#go to the studio and create the dumbest thing possible

[claycoded]

Here’s the thing…….. shrimps is bugs

[h50europe]

Why the ending of the series finale felt off for many of us (and what PL could have had really in mind) - Aphorisms

As you can easily see from the photos, season 11 was a safe bet, as was a new team member, McCole. What could have been, it says, written by Justin, the wife of Alex stunt/stand-in double. I'm going to play the advocatus diaboli.

In the penultimate episode of H50, Lenkov created a new character. He was sort of based on Steve, but also not. As it turned out in the last episode, Cole and Steve also had a mutual friend: Catherine. Why does that not really surprise us? The rumor mill was really churning, and it was a given that PL was definitely going to bring her on board. So, without further ado, he made her a key person. She was the one who cracked the ominous code that Doris had left for her son. Question, couldn't Jerry have done that just as well?

Anyway, PL set up Cole and Steve. But the chemistry - for us - wasn't really there. They could have just as easily put anyone next to Steve. PL built on the military past of the two (what else) and finally the common denominator: Catherine. Oh, how original. NOT. If you look at this constellation, you can already guess where this was going. But there remained this one obstacle: Danny.

Well, no problem, Lenkov thought and had him kidnapped without further ado. All planned because of all the great McDanno moments we got to see in season 10. So appropriately for lulling, even if these moments did not have nearly as much heart as in previous seasons, but hey, the fans would swallow and relish it, PL thought.

Then came the obligatory threatening call from Daiyu Mei (note the clever pun ala Yoda: die you may...), and the drama unfolded. The whole thing was further clarified by the words of Wo Fat's ex: "I have the person you care about most in the world." Bummer, as she is not talking about Catherine but Danny. Queerbaiting at its worst. Then comes the usual. And during the escape attempt, Danny, who is already half-dead, gets shot. So far, so good, or not.

Danny's injuries could have easily been fatal. So now I'm going off the premise and just claiming that this was PL's original plan. Why? PL did mention at one point that he could imagine H50 without Steve or Danny, but he certainly wasn't stupid enough to believe that. It was nothing more than a smoke grenade. But what PL had wanted for a long time was the end of McDanno. He preferred another ship. But while McDanno sailed blithely across the seven seas, PL's fav ship never left the harbor. But now, he had the ultimate opportunity with a new, equal partner at Steve's side (Book'em Cole), who also pulled Catherine out of a hat.

PL's heart did somersaults. What a great plan that was. Alex didn't say anything about really wanting to quit, even after the series ended. While he had been open about his departure after season 7, there was no need to hide this fact now in season 10. And as you can easily see, all signs were pointing toward season 11. What PL didn't count on was the massive resistance from CBS.

In contrast to PL, they had no problems with Scott/Danny or McDanno. They knew that this was the heart and soul of the show. And PL's protector Moonves was no longer available because he had been kicked out of the network. So PL's back was against the wall. And nothing and nobody could change that. Too bad, because actually, PL had everything perfectly planned.

Danny would either die on the way to the hospital or later in the hospital. This would lead Steve to a massive revenge attack, which should have ended in a brilliant showdown (brilliant for PL, not necessarily for the fans), but Daiyu Mei escapes eventually. Then, Steve would have been driving around aimlessly. We were possibly shown some flashbacks, only to end up at Casa McGarrett, where Catherine would have already been waiting for him. Nice reversal of the goodbye scene from season 6.

The conversation between Steve and her would have been similar to Danny's, except that it wouldn't have been about his parents, but about Danny and that he just can't take it in Hawaii any longer. Too much reminds him of his dead friend. Steve also wanted to pay his final respect and bring him back home to Jersey. Of course, Catherine suggests joining him. What else? Now that one ship sunk, PL could easily replace it with HIS fav ship. And because Cole has done so well, Steve also entrusts him with the task force's leadership. Before Steve leaves to accompany Danny on his last journey, he hands Cole his credentials.

Steve and Cath stand next to each other at the airport and watch as Danny's coffin is loaded onto the plane. Then they board the plane together, ending with them holding hands as we know it. Fade out, season 10 ends.

How would it have continued in season 10? Danny's funeral would have happened off-screen, like so many other pivotal scenes. Steve would have maybe spent an episode or two mulling it over and then returned to Hawaii to hunt down Daiyu Mei with Cole and the team, which now included Catherine.

So much for Lenkov's wet dream, um, plan. However, because CBS knew that McDanno was the heart and soul of the series, they found this idea more than lousy and turned PL down. We could imagine that Alex also threw in that he would certainly not continue without Scott. There was a short back and forth, and it was decided to cancel the show. So we've come full circle to the sloppy, heartless execution of the last episode and the absolutely meaningless words PL put in Steve's mouth as a result. Due to lack of creativity and apparent lack of time, the deadline seemed to be predetermined, considering how quickly the soundstages at Diamond Studios were obliterated.

The crew was equally surprised when PL succinctly informed them that there would be no season 11. See the post from an angry crew member on IG.

Can we prove any of this? Nope, but it's the only reasonable explanation for why the show ended the way it did. Namely, completely illogical, with a Steve who was more than just off the rails. At the very beginning of the series, Steve gives completely different reasons for staying. If you do a rewatch, you'll see.

Everybody knows that you don't solve problems by running away. You don't get rid of the weight that you carry around with you. Steve may be a stubborn mule, but one thing he has never been: self-centered. And if Danny was really the most important thing in the world to him, as Mei said, then he wouldn't have dumped him in the end. Because that's what you do when you really love someone, you stay and fight against all odds. Especially when someone is in a bad place, like Danny, who has just jumped from the brink of death.

You don't suddenly go on a self-realization trip and kick the person who's already lying on the ground. But that's exactly what Steve did. At least the way PL wrote the part. The man must have really lost it when he wrote those lines. I'm sure he was enjoying pure schadenfreude.

And if you take a close look at the two protagonists, you can clearly see the reluctance with which they shared it all with the audience. There was no more room for any affectionate ad-lib actions that we knew from before. They could only stubbornly reel off what was in the script. PL would have done well to sit down with Scott and Alex and find a common solution instead of imposing his version on them and the audience. That's what people with integrity do, but the man never any.

In our opinion, the show's ending ranks among the dumbest and most unimaginative of all time. Rarely a person manages to drive a show against the wall in such a way and at the same time assassinated the main characters. PL shouldn't be proud of it. He should rather stand in a corner and be ashamed of himself.

And now you can go ahead and bash us, or just ignore the whole thing and keep on scrolling. Thank you for your time and for letting us share our thoughts with you.

[incarnateirony]

Name anon: I mean the title is possibly the most irrelevant thing she could be posting about. She also is poising this from the dumbest possible fucking take ever. Lmao, /nobody is talking about a secret script/. We all have the goddamn script. We’ve HAD the goddamn script. We’re talking about /content that was not in the script/, which even /some of the things that hit US air were not part of the script/. And the whole “demo targeting!” no SHIT THAT IS THE POINT WE ARE MAKING, CATCH UP, HER-DE-DURRRRRR

The goddamn conspiracy theory people are the people acting like there was an international heller rebellion to make up content months in advance and conquer studios and the network in multiple phases just to “go rogue” and put out content they pulled out of *nowhere*, which is effectively impossible.

Us: By how dubbing works, even without the leaks, this content came from somewhere.

Them: Is this a conspiracy theory? No, obviously the fact is that a rogue dubber in one country made up an entire schlew of information and then forwarded that information to another country to convince the translator to create information and then con a director and supervisor into passing the line and got the voice actors to do so and then the director to pass it and then, idk, bribed the WB itself to approve the content.

How fucking headass-

THE OCCAM’S RAZOR IS THAT THE CONTENT EXISTED.

THE HOT TAKES MAKING UP CONSPIRACY THEORIES TO EXPLAIN IT ARE THE CONSPIRACY THEORIES, THIS ISN’T HARD.

[amisbro]

If UtaPri had/gets a 5th season...

What would it look like? So this is a question I have thought about for a while because of the fact that I think a lot of people (Myself included) believe there is more of a story to tell in the world of UtaPri.  I think with enough time we could get a very interesting idea for a season and honestly I think WHATEVER this project we got coming up actually IS could be an interesting testing ground for something. Let me explain

So if we think about how Season 4 ended it seemed rather definitive.  Like the way that message was wrote made you believe ,to a degree, that the series had ended as far as an Anime project.  Then we got the end card AFTER that and that kind of made things turn on its head cos no one knew what that was supposed to be until 6th stage happened right? One thing that always stands out to me is the fact that Season 4 was a bit of a mess and I say that in the most objective and neutral way possible because...when you have an Anime that is based on a Manga we typically get a story based around that in some fashion.  It might not be panel for panel and word for word but we get one and that is always fun to see how certain scenes get animated for sure.  When you do an Anime based on an Otome game you almost always do whomever is considered the “true route” or just leave it open ended so people will want to play the games (which is what I think DiaLovers did when it had its run). UtaPri has a very interesting situation because the series DOES have an idol component (and the Anime made sure to really focus on that mostly) but it is also an Otome game so the studio (A-1 Pictures) had that to work off of for the most part.  The problem is that when they were done with the material they DID USE it created a problem because Season 4 was a mess if I am being as objective as possible about it. So here was the problem You had 3 groups in play here STARISH QUARTET NIGHT HEAVENS Forget whom your group was for a second...this was going to be a problem because 2 of the 3 groups had content that was used in the first 3 seasons but Season 4 was going to be a problem.  How this would have been remedied I have no fucking idea!  Like if Broccoli knew they were going to do this season they needed to get something out BEFORE IT so people would have had something to go off of for HEAVENS so we could have had 7 episodes that made sense instead of episodes where it felt like they didn’t know how to have the HEAVENS member that was being featured in it not look like a complete ass!  If we are honest this is what happened and its frustrating to remember One of the biggest issues with the season was that you had a group that HAD been Antags during Season 2.  I said HAD because I genuinely believe that the marching orders for A-1 was to write a season where STARISH was still THE focus but HEAVENS could be rehabbed into a group that was more “likable/marketable” so when the time came to sell CDs and merch that they would fly off the shelves and could be a contender to at least QN if not both them and STARISH.  As we saw during the Oricon charts it was a puzzling time because the duet CDs sold like garbage in the sense that only TWO our the 7 actually charted in the top 10 Ren/Van - Lovely Eyes Syo/Yamato - Justice Impulse This was the most puzzling thing I ever dealt with because I tried to figure out WHY and to this day the best thing I could come up with is the fact that the CD releases were slated to come 10 days after the episode aired which seemed like the dumbest thing to do (IMHO) because when I looked at Season 3 all of the releases charted in the top 10 and a big reason for that was the gap between CD/Episode was only 4 days...well we got to QN and HEAVENS’ CDs they did VERY WELL in Season 4 and its because of how close they released them (I think) to the episodes...funny how that works! What was really weird also was during the “Duet Project” episodes the writers didn’t know WHO to make the focus of the episodes and that was weird BUT ,looking back on it, this whole season was gonna be weird because of how quickly the season was coming in the turnaround vs. its normal time for a season.  Typically a UtaPri season gets a 2 year window and this time they were going under that...about a year and 4 months so this was going to cause a crunch and also a mess of a message as to what the writers wanted to do!  I personally believe that the writers wanted to make HEAVENS all the more sympathetic and they were able to get SOME of the backstories in that they could for certain characters but a few others (Nagi and Eiichi for example) “kind of” tried to show you the “why they were acting the way they were” but it felt (at least Internationally) that the episodes didn’t register or if they did not as well as they hoped.  I do wonder if a big reason that the content is as out of sorts in terms of balance for HEAVENS vs. the other two groups is because of how jacked up that season got.  I genuinely wish I could sit down and discuss that season with someone that was in the room when they were given the orders on how that season was supposed to go vs. what actually happened after the fact! So this brings me back to the “What would a 5th Season look like if we got/get one in the future?” The weird thing is I think A-1 already knows but they have to get the reference materials FIRST before they start writing it.  I genuinely think they saw/heard about what happened Internationally when it came to the “NEXT DOOR” saga and they didn’t want to see that happen again so NOW they want to work on these projects to get the idea other there right now that all the groups are separated as first we have STARISH and then no doubt QN but the big question of course is HEAVENS...can they do a concert with them at some point with hopefully more songs under their belt OR will Broccoli start to really consider them a lost cause and that the fandom just doesn’t want them.  You can only go with the “Round peg/Square Hole” philosophy so much before people get mad and don’t want to deal with the series (or at the very least HEAVENS) anymore. The other big issue is HEAVENS’ role in Dolce Vita because, As of this writing, we still don’t know ANYTHING about that game...like we don’t know if its a straight up VN or is there going to be something similar to the original La Corda back in the day which ,fun fact time, had Kishou and Mamo in it.  Like if anyone would know how a game like that worked it would be them (And they ARE in the new game “Starlight Orchestra” btw) so they HAVE to have had given some input about how the mechanics worked and all that...right?! (Oh and unrelated but Kishou’s original character in Len Tsukimori is a special character in that game.  He was unlocked through a campaign we had in that fandom a bit ago) So again...what would Season 5 look like? Well my guess is that it would have to be a STARISH/HEAVENS season again but with new duets unlike last time.  The other possibility (And I think they were teasing this at the end of Season 4) is that it would somehow be a HEAVENS/QN season which could be interesting especially if they did something like how Season 2 was probably supposed to go...and in a way didn’t because of how the story worked. The thing is its been almost 5 years since we had a proper season...FIVE! Let’s assume that the “Anime Project” as we know it is over alright?  STARISH and QN’s brand is already established so what do you use to help HEAVENS’ get on the same level?  That’s a big reason why I don’t think they could/should end the “Anime Proper” because to do that you literally would be cutting off a way to properly market a group that actually needs it vs. the groups that clearly don’t.  I won’t go so far as to say that the STARISH/QN Animated concerts are going to be “Vanity Projects” because they aren’t.  They are clearly something that Broccoli believed in as far as a project to do for the series BUT I will say that having 7th Stage so close to this project is a bit...weird?! Like okay to be fair this probably was planned well in advance and the Pandemic fucked everything up because it was supposed to be announced at 7th stage in 2020...okay cool fine but let’s say it was right?  What stopped them from revealing it at 10th Anniversary when it would have been a bigger “Holy Shit” moment?  What was really so important that they had to do EVERYTHING ELSE and not that?  Just seemed weird to me. But anyways HOLY SHIT did we go around the block here...I need to stop If you were going to script out a proper 5th season when would you do it and how?  The thing to remember is we have a 3 group scenario and now HEAVENS is trying to become an even better group to finally beat STARISH and QN so do you have QN and HEAVENS do a thing together or do you do a 3 cour season where each is dedicated to a particular group? Love to hear your answers on this and take care

[doomedandstoned]

How To Not Foul Up Your Next Album Release

~Bacon's Blog~

Photograph by Randy J Byrd

One of my best friends is a top-rated multiple Grammy winning producer. Every once in a while he sends me a band he thinks I could help because they simply haven’t done anything to promote their release. Think about that. These are bands who spent a boat load of money on hiring a top flight producer. Probably bled out the nose for vinyl and now haven’t even gone so far as to think about marketing. This is a huge problem, you see, for bands in the scene. Golden opportunities don’t fall from the sky, yet so often people in metal act like they do. I wanted to dig into four key things you should be doing around your album release.

4. Posting On Social

It’s stunning how many bands will dump ten grand into a release and then never even think to post about the album on social media, much less send out a press release to their mailing list. As you are building up to album release, you need to be doing as much posting as possible. It’s almost impossible to post too much as long as what you are creating is good content. Let people see your album creation process. Invite them into the studio. Show them what it’s like to make the hard decisions behind album promotion. People are looking for this stuff and the more time that you spend with it the more that you are going to be able to sell.

