#betty can have a little kissy. as a treat

[emmybeebs-art]

kissy :)

[fanfics4all]

The Northside Serpent: Part 8

Request: Yes / no

Don’t be shy, request things! <3 Have a nice day/night (Request are closed)

Sweet Pea x Keller!Reader

Word count: 3191

Warnings: A few curses

Y/N: Your Name

Y/N/N: Your Nickname

Summary: You’re Kevin Keller’s little sister when you’re mom left to go to war and your dad started cheating (I’m making it so he’s been cheating since season 1) You started rebelling; dying your hair, getting a nose piercing, tattoo, and hanging out on the southside.

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

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Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Masterlist

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

A week after the Southsiders transferred to Riverdale High everything was pretty normal but at the same time not normal. I was hanging out with my Southside friends mostly and my Northside friends were starting to worry about me. The Serpents were transitioning well now that they had their own little safe haven in the school. Sweet Pea actually tried out for the basketball team and obviously made it. He was great at it and it made him happy to knock over some Bulldogs during practice, especially Reggie.

Right now Riverdale was getting ready to celebrate its founder General Augustus Pickens. I was in class with Jughead and he was on his laptop working on his book probably. Cheryl was giving a big speech about how it was her great great grandfather that actually discovered Riverdale or something like that I don’t know, tune her out since she does this every year. Thank god the bell rang to save us from this hell. Sweet Pea was at basketball practice and I was going to watch him along with Toni and Fangs.

“Sweets is amazing!” I said with a huge smile.

“Yeah, he’s great now can you please focus on helping us with homework?” Toni asked rolling her eyes.

“Right sorry, I’m just really glad you guys are here.” I said giving them an apologetic smile. During the practice I help the two with their homework making sure they understood what was going on but I also watched Pea practice. Once practice was over Sweet Pea jogged up to us and sat down on the bleachers next to me.

“Hey babe.” He said slightly out of breath.

“Hey, you were great.” I said and kissed his cheek, his skin was salty from the sweat but I didn’t care.

“Stop distracting Quinny! She’s helping us with homework!” Fangs said annoyed at Sweets.

“Relax Fangs, you guys have me till at least eight.” I said looking at my phone. I texted my dad earlier telling him I had to tutor some kids and he said it was fine but I had to be home no later than eight.

“Great! Then let’s go to the Wyrm and you can help all of us, plus we can eat.” Toni said packing up her things.

“Great idea!” I smiled and we all packed up our stuff. We walked out to the parking lot and Kevin was waiting by the car for me, shoot I forgot to text him!

“Y/N!” He called over to me.

“I’ll be right back, sorry guys.” I said and walked over to my brother.

“I’ve been waiting forever, where have you been?” Kevin asked.

“I forgot to text you, I’m sorry but I need to tutor them so I’m going to the Wyrm to help them and eat.”

“Does dad know?”

“He knows I’m tutoring some kids but he doesn’t know their Serpents…” I said playing with my fingers.

“Y/N…”

“Kev, I’ll be fine. Sweets will drop me off after, dad said to be home by eight so I will, I promise. Please don’t tell him who I’m tutoring.” I begged him.

“He’s going to find out and you know it.” Kevin sighed.

“Then I’ll deal with it when he does but you won’t tell him, right?”

“I won’t tell him.” He finally said and I smiled and hugged him.

“Thanks Kev! I love you.” I said pulling away.

“Love you too sis…” He said and I walked back to my friends.

We drove to the Wyrm and I spent the few hours I had helping them catch up. It was a little hard for them since Southside High didn’t actually do much teaching but they were getting the hang of it and that’s all that matters. I looked down at my phone and noticed it was almost eight.

“Shit, guy I gotta go. If I’m late my dad will kill me.” I said putting my stuff away.

“Aww really? I was just getting the hang of it!” Fangs wined.

“I promise during any free periods tomorrow I’ll help you guys more but I really gotta go.” I said getting up.

“I’ll drive you.” Sweets said also packing up his stuff and getting up. I smiled and grabbed his hand.

“See you guys tomorrow!” I called over my shoulder and the two young Serpents were making kissy faces at us. Sweets and I walked outside and we got on his bike. He drove me to the end of my block just like last time so my dad wouldn’t see and I hopped off. Sweets grabbed my arm and pulled me to him.

“What about my goodnight kiss?” He asked with a pout. I giggled and leaned up to place my lips on his. He pulled me closer and went to deepen the kiss but I pulled away.

