Did you see my new stuff?

This month I wrapped up my books with a few blessedly, thankfully medium banners for good friends.

The Happy Camper banner is probably the best big one I’ve ever made. Vicky is an amazing artist who has always been insanely kind and funny. She lives here.

Then another banner for another great person. Hannah and my have been mutuals for a while. We joke around frequently and have purchased each other’s art for a while. Highly recommended you follow her here.

Lastly, another long-time mutual Anastasia. She purcahsed (I think) my third large scale banner I ever made. You can imagine how much that means to me; to take a chance on me when I was still cutting my teeth. Please go give her a follow.

FOG is moving FAST!

Zoom, zoom. I am in that weird phase where I’m charging my laser to deploy numerous new designs on you all.

It’s a weird feeling that is also strangely crippling.

Library Shirts Update.

They are done, but I’m sitting on them for convention life. I have yet to get real photos of them. Glam shots soon.

Sorry, but I simply make way more money off not paying shipping. If you want one and wanna pick it up locally, contact me.

FOG Skincare

It has been 90+ degrees with 90% humidity for weeks (until yesterday). My skin is a nightmare.

I am almost done my exfoliant, so maybe next time I upgrade to shattered glass.

FOG AOTY 2025 Update

Bahh, God. Hip hop from the top rope!

The new Clipse record is exactly as good as you’ve heard it is. It straight-up redefines what it means to be an elder statesman of the rap game. Like many others, I am floored by it.

I will say that Pharrell annoys me immensely as a performer. His production is excellent on every track, but his vocals are the biggest, if not only, detractor from the record.

Also the new Tyler the Creator record is by far my favorite since IGOR. It sort of ditches the high-concept stuff and presents summer bangers.

Lastly, the follow-up to one of my all-time favorites, Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist’s Alfredo. We got Alfredo 2, lol.

Ensalada, with Anderson .Paak is an easy SOTY contender.

✨✨PIN GIVEAWAY✨✨

Hey, thanks for signing up for this email. It’s just a place for me to ramble and for you to receive those ramblings.

Either way, yes, pins. I got a handful made and they won’t be available until mid-September - except right here.

To enter, simply do nothing. You’re already on the list and I’ll just pick at random in a day or two.

I love you, and you have the ability.

A Very Rare, Lengthy Tangent About the Video Game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has already been something I’ve mentioned before on my internet banner making account (It’s called Forum Of Goods, on the website Instagram). It’s also having a bit of a moment, culturally.

Deservedly so! It is a very adult, thoughtful piece of art. It is also - however - a video game. So, if you have no desire to read anything about that, feel free to skip. 

For those who do, it’s an inspiring piece of art. Even when taken totally aside from it being a video game, it shines and speaks magnitudes. Even people with no interest stop and say “oh, what is that?”

To which I reply as such:

This is a game squarely and explicitly about art. It’s insanely French (compliment) in both precision and depth. The small team who made it poured a lot of heart into this - a game which should be lauded and appreciated outside of its medium.

One picture here or there won’t do any justice. Its graphics do far more than just accurately depicting things. The baseline of Deco surrealism is already impressive and expanded on relentlessly, setting to setting.

Fittingly, the antagonist is named The Paintress, a goddess with a brush. So, the many classical and modern art references circle back and have a space within the narrative. 

Clair Obscur tells a genuinely meaty story of generational grief and the sloooow apocalypse. How we carry the weight of previous generations with us, for harm or for health.

What’s most important is that the story leans into the strengths of the medium. Non sequiturs and flashbacks can disorient in shorter art forms, but are used here a lot. The story is chopped up and presented in large chunks that make up a … larger chunk?

Clair Obscur takes cues from prestige television rather than movies, which, from a structural point, just works better.

It is sort of the idealized, modernized version of the classic games from twenty years past - Final Fantasy 6/7 and Chrono Trigger. But much, much more adult and resonant. Elevated to and matched by its art style.

There are some very adult things in this game. Parental abandonment, death (lots), suicide, grief, stewardship. All are held up by characters capable of the weight, who also provide interpersonal levity and development throughout.

And, damn! I really cared for these people. Usually the bar is so deplorably low for characters in games. Clair Obscur leave no meat on the bone.

Also, the music is fabulous. Like, really, really good. Unlike anything I’ve heard within or without a video game.

Much like the structure of the story, music is also used in ways that are unique to the medium. It’s dynamic and hybrid, triggering at certain events and times. Sometimes here, sometimes there.

It’s a beautiful, haunting presence. The score is way more than a small reason the emotional punches land as they do (hard). There are many times where I found myself having to go back solely to listen to certain parts of it.

I’m not going to talk about the actual game.

Yeah, there is gamey stuff. It’s all well and good. It plays like Paper Mario and Final Fantasy 9, from the battles to ability progression respectfully. I never felt there wasn’t a carrot dangling for me.

You’re just watching a number grow bigger. Honestly, that shit isn’t important.

What’s important is how this game makes you think, reflect, and appreciate the life around you. The characters and settings are grounded and true. The art and music are inspiring.

So, if you can, go play Clair Obscur. It transcends the medium and should be visited by anyone with the slightest interest.

Okay, thanks for reading! Never again!

So what do we think?

I hope you reach out and let me know what you’d like to see!

Thank you, I love you.