3. Getting Ads

Tied into this, paying for Facebook ads is essential to getting attention for your bands. It is so hard to grow solely via organic reach, if you have a solid ad strategy you are going to get people consistently coming in and checking out what you are working on. Remember: ads are just as much for awareness as they are for sales. If you can even get an ad to convert into a stream then you are cooking for something phenomenal. Ideally you’ll have enough of an ad budget to test with different pieces of creative and copy but it doesn’t always pan out so easily. Still, take the time to learn how to run effective advertisements. It will pay off not just for your album but also future shows.

2. Hiring PR

This is the big one. If you don’t hire PR you simply aren’t going to get reviews of your record. Sure two or three friends might hook it up. But broadly speaking? Zilch. Which sucks to hear I know. This is just one of the necessary steps to promoting your record. You need people who have long term relationships to writers to be out there hustling for you. If you don’t have a team that is able to hook up solid reviews then you are simply losing time. This is a hard enough business as is. Music writers are some of the most in demand people out there, you need to work hard to build relationships with them. Hiring a PR person will help facilitate this and make your life significantly less difficult and get you way more press coverage.

1. Playing Live

I know it seems obvious, but it’s apparently a serious issue. So many bands put everything together for release, play their triumphant release show and then...nothing. A single show is not going to make or break your band. You need to be focusing on playing out regularly if you want to promote your record. Very very few bands are out there getting big just playing festivals and select exclusive opening slots. The ones that do get to do that are extremely connected within the scene and are also damn good bands. You can’t rely on your music resonating with just the right people for you to get anywhere. The music industry is a hard place, and it’s only through consistency that your peers will begin to notice.

Matt Bacon (IG: mattbacon666) with Dropout Media is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. Matt also co-hosts the Dumb & Dumbest podcast with Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR.

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

Ouran High School Host Club REVIEW:

Hello there, everybody. My name is JoyofCrimeArt and welcome to the first cartoon review in my month long "Deviant-cember." event. For those of you who don't know every Friday for the rest of December I will be posting a new cartoon review, because I really enjoy making these reviews and hopefully you really enjoy reading them. Plus why not make something extra for the month of December. I mean all of those Youtubers are doing it. Anyway, I think I've gotten a bit off track, it's review time!  So a couple months ago my little brother decided to randomly pick a show off of Netflix and start watching it. After he saw the first episode he decided to ask me if I was interested in watching it with him. This show was none other than the 2006 anime series "Ouran High School Host Club!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1SxNoqhwHA

For those who are unaware, "Ouran High School Host" is an anime series produced by Studio Bones and based on the long running manga by Bisco Hartori. This manga series seems to be pretty big in Japan as this series not only got an anime adaptation but also a live action series that aired on the Japanese version of TBS. And THAT series was apparently popular enough to warrant a live action film based on the series to be created. I didn't even know that Japan even had any live action shows! Like what!? Man, what will those Japanese people think of next...  Anyway Ouran High School Host Club is a comedy anime that pokes fun at the Shojo genre of anime and manga. The Shojo genre seems to be defined as, quote "Them anime's where people don't spend all of there time powering up, fighting, and blowing stuff up." I didn't even know that Japan even had any anime like that! Like what!? Man, what will those Japanese people think of next...All jokes aside Shojo is apparently anime that is mainly targeted mainly at teenage girls. I've never seen any other "Shojo" anime before this but if this parody series in indication I would guess it features a lot of roses, fancy outfits, and flamboyant men. But enough background information, let's talk about the series plot!  The series focuses on Haruhi Fujinoka, a first year high school student who is attending the illustrious private school Ouran Academy on scholarship. (SIDE NOTE: the show makes a big deal about, even though we actually only see our main characters actually DOING schoolwork in like two episodes out of the twenty six. And even in those episodes all we see are characters do is like a fitness exam and planning a school fair. Like does anybody actually do like, math and stuff at this school? Like, I know this show is about an after school club and all, but dang! Okay tangent over.) Everything is going well until Haruhi accidentally walks into the room of the Ouran High School Host Club. Now, I know what you may be wondering if you aren't Japanese or haven't seen this show before, "What is a host club?" Now, I'm not going to say that I'm an expert on the subject or anything but based on my limited research a host club is basically a less sexual and gender flipped version of a Hooters. There basically bars or clubs that feature attractive men who's job is to charm and flirt with female customers. This show takes that idea and just puts it into a high school and removes the alcohol. Haruhi accidentally knocks over a vase that belongs to the club and, since this is a precious private school owned entirely by rich people, the vase is valued at 8,000,000 yen, or a about 70,561 dollars American (give or take inflation. Thanks Google!) And thus, Haruhi is forced to work at the host club in order to pay off her debt but, shocking twist, Haruhi is actually a girl! Wah Wah Wah! So now Haruhi has to disguise herself as a man in order to work of her debt to the host club, and many shenanigans ensue!

(You know that the vase is going to break because they have an arrow pointing at it for the entire scene before Haruhi breaks it. It's because the show thinks that if there wasn't an arrow pointing at the vase, we might forget that the vase is important.)  So let's talk about the members of the host club. First we have Haruhi. She's smart, hardworking, and independent to a fault. She acts as the straight man of the group and honestly she serves that role perfectly. Her default emotion ninety percent of the time seems to just be "indifference," and I mean that in the best possible way. Her deadpan attitude acts as a perfect foil for the other members of the host club. That being said it's not like she's a static character, as she does show emotion when a scene calls for it. Without Haruhi down to earth attitude the show would not work at all, as without it the show would just become to zany. You really need that voice of reason character to balance out the wackiness, even in a show as silly as this. Also, while I don't know how much this applies in the Japanese version her American voice actress, Caitlin Glass, does an excellent job delivering her lines as this character. Also yes, I did watch this show dubbed and not subbed and that is because I am a FILTHY CASUAL PLEBE!  Next we have Tamaki, the leader and co founder of the host club. Tamaki is very much the dumb but beautiful type of character. He's self absorbed, though it seems to come less from a place of ego and more from just a place of ignorance. And despite him being so self absorbed he isn't selfish. He is shown to be a kind person who cares deeply about helping people, which does keep him likable. Tamaki is just such a passionate character it's hard for you as the viewer to not get as passionate as he is. He has a crush on Haruhi, which is obvious to everybody except himself. Many episodes focus on him trying to impress her, or focusing on his jealousy of anybody else who wants to get close to Haruhi, leading to many comedic situations. The obvious irony here is that Tamaki is in love with the only girl in the school who isn't madly in love with him. Like for real, every other girl in the school just melts in his hand, except for Haruhi. This is something I simply do not get, Tamaki is a doofus. I just don't see the attraction.

I mean sure he's attractive, I guess! What with that shaggy blond hair, and those deep blue eyes...that look like two glistening pools of water in the moonlight. And he does have a sort of innocent boyish charm to him...and those luscious, kissable lips....I-Ugh, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, the review! Hehe, um...Where was I again?    Also in the dub Tamaki is voiced by none other then Vic Mignogna. Most people would probably recognize him as Eric Elric from "Full Metal Alchemist" but the role that I most recognize him from is Uncle Qrow from "RWBY." QROW IS TAMAKI GUYS! I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO TAKE QROW SERIOUSLY AGAIN!

Then we have Kyouya, the other co-founder of the host club. He's in charge of all of the planning and actual day to day running of the host club. He also acts as a straight man for the group, though not as much as Haruhi. He's cold and calculated, being in the club more business reasons as oppose to Tamaki who does it in order to make women happy. He's an excellent foil for Tamaki and an excellent tool for exposition for the writers, because he always does extensive background checks on literally every character in the series because, well, he's kinda a creep. Though in all serious he is a good character, especially as we get to learn more about him and get past his calculating exterior, as we learn he truly does have a soft side.  Then we have twins Hikaru and Karou, who are in the club in order to appeal to guest who attracted to a certain, specific, type of yaoi....And this has gotten weird already if you get what I'm saying. Though to be fair it is left a bit vague how much of there "brotherly love." is real and how much is just an act for there clients. They are mischievous and overall pretty awful people overall, doing really jerky things pretty much just for the fun of it. Luckily they do get character development over time that fixes this a little, but yeah. They look completely identical to each other and act pretty much the same for the first half of the series too. There's even an episode where the dye there hair differently so it'd be easier to tell them apart.

(...I think this how Akira Toriyama got his inspiration for the "Future Trunks Arc" of Dragonball Super.)  They do however start to divulge more in the second half with Hikaru being more rash and more of a jerk while Karou being a bit kinder and more sensitive. But don't worry, if you think that that's the last of the awkward and possibly unfortunate implications this show presents, you'd be way off-  -Cause we also have Honey! He's a seventeen year old who's whole gimmick is that he both looks and acts like a five year old...God damn it, Japan. Okay to be fair the girls in the host club don't seem to actually seem to be "attracted" to him per say, they seem to just like to fangirl over how cute he is. So at least there's that. Honey is the cute one of the host club, who loves naps, stuffed animals, and cakes. While the anime gives no explanation on why Honey looks and acts the way he does the creator of the original manga gives one, and it's the dumbest answer ever. Bisco Hatori has jokes the reason Honey looks and acts so young is because Honey was born on February 29th, and thus only ages every four years. Well played Hatori, well played.  There's also the host club manager, Renge. Now according to Tvtropes at least, she's kinda a base breaker character, meaning people either love her or hate her. I personally love her, but I totally understand how people might find her annoying. She's doesn't really serve much purpose to most of the plot, probably because she was only in one chapter of the manga. She's an insane Otaku who's only real purpose is to be genre savvy. She also always rises from the grown on a platform powered by a powerful motor. Even when there outside or something. Don't ask, there is no explanation.

...Oh, there's also Mori. Yup. Mori's was definitely there too.

here are some other characters, like Nekozawa, Haruhi's dad, and Zuka club but I don't want to go into all of those characters here. I don't want to spoil the entire show. Oh! I almost forget everybody's favorite side character, John Cena Senpai!

(All credit to twitter.com/thaniasenpai for the original tweet/joke.)  If there was one word that I would use to describe this show it would be "farcical." This is a really frickin' silly, especially in the first half. There's lots of yelling, over exaggerated facial expressions, and even some fourth wall jokes. Also this show has this weird thing with banana peels. Like y'know how in most slapstick comedies you'll see a character eating a banana, and then they'll drop the peel and later on some character will slip on it. This show just skips the set up and just has them slipping on the peel from the get go. The banana peels seem to just, kinda spawn. It's really kooky. The comedy is definitely over the top, but it's a really fun kind of over the top that I found to be very enjoyable personally. When your "Alice and Wonderland" episode of your show is actually one of the more serious episodes, I think it says something about the tone of your story.

(Example of Kooky.)  About half way through the series the show starts to change in tone slightly. The show still remains goofy all the way through, (That image above me is actually a shot from one of the last scenes of the last episode.) but we start to get some more serious episodes mixed in with the silly ones, or episodes that have both silly and serious elements to them. We start to get more backstory on the various members of the host club and it's actually pretty effective the majority of the time. It's really weird because you wouldn't expect the show to go off in that direction but I think it's good that it did. They know not to ever make things get to heavy and give us just enough drama to be drawn into the story a bit more without substituting the shows original appeal, which is the comedy. We see the characters open up and develop as time goes on, becoming more complex and interesting.  Honestly after watching all twenty six episodes of this show I didn't really have much to complain about. The only problems the show has is that the jokes don't always land and some of the unfortunate implications. And I don't just mean the stuff I mentioned earlier with Honey and the twins. When you get right down to it a lot of the host clubs antics, if placed in a less comedic setting would be a lot more creepy. Like how Tamaki claims himself as Haruhi's "Daddy." and tries to stop her from having any romantic relationship with someone else, and is kinda forcing Haruhi into his weird love club until she starts to actually start enjoying the club, almost like stockholm syndrome. Now obviously that's not the implication we're suppose to take away from all of this, as the show's tounge and cheek attitude prevents any of this stuff from getting too weird, and the bond between Haruhi and the members of the host club are genuine, I'm just saying that there's an great darker and edgier horror movie in here waiting to be made!  So in conclusion is Ouran High School Host Club the greatest anime ever made? Yes. IN YOUR FACE "Hayao Miyazaki!" No, while Ouran High School Host Club may not be the greatest anime ever made by any stretch, I found it surprisingly enjoyable. It has great characters, good comedy, and a surprisingly well told and heart warming story. I think a lot of the parody and and some of the weird implications the series would work a bit better if I know more Japanese culture and the shojo genre, but regardless I do think it's a good show that is worth watching. This show will not be for everybody. It's comedy may be seen as "too goofy" for some, some of the implications might be a bit squicky for some people, and some people may not be able to get over how flamboyant and cheesy it is. But if your willing to look past all of that, and your just in the mood for a silly, nonsensical farce featuring a lot over the top characters, a lot of yaoi overtones, and a lot, and I mean a lot of roses, Ouran Highschool Host Club might just be the show to give you all of that, plus maybe a little bit more. While the show is no longer available on Netflix it is still available on Hulu both subbed and dubbed. You can also watch the series on Funimation.com for free, or buy the series on DVD and blu-ray. Check if the show sounds interesting to you maybe check it out. It'll most likely be time well spent.  So that's my review of Ouran High School Host Club. Have you seen the show? What do you think of it? Feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comments down bellow. Even if you disagree with my opinion I'd love to hear yours. Feel free to fav, follow and comment on this post if you liked the review. And don't forget to come back next week for the second review in my multi-part "Deviant-cember." where I'll be talking about the 1992 Holiday "classic" Frosty Returns. See you guys then and have a great day.

(And here we have Tamaki, about to break through Wall Maria, releasing the titans onto the citizens of the Shiganshina District.) (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review all credit goes to there original owners.)

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Ouran-High-School-Host-Club-REVIEW-650271772 DA Link

[theghostofashton]

“i’ve got you.”

so somehow whenever i have a bad day the words come a lot easier lmao

this was on my request list from one of my friends (read: rachel), she gave me the idea and i made it hurt a lot more than she probably intended which is basically my brand by now oops lmao

mild trigger warnings for panic attacks and self harm

16. "i've got you."

It was stupid.

He knows that much.

It was the craziest, dumbest, pettiest argument. It made everything red and brought the critters up his hands, pressed the stingers against his back and infused everything with a tidal wave of crimson, but it was so fucking stupid.

He said something and Geoff said something else and god he should've never opened his fucking mouth why do you do these things why do you get yourself into these messes why are you so fucking toxic to yourself and then upset about it why do you act like this isn't all your fucking fault why-

It started off small and snowballed, like every retort was a new layer wrapping around the snowball they'd begun to create and in the end Geoff's tower was higher. His hit was harder. It was more powerful, coming from him, a punch in the stomach that sent the air out of its place in his chest and made everything feel like it was falling, like he was gripping onto the cliff with the tips of his fingers and trying to pull himself over a ledge that only seemed to be crumbling beneath him.

Recording ran long and he spent way too much time in the studio and he couldn't fucking get it right why are you such a fuck up why can't you do this one thing this thing you're good at why can't you fucking do it why are you such a fucking screw up- and the track still isn't done and everything is delayed and it all has to be pushed back because of him and it's his fault his fucking fault you're so stupid Geoff didn't do anything wrong why the fuck are you such a brat-

Some days I don't know why I put up with this shit, for fuck's sakes!