“Sweets I love you but I really can’t be making out with you right now, especially when my house is a few feet away.” He groaned and placed his head in my neck and started kissing it.

“Pea, seriously I need to go if you ever want to see me again.” I said trying to push him off.

“Noooooo…” He said like a small child whos toy got taken away. I giggled and pulled it face up to look at me.

“I promise, we’ll have a day all to ourselves soon, okay?” I said with a smile and he nodded.

“I’ll hold you to that.” I smiled and pecked his lips once more before getting out of his grip and walking home.

“You’re late.” My dad said as soon as I walked in the door.

“I know, I’m sorry but I’m not that late! I just lost track of time…” I said placing my bag down.

“Who were you tutoring?” He asked as I walked to the stairs.

“Just some students.” I said with a shrug.

“Southsiders?” He asked and I froze. Did Kevin tell him?

“N-no…” I stuttered a bit. He sighed and shook his head.

“I told you to stay away from them.” He said annoyed.

“They’re my friends! And my teachers asked me to since I am an A+ student!” I said, it wasn’t a lie, every single one of my teachers noticed I hung out with them and they asked me to help them.

“Well as your father, I’m telling you that you can’t.” I rolled my eyes.

“Too bad, they go to my school now dad and I’m not going to just sit there and let my friends fail because they went to a shitty school!” I said crossing my arms.

“Watch your language!”

“Whatever, I’m tried so I’m going to bed.” I said and turned around and walked up to my room.

The next day I woke up and I was feeling like dressing in something really cute. I put on a gray long sleeve shirt with a cute pink cat in a pumpkin wearing a witch hat, a pair of thigh high stocking with a cross on them, a pair of black shorts with crossed on them to hold up the stockings, a pair of pink heels, and I curled my hair a bit and put a black bow in.

For makeup I did pink and a sparkly purple eyeshadow with a cat eyeliner, and a nice pink lipstick.

I usually dress in darker clothing but something about today made me really want to dress in something really cute. Kevin drove us to school and I asked him if he told dad that I was tutoring the Serpents and he said no. I’ll believe him for now since I don’t have any proof that Kevin told him.

After school Kevin dragged me into the student lounge where Betty, Veronica, and Jughead were sitting. Betty told us how she found her long lost brother and now he’s living with them. She took out her phone and showed us a picture of him.

“Well, he's very fetching for someone who was living on Skid Row.” Veronica said and handed the phone to Kevin.

“Yeah, he's a hottie who looks incredibly familiar to me, by the way.” Kevin said and handed the phone back to Betty.

“Your adventures in the woods?” Jughead asked.

“I don't know, but maybe if we were allowed to meet this hottie in person.” My brother said with a smiled and I laughed a bit.

“Chic's still acclimating. And I'm trying to get him to trust me, but my mom is treating him like he's a ten-year-old and my dad's acting like he's the devil's spawn.” Betty said with a sigh.

“Well, I have an amazing idea.” Veronica said and we all looked at her.

“Bring The Omen to Pickens Day and we can all meet him. Everyone's coming, right?” She asked with a smile.

“No, because the Serpents weren't invited.” Jughead said.

“The Serpents were specifically asked to come.” Veronica corrected him.

“Yeah, to provide security. It's like we're all on the Snowpiercer train, but the Serpents happen to be the ones eating the cockroaches.” I rolled my eyes at Jughead overdramatic nature.

“You don't have to work if you don't want to.” Veronica said.

“The damage, as they say, has already been done.” Jughead said and grabbed his bag.

“Talk to you guys later.” He said getting up.

“Plans with Toni?” Betty asked with a hint of jealousy.

“Uh, yeah, I'm interviewing her grandfather for my oral history report. The oldest living Serpent.” He said.

“Can I come?” I asked with a smile.

“Sure.” He smiled and I grabbed my bag and the two of us walked to Toni’s grandfather trailer.  

“So you and Toni hooked up?” I asked.

“It was a one time thing…” Jughead said.

“Oh I know, Toni is more into girls so I don’t know why she hooked up with you.” I said with a smirk.

“Hey!” Jughead shoved me a little and we laughed. Once we got there Toni was waiting outside for us.

“You brought Quinny!” She said happily and hugged me.

“And she’s dressed like a fairy threw up on her…?” Toni said confused and looked me up and down.

“Leave me alone, I woke up wanting to wear pink for some reason.”

