Episode 65: The James & Aysha Power Hour

Edited by Kate Mitchell

James and Aysha have another power hour chat show and dispense life advice. Topics: The K-word (K\*te). Adulthood. Religious ska. Sweat. Andrew’s questions suck. The Mayor. Getting in fights with girls. Gamzee (oh no!). Dating advice. Freelancing.

Listen to this episode at https://perfectlygenericpodcast.com/updates/episodes/65

## Transcript

Kate: This show is listener supported at patreon.com/pgenpod. We’d like to thank our Crocker-tier patrons [names] for their generous support per episode. Patrons get access to 16 episodes and counting of the [I]ntermission Podcast. All contributions are shared equitably with everyone who makes a Pgenpod episode possible.

Coming up, join us Thursday, December 5th in Staten Island, New York for Pgenpod Live. Goomy is going to host. We’ll be interviewing, Me, Kate Mitchell, Optimistic Duellist and Pip, members of the Homestuck^2 writing and directing team. You can find out more in RSVP at pgenpod.com/live.

[Intro]

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: Ugh…[sighs] Yeah. Alright! So… what’s the- what’s the like- The Perfectly Generic podcast contains adult language spoken by adults and occasionally… Actually I think this is the only episode that won’t have any Vriska in it. Thank God! Finally.

Aysha: [muffled laughter in background]

James: It’s about time.

Aysha: Finally. Finally, a story without a woman. [Laughs]

James: [Sarcastically] Ugh. Oh thank God! If I have to look at… one more LGBT person, I am going to lose my mind. No.

Aysha: Yeah. I mean, as a known straight, James Roach-

James: Yeah [Laughs]

Aysha: I know this is true of you.

James: Notable heterosexual James Roach does it again. I invented Homestuck and actually-

…That’s not true. So…hey everyone welcome again to the 3rd inaugural episode of the James & Aysha Homestuck 2.0 power-hour. But we’re not gonna be talking about homestuck so…it’s not that. How you’ve been? How’re you doin’, Aysha?

Aysha: It’s just powerful- It’s just the power-hour.

James: Yeah, It’s just the powerful hour.

Aysha: Yeah… Yeah, just get ready. Hold on.

James: [Laughs]

Aysha: Yeah, I’ve been doing, y’know, just normal stuff; getting the occasional death threats, but you know.

James: [Grimacing] Ooh.

Aysha: In a normal way.

James: Now golly, tell me more. No- Let’s not talk about that. [Laughs]

Aysha: Yeah, absolutely I do not wanna tell you more [Laughs]

James: Yeah… It’s always like “Oh, been there buddy” and then it’s like “Well! The end! I don’t wanna talk about that anymore actually.” Alright! So we’ve got a bunch of questions for you here today- um… Please cut out all of my ‘um’s, Kate. Uh-

Aysha: She won’t.

James: Dammit! Anyway thanks again, Kate for letting us ruin your podcast, again.

Aysha: Yeah.

James: Or I don’t know- Ooh I can’t say Kate anymore.

Aysha: Also, I don’t think we’ve- We’ve never ruined her podcast at the same time.

James: That’s true. Individually ruined it plenty times but, yeah actually this week in Homestuck: can’t say Kate anymore… Ya gotta put that asterisk in there.

Aysha: Oh yeah, oh yeah [yeah 4x] I heard about that.

James: So, K-word,

Aysha: [Laughs] Oh my god.

James: If you’d be so kind as to edit out my ‘Um’s, I would really like that so that I sound super smart!

Aysha: Yeah.

James: First question! We’ve got zandraxofnebulon- ough now that’s a mouthful.

Aysha: Yeah.

James: They ask: ‘Since the audience has a lot of younger folks, myself included, do yall have any tips or pointers for life/being an adult/etc?’

Aysha: [Laughs] Oh boy, that’s kind of like a big question.

James: This is… Why’d you put this one first? [Laughs]

Aysha: I thought we would y’know, tackle the- Let’s just get that thing out of the way first.

James: Right, right.

Aysha: Life advice. Y’know- all of life.

James: All of life! Well, y’know when… When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-

Aysha: [Laughs] oh god… I hate that, I hate that thing you just said.

James: Yeah, that actually sucked. Uh, K-word, can you cut that one out, alright thanks! [Laughs]

Aysha: I think the most important thing about life and about being an adult is that… it’s not that serious, bro.

James: [hums in agreement]

Aysha: I wish as an early 20s person, I had realized that everything is not that serious.

James: Yeah, it’s not that deep.

Aysha: Everything is gonna be okay.

James: Yeah… much like the kiddy pool in your front yard, it’s not that deep, y’know?

Aysha: Yeah.

James: I think the best advice I’ve ever gotten- and this is general life advice- is that: not everyone’s gonna like you, y’know? So, you don’t have to [Laughs] You really don’t have to impress everybody. You can only please yourself. There are all kind of platitudes, right?

Aysha: In another vein, it’s none of your business what other people think of you.

James: Ooh yeah.

Aysha: So… that’s how I think of it. It’s not my job to go out and try to change people’s minds when they’ve already made them up, because people are allowed to think whatever they want.

James: Since we’re old as shit, what’s something that you’d wish you had spent less time doing in your 20s.

Aysha: [Struggling for words] Worrying…? I guess I have an anxiety disorder but I think that as I’ve gotten older, just from repeated exposure to anxiety and realizing that all the stuff that I’ve worried about incessantly has been okay and it has been okay every time. One day it won’t be and then I’ll die but-

James: Oh! Cool, yeah.

Aysha: But, I just think that from repeated experiences, you realize that: “Oh! This tough situation I am currently in, I have been in tough situations before and I can handle it. Because I am here still. So this one I probably also can handle.”

James: Nice. Pretty good, yeah. In my 20s, I wish I’d spent less time listening to Ska. Alright next que- I think we’ll wrap that one up! Don’t listen to ska!

Aysha: ‘Religious Ska’ as Toby calls it.

James: Relig- That’s real. Religious Ska is real. They’re a band called Five Iron Frenzy and they sing about god [Laughs] but like… [still laughing] with Ska songs.

Aysha: I wish I had gone through my life without knowing this. This is the thing that I wish my younger self wouldn’t ever have to learn.

James: When you’re 40 and we come back to do this in ten years, and I ask you ‘What’s something you wish you’d spent less time in your 30s doing?’ and you’d be like: ‘Listening to James talk about Ska!’

