#The selling points 100% personal and by experience. To me sometimes

[hajihiko]

One of my favourite directions

[roboticchibitan]

I used to work at JoAnn's and let me give you a tip. Don't buy fabric there if you can help it. It's overpriced low quality crap. You can absolutely find fabric for just as cheap online and if you're a "have to touch it before I know if I'll hate it or not" person lots of online places sell samples.

Case in point: Robert Kaufman Kona solids. I've seen claims online that the Kona solid quilting cotton, which is the highest quality quilting cotton solids JoAnn's sells, is different and lower quality than the Kona cotton you can get at a quilt shop. I can't speak to the validity of those claims but I 100% would not be surprised if it were true. But let's set that aside and just see how JoAnn's prices measure up.

As you can see, the regular price at JoAnn's is $9.99. The regular price at this random quilting online store I spent 20 seconds on duckduckgo to find is $7.95. Sure, the sale price is 15¢ cheaper at JoAnn's. But JoAnn's is constantly playing this "our fabrics are cheap because they're on sale! Don't look at how much they regularly cost anywhere else" psychological warfare game which I do NOT appreciate.

I'm sure if you looked harder than the 20 seconds I spent on duckduckgo you could find Kona cotton for cheaper than JoAnn's has it and you wouldn't have to wonder about the quality claims. And all their fabric is like this. Maybe a decade ago it was a good deal but now? There's a reason they've gone bankrupt.

Just because I could, I compared fabric wholesale direct's price for solid color polyester Jersey knit fabric, which is regularly priced at $5.99 and is currently on sale for $5.09. JoAnn's comparable fabric starts again at $9.99/yard and that fabric is currently on sale for $6.99. There are 10 colors of the JoAnn's $6.99 fabric and 45 colors of the FWD $5.09 fabric FWD does free shipping over $99 and flat rate shipping at $7.95 for anything below that. Depending on how much you buy, you'll potentially be paying the same or less for the FWD fabric and 1. It's probably higher quality and 2. There's 4 times as many color options.

JoAnn's is good for if you need less than a yard and have the time and ability to go to the store in person. And yeah, if you're shopping in person, you don't have to pay shipping. But the quality of all their fabric is low and the "sale" prices are around the same as a place with higher quality fabric.

I buy embroidery floss and thread at JoAnn's cuz embroidery floss is cheaper in person than on DMC's website and you can't trust product photos of thread to be color accurate. And I buy sewing notions there sometimes cuz it's convenient. But even the scissors I spent $30 on there a decade ago (who knows how much they are now) were $17 at Walmart when I lost the first pair and had to replace them 4 years later.

Also they treat their employees like shit and currently no one besides store managers gets health insurance through them because the only full time position in their stores is the store manager. And even before the bankruptcy they shortstaffed and did everything in their power to avoid paying for benefits and overtime. It was the worst job I ever had and that's saying something because I worked at Walmart and had a "this creepy guy went to JAIL over what he did to me" experience there.

[poorlittleyaoyao]

But Madam Qin explicitly did not want to doom Qin Su to the incest marriage. When she got the wedding invitation even after warning JGY she fainted dead away on the spot and died of depression shortly afterwards and could only bring herself to warn Bicao on her death bed.

I assume this is in response to my tags on this post about "plot holes" in MDZS, in which my exact words were "JGY and Madam Qin decided quietly dooming QS to the incest marriage was the best option." Deciding that something is the best option is not the same as wanting it. Deciding to amputate a gangrenous limb so the infection doesn't spread and kill me doesn't mean I want to chop my arm off, it means I've determined that this is the least-damaging option available to me.

I totally agree that Madam Qin did not want her daughter to marry her own half-brother, which is why I picked that option as the plot hole that is the hardest to give a Watsonian explanation for using the text alone. The other things listed on that poll don't impact the plot overmuch and can be explained based on other behavior we've seen from the characters and/or other expressly-stated events or aspects of the setting itself. Qin Su's pregnancy, however, is a fairly major plot point, and it being treated as something 100% inescapable where the only options are disgrace or a timely marriage, is contrary to what we know about this world and these characters. Madam Qin is not granted the privilege of having a character to begin with; all we know about her is that Jin Guangshan raped her, she kept this a secret, and that Jin Guangyao and Qin Su marrying despite her attempts to prevent it was so distressing to her that she died. Given that she so desperately wants her daughter to avoid being trapped in this marriage, but Qin Su is already pregnant, why is abortion not considered? There are possible explanations, but all of them require the reader to invent them wholecloth, because nothing we are told about her facilitates an explanation. Again, "doesn't want the incest marriage" is her primary personality trait. This is counter to that.

I do not feel it is reasonable to assume that abortifacients simply don't exist in the MDZS universe, because they exist--and have existed throughout history--in real life. They might not be safe, and they might not be effective, and they may be viewed as immoral depending on the cultural norms, but they exist. The MDZS world has magic. We see multiple characters casually walk off stab wounds even if they're of middling cultivation level. If Ancient Fantasy China's medical knowledge allows someone to successfully transplant Xiao Xingchen's entire eyes into Song Lan's head--a surgery that was only accomplished in the real world last year, with no vision in the transplanted eye--then surely abortion exists.

Meanwhile, Jin Guangyao would 100% know about abortion. He grew up in a brothel. Brothels sell sex. Sex sometimes causes unplanned pregnancy. Pregnancy for someone working in a brothel is generally a liability to be dealt with. There is no indication that we cannot apply these assumptions to the brothel in Yunping. Ergo, Jin Guangyao would know and should have at least considered it for Qin Su. There is no indication that he does.

Now--and I'm putting this in bold because this website can't read--that does not mean that there is no possible way for events to unfold as they did. There are many reasons why Madam Qin and Jin Guangyao would both disregard abortion as an option. If neither of them is willing to tell Qin Su the truth, they would need to give her drugs or treatment without her consent, and perhaps neither of them was willing to do that. Perhaps Jin Guangyao in his childhood witnessed self-induced abortions gone wrong and was unwilling to expose Qin Su to that risk, unconvinced that her social status would allow her access to better, safer care. Perhaps Madam Qin, struggling alone during her own unwanted pregnancy, had a bad experience of her own or was given bad information that convinced her abortion would be too dangerous. Maybe MDZS is like the Star Wars universe and is garbage at reproductive care specifically. Or something else entirely! The issue is that abortion is never considered within the text itself at all--not by the two parties in the know at the time, not by the peanut gallery listening to Bicao, and not by anybody interrogating Jin Guangyao at Guanyin Temple. And given how important the pregnancy is as a plot point, that's an issue!

[tokyo-tower-symbolism]

I've been meaning to get into the re:live game story for a while now, but I don't know how necessary the event stories are in comparison to the main and school stories...

do you have a recommended reading order for main story and events if the timeline makes them interspersed?

Uhh, there was this one good google doc that had a bunch of stuff like what stories were important for each character, but I cannot find that right now so I'll do my best from memory but honestly I might miss a couple things so my bad.

Edit: thank you @pallastronomy for finding the doc in question, i really wanted to read that again too

To read it you can go to the wikia, read it on karth.top, or look up the parts on Youtube. That last one might be the best since you'll get the full visual novel experience.

So first off I would suggest reading the first part of the story, so Main Story chapters 1-6. Well, suggest is a strong word. I think those chapters kinda suck, but I guess they're necessary for the premise and to introduce the characters? But then again they abandon the original premise half way in favor of the performance festival so whatever. And if you want a better introduction to the characters you should read the School Stories (ignoring SJH) and also maybe watch Shoujo Cante All Starlight. So really I don't suggest you read those chapters but

I think at this point you are can read the event stories from "Hello to Halloween" to "Surprise! Rehearsal Friends!"

And you don't need to read them all, but they're fun! I couldn't really tell you which ones are super important to the plot, sorry about that. Honestly my personal opinion at this point is to just pick a couple characters you like to follow and read their stories. You can see who participates in each one on the Revue Starlight wikia

Plus, character card bond stories! Each event has a couple gacha cards they're trying to sell, and sometimes they're not super related to the story, but sometimes they are. If someone references something that happened off screen, it either happened in an earlier event or in the bond card, but I'd still only read the bond cards once you're done reading the event is over since otherwise they can be spoilers. Just think of those as prequels instead of preludes.

