#like huuuge whale

[circadiancrunch]

Did another lorge whale warmup lol I'm really taken with the idea of a huge benthic whale. I think it's because I've always been rather taken with steller's sea cows too. I hope more fossils are found, I'd love a skill to confirm what kind of diet it had :'3

[sleepinginmygrave]

hi

hello

hello

hi

i need like, words or an explanation idk how to call it

what's you real life experience like being a therian? and, if you've told anyone, how did they react? do you get bullied for it?

this is all for my book and you don't have to answer anything you don't want to!

<3

HIIIII HELLO ROWANNNN!!!!!

well tbh i don't think i'm the best person to ask this purely bc i suck at explaining😭 BUT

for me i don't think anything's really defined or clear is in my mind tbh, i don't even know if what inm experiencing is past life or something else but i just feel really really connected to jellyfish and whale sharks yk? like i feel a part of me is a jellyfish (and whale shark too, i'm gonna say jellyfish but consider i'm saying both) i thought i was otherhearted at first but it feels more like a part of me IS a jellyfish (i still might be wrong tho!)

also sometimes for whale shark i just feel like i'm really big and mostly that i have a huuuge mouth, also sometimes i just really really really miss water like i haven't been in it since forever it's a bit weird to explain but yeah

also sometimes (gonna use this formulation for every start of paragraph istg), for jellyfish mostly, i just feel no thought head empty but like really head empty it's just black no thoughts, i think that's a shift! i'm not sure tho

and i never told anyone irl !! if i tell my family they would like never ever beleive me and jsut think i'm being weird, same for my friends rbh i ddin't really wish to tell anyone at least not for now

there are more things i forgot i think but i can't remember rn😭

[magioffire]

thinking about how since beatha has slightly less gravity and more oxygen than earth, there very well could be aboslutely massive creatures capable of sustained flight that would never be possible on earth. creatures would be able to grow to enormous heights without collapsing under their own weight like they would on earth. literal walking breathing skyscrapers. and lets face it...earth had/has some pretty mind blowingly massive creatures (the blue whale tho thats kinda cheating because they be in the water, paraceratherium, and all those massive sauropods that technically shouldnt have been able to get that big but they did anyway. fuck, we're pretty sure that the huuuge pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus was capable of powered flight even at its massive size) so like....imagine the crazy shit that could be cooked up on beatha. like the possibilities are truly endless. like it doesnt end at just the massive bugs.....imagine how fucking weird the flora and fauna would get unfettered by the heavy limits of earth-like gravity.

[csmeaner]

Re strudels seem to be Ok-ish. They're kind of poking along like a lot of CS are. Yes, even the bigger ones if you look past the hype for adopts and what passes for events. But also iirc wasn't there a huuuge whale sucking up all the best strudels for a year or two then left? A lot of people already left in that situation so more people leave because things look dead. But also strudels have kind of pivoted more toward pet site-ish and even have their own forums.

post related

yeah charlieblu or something

[the-acid-pear]

There were two parts of my dream going on, a main story and a side dream (in-dream) one. The whole scenario was a sort of game or interactive experience you'd try out. I had done once but now I was trying it out w my step mom and in some scenes her second youngest and youngest ones.

In the main plot you'd simply visit these different places, some of which I remember are: a huuuge book festival with semi realistic cartoon illustrationsof giant whales and other sea creatures; a running track full of red and black cowboys where at the sound of "24!" everyone would start running dragging along whoever was in the middle (very fun); and a beautiful place that looked similar to something I saw in a different dreams w little hills to climb and wander on about.

The dream sequence on the other hand was Scarier. In a way it reminds me of myhouse.wad because it was pretty retro in most aspects. Some things I remember about it is a intro w a laughing billy the puppet like it's Bowser in SM64 (which jumpscared me once) and pulsating labyrinths of flesh that changed color depending on how far you'd gotten. It's worth noting I got further in those sequences than my step mother by virtue of being a gamer 😎

[aromanticmara]

1+3+7

1. I LOVE CHIPOTLE HOLY SHIT ITS LIKE A TREAT EVERYTIIME I CAN GO!! anyways i’m also a picky eater and only like half the stuff there. anyways it’s white rice then chicken then lettuce then the spicy tomatoes and i think that’s it 🤔

3. the colors from the school smartboards. they’re so fucking ugly i don’t even know how to describe them. i gotta find a picture. they are so foul ive never seen an uglier color than these i swear

7. my favorite animal to go see is whale sharks bc they’re amazing and gorgeous and majestic. but only the atlanta aquarium has those and i live nowhere near that place so i can’t go all the time yk? anyways it’s probably the tropical fish!! they’re so fun to watch and probably the least abused animals. i could go into huuuge detail about ineadequate space in aquariums but i’ll save it for now (unless u want 🤔). anyways i love tropical fish!!

