#mikey's may not be entirely accurate to how he is in my game...

[tomiyeee]

been having way too much fun with these guys in the sims

context for the leo part: i made one set of human versions and one set of horrible green-skinned “turtle” versions and put them both in the same world and while i was playing donnie & mikey’s household (had to split them so it’d be easier to manage), human leo started dating his turtle version. i just rolled with it out of morbid curiosity.

[doctorqueue]

I don’t wanna spend too much time on this 2day but I absolutely want to try and make a full post about this theory at a later time. So if I come off weird it’s cuz I’m tired hsbcrvg, I’m gonna forget if I don’t write it out now tho.

I’m also not at all an expert, just autistic 😎. To quote Raph, “I’m not a scientist but this is absolutely your guilt glands, excreting guiltzimes into your guiltis system☝️😌.”

But basically I, as I’ve said before, am now incredulously familiar with the different Rise turtle species’ anatomy. And over the last month or two I’m becoming increasingly sure of the theory that they aren’t just blood related through Lou Jitsu, but have a little of each others turtle DNA too.

⭐️The biggest undeniable signifier of this is Donnie’s plastron and bridge. It’s of course important that there’s a lot that doesn’t have to be accurate in a stylised completely fictional show like Rise, and especially with mutants.

But man it’s a pretty big plot hole to have this character who’s design and character (as well as story at times) be known as having a softshell because of his species, but give him these key/obvious turtle attributes that said species definitely doesn’t have, he certainly didn’t get a hard and external plastron + bridge from his human side. /nm /gen

Turtles have tons of bones inside their bodies like most animals do, but the shell, bridge and plastron bones are more external, and covered scutes. The skin connects around the two gaps in the front and back.

Softshells still have a hard plate with their spinal cord and [shorter] ribs, but it’s under a leathery “shell” of skin, and they don’t have a solid bridge connection like other turtles. Their bones are absolutely wack bro /pos. Their plastron and the closest thing they have to a bridge are still equivalent to our front ribs, but even more so in that they’re still behind skin [but I don’t think muscle?], and that skin more or less is around their entire body [kind of].

[it’s worth mentioning that in other species they do have lots of nerves and stuff in their shells, they ARE still sensitive, though most likely less. Not too relevant to this but I feel like people have the assumption that their shells are super numb or they can’t feel stuff touching them. They love those shell brushes yo!]

Then there may be extra little details that COULD support this theory as well.

-Donnie being seen going inside his shell twice, once in the lair games and then once in the purple jacket (in the basket of Aprils bike). I’ve always preferred to retcon these, as Softshells cannot go inside their shells at all. But with a harder plastron and bridge ‘outside’ of his skin that connects to where his shell sticks out, it isn’t as impossible as a normal softshell, and of course Mikey and Leo absolutely can and have completely gone in their shells. [tba examples?]

Also snapping turts can’t go inside theirs either, though considering how massive Raph’s limbs are he probably can’t even with Mike and Lee’s DNA influence, not that it’s realistic for any of the ninja turtles to be able to go in their shells LOL.

-Donnie looking like he has small spines/spikes across his spine, even though Spiny softshells don’t have any there, but rather at the top lip of their softshell. Some do on occasion have their spine make bumps visible on their ‘shell’.

Rise, like many 2D handrawn animated things, has quite a few design inconsistencies, but you can usually surmise the most common version of something once you collect enough references. Though ngl I’ve seen a lot of both spiny looking bumps and just wobbly bumps, some with no bumps. But my point is this could be a minor feature from Raph’s Alligator Snapper DNA, unlikely but worth mentioning, plus super cute. [tba example images]

-Raph’s fear stink? I need to do more research on this, but I know that Softshells are actually known to release an odor to scare off others, if I’m remembering correctly. [tba info?]

-Mikey’s shell patterns, when studying Red-eared slider shells, I was so stoked to see the inspiration of Leo’s shell markings, and it looked like Mikey’s also matched his species. That is, until I realised Mike matched with COMMON/EASTERN box turtle shells. Ornate box turtles almost always have these radiating stripes. I’ve personally made my own kind of in between for how I draw him, but it made me realise how maybe it was influenced by Leo’s slider DNA? [tba example images]

-The same Plastron + Bridge argument as Donnie but with Raph. Alligator Snappers def have em, but they cover waaaay less than most turtles do, their bridges are very narrow and their plastron don’t even stick out, or are that thick, it’s pretty interesting. [tba example images]