Then at this point you can read Main Story Chapters 7-11. And I really do think you should read these since they are juicy. There's a new plot and we really get to dive deep into the ReLive characters and see their individual pasts and why they now stand on stage. It's great.

Now for the Event Stories, feel free to read any story from "Starry Diamond Tragic Orion" up until "Royal Retainer"

Although now I gotta bring up some caveats. Anything with Seiran is not going to matter to the main plot of ReLive, and if you're curious about them, then that gets into Stage Play Territory which is much easier to follow but not in ReLive.

And honestly same with the Seisho only stories. They're fun, don't get me wrong, but they kinda don't affect the developments of the cast at all.

Starry Diamond is a live show that had some Revues, so some of the relive events are just rehashings of those. Except Venus & Cupid Story, which is a sequel to Zeus no Chuusai from the Starry Diamond Live, and that revue is actually super important to the Yumeoji Sisters's story but it is not in ReLive.

And once you've had your fill of those stories, you can start reading Main Story Chapters 12-18, Arcana Arcadia. And this one is really good. Iirc, the main revue starlight writer came in for these parts. There's some info that directly leads into the movie. And it's honestly great.

But the issue is that there are intermission bond stories that need to be read in the middle of the chapters. If you are reading it online that can be kind of pain, but in the game I think it's in the right order? I could not say for sure since I don't actually play it. Anyways, here's the vague order according to the wikia, but I'm not 100% on this

Chapter 12: 1-2

Chapter 13: Tower, Hermit, Empress, 1-3, High Priestess, 4-5, Magician, 6-9, Hanged Man, Strength, 10-15

Chapter 14: Wheel of Fortune, Chariot, 1-2, Lovers, 3-14, Faith, Hierophant, 15

Chapter 15: 1-2, Devil, Sun, Justice, 3-15

Chapter 16: Death, Charity, 1-15

Chapter 17: Temperance, 1, Fool, 2-4, World, Judgement, 5-15

Chapter 18: Hope, 1-9, Emperor, 10-14, 15/Moon

So yeah, after this you have basically free reign to read the remaining event stories. The next big ongoing plot seems to be about Siegfeld Junior High, but that one also isn't really connected to the previous stories at all.

Also some cards have connecting bond stories even without events, such as the Frontier Rangers, Orpheus, Camelot, Snow White, and Yin-Yang.

But for real, I think the best way to get into the story is to read the main story and then see what characters you like. Then you can read along all their bond stories and events that they star in, and maybe you'll find other characters that stand out. If you are missing any information, usually characters will reference whatever they are talking about, so you won't be completely lost.

So yeah, I hope you have fun with the relive story! It touches on a lot of the themes from the show and honestly I just really liked seeing the characters again. And also Arcana Arcadia is great, just so great.

[akria23]

Suspect / Character Chart Update:

Nobody:

So this week’s episode moved us off the path of Nuth as he claimed that Nant committed suicide - including some possible flashbacks of the body. This moves my Nobody theory - specifically Nobody: Theory A into sus rank 1.

Do I believe that Nant committed suicide tho? No I’m not convinced yet. I do think he’d have a lot of reasons for suicide - which I pointed out the first time I posted - but there’s so many questions left with that option. Where’s the body? Did nuth hide it? Why? What about a suicide note - not everyone leaves one but it seems strange of Nant in particular to not want to get out to his brother what he’d never been able to say while living.

I do think this does move up other aspects of the Nobody theory tho - they confirmed debt collectors so maybe Nant faked his death & went into hiding, or they harmed him. We still have the possibility of psychological break & Nont and Nant being the same person who just suffered a traumatic experience or drug usage that caused a break in his psyche - I still don’t want this the most but I can see it being this cause it is the safer route to end us off with.

Nuth:

Nuth has moved down in the ranks to the number 2 spot. Hes not lower because while he claims that Nant ruined his life and committed suicide all of his flashbacks of Nant so far hasn’t shown Nant be violent or harmful towards him. He’s pictured supportive, sexualized, and a hurt Nant. That’s not to say Nant couldn’t have harmed him or even made his life worse - it’s just a possibility that Nuth isn’t a reliable source even his flashbacks. We’ve seen him have hallucinations so it’s difficult to say what he recalls or sees as 100 proof of things happening or have happened.

Also…did they ever tell us what the bloody hand print was from… If Nant was selling drugs to pay his debt is it the same ppl Nuth is selling for? Theres also these lines or cages placed over Nuth sometimes and I’m not sure if it’s metaphor for criminality or a metaphor for how trapped he feels. There’s still one of two threads they can pull and circle back around to it being Nuth so he stays on the list.

Prom:

It’s still all vibes no evidence. He doesn’t slip, he doesn’t miss. He’s almost the perfect specimen partner wise in the sense that he has an ability to read Nont in a way no other does. He’s not overbearing, or controlling. He doesn’t try to change Nont’s mind after boundaries are set. Anything Nont says he needs or wants, Prom goes along with - an active supporter (plotting, research, giving him the weapon). But that’s the thing, Nont is more honest with him than he is with any other characters - and he has to see the frayed edges but he doesn’t pull Nont back at all. He enables…he’s supporting his descent.

The question I’m lost on is why. Maybe it’s empathy, relatability- I too am sadistic in my way, I too have rage, I wanna kill someone - and because he’s so good at repressing he admires & desires Nont who doesn’t repress who just acts and reacts. And this is what makes them revenge lovers.

But there’s still always that niggle at my brain that reminds me that Prom inserted himself and then had had influence over the case ever since. The show is always highlighting something off when Prom is in the mix - the music change, the aesthetic of the room, the way they position his def in scenes at the Playboyy with Aob & Puen (which I’m sure is to show us how he’s a source that benefits from the competing nature). He still feels like an invisible hand, still feels like he’s playing chess and seeing moves ahead of his lover. There’s so much mystery surrounding him still that’s it’s difficult to move him off the suspect board.

Porsche:

I still can’t tie Porsche into his death so he stays at number 4 ranking but I still wonder if his sugar daddy had anything to do with Nant that would’ve set them into a competitive nature for his resources and therefore enemies…that’s my mind working theories from what the story has given us thus far tho.

[springtime-creations]

Longwinded over-explanation as to why I DON'T think these Wanderful PreCure leaks are real or at the very least not be taken as 100% accurate if they are real.

POTENTIAL SPOILER FOR WANDERFUL PRECURE AHEAD!

As someone who's been into PreCure for almost a decade, and has been studying art in an informal setting (self taught artist go brrr) I've noticed some issues with these leaks.

First is obviously the names. Never in the entire history of PreCure have we had a cure whose name lines up with the title. No Cure Smile in Smile, no Cure Suite in Suite, no Cure Fresh in Fresh- you get my point. Cure Wonderful is a highly suspect name, however could still be real as PreCure is always experimenting. Cure Friendy on the other hand is WAY more egregious. Friendy isn't a word, and PreCure isn't known for making mistakes that bad. But it could have either slipped through the cracks OR as these photos look like prototypes that were meant to be destroyed, it's possible Friendy is a typo and she's meant to be Cure Friend, Cure Friendly, or an idea my phone gave me via autocorrect Cure Trendy. Any of which could fit my theorized theme of dog styling or the latter to with a blanket theme of dogs. But they could also be placeholder names. Fake names used to differentiate the characters before they're ready to start publishing their real names.

Secondly is the design. Although I'm not classically trained (see above for self taught artist go brrr) I have a good grasp on art fundamentals via independent study. I was wondering why the designs looked so off to me, and outside of it looking like it was traced off of Aikatsu, I realized that these silhouettes SUCK. Having a strong silhouette is an important aspect of making an identifiable cartoon character. Case and point, a few previous seasons compared with these leaks:

(Pardon the rough nature of the silhouettes, I had to make my own on my phone) without the details, I have no idea what I'm looking at with these designs. With previous seasons, the silhouettes themselves gave us an idea of the vibes or even themes for the upcoming season. Here though? I mean my crappy silhouette of Cure Wonderful made her pigtails look like a cat sitting on her head when I asked my boyfriend for input. These silhouettes are incredibly weak with their long hair basically ruining their design by hiding their dresses. Fun fact! These are the same issues I had with Colgate-chan- oh sorry Alear from Fire Emblem Engage that made me think those were fake too. The minor details were the only thing that separated them from other characters since their silhouette was awful.

