Hey guys. Man it has been a week for me. In case you don’t follow the Loveless instagram (and why wouldn’t you by the way? Click here now damnit) we are in the process of moving the studio. To say it has been a bit of a transition is an understatement as I’ve stretched myself maybe a bit too thin (hell I’m still going and it’s like 6:45am. Sure my daughter is about to wake up at any second). But It’s almost done and I’m happy with the results.
By moving studios we will be able to produce more of the Loveless stuff that you guys love such as more Lovebomb apparel, prints and art, experimental cool shit, and hopefully the printed edition (I spelled it “addition” at first. I’m tired, don’t judge). So I’m pretty excited about that. All while the move is going on we get to shoot one of my favorite couples, Loveless Ken and Erica for our revamped Society page. All while drawing this comic and tattooing with a full schedule. So yeah, I’ve been pushed to my limits but now I know that my limits can go further than I thought, so that’s a good thing.
Even with that though I’m going to do a better job of taking care of my body and sleeping because I’m gonna need energy. I challenge you all to do the same thing. Why? Because your body is all you got. I’m in the business of making bodies look good through body art, but there is nothing more gratifying than knowing you are taking care of self. Soon as this move is done I’ll be about that life. Need to make sure I can keep delivering on getting you all this comic on time. If that means a few burpees and green smoothies then so be it 🙂
Oh but the comic. Well I kept it light today because of the move, but it is an important panel nonetheless. We go deeper into the thoughts of Angel and his mystery girl. The time is now. What will his next move be? Spoiler alert, I think we find out Tuesday. It’s time to go big or go home Angel, so what’s it gonna be?
Let me go grab some sleep before I have to wake up for this shop meeting in the morning. You guys enjoy the weekend. Lates.
Mel
PS: Ain’t no PS bih. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz
—–part 2——
Whew I’m pooped. Not from the comic so much, but because last week was draining as fuck! Me and the guys moved the studio and it was no joke. For those that didn’t get to visit the Loveless Studio, let’s just say you had to climb a few stairs. Now when we moved in, we didn’t have much stuff and about every month, we’d add some new big item and bitch and moan for like a day, but be cool pretty soon.
But since we were moving out, with a deadline (as these things typically go) we had to carry all that big shit out, down all those stairs! I don’t know if you guys know my interns, but collectively we all fusion dance to form a skinny dude still. It was nuts, lol. But luckily we got more help and shit became a reality.
So you would think that was where the pain and suffering ended. No my friends. Let me expound upon you why I urge no one to go the Uhaul on Peter’s street in Atlanta.
ahem…
So, before we move our stuff I rent a uhaul. Upon renting, since we are downsizing I know we can’t possibly take all of our stuff to the new studio, so I decide to get storage until we can figure out what to do with some of the nicer items that we don’t have room for yet. I make reservations for the truck and storage.
The day comes to pick up the uhaul and the desk girl that evening was pretty nice. I told her I had storage too, and she said that they were closing soon so I may as well get the key the next day when I returned my rental. I’m like cool. No issue.
So the move happens and the next day I hit the studio (that means go to the studio for those that don’t know the lingo…follow along), pick up the uhaul, gassed that bitch up ($3 because I drove like 11 miles total), and get to u-haul on time. The outside guy checked me in and said I’m all good to go inside and settle everything up. He was cool. No beef with him.
Now I go inside and there is a bit of a wait because I got up hella early so I could rest before my appointment and such. I have an hour to unload. I’m dead on schedule to get two whole hours of rest. A luxury in my life. So after ten minutes of watching the two desk girls entertain some girl trying to sell them stolen goods (common in the hood. Still not bugging) one of the girls finally asks to help me.
