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thekillerssluts · 4 years

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We’ve Got A File On You: Win Butler

In a year when a lot of our plans have been on hold, Win Butler has been busy. In April, the Arcade Fire ringleader let us know that the band had been working on music shortly before lockdown, and then he let us hear some of it. Last week, on the night of the election, the band debuted a new song called “Generation A.” Apparently, Butler was one of the people who found quarantine more inspiring than suffocating. Just a couple weeks ago, he amended his previous hints with the update that he’s written “two or three” Arcade Fire albums thanks to having to stay still all year long.

It seems like there’ll be a whole lot of new Arcade Fire goings-on to parse sometime on the horizon, but that isn’t the reason Butler and I got on the phone one recent October afternoon. Butler’s not quite ready to talk about forthcoming music yet, aside from saying this era of writing gives him flashbacks to that which preceded The Suburbs and promising “The new shit is about some of the best shit we’ve ever done” as we say goodbye.

In the meantime, there have been some milestones this year: The Suburbs turned 10; Butler turned 40. There is, of course, a whole lot of rich Arcade Fire history between their early ’00s origins and now. There are too many high-profile collabs to dig through, too many pop culture crossovers to cover, in just one conversation. But before Arcade Fire’s next chapter begins, while we both had a moment of quiet at home in the year 2020, Butler and I took some time to dig back through highlights and surprises from across his career.

Appearing In Bill & Ted Face The Music (2020)

How did this happen?

WIN BUTLER: They were filming in New Orleans. I’m kind of the exact age where Bill & Ted really has a soft spot in my worldview. [Laughs] That was just like, yeah, of course I want to be in the Future Council. That’s the part I was born to play. No, it’s funny, it was just one of these random things that come through the email. Usually, it’s, “Nope, nope, nope, nope.” But this was, “Tell me when, tell me where, I’ll be there.” It was on soundstages. When we were filming it, Tommy Lee from Mötley Crüe was back there, and he sort of disappeared at some point. I got to bring my son, who’s six. He was hanging out and we were talking to Keanu about Canada and punk bands back in the day. It was a pretty sweet hang. It was a bright spot in 2020, let me put it that way.

You say you get these emails — is that random stuff they want Arcade Fire to do, or there’ve been other cameos you turned down?

BUTLER: Oh, no, it’s mostly random licensing or stuff that goes to the junk box. But every once in a while, it’s like, “Hey, that sounds like a nice way to spend the day.” I started out in film. I went to Sarah Lawrence College in New York around 2000. I had really wanted to go to film school, and I could never get in. [Laughs] Initially, the song “The Suburbs” was an idea I had for a film and it seemed easier to make a song than a film.

The Suburbs (2010)

That was a convenient segue. The Suburbs just turned 10. I was wondering if you have gone back and revisited it much amidst that anniversary.

BUTLER: The whole experience of Funeral was such a rollercoaster. We were on the road so long. We didn’t have much of a break going into the second record. For The Suburbs, Régine and I — I don’t think we saw anyone for a year straight before we even started demoing or anything for that record.

It was a time in my life… I don’t know, I was in my late twenties, and there were all these details of my childhood in Houston. You know, I moved to Canada when I was 19. [Houston] almost felt like this other life I had. I would close my eyes and imagine riding my bike through town and trying to find the edges of my memory. There was kind of all this emotion that came up through that, and I wanted to capture it. It’s funny, as a songwriter, most of the time I feel like my mind is living in the near future. You’re listening for these little signals in the air. This was almost inhabiting the emotional space of these memories but thinking about it as the future.

When you say it like that, I’m curious if the album feels different to you now that you’re a father yourself and another 10 years down the line. Like another layer to that refracted youth, sort of?

BUTLER: Totally. In a way, I feel like the last year has been a parallel to that year before The Suburbs. Then I was kind of a hermit by choice, and this has more been the world conspiring to make me a hermit, but it has been a really introspective. In a sense, the material that we’ve been working on feels the same way, this hybrid of your emotional landscape and the future.

It’s almost seasonal, like a trade wind that blows in once in a while. I remember we played with Neil Young when he was still doing the Bridge School Benefit and hearing him sing “Old Man” as an old man, almost like he wrote the song when he was 22 to sing when he was 80. I think there’s an element on that Suburbs record that’s like that as well.

Winning The Grammy For Album Of The Year (2011)

Obviously that was a huge turning point for Arcade Fire because you won the Grammy the following year. As a suburban indie fan at the time, I had no real grasp on how big certain bands were. From where I was, it was pretty trippy that you guys won that.

BUTLER: I mean, tell me about it. It was definitely pretty trippy.

There are very, very early moments of you guys getting linked up with some iconic artists. Arcade Fire got plenty of respect from the beginning. But at the same time, the Grammys is something different. That’s a moment of mainstream insurgency. Ten years on, you’re one of the big indie bands of your generation, but also one of the only rock bands to get to that level in recent times.

BUTLER: I don’t know it was the best record that year, but it was definitely the best record nominated that year. I mean, we were up against a Lady Gaga remix record and like, Katy Perry. We weren’t up against a great Eminem record, we were up against a not-that-great Eminem record. In a certain sense, I was like, “Well, I think we should win.” [Laughs] I think we had the best record.

I remember in high school Radiohead and Björk were the two [new artists I loved]. I bought The Bends the day it came out, I bought Homogenic the day it came out. And then everything else I listened to was artists that had broken up 20 years earlier. I remember watching the Grammys the year OK Computer was nominated and it didn’t win, and I was just like, “Oh, that thing must not mean anything then.” I remember Dylan won, and it’s a really great Dylan record, but objectively OK Computer was the best record. So if that didn’t win, then what the hell does that thing mean? After that, I didn’t think about the Grammys that much. It wasn’t on my list of my dreams of my career and what I could accomplish and what I wanted to do.

For me, I was looking more at a band like the Cure or New Order, these bands that were really just artistic entities but you would hear them at a pharmacy once in a while. Like, I’d hear “Bizarre Love Triangle” come on in the pharmacy in Houston and just be like, “Is this from outer space? What the fuck is this?” My dreams for our band was to do for other people what those bands did for me, which was just throw me a fucking lifeline. Because I was just like, “What is this world, and where are my people, and how can I feel OK existing?” My grandfather played in big bands and played with Louis Armstrong, and he bought me a guitar when I was 15. I held on to that thing — if I didn’t have that I don’t think I would’ve made it out of high school. It literally saved my life. I don’t think I could exist without that.

For me, the Grammy thing was strangely moving. Even up until the moment we won, I just felt like an interloper. Even when we won, people looked at us like aliens. Like, “Who? What?” You know, I’m a competitive person. It was really exciting. Cool, awesome, the universe makes sense for one second. It’s interesting, I didn’t expect it to mean anything until we won, and then it meant something.

David Bowie (2005, 2013, Throughout)

I alluded to this earlier but: The Grammys were like an industry stamp of approval. From the beginning, however, you guys were embraced by a lot of elder artists — particularly artists who were influences on the band. One I wanted to talk about was David Bowie. He was a very early supporter; you performed together in 2005, which turned into a live EP. Then he shows up on “Reflektor” in 2013. Somewhere around 2015, you talked about how you’d come to regard him as this professor-type character in your life. He came to your first New York show, right?

BUTLER: Our first headlining show, when we played at the Bowery, Bowie and David Byrne came to that show.

Wow, no pressure huh.

BUTLER: It sort of set the table. Like, “Well, I guess this is how it’s going to be right out of the gate.” [Laughs] It’s funny, I have a photo of David in my studio that I look at when I’m working sometimes. It’s just him in a dressing room with one of those kind of Hollywood mirrors behind him. He really… I don’t know, he felt some sort of spiritual connection with us. It wasn’t like he wanted anything from us. I just think he wanted to say, “Hey guys, you’re going on the right path, keep going.”

I was emailing him over all those years. I don’t know if you have anyone close to you that’s died and you go back and read those emails, it’s really these strange digital fragments of someone you care about. After he sang on “Reflektor,” Régine and I bought him a painting in Haiti as a thank you gift. We were supposed to mail it to him and we got busy and forgot about it, and in the interim he passed. I knew he wasn’t well, but I didn’t know he was dying. Maybe a couple months later I remembered the painting and I dug it out and it was a painting of a black star. A voodoo painting of a black star with rays coming out of it.

I didn’t know anything about his record being Blackstar or anything like that. Now it’s on the wall of my bedroom. Shit like that sometimes happens in my life. I take it for what it is. I don’t know exactly what that means and I just feel grateful… I don’t know man. Even just how inspiring, what he put into his art even in death. He’s someone I think about at least on a weekly basis.

Backing Up Mick Jagger On SNL (2012), Playing With The Rolling Stones (2013)

Obviously that was an ongoing relationship, and you’ve worked with David Byrne too, and you referenced playing with Neil Young. Still: Being onstage with the Rolling Stones seems particularly daunting.

BUTLER: We were Mick’s backing band on SNL. SNL is maybe one of my favorite American institutions. I don’t know if it’s the Canadian thing since Lorne [Michaels] is Canadian. The first time we did it, it was just like, “This dude is my friend.” I don’t know if Lorne’s kids like Arcade Fire or something. But I was in New York randomly and he was like, “Mick’s doing a thing,” and I said, “We do a pretty amazing cover of ‘The Last Time,’” and he said “Come on down, let’s do it.” Then we’re Mick’s backing band. I don’t know, pretty fucking cool.

What is Mick Jagger like to work with?

BUTLER: Mick is like: As soon as the light goes on, he’s a different person. When he turns it on, it’s like this muscle memory — like if you were with the greatest ballet dancer ever, and you say go and this energy comes out of him that is so practiced. It’s someone who’s an absolute master, after practicing something for decades and decades and decades. That was pretty amazing to see. You’re chatting with someone, we’re at the piano and we’re talking about an arrangement, “OK, let’s do a run,” and then, “Boom! Shit!” There he is.

It’s this other level. I feel like people at that level, music’s not something they’re fucking around with. [Laughs] Music is a spirit. You hear something, and if it strikes a chord with you, it connects something at your deepest core. People like that, when you see them do their thing, it really is this other plane. It’s not this show thing. It’s more of a possession. You can hear it in the music.

I feel like I’ve listened to more music during COVID than any time since I was like, 18. I had this moment when I was listening to these amazing records from the 1950s. You can hear the room. It’s almost like audio VR — you can hear the drummer here and the bass player over here. There’s a sense of space, particularly to that older music. It’s a snapshot. If you hear “La Bamba,” right now, that is what it is. It’s a spirit captured on vinyl, on a piece of tape. It’s alive within that.

With people like Mick, they’re a little bit closer to the spirit of rock ’n’ roll — a literal spirit, not a figurative spirit. Bowie was the same. When he played with us in Central Park, the second he hit the stage he’s illuminated. You’re like, “Oh, shit, that’s what it is.” He’s a human when you’re talking to him and as soon as he’s in it, he’s touched by another thing.

SNL (2007-Present)

I’m glad you brought SNL up, because you’ve been on it a bunch of times, but you’re also one of the musical acts they’ve brought into skits. Like, they actually wrote a game show around you. How does that work? Did they write that sketch with you guys, or you walked in and they’re like, “Hey, by the way…”

BUTLER: I can’t remember, I think we’ve been six or seven times. We’ve been there for a couple different casts at this point. The Lonely Island dudes, those are so my dudes. In another life, I would’ve been in Lonely Island, that would’ve been my dream to just fuck around with my friends; when we were first writing music we were kinda joking around because you’re too insecure to try. A lot of times [at SNL], we’ve played for the staff when we’re there, because you get so fired up to play one or two songs and you’re playing live so your endorphins are running so we just sort of keep playing afterwards. I feel like they appreciate that, it kinda feels like you’re on the same team or something.

I was backstage at SNL once last year, and it is pretty crazy to see it all from the inside like that.

BUTLER: It’s so crazy. They write it all that fucking week, and then to see the differences between the dress rehearsal and the live show. They do a little meeting in Lorne’s office. They’ve done the dress rehearsal and it’s still this tiny office and every cameraman and every cast member is crammed in this little office and Lorne’s like, “Make it a blue light instead of a green light at minute 23, and change this word to this word, I don’t think that’s funny, change that, OK, go,” and everyone’s got pencils writing this down. It’s still fucking that. And you know, it hits and misses sometimes, but they’re doing it.

How long did you have to work on your De Niro impression for that skit?

BUTLER: It’s actually more of a Billy Baldwin impersonation, but it seemed to work for De Niro as well. [Laughs] My only real impression is I can look exactly like Billy Baldwin if I want to. If there’s any casting directors reading this and you need a Billy Baldwin impersonator, I’m your man.

LCD Soundsystem’s Goodbye Show (2011)

You’re the one who ended up serendipitously coining the title of the live album.

BUTLER: [Laughs] That is true. That was genuine. He was being a little talky.

I moved to New York before I moved to Montreal, and I would go to the city and go to shows and I didn’t see one fucking thing that was good in the whole year. I was like, “Wait, I thought New York was the shit, where is it?” All I saw was bad, very industry bands. I couldn’t find anything, I wasn’t cool enough to figure out what was going on. There’s very few bands that I really think of, like bands of my generation where I heard them and thought “These are my people.” For me it was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD, and Wolf Parade. When I heard those bands, I thought, “These are my fellow pilgrims.” It was art, DIY, no bullshit, just trying to make something great that communicates to people. It’s real and emotional.

James is really just one of us. He’s just such a great engineer and really into the way things sound and really passionate about details. It’s rare to meet people like that. James was working with us when Bowie came in, when we were in Electric Lady. James had never met Bowie before. The first 7” he ever bought was “Fame.” We’re in this studio, and the last time Bowie was there he had cut “Fame” with John Lennon, in the same studio. We were all like, “This is the right place to be.”

James is just a man after my own heart. We did a tour with them on Neon Bible. We were playing to a thousand people in Salt Like City and I was like, “Man, in a couple years a lot more people are going to wish they were at this show.” What a fucking great live band.

Scoring Her (2013)

What kind of headspace did you have to get into for this vs. making an album?

BUTLER: Spike [Jonze] came to a bunch of our early shows on Funeral. The second I met him he was just immediately one of my best friends. He thinks about the world the same way. Even though we work in different mediums he was someone I knew I’d be working with in some capacity. I was visiting LA and I was staying with Spike just randomly one time, in the early days of him working on the script for Her. I was reading the script and immediately thinking about how it could sound, and I was like, “Well, we should fucking do the score to this movie.”

When you’re working on a record, it’s so rigid, what works on a song and what doesn’t work on a song. It can be so limiting in a way. Within the band, there’s so many different talents and color palettes and things people bring to the table, so it was cool to do something where the boss is the picture. It doesn’t matter how anyone feels about a piece, if it’s working for Spike, if it’s working in harmony with the picture, that’s what the boss is — the emotionality of the picture. It’s not about you, it’s in service to this bigger thing. It was a cool opportunity for all of us to use different aspects of things we do, and to work with Owen [Pallett], who had done a lot of strings on our records. It uses a totally different part of your brain.

Do you want to do more of that kind of work, or was it this specific story from Spike that spoke to you?

BUTLER: I can say pretty confidently that I’ll work with Spike in the future. It definitely takes a lot of energy. It’s definitely something I’m interested in, but I feel like while I’ve got the juice it’s good to spend as much energy writing songs as we can. It’s pretty fucking hard to make a record, believe it or not.

Future’s “Might As Well” Sampling “Owl” From Her(2017)

Are you a big Future fan?

BUTLER: I love Future. There’s something in the rhythm of the thing he does that actually reminds me of some music from Haiti, in this really deep, subtle way I can’t put my finger on. There’s something almost mystical in the way he sounds, and I thought that was really cool that they sampled that soundtrack. His shit does sound like the future still. I think it’s pretty special.

The Reach Of ”Wake Up” (2004-Present)

This song has had this big pop-culture reach over the years. U2 used it as their walk-on music in the ‘00s. It was used in the trailer for another Spike movie, Where The Wild Things Are. Macy Gray and John Legend both covered it. Microsoft ripped it off for a commercial. It was used in a commercial for LA’s bid for the Olympics.

BUTLER: That Microsoft money went to Haiti, by the way. They did rip it off. [Laughs] Thank you Microsoft.

As far as I know that’s far from an exhaustive list, too. It’s just one of those songs that’s gone out and become a part of the atmosphere. Even a lot of big bands don’t necessarily have a song like that. What do you think it is about “Wake Up” that’s registered in so many different contexts?

BUTLER: From the time we wrote that song to now, the biggest difference in my life is I’ve traveled the world and I’ve been able to play music in all these different cultures and feel the ways different countries feel music. Not only listening to the music in other countries but seeing how they feel the music I play.

I remember around The Suburbs we played in rural Haiti. It was our first time playing in a place where nobody in the audience had any of the reference points of the music we played. We were playing in the mountains, there were people walking in barefoot to the concert. We were playing these songs we had been touring the world with, and the energy from the crowd was so different. The things they responded to, the things they felt, it actually fundamentally changed the way I heard my own music. It made me start to think about music not just from my own perspective but culturally how people hear it and feel it.

I think the one thing that kind of transcends everything across all cultures is melody. Régine was playing that melody on piano in our rehearsal room. I hear it like it was yesterday. It was like, “That’s the shit.” [Laughs] Being present and being in the room, hearing something and really giving yourself to it, just singing that shit like it really meant it and feeling the power of that melody and trying to push it until it breaks. That’s something I think about, just how great it is to have people to play music with. To say it like you mean it.

I remember singing that song in Montreal, in these lofts. Most of our early fans, the first time we played that song, they were like “Fuck this shit, I want the acoustic shit.” People were so negative. I remember a lot of early fans didn’t come to our shows after that because we were suddenly screaming at the top of our lungs and playing electric guitars. It was like, “Everyone here hates this, that means we must be going in the right direction.” [Laughs] But yeah, don’t be discouraged if people hate something. It doesn’t mean shit.

https://www.stereogum.com/2105395/win-butler-interview-spike-jonze-arcade-fire-snl-mick-jagger-david-bowie/interviews/weve-got-a-file-on-you/

#Arcade Fire #Win Butler #interview

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ofgeneticperfection · 4 years

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Scarlet’s chain of sweetness

Courtesy of @madamdirectcr

5 THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER.

1. Indomitable - She pretty much does what she wants, how she wants, whenever she wants. If she wants something? She manipulates her way into getting it. She doesn’t stop until she has it and hardly anything will sway her otherwise. She’s extremely hard to control when determined and set on a task in mind. She’s hard to control period. She’s got a streak of wild, impulsive, and loves to toy with others be it malicious or just to tease. Her will is near impossible to break and she never believes that she can’t do something even if it is the impossible. Atop of that she’s fairly hard to defeat physically, she’ll bring more than a challenge if ever attack or if a loved one is ever hurt. I’m not saying that she can’t be brought down because she can, but it’s going to take more than a couple of hits.

2. Emotional Depth- There’s not just one tier to Isrieal, there’s a million and it’s a labyrinth. She comes off as cold, arrogant, prideful but that’s the main wall that she hides behind. She’s strong and will exude complete confidence most of the time while being sly, cunning, coy, and whatever else she can throw at you. These are the emotions she shows to the world but the rest she’s buried so deep inside that she forgets they even exist. Inside she’s broken, sad, lonely, tormented but she has her ways of hiding them and biting back the pain that feeling these emotions brings. It’s from the conditions she’s been stuck in for her whole life at Hojo’s mercy and the lies she’s had to tell herself to make it easier to handle. Of course, this naturally makes her volatile with bursts of anger or other strong emotions and if she let’s one slip out they all come spilling out sooner or later. She does have a tendency to use special sedative injections to subdue these emotions whenever she feels any starting to well up. Deep under it all, however, she loves with all of her heart once she is sure that she will not be hurt. She’s always afraid of that in a way, but there is no in between. You have her all or you have her nothing. But once there she is quite passionate and protective and more soft and innocent then she’d originally lead you to think.