“I didn’t say I hate it, just use to you wearing dark colors.” She smiled and we walked inside.

“Grandpa, this is Jughead and this is Quinny, or Y/N.” Toni said introducing us.

“It’s nice to meet you.” I said with a smile. The four of us sat down.

“Thanks again for meeting with me. Toni told me that you're one of the founding members of the Serpents.” Jughead asked and Toni and I sat next to him.

“Yes. The snake, the laws, it's all based on Uktena tradition.” Toni’s grandfather said.

“Who were the Uktena?” Jughead asked while writing down notes.

“Uktena is a serpent, a horned serpent, a water serpent. Before there was a Riverdale, all this land belonged to the Uktena.” Her grandfather said.

“How did the Uktena evolve into the Serpents?” Jughead asked and He laughed.

“The Uktena, we didn't evolve. We were all slaughtered.” Jughead and I looked at Toni shocked then back at her grandfather.

“When my grandpa was a baby, there was a raid, and it was led by your hero over there, General Pickens. The battle, if you want to call it that only lasted for 12 minutes, but the slaughter was total and savage.” He explained.

“The General Pickens whose statue stands proudly in Pickens Park?” Jughead asked confused.

“Yes, and every year the Northside honors this man who massacred children. When my grandpa died, we formed the Serpents as a way to keep the family together.”

“How do people not know about this?” I asked confused.

“Well, some do, but-” Her grandfather tailed off.

“t's called the whitewashing of history. What, did you think Jason Blossom was the first person to be murdered in Riverdale?” Toni asked adding her usual sass.

Once Jughead was done with the interview I had to meet Kevin at Pop’s for dinner. We worked on our homework together and it was nice. Until he called Betty to tell her that her brother was a cam-boy. That kind of ruined my appetite. Other than that everything was great. We finished then went home.

“You’re coming to see me wrestle tomorrow before school right?” Kevin asked me and I smiled.

“Of course Kev!” I said and he hugged me. We went upstairs and went to bed.

The next day I had to wake up early and I was still in the mood to wear color. So I put on a black crop top, a mint greenish blueish overall skirt, some skeleton leggings, some turquoise creepers, some cute cross earrings, and finished it off with putting my hair in a bun and putting a big bow on.

For makeup I did and black and silver sparkly eye with winged liner and a turquoise lipstick.

I walked down stairs and Kevin and I got in the car while dad got in his police cruiser. We got to school and dad and I walked to the gym and Kevin walked into the locker room to get changed. We bother watched my brother take down Archie a couple of times and it was kind of funny to watch. After dad had to go to work and Kevin and I were meeting Betty in the blue and gold.

“It felt so good, Betty. It's like, yeah, Archie, you have the physique of a 1970s porn star, but that doesn't mean you can wrestle.” Kevin said with a huge smile on his face.

“Speaking of porn stars…” Betty said.

“Did you get lost down a webcam rabbit hole last night?” I smacked Kevin.

“Ew!” I said cringing.

“It's fascinating. I brought Chic home to help my mom without knowing who he was, and now to find out he's actually multiple people, performing online. How do I broach that with him? Do I broach that with him?” Betty asked and before either one of us could answer Jughead knocked on the door and came in.

“Hey, am I interrupting?” He asked.

“Yeah, kinda…”

“No.” The two said at the same time.

“I just wanted to run some stuff by you, but I can come back.” Jug said awkwardly.

“No, no, no, it's fine.” Kevin said getting up.

“I should go find Sweets, have you seen him?” I asked Jughead.

“Uh, yeah, he’s by his locker with Toni and Fangs.”

“Great! Thanks!” I smiled and walked out the room.

“Hey cutie.” I smiled walking up behind Sweet Pea.

“Hey babe.” He smiled pulling me around in front of him.

“Whoa, still in a colorful mood I see.” Toni said with a smirk. I just shrugged with a smile.

“Yeah, don’t really know why but I’m just feeling colorful!”

“Well I think you look great in anything babe.” Sweet Pea said and kissed my head.

“You two are disgustingly cute.” Fangs said in fake disgust.

“Shut up.” Sweet Pea smirked and shoved him.

“So are you guys going to Pickens Day?” I asked.

“We were asked to work, but I doubt we will.” Fangs said annoyed.

“Are you going?” Toni asked.

“Have to, my dad is making me.” I said rolling my eyes.

“Maybe I can meet up with you guys after?” I asked.

“Of course babe.” Sweets said and kissed me while Toni and Fangs made bafing noises.

