March 24, 2025 • 54 mins
This week LJ is joined by local cosplayers Adrian and David to talk about their cosplay journey, ConFluence, and building community within the nerd space.
Follow Adrian: https://www.instagram.com/stpaulprince
Follow David: https://www.instagram.com/tazumi_zaiga
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
And welcome back. Another episode of The Lookout,
episode 198. We're getting closeto 200. We just celebrated seven
years. We just wrapped up oursix part one piece with me and
AD.
No Mills still. So you will hearhim next week, this week where
(00:38):
I'm running it. I'm I'm notsolo, but I'm solo because today
I have two amazing guests, twoamazing people that I have had
the pleasure of even sharing thestage with with a panel, and I'm
super happy to have them on.We're keeping it super local.
We're keeping it super SaintPaul today.
(01:00):
Okay. So today, I have two greatmen two great cosplayers, Adrian
and David. How are you guysdoing today?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Doing doing well. Thanks for
Speaker 3 (01:10):
having pretty good. Thank you. Thank you. That was a
wonderful intro. Appreciatethat.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
For life.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Oh, man. I I appreciate that. See, I'm not
usually the one that does theintro. My cohost does. And so
it's been real fun kinda doingit for the past couple weeks.
I've been kinda getting my I'mnot like I don't know if y'all
listen to throwing fits where hedoes, like, the 50 nicknames,
like, super rapid fast.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
But I'm I'm getting there. Guys, how you so how are
you guys doing today? You'redoing great?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yeah. Doing great. Doing wonderful.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
So I know you guys both got back from BlurredCon.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Mhmm. Mhmm.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
How can can you tell us a little bit about that? And
also too, has there been a aconvention yet that is that is
your pinnacle of conventions?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Adrian, why don't you go ahead and start this one?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah. So, yeah, BlurredCon. I was doing some
digging in the I was finally Istarted in 2017, so we I'm sure
they had some downs over thepandemic, but going on for a few
year. You know, of course,Blurred combination of black
nerd has been going on for itwas, yeah, it was amazing
experience. I think all thethings they advertised, it was
there because we've been tocons, and it's with diversity,
you might have a diverseattendees or you might have
(02:26):
something, hitting all points ofdiverse attendees, diverse
content, diverse planners,diverse, vendors, all those
things, having that space andjust being, so, yeah,
comfortable and and welcome intothat environment.
So, yeah, that was out in,Virginia last week. Well, a
couple weekends ago. It's allflying by, but it was an amazing
experience to be able to cosplayand see some stuff that you
(02:49):
wouldn't see other places andreally enjoy it. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah. Blurcom for me was, was actually a bucket list
place for me to to visit. So itwas an absolute joy and honor to
be there and to make that happenand appreciative to my guy
Adrian for coming along with meto experience that. It was
(03:17):
amazing. It was amazing.
It was everything that I hopedit to be and probably more. It
was for me, it was a way morepolished con and the things of
looking towards like, blackspaces. You know what I mean?
(03:38):
And so that I mean, like therewas just so much. There's such a
high that it leaves you with.
There's so much going on fromlike one of the things that
stood out to me for was howcelebratory everybody was, how
happy everyone was just to bethere, to be in their own skin.
(04:02):
It was like, as we like to say,you with family. And so to be
there and then just everybodyjust joyful, everybody being
super nerds, but also theculture, that unspoken language
that we have with one another.It didn't matter if people were
(04:22):
from the East Coast, it didn'tmatter if people from the West
Coast, it didn't matter that weare in the Midwest. Like
everybody came from all over thecountry and just vibed out.
And I loved every bit of that.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Definitely. And that's amazing to hear. I think,
like, what we're doing here atthe Lookout, being a black anime
network, that word that you'resaying, like family and
community, and that's somethingthat we really strive for here,
in this space.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Because we've seen it before. We've seen it online
where, you know, it can it canget very divisive.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Mhmm. You know?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
You you can you can can see it and to to create
spaces for ourselves and forother fans and and, you even
outside the anime, you'retalking about just, like you
said, the whole blurred, youknow, community between gamings
and comics and whatnot. So it'sgreat to see these, you know,
conventions and events that arehappening where you can see
(05:29):
people who look like you andcome from similar experiences
from you, but are still able toenjoy all these different assets
and different just likechannels. And that's amazing to
hear, and I'm happy that youguys had an amazing experience
out there. I definitely had acouple other friends out there
who all said the same thingwhere it's like, go there and
(05:52):
you just feel at home. You justfeel like, wow, here are all
these other people who look likeme enjoying this stuff and just
having fun with it, which isamazing to hear.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, for years, I
mean, there's it's there'sthere's like it's like layers to
the onion. You know?
There's so many layers to this.And for me, I got into let's
just say I grew into myselflater in the years. You know? I
was already a full fledged grownman with family, kids and stuff
(06:27):
like that. And it wasn't tilllater to where I really came
into myself and accepted myselfas and in flying that flag as a
black nerd.
Before the word blurred evencame about or that recognition
or that container, if you will,I just knew that I've always
(06:50):
liked these things. It wasalways a nostalgic feeling for
me, but I still continue toenjoy them. And so like going, I
started to go to cons andthrough my photography work that
connected me to that community.I really loved being in that
because it was still, you werestill kind of finding your
(07:12):
people, you know, people thatenjoy these, these, these
different medias and fandoms andthings like that. But as a black
male stepping into those spaces,you started more and more, I
should say, you started to kindof feel that like, I'm kind of
feeling a little excluded.
(07:34):
There's not a lot of therepresentation that, things that
I vibe with. There's not much ofmy culture. There's not much of
the people that look like methat's here. Stuff like that.
You start to notice that.
You start to feel a littleexclusion from folks and from
the organizations. They ask,hey, give us give us what do you
(07:58):
want to see at the next cons?And you start filling out like,
I would like to see a little bitof this, little little bit more
maybe hip hop r and b, littlebit jazz. I don't care.
Something that is more representrepresentative of where I come
from and things that I enjoy.
Maybe I can get some panelsthat's talking about some movies
or whatever media that has alittle bit more of the culture
(08:24):
that I recognize and I come fromand identify with. And when it
kind of blatantly just does notget answered at all, you start
to notice that more and more. Sowe'll definitely get into which
will segue into confluence andhow confluence came about. But
(08:47):
Blurred kind of came about justrandomly for me. And I saw, I
think it was a cosplay musicvideo.
And I was just like, Oh my God,This place exists. I need to get
there. I don't know how. I don'tknow when, but I gotta get
there.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah. Definitely. And we'll definitely get in the
confluence because I feel thatis something both of you guys
are working on and been a partof. How how long is con this is
what year for confluence?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
This is the second it'll be the second full event.
So his first event was in 2023last year. Put on some smaller
events to keep things going, butthe second full con event will
be this October. So the secondone. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah. Awesome. And we'll we'll definitely tap into
that. Before we get into that,though, one thing that I would I
I love about both of y'all isyour ability to take a cosplay
and turn it into somethingcompletely, like, left field
(09:54):
where you're like, I couldn'teven think of that. Oh, like,
what was your I guess, like,what was your start in it?
Like, you know, obviously doingthe cosplay. And then what was
the point where you felt like,okay. Like, let me let me start
throwing my little extras on itbecause I David, I saw your
Super Mario. Adrian, the the thePrince Jedi is the Prince Jedi
(10:21):
at this point is is just as bigas Prince. Like, people know who
the, you know, people know whothe Prince Jedi is.
Oh. Yes. You know, in the city.So, like, how, like, you know,
starting with you, Adrian, like,what was your point where you're
like, okay, this is my intro tocosplay and then, what was that
turning point where you're justlike, you know what? I'm gonna
start throwing my extra my extraflavors on it.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah. I've always been a a creative nerdy kid and
doing those sort of things, butmy sort of cosplay intro was was
the Black Panther movie after itcame out and the the Killmonger
character really, just, again, Ialways say outside of the
killing, but everything else hewas saying and doing really
identified. And I was like, Iwanna that's a that's a pretty
badass suit. I wanna get that.So I dropped some paid some
(11:05):
money and got that and thehelmet and all that stuff from
war to a Galaxy Con in 2099 andthe in 2019 in The Twin Cities
and really enjoyed thatexperience.
And and, it's gonna be I mean,weird going out in Minneapolis
and full body spandex. Butafterwards, I was like, I'm
gonna feel weird if I wasn'twearing cosplay in this
situation. So just kept on doingwith that, did some new ones.
But today, I think of my most,like, creative ideas I get when
(11:27):
I'm falling asleep. And I waslike, there's, yeah, this, I was
like, get a purple lightsaber,the Mace Windu one, and, I've
done some Prince stuff here andthere.
And that's been a fan of that.And I wonder, yeah, Prince could
be a Jedi. Just gotta get arole, put these things together,
and tweaked it over time andjust really enjoyed the it's
you're not you're not gonna getas many, photos as Spider Man or
(11:48):
some big net things like thateverybody knows. But when you
get the the people who know thator realize it or connect with
it, it's a much deeperconnection and much more fun, I
think, to have that originalidea and creation. So I really
enjoyed that, and mine's alwaysracing for new things in the
coming years, but I had toinitially, I wasn't gonna bring
Jedi Prince to BlurryCon.
Was like, what? After, like,watching more videos, so many
(12:09):
original characters, like, thethe purple purple one has to has
to make it to to DC for that. Soit was a good time. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Amazing. And, David, what about you? Like, what was
that you know, your introductionto the cosplay world and then
what was that point where you'rejust like, you know what? I'm a
take this character. I'm a takethis theme and I'm just gonna
I'm a run off with it on my onmy own time in.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Oh, man. I okay. My introduction to cosplay was I
was the cameraman. I was thephotography was my introduction
to it all, but I legitimatelyavoided it for many, many years.
So it wasn't until probably2017, '20 '18 maybe when I very
(12:52):
first was like, I'm
Speaker 1 (12:54):
gonna give it
Speaker 3 (12:54):
a shot. And I literally just threw like
Halloween cost like piecestogether. My first one was Cloak
Tyrone Johnson from Cloak andDagger in the Marble Run. And it
(13:15):
like Adrian was saying, was thisthing that sort of just made me
feel closer to myself as cornyas that might sound is the
truth. Like I just enjoyed it.
Like I had so much fun justbeing part kind of playing
(13:38):
around with this character. Andthen when people recognize that
character, there's a connectionthat happens. All of a sudden
this conversation sparks and youstart like bonding over like
favorite moments from the comicor from the TV show, so on and
so forth. So that was the veryfirst one. And then I just built
(13:59):
upon it.
