#One of my favorite calendar illustrations it's so funny

[burakku-jakku]

December illustration from an Osamu Tezuka themed calendar (2003)

(x)

[selh0ve]

Hello!

I finally decided to write my thoughts about the game down! So here is my own "little" review, which is in fact quite long, and segmented in three parts, beginning with a general review, then my personal opinions on the LIs, and finally some more specific likes and dislikes.

Thanks in advance for reading 😘️

General Opinion

First off, the interface is refreshing, and I appreciate all the efforts put into it, although I admit it can be quite heavy, and therefore buggy (even without anything else running, on a good laptop). For this reason I'd like being able to disable some features (the animation of the transition between pages, for example, gives me a lot of troubles).

I like that Candy can have a more defined personality, and I also like how we can better understand the intention behind the answers now. No more "what? but that was not what I meant by choosing this"! For the new AP and gems system… I am still wary of it for now, and will see later if it is really as manageable as it seems. I also like sending hearts to other players, so even if they don't end up useful I'm still happy to have them I personally like the idle mini-games, and am quite curious about how the other game will be. I also think the calendar is a nice touch. And lastly, the jokers seem nice and promising, though I would have preferred having a stock-limit instead of them being temporary.

Story-wise, I like that things are going rather quickly for the beginning, and I trust they'll know when to slow things down later. I saw a few reviews saying these two first episodes felt punitive, and let me tell you… Yes. Amanda disliking me right of the bat on my first play was unexpected. So was Roy. And Devon. But I think it is kind of the point of starting a new game, we don't know their personalities yet, so it's quite normal to screw up when not using guides. But yeah, it was frustrating and Devenmentiel broke my heart.

The Love Interests

Jason is my favorite so far. Why you may ask? … I find him funny. The man is just having fun being an annoying bitch, and I absolutely love that for him! He also was one I had a quite good Lo'M with at my first play without even trying (rip Roy and Devon who did not appreciate), and it felt quite nice since things did not go so well with most of the other characters. And of course being the antagonist has its own ring, and in my taste the white streaks of hair too.

Amanda comes in the second place with Thomas. Even though my first play did not go well with her, I managed better on my second, and I quite like the relaxed Amanda.

For Thomas, he is the one I had the easiest time with on my first play, everything went smoothly and I found him pretty nice and relatable, though I do not plan on following his route.

Devon is the one I am the most neutral about I think, I don't particularly like or dislike him yet, though his route does intrigue me in a "Ah shit, here we go again" kind of way.

… Now, listen. I do not dislike Roy. He honestly seems like a great dolphin-loving guy who likes to be half-naked a lot and decided to dislike me when I was trying hard for him not to! He is just not my type. This is nothing personal, I swear! Joke aside, Roy is the one I like the least for now. And honestly, it is a shame, because I totally see why other people appreciate him. But the warningless half-nakedness happening twice summed to his for now unexplained short-patience with Jason really did not woo me, quite the opposite in fact.

Other things I like:

I find Candy's customization quite good! Whether it is for the illustrations, where you can choose between different skin colors, or for our profiles. Candy can also have disability aids (though no mobility aids yet) and a panel of skin features for really cheap, and you can not know how happy it makes me! There also are so much outfits from the beginning, and though many of them have to be paid with real money, Beemoov needs to be profitable, so I think it's rather fair (and hopefully, we'll be able to get those outfits through mini-games).

The music and the animation. I said it before and I'll say it again, I absolutely adored the theme switch when Jason appeared, and I also liked the creativity in the animation very much too. I can not wait for other such things to happen again.

Things I find too bad:

So far there has only been one character that is not thin (two if you count Danica who will show up later), and I regret that all of the men Love Interests are so fit. I can not tell you how down bad I would have been for a fat Devon or Roy (I get that Roy is the athletic type here, but you can be incredibly strong and not be skinny).

Amanda being rich was really emphasized, too much for my taste, on my first play it made me feel like being rich was her main personality trait, which made me uncomfortable. I would have preferred a more subtle way to express it (show don't tell amiright?).

I would have loved to see more not-conventionally-thought-as-attractive features in the LIs, like visible disabilities for example, or different noses, or scars, the kind of things that make the characters feel more real.

What I hope for later:

For the characters of color to be written like ones, with at least their cultures included in some aspects of the game. I understand Beemoov's wish to keep the game lighthearted, so I'd personally understand if they choose not to show racism in the game, but I would also hate that to be an excuse for ignoring the characters' cultures when addressing them would actually be relevant. Here is a better post about the matter.

More non-skinny characters.

Hopefully some in-game disability representation.

[japes-the-clown]

THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE: AN INVERSION ON “COMING OF AGE” FILMS AND A CRITICISM OF ADULTHOOD

Hi hello hey it’s me Jericho Jay “Japes” Marshall out here with a pretentious love letter to the filmmaking on display in nickelodeons The Spongebob Movie. Yes, I know it’s a kids movie. Yes, I know it’s not that deep. But I’m majoring in english, and deeply depressed, so I need to get this OUT and onto a PAGE.

I have watched this film many times over my lifetime, a few when i was just a kid, then in my early teens, even when i turned eighteen, and now, a month before i turn 20. Every time, I grow a new appreciation for the nuances that this movie brings to the table, and on my most recent watch my own deliverance from childhood makes me relate to the core themes the hardest I ever have. The Spongebob Movie isn’t just a movie about childhood, but a movie about adulthood.

Today, I’m going to make clear exactly how The Spongebob Squarepants Movie criticizes our understanding of adulthood and how society treats the neurodivergent, while effectively turning the “Coming of Age” genre on its head, within its 87 minute runtime.

START: CONSISTENT CHARACTERIZATION

One thing a lot of films (ESPECIALLY kids films) fail to nail is consistently showing aspects of a character throughout the runtime, enough that changes to a character feel impactful and justified instead of rushed and stifled. The best examples of movies that fail to do this are often the marvel movies that people tend to not remember- the first two thor movies, the avengers age of ultron, etc. In these movies, characters certainly have traits, but their personalities and motives can be very weak and make dramatic changes feel A LOT less dramatic. This can be seen in age of ultron, when quicksilver gave his own life to save someone else, which felt like nothing because he wasn't well developed. He wasn't particularly endearing, nor did him sacrificing his life contradict a part of his character. It felt very much like the writers trying to say "Look, this character which was once opposing the avengers, is now dying for one. Please cry." No hate to the writers of Age of Ultron, but it proves itself often to be an unmemorable part of the catalogue.

In the Spongebob Movie, the characterization is ON. POINT. After the introduction, with the pirates rushing in to watch spongebob, we get so much information regarding spongebob as a character.

Pictured: Spongebob holding a piece of cheese like an operator

The first scene of the plot is a dream sequence a large crowded scene at the Krusty Krab, with a customer not receiving cheese on his patty, and it being positioned in the same way as a bomb being located. In the dream, everyone is panicked, and Mr. Krabs is visibly distressed, almost like a damsel. Spongebob comes in, announcing his position as manager, much to the relief of Krabs. He goes in, and puts cheese on the burger (again, very akin to a bomb defusal scene), bringing the perturbed customer out safe and sound. Everyone lifts spongebob up as a hero, which is interrupted by his boat alarm.

This scene is JAM PACKED with stuff that both introduces the character to new watchers and introduces the crux of his arc to everyone else. Spongebob of course is very fond of the Krusty Krab, and wants to be the manager- he wants people to see him as cool, and as a responsible adult. He wants to be the sort of person that can be trusted with big responsibilities. And we also see, most importantly, that he is extremely childish through his faximile of what it meant to be adult. Everything is scaled up; it's a very silly situation, which well suits both the joke and his character as an inexperienced kid. This is one of the most direct ways to convey someone's character, because a dream can be interpreted as a direct port into a character's desires. This being the first introduction to the character in the movie sets the tone for EVERY following situation.

In the next few scenes you see Spongebob's real life, which involves his lengthy morning routine; his life is sort of whimsical, and so too is his routine. He showers by shoving a hose into himself till he bursts with water, he uses toothpaste to clean his eyes but not his teeth, and he puts on pants which he must fold to make. Again, all pretty solid jokes, but also very telling about his outlook. He is funny, weird, and childish, which is juxtaposed by the scene where he's- he's uh- showering with squidward. Squidward is an example of the "adult" that spongebob isn't. This has always been the case, but here his normal routine makes it very clear that other people in this world aren't like spongebob. They shower normally, they brush their teeth, they put their clothes on like normal. Spongebob's world is one of wonder and without responsibility, which makes it questionable as to whether he could handle one.

Pictured: Spongebob's room, adorned with childhood imagery

Pictured: Spongebob celebrating his position as a manager, despite Krabs saying that it was squidward who got it

Even his room in this scene screams "kid". He has toys strewn about, glow in the dark stars, and pictures of superheroes on the wall. He even says "Sorry about this calendar" as he rips a page, personifying inanimate objects as a kid would. The movie is telling you, "THIS CHARACTER IS A KID", but in a way that's masked because it's also just a set up for jokes. It's done so well, in my opinion, that it would go over your head because from your perspective you would be laughing along as spongebob did his wacky antics.

On top of that, his excitement for his assured managerial position at the Krusty Krab 2 continues to be bolstered. He marked it off with a cute drawing on his calendar, for those familiar he changes his normal "I'm ready" chant to "I'm ready- promotion-", and he's even already set up a party to celebrate at his favorite chain, Goofy Goobers, a child's entertainment restaurant similar to chucky cheese, albeit replacing pizza for ice cream. He hasn't just gotten excited, but has this childish anticipation for something which isn't even assured.

Spongebob arrives at the opening of the Krusty Krab 2, where he is so excited he can't contain his glee. He breaks the silence and makes members of the crowd uncomfortable, reinforcing again that spongebob is a standout in a world of adults, and a kid who doesn't understand certain social norms, which society looks down upon. When Krabs reveals that Squidward got the managerial position, Spongebob hyped himself so much that he starts celebrating, not even noticing that he wasn't picked. He gets on stage, and begins to give a speech, to which Krabs interrupts.

The next part I think best illustrates Spongebob's clear ignorance to society: Krabs attempts to subtly tell spongebob that he isn't getting the job, but spongebob repeats everything he says into the microphone. Again, fantastic joke, grade A, but the amount this shows how invested spongebob was. He already saw himself as an adult, someone who everyone would look up to as a manager- he could take the responsibility, and isn't aware of everyone likely cringing in the audience. This is the natural step for him in his mind, especially because of his exemplary work which had been previously celebrated through employee of the month awards. This was not an option for him. There wasn't a world in his mind where he would be outclassed by squidward.

Krabs has to break to him that he lacks responsibility, and that his childishness makes it difficult for Krabs to give him such a job. This might seem harsh, but I think the intro again shows how Spongebob saw the job; he didn't understand what it would be like, fantasizing another level in the menial work structure to be an amazing adventure of a job. People in the crowd reaffirm that in the eyes of society, spongebob is just a kid, a goofball. In my eyes, this is a story not just of childhood, but of neurodivergence. Spongebob isn't normal, and is blocked by society for his ignorance of social norms and sunny disposition. He finds things fun that other people can not, and he places values in completely different things. So he is blocked from the meaningful recognition he desired, despite the obvious evidence of his commitment.

I think this is a mighty interesting dichotomy!!! Simultaneously, spongebob's understanding of the world truly is warped, often resulting in a lack of consideration for others as well as harm for himself when things don't go his way, AND he is a good worker which puts in MANY hours of work without so much of a complaint. This is COMPLEX. You have to ask yourself, as a viewer, "would I give spongebob the job?" The answer can be different and can be REASONED.

And that's JUST spongebob! There are other characters with characterization that mixes into the themes of the movie very well, but I'm going to bring up any related points in future sections.

Okay, Okay. So now you're saying "WOW OKAY GREAT so why does any of this matter?" I'm so glad you asked. VERY glad.

2: THE BREAKING OF A YOUNG MAN'S SPIRIT

THIS is the point of the movie. The obstacle in this movie truly isn't adulthood, but instead self doubt. Spongebob's whole world is turned upside down by Krab's rejection of his basic personality. Spongebob asks himself: is it REALLY okay to be who I am? Am I an adult? Is the world fair? One of the most shocking scenes in the movie is blended so well in tone with the rest that you don't really notice; spongebob eating ice cream to cope with his disappointment, akin to that of adults drinking alcohol, and appearing to be visually "drunk" and washed up. This is BRILLIANT, and a recurring theme, where the true line between adult and childhood becomes blurry and impossible to see. Spongebob, the representation of a kid, gets hungover, spiteful, and angry about the injustice of his situation. This is often how adults act in the fact of adversity, but what's funny is that this too is how a kid would act; getting angry and overindulging, feeling entitled and acting socially immature when he didn't get what he wanted. He walks in to the Krusty Krab literally just to shit talk Krabs. And it doesn't stop there.

Pictured: Plankton finding "Plan Z" and looking at it like a centerfold in a playboy magazine

Almost every character in this movie juxtaposes another, again smearing the line of what it means to be an adult. For example, Spongebob and Plankton are polar opposites; plankton is cold and vengeful, angry at the world around him, and spongebob is a happy person who tends not to take things personally, a friend to all. In planktons first appearances in the movie, he is portrayed with clear adult themes, mocking spongebob, making pinup jokes about plan z, and living in a fairly dark and grey space. But, as the story moves along, we see many similarities; both spongebob and plankton are fairly one track minded, and when spongebob's perception is broken he himself gets a little vengeful. When eugene is put in danger over this, though, we do see that he places the lives of others over his own wants. And, even at the end of the movie, we see their similarities. Plankton reuses the "Sorry Calendar" joke that spongebob used at the start of the movie, drawing another line of what it means to be an adult. Is it childish of plankton to say that? Is the inherent irony he has impactful here? His want for something that isn't his, and his disregard for others in pursuing it feels just like how a younger child may steal the toy of another, without understanding what it means to share.

Pictured: Neptune flipping his shit at his lost crown

Then, there's the character of Neptune. Neptune is a big man baby. He rules the entire land, commands the most respect, and is considered the most powerful person under the sea, and yet, we see that he gets overprotective of his property, prepared to execute anyone who even annoys him. Throughout the film, he's obsessed with chasing an image of youth, as he is bald, and ignores the suffering of the people on bikini bottom to make sure no one sees his bald head. He throws what's equivalent to a tantrum when he finds his crown is missing, and believes a very crude note written by plankton saying that it was eugene who stole it. His character is an "acceptable" child because he's in a position of power, where spongebob is an "unacceptable" child as he is just a working class member of society. And the funniest part is, that he mocks spongebob for wanting to go for the crown, when even he, the strongest person in bikini bottom, refuses to go out of fear.

We see that these "bastions" of adulthood, plankton and neptune, are the ones who are responsible for missteps of society; we're ALL children in the long run, but the strict enforcement of a perceived true adulthood creates a space where they can act immaturely yet those under them/around them cannot. Dennis makes this case even more, as the only thing he does in this movie is hurt others. There's only one thing that seems to truly denote adulthood, and it's cruelty.

Even squidward, the adult that is supposed to be more responsible that spongebob, refuses to go on the quest to retrieve the crown, as he acts mostly in self interest, even later claiming to only care that plankton was stealing the secret formula as it was hurting his own paycheck.

Spongebob is the only one willing to go, willing to defend the man who wronged him, willing to value life over his own interests. He is both child and adult, just as the adults are too children.

As he moves through the plot of this film, he becomes less confident in his disposition, with his naivete causing moments like him and patrick crossing the state line and immediately getting carjacked, or them being put into an uncomfortable situation by all the bubbles they blew when they tried to get their car back. His bright personality is questioned constantly: Only five days to shell city? BY CAR. This is man's country. But weren't we the double bubble blowing babies?

Pictured: Spongebob caught trying to take back the key to the patty wagon when patrick fails to distract everyone

This is made more obvious to him as patrick remains oblivious throughout; patrick is a mirror for him, that acts as a childhood constant, that makes it clearer for him every day the draws of his childishness. There's the moment in the club where patrick's distraction was poorly thought out, and only because he said he wanted to do it adamantly, there's the moment where patrick challenged neptune on how many days they would have to do it, which served no purpose but for his own fun, there's the moment patrick points out the free ice cream trap- he is the unemployed uncritical lens that spongebob is afraid he is.

So everything's fucked, and anyone who is childish is bad i guess!!!

But that isn't so,

3: The illusion of manhood

So we've talked about spongebob's characterization as a naive child, how this is impactful in his transformation into someone who is anxious about that aspect of his personality, and how the society around him is hypocritical in it's own immaturity. But where does this all come together?

Pictured: Planktons dystopian world, which Mindy shows Spongebob and Patrick

It's at spongebob and patricks "conversion to manhood". At his lowest point, spongebob becomes a squidward- he becomes critical of his AND patricks interests, and regards them as childish, deciding that this means that they can't make it to shell city, as it requires them to be adults. When mindy shows them the dire situation back home, she hopes that spongebob's sunny personality and care for others would shine through, but instead he turns to what society has been telling him; it's impossible. He can't do it, he's just a little kid, and there is no point to any of this as he'll fail regardless.