Lemme set the scene… You ever seen someone who really doesn’t give a fuck? Like I know a lot of us aren’t partial to our jobs, but I’m talking really don’t give a flying fuck. That was this girl. Her hair wasn’t done. Now that I think about it, it was one of those little struggle pony tails that was held together with a rubber band, the little beige one that I’m sure isn’t helping her cause of flowing ponytail magic. Her uniform was a bit messy like she didn’t iron, typical shit. I’m kinda big on looking professional depending on your position. If you want better you have to be willing to dress the part you know. Like if I’m in charge of promoting, I’m not going to give the job to the girl who comes to work all messed up looking? I’d upgrade the one who treated her position like it was important because newsflash, that means you’ll treat the next position great too (can you tell I’m a bit peeved?)
So I tell her my name and that my uhaul got checked in. She looks on the computer and says it hasn’t been. I tell her the guy says I was set. She said “Well it’s not showing up” like I lied or something. I show her my keys and even point to a security camera saying that’s my truck. She looks and says it doesn’t matter because it’s not showing up. So she calls for the guy to confirm and says we have to wait.
Again, not tripping. I got about 40 minutes left to stay on schedule. I tell her I reserved a storage room and we could go ahead and get that straight while we wait.
Spoiler alert: shit is about to get fucked up real fast.
She starts typing. She can’t find my reservation. I tell her I made it the same day I made my Uhaul reservation and the girl the day before found it. She said she still couldn’t find it. I’m thinking, is she logged into the uhaul computer at all? So I show her my reservation on my phone proudly. She says… “Well it’s not showing up on the computer so that doesn’t matter”… At this moment, I start to feel I’m being punked. Follow along.
She then asks her coworker for help. She comes over and says here it is.
Apparently my reservation expired.
Huh?
She told me it was set for the day before and expired that night. I told her the desk girl told me that it was best if I just get it in the morning. She said she didn’t update it so my unit was gone. I’m like damn, ok so can I get another one that’s close? At this same moment someone yells that the elevator is stuck again. Let me explain how all of this correlates to each other.
In the days of google reviews I’m no idiot. This location has some piss poor reviews. But a constant I was seeing was that the elevator jams frequently. It was too close to the old and new studio to use any other location so me being Mr. Smarty, as well as Mr. Everyone deserves a shot, decides if I get a first floor unit then all of those problems are solved. So I reserve a first floor unit at a good price for convenience.
Back to the future.
She tells me she’ll see what she has available and since my reservation expired, I had to put in a new order for the new room. So she asks me my info. Now for those that don’t know, when you type in your info, it’s quick. You know it all. You just let your fingers go to work. But if you have to tell someone, who doesn’t even want to be at work, and who seems to not be listening to you, such a simple task goes from taking 3 minutes to 15. With tons of “spell it out’s” being asked (is Ledge Hill one or two words……………it’s two…kill me please).
So I pay and she hands me my key and lock. She then informs me to just take the elevator to my room.
“Elevator? You have to take an elevator to get to the first floor?”
“No your room is on the 4th floor.”
“Wait. I wanted one close to the old one. There is nothing on the first floor?”
She looks at me crazy and it’s clear she is fed up with me, but I keep my cool. So she checks and shows me there are no first floor units left…
Now at this point, I’m starting to feel some type of way. And to add insult to injury, when she told me, I think she said it really hard because I could smell her breath, and it was not pretty my friends.
It’s like the dragon in her mouth was trying to sum up my whole experience.
So still, trying to salvage what I could I ask could she at least get me something on the second floor because I read reviews and wanted to steer away from the elevator since as we knew from the screaming guy, it breaks. I explained to her I wanted CONVENIENCE.
She looks at me and says you have to get on the elevator anyway so that doesn’t really matter. She wasn’t budging. I paid money and yet I was being treated like a chump (“read- bitch”).
For those who have had the pleasure of meeting me, I have an extremely long fuse when it comes to blowing up. I felt at that moment, my fuse had finally started to be ignited, but I wasn’t at my breaking point.
So clearly it doesn’t get any worse than the fact that I went from a first floor room to the top floor, all while losing 40 minutes of my allotted one hour unloading time. I still kept my cool, so I came out on top right???
