#don’t ask what noodler’s did just look it up

[evitcani-writes]

I’m working on an art project which requires me to swatch a lot of inks by obtaining a lot of samples.

You will all be getting my unsolicited opinions about bottled inks. Here’s a sampler:

Sailor inks are for the rich. Noodler’s did some shit and you shouldn’t support them. I wrote three words in Organics Studio 5 months ago and it’s still smearing on my hands and over everything oh god oh god to this day. Ferris Wheel Press is my nemesis in this life and the previous.

[britishsass]

Dark Woods Circus AU Chapter 7: Family of a Circus

Saturday 2PM, a week had passed, slowly and slowly the performers have gotten accustomed to the Motherlobe, but two were much quicker. Raz and Lili were heading to see Sam, they only knew some of the agents. They were the youngest of the performers, and they were very much fond of the agents they had met. They also found some comics of the psychonauts, one featured Fred and Hollis where they fought the Noodler.

“Miss Forsythe is so cool!” Raz told his friend and other half. 

“I know right! And besides Mister Bonaparte does look like Papa and Mama. Just a bit shorter.” Lili giggled. 

“And Mister Teglee, his drawings are so pretty!” Raz responded. 

“Don’t forget, Mister Cooper, he’s funny!” Lili responded. 

“What about Miss Gouten? She’s shiny looking!” Raz asked. 

“And Miss Delucca! She talks to animals!” Lili responded. 

“Of course there’s Mister Oleander. He’s strong!” Lili told her half. Both of the two giggled and met Sam on the way there, and noticed two figures. One was a blue skinned child wearing a blue jacket and a green hat and also had a similar height to them, the other was a much lighter blue skinned boy in the shape of an egg and wore a red jumpsuit and had a tinfoil hat.

“Raz! Lili! How are you guys?” Sam greeted. 

“Doing good! Who are those two?” Lili asked. 

“Oh, those guys are my friends.” Sam responded, “This kid is Dart, short for D'Artagnan, he’s Agent Loboto’s son.” she pointed to the hat wearing kid. “And that one is my brother Dogen.” she responded to when she pointed to the smaller child. 

“Wow… do they live here?” Raz asked. 

“Yeah! Do they live here?” Lili asked as well. 

“Sort of… it’s like a hotel.” Sam responded. 

“Hotel? What’s that?” The two heads asked. Oh right. They’re from the circus. So their vocabulary is a bit small. 

“Well… a hotel is like a home that you stay in for a bit, you stay there for possibly for vacation or you just want a break.” Dart answerd. 

“Oh! Like the Motherlobe!” Lili pointed out. 

“Kinda. Anyways, where are you going?” Dart asked. 

“We’re going with Sam, to see Mister Loboto use his hydrokinesis!” Raz announced, that made Dart a bit embarrassed. 

“Hydrokinesis? Sam can I talk to you in private?” Dart pushed Sam to a different area.

“Sam, you do realize that my dad’s ability… is very… well… it needs some work.” Dart told the girl. 

“Yeah I know, but they are the youngest and most impressionable. So just let them see your dad’s work.” Sam reassured. 

“Alright fine, but last time he did that, he gave Lucrecia PTSD, it’s a good reason why he’s not allowed to bring water or any liquid to her.” Dart responded as he headed to see Dogen, Raz, and Lili. “Alright then, let’s see my Dad’s work.” Dart reluctantly told the three. The five children then headed to see Agent Loboto.

When they entered his office, it was a bit messy… there were bottles of water that were burst open. His own water cooler looked like a blown up balloon. And to top it off, Agent Loboto and Agent Delucca were trying to plug in holes. “Dad! What the heck is going on here!” Dart asked in shock. 

“Oh hi Dart! Daddy is a bit busy now! Can you get some plugs?” Loboto asked. 

“Yeah… sure.” Dart said as he used a green psychic hand to grab a box filled with plugs. 

“Mister Loboto? We heard that you do hydrokinesis. Can we see it?” Raz asked. 

“Of course! Sam can you get a glass of water?” He asked the girl. 

“Ok then, I better get an umbrella as well.” Sam responded. So Dart plugged in every hole he can, and Sam got an umbrella. 

“Sam isn’t it bad luck if you open an umbrella on the inside?” Penelope asked. 

“Yeah, I just want to carry it. Loboto likes it because he thinks it’s cool.” Sam responded. Penelope couldn’t help but shrug. So the two-headed clown sat on the only dry chair, while the others sat on some parts of the floor that are dry.

Agent Loboto focused his energy on the water, which then formed a watery like hand… and then it fell. “Well… on the bright side at least it didn’t blow up.” Sam told Dart. Dart was relieved that it didn’t happen. 

“Yeah, but Dad, Agent Forsythe said that your powers… could need some work.” Dart whispered. 

“But Dart! You’re papa’s has amazing powers!” Lili reassured, 

“Yeah! And he’s funny too!” Raz responded, the two heads then laugh leaving Loboto very uncomfortable. 

“Yeah… funny.” Loboto spoke. 

“Hey Raz, let’s tell mama and papa. They would love to see Mister Loboto’s powers.” Lili told her other head, 

“Yeah! That would be fun!” Raz giggled, that made Loboto’s eye twitch. 

“Hey, I think he needs a break from the laughter.” Dart told them, 

“Oh don’t worry about me Dart, you’re father just needs to get a drink—“ his father was interrupted when he tripped himself. Where some of his hair revealed a bit of a scar. 

“Look Lili! Mister Loboto’s hair has a boo boo!” Raz pointed out, 

“He does! He does!” Lili replied. The two then laughed which made Loboto snap.

“Alright! Alright! Alright! I get it! Just… just shut up!” Loboto snapped, and left. 

“He’s gone.” Dogen spoke. This made the children confused. 

“Miss Delucca? Did we do something wrong?” Raz asked. 

“No… but, you triggered some… memories.” she told them. 

“Oh… we’re sorry for scaring your papa Dart.” Lili apologized. 

“No, it’s my fault. I should’ve told you in the first place.” Sam told them, “Agent Loboto had uh… a very difficult family life.” Sam told the two. “He was a child born with psychic abilities, and his parents hated him because of that. In fact, they went to the extreme and basically tried to get a lobotomy.” Sam continued. 

“What’s a lobotomy?” Raz asked, 

“It’s a type of surgery. It’s best not to look in to it.” Sam told the two headed clown. 

“Yeah, dad nearly lost his psychic abilities, but he actually saved himself by using his abilities. Despite the fact that he nearly had a massive cut in his head.” Dart told the story. 

“But thankfully, he knew how to stich himself back together. And went into hiding… that’s how Ford met him, he was hiding in the gulch.” Sam continued, 

“Yeah… kind of weird right?” Dart asked. 

“So… Mister Loboto got a boo boo from an experiment just like us?” Lili asked. 

“I’m afraid so, but he wasn’t the only one with awful parents. His partner Agent Delucca also was in bad shape. She was sent to Thorney Towers because her parents thought that she was crazy.” Dart pointed to Agent Delucca. 

“Yeah! People thought that I was dead, but I’m alive!” Agent Delucca responded. 

“So the point is… some people consider us as freaks.” Dart told them, 

“So… why don’t we make a gift for him to feel appreciated?” Sam asked. 

“Ok!” The two clowns spoke in unison.