3. Manipulative - Life is a game and she plays to win. At least that’s how one survives in ShinRa. She learned from one of the best manipulators out there and now she’s known to even manipulate the Professor himself. She rose herself from experiment to assistant Director by playing him and she plays everyone around as she sees necessary in order to get what she needs. She often shows what she wants to show and nothing more, near every move and every article of clothing is precisely calculated towards whomever she is meeting with. Of course, only if you don’t know her well.

4. Deals with the Devil- Oh yes, she loves to make deals but don’t worry they’re mostly fair and she is one to keep to her word and her promises. Despite her demeanor she is quite loyal when she promises something. If you work out a trade or a bargain she’ll do her best to uphold her end of it, getting you what you want in return. There is a lot that can be traded between science and other departments after all and she’s not afraid to go behind the Professor’s back here and there if it means obtaining something she’s personally after in the end.

5. A.I Alien - Lastly, yes I love the fact she is a hybrid and loves to play with quantum theory and A.I in the future. I always love the sci-fi aesthetics and concepts and the idea of something beautiful having a monster inside. She’s at conflict with this part of herself, often not knowing how to fully accept it but at least she is in control of the cells and not the other way around. She’s also always been focused on uploading consciousness and prolonging and bringing others back to life since she doesn’t age. It’s from there that she gets pulled into quantum theories and eventually breaks through to a system A.I that she makes a deal with to her own advantage, but this is a plot I haven’t touched in a while. Really I love everything about her but these are some fun and dominating concepts.

5 PEOPLE ON HERE YOU LOVE, AND WHY.

1. @animus-inspire Where do I start? Seriously. This was unexpected but yet one of the best things that has ever happened in my writing history. I love love love this ship and all the AU’s of it so much! And beyond that, it’s so rare to get me to talk a lot but I can’t seem to ever shut up around you xD. But, I LOVE talking to you and the connection we have and the fact that we have so many stinking ideas all the damn time and they all get played off each other so easily and that we can share the same obsessions and YES WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! But you are also one of the sweetest and most full of life people I know on here and I absolutely love writing with you, you’ve made it so great :3. And you are seriously best Reeve and have made me love all the Reeve. <3

2. @thefirstthaumaturge I’ve known you for about like, well.....well over 10 years xD And I love you more as the years go on. We’ve survived drama days together and now we can laugh about all the stupid RP stuff we did in the past. I also enjoy all of our new RPs and how great its been to see both our OCs grow and thrive in these communities. I also super love talking to you and playing video games with you and watching WestWorld and movies with you. Basically, you make everything super fun and I don’t know what I’d do without you around. I also love how we always manage to say/type the same things at the same time all the damn time xD Digital sisters but its as real as it gets.

3. @shinraweirdscience @xbroken-science @insidious-scientist I love all of my Hojo’s that deal with Izzy’s crazy ass and put up with me so thank you guys! I’m always down for crazy plots and all the trauma that comes with them so don’t ever feel bad about throwing anything at me or damaging Izzy. It’s what makes her her after all. And I find it all a lot of fun. I’m always ears for ideas so let me know!

4. @sadistic-second I don’t write a whole lot with you here but you’re always good company in the voice chats and you make playing games a lot of fun as well. I like our little group we have going on to do all the stuffs. I love all the gifs and icons you make, and the paracord is very creative as well. It’s always cool to see what you can do. Of course I like all the funny things too. @apathetic-ruler I have to say you’re writing is amazing, I love it! I haven’t wrote with your Ru but I love past life Ru xD One of these day’s I’ll figure out what to do with a Rufus I’m sure.

5. @ivory-paragon We don’t write much but I love playing FFXIV with you and being in all your groups. It’s a very fun and enjoyable atmosphere and you make me laugh all the time. If I hadn’t found you I wouldn’t have found any of this awesome community and my great shippy ships that have come out of it. @rikelusshinra I love all of our RP’s and stuff too. You have a super amazing OC that seems to fit right in and I’ve loved writing with Rike. Even if you are busy now. It’s rare Izzy finds ships that work but you are one of those lucky ones that she fits well with and I love all the ideas we play with as well. So to my FFU peeps! Even if we don’t write on tumblr much I still love you both.

Honorable mentions:

@cinderella-gurei God, you are the best Chadley and you break my damn heart all the time in our RPs. Izzy will never forgive herself completely but she’s glad to have you around and so am I! She will protecc forever. <3

@madamdirectcr I love your Scarlet! I want to see what happes :3 @makeupandmateria Another lovely Scarlet I had to mention as well!

5 SONGS EITHER YOU OR YOUR MUSE REGARD AS A ‘GUILTY PLEASURE’ THAT ALWAYS MAKES YOU SMILE.

So okay, I’ve thought about this all day and I’ll do a few categories. Since I revolve around music so heavily and no lie have hundreds of my own music videos in my head for every song I’ve ever heard, yes I’m one of THOSE people. xD

So I’ll start with what I’ve been listening to lately that really fits in with WestWorld Izzy and Logan!Reeve ShinuestiLos xD I can’t seem to get Poker Face out of my head for her and a couple other Lady Gaga songs that fit in Like this one too.

Also I really love these songs but they are so random. This one mostly thanks to ARI, but I can never not listen to it when it comes on. Also Mortal Kombat. This song makes me so fired up every time I hear any variation of it xD. Even now! alkdjfsldjfsdljf, but I do really like this mix.

Then we can’t forget those emo day songs. Mr. Brightside is one I can never resist singing. It’s just so damn good! Then there is Holiday by Greenday and can’t forget Miss Murder by AFI xD

Now I have an extremely long list of electronic type, synth, darkwave, trance, whatever the heck categories they fall under that I just like to call my Robot music xD Here’s a couple with AI themes that I’ll just throw out here. We Appreciate Power and quite literally A.I

And lastly this one reminds me of Midgar so much and Izzy, but I always see her singing this if she ever made a music video. (which apparently she’s made many) But she’d definitely be in front of wall sized windows with Midgar in the background and the labs, and its also why she sometimes refers to it as Electric City, idk who the guy would be singing with her but if you want it to be you just let me know? Lol. After all she is Indistinct. Ill Defined. Uncontrolled. Unconfined.

Tagged by: @animus-inspire (this took me forever Reeeeeve x.x)

Tagging: @thefirstthaumaturge

#THERE I DID IT #Omg #So long #But there we have it xD #Woo!

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houseofvans · 5 years

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ART SCHOOL | INTERVIEW WITH JUSTINE JONES

Baltimore based artist and illustrator Justine Jones creates her vein of psychedelic fantasy horror drawings–filled with tiny black lines and an occasional pop of bright colors–which have been featured on the covers of Kobold Press and Warlock magazine. Using the hashtag #VisibleWomen to amplify the voices and portfolios of women comic artists, Justine has be able to do more illustrative work and character design. We’re excited to find out more about Justine’s artistic journey, her love of role-playing games, comics, art, her influences and much more. . . Take the leap!

Photography courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself? Hi, I’m Justine! I’ve lived in Baltimore Maryland for the past decade and currently live in a small apartment downtown with my partner and my shiba inu Mo, who is a cool and grumpy guy.

How would you describe your work to someone who is just coming across it? I used to call it storybook surrealism, but now I guess it’s more like psychedelic fantasy horror? Monsters and Wizards. Lots of tiny black lines, sometimes with lots of bright intense colors.

How did you start from doodling and drawing to what you do now? I feel like it sort of happened organically. When I was younger, I would do just pencil drawings, and then in my late teens, I got more into using micron pens. I didn’t really discover color until a few years ago, so I’m a huge color noob. I think a lot of it also came from working in comic shops for years and going to conventions. Seeing all of these amazing artists grow, and thinking hey, I could maybe also do that! I first started with t-shirt designs because it just seemed really fun, and I used to have a really hard time selling prints. People don’t need more prints, but they can always use clothes! Now i’m getting more into illustrative work and character design, and I’m loving it!

Who and what were some of your early artistic influences? When I was a baby, my dad hung an Aubrey Beardsley print over my crib. My mom thought it would make me deranged, and maybe it did, but it also made me love ink work and Art Nouveau style haha. I was obsessed with sword and sorcery stuff and loooved cartoons like He-Man and She-ra, and later, Pirates of Darkwater. I also spent a lot of time in elementary school copying sexy comic book ladies from 90s comics, and I know that is pretty far from what I do now, but it’s honestly how I learned to draw. I also copied a lot from children’s storybooks when I was little.

What are some things that inspire the drawings you make? What are some of your favorite creatures and beings you like to explore in your art? Video games are a huge inspiration to me, from SNES JRPGs, to games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Also folklore and mythology from around the world, and fantasy artwork from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Basically anything fantasy. My favorite things to draw are wizards and monsters. I love body horror, anything disgusting and beautiful at the same time. I take a lot of inspiration from Manga, like Berserk, or anything Junji Ito. I’ve done a lot of Illustrations for Clark Ashton Smith stories, which I find endlessly inspiring, visually. Just like, fantasy/ sci fi/ dying earth type stuff.

When did you start collaborating with Kobold Press on creating some awesome fantasy art covers for their publications? I remember getting the email from them when I was on the way to Necronomicon Providence in 2017. I thiiiink they found my stuff through the visible women hashtag on twitter? I was very excited because I owned some of their adventures from back in the day when I played Pathfinder!! Plus, I have always always wanted to draw things for table top RPGs, so it’s been really cool to actually do it! The Warlock mag that I’ve been doing covers for is awesome because it’s going for an old school DND vibe, but it’s all things that are made for 5th edition. You can get it on their patreon, and I hiiiighly recommend it to anyone who plays 5e dnd!!

Take us through your artistic process? What’s a typical day in the studio like? Haha extremely chaotic! I don’t even have a real set workspace, which I really need to change, I just draw where ever. Just chill out, listen to music or a podcast, and draw. If I’m further along in a drawing and don’t need to focus so much, I’ll watch movies or video gameπ– let’s plays while I’m drawing. I also love to listen to/ watch things that are in theme with what I’m drawing, to give me some inspiration. I try to go to coffee shops to change things up sometimes! Basically I just do a bunch of sketches until something materializes, and then I will just slowly refine the sketch. I guess it’s not that exciting, but it’s cool to see the first sketch and the finished product because in my head, the sketch always looked like the finished product, but when you go back to look at it, it’s usually just indecipherable scribbles.

What are your essential art tools and materials? 90% of my art is just done using a .05 mechanical pencil and micron pens. I also draw everything on smooth bristol. If I have time and want to make my lines super crisp before I scan them in, i will use a light box. Then for color, I generally use Kyle T Webster brushes in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet. If I’m on the go, I like to draw things in Procreate on my iPad Pro, but I’m definitely not as good at doing detailed lines digitally.

What do you do when you’re not drawing or working on projects? How do you unplug? Haha, I wish I ever truly unplugged, I think my brain is now melded into the internet! But mostly I love to play video games. JRPGs and anything From Software/ Soulsborne (currently obsessed with Sekiro!) I also love comics and manga. I’ve been reading The Girl From the Other Side, which is a beautiful dark fairytale Manga by Nagabe. I also just got one called Witch Hat Atelier, which has the most amazing art! My partner also owns an insane amount of board games, so we play a lot of those. I’m obsessed with coffee, and work part time at a coffee shop, and my favorite thing in the world to do is eat good food.

What has been the most challenging project you’ve worked on? How did you overcome those obstacles and what did you take away from it? I made a kind of cosmic horror short story in mini comic form last year for SPX, I had very little time, and it was my first time actually writing a story/ dialogue to go with my pictures. It was insanely challenging. I ended up with a finished product that I’m really proud of and that I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on. I think it really drove home the fact that I just need to stick with things and finish them, even if I don’t feel like they’re perfect. I’m never going to have the time that I want, and I’m never going to feel like anything is perfect. I can still make a great thing!

What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps and pursue art? Don’t spend 4 years doing nothing, but playing World of Warcraft (Or doooo?). Uhhh, believe in yourself. Be nice to other artists. Draw all the time! Immerse yourself in things that inspire you! Also, like I said before, things don’t need to be perfect. Let go of perfect, because sometimes it’s an unattainable ideal. Just do as good as you can, and don’t beat yourself up so much! I’m horrible at advice!!!

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks? Haha, I moved to Baltimore to go to MICA like, 14 years ago, and then realized I was poor, and would never be able to go to MICA… sooo… I never went to real art school. I wanted to go so bad, and I still wish I’d had that experience, but I want other people who can’t afford it to know that you don’t NEED it. Things are a bit harder, but you can find so much free info online if you have the drive, you can teach yourself so many things. Don’t get discouraged just because art school isn’t gonna happen for you.

What are your favorite style of VANS? I love my lavender/ sea fog Authentic Vans, because they basically go with anything, but I am always eyeing those Sk8-His.

Anything you can share that is coming up? Ahhhh, I have some realllly cool things that I can’t share yet, but just everyone keep an eye out (It will be very exciting, i swear)!! As for things I can share, I’m working on some new t-shirt designs, and another comic, and also plan on drawing some more cool wizards in my spare time. So if you wanna see some cool wizards, uhhh, come to my Instagram–you guys! Let’s hang out and look at wizards. And talk about wizards. And if you don’t like wizards well, don’t come I guess.

FOLLOW JUSTINE: INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE | TWITTER | STORE

#Art #Vans #Vans Art #Justine Jones #Vans Girls #Comics #illustration #Art School #Interview #Baltimore

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mfackenthal · 5 years

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The MFackenthal Show and @maxattack-powell!

banner by @whenyourheartskipsabeat

Hello all! Welcome back to the MFackenthal Show! I am so glad that you are here today. If you’re new to the show, I encourage you to go here to find past episodes. There are only a few.

The MFackenthal Show has officially been green lit for more episodes! We used to only be able to afford to run the show every once in a while, but the people have spoken - they want to see the show more often! The funding came through and we hope to give the people what they want! Do you want to be on the show? Do you have someone that you want to see on the show? If so - reblog or comment or send a message to let MFackenthal know! We’ll see what we can do! We have this show and two others lined up for you!

I could not be more excited to bring you this next guest. She has been with the fandom for quite a while. She was one of the first people I started communicating with on a regular basis. She has talked me up, supported me from the beginning and though she hasn’t written much lately - when she does drop a chapter - it’s long and it’s worth it! Please welcome to the stage @maxattack-powell!!!!! (Insert Cheering here!)

(Megs greets Max with a hug - which means that Megs essentially runs and leaps into Max’s arms. Max is fairly tall and Megs is barely 5′3″)

Megs: Max, I am so happy that you are here! Can you believe that you’re here today?

Max: Haha, yes - I can. But I am honored to be here.

Megs: Max, sit with me. For those in the audience who may not know you, tell us about when and why you joined the fandom.

Max: Yanno, I always made my best guess at this before, but I knew you were going to ask me this - so I looked it up. Did you know that now there’s this Official Tumblr blog called @memories, and it knows down to the minute when someone joined? Let me go check it… *digs through the blogs posts* Okay, it was apparently 07/31/2017 at 1:17:15 PM, which means it must have been on the weekend because of the time of day haha.

As for why ... hmm, well… I found the Choices app one day, when it only had like… three series I think! Anyone else remember that time?

Megs: I do! Because I was playing Hollywood University I think I downloaded choices the day the app came out.

Max: Awh! Well, I fell in love with The Freshman Series. Mostly because of Chris Powell and Zack Zilberg, and a long time ago I was in another fandom that had tons of fan fiction/art… so I googled “Choices Chris Powell” and any other combination I could think of looking for possible fanfiction. The fandom was almost non existent at the time. There was actually one person, who has long since left the fandom due to fandom dramas - we all know the kinds I’m talking about - but a few others had started posting their works as well… and I got hooked. Eventually I felt the bug to write how I felt TF should play out as well, and here I am *looks back at the “joined tumblr timestamp”* uhh… 20ish months ago! Haha!!

Megs: LOL, when you put it that way it doesn’t sound like that long ago ... lets call a spade a spade - that was almost 2 years ago! That’s amazing! You have to have seen so much in this fandom! What is it that keeps you around?

Max: There are so many awesome people in this fandom, in this world we’ve all created for our pixelated loves lol. Soooo many creative minds to follow and enjoy. The content people share, original or repost… it’s great.

... Unfortunately it is also a double edge sword ... the drama, the jealousy, the rumors, the hate, etc. I’ve sadly seen far too much and it comes in so many forms… it’s unnecessary.

Megs: I couldn’t agree more! If you could tell the fandom one thing - what would it be?

Max: It would be that we’re all here because we want to have a good time. No one came here to get ridiculed, to be scrutinized or chastised for their opinions, their likes or dislikes. Real life has enough of that going on. We are all individuals - if you want to be treated nicely, fairly, etc. you must also do the same to others. There is no reason someone must agree with you or anyone else. Live and let live. Embrace our differences as it makes us who we are. Most of the issues I see stem from a simple difference in opinion. That is ridiculous. Everyone’s entitled to their own thoughts. We must build each other up, not tear one another down. No one here owes anyone anything, now go have some fun.

(The room stands up in applause!)

Megs: You should definitely stand up and take a bow, Max!

(Max does just as Megs suggests - but she also makes Megs stand up and do the same. Laughing, they both sit back down.)

Awh, Max ... okay, let’s get back to you. We know that you’d fight anyone for the position of The Chris Powell Appreciation/Fan Club. And for those who don’t know, Max has been retelling the full The Freshman series, interweaving dialogue and plot from PB but also adding much of her own content. MC and Chris get a backstory. Chris gets best friends from back home. What is your favorite piece that you have written?

Max: Oh geez hahaha. Um… can I just say The Freshman Chronicles as a whole? I’ve written for different fandoms, and I have original WIPs but I’ll stick to the Choices fandom for this answer. I’ve put a lot of time into TFC. Tons of additional story work, research on characters and their backgrounds, PBs and my own OCs. You should see my file folder setup haha. It’s crazy… I have so many docs, pictures and gifs. Most organized by location (Hartfeld, Boston, New Haven, Cherryfield, etc.), then by character… and on some I get more detailed and split them by emotion and situation.

Megs: By what again?

Max: Emotion and Situation ... Yeah. I warned you it was crazy! *laughs* TFC was the reason I joined tumblr really. Instead of staying a Nonny and only reading others posted works. I wanted to comment, like and reblog what I enjoyed, while I also worked on my own contribution to the fandom. I had a vision for Chris and MC that had more than the game could give, and I wanted to see if i was still any good at writing since it had been years and years… it’s funny to see how different my current posts are from my first over a year ago. Makes me want to go update a few because they could use a little help *awkward laugh*

Megs: I’m sure we can all relate to that! Hmmm ... I’m starting to get a feel for this, I think, but what is your writing process?

Max: Lots of planning, mostly in my head. When I feel like I have a decent concept I might type out some notes or work it into my outline (another crazy thing I have going for TFC because it’s so big haha). But usually, once I hatch out a basic plan on where I’m going… I just start typing. Keeping the general plot and main points I want to hit in mind, I simply start typing… keeping it as organic as possible. It usually works out well.

Megs: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Max: First, and most importantly… do it because you enjoy it. Don’t do it for likes, reblogs, popularity, etc. If you’re having a good time dreaming things up and typing them out, that’s what’s important. The rest is just an extra bonus. Also, don’t give up. It’s easy to become discouraged, frustrated, distracted and more… but remember - your creative cells can’t be running all the time. They need to rest just like your body. Take breaks… go read, play games, hang out with friends/family, watch a movie… whatever. Just do something to help you relax, to reset and you’ll very probably find inspiration and/or motivation to continue. Remember, this is for fun. *wink and finger guns*

Megs: So what do you do for fun?

Max: I actually have a few things I do regularly. A big one is making costumes/props for conventions, small productions, etc. I also train and show horses. I do the same with my dogs, but more for competitions and not really any shows. I’ve always drawn, sculpted, painted since I was old enough to hold things with my hands… and about a year ago I started learning how to do it digitally as well. I run (not at all for fun haha) and play hockey (totally for fun), follow comics and watch anime. I've restored houses, cars and old furniture. I like to read as much as I can - that’s an important one. I also play video games. Something I’ve done since I was young… I've even competed, and won, a few gaming tournaments.

