Creator Spotlight: Lalaine Art Geek

Lalaine Art Geek shares her journey as a cartoonist, illustrator, and comic artist, revealing how her distinctive bold, colorful style has evolved from composition notebooks to digital platforms and print. Her vibrant approach to character design draws inspiration from some of your favorite franchises in pop culture, creating a unique style that pops off the screen and stands out at conventions!

• Creating character-focused art with a distinctive cartoon style influenced by Western animation
• Building an audience through social media by sharing sketchbook work and art process videos
• Transitioning from just creating art to selling at conventions starting in 2021
• Developing a unique aesthetic described as "digital art on paper" with bold, solid colors
• Collaborating with partner Philip on "Stitches," an original horror comic that has resonated with fans
• Navigating the convention scene both as an attendee and vendor
• Finding balance between creating art for business versus personal enjoyment
• Dealing with the emotional highs of creative success and lows of revenue fluctuations
• Planning for future projects including a second issue of "Stitches" and potential Kickstarter
• Maintaining artistic passion by setting aside time for personal creativity and self-care

You can find Lalaine Art Geek on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under the handle Lalaine Art Geek, and check out her comic "Stitches" on Amazon Kindle.

Find all her links here!

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Transcript

Meet Lelaine Art Geek

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it.

Speaker 2 0:05

Gaming. Wait for it, anime.

Speaker 3 0:08

PLUS ULTRA.

Speaker 1 0:11

Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino.

Speaker 2 0:14

Yeah, they've got you covered, and all you gotta do is wait for it. This is the Wait For it Podcast. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Wait For it Podcast. I am your co-host, phil Barrera, aka Phil the Filipino.

Speaker 1 0:40

And I'm your other co-host, Mr Eric Almighty, and we have a very special guest for this edition of Creator Spotlight. You may have seen her at Bull Matsuri or among our friend group of creatives from the convention scene and Phil. This is long overdue, so I'm excited to jump into this one.

Speaker 2 1:00

Yeah, we have met so many people through Ivan, which is like he is our anchor being. So everything surrounds Ivan, between Ivan and Corey, the photographer. Those are like our two anchor beings that we just kind of like branch out from there. So we are just making our way through our very, very talented friend group and artist group, in this case as we bring in our friend, lelaine Art Geek as our guest for this month's Creator Spotlight. Lelaine, it's so good to see you. It's so crazy. We don't see each other really that much, even though you're like one of our artist friends that is in town. So we're all just so busy, but it's good to see you. Thank you for being here tonight and how are you?

Speaker 3 1:38

I'm good. Thank you so much for having me tonight and I'm super excited to be here and to finally have this episode. And you're right, it is very much long overdue.

Speaker 2 1:53

Yeah, I think we sort of first started talking about it like in 2023, maybe, or something like that. It's been a while, yeah, that we've been running in the same circles and then you know again, gotten to just build this friend group and have a lot of fun and get to see everybody and get to know everybody. So we're excited to share your story and your work with everybody here this evening. So, before we get started, please take that time to introduce yourself, your handles and also what you do.

Speaker 3 2:16

Yeah, so my name is Lelaine, but my online handle I am my business name is called Lelaine Art Geek and it's in the name. So I love to create art, of course, but specifically like characters, original characters and fan characters. So normally when you see my work, it's usually just character focused and I do a lot of like cartoon style related art. So it's definitely a like way different from like the traditional anime style, but I draw a lot of influence from like the Western cartoons and like Western movies and stuff like that. So I have like a bunch of influences that inspire my style. And what I usually get comments about for my art is it's just so bright and bold and very like just cartoony. In general, a lot of people compare my style to like Gravity Falls, scott Pilgrim, like just either of those two, and I do find that a compliment because I love those two IPs. So I'm just when it comes to art, I love to just be expressive and create stories and characters.

Speaker 3 3:26

I usually see myself as like an illustrator and I'm slowly dipping my toes into like the comics world again. So I would also consider myself a comic artist and, I guess, content creator, because I also love creating like reels and posts on social media and my following has grown immensely over the past like year and a half, because I've just been kind of sharing my process more. I kind of shifted my content from like showing off my business, which it's still like a thing, of course, but my content itself on social media has shifted from like business to like sketchbook work and because of that it's just grown and I think, like the process of making art is, I feel that it's reaching to more people, so that's why I like to do it, and then, of course, my style develops along the way and, yeah, I feel like I've built like a bigger community because of that and I'm just so happy to just be able to create every day, even with my busy schedule.

Speaker 2 4:30

Yeah, you're truly one of those examples of what a beneficial tool social media can be, especially. You know, when you like, look at your YouTube page and then, of course, the Instagram, tiktok and everything like that. And one thing I also love about your YouTube page is that it's become very, I think, beneficial for other artists and vendors too, as you kind of navigate the different shows and talk about, like you know, what works, what hasn't worked and maybe things like you want you'd like to see improved and everything like that. So that's incredibly beneficial, especially when you run in the circles that you do and I really love that about your content as well To kind of get started, to just kind of like talk about the beginning. At what point did you think that, oh man, this could actually be something I can do as a career and really take it to the next level? When did that happen and like how early did you think maybe I could do this?

Speaker 3 5:24

Yeah, I would say probably I know this is going to be like the most cliche thing, but probably when I was like super young, I'd say like in middle school. But when it comes to like actually promoting myself as an artist that sells physical work, that did not spark the interest until like 2021. And I was hesitant to like put myself out there because I'm a shy person. So it definitely made me uncomfortable at first because I have to like put myself out there. However, like I don't regret doing that one bit, but I've always had like a really big interest in art when I was growing up and I would also say that I've always had an interest in, like the cartoony style. I tried, I tried other styles, but there's just something about the cartoon style that I'm just like I can literally be flexible with this style and, like you know, change it however I want and kind of mold it in a certain way, and I decided to do that over the years and kind of just shape it, even during college and everything. So I would say middle school was when I knew I wanted to do this seriously for the rest of my life.

Speaker 3 6:37

But I think in 2021, it definitely put my foot through the door with like growing my community and like I guess, like making more connections with other artists within the in my city and also like outside of the city and just growing those connections through artist alleys and conventions.

Speaker 3 6:59

So I think like a lot of these like moments in my life have made me think about like, oh yeah, this is definitely what I want to do for the rest of my life, no matter how old I am. Like I don't think age or, I'm sorry, I don't think art should be an age, I don't think there should be a limit with art. So yeah it's. I've always had that passion all my life. But I think, like just later on in life, when I'm more of like an adult, I've learned more of like how important it is to have a career that you're so passionate about and how important it is to also just work hard for that and like kind of break out of your comfort zone every once in a while, because you never know. You never know where it's going to take you.

Speaker 1 7:40

Yeah, I think that's amazing and I think, lillane, the thing that I noticed the most with your art is how much it jumps from the print or the sticker or whatever you know art you have on display to. Now how do you get from, I don't know, using a crayon to using the tools and the resources that you're using? I mean, when we look at your social media and seeing the sketching, I mean it's beautiful, it's mesmerizing really to look at and you're using so many amazing different techniques and tools. So, like, what has that been like, from those basic days of just creating art to the style and the colorization that you add to it now?

Speaker 3 8:33

Yeah, so fun fact, I remember my sketchbooks back in elementary and middle school and even like entering high school, were composition notebooks, so I always use those to like create sketchbooks or, sorry, to create art and like those sketchbooks, and also I do comic books in those composition notebooks as well, but it's just more of like getting inspiration from other artists online. That's where I decided you know what I think I should like explore more mediums and like explore how my style can reflect in different in these mediums. So fun fact, I I'm a really big fan of Crayola, like as a brand, so I've always used their colored pencils. I love their watercolors and I just started using those a lot and I guess that was the beginning of like how my style became as what people like to say digital art on paper, because I love to use like those solid, bold colors. I like it when it's more of just like one solid color to kind of like paint by number my art, rather than just like using actual watercolors for its intended purpose. And then that's what you know. That's the interesting part, I feel, because it's really hard to achieve that with watercolor, no matter what brand you use.