It keeps repeating in his head, over and over. He keeps replaying it, closing his eyes and transporting himself back to their apartment where his body shook and his cheeks heated and the strength of the world's anger felt contained in his fists, so much, so heavy, so powerful he couldn't stop it it wouldn't stop why wouldn't it stop-

The words keep playing and he hears them in Geoff's voice every time, hears the venom and the poison and feels everything start to crumble underneath him before Geoff is even done talking, feels the world start to shift and break and fall to pieces and knows he's right there with it.

He remembers the nights, so many of them, floating between dreams and reality, intoxicating himself in the packaged agony, letting the darkest corners of his mind swell up and loom over and come crashing down, again and again until the world was hot and then cold once more and everything felt like it was ending. Until he pressed nose against collarbone and felt tears soak into fabric and cried, I'm sorry I know I'm too much you don't have to be here you don't have to take care of me you can go you don't have to stay I- cried against a body that stiffened and breath that felt warm against his ear, never say that again, sunshine. You're not an obligation. I love you. I want to be with you. Forever.

You're not an obligation.

You're not an obligation.

Maybe he is.

Maybe Geoff's been lying to him all this time and he is and he was looking for just the right moment and today came flittering down and handed itself to him on a silver platter.

Maybe everything he knows is about to be over maybe it's about to stop maybe it's all about to stop maybe he's about to lose the best thing that ever happened to him maybe-

He swallows against the sob and forces it back down, feels it change to nausea on the journey and move heavily into his stomach. He's so sick. Everything is wrong and he's so fucking sick and the world doesn't make sense anymore and he wants to go back in time to two hours ago and come home and just ignore Geoff- why the fuck did you have to be so mean to him it's not his fault you had a bad day it's not-

He had to get out of there. Geoff called after him and a tiny part of him wanted to run and hope and believe the world would work out and he'd have Geoff's open arms to run into, but he's not that lucky. He's never that lucky.

The receptionist knows him all too well by now. He doesn't even bother buzzing up anymore. The man has seen him barefoot and soaked to the bone on some particularly bad nights, run through the lobby with his open laptop in his hands after he's finished demoing out a song he's in love with, visit this building once, twice, possibly three times a day if what he has to say is really that important. He knows him and he knows he'll wait if the timing isn't right.

So he finds himself on the steps, forcing himself to take a new breath every time he climbs one. He's a mess and he knows it but he also knows that trying to understand anything mid-panic attack is futile and he needs to talk he needs to breathe he needs someone he can't do this-

He stops in front of the door and inhales again, takes a lasting breath that feels like water washing over a desert, dampening fields that have been parched far too long. Everything's gonna be okay. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

He lifts a hand to knock on the door and then he stops.

He stops with his hand poised right in front of the wood. Everything freezes. Glaciers are traveling up his hands but his back feels hot. Wet. His shirt is starting to stick to his skin.

He hears it. It sounds musical. It's light and sounds airy and punctuates a soft sentence he can't quite detect. There's another voice and then it's back to hers and she laughs again. It gets louder as they come closer to the door.

He stops.

Because Jawn isn't alone and he doesn't know why he thought he would be, why he assumed that his life would be put on hold because he had a fight with Geoff and is now having a panic attack, why he figured that he'd be there with open arms and warm breaths to fill in the spaces of his panicked ones, a body and a breath and it'll be okay, Aws. Geoff loves you. You're gonna figure this out. Just take some deep breaths with me, okay? Everything's gonna be fine. I'm right here. I'm not leaving you. You've got me, no matter what.

Because Jawn has a girlfriend and a life outside of him because everything shouldn't revolve around him because the world is moving on and people are living their lives and time is passing and no one is gonna be around to deal with his stupid bullshit forever.

Because Geoff is tired of it and Jawn is starting to follow and everything is happening for them it's all falling into place it's all working out the world works out for them but not for him and they're tired of picking up the pieces when it does because he's always like this and he can't stop and they won't be there forever no one will be there forever you need to fucking grow up and stop acting like a child you stupid piece of shit you can't always expect everyone to drop everything when you're having a bad day-

Because his bad days are plenty and the world wasn't ready for that many.

Jawn has a girlfriend. Otto's about to pop the question to his. Geoff wants more. Everyone wants more. The world needs more but he doesn't have anything left to give. Everything is changing and people are moving on and growing up and going somewhere and doing things with their lives and he can't do that he can't breathe he can't imagine that he can't breathe he can't fucking live that he can't breathe-

"Aws, hey, what're you doing here?"

He snaps his head up. It's too fast. It leaves him dizzy. The world is spinning. Everything is blurry and fuzzy and mixing together.

Jawn is standing in front of him and Daphne is at his side. She's wearing a dress and he has on a tie. Their hands are joined. They're staring at him.

It's hot.

Too hot.

"Oh, n-nothing." He forces his voice to remain level. "I was just around and thought I left my j-jacket here yesterday so I was gonna ask." He barely pauses, sees Jawn open his mouth, and rushes to add, "b-but I can come back later!"

"If you want to-"

"It's fine, really," he says. "Y'all are going on a date, right? W-where?"

"Jawn's taking me to The Cheesecake Factory for our 6 month anniversary," Daphne speaks up. She's smiling, looking down to their joined hands and then back up at Jawn, shifting her body closer to his.

It slipped his mind. They've been together for six months and he forgot. His best friend has been with a girl for six months, six of the best, happiest months of their relationship, and he forgot. Because he always forgets. Because he's the problem no one can solve and their resolve with him is waning fast.

Jawn and Daphne leave with smiled goodbyes. He says something to her as they're going down the stairs and she starts laughing again, a sound that floats up to him and wraps around his body, presses itself like poisonous stingers into his skin, bypasses the first couple layers and settles into his blood, feels like icy venom running through everything.

He starts walking.

He doesn't know where or what's going on or if he can even feel his feet moving in front of him – he just knows that they are and his body is propelling itself forward even if his mind isn't as willing to cooperate – but he's walking and going down the stairs and making his way out of the lobby and into the cold night air with glaciers in his hands and stingers pressing into his back and redredred-

Such a burden you're such a burden on Jawn on Geoff on everyone you need to grow the fuck up and stop acting like this grow the fuck up and get out of your head or they'll be gone and you'll still be here with your stupid brain that doesn't work right and everything will be as terrible as it is right now.

Everything will be as terrible as it is right now.

Everything will be as terrible as it is right now.

Everything is terrible and his presence in the world feels merely skeletal.

A lump of flesh that's barely holding onto its sack of bones, barely managing to keep them upright and pull them through life.

He walks until he can't anymore, until he ends up back at his own apartment. Geoff will be home. He'll let him talk. They'll talk. It'll be fixed. They'll talk. He can fix this. They'll talk. It'll all be fine. Everything will be fine.

The door doesn't open.

He forgot his key and the door won't open and he pounds his fists on it and starts to scream; Geoff's name bubbles up his throat and from his lips too many times, the world feels like it's turned to dust, disintegrated and fallen right at his feet, erased any thought of things working out he thought they would work out they won't Geoff left he's gone they can't fix this it's gone it's broken it's done everything's done forever-

He doesn't breathe.

...

"Fucking hell."

He pounds his fist against Jawn's door once more, whirls around to press his back against it and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He navigates through the screens quickly and then holds the device up to his ear.

"Geoff? Can I call you back? Daph and I-"

"Have you heard from Awsten?" His hands are shaking. The world is starting to go fuzzy at its edges. "Recently, in like, the past hour?"

"He came to my place...Geoff, what the hell is going on?" Jawn demands. "You're panicking."

"We had a fight," he chokes out. "We had a fight and I said something awful and he ran and I can't fucking find him. He won't answer his phone. I thought he would've come ta you."

"What the- he said..." Jawn's voice rises as he continues speaking. "He was looking for a jacket, I...oh my god..."

"What?" He bites the word and swallows down a sob. "What else?"

"He needed- fuck," Jawn curses. There's rustling on the other end. Geoff can detect him speaking rapidly to Daphne, hear her reply just as quick, and then more things moving around as Jawn – seemingly – runs out to his car. "He looked kinda off but I didn't really think about it. He was shaking and I think he was crying, I- fuck, how did I not notice?"

"That doesn't matter!" He grips the phone tightly and pushes off the door, moves toward the stairs and takes off in a run. "We havta find him!"

"Go back to your place," Jawn says quickly. "I'll meet you there and then we can figure something out."

"Jawn..."

"We'll find him." Jawn softens his voice. "He'll be okay, I promise."

...

He pulls in right after Geoff does.

Heart racing, he shuts his car off and almost stumbles in his haste to get out of the car. His phone vibrates as he shoves it into his pocket but he doesn't pull it back out to look at the text. He locks the car and barely manages not to trip over his feet as he rushes to meet Geoff in front of the apartment building.

He's shaking.

His eyes are glassy and the skin around them is red. He's biting down hard on his lip and tapping out another message on a screen completely covered in blue text bubbles. Awsten hasn't answered any of them. There are no grey dots to even signify he's seen them and is typing a response.

"It's gonna be okay," he murmurs. It's a lie. He doesn't know that. Awsten could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere and they'd never know. The world isn't kind and the universe doesn't care and this night could potentially be the worst of their entire lives but he can't concentrate on that he can't breathe he needs to believe they'll find him he needs to believe it'll all work out he needs to-

He needs to believe everything will be okay.

"We're gonna go upstairs." He takes both of Geoff's hands and waits until he has his eyes. "We're gonna go upstairs and call Travis and Otto and Zakk and Andrew, and then Gracie and his mom, and one of them'll know something, I promise. He probably just went home or to Travis' to breathe. He's safe. I promise."

You don't know that.

He wraps an arm around Geoff's hunched shoulders and leads him into the building, past the receptionist and toward the stairs, reminds him to breathe and rubs at his back. "It's gonna be okay."

And then he stops.

Geoff stops walking and he bumps into his back.

Everything stops.

It feels fragmented, like someone's smashed a hole in their reality and shattered it to pieces, left some of the shards still dangling, holding on for dear life and trying to cling to an existence where the resistance is futile.

Awsten is crying. Tears are streaming down his cheeks as he curls his body further against the wall. He gasps loudly – they can hear him struggling for air – chokes on a breath and starts coughing, pulling his knees further to his chest and letting out a sob.

Geoff moves first.

He kneels in front of Awsten and reaches for him, tries to wrap his arms around him and speak to him softly. Awsten shakes his head and kicks out, punches at the air and curls further into himself.

"N-no!"

"Aws, hey, you're okay." He hears Geoff say. He watches as Geoff reaches for Awsten's shoulder. Awsten squirms away and buries his face further into his arms.

"G-Go away." Awsten pants out the words and shifts further away from Geoff, closer to the wall and away from his body. Geoff shakes his head and straightens, walks the couple steps back over to him and buries his own head in his hands.

He's having a panic attack but he won't let them do anything about it.

"I don't wanna freak him out more," Geoff whispers. His voice is thick. "I don't- what the fuck do we do?"

"Hang on."

He makes his way over and sits down next to Awsten, leaves a small strip of space between them so their bodies aren't touching, and stays. He stays like that, only watching through his peripheral vision, stays quiet and still and calm, while Awsten gasps and chokes and keeps on crying.

And then, a few moments later, Awsten slides his hand out. It's then that he actually gets a good look at it, sees the dark spots staining the sleeve of the sweatshirt – that's most likely Geoff's – that he's wearing. Dark red.

He swallows and takes Awsten's hand, laces their fingers together and rubs his thumb over the back softly. Awsten doesn't move away, doesn't pull his hand back, keeps his head down. His breaths are starting to even out as Jawn keeps on rubbing. He bites his lip and scoots the tiniest bit closer, makes contact with Awsten's body and presses down on his lip don't pull away don't pull away please don't pull away-

He hears footsteps and then feels warm air hit his face, looks up and watches Geoff crouch down and reach forward to tangle his fingers in Awsten's hair. He trails them back and forth, tousles his hand through while looking down at the red that's starting to color a large part of both hoodie sleeves. Jawn meets his eyes and they exchange a glance, a sigh, a silent not right now.

He doesn't know how long has passed. He doesn't dare move to pull out his phone. Awsten's breathing is slowly starting to calm. His breaths are shorter and Jawn can feel his heart still beating rapidly, but he's starting to relax. Eventually, Awsten rests his head on his shoulder and closes his eyes, still dragging in heavy inhales that he doesn't hold for as long as he probably should.

He looks back at Geoff, and then down at Awsten, and back at Geoff with a nod.

Geoff lifts him. He slides one arm behind his back and the other under the crook of his knees and stands. Jawn stands with him, keeps his hold on Awsten's hand, still rubs his thumb against it in that steady rhythm as they walk into the apartment.

Geoff takes him to the bathroom and sets him down on the floor, slides down with him and wraps his arms around him from behind to pull him onto his lap. He turns away, into the cabinet adjacent to the sink, and pulls a first aid kit from one of the shelves.

Jawn kneels in front of Awsten and Geoff and smiles, watches as Geoff intertwines his fingers with Awsten's and brings their joined hands up to his lips. He reaches for Awsten's free arm and draws the sleeve up, slides his lip in between his teeth and bites down.

The room is silent.

No one says a word. They stare at the still-bleeding scratches on Awsten's skin, the blood that's starting to dry around the new cuts, white marks surrounding everything, the scratches that didn't break skin.

He forces down a swallow and dampens a piece of gauze with antiseptic solution, makes eye contact with Geoff before he moves, and, even still, winces at Awsten's sharp intake of breath when the alcohol reacts. He dabs at the blood while Geoff presses kisses to Awsten's head and murmurs sweet nothings he's close enough to hear.

"I love you so much, sunshine," Geoff whispers. "Everything's gonna be okay. I've got you. You're okay, I promise."

He makes quick work of cleaning both Awsten's arms, disinfecting the wounds and spreading Neosporin over them, and then bandaging them with gauze and medical tape.

There's a pit in his stomach and the sickness won't stop. He doesn't know how he's keeping the little dinner he ate down. Everything feels different now. Everything feels off. Changed. Wrong.

Awsten's never done anything like this before.

...

They get into bed.

He carries Awsten into their bedroom and tucks him underneath the covers, and then slides in after and pulls him back into his arms. Jawn turns off the lights and tugs at his tie, loosens it and unwraps it from his neck, before he climbs onto the other side.

He tightens his arms around Awsten, ducks his head and buries his nose in the back of his neck, breathes in his scent and lets his face warm against the heat of Awsten's skin.

His heart is smashed and everything feels like it's bleeding. He wants to say something but there are no words. Everything feels different. Everything is different.

There are no words.

He lifts his head up to look at Jawn again, watches him stroke his thumbs across Awsten's cheeks, wipe away the remnants of tears and then lean down to press his lips against Awsten's forehead. He presses a kiss to Awsten's hair and curls impossibly closer.

They'll talk about it tomorrow.

[brandingninasem2]

Body Copy Development for Creative Hero Content.

The body copy for Kate Moross was developed and written on top my own previous research in this blog so references are cited earlier in the blog. 

Kate Moross

Touching on creative process, Kate Moross isn’t afraid to experiment with their work. This fearless approach to design is also another way to spark creativity for bold work. ould highlight the differences in all designers and how that can be capitalized on if emerging creatives are willing to try new things in order to evolve and grow their design process.

We are creating a world where everything is visual and that is why there is so much work in design now. Every single brand, every platform, every newspaper, every online blog needs photos, they need video, they need illustration, they need content and content is the word of the decade right ?! All we ever do is get content commissions so that is a perfect world to be a creator in because you can make content for people in any area.

I try to encouragWe young creatives to find an area they are interested in and learn how to create content in that industry. Whether it be fashion, music, architecture, furniture design or theatre think about where you want to go and how you can create in that industry, you can always find a niche for yourself but even more so in design and music now, there are so many great places for things to exists.