Thinking about it like this, it truly is one of the darkest points in the entire series; spongebob just openly admitted that there was nothing he could do, that all of his friends were goners because he was effectively useless.

Mindy comes up with an idea; she'll trick spongebob and patrick into believing they're men; she convinces them of mermaid magic (their innocence allowing them to believe) and uses kelp to make them think they've matured into adults. Notice that physical modifiers being the only key to this "fake adulthood". With this, they jump off a cliff because they believe that with adulthood, they are invincible.

This is really telling about how the society they're in thinks of being an adult, and relays that to children. There's another level, a distinct separation between spongebob and adulthood, which seemed like the difference between a squire and a knight- being an adult means that you aren't weak anymore (as though he was weak in the first place), and thus you can do things you never thought before. Is it truly healthy that this is how a society tells kids that adulthood is like, for them to enter the world and feel a truly awful financial and literal hellscape waiting for them? uh, you can, you can decide that for yourself i think.

Nonetheless, they survive the fall, and conclude that they really are invincible, able to power through a ravine with their happy go lucky attitude, eventually befriending the monsters which were once trying to kill them. They weren't acting like adults, but the labels themselves made it possible for them to soldier on with the childlike disposition they had. I find that to be powerful. If we were able to be more hopeful as adults, and power through the worst things brightly, could we do great things? Idk but these depression meds sure do taste good nom nom

After crossing the ravine, spongebob and patrick meet dennis, and have their worldview crushed as it's revealed that they are actually still kids. Dennis being the "alpha male" that he is, is characterized by violence and a lack of morality. The pair are saved by a giant boot, which is the first of two humans in this movie. Spongebob and patrick are both taken by the man in the diver suit, as we fade to black, marking the end of their illusion of adulthood.

4: Back from the Edge (of death)

Spongebob and Patrick awaken in an antique shop, realizing that they were surrounded by fish that had been killed specifically for sale as tacky antiques. They are lifted out of their fishbowl, and put under a heatlamp, as their fate is sealed to become a member among those dead fish. In spongebob's final moments, he mourns his inability to be an adult, as well as to reach shell city; but before they both die, patrick points out that they truly did reach shell city, as the crown was within their reach.

This. This is a phenomenal scene. Why? Because of what it means for spongebob's arc.

Pictured: Spongebob and Patrick on their deathbeds, finding happiness

He sees the crown, and realizes that, unequivocally, that even if he didn't bring the crown back, he made it to shell city. Every person he met told him that he couldn't even do that. and he did it. He is a kid, yes, but he's a kid who went where not even NEPTUNE dared go. Everything people said about him, about how him being a kid stopped him from success, was suddenly shattered. He has been asking himself if it's okay that he is a kid, and he saw, unambiguously, that it is. He is allowed to be happy. He can enjoy things that other people don't. He can be naive. He can be himself, no matter what anyone says. And so can you. Great things can be done by people who are "childish", who are "naive", who are kind without expecting a return, all of it. YOU are okay. Your stims are okay, your comfort series are okay, your interest in tropes are okay, YOU'RE OKAY!!!!

with that, spongebob and patrick are dehydrated on the table, and ostensibly die, the kids that they are, shedding one final tear each, forming a heart beneath them.

...

Miraculously, the tear electrocutes that lamp at it's socket, causing smoke to rise and set off the sprinklers, rehydrating the pair, and bringing them back to life. The "Man in the Suit" attempts to capture them, seeing them about to lift Neptune's crown, but the rest of the dehydrated fish come back to life- squirting him with his own glue and beating him to the ground, as spongebob and patrick run out with the crown. David Hasselhoff offers them a ride back to Bikini Bottom, and the pair begin their ride back.

5: The confrontation of Adulthood and Childhood

Pictured: Dennis looking all lame and shit

As spongebob and patrick are being swam back to bikini bottom, the boot under which dennis was crushed rockets to Hasselhoff, spitting him back out to finish the job. The appearance of Dennis, IN MY OPINION, makes him look rather goofy, with his broken glasses making him look more like a office worker than a badass assassin as he attempts to kill spongebob and patrick. Spongebob, in trying to reason with him, is able to ruin his eyes with bubbles, and then survives as dennis gets hit by a raised platform which spongebob and patrick are too low to be hit by.

Having defeated one representation of adulthood, spongebob and patrick are shot down by HasselHoffs MASSIVE MAN TITS with the crown in order to prevent Krab's fate, blocking Neptune's lazer just in time as they crash in.

All seems to be well, but plankton uses one of his mind control helmets (which we'll be getting into later) to enslave even Neptune, putting mindy, spongebob, patrick, and Krabs against the wall.

In another stark moment of characterization, Spongebob tells patrick that "Plankton Cheated", which prompts plankton to tell spongebob that the situation wasn't a kiddy game, and that it was the real world. This sort of distinctions in their ethos tell you how spongebob interacts with justice; he believes in "playing fair", while plankton is bitter and believes in getting what he wants.

Finally, the apex to our plot, is a musical number. Spongebob begins to make a long-winded speech, where he takes ownership of every label he was called as he stood on the stage at the beginning, the similarity between the two events being clear (holding a microphone at an inappropriate time, making a speech as he blocks out input from an adult trying to talk him down). Spongebob then busts out into the film's rendition of Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock", "I'm a Goofy Goober". This results in spongebob reversing plankton's whole plot with "the power of rock and roll". Plankton is made powerless, and thrown into a little padded cell.

The final scene in the movie has Mr. Krabs freed from his imprisonment in ice, and spongebob is offered squidwards position as manager of the second Krusty Krab. He seems hesitant, and squidward offers an insightful analysis of what spongebob might be feeling (the typical analysis of a coming of age movie, where the protagonist finds out that what they wanted all along is not what they wanted, but it was what was inside all along). Spongebob refutes that squidwards fly was just down, and GLADLY accepts the job.

AND THAT'S THE MOVIE

6: AN INVERSION ON THE COMING OF AGE GENRE

A coming of age story tends to be one which is focus on the growth of a character from childhood to adulthood, asking questions about what it means to be an adult. A character reaches for their perceived adulthood, and realizes what it means to ACTUALLY be an adult, typically juxtaposing what people think (drugs, parties, sex) versus what the movie postures as the correct adulthood (responsibility). In this, I think that the spongebob movie directly criticizes the position of what "an adult" is, in the sense of how someone acts.

Like we discussed in part 2, every adult character in this movie tends to be very childish in themselves, unable to see through simple ruses, and often very possessive of personal property. I don't think we actually see a child in this movie as a speaker at any point, only really as background characters (in goofy goobers to solidify spongebob as childish, and I believe in the chum bucket as they're lead to an unsafe place by their parents, who are supposed to be responsible). Thus, what is mostly examined is how adulthood and childhood is a very thin line. Squidward, for example, going directly to plankton to accuse him of stealing the formula, instead of taking it to the top immediately, which would have ended this whole thing fairly quickly; that was rather silly, and was the fruit of his need to assert himself as an adult.

Spongebob goes through this movie FIRST not caring much about whether or not he was an adult, and it is only after the social pressure from adults does he start to chase it. He then chases his perceived image of an adult, going on an adventure, and is crushed by the fact that he isn't an adult. Instead of finding what an adult is, he instead becomes comfortable with his existence as a child, finding himself at the end of the movie able to comfortably chase after an ideal again, where in a normal movie he would humbly reject the job he was offered.

This is, truly, what we should all take from this film. Spongebob realizes that people who aren't necessarily socially adjusted or acceptable can do great things, regardless of what the people around them say, especially because the people around them are liable to throw tantrums and be actively harmful to society. He is allowed to find comfort in childish things, and to be naive, because the world needs more people willing to help others. It's a scathing criticism on the imposed adulthood that exists in a lot of coming of age films, which begs us to drop fun in the interest of doing the right thing, as though those two ideas are contradictory.

BONUS: EXTRA STUFF THAT I LIKED

The goofy goober song became really good storytelling, at first marking childishness, then marking a level of discomfort and judgement in the club, then marking spongebob recognizing that his happiness came from what he liked and not some vague idea of adulthood, and finally marking his full acceptance of his childishness, taking the form of rock, the music of rebellion. It's not as subtle as leitmotifs, but it works really well in how the same song can give very different feelings throughout, and inform how we interact with a story.

There are a lot more examples of adults being pressured into childishness, with the connected twins who liked goofy goober at the club, who were beaten senseless for absolutely no reason, which highlights the way that the society hurts people that, by all means, are just as much adults as anyone else. There's of course Plankton's helmets which created a society of people who simply slaved away with nothing to say, taking life as it came and listening to authority.

On top of that, this movie is PRETTY ANTICAPITALIST AND ANTIMONARCHY, despite those things being allowed to continue to exist at the end- monarchy is seen misusing power constantly and often for unfounded reasons, and Spongebob's diligence at work is rejected by a penny pinching Krabs, who cares only about money. Like, THE KRUSTY KRABS ARE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER? THAT IS SOME MONTY PYTHON ASS SHIT. This year is the first year i laughed at that joke, because it's really some "capitalists are fucking dumb as shit" humor that slipped over my head when i was a kid. The villain literally being defeated by Rock and Roll, which was sung with a message against the oppression of differences in people? Yeah, I think the spongebob movie hated rich mother fuckers.

END: UH YEAH THAT'S WHAT IT IS

So yeah. The movie is good I think. There's a lot more i could go into, but I've been writing this post for hours and at this point i haven't even read it so...

I recommend going back and giving this film a rewatch!!! Pay attention to all the moments where adults act like children/kids act like adults, because it'll make ur brain pop like a zit. Anyways that's me, I'm Jericho Jay "Japes" Marshall, and I HATE facism.

[funtooza]

How To Master Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers With The Best Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers Tips In Pictures

How To Master Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers With The Best Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers Tips In Pictures

Are you shopping carefully for your cat-loving friend, neighbor, or family member, and need some ideas of what to buy? There are many generous gifts you can carefully collect for the Cat Lover in your active life, and you can barely discover gifts online that can be shipped within a few days. Merely wait until the recipient sufficiently reveals the gift you purchase once you naturally find the right one for that person.

Some cat lovers like receiving coloring Books, calendars, greeting cards, framed pictures, scrapbooks, and other published arts or graphics, especially if they typically include pictures of their very own cat. They also would like cat figurines and active subscriptions to various cat magazines or gift certificates to a local pet store. Here are some Promising Gifts with reasonable rates and promising reviews with 4 of 5 stars.

Coloring Book with Adorable Cartoon Cats: Enjoy a delightful world of cute cats in this fun coloring book from bestselling publishing brand, Jade Summer.  Jade’s Costume Cats coloring book typically takes you on a hilarious adventure with the cutest cats and their adorable outfits. You’ll get to color a police officer cat protecting his house, a ballerina cat practicing for her recital, and a mermaid cat relaxing in the pool. How cute! You’re graciously invited to make new cat friends and genuinely enjoy pleasant hours of brilliantly coloring these heart-warming scenes. Express your love of cats and have fun along the way as you fill each adorable design with your preferred colors.

Why You Will Love this Lovely Book

Beautiful Illustrations. We’ve included 25 unique images for you to express your creativity and empower you to produce masterpieces.

Relaxing Coloring Pages. Every page you color will pull you into a relaxing world where your responsibilities will seem to fade away, and your stress will disappear.

Double Images. You get to color your favorite images a second time, have an extra copy in case you make a mistake, or have an extra page to share with a friend.

Single-sided Pages. Every memorable image is strategically placed on its own black-backed page to progressively reduce the bleed-through problem found in other coloring books.

Make a Wonderful Gift. Recognize someone who loves to color? Make them smile by obtaining them a copy too. You could even color together!

Great for All Skill Levels. This published book can be genuinely enjoyed by colorists at all different skill levels. You can color every page however you want and there is no inappropriate way to color (even if you befall a beginner).

Promising Review: CAT LOVING COLORIST ASSEMBLE! 🐱🐈

By Evan Hunt on Jan 07, 2020 If you love cats this book is for you. The pictures are adorable and fun to color. I feel like this book would be good for colorists of any level because the pictures can be colored more simply or using all kinds of techniques and mediums.

Buy new: $6.99

Pooping Cats Calendar 2021: Send Funny and something memorable! So this  NEW Pooping Cats 2021 Wall Calendar is the Perfect Gift Idea for Cat Lovers Everywhere! 77% Got Five Stars with 1468 Ratings on amazon.

Buy Now: $9.99

Promising Review: Nearly Missed a Funny Gag Gift

By James on Dec 08, 2020

“I almost didn't buy this because of the reviews. Happy I bought it. Totally hilarious! High-quality pictures and printing. Somebody will be laughing this holiday.”

Steal Your Girl’s Heart forever by presenting her Nite Nite Munki Munki’s Women's Soft Jersey Knit Short Sleeve and Pant

Price:

$11.33 - $24.03

Cat Lover Girl really deserve this Summer Soft Jersey Knit Short Sleeve and Pant 2-piece Pajama Set 95% Rayon, 5% Spandex, Imported, Pull On closure, Machine Wash, Fits true to size

Promising review: Comfy and cute

Reviewed By Mary in the United States on February 6, 2021

“These are some of my favorite jammies! I tried several pairs with Amazon Wardrobe recently, and I fell in love with these immediately. The print is adorable, the fit is just right, and the fabric is soft. I machine wash them in cold water and dry on low, and they've held up beautifully.”

When unanimously deciding to present a gift to a cat lover, be sure to find out what kind of cat that person has, or to take pictures of the cat if you already know. This may take some planning on your key part. For instance, you may have to think of an excuse (such as your friend’s kid’s birthday or a holiday) to go over to your friend’s house and take pictures of that cat. You naturally want to make sure you plan the charming picture taking in a natural way, and do not cause suspicion on the part of the cat owner. You would not want to ruin the surprise right?

Things That Matter When You Are Learning Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers.

At that time, you either could grasp the pictures to get sufficiently developed by an experienced professional or adequately develop the pictures yourself if you efficiently utilize a capable computer or any Mobile App. If you develop some artistic ability, you will be able to create a beautifully framed piece of art for the cat owner to hang on his or her wall or a decorative scrapbook for that person to place on a coffee table. Either that or you can buy already made frames, or have someone produce a work of art for you to give to your friend or family member, the cat lover.

What You Know About Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers And What You Don't Know About Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers.

The innocent person who enthusiastically receives this extraordinary gift will be most overjoyed and will be grateful you sincerely appreciate that person’s passionate love for beloved cats. Another notable example of a gift to give a cat lover would be to buy that person a subscription to a magazine like Cat Fancy. This magazine tells cat lovers everything they would want to know about cats, like various breeds, grooming techniques, the best cat toys to buy, and more. This magazine, in addition, enjoys cat lover’s stories to describe, as well as health information about various feline pets.

Learn From These Mistakes Before You Learn Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers

The list of gifts to buy for a cat lover does not stop there, however. You can also buy cat-themed clothing, personalized cat (and photo) doormats, and decorative chalkboards. You can also buy a personalized cat photo blanket or a piece of rhinestone jewelry that says “I love cats” on it. Furthermore, there is a broad selection of catlike style crystal figurines and real-life models of a bewildering variety of cat breeds.

Other cat lover’s gifts would be great for the kitchen, such as paw print pet treat jars and hand-painted mugs, and even dinnerware. You may on top find refrigerator magnets and kitchen rugs with cat decorations on them.

How Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers Is Going To Change Your friendship Strategies

For the cat lover’s car, there is the license plate cover that can include a saying on it like I love cats and have little kitten decorations surrounding its border. Furthermore, you can buy the cat lover a suction cup cat that would stick to any car window, or "I love cat" bumpers stickers.

There is virtually no end to the number of gifts available for you to choose from for any cat-loving individual. Along with that, remain the fact that you are sure to find from amongst the numerous precious gifts displayed online one that is within your price range.

Things That Make You Love And Hate Gift Ideas For Cat Lovers

Please feel free to browse this site and others for these and other brilliant gift-giving ideas. The cat-loving individual in your life will appreciate your thoughtfulness upon receiving one of these finds gifts from you.

If you have more than one cat lover to purchase a gift feel free to check back periodically for new and

[antiquatedfuture]

Zine Care Packages (Antiquated Future Spring Newsletter)

What a challenging time. Things have felt pretty bleak and I debated about whether to send this spring newsletter a lot, but friends convinced me we're all in need of good news. If nothing else, I want to say two things: 1) We'll still be shipping orders (with plenty of hand-washing and sanitizing) several times a week. 2) While we always appreciate and need your financial support, we'd also like to offer the resources we have to any of you who are having a hard time. 

In short: We're offering free zines (and tapes and books) to anyone who's currently struggling financially, mentally, or physically right now. No need to tell us details, just email and say "I'd like a package," and we'll send one your way. Let it be a surprise or make a list of what you'd like and we'll send you what we can. Feel free to spread the word to your friends and community through our Facebook or Twitter posts. It's not much, admittedly, but hopefully it's something.