I started dumping money into it.I found a sister here who's a
Rondo, who still is in the Rondocommunity. Quintellig, I got a
drop. I got a name drop herbecause she's done all my cloaks
from scratch. So put ittogether.
(14:20):
I gave her pictures and allkinds of designs and stuff like
that and told her this is how Iwanted to look and she did me
right. So that's how I got mymore accurate piece. And then
that also led on to like theblack Adam.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
And also shout out to the Rondo babies. We always
gotta we always gotta shout outto the Rondo babies. But,
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah. I see, I've been I've been wanting to take
that step into the cosplayworld.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Talk is cheap.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Talk is cheap. Talk is very cheap. I'll I will agree
with that. My issue is that I'dbe like, I got a 50 ideas and I
do not know how to zone in onone.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
It's you just jump. You you literally jump head
first, feet first, whatever,because I did the same thing. I
had a list. I was like, I don'tknow. There's a bunch of people
that look awesome.
Cloak wasn't my very first idea.That wasn't the very first. I
was gonna try to do Buca fromAir Gear. And then but I was
(15:24):
like, I don't really wanna tryand build skates. So let me try
to find something else.
And I don't know. I landed onone that felt easy enough for me
to jump into, that wasn't gonnabreak the pockets, that didn't
really require me to invest alot of time and money. But the
moment I did, I was hooked. Soyou just you just gotta, like,
(15:48):
pick and go.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Do you feel that it is easier when starting off to
just go out kinda find the thethe already built costume just
to kinda get the the feel forit? Or, you know Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
It's it's it's tricky too because I think I I I I went
very hard on my first one as faras price wise and so having that
sort of standard
Speaker 1 (16:11):
of You like half the costume from the movie at that
Speaker 3 (16:14):
point. Getting that experience.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And then, yeah, then you're like, oh, I can't get
that spirit Halloween stuff fornext. But I've done that too
with bought some stuff, and Ithink I've learned that the
community is very welcoming.There are those anything elitist
snobs who want the fancy stuff,but people, yeah, people who
come in with cardboard stuff,people who do all sorts of
different things. People likethe creativity, and, again,
(16:36):
don't let the don't letperfection get in the way of
progress. You start withsomething, and whether you can
keep using cardboard orwhatever, it's gonna get better
over time.
So I think that's a verywelcoming community for the most
part.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Right. Awesome. Well, listen. Confluence is coming in
October. I'm definitely gonna bethere.
I may pull up in in my firstcosplay there. That may be my
Speaker 2 (16:58):
What's it gonna be? What's it gonna be? Name it name
it right now. What are youdoing? I don't I
Speaker 1 (17:01):
think you're putting me on the spot. I'm like, David,
I got the list. I gotta I gottaI gotta throw my ball in the
list.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Just cover your eyes and point and be like, alright.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
See, that was gonna be, I was gonna hang it up. I'm
a have the darts. I'm just gonnaturn, throw the dart, whatever
it lands closest to. I'm like,alright, that's the one I'm
gonna roll with. But.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
One that has definitely been like high on my
list is the is the Superboy one,the one where he has the leather
jacket.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I think Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
I think that costume is so so hard. So I'm like,
alright. That may be the one.Yes.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And, yeah, our friend Tyson does a strong one at
Natia. It's always never letsomeone else doing it stop you,
but I'm saying, yeah, he's he'shad real fun with that one.
Yeah. It looks looks badass.That's what's one of my criteria
is?
Does it look badass when I'mwearing it out?
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah. For sure. For sure. I mean, makes you look.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I gotta tell you, cloak cloak is my favorite right
now because I legitimately feellike a badass. I feel super,
super cool, especially when thewind hits that cape or that
cloak. I'm like, I feel doperight now.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
That's amazing. See, y'all y'all inspiring me. See
the IDC. I'm I'm feeling theenergy. This is more this is
probably what I needed.
I just I just needed the energyof like, no. Go. Just jump off
that ledge. Just
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah. You got the time now because, yeah, the con
scrambles hard like, oh, you gotthat amazing thing, but it's not
gonna get here in time. But yougot time to
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Get a few thrift shops, order things, get it
right, all the different stuff.So For sure.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So jumping into confluence, yeah, like, what is
Confluence? Obviously it'ssecond year you're going into, I
know you guys are both heavilyinvolved with it, but what is
Confluence? How did that ideabecome what it is now? Like,
(18:57):
what are you guys doing with it?I know, like you said, October,
you're definitely prepping out.
But, yeah, just just talk a bitabout it and and how it came
alive for y'all.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
AJ and Kulai, just jump out there?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Alright. So confluence, let's very first
shout out our queen to LeslieBarlow. Confluence came from
Leslie's mind and heart. So thisis her baby along with her
original teammates that made ithappen two years ago. So but it
(19:36):
it it is a collective longoverdue desire for us here in
the state of Minnesota.
We many of us have attended thecons here multiple times. Many
of us have found affinity, realjoy and discovery within these
(19:58):
cons. Like I talked a little bitpreviously about as people of
color, we definitely felt thelack. We saw the lack, we felt
the lack. When it comes to likethe effort and when it comes to
the actual content, the actualheart of these cons including
(20:26):
people of color and othercommunities that are very
prevalent.
It felt like you were beingignored. And it came a time
where it was like, you knowwhat, we're tired of asking.
We're tired of being let down.It's time that we create our own
space, a safe space, a spacethat is very intentional. A
(20:51):
space that is going to cultivateall of those things that we have
been desiring all these yearsand confluence was born.
Is the love baby again fromLeslie Barlow. And from those of
us that have felt that on ourindividual selves are coming
(21:15):
together and going, yeah, youknow what? Yeah, let's do this.
Let's make this happen. Back in2023 when it was very first
announced, I lost my mind and Iwas like I want to support in
any way possible that I can.
(21:36):
And I jumped out there like Ibought so many tickets and just
for people to go. I think it thefirst con I ever volunteered
for. Long story short, here weare now starting last year and
moving on through this year. Idefinitely jumped in when there
(21:59):
was a call put out for those whowanted to be a part of the
planning committee.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Awesome. And, Adrian, how how about you? How are you
you know, how did you startgetting involved? Because when
we did the panel so I like Isaid, I had the pleasure of of
doing a a diversity and BIPOCpanel at the Twin Cities con
with these two guys. Adrian wasa great moderator.
(22:28):
And shout shout to the homie,Brenna, who who in you know, who
let me know, like, hey. They'relooking for somebody and they
welcomed me in with open arms.We had a great conversation.
It's a lot about what we'retalking about now of just being
black in the space in this nerdanime comic space and how
(22:51):
sometimes the roadblocks that werun into, but also too how we
have found our communities andhave found people to help uplift
whatever we're doing, whetherit's a cosplay, whether it's a
podcast, whether it's someoneelse trying to, you know, start
their own convention. Correct.
Is the first time I heard aboutit then. Unfortunately, I was
(23:12):
not able to make it last year,but definitely will be there
this year. But, Adrian, how wereyou how did you start getting
involved with it and and helpingit grow and seeing it into this
year?
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Yeah. I forgot how I heard about it initially. I
think I don't know social mediaposts or seeing people in
person, but the same things Davewas talking about going to cons
and just, like, oh, the justpeople miss identifying your
cosplay or just saying weirdstuff or con cause cons being
just not intentionallyunwelcoming, but just because
some of them can be like, it'slike a high school reunion for a
(23:48):
bunch of people that have beengoing there for twenty years,
and you're new to this space,and you don't know the lingo or
how it works out. There's notreally explaining it much. So
hearing about confluence, Iattended.
I think I volunteered to helpsome setup and things here and
there, but just walking in thedoors and the space was similar
to the experience we got goingto BlurredCon. It's just feeling
welcome, feeling something new,something, representing the
(24:11):
culture, all the differentpieces that were put into the
the artistic experience, thesessions, the the vibe,
everything else. It was a lot ofgreat things to experience. And
then after that, I after theevals came out saying, if you
need anything, I'm down to help.So I'm helping, me and David
helping with the the cosplaycompetition.
I'm helping with some of thetech stuff, AV audio visual
(24:34):
things here and there, justbeing able to provide more to a
space that I think one of theone of the metrics we're looking
at this year is sort of the thefirst timers, the people who've
never been to a con. Yep. A lotof that, yeah, is coming from
our community when we're doingsome tabling and things. And we
see some people, like, we'll betabling at the at some
Juneteenth events and differentthings, and we'll have some
(24:56):
lightsabers out. And we seewho's looking at that.
You know what that is. You wannatouch it. You wanna let them you
never realize there's a spacewhere you can dress up like a
Jedi or do different things. Andso opening the eyes to so many
people, Leslie was veryfortunate in her life to be
exposed to this early on when,yeah, myself and David didn't
really get in touch with ituntil our later adult years, but
(25:17):
hoping to provide those spacesfor whatever it is, an eight
year old or a 80 year old tohave the space to feel
comfortable in and then be agateway to other things. And I
definitely see confluence beingbeing what BlurredCon was years
ago and and could grow intosomething as big as it as time
goes on.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah. And, you guys are partnering with public
functionary on this? Or they'reusing the space?
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Yeah. Yeah. So public functionary at the Northrup King
Building. Public Functionary isthe container for confluence
right now. So it's fullyoperational underneath their
501, I think it is, which is agreat thing, especially for con
(26:06):
still in its infant years rightnow and still being developed
and and cultivated.
So, yeah, public functionarywould be that umbrella and
container for confluence.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Awesome. Love to hear it. And if you are in the city
or even if you're not from thecity and you want to come see
what St. Paul and Minnesota isall about, make sure y'all pop
out here for Confluence. Comeout, come see it, come feel the
love, come feel the joy, comewith your best cosplay.
You may see me, you know, startmy cosplay streak.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
We will see you.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Will. See, they're speaking into an existence.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Yes. You have the opportunity to to stretch your
stuff. We got a cosplay runwayand a cosplay competition, all
sorts of opportunities to toshow your stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Amazing. Amazing. So, here at the Lookout, we are
anime network. What was yourguys' anime knowledge
introductions? Are y'all heavyinto that?
Is your introduction becausemine I was American comics into
(27:15):
manga. That's how I started. Iwas reading Batman, Superman,
Spider Man all the time. Andthen Toonami introduced me. It
was like Dragon Ball Z and allthat, but then Toonami had their
block.
I was just like, oh, woah. Thisis like cartoons, but they're
actually, like, showing blood.Like, what is it?