TURTLE EXPERTS PLEASE CORRECT ME WHERE I’M WRONG AND/OR OFF /POS

I want to add credits for the sources/photos, and more images to this post as I have tooons of reference images, but I’ll just stick to the simple plastron one cuz it’s past midnight and am eepy

[imagionationstation]

DA BOIS

I SAW THE MOVIE

I WAS INTRODUCED TO THE UTTER NONSENSE THAT IS MM /aff

I HAVE THOUGHTS

NOT, LIKE, ANALYSIS WHICH MAY COME LATER

JUST THOUGHTS

AND SPOILERS

So I’m studying the boys and at first I was just “They really are leaning into this whole teen thing, huh” but then I thought back to every memory I have of my brothers and how they interacted and was just like- OH

OH WAIT

THIS IS ACCURATE

🤣 The bacon and egg scene- literally my brothers in a nutshell. The constant quotes and references- a little on the nose, but accurate.

BUT I SPENT

THE ENTIRE MOVIE

Waiting to see which turtle would spike my patented they need some hurt/comfort and at first I was leaning towards Leo- BUT THEN WHEN THAT BUS/TRUCK (I forget exactly what it was) FLEW STRAIGHT AT DONNIE AND MIKEY’S WATCHING IN HORROR AND DONNIE IS STUMBLING AND HURT AND OBLIVIOUS AND LOOKS ONLY HALF PRESENT-

Hands down. That got me.

I has a favorite and he’s so innocent and bright-eyed and deserves injury and kidnapping. I will make this happen.

The boys as a family were so fluffy and vibrant and relatable.

The boys as individuals…?

Leo has personality and concerns and attachments and a crush and flaws and strengths and he just felt like an person.

The rest seemed kinda… Plain. Raph had the anger thing going for him, but I have a hard time distinguishing Mikey’s and Donnie’s personalities. Mikey was friendly and liked improve, but that was never really touched on at all. In battle or otherwise- Donnie was the one who was thinking fast and taking the lead when talking to the Superfly. And Donnie was the one who Leo described as the best with people.

I’m not exactly sure what Mikey had going for him…

Donnie isn’t much of a techie, other than his headphones and phone, which is only used casually. He can drive and read comics, but that’s not really an abnormal teen thing. Like, any of his brothers couldn’t have driven using game skills? Or come up with a comic/movie solution to defeat Superfly?

That’s more nitpicks than anything tho. I might have missed things as well- it’s only my first watch. You shouldn’t make any firm decisions or judgements based on a first meeting. Hopefully, I’ll spot differences between them later on or they’ll flush out the characters more in the series.

They pushed a LOT into this movie. Everything was happening all at once. Like, they didn’t skip a BEAT when shifting from evil mutants trying to kill the boys to TCRI is locking them up.

And what the heck did Leo expect April to do?? SHE WAS ON A HIGHWAY BRIDGE?? DID HE EXPECT HER TO JUMP DOWN- SHE’S COMMENTED ON HOW CRAZY THEIR ROOFTOP TRAVEL IS! What makes him think she can do that??? 🤣🤣

At the very least she had to bike around and off the bridge to do anything, and he would have been unconscious by then. Boi just like “she abandoned us 🥺” when she could have been trying to help them while they were being loaded before going to get Splinter.

All hypothetical, of course. Would make for a good OneShot tho.

I like how the April betrayal was just a “I guess I was wrong” type of disappointment and not some dramatic heartbreak, because that feels more realistic to me. Relieved the crush wasn’t played off for laughs and all the brothers seemed disappointed.

April was such a good teen. They never played her off as anything but a normal person who didn’t have quite the right amount of self-preservation. Probably where the journalism comes in.

She was also a good representation that you don’t need green skin to not fit in. Life is hard, man, and I hope the series explores that even tho people don’t scream when they see them, that doesn’t mean life will be any less difficult. School is still prey grounds and people are still predators .

OMGEE SUPERFLY THO

DUDE WAS SCARY. BUT THE WHOLE TIME. I WAS WATCHING.

I COULDN’T NOT LIKE HIM FOR BEING EVIL

Dude got his daddy KILLED after daddy talked about raising him and his siblings and being a loving family by a bunch of weapon-using scary humans that also tried to kill them WHILE HE WAS A BABY

TCRI CREATED A FORMATIVE MEMORY THAT WAS STRAIGHT TRAUMA! OF COURSE HE HATES HUMANS-

That poor fly 🥺😔

The parallel between Splinter and Superfly was interesting. Felt a tiny bit forced at the end there, but I can respect it. Can’t dictate a fam’s every choice. That’s not fair. Gotta let your fam be free to grow and make their own mistakes and create their own morals~

I have a couple other thoughts, but I want to formulate them a bit more. See if I can make stuff off of them.