Massimo Vignelli

Massimo was celebrated for his teaching as well as his work. Michael Bierut, a Vignelli protégé, testifies to his mentor’s kindness and encouragement in a moving tribute written for Design Observer.Which means Vignelli’s legacy is of fundamental importance to all designers. The web emerged too late in his career to allow him to make a direct contribution to the medium, but the design principles that guided his work have had a profound impact upon the processes and aesthetics of both traditional and digital design.

Vignelli, along with other leading 20th century designers such as Josef Müller-Brockmann and Paul Rand, with whom much of his career overlapped, made a significant contribution to that process of professionalisation. His work applied the principles he had learned from his forebears and peers with uncompromising rigour, and his teaching in turn refined and extended them further.

Vignelli’s design methodology is well documented in many interviews, articles, books and videos, but is summarised with particular clarity in The Vignelli Canon, a short book he wrote towards the end of his career which with typical generosity he made available as a free PDF download.

The first half of the book sets out Vignelli’s fundamental design principles in no more than 40 pages. This is one of the clearest guides to the modernist design aesthetic available anywhere.  

Vignelli states the designer’s first objective when beginning a new project is to attain a clear understanding of the ‘semantics’ of the task before her: the designer must take time to understand the nature of the client and their audience, and how the subject of the design will relate to sender and receiver in such as way as to make sense to both.

Once the designer is satisfied they understand the meaning of the project, they can move on to researching an appropriate ‘syntax’ for the design, a visual grammar, the set of design elements most suitable for the task at hand. In Vignelli’s words:

The consistency of a design is provided by the appropriate relationship of the various syntactical elements of the project: how type relates to grids and images from page to page throughout the whole project. How the parts relate to the whole. There are ways to achieve all this that are correct, as there are others that are incorrect, and should be avoided.

The Vignellis have designed books, corporate identities, product design, furniture, environmental graphic design, interior design, type design, graphic design, packaging, their own garments, and transportation graphics. ‘If we need something and we can’t find it, then we design it.’ He characterises their process as ‘design is one’ – which means that if you can design one thing, you can design everything. The methodology is the same no matter what the content.

I say all the time, particularly to young designers who seem to be always affected by things they have seen: when you have a design to do, don’t look outside. Learn to look inside the problem, because you will find the solution is right there waiting for you to get it out. Your style comes by refining your way of looking inside, not by importing it.

Morag Myserscough

It is important to continually reassess and to enjoy your work. If you really hate it, don’t do it, do something else. Morag spends a lot of time observing everything around her and how she can make work that responds to our world. If you want or feel you need to be part of a tribe, that is great. But if not, don’t worry. It just might not exist yet but does that matter? Don’t be afraid to go your own way.

Morag doesn’t like calling what she does a style. She has an approach to her work that she has developed over many years in response to doing things she has not enjoyed and wanting to get more fulfilment from what she does. Morag has totally orchestrated the way she works. Myerscough wants to make the final work where she can, this is not always possible. But she works on every aspect of the project. She will artwork every piece of pattern and text. With the large structures, Myerscough often collaborates with Luke Morgan on the structures, furniture and the interactions. She also works with structural engineers, building contractors, scaffolders, tilers, clients or project managers, depending on the requirements for the project. When she is painting a large-scale project Morag will call on a team of painters who have been shown Myerscough’s way of painting and they are paid and come and help her in the studio. Morag is very particular and disciplined with the painting as it is often very complex, like a massive jigsaw.

The one thing Morag believes she had done wrong was to call herself Studio Myerscough instead of Morag Myerscough. She was nervous back when she created Studio Myerscough about appearing like a one-person band.

So Studio Myerscough immediately sounded like there were more of her. At its peak, Myerscough grew to a team of eight people but she realised this was not what she wanted to do. So she changed her way of working.She then met Luke in 2002 and they made products and everything has developed from there.

Paula Scher

Paula Scher is one of the most influential graphic designers in the world. Described as the “master conjurer of the instantly familiar,” Scher straddles the line between pop culture and fine art in her work. Iconic, smart, and accessible, her images have entered into the American vernacular.

You invent what works for you. Paula found that the work that she does, for the most part, is best when the ideas are instinctive and fast, and the results are best when they’re accomplished fast. The worst for Scher is when a lot of indecision occurs because it makes the work weaker. She feels much more insightful, even when there are mistakes in the work, the work is better for the mistakes. Sometimes mistakes are the only interesting things that happen in the process. 

You want to be in a position where you’re capable of making accidents. Sometimes it’s about accidentally making an extra mark while you’re sketching, and you look at it and feel like you’re failed, but actually there’s something in it, and you use it. Sometimes you’re presented with something terrible, like a parking garage, and you have to figure out how you’re going to make it interesting, or resurface it in some way that becomes surprising, and that invents the whole project. Those kinds of problems and constraints, that push you out of your comfort zone and make you do something else, those are the things that make you more inventive.

For people starting their careers, go to a place where you can learn, and then learn. Learn from other people just by seeing how they work, how they behave, how they make decisions, all that. It’s all very eye-opening and can inform you on how to live a life in your work. That’s what you’re doing! It’s not about career, it’s not about a job - it’s about a life choice that you’ve made, and how you can make a life in your work.

All things are related, so figuring out what kind of culture you’re going to absorb, where you’re getting your inspiration, who you talk to, who your friends are, even, is all about that. If you hang out with people smarter than you, you always grow up faster than if you don’t. It’s good to be the dumbest person in the room - it’s a painful experience on one hand, but on the other hand, you walk away with a tremendous advantage.  

References:  

 Author. (Year of publication). Title of webpage. Website Name. https://xxx

Barker, C. (2020). An interview with Paula Scher. SemiPermanent. https://www.semipermanent.com/stories/interview-paula-scher

Cowan, K. (2019). Morag Myerscough on career highlights so far, going her own way and why it's important to always reassess. Creative Boom. https://www.creativeboom.com/features/morag-myerscough/

Creative Bloq Staff. (2014).  What Massimo Vignelli can teach designers today. Creative Bloq. https://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/massimo-vignelli-61411897

Gamolima, J. (2020).  A Life in Her Work: Pentagram's Paula Scher on Ideas, Invention, and Learning. Madame Architect.   https://www.madamearchitect.org/interviews/2020/7/16/paula-scher

[finjico]

We're celebrating #InternationalWomensDay with a look at the women in games who inspire us! In the coming days, we'll be posting interviews with the women who help make your favorite games possible. Today, we spoke to Rebekah Saltsman, founder and CEO of Finji.

Rebekah lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her and her husband Adam have been creating and publishing games since 2009.

What do you look toward for inspiration? Were you inspired by any particular people/games/other media that led you to where you are?

I am tremendously lucky. I get to work with one of the people I most admire in the industry- my husband Adam. I am always humbled by his passion for game design and the way he is constantly evolving as a person and as a designer. I find personal inspiration from relationships- with my marriage, with my children, with my siblings and parents, and with my friends. The work I do is often thankless; It isn't flashy or noteworthy. I spend a lot of time thinking about the ways human interact with each other and a lot of my thought process toward game design and business is anchored here. I love a good challenge- and herding an indie development team to a console sim launch is pretty much my Mt. Everest.

There are a lot of things over the past several decades that pushed me to where I am today- Adam's passion for games brought me into this space. My older brothers were the ones who always got the consoles for Christmas. Secret of Mana for being the very first game I ever beat. My first professional mentor, Jonathan, who saw in me a young version of himself- someone who seemed a little too mature and a little too responsible for a 23 year old. Dance, especially ballet and the years I spent learning how to perform through extreme debilitating shyness (you don't have to talk when dancing!) Running half and full marathons as an adult. My athletic coaches who saw me as an individual and not just another Thompson. My honors english teacher in high school who pushed me to be more than I thought I was. My mom who despite being pretty traditional just rolled along with a super stubborn super athletic honor student. My kids who showed me how productive I can actually be and how stupid most of my concerns pre-motherhood actually were.

What is your favorite part about working in the games industry? What have you accomplished recently that you are proud of or thankful for?

I get to work with some of the most brilliant creatives- I generally feel like the dumbest person in the room. I get to be involved with projects that change my life and the lives of those who play our games. I came to my first GDC with Adam- but I didn't work in games yet. I stayed because I was welcomed and accepted. These people have become my best friends over the last 9+ years.

I am incredibly proud of the last 18 months of my work- PC launches are difficult. Console launches are notoriously difficult. I've managed to bring 2 games to multiple consoles in the past year- managing sim launches, content drops, updates- as a tiny 2 person studio in Grand Rapids. I know how hard it is to launch on 1 console. I've done 5 initial console launches in under 18 months (along with multiple patches and the actual Night in the Woods PC launch). In that time I've also helped move Overland closer to our 1.0 launch and signed TUNIC on as our next publishing project. I've also attended and run so many booths at shows that I've lost count. Personally- I am very proud of my marriage and of my tiny beautiful family.

What are some things that can be done to improve the experience for women in the industry? What advice would you give to a woman who aspires to have your job?

I would love to have a day when I didn't worry about my clothes before leaving for an industry event- where I didn't have a skinny jeans with a t-shirt and hoodie uniform to turn down my femininity. This is such a stupid thing- but I know for a fact that I'm not the only woman who does this. I often think about "what if I need to get a real studio job" and I don't know if I could ever work at a larger studio because the work hours are so rarely conducive to being a parent. And my resume says I am a woman who I went to college for Communication Studies. Would my long list of released games, business experience, and years of running my own company overcome the bias of both being a woman without a degree in technology or art at a video game company? Would my outspokenness about being a parent be strikes against me?

When I talk to young women I feel I have to apologize. I am so sorry this path is going to be harder for you. I am so sorry that your opinions will be discounted. I am so sorry that you have been conditioned for years to not speak up and the only way to fix this conditioning is to speak up- but people may find your forthcoming way of speaking to be abrasive or bitchy. I am so sorry that my generation hasn't fixed this yet (cuz millenials are adults now! we are like 21-37 years old- the women coming after me aren't in my generation). and I want them all to keep going- to keep making small changes in their own little corner of the industry because we have brilliant ideas- we are brilliant game developers when given the chance. We bring a perspective to games that represents half of the humans on earth- half of our players are like us. We have different ideas about accessibility, UI design, movement. Our stories are different and they should be represented in games alongside the stories we already tell. Bringing in a diversity of thought and experience can only make our medium move forward as one of the greatest ways to share common human experiences. And to be honest, it's gonna suck for awhile longer attempting to navigate through the bias and discrimination so prevalent in our industry. Biases don't change over night and it can be so hard to keep that light on the hill lit. Listen to others, find a mentor who believes in you, and don't doubt that you can do this. You can.

Do you have any women in games that you would like to see interviewed? If so, drop us a comment or a private message!

[fireandseaweed]

Testing the Waters || Fergus, Percy and Puff

Percy and Fergus try to work out how his new ability works.

This happened like EARLY january, we’re just late af.

Wading out into the ocean, Percy looked back at Fergus before he began to start swimming backwards into the ocean. The waves knocked against him as the current tossed and turned around him, the drive out here had been relatively easy. Slipping out of camp wasn’t the problem, the problem was getting back inside. But this was important, it was life or death for Fergus. If the Romans didn’t accept Greeks then how the hell were they ever going to accept a son of a titan who could turn into a sea monster. Turning to his new friend, he smiled at him. “I can’t wait to knock you out,” he said with a laugh, “unless you’ve thought of some other way of doing this.” By this he meant turning into a monster.

It was a little awkward to be out there, by the ocean after so long - years, actually. Fergus seldom left New Rome and even rarer he got to the sea. It was an enticing calling and after finding out he could turn into a monster, Fergus couldn’t help feeling like it was a dangerous call. Sneaking out was easy on Jackson’s part but it was his job to get them back inside without trouble - though right there, he was way more concerned about, well, turning into a monster. Standing at the damp sand only in swimming trunks, he groaned back at the man that was so carelessly splashing around. “You’re having too much fun with this, I might actually change my mind and kill you.” Fergus huffed, walking over the water surface and crouching nearby Percy. He wasn’t good at making friends but he sure hoped they would remain friends.

Raising an eyebrow, Percy laughed at him. “It is difficult not to have too much fun with this when I’m literally Thor and you’re the Hulk this is basically something out of a marvel studios script.” He smirked as the water swirled around him. “Besides, if you wanted to kill me then doing it in the ocean would’ve been the dumbest place to do it, this is where I am my most powerful and we both know that I’ve contained you before…” swimming out until they were maybe 200 meters from the beach, Percy turned to Fergus and looked at him apprehensively, although he didn’t admit that he was feeling apprehensive. It was important that Fergus thought he was confident, he was almost certain that was part of the reason that he’d been able to convince him to try this with him. “Right, I’ve got to knock you out now, so are you ready?”

“I really need to catch up on those.” Fergus mumbled to himself, making a mental note to watch more movies - Marvel movies, whatever those may be. “You do realize that we are both most powerful when here, right?” He replied with annoyance in his voice, scrunched up nose and following on the Greek. Jackson looked confident - but Fergus felt terrified and though he was too proud to admit, he wanted to walk away from that. It sounded stupid. But Jackson looked like he knew what he was doing and the Centurion had no one else to reach to, he was drowning and Percy Jackson was his lifeline. He sighed and let himself sink down on the water, still staring at the other. “Just do it already.”

“Well, you’re not into having fun and Marvel movies are really made for people who enjoy enjoying themselves.” Percy smirked gently and laughed before nodding. “Of course I do, that is why we’re both having such a great time! He could see the fear in Fergus’ eyes and for a second he turned serious. “Fergus I wouldn’t be trying this with you if I wasn’t sure that we would be completely fine, so stop your worrying and just breathe, besides, if I’m wrong no one is going to find out, you won’t remember it.” He smiled gently, confidently before pulling out Riptide and smacking it hard against Fergus’ temple. It was hard not to completely enjoy the experience but he did his best not to. His strong arms caught Fergus and held him afloat, waiting for the change.

For a split second Fergus wanted to defend himself but on a second thought, he simply shrugged. “I guess you’ve got a point.” It’s not that he didn’t like having fun, it’s just that most activities people considered fun felt silly and like a waste of precious time. But when Jackson spoke seriously to him, Fergus allowed himself to calm a bit - he still didn’t trust himself. What if he didn’t turn back? What if he just turned into a monster for good and the world forgot about him? His worries were silenced by Percy’s strike on his head - it was hard enough that his consciousness went out quickly. Good for him, Fergus would never be a witness to his own transformation but the way it happened it explained why he felt trashed after - as his human bones broke and stretched loudly and as his skin ripped apart like fabric to give way to the glittering blue-green-and-copper scales, as the claws grew from the limbs and whatever looked human on him before ended up broken and twisted. Being in saltwater also changed something this time around - as the monster morphed, it was somewhat bigger than it had been in the lake. But just like before, Puff snapped it’s thousand-teeth jaw towards Percy.   

Allowing Fergus to drift off into the ocean, Percy wrapped water around himself and blew himself backwards through the waves as soon as he was sure that Fergus wasn’t going to drown. Though how a son of Ocean could drown he wasn’t quite sure. Watching him transform a second time was impressive and simultaneously terrifying. In fact Percy wasn’t sure if he was pleased or not as a thousand teeth crashed through the waves. The first time Percy hadn’t been ready, but this time he was. Forcing water to form in between Puff’s gaping maw, Percy looped water around to stop him from opening his jaws any wider, effectively creating a muzzle. “We meet again Puff,” he said with a laugh, “I hope we aren’t going to have to repeat our last encounter.”

