#/ let me know if i should change anything :)

[z0mbiefrank]

Transcript for Marina Toybina on the Designing Hollywood podcast

I've seen a couple people searching for a transcript of her discussing Gerard Way's stage costumes, so I have made one! Feel free to share/link as a resource. Popular quotes are bolded.

Link to source video. MCR's section starts around 22 minutes in.

The transcript is beneath the cut.

Interviewer: Well now you’ve just finished working with My Chemical Romance, which is a band that I dig. Gerard Way is also a comic book writer and artist, created the Umbrella Academy. So, first of all, how did you get that job? Because there’s a design, I mean the look of that band and what they like to do, what they’re influenced by, they’re not just your typical rock band. So what was it like? How did you get that job? You designed the whole tour right?

Marina: I Collaborated with the lead singer, yes, with Gerard. Uhm, okay everything kinda has it’s place in time. About 15 years ago, 15 to 20 years ago, I was a huge fan. I’m a rock girl at heart, and back then a lot of their music was like music to my soul. It got me through some of the harder times. A lot of my friends were musicians. I never saw them live, never could afford to get to their shows, but knew one day in my heart there probably will be an opportunity, they were in like my top 5 favorite bands. He was an artist I’ve always wanted to work with. This past summer, while I was designing So You Think You Can Dance, I just happened to turn on their music - nope- let me rewind I'm so sorry. So a year ago I was reading a release that they're coming back together on tour and they're playing LA on my birthday. I looked at my team and I was like "I'm gonna be at that show. We're gonna go to the show, we're all gonna go together." And I just jokingly said “I'll probably dress them!” A lot of things in my career have happened to manifestation, I'm a huge believer in that. I think my intentions were so clear into the universe. I believed in it so much. That happened a year ago. Then this past summer, I was driving to work, I was listening to their music and I just happened to text my agent. I'm like “You know I really want to get back into music. It's what I used to do. I used to do a lot of live performances. I used to do a lot of music videos. I need to feel that again, even though I'm surrounded with music all the time and I'm doing all these shows. But there was a disconnect in my career, to where it's like I love live entertainment.” And she’s like “Who do you want? Like are we going after pop stars?” And I'm like “No I've done all that. I want to go back to my roots. I want like Incubus or My Chemical Romance or Red Hot Chili Peppers. Get me back to rock and roll.” And she was like “Well, you know, they're touring, but it's probably… I don’t know, let's put it out there.” Then within two weeks I get an email from her like “Hey their managers want to meet with you, he wants to meet with you.” One of the biggest things about their aesthetic is one of my probably top three costume designers, Colleen Atwood, did their black parade album and it was so incredible. Back then, I was always a step behind. It's like they did The Black Parade and then I met the photographer later. Then I worked on a project with him. So it was always like some better-late-than-never I guess. And I'm like “I'm gonna work with her someday, I love her work. I've been told by many people we're a lot alike.” You know? And I'm like “Why not?” And so we get this email “He would like to take a meeting, see what we can do.” I never expected to do a tour, I just wanted to open this door of opportunity, to just collaborate, maybe do one thing together. And he just showed up in my studio and it was just an amazing artistic energy.

Interviewer: Were you starstruck?

Marina: I was trying to hold it together. I mean before they came in, I can't tell you how much I paced. Usually, there's like 15 - 20 people at my studio. This was the time and day that I was alone. I didn't know what to do. Of course, my expectations were just to present myself and see if I would be a good asset to them because I love their music and I love what he's about. Also, it’s not just the frontman for me, I think he's a brilliant artist. So there's a lot of things. I just wanted our worlds to merge somehow. Within the first five minutes of our conversation, I'm like “Oh I get his brain.” I told them my story. I told him that this is like 20 years in the making. You know, I probably sound like a crazy-fan costume designer. But we share ideas, he walked me through the concepts of things he wants to do on this particular tour and they haven't started doing the US leg of the tour. I didn't know if they had a designer. Then he did mention Colleen was doing something for him and I was like “Okay, how - can this be a triangle? You know? Can I come in in the picture?” It was just a beautiful collaboration. It was a genuine artist to artist conversation. Like “Let's do something interesting.” He walked me through his concepts, his ideas and I'm like “Alright well, let me come up with some creatives, see if we're on the same page.” Again, as much as I wanted to be like “Hey we're doing this tomorrow!” I also felt like it's important now in my career and possibly in his, to make sure the relationship is good, that this is the right artistic match to one another and… it worked! From there it was just amazing fittings, amazing collaboration and some iconic things that went viral!