One last thing before I go…

MY SOCIAL ANXIETY HEADCANON STILL STANDS

NOT ONCE IN THE WHOLE MOVIE WERE THEY SEPERATED UNTIL THE SCHOOL

And even then it’s in a controlled environment. They all know where the other is. It seems safe.

But what happens when that illusion is gone…?

[holycow99]

石田お寿司 12/9/21 stream translation Part 4

This is not the full translation of the stream. I only translated the parts I could understand & interpret or parts I found interesting/important. I’m still a beginner in Japanese, so the translations may not be accurate. If you want to repost, please repost at your own risk.

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

(t/n: ** means translation may not be accurate.)

I: We’re talking about the commemoration of 30,000 subscribers, right? What should we do?

C: Is this a chatting stream?

I: Well, yeah.

C: Let’s play game now.

I: I’m totally okay with it.

C: I feel bad that I pinned this person’s comment. Should I unpin it? This is what’ll happen if you guys aren’t careful with your comments. You’ll be exposed. I’ll forgive this person.

C: Please do streaming of you working on lyrics.

I: I’m totally okay with something like that.

C: Have you ever received hair?  

I: I did receive something similar. A deep red colour. Was it a wig or something? This is a true story.

C: Scary!

I: I didn’t think it was scary though. I was like “I see…”. It was unique.

C: Have you received a marriage registration form?

I: No, but I once received a purikura photo from a gal. The letter was cute. She’s seriously a gal, with the round letters and all. She’s super young and the purikara was cute. The content of the letter was hilarious. She’s like “Let’s hang out!”, “It’s fun!” “I read TG! I don’t understand it, but it’s fun!”.  She’s totally a gal. It was amazing. How did I get that? That’s a good one, though I didn’t get to hang out with her.

C: Eh, is it okay to send purikura?

I: I’ll just take a look at it if you send one. I won’t do anything about it. Nothing will happen.

C: Impressive move.

I: Right? But I think it’s the culture. I wanna experience this kind of culture as well. I want gals and Exile fans to read my works, not just people who have read TG. I wanna write something that everyone can enjoy.

C: You wanna interact with gals?

I: I wanna try. Normally, you won’t be able to, right? Have I ever talked to a gal before? A real gal. Avu-chan was super gal-like. Avu-chan is a gal. My first encounter with a gal was with Avu-chan from Queen Bee.

*He’s imitating Avu-chan’s way of talking.

I: I see. So there’s a lot of way to enjoy TG.

C: Seems like you’d be a grandpa.

I: Definitely the case if I ever meet a gal.

C: Are you extremely close with her (avu-chan)?

I: I’m the type who approach the other party. Well, I’m sure everyone is like this, but don’t you have different personas? I wasn’t pretending or anything, but I wore a gal persona for the first time when I was with Avu-chan. Avu-chan has a gal-like personality, so I thought I also needed a new persona.  By the way, have you played the game Persona? Just like how the main character attained new personas, the gal persona came out aggressively from behind me and possessed me.

I: Akechi is cool, right? (t/n: Akechi is a character from Persona 5.)

C: Please impersonate Avu-chan.

I: Avu-chan’s impersonation? “But then~”. How is it again? “Sui Sensei is~”. But she talks about deep stuffs, even though she’s a gal. Although she’s a gal, she’s someone with a lot of knowledge.

C: can you read gal’s alphabet?

I: I can if I try hard enough.

I: I wanna include a gal character in choujin x.

C: Sensei seems to have high communication skill.

I: I don’t think so. There’s a term called ‘communication monster’. My friend, Takahashi Kunimitsu form Osterreich is a communication monster. He knows how to hype people up, since he doesn’t say offensive things.** He can join in conversations with anyone, anywhere like a clown. Then, he’ll be very tired after that. It’s wearing him out on top of having a high communication skill. That is a communication monster. I can join in a conversation as well, but unless it’s with someone I’m fond with, I won’t. It’s tiring.

C: People who are good at getting along with others do exist.

I: Yes. He’s good at that.

I: Kunimitsu’s seriously amazing. He got along with a granny he just met in a bar. I just listened to their conversation the entire time.

C: Isn’t that considered as a communication disability if you get tired by it?

I: I do think it’s a sign of communication disability**, But again, that’s just another side of it. It’s the same as shy people who can speak well.

C: Was it the one you posted on twitter?

I: Yup. The one at the bar in Nogata. Was it in Nogata? Probably there. But I think band men have great communication skill, since they meet various types of people.

