours, I was unable to find the solution. In the end I asked for the help of another system designer, my hope being that he might have an idea on how to fix this… Turns out I had not placed a collider onto the main character… Without his help I would have never seen this issue and would likely not have got the game running.

With this I now had a fully functional character in a level, and after some more messing around inside unity I was able to implement my hazard and moving platform too. Everything was ready for the exhibition.

The exhibition week finally came. It would take place at First Site and would last the whole week. Each of us was assigned into small groups and would look after the exhibit at different times and days. During the time I spent there I helped tend to the people playing the game. This consisted mostly of young boys, not the target audience we aimed for. As they played I took note of what they found hard and noticed that only one person could get past the first part. One kid also said they like the game but that it needs more levels. Sadly due to the incidents we faced towards the end of development, we were unable to add the full level, let alone more levels. But I also think that had we began level development sooner, instead of stretching out the design phase, we might have made up the lost time. I also would have slowed down the pistons too, as people had a hard time avoiding them at their current speed

[edc-creations-blog]

Black Cotton by Tomeekha Pitre

BLACK COTTON is a photography art book that celebrates the beauty of African American Women, the Afro hair style and the diversity of  African Decent individuals.  We do this through fashion, hair, makeup, digital media and Photography.

BLACK COTTON brilliantly marries these strengths and presents a new definition of the African Woman while telling the photographic journey of the African presence in other cultures.  “Have you ever wondered what it is about the Afro hairstyle that makes people stop, look, and stare?

To some, It may remind them of a time period, to others it may be simple admiration, a reminder of their inhibitions, or the proof within self that they can be free to rock the most powerful hairstyle that represents the FREEDOM of self expression.

Beyond the stylistic glamour of the Afro, the hairstyle is full of history; from styling combs, spiritual association, the unforgettable Black Pride era, to the African presence in Asian culture.”

BLACK COTTON re-identifies the pride and dignity of our African American women here and abroad. We are sure you will feel the same.

  About the Author Tomeekha is a successful business professional within the corporate world of medical healthcare. She has curated and represented emerging visual artists, produced theatre productions, and spearheads HUEMANITEE, Inc.

Tomeekha is the co-owner of Black Cotton, LLC where she is Publisher of literary projects for the Black Cotton Publishing division. Her expertise in business and the arts allows her to enjoy consulting for startup businesses and creative projects.

Her debut novel, Earth’s Quiet Chaos, is a fictional narrative inspired by life experiences. She is spirit-led to share stories that will uplift, empower, educate and inspire individuals to live in the highest version of self.

Website:  https://www.tomeekhapitre.com

Purchase Black Cotton by Tomeekha Pitre Book genre: Art & Beauty Celebrating the beauty of the black woman Target audience:  African-American women, ages 10-65 https://www.tomeekhapitre.com/product-page/black-cotton

Intimate Conversation with Tomeekha Pitre

Tomeekha is a successful business professional within the corporate world of medical healthcare. She is a zealot for multi-media art and community advocacy for artists.  Tomeekha is the co-owner of Black Cotton, LLC where she is Publisher of literary projects for the Black Cotton Publishing division. Her expertise in business and the arts allows her to enjoy consulting for startup businesses and creative projects. Her debut novel, Earth’s Quiet Chaos, is a fictional narrative inspired by life experiences. She is spirit-led to share stories that will uplift, empower, educate and inspire individuals to live in the highest version of self.

BPM:  Tell us about your passion for writing. Why do you write? What drives you? TPE:  This is an interesting question because it reminds me of a haiku I wrote to address questions about why I paint. It goes like this, Music is the reason Painting is my life I write to tell the story

In the past, I mostly wrote poems and short essays. It wasn’t until the year of 2012 that I acknowledged my passion to tell stories. I love to write. If I’m thinking it, I have a strong need to write it. What drives me is being of service. I’ve adopted something my husband always says, “We were born of creativity to create.”  This statement resonates with me because I strongly feel that we show each other the way by sharing our stories.

BPM:  How did you initially break into the publishing industry? Did you ever self-publish? Why or why not? TPE:  In 2013, my husband and I published our first book.  That book is an art photography coffee table book titled, “Black Cotton”. The development and research took so much time and we learned so much that we decided to birth an LLC named after our first published book, Black Cotton LLC. Our business is a media and publishing company. The purpose of our business is to create an opening for independent authors with the intent to (not just publish their book) work side by side. This way the author learns each step of the publishing process. The goal is to provide them with the tools to self-publish their next project and create their own businesses.