The rest of the week was interesting with Jughead’s article out about what really happened. But it was finally Pickens Day and I was there with my brother and father. Kevin had gotten us some fair food and I was really happy since fair food is amazing.

“I’m gonna go talk to Cheryl.” I said to my dad and brother.

“Okay, have fun honey.” My dad said with a smile.

“Hey Cheryl!” I said walking up to her.

“Y/N/N! Hey.” She smiled back.

“I would hug you but I don’t want this candy apple to get stuck in you hair or something.” I laughed and nodded. The two of us talked for a bit until Fred Andrews came on stage.

“Hello, Riverdale. Happy Pickens Day. On behalf of Lodge Industries and Andrews Construction, we are thrilled to kick things off with a new twist on an old favorite. So, Veronica and the Pussycats.” He said and Cheryl and I looked at each other confused then looked at Josie. Veronica started singing and during her singing he Serpents walked up holding sighs and some had tape over their mouth. I smiled at them and looked over at Cheryl expecting her to be annoyed but she shoved her candy apple to her mother and grabbed my hand. She dragged me to the front and smiled at the Serpents.

“Toni? Jughead? What the hell is going on?” Veronica asked as the music stopped.

“We're here representing the dead and the silenced. Pickens Day is a lie. General Pickens slaughtered the Uktena tribe, my grandfather's family. And this land, the land that we're standing on, the land that will soon give way to a new Southside, was stolen from them. And we can't bring them back, but we can and we must honor them.” Toni said and Cheryl nodded.

“What gave you a change of heart?” I whispered to her.

“My family did this…” She said and I smiled proudly at her and wrapped my arm around her.

“Hey, folks, hi. Uh I think we can all be proud to live in a Riverdale where young people stand up for justice. Where a young woman can defend the honor and legacy of her grandfather. And where we can celebrate the living legacy of the Uktena, who contribute to the rich tapestry that is Riverdale, that is the Southside and that will be SoDale. So let's hear a round of applause for that, am I right?” Hiram Lodge said and everyone cheered. Toni looked around annoyed and disappointed. After that the Serpents left and I left with them, hopefully without my dad noticing.

“I can’t believe them!” Sweet Pea said pissed and punched a wall.

“Their Northsiders, what do you expect?” Toni said also pissed.

During the next few hours I tried to keep Sweet Pea calm, which was probably the hardest thing to do. Unfortunately my dad noticed I left and said I need to go home now. I sighed and got up.

“I’m sorry but I have to go.” I said sadly.

“I’ll take you home.” Sweets said but I shook my head.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.” I said stopping him.

“She’s right Pea.” Toni said backing me up.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” I said and they nodded. Sweet Pea walked me outside and pulled me to him.

“I’m sorry you had to see me so angry…”

“I don’t blame you babe.” I said placing my hand on his face.

“I love you.” He said and I smiled.

“I love you you too.” I stood on my tip toes and placed my lips on his.

Tag list: @54fangirl @southsidehufflepuff @xrosesareredx @cvvlxx @skeletalwolfcat @demigodofthesun @depressed-octopods-art @nalayrene @yourfavouritefuckup @staygoldsquatchling02 @sataninsatin @im-socialy-awkward-no-joke @dark-night-sky-99 @aframeofbones @fly-slytherin-queen @jojokoko0717 @nixdunbarhale @wanderlust-and-poetry @theyouthfulmoon  @seasiren96 @nixdunbarhale2 @misskarynie @emo-godess-loves-you  @blueandgoldaus  @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear

[night-speak-blog]

Laura and Dilohana are Wellington-based artists who recently collaborated on visuals for a rave.

lightreading (lr): How would you describe your involvement with Wellington��s nightlife?

Laura Duffy (LD): I go out quite a lot...The event we did for the 121 event was the first time I was involved with the organisational side of nightlife—potentially I’d like to do more but [under different circumstances]. The way that event unfolded and the way we were treated just wasn’t so nice.

Dilohana Lekamge (DL): Yeah I agree. That work was made through JPEG2000 [a collective of Wellington artists who have exhibited together recently] so with Maddy Plimmer and Sean Burn and a few of our other mates, but I think that’s the first time we’ve ever been part of the organisation of Wellington’s nightlife.

LD: It’s a super exciting avenue for my work, I’m really interested in it.

DL: Our general interaction with Wellington nightlife is varied, I guess. It’s mainly just us on the piss.

