DWC Marshal Arts

Only I remain

Find the answers

Ft. Trey and Hammer

"Some catch, that catch-22..."

Have I mentioned I’ve been getting into photography?

Been using this Praktica BCC I acquired at a rummage sale for 30 bucks. Film is costing exponentially more, haha.

Temperamental but functional thing. Seems to underexpose to meter for the sky a lot, causing a lot of washed out frames. Gotta figure that one out.

Here are some of the best shots from the latest batch.

Using this to help me with composition with a traditional analog camera, hoping it teaches me something with regards to my art and framing as well.

I know it's not in vogue to write journals anymore. Unfortunately, it's one of those realities that seeps in mind every now and then. The last entry was three weeks ago, would you believe it? Funny how time flies.

After too long, here I am, returning to recall in ink that which I've lived and it feels like talking to an old friend.

Savor each time. For though I may come around to write every day, there will come a day where I return home, too tired and limp to scribble even a sentence. The next day will come, rinse and repeat. Forget and forego. Then I'll beat myself up over how much I miss having done it.

And then I'll pick it up again. The fluctuation is a consistent, but I've made peace with it. Spring says good bye. But it also, eventually, says hello again, too.

-M.R.

"Hard to get the lighting right indoors."

Murdoch and Cliff have a little spat about what counts as a scary campfire tale.

Seven years ago, the first picture in this lineup was made to observe May the 4th, in celebration of Star Wars Day. Featuring at-the-time not-as-fleshed-out Louis Percival and an unnamed Sith-coded antagonist, it was a silly little thing to express my interest in the franchise. 7 years later, Louis is a fleshed-out character, with his own set of insecurities, ego, and drives.

The antagonist would transform into his brother, whose motives would go from edgy bloodlust to a struggle for agency.

The Percivals series would not exist the way it does without Star Wars. While the Percivals is its own series now with no ties to the Lucas IP, a lot of the visual cues, themes, and world aesthetics were inspired by the analog retro-future that was seen in the original films, Rogue One, and in series like Andor. For that, I owe that space opera a debt of gratitude.

HAPPY MAY DAY, THE WORKERS’ HOLIDAY!

At a time when too many gleefully abrogate their conscious efforts to machines which enrich the pockets of the owner class and upend communities, we must uphold the innate, indomitable, and immortal spark of creation only gained through the lived personal and collective experiences of breathing beings.

It is not through the surrender of our faculties to so-called miracle machines and the upheaval of whole economic sectors that we achieve liberation. Only through broad solidarity of the working people the world over can we break the chains that bind the soul and reclaim that which has been stolen from us: self-determination over our destiny.

It is in this spirit that we should observe May Day, upholding the tradition of revolutionary movements of the past that punched upward against their holders of their shackles; upholding the tradition of millions who dared to struggle with everything to lose but a world to gain.

"You see it, too?"

"Yeah."

"'least I'm not alone, huh?"

A NEW SYSTEM IN THE WAKE OF NEW DEMANDS

To those who don't know, me and my family are being forced to move. I didn't know until last week, when the news was sprung on us that the property owner would be selling the house we've lived in for over 10 years when the lease ends in June.

As we're scrambling to figure out a place to land, two things outside of the enormity of the physical and technical effort needed to move are inevitables:

Higher Cost of Living

Higher Rent

Across the board, these two truths will follow us wherever we decide to move to.

Of course, as a freelancer, my income may strain or even have to be supplemented by a second, retail job again. But, having worked retail for 4 years and prizing my own independence and service to people interested in my stories or commissioning me, I would like to avoid that at all hazards.

Freelancing comes with it a level unpredictability, but it also offers the ability to scale, modify approach, and adapt to situation-specific demands.

So, at the current moment, the situation is demanding that all burners be on, the gas to be floored, all stops to be pulled.

To achieve, this, I'm pushing three fronts as described in the chart:

Pushing the Print Shop that you can find on INPRNT!

Pushing the Patreon as the primary exclusive and early access platform

Catching up on the backlog and returning to regular commission queues.

I will try my very best not only to maintain this "Fight On Three Fronts" System, but to keep y'all updated on the moving situation.

Thank you for attention, folks. In solidarity,

Words of comfort

“Eternal smile.”

RASK