BPM:  What hurdles, if any, did you have to overcome as a new author and business owner? TPE: WOW! Let me start with business owner; and I’m going to keep it real because I’m all about sharing lessons learned. Our biggest hurdles were accounting, marketing, sales and promotions. These “lessons learned,” taught us that we couldn’t do everything as well as we thought we could on our own. We had to come real in knowing our skill set, know our weak areas and pay someone with the proven skill to fill our weak areas and trust them to do what they do. The other lesson is there has to be a benefit value for everyone and everything you do and plan for, for the best results.

As an author, my biggest hurdle writing conflict. Oh, my goodness. I was so scared because I know the power of written words. I was scared to write some deadly horrible for a character or have a character get shot or anything. OH MY GOODNESS… I had to get over it. It was the hardest thing as a writer for me to overcome.

BPM:  Our life experiences, challenges and success help define who we are on many levels. At what point in your career did you discover your real worth and own it? TPE:  YES! Great question. I’m 42 and I didn’t get this until the age of 37 or 38 and it’s something that I wish I had discovered at 28. We can’t expect others to respect our worth if we don’t own it ourselves. What that means is – I know I’m really good at taking an idea and through the planning, development and implementation phases. So if I’m going to be of service for anyone in this area, I have a minimum and maximum price for my services. Because I’m serious about what I do, putting a price tag on my work will only attract those that are serious about their work and will pay for what they need.

BPM:  Success leaves clues, whose clues did you follow on your journey? TPE:  I followed and follow the clues left behind from my ancestors. However, in 2012 I attended a healing retreat with Queen Afua. After that retreat, the group decided to continue our meet ups via conference call.  We were doing the gateway work outlined in Sacred Woman by Queen Afua. The first gateway was: Sacred Words. Within each gateway we’re to create an altar in the spirit of the spiritual guardian and in gateway 1 the Kemetic Spiritual Guardian is Tehuti (The scribe). The altar is to consist of specific artifacts that carry the energy of each gateway. It also calls for adding pictures of ancestors, elders, and contemporaries to follow in their footsteps.  So I posted the following pictures on my wall and typed out each of their names under their pictures:

Ancestors: Zora Neale Hurston and Phillis Wheatley Elders: Sonia Sanchez and Maya Angelou (living at the time) Contemporaries: Sister Souljah and Edwidge Dandicat

I wasn’t thinking of writing a book of any kind at this point. My purpose in conquering this gateway was to journal every day.  Little did I know, that God had another form of journaling in store for me. During gateway 1, is when I began writing the story of Earth’s Quiet Chaos.

BPM:  Do you set out to educate or inspire, entertain or illuminate a particular subject? TPE:  My purpose in displaying any of my gifts is done in the spirit of healing and inspiring others. I used to co-host a poetry venue and one of the things I’d always say is that we learn and heal from each other. Which is why it is a requirement in life for us to share our stories (even those we are ashamed of) and our gifts, because for every person who thinks you or your story or your gift is whack, there is that one that will be healed and inspired to BE. So, with that, I’d say I set out to inspire and heal.

BPM:  Did you learn anything personal from writing this book? TPE:  Although this book is fictional, it was inspired by my relationship with my youngest sister. Writing it was healing for me. It was like I gave birth to something new and refreshing. One of the big things I learned was taking it one step at a time. Don’t rush the process. This was really hard for me because I have a project manager background, so I was stressing and getting overwhelmed when I wasn’t sticking to the timeline. Then a soft voice said, “Why are you rushing? This book isn’t being created for you. Let it take its time and it will be the right time.”  I was like, “Yeah. Right on!” So, I learned how to take my time and not rush.

BPM:  What was your primary quest in publishing this book? Why now? TPE:  My quest in publishing this book is to make it available for people to read in hopes that it reaches the eyes of those in need of it.  Why now? Well, because the book chooses its own time to be released.

BPM:  What should readers DO after reading this book? TPE: Well, after recommending the book and/or purchasing for their friends or family – Pray, meditate, and give thanks for no longer allowing another person’s journey to compromise their own.

BPM:  Readers you can follow the author online at the links below. Tomeekha’s website:  http://www.tomeekhapitre.com FB: TomeekhaPitre Instagram: Tomeekha witter: @tomeekha

  Black Cotton by Tomeekha Pitre BLACK COTTON is a photography art book that celebrates the beauty of African American Women, the Afro hair style and the diversity of  African Decent individuals. 

[aion-rsa]

INTERVIEW: AfterShock Editor-in-Chief on the Company’s Progress So Far

Comic book industry observers were fairly shocked back in April 2015, when the news hit that editor Mike Marts was leaving his position at Marvel to join AfterShock Comics, a freshly announced publisher with comics veteran Joe Pruett on board as Publisher. After all, Marts was one of the highest-profile editors in work-for-hire superhero comics, having recently re-enlisted as an Executive Editor at Marvel a year earlier after a long stint at DC Comics, where he headed up the Batman line during a time that brought creative talent including Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo to the franchise.