Y****: I don’t like gals.

I: That’s not good. You’re in the theatre club, after all. Someone involves in theatres can’t be bias. It’s okay if you don’t like them, but it’s better to come across them.

C: Is it important to talk and meet with various people?

I: Hm, I wonder. I think it’s important, especially when you’re still shaping your identity. I speak like this because I didn’t manage to meet and get along with people. I was super serious whenever I was invited to a live show, like the time I met Mr. TK. I was super serious every time I met people when I was in my 20s.

C: You did meet Gegegay, right? (t/n: Tokyo Gegegay is a Japanese dance & music group.)

I: I did. I might not be able to converse with him if I didn’t come prepared. They’re super nice though. Mr. Mikey’s punch was strong. I was like “so we’re gonna have this kind of conversation on our first meeting.”. But it was really entertaining. He’s actually being considerate of me. Somehow, I’ve had a conversation with Mr. Mikey and Ms. Reol, just the three of us remotely. Mr. Mikey was really considerate during the conversation to make it very enjoyable. I was amazed by it.

(t/n: Mikey is the leader of Tokyo Gegegay. Reol is a Japanese singer.)

C: Have you ever met Hirose Alice? (t/n: Hirose Alice is an actress. She’s a big fan of TG.)

I: Nope. I think it’s better not to meet her. There’s no chance to meet her.

C: Who’s the person you’re most nervous with when you met them?

I: It’s hard to tell, but I felt nervous every time I met someone for the first time. Then, the feeling gradually disappeared after I got to know them. That’s not good, isn’t it? But, when I met Togashi sensei, it’s more like a dream. It’s an indescribable feeling when I met him. I was like “This kind of feeling exists.” I was nervous when I met Avu-chan as well. But rather than feeling nervous, since she was very nice, I was able to talk a lot. It was fun.

*Someone asked if he had meet Masataka Kubota.

I: I’ve met him.

C: Do you have a mentor?

I: Probably Hara sensei. The word ‘mentor’ is hard to describe. But, he’s somewhat a mentor-like presence to me. I don’t know.  

C: Do you like Yonezu Kenshi?

I: That’s needless to say. Everyone likes him.

*Someone asked if he’s met Horikoshi Kohei sensei (BNHA’s author).

I: Nope. We have the same age.

C: He drew the draft while lying down, right? (t/n: OP probably talking about Togashi sensei.)

I: He showed me how he did the draft.

*Someone asked if he’s met Inoue Takehiko sensei (Slam dunk’s author.)

I: Nope. If Hara sensei is considered as my mentor, though I can just call him that, Inoue Takehiko sensei would be my mentor uncle.

C: Was Masataka Kubota good-looking?

I: He’s super good-looking.

*Someone asked if he’s met Kotoyama sensei (Dagashikashi’s author).

I: I’ve never met her.

*Someone asked if he’s met Araki Hirohiko sensei (Jojo’s author).

I: Nope. Wait, I did. It was when I was still an assistant. My senior, Matsubara Toshimitsu sensei, who’s writing a manga called Kurogane no Valhallian in Young jump, was like “Araki Hirohiko is here! Let’s meet him for a bit!”, and I agreed to him. Araki sensei is on another level, as expected. He’s super-duper famous, after all. All the assistants were surrounding him, asking him for pictures. When it was our turn, my smile was so stiff when I took a picture with him. I was too nervous. It was a distorted smile. Then, Mr. Matsubara accidentally stepped on Araki sensei’s foot. He’s like “I’m sorry! I accidentally stepped on your foot!” By the way, I went to the new year’s party in my pajama, which had curry on the sleeve and took a picture with Araki sensei. The clothes were shabby. Since Araki sensei was a nice person, He complimented me saying the it was fashionable. I was so thankful. He complimented my pilled and curry stained clothes. I was happy for that. I went there wearing pajama because I didn’t have any other clothes. The clothes were in a white colour. I went there wearing a parker with dull pants. He was really cool. Very young-looking and a wonderful person.

C: Have you gotten a chance to meet Miura Kentaro sensei (Berserk’s author)?

I: No, I’d never met him. I liked him a lot. I still like him. I can’t continue talking about him. It’s too sad. I can’t express how I feel other than I’m sad. Death. Regarding this, I wish people wouldn’t pray to the dead souls so casually. I don’t like praying to the dead souls nor do I like people doing that as well.

C: Have you met Mengo sensei (Scum’s wish’s author) and Aka sensei (Kaguya sama’s author)?