LD: Do you want to hear about us on the piss? In our circles of friends, there are basically two things that we do (or used to do); go to town or to parties. When we go to town we usually split off into two groups; Ivy or Betty’s. I haven’t been to town in ages I guess that I’m speaking of experiences that mainly happened last year. Like you’re straight so you go to Betty’s or you’re not so you go to Ivy. Betty’s is where you go if you want to take someone home and you’re straight. I don’t like to go there because I don’t really identify with that straight thing. I don’t like to go there because I’m touched a lot and it’s very—I want to use the word violent but that’s too much of a violent word. It’s a lot of an experience like you really do need to be pretty fucked up to be able to bare it. I haven’t been there for about a year. We also do a lot of drinking for free at openings and usually end up at Little Beer Quarter (LBQ).

DL: Yeah the last time I went in Betty’s was with Laura. We used to go there quite a bit when we were at university because that’s where most of our mates were. I feel safer at Ivy in comparison to Betty’s, but I would rather be at LBQ most of the time because it’s the place I’m most comfortable and most familiar with.

LD: I think it’s different now because my friends are becoming more queer as time goes on—I don’t know why—but whatever, it seems to be happening. But when I’d just come out I’d want to go to Ivy but no one would want to go with me. There were multiple times when I went by myself, or me and my friend snuck off and were kinda weird about it. I’d go to Ivy by myself and feel safer. For me being in Betty’s is just an awful experience.

DL: I also feel better being at Ivy because I can dance the way I want to dance. I don’t get to dance the way I want to at Betty’s because I get the most unwanted attention there—and in most clubs on Courtenay Place. People just don’t fucking leave you alone and that pisses me off. It’s also so condensed at Betty’s so your bodies are up against each other and people take advantage of that. But at Ivy I can dance like a wee freak and that’s fine.

LD: At Ivy sometimes you’re really close as well but it’s different…you assume people’s values are more aligned in that kind of space than in that of a more of a ‘public’ space. I don’t know why I think of it like that…like Betty’s is somehow a more ‘public’ space.

LD: At Ivy sometimes you’re really close as well but it’s different…you assume people’s values are more aligned in that kind of space than in that of a more of a ‘public’ space. I don’t know why I think of it like that…like Betty’s is somehow a more ‘public’ space.

DL: Gay bars have that history of being safer spaces for people who are queer to go out and not feel threatened.

LD: It’s not always like that.

DL: Yeah there have been times when I’ve had terrible experiences in Ivy—but I think when things do happen at Ivy I have more control over how I respond and how I can navigate the situation. When things do happen I’m allowed to lose it. And people won’t think I’m shit, or harass me more after I lose it. Because I’ve lost it plenty of times at Ivy when I don’t like the things that are happening, and I feel that I’m allowed to react that way. Whereas if something happened at Betty’s I’d just walk away. I do yell, but I feel more comfortable being assertive at a gay bar.

The other thing we do when we go out is we spend a lot of time at LBQ. LBQ is where we’ve been going for ages and ages and ages. Excessively though, like on average, 2–3 nights a week over the span of a year. And that’s a very different environment. We’re usually there with a group of mates and yeah things can happen but there’s safety in numbers.

LD: It’s also a different environment because you’re physically sitting down so people do sometimes approach us and say things but it’s not like you’re standing up so that people can ‘accidentally’ touch you. It’s way more civilised and formalised because you’re seated. It’s also older people, when you look outside of us it’s just a lot of old dudes, sitting there after work. And you kind of forget about that because they’re just like grey characters that I don’t even see. But when you replicate that situation in LD: It’s also a different environment because you’re physically sitting down so people do sometimes approach us and say things but it’s not like you’re standing up so that people can ‘accidentally’ touch you. It’s way more civilised and formalised because you’re seated. It’s also older people, when you look outside of us it’s just a lot of old dudes, sitting there after work. And you kind of forget about that because they’re just like grey characters that I don’t even see. But when you replicate that situation in a different bar with a group of mates (we tend to socialise with mainly girls or feminine identifying people…we have guy friends but typically it’s mainly girls), if you hang out with all girls at a different bar the situation is quite different because people will approach you, especially if you’re there in smaller numbers, I guess.

DL: But I guess that’s the nature of clubs and bars, for instance Siglo, like most places on Courtenay Place have a younger group of people going there. And most of the time it is like a meet market. People assume that a girl is there to be picked up.