[wistfulrat]

Hi! First of all, thank you so much for your post about the maori cultural influences in Taika's work, it was really interesting! The only work about maori culture that I was familiar with is a film called Whale Rider that I watched for a university class years ago. Is it considered like a staple in New Zealand or was it one of those films that are more popular abroad? (Also sorry for my English)

oh Whale Rider is one of my all time faves forever (also im pacific islander but not māori. it’s just their media has a large impact on the rest of us in poly/micro/melanesia so im not speaking as a native/local to nz but as a fellow pasifika)

it’s def a staple in the pacific, and not just for how much critical acclaim the film received, but bc the production was sooo Māori (even tho Niki Caro the director isnt, she was born and raised in NZ, committed to telling the story with respect). it was a big deal to make an adaptation of Witi Ihimaera’s novel bc he’s one of the pioneers of Māori literature. the fact that the producers were very intent on shooting in the real settings of the book, casting iconic Māori actors, and then finding a Māori lead like Keisha Castle-Hughes who would end up being, at the time, the youngest ever to be nominated for the best actress oscar (and def the first pacific island woman to be nominated). so yea idk it was huuuge and remains a staple bc it’s an excellent film but also was a massive cultural moment for Māori art and pacific island stories as a whole.

[anarchofeedism]

cw extreme weight gain fantasy concept

:

:

:

you know how youre a lot more weightless while swimming? how fat bodies go from clumsily waddling like seals on a beach to graceful, bouyant billowing folds with floating, rippling cellulite while underwater?

could you imagine if someone embraced this natural combination? when people speculate about setups for superimmobile fats, with harnesses and rigs and platforms, i think: what if we had personal tank chambers, like jacuzzi dunk tanks, like if you were to fill up an all-glass shower, and add a wiiiide underwater seat for the occupant's fat ass. the sides are all glass so youd be able to see their fat body undulate underwater. their head and shoulders would be above water, able to suckle on tubes of gainer shake, cream, or soda. they could eat with their arms, too, but the difference in gravity paired with the rapid weight gain makes it harder and harder for them to do so. they sit in their nice, hot jacuzzi tank, playing games on VR, or eating from the food tray that can roll along the side of the tub and get right up to their face, so they dont even have to use their hands to eat and can just bury their face in it like a slop trough, letting go to their feral, aggressive appetite

imagine that the gainer never has to leave the tank and, with the push of a button, their seat could become a toilet with bidet. They can even take a bath by washing like normal, flushing the soapy water, and refilling it with the water they usually soak in (mineral water? nice scents?).

in other words, they are free to get huuuge while never leaving the tub, all their needs cared for while their bodies adjust to different weightlessness and necessary amount of exerted energy and becomes a fat underwater blob.

but whats really hot to me is even though they wont ever really have to leave the tub, there will *have* to be moments where the tub is flushed and the occupant has to sit in real gravity again and feeeel how much heavier their body has gotten. you wouldnt know how much fatter youd gotten until the water drained and the scale could weigh you. and as much as you look forward to weigh-ins, where you get rewarded for being such a good piggy, youre practically mewling and squirming with discomfort like a beached whale, your muscles and skeleton pinned down by, and pound for pound outnumbered by, your billowing mounds of fat.

[spikebhm]

At some kind of marketing firm..

Ok, ok listen *takes a drag from a cigarette*

But what if ... what if we *shuffles around a pile of paper* HERE, here I had this idea. You gonna love it, fuck I’m already married to it so.. IT’S...  a Build-a-Funnel store! - OK LISTEN. 

It’s like a Build-a-B**r but you take your FAT friend there, right? It’s like those dates.. you with me? Ok, just making sure *drags on the cig* And you can choose between between these different like top parts?! Do they have a name?? I don’t know, R&D was on break and ANYWAY.

Now you choose the colors and fuck, stickers maybe. OR like the premium ones have like LED stripes - kids love LEDs, they put it on anything, furniture, inside pcs, funnels ... now they light up their blobs! Perfeeect! SO THEN you choose the width of it and how THICCCCC the goop is they gonna funnel into their date, right? So different offers. We name them something like “Capri-Sun-Size” to “Wide Enough For a Cupcake to Smoothly Sail Down the Whale-Chute”. I don’t know, I’m just snowballing here.

Now the tubes. Fuck, we gonna have tubes in ALL the colors! Transparent, opaque, metallic, chrome, light up when you have dark light at home. ALSO you can put your NAME on it?! How cool is that. Kids say cool right, marketing? Right ... Still with me? Here comes the money shot~ the SPOUT. Ohohoh, the SPOUT. Listen, if anything excites someone who sits at the receiving end of one of our bad boys, they want to be stimulated. Oh yes, we gonna have so many amazing spouts. You got the usual ones with different textures. Like plastics, metallics, glass, ceramic, maybe even bamboo?! Do vegans funnel? I guess so, throw ‘em in I say! Then you have different sizes. *drags from the cig* We have valves in different sizes, grips and colors too. This frikin thing will look like a transformer toy from the 90s, all neons and shit, they will love it!

