#mcflaugust

4. Do you have a favorite outfit you created?

Yes! It’s a toss-up between July 9 “The New Blacksmith” and July 25 “Doc’s Revolver” – both examples of pieces I often use but have never put together before, but now I’m obsessed!

5. Have you ever done bttf-bounding before?

Funnily enough I have! I wanted to celebrate Back to the Future Day back in 2015, so I wore a red blouse with a longline mustard cardigan as an undercover version of Doc’s costume on the poster for Part II! Also at the BTTF 40th anniversary screening at my local theater last year, I did a toned-down Marty (jean jumper layered with a burgundy tshirt under it and a plaid shirt tied over it- I was too much of a chicken to go in full costume since none of my friends were dressing up haha)

6. If the bttf characters were in the modern day and your same age, whose style do you think would be the most similar to yours?

Oh man this one is a tough one! I think I’m going to say Clara, since she does stick with the style of the day but makes it her own in a slightly whimsical way- I didn’t see anyone else wear gorgeous purple dresses in Hill Valley!

7. What's your favorite costume in the trilogy?

The pink and red cowboy outfit 1955 Doc gives Marty to wear in Part III! It is so funny and ugly but kind of ironically great and the colors actually do work in a weird way… plus the joke of “no way, this is what cowboys wore; you’ll fit right in” is always so funny to me! And of course I love Clara's green robe and nightgown- it is SO dreamy and fancy and almost… magical! I would cancel all weekend plans swan around home all day in that outfit!

8. If you could dress any character from the trilogy in a modern day outfit who would you pick and what would you put them in?

The first iteration of the AU was created as an entry for the Febuwhump 2024 challenge. I did this month's challenge since at the time I was struggling with writing whump concepts. Well I died on it and then came back to finish it in June. It was the second to last prompt "No…Not Like This". Where I went with this was Doc and Marty surviving in the zombie apocalypse, only one stupid mistake of Marty's leads to Doc being scratched by a zombie. (And if it makes this any better, no, Doc makes sure he won't become the undead). So first of all, let us applaud me for getting over my whump problems, and know that this AU could be a whole lot rougher for Marty lol. While obviously a lot has changed from that one story, there's still a lot of kept elements. Like for example Marty has Batty and Doc has a rifle. That same summer, I was reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. While the world is not wiped out by a zombie virus, it is a fast spreading fast killing sickness. The story jumps around time following different parties surviving in the new world and coming to terms with it versus the old one. This book ruined me. I couldn't see the world the same again. And I saw apocalypses in a totally different light. So, newly inspired by this book, I decided to continue this zombie apocalypse idea in the "YOUTH JAILED" prompt entry for McFly July 2024, which I think I actually wrote in either August or September, writing with a new understanding the book gave me. And I loved it. I had so much fun writing it. That year one of the McFly July participants was fishunderthesea with their fic "a nice place to live". This fic used the prompts in a full connected plot. I thought it was super cool and kinda wanted to figure out how to do that for McFly July 2025. At some point it hit me, to do the zombie apocalypse AU. After all, I didn't really know where I wanted to go with it. McFly July prompts could give me direction. So I wrote Us Against the End. And then this year I realized I wanted to conclude the AU, so here I am now with Our Future In The End!

5. Do you have a favorite moment you wrote this year?

I really enjoyed writing Marty's final goodbye to his family and home in Day 3: Saw It On a Rerun. But I've also had a lot of fun writing any of the interactions between Marty and Mia. They are both so fun together!!!

6. If you could have any person in the world read this fic, who would you wish to read it?

Uhmmmmmm I'm gonna be honest nobody really comes to mind. This fic is very…niche to say the least. Everyone who would understand it and appreciate it for what it is have already been reading it, aka the fandom. Please don't EVER show this to anyone on the bttf cast, or I think I'd implode from embarrassment XD

7. Did you find that writing plot (and writing Marty) into such a confined setting (the bunker) was constraining? Or was it artistically challenging in a fun way?

Less confining and more complicated. I don't have a whole lot of time to really flesh out the bunker and how it functions, and it more has to be developed as I go. Let alone making sure it's all realistic. It was a bit of a challenge using a completely original setting instead of a canon, already developed location (aka Hill Valley)!

8. You’ve been working toward Marty reuniting with Jennifer since last year! Did you feel any pressure or joy once you got to write that moment?

I'd been so hyped to write them reuniting! Then when I got there I did get a little bit of cold feet. But overall super exciting. They deserve each other, even in this world :)

9. Can Marty’s bunker band perform at next year’s Mcfly July opening party? What songs would they play?

3. Your pieces often feature a unique pov: for day 28 ‘binoculars’ we’re looking through the binoculars, for day 26 ‘echoes in the ravine’ we’re looking down at the ravine. How do you decide where you're going to place us, the viewers, in your work?

I sort of would just rattle the prompt around in my head for a bit. Sometimes, if I remembered, I’d look at the prompt for the day and plan it a little in the hours before I’d actually draw it. Others, I’d sit down, look at the prompt for the first time, and think ‘wtf am I doing with this’. Either way, I’d kind of get these different scenes and images in my head and on occasion they worked at different angles. There were days I purposely tried to get those different perspectives, but there were also days they just kind of came to me. A significant part of it was emotional setup; for example, day 8 “the new blacksmith” was set that way to feel lonely and kind of empty, the bleak sort of future Marty would have if he were suddenly in 1885 to stay. Day 25 “doc’s revolver” was meant to capture that momentary face off as Doc desperately tried to save himself and Marty’s lives, like a spotlight had suddenly been put on him. For day 28 I wanted it to feel involved and immersed, like you were George looking through the binoculars (wasn’t always going to be a bird, but I didn’t really want to draw Lorraine changing). Day 26 was also meant to capture that kind of somber loneliness, looking down on the burning remains of a train which seem small when compared to the fact that Clint Eastwood, a whirlwind of strangeness and bravery and reckless youth, was gone (100 years into the future or dead, didn’t and couldn’t matter to those of the time). Many others (though not all) were set with the same emotion-focused idea in mind.