Aysha: Yeah! Yeah, that’s definitely true [Laughs]

James: Christian Ska specifically, ah yes… But the thing with Five Iron Frenzy is they also mix in a bunch of what religious people call ‘Secular songs’ ...? About Ex-girlfriends and, y’know… growing up and then it’s like “Here’s the song about ‘Uh she dumped me and it sucked’ and then next track: ‘I love god’.”
And you’re like: ‘Damn.’ And then some trumpet is like [mimicking trumpet sounds] ‘Doo doo doo do.’ And that’s the whole song.

Aysha: I feel like a lot of non-Christian bands sing about God, too.

James: That’s true.

Aysha: So why are you special, Christian Bands?

James: Me in particular or Christian bands? Oh- ok. Well [sighs] maybe they just love god just a little more.

Aysha: That’s true. They put a little bit more of god in there.

James: It’s like 60% God. Alright, since we’re both going to hell; the follow up question- and this one’s a no-brainer, easy, knock it outta the park. Also from zandraxofnebulon- very greedy with these questions, buddy- But… “Which is worse: cold or hot weather?”

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: I’d like to hear from you first because my answer is very short.

Aysha: I don’t like either of them.

James: [Laughs]

Aysha: There’s about 10 degrees that I’m happy in and everything else I’m like “Fuck this.”

James: [Laughs] ‘All weather bad!’

Aysha: Yeah, all weather is bad.

James: Okay, alright for me this is a simple logistics matter… Worse: Hot weather; you can get warmer, you can do any number- There comes a point in hot weather when you just can no longer get any colder because that’s the temperature that the air is.

Aysha: Right, you can only get so naked.

James: Yeah, once you’re naked, it’s over!

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: And you know what? You can’t even do that. You can’t do that in polite company.

Aysha: That’s true.

James: You cant’ be hanging out at our friends’ house and they’re kinda stingy with the air conditioner- Which let me give it a- [grimaces] If you have people over and they’re like: “I’m a little warm. Can you turn on the Air conditioner?” and you say “No.”, Fuck you.

Aysha: [Laughs] yeah! First of all you’re lucky that you have air conditioning. [Laughs] Second of all, Fuck you.

James: [Sighs] First of all, I’m very sweaty, [Laughs] ok? I need to be… a certain temperature. No. You just can’t get naked in your friend’s house or out in public.

Aysha: It depends what kind of friend they are, but yes. Agreed.

James: That’s true. [Short silence] Same.

Aysha: Let’s all think about that for a little bit. [Laughs] Ok uh that’s a pretty easy one.

James: Boom. Knocked it out of the park. What a great question.

Aysha: Great Job.

James: Alright, so next up from Ralph Gibson: Any advice for people who are trapped in a perpetual cycle of failure?’

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: Why did you pick these questions, Aysha?!

Aysha: Because I think they’re extremely funny [Laughs] and extremely good. I picked the hardest-

James: Is this supposed to- Is this like, ironic?

Aysha: We don’t have to do all of these questions in this order.

James: No…!

Aysha: We can do whatever we want.

James: [Laughs]

Aysha: But my advice to getting out of a cycle of failure is ‘Get good.’

James: Yeah… I mean… don’t fail. [Quietly laughs]

Aysha: Do small- Literally though, on a serious note- Set yourself a very easy task that you know that you can complete. Complete it and then ride on that tide of dopamine-

James: Okay…

Aysha: That fucking… Dope-mean.

James: That dope-ass-mean.

Aysha: Yeah. And you just ride that out to a slightly more difficult task until you’re slam dunking every single one.

James: Wow. Sometimes I find the smaller tasks so much harder to accomplish than big tasks. Because it’s like I can sit down to like, well- Time to score this thing. Cool. I did some music. I wrote an hour’s worth of music today. Easy peasy, y’know? But it’s a problem for me is like: ‘Ugh…I gotta take out the trash. [whines]’

Aysha: Right, but I mean more like, what is easy for you.

James: Oh… I see…

Aysha: If you know that it’s easier to sit down and make music than it is to clean your house, then-

James: It’s so much easier.

Aysha: You just gotta- yeah! Yeah. So for me, it’s like: ‘Oh I feel like shit today and I’ve not gotten anything done, I guess I’ll just…dust?’ or some shit? I dunno.

James: [Laughs] Get those fuckin’ particles out of here.

Aysha: I hate that shit.

James: I’m sick of your shit, dust! Time ta go.

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: [still talking to the dust particles] You don’t pay the rent, you don’t do the dishes, you don’t do anything.

Aysha: Why don’t we pick a- Why don’t we do a question from out friend and benefactor?

James: Oh right…Andrew Hussie asks: “For both of you, how do you vibe out?” [Laughs]

Aysha: You mean in general? Or us personally how we vibe, Andrew?

James: Yeah… this question sucks, first of all… [Laughs]

Aysha: Yeah [Laughs] First of all: punctuation.

James: Yeah [Laughs]

Aysha: Second of all-

James: Man, I wish I knew.

Aysha: Yeah, God, if I could just be vibing all the time? Man…

James: You asked the two most high-strung people in the world ‘How do you relax?’ uh… I don’t, actually. I tried.

Aysha: I don’t think I’ve ever chilled ever in my life.

James: I used to smoke- not marijuana. I used to smoke tobacco so there’s my advice, kids. Start smoking cigarettes- Don’t do that.

Aysha: I think that just vibing is when visibly manifested as that it’s “This is fine” comic.

James: mmmm [Laughs]

Aysha: While everything is burning down around you and you’re just chilling. And that’s how I feel like I am 90% of the time, being co-president of Homestuck.

James: Wow…

Aysha: I feel like I’m just vibing because- vibe while things burn down around me. [Laughs]

James: Yeah, that’s… [Laughs] kinda what I was doing for several years. I dunno.

Aysha: We’re out here.

James: Homestuck barren. If you’re the president of like- some sort of low population mayor, maybe [Laughs]

Aysha: [Laughs] Homestuck mayor.

James: That guy’s based off of me. No.

Aysha: Yeah… that’s not true.

James: Yeah that’s not true at all. I think there’s like- Wait a second! Oooh… almost tricked me into talking about Homestuck. Haha, not today.

Aysha: Yeah, not today buddy.

James: Ugh… God.

Aysha: I see that was your plan the whole time, Andrew…Hussie.

James: Can you imagine? A world where we talk about Homestuck on any period of time-?

Aysha: -On a podcast about Homestuck.

James: Yeah! This is just a normal podcast now. This is general usage or- General interest.

Aysha: Yeah [x3]

James: Yeah. Yeah! Hey- Yeah, this is The Perfectly Generic Podcast.

Aysha: [Chuckles] Yeah holy shit! I can’t believe we cracked the code-

James: Finally!