Speaker 3 9:57

And then I slowly started to get more into like line work and line art. I did a little bit of sketching to like practice a little bit with different, I think, like Prismacolor pencils. I did a lot for that, so, but I knew that for art in general, bold is better. So I just I always love the combination of like using a pen or, I'm sorry, like sketching first and then using a pen and then using like a solid color medium, such as like alcohol, markers or watercolors, and then I guess, like for later on in life when I started to learn how to do digital art, I've used programs like Paint Tool Sai. I never touched Photoshop in my life, which is funny because people think I do but I don't, so it's always been like Paint Tool Sai and like Procreate later on in life, when I have an iPad. And yeah, I hope that's answering the question. I don't know if I'm answering it properly, but no, no, no, that's great.

Speaker 1 11:00

And it's just it's so interesting because, again, you know, you start with like a brand like Crayola and that's like, that's the. The limit of my mind is like, yeah, that makes sense, but there's I know that one.

Speaker 2 11:10

Thing.

Speaker 1 11:12

But then there's all these other things that, like again, how you get the color on the page is just like again, it's almost magical, phil right, like when you look at it.

Speaker 2 11:22

Yeah, One of the things that cause, I'm sure, and your, your booth and your artwork already stood out before we even had kind of like connected through Ivan, because you know, I think, all of us obviously we go to a lot of shows, we go to a lot of conventions and sometimes it can get a little repetitive and we're looking for those booths that pop out, and yours certainly does. So I had remembered your booth and your art even before we had connected and become friends. So you know, one of the things you had talked about as well as when you were introducing yourself was comics. So that's obviously a great setup and I want to talk about it early is Stitches and me and Eric both have a copy. So talk a little bit about you know your kind of, your background with comics as well. What made this project? You know, know what went into this project and also you know what's your just got a background with comics in general. Were you a comic book collector when you were younger or where did all that come from?

Speaker 3 12:14

yeah, um. So what's interesting is I never was like a comic book collector, but I loved catching up on web comics. Um, there were a bunch of like indie artists that had their own like webcomics, but they weren't held on like Webtoon or anything. There was like their own website. So I would just I would bookmark those websites and just catch up with them whenever they have like a new page or a new episode.

Speaker 3 12:40

So I've always had a passion for comics and I've actually attempted to create like comic projects over and over and over again. Unfortunately, it is truly a dedication. It's a truly a passion craft and it's something that you have to work really hard for, even when your schedule is busy. So, sadly, I've been kind of failing over and over again with those projects, but they're personal projects so it's not as hard hitting as like if you worked for someone.

Speaker 3 13:10

However, I think that passion reignited again when I met Philip, who is my partner right now and he is the one that wrote Stitches, and so me and him we collaborated on it and it made me realize like this is the reason why I am an artist is because I wanted to tell stories, and I think like Stitches was a really good way for me to practice that storytelling skill again, because I knew that I wanted to have a purpose when it comes to creating art, like, yes, I, you know, know how to create colorful characters and people love that.

Speaker 3 13:47

But I also want it to be where it's also kind of meaningful and like it connects people as well. So, even though this story in Stitches it's kind of like it's like a horror, I'd say like a cutesy horror genre, like yeah, not everyone can relate to it, but at least it still tells a story where people can at least relate to the characters, and that that is what I want. So, um, I know that Philip wants that as well, and we're just so, so thankful and grateful that we pretty much did sell out all of our copies the first go around with Stitches.

Speaker 3 14:21

So, thank you so much for buying a copy, and it means a lot that this project has gotten to the point that it is um.

Speaker 2 14:29

So yeah, shout out to phil shout out to my buddy phil see you in a couple weeks. This episode comes out after bold, but it's always fun to see each other. But yeah, and I love also and this is also very prevalent in some of your other art as well I love the witchy vibe. As soon as I got into it I was like, oh hell, yeah, I love this, so it's great. So it was an easy pickup for both of us, right? Eric?

Speaker 1 14:52

Yeah, it was, and you know, when it came down to it, like we knew it was going to be good. And it's not just because the artwork was going to be good but also the fact that there are so many different like mutual interests that we have just kind of looking at your art. So I'm kind of curious, lelaine, what is the fandoms that have kind of shaped your taste today, like when it comes to a project, like Stitches, when it comes to what art you want to do next or what you know characters you want to give your interpretations of, like? What are those key cornerstone fandoms in pop culture that have been drawn to you over the years?

Speaker 3 15:30

Yeah, and I'm assuming this can be like anything like anime, cartoon, anything. So I I already mentioned one and it's Gravity Falls. I feel that that style and that show altogether definitely shaped who I am, and it's funny because I love Scott Pilgrim. But I would very much only grab a little bit of that influence because I wasn't as invested in that than Gravity Falls. So definitely that show for sure there's so many like other shows too.

Speaker 3 16:08

But I guess, like for anime, I would consider this is going to be a really weird show to mention because it's like, oh, this influenced your style, like that's weird, but it's Kill la Kill. I love the style of Kill la Kill, I just love Studio Trigger as a whole and I know Ivan's going to listen to this episode and he is going to know that I love Kill la Kill and Studio Trigger altogether. So I guess, like if for an anime influence, it would be that studio just as a whole, but specifically Kill la Kill, because that is the first Studio Trigger show that I fell in love with. It's funny because, like I'd say, a majority of, like Cartoon Network, nickelodeon shows definitely shaped my style. For sure it's just like, I guess, as like a funny way to put it.

Speaker 3 16:56

It's usually the shows that have like the cutesy vibe to it, like Steven Universe, star vs the Forces of Evil. I already mentioned Gravity Falls and then recently Owl House. I just started watching that and I would definitely consider that to be an inspiration because I love the creator of that show. I actually caught up with her art years ago and I'm just so grateful for like her support and just for making a show that, like you know, I can use as inspiration.

Speaker 3 17:25

It's just great and I cannot believe I forgot to say this has been Hotel and Hell of a Boss. I know that's definitely a show that's super popularized, but I followed the creator for those shows as well for years, so she's also a really big inspiration for my style. Yeah, I don't really have like specific, specific ones because, like I mentioned before it just I draw from so much inspiration just from like real life, from like from cartoons and media that I can't really pinpoint. But I can definitely pinpoint like what I love when it comes to like my favorite shows and it's usually because of the style. Like I would probably watch it if I like the art style.

Early Artistic Journey and Influences

Speaker 1 18:13

So that's kind of how I deem it yeah, and you know that's perfect because Gravity Falls 100% makes sense. Owl House, like I could absolutely see that being an inspiration. And it's so funny you bring up Studio Trigger because again, I just mentioned how much like the thing that I associate with you so much is how that color kind of attacks you, like it, like it just gets your eye and like Studio Trigger work specifically like Kill la Kill is one of many examples is exactly what I would think of like an anime terms when it comes to that. So very funny that you made that correlation. And Phil, again, a lot of those franchises were at least aware of has been we love a hell of a boss, is one that we really we keep saying we need to get to.

Speaker 2 18:57

It's like on our list and we have we like circled it so long ago, but there's just that queue is so long, sooner than later. The queue keeps building and, sooner, sooner than later, the cue keeps building and building sooner than later, but yeah yeah, killa, killa makes a whole lot of sense.