Now weak silhouettes aren't always a crime against art, however for a piece of media that is meant to sell toys, is in animation, and for children? Yeah no you need a strong silhouette for the audience to easily identify. The only reason such a weak silhouette would work in PreCure is because no other Cure has one this bland. You can tell which PreCure is Cure Wonderful because "oh that's the least fun looking one". Since her charm comes from the details you can't see when it's just her silhouette, that means that although they're all still cute, they could have been MUCH cuter, which Toei is typically really good at.

So in conclusion, are these definitely fake? I'm not sure. Given these products were probably taken home without permission from the manufacturer, it's possible these leaks are one of three things.

1. An INCREDIBLY well done fake leak, potentially by Toei themselves since they do that sometimes.

2. Real prototypes made with VERY early drafts of the characters and placeholder names that were intended to be destroyed once the designs/names got updated.

3. This is the real deal and this is going to be a fairly weak season in terms of aesthetic.

I'm personally leaning towards 1 or 2 since PreCure usually has higher standards of production. But hey, this is just my theory regarding these leaks. I know one of my girlfriends loves Cure Friendy, and I'm always here for more green rep in PreCure. I'm still excited for this season even if the aesthetic might be a bit weak. If there's anything I've learnt from PreCure, it's that even the most casual of seasons can get real dark real quick and somehow still work. Didn't Cure Grace literally leave someone to die... idk I haven't been able to watch a full PreCure season since like Go! Princess first came out 😭 fuck I'm getting old-

[straycalamities]

do you think some people have a different view of swag and entre than how they really are?? like mischaracterizing them

this is a very loaded question because if i say yes then i come off as entitled or like im ungrateful or people get paranoid they’re the ones im talking about

but i’ll say it like this: no one is ever gonna get a character 100% “canon” besides the person (or people) in charge of writing them because everyone has their own life experiences, cultures, morals, and other things that will always shift their point of view compared to someone else’s

so basically it’s like. Yeah sometimes! but does it bother me? not really because it’s them having fun and as long as nobody’s trying to sell it like it’s The Real Deal, unironically saying they know my chara better than me, or making entre in particular do anything i personally heavily disagree with as a principle/upsets me then it’s whatever

art is supposed to be subjective anyways, and like i know otherwise with other media im a stickler for things like characterization, when it comes to my own it’s like…idk! a lot of the time im like “i wouldn’t have thought abt it like that, but i can see where you’d get that idea” and its kinda cool

sometimes it genuinely inspires me to change or adjust things in my charas even if i’m Really vibing

[weneverlearn]

From The Distillery to Eternity: A Tale of Lost Recording Tapes, Found on eBay

Red Aunts / Two Tears guitarist/singer Kerry Smith was just putzing around eBay when she saw a tape she made 20+ years ago which was being sold by some rando -- along with lots of tapes by other regional L.A. trash rock acts. A facebook post about it, copious comments, and a surprise good samaritan followed.

KERRY SMITH rockin' with the Red Aunts at a club near The Distillery studio, sometime in 1993.

---------------------------------------------

As we all regularly ponder what the hell social media is good for, a major piece of proof for the answer of “Nothing” are the comments sections on Facebook. The vitriol and vague “arguments” that can ensue (should you actually still use Facebook) get stupid and depressing very quickly.

But for every 100 like that, there are posts that actually conjure up a stable discussion, interesting connections, and maybe even some useful info.

Case in point, a recent post from Kerry Smith – Red Aunts and Two Tears guitarist/singer and all-around hilarious, life-affirming gal.

Essentially, she came across an eBay listing that was selling off a studio reel tape of an original master recording she made in 2000. After Kerry’s FB post, a number of people clicked on the link and a few realized their own tapes or someone they knew were also listed for sale.

I contacted Kerry about the situation:

“I recorded a bunch of songs there hoping to put them out as the first Two Tears record," said Kerry. "Lesley (Ishino, Red Aunts) and Danny Hole (Necessary Evils) played some drums, and I played everything else. I forgot about this all until this post was brought to my attention, and I feel sad, angry, violated, ripped off. I demo’d them all on my 4-track and worked hard in that studio. I paid for it all myself, no label help. Lots of people offered to buy them for me, and someone thought they were doing a good deed and bought it, though I had the post taken down. I don’t know why it bothers me so much, until Gar wrote from SD saying it’s an intimate and personal experience, and he said do you feel like you’ve been audio art raped? And I do."

---------------------------------------

One of the commenters on Kerry’s post was Larry Hardy – head of In The Red Records, the legendary garage rock indie label from L.A. He added a few shocked comments, which led to a comment thread discussion of legality, ownership, old stories, etc.

Given how many bands Hardy has worked with and albums he's released, I thought he’d be one to dig into this strange, ephemeral side of life as a recording musician…

Here's a Two Tears song from that era, though not recorded at The Distillery:

So how did you first hear about this? I assume you saw Kerry's post…

LH: Yes, that’s when I first heard about this. I recognized the writing on the PQ sheets and could tell the tape originated from a recording studio called The Distillery in Costa Mesa, which is where a lot of In The Red records were recorded. I checked the eBay seller’s other auctions and discovered a number of my reels were being sold too. 

When you first saw Kerry's post, what was your first kind of emotional response?

LH: My first response was I knew exactly where the tapes came from. A few years ago another person posted a photo of some master tapes he had saying he was trying to find the bands. One of the bands was the Strange Boys, and they contacted me and said the guy had a bunch of ITR masters. I got a hold of the guy and told him my connection to the tapes, and he said he’d gotten the them from Mike McHugh and had been holding them for him, but Mike had gone AWOL. I never did get the tapes back from this guy.

Can you tell me about Mike McHugh and The Distillery, and how tapes from there might’ve ended up in this eBay seller’s possession?

LH: Yeah, [the studio] was owned and operated by Mike McHugh. He was a brilliant engineer with really good gear – the mixing board came from Muscle Shoals! And he was really down to do weird, unconventional things in the studio. He also actually liked the music. He was my go-to guy for many years. Unfortunately a combination of mental illness and substance abuse got the best of him, and he went downhill really fast and REALLY bad. One of the last sessions I had there was for the band Cheap Time, and he flipped out in the middle of the session and pulled a gun on them!

Anyway, he wound up losing his studio, and we had all the tapes still in there. Lots of other bands kept their tapes there too. I know a number of people tried to help him and tried to save all his gear but, sadly, he was beyond help. I guess a bunch of the stuff from the studio wound up in a storage locker and the bill didn’t get paid – so it all went up for auction. That’s how the guy who is selling them on eBay came into possession of them.

Are the things he's posting for sale original sessions or mastered reels?

LH: The reels being sold are the two-inch master reels. The bands would track on two-inch tape and then mix down to half-inch tape and the record would be mastered from that. Many times we would only take the mixed tape with us as that was what we’d master the record from. The studio had a room where they stored tapes, so we figured we’d leave the two-inch reels there for safe keeping.

In a way, the fact that these are original master tapes, pre-mixed/mastered tapes is even worse. These are unmixed tracks, right? 

LH: Correct. These tapes being sold are the basic tracks on two-inch tape. You could take these to a studio and remix the record with them. We would mix down to half-inch tape so the versions on those are what you hear on the record. Mastering is a separate step done in a mastering lab. This is why once the mixing was done you kind of felt like the two-inch tapes were done too. They already served their purpose.

Yeah, we all sort of leave things in the rearview mirror once the album comes out, as far as where recordings and master tapes end up.

LH: Yeah, some bands are really good about keeping track of their tapes, and some don’t really care. I know the Cramps kept all of their master tapes, but I don’t think most bands do that. I do still have a bunch of master tapes here at my house. I imagine a lot of people took their tapes with them when their session was done. They’re expensive. I did sometimes, but I was at this studio so often I just figured they were fine where they were… until they weren’t. I didn’t have any place to store them at my house anyway. Two-inch tapes take up a lot of room.