Aysha: Anyway, let’s do one of the questions on your Curiouscat. Pick a really sweet one.

James: A really nice one? I know that-

Aysha: Yeah like, really good.

James: Ok well… Oh here’s one that’s like- This is kind of a weird question and I think it’s about Homestuck but we don’t have to make it about Homestuck.

Aysha: Cool. What is it?

James: From MasterChewtoBeYou [Chuckles]…

Aysha: Hmmm…

James: Alright…They ask: ‘Can you tell us something you have never told us before and that you are allowed to say?’

Aysha: [Laughs] Doing this in a non Homestuck capacity is ideal.

James: Just like ‘Ho… what are some secrets have I never revealed to anybody?’ Okay…

Aysha: Yeah.

[Short Pause]

James: [Laughs] And that I’m allowed to say

Aysha: When I was in highschool, I got into fights with other girls a lot, I guess.

James: Oh yeah?

Aysha: Yeah, I used-

James: [Quietly] Did you win?

Aysha: I dunno, it’s like- Some kids used to make fun of me for being fat. So I was just like: “Alright, shut up.” And I fuckin… hit them.

James: “Choke on this” and then-

Aysha: Yeah. I moved to a neighbourhood, when I was like 8, full of a bunch of kids that grew up together?

James: Mhm.

Aysha: And they were close knit. And these three- on my first day there- These three boys were making fun of me and I beat them all up.

James: Dope.

Aysha: And their parents came to my dad and were like- And my dad was just very visibly trying to not tell me: “Good Job.” [Laughs] So, yeah. I caused violence when I was a child.

James: Mhm. Would you consider yourself scrappy?

Aysha: Um…[thinks for a bit] I don’t think I was scrappy. I think I was just bigger than everybody.

James: [chuckles] Just fucking huge and kicking ass. Yeah.

Aysha: Yeah coz y’know it was that stage when the girls are all bigger than the boys?

James: Ah yeah… Like… the dinosaurs.

Aysha: [Laughs] Exactly.

James: I- I dunno where that came from- I was thinking about a book that I read once when I was a child.

Aysha: [Bursts out laughing]

James: About how female tyrannosaurus rexes were much larger than their male counterparts and…

Aysha: Yeah, I mean I’m still larger than most boys but, y’know.

James: I’m sure you’re very tall!

Aysha: I’m just…unusually long, yes.

James: There was a question that I’m not even sure I’m even gonna… Ugh- about “I’m short! How do I exert dominance-?” You don’t, Shorty. Get outta here.

Aysha: Uh… Have you tried just T-posing?

James: [Laughs] Have you tried just being tall?

Aysha: [Laughs] Have you tried getting taller?

James: Stand on a chair, I dunno what to tell you [Laughs].

Aysha: You gotta assert dominance with your personality. Clearly.

James: yeah…I’ve-

Aysha: Just be taller metaphorically.

James: Now that I’ve alienated- How tall are you Aysha?

Aysha: I’m 5’10’’

James: That’s pretty tall.

Aysha: Yeah, it’s not bad.

James: It’s not bad for a manlet! Uhhhhh No- [Laughs]

Aysha: [Realizes what’s said and bursts into laughter] ‘Aysha U. Farah, Manlet.’ [Laughs]

James: I love the fuckin… [Laughs] 5’11’’ memes.

Aysha: Oh yeah! Kat asked a question. Kat asked: ‘How do you deal with reply guys?’

James: How do you deal with- Well, how do you deal with reply guys?

Aysha: Well mostly I’ve just turned off notifications from people I don’t follow.

James: Yes.

Aysha: That’s mostly how you deal with reply guys. Second is- well I guess this is the same thing- ignore them, usually. Every so often if it’s a particularly heinous thing that somebody said, my followers will fight them for me.

James: [Chuckles] Huh… Not mine [Laughs]

Aysha: Like the best tweet of all time, I don’t know who the person was but- Somebody was like: “Act 2 is still not released” and somebody was like: “Well then release it yourself, dumbass.”

James: Yeah actually, that one was really good. Thanks whoever follower that was.

Aysha: Yeah.

James: I know I just said that my followers do not defend me [Laughs] but that one was great. It was like “Act 2 still isn’t out,” well release it yourself, stupid. [Laughs]

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: Wow. Good.

Aysha: I think, yesterday somebody tried to start some shit over the Terezi sprites.

James: Oh boy.

Aysha: And then somebody just responded to them “Are ya winnin’ son?” and I thought that was really [Laughs]

James: [Laughs] That’s pretty good. I tend to just, lately- especially- I just kind of ignore people. I don’t- [grimaces] Ugh…

I made this tweet about apples and sometimes you make a joke- I dunno if this has ever happened to any of you listeners,

Aysha: [chuckles]

James: But sometimes you’ll make a joke and people don’t really get the joke. And they’ll respond to you as though the facetious thing you just said, for instance: “There’s only one kind of apple.” [Laughs] Clearly there are at least two kinds of apples, because they’re red and they’re green… Um [Laughs] I posted a picture of two apples and I’m like: “These are the same guy.”

Aysha: [Laughs] Sharks are smooth as hell-[Laughs]

James: [Laughs] Sharks are smooth

Aysha: That is the greatest twitter thread! That is the greatest twitter thread of all time.

James: I’ll do that about Homestuck stuff, where I’ll be like: “Aradia is the only character in Homestuck” and they’re like “What about-?!“

It’s always Gamzee likers. And I feel like they’ve forgotten that they didn’t have any rights.

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: Leave that one in. I don’t care.

Aysha: [Laughs] I feel like a snap of protectiveness to Gamzee and Gamzee fans now that I’ve written the Gamzee route, which is like-

James: Gamzee is a great character.

Aysha: I did this to myself. But-

James: He’s a great character and just a… dogshit person [Laughs]

Aysha: I can’t believe we’re talkin’ about Homestuck! Fuck this!

James:…Oh Fuck! [Laughs]

Aysha: Damn we fucked up again.

James: Ohhh hoho [Laughs] You almost- Ohhh you got me. But never again.

Aysha: Do we have anymore questions from Andrew?

James: [Breathes rapidly] Uh… [Laughs] Andrew Hussie asks: ‘How do you ask your crush out?’

Aysha: [Grimaces] That’s a hard one, Andrew. That’s a tough one.

James: Is it? Well how do you ask your crush out?

Aysha: I actually have never successfully- The first time I ever successfully asked someone out was literally last year.

James: Oh that’s so sad.

Aysha: When I was 29. I mean I’m like a woman-adjacent person so…

James: Mhm.