Speaker 2 19:09

I need to finish that. Uh, so it's when I started. It's like one of the first anime I ever watched, even before eric you had started recommending me anime like our buddy, jay, had recommended to me so long ago. But all of those answers definitely make sense. Um, what a transition to. You know, of course, where we have met and where you know, of course, all of our friend group has met in terms of the convention scene, and so you talked about, like you know, you kind of got into it like in 2021. Were you a convention goer before you jumped into this world already? Because Eric and I were always like, man, it's just cool to be here, but like we could, we never even fathom that we could be part of the, the circuit, like the way that we are now. So what was your background with conventions and also what's it like now to be, you know, behind the scenes and actually part of that world and vending and being an artist, allie.

Speaker 3 19:59

Yeah, so funny enough. My first convention was Jacksonville Anime Day all the way back in 2011. Have you guys been to Anime Day back in the day?

Speaker 2 20:11

I didn't know that was a thing. What were we doing in 2011? It's so interesting. I think we missed that. Train Best to not think about.

Speaker 3 20:18

Yeah, I don't think it's a thing anymore, unfortunately, but it's just a one day, like art or anime market. When it was held at the Embassy Hotel that I live very close to now. However, it was definitely like it was literally Baby's first convention gone right, because it just had everything that you would expect at a convention, but just so much smaller, so it's not overwhelming. So, yeah, I started going to cons and like since 2011 and it's definitely like uh has grown ever since going to cons and I'd say my big con, like my big girl con I've been to, was Wasabi Con, but that was when it was held.

Speaker 3 21:04

I forgot the name, but it was like it's the one, it's the hotel that was next to dave and busters, like it's that oh, yeah, yeah yeah, I forgot the hotel name but it was literally when it was still there and then they moved it to the lexington in downtown and then they moved it to the prime osborne. So, like I've been there, I've been to baby's first wasabi con too, and I was. You know, I didn't really cosplay as much. The only cosplay I quote unquote cosplay I did was rin from blue exorcist.

Speaker 3 21:38

But I was so scared and like nervous that I forgot my wig. But I forgot my wig on purpose because I was just scared. So I just had his outfit with his sword. I didn't even have his tail because I didn't know how to make a tail, so I just went with his outfit and I pretended to be like the gender bent version of Rin. So I was like, yeah, because I already have dark hair and everything. It was really sweet. That was my only time of cosplaying, because every other time I just wore a t and everything. It was really sweet. That was my only time of cosplaying, because every other time I just wore a t-shirt and it was really silly. Sadly, I was one of those convention goers back in the day where I only spent money in the vendor's room.

Speaker 3 22:18

And I never explored Artist Alley because I didn't know that was a thing. So when I realized it was a thing, I remember telling myself I cannot believe I kept spending my money in vendors room and not here, because this is, like you know, artist Alley. Like back then I was still I'm still an artist, like I was definitely practicing my craft back then. So I looked at everyone. I'm like, oh my God, like everyone's so talented. And I just at everyone. I'm like, oh my god, like everyone's so talented, and I just bought every literally bought almost everything from Artist Alley because I just got too excited and so that was kind of like my experience from here on out. And then, yeah, in 2021, I started vending for the first time and then now I'm still doing this, five years later, and I will say, like, over the years of like actually working a convention, I do see cons differently. Like usually, like when I have a convention coming up as a convention goer back in the day, I would be so excited. In the inside I would be like giddy and like nervous, because usually I have dreams about like, uh, missing conventions and like getting the FOMO, so I get nightmares about that, but now, like as a like a convention artist and like who sells at cons, I don't get as excited like I do get excited still, but I also see it as work. So it's also responsibility, a responsibility which, of course, like if you love your job you don't ever have to work a day in your life. But it is something to consider because if it is like, for a while it was my only source of income. So usually I would get just a tad bit stressed before a convention. But normally, normally like I would just be excited and mainly excited just to see my friends again and of course, like being able to travel and everything. But I will say my perspective about conventions and just conventions in general has changed slightly for the worse. But sometimes me and Philip we would plan to just go to conventions but just like not work a convention and just actually have a good time. And it is good to have those breaks in between. Like I know friends who just constantly work at conventions and I understand because you have to hustle. But to me I'm just like sometimes you have to experience a convention just like as a convention goer again, you got to spark that passion and like that, the love to just have fun at a con and not have to be stuck behind a table all day, you know. So, yeah, it's changed for sure, but I don't regret it.

Speaker 3 25:01

I've met so much, so many incredible people, of course, including this friend group that I'm a part of. I love them to it. I've met so much, so many incredible people, of course, including this friend group that I'm a part of. I love them to death. And every experience I have working a convention I will always cherish, because it's always a learning experience, for sure. But I think like it kind of just it contributes to like adulthood as well, like the need to earn money and the need to kind of like think about money when it comes to cons, instead of, like when you're younger, you just you can do whatever you want, you spend your money, but like you don't have bills to pay, you know, but now you do, and so I kind of see cons as like both a good time to travel and to visit friends, but also I got to earn money.

Speaker 3 25:43

So, it's half and half.

Speaker 2 25:45

Because, as a convention goer, you don't have to worry about what if the Internet goes out, what if it's hot? What if there's no air conditioning in here? How far away is the parking lot so that I have to take all my stuff in. You know, these are things that you really don't think about when you are a convention goer, and I love that answer as far as you and Phillip setting aside time to go enjoy a convention, because it's similar kind of like with us. Eric, like I don't listen to any pop culture podcast. I don't really listen or watch to a lot of pop culture influencers because it's what we do all the time. So, like when I do take in a podcast or a YouTube page, it's totally different from what we are doing here for the most part. So I think that's very, very important in making sure that you immerse yourself in ways and make sure that it's not just work.

Speaker 1 26:30

Yeah, no, I would agree with that. I mean, sometimes I do dive into it because it's like my comfort area and maybe that's what you do. And I want to know, like, in addition to you know you said you said you set aside time to do some of those things. What else do you set aside time to do that is like your relaxation zone, like, are you diving into some of the stuff that surrounds your work? Are you completely shutting it down? No electronics, reading a book? You know like what is like a day off for you looking like, and like what is that comfort zone? What do you typically lean towards in those days where maybe you need a mental break or you just need a break from the work in general?

Speaker 3 27:10

Yeah, so usually when I just need a break, people I know like a lot of people say like, oh, I play video games and stuff and for me, like I used to play video games, I don't do that anymore, but Philip is trying to, you know, get me to get back into it.

Speaker 3 27:27

But it's funny because to take a break from art, which is my job, I do more art. But I do art in my sketchbook, but it's usually for fun, like I don't. Usually when I have like a spread in my sketchbook, I kind of save it for like drawing a reel and in my opinion, like content creating and making reels, like I do see that as a job because it is promoting myself, you know. So I think that's part of the kind of like the marketing. But then sometimes I have like pages in my sketchbook or like I have a canvas in my Procreate that like I just draw whatever I want and you know I don't have to record it, I don't have to, you know, like do anything with that, like I don't have to post it, it's just for me and that is therapeutic, being able to draw for myself. And I know that sounds like, oh, I draw so much to the point where, like, I don't draw for myself anymore. But it's true, and it's just kind of part of growing up and just having responsibilities you have to make time for yourself, for sure, and I do tend to like watch shows as well, especially anime that I haven't caught up with or I haven't started. But I really need to catch up and, phil, I'm with you on that. I have a bunch of shows and things I have to watch and I haven't done so. I've just been pushing it. So I guess that would also help me contribute to the work that I do now, because it is inspiration, but it's also a good way to relax.