Beyond that particular story, when bands record in studios there is a kind of “gentleman's agreement” – especially amongst indie labels and smaller studios – to at least let the bands or labels know they've got their tapes before just selling them off or tossing them, right? My understanding is, if you paid the studio their fee and paid for the actual tapes, they are your's. Though I suppose if they've been sitting in a studio’s closet for 20 years, maybe there's an argument for ownership on the studio's end?

LH: We did have a general understanding when we left the tapes behind that they’d be looked after by Mike. There was also a window of time when I could’ve gone down there and gotten them all; and I didn’t want to deal with him so I just kind of let it go. The only use they would be is if you wanted to remix the record, which I guess is something that could come up.

After leaving them behind that long ago it makes sense they could end up almost anywhere. Now you have a guy selling them on eBay who doesn’t even know who the bands are.

Under Kerry's post, a person commented: "No judgement! But you own the IP [intellectual property] on these tapes as they are independent recordings. You should reach out to the seller!" Is he right?

LH: That’s true. The eBay seller rightfully owns those tapes, but neither he or anyone else who buys them can do anything with the music without the artist’s permission…. Unfortunately this guy did buy them fair and square. I’m sure Kerry paid for that tape and the recording session, but the tapes were left behind all those years ago, and they’ve been passed around a bunch since. These tapes weren’t stolen, they were left behind. It should’ve been on us to get them back if they were important to us. Of course no one could’ve predicted Mike was going to go off the rails as badly as he did. The eBay seller did nothing wrong or illegal.

Lisa Pallow, Haunted George’s wife, contacted him explaining that two of the tapes were her deceased husband’s music, and that she would like to buy them. And the way he responded to her tells me the guy is an asshole. Really the person at fault for all of this is Mike McHugh.

I'm assuming if Rocket from the Crypt tapes are involved here – there were some for sale in that listing – someone's going to take some shit for this, because they were on a major at one point, though I've no idea which RFTC recordings are on those tapes in that eBay post.

LH: Yeah, that was the one tape I saw in there that I thought would probably go for the most money and also could turn into a hassle for the seller if he hears from [RFTC leader] John Reis or an attorney. I don’t think there would be any legal recourse against this guy though.

John Sellers from ‘90s trash-punk band, the Countdowns, commented on Kerry's post, concerning The Distillery: "It was the original board from Muscle Shoals.....Mike told me that [the Rolling Stones’] Sticky Fingers was recorded through it... it had these red and green square buttons to push... totally sixties mod... he LOVED that board!!! Chris... maybe? And I forget his last name but, he had a studio in the same complex as The Distillery and would tour with JSBX selling merch back in the '90's... he told me the whole story about Mike buying that board... how he flew out and it was sent by train upon purchase and how he accompanied it from start to finish... and how Chris would walk in and Mike would be passed out... not by drugs but by obsessive inspiration and no sleep.... with a clove cigarette in his mouth... under that board... working to make it work.

I THINK that The Countdowns were one of the first to record through that board at The Distillery but... well... memories and remembering shit these days... I always referred to Mike as 'The Mad Scientist. He was an absolute thrill of an experience to work with AND... did you ever hear him play drums? FUCK ME!!!”

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LH: We did have some great times in that studio and before it all went bad. We hailed Mike McHugh as a genius. He was! It’s all very sad to me now. I have some great memories of that place. Andre Williams recorded with the Blues Explosion and Steve Mackay of the Stooges there! Good times.

Any other recording sessions at The Distillery that you remember?

LH: The wildest sessions I remember at that studio involved Andre Williams. He would get pretty drunk over the course of the session, so you had to get him on tape before he was too drunk. He had amazing stories and he was hilarious. He was also brilliant when he was lucid. He had produced records for Motown, and now he’s in Orange County with miscreants like us! 

I watched the Hunches vacuum up nails and screws off the floor while Mike recorded it so the obnoxious noise could be included on the band’s cover of the electric eels’ “Accident.” Not many engineers encourage this sort of thing. 

I went down to the Distillery for the final night of mixing the Black Lips’ Let It Bloom. The band had booked a show that night at a club directly across the street from the studio. The band left for their show, but I stayed behind with Mike while he continued mixing. I finally went over to the show and went up front. Cole Alexander had urinated into his own mouth, as he was wont to do back then, and spat the mouthful at the audience. I walked in late and went up just in time to get a face full of urine. I was now in business with the Black Lips.

My fondest memory of that studio is probably when the Necessary Evils recorded their second album. I know we were in there on New Year’s Eve. Those guys were all good friends of mine, as was Mike McHugh. The band didn’t have enough material to fill a full length album and were scrambling to cobble stuff together on the spot. It was a wonder to behold. Every one of those guys was hilarious. R.I.P. Steve Pallow.

I have tons of great memories from this studio. It’s really painful for me to think of Mike ending up like he did. Truly heartbreaking. 

---------------------------------------

Like any Facebook thread, the mass of names and rushed, emotionally punched-out comments can make for an intriguing read. Hell, a good pal of mine and Kerry’s posted that he put in a bid and would give the tape to her if he won it. He did get a couple of the tapes in the listing, but as Kerry stated earlier here, her tape was taken down after she reported it; and my friend got a cancellation message from eBay.

For Kerry though all this is definitely not legal chit-chat, but a loss of something dear, intense, and loved. It’s the kind of mini-nightmare anyone who’s recorded in a studio and then left it for “safe keeping” always has lurking in the back of their mind.

“I feel like crying all day today because of this,” said Kerry. “I don’t know why. Mike is so talented and I really want these tapes back. I used to hang out there a lot with Ronnie when I lived in Long Beach still. So many happy memories there – grateful for the scene ! Le sigh.”

-----------------------------------------------

After having wrapped up this piece, I heard from Kerry again with a possible happy ending to this story:

“I reported it as stolen, and it was pulled, and some punker dude in Costa Mesa went to get it for me," she explained, "but I didn’t ask him to. I don’t want the [eBay] guy to get the money. So the Good Samaritan kinda fucked it all up, and is supposed to mail it to me. And he paid $150 for it, so now I feel obligated to pay him back. Lots of people offered to buy it for me. And he bought RFTC and Haunted George."

Kerry asked said Samaritan (who shall remain annonymous) how he was able to get the tapes. He responded:

"Hi, thanks for getting back to me. I purchased the tapes directly from the guy... who bids on storage units. I bought a bunch of friends bands tapes and got them back to them. I knew going in that I'd lose money and I'm ok with that. Please let me gift you your tape back. Years ago I lost all of my... master reels in a storage unit that went unpaid while I was in rehab. I hate seeing strangers getting these tapes. Mike McHugh is the one to blame here. Although it’s hard to blame him with all of his mental health and addiction problems. I got my Distillery reels back from him several years ago after he lost the studio.... Anyway... I can get the tape to you or whoever you’d like me to. Larry Hardy maybe. No charge for the tape. Big Red Aunts fan by the way."

[amavaria]

This might not be as easy to answer at this point in your career, but i won’t know until i ask.

From the time you were drawing to learn and maybe experiment, to current day, when you’ve gathered enough of a following that you can take on drawing as an avenue for making paid work, how have you balanced creation of both original content of your own as well as fan-art, outside of commission work? And how did you approach the balance of drawing what you want and drawing stuff that would probably gather more interest?

I’ve wrestled with both my want to actually draw stuff that i genuinely want to, while at the same time tailoring it in a manner that attempts to appeal to some kind of audience, over the last… 5 years? The latter criteria has been VERY tricky (and frustrating) for me, to the point that in hindsight, i definitely overworked myself over it, and i’ve felt averse to just admitting to myself that content that is TOO original/ personalized being almost all of my output, is probably going to keep me stuck where i am, no matter what.

Hiii, I'll answer this in sections to make it easier so here we go!

How to balance working on commissions Vs personal work and fanart?

The key here is to treat commissions like any regular job (Like an office job but without annoying coworkers!) I work monday-friday and maintain a schedule and set deadlines to follow.

Some people don't work well under pressure but in my case it pushes me to take action. Knowing I promised a client progress or a finished work by a certain date gets me going no matter how burned out I'm feeling. Also keeping a public queue helps this as well as it motivates me to visible update everyone on what I'm doing.