Aysha: Even when I was on dating sites I never had to approach people first.

James: Oh…

Aysha: Because…men were always fuckin’-

James: Men were fuckin’, yeah.

Aysha: God If you want some reply guys…

James: Ugh.

Aysha: Try being a woman on Tinder.

James: Okay, I will.

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: If you insist. Oh man…

Aysha: How many times you get called exotic in a day?

James: [whispers] I dunno, once? [Laughs] Actually it does not happen to me that often. Like what’s- Kinda going off the rails, Andrew if you wanna ask your crush out, you just fuckin’ do it.

For me, it’s always like- If you just- I guess yeah, this is kind of a gendered issue and I have a very weak connection to my birth gender. But I suppose, having lived as a man for mo- y’know. [Sighs]

We’re talking about this with someone the other day where I don’t have a lot of connection with younger LGBT people. So I often get this like- Man… I dunno- ugh… It’s very confusing to call myself this thing and then have almost no connection to the community around it, but… I do it more for me than for anybody else. So, unrelated… [Laughs] ‘How do you ask your crush out?’ I just kind of do it and if they say ‘No’ then, Ah well! Alright.

Aysha: Yeah. Usually the worst thing that can happen is that somebody can say ‘No.’

James: Yeah.

Aysha: I guess that also somebody would be like ‘Uh… now this is awkward… and I don’t wanna be your friend anymore.’ But I feel like that somebody who did that, you don’t wanna be friends with anyway.

James: Yeah! Like- So… when I ask someone out, it’s always like- The answer ‘No.’ is on the- If you’re not weird about a ‘No.’ it’s fine. Don’t be weird. If you ask someone out and they say ‘No.’, respect that, don’t be weird about it. You can still be friends with them very easily. It’s not hard. And I get that-

Aysha: Yeah I had a lot of issues in college with becoming close friends with guys, and then them asking me out, and me turning them down, and then them…getting very weird.

James: They’re just bailing altogether I think that’s fuckin’ wack. If you like someone enough to ask them out, you like them enough to be their friend.

Aysha: Yeah. Apparently not.

James: Ugh, young men, if you’re listening to this, fucking don’t- Cut that shit out! What you doing?

Aysha: Yeah.

James: Just… be normal, stop being weird. I really wish no one had ever- Stop watching rom-coms, first of all. Don’t do grand gestures; that’s stupid as shit, nobody likes that. It’s a waste of time and energy.
Be real with somebody, be honest with somebody. Be honest about how you feel about somebody. Don’t wait around for “Uh is this the right-“ Just… Hey! Be casual and friendly about it.

Aysha: Grand gestures suck because people then feel compelled to say yes.

James: Yeah! Yeah don’t-

Aysha: There’s not a lot of basis for relationship [Laughs]

James: Ooh. Something I wish I had told my younger self, because I hadn’t always been the incredible person I am today [deep inhale] to put it lightly [Laughs]. It’s just- I was the shittiest 13-year-old about relationships and everything. I was like [grunts]-
So there’s two general dating advice things that I could give as an old person: Being the smartest edgiest person in the room… is never gonna get you laid.

Aysha: Yup!

James: It’s… It’s not gonna happen. Y’know? That’s not what anybody likes, so just be yourself. If you’re constantly trying to prove who you are, you’re not being yourself. Just be it. Just do it.

Aysha: Yeah, every time I see some dude being really weird and one of my friends mentions “She’s not gonna fuck you, dude. Calm down.”

James: Oof. Yeah… That’s some real clown-like behaviour. And look! I’m not saying that being laid is the be-all-end-all for relationships. For some people that’s not the any part of the relationship.
Perfectly fine! Y’know? For me, it’s way less important now than it was when I was younger and that’s something that I’m kind of figuring out about myself, actually.

But they’re not- That’s just- People don’t like that. Y’know? No body likes that. There’s not a single person in the world who’s like: “[Sarcastic mocking voice] Wow, you corrected me? Oh my god. Well get over here, buddy!” Y’know?

Aysha: Yeah… Yeah [Laughs]

James: There was this somebody-

Aysha: I love when there’s somebody who knows shit.

James: [chuckles]

Aysha: Like…[Laughs] Yeah. Nobody has ever… No good interaction has ever begun with: “[Sarcasm voice] Well actually, uhm.”

James: [Laughs] Yeah! I feel like- And this goes back to the reply guy scenario where it’s just like- Just don’t do that shit. [Laughs] Y’know?
That way to me- Not only are they the least attractive person that I’ve ever encountered in my life, it’s just like ‘Okay, well… I hope that this interaction is working out like you had hoped it would. Coz… coz yikes.’

Aysha: Yeah.

James: Alright! Just ask ‘em out. Just ask ‘em out, Andrew Hussie. I’m sure-

Aysha: Yeah, Andrew. Just ask your crush out.

James: I’m sure they’ll respond kindly if you just… just go for it, buddy.

Aysha: Yeah… that’s true.

James: Be honest about- Be honest with yourself, be honest with them. And if they say ‘no.’-

Aysha: We’re rooting for you.

James: Yeah… Well… I’m not. [Chuckles]

Aysha: [Laughs] I like this question that’s by People call me CD: ‘What did y’all both even major in?’

James: What did you major in?

Aysha: Philosophy, in fact.

James: Wow!

Aysha: And I use it to argue with teens online.

James: Wow… Nice.

Aysha: Yeah. There’s a channel on my server called ‘Philosophy 101’ where I answer basic [Laughs] philosophy questions.

James: Cool! Tell me- Tell me one philosophy fact! Oh- that sounded very gate-keepy, where it’s like: ‘Oh you majored in Philosophy? Name a Philosophy fact-‘

Aysha: Tell me one fact!

James: Because it’s more of a general interest, like, ‘I dunno anything about Philosophy.’ ‘Oh so now you want to educate \*me\* on Philosophy?’

Aysha: Oh! Here’s one fact! In Philosophy we use the word ‘Libertarian’ all the time but it means somebody who believes in free will.

James: Oh?

Aysha: And not… the other one…

James: [Whispers] Not the other one. The bad one.

Aysha: Yeah. [Laughs]

James: I think on paper, that sounds like: ‘Oh! Socially progressive! Physically conservative. Like Oh… Interesting!’ But I feel like I would have described myself that one when I was 16? Y’know?

Aysha: Yeah.

James: Pretty sure I did. But… Fuck the rich. Eat em.

Aysha: There is a very famous Libertarian- The guy who started Libertarianism, Nozick, who… I’ve read his books and stuff and they come across like extremely- You’re like ‘Yeah! It does make sense!’ That you get what you give- or whatever. Ayn Rand whatever- the fountainhead! Okay, sure!