Interviewer: I love hearing this from you because this is like the joyous experience of 'oh my god I dreamt of working with somebody and you finally get to do it'. But I want to take you back to that because I'm curious. How would that process even begin? You're working with somebody that you already know their music, you already know his vibe. And Colleen Atwood, who I've interviewed by the way, on the show, she's incredible. Our interview had to - she was in the middle of a work day, so it was only it was a short interview. But how does a collaboration like that work with somebody like Gerard Way? How do you guys start working together? How is that process?

Marina: For us, it was just like an initial conversation. I introduced myself, my work. They already did some background checking up to see where I stand, what my aesthetic was like. And I felt I was in a place in my life, in my career, where I was able to bring something new. That's where my confidence I think came from. At the same time I didn't want to change the artist that's in front of me. I think that's always so important for me when working with music. You're dealing with a fan base, and a reputation, an aesthetic approach that's far beyond any artistic reach of anybody new coming in. So for me it was having a conversation, understanding what characters he wanted to bring forward. This was a very playful tour. This wasn't about dressing up the whole band. This was about him being in this world of iconic characters. And how can we bring this to life? What can we do that's still very recognizable to his fans but at the same time a little bit of a shock value? But at the same time, I wanted him to be him, you know? He was in this beautiful place in his life and career where he felt great and felt confident and I just wanted to uplift that. We did our creative decks, went through the conversations of which characters we wanted to go with, these are the shows that he had. I knew which city, we kind of wanted to play off where was the right time. Halloween was right around the corner, what do we do? So it was like very strategic conversations but at the same time so much room to play and be creative. So I just gathered the top 10 characters that we had discussed and kind of started doing my own thing, and keeping him and the music in mind. Had an amazing fitting. I've never worked with an artist that's so clear. It was not just directional and very precise and very distinct on his own style, but it was clear for me when we were doing fittings, this is somebody that knows his body. This is somebody who knows his aesthetic on stage. This is somebody that knows how they're going to perform. So it just made it so much easier for me to be able to fall into his world and do the fittings like “Is this going to come off? Is this piece staying on? Are we going to do options? Is the character going to evolve on stage? Is the character going to come down on stage?” So all those conversations happen in our fittings and then I just packed it all up, with distinct notes, send them off, and then kept checking in, making sure everything was okay.

Interviewer: So when you had a direction for the characters, were you doing sketches first?

Marina: No, not at all. This was something that I felt like needed to have the research. It wasn't just about designing something on paper. When he mentioned to me “I wanted to be a vintage cheerleader” I'm like “Okay, what era are we in? 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 40’s?” and then he was like “Find me something that's within possibly this color scheme.” The image that went viral when he did wear the cheer uniform, it was probably like 10 different vintage stores that we went to. And I'm like “Okay everything's size zero.” or like “What am I gonna do? This stuff doesn't exist anymore. If I get it from Etsy it's not going to come in time.” There's like so much and it happened to be as we were leaving one of the stores I looked on a sale rack and I saw this damaged, weird, vintage cheer dress that had no zipper, that had no hem. And I was like “I love this! I love this because I can reconstruct it. I can go and get the fabrics that we need to still keep it original and authentic. And that's how we start working. I build out a mannequin his size at my studio, put it on, we reshaped it, took the whole thing apart, reconstructed it to be his measurements, and still kept it authentic. After he wore it, the pattern for the actual thing was sold out. Fans loved it so much that we were getting notifications that people actually found the original pattern of this 1940s uniform and were buying it out.

Interviewer: That's crazy, okay!

Marina: Oh it's amazing! I think, to me, that's when things are just meant to be. When not only did my work translate into something beautiful on stage, but then he becomes this incredible persona on stage that then delivers the character and plays it off. We did that throughout every single look. Every single look when it became a fan favorite or craze.

Interviewer: In terms of time, what was the process when you first got the gig and then to the first show that was performing using your work? What was the time frame?

Marina: I think I had about a month to get it all together.

Interviewer: Wow! That’s not much!

Marina: Yeh and at the same time, I had another huge project in the works so it was going back and forth. But I could not tell you, I've had difficult projects in the past, I've had difficult times with artists, or finding our own language, or how to execute some things. This was so easy that time didn't matter to me. It was such a great collaboration, it flowed, like Bruce Lee would say, like water. It just made sense and no matter how difficult my other project was or what was going on at the same time, it was like oh this is the universe showing me this is how it's supposed to be. This is what's inspiring me. And at the end of the day, the one thing I told Gerard was “You made me fall in love with music again. You came into my life as an artist that I've admired and wanted to work with for almost 20 years. There was a big part of my beginning that made me look back at this now and be like “Oh that's what. That was that feeling that I had when I was 16 or 20.”