Speaker 2 (27:37):
I
Speaker 1 (27:37):
was like was like, they're fighting. I was like, is
that a cuss word? I was like,oh, this is amazing. How about
you guys? Like, do y'all have aa starting point within anime or
just kinda like in general, justlike your your your love for
nerdom?
Like, where did that kind ofstart for you?
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Adrian, you can go ahead. I might get a little bit.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Yeah. I wanted to reach out before you to
apologize that I have not gottendeep into the anime world. And I
watched a little Pokemon as akid, but just in general, my
nerdym is, yeah, stuff I waswatching on TV as a kid from
Power Rangers and Gargoyles andDarkwing Duck and and seeing
different things.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
And I never I never, yeah, never got into the anime.
And then after time, I was like,there's too much to catch up on
now. I guess I'm I'm as you'resaying about the cosplay,
there's too many things to wheredo I start. But I guess that the
Boondocks can be somewhatcategorized anime. I really
enjoyed that with the seriousnature and various, movies and
(28:36):
things.
Cold world was a animation slashlive action one with Brad Pitt
and and, who framed Roger RabbitRabbit seeing those sort of
things. That was a form aformative experience. But, yeah,
in general, it was what I saw onTV. I always preface this next
statement by saying that I'm Iwork in higher ed. I have a
master's degree, but I ingeneral, I don't read.
(28:56):
So it's it's either TV or moviesor other content. I'm not I'm
not picking up a comic book.Haven't yet, but so many things
that, I guess, at least in mycosplay and stuff I enjoyed as a
kid on on TV and movies and allthe other things that lead to my
my nerdy side.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
No. Definitely. I mean, I think cartoons in
general, I think now, especiallywith, like, the nineties babies
into now, like, cartoons playand still play a huge role in
what I deem is cool. And I'vealways been even now having a
(29:36):
daughter, meet her watch a lotof cartoons together and
whatnot. I think tell people allthe time, I love animation so
much because I'm like, there'sjust some things that that live
action can do.
Like, there's like a there'slike a ceiling.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Mhmm.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
You can only do so much with live action. I'm like,
with animation, I'm like, youcan go as kooky, as far left, as
far right, as far up, as fardown as you really wanna go with
it. And I think even now, justthe level of just animation. I
(30:14):
mean, look at things, Invinciblejust took over the world for a
second. There's things animationwise that they can do and they
have-
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Spider Verse stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Yeah. Spider Verse, everything that they've been
doing where you're like, This isso next level. What am I
watching? This is art. This iswoah.
And that was where my lovereally came from is the fact
that I'm like, this is not onlygreat storytelling, but this is
(30:48):
in a medium where I feel thatthere's so many different styles
and there's so many things thatcome into play where you're
like, this is it's so enticing.You're just like, I I want to be
you're just drawing deeper,deeper into it. But but David,
alright. You you say you'regonna get long winded.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
I'm gonna try not to. It's just
Speaker 1 (31:10):
I will I will give you the floor now. What was your
what was your introduction intointo this Nurnum version?
Speaker 3 (31:17):
So I would say like in my youth, much like Adrian,
like I grew up with the Saturdaymorning cartoons, eating cereal,
watching Dennis the Menace,Disney Channel, Nickelodeon. One
of my earliest things when itcomes to a more adult driven
things was written in Stimpyback when it was on MTV, I
(31:38):
believe it was.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Yeah, remember they had that Spike TV run too.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Yeah, yeah. Before it even whipped over to
Nickelodeon, he dropped DarkwingDuck. Yo, Darkwing Duck and
Gargos was my Can we curse?Because it was my age. Yes.
Have fun. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, itwas definitely the shit. Those
are fond, fond memories.
(32:03):
Batman, the animated series. SoI can go on and on and on.
Right? Through my youth, I lovedall of that stuff. You know?
But it was, like, quietly justme. It wasn't until I met my
best friend who my brotherSamuel. And I was a game head
way back in the day and weconnected over video games. And
(32:26):
he is the he's my OG black nerd.He was the one that was in the
anime and the gaming and thecomic books, the whole nine.
So he ushered me into thatworld. It took him a little bit
because he would be like, needto read this. You need to watch
this. And I'd just be like,yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll get to
it. And I jumped in like I toldyou to do.
(32:50):
I jumped in all the way in likeon the deep end. Like my first
comic book, books that I read, Ibought the entire series of
Transmetropolitan hands down oneof the best series ever written
that is super potent and tillthis day very relevant to what
(33:11):
we're facing in our times. It'slike it's timeless. I jumped in
and at the same time I boughtthe entire Punisher Max by Garth
Ennis. I even bought the entirerun of that.
That's why Punisher is likeprobably my number one Marvel
favorite right now.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Are you currently watching Daredevil Born Again?
Speaker 3 (33:35):
I am not. I am purposely staying away until
it's done and then I'm justgonna go like lock myself in my
apartment and then binge it.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Brave brave individual. Yes.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Very you know, I I have those same watching habits.
I I blame Netflix. The Netflixruined me because I'm just like,
now I'm like, just let the wholeseason drop, and then I'll just
watch it all in the next, like,twenty eight hours.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I can't I I'm really
excited to to jump in but I wantto jump in completely blinded.
When they dropped the firstPunisher, I got a lot of
thoughts on it but I absolutelyloved it.
So I absolutely loved the firstDaredevil as well. The writing
(34:25):
was great but the cinematographywas just like on freaking point.
That's a big thing for me too.But to talk more directly about
anime, when I finally jumpedinto anime, I don't I can't
remember what my first watchwas. Actually, I take that back.
(34:52):
It was Air Gear. I think AirGear was my very Air Gear and
Sekirei. So those were my firsttwo ones. And if you've ever
watched those ones, you mightunderstand why I have a little
chuckle.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I've seen Air Gear. I have not seen Sakurai yet
though.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
All right. It's the whole harem, the unlikely hero,
the shy boy who's surrounded bythese beautiful, powerful women
or deities. You know what Imean? Air Gear was a little bit
more centered on kid just beingI like that one because he was
(35:38):
totally crap at being a skaterand he had to really struggle
and learn and get his way there.But it was semi harem because he
was surrounded by all thesebeautiful women too.
But those were the start for me.And similar, it was like this
(36:00):
world, it just opened up a wholenew world of storytelling for
me. And so that's what pulled mein. After that, I was just
consuming everything. And as Iwas consuming things, was
noticing like even my ownparticular flavor of type of
(36:20):
anime, what type of stories arebeing told or like what type of
animation is being utilized andlike what I'm gravitating
towards and stuff like that.
So I wouldn't call myself likebecause I forget so much. Like
people be wanting to talk to meand I'm like, listen, I don't
(36:40):
remember nobody's name, but Idefinitely remember that it was
dope.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Yeah. I remember the feeling. The feeling is Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
Yeah. Yeah. Like I might remember. I remember the
art or I can remember thegeneral story and stuff like
that. But if we wanna starttalking about characters and
stuff like that, unfortunately,names start blending together
for me.
So
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Definitely. This is amazing. This is so fun. I mean,
we have these shout out to mycohost. We have great
conversations all the time.
But like I said, we keeping itso local today, and it feels
great talking to two guys fromthe same neighborhood, from the
same Yeah. You know? We no. Weand seeing how you guys are are
(37:29):
taking everything that that ishappening, you know, with the
nurse stuff, with all this, thecost, and, like, taking it to
different heights and how youguys are applying it whatnot. Is
you guys' vision for the future,for yourself, for this
(37:51):
community, like, what are youguys wanting to see more of?
You know, with yourselves andlike just this community in
general, like, what are youlooking like, for more of?
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Mhmm. Gotcha. Yeah. I I as you were saying that, was
something me and David talkedabout that me and David were
clearly in the same circles formany years in the go in the same
high school, same same friendgroup, all these different
things, but didn't know eachother until we popped up on the
Internet dressing up likesuperheroes and then got
connected. And and and me andyou, yeah, we I've known you
since you were a kid and things,but I didn't know what you were
(38:26):
doing.
And so I think it's just beingcomfortable talking about this
stuff and and creating spacesfor people to enjoy it and
whether, yeah, whether it's onsocial media or or in three d,
trying to expose more people tothese opportunities so they can
yeah. It can lead to a podcast.It can lead to a creative fun
outlet, lead to a career,whatever else it is. But I think
(38:47):
trying to share it more, as Isee people, it's again, with a
day job, you may not bring itup, but but why not? Talk about
it a little bit, share thingsduring an icebreaker, let your
friends and family know.
I got my family to come out toTwin Cities Con this past year,
all suited up as Spider Man. Mymom even dressed up like a aunt
(39:08):
May and she got into it. So justand I got some nibbling who are
getting into the world now. Sojust trying to share it with
more people. I've got see, I'mgoing to to WonderCon next
weekend and some other things toto try and explore and meet new
people.
But just having having fun withit is the main thing.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Awesome. What about you, David? Like, what is your
What is your dream for thefuture for this community, for
yourself and everything elsethat's going on?
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Oh man, I'm finding myself transformed by all of
this. It very much started justbeing an observer to being a
participant by like going to theevents and things like that to
now I have I really feel I havea deep passion in trying to
(40:01):
figure out how do we createthese spaces? How do we invite
people from our communities thatwe know don't always get the
exposure, right? They don'treally necessarily get the
(40:22):
exposure to these things that wereally enjoy. Or maybe they did
get the exposure to the things,but they don't have a place or
space where they feel safe to bethemselves, to express
themselves, just like, becauseI'm telling you the moment you
meet, you're saying it a lot tous.
(40:42):
It's moments like this where youmeet somebody who comes from the
same neighborhood or similarneighborhood, somebody who looks
like you or who's somebody whospeaks that unspoken language
like you do. And so there's aculture significance that we
share, but then all of a suddenyou're like, wait a minute,
Speaker 1 (41:03):
you black nerd too? Wait a minute, you watch anime?
Speaker 3 (41:05):
I'm telling you out here by, I stay in Inver Grove
Heights. And so I go to theWalmart that's out here. Right?
And I see many people of color,mostly like Mexicans and stuff
like that. But it's primarily awhite neighborhood and
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Oh, know. So I work at that. I work right up the
road from that Walgreens overthere.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Okay. So you understand where I'm
Speaker 1 (41:27):
going. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
There's a young brother that works there. And I
walked in wearing a Demon Slayert shirt. And he's ringing me up
and he just stops in mid ring.And he was like, you watch
anime? You know, like a littleshook.
And I was like I'm likeabsolutely I watch anime. And
(41:48):
then all of a sudden he was justlike, oh what did you think
about blah blah blah blah blah.And just to see him completely
be himself and feel comfortablein that moment, My brother
forgot that he had a whole othercustomer that he needed to go.