LD: Yeah but if you were two girls sitting and having a beer at LBQ usually you’d be left alone, but if you’re doing that anywhere else people just assume that it’s just a huge fucking invitation. Oh please. I beg you, dude, ask me for a lighter.

DL: Most of our social interactions do revolve around alcohol.

LD: Hugely.

DL: Hugely.

LD: Outside of our scene, when I think of Wellington’s nightlife, I think of 18-year-olds—which is like me when I was 18—getting fucked up and looking for someone to kiss. Very sexualised space. Very hetero.

DL: Very hetero, very sexualised, and if you were to make out with a girl it’s weirdly fetishised.

LD: I wouldn’t even do that. I would not do that. Unless I was with someone but I wouldn’t ever pick up someone or do any kind of kissy shit with a girl in straight town, because it would feel performative and because I know there would be people looking in a way that’s really disgusting to me.

DL: The only time I’ve made out with a girl on a night out was at Ivy, and that’s the only place I think I would. Otherwise I would kinda feel alright kissing a dude.

LD: Oh yeah I’d kiss a—I mean I don’t like to kiss a dude, but I’d kiss a dude no fucking worries in straight town because sure people would look but it’s not the same kind of look. It’s not the same combination of hunger and disgust.

DL: I would describe it as hugely sexualised and that’s the reason we went out, especially when I was 18–19. I enjoyed it at the time. Now I think the reasons we go out are very different, and it’s largely just socialising. There are very few times we can get all of our mates together for anything other than drinking.

DL: One of the best ways to describe the Wellington nightclub scene, especially around Courtenay Place, is that it is sexualised. And messy.

LD: It’s rare for me to be sober in situations. like that but when you accidentally are it’s so shockingly repulsive that you’re like, “I need to leave the planet”. It’s horrific. And the realisation that what I’m looking at is me, it’s all reflecting myself so much that it’s vile.

DL: Even if you don’t chat with someone or hook up with someone, all your movements as a cis woman who is seemingly single is sexualised by the people around you and even the way you conduct yourself is sexualised—you have to be really wary of it because you know that’s the context.

LD: It’s always so hugely sexualised. There’s always someone who’s like, “I want to take someone home or do something”. It’s spoken, it’s explicit, it’s super explicit.

LD: I think for me the hyper-sexualisation of ‘town’ was so uncomfortable for so long a time, because I was queer, but pretending I wasn’t, so there was this extreme pressure for me to uphold this version of myself. There were lots of strategic things—things I felt I had to say and do to uphold that. Super uncomfortable. And then when I did come out and I went to Ivy around that time and again I felt this intense pressure of “you should do that, you should sleep with someone, you should hook up with someone, who do you like, who do you like?”. And I found that uncomfortable too because, firstly it’s just too much and I don’t like looking around the room and being like, “YOU”. That’s horrible, I’m not interested in that.

lr: who would you say are the key people involved in the Wellington ‘scene’?

DL: There are the ‘121 boys’ who hosted the event that we were involved with, they host a lot of parties at houses or clubs. GAG [the people involved with Good as Gold, a clothing store] and Shark Week [fashion label, etc.] have a lot of stuff on. They’re making their own music and involved with fashion and so on, but that’s not really our scene. There’s also the gig scene, a lot of which used to stem from Eyegum [music collective], but now it’s a lot of mainly Wellington bands either having their gigs or opening for other bands at local places like Caroline, Meow, Moon and San Fran.

lr: Can you tell me about a particularly memorable experience, or interaction? For example, an exceptionally good or bad night out, a memorable conversation or meeting someone who shifted things for you?

DL: The best nights that I’ve had have been the nights where we’ve done multiple things in one night. The best times are when we run around.

LD: In terms of good conversations I do a lot of learning at LBQ. Just from having conversations after exhibitions, or talking about films or music or whatever the fuck. Or just stuff that’s happened in people’s lives. That’s been beneficial for me to learn from people. And because LBQ is not a flat, so people can come and go. And it’s not too loud. It’s comfortable like a house but people can come. LBQ is really comfortable for us. I have the wifi code, I charge my phone there.

DL: We’re such bad boozers we built that space into one that was comfortable for us.

LD: It feels like a much better circumstance to meet people, rather than a club or party. At a house party you need to be introduced or find a good reason to go and talk to someone, and everyone’s standing up so it’s easy to walk away. But at LBQ if you’re just sitting near someone it’s easy to just start engaging them in conversation.