This is only half of the fucking story…
For the sake of me needing to sleep, I’ll tell the rest on the next comic post.
Oh shit!!! The comic post! Well I’m telling you guys all of this because it is a minor miracle that this post is even up because I didn’t get to work on the comic last week at all really. But it’s here and Angel is handling his new infatuation by stalking, and what girl doesn’t like being stalked. Let’s see what happens Thursday!
PS: I actually excluded a few panels on this page that will be in the printed book because it flows a bit better on the screen like this, but they are cool panels. Don’t be too surprised if when you guys get the printed book one day that you find tons of hidden panels and shit. Now as always ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Mel
—–part 3—–
Hey peeps. So I’m visiting my Mom in Alabama and my daughter is all about trying to help me right now meaning it’s a little hard to type. That coupled with the fact that mi madre just refuses to get internet and her house is a dead zone so my portable wi-fi is tripping balls. This all has me being forced to make a short post for a change.
I’ll be sure to finish up my crazy Uhaul story Tuesday for sure (the pain still lingers in my heart and soul).
So in the meantime, I’ll just let you guys enjoy the real reason you came here, the damn comic!
Welp, after his stalking exploits it seems that Angel is feeling a bit dejected. He’s not the type to go following a girl around so he has given himself a chill pill. Man this brings back memories of me having crushes in grade school. I wasn’t about talking to them but I’d keep my distant stalk on point. And then the inevitable moment you let them just live their life and give up is a feeling I wish upon none of you (though I’ll assume you’ve all felt something similar. It’s heartbreaking stuff man.
Then as we know, years later, you just wish you had the courage to say something. Because hell, it’s better to try than to just not know. So go jump out of your comfort zone today, just so that you can know, because knowing is half the battle and that makes GI Joe smile.
Alright, I have to get food for my toddler princess. Have a good weekend and I’ll catch you guys later.
Peace
PS: This internet really is slow. It took 5 minutes to upload that image. Reminds me of when we had Netzero. Waiting damn near an hour for a minute and a half of a porno clip. Those were the fucking days. Lates.
—–part 4—–
Another post up good peeps. So finally we see Angel get a bit lucky! I guess the small amount of work he put in before almost giving up worked a bit (we won’t be counting the stalking. Let’s just be glad she didn’t notice…or did she? Girls can appreciate some weird things sometimes).
So it all seems good in Angel’s world so far. Well I remind you that we must not forget that this story started out with our guy depressed over a girl. I’m gonna assume that this story gets a lot deeper! Fuck I can’t wait to get to the meat and potatoes of this tale (not to be confused with actual meat and potatoes…which sounds kinda delicious now… I digress).
Tune in Thursday for the final part of this flashback so we can get back to the present and see how Angel’s holding up. Til then, I need some sleep.
Lates
PS: No worries, I know you guys want to peep the end of that uhaul story. I’ll get it finished next post. I’m just in desperate need of some sleepage. I’m still mad about that actually. Damn, now I’m going to sleep angry. Gotta love it. Later guys. Loveless.
——part 5——
Well goddamn, fucking 7e!? I’m going to do my best to never take so long to give a page. Talk about slow motion. For those that haven’t realized, I am already laying these panels out on an actual page and just cutting them out in web sized increments as they read better in browsers and such. So while it seems we are a million posts in, we are actually on, well… page 7 lol. One day, you’ll be holding the book and it will all make sense. But for now, thanks for following along with a love story considering shit hasn’t hit the fan yet (oops… I’ve said too much already). But it’s looking like peaches and dandelions now you say? Well I guess you’re just going to have to catch it Tuesday to see if it works out for young Mr. Cruz.
So I was telling this story about Uhaul…
Uhaul from Hell part deux
When we last left off, I was stuck with a fourth floor storage unit in a building with a temperamental elevator PLUS, I was being treated like a fool by the girl at the front desk. Things were all bad but I go ahead and decide to make the best of my new circumstances. Sure I’m not happy about any of this, but all I’m thinking about is this glorious sleep that I’ll be able to receive if I can just rush through getting this stuff stored away. I grab a moving cart (free if you have a storage unit…hey, I count the small victories too) and proceed toward my truck.