I: I’ve met Ms. Mengo a long time ago. She’s always present at parties. She’s quite stand out as well. She’s wearing cat ears the first time I met her. It was cute. I think I have met Akasaka sensei.  Probably just introduced myself.  

C: You’re a mangaka, but have you been surprised by other mangakas’ personalities?

I: Pretty much. Like their images or...Well, aren’t you like that with everyone? Isn’t it normal to be surprised by their images, physiques, and voices? Since you never imagine about those things.

C: I want you to meet Isayama sensei.

I: Isayama sensei’s also the same age as me.

C: I have met Itagaki Keisuke sensei (Baki’s author)!

I: So you’ve met him. I see.

C: Have you met Inagawa Junji (actor & director)?

I: I want to.

*Ishida was about to read a comment but stopped.

I: People will keep asking who I’ve met if I answer this, so I’ll skip it.

*He still answered the question.

I: I’ve never met Ryuuichi (illustrator & character designer). He’s gotten married. He looks happy, so it’s all well. Ever since before, I didn’t think he had to be that self-asserting. He didn’t need to tell who he was. It’s already written in his account. I was like “Don’t worry, everyone knows. Everyone sees it.” Well, he looks happy, above all.

C: I was excited seeing Hara sensei at the Kingdom exhibition.

I: Oh, he was there.

Part 5

[goldendaydna]

This is just a post of me vaguely gesturing at things 87, 03, and 12 Leo has done with his “I don’t even know how to describe but I know it’s not smart” energy

‘Hey guys I'm gonna check out an alien sighting meet up place alone and not bother to at the very least take a disguise with me’

Spent entire nights in an arcade to beat one game he just *had* to beat the game and risked being discovered.

*Get's lost and doesn't have his fam there with him, Screams and gets more lost* ((This poor guy gets lost so much in 87 it’s pretty sad, directionally challenged and gets tunnel vision))

I mean sure he once got hit by a personality altering ray to make him more fun but that doesn’t change the fact that he deada** left a note to his fam that said "Ciao babies I'm off to have a good time.   L" and that’s a whole mood

Mr. how can I find some way to solve my problems by using or throwing my katana in some way or form

87 Leo had memory issues and no one can tell me otherwise, there was even an episode that addressed the boys neglecting parts of taking care of themselves and like Donnie with his eyesight, Mikey with his ungodly amount of eating, I think Raph with some form of laziness? and I’m pretty sure Leo didn’t really get told anything; anyways so they see themselves in the future and their neglect turned into major issues in their old age and yeah Leo was so upset that he “... turned into a befuddled old coot” so yeah the universe just looked at blue boi and said lol yeah sorry bro

'I can avoid questions and situations by asking other questions and using kindness'

Threw lipsticks on a toaster painting for target practice

His turtle com voice mail at one point was: :D "Hi, this is Leonardo, I can't answer the turtle com right now, I'm off on a nightmare adventure from which I may never return." :D

Oop there goes the steering wheel ((This also happens more than once when he drives))

Got over his fear of snakes out of pure spite cuz two kids called him a coward and a snake man said snakes were better than turtles

“Ok, it’s not regular mail. I guess Mikey would call it *mimickes Mikey’s voice* Air Mail.”

Susceptible to peer pressure

He totally practices his hero lines

‘Lol a snake can’t fight! no hands or legs! *OOF*..... the risk I took was calculated but man am I bad at math‘

'Guys this sounds like a bad ide-' 'SHADDUP LEO'

Started a fight with Raph because "GIVE IT BACK!"

“YIKES! Excuse me sensei” because yes Leo, saving your dad from getting hit by a vehicle could possibly inconvenience him.

Kissed not one, but two plungers before realizing to his horror that yes he just kissed two plungers.

*Threw one of the biggest kiddie temper tantrums I have ever seen in a cartoon* like no lie he was on the floor and everything.

Mikey: Look, a glitch!  Leo: Beg your pardon? (Thought Mikey said b***h, or that he may have called him or Donnie one, I dunno but it happened.) 

His sport equipment of choice was a frigging scooter, nuff said.

'I AM SULKING AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT'

Talks to himself a lot and I respect that

'I am a failure and should not exist.'

He tries pretty hard to look cool.

Pouty frowny mc’pouter boi when he’s either annoyed or not amused or embarrassed

Reprimanded his brothers about silence then proceeded to fall off a roof and make all the noise in the world.

Leo: What’s going on? Donnie: I’m having the weirdest dream. Leo: You can’t be dreaming,*I’m* here. Donnie: CUZ I’M DREAMING YOU! (｀Д´) Leo: (¬､¬) *Maybe I’m dreaming you but you’re not dreaming me* ( ｰ`дｰ´) Donnie: (¬_¬)

"Halt villain!" holy stars he’s such a geek.