[beckdean]

@caleb-lycaon

Location: Boundary between The Shipyard and Chissob Hills.

Ever since learning of her shifting, and the link to the cycles of the moon, Beck had been more than careful when it came to keeping track. She was usually extra vigilant with locking herself away within whichever apartment she was renting, keeping the outside world safe from her. It was rare she'd even fully remember what happened during nights of the full moon - though often she awoke to trashed furniture and scratch marks on the walls by the time dawn came.

Since being in VC, she'd felt uneasy. Too many now suspected what she was, enough so to have her constantly on edge - and distracted. She'd decided to walk the long way home from The Docks, limbs heavy and tired from a long day at work, taking the twisting, familiar roads - when she felt that old tingling sensation beneath her skin, the sense of something waking inside. The evening had only just begun to shift to dusk, and as she glanced up towards the sky she saw the early moon, barely visible - but, most definitely, full. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

She was still too far from her apartment to safely make it - yet she tried, almost instantly taking off in a sprint, running blindly in the vague direction of safety. She made it closer - but not close enough. Despite the urge within her to resist, to hold on to everything human, even she could accept the inevitable after all these years. So, at the final second she abandons her mission for sanctuary, and instead takes to the nearest alley, thankfully empty - at least at first.

As the moon finally advanced in the sky, Beck gives in to the change, hiding herself rather unceremoniously behind a set of trash cans. One moment she's there - then there is the wolf, all dark fur and sharp teeth. Desperate, she tried in anguish to hold on to the part of her mind that was still Beck, planting her clawed feet into the paving stones of the alley, determined to remain unseen - I will not move until morning, I will not move until morning. The instruction was like a mantra, echoing in her mind.

At least, until she smelled something human - then anything that was left of Beck was quickly gone.

A drunk couple made their way down the side of the building, unknowingly in her direction. She could hear their laughter, detect that distinctly human scent - and suddenly those untested lupine instincts were on high alert, ready to hunt. The wolf made no noise as she stepped into the shadows beside them, eyes arched and teeth bared, remaining unseen for now as she prepared to strike.

[vyrulent]

autumn starter call || @geuse-is-loose

Lydia was alone again. Delia was gone to be with Dad. Astrid was off living her life with her new husband and baby. Life continued on, yet for some reason everything felt so stagnant.

Halloween was usually her favorite night, but she found herself alone. Far more alone than she'd ever felt in previous years. It had been a year to the day that they had nearly married again. The only light came from the television screen and the dim light that stayed lit over the stove in the kitchen. Everything else was shrouded in darkness.

He was haunting her dreams and she'd occasionally see him out of the corner of her. Fuck it.

"Beetlejuice ... Beetlejuice ... Beetlejuice."

[talesofourworlds]

@tenebriism liked for an Arise starter!

"Hey, Dohalim?"

"You looked a little lonely over here, so I thought I'd come join you," Rinwell said. There was a good chance, she thought, that he might have just been lost in thought. It had been hard to wager a guess when she'd just been observing from near the campfire while everyone else had been busying themselves with their own activities. In her hands, Rinwell carried a couple of cups. Each was full of hot chocolate she'd made.

It was almost funny, she thought as she moved to stand a little closer. When she'd first met him, Rinwell had been understandably standoffish toward both him and Shionne. Now they were all a closely knit group of friends.

"I also thought maybe you could use a warm drink," she went on, holding out one of the cups for him to take if he wanted. "Anything on your mind?"

[lcvebirds]

calum wasn’t sure how he landed himself in this situation but, if you asked him, it was just his luck. he sat back on the bed, not having much else to do since he was in fact locked in here. he’d normally spend his free time with his nose in a book or scrolling mindlessly through social media but he didn’t have the luxury of either at the moment. sighing, he stared up at the ceiling. how was he going to get out of this? he didn’t have any friends due to being new to the city and he didn’t have any family either. he was stuck getting out of this situation on his own. the silence filled room was suddenly interrupted with the sound of his key going into the lock on the other side of the door and calum’s eyes met benji’s. “when are you going to let me out of here? it’s been days.”

@rcsengxrten​

[lancexbrowne]

starter for @diegoocastro Location: The Human Bean

"How it is going? It's been awhile," he spoke with a warm and friendly voice on his face as he walked in and stood behind the other. Both Diego and Lance were teachers. So they had some understanding and could relate in some ways based on their job. "I know the kids at this time of the year tend to get restless and excited for the holidays."