James: [Laughs]

Aysha: Also sure- Under his ideas it’s like…Basically what you can say to him is ‘I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care about other people.’

James: [chuckles softly]

Aysha: Because under libertarianism there could be someone in front of you starving to death and you’re not morally obligated to give them food.

James: Mhm… I feel like every time you say Ayn Rand in a conversation, it’s like: ‘Welp… Okay.’ [Laughs]

Aysha: ‘It’s over.’

James: [Laughs] Yeah. I majored in… This may come as a shock to many of you- I majored in music performance.

Aysha: Y’know what, you’re using your major so… That’s better than a lot of us actually.

James: Yeah…I think that’s of kind of a luck. And this kind of transitions us into our next question. From articulatelyComposed- they demand answers to the following: ‘How would you two recommend getting started as a creative freelance professional? What tips do you have dealing with things like contracts, pricing, anything you wish you knew when you first got started?’

Aysha: Read your fucking contracts. I know they’re boring. I know they’re difficult. Look up words you don’t get. Lots and lots of companies, especially the big corps like Viz and stuff like that…

James: mhm.

Aysha: Aha… Just to name a couple: Viz-

James: ‘Just to name one random company I uh…’

Aysha: Yeah! That I don’t know anything about. A lot of the big companies rely on you not understanding what you’re agreeing to.

James: Mhm.

Aysha: And most contracts, when you get them, will be incredibly skewed in their direction and they’re expecting you to- Fist of all, they’re expecting you to just agree to it because you’re an artist and you’re desperate for work. But, you should push back and usually they’ll be like: ‘Oh ok.’

But yes, do push back, I know it’s really- To me it is really really counter to my personality

James: [Laughs]

Aysha: And to my upbringing as a woman [Laughs] to ever advocate for myself. You really have to because nobody will do it for you.

James: 100% agree with the ‘No one’s gonna do it for you.’ You’re your only- No one’s gonna pitch you, y’know? You’re the only person who’s going to sell you to these people and you have to… And I agree- Read your contract, it’s boring but please look at the finer details.

If you don’t want to, be prepared to spend money on somebody who can do that for you and can interpret it. This is just industry stuff-

Aysha: Right.

James: And a lot of industry contracts are very standardized…? And they literally just switch out names and stuff like that. So you can look them up. And if you’re worried about contract stuff, that’s very specific… In the more smaller-scaled individual, independent artist freelance stuff, the biggest advice I can give anybody: “Do not undercharge.”

Aysha: Yeah.

James: It hurts you. It hurts other people and you’re not even making that much money from it- Like, If you’re gonna hurt people-…

Aysha: [Laughs] Make- [struggling for words] As Elon Musk taught us…

James: Yeah [Laughs]

Aysha: We’re the cybercar.

James: If you’re gonna profit off of the suffering of others, please just [Laughs] make a lot of money.

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: No. God. That Sucks.

Aysha: [Still laughing] That sucks…

James: Who kept calling use capitalists? I’m like: ‘[Laughs] What?’

Aysha: God, I mean, I tell people “Don’t undersell yourself.” But I… Y’know. [Laughs] I mean… It’s very- I talked to my dad about this- My dad is a lawyer…

James: Mhm.

Aysha: So, he’s not an entertainment lawyer but I show him my contracts and stuff like that.

James: Right.

Aysha: He says that- We talk about how especially when you’re starting out- And this is gonna sound like “Work for exposure” but that’s not what I mean…

James: Okay.

Aysha: Sometimes you can lopsided deals because the doors that it’s gonna open for you are worth it…?

James: Right.

Aysha: So I worked for– on certain– Oh god, let’s not even do that– I worked on friendsim for not a lot of money and it did get me a lot more jobs.

James: Right.

Aysha: So I really believe in paying everybody who works for me.

James: Mhm.

Aysha: And I try - Y’know… I think that’s very important. But sometimes it’s ok to compromise depending on what you’re getting. Coz, y’know money isn’t everything. If you think that something is gonna be a good experience, you can do it. Don’t be like: “Oh this doesn’t pay…Therefore I’m not gonna do it.” –I do free zines all the time.

James: Mhm. I feel like you’re gonna have to balance what your time is worth to you a lot of the time.

So, going back to independent stuff– Like, the non-contract work, just client based work; Like taking commissions, doing art commissions, doing music commissions.

I don’t know how writing commissions work but I am assuming it would be similar.

Don’t undervalue yourself. And a lot of people are gonna go: “Well what does that mean?”

So for me, I charge a flat fee for commissions and then on top of that I estimate– which is not a great practice- an hourly cost. Like: “This is going to take me…8 hours to finish.” What’s my hourly rate? I add it on top of that.

And so then my quote is usually just all of those things combined and I take payment upfront.

Aysha: Yeah.

James: There’s a benefit and there’s a downside to that. The benefit is: They can’t rob you. [Laughs] Y’know?

Aysha: Yeah!

James: Because if you take payment afterwards, there’s about a 40% chance someone will be like “I don’t like this, I’m not paying you.”

Aysha: Right.

James: Ok well… we can fix it but you have to pay me- They were already– They were never going to pay you. So…

Aysha: Yeah.

James: So and I take payment upfront so that will lose you some clients who were not going to pay you. So…

Aysha: Yeah! Yeah.

James: And pricing yourself what you’re worth will lose you clients who were not going to pay you what you are worth. And it will lose you future clients who were also not going to pay you what you are worth.
And it’s like “Well I need to get some clients– “You don’t need that one.

Aysha: Agreed.

James: Trust me there will be another one. And in might not be immediate especially when you’re kinda smaller scale- there’s like… Y’know, look for communities. Discord is actually a really great way to start that sort of thing; getting on group projects. It’s like Aysha was saying; there are some things that you can do for free to get your name out there but it has to be worth it for you. Like- if you have the time.

If you’re an established person who does a lot of that “Don’t work for free stuff” is for people who have been doing it for years.

Aysha: Right. I mean I worked for free for years. Like writing fanfiction and submitting short stories and stuff.

James: Yeah, right!

Aysha: So I mean…Yeah. Also it’s – a good general advice I give to everyone being like: “How do I break into the industry?” Don’t act a fool on social media.

James: Oh.

Aysha: For real. People will see it and they will- There’s not a blacklist but if you get a reputation for being a shit-turd, nobody is going to hire you.