Discipline is very needed, not because you're your own boss means it's easier. People are paying you their hard earned money and it's your responsibility to deliver quality work for them in the promised time.

It's not just drawing, it's social media management, self promoting, bank account checks, regular updates and keeping a good streak of happy customer to spread the word for you!

I draw personal work on my free time on weekends. And sometimes in between when I get particularly itchy about an idea. But I always prioritise commission and I will always make sure to have at least reached my daily goal of work before I start goofing around drawing blorbo art.

It's taken years of adulting, to finally find a rhythm I'm comfortable with, where I can work and still keep my fandom self well fed. So do not despair, I felt helpless at 21 trying to sell a $5 commission but now I'm making $100+ with one single purchase!

TLDR: Treat commissions like a job separate of your hobby. Take weekends free, use your time responsibly 👍👍

How to build an audience

I don't know lol. It sort of happened to me. My main target was always furries (I am a furry) On my first 3 years of 'career' I never reached over 400 followers on my most popular social media, but my income was steady since a random streamer decided that I'd be her artist for everything, so I was able to survive more or less.

On the side I was working on my own OCs which I was lucky enough for randos to find appealing enough to warrant a follow! (Alois here getting pretty popular).

Parted ways with the streamer after hoarding me for 2 years and started drawing fanart which brought followers to me in waves. I'd get into a super obscure fandom (Solatorobo for example) draw a ton of stuff for it, bringing a wave of new followers thirsty of content and then stay because they like furries too.

And rinse and repeat and I got hundreds of people perceiving me (thank you) and even more people eager to commission me (thank you harder)

Important to note: People on different socials have different interests. Example: Twitter has been very friendly with original content but flops certain fanarts. Tumblr hypes up fan content a lot more enthusiastically but original content doesn't get very far.

TLDR: mostly takes good rng, but having a loud social media presence and a steady amount of new content to keep interest is a step on the right direction.

Last... What about burnout and frustration? What do you do?

TAKE A BREAK! TOUCH GRASS, separate yourself from the screen and breathe a moment. Then you come back and join Artfight.

Artfight is freedom! It's a chance to freely experiment with any character that catches your eye. You can try things that you wouldn't do during commissions, a different brush, different layer modes, angles, poses, etc. AND put enough effort on it that would make the receiver very happy 💖 and by posting this experimental work on socials, it got a lot of attention. Most did really great, a few flopped too, but it was overall extremely positive.

Without noticing, you find new paths, new techniques, you realize you can draw better and faster, and when you come back to work when the month is over, it shows!

TLDR: Take a break, then experiment!! You'll improve and find your path. This works different for everyone, but I'm sharing what has helped me.

[sadaveniren]

The day I realised that what happens to them and the decisions they make don't actually affect my life my experience with the fandom improved soooo much!

Like sure, I still hate the stunts and specially hate that we live in a society that forces queer people to do things like that but at the end of the day they sure know what's better for their lifes than I do 🤷‍♀️ (and anyone who things that Harry's career would be the same today without any of the stunt is seriously naive, sure holivia was the worst and it damages Harry's image to an extent but it also got him a lot of exposure, and it doesn't matter if the go hates him and think he's the worst... They're still buying tickets and albums)

It also helps to understand that the same way we know we won't convince antis that they're queer and together, their teams KNOW that the stunts won't convince us that they aren't. The stunts are ridiculous and unbelievable but they aren't for us, all of this circus is for the gp and the gp don't care or knows enough to see the obvious lack of sense. It's NOT that their teams think we're idiots, they're not trying to make those things believable for us because they know we know.

And because I know that and I know I can't do anything about it I just don't care enough to let it ruin my experience. Like every time their location is unknown I just assume they're together... Idc if last known location is in opposite parts of the world because if there's a plane there's a way. I will assume they're in love and together until I become their personal friend and they look me in the eyes and tell me that not, that they broke up. I assume that all the love songs they write are for each other even when they say the opposite. Sometimes I'm wrong but meh... I literally don't care

Anon you get it! This is EXACTLY how I feel right down to the “things would be VERY different in his career if Harry didn’t stunt and people need to understand that”. I’m not saying Holivia is what got Harry his Grammy but I do think it would be naive to assume that he wouldn’t have been as common of a name if he didn’t have his names in the paper the way he has - and part of that WAS through Holivia. (I can sense the hate from those with lesser reading comprehension incoming)

I answered an anon a couple weeks ago that was all “how do you know they’re still together?” and my answer is “how do you know they’ve broken up?” I know what I consider to be signs they’ve broken up and they might not be stuff everyone agrees with but that’s okay! Cause it’s not about everyone else! I’m here for me because I enjoy it! I go to concerts and buy merch because I like the experience. I don’t buy merch I don’t like and I don’t go to shows I don’t think I’ll enjoy.

Louis and Harry’s team 100% knows larries exist and that we aren’t going anywhere. I fucking sat in a hotel room with a giant TPWK rainbow flag all day in the window that Louis’ team could VERY VISIBLY SEE and watched as they kinda pointed at it and moved on with their day. Harry picks up a flag every show and Louis posts pictures with the flags on his social media and they aren’t that stupid. They know what this means. They know their demographic, and above all else HARRY AND LOUIS know their demographic. And they also know what they have to do to sell music and make nice with the general public to keep financing their desire to perform as they want to.

Have fun in fandom people! If you aren’t having fun, if you’re feeling miserable or like it’s not your jam move on! It’s okay! No one will blame you. You will find a much more fulfilling life enjoying yourself with what you do than forcing yourself to do something you have zero interest in or even actively dislike doing.

[buddysmut]

Do you think Yuju will find a new agency? I'm very afraid not because her albums didn't sell very well

This got super long so I'm putting it under a read more.

Did they not sell well? I planned on buying a physical copy of Rec when it was up for pre-order, but I never got around to it. And speaking from my own personal experience, kpop album importing stores are very bad at actually getting stock. So I think that plays a part in it too. It's 100% the reason why I never ordered a copy. At that point I decided, "Is it worth going through ordering, and then waiting 3 months for a store in the US to even ship it out?" I kind of wish I did get it though. But it would have been the last kpop album I bought a physical copy of either way. I honestly never even thought about getting a copy of O. Even though I like the music, it would have always been digital support only.

Only semi-related. But on the topic of sales, at my previous job I at one point worked with Red Velvet for the Queendom comeback. And I have first-hand stories about how bad SM is at handling album stocks and sales. So it's sometimes a problem with the companies ruining the customers' good will and trust. But I didn't hear anyone mention anything about Konnect. But that also means I saw basically zero people talk about buying her albums.

But in terms of Yuju finding a new agency, I feel like she might have already been negotiating with one. In a recent bubble post (maybe last week?) it was translated to English as something like, "Would I be scolded this too?" when she was talking about another one of her 'exhibitionist' pics.

(Editing out the twitter account to not bring any bad stuff to them)

Which makes me think she probably has staff that are already monitoring her content. Or she tried to post something else, and was advised not to. But it could be possible she was making a reference to her previous staff when they saw her other posts, and she might be trying to keep things more presentable for now to not hurt her chances with new agencies she might talk to. It's hard to know.

I also recently talked to people about how Yuju isn't the most relevant to younger fans. She's from a previous gen. And even though I personally think of her as one of the top vocalists in the industry, she just isn't as popular as newer groups. And I think that's where alot of her career struggle in the future would come from. She had to fight to keep her solo career while new full groups get to coast along with a much easier advantages compared to her. I told someone that I already forgot she did that big pole dance set earlier in the year. It seemed like a big deal at the moment, and already you see no one mentioning it. It's unfortunate for Yuju.

But I know she loves what she does. And she's always so busy. So I think even if she needs time to find a new contract, she'll at least stay in the public eye with show guest spots or in different small things like that. Obviously I'm super bias in all this. But I really hope yuju could be similar to Taeyeon. Someday doing stuff as part of GFriend again. But also keeping herself busy with solo work for a very long time. I genuinely love her solo mini albums. And people that follow the blog know I have alot of opinions on music lol So I would say if I thought it was garbage. I just feel like there's something missing though. Either with the producer side, or Yuju might not be given exactly what she's looking for in terms of creative freedom. But eventually it'll find that perfect balance, and it'll be something amazing.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

I was discussing this obliquely with @verdantrivers sometime ago wrt what throws me out of my ability to fully immerse myself in the experience of reading xiyao fic (full disclosure, I love a good xiyao marriage AU, but I often have to just. suspend my sense of disbelief. to really enjoy them 99% of the time), but given the additional complicated layers impacting how jin guangyao and nie huaisang relate to each other at different stages of the canon, both in cql and the novel, these things are especially important for sangyao too.