The monster writhed and shrieked and squirmed and eventually allowed itself to be subdued for a moment, three sets of eyes zeroing on Percy Jackson’s figure as it crawled out of the sea and it laid above the waves, in cat-like fashion as if ready to pounce. The beast huffed and puffed, sending ice crystals off from its nose onto the demigod. ‘My mouth.’ He growled, strained by the muzzle, claws flexing as it kept watching the son of Poseidon. ‘Let go.’ It wasn’t exactly eloquent and the deep, raspy voice was a bit gargled by the restraints but the message was clear.

Raising an eyebrow at Puff, Percy frowned and shook his head. “I’m not going to let you eat me,” he replied with a shake of his head, “so how about this, if you want me to let your mouth go you’ve got to promise me that you’re not going to try and eat me. I didn’t get Fergus to transform into you for no reason, I just want to talk to you.” He stepped back and loosened the tightness of the water that had clamped the monster’s mouth shut. “So?” he asked the water bobbing up and down as he watched the giant sea monster that seemed to be trying to decide whether or not it was worth eating him. “What is it gonna be puff?”

Six copper eyes squinted at Percy Jackson, slit pupils making the expression all the more menacing but like a cat in a threatening situation, Puff did not move, simply staying there, claws flexing over the water’s solidified surface. “We can talk.” He responded pointedly, clicking his teeth in a threat. “Make no promise.” Clearly Fergus had inherited his eloquence from his not-so-human side as the monster laid down its head so he’d be more on Jackson’s level. “Demigods can’t be trusted.” It was a warning - Puff trusted Percy in the same way Percy trusted him, which was they didn’t. But turning its massive head to the side a little, the beast nodded towards Jackson. “Who is Puff?”

Dissolving the water and watching it trickle down Puff’s maw and into the ocean below, Percy nodded and smiled peaceably at him. “Okay, let’s talk,” he replied crossing his legs beneath him and perching on the surface of the water. “But if you do try and do anything then I’ll just do what I did before.” He paused for a second before shrugging and pointing at him. “You’re Puff, I don’t know your name and so I’ve decided to call you Puff, like the magic dragon, if you’ve got something you’d rather I call you then let me know.” He smiled and tried to look at all six eyes at once, which promptly made his eye water so he decided to just look at one or two, which wasn’t that much easier either. The copper eyes were incredibly disconcerting.

When Percy Jackson tried to look at all their eyes at once, Puff snorted as they watched the demigod’s eyes water and look away. “Puff will do.” They didn’t have a name - the world was still brand new to the creature. And new to the world as it was, it didn’t mind the name, it meant little. “Talk, then.” The beast replied with a demand, though with anxious claws still grasping the water’s surface beneath it, massive tail threateningly waggling around with only the tip scratching the water’s surface. The demigod’s smell was enticing but the beast wasn’t as irrational as it acted, well, not as much at least, maybe some.

Honestly, Percy had to stifle a laugh as Puff accepted the name Puff. He almost imagined the monster approaching the ocean, screaming that he was Puff and he would kill them all. That thought alone was more than enough to keep him silent as he tried to shake as little as possible with his silent laughter. Finally calming down, he wiped a tear of joy from his eye and smirked. “Well then Puff,” he replied quietly, “the first thing I want to know is exactly what it is that you want?” he paused for a second. “You and Fergus are living in the same area and by definition that is going to be in New Rome, we both want to make sure that you’re not going to hurt anyone.”

The beast observed Percy stifle his laughter and kept the squinting death glare. “What so funny?” It groaned back as the question was a bit too complex for the monster at first as it considered the possible answers to that question. “Fergus is weak.” Puff groaned out, though to anyone who didn't speak Atlantean or any sea language would hardly understand. Gesturing towards the ocean around them and looking back at Percy. “I'm angry, I protect Fergus, I come to the ocean.” It sounded like a pretty good explanation and if the demigod in front of them didn't agree, they'd just eat him anyway.

“I didn’t exactly expect a gargantuan creature like yourself to be okay with being called Puff, but whatever, I’m proud of you dude, you identify however you want, who am I to judge?” Percy’s voice cracked with laughter again and he did his best to pay attention to exactly what Puff had to say. “You’re right, Fergus is weak in some ways but in others he is stronger than either you or me, but it is our job to keep him safe.” He paused gently and looked at Puff, this was a surreal experience to say the least. “You can protect Fergus, but you need to be more careful about the way you do it because otherwise people will come after Fergus because of you.”

“I have no name.” The beast replied, clearly annoyed at the demigod laughing at them. “Fergus call me Vough, I don’t like it.” The celtic name for malevolent beings in Ireland’s mythology, there was probably a greek or roman equivalent for what they were but Puff sounded less offensive. At Jackson’s demand they were more careful, Puff roared on the man’s face, sending ice crystals all over him - not as an attack but more as an outraged reply. The water around them still, not even a single wave crashing against the two.  “LET THEM COME. LET THEM FIND ME I’LL EAT THEM ALL.” Though sure in a way, the beast could be more reasonable than Fergus. “Fergus is weak, I will stay, I will go find Father.” Puff growled angrily and agitated.

“Well just because you don’t have a name doesn’t mean that you can’t have a name, so call yourself Puff, especially if you prefer it.” Percy tried not to smile at Fergus’ dramatics. Of course he’d call himself after Irish mythology, that didn’t surprise him in the slightest. “Vough is a dumb name I agree,” he replied with a shrug. As the ice crystals breezed past him Percy didn’t move, he could tell grandstanding from actual aggression. He’d been doing this long enough to know which was which. “Don’t be ridiculous, if the entire might of New Rome can’t be contained by my people then you stand no chance on your own. But, working together we could help each other. Besides, I think I prefer Puff to Fergus. Gotta be honest with you I’m not sure I like the guy. He is way too serious and incredibly dramatic.”

The fact Percy Jackson was unfazed by their threats had the monster angrier for a moment, frustrated really, while they weren’t human it didn’t mean Puff was stupid or irrational by any means, given the two of them were indeed having a conversation. “Let them try.” The beast growled again in response. They weren’t a regular monster after all, they had blood of many Gods and Titans, they were certain New Rome was no match for their anger but it was a good point. “Liar!” Puff accused, nostrils flaring again and huffing more ice crystals towards Jackson but at the same, the monster seemed satisfied enough with being complimented and catered to, so they kept down, crouched like a cat in waiting, three pairs of eyes watching Percy Jackson’s every move. “Your place.” They pointed. “What is?”

“Oh they won’t just try, they’ll do it. They’ll kill you and they’ll turn your skull into a trophy. Although something tells me that you’d probably like having your skull made into a trophy.” Percy shrugged, he wouldn’t be surprised to discover that Puff was as dramatic as Fergus, if anything that seemed to be all but a certainty. Pausing for a second, Percy tried to think of the best way to explain this to a monster who had until recently tried to eat him. Percy wasn’t even completely convinced that he wasn’t still trying to eat him. The monster seemed clever enough to wait for his meal if nothing else. “I’ve never lied to you, I swear it on the styx.” He waited for some lightning to kill him, or the sea to swallow him whole and when it didn’t he became all but certain that he’d gotten away with that one, whilst he hadn’t lied to Puff he hadn’t exactly been completely honest. Fergus might’ve been growing on him. “I’m Greek, I’m a Marine Biologist too, I study sea creatures, like you.”

Puff watched the demigod intently, six eyes somewhat squinting in distrust at him. “Greek, Roman, all the same.” Where clearly the monster had a different worldview from Fergus - or not, but obviously the man’s monster counterpart was a lot more honest than his demigod. But clearly they were all the same once dead so what mattered? “Then,” The monster drawled out, observing any kind of opening - if the demigod hesitated, he’d be his first and next snack. “What is your plan?” The question was serious as they looked down on Percy directly. “I can stay here, don’t need to go back to New Rome.”

“I agree,” Percy replied without irony, “I just wish that everyone else felt the same.” He wondered if Fergus agreed and was simply following orders. How many times had people done things that they didn’t believe in simply because they were following orders? It seemed as if they were being tested, time and time again. “My plan was to work out who you are, work out what you want and keep you safe as well as keeping New Rome safe from you…” he trailed off and considered allowing Puff to swim off into the ocean, somehow that felt like a betrayal of Fergus’ trust but he wasn’t about to tell his new friend that. “New Rome might not need you, but it does need Fergus.”

“No, it does not.” Puff replied sharply and closed all eyes for a moment before opening just the two front ones, squinting, as if considering what was going to say for a moment - and it was. “Correction, it does not deserve us.” While the beast wasn’t either particularly fond or particularly averse to Fergus, they did share an existence. “New Rome is rotten inside, it must fall.” Those were echoed words, not from Fergus but from the Ocean and the creatures that were before and those that were yet to come. Puff was a monster, deeply related to the same ocean both of them sat now. “Why would I not destroy it?” It was a sound argument - why wouldn’t they destroy the one that was hurting them? It made only sense to do so.

Raising an eyebrow, Percy shrugged gently. “It doesn’t deserve any of the good people that serve us right now,” he replied with a sad shake of his head. He shook his head even more strongly as Puff continued. “You know that I wouldn’t let you hurt a single person in that city, just because the infrastructure, the city itself is rotten, doesn’t mean that there aren’t thousands of demigods, legacies and their families who rely on this place. This place is a symbol for demigods and everyone else that is like us. It’s a symbol of hope and of freedom. That is why you can’t destroy it. And while we’re telling the truth, if you try again then I will stop you again.”

Puff didn’t seem impressed by Percy’s agreement and shook its massive head in disagreement from what they just heard. “Hope and freedom are very expensive.” The beast spoke ominously and stood on its hind legs, watching Percy before taking a nose-dive, one clawed hand grabbing Percy but not crushing, only dragging him down into the water along. Though the grip was strong, the beast wasn’t intent on crushing or hurting the other demigod, only it kept swimming down and down as far away from where the waters were clear and where darkness took over. Letting Percy go, Puff swam circles around the demigod before stopping. “Make your offer, then.”

Panic surged through Percy’s body as Puff’s hands wrapped around him and plunged him into the ocean. He struggled to free Riptide and was intent on knocking Puff out until he realised that he could easily wriggle free if he wanted to. The crushing strength in the fingers could’ve easily snuffed the light out from him and yet it simply dragged him down into the dark depths of the ocean. “When the price involves something this valuable, it should be of no object. The idea of enslaving you within that Lake is probably comparable to you understanding, wouldn’t you say that having the freedom to roam the ocean should be yours and your own?” Swimming just far enough away from Puff to get real freedom, Percy hung there in the water thinking of the best way to address the problem. “You’ve got to realise that you and Fergus are both part of the same living organism. So you need to work with me by working with him, don’t swim off into the ocean, let me return you back into Fergus and I’ll do everything in my power to convince him to let you return to the ocean at least once a week.”

Puff groaned in response as that didn’t feel like a suitable offer. “Don’t care about Fergus.” Maybe not entirely true, maybe not entirely a lie but who was going to argue with a giant sea-dragon and say otherwise? But the beast still crouched down the seabed where the two of them were in a catlike fashion, opening and snapping his jaw before turning its massive head to have three eyes on Percy Jackson. “Sea, two times week.” The beast demanded. Putting both massive paws around Jackson to keep him close. “I protect you and friends if need.” It sounded like a reasonable offer.

[thistlewhistler]

Interviewing the Flock, featuring: Riggy

Zach: What would you like me to call you?

Riggy: Riggy's fine

Zach: What are your thoughts on our Discord?

Riggy: The Discord's absolutely amazing and I'm grateful for joining it every day. I really didn't expect for it to become such a great place for emotional support, or that I would get as involved with it as I did. I haven't been in a community before where everyone is so relentlessly loving and knowing that this community is here has sometimes been the only thing keeping me going while dealing with the all nonsense with school/work/people and such. I really love the people on here, as well as being able to share what I do with everyone, and share in the love we all have for the comic itself and how it's unified everyone here.

Zach: Alright so well done on answering that, I was going to start with a quick easy response question but you handled that like a champion counselor before a Senate hearing.

Riggy: Ahh thank you, I have a lot to say about how great it is that the masses must hear haha.

Zach: They deserve a moving orator, and you have answered the summons.

Zach: So I hear you're studying Communication Design with a concentration in Illustration.

What does that mean (in non-selling-the-major-like-a-college-used-car-salesman fashion)?

Riggy: The easiest way to describe it is that I'm a graphic design major with a strong emphasis on branding and marketing, while the illustration concentration aspect of it is me taking classes that help me get better at the techniques used for illustrating, such as the life drawing class helping me get better at drawing from observation as well as learning to draw the human form and having the fundamental understanding of that.

It's also learning to use the programs that are industry-standard, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and such

Zach: A lot of "Here's how to use what you're interested in outside of more artwork, now please go out and be successful and not starve" then?

Or am I way off?

Riggy: Well, the graphic design industry is incredibly lucrative, every single company needs designers to market them, create an image to sell. Think of every professional marketing campaign you've seen, there's an entire team of people working on it. Absolut Vodka is a really good example of strong design in advertising. It's a far different beast than being, say, a studio artist trying not to starve. What I'm learning to do isn't very interpretive or abstract, it needs to be effective to get the point across and still be aesthetically appealing. It's a lot of "here are the tools, we're going to teach you how to use the tools, but you need to grow and learn to use them effectively."

There's a lot of nuance to it that you wouldn't expect, it's definitely a skillset that takes a long time to build.

Zach: You just explained in the kindest, most informative and followable way possible that I was, in fact, way off.

Zach: How do you feel you're doing?

This semester is over and you have the time to catch your breath, pad your portfolio and gauge the new year's possibilities.

Does that come with trepidation, nervous excitement, fear of the unknown, fear of the certainly known professor you're absolutely going to have in a class, or more of the same you've been feeling since you started?

Riggy: I'm doing really, really well, I don't think I could've picked a better major/career path for myself. Sometimes it takes a bit but I've really clicked with most of my classes and (fingers crossed) I'm pretty sure I got all A's again this semester. The actual grades aren't the most important, though I do need to keep scholarships, but it also means that I've gotten really good feedback and my professors have really liked my work and can see that I've been improving.

Zach: Excellent!

Riggy: For next semester, I'm a nervous person in general but in terms of schoolwork I feel completely fine, it's mostly dealing with people/other obligations I'm not excited about.

Right now I just want to work on personal projects I haven't had time for.

Zach: Lets focus in on that for the next question.

What project are you looking forward to, for example?

Riggy: Flockbook, definitely. Whether that's the guest artist submission or not, I don't know yet, but I do want to get back on it. I also have a couple animatics in the works and a poster design I want to get to. And commission work if the good people will have me haha

Zach: You like to keep a full plate, I take it?

Riggy: I get antsy if I don't have anything to do but I'm still trying to find the balance of how much I can healthily take on. Working on stuff over break is fine, my issue is balancing things during the school year because of all the obligations I need to incorporate.

Zach: That's fair.

Zach: What do you feel is the dumbest thing you've ever done?

Riggy: Well.

It was the end of a really, really long day and I was dead tired, I was changing out of my clothes to go shower, and in taking off my bra my hands fumbled with the elastic straps and I ended up accidentally slingshot-punching myself in the face. Not..my finest moment.

Zach: And what did you learn?

Riggy: 1. Get more sleep and 2. Maybe next time just unhook it.

Zach: Solid advice.

Zach: So now for a question I don't have written down to ask. Instead, I'd like to choose from a book based upon a random number.

Would you be willing to become extremely ugly physically if it meant you would live for 1,000 years at any physical age you choose?

Riggy: I wouldn't want to live for a thousand years, so I would refuse whatever power/entity's offering this tradeoff.

Zach: There's a good answer!