The five children and one agent went to find Agent Loboto. The only person who knew where Agent Loboto can be is in the heptadome, thankfully someone was there to help. They head to the campsite where they saw a waterfall that goes upwards. “Linda! We’re going to need your help!” Penelope asked. 

“I’m on it… and who are the children stitched together?” Linda spoke telepathically, revealing herself to be a giant and mutated lungfish. 

“Is that Linda? She looks pretty!” Lili spoke. 

“Yeah… that’s Linda, my dad’s failed experiment. He wanted to make a fish big, but then… that happened.” Dart pointed out, 

“Hey Linda, have you seen Agent Loboto, he might’ve ran away here.” Sam asked. 

“I have… he’s heading to see Lucrecia, Edgar is also there painting the scenery.” Linda spoke. 

“Perfect, we might need to ask Edgar first.” Sam thought of, 

“Well… what are you planning on doing?” Linda asked, 

“We’ll show you.” Sam answered as each of the five get on.

When they got there, they asked Edgar for some paper and a some crayons, Edgar obliged and gave the two headed clown some paper to draw on. And after that, Sam, Dart, Dogen, Penelope, Raz, and Lili went to see Agent Loboto. 

“Hi Lucy… how are you doing?” Sam greeted. “Oh… I’m good. Cagliosto is over there.” Lucy responded as she pointed to Loboto getting a bottle of water. 

“Hi dad.” Dart greeted. 

“Oh hi Dart! And you two… what do you have there?” Cagliosto asked, 

“We wanted to apologize for making you feel bad, so we made this for you!” Raz and Lili spoke as they show him the drawing. The drawing was an image of the circus performers, the psychonauts, Hollis, Sam, Dogen, and Dart. 

“Aww… I’ll keep it!” Cagliosto spoke with some tears in his eyes. This made Dart smile, that decided to join in, as well as Sam, Dogen, and Penelope as well. And out of the distance, Sasha and Milla watch the hug pile. 

“They are quite unique though aren’t they?” Milla asked. 

“Indeed they are…” Sasha responded.

Nice to see you again, anon– Don’t forget to take breaks and take care of yourself. This installment was really, really sweet– Thank you for such a nice little story! ^_^

[naralanis]

hey nara! first off, I absolutely adore your blog and your writing, Perhaps is on my comfort fics list that I pull out whenever I’m having a bad time. I also happen to be a fan of your pen instagram and I was wondering if you had any suggestions on some fountain pens for beginners? I recently bought a “Pilot MR Retro Pop” that I really enjoy but I think I’m ready to branch off a bit. Do you have any tips with practicing with fountain pens you’d be willing to share? As much as I try, my handwriting never looks as nice as I want it to with mine. No pressure to respond if not, just wanted to stop by and let you know how much I enjoy your content! Hope you have a pleasant rest of your day/night!

Oh goodness, you’re talking about fic AND fountain pens in the same ask? Stop, stop, I’m already married!

First off, thanks for reading; I’m so glad Perhaps is there for you when ya need it, it makes me really happy to hear. Seriously warms my heart!

As far as fountain pens go... ANON I HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO TALK ABOUT I AM SO SORRY THIS WILL BE SUCH A LONG RIDE so I’m going to put it under the cut sorry sorry sorry in this essay I will

Hooray for the Pilot MR (or Metro, here in the US), it’s an AMAZING little pen, and if you’re calling it the MR, chances are you got it with an international standard converter, you lucky, lucky duck. I’m happy you’re enjoying it, as far as beginner pens go, this one is an excellent choice.

When you say “branching out”, this can mean one of two things. It can mean you want to branch out to other brands but a similar price range, or that you’re ready for a ‘next level’ pen. I’ll try to cover both! (I’ll link some of these models to the Goulet Pens website, but feel free to look for them elsewhere--I just really like Goulet’s very thorough descriptions)

If you’re looking to explore other pen models in the MR’s price range, there’s a metric ton of  options! Sticking with Pilot, you can try the Explorer-- a completely different, more streamlined pen than the MR, but if you’re used to the nib on your pen, you have a better idea of what to expect with it. There’s also the Kakuno, which is cheaper, but very cute with its little smiley face nibs haha

Another Japanese pen you can try: the Platinum Plaisir. Aluminum body, but do remember that Platinum nibs generally give a little more feedback than Pilot’s, which are some of the smoothest Japanese-made nibs I’ve ever seen.

You can also try the Diplomat Magnum -- it’s a a great little pen, and I love mine. Keep in mind, it is very lightweight, especially compared to the MR’s metal body, but to me that makes it great for long writing sessions. The nib is completely different--it will write a little wider, a little wetter than the MR (and any other Japanese-made pen), but it’s slightly springy and awesome to write with. Plus, it has an ink window so you can keep track of your ink!

Other options in this price range: the Jinhao 8802 (Shell or Rosewood, and the most bang for your buck imo as far as cheap fountain pens go), the Jinhao x750 or x450 (these are heavier, but they look great!), the TWISBI GO (a teeny, amazing little pen with a spring-loaded piston filling mechanism), and a Kaweco Sport (another pocket-pen, German-made, so the nib will write a little wetter/wider generally) or the Perkeo.

Now, if you’d like to push your price range a little further (only a little! I promise not to break the bank!), you cannot go wrong with Lamy.I am a self-admitted Lamy fangirl, so I may be a little biased, buuuut... it is what it is, their pens are great, they’re easy to disassemble for cleaning (I go totally nuts over it and even disassemble the converters, which you absolutely don’t need to do), and their nibs are SO EASILY INTERCHANGEABLE!

You can pick up a Lamy Safari for fairly cheap nowadays (and ever cheaper look-alikes, which I will never endorse but also will not judge anyone for buying), and they come in so many colours (the O.G. 1980 colours were also just reissued!), they’re like my Pokemon because I want to catch ‘em all.

For a little more, you can get yourself a Lamy AL-Star--the same design of the Safari, but this time in aluminum, which makes it look super cool (but also prone to scratches if you’re the kind of person that puts your pen in your pocket with your keys... that’s... definitely not me...), so keep that in mind.

You can also pick yourself up a Lamy Logo, for a couple more bucks. A completely different design, but still great, particularly if you like slimmer pens.

The nibs on ALL the Lamy models (even the more expensive ones like the Studio or the Scala or even the Dialog) are interchangeable! Even the gold nib on the Dialog! The only exception is the Lamy 2000 (which is probably one of the best pens out there period, and certainly an amazing first-gold-nib pen).

The one thing that absolutely kills me about the cheaper Lamy pens is that, for the most part, none of them come with a converter--you have to buy it separately. Which is fine, it’s not super expensive, and it is widely available, but COME ON, LAMY, JUST GIMME.

If you’d like to try a cool-looking pen with a CRAZY ink capacity and a nifty piston-filling mechanism, look no further than the TWISBI ECO. I have one of these (green, obv), and I love it. Never tires me out, and I stg mine never. dries. out. I don’t know what witchcraft is involved, but it’s an amazing pen for long writing sessions.

Finally, if you’d like to try another Japanese-made pen that is a little more expensive than the Pilot MR or the Platinum Plaisir, there’s the Sailor Compass 1911. This is one of the cheapest Sailor pens I know of, and a good introduction to the brand. Keep in mind that, like Platinum, Sailor nibs will give more feedback than the Pilot you’re used to!