(also note that I consume most mdzs content through a jgy lens first because he's the character who currently lives rent-free in my brain).

anyway, here's my incomplete and maybe kind of arbitrary list of essential stuff a sangyao-centric fic needs to consider about jgy to really sell me specifically on the story:

a-yao as jin guangyao is not inherently more (or less!!) duplicitous than a-yao as meng yao. I'm not... entirely unaware of where this particular interpretation of jgy's character comes from, and I can understand how even subconsciously huaisang might buy into this belief just by virtue of his close proximity to nie mingjue. but while a character's belief in something about another person can create interesting narrative friction and drive the development, or dissolution, of the relationship between two characters, I don't think the novel (or the drama for that matter) supports an interpretation of jin guangyao being a more morally bankrupt version of a-yao. jin guangyao is jin guangyao; his fear and vulnerability and ambition to get what he is owed by jin guangshan is consistently emphasized by the narrative whether he has received his courtesy name and title of lianfang-zun yet or not. huaisang may look back on his recollection of his relationship with jin guangyao-as-meng yao with rose-tinted glasses and lapse into nostalgia for the good old days (and honestly, give me that unreliable narration, go full '100 Days of Summer' manic pixie dream yao about it, I'll eat it up); but leave clues in the narrative to show the dissonance between who huaisang sees vs who jin guangyao is.

jin guangyao does not want to hurt nie huaisang, literally or figuratively. there's obviously going to come a point in the depiction of this relationship where, when huaisang understands that jin guangyao is responsible for triggering nie mingjue's qi deviation, it makes absolute sense for huaisang to experience feelings of shock, horror, anguish, betrayal, fear, and anger towards jin guangyao. it makes perfect sense for huaisang to be afraid! but his fear of jin guangyao does not mean that jin guangyao wants to harm him. the most common way I see this manifest itself in their relationship in fic is actually one that frustrates me the most, because it seems even less supported textually than jin guangyao wanting to kill huaisang (because by the time he figures out who is responsible for the complete destruction of his entire life at guanyin temple I can absolutely see jin guangyao wanting to claw his way back out of the grave as a calamity ghost for the exclusive purpose of getting some violent revenge on huaisang for his actions!) but a story that has jin guangyao treating huaisang with needless cruelty while they are being intimate, either romantically or sexually, outside the context of a fraught argument or without any pre-existing discussion of kink negotiation (whether they have the language to call it 'kink negotiation' or not, you know what I'm talking about here) does not jive with jin guangyao's consistently protective and gentle treatment of huaisang. this is a fundamental part of their relationship even in canon: jin guangyao cares about huaisang's well-being and does not intentionally seek out opportunities to cause him pain. this is what makes the drama of the guanyin temple confrontation hit like a truck.

jin guangyao is objectively miserable in jinlintai (because who fucking wouldn't be when your dad is jin guangshan), but he is not happy in qinghe, either. because he is not a nie, and he never will be. as usual with most of the points I am raising here, huaisang does not need to be cognizant of this to make the story work. in fact I'd say it works best if our sweet gothic-romance-heroine-in-a-danmei-novel huaisang doesn't clock this to start with and does wonder why jin guangyao isn't content to stay in qinghe with him, because isn't he happy here with huaisang? couldn't huaisang give him everything (that huaisang believes) jin guangyao needs to be happy and fulfilled? does he want power? does he want influence? safety? control? there's a great argument between lan xichen and jin guangyao in what is probably my favourite xiyao fic ever the weakness of falling in love (by @fincalinde ) where our dear and wonderful (and exceptionally misguided) er-ge believes that the solution to jin guangyao's present problems is for him to leave the lanling jin sect and, if he so chooses, join the gusu lan to be with lan xichen, and at the core of jin guangyao's counter-argument is the fact that, in his own words, "I am a jin." he has believed this about himself since he first climbed those steps at jinlintai and was subsequently kicked back down them by one of jin guangshan's lackeys, and in my opinion he goes to his death holding that belief. he takes the filial obligations he has both to his mother, who died wanting this for him, and to the jin sect, seriously. his 'happily ever after' does not lie in giving up his birthright without doing some serious work, (work that will risk undermining the core conceit of jin guangyao's character and his struggle imo), and whether or not huaisang ever fully understands this, the fic writer at the very least should!

jin guangyao and nie huaisang are not equal partners in their relationship (and they won’t be until huaisang recognizes this), even after jin guangyao becomes lianfang-zun and swears brotherhood to both nie mingjue and lan xichen. okay please bear with me on this point because, again, I have to stress that /gestures @ the above, this reality does not at any point in the fic have to translate into huaisang consciously or unconsciously recognizing this disparity between his station and jin guangyao's, and it probably works the best when the story leans in to how little of a shit huaisang cares about things like cultivator politics and social hierarchies etc. because when has huaisang ever had to care about those things, prior to nie mingjue's death? caring about that stuff was always da-ge's job, whereas huaisang's very important job was appreciating birds and fine art and being fussed over (the dream tbh). recognizing the power dynamics at play in the world around him is boring for huaisang, whereas for jin guangyao it is a matter of literal life or death, and always has been. any social or political misstep that jin guangyao makes can and will be used to tear him down from whatever position of advantage he has eked out for himself, and he protects himself from this threat through his politeness and his strict adherence to all the appropriate social courtesies, to doing everything he can to keep himself in his father's good graces; huaisang does not have to do any of this, and he never has. I feel like this is especially important to stress when writing a romantic relationship between jin guangyao and nie huaisang, because even if jin guangyao didn't genuinely care about huaisang's well-being and happiness in the canon material (and, as we can see in both the novel and the drama, he absolutely does!), he would not be allowed the luxury of treating huaisang even with indifference, let alone with even the gentlest criticism. because nie huaisang is the young master of the nie cultivation sect, and jin guangyao will always be jin guangshan's bastard. jin guangyao's birth circumstance as the son of a sex-worker is viewed by the broader cultivation world as a literal taint upon his person, something that is as integral to who he is as the colour of his eyes, and we can see in the novel and the drama that any time he is at a point of contention with other cast members, this is what his opponents reach for when it comes time to 'punish' him for what he has 'done wrong.' (absolutely not going to go off on a tangent about that here, nope, not happening.) shit I didn't even dig down into the inherent inequality to entering a relationship with the guy who was essentially your glorified babysitter, if we're leaning into the cql canon, but making that transition from caretaker to romantic partner is also a thing. /waves arms, I'll add this as #5 later.

...okay. I reserve the right to come back to this list later and reblog it with additional thoughts (menacing), but this is. good. for now.

[teawiththegods]

scythe-and-seed here: it’s been a LONG time omg. Hope you’re doing well :) I wanted to ask about removing items from your altar, if you or your followers have any experience with it? My altar stuff has been packed away in a box for the past two years (*lots* of unexpected moving combined with not having the space), and I ordered a little tea table and floor cushion online to finally set my stuff up again. My table got delivered yesterday and I was super excited to get everything out, but there are some things I’m thinking of tossing. I’m a different person two years later, and some of the items don’t resonate with me anymore, or some of them broke/faded. I’m trying to combat the guilt surrounding tossing these items.

Hey hon!

It has been awhile! I'm doing good! Naturally there has been some ups and downs but overall I can say all is well in Jessieland. Really focusing on grounding myself in my devotion and witchhood! And trying to make my way back into the community bc I truly miss it. I hope everything is well with you, love! <3

I remove items from my altar all the time! Actually getting ready to redo my altar sometime today or tomorrow lol! I see my altar as MY space. Yes, I have my gods on there was well but ultimately the space is a reflection of me, what i'm working on, what I want to remember/focus on, and what I believe is important. For the most part, all those things are going to change at some point (especially if you're a moody Cancerian like me! XD). So to me there's absolutely nothing wrong with removing items from your altar that no longer serve you. You always need room to grow, change, and explore.