Zach: Who, among the Flock, would be your one phone call?

Riggy: What... kind of phone call? Death bed? Phone a friend? Or just general "I want to talk to this person for a bit."

Zach: You're in a cell. You get one phone call.

Riggy: Ohhh jail.

I know Geoff in real life, and he'd probably bail me out.

Zach: Probably closer, too.

Riggy: Yeah if we're not in school together, we're about a couple hours away.

Zach: What piece do you feel the most accomplishment over in your portfolio?

Riggy: I think the flower ladies portrait series I did for my history class, or the book cover series. The portraits I had a lot of fun actually illustrating but the book covers are more in line with what I'll probably be doing as a career and they were very well-received so I like both of them.

Zach: What would you like to go forth and do with your degree, if you could choose who would hire you and for what cause or medium?

Riggy: My ideal job is actually children's book writing and illustration, I'm very passionate about diversity, empowerment, and creating media that have strong LGBT+ characters and I would love to incorporate that into books and stories so that positive and uplifting ideas can spread more easily.

Zach: That... is really heartwarming and awesome.

Riggy: I'd also really like working as a book cover/poster designer, or for a branding company but the children's book thing is the goal.

Zach: I don't have a funny quip or anything to tie this off with, that's just a really wholesome and soothing career goal.

I hope you reach it.

Riggy: Ahhh thank you I'll keep you updated!

[lnicol1990]

BatIM - Toon Logic

Okay, I thought I’d post my Bendy and the Ink Machine stories from DeviantArt on here. These are from @squigglydigglydoo‘s Toon Henry AU, all of which she has read. Obviously, these first few stories are technically nothing new, but I hope people enjoy them regardless.

“Come on, Henry, you can do it!” Boris and Alice called from the other side of the room, cheering on their creator.

Said creator closed his eyes and took a deep breath. They had told him that this should be easy, and he should have no trouble with it. Of course they would say that; they’d been created as toons, this would be as easy as breathing for them.

Breathing out slowly, Henry reached round the back of himself and grasped at… nothing. He flexed his hand a little and moved it around slightly, fishing for anything to be there. But, just like the last dozen times he’d tried, there was nothing there.

“I can’t do it,” Henry shook his head and retracted his arm from behind his back. He shrugged at his two creations before huffing in defeat. “I can’t find anything. I guess I just don’t have my own Hammerspace since I’m not a real toon.”

The toons looked at each other with thoughtful looks on their faces, each clearly wondering how to progress from this latest setback.

It had been their idea to try and get Henry to find his own pocket of Hammerspace; every toon should have one, after all. They had all accepted that it probably wouldn’t be a very big pocket, as he wasn’t the main character of their show, but he should have had something. That he wasn’t able to find anything was… concerning.

“Maybe you’re thinking too much into it?” Boris offered weakly as an explanation. “I know you’re from the real world, but cartoons are much more flexible with their rules. Maybe you can find it if you don’t really think about it?”

“How can I find something if I’m not thinking of finding it?” Henry replied dryly. He winced when he saw the wolf toon flinch at his words, and sighed. “I’m sorry, Boris. I know you’re trying to help, but I just can’t find anything.”

“Well, what are you trying to find?” Alice asked. When Henry gave her a blank look, she realised what the problem was. “If you’re going to go reaching into Hammerspace, you need to have an item in mind. It can be anything, like… a harp.”

The angel reached behind herself and pulled out a full sized, standing harp. She rested it against her shoulder and played a few notes, proving the instrument was in tune, before stashing it away behind her. She smiled at Henry, arms open wide as if to show him how easy it was.

“Yeah!” Boris agreed, catching on to what Alice was talking about. “Or, you could choose a great big mallet!”

“I don’t need to see that one, Boris!” Henry yelped, his hands outstretched towards the toon in panic.

He knew it was a staple part of cartoon gags, but having seen Bendy annihilate Sammy Lawrence with one… well, it made him a lot more wary around oversized toon weapons. And the fact that they seemed unaware of how much damage those things caused non-toons made him even more nervous around them. Well, it seemed like Bendy had learnt to be more careful with him.

Small mercies.

“Give it a try, Henry,” Alice encouraged. “Think of something small, and try and pull it out.”

The animator gave his creation a wry smile, knowing that neither of the toons would give up until he’d accessed Hammerspace or they’d exhausted all methods. He took a moment to think of an item, something small enough that it wouldn’t offend his real-world-rule sensibilities. He thought of all the things he usually kept on him, maybe in a back trouser pocket: his wallet, keys… or a pen.

Focusing on what he wanted, Henry reached behind himself again, looking for his Hammerspace and a pen. At first, he couldn’t feel anything besides empty air, but then, just as he was about to give up, he felt something near his palm. Surprisingly excited, he grabbed the item and held it tightly as he drew his hand out from behind him. Curious as to what he’d managed to claim from the elusive pocket dimension, he opened his fist to look at it.

It was a pen, just like he’d wanted. It looked like an old style drawing pen, similar to the ones he used to use before leaving the studio and being drafted. After taking it apart, he was delighted to see that it even had a full ink cartridge. He put the pen back together and looked up to his toon creations.

The pair of them looked absolutely ecstatic; Boris had his characteristic big grin that distorted his muzzle, while Alice was positively glowing with joy for the old animator. They both jumped with glee and clapped enthusiastically at him, rushing forward to see the simple pen he’d conjured.

“Can you do anything with it?” Boris enquired, cocking his head to a side as he looked at the item. He flicked his gaze up to Henry, who was frowning in confusion. “I mean, it’s a cartoon pen, right? Could you draw something and it came to life, or something?”

“I don’t think we need anything else alive in here, Boris. And that’s probably out of my abilities in here,” Henry mused, bringing the pen up to eyelevel. He hummed thoughtfully. “Although, maybe I can do something else.”

Boris and Alice both stared at Henry in confusion as he told them to stay put while he tried something, and disappeared out of the room they’d hidden in. They passed worried glances at each other, but did as they were told.

Henry knew what he was doing.

---***---

“This is either the dumbest idea I’ve ever had… or the most brilliant,” Henry muttered to himself, stiffly rising up from the floor and admired his work.

It was a drawing on the floorboards, and it looked like a hole that would cause someone to fall two floors.  He’d even drawn in an ink puddle at the bottom to cushion the landing. He’d looked at it from all angles, and it looked okay to him, but…

He wasn’t the one it needed to trick.

Taking a deep breath in, and putting his courage to its sticking point, he strolled away from his inked masterpiece to the end of the hallway. When he arrived at the T-junction, he checked both sides and was relieved to see both were empty, although it made what he was about to do a lot harder. He exhaled calmly before taking another large gulp of air.

“I’m the Dancing Demon; watch me twirl, and hop, and spin!” Henry sang out as loudly as he could, his voice cracking slightly during the second line.

There was no response, just sheer, oppressive silence. Henry kept glancing from side to side, waiting for someone, or something, to see what all the noise was all about. He even peeked behind him, in case anything had snuck up him. But, there was nothing, not a sight or sound out of place for the abandoned workshop.

Was he going to have to sing the whole thing? He really hoped not. Thirty years later and that song was still an insufferable earworm, everyone in the studio had hated it by the time the episode aired… which was why he’d picked it. Grimacing, Henry resigned himself to the fact that he would have to sing the whole song –not to mention having it looping in his head for the next hour– and belted out the first two lines again.

“I’m quick to give a smile; you should see my happy grin!”

The next two lines echoed down the hall to his left and Henry turned to see Bendy emerge from another hallway. The toon’s face fell as he seemed to realise that he’d almost fallen into the musical number. He turned sharply towards the old animator, a look of outrage on his face that was almost off-model for the toon.

“I hate that song,” Bendy growled at Henry, his hands clenching into fists. “That’s going to be stuck in my head for the next day!”

Oh… even Bendy hated that song. Everyone else’s distain for it must have rubbed off on the little devil darling.

It was an interesting discovery, but one Henry would have to process later. The old animator ducked back into his own hall and bolted as quickly and loudly as possible back to his trap. It was at this point that he couldn’t help but feel that he should have tested his idea on Alice or Boris first, but–

“Oh, you are not just going to put that song in my head and check out of here, old man!” Bendy’s enraged voice echoed from behind him, urging him onwards.

–it was far too late for second thoughts.

He realised a second too late that he’d ran past his drawing, and skidded to a halt. He forced himself to turn around and walk back to it, which was a lot harder when he saw Bendy tearing down the hall after him. As the little devil got closer, Henry noticed that he’d angered that toon so much that his eyes were completely off-model.

He was having serious doubts over his plan.

Thankfully, Bendy was composed enough to notice that his creator had stopped running and had slowed his own pace, slowing even further when the old man began walking back to him. As they reached a few paces of each other, they stopped. Bendy’s eyes had returned to their normal look, though the toon was regarding him with open suspicion.

“Okay, old man, what’s the deal here?” Bendy demanded after a few moments of silence between the two of them.

“I wanted to test a few things out with you,” Henry answered honestly, making the toon look at him with genuine curiosity.

Taking a deep breath, the old man reached behind him and grabbed hold of the artist’s pen he’d been using and pulled it out of Hammerspace, relief flooding him with the ease he’d managed the feat this time. He held it out for Bendy to see, wiggling it slightly so the toon would know it was important, before using it to point at the devil’s feet.

The toon followed the silent instruction obediently and stared at the drop-drawing he was standing on. His eyes dashed all over the drawing, clearly trying to process what Henry was showing him. He looked back up to the animator, to the artist’s pen he’d pulled out of nowhere, and then back to the drawing.

Internally, Henry was screaming. It was taking too long. Bendy wasn’t getting the gag, and wasn’t about to fall through the hole he’d drawn. He should have tried something simpler, like a door that led to somewhere else in the workshop.

He’d gotten cocky over these newfound toon abilities he’d discovered, and was about to get schooled by the expert… probably in the most painful way possible.

Bendy slowly looked up at him, his eyes narrowed, but normal, and a massive smirk was plastered on his face.

“You sneaky old man,” Bendy stated. There almost seemed to be a hint of awe in the toon’s voice as he realised the gag; it was almost like he was giving his approval to Henry’s trick.

At that moment, gravity seemed to latch onto the little demon’s ankles and yanked him down the drawn hole. Henry remained motionless, listening to the sound of a slide whistle that came with such a gag until there was an exaggerated splash. Droplets of ink even escaped from the hole before falling back down. It was only then that Henry rushed forward to observe his handiwork.

Bendy was indeed at least two floors below him, moving his head at inhuman speeds to shake the ink off his head. The demon was still for a moment before looking up and meeting Henry’s eyes. After a few seconds of staring at each other, the little devil started laughing. It was the freest sound Henry had heard since he’d been stuck in the cartoonified workshop; it was how Bendy was meant to sound, on-model and on-character.

“This… This is cheating, Henry!” Bendy yelled as his giggles began to subside. “You’re cheating! You’re not meant to do toon stuff! This– This is– This makes this so– so much– so much more fun!”

Taking that as his cue to leave, Henry ran as fast as he could from the trapped toon and back to Boris and Alice. He forced his feet to move faster as a fresh bout of cackling echoed out of the hole, eager to get away from the demon.

Well, at least now he knew that he could use a limited amount of toon logic, which may help him out in the future. Although, he was determined to use it as a last resort from now on.

There was no need to antagonise the little devil darling any more than he had done.

[the-desolated-quill]

Captain Britain Joining The MCU. Give Me Fucking Strength - Quill’s Scribbles

You know there are some points in my life where a person or a movie studio does something so stupid and moronic that my only response is... what the fuck are you doing?

DC, what the fuck are you doing?

Marvel, what the fuck are you doing?

Kevin Feige... what the fuck are you doing?!

Yes, apparently Marvel Studios are considering putting Captain Britain into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Something I’m sure every comic book fan in the land has been crying out for. Now I’m sure you’re wondering what I, a British person, may think of this. Do I feel patriotic? Proud that such a ‘beloved’ British icon is going to be part of the MCU?

Yeah, I can’t say I’m excited about the prospect and the reason is because... um... how do I put this?... Captain Britain is quite possibly the dumbest thing to ever come out of Marvel (and I’m including Howard The Duck).

Captain Britain was created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe to be the British equivalent of Captain America. But whereas Captain America took off and became a relatively integral part of the American comics industry, Captain Britain never had quite the same impact with us Brits. In fact in contrast with Captain America, he’s actually a very obscure character. While he does have his fans (very few fans), most people have either never heard of him or, like me, can’t stand the fucking sight of him, finding the character to be more patronising than patriotic.

There’s a number of reasons why Captain Britain never took off, but first let’s quickly sum up his backstory. Brian Braddock (smirk) was born into an aristocratic family in Essex and educated at Fettes College In Edinburgh. Because his family were no longer rich enough to fraternise with their academic peers, Brian was a quiet and lonely child because he was too proud to fraternise with the lower classes (and I’m sure we in the lower classes were eternally grateful for that, you stuck up git). After his parents, Sir James and Lady Elizabeth (oh I do beg your pardon) die in a laboratory accident, Brian gets a job at a nuclear facility at Darkmoor. When this facility is attacked by a terrorist, Brian gets on his motorcycle (a motorcycle? Oh come now! Surely that’s far too lower class for him. Shouldn’t he be riding a horse and cart? Pip, pip! Tally ho chaps! We’ll give the ruffians what for!) and goes looking for help only to then crash and get seriously injured (you had one job! That’s you off the Queen’s Christmas card list). He is then saved by Merlyn (yes, that Merlin) and is offered the chance to become Captain Britain. He’s asked to choose between the Amulet of Right (pffft) and the Sword of Might (tee hee). Brian chooses the amulet and he transforms into the champion of Great Britain, fighting for Queen and country and all that is pre-shrunk and cottony... Oh no, wait. That’s from Captain Underpants. Have you ever read Captain Underpants? It’s a brilliant series of books. Very funny. Did you know that DreamWorks are doing a movie adaptation? I’m very excited! :D

Now you may have noticed that I wasn’t really taking this seriously. And really, how could I? It sounds more like a parody of Captain America. But no. Apparently we’re supposed to be taking this very seriously. So come on. Let’s be serious about this for a moment. No! Stop sniggering! Control yourselves, please! This could very well be the next big thing in the MCU.

As I said, there are many reasons why Captain Britain never really took off. The most glaring example being how stereotypical it is. He comes from an aristocratic family. He went to a boarding school. It’s incredibly painful. He’s one step away from spending Sunday afternoons playing croquet in the grounds and sipping tea in the gazebo before retiring to his four poster bedroom where his butler will give him a glass of port as a nightcap and remind him to get up early in the morning so he won’t be late for a spot of fox hunting with the chaps from Grantham House. I mean Jesus Christ!

Another big reason why Captain Britain doesn’t work is because we don’t really have the same relationship to our flag and our country as the Americans do. Oh sure we can be patriotic on occasion, such as on remembrance days or royal events, but America takes it to a whole other level. Americans love their country. They love their flag. They’re proud to be Americans. To the point where they even have laws dictating how you should take care of your flag. You can actually get punished for not cleaning your flag properly. In some states it’s illegal to wash your flag in a washing machine because it’s disrespectful. That’s insane! Like... it’s just a piece of cloth! Calm down! Brits, generally speaking, don’t have that kind of relationship. In fact kind of the opposite. We often mock our country and view it with a certain amount of disdain. The only people who feel truly patriotic about Britain are the royalists and other such nutters. People who passionately believe that Britain is the best country in the world, who love the Royal family and harken back to the UK’s glorious yesteryears (which never actually existed). While both Captain America and Captain Britain are both equally dumb ideas, I can see why Americans would be drawn to Captain America. An American patriot who stands for American ideals and wears the American flag across his chest with pride. Captain Britain on the other hand, with his Union Jack and his Amulet of Right, is more likely to produce snorts of laughter from us Brits.