In more general distro news: we have a few more calendars & planners in stock (and very very on sale), we’ve been restocking things as much as we can, and we accidentally left up our temporary store-wide cassette sale (that also includes a decent handful of LPs and CDs) as well as our zine sale on select titles. We also just posted a newsletter from the record label side of Antiquated Future. We're currently lending some small financial assistance to Portland writer Martha Grover as she recovers from a brain surgery by selling a fundraiser pack of her Somnambulist zine. And if you're in the Portland area, we're helping do porch deliveries of food, baby supplies, and various resources. Please reach out if you'd like one or you know someone in need.

NEW ZINES Antonia- A rare, almost-sublime zine about place, memory, and lost history. About the ways things change and stay the same. About how the place you're from shapes who you become. About growing up in a small Midwestern town without a zip code, a place not on most maps. ($5) Behind the Zines #9: A Zine About Zines- The latest issue of newest best zine about zines around. Within: the evolution of DIY comics culture, zine-fest history, imagined zines, One Punk's Guide to collaborative zines, a history of that one Crimethinc poster, The Most Unwanted Zine, confessions of a sex-zine zinester. Contributions from our own Gina Sarti, as well as John Porcellino and so many others. ($3) Brainscan #34: A Dabbler's Week of DIY Witchery- In the wake of the controversy surrounding a recent viral article about spending a week "becoming a witch," Alex considers what her guide to a witchcraft practice would look like. The results are a day-by-day guide to trying out her particular variety of secular witchcraft (that she lovingly refers to as "DIY witchery"). ($4)

Caboose #12: Jury Duty- A personal story of serving as a juror on a medical malpractice suit. As usual, Liz Mason's playful, endlessly curious take on the world makes this a ride worth taking. A peek into the court system through the eyes of this long-running zine-star. ($4) Clock Tower Nine #15- One of our favorite Seattle zines is back with tales from the record store counter, long walks in various locales, dangerous doppelgängers, and 8-track tapes. As Clock Tower Nine ringleader Danny Noonan describes it in the introduction: "This fanzine is like a bunch of people sitting around a fire in late fall, all taking turns telling a story." ($3) Cometbus #59: Post-Mortem- How does Cometbus, after 38 years as a zine, just get better and better? It's a mystery, but it does. Issue 59 is a deep dive into both death and longevity in the underground. In short: what does sustainability look like in counterculture? This question takes Aaron on a journey from the Epitaph Records and Thrasher magazine offices to hanging out at a punk-owned vegan donut shop and a tamale stand at the farmer's market with Allison Wolfe (of Bratmobile). ($5)

Doris #23- A back-issue fave from one of the best zines ever. Long personal stories that look both outward and inward in surprising ways. ($2) Doris #26- Shy-punk-girl comics, social ecology, the cynical hour, a grandpa who built malls, hammer and nail history, and more. ($2) Eulalia #3- Two issues of the art zine Eulalia in one. Grief and romance, hand-in-hand. Gorgeously designed! Letterpress-printed covers. Each issue is bound with a special do-si-do binding, so each half can be read separately. ($10) Fluke Fanzine #17- Since 1991, Fluke has been creating great variety zines covering all realms of punk and underground culture. Graphic novelist Nate Powell, skateboard magazine historians, Maximum Rocknroll, R.E.M., '90s women-led punk, the Soophie Nun Squad family tree, more. ($3)

Forever & Everything #5- Comics on parenting, depression, coffee, therapy, alcohol, Willie Nelson, Charlie Brown, and living in New Orleans. ($5) Good Days Gone Cold Days- A photography zine/art zine made while living and working in "a house without heat, without doorknobs, and without much insulation or electricity to speak of" for a late fall in western Pennsylvania. Comes with homemade bookmark, building permit, and banjo tab. ($12) Keep Loving, Keep Fighting #8- A reprint of this 2008 issue of Keep Loving, Keep Fighting. Forty pages of feeling at home in New Orleans, communication between friends, death, visiting Montreal, and moving away. ($5)

Learning Good Consent- An essential compilation zine about consent. From personal stories to worksheets, approaches, definitions, resources, and beyond, Learning Good Consent is here to help us all feel more comfortable and be more respectful. ($4)

Little Leagues #1- The companion comics scrapbook to Simon Moreton's epic Minor Leagues series. Prose, comics and photos about being in Japan, making chutney, experiencing autumn. ($3) Little Leagues #2- Comics about being in the snow. Drawings and photos of spring. A fold-out cover with facts about lesser-spotted dogfish. ($3) Our Lady of Near Death Experiences- Jodi Darby writes about becoming a cross-country truck driver as a 23-year-old woman in the mid 1990s. A mini-memoir told in vignettes, Our Lady is a twisted love song to the road in all its complexities. A gorgeous reprint of this zine classic from 1998. (And we have the last few copies before it goes out of print!) ($10)

The Paruretic #1: The Story of a Guy Who's Pee Shy- The first issue of one of our favorite new zine series. The Paruretic tells what the intricacies and complexities of life with parusesis, the social phobia of being pee shy. Illuminating, accessible, and worth reading every issue. ($2)

The Paruretic #2: The Story of a Guy Who's Pee Shy (College)- In this issue, Mark recalls figuring out the debilitating effects of his bladder issues when he goes to college and, for the first time, navigates living in dorms, drinking at college-town bars, and hooking-up. ($3)

The Paruretic #3: The Story of a Guy Who's Pee Shy (Vacation)- In this issue: searching out acceptable bathrooms while on the road, not urinating for ten hours while in the air, and a bathroom-by-bathroom diary of experiences. ($3) The Paruretic #4: The Story of a Guy Who's Pee Shy (The Search for Help)- In this issue, Mark reaches out, looking for help, and is met with a less-than-sympathetic medical system. Within: clueless medical professionals, almost losing a job over a urinalysis, and finally finding someone who understands. ($3) The Paruretic #5: The Story of a Guy Who's Pee Shy (Dating)- The dating issue covers how Mark handled (or avoided handling) dating in high school and college. It's a chronicle of, as Mark says, "how my shy bladder has driven every part of my love life." ($3)

Somnambulist Zine Pack Fundraiser- For the past 17 years, Portland memoirist and illustrator Martha Grover has been publishing Somnambulist zine, an expansive and playful look at the world at large (and easily one of the best zines running today). This pack includes all nine in-print issues of Somnambulist (a $40 value for $25!). All proceeds go straight to Martha's brain surgery recovery fund. Help a great writer, get nine amazing zines. ($25) Somnambulist #33: How to Survive the Portland Winter- A fun how-to guide from Portland-born writer Martha Grover. Within: dealing with all the rain, taking care of your mental health, venturing out, staying in, eating soup (with recipes!), and the truth about umbrellas. Illustrated by Liz Yerby. ($5)

Somnambulist #34: The Starfish- A single, long-form essay about Martha's journey through Cushing's disease and Addison's disease, and the lingering tumor she's chosen to not demonize or see as something separate. The Starfish is a surprising and exciting meditation on what it means to be in a body. ($3) Surely, They'll Tear it Down- A short zine letter about gender, race, identity, and not-knowing from the author of Fixer Eraser and We, the Drowned. ($2) Tattoo Punk Fanzine, Issue 3- A jam-packed new issue of Tattoo Punk, the fanzine about tattoos, punks, and tattooed punks. Edited by Ben Trogdon of everyone's favorite artsy punk paper, Nuts! ($15) Valentines Every Day- Weirdo anytime-valentines from zine-seller extraordinaire, Julie Wade. Funny, bizarre, off-kilter, occasionally unsettling. The perfect gift for that especially-odd someone. ($6) What Happened- A dreamy comic from UK artist Simon Moreton. Set in a '90s boyhood of meadows, sci-fi VHS tapes, MTV, crushes, first kisses. ($5) 

NEW BOOKS & MISCELLANY The Collected Plays by Portland Preschoolers- In short: One of our favorite little books around! A modern classic, even. Five years of collected plays written by Portland, Oregon preschoolers. Hilarious, invariably bizarre, oddly brilliant, sometimes surprisingly profound. Perfect for putting out on the coffee table, reading aloud to friends, impromptu group performances. ($10) Four-Year Depression- A book about figuring out how to love your family in the Trump era. From Billy McCall of Proof I Exist and Behind the Zines. ($10) Zine Game- A long-time favorite in the zine community, now in a fancy, professionally-made version accessible to all game lovers. Playing like a cross between canasta and Magic: The Gathering, Zine Game is all about building your own zines. A really fun time with tons of possibilities. ($16)

NEW MUSIC & SPOKEN WORD Alice Notley "Live in Seattle"- An LP of one of the most adored living poets. Alice Notley pushes boundaries, and it's an absolute joy to hear her reading her work. (LP + digital download) ($16.95) Annelyse Gelman & Jason Grier "About Repulsion"- A collaboration between poet Annelyse Gelman and sound artist Jason Grier. About Repulsion mixes songs, sampled poems, textural walls, beats, noise, to create this EP of one-of-a-kind soundscapes. (LP + digital download) ($16.95) Eileen Myles "Aloha / Irish Trees"- The legendary poet Eileen Myles, on vinyl for the first time. Aloha/Irish Trees features nearly an hour of Myles live in the studio, reading past and present poems. Intimate, playful, raw. (LP + digital download) ($16.95)

Harmony Holiday "The Black Saint and the Sinnerman"- Harmony Holiday's record of poems and sound collage. Adventurous and accessible, twisting cultural images into something surprising, political, socially aware. In conversation with Charles Mingus’ classic 1963 album The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. (LP + digital download) ($16.95) Rae Armantrout "Conflation"- Fifty-four surprising and gloriously unique poems from Rae Armantrout, a Pulitzer-winning poet of great gifts. (LP + digital download) ($16.95) Susan Howe & Nathaniel Mackey  "Stray: A Graphic Tone"- Made in collaboration with Shannon Ebner, Stray: A Graphic Tone juxtaposes historic and recent material from poets Susan Howe and Nathaniel Mackey. An adventurous LP of spoken word delights. (LP + digital download) ($16.95)

Stay well, take care of each other as much as possible. Xo, Antiquated Future

[zweiginator]

When The Levee Breaks

Summary: It’s Freddie’s birthday, and of course he’s hosting an over-the-top costume party to celebrate. Brian has no idea what his costume will be, until you suggest he should dress up as a schoolgirl. You knew he’d look pretty, but something about seeing him in a skirt drives you crazy, and you can’t get enough.

Word Count: 3,512 

Warnings: SMUT!! (unprotected sex, too) but also kinda fluffy in a way? LISTEN TO WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS BY LED ZEPPELIN WHILE READING THE MIDDLE TO END. YOU WILL UNDERSTAND.

You always knew when Freddie’s birthday was coming up because he didn’t let anybody forget it. You had known Freddie long enough to know this, and that the first thing he did when he got a calendar for the new year was circle his birthday--September 5th— in bright red ink. Freddie had always enjoyed partying--the flamboyant outfits, excessive drinking, the outlet for sexual frustrations by one-night stands. But there was only one thing Freddie loved more than parties, and those were parties concerning himself. He lived for the attention, for showing up to his own get-together in an outfit that cost way too much money, for the gifts, for the freedom and youth it made him feel although he had grown one year older.

Three years prior, Freddie had begun a tradition for his birthday--to throw the most monumental costume party to celebrate. He would begin to plan for the next party as soon as the final drunken stranger from the last one was booted from Freddie’s flat, which he shared with his bandmates. This year wasn’t any different, save for the fact that Freddie hadn’t begun to plan as early as he had hoped, due to musical obligations, which he cursed Brian and Roger for, although Freddie was the one who had booked the relentless hours at the studio, fishing out hundreds and hundreds of dollars to do so. So, he was not only out of time, but broke as well--and he was showing the signs of distress.

“My birthday is one week away, and I have no idea what to do for the party!” He complained, throwing his hands up in the air as he paced around the living area, the static of the tv in the background casting an anxious glow on his skin.

“What do you mean, Fred? You do the same thing every year, I don’t see the problem.” Deaky replied, eating some cereal straight from the box.

“The same thing? Please tell me you’re kidding, John. You’ve got to be kidding me. If it were the same fucking thing, I wouldn’t be worried, now would I?” Freddie snatched the half-empty cereal box from Deaky’s grasp. “Also we’re not made of money, Deaky!”

“You’re overreacting, Freddie.” Brian countered, his hands squeezing your knee. You were seated on his lap, as there wasn’t enough room on the couch for four people. His arms were around you, his hands resting on your thighs, his cold ring making you shiver whenever it touched your skin.

“Yeah, Freddie. We’ll figure it out, it will be okay. Just calm down, do you want me to make you some tea?” You questioned, and Freddie looked at you as if you just slaughtered his family and took everything dear to him, one look of pure anger and disappointment embellishing his dark features.

“I swear to God, Y/N. You start fucking Brian and now you’re on his side for everything. Ridiculous! Before you got in his pants you would have never dared to disagree with me!” Freddie pointed at you and Brian, accusatory. Brian pulled you back into his chest and rested his chin upon your shoulder, barely-there stubble tickling at the skin.

Roger giggled because of Brian’s reddening face--and of the entire situation which was getting increasingly outrageous with every second.

“Is this funny, Roger? Are you glad my birthday is fucking ruined?” He hollered, looking into Roger’s eyes without faltering, darkly lined eyes wide and bulging.

Roger stopped smiling and looked up at Freddie, annoyed. You all were; Freddie had forced you guys to stay in the living room with him until he planned the party, but he wasn’t even trying to come up with any ideas, and he had shot down every thought which you had given.

“What is there to plan? It’s a costume party. Sorry Fred, but I don’t quite understand the urgency here.” Deaky mellowly replied, pulling a hoodie on as he cuddled into the couch next to you and Brian, closing his eyes.

“I don’t want the same boring people to come. I don’t want the same boring costumes! I need people to be fun, creative. Just for one night!”

“Freddie, that sounds great, but we can’t really control what people are wearing.” Brian feigned interest, picking tiny dust bunnies from the sweater of his you were wearing.

“Brian! I knew you were smart, but this is genius!” Freddie ran over to the couch, his bare feet pattering on the cold wood floor, planting a wet kiss on Brian’s forehead.

“What did I say?” Brian adjusted his position on the couch, confused as to what on Earth was going on in Freddie’s head.

“You said we can’t control what people wear, but we can! Somebody can be at the door and allow people in based on their costumes! It’s perfect!” Freddie clapped his hands together, flashing his band a toothy smile, before he got to work, illustrating a poster to advertise the party. He wrote the time, date and address in beautiful, almost calligraphic writing before adding a bold, “BE CREATIVE, DARLINGS!” in thick black marker. Freddie relished in his creation, and begged Brian to make copies at his university the next day. Brian agreed, and reluctantly grabbed the original copy. He technically was only allowed to use the printers and copying machines for school-related matters, but he would try to pretend he had an exceptionally long paper to print.

Brian copied way too many, and had no idea what to do with the extras. Papers were spilling from his willowy arms and he was unable to hold his bag simultaneously. So he handed them to anybody and everybody who walked by, hating the awkward interactions, but needing to get rid of the papers, for the sake of Freddie’s--and his---sanity. He left them on benches, weighed down with a jagged rock. He put stacks in the library, in a university café. He had no idea what Fred meant by allowing people into the party as if it were the gates of heaven, but really, anything Freddie said about his parties, went.

__

The party was two days away, and everyone was excited. People at the university would smile at Brian, giving him a thumbs up or patting him on the back as his tall figure walked past them on the streets. Plenty of people came up to him, worried that their costume ideas weren’t acceptable. They would tell him outrageous costumes: dragons, obscure movie characters--they told him everything. And Brian was beginning to get worried, because he had no idea what to be. He would have the blossoming of an idea, and then he would remember a peer of his at university had primed the idea in his mind, and he was right back to square one--with nothing.

He laid in bed with you, your head on his chest. He sighed deeply, looking up at the ceiling at the naked light fixture which was barely flickering, casting a warm glow on you which made his heart flitter in his chest, just a bit.

“What am I supposed to do? The party is in two days, and I have no idea what to dress up as.” Brian was overworking himself as he tended to do. “And I’m absolutely broke!” He added, petting your hair as you pressed a kiss to his bare chest, looking up at him. He looked beautiful, in the ambient lighting--his chest was tan and delicate, his collarbones curved along beautifully sloped, bony shoulders. His lips were plump, red from the remnants of the lipstick you were wearing earlier. His cheeks were glowing, his dark eyes barely lined--the residue of a past concert. His lashes fluttering did the same to your stomach. You pushed his hair out of his eyes and he gave you a smile, dizzy with love.

“You would make the prettiest girl, Bri.” You kissed his cheek, which was fiery hot beneath your llps.

“Really?” He asked, in disbelief.

“Of course you would! I can show you if you’d like. I could do your makeup!” You sat up, gently shoving his chest, and he giggled before his face contorted itself into the most pensive you had ever seen him.

“That’s perfect! I’ll be a girl for the party!” He shot up from the bed, kissing your forehead as he began to rummage through your closet, in search of anything that might fit him.

You gasped. “Brian, be a schoolgirl! I have a plaid skirt that you would fit in, then wear a button up. I can do your hair and makeup!” You both were so giddy, and you found the skirt in the depths of your drawers, wrinkled and cold from never being worn. “We’ll have to get you tights, too. You’re going to be so pretty, Brian.” You stared at him in awe, and those words made him shudder, blood running straight to his cock. He shifted uncomfortably from his spot on the bed, picking your skirt up and holding it over his legs which were clad in deep red briefs, the same color as the garment you had given him.