Megs: You don’t know how to be bored do you?

Max: LOL, Megs. Yeah, um, so there’s a “few” *makes air quotes* of my never ending list of interests haha. Gives me a lot to talk about with people, eh?

Megs: Not that I can understand how you’d have time for this ... but what do you do to help pay for your many activities?

Max: Oh like, my job? Well that can be a simple answer… like “I work in software” but the more interesting way to say it is I use my MBA, experience in business, the financial industry and technology to improve and stabilize my customers environment through technological solutions that fit their specific needs. *presses lips together* I solve problems by designing solutions. Bored yet? Hahaha.

Megs: No! That sounds wonderful! Who doesn’t want their stuff to be designed better? Any chance you could start working for tumblr? Some of us have a few complaints ... tags ... mobile losing our work ...

Max: I’m not sure they could pay me enough to help them with all of their problems! But, tumblr, feel free to send me an offer!

Megs: Seriously - send her a 6 figure offer!

Max: Okay, Megs, well now I have a question for you.

Megs: Uhhhh, Max, that’s not exactly how this is supposed to go.

Max: Yeah, don’t care. Your fans need to know ... Hoooow do you find the time to read and review so much?! And I know that’s just in this fandom. I know you read books and you may read for other fandoms!? Seriously, it’s awesome. We need to clock your page flipping speed haha.

Megs: *blushes* Oh my gosh, you have to stop! Here’s the key to how I do it ... I wake up at 5:30am and read for about 30 minutes. Then I workout and start my day. I read in line at the grocery stores. I read on my breaks at work.

Max: Oh my gosh - you’re such a nerd and I love that! Okay, nerd, what is your favorite thing to do, besides reading all the things of course?

Megs: This show, of course! And, of course, getting people to do silly things on this show with me. For instance - with as athletic as you are, I hear you can’t jump?

Max: Megs, shhhhh. You told me you weren’t going to bring that up.

Megs: I did no such thing! (Meg says while laughing) I said I might not bring it up.

Max: Uh huh.

(Kris Kross’s “Jump” starts playing in the studio)

Megs: Come on - show me what you’ve got!

(Megs starts “singing” along and jumping along with the song. Max stays seated. Megs finally pulls Max up into a standing position. Max plays along and “jumps” next to Megs - getting no air at all.)

Oh, come on Max - put some real strength in to it. Jump! Jump! Jump!

(Max jumps and gets the smallest amount of air time.)

Max: *laughing* Megs - I’m tall! I don’t need to jump to reach things!

Megs: *laughing* That must be nice. I got good at this type of jumping because I had to learn to jump up and gently grab things from the grocery so I didn’t knock everything down.

*continuing to jump around the audience - getting everyone to join her* And that’s all for the show today today, folks! Thank you for watching!! Have a great night!

#The Mfackenthal Show #With @maxattack-powell #Official show number 3 #But the 4th interview #Ellen has nothing on me #Oh who are we kidding #I wish I were half as cool as Ellen #She gets paid to do this #I do this for free #But I love it!

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returnsandreturns · 5 years

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Long Forgotten WIP Amnesty

I found some fics gathering dust in my DropBox and am just going to post what I have of them so I can exorcise them.

This is a Psych fic that was going to be an elaborate casefic involving Shawn’s first high school boyfriend and possibly Shawn/Lassiter (even though Shawn/Gus is obvs where my heart truly lies) but is now just this tiny hint of what could’ve been.

1992: SBPD Summer Youth Program

They’re dusting for fingerprints in the station’s breakroom when Shawn’s head collides with somebody else’s underneath one of the tables. He falls back and says, “God, crawl on the floor much,” and is met with a laugh. When he looks up, Shawn sees a boy smiling back at him. At first glance, Shawn documents: blonde hair, freckles, bruises on his arms, blue eyes. Really blue eyes. He’s wearing the same oversized polo that they’re all wearing, but he’s got his rolled up to sunburnt shoulders. And he’s still smiling.

“I have this weird feeling that they’re just having us do this so we’ll have to clean the whole place afterward,” the boy says. “What do you think?”

“Unpaid labor seems like the name of the game here,” Shawn agrees. Earlier, they cleaned up crime scenes that just happened to be in the bathrooms. He didn’t expect police work would involve so much mopping.

“I’m Julian,” the boy continues. “Want to see if we can get out of here without getting caught? We’re half a mile away from a What-a-Burger.”

“There’s an exit in the back of the kitchen that comes out by the street,” Shawn replies, after a long moment. “We could try dusting for stupid imaginary fingerprints in that direction.”

Julian’s smile grows wider.

They get out without anybody noticing, and they buy big greasy cheeseburgers and split a large order of fries. Julian tells him about his dad, who’s a detective in the next city over and who seems a lot like Shawn’s dad, mostly because they’re both assholes. Shawn watches the way that Julian’s fingers tap the table and the way he licks salt off his lips and the way he watches Shawn, too.

“So, how good did you do on the test to get forced to spend your summer doing this?” Julian asks.

I’m a freaky cop prodigy, Shawn thinks. I am the chosen one. It’s terrible.

“I did fine,” he says. “Good enough. Passing grade.”

Julian squints at him.

“You’re the kid who got a perfect score, aren’t you?”

“Okay, I’m their genius messiah,” Shawn says. “Don’t hold it against me.”

“I would never,” Julian says. “I guessed it was you after you totally showed up Officer Von Fuckface on the first day, but I wasn’t sure.”

“I’ve been calling him Officer Tiny Penis,” Shawn says, “but I like yours more.”

The first day, Shawn had a run in with one of the cops. He hates Shawn because he hates Shawn’s dad, probably because, asshole or not, Shawn’s dad is a kickass cop. That comes with enemies, his dad always says that, and apparently this dude is one of them. Shawn took advantage of the situation by correcting him sixteen times on the first day, with cited evidence from penal code and the handbook.

“Thanks,” Julian says. “Anyway, I’ve wanted to talk to you since then, because you seem like the person who could help me make this experience way less shitty.”

Shawn smiles.

“What did you have in mind?”

Later, after they sneak back in like nothing happened, they cover every part of Officer Van Fuckface’s desk, inside and out, with a thick layer of peanut butter. At the bus stop before they head home for the night, Julian says, “Do you think if we messed up any of his files, that would count as interfering with an investigation?”

“A code 48-1a?” Shawn asks. “God, I hope so.”

Julian laughs, leaning into Shawn for a moment before they both go still and quiet, looking at each other.

“Uhm, could I have your phone number, in case my dad finds out about this and grounds me for the rest of my life?” Shawn asks. Julian digs in his pockets for a pen before grabbing Shawn’s hand and carefully writing seven digits on it. Julian holds onto his hand a little longer than he needs to when he’s done, not quite looking at Shawn, and Shawn notices it because Shawn notices everything.

His stomach or his heart or something in his chest feels like it’s trying to escape the entire bus ride back to his neighborhood. At home, he writes down Julian’s number on his bedroom wall in pencil, next to his phone, underneath a few girls’ numbers and Gus’s even though he knows it by heart.

The next day, their commanding officers line them up and try to figure out who peanut buttered the desk, but they have no evidence either way. Officer Von Fuckface glares at Shawn the entire time. It’s awesome.

As they file back out, Julian nudges Shawn and murmurs, “That guy’s nuts.”

Shawn grins.

“Technically, he’s legumes,” he says, drawing back to let everyone get ahead of them around the next corner. “Want to skip the last session before our friend causes me to burst into flames purely with the force of his hate?”

“Absolutely,” Julian says.

They’re almost to one of the side doors when Shawn’s dad steps out of a room in front of them. He’s in full uniform, and he’s got his arms folded over his chest.

“Peanut butter, Shawn?”

“Are you offering me lunch, Dad? Because I already ate the most spectacular frozen meal that the Santa Barbara Police Department has to offer.”

“It was pretty spectacular,” Julian offers. “It almost tasted like food.”

“Peanut butter,” his dad repeats. He looks at Julian. “Who do you belong to?”

“Detective Hardinson, sir,” Julian says, politely. “Sommerville PD.”

“Hardison? We liasoned with him about a case recently. He seems like a good man.”

“If you say so, sir,” Julian says.

Shawn’s dad raises his eyebrows for a moment.

“I hope you’re not letting Shawn get you in trouble.”

“Dad, I’m offended,” Shawn says. “I’m far too good at what I do to ever get in trouble.”

“Is that why I just caught you sneaking out?” his dad asks.

“We weren’t sneaking out, sir,” Julian says. He’s got this wholesome boy next door vibe that really works for him, especially when it comes to lying. “I was feeling sick, and Shawn was helping me outside to get some fresh air.”

“You seem like an okay kid, son,” Shawn’s dad says, “but I don’t believe a word of that. Why don’t you two go back where you’re supposed to be?”

They nod contritely and turn back, circling back to where they started.

“My dad called you ‘son,’” Shawn says.

“He did,” Julian agrees.

“He doesn’t even call me ‘son,’” Shawn continues, “and I’m his son.”

“You know,” Julian says, “I think there’s a lot of gray area around the phrase ‘where you’re supposed to be.’”

“Hmm. True. What if where I’m truly supposed to be is somewhere that’s very much not here?” Shawn leans heavily into the arm that Julian wraps around his shoulder, letting himself be guided towards the kitchen exit. Julian’s half a head taller than Shawn, and it makes Shawn feel things he’s like 89% sure he should not be feeling.

“Want to come back to my house?” Julian asks. “Neither of my parents will be back until late.”

“Yeah, yes,” Shawn says. “Let’s do that.”

[some stuff happens]

Julian stares at him for a long moment before he slides a hand over Shawn’s knee.

“Please don’t punch me,” he whispers, then ducks down to kiss Shawn. Shawn presses up into it, making a truly embarrasing noise into the curve of Julian’s mouth. He has to resist the urge to climb on top of him.

“Do people—“ Shawn starts, then draws off to keep kissing him for a few more moments.

“People?” Julian murmurs.

“Uh, do people normally punch you after you do that?” he asks, pulling away just enough to see a wrecked smile on Julian’s face. “Because I think that’s a weird reaction to something amazing.”

“I’ve never done that, actually,” Julian says. “I imagined punching could be in the equation, if I misread something.”

“You didn’t,” Shawn says. “You really didn’t.”

FAST-FORWARD HOWEVER MANY YEARS AFTER JULIAN ACTUALLY BECOMES A COP AND ENDS UP WORKING A CASE WITH THEM

"Wait," Lassiter says. "You and him were--"

"Summer loves," Shawn says.

"Had me a blast," Julian adds, and Shawn smiles at him. Lassiter looks aghast.

"Oh, don't tell me you've never tasted the rainbow, Lass," Shawn says. "You've got bicurious written all over you."

"I don't--that's not what we're talking about," Lassiter says. He scrubs a hand over his face, which Shawn nicely does not point out as something both indicative of guilt or nervousness and something entirely un-Lassiter-like in nature. "Don't you think this is some sort of conflict of interest? You being on the case with someone you've. . ."

"Made sweet passionate love with?" Shawn offers.

"In that supply closet right over there, actually," Julian says.

"Aww, so many memories," Shawn says, "and so many uncomfortable positions. I've never been able to smell Pin-Sol again without my heart fluttering a little."

"I've never been able to mop without getting a little turned on," Julian admits.

"Oh, god, there are two of you," Juliet says. She's blushing a little, presumably from imagining the two of them co-mingling near some custodial equipment. It's kind of flattering.

"That's exactly what I mean," Lassiter says. "Conflict of interest."

"Hey, I never took any mystical, legally binding cop oaths. Besides, how many of your coworkers have you slept with?" Shawn asks. "Because I know the count is at least one, though I suspect it's significantly higher, knowing how hot and bothered you get over both firearms and paperwork."

Lassiter grits his teeth in Shawn's general direction. Julian looks amused.

"Fine," he says. "But if I see any funny business happening that could distract from this very serious case, I'm shutting this down."

"Whatever could you mean by funny business, Lassie?" Shawn asks. "Does that rule out my up and coming stand up act? Gus's interest in both miming and clowning? Or are we talking about shenanigans in general, here?"

Lassiter points at him, looking like he wants to say something, before storming past them.

AND THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE FIC IF I EVER LEARNED HOW TO WRITE CASE!FIC WHICH I DIDN’T AND LIKELY NEVER WILL

#psych #my fic

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doomedandstoned · 5 years

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Maryland Doomers Yatra Begin Conquest of Europe

~By Mel Lie~

It is a typical late summer afternoon here in Northern Germany. Sun and clouds alternate in a rush and a harsh wind blows around the corners. I'm sitting outside in my favorite deck chair, burying my ears deep into the latest album 'Death Ritual' (2019) by Maryland-based band YATRA. This ritual carries me into the best mood as I prepare to interview this impressive doom trio.

It was a blend of mythical, heavy, pitch black doom vibes and mountainous riffs, excellently paired with Stein-Schlag drumming and harsh vocals from a skull dipped in the blackest ash, that accompanied my dissection of the band, comprised of singer Dana Helmuth, bassist Maria Geisbert and drummer Sean Lafferty.

The more of myself I sunk into Yatra's sound, the better I understood the band's mission to spread their doom-ridden plaque to the farthest reaches the planet.

Yatra's journey began earlier this year with the immensely well-received debut album Death Ritual on Grimoire Records and continued with a momentous tour across various stages along both coasts of the US, hitting festivals like Grim Reefer Fest, Ode To Doom, New England Stoner & Doom Fest II, Monolith On The Mesa, and Electric Funeral Fest, among others. But that‘s not all! Yatra have taken their song "Sailing On" quite literally. In October, they’ll storm Europe supporting Poland's atmospheric-doom heavyweight Sunnata, hailing over to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Italy, France -- bringing Into The Void Fest in the Netherlands, Desertfest Antwerp in Belgium, and the Satellite and South Doom I festivals in Germany to their knees.

Yatra intend to continue on towards world domination, recently dropping word that a second album is in the making, releasing later this year. It‘s still too early to give details about that, but maybe the trio will leave some information in the course of the interview that follows.

Long story short, I'm thrilled that I could catch the trio in the midst of their immense journey and talk with them about their tour and future plans.

Death Ritual by Yatra

An Interview with Yatra

I'm pleased as punch to meet up with you here, guys! Your activities this year have been incredibly impressive. It looks like you have both feet on the gas pedal! What is it that spurred you onlong on this intrepid journey?

We are happy to meet you, too, and very excited to play in Europe! Thanks for the kind words and I guess we can only say that we really believe in ourselves and Yatra, and we are extremely hard workers. Maybe it’s focus and passion together that are the two feet on the gas pedal you mentioned.

Due to your huge US tour, your band life is pinned around the clock. I imagine this costs a lot of energy and requires a lot of stamina. How do you recharge your batteries to keep it up?

The shows and the people really get us excited and motivated. In the US there are some big open spaces and sometimes we have ten hour drives from one night's show to the next. It’s that desire to want to rock again for another crowd that makes it worthwhile to us.

What impressions have you "brought home" from your numerous gigs and festivals in the US?

We have made lots of great new friends and had countless fun and crazy experiences.

Is there a special strange or funny thing in your mind that you have witnessed while touring?

Oh man, every day for us! (laughs) We’ve gotten lost in caves, have met skinwalkers in the desert, gotten attacked by mutant coyotes in California, talked to giant seals on the pacific cliffs, woken up with buffalo in the mountains. We live it to the fullest, every day.

In October, Europe will see you for the first time live on stage at various concerts and damn cool festivals. Hell, yes! Wait, I have to prepare confetti rain, drum rolls, and hellish fireworks! How does that feel to you and what do you have in the luggage for European fans?

Yes! We are really stoked to play on European stages and bring our heavy metal to everyone that comes out. We will be playing mostly the new album and are very excited about it and the responses we got from these new songs on our last US tour. It’s going to be a great tour!

After completing your monstrous road trip, will we then find you cocktail sipping in the South Sea Islands? (laughs) We are chomping at the bit to learn of future plans in the pipeline for the remaining months of the year 2019. You have dropped the word that there will be another album recording? Can we elicit you some information about it?

Yes, I think we will have a two week tour at the end of November, but not positive on the details. And yes, last month we completed a new full-length album of eight songs for STB Records, entitled Blood of the Night, which will be released in January worldwide on vinyl and CD, as well as all digital formats. There will also be some special edition vinyl. We recorded with Kevin Bernsten at Developing Nations and it was mastered by James Plotkin. It sounds really great. STB will also be re-releasing our first album Death Ritual in the future, which we are almost sold out of the first pressing.

Now, feel free to give few concluding words for our listeners and your fans on the way out.

We are really looking forward to this tour! We haven’t had any of our records or t-shirts or any merchandise available anywhere in Europe, so it’s great that people will be able to get that stuff on this tour without paying ridiculous shipping from the US. We hope to get to talk with and meet as many people before and after shows as we can, don’t be shy. See you out there!

Thank you guys for taking the time to answer our curious questions here. We are looking forward to you implementation of further world domination plans! Have a great time in the EU. We hope it will be a blast!

South Doom I in Hamburg

By Simon Ballnat, organizer

I'm eminently pleased that Yatra will also spread their doom-ash vibes over the first South Doom at Hamburg's Stellwerk in Northern Germany, my home county! This event is something new and special of its kind and may be a signpost for the heavy underground scene in Hamburg! I got the opportunity to catch Simon Ballnath, one of the supporting heads of the heavy music scene in Hamburg and co-organizer of South Doom I, in my clutches. He will give us more information about this project.

For a few years now, the stoner rock, doom metal, and heavy music scene overall has grown and grown in several cities in Germany. Stoner-doom is perhaps the only underground subgenre of metal that has become mainstream without selling out. A huge amount of national and international bands take big efforts and commitments to present their music all over Europe, especially in Germany's biggest cities Berlin and Hamburg, where the sound is popular like never before. For those bands, it's sometimes very hard to fill their tour schedule with midweek gigs, so the bigger cities are attractive in that they have the venue infrastructure and population density to offer shows to those hungry musicians in the middle of the week.

On the one hand, it's fine for those bands to avoid off-days and find some place to perform and maybe sometimes a place to sleep for free, but there is a dark side to those big cities. On the other hand, a lot of bigger bands stop there to play shows, too, and in Hamburg you can visit a stoner-rock, doom metal, or heavy blues concert nearly every night. This overdose of shows leads to a disregard and devaluing of the most awesome small shows in lousy little venues for up and coming bands.

South Doom with Sunnata and Yatra is the first collaboration of promoters with fanatical supporters of these scenes. The Droneburg, which offers a yearly recurring festival for doom, sludge, and other outlying subgenres, works together with small, non-venue promoters like Brandlaut, Desert Hazard, and the Plattenkiste a local record store which is known for their in-store gigs and support of the local metal scene in Hamburg.

The Stellwerk in the south part of Hamburg offers the venue, takes the main part of the organization of the show, and a lot of volunteers are also involved in this project. In the last ten years, there was no liaison of this kind in Hamburg and its hopefully not the last time different promoters and actors in this great scene work together to bring you some amazing bands -- keep an eye out for South Doom II!

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#D&S Interivews #Yatra #Ocean City #Maryland #STB Records #Doom #Metal #Mel Lie #Doomed & Stoned

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dccomicsnews · 6 years

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This weekend marks the official launch of the highly anticipated DC Universe digital steaming service, and earlier this week they decided to run their beta version for those who have already pre-ordered the service. The beta is limited, so those of us who have it haven’t gotten the chance to see everything, but it did give us a great look at what to expect from the full version.

There are so many great reasons to sign up for this service, and below I list the TOP 10 Reasons to Subscribe to DC Universe. So sit back and enjoy the ride into the wonderful world of all things DC.

10. EXCLUSIVE MERCHANDISE

Not only will you get all sorts of great content to watch and read (as you’ll see below), there’s also a new DC Universe Shop within the app where fans can purchase some awesome merchandise, like t-shirts, statues, mugs, phone cases, and more, with some items being exclusively sold through the app. One of these exclusives is a new line of animated-style Justice League action figures, to complement the popular 6-inch Batman: The Animated Series figures the company has been making lately.