AfterShock launched its first comics in December 2015, which included some major creative talent, many of which worked with Marts during his time at Marvel and DC; including Marguerite Bennett and Ariela Kristantina on “Insexts,” Garth Ennis and Simon Coleby on “Dreaming Eagles,” Paul Jenkins and Andy Clarke on “Replica,” and the “Harley Quinn” writing team of Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti plus artist Rafael de Latorre on “SuperZero.” In the past 15 months, AfterShock has released roughly two dozen series, from a deliberately broad selection of genres — and with more to come in the near future, including April’s “Eleanor and the Egret” from John Layman and Sam Kieth and June’s “Jimmy’s Bastards” from Garth Ennis and Ross Braun.

RELATED: Garth Ennis’ New Series Jimmy’s Bastards Reveals Release Date, Covers

Of course, it’s not easy to start a new publisher based entirely on new and unconnected concepts, even with major creative talent attached and a breakout hit in Bennett and de Latorre’s “Animosity.” CBR spoke in-depth with Marts about this formative period in AfterShock’s history, how he determines what’s a right fit for the company, the company’s propensity to attract big-name creators and his own personal satisfaction since leaving Marvel and DC behind to focus on a wholly new endeavor.

CBR: Mike, it’s almost two years since the initial announcement of AfterShock, and a little more than a year since the comics started coming out. As things continue to take shape and unfold, are things about where you hoped them to be at this point? How has the experience matched up with your expectations?

Mike Marts: I would say where we’re at now has far exceeded my initial expectations. We’re in such a good place now with such a fantastic roster of talent, both on the writing side and the art side. The amount of fantastic projects that we’ve come out with since our launch is really kind of staggering when I take a step back and look at what we’ve managed to produce. I think at this point we’ve got about 15 different titles that we’ve launched onto the marketplace, and several others that we’ve announced that we have coming up over the next few months. It all comes down to the team that we have in place at AfterShock.

We certainly didn’t waste any time after announcing the company and launching it. We got straight to work developing projects, recruiting talent, and we came out with what we felt was an extremely strong launch last December in 2015, with four different titles. In my opinion, we haven’t taken a break since then. We just upped the game and continued to come out with some great books.

It’s been a robust pace in the past year-plus. At the same time, we all know it’s not easy to launch new concepts in the comics market — AfterShock has launched close to 20 at this pint in a year or so. There has been the advantage of having some big-name creators on board, which helps, but it’s still tough. How have you dealt with those challenges?

I think both Joe Pruett and I combined have so many years of experience in the industry that when we got to work at AfterShock, we kind of just picked up the same pace and rhythm from how I operated at DC and Marvel, and how Joe operated at Desperado and Caliber. We just got straight to making comic books, and making comic books with people that we enjoyed working with; relationships that we had in the past with people like Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti and Mark Waid and Brian Azzarello. These are all guys and girls that we worked with in the past, and we knew we wanted to make comics with them with this new company.

We didn’t treat it so much like a company just starting out, or a company that had to go through growing pains.We’ve had growing paints, but we really just tackled it like business as usual; just got straight to making what we felt were high-quality comic books that people would enjoy reading.

The books are diverse, genre-wise, which was part of AfterShock’s mission from the onset. Do you see something of a unifying vision for what makes something an AfterShock book, or does it come down to the individual project?

There really isn’t a single vision as far as content goes, beyond quality. We want people to equate the AfterShock logo and brand with the highest quality product. If there’s any single, unifying theme, that’s it. Beyond that, we look to different talent, and different story ideas and different genres. We don’t specifically set out to get a certain representation of different genres — we look for stories that we can relate to, stories that engage us. I think it’s been a really nice byproduct from that section process that we’ve gotten such diverse product, and a little something for everyone.

How much of building this lineup has been creators reaching out to you, and how much of it is you reaching out to creators? Naturally, there are a creators you were familiar with from your time at Marvel and DC.

It’s definitely been a combination. There are people that we definitely recruited and sought out and wanted to work with, and then there were also people that sought us out. Some of them were people that Joe and I had worked with in the past, and other people had been brand new to working with both of us. We’ve also had what I like to call the Pied Piper effect — even though we’ve only been publishing a little over a year, I think the word of mouth has been spreading that AfterShock is a good place to work, and a good place for creators to bring their projects. Some of the acquisitions we’ve had are because of that — because creators told their friends or their peers, “Hey, you should give AfterShock a shot, because I’ve had a good time there.”

In looking at AfterShock’s release, there are plenty of big names, especially on the writers front — people know from Marvel, DC, Image. Is there room there for creators who might be more on the coming-up phase of their career — or do you see AfterShock more of a home for veterans?