We even have some strap-on options. What? NOO, not that kinky shit, jesus Frank, get your shit together. Like around your face so you can funnel freely! Get your goddamn mind out of the gutter. Jesus Frank, save it for the Christmas party *aggressively drags on the cig*

Ok, back to the idea of the year. So after they waddled through the store (lets keep it small so they don’t overextended the walking and sitting periods and reduce store size) we offer them a huuuge breadth of options of shakes and mixes for them to take home and try out their new toy.

From sweet and fruity to rich and creamy, smoothies and cake shakes - we got EVERYTHING. You can also apply for a subscription, monthly deliveries of protein rich powder bags for your friend, they will *grow* to love it! That’s fucking good, let me write that down.. *jots down some dirty notes*

And for their partners we have like these cute shirts that say something like “We survived the funnel!” and maybe a funnel-mascot we still have to cook up. It’s gonna be a blas-

... What’s that? We go with Franks idea of a themed Starb*cks but we call it “celestials” because of why? Planets? What the fuck .... Well, maybe next year. *throws cig away and lights a new one*

*mumbles* Heh, “grows to love it” shits funny as fuck.

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP Meme from "Drunk Disney #2: Pinocchio"

"Not like "into" sexually, I just thought he was really cute."

"To mouths! We need 'em to breath and eat."

"That's like the hottest goldfish I've ever seen."

"God, no wonder he's single without kids."

"That snoring though, that would be a deal-breaker.

"He literally is a grape."

"Is this when he gets all suited up?"

"In the original novel, Jiminy Cricket was just this character that showed up, and Pinocchio smashes him with a mallet."

"It's not weird if you're lonely."

"I think these guys are great."

"This guy's a huge fucking fox that walks on two legs."

"He's in a Georgia O' Keefe painting."

"Were you making good decisions when you were a day?"

"He's so flamboyant."

"Get out of here bugs that look like bugs!"

"A human's nose can get stuck in a hole!"

"Very sexified."

"They both got some voluptuous asses."

"Should have listened to the fucking cricket, huh?"

"He gave up on his job in 24 hours."

"Wow, that tasted like shit."

"I hope they have some cheddar baked biscuits!"

"Drinking beer, smoking cigars, what does this teach children?"

"He's the guy that puts on donkey shows."

"Who do I have to kill to get a bunch of money?"

"They come back as MEN."

"Cake! Cake! Cake! Cake!"

"Oh that kid DIES."

"That sounds pretty sexual."

"Normal guy's eyes wouldn't go like that."

"Game of the devil."

"They're donkeys. They're sad donkeys."

"You know the NAME of the WHALE?"

"I have the feeling a human could not do this."

"That is something I never thought I'd drink to."

"His ballsack is HUUUGE. He has the BIGGEST balls."

"That guy's high out of his mind."

"I think this is dumb, I think this is dumb!"

"The water's kind of a character, though."

"He's not dead."

"He's a fucking puppet."

"Oh, he got a conscience now!"

"You're probably fucked."

"I didn't learn anything from this movie."

"Got no strings to hold me down!"

"Don't get swallowed by a whale."

"What's the fox's name?"

"Who's the donkey guy?"

"You should go to fucking school, man."

"Don't be an actor."

"Think about what you're doing with your life."

[sebastianshaw]

RP Meme from "Drunk Disney #2: Pinocchio"

"Not like "into" sexually, I just thought he was really cute."

"To mouths! We need 'em to breath and eat."

"That's like the hottest goldfish I've ever seen."

"God, no wonder he's single without kids."

"That snoring though, that would be a deal-breaker.

"He literally is a grape."

"Is this when he gets all suited up?"

"In the original novel, Jiminy Cricket was just this character that showed up, and Pinocchio smashes him with a mallet."

"It's not weird if you're lonely."

"I think these guys are great."

"This guy's a huge fucking fox that walks on two legs."

"He's in a Georgia O' Keefe painting."

"Were you making good decisions when you were a day?"

"He's so flamboyant."

"Get out of here bugs that look like bugs!"

"A human's nose can get stuck in a hole!"

"Very sexified."

"They both got some voluptuous asses."

"Should have listened to the fucking cricket, huh?"

"He gave up on his job in 24 hours."

"Wow, that tasted like shit."

"I hope they have some cheddar baked biscuits!"

"Drinking beer, smoking cigars, what does this teach children?"

"He's the guy that puts on donkey shows."