James: Yeah. And when they say ‘Act a fool’ they don’t mean ‘Don’t be goofy on your twitter.’
They mean [sigh] there’s a lot of things- If you’re hypercritical of the industry that you wanna work in, and you’re name calling and– not like, name calling– when someone does something shitty you…hold ‘em accountable for it–

But if you’re joining in and dog piling and stuff like that where you’re like “Oh fuck this show” and then in your profile that’s like “Aspiring animator” I’m like–

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: Ohhhh. Sorry I guarantee–

Aysha: Yeah. That’s what private accounts are for.

James: Yeah. Absolutely…[whispers] go on, do that on discord, man. Do that in a group chat, [chuckling] don’t do that on your public twitter. And I know that that sounds shitty and maybe it is! But [Laughs] I dunno, you’re asking me how to get a job, like…

Aysha: Right. And I mean it makes sense– It’s fine to criticize– It’s good to criticize art, even not art you like. But people are not gonna wanna work with someone who says mean things to their face about their work.

James: Oh!

Aysha: That’s just– Creators are humans too.

James: This happens to us… sooo much.

Aysha: [tired] Yes. [chuckles]

James: And it is, y’know, one of the big– and I… I’m not gonna name drop… but there’s a lot of people who think that they could do a better job than us and maybe they could but we’ll never ever find out, because they will always be on the outside looking in because of the shit that they say… about us.

And it’s like Oh, are we being kinda gatekeepy about who we hire? Yeah! Because I don’t wanna work with somebody who thinks that like– [chuckles] Y’know… I don’t wanna work with somebody who’s been telling everyone that [mocking voice] ‘Aysha’s not a good writer.’

Or y’know like: ‘Uh… So and so is ruining homestuck. Anyway here’s why I should work for homestuck–”

Eh well that’s never gonna happen. Uh [Laughs] sorry.

Aysha: Right. And I mean– Even criticism of my work, I like better– Criticism of my writing… There’re some Pesterquest routes that I wrote that are better than others.
There are some Friendsim routes– Like, I don’t hit every [Laughs] single ball, obviously but… that criticism doesn’t really get to me because that– You need that kind of criticism.

James: Right. That’s criticism. I mean criticism, yeah that’s–

Aysha: But criticism of like “How dare she…”

James: [Laughs]

Aysha: “How dare she elevate herself above other people.” And– I mean– I dunno. I guess this goes along with ‘How do I get a job?’ coz I get people often asking how I ended up doing my job.

James: Mhm.

Aysha: And I think like a lot of it is luck. Which sucks to admit even to yourself.

James: Yeah…

Aysha: Being in the right place at the right time. I think that I hit– Like… I got into homestuck in 2015 when I was 26, so I was a combination of… already kind of established as a writer, mature enough to be able to hold down a job and I was very, very positive about Homestuck in a time when not many people were.

James: Right…

Aysha: Like– 2015/2016 there was not much homestuck positivity. So–

James: Yeah it was uh… There was a long period of time where not a lot of stuff was coming out. Even people who had worked on it previously were very negative about it…?

Even if it was as a joke, it’s like… you’re kind of culminating a community here of people– You’re probably– you don’t get to do that and then come and beg for a job later.

Aysha: Right. And it was kind of a– yeah it was like a perfect storm of stuff coming together and if I don’t always conduct myself, as a creator should, on Social Media, it’s because I– It was like an anime… power-up [Laughs]

James: Oh?

Aysha: I went from nothing to ‘Oh…There’s a lot of people looking at me.’ [Laughs]

James: When I followed you, you were like 150 followers. [Laughs]

Aysha: Yeah. So… and it makes you think about the line between the creator and fan being something so blurred, especially in something like Homestuck; that actually leans into that idea in Canon. But… Yeah. I dunno– Somebody else could’ve done it but I’m here doin’ it.

James: Yeah…

Aysha: You know…[Laughs] I guess that’s really all I can say. But yes, sorry I just made this whole question about me. Um–

James: That’s okay!

Aysha: Yeah! Combination of luck, putting yourself out there and not being an asshole in public.

James: Is there anything you wish you knew when you first got started?

Aysha: Tsk… [pauses to think]

James: For me it’s the same as the advice “Don’t underprice.”

Aysha: Yeah. I think that a good thing to keep in mind is that people are going to be mad at the stuff you make and it’s never gonna be the thing you think they’re gonna be mad about. [Laughs]

James: [short moment of realization] Oh god, yeah…

Aysha: So just go out there– Just… fuckin’ put it out there. [Laughs]

James: It’s crazy how people get mad about things that’s– I had not once had I foreseen that this would be the… There’s so many things that’s like “Ok, I have made sure that… y’know, I’ve got all my ducks in a row– Okay! I think we’re good.” And then someone will get mad at something that’s like… completely– Oh! I’m not saying it’s an invalid thing to be mad at, it’s just like– ‘Oh fuck!’ [mumbles something in disappointment]

Aysha: “Yeah I didn’t even think about that.” Yeah.

James: …Fuck. Alright. That leads us… to our next question. [Pause] Oh you wanna do the lead on this one?

Aysha: Oh. Lyric Heartwell asks: “How does one find the time where motivation to write or do creative stuff when being easily distracted is a thing?”

James: You can just say “No.” if you know what I mean. [Laughs] I’m just teasin’. I’m sorry, that was mean. You ever just say something mean and then just immediately go “I’m sorry…I thought that would come off a lot funnier–“

Aysha: I didn’t even hear what you said, so…

James: [Laughs]

Aysha: Now that was doubly bad.

James: Aww shit…

Aysha: Aww beans.

James: Aww… Peas and carrots…

Aysha: [tries to hold back laughter] I am very easily distractible. I have to work in very short little bursts because I have a very bad attention span.

James: Y’know what I do is… I have about 9 different things to work on and I will just work on 1 through 9 in that order and then back to 1 through 9 in that order… and it’s like…

[distant bells]

James: Alright, y’know what? Someone’s doing a crime and it is really loud so gimme a second.

Aysha: Ooh cool. Love some– Love a crime.

James: Yeah I’m getting the siren– Y’know I live in Burbank and no one does any crimes here.

Aysha: It’s probably not a crime, there was probably like, 4 black people in one place.

James: Ough [grimaces] Yeah… [sighs] The biggest crime that happens here is uh… Nobody invited me to their parties.

Aysha: Awww…

James: Just kidding–

Aysha: A social crime.

James: So many fucking people invite me to their– I don’t have time… I have energy for one group of friends, y’know?

Aysha: Yeah. I feel that.