Speaker 3 28:56

And I also just like going out, like going out to like to the mall or like just anywhere that has like I guess you would say, like pop culture stores that are around. Like, of course, at the mall there's like plenty of like anime stores I can just walk into. And usually I like to window shop in general, like that's kind of like my therapy, even if I'm not buying anything. I just like to window shop because it does clear my head a little bit. But yeah, I kind of just like take advantage of just my free time with either doing art, but just for myself, or like indulging in different medias. That will help me kind of like recharge, recharge the mind, recharge the body, yeah.

Speaker 3 29:41

And then, of course, like going out, hanging out with friends, um, just spending time like for myself too. I, I I really enjoy like just going out by myself sometimes, because I know that when you're social a lot, especially at cons, like it does get draining. So sometimes I do like to take days for myself. Those are always also therapeutic, but kind of just like focusing on yourself and like taking a lot of rest. I try to value as much rest as possible.

Speaker 1 30:10

So, yeah, it's a lot, it's a lot, but it's busy lifestyle as well. Yeah, yeah, no, we're just thinking about how tired Phil right that bold is going to be and that's just two days, so we can. We're tired now just thinking about it, so we can only imagine going into the convention grind. But yeah, that's what we got to deal with and it's nothing in comparison.

Stitches: Creating Original Comic Books

Speaker 2 30:32

Yeah, having those times. Sometimes you just really need like that time just to yourself, for it to be quiet. That's why I'm a night owl and I do play a lot of video games. So like in the middle of the night is when I will find my pieces, when I'll just like sit down, play a game and also put like a podcast on, and a game and also put like a podcast on, and that'll be like my time as well. The window shopping thing I I definitely agree with that. Let me ask you this see, if you are the type of weird that eric is when you're in an airport, do you enjoy walking around the airport and looking at all the different stores? Yeah, that's eric. I've never seen a man so excited to walk around an airport than when I traveled with eric, I was like what, what's?

Speaker 1 31:09

happening right now? It's just a mall with planes.

Speaker 2 31:12

It's crazy, dude. I don't get it. It's just a different. It's just a t-shirt with a different city on it. I don't know why, and I'm like ooh.

Speaker 3 31:21

No, I mean like, but you got to know that, like it's okay to just look. You're not telling yourself to buy, but it's okay to look, you know so brookstone?

Speaker 2 31:31

I haven't seen one of those since 2010. I'm gonna go.

Speaker 1 31:34

No, I know oh my, every time I see a sabaro in there I'm like it's got to taste different in the airport no, it was crazy.

Speaker 2 31:42

We went to la and like we had like a couple hours before our flight and eric just goes, I'm gonna walk around. I was like what? What do you mean?

Speaker 1 31:50

I didn't see him for like an hour and a half. I could not understand it.

Speaker 3 31:54

He was just gone, you can do so much within an hour and a half, like the last time I had to fly somewhere. It was for New York, it was back in November and, like I mean, I had to get souvenirs anyway, so I made sure to look around those like small stores that are, like, connected to the other restaurants in the airport. But I enjoy it, especially if I go to a new state, like it's kind of fun, kind of learning their lore.

Speaker 1 32:21

Yes, through the airport. He doesn't get it. I was, I had a. I had to do a flight for work and I landed in chicago and I only had like an hour and yeah, could I have probably done the more mature thing and made sure I wouldn't like possibly miss my flight? Sure, but no, I like I like brisk sped, run through everything I could in chicago and I was like I got a little taste of it I'm the type of flyer where if I can't see my gate, the flight, the plane's gonna leave, so like even if I like go to the bathroom.

Speaker 3 32:49

I'm like stressed, I'm like usually plane's probably gone usually I would first find my gate, so I know where it is, and then I explore, because then if I'm running out of time, I just I know where it is so I can just zoom to it.

Speaker 2 33:04

It's crazy man I get. I'd never seen, I'd never traveled with anybody, I think because also I don't know how much you flew when you were younger, eric, but I flew a ton. So like the airport is just a stressful place for me. Now I don't really like to like look around, but it was.

Speaker 1 33:20

That was like the opposite of my experience. Again, it's like a fun thing I get to go do I don't get stressed on planes the way other people do. It just doesn't happen.

Speaker 2 33:29

Also, apparently, jacksonville Anime Day returned in January, so I don't know if it had been gone for a little bit, but it is, oh yeah. So they had a post in 2022 and said like we weren't going to do one, and then it looks like they brought it back in January. So there you go. I actually think I went to one of these, like just randomly, at that hotel. It's off Bay Meadows, right? Is that where that one is? Yeah, so I like randomly remember going to this. You mentioned your queue. What's what's on that queue right now? What are you watching right now? Or at least, what do you want to watch the most? We'll ask that to either or.

Speaker 3 34:08

OK, so at the moment it it's been weeks, but we've been catching up with to be hero x and we need to catch up on those episodes. For sure I know philip and my other roommate they're catching up on free run. There's just something about free run that like I understand the hype but it's too slow for me. Um so, but no hate on that, for sure I I understand the hype. And then let's see what's another show keeping up with and of course, owl house. I mentioned that earlier. I think I'm on like episode seven, six seven of the second season it's still early of the second season.

Speaker 3 34:51

Yeah, so, um, first season was so good. I am excited for the rest of the season, for sure trying to think of what else. I know there's so many other shows I have to watch. Um, oh, and then um, philip I mostly philip and my roommate, but I'm also kind of also catching up with. Do you guys play guilty gear?

Speaker 3 35:12

no familiar with guilty gear but I don't play it no okay, yeah, because they have an anime and we're catching up with that right now. Like he's obsessed with it, so of course, I have to indulge with him too. Um, for a little bit, for a little bit, we watched death note and I think we just stopped at like episode six. So I we need to continue watching because it is starting to get good. And, of course, how can I ever forget one piece? I'm all caught up with the episodes, um, and I'm very excited for the live action so, oh yeah, what is the what's everybody's so?

Speaker 2 35:50

remember eric with rue. We asked like what's the worst case scenario with chopper? So what do we? How are we feeling?

Speaker 1 35:55

yeah, so what do you think of chopper?

Speaker 3 35:57

okay, I'm not gonna lie, I thought something was off about him when I first saw him. However, the more he was on screen because because, of course, like I think that whole clip was like what three minutes long or something. So he's talking, and so I was like, okay, let me see if I can get used to him by the end of this clip. And I did. He does look cute. I think it's the eyes. I think the eyes are like I don't know.

Speaker 1 36:26

They're kind of generic, right yeah.

Speaker 3 36:33

I forgot who told me this, but they were like it's giving paddington and I'm like okay, maybe, so maybe that's why there's nothing wrong with padding.

Speaker 3 36:39

There's nothing wrong with padding, but just not for chopper. Yes, but I can't like unsee it and so, like I'm not gonna lie, it did put me off a bit, but now I'm starting to get used to him. I love his voice and I know like it's not supposed to represent like the original Chopper, like to the T, but his voice is so cute. I love his mannerisms and I think like it's just it's probably the eyes, but at the same time like overall he's really cute and I do like the appeal of him. But my, my initial opinion was definitely different than other people's opinion I definitely see the paddington eyes now that I'm looking at it.

Speaker 1 37:22

So yeah yeah yeah, yeah, and I mean chopper can get really expressive, so like I'm just wondering what that will look like yeah, I don't think they're gonna. I don't think they're gonna change that very much so, but again, that's one of those live adaptation things. The lame, what is on your queue that you like are dying to get to like you just keep pushing it off. You haven't gotten to it yet. You know you need to. Is there anything on that queue that like fits that description?

Speaker 3 37:49

oh, I'm trying to think, because I would say yes, to be hero x, for sure, but that's more of like me and the roommates, because we usually like to just watch it on the couch, like you know, in front of the tv, as like a like a little bit of a family situation, but when it comes to like actually watching a show, oh it's hard.