If you would like to push your budget even further, here are some options for fountain pens under $100 (I know, big jump, but it’s good to see what’s out there to you can compare!) from JetPens.

There are a million other brands out there that you can look at. Sheaffer makes great, very cheap and fun beginner pens (including a whole Star Wars Line! They’re adorable!). Hong Dian has a ton of pens that look sleek as hell (like the Forest Series) and they’re all like under 20 bucks. Kaco is another one that makes surprisingly good pens! Parker is also an option, with the Jotter, which is a classic-looking pen. There’s Conklin and Monteverde (which have a ton of fountain pens in a wide range of prices, but I’ve had bad luck with their nibs, so I would suggest you do some independent research on those!), as well as Noodler’s if you’d like to go crazy with some flex nibs! The fountain pen rabbit hole is bottomless. Welcome :D

As far as handwriting goes, I’m afraid I don’t have much more to say besides practice, practice, practice. I learned cursive as a child, but never got into calligraphy, really. Even today, I only just dabble, but whenever I see something I like, I usually just like to try and replicate it. Very often I’ll see a video on Instagram and go Oh my god, how the hell did they write that G, I’ve got to try that and then what follows is me going through page after page on a Rhodia pad trying to imitate them. I like janinescribbles and aidanbernal on Instagram, they’re like handwriting goals--check them out!

A lot of the time, we’re looking for more line variation to make our handwriting look prettier--that’s usually what you see in that fancy, old-timey Spencerian cursive, or even copperplate calligraphy. Unfortunately, you won’t get that with just a regular fountain pen, but there is good news!

There are a TON of different nibs out there. Stub nibs, fude nibs, flex nibs, obliques, cursive italic -- you can even get your pen ground by a professional nibmeister to fit your specifications. There are calligraphy pens (like the Lamy Joy) or pen sets (Kaweco has a Perkeo Calligraphy set, and I believe Sailor has one of their own as well). You can even check out the Pilot Parallel set -- the whole thing is like the price of a Lamy AL-Star, you just won’t do regular writing with it; it’s pretty specifically a calligraphy/lettering set. There are even flex pens in the market (though none of them are as flexy as those old, vintage gold nibs) like the Noodler’s Nib Creaper, Ahab, and Triple Tail or the Conklins with their Omniflex nib (which has been problematic in the past, but I’ve heard good things recently). It’s a whole other rabbit hole!

But honestly, don’t sweat the handwriting too much. Just write a few lines every day, try new things, and get lost for eternity on some Instagram tags!

I think this is a long enough post as it is, so I’ll stop there! SORRY. HOPE IT HELPS!

[writings-of-dumpy]

The Princess and the Pirate - Chapter 5

A/N: Wow, I’m pulling out all the tropes!!!

I woke up to being thrown over someone’s shoulder. I thought it was Harry at first, but the shoulders and arms weren’t the same as the ones I had felt earlier today.

“Hey, let me go!” I said to whoever was carrying me out of the cabin.

“Shut up if you know what’s good for you,” a deep voice growled.

I started to wiggle and kick and managed to clock my kidnapper in the face with my heel.

“Shit! She made my nose bleed!” the man yelled and dropped me. I attempted to catch myself but ended up falling and heard a loud snap followed by excruciating pain stemming from my knee.

“Harr—” I attempted to scream for Harry’s help, but my mouth was covered by a heavily tattooed hand and a knife was held to my throat.

“Say another word and you and your friend are dead,” said a slimy voice in my ear. My head was forced to look over at another group of men who had Evie completely knocked out and over one’s shoulder. “Now be a good princess and do as your told.”

I felt a gag being placed over my mouth and my hands cuffed in front of me. They tried to make me walk, but my left knee wouldn’t work properly, and I suspected it was either fractured or dislocated.

“Pick her up! You broke her, Noodler!” the tattooed man spat at his cohort. I was then thrown over a shoulder again and flung onto what appeared to be a boat. Evie was placed next to me and bound in the same way. As soon as the men left us to sail the ship, I managed to spit out the gag and start nudging Evie.

“Evie, come one girl, wake up!” I called to her.

“Hey! Quiet down!” the tatted man spat at me from the helm. I glared at him and looked at my knee. I attempted to bend it, but I couldn’t seem to make it bend. A deep purple bruise had started to bloom all around my knee and I noticed that my shin and thigh were no longer aligned, which told me that my leg was broken. I used my thigh to flip my leg so that I could get a better look at my kneecap to assess it, which sent a sharp pain through me, and I yelped.

Evie woke with a start and looked at me completely panicked. I noticed that there weren’t enough hands to keep Evie and I quiet while sailing the ship, so I took advantage of it and leaned over to her.

“Hang on, I’ll get the gag off of you…” I said and pulled the cloth down past her chin with my teeth because our hands were bound to be immobile.

“What the hell happened?” Evie whispered.

“We’ve been kidnapped. Looks like they only were after us, though..” I told her.

“Why us?” Evie asked and I shrugged.

“Because the two of you are very important to the King and his knights. We would have taken Uma, but Ursula told us not to lay a hand on her,” the man who was called Noodler said as he tied ropes to the ship next to us.

I shot him a look. “So Ursula is behind this.”

“Not really! She just knew of our plan and sent us a message. No, the one behind this is the Captain himself…” the tattooed man said.

“Jukes! Neverland on the horizon!” a man shouted from the crow’s nest.

“Aye, we’ll be there soon, men! Our captain awaits!” Jukes said and the crew cheered.

“Sorry, I hate to break this to you, but Captain Hook has been dead for a very long time…” Evie spoke up.

Jukes formed a twisted and terrifying grin on his lips. “Dead isn’t really dead, though is it? You should know that, being the daughter of an evil queen who used magic to bring you and your friends to life.”

“What are you talking about?” Evie demanded darkly.

“Oh, you don’t know? You never had a father; you and your pesky little gang were all brought about by magic. Souls of the innocent were used to bring the next generation of evil, so they said...” Jukes told us.

Evie looked broken. “You’re a pirate, I can’t trust a word you say.”

“And yet you believe it, don’t you? Because a pirate is many things, but liar he ain’t,” Jukes concluded. “Sometimes the truth is worse than any lie a scallywag can conjure.”

“Hey, Evie, it’s alright. It doesn’t matter how you got here, okay?” I told her. “What matters now is how we’re going to get out of here.”

“Oh, you two will only be going to The Black Castle in Skull Rock, see?” a man with dark eyes said to us.

“Care to explain why?” I challenged, which earned me a smirk.

“Aye, the princess wants to know our plans…” he remarked.

“Might as well since she’s dyin’ anyway, Cookson,” Noodler responded.

I looked at Evie, who was staying strong despite the obvious fear in her eyes. “It’s alright,” I mouthed to her.

“When your pretentious king and the captain’s son bring us the dust and the book, we’re going to bring our captain back with the blood of three royals and the sacrifice of the son,” Cookson sneered.

“Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but you’re down a royal. And Harry would never sacrifice himself to bring back his dreadful father,” I spat at him.

“Oh, I think he will… and with you, the Queen and King, that’s three royals,” Jukes said and he turned the ship into what appeared to be Pirate’s Cove.

I raised a brow. “You’re mistaken, I’m no royal. Harry’s not too keen on his father either.”