"Who do I have to kill to get a bunch of money?"

"They come back as MEN."

"Cake! Cake! Cake! Cake!"

"Oh that kid DIES."

"That sounds pretty sexual."

"Normal guy's eyes wouldn't go like that."

"Game of the devil."

"They're donkeys. They're sad donkeys."

"You know the NAME of the WHALE?"

"I have the feeling a human could not do this."

"That is something I never thought I'd drink to."

"His ballsack is HUUUGE. He has the BIGGEST balls."

"That guy's high out of his mind."

"I think this is dumb, I think this is dumb!"

"The water's kind of a character, though."

"He's not dead."

"He's a fucking puppet."

"Oh, he got a conscience now!"

"You're probably fucked."

"I didn't learn anything from this movie."

"Got no strings to hold me down!"

"Don't get swallowed by a whale."

"What's the fox's name?"

"Who's the donkey guy?"

"You should go to fucking school, man."

"Don't be an actor."

"Think about what you're doing with your life."

[snapessecretdiary]

GOT or Sherlock?

Hotch or Snape?

Dog-sized whale or whale-sized dog?

Damn, that's hard.

I guess I'd say Sherlock over GOT, because I was so in love with the funny pieces.

The second one is just plainly cruel, because I love them both. Then again, i guess it'd be Snape, because he was my childhood hero (Hotch still has a huuuge place in my heart, he's great).

Dog-sized whale. That would be funny. I like whales.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #325