"Just like space heroes!" Leo’s relationship with this old cartoon in general. You legit just put the show on and he is just glued to it, he knows the lines, the scenes, just everything and tries to incorporate it in his everyday life and even missions.

A little girl told him about pinkies up when drinking tea ONCE and now it’s a mandatory practice.

He walked up to a seemingly harmless creature, said "mop mop" to mimic it then poked the thing and got his butt kicked; and this was AFTER he said “New rule no one touch anything.”

“You have a pineapple for a head!” *Looks and sounds shocked at the fact that he’s hallucinating Donnie’s head indeed being a pineapple but not as shocked as one would think*

*Mimics the weird Krang talk and makes a ‘Heh heh I am so funny’ face* ‘Hmm? Oh sorry, anyway-’

“Window cleaner on! Window cleaner off”

This blue dummy thought it was a good idea to hit on some random lady on a completely different hostile planet

The idea or even concept of him having shellacne just seems to offend him

“WE YOKAI WILL STEAL ALL OF YOUR SOULS, THROUGH YOUR BUTT!!! MWUA HA HA!!” ((I can just hear Donnie thinking “It’s important to be accurate” while his brother said that))

Bruh, I swear Leo seems like he lives in a constant state of dissociation like at least 87% of the time, like he’s there enough to where he can answer to people and take actions but he’s not entirely there. 

Tried to catch toast with a plate ((Never ask 2012 Leo, Raph, and Donnie to make breakfast together it’s just gonna end poorly))

And this isn’t even covering everything there is so much more but this post is already long enough.

[bestdjkit]

How Desert Hearts Co-Founder Marbs Used Cannabis to Cope With COVID-19

“I was the only one who popped a positive COVID test and I’m fully vaccinated."

Blessings are tough enough to count in the age of COVID-19, but if you’re a Desert Hearts fan in Denver last weekend, that’s probably why you went to Church. In their first Denver show in almost two years, the Church Nightclub hosted Mikey Lion, Marbs, Lee Reynolds, and Porky for a triumphant collaborative performance.

Through the stained glass portraits and glittering lights beneath the steeple, a five-hour barrage of house music bliss enraptured the sold-out crowd. A true blessing to music fans—especially given the impact of the pandemic—the event almost didn’t happen because despite being vaccinated in the weeks approaching the show, one of the crew, Marbs, contracted the virus. That meant everyone to get tested—and fast.

Mikey Lion and Lee Reynolds throwing down behind the decks at The Church in Denver.

Desert Hearts

Fortunately, Marbs was the only one that turned up a positive result so once he had a proper isolation break and produced a negative test, he was back on the road. To learn about how he handled the COVID curveball, we caught up with Marbs.

"I was the only one who popped a positive COVID test and I’m fully vaccinated. Others in our friend group got sick but none of them received a positive test,” Marbs told EDM.com. “Some of us take tests before and after traveling whether we feel sick or not. Others trust their intuition and how they’re feeling. This time we all tested multiple times because I was clearly sick.”

Marbs takes the stage.

Desert Hearts

It at first wasn’t easy to catch, but with the entire crew vigilantly testing to keep music fans safe, they were able to respond quickly. “I took four tests before I received a positive result and then I received two back-to-back positive tests,” Marbs continued. “Once that happened everyone tested again and everyone was negative.”

As his quarantine approached two weeks he took two take-home antigen tests and a rapid PCR test. They all came back negative. "This may seem like overkill but the testing isn’t always accurate and with my career I want to make sure I’m keeping myself and the community safe and not putting anyone at risk,” Marbs said. “I feel it’s important to test frequently since I’m traveling to public group settings so often and I would urge others to do the same.”

The crowd loving Lee Reynolds.

As an outspoken supporter of cannabis reform with an Instagram-worthy green thumb, Marbs grows and regularly consumes his own cannabis. When he got COVID-19 he found that the fanfare surrounding the virus was real, and that meant taking steps for his body to heal right. That’s why he stopped smoking during his time in isolation.

“Oh, I definitely took a break!” Marbs said of his cannabis intake while quarantining. “As a kid, I had sports-induced asthma and a cough that would flare up from time to time [so] I’m used to having to take breaks from cannabis.”

No stranger to making small sacrifices for the big game, he didn’t want to be benched for long. More importantly, he also knew he couldn’t get back out on the road until he was 100% sure he wouldn’t be a danger to others.