Often times I hold onto the items that are no longer on my altar because I either reuse them for something else or they may find their way back on my altar at a different point in time. Other ideas is to give away the items, donate, or sell them. I think giving the items another chance to serve someone else especially if that someone else is a pagan/witch can help ease the guilt.

If it also helps you can do the Marie Kondo method of thanking your items for assisting you on your spiritual journey before you remove them completely.

Whatever you decide to do with the items just know its 100% okay to remove whatever you wish from your altar at any time! I think its important for us to claim complete ownership of our altars. Its ultimately there to assist us in whatever we assign to it. And I believe we give and receive more powerful energy when we remember that.

Hope that helps!

[kebriones]

are you against mythology retellings? if yes, would you mind telling me why? (in my opinion they are harmless and each one of them adds something new to the ‘source material’) just asking since i’ve seen a lot of classicists harassing people just minding their business and having fun 💀

-Absolutely not at all! I came very near to spending all my savings to go watch hadestown a couple years back, and at the very beginning I even enjoyed lore olympous (the story lost me at some point).

-Do I think they're harmless? No story is harmless and all of them are. It depends on what you consider harm.

-I don't think they add to the source material. If we're talking about ancient greek mythology specifically, it's been dead and burried for centuries. Whatever new is created, is a modern thing and seperate, in my opinion.

-However, it is the very nature of mythology, that people are meant to make their own stories inside it freely. If anything, I enjoy retellings, and even more than retellings I absolutely love the taking of characters (heroes gods, whatever) and making completely new stories with them. "retellings" as a concept can fall into the trap of trying to fix myths, to make them more palatable and enjoyable to a modern audience, which is what rubs me the wrong way.

-But there's no storytelling police so that's up to me to avoid reading those stories of course. Others may enjoy them, and not everyone has to care about the historical contexts or original messages of specific myths. I certainly think there are benefits to it and personally I find it adds to the enjoyment , but each person enjoys different things. I have spent many years stewing in my overprotective feelings towards ancient greek mythology but recently I decided I just want people to have a nice time. I'm also trying to teach myself to understand that other people are completely different to me, so if I find somethign sickeningly bad and others like it, that's just how subjective things work. So I might complain, half-jokingly always, about stuff but it's just to blow off steam and deep down i'm chill about everything.

I specifically don't like what I've heard about the song of achilles, plus I'm extremely, extremely biased when it comes to the iliad, so I am very picky about retellings for that specific part of mythology. the iliad has been my baby since I was very young and it's the one thing I allow myself to be completely crazy over, so when I say I cannot get through the movie troy because it's too painful, I 100% mean it. if you enjoy it, that's great. I will complain and bitch about it forever. I slept with that book under my pillow for my entire childhood and to have some randos come and spend millions to butcher it and drag its corpse like achilles dragged hector, for the whole world to see is too much.

As a last point. I think sometimes with retellings, especially of ancient greek mythology, we're a bit too sensitive because it has been too oftenly taken out of its cultural context and used willy-nilly to tell stories that reflect nothing greek, be it modern or ancient. It is a flashy topic for people to use however they want, and it's been changed to fit western cultures so so much, that I wish people would just leave it alone. Ancient greek mythology isn't about flashy god powers, it's about the values and experiences of a culture (or more correctly, multiple cultures), whether those align with modern ones or not, but when "retellings" are first and foremost made to be sold as products, the stories have to be altered to hell, to be nice and tame for the audience, to sell well. Which is a whole other discussion.

so yeah that's why I prefer all-new stories that maybe use mythological characters, over straight up retellings. But, as most ancient greek myths were very regional, had a million variations of which we know a tiny amount of, and were told and made for a long period of time, I don't think that retellings now are in any way inherently bad. But all the nice marble aesthetics (tm) and hot dudes will not fix a bad story, is what I wish people understood. Also I wish they didn't think they know or even claim to like the mythology from having read only retellings.

Anyways I am not a classicist, I am a fine arts student, so I might be saying absolute nonsense, my brain is too fried. on the other hand, i am born and raised in greece, and I have grown up with these myths everywhere around me and I really like them, so I have a lot of feelings about them, but that doesn't really mean anything. And I haven't noticed much harassing going on (lots of complaining, but that's the lifeblood of the internet) but then again I'm here on tmblr only a very short time. That all said, I absolutely do not condone harassing people for what they enjoy, especially for things that can only "harm" the person doing it, like reading stories.

[random-thought-depository]

Thinking this morning about the deep and unexpected love I developed for Sil the first time I watched Species, she is very blorbo to me. Some of my headcanons about her:

- Her very rapid learning is aided by low-key telepathic abilities (we know those exist in the Species universe! One of the human characters has approximately the same abilities as Deanna Troi on Star Trek!). She can tune into surface thoughts a little, enough to do things like watch somebody use a credit card and pull from their mind a rough picture of how buying and selling, money, and credit cards work, and also their PIN. She's also an empath the same way that guy in the team trying to track her down is. She can't look through people's minds in classic sci fi fashion though, she can only read emotions and inconsistently read surface thoughts and she has little control over it, so she has enormous gaps in her knowledge. One potential fridge horror implication is she knew they were planning to kill her at the beginning of the movie.

- She broke her hand when she punched her way out of her enclosure at the beginning of the movie; it healed almost immediately, but she is in considerable pain in those scenes, she was just ignoring it because she was terrified and very focused on survival and escape.

- As sometimes happens with precocious children, she was functionally socially and emotionally neglected because her caregivers didn't realize how quickly her mind was developing and so didn't provide developmentally appropriate socialization and enrichment. She's basically semi-feral. For instance, she was never really socialized to have a sense of morality or to be pro-social at a level beyond things like "shit in the toilet instead of on the floor." This is 100% the reason she became the kind of person who thought ripping out somebody's spine was an appropriate reaction to sexual jealousy.

- Continuing from that last point: she isn't inherently violent, she kills people because she has the social skills and emotional regulation skills of an emotionally neglected toddler combined superstrength and the intelligence and appetites of an adult woman. Also, her actions are informed by a lived experience that humans are extremely violent to her; her caretakers try to kill her at the beginning of the movie, she spends the rest of the movie being hunted, and the first person she approaches as a potential sexual partner tries to rape her! If she'd had a less messed-up upbringing she'd have been a much better person, and I think if she'd won at the end of the movie (if her attempt to make the government think she was dead had worked, or if she'd been able to escape from or kill her pursuers in that cave and she and her son survived) she might eventually have become a much better person.

- Smells are much more prominent in her perceptual world; she experiences a complex landscape of scents, a person's scent is distinctive to her in the same way their face is, etc.. I base this on her being able to smell that someone's diabetic in the movie.

- She does have an instinct to survive and reproduce, but mostly she wanted a child in the same way Frankenstein's monster wanted a wife: an offspring would be another of her kind, and somebody who'd love her by default; an offspring would mean an end to loneliness. Related: if she'd won at the end of the movie, I don't think she'd have been a good mother, but she would have been a very loving mother; she'd have deeply and passionately loved her son. Watching her son get torched was probably the worst moment of her life.

- That thing where she basically kidnapped, tortured, and murdered a woman as part of the process of faking her own death was a very "I'm experiencing empathy and I don't like it" situation for her. She had no idea how painful and traumatizing having a thumb amputated with garden shears would be for a human (hers grew back!). She doesn't really have an idea of morality, but she does have affective empathy, so internally she was like "Wow, I didn't think it'd be that bad for you. Not sorry, but I'm experiencing empathy and I don't like it." I think the idea of being bound and mutilated and fearing what might happen next would also remind her of when people tried to kill her with poison gas while she was locked in a box, so that would be another "I'm experiencing empathy and I don't like it" aspect.

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Some thoughts on an AU where Sil won at the end of the movie:

Note: I am emphatically rejecting the sequel films, especially the second movie, which was just awful; for purposes of this exercise the sequels didn't happen and I will freely contradict their narrative and worldbuilding choices (such as the second movie's decision to answer "what would a male version of Sil be like?" with "he'd be a rape werewolf and his kids would be basically chestbursters, we'll be ripping off Alien but making the sexual subtext just text and straightwashing it and slathering an incredibly rancid sex-negative but horny vibe over it").