tired of seeing me in the survey tag yet? lmao me too

Would you date someone who’s shorter than you? I have absolutely never understood why there would be any correlation between someone's height and whether or not you would date the person because of it. What, do you think the person has any control over that? So basically, yes, I would, without a second thought. Have you ever fallen in love on the Internet? "Fallen in love," no. I had to meet Sara first to see how we meshed in the same environment. Have you ever had a crush on your best friend’s sweetie? Yes, hence the Joel mess. Have you ever had a controlling boyfriend? No. Good luck getting me to date someone like that. Can guys be sluts? Who the fuck cares so long as the person is safe and open with their partner. Ever had a crush on your best girlfriend? Twice now, haha. Would you ever kiss someone who’s taken? No, I'm not that kind of person. Do you mind being the third wheel? I don't care, really, so long as my friend doesn't totally ignore me. I very much enjoy seeing people in love. Has a kiss ever made you weak in the knees? Yes. Have you ever been in a love triangle? No, and I absolutely would not if I was aware. You pick me or you leave me alone. Do you feel comfortable buying condoms? I've never had to, but I'd probably feel a hint of awkwardness. Have you ever run into your ex with his/her new partner? No, and the only case where that would be a problem would be with Jason. I know in my heart I would feel at least some hatred towards her. Have you ever felt guilty after doing something sexual? Yep, when I was first actually getting truly sexual and felt like I was betraying my "abstinence." Would you stay friends with your sweetie’s friends if you broke up? I'm still friends with Jacob, mine and Jason's former roommate and his then-close friend. So yeah. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? I hope more than words can explicate that I have a stable job that I love, my driver's license, and my own place with a long-term partner, since I think living alone would be very detrimental to me. I also hope I have much better control over my social anxiety. Oh, and can I PLEASE be fit again? What was the last thing you bought for less than a dollar? No idea. Who was the last person in your bed? My niece Aria was sitting on it with me. I miss Misty's kids. Do you have a nice phone? Not particularly, but it does the job. Is Marilyn Manson creepy or cool? I find him creepy in a cool way, haha. Well, at least aesthetically. With his recent sexual assault (or abuse? idr) allegations however, I don't know how I feel about him because I don't know the facts. I really should actually read up about it. Regardless, I love his music; he's one of my favorite musical artists. Do you like talking to strangers? Depends on my mood and the person. Do you have OCD? Yes. Are you clumsy or graceful? I'm clumsy as all getout. Have you ever ran into a door because you didn’t know it was closed? Haha, no. Have you ever woke up and didn’t know where you were? After my cyst removal surgery, I was confused for a moment or so. Do you own a Wii? Yep. Do you like to talk about yourself? Depends on with whom, the subject, and my mood. Has anyone ever called you conceited? No; I'm very much on the other end of the spectrum. Tattoos or piercings? I love both, but tats win. Have you ever had ants ruin your picnic? I’ve never had a picnic. At least that I remember. What’s the last gross movie/show/video you saw? Recently, I watched The Dark Den dissect his recently-deceased tarantula to figure out why she died. It was serious impaction, and it was disgusting. Would you rather live in a huuuge house or a little cozy one? A lil cozy one! Not TOO small, though. I'd feel claustrophobic. Have you ever blow dried something other then your hair? Maybe? What is your favorite piece of equipment at gyms? Treadmills. Do you have a tutor for anything? No. Does your sibling(s) have braces? My older sister did for a little while. Did you tell your last girlfriend/boyfriend that you love them? Yes. What was the last thing your parents got mad at you for? Apparently I somehow forgot to wipe crumbs off the kitchen counter. Have you ever had a bathing suit fall off of you while swimming? Not a suit, no, but when I wore bikinis and I jumped into the pool, it's happened before where my top would go up. I'd obviously fix it super quick. Do your pets have favorites? I'm absolutely Roman's favorite, but he loves Mom, too. I'm the only one who interacts with Venus. What’s the longest you’ve ever liked someone without telling them? A very long time. I had a big crush on Girt my freshman year, and some time after Jason, my crush for him came back, but he didn't ask me out until years later. Turns out we'd been friends just too long and the relationship felt too weird for me, so I broke up with him after I think... four months or so? We're still great friends. That's my bro. Did you prank anyone on April Fool’s Day? I never do anymore. I don't like pranks. What’s the sweetest thing a gf/bf can do to get you to forgive them? Changed behavior. Do you dislike when surveys ask to describe your underwear? Well, I'm almost always in my pajamas, sooo I generally don't even have any at that moment. Did you check to see how much fat/calories was in the last thing you ate? No. If the last person you kissed gave you roses, what would you do? Blush and thank her. Anything happened lately that you never expected to? "Never?" No. Are you the person you thought you’d be when you were younger? I'm a massive disappointment and embarrassment to that little girl. Are you a confrontational person, or the peacekeeper? I am absolutely a peacekeeper. I avoid confrontation like the plague. The last time you did something with BOTH of your parents was? They've been divorced since I was I think 17 and I am now 25, so... Do you like pumpkin pie? Absolutely not. Do you believe in any conspiracies? I am 100% sold on that the government had some involvement in 9/11. Look into the evidence - there is an overwhelming amount. There are others that I consider as possible, but no others do I absolutely believe. I'm around 50/50 on the simulation theory. Do you have a little sister? What’s her name? Yeah, Nicole. Have you ever changed yourself to impress someone? Who? Nah. Who was the last person you gave up on? Why did you give up on them? Colleen. We simply butted heads way too much, and she just had this volatile meanness towards others I couldn't watch anymore. What was the last thing you printed? Is there even ink in your printer? Probably a paper for when I was in school. I don't know if our printer does. Have you ever gotten your nails done? Or do you get them done regularly? Yeah, with Colleen and then another time with my sisters. It was really just to hang with them, though. It's not something I'm interested in. Have you been outside yet today? What were you doing? Nope. When was the last time you got a new bed? Is your bed comfy? Not since I was an older teen did I get Mom's bed, but it wasn't new. This was actually her parents' bed, too. Well I mean, the mattress obviously isn't that old, but the bed itself is pretty ancient. It's comfy enough. Do you remember the first time you ever drove a car? Who were you with? Yes: on the dead-end road that led to our old house. I was with Mom obviously and probably my sister, since I think I did it on the way home from school. Do any of your friends drink excess amounts of alcohol? Do you? Not to my knowledge. I definitely don't. Have you ever been in handcuffs? Why, exactly? Yes, because it's mandatory when being transported to a mental hospital. What’s your favorite thing to do when drunk? Would you do this sober? Never been drunk before. When was the last time you bled? What happened? Well it's my time of the month, so. Are you a fan of dogs? Do you have any pets? I love dogs, but don't currently have one as a pet. Mom's looking intently. How often do you bathe? I'm going to be completely transparent and say not as much as I should. Doing my hair is fine, but moving all around, bending and propping my legs up exhausts my legs so much that I avoid showers as long as I can take it or until I have to go somewhere. I want strength back in my body. So. Badly. Do you have any tattoos? What, where and why? I have six that I'm not all explaining, but locations: right upper arm, right inner wrist, left inner forearm, left upper arm, right collarbone, left breast. What do you wear to bed at home? Pajama pants and a tank top. What do you wear to bed when you're somewhere else? Pj pants, tank top, and usually a bra, depending on where I'm at and with who. Do you have any phobias? What? Why do you think you have this/them? I have a lot, but I'll discuss my strangest/strongest: pregnancy, maggots, parasites, and whale sharks. Pregnancy would be because a fetus is technically parasitic, and, to cover that topic, I'm just generally terrified of anything living in MY body. I also find it absolutely disgusting to see a baby move from the outside. I will actually scream if I see this, and that is not an exaggeration. I'm afraid of maggots (larva in general, really) because I think they're just disgusting, and I once brought something in from outside and put it in my dresser (idr why), and one day I opened it and reached in for something just to find lots of little larva squirming around. That's when it started. Now, whale sharks: it's literally because of World of Warcraft, hahaha. There's an underwater zone in the game where they roam as boss enemies, and their mouths look so weird and are actually a bit toothy. Irl, they just have mouths that are just way too big for my comfort. I know they're entirely harmless, but still. If you could ask God (to atheists - IF there was one) one question, what? "Why." Why so much evil, pain, and unfairness. Briefly describe your family. Kinda broken, but still loving and try to stay close. Big "ohana" mood: everyone's loyalty is endless. Where do you stand on the death penalty? For it in extreme cases. Where do you stand on wearing fur? Disgusting and horribly morbid unless for survival purposes in cold climates. Could you kill somebody? In self-defense, yes. What are your political beliefs (anarchy, communism, democracy etc.)? I just say I'm Independent. My beliefs stretch over so many titles; plus, I'm not very educated on all types and what they entail. What, if anything, WOULD you sacrifice your life for? To save those I love most. How would your ideal partner look? *shoves picture of Mark Fischbach in ur face* Would you ever have an affair? Nope. I'm telling you: pick me or leave me be. I'm not a side-chick. Would you ever have a one night stand? Also no. What one thing would you change in this world (free Tibet, abolish Sweden)? Honestly... probably abolish all militaries. I do not in the least support war, and it's just... sad to know countries stand ready to kill the moment they "need" to. Distrust seems to make the world go 'round. Sure, a country may try to rebuild them in secrecy, but that's a preeeetty big thing to succeed in keeping under wraps. "But what if a terrorist or something rises?" I'm quite sure we could handle that without an full-on army. Maybe I'm not well-informed on this topic, but I've just never supported military presence. I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR AS DAY, I have endless respect for veterans and aspiring soldiers, because I DO understand the mentality of wanting to protect your home, but yeah. I just wish it wasn't a thing. Would you ever choose a career or job where your life was at risk? Nope. Do you have any famous relatives? Ancestors, yes, and I have a distant cousin who wrote a fantastic book, if that counts. Are you a loyal member of any organizations? No. Desired weight: At MOST 140. :/ I'd like to be closer to 120, but I'll take 140. What are your opinions on marijuana legalization? Legalize it, but treat it similarly to alcohol, like prohibiting driving high, obviously. What do you think about tipping at restaurants? Tip a minimum, and THEN increase according to service quality. Are you addicted to anything? Soda. Would you ever get back together with any of your exes? Yes. Never mind what gender you ARE, what gender do you WANT to be? I'm a female and content with that. Do you ever feel ashamed revealing your age? Yes, considering how behind I am in just being an adult. What does your parents call you? Generally just "Britt." Mom occasionally still calls me "Twinkie." ;-; Has anyone ever threatened you with a knife? Wow, no. Do you ever watch The Simpsons? No. What’s the last thing to make you scream? Truly scream, a mix of depression and anger. I screamed into my pillow. Do you play games with boys/girls, like ‘hard to get’? I'm an adult. I'm a tease in some romantic situations, but "hard to get" is definitely the wrong term.

