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love-takes-work · 11 months

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Infloresce & Friends: Charity Festival benefiting the Chattanooga Trans Liberation Collective

I attended the wonderful charity stream for aivi & surasshu’s first anniversary of their label Infloresce, benefiting Chattanooga Trans Liberation Collective. It was a lovely time and included many special guest appearances, including (of special interest to some of my blog readers) Rebecca Sugar and Jeff Ball of Steven Universe fame and aivi & surasshu themselves. Here is an overall outline of the content of the TWELVE HOURS of streaming, including details about all of the performances! And if you’re interested in further supporting the Chattanooga Trans Liberation Collective, you can choose your donate option here.

This is a twelve-hour streamed charity event to benefit Chattanooga Trans Liberation Collective, put on in honor of Infloresce's one-year anniversary. Infloresce is aivi & sursshu's record label for "gentle music that goes hard." With nine releases in the last year among their handful of musicians, largely populated by gender expansive and trans folks, are supporting the trans community with this event.

1. Breakfast Friends - Waffle Talk

This opening panel included discussion of trans community, the beauty of realizing how many people are queer in your community, music, and morning routines. aivi shares what's different about their morning routine because they have a child. Includes an interview with Evelina Kertay, a founding member and leader of Chattanooga Trans Liberation Collective, who shared information about fighting anti-queer laws on the ground without depending on the structures of the oppressor.

She says it's very important for allies to be willing to put skin in the game and accept risk. Her message to trans people is that past liberation movements and queer elders can show us the way--it's a fight that's been fought before. (Also, ACAB and fuck ICE.) CTLC helps people access trans-friendly medical care, name changes, and escaping hostile situations.

2. Oops! All Bangers. Trans and Non-Binary Radio

With a quirky introduction about the Dunmucky Method of music-making involving a dollhouse as an illustration, we then get some bangers from various trans and nonbinary artists, played over rad videos of trans and nonbinary people from the south skating:

Featuring the following:

telebasher - "Savior"

Zantilla - "Lemon Pepper"

JER - "You Can Get It If You Really Want"

Maddie Lim - "Mango Habanero"

Saria Lemes - "That's Not Candy"

mandrasigma - "Trinket"

FLOOR BABA - "PREHISTORY"

miles morkri - "yarrow"

Ponpoko in the Distance - "Ukijima"

3. Battle Buds: Team Composition Challenge

This was so cool! Six battlers "duking it out friendship style" make music inspired by locations in Chattanooga, each writing a piece in one hour. miles and surasshu discuss the history and process of compos. Compo communities started on IRC back in the day--sometimes 30-minute or 1-hour competitions where people would make compositions and vote on them. Surasshu has competed in hundreds of them. The composers use many different utilities to make their contributions. Throughout the stream, the hosts checked in with each composer and let them talk about their process and philosophy.

Composers and their compositions:

Hunter Van Brocklin - Cerulean Caverns

Frums - Rosebloom Ravine

Ash - Luminous Lagoon

M Gewehr - Groove Gardens

Maddie Lim - Bubble Bay

mandrasigma - Tangled Terrace

4. Button Masher Performance

After another fun Dunmucky intro and music lesson, we get a performance from chiptune composer and performer Button Masher.

5. Digifu Classic

We are treated to some lovely digifu pieces with cool visualizers.

6. Cass Cuttlefish Performance

With another music lesson in the Dunmucky Method ("Structure, Purpose, Vision!") leading off...

We have Aubrey Halo, aka Cass Cuttlefish, sharing some great music, including one that's "too fast to be a waltz." A couple of the songs have lyrics!

And we even get some cool pixel art from Aubrey.

Aubrey is now transitioning the previous “Cass Cuttlefish” social media to the Aubrey Halo name.

7. The Sandwich Club: Let's Talk About Games!

Next we have some folks talking about games and their contributions! Panel contributors were ChevyRay, Jessi, Ko, Hbomb, Isla, and SonicFox. They discuss experience as gamers, as developers, and as composers. They discuss what their first video games they remember playing, what video game characters are the hottest, whether Shadow the Hedgehog is cool, how much evil can a character do before they're irredeemable, and how to avoid burnout and burnout experiences.

8. Floor Baba Performance

A Muckyverse lesson teaches us about melody! Then Floor Baba takes the stage with a performance: We have MIDIs to jam to and accompanying cool art!

9. Maj7 Community Showcase

Very cool pieces by this collaboration between artists, accompanied by various inventive animations!

10. aivi & surasshu Performance

After another lovely and unhinged Dunmucky Institute music lesson, we get aivi & surasshu's set, opening with "Amalgam" from Steven Universe (Opal's fusion dance song). They then perform a cover of "Yuri on Ice." The next song, "Periphery," is from their upcoming album.