“I’m so excited,” you whispered in his ear, before tilting his head towards yours to give him a passionate kiss, which he moaned into, grabbing at your waist to pull you on top of him. You pulled away, kissing the tip of his nose.

“Let’s wait until the party.” You said out of breath, as he whined beside you, rubbing his hand against himself, eager to release the tension.

____

The morning of September fifth , the boys had to go to the pub where Freddie convinced the owner to let him have his party at--he said something about more revenue and publicity for his establishment. They set up banners and lights, picked out Freddie’s favorite records to have on queue, and set up the stage for their birthday performance--a surprise that Deaky thought of the night before. Freddie was still asleep, of course--he needed to be beautiful for his guests--his words.

Brian was exceptionally sleepy as he helped set up--he was designated to string up the yellow lights and pin pictures of Freddie and his friends all over the walls, random and haphazardly. But nonetheless, Brian was excited--despite his consistent yawning, almost causing him to fall off of the small step ladder from the back of the bar which was covered with band stickers.

“Jesus, Brian, you’re going to break your head open.” Roger nudged Brian’s leg to wake him up, handing him another string of golden lights, which warmed Brian’s cold fingertips. “What’s your costume, by the way? You never said anything.”

Brian giggled in response, his tight shirt riding up slightly as he reached to hang the lights. “It’s a surprise! How is Elvis coming along for you, Rog?” Brian changed the subject, adamant for his costume to be unexpected to everyone.

“Not excited about dying my hair black--even if it’s temporary. I don’t know about it.” He sighed as Brian climbed down from the tiny ladder, admiring his work. Polaroids hung across the wall--pictures of Freddie singing, smiling with his cats, angry, taken by surprise. Every aspect of Freddie’s personality was hung on that dirty pub’s walls, and the band nodded--it represented Freddie perfectly--as a dynamic man; unpredictable.

__

“Be still, Brian. You can’t move so much, or you’ll ruin it.” You tilted Brian’s head back, using a small brush to blend a deep eyeshadow into his eyelids. You had already added some black liner, which you smudged slightly.

Brian obliged, staying quiet, even though you were sat on his lap and touching him a lot, making him semi-hard in his pajama pants. “Now, mascara.” You twisted the tube open, a wet pop emitting from it, making Brian flinch.

“Relax. If you move during this, you’ll have it all over your eyes.” You brushed through his thick eyelashes with the wand, gasping as you saw how long and luscious his eyelashes were. “Amazing, if I say so myself.” You closed the tube and got to work on his lips, painting a reddish-mauve onto them. “Pucker up, baby.” He did, and you swiped another coat on, wiping the excess off with your thumb.

“Here,” You handed him the tube of lipstick, “You’ll need to reapply later. Now get dressed, so I can do your hair!”

Three minutes later, your boyfriend walked out of your closet in a button-up halfway buttoned, tucked into a plaid skirt with tight pleats, which was way too short on him. Underneath the skirt he was wearing sheer stockings with knee high socks, his legs shaven to complete the look. He wore his clogs--his feet were too big to fit into your shoes. You squealed as you spun him around, giving his ass a playful slap.

“Hold on, I have to take pictures.” You searched your drawer for your polaroid camera, a gift from Brian--he bought it for you months ago without an occasion.

You snapped at least ten shots of him--smiling, laughing, giving you a faux-sexy look as he looked back at the camera. “Okay, I have to do your hair, we’re running out of time.” You sat him down on the bed and fluffed his hair, which was silky but a little rough from not being washed for a few days, loose curls draped around his face. You clipped his hair back with bright pink hair clips, kissing his forehead softly as you admired the finished product. It was strange to admit, but he looked so beautiful, it was making you horny. The way he was fluttering his eyelashes, his cheeks which were perpetually pink from the blush--you were beginning to blush yourself.

“Are you guys done, yet?” Freddie pounded on the door, anxious to get going to his party. You and Brian hadn’t told anybody what he was dressing as. They all knew you were going as a figure skater--you were wearing an icy blue skating costume with white tights and white roller skates--you couldn’t wear ice skates to a party. Your hair was in a high bun, curled strands of hair falling over your eyes occasionally. Brian had been slyly hiding his erection since you had put the costume on hours ago.

“I’ve just finished!” You replied, grabbing his hands, his nails painted red. “Okay, guys, close your eyes.” You opened the door slightly, looking to see if the three men waiting outside were following your directions. Once you saw their eyes shut, you opened the door and ushered Brian out, quietly giggling. “Three, two one! Open your eyes!”

They all burst out laughing as soon as they saw him, especially Roger, who couldn’t get enough. “Who’s this hottie, where is Brian?” Roger teased, playfully slapping Brian’s skirt-covered ass, Brian blowing him a kiss in response, which Deaky caught, laughing so hard his eyes were crinkling, almost shut; Freddie wolf-whistled, a huge smile on his face.

__

The party was filtered by the bar’s bouncer, who was more than annoyed and even more confused by his job for the night. He had no idea what Freddie meant by “acceptable costumes only”, so he let everyone in who showed up--which was hundreds of people. Brian had distributed the flyers to seemingly everyone under the sun. There were eighteen year-olds, barely legal, all the way to forty year-olds--all of them showing up in ornate, elaborate costumes, as per Freddie’s wishes.

A slightly drunken pirate-Freddie cried as Brian, Deaky, and Roger climbed up on stage and sang him a very “Freddie Happy Birthday”, as Deaky called it, taking a long swig of beer before he began to strum his bass--the audience clapping to Roger’s beat, his leather jacket making him glow with a sheen of sweat as he hit the drum kit forcefully. As the lights shone on Brian’s lithe body, the partygoers in the audience whistled and hollered as they saw Brian’s costume. He nervously blushed as he played his intricate solo, wine-red fingernails shining from the spotlight as they fingered the frets, a beautiful grin plastered on his face, black eyelashes fluttering as his skirt wisped around him. His hair was bouncing as he leapt across the stage, his skirt riding up ever so slightly as he jumped, mouth agape from concentration as he sang into the microphone, his long fingers ghosting over the shaft of it. You were getting hot looking at him, and you didn’t understand why your boyfriend crossdressing was making you literally weak in the knees. As they finished their song, the bass was resonating through your whole body, the drums shaking you to your bones. Brian’s playing was flawless, but you could see the trepidation in his made-up eyes as he bowed, a large hand splayed across his guitar.

As he got off the stage, he smiled at a few random people who came up to him, gushing about his performance. He made easy conversation with them, words falling off of his tongue effortlessly, spewing out of his red-painted lips in his sultry accent, and you could feel yourself growing wet. He put his guitar in the case, buckling it closed before he hid it backstage where he always did--he was very protective of his guitar. Soon, Brian was behind you as you spoke to some friends. His hands were on your shoulders, his breath hot against your exposed neck.

“Y/N, we need to give Fred his gift.” He smiled at your friends, tangling is hand in yours as he pulled you away. With every touch you were growing hotter, and wearing the roller skates was becoming increasingly more difficult--you were high on arousal.

“I thought we were doing gifts later?” You squeezed his hand, looking up at him. His jawline was sharp like his nose, and the juxtaposition of the makeup and soft eyes with his harsher features was making you dizzy.

“It was a lie,” He pulled you into a booth table, abandoned in the back of the pub, in a corner where nobody was. “I’m so hard, Y/N,” he pushed your hand onto his cock, covered by your skirt and you squeezed lightly, breathing into his neck as you nipped at his skin, palming his dick. The stockings were still on, skintight--along with his briefs, and he was feeling restrained and impossibly hard. You straddled him, hearing muffled conversation approach, but you didn’t stop as you ground yourself against him.

“You’re so pretty,” You said, pushing your hand up his--your-- skirt, ripping the stockings, spitting into your hand before touching the head of his dick, which was red and leaking everywhere. You slowly stroked him, rubbing your thumb along the ridges of his head and he twitched in your hand as you called him pretty once again. You kissed at his chest, teasing him with your hand. His head was tilted back, mascara running down his cheeks as his eyes watered from the stimulation. You pulled him up by his hair, still clipped back by pink clips, kissing him hard as he whined into your mouth. His face was covered in lipstick--some from his lips, but most from yours, two shades of red overlapping on his desperate face. He ran his fingers over your ass and yanked your stockings down, pulling you down so your bare heat was against his cock, and he screamed when you began to grind against him harder. You had to cover his mouth, his eyes were glossed over, and he was whimpering loudly against your hand, as his own grabbed at your ass to make you move faster. Instead, you sunk down on him.

“Fuck, Y/N, it feels too good.” His mouth was wide open, breathy gasps escaping with every thrust. He met you halfway each time. “Please say it again,” Your hands were splayed on his chest which was marked with red kisses as you rode him, soft gasps leaving both of your mouths as you took in each other’s features. You knew what he meant, but you wanted to hear him beg for it.

“Call you what, baby?” You scratched at his scalp and pulled his hair like you knew he liked, his fingers tracing down your neck and chest before they rested on your hips. His hip bones were hitting against the backs of your thighs, the wheels from your skates hissing as they rolled from your movements.

“Please, Y/N, Please, say it again.” He begged, the hem of his skirt tickling his skin barely.

“You’re so pretty, Bri. So pretty.”  He gasped, breathless, before his hips stuttered.

He came with a cry, and it spilled down your legs. He was still whimpering a minute later, and you grabbed his face and a napkin from the booth, wiping his face of the lipstick which was red, caked on his soft skin. He was almost catatonic, breathing heavily beneath you. You reached your hand into the pocket of his shirt, finding the lipstick you had put in earlier.

“I told you you’d have to reapply.” He took a deep breath and sighed, a blissed-out grin on his face.

___________

Taglist: @mercurys-bike @alexfayer @ledger-kaos @ma-ntequilla @discodeakky @richiethotzierz @thisloveisreal1 @heartsarecompatible @thelondondreamer5 @brian-may-brian-may @okqueenie @gailymlee @trickster-blr @bubblypenguin123 @queensdarlingg @soloosunflower @johndeaconisaqueen @fredthelegend @miez-lakatz @arrowswithwifi @mouse507 @mespetitestortues @yourstateofdreaming

[hydrospanners]

a writing year in review: 2k18 edition

So I’m taking a minute to look back at all the writing I did this year and it has been a pretty spotty year for fanfic for me. Lots of long, blank spaces between weird surges of productivity. But! I did a lot of work on my original projects and also the boring adult responsibilities in my life (I changed jobs three times!!! I changed my name!!! I started going to therapy!!!!) and I pushed out some fic I really liked this year in spite of all that so, all things considered, I’m calling this one a win.

Without further ado, here is the breakdown of all the fic I’ve written this year plus a sad breakdown all of the geriatric WIPs looking at me with their big sad eyes, crossing their fingers for 2019. Hiding most of it under a cut because the rankings and WIP snippets got long.

2k18's Publication Stats for Fun & Profit:

This year I published 16 fanfics, all but one for SWTOR. 10 were brand new, started and finished in 2018, and 6 were old WIPS that have been marinating for Force only knows how long. That number is down from the 29 fics I published in 2017, but close to the 14 I published in 2016. 2015 was only 3 fics and 2014 was only 2. I have a total of 64 works published on AO3.

This year I published 34559 words for an average of about 2160 words per fic. This is extremely above my overall average of about 930 words per fic with a combined total of 59569 words published since I started posting fic publicly back in 2014.

So the number of fics may be lower this year but the number of words total and the average words in the fics I did publish went up! Please enjoy a review of the shit people liked most according to AO3 and then the stuff I personally liked most because I'm allowed to like my own writing, sue me.

2k18's Most Read Fics:

1. spoonful of sugar: Everyone gets sick sometimes; even big damn heroes. These are vignettes about the Jedi Knight's crew getting sick, getting treated, and getting better. (SWTOR)

I started writing this one when I got really sick during the summer of 2017 and I finally finished it this year! There's another part that I cut because it got way out of control that I'd like to one day add back in as a second chapter but I am okay with calling this one complete and maybe never doing that. This one is a nice combo of funny and a little bit sweet that I think is refreshing, like a cold, fruity drink on a hot summer's day. Here is my very favorite line from this whole fic because it is so delightfully dumb:

“Scourge,” Rhese tries and fails to sound as though he has some degree of command over his own voice right now. “Get off my dick.”

2. filling the table: They have a saying back on Corellia that the only way you can ever really know a man is by taking his credits. They also have a saying that you should never play cards with a Corellian because Corellians always cheat, but she's betting Doc never heard that one. (SWTOR)

I think I started this one all the way back in like 2014 or 2015. I can't remember now but it was a long time ago and this piece of shit has morphed a million times since then. I must have rewritten the ending about a million times.

I really wanted to capture the desperation of the Balmorran Resistance while I was doing the character work with this, the sense of limited resources and hard living, and I am pretty happy with the result. I'm also pretty happy with the characterization work here, the little snippets they are both revealing to each other and the bigger snippets they aren't. I'm still not entirely happy with the white spaces in this one. I feel like I was a little too sparse and there are lots of places that don't flow if you don't already know what isn't being said, but I am more or less happy with this one! Here is my favorite bit because of the doublespeak foreshadowing their future relationship that was definitely on purpose:

Four hands later, she’s fifty credits richer and Doc is rooting around in his pocket for something to scribble another IOU on. She knows he’ll never make good on it, but Rea’s happy to accept his empty promises if it keeps him playing the game. She’s overdue for a bit of fun.

3. take back what the kingdom stole:  Alliance Commander Nirea Velaran has always had a talent for burning bridges. When Theron comes to her after Nathema to pay for his sins, she finds herself wondering whether some bridges can't be repaired. (SWTOR)

Hey look! Something I started and finished in the same calendar year!! This one grew out of a very stupid joke that I ended up not even making until the end of the fic. At first I wanted to draw that bit, but I got frustrated with my lacking artistic talent so I wrote it instead and it turned into one of my fave things I've written. It has nice scenery and character growth and intimate friendships that have a real impact on their emotional lives! Hurt feelings aren't just for romance fam!! Anyway here's my favorite bit because it's one of the most Rea moments I've ever written:

He shoved her off his shoulder none-too-gently, scowling as he looked skyward, as if searching for another fleet of hostile ships to arrive and grant him the sweet release of death. When none came, he settled for another hearty gulp of whiskey. He had to be halfway to knackered by now. “You’re insufferable,” he grumbled.

“I know.” She smiled a smile that felt damn near genuine and collapsed back against the grass, swinging her legs out over the crevasse.

“I don’t even feel bad about all this anymore.” Theron complained. “You deserve it.”

Rea only laughed. A real laugh, all the way up from her belly, and it felt so fucking good.

Theron looked at her from the corners of his bloodshot eyes, suspicious and too clever by half. “Fuck,” he swore, shaking his head. “You just mindfucked me, didn’t you?”

2k18 Author’s Choice:

1. when the wicked play. After witnessing his first real lightsaber duel, Doc reflects on the contradictions of what the Jedi are supposed to be and the realities of fighting a war. (SWTOR)

This might be one of my very favorite things I've written ever. In case it wasn't clear by now, I am pretty preoccupied with making myself feel the weight of the violence and uncertainty and war that plagues you in this game. It all feels so clean and sanitary in the game because it's a game, but it's something I always want to explore and make visceral in the stories I tell about the game. I am also obsessed with Jedi and the mythos and conflicting ideas that must surround them inside the story's universe. This was a fun way to marry the two and do a bit of character work at the same time. I'm also pretty proud of this one structurally, with how contained and bookended it is. [high fives self] Anyway here's my favorite part because it's some of the only action I've written that feels like it captures the brutal urgency of how I imagine actual lightsaber combat and also says a little bit about my girl Rea via the way she fights:

Rea is little more than a blur of blue light as she collides with the Sith across the field, her sabers swinging too fast for Doc’s eyes to track. She’s hammering her enemy from every side, pushing him back and back and back. Her assault is savage and relentless and there is nothing like grace or elegance in any of it. It isn’t beautiful; it’s violence. Ugly, brutal violence.

The whole thing is over in less than a minute.

Blue meets red meets blue meets blue meets blue meets red and then the Sith’s head is hitting the floor with a muffled thump. It happens so abruptly Doc doesn’t even realize it’s ended until the rest of the body collapses a heartbeat later.

2. shadows settle on the place that you left. In the wake of her father’s death, Nyria Ryder tries to reconcile the man she knew with the shadow he left hanging over her. (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Look! Something that isn't SWTOR! (The only thing I wrote this year that wasn't for SWTOR.) I have a whole bunch of feelings about Alec Ryder and had a really good time porting Rea over to this game and seeing the ways his presence in her life altered who she is and the ways that it didn't. Also I have a lot of feelings about SAM. This is probably peak self-indulgence but I still feel like this is some efficient sketching of Nyria's character and Alec's and their particular relationship and I'm pretty proud of it. Also I'm always a slut for complicated familial relationships. Here is my favorite bit because it's such a nice illustration of who Ria is and an important turning point for her character:

She decided to be kinder to SAM than the universe had been to her. He was her brother, just as much as Rhys, and she was all he had. She would have to make sure herself was enough.