[bluelancelion]

Reasons why I love the world, by a nerd.

All the countries in the world are like fandoms.

Each one with its music, culture, actors, food, different aspects of people, how they think, what they are proud of, sports, slangs-

Every country has its own. Every country feels like a fandom, the fandom of its own culture, and the people living in it are the fans.

Tourists, and those who like to travel, want to become a part of that said fandom.

I'm an otaku, a huuuge nerd, I want to be a part of the Japan fandom.

(and here I can insert that racists are just people who are hating on a fandom that they don't even know?)

The world is soooo big. And as in every fandom, there are toxic people, some things about that fandom you dislike.

That's okay, I also dislike a lot of things. I hate the japanese whale's hunting. I hate the torero's Spanish tradition, I hate italian's peperoni.

Damn, I hate cold winters in Russia and I'm half russian/half italian.

What I'm saying is: the world is so damn big. It has so many many many many many things. Beautiful things, awful things, things you can like and that other people dislike. Things you hate that other people like.

Let's just live inside our own fandom. You can stay safe and cozy in your fandom, chilling and living the best out of your life. Your fandom is beautiful, and you are damn right to be proud of it.

And if you want to be a part of other fandoms, you're welcome!

It's so nice when people of other fandoms become a part of your own fandom, because they want it, they love it and they want to feel like being a part of your country. Isn't this one of the most beautiful things about our world?

About us?

The human being. That awful creature. We can just be as good as the hate we spread. If we just try to be happy.

Do you hate all the countries in the world aside your own? OKAY, this is okay. Everyone thinks the opposite but that's wrong. You CAN dislike other countries, you can HATE them. But if you do, then please, live your life inside your own country and be happy there.

Hate doesn't exist if we all live our life happily. If you guys, you and me, who like the world as it is, who want peace, stop racisms, are the FIRST to HATE on those people, WE are the ones spreading hate.