Cookson laughed. “You are the daughter of Tarzan, aren’t you? That means you’re royalty. Tarzan’s the rightful king of Arendelle, as Elsa and Ana have found out.”

“I’m a princess..” I breathed out to myself. The ship stopped and I looked at Evie with wide eyes. Cookson and Noodler hoisted us over their shoulders and I saw a gathering of more pirates on the edges of the Black Castle’s interior. Suddenly I was dropped onto a hard and damp rock and groaned in the pain in my knee. Evie was then placed beside me and we were hooked up to the rock and shoved into the water that was beneath the rock. At this point, the tide was only up to our knees.

“This is an idiotic plan you’ve concocted. There are mermaids in Neverland who know who to save and who to let drown,” I told Jukes bluntly.

“Mermaids don’t come here anymore,” he said and gestured towards the archway at the entrance. I looked up and saw the severed body of a mermaid with the initials ‘JH’ and ‘WJ’ carved into her cheeks, which I assumed were for James Hook and William Jukes.

I swallowed hard and looked at him with distain. “You’re disgusting.”

“Sticks and stones,” Jukes retorted.

“You better hope your love comes for you, Queen Evie. Otherwise the two of you are croc food once you’ve drowned,” Noodler taunted as the pirates left us to die.

I looked over at Evie, whose head was hung downwards.

“Evie, it’s going to be okay. I can’t walk, my tibia is probably broken and my knee is dislocated, but you can get out of here, okay? As long as one of us makes it out, they can’t bring Hook back. Harry’s not going to let them either,” I told her and looked for anything Evie could use to free herself.

“Shut up, I’m not leaving you here,” Evie said and sounded like she had something in her mouth. Her head shot up and in her teeth was a bobby pin. “Take it, I’ve got another one for me!”

I grinned. “Evie, you’re a genius!”

Once I had the bobby pin in my mouth, Evie and I worked together to pull ourselves up on the rock so that we were once again on top of it and got to work unlocking ourselves from the chains the pirates had placed.

“Ben’s probably on his way now with the book,” Evie said and shook her head after a failed attempt at the chains.

“Yeah, and Harry’s got the Pixie dust,” I added. After a few moments of fenagling, I heard a click and my cuffs opened. Once my hands were free, I helped Evie get out of hers.

“Now what? We can’t just march out there, they’ll put us back or worse,” Evie asked.

“You need to get out of here. I can’t move, so I’ll take whatever they’ve got, but you need to GO,” I told her urgently.

“Forget it, I’m not leaving you here!”

We heard cheers and jeers from outside of the castle and heard Jukes welcome Ben and Harry to Neverland. Evie and I looked at each other and I went to work on a splint for my leg using the chains and part of my dress to stabilize it.

~Harry~

Adrenaline rushed through Harry’s system as their boat approached Skull Rock. As expected, he saw all his father’s crew, lead by none other than Bill Jukes. The pirates let out a sound of excitement and anger as Ben and Harry docked their boat. It had been at least a few hours since Rayla and Evie were kidnapped, though it had felt like mere minutes. Harry had a feeling that he knew why they wanted the book and Pixie dust, but he would keep it to himself until he was sure. Ben’s main objective was to rescue Evie and Rayla, then return to Auradon as quickly as possible. Before Harry and Ben set off for Neverland, Jay and Uma gathered the troops from the kingdom and were instructed to invade Skull Rock to imprison the pirates. Harry knew a fight was coming, but he wasn’t sure exactly when, but he didn’t want Rayla to be any part of it.

“So… did you bring what we asked of you?” Bill asked Ben.

“I’ve met your criteria, but first let me see them,” Ben said very diplomatically.

“Oh, they’re safe on the rock in the castle. Princess has a bit of a broken leg, though.. Won’t be swimming anytime soon,” Bill taunted.

Harry’s blood boiled. He knew exactly the rock they spoke of and the thought of Rayla chained up to it and left to drown made his body react to attack Bill, but Ben’s arm held him back.

“Ooh-hoo-hoo! Harry’s gone soft for the girl. This makes things much more interesting…” Bill taunted with his signature smirk.

“Release them to us and you’ll get your wretched book and Pixie dust,” Ben said.

“Problem is, your majesty…” Bill began. Without a warning, Harry recognized Noodler, Cookson and Starkey as the pirates that jumped and bound both he and Ben. “We need the two of you to finish what we want.”

Starkey snatched the book from Ben’s hand. Harry was rolled onto his back and searched until the jar of Pixie dust was found and taken by Cookson.

“Aw, Harry… You were such a promising captain. But then you just had to go and defile everything our captain taught you,” Bill said, and then spat on Harry’s chest. “Should have been you that was croc food. But now I’ve got a special plan for you now that I know you’re sweet on the princess… Lock him in the brig.”

“Don’t you dare touch her! I swear I’ll kill you, Bill!” Harry screamed at his former crewmate before being thrown onto the ship and into the hold.

[lostinthemazecalledmyhead]

Part one   Part two  Part three   Part four   Part five   Part six    Part seven Part eight  part nine

Part one Lost in another land

It’s about landing in the enchanted forest and doing business with Hook and who knows becomming more than just business partners? ( it’s a mix between the Once upon a time series and the J.M Barrie novel Peter Pan. It’s not essential to know both, as long as you know who hook is ;)

I started to drift off, but was rudely woken by a sharp pain in my lower back. “Fuck.” Rubbing my eyes I slowly opened them to find myself believing they were still closed and I had in fact fallen asleep. “Bloody hell.” The words slipped my mouth as I looked up around me, pushing myself up with my lower arms on the hard wooden floor. “If you hadn’t looked like a lady, your mouth would have made me think you were a sailor.” A voice spoke behind me.

I look behind me and see two black leather boots that belonged to a man in black pants and a just as dark blouse. Swiftly I jump up and dust off my jeans and t-shirt. His eyebrow goes up as he studied me with an evil smirk. “Even though I would never turn down the company of a lovely woman, I must ask you why you are on board of my ship.”

It doesn’t matter how much I want it to be, this isn’t real. There is no logical explanation to why I’m suddenly on a pirate ship in the middle of nowhere in an completely different age of time. The man, or rather pirate, standing in front of me was rather handsome. Some dark facial hair, impressive but minor scar on the cheek and beautiful blue eyes.

“That’s gross.” I said to his remark about the women. He seemed surprised by my comment, but I continued before he could. “As to you are asking me why I’m here, I suppose you aren’t the one who brought me here. You see I have lost my memory and only remember waking up on your ship.” Before he spoke he studied me, probably wondering if I was tricking him. “Then you probably don’t mind going on a little trip.” “Wait, what do you mean ‘little trip’?” “We have to go to another haven and you are coming with us.” He said. “No, I’m not going with you!” I said slowly and firmly. He ignored my words and gave orders to his crew. “So what? You’re just going to abduct me?” I asked and started to make way to the side of the ship. The pirate appeared in front of me and told me to stop. “Get out of my way.” I said and tried to move past him. To avoid me getting past him and of the ship he blocked me with his arm. I gave a light shriek as I saw the hook in the place where his hand should have been. I looked at him in terror and whispered his name: “Hook.” “So, you’ve heard of me?” He asked quite pleased with his reputation. “You are captain James hook aren’t you?” I asked still shocked to what I had come to find out. “In the flash.” He said. I saw the bay slowly getting further and further away. I had been so distracted that I hadn’t realized that the ship was moving. “This is just a dream.” I mumbled to myself. “Dream or not, come with me to my cabin and we can talk about this.” Hook seemed polite. Just like in the story I knew. Polite, but vicious. I was to intrigued to say no, so I walked with him to his cabin. All of his crew tried to hide their stares, but to me it was obvious.