I doubt Sil want to give birth to endless offspring. For one thing, she almost got killed and had some pretty awful experiences during the first attempt. Also, I bet that fifteen minute pregnancy was a really unpleasant experience she wouldn't be in any hurry to repeat. Like, I think that would have to be a pretty physiologically extreme event. She'd probably have had to, like, firehose protein and calcium and fats and sugars at the fetus by literally liquifying a double digit percentage of her own body and process and expel a proportionately obscene amount of metabolic waste dumped into her bloodstream all while being in danger of being literally cooked alive from the inside by all the metabolic waste heat. I bet it hurt and she wouldn't be in any hurry to do it again.

I think Sil would get a lot less aggressive when the stressors of being hunted and trying to find a sperm donor were removed. I guess she'd sometimes mug people for money, but she's inexperienced but smart, I think she'd sooner or later catch on that leaving them alive and uninjured attracts a lot less attention than ripping out their spines or skullfucking them to death with that tongue-thing. So I think sooner or later, very possibly immediately, she'd stop killing people and become a relatively inoffensive drifter and petty criminal, and eventually enter the labor market on approximately the same level as undocumented immigrants (she and her son would be in a very similar position, having no ID or social security numbers and being essentially legally unpersons).

Like I said, I don't think she'd be a good mother, because she has poor social skills and no sense of morality, but I think she'd be a very loving mother; she'd deeply and passionately love her son and be very caring and indulgent. On the not good side, I think she'd be a combination of neglectful-permissive (loving but poor social skills) and sometimes physically abusive (violence is one of the not many tools she has for conflict resolution). I think she'd probably give her son a better childhood and rearing than she got, because at least he'd have an actual parent and people wouldn't be trying to kill them, though it'd probably still be kind of messed up and awful by human standards.

When her son cocooned for metamorphosis she'd remember how she was scared when it happened to her because she didn't know what was happening, so she'd explain the process to him beforehand, and when it happened she'd stay in the room with him and reassure him, and she'd be waiting to help him out of the cocoon and clean him up when his metamorphosis was finished. I... have feels about this idea.

I think she and her son would stay very close when he was an adult, at least for the immediately foreseeable future. Given her experiences with humans so far I doubt she'd get close to any of them any time soon, so that leaves her son as basically her only friend, and their shared difference from the people around them would encourage a close bond between them.

I think Sil could become a better person over time, like human morality might eventually rub off on her and stuff. I think her relationship to her son (and possibly other kids she ends up having) might be good for her here; a positive relationship would encourage her to develop social skills and emotional regulation and would encourage her to get in the habit of, like, caring about other people. Her son would probably be less traumatized than her and therefore have less of a default assumption that humans are hostile, and that might rub off on her.

The squicky side of that: Sil and her adult son would be very close to each other and distant from everyone else, they're probably human-like enough to want sex as a social and recreational activity, Sil has not been socialized to human sexual taboos, if he takes after his mom in looks they're probably both hot... Yeah, I think they'd have sex with each other. Not for reproduction (at least not primarily), but for bonding and pleasure.

If Sil does end up having a lot of kids, I think it would be out of desire for community. Like, with her potentially very fast rate of reproduction I could see her eventually ending up the matriarch of a village-sized clan of her own kind, and I think, as someone who was probably lonely early in life, she might like that. I think my take on what that community would be like would probably be that they'd have a sex-asymmetric semi-eusocial thing going where males mostly don't reproduce because bringing a new member into the community through females is "find a human sperm donor, an excuse to leave in five minutes, and a discreet place to give birth" but options for bringing a new member into the community through males is "form a real partnership with a human woman, you better be able to trust her because when she gives birth four months after getting pregnant and her kid is talking in complete sentences at one month old she is going to notice something not normal is happening" or "do horrific kidnap basement sex slavery shit" (the latter is really not a place I'd want to go, and in-universe would be stupid for a probably not resource-rich community trying to blend in and keep a low profile, in the same way leaving a trail of corpses is stupid). A kind of semi-eusocial thing fits with the insectoid aesthetic of stuff like the cocooning.

I remember reading somewhere that there are some species were hybrids discard the DNA of one parent during meiosis. I like the idea of Sil being like that (so, e.g., if her son reproduced, he would only pass on Sil's DNA, not the DNA of his human father), so she theoretically could found a viable population that could remain biologically distinct from humans indefinitely. Seems kind of charitable to the movie's assumption that she's a potential threat to the human species as a whole, and more interesting if her kind could eventually become something kind of like an ethnic minority.

I wonder how long Sil would live? She has very accelerated development, so she might have a short lifespan; cancer would probably be a huge problem for an organism with a growth rate as fast as Sil's. On the other hand, I kind of like the idea that the alien message was not intended as a hostile act, they basically just sent us a transhumanism update and intended it as a favor, in which case she'd probably have a long lifespan (maybe longer than ours).

Man, "it's like twenty or fifty years later and Sil's descendants have formed a weird close-knit secret subculture within southern California's underclass" sounds like a way more interesting sequel idea than the stuff we actually got, and given that the original movies were made and presumably set in the '90s you could actually set a sequel like that in the present day. I've got some ideas for a Species II rewrite fic based on the thought that maybe Sil actually had twins and one of survived by hiding from the humans, maybe I could do the "secret society of Sil's descendants existing in the 2020s" idea as a sequel to that/a Species III rewrite fic.

[moisescazal]

Marketing Services Startup Update

Starting my own marketing business has been an interesting experience since I am not a fan of customer interactions. As someone who has worked in the industry in the past, I felt prepared to jump in and offer my skills to businesses and individuals who need a cheaper alternative. But there’s always more to starting a freelance marketing service, below are some observations of where things stand right now:

What’s Working

One of the things that’s really working is my focus on personalized service. Local businesses often need a personal approach, and being able to chat and communicate with my client whenever they have a question is a huge plus. My background in design and online advertising, especially on Meta platforms, has also been a strong selling point. Many small business owners struggle with online advertising, so guiding them through social media campaigns and conversion strategies has helped me stand out. The advertising policies and measurements are difficult to understand, some marketing agencies take the data and put it into simpler to understand formats. However, I am showing the clients exactly where they can find the data themselves and how to interpret it.

My decision to keep initial costs low has also been a win. Since I already had the equipment I needed, my expenses have been minimal, making it easier to price competitively without sacrificing my own income. Pricing my time at $30 per hour seems to be a good decision, it is enticing enough for me to feel motivated to work, yet affordable enough for my clients.

What’s Not Working

While I’ve made some solid connections by discussing my services with acquaintances, building a consistent client base has been challenging. Marketing often requires regular follow-up, networking, and being visible to potential clients, which is time-consuming and doesn’t always lead to immediate work opportunities.

Another challenge has been balancing the variety of services I offer. While it’s great to be able to design anything from logos to social media ads, it can sometimes feel like I’m spreading myself thin. I want to help my clients in all aspects of marketing, but I need to find the right balance between knowing how to do a host of things and offering only a few of them to my clients.

How I Feel the Project is Coming

Overall, I feel positive about the direction of the business. Despite some hesitation in the beginning, each time I discuss my services with potential clients, it reinforces that there’s a need for what I offer. I can see this becoming a more sustainable business as I slowly build a solid customer base. There’s a sense of satisfaction in seeing something I created take off and in helping other small businesses grow too.

What I’m Learning About Running a Business

There’s the constant hustle to find clients and handle my own marketing. Time management has been a big focus for me, I have to dedicate 100% of my attention to the client’s projects when I am working on them in order for them to get the most value. If I am not fully focused, it ends up taking me more time than anticipated, time that I will not be charging extra for.

Another learning curve has been facing uncertainties. There’s a lot of unpredictability and I am a planner, someone who likes to have things set in stone. It’s teaching me to trust in the process a little bit and to have backup plans so I can pivot when I need to.

What I’m Learning About Myself

I am learning that I do enjoy marketing services and seeing my work develop from beginning to end. I realize now that if I setup my business the way I want to, I can handle more than I expected. I’m also discovering that I really value the freedom and responsibility that comes with running my own business.