This applies to EVERYONE who's wasting their time to hate instead of being happy.

Peace can be an option, if we all really think about it.

[vinylexams]

A very special fireside interview with XUXA SANTAMARIA

Check Insta for our thoughts on this landmark album from Oakland duo XUXA SANTAMARIA. Stay right where you are to read a really fun interview I scored with the band this week. They’ve just released Chancletas D’Oro on Ratskin Records out of Oakland and Michael blessed me with my very own copy. It was so good I knew I needed to tell you all about it and I wanted to pick their brains a little bit, too. Without further ado, please enjoy:

//INTERVIEW

You’re still breaking into indie world at large, but you’ve already got a huge following back in California and your home-base in Oakland. What has it been like to be featured in major outlets like The Fader?

SC: We are a funny project; we ebb and flow from being total hermits to having periods of relatively high visibility (relative to aforementioned hermit state). I wouldn’t say we have a huuuge following in CA but I do think that the ‘fandom’ we’ve developed here is really genuine because we don’t play shows out of an obligation to remain visible but instead do so because we feel super passionate about the work and the audience and I think people respond to that energy. I for one, and perhaps this is because of my background in performance, have a hard time performing the same stuff over and over without change which accounts for us being selective with our playing live. That’s also why videos are such an important part of what we’re about. The piece in The Fader was important to the launch of this album because it established some of the themes and, to an extent, the aesthetics of this album in a way that can be experienced outside of a live setting. None of this is to say we don’t like playing live, in fact we love it, we just like to make our sets pleasurable to ourselves and to our audience by constantly reworking it. We strike a weird balance for sure but we’ve made peace with it. If we ever ‘make it’ (lol) it’ll be on these terms.

Chancletas D'Oro is a pretty incredible record and while it reminds me of a few bands here or there, it’s got a really fresh and unique style that merges dance with all sorts of flavors. How would you describe your music to someone who is curious to listen?

MGK: Haha, we generally struggle to describe our music in a short, neat way (not because we make some kind of impossible-to-categorize music, but just because it’s the synthesis of a ton of different influences and it’s hard for US to perceive clearly). But with that caveat in mind - IDK, bilingual art-punk influenced dance/electronic music?

SC: Thank you for saying so, we’re pretty into it :) Like Matt says, we struggle to pin it down which I think is in part to what he says – our particular taste being all over the place, from Drexciya to The Kinks to Hector Lavoe- but I think this slipperiness has a relationship to our concept making and world building. As creative people we make and intake culture like sharks, always moving, never staying in one place too long. Maybe it’s because we’re both so severely ADHD (a boon in this instance tbh) that we don’t sit still in terms of what we consume and I think naturally that results in an output that is similarly traveling. Point is, the instance a set of words - ‘electronic’, ‘dance’, ‘punk’- feel right for the music is the same instance they are not sufficient. I propose something like: the sound of a rainforest on the edge of a city, breathy but bombastic, music made by machines to dance to, pleasurably, while also feeling some of the sensual pathos of late capitalism as seen from the bottom of the hill.

The internet tells me you’ve been making music as Xuxa Santamaria for a decade now. What has the evolution and development of your songwriting been like over those ten years?

MGK: Well, when we first started out as a band we were so new to making electronic music (Sofia’s background was in the art world and mine was in more guitar-based ‘indie rock’ I guess - lots of smoking weed and making 4 track tapes haha), so we legit forgot to put bass parts on like half the songs on our first album LOL. We’ve learned a lot since then! But in seriousness, we’ve definitely gotten better at bouncing ideas back and forth, at putting in a ton of different parts and then pulling stuff back, and the process is really dynamic and entertaining for both of us.

SC: This project started out somewhat unusually: I was in graduate school and beginning what would become a performance practice. I had hit a creative roadblock working with photography - the medium I was in school to develop- and after reading Frank Kogan’s Real Punks Don’t Wear Black felt this urge to make music as a document of experience following Kogan’s excellent essay on how punk and disco served as spatial receptacles for a wealth of experiences not present in the mainstream of the time. I extrapolated from this notion the idea that popular dance genres like Salsa, early Hip Hop, and Latin Freestyle among many others, had served a similar purpose for protagonists of a myriad Caribbean diasporas. These genres in turn served as sonic spaces to record, even if indirectly, the lived experiences of the coming and going from one’s native island to the mainland US wherein new colonial identities are placed upon you. From this I decided to create an alter ego (ChuCha Santamaria, where our band name originally stems from) to narrate a fantastical version of the history of Puerto Rico post 1492 via dance music. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing but I look back on that album (ChuCha Santamaria y Usted - on vinyl from Young Cubs Records) fondly. It’s rough and strange and we’ve come so far from that sound but it’s a key part of our trajectory. Though my songwriting has evolved to move beyond the subjective scope of this first album - I want to be more inclusive of other marginalized spaces- , it was key that we cut our teeth making it. We are proud to be in the grand tradition of making an album with limited resources and no experience :P

We’re a big community of vinyl enthusiasts and record collectors so first and foremost, thanks for making this available on vinyl. What does the vinyl medium mean to you as individuals and/or as a band?