  Hook’s cabin wasn’t that much different than I had imagined. Broad glass windows, big desk and in the right corner some storage room and on the left side was a bed.

Hook walked past me and opened up a bottle of something that smelled like strong liquor. Great for the pirate stereotype. “So… What do you want to know, because I’m quite sure I’m wondering the same things as you are.” I took a seat in the chair opposed to his desk.

“You really are something, aren’t you?” Hook took a sip and again studied me. “Want some?” He asked gesturing to the bottle on the desk.

“No, thanks I’m fine.” I don’t know what kind of diseases that would give me.

“How about this? You tell me something about you, I tell you something about me.” Hook suggested.

“No need.”

He didn’t seem that amused anymore. “And why is that?”

“Because I already know everything about you, Hook.” I crossed my legs and stared at him.

Hook sat down and smiled for a bit. “That’s interesting.” He placed his feet on the desk. “Amuse me, love.”

“You lost your hand to the crocodile that still haunts you for just another taste of where it came from. Your enemy is Peter Pan, because he is the one who fed your hand to the crocodile. You’re left hand is the irish Smee. Then there is noodler, with his hands on backwards, Bill Jukes with every inch of him tattooed, Alf Mason whose mother sold him for a bottle of musket. And then we have you, Hook. Hook used to have black curls, eyes as blue as forget me nots and in which sometimes red spots can be seen as he plunges his hook in you.” Hook was about to speak but I silenced him with the wave of my hand and continued my story. “That isn’t all. I haven’t told you about Wendy. Wendy Moira Angela Darling, the sweet little girl Peter took with him to Neverland once. The one which you tried to turn into a pirate and make her tell where Peter’s secret hide out was, so you could seek your revenge. And which you almost did, but of course, the villain was defeated, as always.”

Hook stared at me. It took him a while to find words. “You’re one hell of a story teller, miss..”

“Donovan.” I introduced myself. “Emily Donovan.”

“But I’m sorry to disappoint you that only half of that story is true.” Hook’s face returned amused.

“Pan did feed my hand to the crocodile, but you don’t know half the story behind it. Still it does intrigue me to where you’ve come up with this version.”

“Why should I tell you?” I stand up and slowly move towards the shelfs. “Give me one good reason.” I said looking at him over my shoulder.

“You got a hell of a lot to explain, love. Why are you dressed like that? You don’t seem from around.”

“Why Is that so?” I ask him while I look at the stuff on the shelfs.

“You are dressed different you act and talk different.”

“Is that a bad thing?” I ask glancing at his face.

“I haven’t decided yet, but it sure is refreshing.” Hook answered.

“I am indeed not from around here.” I admit slowly. “And if this is not a dream, what it must be, than I have traveled through some kind of portal or something. Because the land where I live is much much further in the future. And it’s also kind of real as to where you are just a fairytale kids are told.” I had decided that it couldn’t hurt being a bit open with him. And it might as well spice the story up a little.

“And I am supposed to believe that?” Hook asked.

“Well I thought you wanted the truth so I gave it to you. It’s your own choice to what you do with it.” I walked back to the desk and pushed his feet off so I could sit on it. I lean in to make my words more believable. “But I’m just warning you: do not make me your enemy.” Our faces are close to half a meter apart. I’m sensing he is just enjoying this.

He moves in closer, our faces are so close. “I wouldn’t think about it.” Hook said looking into my eyes and then at my lips. I knew what his next move would be so I stood up and sat down in my chair again, waiting for him to speak.

“I’m going to make you my ally.”

“And tell me exactly how are you going to do that?” I asked him.

“There is some business, but I need someone to distract someone so someone can do something.”

“Oh, yeah, of course! I completely understand.” I said sarcastic, mocking his vagueness.

“I’m only telling you the details if you’re in.” Hook doesn’t seem anyhow affected by my mocking.

“Why would I?”

“You need me.”

“I don’t need you.” But as he looked at my clothes I came to realize that I didn’t know where I was and that my distinctive clothes could get me in a lot of trouble.

“You can stay on board of the Jolly Roger and we supply you with food and clothes in return.” Hook offered.

“How can I accept a deal if I don’t know it’s content?” I realized I was about to give in, but did I have much of a choice? I could always steal a dress that is drying in the wind and from there on find my way.

“There is a man that has something I need. So all you have to do is distract him while I take it.” Hook explained carefully picking his words.

“By taking you mean steal.” I corrected him. “But it sounds like fun. I’m in.”

Hook was surprised at how easily I gave in, but I’m just always in for an adventure. Hook stood up and walked over to one of his closets, opened it and took out a red dress. “Got a dress for you, so you can distract him.”

“No way in hell I’m wearing that!” I stated.

“Why not?”

“That’s a whores dress, and I don’t know if you hadn’t noticed, but I’m not a whore.”

Hook put the dress back.

“How did you even get that?” I asked but soon realized what the answer was. “You keep the clothes of the whores you sleep with? Filthy pig!”

“I guess I am a pirate.”

“That is not an excuse. Pirates are supposed to be heroic, hot and honorable, with a dark side that intrigues you, but at the same time you know he is not all that bad of a person, but you? You’re disgusting.” I realized I might have watched to many movies. Yeah, that was my thing, movies. I could sit up nights in a row watching movies on my own. And I’d watch the same movies over and over again and could recall every scene. And from one movie, I knew each and every line, my favorite movie, kinda ironic, was peter pan. And here I am, stuck on a ship with captain James Hook. I must admit it’s kinda like a dream come true.

“Well who can deny I’m devilishly handsome?” Hook said with a seductive grin on his face.

“Can we just cut the crap and come to business?” I asked. I had to keep up my dominance, because I had no idea what kinda attitude he would pull towards me if I didn’t. “Here is what we are going to do: you bring me a decent looking dress, I distract him, you steal whatever you want to steal and I get the hell out of there.”

[vroenis]

Feature: Jeremy Blake aka Red Means Recording

I’ve been distracted this week because I received two excellent gifts; a 1010 Music Blackbox and a Novation MiniNova. The Gear Notes page has been updated accordingly. This does mean eventually remapping my midi channels which I’ve actually already done in the spreadsheet, I now just have to turn everything on and physically make the changes, but for the moment I’m happy noodling on the new noodlers (J calls the Circuit the original Noodler but now everything is a noodler - I like the adjective especially given the cables resemble noodles so much <^.^>).

I’m also feeling kind of burnt after Uncharted 4. I really didn’t like that game.

It’s time to be positive and while I’ve been enjoying a bunch of Rooster Teeth videos, I wanted to promote someone who could do with the views and content and is an amazing and wonderful person. Rooster Teeth is also brimming with amazing people, especially Funhaus, but Jeremy is one person and is a Synth Lord (hail Chromeo) so if I only get one opportunity to direct you somewhere, it’s going to be to Red Means Recording.