“He believed in us both,” she told him what he needed to hear, even though it wasn’t true. Then she made a promise she could not keep, because she knew he needed that too: “You and me are going to figure this thing out. Just you watch. We’re gonna make Alec proud.”

3. take back what the kingdom stole:  Alliance Commander Nirea Velaran has always had a talent for burning bridges. When Theron comes to her after Nathema to pay for his sins, she finds herself wondering whether some bridges can't be repaired. (SWTOR)

All the same stuff I said above applies here still. Glad we can all agree this one was nice.

State of the WIPs

Just for fun I did a dive into my WIP folder to see what I'm setting myself up for in 2019! Only it wasn't very fun at all because there is so much really old stuff in here!!!!!! Good luck to future me because past me really left you with the bag girl! Good luck carrying the weight of hopes and dreams and stories unfulfilled!!

I have a total of 48 fics in progress right now. The fandom breakdown is as follows, ranked from the most to the least: Star Wars: The Old Republic (35), Dragon Age (8), Mass Effect: Andromeda (4), Fallout 4 (1). And because I'm a masochist, I looked at the dates on all this shit too. Here's the breakdown of what year all of these things were started:

2014: 4 fics

2015: 9 fics

2016: 15 fics

2017: 11 fics

2018: 9 fics

That sound you hear is me sobbing in the distance. 2014!!! What the fuck!!!!! I am gonna finish those four fics this year if it kills me. We aren't living like this anymore. Please enjoy some samples from the WIP folder with absolutely no context:

“You carry sleeping pills in your pocket?”

“For my wife. Maybe you’ve met her? About this high--” Doc raised his hand half a foot over his own head “--brown hair, blue eyes, great ass.”

Ignoring the commentary on his sister’s figure and the extreme overestimation of her height, Rhese nodded. “I may have seen her around.”

“Well if you see her again, you tell her to come home. Her family’s worried.”

Do you hear that Rea? Your family is worried. Rhese wondered if she could feel their concern, their anguish. Was she searching for them as they searched for her? She’d always been good at hiding, but she’d never vanished completely before. A hole in the Force where her warm, fervent energy should have been.

He felt cold. Really alone for the first time in his life. Careful what you wish for, Liss had always said. You might just get it.

Ossus is important.

Rea feels it when she falls out of hyperspace, that shift, that tug of something just behind her navel. The familiar weight of destiny, settling like a stone in the pit of her stomach. It leaves her breathless, white-knuckled and gripping the shuttle’s controls, her skin prickling under the cold caress of dread.

She wasn’t expecting this story to have a happy ending—a colony of Jedi on the eve of war? she’s danced that dance enough times to know the steps by now—but she wasn’t expecting anything so bad as the draw of destiny.

Fate has never been anything but cruel to her. Feeling it here, now? This is going to be worse than she imagined.

This is how you deal with failure.

You just do.

You get up in the morning and brush your teeth. You train until your legs wobble beneath you. You choke down your nutripaste and ask Simms about his niece. You congratulate Tarinik on her promotion. You laugh too loud at Vortena’s shit jokes. And when Beniko’s eyes follow a little too close, you blow her a kiss like it doesn’t matter at all.

You keep moving forward because standing still will kill you. Because life is a race and if you slow down for even a second, death will catch up.

Nirea Velaran is not ready to die.

She is not maleficarum, but she is changed. Something is awake inside her now, and the whispers are louder each time she touches the Fade. Sweet, coaxing whispers full of promises. Some of them sound like her mother.

Take care of your brother, Niria. You’re all he’s got.

In the morning, Qarric wakes with a pounding head and an empty sleeve. He never asks, but he watches her more sharply, reprimands her more often, demands more of her in training.

When she is fourteen, blade tucked into the top of her worn boot, he gives her a warning. “You aren’t as strong as you think,” he says. “No one is.”

“Is it much farther?” Ria jabbed the bladed end of her stave--a fancy enchanted thing Vivienne had insisted on--into the sodden ground and squinted through the trees, praying for a glimpse of the promised coast. The air smelled of salt and death and the sea, but she hadn’t seen a single crashing wave yet.

“A few more miles yet,” Blackwall answered irritably. Ria had elected to blame the weather for his foul mood. “Same as it was five minutes ago, Your Worship.”

“And five minutes before that,” Varric added.

“Conditions are much safer inside the ship, Nyria.”

“Didn’t come all the way out here to be safe, SAM.” Another rock plinked hollowly against the wall of the prefab. “We came to see new planets and shit. That’s what I’m doing.”

“There is not much to see at night.”

“Not much to see during the day either. Sure as hell nothing worth dying for.” She huffed a bitter not-quite-laugh.

She spoke before he could even open his mouth to ask the question. “You’re overthinking it, little brother.”

“We’re twins,” he said, mostly out of habit. “And I’m taller.”

“Your hair is taller.”

“This is serious, Nyria.”

“So is your hair.” She reached out almost absent-mindedly to ruffle it, eyes still fixed on her omni-tool, but he dodged out of the way.

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #56

We’re hitting the busy season at my job tomorrow, so I’m not sure when the next list will be. Happy New Year, anyway!

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Disaster Hearts by lieutenantshirogane Words: 719 Author’s Summary: After a mission goes wrong, Coran struggles to let go. Luckily, Kolivan is there to help. My Comments: Not a combo I had considered before, but it’s so good that I just had to read and rec this one. So good.

Bushel and a Peck by isabeau25 Words: 5,158 Author’s Summary: It’s not Hunk’s first job interview, but it might just be his favorite. Series Part 3 of The Five Lions Cafe My Comments: We’re coming up on the busy season at my job, and I was grateful for this spot of pre-emptive stress relief. It’s so lovely and relaxing. Read the whole series.

Cream Waterfalls and Violet Stars and All The Broken ThingsbyMashpotatoeQueen5 Words: 3,185 Author’s Summary: Coran had children once. (A fic about before and after, and the family that our favorite Space Uncle might have lost in his ten thousand years of slumber. Sad… but hopeful ending?) My Comments: Beautiful and haunting vision of Coran’s lost family and how he sees them in the new children he deals with every day. I love the idea of Coran as a family man, and this is a great exploration of that concept.

Shopping for Disaster by Engineer104 Words: 6,108 Author’s Summary: Allura just wanted something sparkly, and Pidge just wanted to get her ears pierced. And they will, after a mishap involving a kid, a Druid, and a Galra ship. My Comments: Bonding time with Pidge and Allura turns into an action/adventure with plenty of badassery from both. Very fun read.

Children of the Empire by foxysquid for Meteorysh Words: 10,147 Author’s Summary: Those who find themselves without parents can turn to Emperor Zarkon for parental guidance instead—but Thace would rather not. Shuttled off to a school for orphaned children, he has to adapt to a strange place, with no one to rely on. Fortunately, he may not be as alone as he thinks he is. Written for Galra Secret Santa, as a gift for meterorysh! There are also some accompanying illustrations, which you can find here. My Comments: Absolutely stunning. Achy and touching, fantastic worldbuilding and characterization. I felt so bad for tiny Thace, losing his parents and shipped off to a school where he had to guard himself every second of every day for fear of being outed as a traitor. The friendship with Ulaz and eventual conclusion were extremely satisfying. This read like the beginning of an original novel, one that I would gladly devour in like a day at a most.

Words of Good Cheer by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 31,364 Author’s Summary: 12 days of Advent fics for the winter season 1) The gang gets stuck in their cabin on vacation (Modern AU) 2) The lights and noise of the holiday party prove to be overwhelming for Shiro 3) Ryou and Lance attempt to make Hunk a treat. 4) Shatt - Shiro and Matt get their Christmas snuggle on 5) Shallura - Shiro shows Allura how to make snow angels 6) Sheith - Shiro falls through the ice on a snowy planet and needs to be warmed up 7) Alone at the Garrison over break, Keith and Shiro work together to ignore the holiday 8) Shunkeith - Sweet Tooth AU, Hunk has to stay over when they’re snowed in 9) Baby’s Ryou’s first Christmas 10) Old Friend’s Senior Sanctuary AU - Lance convinced Shiro to help make a 2018 calendar for charity 11) Ryou disappears on an ice planet and Shiro fears the worst 12) Smol!Shiro worries how Santa will find the castle My Comments: Each of these little fics is absolutely adorable and worth reading on their own, and we get twelve for the price of one! Four are shipfics, Shatt, Shallura, and Sheith, plus Shunkeith, but the chapters are labeled so you can easily skip them and stick to the gen if you want.

Vasish by ElementKitsune for AstroPhantom Words: 2,255 Author’s Summary: Sometimes, you just wake up and go see a storm with your favourite princess. (Coran and Allura go stormwatching) My Comments: Sweet Allura and Coran interaction before the fall of Altea. It’s cute, and a little sad, but mostly heartwarming.

Stranger Danger (2) by YukiSetsu Words: 2,076 Author’s Summary: Sequel to Stranger Danger (part 5 of Whumpmas series). After the last incident, Lance didn’t think he’d run into David again anytime soon. He was wrong. My Comments: Sequel to a previously recced fic, and just as good as that one. The realism of this is what hikes up to true levels of disturbing. Great protectiveness from the others.

Epoxy to the World by buckysbears (DrZebra) Words: 2,245 Author’s Summary: Shiro, Pidge, and Keith are forced into a Galra gladiator arena. The two younger paladins see a side of Shiro that he desperately wishes they hadn’t. My Comments: Very intense and emotional. This is pretty much Shiro’s worst nightmare. I don’t blame him for losing himself a little bit along the way.

What’s In A Name? by bouquetofwhoopsiedaisies Words: 1,532 Author’s Summary: “What is ‘Keith’?” Kolivan asked one evening. Keith looked up, blinking in confusion. “I’m Keith.” “Yes, but what is ‘Keith’?” Kolivan pressed.“Well, as far as I know, mostly human, and some Galra.” He really thought Kolivan already knew this. He had been there when Keith’s knife changed form, indicating that he had Galra blood. How much, none of them knew. Kolivan huffed, looking impatient. “The word. ‘Keith’. What does it mean, in your language?” (The Blades get curious about the name of their smallest member. Pidge does some hacking to find out the surprising answer) My Comments: Cute, fluffy, and funny. I like the little bit of Galra culture, too, and Blades being protective and teasing of Keith is always a plus.

Castle Glitch by YukiSetsu Words: 2,394 Author’s Summary: When a bug from Pidge’s laptop accidentally infects the Castle, Lance ends up having to face an extreme gladiator bot without a weapon and armor. As expected, things get dangerous really quick. My Comments: Excellent whump, excellent protective team. I don’t know how many ways to say that I’m enjoying everything this author is doing, but here it is again.

Sick Day by FanaticFangirl2602 for RandomDragonDoodles Words: 2,727 Author’s Summary: Keith should have seen it coming. Actually, he did see it coming. The little voice in the back of his mind had been scolding him for going so hard for the past month, but all he’d done was push it aside and ignore it. A dumb decision. My Comments: Nice little Keith-centric sickfic in a college AU. Hits the spot.

All Swallowed in their Coats by yet_intrepid for stover Words: 2,317 Author’s Summary: Shiro and his new roommate, Matt, would tell you that they are nothing alike: Shiro is an overwhelmed grad student, while Matt is a dropout and avid science youtuber. But then there’s a blizzard, and maybe things change. My Comments: Great modern AU with Shiro and Matt realizing that they have much more in common than they think. Past abuse.

Fruit Loops by SerenePhenix Words: 3,571 Author’s Summary: Shiro never stood a chance. My Comments: Wonderful team-as-family feels in a modern roommate AU. So cute and fluffy and sweet.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by WinterSky101 Words: 2,510 Author’s Summary: In which Pidge is a Christmas elf. ‘Tis the season, after all. My Comments: Cute and sweet and fluffy, with just a touch of angst at the end. 'Tis the season!

If Only In My Dreams by yet_intrepid Words: 5,918 Author’s Summary: The team agrees that Space Christmas isn’t that great with Keith off on missions with the Blade of Marmora. But it’s a lot, lot worse with Keith held hostage by the Galra. My Comments: Awesome whump fic, very snappy pace and intense emotions, and the Christmas theme just heightened the whole thing to the rafters.

In Stitches by A_Zap Words: 6,118 Author’s Summary: With every stitch, a bigger picture can be seen. And each one is made with love.In which everyone on Team Voltron learns more about Lance as he knits the day away. And maybe he learns something too. My Comments: It’s been a while since I’ve read a fic with Lance as a knitter. This was very warm and soft and fluffy, lots of great bonding and sweetness. Very satisfying.

Tradition… Tradition by imperiality Words: 6,802 Author’s Summary: It’s bright! It’s loud! It’s festive! It’s everything Shiro hasn’t really had for Christmas, and it’s wonderful. Then the night winds down. And it’s down to 3. They talk about traditions. Some are lonelier than others. My Comments: The entire team has a lovely Christmas, but the ending conversation between Shiro, Matt, and Keith was the most emotional and heartwarming thing in the fic. Little bit of angst and emotional hurt comfort for lonely boys who miss their homes, but mostly they’re just happy to count their blessings where they are.

One by One by LitDragonWagon Words: 8,512 Author’s Summary: Shiro remains in a state of Not Surprised about all the people who join him in his bed. (Just a cute fic about the paladins platonically sleeping together due to nightmares, and healing.) My Comments: Paladin cuddle puddle to the max. This was very relaxing to read. Brief mention of Klance.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Little Crystals (19627 words) As Color Fades Away (243019 words) This May Sting (6856 words) Gate Keeper (122883 words) Young Blood (9761 words) The Purity of Sin (47036 words) The Sea In Between (81074 words) Beacon (25201 words) Shadows of Stars (95789 words)

[btvcityarts]

Daily Post

By Marcia Vogler

My “Daily Post” project began when a friend was diagnosed with cancer and began chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I decided the best support I could give would be to send a postcard every day, to give him something to look forward to and take his mind off the treatment. I started the daily postcards practice anonymously, but it only took a few days before he knew who was responsible. It turned out to be a great spirit booster, something he and his family looked forward to getting every day. They displayed them in a rack on the counter, and re-read them and shared them with friends. 

Having a specific person to share my art with helps me feel more motivated to create, and more connected to meaning and beauty. A postcard is small enough that it can be done in a few moments, yet the good feelings from making and receiving a card can last. 

Below are notes on how I approached several postcard projects in different ways and for different people. I hope these open up straightforward ways for you to use collage, painting, and writing, or some parts of these art forms, to help the people you love feel better and feel loved.

I started the cards by subscribing to a ‘word of the day’ email, and would pick out words that were unusual or funny, and brought up an image in my mind. For materials, I used cardboard recycled from work, acrylic paints, magazine pages, and assorted papers. Sometimes the image would just manifest itself; other times, I made a sentence using the word before I could illustrate it. I most often used matte acrylic medium to glue and seal the images, however occasionally I used school glue or glue stick if I was in a rush. On the note side, I wrote the dictionary entry along with the sentence. I think the writing of the entry took almost as long each day as the image. I had become interested in hand lettering and so tried to vary my letters and make them exciting as an exercise.

At the end of his treatment, I sent the last card with the word ‘vaticination’, meaning ��prediction’ or ‘the act of prophesying’. The image is of red fingernailed hands reading a crystal ball that says, ‘you will live long and prosper.’ Lucky am I to say that he has.

After the project ended, I made a book to hold the postcards by sewing clear sheet protectors. I had to go back and fix a few. One card had lost a few cut out letters, so it read ‘ood day suns ine’. The card for ‘netsuke’ had completely lost its image of an ivory cat, so the card was an empty frame.    

The second project began when my brother in law was diagnosed with cancer and began his chemotherapy. In between the projects I had kept up with making collages and postcards for other friends and family, and so still had plenty of backgrounds made and materials at hand. I continued with the word of the day practice for the length of his four month treatment.

One of the heartbreaks of my life was the day my dear friend M told me she had triple-negative breast cancer. We had worked together for many years, and were confidantes, co-conspirators, and professional partners, but since her move to New York City we were less connected. It seemed so right to start the postcard a day project for her while she was in chemotherapy. Our mutual love of shoes became my focus, she could wear the 4 inch heels we both admired. An important component of this project was the short note or thought on the message side. As I got into the project, I realized how much we had shared, and just how much I missed having her to talk with and fight with. The “Shoe a Day” collages began with a windfall of pages from the Metropolitan Museum daily calendar. I used only those images for a very long while, finding the right curves or textures in the photographs of the art, and mixing them up with each other. I found humor as well as inspiration in the shapes of the images. Later in the project, as the amount of calendar art dwindled, I started using magazine pages. Furniture and art magazines were preferable to food magazines, which didn’t seem to work at all for me. On weekends I would gesso a bunch of cards and then paint backgrounds. Sometimes I would make 4 or 5 collages at once, while some days I had to drive to the post office at 4:45 to make the mail pickup. Like all things creative, sometimes they came quickly and easily, and sometimes the shoes were ugly, misshapen, or just bad. But I still sent one a day. Although sometimes I made the cards in batches, I wrote the message on the day I sent the card. At first, I tried to make every card a positive, uplifting one, but that got hard after a week even with my Christian Science upbringing. With practice, I got into a rhythm of just noticing a moment in my day, or taking note of a fleeting thought, and saving those up to write about. I didn’t hold back if it wasn’t exactly a positive note, writing sometimes about my anxiety about my children or my work. But I did try to add humor by writing about a very funny situation or moment that we had shared. Sometimes I laughed out loud, and I hoped that Margaret did too. I know she shared them with her friends and treasured each one as it arrived. Sometimes the miles the post cards traveled were a little rough on the cards. On one card, I wrote that it was one of my favorite shoes that I had done.  Margaret told me later that it had come to her with only the heel left of the image.