It's moments like that thatreally feed me and that really
(42:09):
solidify the movement that we,that not only us here in
Minnesota with confluence istrying to do. There's some
other, I went to the, I got ashout out at Quito Festival.
Excuse me if I'm mispronouncingthat. That's an indigenous
festival that was happening justthis past weekend in St. Paul.
It's the first ever in St. Paul.
(42:31):
Yo, there's a movement that'shappening. So it's not only
happening in the blackcommunities but it's which
confluence is trying to it isrepresentative of the blacks,
indigenous and people of color.Not only us but those of us who
have been hushed and quietedlike, you know what, enough is
(42:53):
enough. We need a space for us.So we're about to take up space.
So that's what I want. That'swhat I see for the future.
That's what I want for thefuture. That's in any small
place I can help to do that. I'mgoing to do it.
If I'm able, if I'm, you know,if I whatever powers that I may
(43:16):
have, whether it's just I'mgoing go and pick up sticks for
you so you can have a clean yardto do a sale, right? If even if
it's just that minimal, I wantto be there and I want to help
to do that because I justbelieve in this so much. And I
am constantly reaffirmed that itis needed, it is loved, it is
(43:37):
welcomed and it is very muchyearned for by these
communities.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Man, that was beautiful. That was couldn't say
it better myself. And Icompletely agree, even what the
lookout, we celebrated sevenyears on the nineteenth.
Congratulations. Appreciatey'all.
Shout out to Mills because he'sthe creator of all this. Mills
(44:10):
is That's my bestie, that's myman's. I just started off
listening as a fan. Just like,just want to support my friend.
Then that grew into me you know,pitching an idea to him of like,
hey.
You guys are, you know, doinganime. Like, I read a lot of
manga. Can I do a manga show forthe network? And Mhmm. You know,
ran a manga podcast for a while.
(44:33):
And once that ended, he waslike, yo, just come, you know,
come run the mainstay podcastwith me. And the opportunities,
the people that I've been ableto meet, the spaces I've been
able to go in, I'm like, Wow.Just off of really wanting to
just do something cool with myfriend and just talk about
(44:54):
something I enjoy and just be agrown ass kid. Now I'm looking
at it now, the community I'vebeen able to build and see just
see all the wonderful thingsthat other people are doing just
like YouTube, where it's justlike, man, Adrian probably knows
(45:18):
every single person in myfamily. Every day, you know For
Speaker 2 (45:22):
Drew, with with Benny last week.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Yeah. You did. Like, you know and, you know, it was
funny because my cousin Nation,I was like, oh, Adrian's gonna
be on the podcast next week. Shewas like, oh my gosh. Tell him I
said hi.
Oh. And David, all of us comingfrom the same neighborhood, it's
beautiful the fact that there'sthis thing, there's this
connecting string for all of usand now look at us all here. I'm
(45:46):
with you where it's just like,all I wanna see is just the the
connection just grow strongerand bigger. How can we how can
we make this spider web becomebigger? Right.
Get more people trapped in.Alright. Last question. Just one
for David. Like, I know you havedaughters.
Right? Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (46:02):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
Seen them kind of fall into this, like, thing
naturally with you? Are theystill kind of because my
daughter, she obviously has seenme. I've never kind of really
pushed anything on her. She'sjust kinda seen me do this and
kinda fall into now. She startedlike, we went to Twin Cities Con
(46:23):
the year before we did the paneland she was like, I wanna dress
up as Sailor Moon.
And so
Speaker 2 (46:28):
was like,
Speaker 1 (46:28):
okay, cool. So got her a Sailor Moon outfit and she
was able to wear it and, youknow, so it's been great to see
her kinda just find her own lanein it and just find the things
that she likes. You know, shereally loves my hero, and she'll
find all the, you know, theother animes that she likes and
other comics that she likes.Have you been seeing that with
your own children? And how doesthat like as a dad, how does
(46:52):
that feel to see them kind ofgravitate towards something that
you enjoy if they are?
Speaker 3 (46:57):
Right. I've definitely tried to leave an
open lane for the girls to justdiscover their own, know what I
mean? Come into their own. Andthen I want to champion that. I
just want to be the biggestcheerleader for them.
(47:18):
My eldest daughter hasdefinitely seen, I've definitely
lived out my geek life fully. Soshe knows fully well her dad is
a big time blurb and shechampions that for me and I love
that. She'd be behind me comingwith ideas and she's definitely
(47:42):
been to several cons with me.She's definitely dressed up
herself. I think there was onecostume where I was just given
suggestions and stuff like thatand she killed it.
She definitely killed. Shedressed up as Ryder from Grand
Theft Auto San Andreas.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
Oh, that's tight.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
Yeah. And I think we went to Anime Detour that year.
But yeah, yeah, yeah. So I wouldsay,
Speaker 2 (48:15):
she
Speaker 3 (48:15):
definitely digs anime here and there. She's definitely
a gamer in her own right hereand there. But she moves at her
own speed. I wouldn't say thatshe's gotten deep into the world
as of yet, but she's definitelyfound her lane if that makes
sense and I love it. She's gotlike few comic books that she's
(48:38):
gravitated towards and sheenjoys and stuff like that.
But I like to make sure I leaveit open for them to discover
their way through it. Theyoungest ones haven't yet. I
haven't taken them to any consas of yet. They are still very
much into like Coco Melon andthe LOL dolls and stuff like
(49:04):
that. So I like to just let thembe.
You know what I mean? Like I seethat's what they love. I just be
like, I'm a just buy a bunch oftoys in that area or whatever
the case may be until it changesinto something new. Because
they're still weaving in and outof the things that they enjoy.
So whatever it is, I'm gonna beright there champion.
(49:29):
One thing though I always I maypush on all the girls is TMNT.
They'd be like, can we watchthis? Can we watch YouTube or
whatever? And I don't reallylike to have them watch YouTube
unless it's like YouTube kids.And so I'd be like, how about
this?
Let's watch some Teenage MutantNinja Turtles. And they'd be
(49:49):
looking at me sideways like,that's not what we asked. I'm
like, no. But you don't love it.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
Don't love
Speaker 3 (49:55):
it. Don't love this.
Speaker 2 (49:58):
Listen. It's on a it's on a cosplay dream list
teaming up with the with themovie quality Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle suits. One day, wegotta find a sponsor.
Speaker 1 (50:05):
Yes. Oh, yes. Seriously. Okay. I'll join in on
that one.
Speaker 3 (50:09):
Yeah. I've already priced I've already priced it
out. I've already reached out toa cat. He told me not to tell
him about it.
Speaker 1 (50:14):
I just called Deb on Mikey. That's it.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Cool. That's cool. Yep. Who who who do you David,
Speaker 3 (50:19):
who you got? Who you Raf.
Speaker 2 (50:20):
Raf? Alright.
Speaker 1 (50:21):
Yep. Who you got?
Speaker 3 (50:23):
Or Donnie. It's Raf Raf has to be my first one, but
I do love Donnie too.
Speaker 2 (50:30):
Leonardo coming through all blue.
Speaker 3 (50:32):
Alright. Alright.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
Yeah. And then Mikey Mikey, that's my guy. He's the
he's the goofball of the group.He's the one that, you know, he
he mellows out the he, you hemellows out the rest. Yeah.
That's always been my goal. Ijust wanna be the guy that
mellows out the rest.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
You know why know why Mikey is really, really dope
though and and underrated?Because people, you know, they
they don't really pay attentionto the like the the person with
all the jokes and the one who'salways lighthearted and stuff
like that. But you know, he'sprobably like the most powerful
because
Speaker 1 (51:04):
Nunchucks are really hard. But Yeah. Facts.
Speaker 3 (51:10):
Facts. Have you ever tried to spin nunchucks on your
finger?
Speaker 1 (51:13):
I think You know?
Speaker 3 (51:16):
But the fact that it's like he's just as skilled
as his brothers, right? Like hecan whoop ass like them, but he
does it nonchalantly. Raph hasgot a lot of emotion. He's
taking everything super serious.Leonardo has got the world on
his shoulders because he'strying to be an example and lead
(51:36):
his brothers.
Donnie is a more analytical typeof guy, probably more of a
little goofy side because himand Mikey got that connect.
Mikey is just like, bro, I'm awhoop your ass, but the entire
time I'm whooping your ass, I'mthinking about what I'm about to
eat tonight, which is gonna besome pizza. You know what I
mean? But I think that'spowerful. I think there's
(51:59):
something to be said about that.
There's somebody that can justput a whooping on you, but not
even be fazed by anything that'shappening.
Speaker 2 (52:06):
There you go. If you need a full series of podcasts
on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,you know you know who to call.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Right. Right. For sure. For sure. Oh, man.
But I appreciate you guys, bothof y'all so, so, so, so much for
pulling up on us, pulling up atthe lookout. Where can people
find y'all on socials, and howhow can people continue to
support, confluence and otherthings that you guys got going
on?
Speaker 2 (52:31):
Yeah. I'm I'm, Saint Paul Prince on on the socials, s
t p a u l, Prince, confluenceunderscore m n on Instagram.
What's the what's the websiteat, David?
Speaker 3 (52:41):
It's confluencemn.com.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
For sure.
Speaker 2 (52:48):
So, yeah, if you wanna show up, support, attend,
buy tickets, the tickets are onsale until April 1 at a
discounted price. Share comment,like subscribe.
Speaker 3 (53:00):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (53:01):
Invite some people.
Speaker 3 (53:02):
Yes, yes, yes. The date is October 2025 at the
North Thrupp King Building,which I believe is 1500 Jackson
Street.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Awesome. And David, where can people holler at you
at? I know you say you're aretired photographer, but
Speaker 3 (53:20):
Yep. Yep. Tired. Retired. Yeah.
I'm tired too. That's that'sthat's a good thing. I'm a tired
retired photographer. I'm stillgot the camera in my hand
though. It'll never go anywhere.
I still get out there and and domy thing here and there. I've
been doing some like selfshoots. I'm actually supposed to
connect with Nikki who goes byColabear Cosplay on IG. Check
(53:44):
her out. We got some things inthe work and then I'm gonna be
traveling to North Carolina.
I got some things in in the workwith a good friend out there.
But you can find me everywhereas Tazumi Zaga. That is t a z u
m I underscore Z A I G A.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
Awesome. Well, guys, once again, just want to thank
you all so much for pulling upon us. This is episode 198. Next
week, you'll hear the Mills isback. I won't be a part of it,
but Mills is back with anothergreat interview with another
great guest.
And then we have episode 200. Soas always, make sure you're on
(54:25):
the lookout for the lookout.Thank you guys for listening.