I think it’s a perfect mix. We certainly have a group of creators that are experienced, and have been in the industry for a while, and have already made their mark and are now doing projects with us. At the same time, we have a good group of younger, talented creators who have yet to reach their peek — but people whose stock is rising with each project they do, like a Marguerite Bennett. I think there will be some other names that we’re going to bring to people over the next few weeks and months. You’ll see a whole wave of younger talent. It’s been a fantastic mix so far of different levels of creators working for us.

And in terms of some of the nuts and bolts from the past year-plus, let’s talk about sales. It’s a difficult market for new concepts no matter who’s working on them — at the same time, I’ve read in other interviews that you’ve made it clear that you’re not looking to dominate market share . But obviously, it’s a business. Are you content with how that end has gone so far, and where are you looking to grow?

Growth is definitely important, and that’s something that we talk about all the time. It’s certainly a goal of ours. Our first mission is to focus on the quality of the product. If making every book as high quality as we can means that we’re able to put eight or nine books our a month, then that’s probably where we’re at. As we grow, if that number gets up to be 10, 11, 12, 13 — that’ll be great, too. It’s all a matter, I think, of how we feel about the product that we’re putting out, and if we’re able to deliver the high quality to readers.

We’re very happy with where we’re at so far, especially in terms with the reaction we’ve gotten from readers and reviewers — the critics seem to really enjoy our product. We were nominated for several year-end awards, which was a great honor. At the same time, we’re continuing to build our fan base. We’ve had retailer partners who are great at supporting us, and we’re so thankful for them. But then there’s a whole group of retailers who maybe haven’t heard the full message from AfterShock yet — our goal is to win them over, and convince them we have great product they should be putting on their shelves. There’s always that mission to get people’s attention, and to convert them to our cause and our mission.

And speaking of business-y type things, has there been much Hollywood attention for any of those books? It seems tailor-made for that, dating back to the fact the initial announcement of AfterShock’s existence was on Deadline, though we haven’t heard about specific deals yet. Is that something that’s been part of the equation so far?

The primary focus for us is the publishing of the comic books. Any attention that we get in that area would certainly be icing on the proverbial cake. We have such great talent and such, I think, interesting, unique books that would do well in other media, whether it’s TV or movies or video games — the short answer is, certainly, we’ve been getting attention in that area, and hopefully that’s something that keeps growing.

For you personally, as someone who had so many years at Marvel and DC doing the superhero thing, what has this experience been like for you? You mentioned your approach has been the same, but it also has to have been a very different experience for you, working on these wholly new concepts, and introducing a new publisher to the world — after working for the two biggest ones for so many years. How personally satisfying has this been?

It’s been extremely satisfying. I think, even though I didn’t know it, I’ve kind of been preparing for something like this for a long time, personally, in the way that I put together comics. I was given great opportunities, at DC Comics especially and also at Marvel. but DC — the faith and trust they put into me to shape the Batman line of comics I think was a really good training ground for the building blocks of putting a company together. I feel like I was kind of training for something like this for a long time without knowing.

The personal satisfaction that I have from this company and the books I’m putting together has been like no other. Even though at Marvel and DC I got to work on the heroes of my childhood, whether it was Batman or the X-Men, here everything has been created a new. There’s blood, sweat and tears from the creators and all of us at AfterShock in each project that we do. It’s very much like seeing a kid born, and seeing them grow up, and helping them through the early stages of their lives. It’s been extremely satisfying in that regard.

At the same time, it still, to me, feels like business as usual. I get up every day, and I go to my desk and I make comic books. But the end product has been extremely satisfying and rewarding.

Even someone with as many years in the business as you, in a lot of ways this is something totally new. How has your approach changed in terms of what you want AfterShock to be? Is it pretty consistent with how you originally envisioned it back in 2015, or have things evolved in the last couple of years?

I think it’s, for me, consistent with our approach to the company mission statement when we first started. I don’t think we’ve deviated too much, but we’ve adapted as we’ve gone along. There are things that we didn’t foresee in the beginning, new challenges that have come up since we’ve launched. Our team is so good at adapting and figuring our solutions to problems, that we’ve really kind of rolled along with it. It helped us to make a better business, and to make a better product.

The last thing I was curious about — AfterShock doesn’t have a Free Comic Book Day offering this year. Any particular reason for that?

No story behind it, no particular reason. I think Free Comic Book Day is such a great event for the industry, and any non-participation on our part this year is really because when we do get involved with Free Comic Book Day, we want to come with the right project. We have a few releases coming up, and a few different things, but with each thing, we try to time it, and kind of cater to the audience. Maybe next year we will have that project that fits in the best way possible.

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