4. What felt like the biggest risk this month?

Participating. For a few reasons. I’ve mentioned it a couple times, but the last time I did a challenge like this was inktober 2019 and I stopped at day 13, so part of me was afraid I wouldn’t be able to take this all the way either (which isn’t even an issue! All and any entries are loved and cherished as part of the event). I guess it’s also this big community event and I was a bit afraid I wouldn’t be able to like, live up to it? I don’t know if that makes any sense.

5. What is your favorite piece you made this month?

Hard question! I think it’s gotta be day 6 “swiping from the old lady’s liquor cabinet”. I don’t know, even though I can see all the technical issues with it, I think that one is emotionally one of my better ones? I feel like you can feel the late-night quiet and the house holding its breath, like you too are a kid sneaking around past bedtime again. But more than that, like you can also feel the cold tension and deep-rooted sadness of the house as a whole. And I feel like I did well with slapping you in the face with it. Little Marty not necessarily being sad about his mother’s alcoholism but confused why she does it I think hits harder, because a kid wouldn’t really know or understand all the implications of it yet. She drinks this stuff all the time that makes her act all weird and then go to sleep, but it doesn’t taste good? What’s even the point? The phrase “I don’t get it” is four single-syllable words and with it you get the weight of the whole piece coming to a head. And as the person on the outside looking in at the scene, you yourself know. You understand why she does it. And it hurts more that he doesn’t understand yet, knowing he one day will, and that this is his life and his childhood.

6. Do you ever have dreams about your drawings?

Maybe! I don’t tend to remember my dreams.

7. Your compositions are unique and very well-designed! Do you work in any other areas of visual art or design?

Awh, thanks! The ‘uniqueness’ comes from purposely trying to create something interesting and new. I’ve unfortunately always been rather hard on myself about my art- remember, kids, comparison is the death of joy- so I value being able to make something that gets you thinking over something that is considered ‘good’ because I know if I make something normal then I’ll just look at other art and think I’m no good. I work a lot digitally because it’s most accessible to me; my phone and fingers are always on me, I can do it anytime! But I do love experimenting with different medias (sometimes new ones frighten me, though). I’ve never used oil paints but I love acrylic paints, even if I don’t use them very often. I like making little figures out of clay as well, though again I do not do that often (I don’t own any clay, nor would I have a way to fire/glaze; last time I made anything out of clay I was still in high school). Also making 3d structures out of cardboard and hot glue! Again, don’t do that often. Wire is fun to work with, too!! One of my favorite pieces I’ve ever made was made of iron and aluminium wire as well as strings and beads; it was a weird little cat with Mimikyu-like arms stretching out and yeah. Still, even with these other medias I often strive to make something unique or new so that I can’t compare it to anything else for the reasons stated above.

8. Would you ever sell prints of your work because I’d pay money for the sorry about your barn one. Or the hip to be square one. Or the ice cream truck one.

I’ve never sold any of my work or done commissions for a number of reasons (mainly, I would be stressed about not being able to follow through with an order or the work itself not living up to what the customer wanted it to be, but also I just don’t think anyone would buy it either). If I were, I would have to work out shipping, material costs of printing, and actually figure out how to make prints. But I appreciate you saying that :3

9. Have any comics/graphic novels influenced your drawings?

No? Not that I know of. I don’t really read comics or graphic novels. In terms of influence, I will say that I don’t do like standard studies the way I see people do them sometimes or anything like that where you sit down and really try to take in a technique or study structure or light from life, because I just don’t have the patience; I get very bored very quickly, cannot listen past the 30 second mark of any art tutorial, can’t draw from life for very long either, not without some gimmick I’m more focused on. Instead I take in a lot of technique development through just observing the world around me and consuming other art. It’s easier because the focus isn’t “how can I draw this”, it’s “oh wow, this element and this design choice and this feature are really cool”. So, answering the question I think you’re trying to ask me: I’ve seen a lot of inkwork over my time as an artist and any number of those drawings have been assimilated into how I draw and how I handled making my entries.

10. Do you think BTTF would translate well into an animated movie? You worked exclusively in black and white this month--what about an animated noir movie?

Hahaha! I think yeah, it could! I don’t think it would fit the hyper-detailed 3D thing a lot of animated movies have going on these days. But I could see an Into the Spider-Verse style working really really well for it, with the vibrancy and color symbolism and comic book mix of 2D-3D look those movies have. An animated noir movie could also be cool! But I think that might work best not as a full BttF adaptation but just the portion of the movie where he’s in 1955. I also think that idea works best if we don’t see initially he’s a time traveller and we just see this boy bumbling around the 50s all confused-like. Following his adventures where it’s clear through action and conversation that he’s out of his own time, while the whole movie around him fulfils every 50s stereotype ever- noir included. Noir movies tend to be really serious and intense, mysterious and dark… and maybe the clash there isn’t just Marty out of his own time but the way he acts in comparison to an over-exaggeratedly serious 1955. Alternatively: the BttF game’s 1931 setting with the mafia plot might work well for a noir movie if set up right.

11. What detail do you find most visually striking about Back to the Future?