The first wave includes the full initial team line-up – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern John Stewart, Hawkgirl, and Martian Manhunter – plus Aquaman, who was not a member of the team before they became Justice League Unlimited, but who did appear in several memorable episodes during the first two Justice League seasons.

9. DC COMMUNITY

In the all new DC Community section, fans can join other fans on a plethora of message boards covering all kinds of topics like comics, movies, TV, news, and more. There’s even a section called “Creators Corner” where fans can connect with DC talent.

DC Community shows trending discussions, popular tags, and even gives you the chance to create your own thread covering any topic that’s rattling around in your brain. Do you want to talk about the best Robin? You can make a thread about it. Do you want to discuss your love of the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series? Go ahead! The sky’s the limit!

And DC has vowed to work hard on moderating these boards in order to make it the best possible experience for fans everywhere!

8. ENCYCLOPEDIA

This comprehensive encyclopedia breaks down your favorite characters (like Batman and Superman), as well as some you may have never heard of (like Chaselon and Ferro Lad), with great detail, giving an introduction and history to the character, their origin, powers, essential storylines, team affiliations, and appearances in other media. Some characters are more thorough than others, but this encyclopedia will be always growing and expanding, so if there’s some info you think is missing, you’ll be able to submit it to be added.

There’s also a tab labeled “Related Content” that brings up movies and TV shows, comics, and even trending discussions about that character within the app. This is a great part of DC Universe as it will help to educate DC fans, new and returning, on the characters that live within it.

7. LIVE-ACTION FILMS

As someone who loves films (I even run my own film review site), the fact that the DC Universe app will include live-action films is something I was very happy to hear. Now, from what we’ve been told, there doesn’t seem to be very many live-action films available, at least not yet. We’ll have access to Superman 1-4, Batman (1989), Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight.

Now, this is a great, albeit small, selection of films, but I’m really hoping they will put more than just Batman and Superman movies up here. Let’s get films like V for Vendetta, Watchmen, A History of Violence, The Losers, Road to Perdition, RED, RED 2, Swamp Thing, Constantine, etc. This would truly add some great value to the film library. And who knows, maybe they already have plans to add some of these. That would definitely push this farther up on my list.

6. ANIMATED FILMS

The catalogue of animated films based on DC properties is huge, with dozens of quality entries, from the 30+ DCUA (DC Universe Animated Original) films, to films like Subzero and Mystery of the Batwoman, and even the LEGO DC Super Hero films.

The DC Universe app will offer a large array of them, including some of my favorites like Justice League: War, Batman: Under The Red Hood, and even Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. But what shocked me the most was that their newest animated film, The Death of Superman, is actually available to watch on the app, even though it’s only been out for less than two months. And with a 3-4 films release schedule every year just for the DCUA films, this library will continue to grow.

5. DC DAILY

Within the “News” tab is a section for the upcoming daily news show, DC Daily. They recently did a live-stream (of which the video is available to watch on the app) breaking down what you can expect from DC Universe, while also introducing DC Daily and the hosts who will be bringing all the news to the fans. The live stream was hosted by Kevin Smith.

There will be several great and knowledgeable hosts including Tiffany Smith (DC All Access), John Barrowman (Arrow, Doctor Who), Samm Levine (Freaks & Geeks, Inglourious Basterds), Harley Quinn Smith (Yoga Hosers), Sam Humphries (DC Comics Writer – Green Lanterns), Hector Navarro (DC All Access), Clarke Wolfe (Collider Movie Talk, Film HQ), Brian Tong, Markeia McCarty (DC Movie News), and John Kourounis.

DC Daily cast (L to R): Samm Levine, Sam Humphries, Tiffany Smith, John Barrowman (in front), Harley Quinn Smith, Clarke Wolfe, Brian Tong, John Kourounis, Hector Navarro

DC Daily will be replacing DC All Access and will offer news related to the original series on DC Universe and other content that “ties back” to DC Comics and the DC Universe community. The program is scheduled to have the following segments: “Headlines”, for daily news briefs; “Reports”, for an in-depth interview or look at an upcoming book, film, or television series; and “Talk”, for panel discussions.

4. LIVE-ACTION TV SERIES

DC has some of the best live-action comic book TV shows out there, and a lot of them will be available to watch right through the app. We’ll get to see such shows as Wonder Woman, The Flash (1990), Birds of Prey, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and even more obscure titles like Human Target.

This would be a spot or two higher on the list if the current DC shows were included, like Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Gotham, and all of the others. Hopefully, they’ll eventually make their way to the app once their contracts with the other streaming services expire.

3. ANIMATED TV SERIES

I’ve got four words for you: BATMAN. THE. ANIMATED. SERIES!!!!

When it was announced that the greatest comic book TV series of all time was heading to DC Universe, I was ecstatic. And to make it even better, it’ll be released in fully remastered HD, and I have to say, it looks fantastic!

And if that’s not enough for you, we’ll also be getting a plethora of other great animated shows from the world of DC including Batman Beyond, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Batman: Brave and the Bold, Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, Teen Titans, Young Justice, and even the old Max Fleischer cartoons from the 1940’s. This is an amazing line up that will keep people busy binging for quite a while.

2. LARGE SELECTION OF COMICS

Unlike other streaming services, DC Universe will also offer a reading component through a large curated selection of some of DC’s best comics. You’ll get to read classic stories like Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27, and The Dark Knight Returns, as well as getting the chance to check out some more obscure stuff like Doom Patrol and New Gods.

And the built-in comic book reader is fantastic, particularly the panel-by-panel option, which allows you to become fully immersed in what you’re reading, bringing these comics to life.

1. BRAND NEW EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

For me, the biggest reason I chose to commit to this service wasn’t the past DC content, but instead all the future content that’s on the way. There’s only so much previous content, so the fact that they’re developing several new projects exclusive to DC Universe will keep me coming back for more.

Right now, there are four live-action shows and two animated shows in production, with many more to come. I’m also hoping they will dive into original films for the app as well. The shows announced so far are Titans (which will premiere at NYCC, and then hits the streaming service on October 12th, with new episodes each Friday), Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, Stargirl, the Harley Quinn animated series, and the one many have been waiting for… Young Justice season 3 (titled Young Justice: Outsiders).

Titans follows young heroes from across the DC Universe as they come of age and find belonging. This gritty take on the classic Titans franchise finds Dick Grayson and a special young girl possessed by a strange darkness named Rachel Roth as they get embroiled in a conspiracy. They’re joined by Starfire and Beast Boy to become a surrogate family and team.

Doom Patrol is a reimagining of one of DC’s strangest group of outcasts: Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Woman and Crazy Jane. Led by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder they’re called into action by none other than the ultimate hero for the digital age, Cyborg. These rejects band together on a mission that will take them to the weirdest and most unexpected corners of the DC universe.

Swamp Thing is a scary love story following Abby Arcane as she investigates what seems to be a deadly swamp-born virus in a small town in Louisiana but soon discovers that the swamp holds mystical and terrifying secrets.

Stargirl follows High School sophomore Courtney Whitmore who inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. This new DC Universe series reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in a fun, exciting and unpredictable series.

Harley Quinn tracks the lovable, raucous villain with a fractured psyche after she breaks up with The Joker and tries to make it on her own to become Gotham’s main queen-pin.

Young Justice: Outsiders features the return of the fan favorite animated series with a huge cast of DC’s most iconic young superheroes – plus brand-new characters, many of whom are just discovering their unique meta-powers and special abilities. Set against the backdrop of a rich, deep world that touches all corners of the DC universe, the season focuses on meta–trafficking, and an intergalactic arms race for control of these super–powered youths.

And there you have it folks, the Top 10 Reasons To Subscribe To DC Universe. If you haven’t already done so, be sure sign up and enjoy all of this wonderful content at your fingertips. Head on over to the DC Universe site and sign up right now. You can do the monthly subscription for $7.99/month or you can save some money and do the annual plan for only $74.99/year.

And be sure to share your experiences with the service in our comments section below or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter.

Top 10 Reasons To Subscribe To DC Universe #DCUniverse @TheDCUniverse @DCComics #BatmanDay #DCComics #DCComicsNews This weekend marks the official launch of the highly anticipated DC Universe digital steaming service, and earlier this week they decided to run their beta version for those who have already pre-ordered the service.

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long-arm-stapler · 3 years

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S2 EP1: Miquela Davis

Maira (00:00):

Hello! Uh, welcome to Long Arm Stapler, a podcast about zines, back with season two, after a long hiatus. Today, I am joined by Miquela Davis and I will let you introduce yourself.

Miquela (00:33):

Hi, I'm Miquela Davis and I'm super excited to be on this podcast with you today.

Maira (00:40):

Awesome. I'm really looking forward to starting to record again. Um, like I mentioned, I took a 16 month break from recording just because the world was a lot and uh, yeah, February 2021 back in action. Yeah. So I have with me, um, two of, one of your, your book, pup provisions, a copy of Miq's mix volume two a music themed zine. Do you want to talk about either of those or anything you've been working on lately.

Miquela (01:21):

Um, I actually liked those choices that you already have, um, because those are actually my favorite things that I've done. Um, the, the favorite things that I've published at least, um, which is funny, cause I also make a comic called cool dog that some people may have picked up, at like zine fests, but I really loved the Miq's mix. Uh, I made two of them, but the second one is my favorite because it features a bunch of like music themed comics and illustrations, and just has the loose theme of music. And then put provisions is the most recent thing that I made and that's like an actual book. Um, and it has illustrations of different dog breeds, um, in alphabetical order, along with snacks that start with the same letter as the dog breed, if that makes sense. Yeah. So that one took me. How long did it take me to draw? I think I did like a drawing every day for that. And it started as a drawing, um, exercise for me. And then I decided to compile it into a book because people wanted it. And then, um, I wanted to kind of get back into zine making, but it ended up being more of a like actual published. It's more nice looking.

Maira (02:34):

You have like a hard cover.

Miquela (02:37):

Yeah. I just, I just went on like Shutterfly and got it published that way. Oh, so it's still DIY, but it's it's way nicer quality than my like Xerox stuff.

Maira (02:47):

Yeah. I have not ventured into the world of anything but Xerox, but it's exciting. Yeah. What do you, I remember seeing your daily drawing challenges and I was like, Oh, this is really cool. I love dogs. I love snacks. Um, and then you were like, I'm going to make a book. I was like, all right, I'm going to get a copy. Um, I think my favorite is D for docs and I'm a little biased because I have a dachshund.

Miquela (03:17):

Yes. And your dachshund is adorable.

Maira (03:20):

and she's very much like your dog. Yeah.

Miquela (03:23):

Yeah. I feel like our dogs are such kindred spirits and like they've never met, but I feel like they have a connection it's like weird.

Maira (03:32):

Yeah. They would probably hang out in the dog park. Yeah. So, so far I've only ever interviewed people in the Bay, in my living room. Um, so this is exciting because obviously we're not in the same place right now. Um, you are based in Southern California yes. And pre COVID. Or can you talk about like the zine scene pre COVID?

Miquela (04:00):

Yeah, definitely. I could talk about the zine scene pre zine scene here. Really? How far back do you want me to go? I'm sure. I remember growing up and like I heard about zines through a book from my uncle when I was like 16 and he went to school with Mark Todd, um, who wrote, co-wrote a book called what you mean? What's a zine? Um, so they were like college buds and Mark Todd is I think still based in LA and he's an artist there with his partner, Esther Pearl Watson. And so they're both zine makers. They decided to make this book about how to make scenes. And so, because I heard about it that way, there was like nothing in orange County that was Xen based. As far as I saw at the time I had to go to like LA I saw some zines in like some record stores every so often, but it wasn't really a thing here.

Miquela (04:58):

And I gravitated towards Portland, Oregon because of that, I was like, Oh, I'm going to get out of orange County. I'm going to get out of Southern California and head towards where I saw zines being made at the time. And this was like early two thousands. Um, so then when I came back from living in Portland, that was around 2014, 2015, and I don't know how the orange County zine Fest came to be, but it popped up, I believe in 2014, I wasn't at the very first one and the very first zine Fest. I don't even remember where that was held, but then I found them and I applied to the second one, I believe in 2015. And I've been involved with the OC zine fest ever since. Um, I participated in it that one, uh, and the long beach one. And I sort of just found that there were a bunch of zine Fests popping up and I was able to find them through social media. Uh, social media was like a huge player in me getting involved in it. I don't think I would have been able to find it otherwise.

Maira (06:04):

Yeah. I have a similar experience with social media. I got into zines through tumblr and I really wasn't able to find zine fests nearby until, I mean, obviously I started looking for them and we have a few in the Bay area, but like Instagram and back when I used Facebook were very helpful in like finding zines.

Miquela (06:31):

Yeah. And the Bay area too was like one of those places when I was like a teenager or a young adult, like now I'm 30. So like I'm talking like, you know, 10 years ago, I feel like 10 years ago the Bay area had more, but you probably would know that more than me, but I, I feel like, you know, 10 years ago there was at least that community there.

Maira (06:53):

Yeah. I mean EBABZ, um, the East Bay alternative Book and zine Fest that I helped organize. This was our 11th year. And so, and I didn't even start getting involved in that until 2014, I believe. Um, that was the first time I ever tabled. Was at EBABZ 201- It doesn't sound, it doesn't sound right. But I think it's true. Yeah. Yeah. I, I'm learning more about the Bay areas and seeing more and more like every, not every day, but every time I go looking for stuff and it's really cool that there are so many zine fests everywhere. Um, and a lot of them have been able to pivot to online, which I think is really cool over the last year.

Miquela (07:42):

Yeah. That's been really cool to see and you're right about like these zine scenes that have been around, but then you just find out more about them. Like I found that too. It's like, Oh, you really stayed underground. Like, I'm only hearing about like these scenes that have been in existence for a long period of time, but it's like, we're only really hearing about them through like the internet and then word of mouth. Once you get involved, you're like, Oh, there's been like a zine Fest in the inland empire for years. I had no idea. It's cool. I like it.

Maira (08:15):

Yeah. zines, I think has always been very word of mouth for me. Um, and I liked that about them. Just, they're not super commercial. I mean, I, I feel like nobody's really in zines to make money.

Miquela (08:31):

No, it's for the love of them for sure.

Maira (08:33):

Yeah. And so I like the they're still predominantly, I don't know if they're still predominantly underground events because you know, they do get publicity, but I like, I love actually just how DIY things have stayed.

Maira (08:54):

Yeah. Even in the internet age with social media and then also like even programs where you can make, zines more digital. I love seeing artists make zines, still this kind of like old school Xerox machine, um, the risograph, like that's become super popular. I've seen with zines and that's kind of like an older art form, but it's become new again.

Maira (09:20):

Yeah. There's a lot of, um, riso like presses in the Bay area and it all looks so cool. I don't make art zines, so I guess, or at least make zines aren't predominantly like featuring art. And so I haven't kind of dipped my toes into that yet, but it seems like a really cool process. Just you have to like separate the images by color, I guess.

Miquela (09:50):

I'm not that familiar with it either. So I think you're right. Yeah. You have to separate it and you have to have them like, it's, it's kind of like, screen printing from my understanding and I, I don't even understand screen printing. I'm like very basic.

Maira (10:04):

Yeah, same. I don't, I feel like I don't put enough thought, like, I don't think ahead enough when I'm drawing to separate things by color. It's just like

Miquela (10:15):

Same.

Maira (10:17):

Let me take a Sharpie to a piece of paper. Yeah.

Miquela (10:20):

Yeah. I'm like, I just got a pen and a paper and that's usually how I make all of my zines. I just like sit down and I, I just draw and then I will compile it together later on. Um, you know, maybe I'll cut out like a page or two, if I'm like, nah, this doesn't really work, but it's just like pen paper. Don't really put much thought into it. And then bam just release it.

Maira (10:41):

Yeah. Sometimes it's best to like, not put that much thought into it in my own experience.

Miquela (10:47):

It's raw!

Maira (10:47):

Yeah. It's, I mean, I've definitely made zines where it's very, like, I don't know. I made a zine once that was writing. I did for a creative writing class. And so that was more polished, I guess, than anything else I've done. But it's usually just me kind of sitting at my computer, treating it like a live journal entry and just printing it out, stapling it together and letting people read it.

Miquela (11:17):

That's so cool too. Like just letting it be this like free flowing thought process. And like, I've always admired like the way that you make your zines because like, they're just so personal too.

Maira (11:31):

Yeah. I, I got started with perzines and I didn't really venture into like fanzines or anything with like drawings of my own until the last few years. But perzines are really like where I got my start, I guess.

Miquela (11:49):

Yeah. And I think that's how we met too, was like, I was drawn to your more personal zines and I was like, that's really cool. That's cool of you to like put yourself out there, like that.

Maira (12:00):

Yeah, I love to overshare on the internet, so why not do it with paper and some staples?

Miquela (12:06):

Exactly.

Maira (12:07):

Yeah. Because we met at a zine Fest. I think. I don't remember which one

Miquela (12:12):

I don't remember either. I was like sitting here and trying to think I'm like, I know it was at a zine fest. Like that's how we know each other. That's how we ended up here. But it's been, it's been a while and it's like one of those things where like, I've seen you now at so many, I feel where I can't remember like the first one either.

Maira (12:29):

And I remember the last long beach zine Fest that was held in person. We, it was like a power block of my table, my friend Andi and then you. And that was fun.

Miquela (12:42):

That was so much fun.

Maira (12:45):

And then my car broke down. So it was like fun up until heading home. Um, it was a disaster and I was like, wow, I wish I could just stay in Long Beach Zine Fest for a little while longer and not be living a nightmare. But

Miquela (13:00):

Yeah, I remember that too. I remember like seeing your Instagram posts and I was like, no, we were having so much fun.

Maira (13:10):

Yeah. Um, but you know, shit happens. Um, my car works again, so it's all good. Yeah. What else you've got, you've got an art show coming up that you're curating.

Miquela (13:24):

I Do. Yeah. Speaking of like zine fests and stuff. Like I miss them so much, but yeah. I curate an art show every year now since 2018. Um, I used to have a space that I could do it out of that my friend ran called riff mountain. And, um, I would curate art shows there every so often, but this crushes one is the one that I've done every Valentine's day for the past, like four years now. And the one coming up is the first virtual one, just because I was like, you know what? I've been wanting to get an art show together somehow during this whole COVID time period. But this one is special just because I was like, I can't not have crushes happen just because like, it means so much to me personally, the first year I did it, I co curated with a fellow artist. Uh, Meg Gonzalez, who is a local, you know, Southern California artists. And I think they've reached, you know, further than just Southern California. Like they're, I don't know. Like they just seem like a really, uh, poppin' artist, like more and more people are finding them. And I, I love that for them.

Maira (14:34):

Bug Club Supreme. Yes.

Miquela (14:37):

Yeah. They're, they're super cool. And so we co curated the first crushes show together. And then the second one I did myself last year I did with another artist, uh, Chantal Elise, who's just under like Chantal Elise art on, uh, Instagram. And then this year I'm just doing it myself and I'm doing it virtually. So like, it's going to be interesting. I'm super excited to see what happens, but we're basically going to do kind of like a live stream. I asked other artists to make like short videos of themselves and talk about themselves in their work. I only got one so far, so I might not be like super prevalent throughout the show, but my whole idea is that because we're going virtual, I would like to showcase artists more than you can do at a traditional art show. Like usually you're there and you're looking at their work, but you don't really get to know the artists behind it and like the story behind the work or the deeper meaning of it, like, you're just getting your own interpretation. So I was like, what can we do differently? Because it's going digital this time. And that's why I tried to include that in the like submission form.