Myles Heidenreich

As evidenced by his many tests and preventative steps, Marbs and the others behind Desert Hearts take their own health and that of fans seriously, but they also love to laugh every step of the way. That’s probably why—even squirreled away alone at home in Southern —Marbs found a way to make it fun.

“I ate a shit ton of edibles while I was sick and isolated,” he said with a laugh. “It made passing the time while quarantined in my small room a lot more enjoyable.”

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from Best DJ Kit https://edm.com/industry/desert-hearts-marbs-bouncing-back-after-covid

[dantediscoversfic]

Chapter 16: Rules

One of the reasons I liked Ari so much was that though we differed in opinion about many things (like which are the best comics) and though we had what might seem from the outside as diametrically opposed outlooks on life (his was much darker than mine; in fact he once claimed that brooding was healthy because it was good exercise for his eyebrows) and though he enjoyed yanking my chain about a lot of things, when it came down to it he made me laugh more than just about any other person on the planet. We were like seatbelts: we just clicked. He might not have thought so himself, but he had a big imagination and was very thoughtful and philosophical and funny and sensitive and kind. There was also a sadness in him that he tried to hide from me, but I could see it in his eyes sometimes. We never talked about it, though. He was better at not talking about things than I was.

In truth, I liked it when he argued with me (though argue isn’t really the right word, since we never got angry at each other; debate would be more accurate). And I especially liked when I was able to win him over. I’d been on Debate and Speech teams since middle school so he must have known that he never stood a chance when I got into that point-counterpoint mode but he never got cranky with me. (Or if he did, I knew it was all for show).

One area where he eventually came around to my way of thinking was my thing about liking rules. I have a general respect for rules and discipline and technique. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a pro-fascist or anything like that and I like the idea of chaos and nihilism just as much as the next teenager longing for independence. And I also know that breaking the rules is fun, too, and often a necessity in creating art and living the life you want to live. But I can see why rules are useful, too, especially if they grant you freedom within structure. I think your brain starts working differently if you’re trying to compose a sonnet in iambic pentameter vs if you’re writing a stream of consciousness journal entry. Neither is better or worse, but rules can be part of the fun and the challenge.

My thing with liking to cuss, for example. I liked cussing but knew that I wouldn’t relish it quite as much if my parents allowed me to throw around f-bombs any old effing time I felt like it. Or my thing about not liking to wear shoes. Who was the puritanical jerk who decided that it’s a Western societal norm that everyone has to wear shoes everywhere they go, anyway? If I want to take my shoes off outside or on the bus or in church or in the movie theater and I’m not hurting or offending anyone by letting my toes feel the wind and sun and air, why should I keep my shoes on when they cause me nothing but torture and discomfort? When did taking off your shoes in public become as bad as breaking one of the Ten Commandments? And it’s a good general life rule to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, right? I just choose a literal interpretation of that since he didn’t wear shoes either.

But where things like games were concerned, I liked rules. I thought of rules as being like a container or a cup for water (in this metaphor water=fun and freedom). Without the container, what do you get? Just liquid spilled all over the front of your shirt.

I liked coming up with new games for us, with the caveat that we played by the self-established rules. The first game we made up together was the shoe toss game (or as I named it: Urban Javelshoe). It started out simply because I felt like throwing my shoes around (because shoes are a nuisance and may as well be walloped for all the good they serve). At first he griped at me because I wanted to measure with chalk exactly how far each of us could throw our shoes on the street. He said it took away the fun, which to him was the act of throwing. I argued that the fun was not just the throwing, but the whole system we created together: deciding how many tosses we made per set, using chalk and a tape measure to record each of our throws, deciding how many sets qualified for a win. Just throwing shoes around for no reason? Plebian. This was much more interesting and systematic and fun. He came around, eventually. And though I won the game, he ended up having the longest recorded toss, which I could tell he was secretly pleased about.

Here are some of the other games we made up that summer:

Tap-Out. One of us would tap or punch out the beat to a song on the other person’s arm and the other would try and guess the song just based on the rhythm. We’d decide on the genre (such as Top 40 or The Beatles) and if the person didn’t guess right after three tap-outs then the tapper could hum the rhythm once (with no varied notes, just the rhythm on one straight note). After five rounds, the winner got to choose which music we listened to all afternoon.

Lava Ground. We’d play this in the yard or up in my room. You’d have to leap from place to place and land on furniture, cushions, pillows, clothes, shoes or basically whatever you could maneuver to land on as long as you didn’t touch the ground (because it was made of lava). If your bare skin touched the ground you had to act out a horrific death. The loser also had to clean up everything that we ended up spreading out on the floor or grass.