Sidenote: Remember how we were waiting on the guy to make sure I was checked in? He finally came. The girl asked him was I checked in and he said “yeah”. No update on the computer or nothing. Just a simple “yeah”. She said it didn’t exist if it wasn’t on the computer and she didn’t see it. But we waited all of that time for a “yeah” when I had already told her it was checked in smh… I digress.
So before I even open my truck, a junkie asks if I want some help moving my stuff up. For a second I almost say yeah, but then I realize that I don’t have any cash to give to the guy since I paid with my debit card. Plus, I was in a piss poor mood. He would have been my punching bag, especially if he wasn’t careful with my shit. And how the hell did this junkie make it up to the loading dock I thought? They didn’t even want to pretend my stuff was safe?
So I load up for the first trip. I have a computer, a monitor, a huge ass whiteboard, some big paintings, a box of comics and a studio lamp. It’s going to take two trips to get my other items. Shit. I push toward the elevator. On the way I can’t help but see the people with first floor units, easily getting into their things. I knew that if I had a floor one unit myself, I’d be out of there on time for sure. It was clear at this point that my sleep time was being cut in to, but I wanted to make the best of it.
So I get in the elevator, which is a cargo style elevator. The one like you saw in the Last Dragon when Shonuff showed up in the final scene to beat Leroy ass before he got the glow. I roll in and two guys are in there waiting. Naturally I ask the older guy by the buttons to put me on floor four. Bruh didn’t move a muscle. I’m thinking he is on floor four himself and pissed like me. We were brothers in my eye. No worries old dude, I understand. Well he didn’t feel that same way because both of these fuckers got off on floor 2.
I close both of the doors (yeah you have to do them by hand) and proceed to press the fourth floor button. That’s when I notice there is no button. Each floor has a lock by it. I’m wondering do I need a key to work it because I didn’t have one. To the left I see a keypad asking for a code. I’m thinking maybe I enter the code for my unit number? Spoiler alert, that didn’t work. At that moment I remember they gave me a card and there was a swipe mechanism there. Eureka, I got this. I pull it out confident like an 18 year old at prom not knowing how shit would turn out but hope was on my side. I swipe, and the machine beeps. A message displays. I read. Access Denied. I swipe a few more times. The narrative doesn’t change. I saw that if you needed help you can press the call button. My finger goes in to accept that help, which definitely needed… only to find that the call button has been ripped off. There is nothing to press. I realize the sad truth.
I’m stuck on this damn elevator.
I am about to dial the management, knowing I lost another 7 minutes of sleep time, when all of a sudden the elevator starts to move. I’m magically on the 4th floor. Swaggy, my Jedi powers are finally working. The door opens and a janitor gets on. I’m a bout to leave and then I remember that I wouldn’t be able to get down. I ask him if I was using my card wrong. He tries for me (shouts out to that dude btw) and says it doesn’t seem like it was programmed right. So he uses his and we are on our way to the ground floor. On the way we pick up a few people on the 2nd and one of them is a guy who can fix the card. The janitor tells him and once we touchdown he grabs the card and is off to fix it. I look at my phone… I’m supposed to be sleep by now.
After about 5 minutes I’m given a new card, and boom it works! So I’m heading back up. I get off and I’m the only person up there it seems. I push my cart in search of my unit. The way that the floor is structured is that you walk along, in a big ass square until you find your room, well… I walk all the way around that bitch back to the elevator! I didn’t see my room!!! What in the entire fuck?
So I find a map. And learn there are two floors on the 4th. Two. So I go back and I see the stairs. So not only am I on the most inconvenient floor. But I’m on the most inconvenient part of the inconvenient floor. As stated earlier I have huge things to carry, and now I had to do that up a flight of stairs. One by one. Also at this point I could hear other people in there meaning I had to leave my items periodically as I scale these stairs. Items that are around junkies that get hired for help when people are in a bind. I knew I was being punked. It was the only logical explanation.