DL: In terms of memorable shitty nights it had to be that 121 party.

LD: We were asked to do the visuals for the 121 new year’s gig. Initially we were really attracted to it because at previous parties they had pulled together a bunch of different people from different fields. Everyone was nice, there was no door charge and it ended at 10pm, that’s what I liked about it. It was a day thing, it didn’t end with vomit and piss everywhere.

DL: There was also the one in the car park beneath Ivy. It was a fucking gross space but it was really great because they had multiple DJ sets, video and installation art…And it was really cool but we were just enjoying it as attendees instead of seeing all the organisation. So Sean from JPEG was approached after we all did the Angel Wave show at Playstation [art gallery] to contribute to a show that would hopefully be like that—gross and trippy and cool...

DL: ...But it was also high tech. That install took a team of people three full days. It was tech as fuck. So the show title for the 121 party was ANGELRAVE. But 121 only gave us six hours to install...The installation just broke. Everything broke. There were supposed to be three big projections of our work, plus a water feature...I’d installed all these condoms hanging from the ceiling, and we wanted security cameras on the party that live-projected the crowd into the space…It all turned sour. I got so drunk that night I was literally crying in the Uber on the way there. Because I was happy though…What a mess.

LD: Also because you took drugs.

DL: Oh yeah.

DL: So we got to the top of Plimmer steps, and I was a huge mess and on the second step I rolled my ankle and Laura had to carry me all the way down the steps and into the bar. And they wouldn’t let us in the fucking door—to be fair I was yelling at the guy, but huge mess and on the second step I rolled my ankle and Laura had to carry me all the way down the steps and into the bar. And they wouldn’t let us in the fucking door—to be fair I was yelling at the guy, but we had spent the whole day there setting that place up so it pissed me off…But I think in the end we had a good night.

LD: Average. You can’t really let loose when you own the two laptops suspended in the space that you’re worrying about. So when we made that work—we made our works separately filming and editing our own work, and the idea was just to put them one after the other in the same file, but I just had the idea to smash it together and see what happens, and it worked really well. My filming and editing took about eight hours in total which is really short for me. But I wanted to make it as yuck as possible and to infect this really masculine space. And we know what the 121 dudes like, so just wanted to fuck that. Trying to be visually really loud in the space.

DL: It was our opportunity as females to intersect a space, where, let’s be fair, males have the most power and control. Because as people they do have a lot of power and control in those situations. But also because they’re the ones organising it, they’re the ones getting paid for it, they’re the ones who have the opportunity to do what they want with those spaces. So we had this opportunity to intersect with that and also to make some gross and freaky female video work. And also the reason I liked it so much was because my art practice is research, research, research…And everything is there for a reason…Everything is deliberate. But here was a context that we didn’t have to worry about any conceptual shit. I just wanted to do some freaky shit! And it was very apparent that the work was made by females as well, that the people in the images were also in charge of making the images and filming themselves. Laura’s work didn’t have her in it but was very gross, pink, and abject in other ways.

LD: That’s the grossest shit I’ve ever made.

LD: That’s the grossest shit I’ve ever made. I scared myself quite a lot in the filming process actually. We were very aware of the context that it was being shown in, that it was a male-dominated space and also that people would be fucked up. It’s new year’s so they’re more likely to be on drugs, and they’re more likely to get wasted. And so the idea of people seeing these really gross, weird, abject, fast-paced images was the intent.

lr: So were you trying to give people a good night or a bad night?

LD+DL: Don’t really care!

DL: I just wanted to make some trippy-as shit.

LD: I’m not really being respectful to them, I don’t really give a fuck.

DL: It’s not as if, in those spaces, we are ever respected—or even respected enough to be asked to give content! This invitation had originally been made to the only (assumed to be presenting) male in the JPEG group. The people making video work in Wellington are mostly female-identifying you know, it’s so weird that they’d never before asked a woman to provide work for that context. So when we were given this opportunity we thought, I don’t think I care whether you’re having a good time, I care whether my work is trippy enough. Whether it’s fast-paced and gross enough. I was laughing to myself the whole time I was editing the video. There was a bit where I sat on a banana and was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done to my body. It was the first opportunity we’d had to have any control over what we visually consume in that kind of space. I wanted to fuck that shit up.

lr: What kind of words would you use to describe the built environment wherever you spend your nights socialising?You mentioned three bars where you go most often…

DL: The 121 gig was above Hideaway Bar on Plimmer steps. Inside was all graffiti by street art boys. It was dark, with low ceilings.