[7ndcvils]

The way that asshole disrespected the innocent barista almost set Ryder off in front of the morning rush. A simple mistake turned into a harsh lesson that not everyone was kind and forgiving. Fortunately for the barista, Ryder planned to teach the asshole the same - just needed information. Zipping through the crowd, following the price of shit, Ryder realized the said POS was a bigger shark than anticipated; a hot shot attorney who had his face plastered on billboards and bus station ads. this is going to require a little finesse.

Typically Ryder would move on, find another victim who no one would miss but deserved the lesson. However, Ryder was already in a bad mood. Plus, anyone who would happily degrade another human being in front of a crowd deserved some kind of consequence.

Standing at her door, Ryder gave a few knocks and waited patiently. It wasn't uncommon for him to show up unannounced. In fact, that was the only way he worked. And when Ivy finally opened the door, Ryder flashed his pearly whites. "Hello beautiful," he greeted, extending a bouquet of daisies toward her. // @myriadxofxmuses

[cantfightmoonlight]

@ofbloodandsnow

"Oh thank god you're here," She exclaimed, a sigh of relief breaking from her lips as she yanked the door open to see her brother. "Do you hear them, right now?" She motioned over her shoulder to where their dads where in her kitchen currently debating how to improve the safety of her house now that they had heard the news of Mason's passing.

"How many protection charms do you think is too many? And should we be positioning someone to put up more pedestrian crossing signage?" Sammy asked, as he began to pour out the bag of charms he had brought with him onto the counter top. "I mean what if that had been Jasmine the other night or Tommy or Noel? I mean what about during the full moon? You wander all the time across the street without looking both ways as a wolf. Little vests would be a bit too much for them to wear, wouldn't they?"

"Por favor, mi corazón," Manuel moved around the counter to cup his husband's face in his hands. "Vests are a bit ridiculous. Don't you think?"

"I know, I know, I just get worried with us back in New York," Sammy began to admit only for Manuel to cut him off with an even more outrageous idea.

"We should booby trap the yard and make them all download find my friends while they're at it."

Jas turning back to Tommy told her brother through a tight smile, "Help me," as she yanked him inside and walking him straight into the kitchen. "Guess whose here?"

"¡mi hijo! ¿Eres tu? ¡Mírate! Te has vuelto tan grande," Manuel exclaimed, pushing past both Sammy and Jas to pull Tommy in for a tight bear hug. While Manuel had always been the less affectionate one out of the bunch, he made an exception when it came to his children and, despite Tommy being 6"2, he still managed to pick the boy up before placing him haphazardly back down to give him a hearty pat on the back. "Hasn't he gotten so big?" He glanced back over towards his husband who was already making his way around the counter to throw his arms around Tommy as well.

[ohmylcve]

closed starter for @novemindie ! based on age gap wlw from your wishlist :)

"tell me," the ginger started as she took three model-like steps towards the younger female, looking her up and down and truly trying to read her: it was usual that women would ask to be a muse of verona, so that wouldn't be a thing to care about. what intrigued her though, was that it wasn't the first nor the second time the female had shown up claiming to pose once more. "when are you going to admit to yourself that this ain't about my painting?"

[jcksonfields]

WHO: @xreynadel and JD

WHERE: Holiday market

WHEN: December 17ish 2023

Excited for the winter market, JD decided to get an early start hoping to maybe beat some of the rush. He had a bunch of people to get gifts for, his parents and his siblings, as well as his friends Beck, Shosh, Harley, and Aisha. Walking around the booths, he had already had a couple of things he bought, nothing too big that it couldn't fit into bis backpack. Stopping at a booth he picked up an item, turning it over to get a better look at it. Turning to the person next to him, "does this say, thanks for being a good sister? Or I'm sorry I broke your favorite toy when we were younger?" Hoping to strike up a conversation with Reyna, someone he had seen around town but wasn't too familiar with yet.

[convallariae]

━━ ✘ ･･･ conversational sentence meme ❝  are you sure you’re alright? ❞ ~ fjor ( @thenightmareofyourdrems )

she     sat     there,     amid     the     dim-lit     ambience     of     the     bar     and     where     the     murmur     of     conversations     intertwined,     weariness     casting     a     subtle     shadow     upon     her     lineaments.          her     fingers     curled     around     the     cool     glass,     lifting     it     to     her     tiers     as     she     savoured     the     bitterness     of     the     brew          [     …     ]          it     was     a     momentary     respite     from     the     demands     of     life,     wanting     not     to     mingle     in     the     chaotic     laughs     from     those     around.