You know where to find us.Listen and subscribe, YouTube,
wherever you like listen to yourfavorite podcast.
And, yeah, peace.
And welcome back. Another episode of The Lookout,
episode 198. We're getting closeto 200. We just celebrated seven
years. We just wrapped up oursix part one piece with me and
AD.
No Mills still. So you will hearhim next week, this week where
(00:38):
I'm running it. I'm I'm notsolo, but I'm solo because today
I have two amazing guests, twoamazing people that I have had
the pleasure of even sharing thestage with with a panel, and I'm
super happy to have them on.We're keeping it super local.
We're keeping it super SaintPaul today.
(01:00):
Okay. So today, I have two greatmen two great cosplayers, Adrian
and David. How are you guysdoing today?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Doing doing well. Thanks for
Speaker 3 (01:10):
having pretty good. Thank you. Thank you. That was a
wonderful intro. Appreciatethat.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
For life.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Oh, man. I I appreciate that. See, I'm not
usually the one that does theintro. My cohost does. And so
it's been real fun kinda doingit for the past couple weeks.
I've been kinda getting my I'mnot like I don't know if y'all
listen to throwing fits where hedoes, like, the 50 nicknames,
like, super rapid fast.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
But I'm I'm getting there. Guys, how you so how are
you guys doing today? You'redoing great?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yeah. Doing great. Doing wonderful.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
So I know you guys both got back from BlurredCon.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Mhmm. Mhmm.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
How can can you tell us a little bit about that? And
also too, has there been a aconvention yet that is that is
your pinnacle of conventions?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Adrian, why don't you go ahead and start this one?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah. So, yeah, BlurredCon. I was doing some
digging in the I was finally Istarted in 2017, so we I'm sure
they had some downs over thepandemic, but going on for a few
year. You know, of course,Blurred combination of black
nerd has been going on for itwas, yeah, it was amazing
experience. I think all thethings they advertised, it was
there because we've been tocons, and it's with diversity,
you might have a diverseattendees or you might have
(02:26):
something, hitting all points ofdiverse attendees, diverse
content, diverse planners,diverse, vendors, all those
things, having that space andjust being, so, yeah,
comfortable and and welcome intothat environment.
So, yeah, that was out in,Virginia last week. Well, a
couple weekends ago. It's allflying by, but it was an amazing
experience to be able to cosplayand see some stuff that you
(02:49):
wouldn't see other places andreally enjoy it. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah. Blurcom for me was, was actually a bucket list
place for me to to visit. So itwas an absolute joy and honor to
be there and to make that happenand appreciative to my guy
Adrian for coming along with meto experience that. It was
(03:17):
amazing. It was amazing.
It was everything that I hopedit to be and probably more. It
was for me, it was a way morepolished con and the things of
looking towards like, blackspaces. You know what I mean?
(03:38):
And so that I mean, like therewas just so much. There's such a
high that it leaves you with.
There's so much going on fromlike one of the things that
stood out to me for was howcelebratory everybody was, how
happy everyone was just to bethere, to be in their own skin.
(04:02):
It was like, as we like to say,you with family. And so to be
there and then just everybodyjust joyful, everybody being
super nerds, but also theculture, that unspoken language
that we have with one another.It didn't matter if people were
(04:22):
from the East Coast, it didn'tmatter if people from the West
Coast, it didn't matter that weare in the Midwest. Like
everybody came from all over thecountry and just vibed out.
And I loved every bit of that.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Definitely. And that's amazing to hear. I think,
like, what we're doing here atthe Lookout, being a black anime
network, that word that you'resaying, like family and
community, and that's somethingthat we really strive for here,
in this space.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Because we've seen it before. We've seen it online
where, you know, it can it canget very divisive.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Mhmm. You know?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
You you can you can can see it and to to create
spaces for ourselves and forother fans and and, you even
outside the anime, you'retalking about just, like you
said, the whole blurred, youknow, community between gamings
and comics and whatnot. So it'sgreat to see these, you know,
conventions and events that arehappening where you can see
(05:29):
people who look like you andcome from similar experiences
from you, but are still able toenjoy all these different assets
and different just likechannels. And that's amazing to
hear, and I'm happy that youguys had an amazing experience
out there. I definitely had acouple other friends out there
who all said the same thingwhere it's like, go there and
(05:52):
you just feel at home. You justfeel like, wow, here are all
these other people who look likeme enjoying this stuff and just
having fun with it, which isamazing to hear.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, for years, I
mean, there's it's there'sthere's like it's like layers to
the onion. You know?
There's so many layers to this.And for me, I got into let's
just say I grew into myselflater in the years. You know? I
was already a full fledged grownman with family, kids and stuff
(06:27):
like that. And it wasn't tilllater to where I really came
into myself and accepted myselfas and in flying that flag as a
black nerd.
Before the word blurred evencame about or that recognition
or that container, if you will,I just knew that I've always
(06:50):
liked these things. It wasalways a nostalgic feeling for
me, but I still continue toenjoy them. And so like going, I
started to go to cons andthrough my photography work that
connected me to that community.I really loved being in that
because it was still, you werestill kind of finding your
(07:12):
people, you know, people thatenjoy these, these, these
different medias and fandoms andthings like that. But as a black
male stepping into those spaces,you started more and more, I
should say, you started to kindof feel that like, I'm kind of
feeling a little excluded.
(07:34):
There's not a lot of therepresentation that, things that
I vibe with. There's not much ofmy culture. There's not much of
the people that look like methat's here. Stuff like that.
You start to notice that.
You start to feel a littleexclusion from folks and from
the organizations. They ask,hey, give us give us what do you
(07:58):
want to see at the next cons?And you start filling out like,
I would like to see a little bitof this, little little bit more
maybe hip hop r and b, littlebit jazz. I don't care.
Something that is more representrepresentative of where I come
from and things that I enjoy.
Maybe I can get some panelsthat's talking about some movies
or whatever media that has alittle bit more of the culture
(08:24):
that I recognize and I come fromand identify with. And when it
kind of blatantly just does notget answered at all, you start
to notice that more and more. Sowe'll definitely get into which
will segue into confluence andhow confluence came about. But
(08:47):
Blurred kind of came about justrandomly for me. And I saw, I
think it was a cosplay musicvideo.
And I was just like, Oh my God,This place exists. I need to get
there. I don't know how. I don'tknow when, but I gotta get
there.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah. Definitely. And we'll definitely get in the
confluence because I feel thatis something both of you guys
are working on and been a partof. How how long is con this is
what year for confluence?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
This is the second it'll be the second full event.
So his first event was in 2023last year. Put on some smaller
events to keep things going, butthe second full con event will
be this October. So the secondone. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah. Awesome. And we'll we'll definitely tap into
that. Before we get into that,though, one thing that I would I
I love about both of y'all isyour ability to take a cosplay
and turn it into somethingcompletely, like, left field
(09:54):
where you're like, I couldn'teven think of that. Oh, like,
what was your I guess, like,what was your start in it?
Like, you know, obviously doingthe cosplay. And then what was
the point where you felt like,okay. Like, let me let me start
throwing my little extras on itbecause I David, I saw your
Super Mario. Adrian, the the thePrince Jedi is the Prince Jedi
(10:21):
at this point is is just as bigas Prince. Like, people know who
the, you know, people know whothe Prince Jedi is.
Oh. Yes. You know, in the city.So, like, how, like, you know,
starting with you, Adrian, like,what was your point where you're
like, okay, this is my intro tocosplay and then, what was that
turning point where you're justlike, you know what? I'm gonna
start throwing my extra my extraflavors on it.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah. I've always been a a creative nerdy kid and
doing those sort of things, butmy sort of cosplay intro was was
the Black Panther movie after itcame out and the the Killmonger
character really, just, again, Ialways say outside of the
killing, but everything else hewas saying and doing really
identified. And I was like, Iwanna that's a that's a pretty
badass suit. I wanna get that.So I dropped some paid some
(11:05):
money and got that and thehelmet and all that stuff from
war to a Galaxy Con in 2099 andthe in 2019 in The Twin Cities
and really enjoyed thatexperience.
And and, it's gonna be I mean,weird going out in Minneapolis
and full body spandex. Butafterwards, I was like, I'm
gonna feel weird if I wasn'twearing cosplay in this
situation. So just kept on doingwith that, did some new ones.
But today, I think of my most,like, creative ideas I get when
(11:27):
I'm falling asleep. And I waslike, there's, yeah, this, I was
like, get a purple lightsaber,the Mace Windu one, and, I've
done some Prince stuff here andthere.
And that's been a fan of that.And I wonder, yeah, Prince could
be a Jedi. Just gotta get arole, put these things together,
and tweaked it over time andjust really enjoyed the it's
you're not you're not gonna getas many, photos as Spider Man or
(11:48):
some big net things like thateverybody knows. But when you
get the the people who know thator realize it or connect with
it, it's a much deeperconnection and much more fun, I
think, to have that originalidea and creation. So I really
enjoyed that, and mine's alwaysracing for new things in the
coming years, but I had toinitially, I wasn't gonna bring
Jedi Prince to BlurryCon.
Was like, what? After, like,watching more videos, so many
(12:09):
original characters, like, thethe purple purple one has to has
to make it to to DC for that. Soit was a good time. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Amazing. And, David, what about you? Like, what was
that you know, your introductionto the cosplay world and then
what was that point where you'rejust like, you know what? I'm a
take this character. I'm a takethis theme and I'm just gonna
I'm a run off with it on my onmy own time in.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Oh, man. I okay. My introduction to cosplay was I
was the cameraman. I was thephotography was my introduction
to it all, but I legitimatelyavoided it for many, many years.
So it wasn't until probably2017, '20 '18 maybe when I very
(12:52):
first was like, I'm
Speaker 1 (12:54):
gonna give it
Speaker 3 (12:54):
a shot. And I literally just threw like
Halloween cost like piecestogether. My first one was Cloak
Tyrone Johnson from Cloak andDagger in the Marble Run. And it
(13:15):
like Adrian was saying, was thisthing that sort of just made me
feel closer to myself as cornyas that might sound is the
truth. Like I just enjoyed it.
Like I had so much fun justbeing part kind of playing
(13:38):
around with this character. Andthen when people recognize that
character, there's a connectionthat happens. All of a sudden
this conversation sparks and youstart like bonding over like
favorite moments from the comicor from the TV show, so on and
so forth. So that was the veryfirst one. And then I just built
(13:59):
upon it.
I started dumping money into it.I found a sister here who's a
Rondo, who still is in the Rondocommunity. Quintellig, I got a
drop. I got a name drop herbecause she's done all my cloaks
from scratch. So put ittogether.