As I grabbed the heaviest thing, which was the whiteboard, I relished in the fact that this nightmare was almost over and that it couldn’t get any worse so it’s cool. I make it up and walk to my room in the back. I put the whiteboard down and stare in sheer and utter amazement.
The unit had a lock on it. I couldn’t get in.
You ever just been so shocked and dumbfounded that you didn’t even have emotions? That’s what I was feeling at the moment. So now I had to bring my board back down the stairs. I couldn’t leave my cart with all my stuff, it would get stolen. Just is what it is. Meaning I had to go all the way back down to tell these guys there was a lock on my unit or just call and go ham. I decided to call, but hold the ham. An automated system comes on. I called the local number and an automated system comes on…
After a few menus, a lady answers the phone. I ask if this is the Peter’s street Uhaul, which she affirms to me that it is. Her upbeat attitude lets me know that something is up. She sounds nothing like the people downstairs. I tell her that my new unit has a lock on it and I need someone to open it. She obliges and says hold on a moment. I then hear her feverishly type… for about 5 minutes. I interrupt her.
“Can I ask a question? Do you work remotely?”
“Yes I do. I’m trying to get in contact with the staff there but no one is answering me”
I then finally let her have it. No worries, not in a “curse her out type way”, but just letting her know how horrible the service and staff have been at this particular Uhaul. I tell her everything that I just told you guys, and I think her exact words were “I’m flabbergasted!” She urged me to find the manager and see how he can remedy it all. I take a deep breath and I’m heading back to the lobby. My sleep time is all but gone in my head. I haven’t even unloaded the first round.
I finally make it to the manager (who happened to be the guy that fixed my card) and see he is the only one at the desk. I’m guessing the girls form before were on lunch or randomly quit. Who knows. There were like seven people in line, he was clearly overwhelmed. I didn’t care though. I was tired and this whole experience had been bullshit. My fuse was finally almost there. I go straight to the front and tell him we need to talk. He asks if everything is good? I say no. He says’s give him a second. He then proceeded to help all seven customers adding 15-20 more minutes onto my no sleep time. At this point it wasn’t even about sleep, I was going to be fucking late for my appointment.
We finally talk and I tell him about everything. Upon finishing he says “Man, I am so sorry. So what do you want me to do about it?”
What the fuck? You’re the manager! Why am I telling you how to fix this? So I tell him I want convenience. I want to be on the first floor. He looks for a second with the knowledge of knowing there aren’t any first floor units.
How come he magically found one, in the exact same size I wanted……….
Completely out of energy I tell him I’ll take it. He then says, that this unit is more than my 4th floor one, and I tell him I’m not paying more for it (like I said I don’t blow up at people. This is the equivalent of me throwing a tantrum). I showed him my reservation and said I’m not paying more than what I agreed upon for a first floor unit the same damn size. He finally agrees and I’m on my way.
At that point things were easy peasy, but I won’t lie, I feel shafted. Like all I did was negotiate to get what was originally promised to me in the first place. That just doesn’t seem good enough, so I will be contacting them in exchange for a better rate or some incentive. I was late to work, and spending two plus hours at Uhaul was not in my plans that day.
I wish there was a moral to this story. Lemme try to figure out one. Hmmm. Ah!!
If you read about a place and it has horrible reviews across the board, don’t fucking go. And if you do, at least call ahead to make sure the things you were promised will materialize. Stay on their head.
Hope you guys found enjoyment in my painful experience. Now to get back to drawing! See you guys next week!
Mel
PS: Thinking about taking some digital art classes so they may alter the schedule of the comic. I’ll let you guys know in advance if I do and regardless, Loveless Tales of Cupid will keep coming at you guys weekly so no worries (funny calling it that with the lack of said cherub haha).
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