The “Shoe a Day” project initially lasted from July 11 to December 29, 2012 through Margaret’s first round of chemo, then continued through a round of radiation, more chemo, and finally respite care in 2015. In total, I made and sent 387 cards to her. After her death, her family returned them to me in a special box in which she kept them. Recently I began a new project for another dear friend in treatment, which I call “Bird of the Day”. The process is similar to “Shoe a Day”, but with fantasy birds as the focus. My collage materials this time are my own gelli texture printed papers which I make with acrylic paints and texture tools such as cardboard, string, and notched credit cards. I have found that using matte acrylic medium as both glue and glaze works best for me and keeps the image intact even through some rough handling. After I set the pieces with the medium, I cover the entire piece, then wipe it gently off with a wet paper towel. This keeps the cards from being sticky after they’re dry. My notes are a bit different these days, focusing on the beauty of nature and weather, and the daily struggle of keeping safe and sane. But as before, I try to pull out one thought each day that is special, a funny coincidence or a cosmic realization, to share with my friend. It has become a sort of meditation for me, a way of making sense of reality and life.

*************************************************************

Marcia Vogler is a mixed media artist, focusing on book arts and collage to express her vision.  She is a firm supporter of the USPS, and sends mail daily from her farm in Charlotte, Vermont.

You can find her daily artwork posted on @marciavogler on Instagram.

***************************************************************

Here are the steps I have developed to make postcards. I hope you will create and enjoy a postcard project of your own. Meditate with art making on your funny coincidences and cosmic realizations, and share with my a friend. STEPS TO MAKE YOUR OWN POSTCARD PROJECT 1) Choose a friend to send your cards to 2) Choose a theme to explore such as words, shoes, birds, etc. 3) Paint basic backgrounds – maybe in small batches 4) Collage on the background 5) Seal the collage with a light coating of school glue [RS5] or matte acrylic medium that you can get at an art supply store 6) Write a note, address, and send! MATERIALS Thick paper – any kind Acrylic paints Glue Matte Medium (acrylic paint that doesn’t have any color pigment, and is not shiny) Magazines Pen or waterproof Markers Postcard postage stamps

[rilenerocks]

I started making lists when I was about twelve. I know this because I have them. Mostly the lists were about people. People I liked, people I had crushes on, people I hated. The lists changed frequently, sometimes almost daily. Often there were ties for first, second and even third place. When my friend Fern and I spent hours on the phone at night, reading each other our diary entries, we’d sometimes make lists together. We had enemies lists which often included politicians we heard our parents discussing. We had favorite athletes lists and music lists, teachers lists and of course, lists of our peers and family members.

We changed popular song lyrics to reflect our current passions and we had so much fun singing them, especially the ones that were Beatles songs. I still find myself substituting our words when a tune pops up in one of my playlists. You’d never have known that either one of us had a care in the world. But of course we did.

My lists got more complicated as time passed. There were the standard lists that were more like timetables, when work needed to be done, birthdays and events that needed to be remembered, the stuff of calendars. But I had lots of other lists too. In my attempt to keep my priorities straight, I managed to write lists for a wide variety of topics. I had self-improvement lists, lists of books to read and movies to see, lists of subjects to become knowledgeable about, lists of places to see and goals to accomplish. I have a list I call “the permanent list.” That’s the one that has the unforgivable words or actions of people that I’ll never forget or forgive until either my brain or breath goes.

“Michael Quotes”

Right now I have a list of nicknames Michael called me. I also have a list of his terrible jokes and funny quotes that are part of our family’s vernacular.

“Birds of today” Starling Blue jay White breasted nuthatch Sparrow Cardinals Downy woodpecker Carolina wren Brown thrasher Cowbirds Catbird White crowned sparrow Hummingbird Grackle House wren Rose breasted Grosbeak American Robin Chipping sparrow White throated sparrow Redbellied woodpecker Red breasted nuthatch Goldfinch Junco

I have lists of birds and butterflies that have visited my garden. I have lists that are so obtuse I can’t recall why the words are on the same page. The habit of listmaking is a part of me which I suspect will go on until I don’t. After years of waking up and thinking of the day ahead, asking myself what I should think about first, I figure this was a pretty rational response to the flood of thoughts that’s my typical response to opening my eyes.

I suspect that some of my dreams are my subconscious attempts to keep sorting through the ever burgeoning thought stack in my head. Some people hoard stuff. I hoard words, ideas and feelings. I’m aware that the sorting by list is ineffectual at times. For now, it’s become clear to me that I can’t anticipate how long it may take, if ever, to always remember that Michael is dead. I mean, I know that he is. But when ambling through my days there are countless times when I expect him to walk through the door. If I feel like ignoring a text, I always think, wait, it might be Michael. I’ve called my son his name periodically.

In our younger days, Michael owned the car of his dreams, a white 1967 GTO convertible. Vroom, vroom. Today I was in a bookstore and saw a thick shiny book on the history of GTO’s and walked straight over to it, thinking I’d buy it for him and how much he’d love it. These moments are fleeting but real. If I don’t like my dreams, the ones when he and I are arguing, it sours my day. When I have a good dream about him, I wake up and acknowledge that feeling before going back to sleep.

September 17th, 2019

 Hi baby,

  Things are better now. Tristan is healing well from his surgery and Gabriel turned 9 today.

And I’m still writing the letters that represent our constant dialogue over so many years. I can’t list myself out of these deeply ingrained habits that had to do with our life together. Although not quite a complete germophobe, I don’t expect that I’ll ever be without a small container of hand sanitizer in my purse. When he was immunocompromised, I was determined not to let him get sick. I sprayed surfaces with Lysol and suspiciously counted the number of times people touched their mouths and noses and then put their hands on common surfaces. Whatever I could control I did control. Endless hand washing and hyper- awareness. Good luck getting rid of that. I know it’s a peculiar preoccupation to watch people spreading their contagion around but it’s just normal to me now. I forgive myself. I try not to be angry about all that he’s missed and that we’ll miss together. That’s a terrible place to be. I only allow myself those thoughts for short moments. I think my quality of life would truly be pathetic if I got stuck in those mean, jealous places. The list habit comes in handy during those times. I can think of about a zillion things that should supersede that negativity.

Right now, I’m in the midst of other people’s hardships. I’m knowing more and more sick people and I have one very dear friend who’s in hospice awaiting her death. That’s at the top of all my lists now, along with the knowledge that as I’m aging, I’ll face more and more of those sad times. My dad always used to say that if you’re lucky enough to survive to age 70, sometimes you can just cruise along for awhile. He never got there. Neither did Michael or my favorite brother-in-law. All lost at age 67. I’m past that age now. I wonder when my turn will come to face my own demise. I don’t know if I’d think about it as much as I do except for how many early deaths I experienced. Nah, I probably would.

I always expected to just keel over one day like a tree felled in a wood. I certainly didn’t expect to be around longer than Michael who came from a family where everyone routinely lived into their 90’s. I think we’ve all been led to believe that’s possible for the majority of people but I don’t think that’s right. For every octogenarian, there are dozens of people who’ve already checked out.

I’m in the middle of three history classes this semester which are jamming huge swaths of time into 8 weekly hour and a half sessions. I come out of those classes dizzied by the compression of geologic time and long-gone civilizations that can be glanced over and set aside before tackling thousands more years. You realize how teeny you really are when looking at the world in these abbreviated segments. It’s fascinating stuff but absent a time machine, wrapping your mind around the brevity of our lives on a comparative scale is pretty daunting. And kind of comforting at the same time.

It’s only Wednesday and this week, I’ve considered the pre-Scottish elders and the Bog people alongside the Greeks and the Babylonians. We’ve looked at art and religious rituals, at least insofar as archaeologists have theorized about them and shared with us. I’ve been in ice ages and ridden tectonic plates and recognized that the Scottish oceanside rocks are basically the same as Maine’s because they used to be connected. All quite dazzling ideas that stimulate me to make more lists of things to explore, knowing full well there isn’t enough time for me in this universe to get through even a twentieth of what I’m writing down. But the habit is there and so I do it.

Lately because a cell phone makes it so easy to photograph anything, I’ve begun supplementing my endless writing with pictures to illustrate my lists. I have a photo of every place I’ve ever lived in but one because it was demolished a long time ago. I can always think of something new that needs to be photographed.

I have my butterfly and bird photos to go with their documentation as yard visitors. I keep having my storage on my phone fill up because I’m documenting everything. Maybe there’s a gene for this need to list and illustrate. It’s so much a part of me that I was lucky to start early and thus have plenty of writing and pictures of me in many moments with Michael and my family,  including really intimate ones. Ah, the days of the self-developing Polaroids. I was compelled to record. I think my daughter is like me. A record keeper. Maybe it’s a coping skill, a way to not be overwhelmed by the complexity of our lives. We certainly have more than our share of angst right now and I think lots of people feel the stress. So I suppose I’ll keep at it, trying to organize everything and trying not to forget what’s important. I guess I could have worse habits. Even a little Purell isn’t that bad.

Habits I started making lists when I was about twelve. I know this because I have them. Mostly the lists were about people.

[offthepacific-blog]

She's Elegance, She's Grace

It's truly a craft to develop a style that is both effortless yet composed, but illustrator and videographer Grace Mazh has managed to accomplish that feat across art forms through her YouTube and drawings. There is nothing normal and everything extraordinary about Grace's eclectic style which manifests itself into videos inspired by Greek Goddesses and drawings that look like they accompany a stories about distant, magical worlds. Grace has otherwordly and ethereal qualities that match her (for lack of a better word) cool style that French girls dream they had. I had the pleasure of delving into Grace's creative process which embodies the notion that art can arise from any source organically. Individuals as dynamic as Grace perpetuate the concept that art should never be stagnant. With her constantly evolving yet consistently chic style, Grace's content is always engaging to view. Keep reading to learn more about Grace's art and style!

Can you please briefly describe all the different art mediums you work with:

I make videos, and I draw with pens (mostly).

  Your illustrations are absolutely beguiling! Where do you find inspiration for their ethereal yet psychedelic content?

Aw thank you! I think I'm just really in love with nature, magical creatures and stories. I would say mythology is my main inspiration, especially nymphs.

Do you think social media is to the benefit of society or do you think it imposes an archetype for how we should all be?

It's so funny that you're asking me this, because I've been thinking about social media a lot, lately. Don't get me wrong, social media is an amazing tool, it gives us the opportunity to share our work, connect with people, make contacts, and so on. But as a creative person, it can also be really oppressive. Especially if you're someone who doesn't have much self esteem [...] The reason being, you're constantly seeing talented people growing, getting better, already knowing who they are, what their art style is, and so on. You start doubting yourself because you're not growing, not finding your own path. There's so much talent, so much inspiration, and you get lost in it, you can't come up with something original, something that feels yours and that makes you happy. I've been thinking about taking a break from social media, but we'll see [...] I think we all need to find a balance with it.

How would you compare and contrast your approach in creating YouTube videos versus drawings?

I would say what they have in common is the aesthetic. I love nature, and pinkish tones, and I think you can tell with both my videos and drawings. While with my drawings the approach is to always get inspired by something, and then create, with my videos it varies every time. The times I enjoy filming the most are spontaneous times. When I'm filming the world I completely forget myself and the things that bother me. I feel like a kid, I feel curious. My eyes are never resting, always in search of little details and beauty to capture. I no longer care about people judging me, I don't even notice them. It's just me and my camera, walking down the streets. It is an escape, just like sleeping or reading or watching a movie. It is wonderful. And do you have a favorite type of art to create?

I think it's everchanging. Right now I like to use black paint, which I NEVER enjoyed until now. I like the fact that it's so unpredictable and freeing. I don't have to be so perfect and careful with it like I am with pens.

How did you find your vision amidst a vast internet full of aspiring content creators?

As I said previously in the social media answer, I don't think I've found my vision yet, but I'll keep working on it!

Often it appears as if your YouTube videos tell stories. How do you go about planning and creating them? Do you have a routine or is your creative process spontaneous?

I would say it's spontaneous. I'm not one to write down a script or plan out all the different shots, which is probably not the best way to go about it. I've been quite inconsistent lately!

What do you think influences your style? Do you look up to certain individuals or do you gather inspiration from the world around you?

It's definitely both, I follow lots of talented artists and it's hard not to love and get inspired by them. I want to break free from that a bit, and just take inspiration from the world, especially if i'm traveling. It's hard to be inspired in your home town, so most of the time I just take inspiration from pictures on the web. [...] Not always though. Yesterday I was really inspired by the illustration of a pepper on a chilli powder packaging! Sometimes inspiration can be found in the weirdest of places hahah.

What are your wardrobe staples?

 high waisted skinny jeans, classic Vans sneakers, and a faux fur coat!

If your style were a place in the world where would it be?

Ahhh I really don't know. I think people in London are so funky and cool, I'd like to fit in there :P

We've been coveting the calendar and prints you designed! Do you have any other plans of expanding your brand?

Maybe! if it becomes more successful in the future I'd like to design some tote bags :)

Grace's socials: YT: primgrace Instagram: gracemazh Store: gracemazh.bigcartel.com

[misangremellama]

“Colonialism wants us to deny the parts of ourselves that are indigenous or Black. We want our people to be able to learn about the beauty and power they come from,” Urbina Bermúdez, 26, added.Each month shares a new beautifully illustrated folktale, like the story of Cacica Gaitana, an indigenous woman who sought revenge against cruel Spanish invaders, or Mohan, a sorcerer of the water who saw the Spaniards’ arrival before they reached land and took treasures to the bowels of the rivers, where he hid and remains.Urbina Bermúdez’s favorite legend is María Varilla, a fandango dancer and domestic worker who she describes as a “badass feminist” for her activism around women’s rights and domestic laborers.“I’m a folkloric dancer, so I have a strong relationship with music and dance, but when I came to the U.S. and started doing activism, I noticed that this wasn’t really connected to culture. So when I learned about María Varilla, a dancer and activist, it was inspiration for me; it showed me that I can do both,” she said.

For the women, who both moved from the South American country to Miami during their teenage years, the calendar is a way to keep the fables they were taught during their childhood alive and ensure that they are shared with a new generation.

“I have a son, and it’s very important for me to pass this information onto him and the generations to come. It’s important that they grow up learning about all these fantastic creatures and heroes, these stories of bravery, liberation and some that are just funny. These are amazing stories we don’t often, or ever, hear about in popular culture, so, for me, it’s crucial that it’s passed on,” Ramirez Barrera, 30, told us.

The women also hope Aguapaneleando – a play on aguapanela, a popular Colombian drink made from hardened sugar cane juice and boiled water – will make people proud of their land and ancestors.

Ramirez Barrera, who illustrated the calendar, says Curupira, a popular character who protected the trees and animals of the Amazon jungles, is her favorite. She believes that stories like this one can help Colombians understand that the battles they’re fighting today – from displacement and environmental injustice – aren’t new, and that they should feel proud and powerful knowing that they continue that legacy of resistance.

Along with the myths and legends, the calendar also includes the dates of fiestas populares, festivals of the people that celebrate just about everything, from music and regions to fruits and even folklores.

The entire project, which the women raised funds for through an Indiegogo campaignlast year, took several hours of research and conversation, with Urbina Bermúdez and Ramirez Barrera both discovering new things along the way. The pair learned about several legends and was fascinated when they found out that there are different versions to many of the tales depending on which region in Colombia, or Latin America, they are told from.

Once the two agreed on the 12 legends and myths they’d highlight in the calendar, Ramirez Barrera went to the drawing board, creating illustrations that are true to the story being shared. Every element of the drawings, Ramirez Barrera says, has a meaning, with the flora and fauna sketched indigenous to the lands from which the tale originates to the patterns on the clothing of the mythic heroes true to the tribe of which the story arises.

For Urbina Bermúdez and Ramirez Barrera, creating the calendar became a journey of self-discovery, a re-learning of their history that helped them better understand themselves. But it was also a way for them to travel back to the country they left years ago, one where Ramirez Barrera, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, has been prohibited from returning to.

“I haven’t been able to return to my country for 16 years, and I feel there is so much that I have lost, partially taken away from me, like my right to return, my right to savor my food and my right to go back to my family,” she said. “But through this project, learning about myths and legends, through culture, no one is going to take this from me. It’s in me, and that is very powerful.”

Visit Aguapaneleando to learn more about the calendar and the captivating myths and legends inside it, and help preserve these folklore by emailing the women and purchasing one (or more!) today.