(14:20):
I gave her pictures and allkinds of designs and stuff like
that and told her this is how Iwanted to look and she did me
right. So that's how I got mymore accurate piece. And then
that also led on to like theblack Adam.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
And also shout out to the Rondo babies. We always
gotta we always gotta shout outto the Rondo babies. But,
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah. I see, I've been I've been wanting to take
that step into the cosplayworld.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Talk is cheap.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Talk is cheap. Talk is very cheap. I'll I will agree
with that. My issue is that I'dbe like, I got a 50 ideas and I
do not know how to zone in onone.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
It's you just jump. You you literally jump head
first, feet first, whatever,because I did the same thing. I
had a list. I was like, I don'tknow. There's a bunch of people
that look awesome.
Cloak wasn't my very first idea.That wasn't the very first. I
was gonna try to do Buca fromAir Gear. And then but I was
(15:24):
like, I don't really wanna tryand build skates. So let me try
to find something else.
And I don't know. I landed onone that felt easy enough for me
to jump into, that wasn't gonnabreak the pockets, that didn't
really require me to invest alot of time and money. But the
moment I did, I was hooked. Soyou just you just gotta, like,
(15:48):
pick and go.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Do you feel that it is easier when starting off to
just go out kinda find the thethe already built costume just
to kinda get the the feel forit? Or, you know Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
It's it's it's tricky too because I think I I I I went
very hard on my first one as faras price wise and so having that
sort of standard
Speaker 1 (16:11):
of You like half the costume from the movie at that
Speaker 3 (16:14):
point. Getting that experience.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And then, yeah, then you're like, oh, I can't get
that spirit Halloween stuff fornext. But I've done that too
with bought some stuff, and Ithink I've learned that the
community is very welcoming.There are those anything elitist
snobs who want the fancy stuff,but people, yeah, people who
come in with cardboard stuff,people who do all sorts of
different things. People likethe creativity, and, again,
(16:36):
don't let the don't letperfection get in the way of
progress. You start withsomething, and whether you can
keep using cardboard orwhatever, it's gonna get better
over time.
So I think that's a verywelcoming community for the most
part.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Right. Awesome. Well, listen. Confluence is coming in
October. I'm definitely gonna bethere.
I may pull up in in my firstcosplay there. That may be my
Speaker 2 (16:58):
What's it gonna be? What's it gonna be? Name it name
it right now. What are youdoing? I don't I
Speaker 1 (17:01):
think you're putting me on the spot. I'm like, David,
I got the list. I gotta I gottaI gotta throw my ball in the
list.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Just cover your eyes and point and be like, alright.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
See, that was gonna be, I was gonna hang it up. I'm
a have the darts. I'm just gonnaturn, throw the dart, whatever
it lands closest to. I'm like,alright, that's the one I'm
gonna roll with. But.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
One that has definitely been like high on my
list is the is the Superboy one,the one where he has the leather
jacket.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I think Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
I think that costume is so so hard. So I'm like,
alright. That may be the one.Yes.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And, yeah, our friend Tyson does a strong one at
Natia. It's always never letsomeone else doing it stop you,
but I'm saying, yeah, he's he'shad real fun with that one.
Yeah. It looks looks badass.That's what's one of my criteria
is?
Does it look badass when I'mwearing it out?
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah. For sure. For sure. I mean, makes you look.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I gotta tell you, cloak cloak is my favorite right
now because I legitimately feellike a badass. I feel super,
super cool, especially when thewind hits that cape or that
cloak. I'm like, I feel doperight now.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
That's amazing. See, y'all y'all inspiring me. See
the IDC. I'm I'm feeling theenergy. This is more this is
probably what I needed.
I just I just needed the energyof like, no. Go. Just jump off
that ledge. Just
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah. You got the time now because, yeah, the con
scrambles hard like, oh, you gotthat amazing thing, but it's not
gonna get here in time. But yougot time to
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Get a few thrift shops, order things, get it
right, all the different stuff.So For sure.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So jumping into confluence, yeah, like, what is
Confluence? Obviously it'ssecond year you're going into, I
know you guys are both heavilyinvolved with it, but what is
Confluence? How did that ideabecome what it is now? Like,
(18:57):
what are you guys doing with it?I know, like you said, October,
you're definitely prepping out.
But, yeah, just just talk a bitabout it and and how it came
alive for y'all.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
AJ and Kulai, just jump out there?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Alright. So confluence, let's very first
shout out our queen to LeslieBarlow. Confluence came from
Leslie's mind and heart. So thisis her baby along with her
original teammates that made ithappen two years ago. So but it
(19:36):
it it is a collective longoverdue desire for us here in
the state of Minnesota.
We many of us have attended thecons here multiple times. Many
of us have found affinity, realjoy and discovery within these
(19:58):
cons. Like I talked a little bitpreviously about as people of
color, we definitely felt thelack. We saw the lack, we felt
the lack. When it comes to likethe effort and when it comes to
the actual content, the actualheart of these cons including
(20:26):
people of color and othercommunities that are very
prevalent.
It felt like you were beingignored. And it came a time
where it was like, you knowwhat, we're tired of asking.
We're tired of being let down.It's time that we create our own
space, a safe space, a spacethat is very intentional. A
(20:51):
space that is going to cultivateall of those things that we have
been desiring all these yearsand confluence was born.
Is the love baby again fromLeslie Barlow. And from those of
us that have felt that on ourindividual selves are coming
(21:15):
together and going, yeah, youknow what? Yeah, let's do this.
Let's make this happen. Back in2023 when it was very first
announced, I lost my mind and Iwas like I want to support in
any way possible that I can.
(21:36):
And I jumped out there like Ibought so many tickets and just
for people to go. I think it thefirst con I ever volunteered
for. Long story short, here weare now starting last year and
moving on through this year. Idefinitely jumped in when there
(21:59):
was a call put out for those whowanted to be a part of the
planning committee.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Awesome. And, Adrian, how how about you? How are you
you know, how did you startgetting involved? Because when
we did the panel so I like Isaid, I had the pleasure of of
doing a a diversity and BIPOCpanel at the Twin Cities con
with these two guys. Adrian wasa great moderator.
(22:28):
And shout shout to the homie,Brenna, who who in you know, who
let me know, like, hey. They'relooking for somebody and they
welcomed me in with open arms.We had a great conversation.
It's a lot about what we'retalking about now of just being
black in the space in this nerdanime comic space and how
(22:51):
sometimes the roadblocks that werun into, but also too how we
have found our communities andhave found people to help uplift
whatever we're doing, whetherit's a cosplay, whether it's a
podcast, whether it's someoneelse trying to, you know, start
their own convention. Correct.
Is the first time I heard aboutit then. Unfortunately, I was
(23:12):
not able to make it last year,but definitely will be there
this year. But, Adrian, how wereyou how did you start getting
involved with it and and helpingit grow and seeing it into this
year?
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Yeah. I forgot how I heard about it initially. I
think I don't know social mediaposts or seeing people in
person, but the same things Davewas talking about going to cons
and just, like, oh, the justpeople miss identifying your
cosplay or just saying weirdstuff or con cause cons being
just not intentionallyunwelcoming, but just because
some of them can be like, it'slike a high school reunion for a
(23:48):
bunch of people that have beengoing there for twenty years,
and you're new to this space,and you don't know the lingo or
how it works out. There's notreally explaining it much. So
hearing about confluence, Iattended.
I think I volunteered to helpsome setup and things here and
there, but just walking in thedoors and the space was similar
to the experience we got goingto BlurredCon. It's just feeling
welcome, feeling something new,something, representing the
(24:11):
culture, all the differentpieces that were put into the
the artistic experience, thesessions, the the vibe,
everything else. It was a lot ofgreat things to experience. And
then after that, I after theevals came out saying, if you
need anything, I'm down to help.So I'm helping, me and David
helping with the the cosplaycompetition.
I'm helping with some of thetech stuff, AV audio visual
(24:34):
things here and there, justbeing able to provide more to a
space that I think one of theone of the metrics we're looking
at this year is sort of the thefirst timers, the people who've
never been to a con. Yep. A lotof that, yeah, is coming from
our community when we're doingsome tabling and things. And we
see some people, like, we'll betabling at the at some
Juneteenth events and differentthings, and we'll have some
(24:56):
lightsabers out. And we seewho's looking at that.
You know what that is. You wannatouch it. You wanna let them you
never realize there's a spacewhere you can dress up like a
Jedi or do different things. Andso opening the eyes to so many
people, Leslie was veryfortunate in her life to be
exposed to this early on when,yeah, myself and David didn't
really get in touch with ituntil our later adult years, but
(25:17):
hoping to provide those spacesfor whatever it is, an eight
year old or a 80 year old tohave the space to feel
comfortable in and then be agateway to other things. And I
definitely see confluence beingbeing what BlurredCon was years
ago and and could grow intosomething as big as it as time
goes on.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah. And, you guys are partnering with public
functionary on this? Or they'reusing the space?
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Yeah. Yeah. So public functionary at the Northrup King
Building. Public Functionary isthe container for confluence
right now. So it's fullyoperational underneath their
501, I think it is, which is agreat thing, especially for con
(26:06):
still in its infant years rightnow and still being developed
and and cultivated.
So, yeah, public functionarywould be that umbrella and
container for confluence.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Awesome. Love to hear it. And if you are in the city
or even if you're not from thecity and you want to come see
what St. Paul and Minnesota isall about, make sure y'all pop
out here for Confluence. Comeout, come see it, come feel the
love, come feel the joy, comewith your best cosplay.
You may see me, you know, startmy cosplay streak.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
We will see you.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Will. See, they're speaking into an existence.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Yes. You have the opportunity to to stretch your
stuff. We got a cosplay runwayand a cosplay competition, all
sorts of opportunities to toshow your stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Amazing. Amazing. So, here at the Lookout, we are
anime network. What was yourguys' anime knowledge
introductions? Are y'all heavyinto that?
Is your introduction becausemine I was American comics into
(27:15):
manga. That's how I started. Iwas reading Batman, Superman,
Spider Man all the time. Andthen Toonami introduced me. It
was like Dragon Ball Z and allthat, but then Toonami had their
block.
I was just like, oh, woah. Thisis like cartoons, but they're
actually, like, showing blood.Like, what is it?
Speaker 2 (27:37):
I
Speaker 1 (27:37):
was like was like, they're fighting. I was like, is
that a cuss word? I was like,oh, this is amazing. How about
you guys? Like, do y'all have aa starting point within anime or
just kinda like in general, justlike your your your love for
nerdom?