Maira (15:50):

Yeah. It seems like it's going to be really cool. Um, what are you like hosting it on a specific platform or

Miquela (15:59):

I think we're going with youtube. I say we, because my roommate is helping me out with it. Um, we've been testing out different forms of software and I think YouTube might be where we end up. I initially was thinking like just a zoom call and I would like put together some sort of like, um, a slideshow or something, but that's, I don't know if that's really gonna work out. Um, so I actually don't know yet. We're still working out like, which one's going to be the best one for the whole show and for people to participate in, but also kind of be like an audience because the whole idea is like, we want it to be participatory, but also like where you're kind of watching a show happen, but have it partially recorded and partially in real time.

Maira (16:49):

Okay, that kind of Makes sense To me.

Miquela (16:51):

Yeah. I'm like, it's, it's a lot, like, it makes sense in my mind, like the recorded part would be, we have images of people's artwork and we would be, you know, showing that for like a few minutes at a time. And then maybe between each piece, like visual piece, we would have a recording of an artist talking about themselves and their work, kind of like an introduction to their work before we show it. Um, I know we have a couple live readers of poetry. We don't have a confirmed DJ set yet, but we have some recorded music that we can play. And if anybody during the show would like to, you know, maybe do any sort of live reading or live music or something, we're open to that as well. So that's the mix between like the recorded and then the live stuff.

Maira (17:38):

Oh, cool. Um, and so that's gonna be on Valentine's day, correct?

Miquela (17:42):

Yes. On Valentine's day still don't have a time sorted either. Like a lot of this happened now looking back and like, Oh, I kind of did this last minute. I wasn't really thinking of like a lot of the work that's going to go into making it digital because I'm so used to like doing it in person and kind of like winging it, you know, like day of it's like, all right, well, I know that I have all these artists signed up and I've done it for a few years now and everything's kind of just worked out, but now with the digital aspect to it, like I'm not super technologically, like I'm proficient, but I feel like a lot of these programs that I'm looking at, I'm like, I don't understand like this whole like live feed and putting in microphones and all this stuff like having, um, you know, the screen switch between one from another, like, it's, it's a lot, it's pretty daunting. So we also have a lot of artists tuning in, or like submitting stuff from other parts of the world.

Maira (18:39):

Oh wow.

Miquela (18:39):

Like that part has been really interesting to me this year. I think, because it's been opened up to being like, Oh, this is online. I don't have to like ship anything. I just have to send an email with some photos of my work. If I want to, I've gotten people from like the Netherlands. I've gotten people from the UK submitting work. So that's been really, really cool. And I want to make sure that they're included too, as part of like the little live stream that we do. So I'm trying to figure out like a good time for that and see if we can like record something for people to view later on if they can't make it

Maira (19:14):

Cool. And people still have time to submit, um, To that, correct?

Miquela (19:21):

Yeah. As of recording this right now? Um, yes. So the deadline is February 10th.

Maira (19:28):

Okay. Yeah, I can include, um, cause it was like a Google submission form. Yeah?

Miquela (19:35):

Pretty much. So the way that the submission process is working right now, like that's basically how I get people's names and then information. And I make like a spreadsheet of what they tell me that they're going to submit. So then that way I can keep track of it. But then to actually submit after that, they still have to send me like photo either photos of their visual work, or if they want to take a video, maybe you made a sculpture or something and you want to show it off. Like you can just take your phone out and like walk around the sculpture and get all these cool angles on it. And just like send me a video clip. Um, I'm really open to like any medium. Cause it seems like any one is possible. So yeah, people can just still submit that then to my email. And then my email, I don't mind giving it out. It's just MIQ U I D e [email protected].

Maira (20:24):

Cool. And yeah, I will post that in the show notes as well. Um, so if people are interested in submitting, they can, I am excited about it because I have, I've made a sculpture sort of thing, which I haven't really done before. Um, but I submitted it and it's really cute and I'm excited for other people to see it.

Miquela (20:48):

Yeah. I'm very excited for it too.

Maira (20:52):

Yeah. I just haven't like made, I haven't really done any art stuff in the last year, so I've, that's, I mean, that's not true, but it feels true. Like, I haven't, I don't feel like I have much art to show for the last year, but it was really cool, like working with my hands again and just gluing all of those tiny hearts. I was going to sew them, but I was like, that's so much work.

Miquela (21:20):

That's so much more work. Wow. Yeah.

Maira (21:23):

And I have a crush on hot glue. So I was like, okay,

Miquela (21:27):

There you go. It's perfect.

Maira (21:29):

Yeah. It's a good tie in, um, for those of you wondering, I made a Crunchwrap Supreme filled with hearts.

Miquela (21:35):

It's incredible.

Maira (21:37):

Yeah. I'm really excited. I submitted something to the show last year too. And it was one of the first times I've ever like submitted my art anywhere.

Miquela (21:48):

Really? I didn't even know that. Yeah. You've submitted last year and I was like super excited about it. Cause you like mailed me your work.

Maira (21:54):

Yeah, that was, I think aside from the long arm stapler show that we did in September of 2019, that was like maybe the second or third time I'd ever shown my work in like a show setting. And so that was really exciting. And I remember you posted like videos of the show in person and photos. And I was just like, I think it was, it was on Valentine's day again. And I was just on my phone, like kind of ignoring my boyfriend. And I was like, look at my work, look at my work. I was really excited about it.

Miquela (22:31):

I love that! Oh my God. That is so cool. Yeah. I was super happy to have you participate, but I had no idea. And I had also seen that show that you did up there. Um, the long-arm stapler one that looked super cool too.

Maira (22:45):

Yeah, that was my first, uh, time running a show and also being in a show, I guess, we recorded, the last time we recorded this podcast actually was like at the close of that show. So it's been an interesting time to like think back on it and really reflect on how cool it was. And like we had, it was mostly people from the Bay. Um, we had someone from, I can't remember where they live, but they're on the East coast. They submitted work two people from Southern California submitted work. And one of them was actually came up with their kids to see the show opening night. So that was really exciting too.

Miquela (23:30):

That's so cool.

Maira (23:31):

Yeah. And like I had just recently started at my current job and some of my coworkers came out and my like family came and it was, it was really cool.

Miquela (23:42):

That's awesome.

Maira (23:44):

I can't wait to be able do that again.

Miquela (23:47):

Yeah. That's been a major thing and like, yeah, once you do that, like, cause you said that it was your first time, like being in a show and then making a show, like putting on a show. That's why we started even doing crushes like that. I think that was my first time to like showing my work in a sort of like not gallery setting. Cause like I wouldn't call it necessarily gallery. It's like a DIY space, but having like an art show sort of feel where it's like, all right, I'm putting a bunch of things on the wall and showing off people's work and it's hard to get into like galleries or I don't know, just like art shows in general. I feel like don't really happen much. How is it up there? Like, are there more art shows that happen kind of similar to the one that you put on?

Maira (24:32):

Honestly, I don't know. Just cause I'm not like super tuned into the art world, I guess. Um, just cause I mostly like my, my medium is predominantly zines. Um, so that was another cool thing about the show was it was all zine themed. Um, but my friends are opening a gallery in Oakland actually, um, called crisis club and they're going to do shows there once it's safe. And I'm really excited about that because I feel like in the last few years, the amount of DIY spaces in the Bay has kind of dwindled. Um, it's exciting to like see that revival happening, even if it's slow going. And even if we can't have access to these spaces for awhile.

Miquela (25:30):

Yeah. Like I'm hoping after this is all over, we see kind of like a Renaissance in a way of like artistic expression, you know, having these sort of DIY spaces and um, cause yeah, there's at least down here they're really non-existent. Um, but I know like in the Bay area, like I would hear about them either growing up or like even recently, like I saw your friend's space, um, just through your Instagram and I was like, Oh, that looks cool. So yeah. I'm just hoping that we see more once this is all over.

Maira (26:06):

Yeah. And I think especially because people would just been sitting at home making art or at least I hope they've been sitting at home making art.

Miquela (26:14):

Yeah. The sitting at home, especially.

Maira (26:16):

Yeah. If you're making art good for you, but like please sit at home. Um, but yeah, I'm really excited to kind of see what art, like physical art spaces are like in a post COVID society.

Miquela (26:33):

And I think too, we're going to be starved for socialization. So it would be interesting to see like art shows become more of an inclusive thing.

Maira (26:42):

I agree. What else? Uh, are you working on anything else right now?

Miquela (26:47):

I have a lot of ideas floating right now. I know that's like, that could mean anything. Um, I do want to make more cool dog, but I'm just kind of like, he's an interesting character for me. I sometimes will get ideas for cool dog and then sometimes there'll be like, I want nothing to do with cool dog. I want to like work on other stuff, but I know that he's what the people want. Um, but I find it hard, harder and harder now just because I'm like, what is cool? Like, he's kind of like a weird problematic character because like a lot of times like his coolness is, is like something that I don't necessarily agree with. Um, like he, I dunno like the fact that he like smokes cigarettes and like seemingly doesn't like care about other people. Like he just cares about the sake of being cool. Like that's not actually cool. So there's like lots of questions like surrounding it. Like it's very like philosophical for me now. Whereas like it just started as like, this is a stupid comic thing that I'm just going to do for the hell of it. And then it like turned into like this character that I have to actually think about. And that's what makes me be like, I don't even want to think about it. I don't even want to make it, but I can't let him go either. So that's a long way of me just saying like, yeah, there may be more cool dog in the future. I definitely want to work more on zines but yeah, quarantine, you know, I'm just kind of taking a break, especially after making pup provisions that took a lot of energy, but I also would really like to make a memoir like graphic novel about the early two thousands and like my first year of high school. So that's been something that I've been working on slowly.

Maira (28:31):

Oh cool. We're the same age. So that was probably what like 20, 2004.

Miquela (28:35):

Yes, exactly. It was. So I'm thinking like, yeah, like 2000. Yeah, actually it would take place in 2004 because I was going to say the end of eighth grade, beginning of high school. So yeah, 2004.

Maira (28:49):

What a time to be alive.

Miquela (28:49):

Yes. And especially now, like I think like I've revisited that time period a lot and I'm like, man, what a great time. And I'm thinking of actually ending it when I discover zines, which was when I was like 16, like 15, 16. So I think it would be cool to make like a zine about my life, like discovering zines.

Maira (29:10):

Oh yeah. That sounds really cool.

Miquela (29:13):

Yeah. Like I would want it to eventually be compiled in a graphic novel, but I'm thinking, yeah. I might just start out doing like short snippets of stories in zine form, but then they could be, uh, combined together into like, I don't know what it's called. Just like a graphic- Yeah. Yeah. Like an anthology of like all these collected stories that take place during that period of time.

Maira (29:36):

Awesome. Uh, you have a Patreon.

Miquela (29:39):

Yes.

Maira (29:40):

You do like monthly stuff with.

Miquela (29:43):

I do. Yeah. So that's another thing that I've been consistently working on. I started it, I want to say in the beginning of 2020, I can't even remember now. Um, but then it's kind of evolved into now. I've gotten into a groove of like I send out monthly, um, things through the mail depending on like what tier people are on. Um, so I send out like pictures of my dog. Um, all the tiers are like named after her. Uh, so she's got like pegs pen pals. I send out clay pins that I make, I have yet to send out any zines, but that's just because I'm like, uh, what kind of zine should I make and send out? I don't know. I find that I like hold myself back from like making zines a lot because I'm a little bit of a, like a perfectionist when it comes to them, but I just need to do it. I just need to like make a little like one page zine or one piece of paper. So it'd be like six pages and like mail it out. But yeah, people get stuff in the mail if they want or they get access to like exclusive sketches and drawings and like random things that I'm doing. Kind of like, uh, a little bit of a journal. And then now I have a podcast where I talk about music and that's like exclusive to my Patreon for now.

Maira (30:54):

That's exciting.

Miquela (30:56):

Yeah. Thanks.

Maira (30:57):

I started a Patreon. Apparently I tried to make one in June of last year, but did nothing with it. Um, so in preparation for, cause I, I really want to just dive back into this podcast and kind of do more with it than I was before. Cause I think it was like one, every couple of months when I felt like it, I would just have people come over to my apartment and shoot the shit Essentially. I started listening to old episodes and transcribing them cause I wanted to make them more accessible and.

Miquela (31:34):

Oh that's cool.

Maira (31:34):

That was a very time-consuming process. Um, but I am still working on, uh, months later. Yeah. I remembered just really enjoying like the, the word that's coming up for me is prescribed hanging out time.

Miquela (31:51):

Oh yeah.

Maira (31:53):

Like it's a good way to like ease back into socializing because the only person I've really seen in the last however many months is my boyfriend. Um, because we live together and so it's like talking to people is hard?

Miquela (32:09):

Yeah. Talking, talking to people is hard. And I think too, like podcasting it's like, you kind of have a theme, like you have something to already talk about, so you're not sitting there like, well, how's it going with you? It's like, I don't know. I've been stuck in my house for 10 months. How's it going?

Maira (32:25):

To be fair I've done that also this episode.

Miquela (32:27):

Yeah.

Maira (32:30):

But it's fun. And I forgot how fun it was. And so I made a Patreon. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet. Cause I've already, you know, I've got an Etsy where I sell my zines and stuff and I've got like a Ko-Fi, um, that I.

Miquela (32:44):

I haven't heard of that one. What is that one?

Maira (32:47):

It's just like a, it's a cute little site where you can buy someone a coffee, um, and just send them like three bucks and.

Miquela (32:56):

That's cool.

Maira (32:56):

Yeah, it's, it's cute. I was using it a lot at the beginning of last year because I was, I kind of realized that like I was putting in a lot of time to like zine stuff and it was kind of becoming a full time job, just, you know, organizing fests and organizing the art show and doing the podcast. I was already working a full-time job. And so it was just kind of draining and I was like, you know, it'd be really cool if people wanted to buy me a coffee for this. And so I found this website and it was cool. It's a nice way to like, I think it's kind of like Patreon and you can connect with other creators and uh, do like tiered stuff. It's I think it's basically the same. Yeah. You can do like one-off payments instead of like monthly.

Miquela (33:52):

That's cool. Yeah. That's like the one thing about Patreon where I'm Like I don't, I don't know, like I don't expect people to like want a monthly subscription unless it's for like, you know, the monthly mail outs. Like that's really the only one where I'm like, yeah, if you want something mailed to you every month, that's cool. But it would be cool if Patreon could also have like a one-time payment, which I guess you can do it just feels weird, you know?

Maira (34:19):

Yeah. I, at this time don't feel like I do anything monthly enough to warrant a Patreon, but that's also me kind of trying to kick my own ass into doing something monthly, I guess. I don't even know.

Miquela (34:38):

It's a lot.

Maira (34:38):

Yeah. I, I mean, cause you make all these things out of clay and take photos of peg and send them out.

Miquela (34:46):

Yeah. And I make, uh, usually I've been making, um, what is it called? Oh my God. I'm totally blanking on it. Block printing.

Maira (34:54):

Oh cool.

Miquela (34:55):

So I usually do like a, uh, at least original piece of art included too. And then if I include zines in the future, like yeah. Like I try to have like a few pieces of art within each package and it takes like days for me to do, like, it does become like a job. So I get totally get what you're saying. Whereas like, if you're doing these things, just for the love of it at the same time, you're like, Oh, I'm using my time to devote to this thing where like, it's hard because we live under capitalism and we're like, how can I pursue this? And still feel like I'm not, I don't know, like accomplishing something is the wrong word, but like it's hard. It's hard when like it becomes like it when it feels like a job.

Maira (35:36):

Yeah. And unfortunately It's also, like I feel as artists, we feel under capitalism, we feel inclined to like monetize our hobbies in order to get by.

Miquela (35:51):

Oh totally.

Maira (35:52):

It sucks. We want to just make art for fun, but it feels like all my time has to go into like hustling.

Miquela (36:02):

Oh totally. Like that was my whole thing with like even getting into zine making and getting into all of this is I was like, Oh, I already make comics. And this is just a fun way for me to distribute them, to like my friends and like get my work out there and just make people laugh. But then it turned into something as I got older where I was like, but this is all that I love to do and all that I know how to do. And like, guess, I've got to make money off of that somehow. So yeah. It definitely sucks.

Maira (36:32):

Yeah. At this point I'm just trying to pay for paper and ink.

Miquela (36:37):

that's the whole thing is like materials too. It's like, yeah, it would be cool to have like one of those fancy like risographed zines, but it costs money for materials.

Maira (36:46):

Yeah.

Miquela (36:47):

I could totally see you doing like a, I mean you could do like stickers monthly or something like included with like a mini zine that could even be just like a monthly thing for Patreon.

Maira (36:58):

Oh yeah. I love making those one sheet zines. Um, I was looking at- so something I've been doing lately for the past month or so is I've been looking at photos from that specific day in my phone. So from like years prior.

Miquela (37:16):

Oh, that's cool.

Maira (37:16):

And the other day, a few years ago, um, there was a zine library opening at the Oakland LGBTQ community center. And apparently I made a zine of just drawings of animals in cowboy hats, which.

Miquela (37:33):

That's amazing,

Maira (37:35):

Yeah it was super cute. I took pictures of some of them. And I think that zine, I didn't make any copies. So it only lives in that library. Um, if it's even still there, but I love making one-offs and I actually made one during EBABZ. Um, I was feeling really discouraged about selling my art and making art. And so I made one that was like, even if no one buys your art, you're still an artist. Um, and it was, it was nice. It felt good to just get things out onto a little sheet of paper. And I just bought a scanner and color printer for cheap, but now I have my own next to my desk. So.

Miquela (38:19):

that's a life changer.

Maira (38:21):

Yeah. There was a time period where I was like, okay, I can't make anything because I cannot copy it. Um, but now I can.

Maira (38:31):

That's so cool. Yeah. Like, and that alone, I mean, I know we were talking about how like it's hard right now to like create stuff, but like you're at least building up to like having a bunch of things where you're like, all right, well, I'm prepared to create now. Just got to feel like creating and not be crushed by like having to monetize it. And I think like returning to just like creating for the sake of creating is like so hard.

Maira (39:00):

Yeah. I bought a bunch of colored paper. Um, that I'm determined to do something with, but I also don't want to force it because like, like we've been saying it sucks to feel forced into creating art for money.

Maira (39:15):

Yeah, artist problems.

Maira (39:19):

Artist problems, truly, I am taking a block printing class on zoom tomorrow though. Um, which I'm pretty excited about because it's not really something, well, that's not true. My friend Kristen taught me how to carve stamps, um, with like easy cut rubber a few years ago. And I made like a taco bell stamp, which is pretty on brand for me, but I'm taking a class tomorrow and I'm excited to like, have someone show me how to do it. And I got a bunch of speedball ink and yeah, I'm excited to have that space to like make stuff that doesn't feel, it's kind of forced because I signed up for it. But,

Miquela (40:06):

But sometimes like, Oh, sorry,

Maira (40:10):

No go ahead.

Miquela (40:10):

I was going to say like, sometimes like, you know, that sort of force where like it, but it's more community built. It's like, okay, I'm kind of forced to do that just because I signed up for it. But like for some reason, taking a class like feels different than just like, alright, I feel forced to do this because like I have to do it for monetary gain or like, I need to feel like I'm being productive. And it's more of like a societal pressure versus like in a class there's like that community sense of it where you're like, Oh, that's so cool. I get to be like taught this by somebody who knows a lot about it. And that's been one of the like greatest things about this period of time, like during COVID and all the lockdowns and stuff is like being able to take classes online still is, has been like a godsend.

Maira (40:58):

Yeah. Are you still teaching the zine making class?

Miquela (41:02):

Um, I'm teaching, Well, I had a couple of workshops, um, where it was zine making. And then right now it kind of transferred into I'm teaching. I am still teaching, but it's like an afterschool program where we're making these like little animal field guides. So they already had like a pre-made book. Um, and then they fill it out with like animal drawings that we do each week and it's been so much fun. And then I'm taking a class through my work, um, with a different artist who's doing just kind of drawing essentials and just having that like set aside time each week to devote to art is like major

Maira (41:40):

The animal guide sounds cute as hell.