Speaker 2 38:15

Or a movie. Is there a movie you haven't seen this year, that you haven't gotten to?

Speaker 3 38:20

I know that. So what's funny is, this past weekend we watched Sinners which, by the way, I don't know if you guys have seen that yet, but it was a really good movie. Yes, we were originally supposed to watch Phoenician Scheme by Wes Anderson, but we learned that it hasn't come out in the US, so the launch date was very misleading online. So Phoenician Scheme is a movie that I definitely want to watch for sure is a movie that I definitely want to watch for sure, and then, surprisingly enough, like I I always say this to Philip, but like we haven't watched wicked yet and I really want to.

Speaker 1 38:58

Oh man, what a good time. Shut up, shut the hell up, nobody's talking to you. Nobody's talking to you. Yeah, great, great time. Yeah, it's one I would definitely put it on like, especially at this point, because it's June came out late last year. If you're going to watch it, I would watch it when you just need a pick-me-up.

Speaker 2 39:16

I was going to say maybe watch it in November, you don't have to wait for the.

Speaker 1 39:20

Also by November. So that way you can see if you want to really watch the second one at that point and you don't have to wait. So maybe you could do like a back to back. I actually wouldn't be surprised. I would not be surprised if they did a double showing for that.

Speaker 3 39:33

Yeah, yeah no. I would recommend it in theaters, if you can I mean I would love that Honestly, like if I could have that opportunity to watch it in theaters when I miss that opportunity. I would love that Honestly.

Speaker 1 39:51

I'll go with you. I'll go with you, phil won't.

Speaker 3 39:52

But you, me, phillip, roommates, let's go. It's like we all have like just grab everyone and like it's a family gathering that we go, all go to the movies together.

Speaker 1 40:05

Yeah, and then we could go send like a group picture to Phil and show him what he's missing, because Phil's not the biggest fan of Wicked, I mean I'll go see the second one.

Speaker 2 40:09

We'll just be there all night, because I'm sure it's a three and a half hour movie and you know it's not that long, you just keep making it longer.

Speaker 1 40:14

The second one how?

Speaker 2 40:14

long is the second one going to be? You know, how much they're going to stretch that out. However long it needs to be, Phil.

Speaker 3 40:23

Oh, and then, of course, I watched this trailer over and over and over again because I am so incredibly excited. But the k-pop demon hunters movie, yes, I just told Eric about that the other day. It looks so good it's by, it's made by the spider-verse crew. Are you kidding me?

Speaker 3 40:41

of course, yeah other than that, though. Like I just I don't know, like usually, like I know, I just said like like I would spend time like watching shows and stuff, but it's usually like whenever I watch shows, if I want to turn my brain off, I kind of put on a show that I don't have to think too hard. Bob's Burgers has been like a fixation so far for me, bob's Burgers. I did start watching Abbott Elementary recently too, so it's a really good show.

Speaker 2 41:13

so far that one's on our list too, right, phil? Yeah, I need to get into Abbott Elementary.

Pop Culture Fandoms That Inspire

Speaker 3 41:16

You have to Yesterday. I mean like it hits in the feelings. I will say Like it already hits in the feelings the first episode, and so I saw how long it is and I was like, is it going to be like this every single episode? Because I don't know if I can handle it, but also it's really good. So that's definitely an ongoing watch. And then, of course, I'm trying to have Philip watch Kill la Kill with me. He started Kill la Kill and it's not that he's not interested, but because we have so many other interests, like as a couple, that we never get to it. Like we had an exchange where it's like if you watch kill a kill, which is my favorite anime, he'll have me watch cowboy bebop, which is his favorite anime. So but we never finished either of those. So it's just like we'll finish it one day.

Speaker 3 42:14

I'll finish Cowboy Bebop one day.

Speaker 2 42:17

So we all run into the same things, like there's so many things I haven't even started and stuff I'm behind on, and then when you throw in like wanting to read manga and play video games and all this stuff, we just do not have time. There just isn't enough time to get to all of them. So yeah, but there's definitely no shortage of things to to catch up on and I think that's a good thing to do. Like Eric and I have done show swaps in the past, I remember I gave him what did I give you? Did I give you parks and rec or the office? Was it the?

Speaker 1 42:46

office. I'm pretty sure it was Parks and Rec. No, I think it was Parks and. Rec because I had been watching the office at that point.

Speaker 2 42:50

And then he gave me five anime and we went three out of five, Like that's not bad, Three for five.

Speaker 1 42:55

Yeah, it wasn't a bad hit, especially once I realized that you just like have this weird fucking anime taste. Well, what were the?

Speaker 2 43:00

five. What were the five? Assassination Classroom?

Speaker 1 43:06

You didn't enjoy Dr Stone. I didn't like Dr Stone, which was a bummer, I didn't like the one, the. Promised Neverland. You didn't like Promised Neverland.

Speaker 2 43:14

Which you hated in season two.

Speaker 1 43:16

It's because they yeah, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. What were the other two? It wasn't Full Metal, right, Because you didn't make that big of a commitment two I don't know. I'll have to remember those are the big. Those are the biggest three that I remembered, though, out of that list, and I think the other two were misses too, so maybe it was like two out of three, who knows?

Speaker 2 43:37

I don't remember. Maybe, maybe that's a good way to do it. Like you, you trade off, like you trade a show with somebody, and then they, uh, they'll watch something, uh, in return. So, but yeah, lillane, um, before we get into our game, eric, is there anything else you want to go over with Lillane before you inevitably rigged this game against me? Or two, perhaps, maybe.

Speaker 1 43:56

Yeah, well, we've got one fun game, and I think it's even.

Speaker 2 44:00

What do you mean? Not both fun?

Speaker 1 44:03

Well, we're going to do one. We're going to do one. I want to make sure we fit it in the time frame allotted because this one, this one, will either go quickly or it'll go slow. Uh so, but yeah, the question, I have the lane before we get into it.

Speaker 1 44:18

Um, you know you talked about some of the highs and the lows of you know being in this space as a creator, as an artist, and you know going to a con. You know sometimes it comes down to the financials of whether it was a success or not. You could go to a con, not make a lot of money, but make a lot of networking, and that con can still be a win. There's a lot of highs and lows, wins and losses, successes and failures. I want to know what is and this can either be recent or since you started your journey journey what has been one like really really low point that you have overcome, or maybe it was just difficult to overcome that you're still working on, and what is like the biggest success? You feel like you've had Something you really tip your hat on. When you look back to it, you're like that was a huge moment for me or that was a really big win that I always look to in moments that I need inspiration. So what was that biggest high and that biggest low for you?

Speaker 3 45:13

if you don't mind sharing, yeah, and I'm assuming this is just for anything. It doesn't have to just be limited to like at conventions.

Speaker 1 45:22

It's just like anything in my life yeah, anything in your life you know, and especially anything you know. You know, when we're talking about your creative journey and how you've kind of gotten to this point what those two moments are the high and the low.

Speaker 3 45:34

Yeah. So I guess like we'll kind of be a little personal here, but I think that's important to share because it helps with, like reflecting on that time of my life. But, um, and I'll use conventions as an example, because this was when I was full-time being an artist, working at conventions to earn income. So I will admit that this past year, in 2024, there were a bunch of cons that did not earn me as much as they did the same conventions. Compared to 2023, like it was a very big financial difference. And so it was holiday mockery 2024 when I learned because, unfortunately, when it comes to when it came to Hallmat of 2024, I did not earn as much as I did in 2023. And I don't know if that's because of the venue change or if people couldn't find my table, if you know, if it was just like something different altogether.