Passenger Palaver. We’d come up with stories about our fellow passengers during our afternoon bus rides. At first there were no rules but then I decided that one of us should make up a line or phrase for the story and the person telling the story would have to somehow include that phrase. Or sometimes we’d trade off after each line, making up the story together as we went along.

The Superhero Origin Generator. We’d go around my house and each of us would pick out two objects (such as a rolling pin and toothbrush). The other person would then have to make up how those two objects led to the creation of a superhero’s powers. For example: Mikey’s mother is a baker. One day her collection of rolling pins falls on her head and she tragically dies before young Mikey’s very own eyes. He grows up hating anything sweet. He despises cakes and donuts and cookies because they remind him of his dead mom. As a result, he becomes obsessed with brushing his teeth and never has a single cavity. But one day he has a mysterious tooth ache so he goes to a dentist’s check up. He doesn’t know that this dentist is in fact evil and while he’s in the dentist’s chair getting his teeth X-rayed, the evil dentist Dr. X turns up the machine to unprecedented levels. Mikey’s teeth become radioactive blasters. After that, every time he smiles, it unleashes a ray of toxic light more powerful than the sun. From that day forward he becomes: Gamma Tooth Man. If something we came up was particularly good we might make our own comic about it. Ari wasn’t much of an artist, so I’d draw and he’d come up with action, dialogue and concept. We made a good team.

Telenovela Lipread. We’d put a soap opera on silent and make up our own lines of dialogue. The only rule was that each character needed its own distinct voice or accent. Ari was surprisingly good at playing naïve love struck heroines (ironically, of course).

One day, after I’d just finished reading all of The Lord of the Rings books, I got the idea that Ari and I should make up our own language, like Elvish.

When I told Ari about my idea, he snorted and said, “So you’d rather make up an entirely new language than learn Spanish? You really hate Spanish that much?”

“If we had our own language we could write each other notes and letters and be the only ones who understand them. If they’re in Spanish our parents could snoop.”

“If you wanted to write in secret you could just make up a code, not a whole new language. That seems like a lot of work.”

“If Tolkien could do it how hard can it actually be?”

“How the hell do you go about making up a new language anyway?”

“I’m not sure. We might have to do some research.”

“Research? During the summer? For no other reason than you think it would be cool to undertake the massively insane project of inventing a new language?”

“Yeah. We’d be be like C-3PO when R2-D2 beeps and no one else knows what he’s saying.”

“Yes, but they’re talking in droidspeak. It’s probably just randomly generated gobbledygook.”

“Or maybe it’s as poetic as Shakespeare. But we’ll never know. Don’t you want to know what it’s like to speak a language only one other person on the planet understands?”

“It sounds exclusionary. I’m a man of the people.”

“You’re a man of the lazy. Come on, let’s go to the library so I can search the card catalogue about books on linguistics.”

So we went to the library. I love the library. I love the card catalogue. It makes finding the perfect book like going on a treasure hunt. While I was talking to the librarian, Ari wandered away from the desk and told me he was going to look around. No card catalogue for him, he was a browser.

It took awhile but I eventually located some potentially useful book on linguistics and went looking for Ari. I looked in every section I thought he would be, but he had vanished; I even looked in the bathroom and outside on the street. I went up to the 2nd floor and he wasn’t there. I looked on the 1st floor again. Nothing. I was starting to get worried. I went down to the ground floor level and that’s when I finally spotted him. He was sitting at the microfilm reader of all things. I went up to him to see what he was looking at.

“Hey,” I said.

He jumped. I guess I’d startled him.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing. Just old newspapers and stuff. I didn’t realize they had all these old articles on microfilm down here. The librarian just told me about it.”

“Anything in particular you’re looking at?”

“No, just browsing.”

“Just browsing El Paso Times articles from ten years ago for fun? And you call me the weird one?”

“Whatever. I thought it might be cool. Like a time machine or something. Are you done? We can leave.”

He pulled the film he was looking at out of the reader and returned it. I also saw that he had a book with him.

“What’s that book? You going to check it out?”

“It’s nothing. Just about the Vietnam War. I was just flipping through it while I waited for you.”

He put the book back on a return cart and we left. On the way home he didn’t talk much and I could tell something was bothering him. But he didn’t tell me what it was and I didn’t press him on it, even though I really wanted to. Like I said, he was better at not talking about things than I was. I thought maybe if we had our own secret language made up already he’d want to talk to me, but I knew that was wishful thinking. We’d only been friends for about a month, but I’d already guessed what most of his rules were.