Here’s one of his most recent videos;

Topical, but also absolutely amazing. Very revealing of his character, I feel. Not only in its content but the presentation. He has a lot of videos in this format that are of a much lighter nature, more comical. They’re also fantastic and I encourage you to watch them. They’re entertaining and I hope you can enjoy them even if you’re not a muso or tech-head, but if you are a fellow Synth Lord, I hope that makes Jeremy’s videos all the more entertaining. He’s done a whole bunch of videos with the Teenage Engineering OP-1, it’s one of the ways he became most popular, but I feel like it’s his style and character that bring his videos to life and the OP-1 only facilitates those things.

Case in point, when he does demo/tutorials for new pieces of kit;

Jeremy’s video is my favourite for the Model: Cycles and the one that sold it to me. I didn’t want one until I saw his video. I don’t always make the styles of music he makes, but I do almost always enjoy listening to the styles of music he makes. We do seem to have a lot of stylistic cross-over tho, so that probably helps. I definitely dig his flavour and sense of sound design. I don’t have a space for the Digitone in my setup, I feel like it demands too much prep and attention for what I would want it for and then how I might implement it in my sonic texture, but the Cycles strikes the right balance of being approachable and being dynamic/able to be manipulated with surface controls from a performance perspective. This is my approach with Circuit, MiniNova, Gaia and for the most part Force, and Jeremy really nailed demonstrating that in the video. It’s also entertaining as always. His character always shines thru and I fux with it.

He does these types of videos for a lot of different bits of kit, the Zoia one was great, and definitely the Synthstrom Deluge. No question, I am getting a damn Deluge, it is right up my alley. Here’s a slightly different kind of video he does often, somewhere in-between a full demo and the OP-1 videos where he doesn’t do a full tutorial, but does narrate building a track on the Deluge;

Most of the tracks he builds, he exports into Ableton Live and Patrons who supports him on Patreon get the full finished tracks as downloads. I’m not a Patron just yet - we had to pull all our patronage due to family medical reasons as you can imagine which yea isn’t great and doesn’t feel great, but if there’s anyone I feel like I’m going to pick up first, it’s probably going to be Jeremy.

What I always do tho, is buy his new albums on Bandcamp, and when I can afford it, pay just a little more than the asking price - that’s one of the things I like about Bandcamp. You can find him right here at this super convenient lazylink or by searching for Jeremy Blake at Bandcamp.com - it’s literally soundvision.bandcamp.com. I started buying from Juvenile Hyperobject forward tho for some reason skipped hewwop1 as it’s just OP-1 tracks. Might go back and have another listen. Still - Juvenile Hyperobject, Pataphysical, Soft Music To Do Nothing To and Object Permanence are becoming four of my most listened-to albums of 2020 as I work from home. Even before all hell broke loose in the world, I fell in love with Soft Music... and Object Permanence when they were released.

But for the sell, I can’t help but posting one of the most popular tracks and I have to admit, a favourite of mine from Pataphysical... but I’m going to post the full construction video because it’s absolutely joyous;

This was recently arranged by orchestral composer David Bruce, who reached out to Jeremy to do an awesome swapsies while Jeremy did an electronic arrangement of one of David’s pieces in Ableton with phat synths and beats and just quietly I thought the orchestral arrangement of Aquamarine was good but Jeremy’s synth version of David’s music was ACEGOODPHENOMENAL orders of magnitude better. I mean I’m biased, but that doesn’t mean I’m not also objectively correct.

There’s a whole lot more to Jeremy Blake aka Red Means Recording to discover, but I don’t want to mass-post it here, I think it does him a disservice and you should go exploring and find it for yourself.

You can watch his videos on YouTube here.

You can buy his music on Bandcamp here.

You can support him on Patreon here.

You can buy cool shirts with his graphic designs on them here.

You can listen to his music on Spotify here.

You can look at his photos on Instagram here.

You can follow him on Twitter here.

As always - it’s the internet. You could be an arsehole, or instead, you could be awesome and kind and we could do amazing things together.

[doomedandstoned]

Morganthus Return with a Vengeance

~By Mel Lie~

If you read the name MORGANTHUS, a few of you may think first of the science fiction film Galaxy of Terror by Roger Corman, produced in 1981. At this point, I'm as unsolved as you whether this movie plays a role in the name choice by the three guys from Warren, Pennsylvania. But we will figure it out in the course of the interview that follows! What I can say with complete conviction is that this trio have a massive load of Black Sabbath blood running through their veins! If you have ever taken a listen to their first 4-track EP, 'Darknaut' (2017), you will recognize them as "one of the best sounding Black Sabbath inspired bands you‘ve heard" (Outlaws Of The Sun).

These three down-to-earth neighbor boys, who maybe once fell into a cauldron filled with Sabbath vibes, are riding a worship of heavy traditional old-school metal riffs and "back-to-the-roots" doom of the '70s and '80s and create with it their very own Ozzy-meets-Candlemass-meets-Iron Maiden sound. It's almost impossible not to like them, if you have an affinity towards pioneering doom metal.

Listeners, Doomed & Stoned has some great news for you: Morganthus is back with an even heavier and meaner record, the brand new six-song album, 'Mortal' (2019). We've packed it with us today and are pleased to give you an advance listen to "Mortal Master," which will emerge with the rest of its counterparts in the days ahead (available soon for digital pre-order).

MEETING MORGANTHUS

With the first sounds of Mortal circling through our earspace, let's take the opportunity at hand to catch up with Doug Miller, voice & guitar of Morganthus, and ask him about the upcoming release.

⛧

I really enjoyed listening to the new album in advance and we all are really looking forward to the whole album! How does it feel to release your new baby to the public?

It feels like a bit of a psychological release at this point, as much as a musical release. Recording even an EP can get pricey, so I elected to do as little in a professional studio as possible, and take on much of the mixing, recording, and mastering on my own home equipment which has been a time consuming challenge.

So the release for me is going to feel like a long road coming, since Dustin (drummer) and I have been playing these songs live and at rehearsal for the better part of two years now. We're quite excited to have it ready for the public, especially those who have been following us closely for the last couple years.

We’d love to become better acquainted with Morganthus, so please start with giving us some basic and background information of everyone who is in the band and how you got together.

Sure! This thing all started about 5 years ago, with Dustin and I jamming in my basement, riffing and putting music together with the idea of forming a band, and recording and doing live shows.

It's been a challenge to keep bassists for various reasons, none of which pertained to their talents or personalites. Either the timing wasn’t working, or circumstances beyond their control prevented them from keeping up with Dustin and I. So we regrettably had to move on without them.

But we recently got my friend Colby Neukem off the bench to play bass with us, and it's working out great! Only a month of jamming and he was able to lay down bass lines with us for the new record, as well as play a couple live shows.

All of us work full time jobs in the Northwest Pa/Southwest NY area, and I've known Colby and Dustin each for over 12 years now. Colby has always been a noodler on guitar, and Dustin has been playing the skins since he was a kid. We all share an interest in various genres and eras of metal and hard rock, and each contributes to the music with their own skill sets and styles.

Dustin just seems to always know what to play at this point, and what you hear on the drums is what he gives without any input from me. I hope to develop that kind of musical relationship with Colby as well. He has a lot of ideas to bring to the table.

I've racked my brains for getting the special meaning of your band name, Doug! Does the science fiction movie 'Galaxy OF Terror' relate to this? Please tell us the story of how you get your band name.