Speaker 3 46:36

But I will admit here now I kind of came home crying because I just I couldn't believe it, like I ended the year with, even though I did, you know, get my expenses back and I earned profit, but it wasn't as much as last or that the year prior. So I just kind of I started crying and I just I got so vulnerable and I didn't want to share that because I kind of like faked myself into just saying like, oh, I did well. But then altogether I looked at like my numbers for the whole year and it just it didn't reflect the same way than it did in 2023. And I just I felt really defeated and I don't know it just like it hurt, because I know that the convention scene in general has been slowly declining because of just everything going on right now and you know that's definitely out of everyone's control. But at the same time, like the high of earning a certain amount in the same convention the year before, and like knowing that number now and then not earning, not meeting that number, it hurts and it's kind of just like a personal goal I wanted to meet and I couldn't meet that, no matter how many things I sold within a given amount of time. So, yeah, I kind of just drove back crying and it was a low and I think like I've had a good amount of those days where I did kind of just reflect on like how, how am I doing as like a business owner, as an artist, and I think, like just towards the end of 2024, altogether, it was just bad.

Speaker 3 48:21

It was a bad time, but I think what did redeem myself and what helped, like boost that happiness again was when we released that comic in Megacon, because it was the first time that I have a project to sell in person, like, yeah, I have, like, my prints and stickers, but this is the first time I have a comic book presented.

Speaker 3 48:45

And a lot of people bought that comic that weekend and it did help me and Philip a lot. And usually original work at conventions don't sell as much, which is it depends on whoever you are as an artist, but when it comes to like our comic book, that's our original work, that is 100 percent original and yet people are still interested. Original and yet people are still interested. And that helped a lot because, um, in the future it would be incredible if I could 100 focus on original work for my business and not have to rely on fandoms for that. But it helped a lot with our you know, our I don't know the right word for it our happiness is what I'm trying to convey, but like it, it helped our mood a lot, yes, yeah.

Speaker 3 49:34

No, it helped a lot for sure with our confidence and, like the, the drive to continue creating comics and stuff. So I that's definitely a high and sadly because of, like I mentioned before, the convention scene, megacon altogether this year did not hit as high as last year. That's just a trend now. But I'd say like what really brought me down was just like the decline of these, of these conventions, but it's no one's fault, but society's, like the government's fault, I don't know. I mean, like inflation is a thing of course, and like it hurts when you're just like wanting to buy everything but you can't buy everything, you know, and it has been hard hitting for the past few months, um, but we're we're slowly trying to kind of build ourselves back up again and I think like the support of our comic is helping with that.

Speaker 3 50:32

Um, we are in the middle of like working on issue two, like we, I think we've wrapped up with like the writing of it. So now we're slowly starting to draw issue two and we're really looking forward to that, because I know that there are people who are excited and I think that's definitely one of the highs so far in our career is having an original work kind of draw a lot of people's attention Because, like I said, when it comes to fandoms, usually people like that more than original. So it's a nice confidence, I would say.

From Con-Goer to Vendor Experience

Speaker 2 51:06

Yeah, and you know we won't get into details about Megacon on the episode. We could talk about that like maybe for Patreon or, you know, off air. But yeah, you know what, especially when you're seeing so many shows First off there's almost one every weekend now. So I think there's less of an incentive for someone to travel to a Jacksonville, an Orlando, a Miami, a Tampa, if they know that there's one a little bit closer and that kind of like fulfills their desire to go to a show, like at that time, right. So there's that. You know we're getting people that have never really run a show before, so that is always going to be tough as well. Yeah, I was pretty surprised because usually when we ask this question, especially for people that are florida-based, eric, as far as what their first show was, it's almost always megacon.

Speaker 1 51:51

Everyone's always like yeah, I remember when megacon was fun and you could walk through the aisles, that was a good time yeah, and again we uh, that was, that was the con that we kind of got introduced to the convention scene and we were like, oh, there's more than just this big one in.

Speaker 2 52:08

Orlando.

Speaker 1 52:09

Thank God, yeah, because I just Remember.

Speaker 2 52:11

we used to be able to do. We would do scavenger hunts at MegaCon. That's how like much space there was. We would be like, let's make a game out of this Now.

Speaker 1 52:21

You could never, you could not possibly do that like no, but but lillane, I think that says a lot about that being your big moment because, like again, megacon is so nutty when it comes to the crowd and the fact that enough people saw your original work, your art, something you poured your heart into, and you had such a positive reception that even you weren't expecting. Because, again, a lot of people are window shopping very quickly looking. They're also looking for established IPs or their favorite characters, and there they are finding stitches. I think that's such an amazing correlation and I'm very, very excited for what's to come next. And we'll have an opportunity. This episode will drop at the end of the month of June, so we'll have an opportunity for you to plug. Drop at the end of the month of June, so we'll have an opportunity for you to plug anything that's coming up and all of that. But I do have a game for us to play and that is going to be a memory based game.

Speaker 2 53:15

So this is going to be very interesting and also thank you for sharing the Hallmat story and being vulnerable. We appreciate that story because there are so many ebbs and flows you know also with what we do too, and it's very easy to kind of like focus on those, but then you know refocusing and then you know getting towards those wins is really important story as well. So thank you for sharing that.

Speaker 3 53:37

Yeah, no, of course, and I also want this to be an opportunity to tell people if you're also a working artist like me, it's okay to cry and it's okay to be defeated by not reaching your goals. That's part of growth, and it'll only go up from there.

Speaker 2 53:54

Also, this Phoenician scheme cast is crazy, it is.

Speaker 3 54:01

Are you looking at it now?

Speaker 2 54:02

Yeah, you said it didn't release yet I'm showing.

Speaker 1 54:05

Showtime for this weekend. I think it's out now. I think it's out now. Oh, but when you went to go, see it, it wasn't out yet.

Speaker 3 54:10

Yeah, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, so it's apparently according. I forgot where I looked it up, but it was only released in the UK. Okay.

Speaker 2 54:24

It's not even here yet until next weekend, until I guess, like now, yeah, it'll be out on thursday. So, eric, I know you're not a wes anderson guy, so I don't know if this will be on here.

Speaker 1 54:28

I mean, I've only dived into one of his films, so I'm not even gonna say I'm not a wes anderson guy, it's just I've never been, was it?

Speaker 2 54:36

was it intrigued to see a?

Speaker 1 54:38

movie that you didn't like budapest, and I thought it was just okay, but it was another one of those star studied cast movies where I walked out of it like okay, that was, that was cool. I guess what was that? A little little yeah, a little startled, but uh, all right, guys, we're gonna do a memory game, and it is gonna be, of course, anime coded here. Uh. The good thing about this, though, is that it is not gonna be anime specific, so even if you haven't seen the anime, that's not really what this is about. So let's go over the rules.

Speaker 1 55:09

You guys are going to see several different observation challenges. I believe there's seven in total. They will be anime themed, so the images will be based off an anime, but what you're looking for you don't have to know about the anime. We're looking for something in the image specifically. You're gonna have 10 seconds to look at the image, and then a question will appear. You want to try to answer correctly before the answer is revealed, and then, uh, yeah, the goal is to see how good your memory is to get this game from you know what?

Speaker 1 55:40

listen, we're not going to talk about that, so we're going to jump into our first one. All right, let's see, you're both going to get 10 seconds to look at this image okay, how convenient that.

Speaker 3 55:59

it's my favorite anime too. Yes, I do believe.

Speaker 1 56:04

I know for sure, I know for sure you have seen, I believe, each one of these. I don't know how much of an edge it would give you, maybe, but the question now is how many people had sunglasses on their head? Oh my God, oh my God. So, elaine, you'll get first crack and then phil, you tell me yours. Okay, it doesn't matter what order, but yeah, I'm going to give an answer I'm gonna say three.