The promised “Love Like You” stream included the crowdsourced choir collected from Steven Universe fan contributions across the internet. 92 contributors sent in their voices! (Small brag: I was in there!)

11. Being a Trans Lawyer in the South

This section has an interview with a lawyer (who also skates!) named Alex Moody (they/them) discussing how laws affect trans and gender expansive people in Southern states, how Southern social movements work, and some of the necessities of playing nice with norms and expectations so we can get shit done. Learn legislators, bother them, make calls, access Mutual Aid where needed.

12. Battle of the Bits Listening Party

After a week-long battle with 69 entries, we get to listen to the top 11!

#11 blower5 - hi

#10 doctorn0gloff - the trials of blossoming

#9 telebasher - NEVER GIVE UP !!

#8 rewitkin - travel log

#7 robotmeadows - we used to run around and not get tired

#6 october - you and me 'til the world ends

#5 damifortune + slash - a chipped stylus

#4 paperaviator - just existing (in a good way)

#3 zenkusa - A Picnic at Twilight

#2 petet - willow

#1 pedipanol - Together

There were also individual awards in the categories of Friendship, Community, Trans Rights, Inflorescence, Charity in Pants, Overall. Very cool.

13. miles morkri Performance

We get another set of instructions to teach us about the Dunmucky method, and then we're on to see miles morkri! This performance has some great vibes with miles singing and playing. I loved this one!

14. STAFFcirc Community Showcase

STAFFcirc composers have their pieces featured with more stunning visuals.

15. Rebecca Sugar & Jeff Ball Performance

Another music lesson teaches us about texture in the Dunmucky Method. And then, we get Rebecca Sugar and Jeff Ball sharing a special performance!

They begin with a guitar and violin duet of "Everything Stays."

Next we are treated to the full version of "Change Your Mind," and then "Love Like You," and finally "Escapism."

It was so special to get to hear Rebecca performing again. I missed seeing performances like this.

16. The Ice Cream Social: Let's Talk About Toys!

miles, aivi, Loni, mandrasigma, and Marcie have a chat about toys, with a big focus on Hot Wheels. They discuss what everyone's favorite toys were as children. Character cars look like taxidermy to aivi. They have started collecting Hot Wheels cars after having a child who is obsessed with cars.

As an incentive to get to $10,000 on the donations, mandra offered to show a "cursed" Toad-inspired Hot Wheels car. And it happened. (And it was cursed.)

17. telebasher & amimifafa Performance

Another visit from the Dunmucky Institute later, we get some wonderful melancholy, chill music from telebasher & amimifafa collaborating.

18. Infloresce Records Community Showcase

Infloresce artists have their pieces compiled and showcased with more wonderful music videos and visualizers!

19. Zantilla Performance

Lesson 9 from the Dunmucky Institute provides an interlude, and then we get a performance from artist Zantilla. Metal guitar-led music with visuals of the artist going hard jamming out on guitar.

20. Moonlit Vibes: Trans & Non-Binary Radio

Yet more wonderful night-themed songs from trans and nonbinary artists, featuring more great skating videos, this time with a night palette tint. We got some cool stories about the meanings of the songs, the importance of leaving space in music, the despair some trans people feel and make art about, and how aivi ended up working with Zantilla.

Featuring the following:

Slide20XX - "thick as thieves"

amimifafa - "phytogenesis"

aivi (ft. Zantilla, Michaela Nachtigall) - "Tiger"

TV-MA - "I Want to See the Angels"

Isaac Shutz - "Summer Rain"

Lena Raine - "Full Moon Memories"

Siphosomes - "Canopy >> Stars"

paper aviator - "On Foot"

21. quarkimo Performance

Some beautiful night music closes us out with quarkimo playing candlelit piano.

22. Curtain Call: End of Stream Hangout

The Dunmucky Institute takes us to the exit of the stream, with a return of the dollhouse, and some very nice messages about the importance of making art.

With a final plug for the Chattanooga Trans Liberation Collective, the organizers have a celebration that everything worked and nothing broke for the whole twelve-hour stream. There were lots of thank-yous and information about who contributed what. Much outpouring of gratefulness and love was had.

I did not initially intend to attend a TWELVE-HOUR STREAM but by gosh that’s what ended up happening. I care very much about trans rights, as a fellow Southern-state-liver who is watching the freedoms and safety getting scrubbed out of my communities at a frightening rate. Evelina Kertay of the Chattanooga Trans Liberation Collective was a WONDERFUL speaker and badass and I would have loved to hear way more from her, and I believe her trans-led organization is going to DO THE BUSINESS as we fight these laws and prejudices.

I’m really glad I attended.

#transgender #chattanooga trans liberation collective #aivi & surasshu #steven universe #rebecca sugar #infloresce #myblog

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