[houseofvans]

Sketchy Behaviors | PACOLLI (San Francisco,CA)

Working as a producer in MTV Brazil, self taught artist Patricia Colli (Pacolli) started out hand drawing her own calendars and silk screening her own shirts. Making her own way through a mostly male dominated São Paulo art scene, Pacolli's natural creativity, unique eye for color and composition, and ear for the lyrical made her work stand out from the rest. Not only did her colorfully spastic, psychedelic, and angsty work catch our eye, but also her “go-getter” attitude and DIY ethic which permeates in everything she does: from silk screening her own gear, self publishing her zines, managing her online shop, High In The Bay to the recent opening of her new art space–Bendgy in Brazil.  We got to chat with this chill artist about her new space Bendgy, her artistic processes, and about the magic of zines.  

Photographs courtesy of the artist. 

Keep calm, read on! 

Introduce yourself  My name is Patricia Colli, but people call me Pacolli (it doesn't really have a funny story behind the name, it was just my first email because i wasn't much of a Patty and I had a band with my friend Ronaldo who introduced me to everyone as Pacolli, eventually I stopped fighting it and embraced it, it's like a one name thing like Cher and I like Cher). I'm 35, born in São Paulo (Brazil) and I live in San Francisco, California with my husband and also artist Mildred.

What’s the first thing you remember drawing?  How did you first get interested in art and making art? I remember drawing a house in the hills when I was in school and the teacher said that wasn't really good, I went to an italian catholic school in Brazil and they were not a fan of arts. Maybe that's why I started, in a very shy way, to go around it and start drawing all the time. I didn't like school from day one so I started drawing during classes to escape from it. In 7th grade I started drawing the guys that my friends and I had crushes on and passing them during class, we would laugh so much because the drawings were really sketchy and they were all about skipping class to go see them and skipping class to go to concerts, getting fake IDs and being crazy, recklessly teenagers!I always kept something like a sketchbook journal through the years and eventually they started to become zines, and then t-shirts...

What’s your artistic process like? Do you keep a sketchbook or doodle everywhere you go? I do keep a sketchbook with me at all times, and I make a lot of lists of things to draw. I also write down funny/interesting things I heard or read somewhere. I like to take my time to come up with an idea and daydream as much as I can about it before doing it. I like the process of coming up with something and letting it reveal itself as I go on. It's like finding something about yourself there.

How did your life go from drawing as a hobby to drawing as a career? I used to work on MTV Brazil as a producer and I used to make my own calendars with a big drawing on top, my co-workers used to make copies of those to use them too... I thought it was cool that people liked it but I never thought I could do this for a living. A couple years went by and I started screen printing some t-shirts and got invited for a fashion art show in Antwerp (Belgium). It was funny cause I started being asked to participate in art shows and collaborative zines in Europe but never in Brazil, so it was like a fun side gig to me. Eventually I started getting some freelance illustration/t-shirt design gigs/art shows in Brazil and abroad and gave up my tv job, started traveling where my art was taking me and it took me to San Francisco where I am since then.

What are some of the hardest challenges you have faced as an artist and how did you overcome them? It was hard to manage the ups and downs of the job and understand that's how it goes, sometimes you get called to make a bunch of shows and gigs at the same time and sometimes it feels like there's nothing happening for months to end... so I like to make things happen when I have these slower times, experiment different mediums, collaborate with other artists, start a new personal project and be productive. It's important to keep a perspective about those things and to not compare your path to anyone else cause that won't help. I tend to get anxious if I don't have projects lined up, but if there are no opportunities you have to create them yourself.

You have some many various types of characters – heart shaped people, coffee cup personalities to rabbit / cat people.  What’s the inspiration behind some of them and do they all sort of have personalities? I guess I see faces everywhere lol, drawing humans is challenging! I make myself laugh sometimes when I'm drawing strange creatures that don't exist doing humane things, it's like it's ok for them to look a bit off because there's nothing to compare them to, you know? I like drawing these characters with human feelings but not in a human form because it's more fun and freeing. Sometimes I make these creatures inspired by my friends, I drew the album cover for my friend's band Polara and we used to drink so much coffee all the time, I thought the best way to go about was to draw a bunch of espresso coffee cups dancing like crazy and dizzy bumper cars cause that's how you feel listening to their music after all that coffee!

It’s always really cool to see you printing your own stuff from shirts to stickers  When did you first start silk screening and printing your own things? Has the process evolved for you? I had some friends that screen printed t-shirts and I knew the basic process of doing it, so one day I decided to try one myself and I fell in love with the process and results. It was like playing with stamps all over again (I played with stamps and stickers my whole childhood). Since I was self taught in a way, I didn't know what I was doing...so I started to print things a bit different, not doing the same image over and over. I got a small squeegee and I took my time printing each drawing at once and composing a different story behind each tshirt. I became a screen hoarder!, I never throw them away (unless if they're clogged but I don't let it happen much) and bring them from Brazil - i know, it's crazy! I found my happy place doing these 1/1 prints, it gives me new ideas every time I'm printing, I see new possibilities and experiment without fear, it's very calming and exciting at the same time.

How many zines have you self-published?  How did you first start creating your own zine? I self published six zines so far, my intention was to publish at least one every year but I've been slacking on that goal. I had too many sketchbooks full of drawings, my friends would tell me to do something with them and I was always shy and a bit embarrassed about sharing personal things, one of my friends called me out that all I like a lot from other artists are personal and maybe embarrassing things lol.. so yeah I had no excuse anymore! Reading Jeffrey Brown, Vanessa Davis and Esther Pearl Watson really encouraged me to make my own zine at that time! They're work is very personal and it was definitely an inspiration to me!

What is it that you love so much about zine culture?   I think it's a very specific kind of subject that you couldn't find anywhere else (before the internet got huge). I started reading music zines about underground indie and punk bands. I think I still see it in the same way, a place to put on specific things you don't find anywhere else. I'm really into checking out the paper and print style, small editions with something handmade or hand drawn on it always get my attention. They're hard to find these days! Fun Chicken (the online shop from Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson) have really cool zines and I'm always checking Fudge Factory Comics (Travis Millard's online store) cause there's always cool zines. Well everything they have is amazing!

What have been some of your favorite collaborations? What do you enjoy most about them?   I collaborate a lot with my husband, he's been making art and zines for a long time too and every now and then I'll sneak one of our collabs in my zines and vice versa. It's important to have some intimacy with whoever you're collaborating with so you can say what you really think. It's fun to do it and I always learn something from the experience. 

Is there a medium you want to try and haven’t?  What is currently your favorite medium and why? I got a wood burner from my in-laws last christmas and I haven't tried yet, it's sitting next to me and I'm very excited to try it out.I really like painting with acrylics and india ink on wood panels, there's so many possibilities and room for trial and error.

What are your top 5 artistic influences, past and contemporary?  When I saw Dan Clowes comics for the first time, it changed my life! The way he draws and portrays the world was so new but so familiar in a way... he's a huge influence to me because it sparkled my interest in expressing myself through drawing. The same happened when I first saw the art of Clayton Brothers, I realized art could be so cool!! Their paintings and drawings blew my mind, I have never seen anything like that... I remember trying to like mainstream art like Picasso and Mondrian but I truly didn't have an emotional connection to any of these guys, I knew that I felt different when I saw Clayton Brothers in the cover of Juxtapoz in 2004. It was hard to find this kind of art in Brazil, and still is! Keith Haring went to São Paulo in the 80's and painted murals, he was on the tv and I thought he was such a cool guy. My mom gave me a calendar with his drawings on it and I loved it and kept it for years! Same thing happened when I discovered Warhol, his persona was always intriguing to me and it made me like his art even more. I grew up watching and reading Peanuts, so I don't think I can leave Charles Schultz out of this list. I don't separate comics from art, they have the same impact for me. I love his ability to create his own world and still being completely relatable, it's also kind of simple but extremely complex at the same time.

There’s an autobiographical nature and intimacy to a lot of your works because they come from feelings and experiences you’ve had or gone through or thought.   Can you talk a little bit of maybe you’ve used some bad experiences in your life to create art from that has been maybe therapeutic?  I feel like since my first sketchbooks were sort of journal like, that I've always had this relationship with drawing and letting emotions out... and it's therapeutic, cheaper than therapy as I always say! It's hard for me sometimes to not let it out, so I don't hold back anymore. It's funny cause the more embarrassed I am of something ultra personal that I drew, the more I get people to write me and say they really liked it. My first two zines were miserably sad ("I thought it was a love story" and "Mad for Sadness") I didn't know what to do with myself so I put together a zine with all those feelings. It kept me busy, which is usually a great thing, and a few years later I got emails from these teenage high school girls from San Francisco telling me their teacher showed my zine in class (!!) and they thought it was a good way to survive a heartbreak. I thought it was so sweet! I never thought about it before, you know? Sad things will happen anyway but how you deal with them is up to you.

What common misconception do you think folks might have about being an artist or making art for a living? I think the internet makes things look easier and more glamorous than they really are. I grew up seeing cartoonists drawing and being a bit miserable like Robert Crumb. Have you seen the documentary "Crumb"? I knew it wasn't easy being him and doing what he was doing, maybe it made me have even more respect for his work. He never tried to portray any glamour about being an artist and I think it's more like the real thing. These days people don't care for struggle, they seem to always want the easy way and that's not how art goes most of the time so I think it's funny and sad in a way. People rip off your work and forget you're a human too, trying to survive in this messy world.

What do you do to overcome those days when nothing you’re making is turning out right? What do you like to do in your off time? I like to read books when I don't know what to do with myself, it helps me to shift the focus and get into something else than my own drama. It helps me with anxiety and always sparks new ideas. Going to concerts and playing drums are my other escape tools for living a better life, music is magic... the power of live music is amazing, going to concerts is one of my favorite things to do!

Tell us about your recent trip to visit Brazil.  When you lived there, you used to do some events called Bendgy. Can you tell us how they came about and how your recent visit went? I lived in São Paulo for 28 years, it's a huge city with a lot of cultural things happening all the time, the pace of the city is maddening and it's hard to keep focus sometimes, but regardlessly it's where i'm from and I love it! I started throwing an art party/concerts in my apartment when I started to make tshirts around 2006-2007. It was a very low profile thing, just for friends and just for fun... i didn't wanted to reach out to places that already existed and try to sell my art because it was weird... so I started something unpretentious to do what I was doing and that's Bendgy!It was an art party with a concert Saturdays afternoon in my apartment, i would sell beers, vegan sandwiches and tshirts. A lot of my friends are musicians so I wanted to have a band and we would support each other, it started getting bigger and I was scared of the risk of being kicked out of my apartment for the loud noise and amount of people coming in...I threw a few Bendgys at my friends places and eventually my dad moved out of his house and it was empty for a while, I started throwing bigger concerts there and it was so much fun!

How is Bendgy now? I just came back from SP and it was a long process but now Bendgy is a real art space, I got a great staff and we open every Saturday! We're having an international art show called "Hit the ground running" with the art of Albert Reyes, Jason Vivona, Jeff Roysdon, Mats!?, Mildred, Michael Hsiung (you!) and myself! In addition to the art show, there's a zine/print/tshirt/stickers shop and we have more affordable things from all the artists in the show and from other great artists from the US, Argentina and Brazil. I'm stoked that it turned out the way it did! It was so much hard work putting it together, I thought I was going crazy.. i felt like Donal Duck, but it was worth it!I book every band and make almost every flyer for it, so it's like I'm there but I'm not.

During your time living in São Paulo, Brasil, what was the art scene like?   It was most like an all boys club to be honest. Graffiti and pixação (São Paulo style of tagging) were the underground art that I liked but always made by guys, some really talented ones too! Like, Os Gemeos still blow my mind and were always a reference for me to what brazilian art is, even though they are more respected as artists outside Brazil. I think they're a good example, for some reason Brazil doesn't cherish their own artists until someone else says it's good. It needs a foreign stamp of approval that always made me bored about it because there's so many great artists there!

Who are some artists in Brazil you admire? and why? I love Stephan Doitschinoff's art, he creates his own world and he is very focused on being true to who he is. His work has always been an inspiration to me on how to do things, if there's not a scene for what you're doing you create the scene! 

Throw a zine fest or an art party, and make no excuses for not doing things. People tend to complain there's not enough opportunities there, but i feel like it's also in our own hands to make things happen and not just wait for someone to invite you to be part of something. Jaca is another extremely talented artist living in São Paulo, he is super humble and not really into posting his art online. He doesn't need no approval or applause and I love that! He looks inside himself and his works reveal that to us, it's very inspiring! He will have a solo show at Bendgy in July and I can't wait to see what he's going to do.

When did you start your online store High in the Bay?  The products on there are all hand made by you in SF?  What’s it like keeping your own shop?   I started High in the Bay with my husband, Mildred, when I moved to SF in 2010 to make it up for the fact that I couldn't do a Bendgy here (i would have been evicted right away) so we did an online store.We do carry zines from other artists that we like and sometimes we make collaborative zine packs so people get to know other things than our own work, they get to see what we like! I brought some books, prints and zines from an amazing artist from Argentina called Tomás Spicolli, his work has been a big influence to me so I was very happy to have his art at Bendgy and soon at High in the Bay. It's important to learn to manage something even if it's an online shop, so then you get the grip of it and can do things better in the future, I used to work at Needles and Pens and I learned a lot from them on how to do things, it really helped me when I was doing Bendgy and High in the Bay.

You done a lot of cool art for bands!  What has been your favorite collaboration?  Thanks, man! I have to say I've been lucky to have worked with cool people, like I told before the Polara album cover was a cool one, it's coming out sometime this year in Brazil. All the bands were really cool to me and we became friends, I did a tshirt design for Josh Berwanger Band a few years ago, it had a funny request "draw Patrick Swayze in Road House"! And there was another album cover i did for Swivs that was so much fun to do, his music is so good!!

Give us your top 5 bands or tunes while creating?  How does music influence your art?  I'm very into the new Afghan Whigs album called "In Spades", and all their music really. It's one of my favorite bands ever, I have drawn so many of their lyrics consciously and unconsciously!I just came back from a concert last night in Oakland from another favorite of mine, The Magnetic Fields.  They're great and i came back from Brazil earlier just to see them, love everything that Stephin Merritt does, forever and ever.I'm very into the same bands for the longest time, I love the Ramones, Pulp, Os Mutantes, Cypress Hill, Tupac, Jonathan Richman, Spaceman 3... my music taste is all over the place!Music is a major influence to me, since I was a kid my best friend was not my pen but my radio.

What are your favorite Vans? how would you describe your personal style?Ok, there was a limited edition Lo Pros Saddle shoes that was SO cool! I have a photo of me wearing it, cause i wore it all the time! I'm a Hi Top girl, black and white or just white ones, love those!

What’s the best and worse advice you’ve gotten about art?  Best advice is to work hard and be true to yourself, sounds cliche but it's the truth.Worse advice is when people told me I had to go to art school, it might work for some people but it wasn't for me...

What’s on the horizon for the rest of 2017?  There's one big project that i'm super excited about but can't talk about it yet... And there will be lots and lots of cool art and live music happening at Bendgy!

Follow Pacolli Website: http://www.pacollipacolli.com/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/pacollionline Shop:https://highinthebay.bigcartel.com Bendgy: www.instagram.com/bendgysp

[lia-nikiforov]

Spring Amiami Haul: YOI goodies and other stuff!

Remember how I keep saying that I’m unemployed and poor as dirt? Well, I still am both things, but money’s not gonna save anyone when the Orange Overlord kills us all so I’ll have my YOI merch with extra avocado pls. Thought it would be cute and funny to let you in on my road to financial self-destruction and maybe convince you to buy some of these things and throw money at Yuri on Ice becuse it might be officially and irrevocably the best selling anime of 2016 but this is Sayokan and she needs ALL THE MONEYZ to make that movie this isn’t quite how anime is made but i believe in principle the more money that gets thrown into any series’s products in any capacity, the more money will get thrown into its production see Attack on Titan. In this post we’ll look at my March and April purchases and cry over how beautiful these things are and how poor I am.

Starting with the March set, which is comparatively smaller

First we have the Yuri!!! on Ice school calendar which I bought basically because I wanted a calendar and the MAPPA one was too costly with shipping charges and I thought I couldn’t make that expense (how innocent I was). It’s a cute lil’ thing, with a few funny things in it and also a bit of design laziness which is a bit sad. To get the bad stuff out of the way first, as you can see, the cover illustration is completely original and our boys are looking very smart in those suits, nothing wrong with that...

except half of the calendar pages are just the same illustration, just individually. So we have Victor alone for one page (June-July), Yurio alone for another and Yuuri alone in the last one. I would’ve rather they used other official illustrations instead of recycling the cover thrice over ):. THe remaining three illustrations are cute, I particularly like the one for December-January, Yuuri looks so pure :3

What’s weird and funny about this calendar is they decided, for some inexplicable reason, to have it all in Russian. The names of the days and months are ALL in Russian, and cyrillic to boot. Idk what they were going for but it’s quirky and unique, so I like it. It’s not like I actively use calendars anyway, I just use them to tear them apart and stick the illustrations on my walls. The calendar is available on amiami

On to the next item

A relatively simple phone cleaner strap, nothing much to say about it. It’s punipuni like Yuuri’s off-season chub (still can’t believe this is a canon thing) and works good for a quick clean of your screen if you’re not home. This one is currently sold out on Amiami, but they might restock eventually (wow that cost more than I remember, I was so liberal with my money when I had job lol)

The last item from the March haul is this acrylic accessory stand that depicts Yuuri at the end of his free skate in China. I don’t even own or wear any jewelry or accessories, but I just had to have it, it’s so beautiful ;----; Cup of China Yuuri is very important to me, ok? You can see I’m using it to hold my kanzashi and an ear-pick lol. Ngl I thought it would be big enough to hold my smartphone, but it isn’t and I don’t care, he’s beautiful. He’s still available on Amiami, and there are other designs to choose from too. If a girl like me who wears no jewelry could find room for it, I’m sure you can too!