Speaker 2 56:35

I'm gonna say three I'll go five, because if it's four, I want you to have to figure out who gets the point. All right?

Speaker 1 56:44

well, thank god that the answer is three. Uh, it's brooke robin and then frankie. Yeah, right down, right down there at the bottom.

Speaker 2 56:53

So yay, I just had to remember this is the hardest.

Speaker 1 56:57

He's got the black like small glasses there. So, yeah, but I and this was also my way, Phil of us putting One Piece into it without having to make you listen to it although we did talk about Jocko earlier. Yeah, one Piece is gonna be that we have to add that to the Take the Shot list. Take the Shot. Yeah, anytime Epic, uh Epic. The Musical comes up. One Piece Puss in Boots. The last week, Puss in.

Speaker 3 57:20

Boots last week Puss in Boots, yeah.

Speaker 2 57:22

Wicked came up today, yeah.

Speaker 1 57:25

We're getting a list. Alright, you guys got the gist. Now Elaine's up by one.

Speaker 3 57:32

Here's your next image.

Speaker 2 57:36

Okay, Alright, you want to explain what the image is. Eric to the podcast crowd.

Speaker 1 57:41

Audio only listeners you might want to the podcast crowd. Oh yeah, audio.

Speaker 2 57:43

Holy losers you might want to switch over to YouTube for this one.

Speaker 1 57:48

I forget every time I forgot about that too, that's okay, phil, you can cut out 10 seconds of audio time. What color was the snake's eyes?

Speaker 2 58:00

Oh my goodness, that's not what I was focused on.

Speaker 1 58:04

So, lelaine, what do you think the color of the snake's eyes? Oh, my goodness, that's not what I was focused on. So, lelaine, what do you think the color of?

Speaker 3 58:07

the snake's eyes were. Can I do two potential guesses? No, no, just one.

Speaker 1 58:13

No, I already am told that I rigged these against Phil. I can't give you two, I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 58:19

You know what that's fair I'm just I'll say a light yellow color, light yellow.

Speaker 1 58:25

Okay, light yellow. I mean, if there are any yellow, you'd get the point. But light yellow is fine as an answer. Yeah, what about you? Orange? Sure, okay, neither of those are correct. Brown.

Speaker 3 58:41

They were red.

Speaker 1 58:43

Where's the snake? He's like blending into the crowd there.

Speaker 2 58:46

He's so annoying.

Speaker 3 58:48

You have to zoom in so much. That's tough, yeah, no that's a tough one.

Speaker 1 58:54

I had to make some like really hard ones, unfortunately. No, but that's valid too All right, so Elaine's still up by one. Here's your next image.

Speaker 3 59:04

Okay, okay, okay.

Speaker 1 59:05

Audio only listeners. We got the my Hero Academia image.

Speaker 2 59:09

It's going to be like how many bullets are on Bakugou's outfit, or some shit like that.

Speaker 1 59:14

I'm trying to see how many characters, and the observation question is oh, no, I think. How many people did not show their face in this image?

Speaker 3 59:24

Uh, I saw one of them.

Speaker 1 59:31

Hold on. Yeah, think about it. I'll say two Elaine's saying two Phil.

Speaker 2 59:40

I think it was three. Okay, one of you is correct. The answer is.

Speaker 1 59:43

Lelaine saying two. Phil, I think it was three. Okay, one of you is correct. The answer is two people Shigaraki is looking away and Iida has his helmet on.

Speaker 2 59:54

I thought I could have sworn.

Speaker 3 59:56

I thought maybe Deku had his masks on her his mask oh, okay, not showing their face, gotcha okay, I think you meant okay, gotcha, yeah, yep, alright, alright, lelaine's up to nothing alright, let's see what.

Speaker 1 1:00:03

Oh, okay, not showing their face, gotcha, okay, okay, gotcha, yep, yep, all right, all right, lelaine's up to nothing, all right, let's see what we got next. Here's our next image, from Dom to Don.

Speaker 3 1:00:16

Ah, the classic.

Speaker 1 1:00:18

So good, so good.

Speaker 3 1:00:19

I love it.

Speaker 1 1:00:22

And the observation question how many shirt buttons?

Speaker 2 1:00:27

are there?

Speaker 3 1:00:28

Oh, my God, you're really counting on that cow huh, there's a lot of math questions here.

Speaker 1 1:00:38

Fucking no.

Speaker 3 1:00:39

Four.

Speaker 1 1:00:40

Okay, Lelaine says four.

Speaker 3 1:00:41

Six Okay.

Speaker 1 1:00:44

One of you is correct, it is four Ridiculous.

Speaker 2 1:00:50

It is the fourth.

Speaker 1 1:00:53

They're on his shirt. One, two, three, four, oh my god, it's like blended in. Oh my, this game sucks. Phil, I think you say they're blended in, because I think you actually, this is your colorblind. Yeah, isn't it green and yellow that?

Speaker 3 1:01:13

you struggle with.

Speaker 1 1:01:14

Fuck, sorry, that was my bad.

Speaker 2 1:01:18

There's a lot of green and yellow here.

Speaker 1 1:01:19

I'm so sorry, alright.

Speaker 3 1:01:19

Lelaine's starting to run away yellow here.

Speaker 2 1:01:21

I'm so sorry there is.

Speaker 1 1:01:23

All right, lelaine's starting to run away with it. I think that's 3-0. Who's keeping count? All right, here's our next one.

Speaker 3 1:01:33

Spy family.

Speaker 1 1:01:34

Gotta love spy family, and it's the manga cover too. Yeah, I really like this image, me too, and that's specifically because of the observation question how many people are touching their cup on the table? Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 1:01:55

One.

Speaker 1 1:01:56

Okay, lelaine said one person's touching their cup, can I?

Speaker 2 1:01:58

also guess one, or am I not allowed to?

Speaker 1 1:02:00

You can? Yeah, you can, because I think it's also one.

Speaker 2 1:02:03

Okay, can I get on the board? Am I not allowed to you can?

Speaker 1 1:02:05

Yeah, you can, because I think it's also one. Okay, can I?

Speaker 2 1:02:06

get on the board. Unfortunately Is it two.

Speaker 1 1:02:08

It is two. Lloyd and Anya is holding her cup. She's holding her cup, hold on.

Speaker 2 1:02:16

She's holding her cup. I thought maybe she had her hands above the cup or something I was counting the bodies.

Speaker 3 1:02:20

Maybe she had her hands above the cup or something. I was like that's bullshit.

Speaker 2 1:02:22

I was counting the bodies.

Speaker 3 1:02:24

I thought this was a true question because I thought one of them was holding the cup above the table.

Speaker 1 1:02:29

Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:02:30

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:02:32

Yeah, so that's okay. That's okay, lelaine, you have a lot of leeway here, so you're still very much in the lead.

Speaker 3 1:02:39

I'm so happy. Yay, I usually don't win at these things Well luckily for you, Phil never wins at these things.

Speaker 1 1:02:47

Here's our next observation challenge A classic Sailor Moon. I'm not going to remember this at all. Whatever, it is no, phil, just pay close attention, Okay, and specifically pay attention to how many items are being held.

Speaker 3 1:03:04

Ooh, Okay, and specifically pay attention to how many items are being held.

Speaker 1 1:03:10

Ooh, hmm, okay.

Speaker 2 1:03:11

Two, three. Wayne says two, one of you is correct, oh my God.

Speaker 1 1:03:17

And it is not Phil, it's two.

Speaker 2 1:03:21

I knew it was bare minimum two and I thought maybe I missed one.