Like, where did that kind ofstart for you?
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Adrian, you can go ahead. I might get a little bit.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Yeah. I wanted to reach out before you to
apologize that I have not gottendeep into the anime world. And I
watched a little Pokemon as akid, but just in general, my
nerdym is, yeah, stuff I waswatching on TV as a kid from
Power Rangers and Gargoyles andDarkwing Duck and and seeing
different things.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
And I never I never, yeah, never got into the anime.
And then after time, I was like,there's too much to catch up on
now. I guess I'm I'm as you'resaying about the cosplay,
there's too many things to wheredo I start. But I guess that the
Boondocks can be somewhatcategorized anime. I really
enjoyed that with the seriousnature and various, movies and
(28:36):
things.
Cold world was a animation slashlive action one with Brad Pitt
and and, who framed Roger RabbitRabbit seeing those sort of
things. That was a form aformative experience. But, yeah,
in general, it was what I saw onTV. I always preface this next
statement by saying that I'm Iwork in higher ed. I have a
master's degree, but I ingeneral, I don't read.
(28:56):
So it's it's either TV or moviesor other content. I'm not I'm
not picking up a comic book.Haven't yet, but so many things
that, I guess, at least in mycosplay and stuff I enjoyed as a
kid on on TV and movies and allthe other things that lead to my
my nerdy side.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
No. Definitely. I mean, I think cartoons in
general, I think now, especiallywith, like, the nineties babies
into now, like, cartoons playand still play a huge role in
what I deem is cool. And I'vealways been even now having a
(29:36):
daughter, meet her watch a lotof cartoons together and
whatnot. I think tell people allthe time, I love animation so
much because I'm like, there'sjust some things that that live
action can do.
Like, there's like a there'slike a ceiling.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Mhmm.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
You can only do so much with live action. I'm like,
with animation, I'm like, youcan go as kooky, as far left, as
far right, as far up, as fardown as you really wanna go with
it. And I think even now, justthe level of just animation. I
(30:14):
mean, look at things, Invinciblejust took over the world for a
second. There's things animationwise that they can do and they
have-
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Spider Verse stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Yeah. Spider Verse, everything that they've been
doing where you're like, This isso next level. What am I
watching? This is art. This iswoah.
And that was where my lovereally came from is the fact
that I'm like, this is not onlygreat storytelling, but this is
(30:48):
in a medium where I feel thatthere's so many different styles
and there's so many things thatcome into play where you're
like, this is it's so enticing.You're just like, I I want to be
you're just drawing deeper,deeper into it. But but David,
alright. You you say you'regonna get long winded.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
I'm gonna try not to. It's just
Speaker 1 (31:10):
I will I will give you the floor now. What was your
what was your introduction intointo this Nurnum version?
Speaker 3 (31:17):
So I would say like in my youth, much like Adrian,
like I grew up with the Saturdaymorning cartoons, eating cereal,
watching Dennis the Menace,Disney Channel, Nickelodeon. One
of my earliest things when itcomes to a more adult driven
things was written in Stimpyback when it was on MTV, I
(31:38):
believe it was.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Yeah, remember they had that Spike TV run too.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Yeah, yeah. Before it even whipped over to
Nickelodeon, he dropped DarkwingDuck. Yo, Darkwing Duck and
Gargos was my Can we curse?Because it was my age. Yes.
Have fun. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, itwas definitely the shit. Those
are fond, fond memories.
(32:03):
Batman, the animated series. SoI can go on and on and on.
Right? Through my youth, I lovedall of that stuff. You know?
But it was, like, quietly justme. It wasn't until I met my
best friend who my brotherSamuel. And I was a game head
way back in the day and weconnected over video games. And
(32:26):
he is the he's my OG black nerd.He was the one that was in the
anime and the gaming and thecomic books, the whole nine.
So he ushered me into thatworld. It took him a little bit
because he would be like, needto read this. You need to watch
this. And I'd just be like,yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll get to
it. And I jumped in like I toldyou to do.
(32:50):
I jumped in all the way in likeon the deep end. Like my first
comic book, books that I read, Ibought the entire series of
Transmetropolitan hands down oneof the best series ever written
that is super potent and tillthis day very relevant to what
(33:11):
we're facing in our times. It'slike it's timeless. I jumped in
and at the same time I boughtthe entire Punisher Max by Garth
Ennis. I even bought the entirerun of that.
That's why Punisher is likeprobably my number one Marvel
favorite right now.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Are you currently watching Daredevil Born Again?
Speaker 3 (33:35):
I am not. I am purposely staying away until
it's done and then I'm justgonna go like lock myself in my
apartment and then binge it.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Brave brave individual. Yes.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Very you know, I I have those same watching habits.
I I blame Netflix. The Netflixruined me because I'm just like,
now I'm like, just let the wholeseason drop, and then I'll just
watch it all in the next, like,twenty eight hours.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I can't I I'm really
excited to to jump in but I wantto jump in completely blinded.
When they dropped the firstPunisher, I got a lot of
thoughts on it but I absolutelyloved it.
So I absolutely loved the firstDaredevil as well. The writing
(34:25):
was great but the cinematographywas just like on freaking point.
That's a big thing for me too.But to talk more directly about
anime, when I finally jumpedinto anime, I don't I can't
remember what my first watchwas. Actually, I take that back.
(34:52):
It was Air Gear. I think AirGear was my very Air Gear and
Sekirei. So those were my firsttwo ones. And if you've ever
watched those ones, you mightunderstand why I have a little
chuckle.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I've seen Air Gear. I have not seen Sakurai yet
though.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
All right. It's the whole harem, the unlikely hero,
the shy boy who's surrounded bythese beautiful, powerful women
or deities. You know what Imean? Air Gear was a little bit
more centered on kid just beingI like that one because he was
(35:38):
totally crap at being a skaterand he had to really struggle
and learn and get his way there.But it was semi harem because he
was surrounded by all thesebeautiful women too.
But those were the start for me.And similar, it was like this
(36:00):
world, it just opened up a wholenew world of storytelling for
me. And so that's what pulled mein. After that, I was just
consuming everything. And as Iwas consuming things, was
noticing like even my ownparticular flavor of type of
(36:20):
anime, what type of stories arebeing told or like what type of
animation is being utilized andlike what I'm gravitating
towards and stuff like that.
So I wouldn't call myself likebecause I forget so much. Like
people be wanting to talk to meand I'm like, listen, I don't
(36:40):
remember nobody's name, but Idefinitely remember that it was
dope.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Yeah. I remember the feeling. The feeling is Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
Yeah. Yeah. Like I might remember. I remember the
art or I can remember thegeneral story and stuff like
that. But if we wanna starttalking about characters and
stuff like that, unfortunately,names start blending together
for me.
So
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Definitely. This is amazing. This is so fun. I mean,
we have these shout out to mycohost. We have great
conversations all the time.
But like I said, we keeping itso local today, and it feels
great talking to two guys fromthe same neighborhood, from the
same Yeah. You know? We no. Weand seeing how you guys are are
(37:29):
taking everything that that ishappening, you know, with the
nurse stuff, with all this, thecost, and, like, taking it to
different heights and how youguys are applying it whatnot. Is
you guys' vision for the future,for yourself, for this
(37:51):
community, like, what are youguys wanting to see more of?
You know, with yourselves andlike just this community in
general, like, what are youlooking like, for more of?
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Mhmm. Gotcha. Yeah. I I as you were saying that, was
something me and David talkedabout that me and David were
clearly in the same circles formany years in the go in the same
high school, same same friendgroup, all these different
things, but didn't know eachother until we popped up on the
Internet dressing up likesuperheroes and then got
connected. And and and me andyou, yeah, we I've known you
since you were a kid and things,but I didn't know what you were
(38:26):
doing.
And so I think it's just beingcomfortable talking about this
stuff and and creating spacesfor people to enjoy it and
whether, yeah, whether it's onsocial media or or in three d,
trying to expose more people tothese opportunities so they can
yeah. It can lead to a podcast.It can lead to a creative fun
outlet, lead to a career,whatever else it is. But I think
(38:47):
trying to share it more, as Isee people, it's again, with a
day job, you may not bring itup, but but why not? Talk about
it a little bit, share thingsduring an icebreaker, let your
friends and family know.
I got my family to come out toTwin Cities Con this past year,
all suited up as Spider Man. Mymom even dressed up like a aunt
(39:08):
May and she got into it. So justand I got some nibbling who are
getting into the world now. Sojust trying to share it with
more people. I've got see, I'mgoing to to WonderCon next
weekend and some other things toto try and explore and meet new
people.
But just having having fun withit is the main thing.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Awesome. What about you, David? Like, what is your
What is your dream for thefuture for this community, for
yourself and everything elsethat's going on?
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Oh man, I'm finding myself transformed by all of
this. It very much started justbeing an observer to being a
participant by like going to theevents and things like that to
now I have I really feel I havea deep passion in trying to
(40:01):
figure out how do we createthese spaces? How do we invite
people from our communities thatwe know don't always get the
exposure, right? They don'treally necessarily get the
(40:22):
exposure to these things that wereally enjoy. Or maybe they did
get the exposure to the things,but they don't have a place or
space where they feel safe to bethemselves, to express
themselves, just like, becauseI'm telling you the moment you
meet, you're saying it a lot tous.
(40:42):
It's moments like this where youmeet somebody who comes from the
same neighborhood or similarneighborhood, somebody who looks
like you or who's somebody whospeaks that unspoken language
like you do. And so there's aculture significance that we
share, but then all of a suddenyou're like, wait a minute,
Speaker 1 (41:03):
you black nerd too? Wait a minute, you watch anime?
Speaker 3 (41:05):
I'm telling you out here by, I stay in Inver Grove
Heights. And so I go to theWalmart that's out here. Right?
And I see many people of color,mostly like Mexicans and stuff
like that. But it's primarily awhite neighborhood and
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Oh, know. So I work at that. I work right up the
road from that Walgreens overthere.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Okay. So you understand where I'm
Speaker 1 (41:27):
going. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
There's a young brother that works there. And I
walked in wearing a Demon Slayert shirt. And he's ringing me up
and he just stops in mid ring.And he was like, you watch
anime? You know, like a littleshook.
And I was like I'm likeabsolutely I watch anime. And
(41:48):
then all of a sudden he was justlike, oh what did you think
about blah blah blah blah blah.And just to see him completely
be himself and feel comfortablein that moment, My brother
forgot that he had a whole othercustomer that he needed to go.
It's moments like that thatreally feed me and that really
(42:09):
solidify the movement that we,that not only us here in
Minnesota with confluence istrying to do. There's some
other, I went to the, I got ashout out at Quito Festival.