Miquela (41:43):

It's so cute. Yeah. But my students are like a huge thing that's been like keeping me creative. Um, cause we also do, I do a weekly thing called doodle hour and that's actually, uh, open to anyone and it's free. Um, it's all ages, but for the most part I have like kids in the class and I think that like deters adults, like I've had some adults pop in, but like I try to really make it for everyone. And it's just a fun time to be like goofy and imaginative. And I try to come up with like silly prompts and stuff. Like, you can just draw on your sketchbook, um, and be around like a bunch of fun kids that come up with like really silly things. And so like, that's been major too, for me. It was just like, I feed off of their like innate creativity sometimes. Cause I'm like, you haven't been ruined by capitalism yet.

Maira (42:34):

Stay that way, please.

Miquela (42:35):

Yeah. Yeah. That's like one of the hardest things being an art teacher is like seeing these kids and just kind of like realizing like as an adult so much is beaten out of us. Like not to get like super depressing, like as an artist, like looking at them as artists and like remembering back to like when I was their age and I felt like there were so many more possibilities and like I would just make for the sake of making, um, which is something that we've already like kind of talked about, like we're struggling with, but then like these kids, it's like, you give them like one tiny crumb of something and then they just like run with it. And I'm like, how do you do that? Like please, how do I tap into that resource again?

Maira (43:21):

It feels like something that needs to be like relearned.

Miquela (43:25):

Yeah. So like taking a class, that's all going back to like you taking a class. Like I was kind of saying like, that's so cool that you're doing that because like giving yourself that time, like hopefully that will get you into more of that mindset, a little, or like kind of retrain your brain to be in that creative mode

Maira (43:42):

In the same vein. I took like an art 101 class at my local community college last semester. And that was, it was the same thing where it like put me in a mindset of like, yes, it was for a grade, but it felt very like, because it's not, I'm not working towards a degree right now. I'm just kind of taking it for fun. And so it was really cool to just kind of get loose and like make stuff. And so I'm taking another art class through the same community college this semester and it's a site-specific installation,

Miquela (44:17):

Woah

Maira (44:19):

But we don't really have any sites. Uh, cause.

Miquela (44:22):

that's fascinating.

Maira (44:24):

Yeah. I'm really excited to see how it's gonna play out. And like I'm really excited to make Stuff.

Miquela (44:30):

Sounds like that's cool. Like that's totally something you can use too for putting on shows.

Maira (44:35):

Yeah. That's I think what I'm most using it for gain down the road, but definitely just like farming ideas at this point, which I'm really excited about.

Miquela (44:46):

That sounds awesome. And that's just through the local community college there.

Maira (44:50):

Yeah. Uh, shout out to Ohlone College, uh, their art department.

Miquela (44:56):

That's rad.

Maira (44:56):

Yeah. I'm excited. Uh, do you have anything else that you want to plug or talk about?

Miquela (45:05):

Um, no, that's pretty much it. I feel like, yeah. Talked about the art show. I mentioned like the class I'm teaching, but I didn't even mention like where it is, but I guess you can put that in like the description.

Maira (45:17):

Yeah. Thanks so much for doing this. I know it was like really short notice. Um, and technology is weird and kind of hard, but it's been fun.

Miquela (45:29):

No, this was awesome. I loved, uh, you know, catching up with you a little bit and like yeah. Hearing about the things that you're working on too. Like it's nice to just sit and talk like with a fellow artist who just gets it. Like, I I've been very isolated away from like any sense of like an art community. So like this was really cool and I, yeah, I really loved talking with you.

Maira (45:52):

Yeah. And it's, it's also just a very different vibe from like seeing something on Instagram and being like, all right, I like this, but it's cool to like interact on a different plane, I guess.

Miquela (46:05):

Totally.

Maira (46:06):

Yeah. Well again, thank you. Um, this was great and yeah, stay tuned for more long-arm stapler, uh, more often this year and that's all for me.

#podcast #podcast transcript #miquela davis #long arm stapler #zines #zine

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franeridart · 7 years

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hi. hello. this is a bit embarrassing but i'm trying to buy my bf a tablet sort of thing so he can draw his arts. he's been wanting one forever but hasn't rly shown me which one he wants. i want to surprise him n buy a good one worth the money n was just curious if you had any suggestions. i've looked into wacom products, but i'm just such a noob to these things n was hoping you can help... i understand if this is silly, you don't have to reply! ur just so amazing, ur opinion is trustworthy 😅☺️

Okay, so, this is just my opinion and since it’s based completely on personal experiences it’s gonna possibly be incredibly different from other people’s opinions, so I just wanna make clear from the start that this is a personal preference and isn’t in any way meant as an absolute truth

Anyway, as far as I’m concerned when you’re just starting out you don’t need anything fancy at all. As an aspiring digital artist your bf might have looked up tablets and cried tears of blood over how much he’d like a cintiq or anything similar, but my very personal opinion is that fancy stuff is gonna be pretty much useless to you and be generally a waste of money? You’re just learning, you don’t need anything more than the basics. My suggestion is that you pick something simple and easy to use - I own this wacom intuos, had it for a long while and I like it a lot, but there’s also less expensive options you can go for too that people seem to like just as much! I’ve lately read on my dash about the Huion H610, they say it doesn’t cost much at all but it’s just as good as the Intuos, that could be a good option for you~

Anon said: Hey!!! I was wondering if its ok to rb your oc art? I realized a lot less people rb those and i get anxious easily so... also i really don't want to disrespect either! But i always thought of rebloging as a way of saying "i appreciate your art" and i really really (really ) like yours (both the style and itself in general). (I hope you dont mind my bad english ha ha) i hope you don't mind this stupid ask! Im still kind of new to tumblr

It’s 100% okay!!!! *O* Thank you for liking them enough to want to reblog them ;A; !!!!

Anon said:i miss ur bokuroteru so much 😭💕 i love ur art but whenever i see ur header, i just remember ur bokuroteru comic and my heart cries storms for them to be seen again.

Aw anon I’m super happy you like my stuff for those three but as of now inspiration in that department is... super low... and tbh the haikyuu fandom is being incredibly unresponsive and non-vocal about their appreciation of fanworks in this period so even when I do have ideas for that fandom I sort of. Let them go. Or just sketch them out and never finish them.

Like, you know the whole deal about having to draw for yourself and not for others? That’s what I do 100% of the times when I’m starting a drawing, but to draw for myself I don’t exactly need to finish a drawing, you know? Sometimes there’s a scene I wanna see and I sketch it out in a super rough way and as far as my personal desire to see it goes I’m satisfied with that, and everything after that - the cleaning and lining and maybe even coloring - I put the effort in it because I want to share it with people. And the deal with the Hq!! fandom lately is that they don’t share my excitement for it. They either only like it, or don’t comment on it, or comment only to complain about this or that thing. In the worst case posting hq!! only ends up with people asking me to draw something else (ie I feel like drawing Karasuno so I draw it and post it and no one comments/rb/says anything about it but there’s 20 asks in my inbox asking me why I haven’t drawn any bok*ro lately)

When I think about posting stuff for hq lately I automatically compare it to posting stuff for bnha where I could draw a background character that appeared once 120 chapters ago and there’s still gonna be people that go “yes! that character!! I love that character!!! can’t believe there’s actual art for it oh my god!!!!” - that’s... that’s the sort of reaction that makes you wanna share stuff

I dunno, maybe I’m just expecting too much out of the hq fandom. But anyway, sharing for bnha makes me way happier and glad I decided to finish a drawing lately, so I guess that’s what’s happening there.

Anon said:Every time your soft doods art shows up on my dash I have to pause and take a deep breath and just thank god for all the good in the world because I'm blown away every single time

This is s o s w e e t oh my god ;A; thank you so much!!!!

Anon said:Johnny is a fucking angel dammit. Have you read the new DGM already?? I'm in tears. I love this manga so much. The frequency of the releases are killing me... it has such a great story and great characters. It needs more love

I did read it!!!! And yeah the fandom used to be way bigger, but honestly I’m glad it’s just the couple dozens people it is. Like a small town where everyone knows everyone else. No drama, no discourse. Everyone ships what they want and we all pass each other tissues to dry the tears. The only argument that happens regularly is people complaining about the relase schedule and the old fans telling them to let Hoshino live. A good place, this fandom’s a good place.

DGM was my playground for most of my experimenting as far as creating art goes, I really did reach in all directions with it through the years and it helped me shape myself a lot, so I really want it to stay quiet and nice and peaceful, that’s my dream for it haha smaller fandoms have a better chance to keep that freedom

Anon said: Oh man, I live for that Togata x Amajiki interaction

You talking about the color spread cause yes that was adorable!!! ;A;

Anon said:I look a little, and do you still draw Bakugo x Kirishima x Kaminari?

Sure, it’s still my main ship for Kaminari and my main ot3! Just wait for Denki to start being relevant in the manga again, I’ll probably fall headfirst into it all over again haha

Anon said:Your art is so wonderful you're wonderful everything's so wonderful i'm crying omg

SOB no anon you’re wonderful!!!!

Anon said:Due to my brain not wanting to cooperate with me (ever), Bakugou Katsuki is now Batsuki Katsuki in my head.

This is the funniest thing I’ve read today and I’m in t e a r s hahaha

Anon said:Artistic!Mina making pop art and colorful paintings :o what are ur thoughts

HELL YES that’s my main headcanon for Mina, she’s definitely an artsy girl!!! I like the idea of her sharing it with Bakugou t b h

Anon said:I'm still just repeatedly looking at your newest KiriBaku because hot damn.

I’m super glad you liked it!!!!!!! oh my gOD!!!!!!!

Anon said:Heyy please rec Kami comics please! I'm in a Kami art shortage and I currently can't find art as awesome as yours...

I’m so sorry I wish I could help you with this but I don’t know anyone who draws lotsa Kaminari either ;---;

#fran answers #about the tablet #personally i started with a tablet that wasn't a wacom #it was okay to learn the basics but it lasted maybe six months top #and then i had to change it #which is why now im sorta wary about giving my money to other brands #considering that after that i only bought two tablets #both wacoms #and technically i didn't even have to change the first one my family just bought me a new one out of the blue #so yeah people can say whatever they want about wacom but they ARE quality and durable #that said that experience with other brands happened over ten years ago #and the brand wasn't great anyway #so like it's totally possible that new brands are WAY better #check for the reviews! most people are saying they love them #so i guess if your budget is limited you CAN go for another brand #the one i linked is pretty damn huge too im #really tempted to buy it myself t b h #anonymous

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hetmusic · 8 years

Photo

HumanHuman meets Jolyon Checketts

In another interview with some of our most influential users, we get to know Jolyon Checketts, purveyor of all things new music and part of the Charm Factory PR team. Joining the HumanHuman community two years ago, Checketts quickly gained a reputation as one of our most passionate discoverers with some of his best finds being Pinegrove, Starling, Hein Cooper and PARTYBABY.

Speaking with this new music enthusiast over a coffee at The Great Escape festival, he talks about his less-than-unusual route into the music industry, the trends and artists we should be looking out for this year and how his dissertation led him to create something called the ‘triangle of discovery’.

First question, for the readers of HumanHuman, tell me who are you and what do you do?

I’m Joly Checketts, I work for Charm Factory which is an online PR, digital marketing and social media company based in London. I’m essentially an online publicist, but I also occasionally do a bit of writing here and there.

Ah cool, who have you written for recently?

I’ve done a few bits for The Most Radicalist, who are a really cool new blog doing the right things. I used to do some stuff for Gold Flake Paint as well.

How did you first get started in the music industry?

I’ve been in bands since I was about sixteen, none of which were very good, and I got to a point where I was like “okay, this isn’t going anywhere, so maybe I’ll start helping other people.” Then I studied Marketing and Advertising at university, and after my second year, they gave me the option to do a work placement and I was looking for advertising internships, but that was really difficult. Eventually, I stumbled upon a week long work experience at the BBC in their marketing department for Radio 2 and 6Music. I was there for a week, and then they invited me back for another week, and another week, and another week! So I was there for a month in the end, which was great. It was really fun, like in my first week I was invited to see Fleet Foxes at the Radio Theatre, which was amazing. I kept being invited to the 6Music Live Lounge, so I saw Tom Vek and Wild Beasts. It was all a dream come true for me. After that I got an internship at Vice for a month, which got extended to three months, and I got offered a full-time position at Vice in their marketing and PR team - or what was called then the “activation team”. Vice was awesome, and then I moved onto the Noisey side of things. When I joined Noisey, it was pretty much non-existent, it was a really small part of what they were doing. We were doing documentaries of unheard of bands, following them around their local town. Halfway through my time at Noisey they got the funding from Google, who really started pushing their YouTube. Then we started premiering videos - the first thing we did was an A$AP Rocky video and I was thrown into this high-pressure PR situation where you have to ensure loads of coverage. My time at Vice and Noisey finished and I came back to uni and by then I had pretty much decided that I was going to be in the music industry in some shape or form. I ended up writing my dissertation on digital PR and about how people find new music.

Wow, so you are the expert!

Well… I wouldn’t quite go as far as expert. I probably shouldn’t have done a dissertation on Music PR when I was studying Marketing and Advertising, but they let me have it! I did a case study on Peace, and how they went from pretty much nothing, they were just this Birmingham band doing quite well and local blogs were writing about them, but then it snowballed and went massive. After that I finished uni, I went looking for a job, which was really tricky despite having a year's experience, but then I found myself at Charm Factory and I’ve loved every minute of it since. It’s an incredibly exciting place to work.

That’s a good biography there! So, when did you first hear about HumanHuman?

It was actually when I was writing for Gold Flake Paint. I saw Jarri from Disco Naïveté posting about it on Twitter and I checked the website out and thought “this looks really cool!” At the time I was still writing for Gold Flake Paint quite a lot, and I think Senne messaged me like, “we love Gold Flake Paint!” [laughs] I’ve seen it grow over the past year and a half, maybe two years now, and it’s been so nice seeing the community grow and people getting more involved. It’s such an awesome community! I love the fact that PRs, bloggers and A&Rs alike can all feed into this hub of incredible new music.

“I love the fact that PRs, bloggers and A&Rs alike can all feed into this hub of incredible new music”— Jolyon Checketts

Of course, the community is all about discovering, so which discovery are you most proud of to date?

I’m conscious that you probably already know the answer to this, but probably Pinegrove. For anyone who hasn’t listened to them yet, their latest album is the best one I’ve heard this year by quite a way - it’s awesome. Equally, there’s a band called TUSKA, who are really great and kind of sound like Tame Impala. There’s also a band called Great News, who are signed to Propeller Recordings, a Norwegian label who are doing great things. There’s also a great guy called Rodney Tenor, who is part of the rap collective Brockhampton, he’s like Brockhampton’s Frank Ocean! His track “Prognosis Hypnosis” is awesome, and I think he’s got a bright future ahead of him.

Obviously, you’re really excited by discovering new bands and artists, but why do you think people are drawn to the idea of finding new talent and being able to say “I found that”?

I don’t know, it’s a weird one… My entry into enjoying music is a weird one. I was always really into sports when I was younger, I would play rugby, cricket, football, the lot, and I had a relatively limited interest in music. Then I got in with a different crowd at secondary school and I started playing in a band, because I’d been a singer since I was young, you know in choirs and some musical things. I’d always liked singing, and these friends of mine caught onto the fact I was a singer and invited me to join their covers band. We were doing covers of Green Day, Blink 182, Metallica, all of which I had never listened to before because I was completely naive to the whole of music. Then my intrigue of music rapidly went mental! When I was in these bands, I was the one always looking for shows and booking them. We did alright in the end. One band who changed the way I listen to music is a band called Tellison, they released their album Contact Contact eight or nine years ago, and that’s when my love for new music really took off. I got into bands that they were touring with, like Sam Isaac and Tall Ships, and then the record label Big Scary Monsters, that was a big moment in my new music discovery… I’ve actually forgotten the question now! [we laugh]

I was simply asking about why people are so interested in discovering new music, and it’s interesting that you said you were a latecomer to it, which is something that Jarri from Disco Naïveté said in his interview too. Maybe, there’s something to that?

Maybe, but I know so many people who really don’t care about new music, they’re just happy to consume it. I always use my sister as a reference point, so everytime I go home I ask her “what are you listening to lately? how are you listening to it?” and it’s usually Radio 1 or a Spotify playlist. That’s basically how 95% of people consume music. Going back to your question, I think the thrill of finding new music isn’t necessarily being the first one to find it, it’s the pleasure of being able to tell people about it via places like HumanHuman or down the pub with your mates.

Most people will know you from your work with Charm Factory, what has been your proudest moment as a publicist?

I’ve had a few really good moments. I looked after Raye, and seeing her go from nothing to releasing her first track “Need Me” back in September 2014. Since then, she’s been doing some really great things and signed to Polydor - I’m really proud of that. Dagny is one of my more recent clients, she’s done exceptionally well off the back of one track, which went completely insane. She’s so humble and nice about it, and she’s such a talented singer. Dagny has got a huge year ahead of her and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved with her so far. There’s been a few things, I worked on Fictonian’s debut album, which is brilliant. There’s some of the newer things like Joy Crookes, we just started on her, and Mhairi, another really exciting artist with only one track released but there’s plenty more to come.

Essentially, you’re proud of all of them!

[laughs] I’m proud of most things! Sign of a good publicist.

While you’ve been working on all of these things, what do you think has been the most significant change to the music industry, in particular the way we receive the music and share it?

One of the most obvious changes is how reliant the music industry is on Spotify now. When I began, it used to be quite one dimensional. It was like get as much online coverage as you can and try to feed that into what the radio pluggers were doing, and Spotify was more of an afterthought. If you could get some of the external Spotify playlisters to put it in there then great, that used to have a real impact, but now they’ve changed things so you can’t contact anyone within the company, unless they’re following you. That seems like a move to help the majors out, so they can really handpick who they support. Recently, in the past month or so I’ve been having more conversations with managers and labels where SoundCloud is perhaps not as high on the agenda as it once was. Whether that’s because of SoundCloud Go or because of the Spotify success, and it’s now seen as a direct competitor. If the Spotify editorial team see that you’re giving SoundCloud a week-long exclusive, which is essentially what it is, then they’re like “why should we support it?” It’s such a Catch 22 because you need SoundCloud to get the recognition of the track. Yeah… it’s a tricky one.

Streaming services are definitely one of the most complicated things going on in the music industry at the moment, I’d be interested to see where we’re all at in ten years time. You spoke there about how when you started it was about getting that online coverage, but why do you think blogs still have so much influence over what we all listen to?

Again, I think this is quite an interesting topic. In my dissertation, I actually created a diagram and I think I called it the ‘triangle of discovery’ - I was really proud of it! If you think of a normal triangle, and at the bottom you have people who just consume music from various different points whether that be Radio 1 or Spotify or their friends. If you go up a level, that will perhaps be people who are listening to specialist radio shows or looking at blogs occasionally. Above that will be people who are adamantly reading new music blogs, whether that be the smaller HypeMachine blogs or completely unheard of ones. Right at the top are people who are discovering things on HumanHuman, and they feed music to people who go right down to the bottom. It kind of makes more sense when you can actually see this triangle! [we laugh]

The triangle of discovery - I love it! It’s going to change the way I look at HumanHuman. That argument concentrates on the digital music world, so why do you think the industry is moving online?

I think it’s just… ease. It’s the ease of consumption from digital platforms. For example, I overheard someone talking about how the older music publications perhaps haven’t had their site enabled for mobile yet, and from my perspective that’s incredibly stupid because people don’t always have their laptops with them. I think the likes of The NME could have such a wider circulation out of it, I used to be able to buy that magazine at my local newsagents in Hitchin, but now I can’t. It’s only sold in the big cities, so if someone from a small town like Hitchin wanted to read it they either have to trek to London or read it online. It’s purely the ease of consumption. It’s also the way that everything is interconnected, so you can read an article on DIY Magazine and see a Spotify embed included in the piece, and have that linked directly to the Spotify app in your phone. Everything makes sense online, whereas there’s a disconnect with print publications and music consumption. I mean, they are still important in my eyes. I think you still really need support from print publications to make it in the music industry, that goes without saying really. Online coverage is the most important now though, especially for the younger generations, people who have grown up being able to read articles and listen to music on their phone.