Speaker 3 1:03:26

I kept like looking at Sailor Venus, so I was like yeah, it has to be about

Speaker 1 1:03:33

her. Alright, I believe this is probably our last one, if I'm correct. Alright, so we're going to get to our last one. Elaine, this is for all the marblesbles, although you literally have all the marbles for six. This is for six points oh my god there are so many dragon ball z characters oh but this is this is my favorite Dragon Ball Z style. Yes, yes, this is a classic Classic Namek Mm-hmm Period. Phil, what Are you?

Speaker 3 1:04:10

ready. I'm giving you a little bit of extra time to look at it. Sure, okay.

Speaker 1 1:04:13

How many Namekians are there? I don't know. Close.

Speaker 3 1:04:21

How many?

Speaker 2 1:04:22

people have green skin.

Speaker 1 1:04:24

Oh my God.

Finding Balance in Creative Life

Speaker 2 1:04:28

Very close, Okay. Lelaine said seven. Oh my god uh very close.

Speaker 3 1:04:30

Seven, okay, the lane's in seven, phil.

Speaker 1 1:04:31

Seven, six, okay, phil how about this for you? I'm gonna let you see the image for three seconds. Okay, ready the lane's gonna also see it yeah, but she can't give another answer.

Speaker 2 1:04:39

She's already given her answer three two, one okay how many people have green skin, phil, okay, there's a little bit of a lag. Okay, ready Four. Okay, you're going to have to change, try one more time.

Speaker 1 1:04:52

Try one more time, Phil.

Speaker 2 1:04:53

Pay attention Six, look closely.

Speaker 1 1:04:56

Phil it's.

Speaker 2 1:04:57

Seven.

Speaker 1 1:04:58

It's literally five people Five. It's literally five people Five, five games, all right.

Speaker 2 1:05:04

Well that one had green hair, so it confused me.

Speaker 1 1:05:07

Yeah, the green hair was supposed to confuse Also.

Speaker 2 1:05:09

Tia's got green pants.

Speaker 3 1:05:11

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:05:11

Next yes, yes, it's yeah.

Speaker 2 1:05:14

You know what I really felt good about how that went.

Speaker 1 1:05:17

Thanks for playing Great job, unless you had bad memory skills.

Speaker 3 1:05:21

Phil, I joked about this earlier, but apparently I have good guessing skills, apparently. Yeah, that was great, all right. Well, that was a success.

Speaker 1 1:05:30

That was a first-time play for the podcast and that game is definitely coming back. So, Phil, Great yes. Look forward to that. Congratulations.

Speaker 2 1:05:37

Lillian.

Speaker 1 1:05:37

Thank you.

Speaker 2 1:05:39

Fantastic, fantastic. Well, lillian on um, on your victory here today. We, uh we thank you so much for joining us. We're so very excited to see you at bold here in a couple weeks. Of course, this episode does come out after bold, so please let everybody know one more time where they can find all of your work and then any appearances you have coming up throughout the rest of the summer and beyond yeah, so actually I never mentioned my socials in the beginning anyway.

Speaker 3 1:06:08

So my socials is what you see on the screen, but I know for the podcast people, it's Lelaine Art Geek on all socials. So Instagram, tiktok, youtube I was about to say Twitter, but I don't use Twitter anymore but you can still find me on there, and I have Bold Matsuri, of course, but then I also have Otaku Fest, which is coming up this weekend. So I have Otaku Fest and then Bold Matsuri, and then my next confirmed convention is Anime Orlando in August and then, once I pay my invoice, I will also be there at Ocala Comic Con. So, but other than that, that's pretty much it for like confirmed events, but hopefully I will apply to more when they come up, if conventions want to accept me. And yeah, if anything like comes up like any accepted cons I'm a part of, you can definitely catch me on Instagram, which is where I'm posting the most. I'd say like Instagram and TikTok, for sure, um, same username, lelaine Art Geek.

Speaker 3 1:07:14

And yeah, and I think, like when it comes to anything special coming up, nothing in particular, like nothing particularly special, but I do have commissions open for sure. So just either reach out to me through, like commenting on any of my posts or DMing or just sending an email, which is in my profile bio on Instagram. But I have that going on. And then, of course, I'm just preparing for these upcoming conventions coming up. And when it comes to new art, nothing in particular. Yet I want to do Sonic because I know Ivan wants me to do Sonic, but I also love Sonic as a whole, so I want to do Sonic art for sure, and plus it'll actually add, finally, some game fan art in my portfolio. It'd be good to have that, but other than that, that's pretty much it, and any updates, uh, from me will be through instagram and tiktok, like I mentioned yeah, sonic will fit right in your collection, so that'll be great also you said you still do have physical copies of stitches left as of right now I only have

Speaker 3 1:08:26

yeah, go ahead no, yeah, you're good, I only have one more copy, but my friend wants to get it. But we are planning on replenishing those copies, but I think that will be the last time we're gonna like replenish. Before we move on to issue two, however, we are planning a kickstarter so that it'll help with those costs, but we haven't. We've only talked about it.

Speaker 2 1:08:51

Nothing has been like set in stone yet and you can still get it on the kindle if you want.

Speaker 3 1:08:55

If you want a digital copy, as yes, uh, you can always access it on amazon through kindle. Um, it's only $10. And it's like honestly super affordable because I sell my copies for $15. So $5 off.

Speaker 2 1:09:10

Yeah, there you go, and everything you need for Lelaine will be in the show notes of this episode, so make sure you keep up with her. Also, lelaine, if you ever animate this and need a voice actor, you know oh my goodness, and I saw that you have like a project, potential project.

Speaker 2 1:09:27

Yeah, that's why I was like a little late. They wanted me to submit another reading, so I was doing that. That's why I was like a tad bit late, so we'll see how it goes. It's honestly like just the first like quote unquote callback is cool, so whether or not I get it, at least that's a step in the right direction, so absolutely Well.

Speaker 2 1:09:44

Congrats to that as well, Of course, I appreciate it so yeah, so make sure you follow Elaine everywhere that we mentioned, that she mentioned here as well as in the show notes of this episode, and if you want to keep up with the way for a podcast, you can also do that in the show notes. Find our link tree link. You'll find all of our social media pages, of course, the most important ones being Instagram, tiktok, our thriving Discord community and Twitch, where we are streaming a ton, which has been a whole lot of fun. You can catch us at quite a few different conventions here coming up throughout the rest of the year. If you want to support the show, you can also head on over to Apple Podcasts, spotify.

Speaker 2 1:10:18

Leave us a five-star review. All of that is so incredibly beneficial. Also, tag us. Let us know that you're listening, let Elaine know that she listened if you're coming from her community, and we appreciate all of that. Also, follow Eric and I's personal pages, which can also be found in our link tree, as we navigate. Content creation, voice acting, podcasting all of that is so beneficial. But maybe, if you find yourself wanting to get these episodes even earlier and getting some special behind the scenes perks, eric will let you know a little bit more about that before we wrap up for the evening.

Speaker 1 1:10:48

Yeah, so of course, Patreon is a big platform for us in 2025. Thanks to patrons of the show who are supporting us monthly on that platform. Thank you to Briar, Stefan T3, Kato, Vintage, Macaroni, Corey from the World is my Burrito and Nick Casbaro, the author of the Vidalirium series. Their monthly support is in exchange to those behind the scenes, the early access and more that comes with each tiered subscription to Patreon, and it's a very big thank you to the work that we do here. However, all the other free stuff is very much appreciated and it takes only a moment of your time. So the likes, the comments, the shares, the engagements, the listens, all the above we really appreciate and we appreciate you for sticking around to the end of this episode. With all that being said, my name is Mr Eric Almighty, that is my co-host, Phil the Filipino and our guest, the Lane Art Geek. Please remember that we release new episodes on the podcast every Wednesday and all you have to do is wait for it.

Speaker 2 1:11:49

This is the Wait For it Podcast.