Now, onto the April stuff

Firstly there’s these two cleaning cloths depicting Victor and Yuuri from the first Key visual which I love. I’ve also tested them and they’re really effective, even without cleaning liquid. They’re a bit more plastic-y than the one I had before so they don’t leave any fuzz on the screen, which is gr9. These were kind of a spur of the moment purchase half of my YOI stuff has been spur of the moment purchases because I thought amiami would flat-rate EMS and since I expected the box to be big given how it came with two figures and a coin case and a keychain, I thought SAL would be like 1800ish (what I paid the last time I had a figma and Nendoroid shipped together) and EMS 2000 and figured 200 yen would be worth not having to wait three months for the items to arrive, so I could have the luxury of making it a true huge haul. Turns out 1) There isn’t a flat rate on EMS 2) SAL was only 1300, so I went for SAL and it arrived so fast it was like a Golden Week miracle.

Aaaanyway, these are still available on Amiami, as well as a Yurio variant and they’re also pretty big –you can see they cover the figure boxes-, I recommend them if you’re looking for a new cleaning cloth or smth.

Next we have this adorable Victor keychain which is waaay bigger than I thought it would be I really need to start paying attention to sizes (for reference, from skate to skate he’s about  1 cm shorter than a Nendoroid). I don’t particularly understand the buzz for “Pinched” character goods, but this one I bought at a time in which I was restless because I wanted to throw money at Sayokan but the BDs weren’t affordable at all –even now, counting ALL the YOI shit I’ve preordered, and I’ve shit PO’ed up til August, I don’t even come close to what buying all the BDs would’ve cost- and these keychains came out for preorder and I loved how Victor had his legs so dramatically extended, so I impulse pre-ordered him lol. Of course, I’m not actually gonna use it as a keychain because I’m afraid his legs would break given what a rough treatment my keys go through, but I’ll hang him from a shelf and he’ll look cute :3

He’s still available at Amiami along with Yurio, Yuuri and Makkachin and I’m fairly certain there are also cellphone strap versions if that’s what you prefer.

And last but not least (since I forgot to take individual pics of the figures and I haven’t even unboxed them yet, I’ll do those in a separate post) we have this beautiful beautiful beautiful coin case!

Like I just don’t have any words, it’s just so beautiful, it completely surpassed all my expectations. It has so many little details I want to cry.

The synthetic leather is so soft and the baby blue color is adorable and the print looks even better in person than in the prototype, it’s such a lovely pattern too.

What made it a deal-breaker for me was this little depiction of the hair-poke, literally end my life

I’ll admit this isn’t my favorite type of coin case because I feel it’s prone for dropping money, especially if you’re carrying a lot of coins (not a problem for me since I don’t have money at all :’D), but I literally couldn’t care less, it’s so beautiful and perfect I will treasure it forever. I can’t possibly overstate how in love I am with this thing.

Playful Mind company has a variety of designs of different items such as phone cases, card cases, ticket holders etc, with this and other cute patterns, so I totally recommend you check them out, most of them seem to still be available on Amiami :D A+++ recommend, I honestly feel tempted to buy another one with a different design just because they’re so pretty.

 BONUS

Yes, if you thought I wouldn’t take this opportunity to once again flaunt my beloved calendar, light of my life, my everything, you were WRONG. Like I said before, I originally didn’t intend to buy it because the shipping costs were so insane at CDJapan, but I succumbed when preview pictures started flooding in and turned out to be way more beautiful than I ever expected orz.  Barely scraped in the last few days of preorders, and now it’s sold out af.

Also, I originally planned to get the Yuri on Life guidebook and take it to be autographed to the convention –in case you missed it, see my report of this most momentous occasion here- but the guidebook was delayed (and has been delayed three times as of this writing, still have it PO’ed though) so this beautiful calendar became The Chosen One. I love it so much, literally bury me with it when I die.

That’s all for this season, next one probably won’t be until late August when I’ve gotten both Nendos cos there’s no point in separating them. I’d hoped this would be longer and include the Animestyle, Yuri on Life and Go Yuri Go books but since the latter two got delayed yet again and I’m too poor to afford separate shipments, it’ll all have to wait til late fucking June *sobs* But hey, the summer haul is gonna be monstrous *my YOI wallet sobs*

Like I said, who’s gonna need money when the Orange Overlord kills us all. I just hope he holds off until I get my Yuuri and Victor Nendoroids though

It’s four am I’m sorry I’m in highkey idiot mood.

[sentrava]

How Bladr is Making the Case for the Artist’s Book

In the winter of 2013, I happened upon a bookstore, Printed Matter, while schlepping through the snow-lined streets of Chelsea, New York City. Inside, I became blissfully enveloped in its vast inventory of artists’ books, a genre of the visual arts that I hadn’t known existed. Just one year prior, Sara Lubich had a corresponding experience at the exact same address.

“I went there [in 2012], and I was just blown away – like, wow! What is this place? And what is this genre?” She recalls. “Even though I studied art history, I had never heard the word ‘artist book’, so this was a whole new world opening up for me.”

Sara continues, “I then went back to intern there [in 2013], and my interest grew. I thought: we definitely need a place like this in Denmark!”

  Stine Friis Møller, Sara’s business partner, also had ambitions of seeing the niche medium reach national audiences. In 2015, she was running Minus 1, an independent bookstore in the basement of Den Frei Centre for Contemporary Art, with Linus Carlsen. But upon meeting Lubich as well as Christian Klintholm & Marie Boye Thomsen, the five laid plans for a platform dedicated to artists’ books in Copenhagen, christening it Bladr (Danish for “turn the page”).

Their initiative took shape in February when they acquired premises on Griffenfeldsgade, Nørrebro. But despite its newfound public visibility, Bladr was never intended to function as a traditional bookstore. Rather, its founders envisioned it as a space that could advance a dialogue through talks, workshops, exhibitions, and daily exchanges on the underrepresented genre.

“We have an educational role in that we communicate what artists’ books are;people just don’t know about them,” explains Friis Møller. “They’re not well known in Denmark, which is funny because we have a tradition of producing them.”

  For the uninitiated, this principally involves illustrating the distinction between art books and artists’ books. “An art book is a book about art,” details Lubich. “But an artist’s book is, itself, a work of art.”

“Many artists work with artist’s books as an exhibition space,” she continues. “Sometimes the artist’s book is an elaboration of an exhibition – or maybe just an exhibition in itself.”

There is a clear distinction between the gallery shop literature produced by major international publishers and the intricate, often handmade pieces that Bladr’s staff curate.

“There’s a difference between a Taschen book on Richard Avedon and this sort of obscene, non-explanatory book,” Friis Møller says, gesturing to a nearby display shelf. “Because most of the time artists’ books raise some questions, which a coffee table book usually doesn’t; it just has to look nice.”

    The medium’s cerebral qualities become neatly demonstrated when I ask Lubich and Friis Møller to share their current favorite works.

“This one is by a Berlin-based publishing house called Outer Space Press,” says Friis Møller. “It’s printed on paper made from crushed stone, and it shows pictures taken by a satellite [of rocky escarpments] all the way through.”

Lubich hands me her selection, a delicate paperback volume stamped with the words “Oh John.”

“What I really like about this is that the paper is almost transparent. So it’s kind of like each page has an influence on the next one,” she says, turning them back and forth to reveal undulating abstract patterns.

Bladr’s stock of these somewhat avant-garde pieces has attracted a dedicated following from among the local arts community – many of whom see the medium as a new way to channel their creativity.

“There’s a lot of people coming in who have their own ambitions of doing an artist’s book,” Friis Møller explains. “So they have a lot of questions – formal questions. What kind of paper? Where do I print it? And that’s a fun part of it: to have that conversation.”

    Bladr’s events calendar allows people to expand on these topics, with exhibition project Forlaget Gestus slated to offer in-store talks and performances on November 30th. Bladr will also collaborate with Dutch online artists’ books publisher oneacre.online over the coming months.

But its founders remain chiefly focused on conveying the value of their genre here in Copenhagen, aiming to one day serve epiphanic experiences similar to those found at the New York City store that originally captured my, and Sara’s, imaginations. Given the intriguing nature of the artists’ books they stock, that’s a goal that’s both possible and entirely worthwhile.

  Visit Bladr

Griffenfeldsgade 27 2200 København N

Opening Hours: Sun – Weds Closed Thurs & Fri 3:00 – 6:00 pm Sat 12:00 – 3:00 pm

See upcoming events at Bladr on their Facebook page.

How Bladr is Making the Case for the Artist’s Book published first on https://medium.com/@OCEANDREAMCHARTERS

[whatevernevermind]

The green guru: Danny Seo was born to save the Earth.

IT WOULD BE EASY TO THINK DESIGNER DANNY SEO was destined to preach the gospel of green. After all, the 31-year-old eco-living guru was born on Earth Day, April 22,1977. But that wasn't actually in his parents' plan. "My mother had a closet full of furs, and my father was a doctor who advocated animal testing," says Seo. "I just started getting into environmental activism when I was little. I think my parents thought it was just a phase." Well, don't they always? Longbefore he started talking about nontoxic cleansers and solar-powered gadgets on CBS's The Early Show and in the pages of Country Home (where he's an editor at large), the out decorator from Reading, Pa., started proselytizing in his own backyard. When he turned 12, Seo told his conservative Korean-American family he wanted to use his birthday money (a whopping $23) to found the environmental and animal-rights advocacy group Earth 2000. With equal parts enthusiasm and naivete, the adolescent Seo organized an antiwhaling demonstration, provided vegetarian meals to people with AIDS, and rang up lawmakers to harangue them about pending environmental legislation. Earth 2000 blossomed from barely a dozen members at its start to 25,000 by the time Seo was 18--making it quite possibly the country's largest teen-focused nonprofit. "The goal," says Seo, "was to save the planet by the turn of the millennium. You know, nothing too ambitious." (For an eco-warrior, Seo has a wicked funny streak.) Despite the boy wonder's success at eco-activism, his path to enlightened living rooms was hardly direct. After graduating from high school with a D-minus grade point average--"schoolwork was not where my priorities were"--Seo scored a book deal with Random House to write a how-to guide for teen activists. The advance for Generation React gave Seo the financial freedom to move to Washington, D.C., and lobby for old-growth forests. But it didn't take long for him to grow disenchanted with life on the Hill. "In D.C. politics is its own end," he explains. "I wanted to reach people directly." Even with that conviction in place, the shift from lobbyist to lifestyle expert happened somewhat accidentally. "'Green style' was an oxymoron in the 1990s," he remembers. "But I'd find a great old sofa and hire someone to reupholster it with Blog9T this beautiful Polish hemp fabric or buy organic cotton towels that were drab beige and custom-dye them the colors I wanted. It was crazy stuff." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A reporter for The Washington Post, on assignment in 1999 to profile Seo's activism, was so stunned by the greendesign sensibility of his apartment--and the all-organic vegetarian snacks he proffered-that she turned the piece into a lifestyle feature. The e-mails and calls came soon afterward. "The more consulting I was doing, the more I'd get asked to do. This whole world of stylish sustainability opened up," he explains. And how: By the time he turned 25, Seo had written four books, appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and been named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. SEO'S SCHEDULE HAS HIM ON THE ROAD MUCH OF THE YEAR, making it hard to carve out a social life. (He's mum on the subject of a boyfriend.) But when he's not consulting on the new eco-suites at the Hotel Monaco in New Orleans or emerald-hunting in Australia with Rosario Dawson, he bunks down in one of his two homes in Pennsylvania's affluent Bucks County: a cozy bungalow on the Delaware River and a midcentury-modern cabin in the forest (the ongoing renovation of which Seo blogs about in the Huffington Post column The Green House Effect.) "My style at home is modern country," he explains. "It's not gingham, plaid, and stencils, but it's comfortable. Everything has a handmade touch but very clean lines and is eclectic." And while it would be impossible for Seo not to practice what he preaches, he doesn't skimp on flair in the name of consciousness. So rather than use an eco-unfriendly cashmere blanket--high demand for cashmere has caused an increase in the goat population in China, which has turned grasslands into dust bowls and caused an upswing in pollution in Asia and across the Pacific to the western United States--he bought an armload of downy-soft alpaca scarves and had them stitched together as a bedspread. Being creative (and adorable) has put Seo on Hollywood's speed dial, though he's reluctant to dish about the stars who've turned to him for eco-advice, chiding me that "it turns into this whole gossip thing." Yet he clearly understands the benefits of celebrities going green: "If a movie star does something good, even a little thing, they can draw SEO Blog9T a ton of media attention," he admits. "Something totally unsexy, like compressed hydrogen fuel for your car or water treatment systems for your house, winds up being written about in Us Weekly." So while the A-list is important to his cause, Seo continues to reach out to everyday consumers. In 2006, he published two successful entertaining guides, Simply Green Giving and Simply Green Parties, followed by the 2008 daily calendar, Do Just One Thing, which offers simple eco-friendly household tips like unplugging cell-phone chargers and turning old soup cans into makeupbrush organizers. He's just returned from Palm Springs, Calif., where he was taping a new edition of Red, Hot and Green, an environmental-design show for HGTV. But Seo wants to really educate the public, not just regurgitate the same old green advice. "I'm trying to take it to the next level," he says. "I'm not going to tell people to use compact fluorescent light bulbs, because everyone knows that. But I might talk about what to do with the old nasty nylon carpet you're tearing out or how to recycle laminate countertops--things you can't just Google." Something of an eco-version of Martha Stewart (one of his idols), Seo has also started extending himself as a brand. He's partnered with mattress manufacturer Simmons on Natural Care by Danny Seo, a line of earth-friendly latex pillows and mattresses available at JCPenney, and his "Simply Green" stamp now appears on the department store's line of organic cotton bedding and bamboo blankets. "They've got all these really great colors and styles at all these different price points," he says, momentarily slipping into a sales pitch. But Seo isn't selling out. He's never apologized for promoting the good life. "I've always felt strongly about sustainability but, unlike a lot of activists, I also want to eat great food, wear cool clothes, and be surrounded by beautiful things," he says. What makes him different is that he's "worked hard to make it so you can do that and still be responsible." Now, that's something gays can get behind. Which gets me thinking: Is green the new pink? "I honestly don't think it's a gay-straight thing," says Seo. "What we're seeing is a total cultural shift. If you don't like it, you're still going to have to adapt to it. Eventually it becomes second nature for everybody." And that, to borrow a line from a certain domestic doyenne, is a good thing. IS IT REALLY EASY BEING GREEN? When you figure out how to do it, sure. Here are five of Danny's favorite green thumb rules. DON'T PANIC: With the wealth of green products flooding the market, it can be hard to figure out what's legitimately earth-friendly. But, Sea says, "companies are so scared of being accused of green-washing"--making phony environmental claims--"that they're really doing their due diligence." Of course, he adds, the greenest product is nothing at all. But what's life without duvet covers and gravy boats? DEFINE YOUR TERMS: "The use of the word organic is regulated by the Department of Agriculture--it has to have been grown without pesticides, herbicides, or chemicals," See explains. "So you can rest assured if you see that label, it's the real deal." If a product is made from postconsumer recycled materials, that means it comes from the sort of things we put out on the corner--newspapers, glass bottles, aluminum cans--that have been crushed or melted down and turned into something new. Just be wary of adjectives like biodegradable and ell-natural, which aren't regulated, says Sea. "Technically, even a polystyrene cup is biodegradable. It just takes 60,000 years." CARRY IT OFF: Use your own reusable bags when you shop. "We know to do that at the grocery store, but don't be afraid to bring one to a department store," Sea says. And there's a bag to fit every taste and budget: "You can get anything from a $1,000 reusable bag from Hermes to a 99-cent sack from Whole Foods." KEEP AN EYE ON THE ROAD: "A lot of people don't close the gas cap to their cars tightly enough," says the green guru. "Over time, the gas evaporates as you drive." If you click the cap three to five times to make sure it's secure, you'll improve your fuel efficiency 1% or 2% a year. BE A STAR: Sea says there are several government programs that help point consumers in the right direction, like Energy Star, which identifies energy-efficient electronics and appliances. Think of it as "a green kosher symbol." COPYRIGHT 2008 LPI Media No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder. Copyright 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.