“Online coverage is the most important now though, especially for the younger generations”— Jolyon Checketts

Yeah, that’s going to be second nature for them, although print publications do still have precedence as a physical format. Obviously, a festival like The Great Escape is also an in-life experience, but do you think festivals have as much prominence in the music industry?

I think so! Especially events like this, because in online PR, you’re kind of this faceless person who emails random people all the time, but you build up strong relationships and it’s so nice to be able to meet them and have a real life conversation. You wouldn’t get a chance to at any other time, because everyone is so busy, probably not getting paid enough and don’t have time to go waltzing around London meeting people. It’s weekends like this where it’s so nice to catch up with people, talk about music and…

Meet people in the same world as you.

Exactly, Hannah!

This festival is really dedicated to new music and small artists, so who is your recommended must-see act?

Well, I’ve seen some great stuff already this weekend. The nature of being a PR at The Great Escape is that you’re probably going to have to see your own acts and spend a lot of time with them, so Dagny has played and Strong Asian Mothers blew the roof off Green Door Store on Thursday night! I saw Seramic yesterday, and he was incredible, probably the highlight of the whole festival so far. I also saw a girl called Tusks on Friday, she was brilliant. Today, I want to try to see Smerz, who are from Norway, and a band called Few Bits. There’s a few more… but the highlight was definitely Seramic, without a doubt. Unbelievable show!

Agreed! So, a lot of these smaller artists try to stay away from genre labels or indeed invent one of their own, for example Astronomyy came up with Lunar Surf. Where do you think this trend has come from?

We’re in a world where online publications want to stand out from the pack as a site that’s doing interesting things and listening to interesting music, so bands and artists feel that it’s beneficial to them to try and publicise themselves as something a bit different. Whether that be throwing a strange genre into their description section on Facebook. If you look at a band like Flamingods, I mean I don’t know how they describe themselves, but they are doing something different, they truly are. They probably warrant giving themselves a crazy description. Basically, I think it’s routed in trying to separate themselves from the pack. That’s half the problem, there’s so much music, there’s too much music! Even if you look at New Music Fridays, sometimes four or five great albums are released on one day, and how is anyone meant to consume that much music? That’s not even one percent of it. There’s so much good music released every single day, so you just have to find a way of making yourself stand out and the easiest way to do that is to describe yourself as something different, even if you’re not!

That’s just one current trend, but do you think there will be a focal trend this year?

I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed Scandinavian-pop, and I’m working with a lot of Danish artists at the moment who are doing some really great things. I can sense a little bit of blues and soul coming up at the moment. I went to see Tom Misch last night, he’s a great guitarist playing blues solos with hip-hop influences in the instrumentals. Another example is Seramic, he’s an insane guitarist and you can hear elements of Prince and D’Angelo in his music.

Oh yeah, he was wearing a Prince t-shirt, wasn’t he?

He was! Dedication. Even his backing vocalists had so much soul. I think you can get across real passion in your music when you go back to the routes of soul and blues. I used to be in a blues-funk band, and it gave me an outlet to really use my voice in the most passionate way possible. I’m beginning to see a lot more of that, and I’m really enjoying it.

https://humanhuman.com/articles/interview-jolyon-checketts

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mistressarachnia · 7 years

Text

I’ve changed my page info/description to reflect what N+C fandom projects I’m currently working on. Further details are below the cut.

But first... reminder that any of you are more than welcome to message me anytime! I joined this site in large part for the community, so if you want to talk N+C I’d be more than happy to get to know you. You don’t need to have the same fav characters/pairings as me to talk to me (I’m entertained with how many friends I’ve made here who initially didn’t think I would talk to them because of their preferred pairings). As far as I’m concerned, diversity is the spice of life. <3

Now, on to projects...

- I successfully figured out how to make language patches for the N+C games! Yay! I’m working on Osu Boys (one of the N+C April Fools joke games) as a proof of concept. It’ll be finished shortly.

- I’d already started on TnC Poker as my original “learn to patch” game before @seragaki-yuki wisely suggested Osu Boys as a better starting project. There is actually a TON of dialog/text in TnC poker, believe it or not, so I’m picking away at it slowly between other projects.

- I definitely plan on making a patch for Rhythm Carnival as soon as I get a copy. Most of the text is actually what I’ve already translated for the 10th Anniversary video, so it shouldn’t take too long to do once I get started on it.

- I plan on making patches for TnC Typing and True Blood once the others are finished. I have hard copies of both already. I’m *hoping* to recruit some help on the translation front prior to attempting these games, though, since I feel like it’s a bigger deal if I screw things up. FYI, the actual typing portion of TnC Typing will still be in Japanese (both kana and romanji), because that’s just how the game is set up. It’s supposed to help you learn to type in Japanese - you don’t need to be able to understand it, just copy the letters on the screen.

- Regarding the DMMd games, I don’t want to attempt to patch Re:Code before a better translation patch for DMMd/Re:Connect is made, otherwise all of the same mistakes will just be repeated over again. I was pretty late to the N+C fandom, but I have definitely picked up on how unhappy many fans seem to be with the original translation (which frankly scares me a bit, since my own translation skills are far from perfect). I’ve sort of put out antennae to find some of the other fans who have done work on re-translating DMMd. Since I’m already working on so many other things, I won’t aggressively pursue them right now, but if other fans want these games translated/re-translated badly enough to be willing to do some actual work on them, I’m definitely willing to help out in whatever ways I can to make sure that it happens. (Justice for Mink!)

- Regarding the other N+C mini games like Nyanda, Lamento Typing, and Chiral Mori... I don’t personally have any plans to work on them, but that might change if someone else was really inspired to translate these guys, wanted to pick them up as their own projects, and just needed an editor to turn them into an actual patch that people could use and play with.

- I seriously need to finish my own gift project for the N+C Exchange, so progress on the translation front will be a little slow for the next couple of weeks until the release date on August 31st. But I’ll pick right back up after that.

- I’m actually RPing now! That’s been a lot of fun. I RP Nano (TnC), but I have a merged DMMd/TnC universe if any DMMd RPers want to play with me (or just want to talk merged-universe conspiracy theories). Even if you don’t RP, you can always send me asks, anon or otherwise. I’m not too picky - I’m just happy to have an excuse to write.

- I really want to find more time to work on my original fanfic... I’m a much better writer than translator (I hope!). If I’m procrastinating on my other projects, there’s a good chance that it’s because I’m writing and don’t want to stop. Unsurprisingly the vast majority of original content that I write centers around Nano. Fair warning, I went really dark with some of it, even for N+C. I’ve also written a few DMMd fics, but... lately I just want to focus on Nano right now, because I find him to be a very inspirational muse.

- Our discord server is alive and very active, both on the project and social front. Lately we’ve been playing a N+C Cards Against Humanity game with a custom deck created by @kisamaa more-or-less in-character. It’s such a weird and fun cast. Depending on who’s on (since we’re all around the world) we’ve got: Nano, Shiki, Arbitro, Alpha, Akushima, Usui, Sly Blue, and Leaks. Shenanigans are inevitable. We’re starting up some new games, too. Send any of us a message if you want a link. (I’d just post the link here, but apparently the links expire and I’ve had a couple of people complain about it, so it’s easier to send them to folks directly.)

- I’m working on scanlations for several different doujinshi, it’s just been a little slower than usual on account of everything else I’m doing. I’m still focusing on Alpha and Nano doujinshi, with some Clear stuff thrown in for good measure. The next one that will be released is Experiment Time! which has a good combo of both sexiness (Alphas testing out their sexual functions in many different ways) and angsty existential robot problems. Once I get the three big doujins that are half-finished completed, I am going to start on Hiki’s three volume series “The Last Days.” It’s a very angsty BE!Clear/Aoba series designed to tear your heart out. Hiki is my fav CleAo artist, both because of her impressive artistic talent and her storytelling expertise. (And here I swore I’d never do BE!Clear... ah well, so much for that...)

- If you haven’t already heard, there is a really awesome and active new DMMd scanlation group that has recently formed and focuses primarily on NoiAo doujinshi (but are working on doujins for several other pairings as well). They’re looking for more translators, editors, and proofreaders, so contact @desamparo7, @seragaki-yuki, and/or @a-little-harmed-shinra if you want to help out with their projects.

- I’m still scanning/digitizing doujinshi for multiple people/groups. My make-shift “scanner” which I posted a tutorial for earlier still works better than any professional scanner I’ve tried. I should probably update my tutorial on post-processing, though - I’ve since gotten it down much faster with noticeably better results since I originally posted. (Speaking of which, if I’ve promised you something and haven’t given it to you yet, please remind me. It isn’t an intentional slight - there’s just a lot to keep track of sometimes and I get scatterbrained.)

- I’ve scanned all three of the 10 Years Archive books. I’ll get back to posting artwork from them shortly as I get them edited... I’ve been spending so much time on my Nano blog lately that I forgot my queue ran out on this one. XD I will post the full-spread 2-page images later in their entirety, because it takes some creative photoshop skills to get them to match up exactly and I just don’t have the time to do that right now. (But I will do it!)

- Random, but I’m so ridiculously excited to get a hold of that TnC benefits poster that came with the C92 Comiket Rhythm Carnival. Nano in a sparkly rainbow butterfly costume... seriously WTF? (It’s especially funny to me because I used to cosplay/RP Caterpillar many years ago when I still went to Nocturnal Wonderland... and I was just talking about how he reminds me of Nano. Apparently N+C thought so, too! Now I have this weird mental image of Nano sitting on a mushroom smoking hookah... and I’m not sure it’s any sillier than Nano in a sparkly butterfly costume holding a magic wand.)

#projects

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highschoolharrier · 7 years

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15 Questions With Doug Soles

Doug Soles is the head coach of Great Oak High School in Temecula, California. His program is ranked second in our pre-season polls for both boys and girls. His teams have gone on to podium at NXN as well as set national records on the track. High School Harrier: Great Oak is a newer high school although you've had meteoric success. When did you realize the program you were developing was going to be national class?

Doug Soles: When I was looking to move from the Palm Springs area in 2004 my goal was to take over a 1st year school and build it into a national championship program. I felt Great Oak had all of the key components to accomplish that (since Murrieta Valley was dominating at that time and GO was going to be very comparable). I was fortunate to get hired and set out with my varsity coaching partner Dan Noble to build a program that could compete with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Early on this was something that got me mocked by coaches with better teams and more experience, but we had a plan in place and felt that as the school moved from 2 to 3 to 4 grades of students and started to have some foundation and history we could really start moving towards competing with the best in the nation. Part of the plan has always been to travel to take on the best teams in the country, which I think is critical. How can you be a national class program if you hide in your area of the country beating up on the same people you have already beaten? We felt it important to search out meets where we would have a great chance at getting beat, and have to learn from the experience. I think that has helped us learn how to compete with the best teams in the nation. None of this was by accident, it has all been part of the original plan. This year we will attend the Roy Griak invite in Minnesota on a course that is very different in style to what we run and we look forward to taking on a loaded field on both sides.

HSH: Your team is known for being the class of the field in both cross country and track. How do you keep your athletes competing at a high level so long?

DS: Our goal has always been to be the best at both sports that we can be which can be problematic at times. When you are successful in track you can go deep into June or beyond and really eat up a lot of your XC summer base phase. The last couple cross country seasons were difficult because of how long we focused on track and really put us behind for XC which makes it harder to have them ready to compete until much later in the season. This year we got in a much better base which should help.

Our goal with each athlete is to have them running year round with a 2 week break after XC and a 2 week break after spring track. We have a summer program, fall xc, a winter track club, and spring track. On top of that I have a year round 1st period XC class which allows us to condition year round in cooler temps. Keeping them active is critical if you want them to be ready to run well when it matters. All coaches have to find the rhythm of their seasons and learn how to peak their kids for the end to ensure their best performances. We have been able to do that pretty well in the CA season for XC and Track and our kids recognize that if they buy in we will have the ready when it matters.

Track is very different from cross country, but we focus on it heavily and do our best to set track goals that incorporate the team (DMR, 4x1600, etc.) each season. Winning big meets like the Mt. SAC relays against amazing sprints programs is pretty awesome for a distance centric team.

HSH: Your boys team and girls team are both ranked second nationally in our preseason ranking. How are you able to dedicate enough time to develop two national championship caliber programs at the same time?

DS: We typically run 3-4 groups at a time. Group 4 is a development type group that is for late joiners and kids just learning how to run. Group 3 tends to be for frosh who can run and just need time to develop. Group 2 is JV and developing varsity athletes who are working towards varsity. Group 1 is the varsity group and you have to be fit and focused to be in that group regardless of talent. I’ve moved kids that have finished top 3 in state in XC and track to group 2 because they weren’t ready for the group 1 workouts. You better come in fit and ready or I’m not working with you regardless of how good you are.

As far as genders go, Coach Noble and I coach them together as a varsity group. They tend to run with their same gender, but all the concepts and training are pretty much the same. Our athletes set the goals and we do our best to have them ready to accomplish those goals when the time comes. The boys goal this year is to win NXN, so that will be our main focus this year with them and I think they have a very good chance to be in the hunt for it. They are much better than our team last season and that team placed 6th at NXN so I have faith we will compete for it. Our girls are younger and developing but talented. Their goal is to win State this year and make it 6 titles in a row. Ultimately, their goals dictate what we focus on and how intense we are about certain things. Both teams are focused on being top teams in the nation each year so it isn’t difficult to have both genders going the same direction towards that goal.

HSH: Going off the previous question, what do you do to temper expectations and keep the athletes focused?

DS: I’m not much of a temper expectations kind of guy…I’m always looking for the next thing we can go after or accomplish as a team so I probably have them thinking about their goals pretty consistently. In the early years many people told me I was overreaching and setting the kids up for failure by telling them they would become state champions. Now people want to know how we get them so confident. From the first day we have them we have them focused on becoming state champions. Temper expectations? I want them to shoot for the moon each season and force me to find a way to get them there. If we don’t accomplish the goal, we will put our heads down and keep going after it until we get it.

HSH: Do you believe it to be an advantage or disadvantage to have NXN the week after state?

DS: I think if you plan your season right it can be an advantage to roll right into it. If you don’t plan your season right, you can very easily be toast by NXN. A lot of it goes into when you have the ready, what you have them focused on, and what their goals are. If their goal is to make it to NXN, they won’t run well at NXN because they already accomplished their goal of making it there. Racing at NXN becomes icing on the cake…We focus on getting there ready to compete. Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of support from CIF to help us rest athletes along the way to be more prepared for nationals so we have to be creative and do our best to have them as fresh as possible come December.

HSH: How much focus do you place on NXN vs state?

DS: I think that depends on the team we have and their goals. Our boys this season have a legit chance at winning NXN and will focus there. We have to win state to have any chance to make it to NXN so we can’t ignore state, but it becomes more of a qualifier than a final destination in this situation. For the girls our focus will be winning state and if we make NXN that is great this year. We will do our best to learn the course with a new group of girls and have them ready for future seasons in Portland.

HSH: Does your team have a motto or mantra?

DS: Our team motto is World Domination, which started as a joke in a team meeting by Coach Noble. He had a funny digital voice in a PowerPoint saying World Domination and it just kind of stuck as something we say with the kids. Nowadays it more means success at all levels for our kids whether it is GO athletes, our college kids, or even some of our kids that compete in the national or pro ranks. Wherever GO trained athletes compete we want to compete at a high level and this saying just kind of fits. We don’t go into a meet wanting to win just the varsity, we shoot to win every race we are in (frosh, soph, JV, varsity, etc.). This leads to us tweeting World Domination when we see our kids winning lots of levels or getting 5 of the 9 spots in the 1600 at CIF Finals, etc. It is meant as a fun way to recognize our kids doing well against quality opponents at all levels.

HSH: Do you have a bread and butter workout that you go to often, or if not, what is a favorite workout of yours for your team to do?

DS: We do all the standard stuff from 5x1000 to fartleks, to tempo runs like most teams...we do 10x60m hill sprints every Monday afternoon during cross country season once school starts and I think they really help build strength and put a little in the bank for the end of the season. They help us prepare for Mt. SAC which can be a critical course for our team when utilized for CIF (won’t be used for a couple years due to construction). We also do a 5,5,5 workout that focuses on getting faster every 5 minutes that I’ve shared many times. The first 5 is at 70% effort, the second is at 80% effort or around their tempo effort, and the last 5 is 85%+ effort which is more of a Vo2 pace (no break between phases). This trains them to run faster and be more mentally tough as the race goes on.

HSH: Can you explain how your team utilizes HIIT and progresses throughout the year?

DS: I look at HIIT training as another component that we need to maximize just like lactate threshold or Vo2 Max. We do a running HIIT 3 times a week and build from 1 minute up to 3+ minutes over the course of the season. HIITs develop speed, burn fat, help with running at higher paces, develop musculature that can support harder workouts, etc. I like placing my HIITS on recovery days to make sure we get in something fast that really gets their heart rates up on days with slower running. I think it is important to do something fast each day, even on recovery days. It doesn’t have to be long, but you should be challenging your athletes to get better each day. HIITS help them become better athletes, not just runners.

HSH: What part of your training do you think is most important for the success of your athletes?

DS: I think consistently training all components is the key to successfully building runners long term. We don’t really have parts of the year where we aren’t doing all these things. I see training plans where they don’t do anything but aerobic runs for a long period of time, but I think you have to be careful to not develop each component consistently. If you aren’t developing it, it probably isn’t getting better and your athletes won’t be ready when the time comes. I think we have done a great job developing aerobic athletes that run distance races, not distance runners. Consistency is the key. If you have a varsity girl who leaves you to go play soccer or basketball for 3-4 months, you aren’t developing anything, you are just utilizing her talent when you have it. Our athletes are with us year round focusing on getting better at running.

HSH: You've said you keep 50 distance runners for boys and girls for track. Do you have a similar set-up for cross country?

DS: We usually have 100-110 distance athletes in track combined and 130-160 in XC depending on the year. This season we should have about 150 XC athletes and are working to build our numbers back up a bit. We peaked at 230+ athletes in 2012 for XC and it was a bit too large so we implemented time standards to make the team and start to trim the athletes that weren’t working hard. Time standards work well, but we didn’t feel we needed them this year so we just decided to take all comers. We may reinstitute them in the future if we have a lot of athletes that don’t want to work hard and just come out for the social aspect. To me you should have to earn your spot on the team, and it shouldn’t be something that you can do nothing and stay in the program long term. Athletes that don’t work hard in the fall or the winter tend to get cut in the spring track season.

HSH: I'm a new freshman coming out for the team. What can I expect my first year in terms of training and racing?

DS: We have about 60 frosh athletes this year (usually 40-80 each season). The majority will start in our group 3 frosh group which runs 3-6 miles a day depending on the workout. Right now most runs are 3-4 mile recovery runs just getting them some base before we start pushing. Usually the hardest part for 9th graders is the warm-up and our core routines we do daily. As they adapt to those items they mileage goes up incrementally. Early season our frosh run 15-25 miles a week depending on their level and build up to 30-35 by the end of the season. Our top incoming 9th graders that did club and ran all summer usually jump straight to group 1 with me where they run similar mileage to group 3 frosh but have higher intensity workouts and are a lot more focused on the varsity goals. Right now we have 4 frosh girls in group 1 and zero frosh boys there. They will move up as they physically and mentally show they are ready.

Racing wise you will race pretty much every time we have one. Experience is critical so we try to race them against 9th graders as much as possible, but will move them up to varsity periodically if they are fast enough. Last year we had 2 varsity frosh boys that could run sub 15:10 for 3 miles so they really broke the curve and have pushed through the ranks faster than normal. Most years we will get a group of 16:30 boys and try to build them from there over the next 3 seasons. It just depends on who comes in and how ready they are when they get to us. Athletes in our program learn quickly that I care more about effort than results. If you aren’t very talented but work hard you will always be someone I’m excited to work with. If you don’t care about getting better, you probably won’t make it to the varsity group. Same goes for track.

HSH: Can you explain the cross country state qualifying system in California for those of us who aren't in the state?