Yes! Morganthus was the name of that horrifying planet in the Roger Corman movie, Galaxy of Terror. I've always had an affinity for B reel horror movies, and sci fi in general. It just seemed to fit the cosmic, sometimes horrifying themes that dominate much of my lyrical prose.

Now, let us take a deeper look in your sound. How would you describe it to new listeners, especially in conjunction with your latest stuff? Are there special inspiration maybe to film, art, literature or something else? Please share all you get in your mind about it with us! - we are pry!

Okay, this is where things get a little tricky for me. My musical influences, first of all, are firmly rooted in '70s metal and hard rock, and early to mid '80s power metal and doom music like Iron Maiden and Candlemass. Black Sabbath's influence on me however, can't be understated. The grunge era gave me Alice In Chains and Soundgarden to chew on, while the stirrings of Stoner Doom/Desert Rock music was beginning to crawl from the depths to my eagerly awaiting ears. I think Electric Wizard is brilliant, and certainly has a musical influence on me.

Personally speaking, I've always been interested in philosophy, the human condition, the cosmos. How it all ties together. The darker aspects of those disciplines and ideas especially reach me. Historical atrocities and horrors weigh heavily on me as of late, and how we as human beings have dealt with them, but can't seem to rise from under the thumb of politics and it's destructive nature.

I'm not a cynic, I don't think. I rather love people. But I am frustrated by our species more often than not. The new album echoes these sentiments on each song, in fact.

You gave us the song "Mortal" as a preliminary audition, for our listeners here. What is the meaning behind the lyrics of this song and the special characteristics in the sound? Compared to your previous album, the heaviness seems to be more in the foreground?

Live revolving, mortal man Strands of spider web A universe for those who plan For gods to rule from heaven

This is a heavier, darker release. Each song is a different take on the struggle for humanity to surface, to survive. It wasn't purposely written that way, more of a consequence of my current state of mind, and what things have attracted my mind to analyze, or try to rationalize them. Some things are so horrifying to conceive of. But if you dig deeply enough, you can generate quite a lot of sympathy for things our long deceased ancestors have gone through, and even love and hurt for them because of it.

This is the feeling behind the lyrics of the song Mortal. It's about human hubris, exposed through religious, political, scientific and corporate machinery. Each of those disciplines is easily corruptible, and has been so for centuries. The world doesn't revolve around us. It's provisions aren't there for us to place profit and power over our humanity. It's an outrage.

Sound-wise, we wanted to get the instruments more to the forefront with heavier tones all around. And to reinforce that you don't need a ton of post production to do so. I want this record to sound like you're right in the room with us playing.

Morganthus is back and we are all waiting eagerly for the official release of your complete album! What else do you have in the works? Are there any future plans floating in space?

At this point, we just want to put our record out and see what comes of it. I very much believe that will give us the direction we need to move forward. Not based on sales, or anything so trivial as that, but on it's growth. And what can we do to help it grow. We'll focus on our live show and becoming more independent. Our last EP did quite well with next to no promotion, and no radio play. It made a couple podcasts. Ranked fairly high on them. This record will be promoted more heavily for certain.

If you had a wish free, with which band or musician would you like to share the stage with?

The obvious answer would be Black Sabbath, haha. But in all honesty, I'd be immensely happy to share a stage with Electric Wizard. I love their show, their sound, and Jus seems a fascinating fellow to meet, along with Elizabeth.

Thank you for bringing us a little closer to the world of Morganthus. Best wishes for you as a band, we'll keep an eye on you!

Keep on rocking. The commercialization of rock and metal music sifted a lot of the pretenders out, and made true rock and metal an underground form of entertainment again. Be proud of this. Find good music on your own. Treasure it. Keep it sacred. The more support you can give, the more underground bands can give back. Peace, and Love to all of you, and I hope you'll give our new record a try!

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[jeremystrele]

The Tools I Use · Jeffrey Phillips, Illustrator

The Tools I Use · Jeffrey Phillips, Illustrator

The Tools I Use

by Sally Tabart

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Jeffrey Phillips (aka Jeff the Peff) in his Collingwood studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Jeffrey Phillips (aka Jeff the Peff) entered the professional illustration game in his mid-20s, although he’s been drawing ever since his family relocated from India to Australia when he was a young teenager. Back then, he drew to observe the new sites he found himself surrounded by.

It was only in his 20s that Jeff enrolled in a Design and Multimedia course. Now a full-time freelancer, Jeff’s clients include organisations like Aesop, Facebook Australia, Ernst & Young, MYOB Australia, Studio Round and yes, even The Design Files. We asked Jeff to take us through his go-to tools.

The tools i use · Jeffrey Phillips

1. Noodler’s Bulletproof Black Fountain Pen Ink

This is a handcrafted black ink that is archival, fade resistant and water resistant when dry. It is pretty rare to have a waterproof fountain pen ink, so these are quite highly prized and can occasionally become sold out. I keep a bit of a stash to last me through dry times.

I think it’s good to be consistent with the type of ink, especially when you are combining different pens. Different inks fade in different ways. Some fade to a bluish black, others go a bit brown. So if you aren’t consistent, the drawings can start to look a bit funky as they age.

Find it here. 

2. Pentel Water Brush

There are loads of brands and styles out there, with different sized tips and so on. Both of mine are filled with water, but the grey one also has a few drops of black fountain pen ink for a nice grey wash.

Find it here. 

3. Daler-Rowney Ivory Sketchbooks

These tick every box for me. The hard-cover is great for support, the pages are perforated for easy removal, they have a lovely ivory colour and work really well with my pens and inks. I often try other sketchbooks but these are my mainstay. Unfortunately completely unavailable in Australia, but you can find them on eBay.

Find it here. 

4. Namiki Fountain Pen

This one has a 14k gold nib (fancy!) which has a nice amount of flex for creating variable line widths. Gold nibs are great. They give your lines a wonderful wobbly character! Also means you can swap five pens of different widths for a single one.

The Namiki Falcon is a very delicate pen and so probably not recommended for beginners or if you don’t use fountain pens regularly. An ill-timed bump or wrong move will probably permanently ruin the tip. So it can be stressful to use but the lines are AMAZING and worth it. Here it is in action.

Find it here. 

5. Lamy Fountain Pen with an EF Nib

This is my main drawing pen. It’s a no bullshit, reliable and versatile pen that has given me years of great drawings. It’s much easier and safer to use than the Namiki Falcon. A great beginner pen actually. I originally meant to get the yellow one and accidentally bought the neon-yellow – but what are you gonna do? I had a second one as a backup but lost it on the NYC Subway. I wonder what it’s up to now. It’s funny when you lose the backup and not the thing you wanted to back up. Here it is in action.

Find it here. 

6. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

This pen must be one of the worlds most popular black ink brush pens. Every illustrator I see on Instagram seems to have one. Even though the black ink cartridges it comes with are great, I have replaced the ink in them with my standard Noodler’s black for consistency. Here it is in action.

Find it here. 

7. iPad

I have the 12.9inch iPad Pro second gen. The second-gen version has a slightly higher screen refresh rate than the first gen. If that makes a difference to you. I don’t know if I can tell! It also has 256gb of Memory – I heard that the higher memory allows you to run larger files without impacting performance.

I use it with the Apple Pencil which is great – except the lightning port you charge it from is the same one that the iPad also uses. So god help you if both are flat.