James: There was this Halloween Cartoon Network thing. And it’s this big party and I just… Oh cool, I could go to this. And all my friends are there and y’know, and a bunch of people there– it’s like a big thing and they go all out–they’d rent this whole building-wide thing there’s like a DJ, there’s food, there’s free drinks. And they do it every year.

And you don’t even get invited to these…you just… go if you know, y’know? I was just like ‘I could go. Or… [extremely mischievous voice] I could tuck myself into bed in about 9:30 and just take a nap!” Y’know?

Aysha: Yup!

James: I’m that age now where… too many things are happening [chuckles]… and I’m tired.

Aysha: It’s the nap age.

James: Oh god… [sighs] I wish it were the nap age. It’s the– I have a bunch of things to do… Anyways! So that’s how we got distracted about a question.

Aysha: I guess we have time for maybe one more question?

James: One more question… We should probably find a question that’s not on this– because a lot of– two of these questions are exactly the same [Laughs]. We already answered them basically by answering another one. God! I guess we could look at the twitter questions?
Gosh, where was the thread? Ugh. Aww jeez…

Aysha: Yeah. Life’s so hard.

James: I know– Whoops. Goin’ through my twitter. Now I’m just checking my mai– my notifications [Laughs]

Aysha: Yeah! How are your mentions, buddy?

James: Oh… let’s not– [grunts]

Aysha: –In shambles.

James: It’s just… all about… apples.

Aysha: Yeah, it happens.

James: Alright, actually [typing in the search bar] Pgenpod… There we go– and then I go… It’s cool coz there’s a video of me doing this now.

Aysha: Awesome.

James: Check those in a second– Alright, what do we got here… [mumbles tweets] Nope that’s not interesting [chuckles] a lot of the– I guess we did say that “Ask us for advice!” but… a lot of our advice is that we… don’t really have it together…[Laughs] So…

Aysha: Yeah! We’re just vibing.

James: Yeah! This is how we vibe.

Aysha: This is vibing, yeah…

James: Yeah… I like the way you say “Vibe-ing” like two–[Laughs]

Aysha: Vibing?

James: “Vibe-ing” [trying to keep it together] I dunno, there’s just the way that you said it one time that was very– I really like that.

Aysha: I’m from Baltimore [Laughs] I say things funny.

James: Is there a Baltimore accent?

Aysha: Oh boy! Oh boy is there a Baltimore accent. Look it up on youtube. Like… My mom says “worter” instead of “water.”

James: Ough!

Aysha: Yeah… I don’t have a heavy Baltimore accent but sometimes I just slip into it.

James: Worter…

Aysha: Yeah.

James: Ugh that rules. That’s very like– New England– “worter.” That’s the classic Bostonian line…

Aysha: Yeah!

James: [Kinda thick accent] ‘Quorter for some worter for my daughter’s dog.’

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: That– I didn’t say it in an accent at all but that’s just– You just read it. I’m like the flattest American accent with like… a hinge of Southern California because I say ‘Like’ so much. I say ‘Cool’ … [inaudible] [chuckles]

Aysha: Yeah… yeah.

James: It’s everything I have not to slip into– Coz the way that I talk with my friends is very different than the way that I’m speaking now or publicly. [Laughs] I say a lot more swears. Alright! What’s the question that’s not like– A lot of these are a lot of people thinking– ‘This is my time to shine! And I need to pitch my personality in 250 characters.’ No, you don’t… actually.

Aysha: Mm.

James: What should I do– woah!

Aysha: Hm?

James: “What should I do about a” – I’m just reading this one to you, we’re not gonna answer this ‘coz this is a [Laughs] whole can o’ worms, but: “What should I do about a big crush I have on a guy who has a girlfriend but has also said he’s polyamorous,” – Red flag, first of all– “I don’t wanna make it weird because I love talking to him and if I can’t date him then I’d at least wanna be friends with him and keep it from being weird between us.”

Aysha: [Grunting] Help.

James: [Grunts] I wanna help you but not on a podcast.

Aysha: Yeah– [Laughs]

James: I might just respond a–

Aysha: Just DM this person. [Laughs]

James: Hey… ditch this dude. Let’s see…uh…

Aysha: [attempting a recovery] Oh my god. My advice is often just “Ditch this dude.” So I feel like I can’t be objected. Oh how ‘bout this: “What’s a movie you’d recommend that you’d feel is underappreciated?”

James: Oh ok, there we go. Yeah.

Aysha: Oh and this was FastPlant64.

James: [Amused] FastPlant64?

Aysha: Unreal respect. To this guy.

James: Damn… How fast we talkin’? Like –

Aysha: 64!

James: Ah yeah, wait – shit it’s right there in the name. Fuck, ugh! That’s so embarrassing. [Laughs] A movie – Well, do you have any – What’s your favourite movie? Do you have a favourite movie?

Aysha: Um. Probably the “5th Element”, as embarrassing as it is to say.

James: OH! Nice… It’s – There’s a lot that happens in that movie.

Aysha: Yeah, there’s a whole lot goin’ on. I haven’t seen it in a long time and I’m not sure how it would hold up.

James: It’s got Gary Oldman in it.

Aysha: It does have Gary Oldman in it. In another one of his roles where you’re like: “Oh! That was Gary Oldman?!”

James: [Laughs] Yeah yeah. “Oh his cool, slicked down hair and plastic hat – Gary Oldman.”

Aysha: Yeah, very cool.

James: I have a very – [Laughs] Clear… Y’know when he’s bleeding because the thing does the thing to his brain or whatever?

Aysha: Right.

James: That’s like, I don’t know why that’s so engrained in my memory –that scene. Probably because it was shocking and I saw it when I saw a teenager and I was like “Oh my god. Is that – Is that blood? Oh that’s crazy.”

Aysha: Yeah, it’s the movie that made me like Bruce Willis. I was like “Oh… I guess I do like Bruce Willis.”

James: you’re kind of neutral on old Bruce before but now –

Aysha: I was like “Oh he’s funny. Ok, I gotcha.” [Laughs]

James: He can be a goofy, muscular man.

Aysha: Yeah.

James: Awww… Awww shucks.

Aysha: A movie that I really liked that I think more people should watch is that Constantine movie with Keanu Reeves.

James: Huh… I’ve –

Aysha: That movie, rules.

James: I’ve never seen it.

Aysha: Yeah. It’s like… really stupid but, it’s like Tilda Swinton playing the angel Gabriel. Which is like… Really cool.

James: Oh? Anything with Tilda Swinton in it has elevated it a little bit.

Aysha: Yeah… Also the date when that movie came out – There’s a club scene in it that played “Passive” by A Perfect Circle. [Laughs]

James: Wow!