DS: We have quite a few CIF sections that qualify teams to the state meet. We are in the Southern Section which is the largest and most competitive section in the state (and probably the nation). We have to finish top 3 in our league to make CIF Prelims, usually top 6 in CIF prelims to make CIF Finals, and top 7 at CIF Finals to make it to the state meet for Division 1. Usually we need to finish 1st in division 1 to have any chance to make it to NXN from our state meet. Ultimately the goal is to cruise league finals and CIF Prelims, and start pushing at CIF Finals, State, and NXN.

HSH: Do you have any athletes on your team that you believe are ready to make a big jump from last year to this year?

DS: On the boys side, most of them have made pretty big jumps as they were really young last year. Sophomore Gabe Abbes is the most likely to surprise people as he has really improved and should be a top 10 boy at the state meet this year. On the girls side Tori Gaitan moved in this year and is an exceptional athlete. I knew she had great endurance but her leg speed has truly surprised me. She could very easily finish top 3 in the state meet this season for Division 1. She is learning to be a student of the sport and is soaking up a lot each day.

HSH: What advice would you give to a coach looking to turn his program in a national, or even state class program?

DS: The main thing to understand is that it has to be the goal. You have to make some sacrifices to get to that level (Friday frisbee golf probably has to go…), and a lot of coaches don’t want to make those sacrifices. YOU have to be the hardest working person you know!

It should look something like this:

1) Set the goal and put everything you have into accomplishing it.

2) Create an environment where hard work is the norm and is expected by both the coaches and the athletes.

3) Set team goals with the athletes and work towards them together.

4) Stand up to parents when they tell you that you are pushing the kids too hard, are mean, are crazy, are not understanding their kid, are not being fair, etc.

5) Find your athletes that buy into the vision and build around them.

6) Recruit as many incoming 9th graders each season as you can to build numbers and a talent pool!

7) Find a way to get soccer players to choose you over soccer.

8) Look for every opportunity you can find to improve your program (get a pe class, go to clinics, email coaches that know more than you and ask questions, read books, read message boards, ask more questions, constantly update your workouts and keep what works).

9) Stand up to parents again (it happens more than once). Get them to see the team vision.

10) Compete in national level meets.

11) Reflect at the end of the season on your successes and failures with the kids and make improvements going forward. FIND YOUR WEAKNESSES!

12) Repeat until all these things start falling into place.

To get to the next level you need to wake up each day seeing it, working towards it, and outworking everyone you are competing against. That requires personal sacrifices and a lot of people won’t make those. To be great as a coach there really isn’t an off season.

Photo courtesy of John Nepolitan.

#greatoak #nxn #california #crosscountry #highschool

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spookypastatoo · 7 years

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Abandoned by Disney

Some of you may have heard that the Disney corporation is responsible for at least one real, “live” Ghost Town. Disney built the “Treasure Island” resort in Baker’s Bay in the Bahamas. It didn’t START as a ghost town! Disney’s cruise ships would actually stop at the resort and leave tourists there to relax in luxury. This is a fact. Look it up. Disney blew $30,000,000 dollars on the place… yes, thirty million dollars. Then they abandoned it.

Disney blamed the shallow waters (too shallow for their ships to safely operate) and there was even blame cast on the workers, saying that since they were from the Bahamas, they were too lazy to work a regular schedule. That’s where the factual nature of their story ends. It wasn’t because of sand, and it obviously wasn’t because “foreigners are lazy”. Both are convenient excuses. No, I sincerely doubt those reasons were legitimate. Why don’t I buy the official story? Because of Mowgli’s Palace.

Near the beachside City of Emerald Isle in North Carolina, Disney began construction of “Mowgli’s Palace” in the late 1990s. The concept was a jungle-themed resort with a large, you guessed it, palace in the center of the whole thing. If you’re unfamiliar with the character of Mowgli, then you might better remember the story “The Jungle Book”. If you haven’t seen it anywhere else, you’d know it as the Disney cartoon from decades past. Mowgli is an abandoned child, in the jungle, essentially raised by animals and simultaneously threatened/pursued by other animals.

Mowgli’s Palace was a controversial undertaking from the start. Disney bought up a ton of high-priced land for the project, and there was actually a scandal surrounding some of the purchases. The local government claimed “eminent domain” on people’s homes, and turned around and sold the properties to Disney. At one point a home that had just been constructed was immediately condemned with little to no explanation. The land grabbed by the government was supposedly for some fictional highway project. Knowing full well what was going on, people started calling it the “Mickey Mouse Highway”. Then there was the concept art. A group of stuffed shirts from Disney Co. actually held a city meeting. They intended to sell everyone on how lucrative this project was going to be for everyone. When they showed the concept art, this gigantic Indian Palace… surrounded by the JUNGLE… staffed with men and women in loincloths and tribal gear… well, suffice to say everyone flipped their shit. We’re talking about a large Indian palace, jungle and Loincloths not only in the center of a relatively wealthy area, but also a somewhat “xenophobic” area of the southern USA. It was a questionable mix at that point in history. One member of the crowd tried to storm the stage, but he was quickly subdued by security after he managed to break one of the presentation boards over his knee. Disney took that community and essentially broke it over its knee, as well. The houses were razed, the land was cleared, and there wasn’t a damned thing anyone could do or say about it. Local TV and newspapers were against the resort at the beginning, but some insane connection between Disney’s media holdings and the local venues came into play and their opinions turned on a dime.

So anyway, Treasure Island, the Bahamas. Disney sunk those millions in and then split. The same thing happened with Mowgli’s Palace. Construction was complete. Visitors actually stayed at the resort. The surrounding communities were flooded with traffic and the usual annoyances associated with an influx of lost and irate tourists. Then it all just stopped. Disney shut it down and nobody knew what the hell to think. But they were pretty happy about it. Disney’s loss was pretty hilarious and wonderful to a large group of folks who didn’t want this in the first place. I honestly didn’t give the place another thought since hearing it closed over a decade ago. I live maybe four hours from Emerald Isle, so really I only heard the rumblings and didn’t experience any of it first-hand.

Then I read this article from someone who had explored the Treasure Island resort and posted a whole blog about all the crazy shit he found there. Stuff just… left behind. Things smashed, defaced, probably ruined by the disgruntled former employees who had lost their jobs. Hell, the locals from all around here probably had a hand in wrecking that place. People there felt just as angry about Treasure Island as folks here did about Mowgli’s Palace. Plus there were rumors that Disney had released their aquarium “stock” into the local waters when they closed… including sharks. Who wouldn’t want to take a few swings at some merchandise after that?

Well, what I’m getting at is that this blog about Treasure Island got me thinking. Even though many years had passed since its closing, I figured it might be cool to do some “urban exploration” at Mowgli’s Palace. Take some photos, write about my experience, and probably see if there was anything I could take home as a memento. I’m not going to say I wasted no time in getting there, because honestly it took me another year after I first found that Treasure Island article to get around to going up to Emerald Isle. Over the course of that year, I did a lot of research on the Palace resort… or rather, I tried to. Naturally, no official Disney site or resource made any mention of the place. That had been scrubbed clean. Even odder, however, is that nobody before myself had apparently thought to blog about the place or even post a photo. None of the local TV or newspaper sites had one word about the place, though that was to be expected since they had all swung Disney’s way. They wouldn’t be out there lauding their embarrassment, you know?

Recently, I learned that corporations can actually ask Google, for example, to remove links from search results… basically for no good reason. Looking back, it’s probably not that nobody spoke of the resort, but rather their words were made inaccessible. So, in the end, I could barely find the place. All I had to go on was an old-as-hell map I’d received in the mail back in the 90s. It was a promotional item sent out to people who had recently been to DisneyWorld, and I guess since I had been there in the late 80s, that was “recent.” I didn’t really intend to hang onto it. It just got shoved in with my books and comics from my childhood. I’d only remembered it months into my research, and even then it took me another few weeks to locate the storage bin my parents had shoved it all into. But I DID find it. Locals were no help, as most were transplants who had moved to the beach in recent years… or old residents who just sneered at me and made rude gestures the second I managed to say “Where would I find Mowgli’s—“

The drive took me through an inordinately long corridor of overgrowth. Tropical plants that had run rampant and overpopulated the area mixed with the native species of flora that actually belonged there and had tried to reclaim the land. I was in awe when I reached the front gates of the resort. Tremendous, monolithic wooden gates whose supports to either side looked like they must have been cut from giant sequoias. The gate itself had been gouged in several places by woodpeckers and eaten away at the base by burrowing insects. Hanging on the gate was a sheet of metal, some random scrap, with hand-painted letters scrawled in black. “ABANDONED BY DISNEY.” Clearly the handiwork of some past local or an employee who wanted to make some small protest. The gates were open enough to walk through, but not drive, so grabbing my digital camera and the map, whose flip-side showed a layout of the resort, I set off on foot.

The inner grounds of the place were just as overgrown as the entryway. Palm trees stood untended and ragged among piles of their own coconuts. Banana plants similarly stood in their own stinking, bug-riddled refuse. There was this sort of clash between order and chaos, as carefully planted rows of perennial flowers mixed with obnoxious tall weeds and stinking, blackened mushrooms. All that remained of any outdoor structures were broken, rotting wood and various charred bits of unidentifiable material. What was most likely an information booth or an outdoor bar was now simply a pile of assorted debris chopped up by past vandalism and ravaged by weather. The most interesting thing on the grounds was a statue of Baloo, the friendly bear from the Jungle Book, which stood in a sort of courtyard in front of the main building. He was frozen in a jovial wave toward no one, staring into empty space with a silly, toothy grin as bird shit covered whole swaths of his “fur” and vines ensnared his platform.

I approached the main building – the palace – only to find the outside of it covered in graffiti where the original paint hadn’t peeled and chipped away. The front doors weren’t just open, they had been taken off their hinges and were stolen. Above the front doors, or the gaping map where they had been, someone had once again painted “ABANDONED BY DISNEY.” I wish I could tell you about all the awesome stuff I saw inside the palace. Forgotten statues, abandoned cash registers, a full-fledged secret society of homeless bums… but no. The inside of the building was so stark, so bare, that I actually think people had stolen the molding off the walls. Anything that was too big to steal… counters, desks, giant fake trees… they were all resting amid this empty echo chamber that amplified my every step like a slow rat-a-tat of a machine gun. I checked the floorplan and headed to all the locations that might seem in any way interesting.

The kitchen was as you’d imagine… an industrial food-prep area with all the appliances and space, no expenses spared. Every glass surface was broken, every door knocked off its hinges, every metal surface kicked and dented. The entire place smelled like very old piss. The huge freezer, not even remotely cool now, had row upon row of empty shelf space. Hooks hung from the ceiling, probably for hanging cuts of meat, and as I stood inside for a moment, I noticed they were swinging. Each hook swung in a random direction, but their movements were so slow and small that it was almost impossible to see. I figured it had been caused by my footsteps, so I stopped one from swinging by clutching it in my fist, then carefully letting go, but within seconds it started to swing once more.

The bathrooms were in much the same state as the rest of the place. Just like the Treasure Island resort, someone had methodically smashed each porcelain commode with coconuts and other implements. There was about a half-inch of rancid, stinking stagnant water on the floor, so I didn’t stay there very long. What’s odd is that the toilets and the sinks (and the bidets in the ladies’ room, yes, I went there) all dripped, leaked, or just ran freely. It seemed to me that they should’ve shut the water off long, LONG ago.

There were plenty of rooms in the resort, but naturally I didn’t have time to look through them all. The few I did peer into were similarly wrecked, and I didn’t expect to find anything there. I thought there was actually a television or radio in one room, as I really think I heard a quiet conversation coming out. Though it was like a whisper, probably my own breathing echoing in the silence, or just another case of the sound of flowing water playing tricks on the mind, this is what it sounded like…

1: “I didn’t believe it.” 2: (short, unknown reply) 1: “I didn’t know that. I didn’t know that.” 2: “Your father told you.” 1: (unknown reply, or possibly just weeping) I know, I know, that sounds ridiculous. I’m just telling you what I experienced, why I thought there might’ve been something running in that room – or worse, some vagrants who had holed up there and probably would’ve knifed me. At the front doors of the Palace again, I figured I hadn’t found anything of note and had wasted the trip up. As I looked out the door, I noticed something interesting in the courtyard that I had apparently missed. Something that would give me at least ONE thing to show for all my trouble, even if it was just a photograph.

There was a lifelike statue of a python, maybe eighty feet long, coiled up and “sunning” itself on a pedestal right in the center of the area. It was almost time for the sun to start setting, so the light fell onto the object in the perfect way for a photograph. I approached the python and snapped a photo. Then I stood on my toes and snapped another. I moved closer again to get the detail of its face. Slowly, casually, the python lifted its head, looked directly into my eyes, turned and slithered off the pedestal, across the grass, and into the trees. All eighty feet of it. Its head disappeared into the woods long before its tail even left the sunning spot. Disney had released all their exotic animals onto the grounds. Right there on my floorplan map was the “Reptile House.” I should have known. I’d read about the sharks at Treasure Island, and I should have KNOWN they’d done the same here.

I was dumbfounded, just utterly stupefied. My mouth must have been hanging open for the longest time before I came back down to Earth and snapped it shut. I blinked a few times and backed away from where the snake had been, back toward the Palace. Even though it was totally gone, I still wasn’t taking any chances and backed my way into the building. It took a few deep breaths and slaps to my own face to get myself right in the head again after that. I looked for a place to sit down, as my legs were feeling a bit like jelly at this point. Of course, there was no place to sit down unless I wanted to recline in the broken glass and dead leaf carpet or haul myself up onto a desk of questionable reliability.

I had seen some stairs near the Palace’s lobby and decided to go have a seat there until I felt better. The staircase was far enough away from the front of the building to be relatively clean, save for a startling accumulation of dust. I pulled a wedge of metal off the wall, once again painted with the “ABANDONED BY DISNEY” motto I’d become accustomed to. I placed the wedge on the stairs and sat on it to keep at least somewhat clean. The stairway led downward, below ground level. Using my camera flash as a sort of improvised flashlight, I could see that the staircase ended in a metal mesh door with a padlock. A sign on the door… a REAL sign… read “MASCOTS ONLY! THANK YOU!” This perked up my spirits a little bit, for two reasons. One, a Mascots-Only area would have definitely had some interesting stuff back in the day… two, the padlock was still in place. Nobody had gone down there. Not the vandals, not the looters, nobody. This was the only place I could actually “explore” and perhaps find something interesting to photograph or wantonly steal. I had come to the Palace essentially agreeing with myself that it was okay to take anything I wanted because – hey – “abandoned”.

It didn’t take much to bust the lock. Well, actually that’s wrong. It didn’t take much to bust the metal plate on the wall that the padlock was hooked to. Time and decay had done most of the work for me, and I was able to bend the metal plate enough to pull the screws out of the wall – something nobody else had apparently thought of, or had been able to do at the time. The Mascots-Only area was a startling and very welcomed change from the rest of the building I’d seen. For one, every second or third fluorescent light overhead was illuminated, even though they flickered and faded randomly. Also, nothing had been stolen or broken, even if age and exposure were definitely taking their toll. Tables had notepads and pends, there were clocks… even a punch-in clock on the wall complete with filled-out time cards. Chairs were scattered around and there was even a small break room with an old, static-filled television and long rotted-out food and drink on the counters. It was like one of those post-apocalypse movies where everything is left in the state of evacuation.

As I walked the mazelike sub-basement hallways of the Mascots-Only area, the sights just became more and more interesting. As I went further, desks and tables were knocked over, papers scattered and almost melded with the damp floor, and a large carpet of mold was slowly overtaking the real rotting crimson floor-covering. Everything was just sort of “squishy.” Anything wood disintegrated into mush when I applied even the least amount of force, and clothing items hanging on hooks in one of the rooms simply fell to moist threads if I tried to unhook them. One thing that annoyed me was that the light was becoming more sparse and unreliable as I went further into the dank, suffocating depths of the place. Eventually, I reached a black and yellow striped door with the words “CHARACTER PREP 1” stenciled on it. The door wouldn’t open at first. I figured this was probably where the costumes were kept, and I definitely wanted a photograph of that twisted, stinking mess. Try as I might, whatever angle or trick I used, the door wouldn’t budge. That is, until I gave up and started to walk away. That was when there was a slight popping sound and the door creaked open slowly.

Inside, the room was completely dark. Pitch black. I used the camera flash to look for a light switch in the wall by the door, but there was nothing. As I made my search, I was jarred out of my sense of excitement by a loud electrical buzz. Rows of lights overhead suddenly flashed to life, flickering and fading in and out like the rest I had passed. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, and it seemed like the light was going to just keep getting brighter until all the bulbs exploded… but just when I thought it would reach that critical stage, the lights dimmed a bit and steadied. The room was exactly as I had pictured it. Various Disney costumes hung on the walls, fully put together like strange cartoon cadavers hung from invisible nooses. There was an entire rack of loincloths and “native” clothes on hangers toward the back.

What I found odd, and what I wanted to photograph right away, was a Mickey Mouse costume at the center of the room. Unlike the other costumes, it was lying on its back in the center of the floor like a murder victim. The fur on the costume was rotten and shedding, creating bare patches. What was even odder, however, was the coloring of the costume. It was like a photo negative of the actual Mickey Mouse. Black where he should be white and white where he should be black. His normally red overalls were light blue. The sight was off-putting enough that I actually put off photographing the thing until last. I took a picture of the costumes hanging on the walls. Upward angles, downward angles, side shots to show an entire row of frozen, putrid cartoon faces, some with plastic eyes missing. Then I decided to stage a shot. Just one of the bedraggled character heads on the slick, grimy floor. I reached for the headpiece of a Donald Duck costume and carefully removed it so the thing wouldn’t fall apart in my hands. As I looked into the face of the wide-eyed, moldering head, a loud clattering sound made me jump with fright. I looked down at my feet, and there between my shoes was a human skull. It had fallen out of the mascot head and shattered into pieces at my feet; only the empty face and lower jaw remained, staring up at me.

I dropped the duck head immediately, as you’d expect, and moved for the door. As I stood in the doorway, I looked back to the skull on the floor. I had to take a picture of it, you know? I HAD to, for any number of reasons that may seem silly, but only if you don’t think it through. I’d need proof of what happened, especially if Disney was going to somehow make this go away. I had no doubt in my mind, right from the start, that even if it was just gross negligence, Disney was RESPONSIBLE for this. That’s when Mickey, that photo-negative, opposite-Mickey in the middle of the floor, started to get up.

First sitting up, then climbing to its feet, the Mickey Mouse costume – or whoever was inside of it – stood there at the center of the room, its fake face just staring directly at me as I mumbled “No…” over and over and over… With shaking hands, a violently thrashing heart, and legs that had once again turned to jelly, I managed to lift the camera and aim it at the opposite creature now quietly sizing me up. The digital camera’s screen displayed only dead pixels in the shape of the thing. It was a perfect silhouette of the Mickey costume. As the camera moved in my unsteady hands, the dead pixels spread, marring the screen wherever Mickey’s outline moved to. Then the camera died. Went blank and quiet and… broken. I raised my eyes once again to the Mickey Mouse costume. “Hey,” it said in a hushed, perverted, but perfectly executed Mickey Mouse voice. “Wanna see my head come off?” It started to pull at its own head, working its clumsy, glove-glad fingers around its neck with clawing, impatient movements similar to a wounded man trying to pull himself free of a predator’s jaws…

As it worked its digits into its neck… so much blood… So much thick, chunky, yellow blood… I turned away as I heard a sickening tearing of cloth and flesh… only cared about getting away. Above the doorway out of this room, I saw the final message clawed into the metal with bone or fingernails… “ABANDONED BY GOD”

I never got the pictures out of the camera. I never wrote the blog entry about it. After I ran from that place, fled for my sanity if not my very life, I knew why Disney didn’t want anyone to know about this place. They didn’t want anyone like me getting in. They didn’t want anything like that getting out.

#creepypasta #creepy pasta #spookypasta #creepy picture

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