Find it here. 

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Jeff’s TOP shops, Apps and Tips

Favourite apps related to your practice?

AstroPad Studio – an app that effectively turns your iPad Pro into a Wacom-Style Cintiq tablet, allowing you to draw in Adobe Photoshop on the iPad. At $117AUD per year, it’s not the cheapest app but in terms of the time it saves me it’s worth it.

Best place to shop for gear?

Jetpens for pens and inks. They have almost anything pen-related you can imagine, including great reviews and handy guides.

Most visited websites?

Dropbox, because good backups are life. About a year ago I decided to sync all my working files and folders with Dropbox. It took a couple of weeks to finish uploading but it’s been the best thing I ever did – it syncs everything across multiple locations and keeps previous versions of all files, too. I can generate a link to any file at any time from any device. I also have an external HDD backup just in case.

Xero has changed my life. Having an easy and intuitive accounting system has freed me up to focus on the fun stuff. If I wasn’t using something like Xero, I’d be mentioning Microsoft Excel instead and not in a positive way.

Reddit – fun to browse, but the worst when you have deadlines.

Ozbargain Forums, where people find and share bargains basically – pricing errors, specials, voucher codes etc. and they get voted up/down depending on whether it’s a good deal. It’s really handy to check when you’re shopping around for something. And when you are procrastinating…

Inspiring reference books?

The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman is hands down the best book I have read about running any kind of practice. It’s very agnostic in terms of what ‘business’ means to the reader, so you bring your own agenda to it and come away with loads of good stuff.

What do you listen to when you work?

Spotify is always on. Otherwise I’m listening to podcasts. I enjoy streaming WNYC, Radio Melbourne, The Economist, or Design Matters with Debbie Millman.

What’s something you wish you’d known before you learnt it the hard way?

Your environment shapes your behaviour in mysterious yet significant ways. Having known the 9-5 grind before starting out as an illustrator, I thought working from home would be the Shang-ri-la of working lifestyles… Hell no!

Even though I had a separate room set up as my work space, I would find myself keeping extremely odd hours, seemingly always in PJ’s, not leaving the house for days, and always feeling guilty that I wasn’t doing enough work.

Now I have a hired a studio space, so I’m required to get up, get dressed and leave the house. It means I get physical activity, social interaction and a dedicated space for work. When I leave that space, it’s play time!

I think this delineation is very important for people who do something for work that they also find fun or pleasurable. The conventional boundaries are blurred, so you need to work out where the line is. Inevitably, it will be different for each person and situation.

Catch Jeff on Instagram, and check out his personal and professional illustration work via his website. 

[lostinthemazecalledmyhead]

Part one   Part two  Part three   Part four   Part five   Part six    Part seven Part eight  part nine

Part two Lost and surrounded

Previously “Well who can deny I’m devilishly handsome?” Hook said with a seductive grin on his face. “Can we just cut the crap and come to business?” I asked. I had to keep up my dominance, because I had no idea what kinda attitude he would pull towards me if I didn’t. “Here is what we are going to do: you bring me a decent looking dress, I distract him, you steal whatever you want to steal and I get the hell out of there.”

And so It was done. Hook came in the next morning with a blue dress hanging over his arm. “A blue dress to compliment your beautiful eyes.” Hook handed the dress over and couldn’t help but smile his amused grin. “It’s beautiful.” I said holding it up so I could take a good look at it. I pushed him out of the room so I could change. “And my eyes are green, pig.” I said before closing the door in his face. “Just as stunning, love.” I heard Hook saying through the door. After a hell of a struggle I managed to put the dress on. I only needed someone to tie it up from behind. Beautiful dresses they had, but boy, it was a hell of a lot work. Smee helped me with the dress and then I followed him up deck. You could tell that Smee was nervous, but then, wasn’t he always? Today my long blonde curls hung over my shoulders covering my chest. The sunlight hit my face as soon as Smee stepped aside. I recognized Bill Jukes by his tattoos and Noodler with his hands fixed on backwards. It’s like I already knew these guys, but that doesn’t mean they won’t betray me. Everyone stopped their work and stared at me. “Good morning to yawl too.” I greeted them. In the ropes I saw a black man I recognized as Cookson. Even Jackie Chan would be intimidated by Cookson. He was one piece of muscle. “Good morning Cookson.” I greeted him with a nod. He just looked confused because I knew his name. He then made a low growl in a form of hello, I guess. The drunk guy in the corner must be Alf Mason. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so it seems. “How marvelous!” I looked up and saw Hook standing on the top deck with his hands on the, steering wheel? I forgot what it was called, but its name isn’t really important, is it? Holding up my skirt I walked up the stairs to the top deck. “We’ll be ashore in just a few minutes.” Hook informed me. I stood next to him and could see a town deeming up in front of us. Truly beautiful. “So what’s the plan?” I asked him. “You’ll walk through town for the rest of the day so your appearance tonight won’t be all that suspicious. You’ll walk into the Gepetto tavern when the sun starts to go down and you’ll find a man there. The man isn’t that fit and will presumably be surrounded by his man. He’s their boss so it won’t be that hard to pick him out. You’ll use your charm and seduce him, keep him busy until you see a few of my crew walk in the tavern. That would be your sign to get out of there.” Hook laid out the whole plan for me. At least my part in it. He still wouldn’t tell me what he was going to steal and who this man was. “Sounds like a good plan,  but what if I can’t keep him busy long enough?” I asked. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.” He said and looked at my chest and then into my eyes. I knew what he was getting at, but decided not to say anything about it. So instead I asked him for any weapons he could give me. “Weapons?” Hook asked laughing. The ship shook as it came ashore. Hook walked down the stairs and I followed him. “A weapon won’t be of any use for you, love” I grabbed the sword out of Bill Jukes holster, who was standing next to me. He was to caught off guard to do anything about it. “What are you doing?” Hook asked looking at the sword I was pointing at him. “Making a point.” “What point? That you disarmed Jukes?” Hook asked mocking and totally not impressed. “Don’t just keep standing there talking like a little girl. It’s time I showed you what I am made of.” I swung my sword at him before he could start talking again. I tried not to make my move to fast because I wanted him to get enough time to react and grab his sword.  A nice clinging sound could  be heard when the two pieces of metal met each other. My eyes were locked on Hook and every one of his offenses I blocked with a perfect defense.  He wasn’t as gracious as I was in blocking attacks. I knew his every move and his body language gave me all the information I needed. After a while I decided that play time was over and swung away his sword, kicked him down and put the point of my sword on his throat. A few of his men were about to move in, but Hook gestured them to back off. I smiled at him. “Of course I could easily manage without a weapon, but it would be so much easier if I had one.” I removed the sword from his throat. Hook gave me a smile, this was the first time he actually smiled showing his teeth. Genuine. I helped him up. “I must admit that I’m impressed.” Hook said. “Where did you learn that?” I shrugged. “Just taught myself a few tricks to keep in mind and now I can handle about any weapon.” I’m not cocky, but I do like the times where I can prove people wrong. Especially when they are mistaken in my skills. “You may be even more valuable than I thought.” He murmured. “Maybe we can even use you later on when we obtained the object.” “That might be interesting, but if it comes to that you seriously need to share your information.” Hook handed me a dagger that I put under my dress. “See you tonight.” I said as I walked of the ship on to the mainland.