MGK: I think for us, it’s the combination of the following: A. The experience of listening in a more considered way, a side at a time. B. Tons of real estate for graphics and design and details. C. The sound, duh!

SC: In addition to Matt’s list, I would just say that I approach making an album that will exist in record form as though we were honing a talisman. Its objecthood is very important. It contains a lot of possibility and energy meant to zap you the moment you see it/ hold it. I imagine the encounter with it as having a sequence: first, the graphics - given ample space unlike any other musical medium/substrate- begin to tell a story, vaguely at first. Then, the experience of the music being segmented into Side A and Side B dictate a use of time that is impervious to - at the risk of sounding like an oldie - our contemporary habit of hitting ‘shuffle’ or ‘skip’. Sequencing is thus super important to us (this album has very distinct dynamics at play between sides a/b ). We rarely work outside of a concept so while I take no issue with the current mode of music dissemination, that of prioritizing singles, it doesn’t really work for how we write music.

MGK: We definitely both remain in love with the ‘album as art object/cohesive work’ ideal, so I would say definitely - we care a lot about track sequencing, always think in terms of “Side A/Side B” (each one should be a distinct experience), and details like album art/inserts/LP labels etc matter a lot to us.

What records or albums were most important to you growing up? Which ones do you feel influenced your music the most?

SC: I know they’re canceled cus of that one guy but I listened to Ace of Base’s The Sign a lot as a kid and I think that sorta stuff has a way of sticking with you. I always point to the slippery role language plays in them being a Swedish band singing in English being consumed by a not-yet-English speaking Sofía in Puerto Rico in the mid 90s. Other influences from childhood include Garbage, Spice Girls, Brandy + Monica’s The Boy is Mine, Aaliyah, Gloria Trevi, Olga Tañon etc etc. In terms of who influences me now, that’s a moving target but I’d say for this album I thought a lot about the sound and style of Kate Bush, Technotronic, Black Box, Steely Dan, ‘Ray of Light’-era Madonna plus a million things I’m forgetting.

MGK: Idk, probably a mix of 70-80s art rock/punk/postpunk (Stooges, Roxy Music, John Cale, Eno, Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Wire, Buzzcocks, etc etc), disco/post-disco R&B and dance music (Prince, George Clinton, Chic, Kid Creole), 90s pop + R&B + hip hop (Missy & Timbaland, Outkast/Dungeon Family production-wise are obviously awe-inspiring, So So Def comps, Jock Jams comps, Garbage & Hole & Massive Attack & so on), and unloved pop trash of all eras and styles.

Do you have any “white whale” records that you’ve yet to find?

MGK: Ha - the truth is that we’re both much more of a “what weird shit that we’ve never heard of can we find in the bargain bin” type of record buyer than “I have a custom list of $50 plus records on my discogs account that I lust over”.

SC: Not really, I’m wary of collectorship. That sort of ownership might have an appeal in the hunt, once you have it do you really use it, enjoy it? Funnily, I have a massive collection of salsa records that has entries a lot of music nerds would cry over (though they’re far from good condition, the spines were destroyed by my Abuela’s cat, Misita lol, but some are first pressings in small runs). For me its value however, comes from its link to family, as documents from another time and as an amazing capsule of some of the best music out of the Caribbean. I’m glad I am their guardian (a lot of this stuff is hard to find elsewhere, even digitally) but I live with those records, they’re not hidden away in archival sleeves, in fact, I use some of that music in my other work. Other than that, the records I covet are either those of friends or copies of albums that hold significance but which are likely readily available, Kate Bush’s The Dreaming or Love’s Forever Changes, or The Byrds Sweetheart of The Rodeo as random examples

Finally, is there a piece of interesting band trivia you’ve never shared in another interview?

SC: haha, not really? Maybe that we just had a baby together?

//

Congrats on your new baby, and also for this wonderful new album. It was a pleasure chatting with you and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you and your music!

[quaculaarchive]

6 n 48

6. favorite article of clothing: i really love my graphic t shirts like i have a space jam one and a nickelodeon one and a bunch others :) they are comfortable and plus it has my interests on it so win win.

48. talk about how your day went: whale.... i just woke up right now so not much happened... yet.. i also forgot 60 percent of what happened yesterday LOL. so today im going 2 my sisters house 4 thanks giving stuff and all that. she has a huuuge dog so thats gonna be really epic :)