Aysha: Yeah… [Laughs] A moment in time.

James: Oh, do you feel like Constantine is underrated? Is that your underrated pick?

Aysha: Yes.

James: Oh, nice. I don’t watch a lot of movies, so… I would say my underrated movie that I really liked… You see, underrated is such a like – We were talking about this the other day, on Aysha’s patreon server –Which you can join today! You don’t have to join mine… but you can also.

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: That’s not a really great commercial for myself, I feel like.

Aysha: Aww, thanks buddy.

James: I could’ve made a couple o’ dollars there and I didn’t.

Aysha: [Laughs] You fucked up.

James: Damn! Don’t join my server, join Aysha’s. No, join both of them for the low, low price of – What’s the lowest Patreon tiers that they can get on your server? It’s like, a dollar, right?

Aysha: No, I think I made it 5 dollars now. Because there’s a period where it was just like… a LOT of people swarming in and I got scared.

James: Mine’s a dollar and that makes it so that you can only do a little bit. And then if you donate $5, you can use voice chat! [Laughs]

Aysha: Yeah, I feel like – Yeah, depending on how much I see how whack you can act. [Laughs]

James: Yeah… ough. Anyway, underrated movie, huh. Well we were talking about this on your server where it’s like – The phrase hipster has grown to mean something completely different, but in the same vein I dunno how much of twitter you follow that isn’t Homestuck related but “Underrated” is like “Oh! Underrated comment.”

Aysha: Yeah.

James: Stop saying this word. [Laughs] It means nothing anymore.

Aysha: Yeah.

James: So a movie that I really like – [deep sigh] God, I don’t watch enough movies.

Aysha: [Laughs] After all that!

James: Yeah! I – I can remember what movies have I seen.

Aysha: [Is proceeding to lose it]

James: I just watched Jojo Rabbit, which I loved.

Aysha: I need to watch that.

James: And I didn’t think it was gonna – I was ready for a funny Nazi movie, y’know? I was like “Ugh, am I – is it time?”

Aysha: I think that more brown Jewish people should make movies about Hitler.

James: Yeah! It was like, oh is this, y’know – I have faith in the director obviously, but like… coz like “What we do in the shadows” is really good.

Aysha: Yeah!

James: And “Thor: Ragnarok” is actually delightful. [Laughs]

Aysha: Yeah, that’s the only Marvel movie I like.

James: Yeah! It’s surprisingly very, very good, because it’s not super serious. And even in the scene he directed in Avengers it was like, “Oh, this was funny.” Because it’s not, [Laughs] y’know?

Aysha: They’re not trying to teach me an important moral lesson. Like Joss Whedon always is.

James: [Grunts] Joss Whedon… The lesson that Joss Whedon –

Aysha: – Very weird.

James: The only lesson that Joss Whedon is trying to teach anybody is that he hates women, so…

Aysha: Yeah.

James: And you can keep that one in, K-word. Fuck, Joss Whedon. Underrated movie is the movie I am writing in my head called “Fuck Joss Whedon. Hate that guy.”

Aysha: I think that, yeah! I think that’s gonna do pretty well, that one.

James: Remember firefly? I do. It was fine.

Aysha: [Waits for a punch line that never came] [Laughs]

James: [Laughs] The end. Of title.

Aysha: I mean there’s a reason why I described Starship Iris – I’m like: “Ok, so… Imagine Firefly but not racist.”

James: “Imagine Firefly but not racist and not weirdly misogynistic. But like oh the women are so strong in this but they’re still incredibly one-dimensional.” [Laughs]

Aysha: Yup. Yup!

James: like… cool. Dope I guess. Look, I liked [sigh]– I liked Firefly when it came out, When it was on TV for like… 4 episodes.

Aysha: Yeah – OH!

James: And then…

Aysha: Buffy is like, the first show I ever got obsessed with, as a teen. Buffy is still extremely important to me. I would probably never watch it again.
James: [Laughs]

Aysha: But it’s what gave me taste.

James: Are there – What’s something that you love you know that you could just never re-watch it because it will not hold up?

Aysha: Yeah, it’s literally Buffy.

James: Oh yeah. For me it’s Futurama.

Aysha: [Laughs]

James: I loved it. And I know this was gonna –Ohhh boy. Y’know, like [Laughs] ough. And there are still jokes from it that are timeless jokes; Citizen Snips is one of the funniest visual and – just a stupid gag. It’s so funny. But there’s so much in that show that’s just “Oh… I forgot about this, [grimaces] well…”

Aysha: Yeah.

James: The whole plot of this being weird like, Nice guy, y’know like – [grimaces again] God.

Aysha: Y’know, maybe we should wrap this up, I think that might be our show?

James: Yeah… Ending it on a high note!

Aysha: On a super high note!

James: I never even gave my recommendation –

Aysha: –Hopefully my audio file didn’t corrupt. We’ll see about that one after the show.

James: Yeah, thanks for coming everybody. How do you end Pgen pod –?

Kate: Like this! [Laughs] You can find us on Overcast, iTunes, Spotify, Google-play, and more. And at pgenpod.com or @pgenpod on twitter.

The show will be live in Staten Island, New York City on Thursday, December 5th with Goomy, Optimistic Duellist, Pip and myself. RSVP and get details at pgenpod.com/live.

The music for this show was by Goomy and it’s from their new Perfectly Generic Album, which you can download for free on their Bandcamp.

You can support this show on patreon.com/pgenpod. Patrons get access to 16 bonus episodes and counting on [I]ntermission. I’m gonna record a 17th tomorrow.

Your support is shared equitably with everyone who makes each episode possible. At the end of the show we’d like to thank our Skylark-tier patrons for their support [names].

And I’d like to take a moment to advertise our pledge drive at you again we are $3 short of the per episode goal to continue funding the Perfectly Generic Zine, which is a team of awesome people lead by sword is working on behind the scenes and I’m really excited for them to be able to put some amazing content into the world and pay analysts, writers and fan artists for this stuff.

And also to fund transcriptions, because the volunteers who transcribe this show are heroes, they make this show accessible to everyone and I wanna make sure to keep money from the patreon going to them and getting everyone compensated well enough for coming on.

Next week on Pgen pod: Sarah Zedig is back. She’ll be discussing Homestuck^2 and tomorrow on [I]ntermission, I’ll be talking about some stuff with abraxiasGrip [Laughs].

Thanks for listening and thank you so much to James and Aysha for coming on. Please be normal to them online, you can find James on @hamesatron on twitter and instagram. And Aysha: @ayshaufarah.

Please be normal to them online. Please, they’re great people. See you next week.

[Outro]