through     chocolate     spheres     that     held     the     weight     of     her     fatigue,     she     still     observed     the     approach     of     a     young     boy.               curiosity     danced     upon     her     brow     then,     a     question     woven     into     the     furrow     of     her     thoughts          ⸻          what     reason     could     one     so     young     have     for     stepping     into     such     a     filthy     and     sordid     environment?          ❝     what?     ❞          a     brow     arched     and     wide     eyes     prevailed,     noting     how     he     was     a     question     mark     in     a     space     where     answers     often     eluded     grasp,     a     puzzle     piece     that     seemed     incongruous     in     the     realm     of     grown-up     escapades…     and     how     he     somehow     knew     she     was     struggling.          ❝     is     that     how     you     often     break     the     ice     with     a     woman?     ❞          a     smirk     was     finally     exhibited,     shrugging     his     shoulders     in     a     rather     dismissive     response.          ❝     nice     try…     but     i     don't     think     this     is     the     right     place     for     you,     still…     ❞          

yet,     even     as     her     patience     wore     thin,     she     allowed     him     a     seat     at     her     table,          an     unspoken     invitation     coming     in     the     gesture     of     her     hand.          ❝     if     you     wanna     join     me…     it's     all     yours.     ❞          

[theking-blackheart-muses]

@wildfantxsies​

  Liam was a powerful wolf. His body covered with scars from battles he had won. Liam was trained from birth on being a warrior. He had learned to never under estimate an opponent and he always assumed that those he fought always had an advantage.  That thinking was what helped the Liam stay so strong and ahead. The other was also a powerful wolf too, both had strong reputation. Both Liam and the other came from rival clans which had been at war with each other for decades. Both sides fighting for control.

It was Liam against them, the winner decided the outcome of the war. Liam stood tall victorious. he was silent for a moment as he looked around his people and the other’s people before looking down at his rival who had just lost. He leaned down and grabbed the male’s hair with force and smiled. “You are mine now,” he spoke voice deep and powerful. 

[hvbris]

@bertievi​ . 𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐈 𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑

Lucretia was terribly nervous, and it was unlike her, really. But while her brother carried himself with his usual nonchalance -the nonchalance of a first son, the nonchalance of an heir- she could feel the weight of responsibilities on her shoulders. She was the eldest, and at her father’s despair, a woman! Not only did she represent the family, but she was already at fault in his eyes. So, meeting someone quite so important came with a heavy load of worry.

Meeting a king! 

Oh, that was both so exciting and so dreadful! What if she made a fool of herself! What if she said something so utterly ridiculous that her father banished her to the districts?

But she had to get a grip! She was Lucretia Snow! And a Snow never felt fear, a Snow never backed away from a challenge. She had decided to face this situation with elegance and solemnity, just like she faced everything else in life.

“Your Majesty,” she said to the very distinguished guest, doing a perfect curtsy (nothing less than perfect for a Snow), “what an honor to meet you. I do hope you had an enjoyable journey.”

[erstwhles]

inspired by this / @dozenzofrozez

As if seeing Roxie in the news every other week was not enough, Samuel takes a breath as he gives the outside of her house a onceover. It has been years since he saw her. It has been years since he has even thought about seeing her. Even so, something about this place feels like Roxie. And though he doesn't have many opinions beyond that, at least it has better security than his apartment, whose exterior is still harboring several paparazzi members who are desperate for any other shred of information.

All at once, he is struck by how different their lives are from each others, but this is exactly what she wanted. "Answers, right? For the answers." Samuel takes a deep breath, doing his best to ignore how small he feels as he approaches the door and knocks before stepping back and hoping there is no answer.

[sharpenurdamnknife]

@ashesstxries​ wanted a starter!

Piper was used to walking out at night, even after vampires “came out of the coffin’.  You had to be when you were a chef.  Its not like New Orleans ever slept anyway.  Still she had a can of pepper spray on her keychain and a literal bag of knives on her shoulder.  She’d always felt pretty secure in that.  She was more wary of people then she was of vampires anyway-

Which tonight seemed to be a mistake.  The wind was knocked out of her as she hit a wall.  Her head cracked on it so hard there were stars behind her eyes.  She fumbled for the pepper spray though, aimed and fired.   It didn’t do anything.

“Shit.”  It was only then she realized her mistake.  It was in her own eyes and was a vampire- not a human.  Pepper spray wasn’t going to do anything.  The bearded vampire hand a hand around her throat and was sliding her up the brick alley wall by it.

[allwiredwrong]

who: Capra and Cinder ( @chaosandcrimson )

"I think I hear someone coming." Capra said, looking back in the direction that Cinder was in, having agreed to come and play look out for her tonight. Not that she needed it, but there were times a two person job was more ideal.