Excuse me if I'm mispronouncingthat. That's an indigenous
festival that was happening justthis past weekend in St. Paul.
It's the first ever in St. Paul.
(42:31):
Yo, there's a movement that'shappening. So it's not only
happening in the blackcommunities but it's which
confluence is trying to it isrepresentative of the blacks,
indigenous and people of color.Not only us but those of us who
have been hushed and quietedlike, you know what, enough is
(42:53):
enough. We need a space for us.So we're about to take up space.
So that's what I want. That'swhat I see for the future.
That's what I want for thefuture. That's in any small
place I can help to do that. I'mgoing to do it.
If I'm able, if I'm, you know,if I whatever powers that I may
(43:16):
have, whether it's just I'mgoing go and pick up sticks for
you so you can have a clean yardto do a sale, right? If even if
it's just that minimal, I wantto be there and I want to help
to do that because I justbelieve in this so much. And I
am constantly reaffirmed that itis needed, it is loved, it is
(43:37):
welcomed and it is very muchyearned for by these
communities.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Man, that was beautiful. That was couldn't say
it better myself. And Icompletely agree, even what the
lookout, we celebrated sevenyears on the nineteenth.
Congratulations. Appreciatey'all.
Shout out to Mills because he'sthe creator of all this. Mills
(44:10):
is That's my bestie, that's myman's. I just started off
listening as a fan. Just like,just want to support my friend.
Then that grew into me you know,pitching an idea to him of like,
hey.
You guys are, you know, doinganime. Like, I read a lot of
manga. Can I do a manga show forthe network? And Mhmm. You know,
ran a manga podcast for a while.
(44:33):
And once that ended, he waslike, yo, just come, you know,
come run the mainstay podcastwith me. And the opportunities,
the people that I've been ableto meet, the spaces I've been
able to go in, I'm like, Wow.Just off of really wanting to
just do something cool with myfriend and just talk about
(44:54):
something I enjoy and just be agrown ass kid. Now I'm looking
at it now, the community I'vebeen able to build and see just
see all the wonderful thingsthat other people are doing just
like YouTube, where it's justlike, man, Adrian probably knows
(45:18):
every single person in myfamily. Every day, you know For
Speaker 2 (45:22):
Drew, with with Benny last week.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Yeah. You did. Like, you know and, you know, it was
funny because my cousin Nation,I was like, oh, Adrian's gonna
be on the podcast next week. Shewas like, oh my gosh. Tell him I
said hi.
Oh. And David, all of us comingfrom the same neighborhood, it's
beautiful the fact that there'sthis thing, there's this
connecting string for all of usand now look at us all here. I'm
(45:46):
with you where it's just like,all I wanna see is just the the
connection just grow strongerand bigger. How can we how can
we make this spider web becomebigger? Right.
Get more people trapped in.Alright. Last question. Just one
for David. Like, I know you havedaughters.
Right? Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (46:02):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
Seen them kind of fall into this, like, thing
naturally with you? Are theystill kind of because my
daughter, she obviously has seenme. I've never kind of really
pushed anything on her. She'sjust kinda seen me do this and
kinda fall into now. She startedlike, we went to Twin Cities Con
(46:23):
the year before we did the paneland she was like, I wanna dress
up as Sailor Moon.
And so
Speaker 2 (46:28):
was like,
Speaker 1 (46:28):
okay, cool. So got her a Sailor Moon outfit and she
was able to wear it and, youknow, so it's been great to see
her kinda just find her own lanein it and just find the things
that she likes. You know, shereally loves my hero, and she'll
find all the, you know, theother animes that she likes and
other comics that she likes.Have you been seeing that with
your own children? And how doesthat like as a dad, how does
(46:52):
that feel to see them kind ofgravitate towards something that
you enjoy if they are?
Speaker 3 (46:57):
Right. I've definitely tried to leave an
open lane for the girls to justdiscover their own, know what I
mean? Come into their own. Andthen I want to champion that. I
just want to be the biggestcheerleader for them.
(47:18):
My eldest daughter hasdefinitely seen, I've definitely
lived out my geek life fully. Soshe knows fully well her dad is
a big time blurb and shechampions that for me and I love
that. She'd be behind me comingwith ideas and she's definitely
(47:42):
been to several cons with me.She's definitely dressed up
herself. I think there was onecostume where I was just given
suggestions and stuff like thatand she killed it.
She definitely killed. Shedressed up as Ryder from Grand
Theft Auto San Andreas.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
Oh, that's tight.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
Yeah. And I think we went to Anime Detour that year.
But yeah, yeah, yeah. So I wouldsay,
Speaker 2 (48:15):
she
Speaker 3 (48:15):
definitely digs anime here and there. She's definitely
a gamer in her own right hereand there. But she moves at her
own speed. I wouldn't say thatshe's gotten deep into the world
as of yet, but she's definitelyfound her lane if that makes
sense and I love it. She's gotlike few comic books that she's
(48:38):
gravitated towards and sheenjoys and stuff like that.
But I like to make sure I leaveit open for them to discover
their way through it. Theyoungest ones haven't yet. I
haven't taken them to any consas of yet. They are still very
much into like Coco Melon andthe LOL dolls and stuff like
(49:04):
that. So I like to just let thembe.
You know what I mean? Like I seethat's what they love. I just be
like, I'm a just buy a bunch oftoys in that area or whatever
the case may be until it changesinto something new. Because
they're still weaving in and outof the things that they enjoy.
So whatever it is, I'm gonna beright there champion.
(49:29):
One thing though I always I maypush on all the girls is TMNT.
They'd be like, can we watchthis? Can we watch YouTube or
whatever? And I don't reallylike to have them watch YouTube
unless it's like YouTube kids.And so I'd be like, how about
this?
Let's watch some Teenage MutantNinja Turtles. And they'd be
(49:49):
looking at me sideways like,that's not what we asked. I'm
like, no. But you don't love it.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
Don't love
Speaker 3 (49:55):
it. Don't love this.
Speaker 2 (49:58):
Listen. It's on a it's on a cosplay dream list
teaming up with the with themovie quality Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle suits. One day, wegotta find a sponsor.
Speaker 1 (50:05):
Yes. Oh, yes. Seriously. Okay. I'll join in on
that one.
Speaker 3 (50:09):
Yeah. I've already priced I've already priced it
out. I've already reached out toa cat. He told me not to tell
him about it.
Speaker 1 (50:14):
I just called Deb on Mikey. That's it.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Cool. That's cool. Yep. Who who who do you David,
Speaker 3 (50:19):
who you got? Who you Raf.
Speaker 2 (50:20):
Raf? Alright.
Speaker 1 (50:21):
Yep. Who you got?
Speaker 3 (50:23):
Or Donnie. It's Raf Raf has to be my first one, but
I do love Donnie too.
Speaker 2 (50:30):
Leonardo coming through all blue.
Speaker 3 (50:32):
Alright. Alright.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
Yeah. And then Mikey Mikey, that's my guy. He's the
he's the goofball of the group.He's the one that, you know, he
he mellows out the he, you hemellows out the rest. Yeah.
That's always been my goal. Ijust wanna be the guy that
mellows out the rest.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
You know why know why Mikey is really, really dope
though and and underrated?Because people, you know, they
they don't really pay attentionto the like the the person with
all the jokes and the one who'salways lighthearted and stuff
like that. But you know, he'sprobably like the most powerful
because
Speaker 1 (51:04):
Nunchucks are really hard. But Yeah. Facts.
Speaker 3 (51:10):
Facts. Have you ever tried to spin nunchucks on your
finger?
Speaker 1 (51:13):
I think You know?
Speaker 3 (51:16):
But the fact that it's like he's just as skilled
as his brothers, right? Like hecan whoop ass like them, but he
does it nonchalantly. Raph hasgot a lot of emotion. He's
taking everything super serious.Leonardo has got the world on
his shoulders because he'strying to be an example and lead
(51:36):
his brothers.
Donnie is a more analytical typeof guy, probably more of a
little goofy side because himand Mikey got that connect.
Mikey is just like, bro, I'm awhoop your ass, but the entire
time I'm whooping your ass, I'mthinking about what I'm about to
eat tonight, which is gonna besome pizza. You know what I
mean? But I think that'spowerful. I think there's
(51:59):
something to be said about that.
There's somebody that can justput a whooping on you, but not
even be fazed by anything that'shappening.
Speaker 2 (52:06):
There you go. If you need a full series of podcasts
on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,you know you know who to call.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Right. Right. For sure. For sure. Oh, man.
But I appreciate you guys, bothof y'all so, so, so, so much for
pulling up on us, pulling up atthe lookout. Where can people
find y'all on socials, and howhow can people continue to
support, confluence and otherthings that you guys got going
on?
Speaker 2 (52:31):
Yeah. I'm I'm, Saint Paul Prince on on the socials, s
t p a u l, Prince, confluenceunderscore m n on Instagram.
What's the what's the websiteat, David?
Speaker 3 (52:41):
It's confluencemn.com.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
For sure.
Speaker 2 (52:48):
So, yeah, if you wanna show up, support, attend,
buy tickets, the tickets are onsale until April 1 at a
discounted price. Share comment,like subscribe.
Speaker 3 (53:00):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (53:01):
Invite some people.
Speaker 3 (53:02):
Yes, yes, yes. The date is October 2025 at the
North Thrupp King Building,which I believe is 1500 Jackson
Street.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Awesome. And David, where can people holler at you
at? I know you say you're aretired photographer, but
Speaker 3 (53:20):
Yep. Yep. Tired. Retired. Yeah.
I'm tired too. That's that'sthat's a good thing. I'm a tired
retired photographer. I'm stillgot the camera in my hand
though. It'll never go anywhere.
I still get out there and and domy thing here and there. I've
been doing some like selfshoots. I'm actually supposed to
connect with Nikki who goes byColabear Cosplay on IG. Check
(53:44):
her out. We got some things inthe work and then I'm gonna be
traveling to North Carolina.
I got some things in in the workwith a good friend out there.
But you can find me everywhereas Tazumi Zaga. That is t a z u
m I underscore Z A I G A.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
Awesome. Well, guys, once again, just want to thank
you all so much for pulling upon us. This is episode 198. Next
week, you'll hear the Mills isback. I won't be a part of it,
but Mills is back with anothergreat interview with another
great guest.
And then we have episode 200. Soas always, make sure you're on
(54:25):
the lookout for the lookout.Thank you guys for listening.
You know where to find us.Listen and subscribe, YouTube,
wherever you like listen to yourfavorite podcast.
And, yeah, peace.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.