LD: Also it was actually dangerous! The floor was really weak so you weren’t supposed to have more than four people standing in that part of the space, and we were like, “what the fuck, we’re having a rave here tonight?”

DL: But it was also weirdly like a smoky crooner bar, it’s red and plush with a low ceiling and nooks.

LD: Nooks can be good and can be dangerous. Depends on lighting.

DL: I don’t like being in a space where my back’s against a wall or I’m stuck in a corner because people take advantage of me being in that space, where I can’t easily get away.

LD: That’s what it feels like in the Ivy smoking cage though [Ivy rents a single parking space caged off in an underground car park which provides a space for smokers]. Ivy is on lower Cuba Street and you walk down some stairs. So you feel very far away from the upper world, and at that time of the night it’s not near many places—compared to the strip on Courtenay Place where the bars are so close to each other you can talk to the people next door. But at Ivy you have to go down, which is nice, but also annoying because there’s no phone service down there. The smoking area is strange because it’s underground, and usually when you go out for a cigarette, you want a cigarette but you’re also wanting to get outside of the club, but instead you’re in this disgusting car park with all these people, the lighting is also kinda yuck, it doesn’t feel nice.

DL: And because the club’s underground there’s no airflow and it gets super hot and sweaty. There’s one fan in the corner. That’s the ideal spot to stand.

LD: Ivy has low lighting, a dance floor and there’s a small area where you can go and sit but I don’t really go in there.

DL: They also put their drag shows in that little nook.

LD: They play terrible gay bar music. Lots of Gaga. You can request songs, but they get kinda pissed.

lr: Does the architecture or built environment impact on the atmosphere?

DL: Ivy is narrow, no space to dance in the entrance or bar area, or in the space to sit down. So the architecture restricts or guides the activity that takes place in that part of the bar and the quantity of people in each space.

LD: The main thing about that space is that it’s underground away from everything. You can go there if you’re—whatever—and people don’t know you’re there. They can’t see you from outside.

lr: So is that liberating?

LD: I think kinda both liberating and not. It was good for me when I first came out because I needed somewhere to go to hide. But on the other hand you’re downstairs with no phone coverage and you have to smoke in a caged car park.

lr: Do you think it’s because it’s a gay bar that it is downstairs?

DL: Yeah I’d say so. I imagine that would have been part of the reason why they chose that location.

LD: Ivy is safe for people who want to go out in drag. Drag can be dangerous, it’s much safer to be away from the public eye. Even just if they’re going out for a cigarette, [the underground car park smoking area means that people can also smoke out of sight, legally, rather than needing to go out on the street.] At Ivy, drag is not just accepted but celebrated, but I’ve walked outside onto the street with two friends dressed in drag and been very worried for their safety. Like, “Quick, get in a taxi, hide again.”. It’s not the same once you leave your perceived safe place and enter back into the scary public.

DL: University boys who have just left home seem to have a pack mentality. They feel like they have power.

DL: At Betty’s you walk in through this narrow walkway bit, then the bar, then the dance floor is a step up. But there are also seats around and mostly girls stand up on them and dance, on an elevated level, and mostly guys just look at them. But there are also stages, like the outside queue is the lowest, the smokers platform is one higher, inside the dance floor is higher than the general floor area, the girls on the chairs are higher and the DJ booth is the highest of them all. It’s a literal hierarchy. Very different to Ivy.

LD: The other thing about Ivy that made me think, was when the Orlando PULSE shootings happened it made me feel very weird about that space. It’s irrational but it goes through your head that if something like that did happen in New Zealand, Ivy is not an easy space to leave. Because if you’re hidden you’re also stuck, which is very scary.

lr: What do you think of the concept of a nightclub?

LD: I think it’s important, especially queer spaces that are public-ish. Ivy is one of the only spaces where people from that community come together regularly. And just be. And we’re not just discussing heavy shit. And it’s normal and nice and safe. I think they’re important…They’re potentially less dangerous than a house party because there’s a security guard and bar staff, there are people there and you’re in the CBD. They’re more accountable. In theory people shouldn’t get so drunk they die. At house parties (when I was younger) there were so many times I had to look after my friends when they got so drunk they couldn’t stand. That doesn’t happen much when you’re at a club. There’s someone at the bar who has to physically take your eftpos card out of your hand so you can pay for the drink. It’s also expensive! People do get fucking wasted but I see it less.