But I’ll say one thing for Captain America. It may be a stupid idea and he may talk as though he has the Declaration of Independence shoved firmly up his arse, but at least he doesn’t act all high and mighty or try to lord it over everyone else. No. He fights for the common man and that’s largely because he was a common man himself. A wimpy kid off the streets of Brooklyn determined to become a soldier and fight the Nazis, wanting to protect his country from injustice. His inner strength, good will and patriotism is what made him a prime candidate for the Vita-Ray experiment and he represents an aspirational figure that kids can look up to. Captain Britain is precisely not that. In fact he represents what the majority of Brits actually hate. An overly privileged, upper class prick who has great power bestowed onto him despite the fact that he’s done very little to actually deserve it.

And that’s by far the biggest problem with Captain Britain. As a character, he just doesn’t appeal to us Brits. He’s above us and he sees himself as above us. We don’t want to see that. If we wanted to see that, we’d just watch BBC Parliament. Let me give you an idea of the kind of characters we in the UK love:

Derek Trotter, more commonly known as Del Boy, was the main protagonist of the hugely successful sitcom Only Fools & Horses and is arguably one of the most beloved characters in British culture today. A market trader and con man who sells hooky gear on the streets of Peckham and often gets into trouble due to his get rich quick schemes. 

Dave Lister, a vending machine repair man from the sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf. This lager drinking, curry loving slob ends up becoming the last surviving member of the human race and a Godlike figure to a new race of people that evolved from his pet cat. As the series progressed, he helped his robot Kryten break his programming and become fully independent, and it’s this that helps him to grow and mature to become the space hero he is now in the current series.

Victor Meldrew, from the sitcom One Foot In The Grave. A middle aged man forced into early retirement and having to find ways to pass the time, be it through peculiar hobbies or shouting at the weird events happening around him, much to the dismay of his wife Margaret.

Basil Fawlty, from the beloved sitcom Fawlty Towers, has become one of the most iconic characters in British culture. A traditionalist, right wing hotelier desperately seeking to raise his social status and to become successful, but is forced to work with people he absolutely despises, including his incompetent Spanish waiter Manuel.

Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) is the main character of the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. Housewife to her eternally suffering husband Richard, she’s a pompous snob desperately seeking to maintain the illusion that she’s wealthier and more socially important than she actually is. However her attempts to climb the social ladder are often ruined by her working class sisters or her senile father.

And finally, just to bring this back into the realm of comic books there’s:

John Constantine. The chain smoking, working class magician from Liverpool who fights dark supernatural forces on a regular basis and frequently has to make morally dubious choices, often resulting in the deaths of his friends and loved ones.

Now what do all of these characters have in common? They’re all underdogs. Working class. Losers. Idiots. Failures. Those are the types of characters we’re drawn to as a culture. The reason why I included so many sitcom characters is because I feel they perfectly demonstrate the difference between British and American culture. America is brimming with idealism and aspiration. The idea that anyone can become greater than their humble origins, and this is reflected in their culture. In most American movies and TV shows and comic books, the main character is often smarter, wittier, tougher and/or funnier than the audience, representing someone they can aspire to be like. Here in Britain, where our rigid class system is permanently ingrained into us at an early age, we mostly accept the fact we’re likely going to stay where we’re at for the rest of our lives and so our media reflects that by giving us characters that are in similar situations to us. The reason we identify with the likes of Constantine and Lister and Del Boy is because they operate on our level and share our problems and worries. They’re one of us. When Basil Fawlty and Hyacinth Bucket arrogantly disregard their working class roots and try to raise their social status, it’s funny when they fail because serve them right for looking down on us. But when Del Boy eventually becomes a millionaire at the end, we’re legitimately happy for him because we like the character, we want to see him succeed and we’re glad he managed to succeed without compromising who he is. And that’s why Captain Britain will never be accepted by us. He is above us and has power over us and we don’t like that. People with power and authority are to be mocked and shamed, not to be celebrated or aspired to be like.

The idea that Kevin Feige is even considering putting Captain Britain into the MCU for me proves what I’ve been saying about Marvel all along. That they don’t care about creating a coherent or entertaining universe, that they’re adding characters and storylines just for the sake of adding characters and storylines, and that Kevin Feige clearly doesn’t have the slightest fucking idea of what he’s doing. If he did, he honestly wouldn’t think Captain Britain would be a profitable or worthwhile project to pursue. I also feel extremely annoyed by all of this. Remember when Feige said we were definitely going to see an LGBT+ superhero appear in the MCU at some point in the next ten years? Or just recently when he said we were totes going to see Miles Morales’ Spider-Man show up in the MCU at some point in the future? All of these vague half-promises constantly pushed back to make way for more ‘important’ projects like an Ant-Man sequel, an Inhumans TV series or Captain fucking Britain.

Regardless of what your thoughts are on the state of the MCU right now, I think we can all agree that when you get to the stage when you’re seriously considering Captain Britain as a legitimately good idea... maybe it’s time to take a break and reevaluate just what the fuck it is you’re actually doing.

[balogtas]

The Scripted Move: The Bastion Man, did he move already?

“Going back to the corner where I first saw you” Does that phrase ring a bell? I bet some of you sang it if you know what the tune is. Did you ever wait for someone? If yes then where’s your love coming from that you can afford to wait for someone without any assurance? If you never wait for someone just because you think it’s over then listen to this song entitled “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved”. One of the songs of the 21st century that became a watershed.

The story of the song tells about a guy who fell in love with a woman, he has no intention to interact with the world because the only thing on his mind is to only wait for his beloved woman to come back to him and to return to the same place where they first met. The Man would do anything just to let her know that he loves her so much and he would not exchange her for wealth, food, clothes or anything else. He was so brokenhearted that he had no life to live on without her. He is desperate that he even asked people if they have seen her. “Some try to hand me money, they don’t understand” he said when he tried to ask people and I felt that, a man whose love is greater than anything cannot be deterred. He keeps on the cycle of waiting day by day because he’s the Man who can’t be moved. Not even by air or fire.

In the first stanza, the Man is now trying to say that he went to an extent where he waited for his girl by bringing his sleeping bag with her picture on his hand on the street. He would sleep on the corner without actually moving anywhere else! He really believed that she will come back because of the faith and love he had.  In the second stanza, he said he was aware on how broken he was. It doesn’t make any sense but what can he do if he’s really into her? In the chorus, the Man was totally full of hope that there will be a time where she will come back and she will actually start wondering about where on the earth could he have been. In the fourth stanza, Policeman tried to let him move but he stick to his belief and said even if it takes years, he’s still going to wait for her. On the last stanza, he said he might be remembered as someone who can’t be moved and even if he will be the talk of the town, he won’t move until she came back. So, until now people are still asking

Where’s the Man? Did he move already?

The man seems patient enough to wait for his lover on the same place where they first met. I mean, that’s impossible. Why would you make yourself looks like a homeless and hopeless Man just because she left you? I don’t get it, but after listening to the song repeatedly and seeing the positive responses from the audience, it’s really possible in the name of love. I keep on scrolling the comment box of the music video while listening and a lot of people have experienced it, doing the dumbest thing for love which is waiting even if there’s no chance at all.  I already believe in the power of love, I whispered. I guess everyone does, that is why a lot of people can relate to this song because they are having difficulties in accepting that something is over. They don’t want to let go yet because the pain is still there. It’s not easy to let go if the wound is still visible and clear. Even medical treatment couldn't cure it.

The song doesn’t have any rhyme but it’s easy to print on mind. Except for the chorus which has a rhyme at the end of the line, that’s way too easier to memorize than the verse. The acoustic entrance of the song can make anyone pause on what they’re doing because it makes them get ready to sing the first line. Imagine waking up in the morning with a silent surrounding and this song suddenly play around, it gives chills man. It makes you close your eyes and enjoy the fresh feeling in the morning. It’s not like you have the same experience with the Man on the lyrics but sometimes it’s the tune and the voice of the singer that keeps you still and enjoy the moment. What I really love about the song is the tune because it’s not too loud nor too soft, it can calm a heart because of how smooth it was. The song is obviously a sad one but not the type that will make you sad too. Actually, you’re going to love the song because it’s inspiring too, it inflames your feelings. It makes you reflect and ask yourself, ‘What can I do for love?’

The singer puts real feeling into the lyrics, as if he’s the one who experienced it personally. The lyrics was well accompanied both vocally and instrumentally. Nothing’s dominating because it was well stirred and that makes the song tasteful to the ears.

Every words used in the song are subtle and the voice of the singer is a distinctive one. I’m going to rate their song 10/10 because it is a thought-provoking and the melody is well-shaped. It makes you memorize the lyrics easily on your hippocampus.

The lines in the song captivate many hearts in the world. The song applies to most styles of music. “This song won’t come back to popularity like new song these days but this song is still in our hearts” a fan commented in the music video. It might be ridiculous for some people and think it’s exaggerated like what I thought before but I believe you wouldn’t think that way once you heard them. It’s not about the music itself but about what it tells about yourself. I highly recommend you to listen to the ‘The Script’ songs. You would probably love them to the core and would come to know the roots of their meaningful and significant songs. ‘The Script’ is the best! I tell you.

Have you ever heard about ‘The Script’? Amazing is too overrated but I’m still using it to describe the feeling whenever I listen to their songs. It was like the beat of my heart synchronized with the melody coming from the voice of the vocalist, the strumming by the guitarist, and the alive beat of the drummer! Are you with me? Do you know them already? If not, then let me introduce them. If yes, then that’s good, be with me until the end and let’s unravel the success of this band together with their greatest hit at all time!

Daniel John Mark Luke O’Donoghue also known as Danny is a lead vocalist of the band named ‘The Script’ together with Glen Power as the drummer and Mark Sheehan as the singer cum and guitarist (who’s been his bestfriend since 12). Their band name came from an expression they always use to whenever they ask each other on the phone “what’s the script?”

The three had their first jamming session in studio in Los Angeles. As the result of the jamming, the three gave birth to the legendary band named “The Script”.

Listening to Danny’s voice together with the music produced by Mark and Glen can make ears listen attentively and can make the toughest heart melt. Who wouldn’t? The artists are from Ireland which blessed them with an Irish accent. I love Irish accent and I know you will too if you will listen. Their coolness matches their type of genre when it comes to their choice of song which is rock and a little bit of hip hop.

“We Cry” is the first single they had and has peaked at #13 on the UK Singles Chart. It was then that they felt so proud of themselves because of how their first single reach such ranking. Their single was followed immediately in 2008 by ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’ which reached #2 in UK Singles Chart, becoming the Script’s highest charting single at all times. It was when they gained more popularity and myriad fans all over the world.

‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’ made their fans cried their heart out and voice out their inner. An interview was conducted and they were asked about the real story behind the song, if they personally experienced waiting on the corner or not. Mark told 'The Sun' newspaper that he had an idea of a guy who’d broke up with his girl and lost contact with her, Mark thought that the man would just go back to the corner where they first met and wait ‘till she returned and the rest flowed as story and they made a song out of it. But realistically, Mark said he would only wait 5 minutes at a corner and he hates it when someone’s late.

On the other side, Danny said that he didn’t go to those lengths but it is a tribute to the loved ones in their lives. “How love would make you feel if going and sitting on a corner would be the only option. And to be honest I would, if that was the option of getting someone back, I’d definitely go and do it” Danny added. If I’m the one who experience it and it is only the way to let my love come back then I guess I might do the same, whatever it takes. Who knows? But nowadays, I guess using cellphone will be more convenient to communicate with our loved ones.

According to Danny to his interview with Bray, their song “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” became a voice to man who was separated to his sister who had given up for adoption when they were still children. Seeing each other after 30 years made his heart burned with his overwhelming feeling of love to his sister. The first thing he gave his sister when he first saw her is the copy of its lyrics. As a sister, that would be the sweetest thing that a brother could do. 

Surprise? Everyone thinks that the song is ‘ONLY’ for a man who cannot move on from his ex-girlfriend or a man who was left behind and can’t seem to move forward because he is hoping and waiting for his ex-girlfriend to come back. It might be the easiest interpretation of the song but it was more than that. Who would have thought that the song has a lot of different reason why it was written? It was always been like that when it comes to Script’s song. They would create an auspicious song for everybody. 

I strongly believe that this is one of the best songs heard by the world. It might be too late for you to hear it but the song never gets too old for everybody. If you already heard it several times, then I guess you find something different in this song. Not only the lyrics but how people responded to it. The song will never be defunct. Not now, not tomorrow, or ever.

The scripted move of the lyrics will not be the one to dictate your move because you will make your own move to live your life.

Move your ways man! Listen to this one!

  MEMBERS: BOAGING, CAPULONG, DEDUQUE, FEGCAN, MASKAYE, VILLANUEVA

[stephicness]

You and Ravus ^^

Eh??? Me and Ravus?! oAo This is really surprising! I’ve neverreally gotten a question like this, so I’m a little flustered. *squishes face*Oh dear…!But I can still try my best to answer this! c: I’ll write it using thischaracter, Adaline, that represented me as a persona character, so yee!

Send Me A Ship, and I’ll Tell You…

Featuring:Ravus Nox Fleuret / Adaline Wendell

Who said “I love you” first?

Staring from afar and just admiring is perhaps something ahopeless romantic would do, and it’s unfortunately that the commander and theartist often find themselves doing. Little glances, a dreamy sigh, and a quickand panicked glance away as Adaline would furiously scribble on her notebookwhile Ravus would resort to making an annoyed expression at the wall to feigndistraction. The confession never really became apparent between the two – forAdaline finds herself too oblivious to realize when Ravus is trying to voicehis feels to her, and Ravus finds Adaline’s abstract ways of confessing to befar too abstract to understand. But regardless of that, they still remaintogether as something slightly more closer than friends, but not quite able toconfess their love just yet. Not without really making the situation moreuncomfortable than it needs to be.

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background?

“He’s so beautiful…!” She would find herself staring at herphone a bit too long and with the dumbest smile over her face. Long had shebeen a fan of the famous High Commander, ever since he had made his grandappearance to Lestallum along with his sister, the Oracle. Perhaps not onebrave enough to say how much she admired his dedication to his family, values,and just how attractive he was, she was only able to take a single picture ofhim and admire it on her background for a long, long time. But alas, when shewas finally able to present and introduce herself to Ravus, having to explainwhy her phone background was of him proved to be a difficult task. That was avery awkward conversation to have.

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror?

Perhaps not a message, but Ravus often finds himself waking uponly a few moments after Adaline would, a small frown on his face as he noticesthat she had beat him to the shower once again. He didn’t mind too particularlymuch, able to sit and read the morning paper until she came out of shower,bundled up with a towel on her head, one around her waist, and one wrappedaround her shoulders. Took her quite some time. But when he went into theshower, he was able to see the tiny little doodles of stick figures, animals,and what appeared to be a scribbled out picture of a marigold… Blob. She musthad gotten distracted while she was brushing her teeth. Ravus shook his head ashe let out a sigh, but he found himself adding onto two of the stick figures –giving one a bulkier looking arm and the other a beanie hat and freckles. Hegave a satisfied nod before he began to take his shower.

Who buys the other cheesy gifts?

Ravus never really was comfortable with the idea of being givengifts. From gestures like Adaline buying the two snacks and meals, gettingRavus gifts that ranged from small paintings to small trinkets, one time evengoing so far to offer to pay for the two to take a trip across Duscae – an‘inspiration tour’ as Adaline called it. Ravus found Adaline’s gesturesadmirable, and yet he was never allowed to offer anything in return without Adalinescolding him for it. He frowned at Adaline’s overly-generousnature, but he ended up on day deciding to take matters into his own hands.He gifted Adaline something small to make-up for her many gifts and presents: ablack and gold sketchbook and a small art set he had found during a trip toAltissia. And inside the first page, he left a note, voicing his thoughts andhow much he valued Adaline’s company and efforts to be generous. She wasultimately left speechless, only able to start sobbing as she clutched the giftto her chest and buried her face into the commander’s chest. It was rare forher to get such kind gifts, and so she valued them just as much as Ravus valuedthe gifts given to him.

Who initiated the first kiss?

She admitted it – and it was rather awkward to admit – but sheenjoyed staring at Ravus’s face. Alot. Perhaps it was nothing new to anyone,but she could admire the commander’s face for hours, a grin on her face as shefound herself absent-mindedly doodling him in her own silly caricatures andillustrations. She always wondered what it was like to see him smile more, tomaybe one day be able to squish his face and possibly – just maybe – kisshim. She was a hopeless dreamer, only able to fantasize about these sorts ofthings with dreamy sighs and closed eyes as she lets her mind wander. Never didshe act beyond dreaming. So when the day came where Ravus had decided to makeAdaline’s dream come to life… Well, she was a walking ball of stress thatday. Deadlines, left and right, a desire to create her work and things, butalas, not finding the inspiration to do so. She was destroyed by the idea thatshe couldn’t do her work. So to comfort her, he sat by her, making sure shewasn’t letting her anxiety and mind take her to dark places. And with a smallkiss to her forehead, he resided with her until she had fallen asleep from herweary stress.Perhaps not a true ‘first kiss,’ but it’s a memory that Adaline held closeto her – a source of inspiration and motivation to continue to do well.

Who kisses the other awake in the morning?

Ugh… The weight on his stomach made it really hard to breathe.He really didn’t enjoy the sensation, but he was quite familiar with it morningafter morning. He merely grunted at the pressure against him, letting out yawnafterwards as he managed to crack open his eyes and come face to face with theyoung woman laying on top of him. Her arms were tucked under her chin, feetkicked up as she smiled at Ravus with a turtle-like smile. “Morning~”He grunted in response, rubbing his face with his hand before he leaned up andkissed the tip of her nose and wrapped his arm around her. “Too early. Go backto sleep…” She gave a small pout, but pulled her small throw blanket over herand nuzzled against his chest to fall asleep again.

Who starts tickle fights?

They’re lucky enough to respect each other to the point where thethreats made against each other’s lives are taken into account of each other.If either one of them decided to unleash the threat of tickling upon eachother, someone would either A) lose their other arm or B) have more things tofear than just open water, the dark, clowns, police officers, and the wholelist beyond. So the two had that unspoken agreement to resist tickling oneanother. Too bad Adaline likes to poke at Ravus’s sides a bit too much,grinning while doing it. That is, until Ravus decides to squish her sides inreturn. They’re bad at keeping their unspoken agreement to each other.

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower?

She’s far too insecure about even so much wearing dresses withouthaving to wear shorts underneath them or a sweater over her shoulders. The ideaof Ravus seeing her in anything beyond a dress when she has to wear one is onethat causes her to shudder and pull her sweater over herself even tighter.Ravus doesn’t particularly mind the modesty, though he always was quite curiouswhy she was so insecure about her appearance. But nevertheless, he trusted herwords, merely sufficing with her leaving the bathroom door cracked enough as hesat at his desk and worked as she would make comments and things about showerand bathtime thoughts that she had. A conversation between the two of them asthey went about their business – even without seeing each other face-to-face.

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work withlunch?

Now that he thought about it, did she ever really eat…? She always found herself occupied in either her studio space, her work desk at her home, or sleeping on the couch, and yet Ravus never did spot her once wandering into the kitchen to find something to eat, much less spend money to get food unless he was accompanying her. Instead, she would work, and work, and sleep, and then resume working once more. Was that even healthy? His eyebrows furrowed before he ended up arranging for his culinary staff to gather together a meal for her and he visited her studio with it. Of course, there she was, hands covered in paint, sitting in her seat, half asleep and ready to take a nap with her hands still covered in blue and violet paint and black ink.Ravus let out a soft sigh, setting down the food on the table as he helped her wipe her hands and lay her down to rest up. No use in nearly falling asleep in her food, after all.

Who was nervous and shy on the first date?

“Is this truly that bad?” Ravus had glanced downward at his shorter date, eyebrow arched as heterochromatic eyes looked curiously down at her. She merely returned his gaze with a large brown stare before she nervously waved her hand and dismissed the notion. He pressed his lips together in thought, not letting up his relenting stare as she turned down at her food and began to poke at it again. She seemed evasive this evening, only really focused on the window or her food once it had arrived. She kept her fingers locked together like a vice, head rested on her knuckles. She looked humble and pleasant, but the white knuckles and the distracted look showed she wasn’t quite there.Ravus cleared his throat, leaning forward as he eyed her more carefully, finally pulling her gaze from the window as he merely tilted his head silently at her. She glanced back and forth before she scratched the back of her head and grinned. “Sorry… I don’t really go out on dates that often. I don’t really know what to do when I’m out on one.”Ravus gave a small nod, understanding her position before his lips curled into a gentle smile. “How about you start by telling me how your day was?”

Who kills/takes out the spiders?

If Adaline doesn’t have to kill the spider herself, she won’t do it. She’d rather scream, exit the room, and wait for Ravus to come in and take the spider out of the room for her. Spiders are awful.

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk?

Ravus sometimes finds himself much more talkative than he normally is once he finally reached that decent level of intoxication – where the buzz is comforting, but not a ringing in his skull. He’ll talk, hold a conversation, and he’s not the fatalistic guy people make him out to be when he’s drunk. He’ll say what’s on his mind a bit more openly than normally, but he’s a great conversationalist regardless. So he’ll talk when Adaline asks the infamous question, ‘What do you think of me?’ He’ll tell her that he enjoys her company, finds himself concerned over her unstable habits and strange methods of regulating her health. But nevertheless, her devotion to her work, her constant creativity – even if it drives her to madness sometimes – is quite admirable. He doesn’t mind sticking with her, even if it is just as friends or something beyond that.If only Adaline could hold her liquor enough to have heard such a conversation. Adaline’s buzz often results in her becoming very tired and sleepy. So once Ravus started listing, she was out like a light, bundled up on the armrest of the couch with her legs and arms pulled up tight to her. Ravus sighs and puts a blanket over her as he too begins to doze off. Perhaps another time, he supposed.

[the-anti-internet]

#trypod

Hey, haven't been around in awhile. I've been "busy" over at @petesmediadiary logging (once a week, usually Sundays) all the media I consume (plugtime over). But in honor of #trypod, a campaign to make people aware of podcasts, here comes a list of all of the podcasts that I listen to with a brief description of what the podcast is about: 12 Hour Day with J.D. and Connor -- Each episode is at least 12 hours long where the hosts hang out for a day. You follow them as they hang out, and do things around New York City. (Comes out a couple of times a year) Comedy Bang Bang -- Scott Aukerman hosts where each episode he has on a comedian and other odd people come in after a brief interview segment Mike and Tom Eat Snacks -- Each episode Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh Pick a snack, Eat a snack, and Rate a snack. (Currently on extended hiatus, but worth listening to the back catalogue) The Indoor Kids -- Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V Gordon talk about video games and other stuff they are watching. (Also currently on hiatus, but might be coming back soon?) Womp It Up! -- Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham spun off their characters Marissa Wompler and Charlotte Listler from Comedy Bang Bang where Marissa has a senior project podcast from her schools library where they interview the schools faculty and other students. (Hopefully it will be back after Playing House season 3) Spontaneanation with Paul F Tompkins -- PFT has a chat with a celebrity guest and then he and some improvisors do a 30 minute long improv based on that conversation. Harmontown -- Dan Harmon has a mental breakdown on stage, and raps about having sex with your momma. The K Ohle with Kurt Braunohler -- No longer active, but it was a multi-format podcast that Kurt hosted. Pet-o-philia and Get Lost were the two best formats. Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People -- Chris Gethard takes a call from a random person and is not allowed to hang up for an hour. At the hour mark the call is ended. Surprisingly heartfelt and wonderful. My love of Gethard aside, this is a GREAT podcast. Hollywood Handbook -- Sean Clements and Hayes Davenport are two of Hollywood's elite and drop names on this red carpet we call showbiz. This is some of the hardest I have ever laughed. It does take some getting used to though. You will hate it for the first few episodes. Emotional Hangs -- Kurt Braunohler and Joe Derosa explore their friendship and break down adult friendships and try to be open and vulnerable with each other. Rose Buddies -- Griffin McElroy and his wife Rachel recap episodes of The Bachelor family of TV shows. (I have never watched an episode of The Bachelor Family of shows) You Made It Weird w/ Pete Holmes -- Pete talks about Comedy, Sex, and God with pretty much anyone (usually comedians) who will talk to him about it. (Harris Wittels #3 is one of the best episodes of a podcast I have ever heard. It's an episode where Harris is open and honest about his struggles with addiction, and he is so effortlessly funny about it too. Spoilers: While the episode ends hopeful and on a way that makes everything seem like Harris is going to turn it around, he died from an overdose less than a month after the episode was released) Who Charted? -- Howard Kremer and Kyla's Vilaysack count down the charts in Music and Movies every week. Pistol Shrimps Radio -- Matt Gourley and Mark McConville don't know anything about basketball, but that doesn't stop them from doing the play by play of a women's recreational basketball league in LA. The Worst Idea of All Time -- Guy Montgomery and Tim Batt watch and review the same movie once a week for an entire year. Year one: Grown Ups 2. Year 2: Sex and the City 2. Year 3: We Are Your Friends (currently still going) Doughboys -- Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger review a different chain restaurant every week. My Favorite Murder -- every episode Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff each talk about a murder and go through the story of it. The Dollop -- Dave Anthony tells an American history story to his friend Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be. The Adventure Zone -- The McElroy brothers and daddy play dungeons and dragons together. It's some of the best storytelling you will ever hear and it's consistently incredibly funny. Never Not Funny -- Jimmy Pardo hosts a relaxed chat with a celebrity guest. Doug Loves Movies -- Doug Benson plays movie games with comedians and funny people. Totally Beverages (and Sometimes Hot Sauce) -- Andy Rosen and Intern Josh do blind shootouts of beverages trying to figure out which is which and guess their favorites. (I "produced" episode 100, so selfishly I would suggest that episode) CoolGames Inc. -- Griffin McElroy and Nick Robinson create a new video game every week. With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus -- Every week Lauren is the guest on a different host's made up podcast. How Did This Get Made? -- Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas, and June Diane Raphael talk about a different (usually) bad movie. No Such Thing As A Fish -- Writers of British panel show QI talk about their four favourite facts of the week that they learned while researching for QI. Ding-Donger with Matt Braunger -- Matt Braunger hitchhikes into your life for 30 to 45 minutes each week as he tells you what's been going on with him. Thanks for picking him up! The Bugle -- Andy Zaltzman and a rotating group of co-hosts talk about what's been going on in the world over the past week. (Formerly co-hosted by John Oliver) Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction -- Comedians write erotic fan fiction about pop culture and read it in front of a live audience. Slumber Party with Alie and Georgia -- Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark have a guest over and they play slumber party games. What Say You? -- Sal and Q from Impractical Jokers talk about whatever is on their minds. Cardboard! With Rich Sommer -- Rich Sommer (Harry Crane from Mad Men) talks about board games. Black List Table Reads -- Franklin Leonard produces "ear movies" each episode is a table read of an unproduced screenplay. Hound Tall with Moshe Kasher -- Moshe has an expert on a topic as well as three other comedians on stage to talk about the experts subject in a town hall style meeting. Post Pink -- Justin Linville and Robby (who's last name I've forgotten) talk about Weezer's releases since Pinkerton. U Talkin' U2 To Me? -- Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott talk about everything U2 related in the dumbest way possible. Tell Us How Your Dog Died -- David Kramer and David Stoll talk to a guest about how their dog died. Legitimately one of the best earwormiest theme songs ever. Even though there hasn't been an episode (and probably won't be any more) I still find myself singing the theme song to myself fairly often. 'Till Death Do Us Blart -- The McElroy brothers and the guys from The Worst Idea of All Time Review Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 every thanksgiving for the rest of eternity. In the event of one of their deaths they are to bequeath their spot to someone else who will take the mantle. FizzyBoys -- Don Finelli and Chris Gethard review a different soda every episode. The Ones Who Knock -- A podcast that recaps every episode of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul Decoding Westworld -- From the people who brought you The Ones Who Knock talk about Westworld. Analyze Phish -- Harris Wittels (rip) tries to convince Scott Aukerman that Phish is a good band. Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project -- Andy Daly's many characters from Comedy Bang Bang each try to get their own podcast at earwolf. Each episode is the first episode of what their podcast would be. New Years Eve with Neil Hamburger -- Listen to Neil count down the new year! In Your Dreams with Chris Gethard -- Chris and Dream Analysis Expert Gary Richardson analyze the dreams of people who called in with a different guest each episode. End of podcasts that I'm subscribed to. Now onto podcasts that I am either working through their back catalogs, or listen to depending on the episode: My Brother, My Brother, and Me -- An advice show for the modern era, the McElroy brothers give their listeners (and Yahoo answers users) advice. Started listening in June, currently on episode 114 out of 346. Hard Nation -- A spoof on Right Wing Political talk shows. Brothers Mark and Pete Hard host a show with a different political guest (a comedian pretending to be a political figure) Dr. Gameshow -- Jo Firestone hosts a radio call in show where listeners submit their ideas for game shows and Jo has comedians play the games in studio. No longer active and the back catalog is disappearing. So get on this one quick if you want to listen. Jordan, Jesse, Go! -- Jordan Morris and Jesse Thorn talk with a different guest. (Guest dependent) Hopefully We Don't Break Up -- Couple Will Miles and Giulia Rozzi talk with other real life couples (usually at least one comedian) about their relationships. High and Mighty -- Jon Gabrus talks with a guest about something that they are both passionate about. (Guest and/or topic dependent) If I Were You -- Jake and Amir give advice to their listeners. (Guest dependent, but the Ben Schwartz, Jon Gabrus, Thomas Middleditch, And Rose McIver episodes are all must listens) The Adventures of Danny and Mike -- Danny Tamberelli and Mike Maronna (better known as Pete and Pete) go on a monthly adventure together. I Was There Too -- Matt Gourley talks to an actor with a small-ish role on a big movie. Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend -- Alison Rosen talks to a person of note. (Guest dependent) This Feels Terrible -- Erin McGathy talks to people about relationships and why they make people feel terrible. Fitzdog Radio -- Greg Fitzsimmons interviews (usually) another comedian. (Guest dependent) 100 Words or Less -- Interviews with musicians. (Guest dependent) Going Off Track -- Interviews with musicians. (Guest dependent) The Best Show with Tom Scharpling -- Tom Scharpling's long running radio talk show. I don't have enough time in my week to listen to this every week, but whenever I can squeeze it n it's always worth it. The JV Club -- Janet Varney interviews People about what they were like in their formative years and then plays M.A.S.H. with them. (Guest dependent) Put Your Hands Together -- The audio recording of the weekly standup show hosted by Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher. The Todd Glass Show -- Todd Glass has a guest and it's just non-stop bits. There we go. There are all of the podcasts that I listen to regularly (or at least check in with regularly). There should be something in there for everyone. You're a champion for reading all the way through this, and if you try one of these and like it, please let me know. I would be happy to talk about any of them.