S9 EP4: El Lloron vs Chubby Bunny a chat with Maxi Rodriguez

[00:00:00] What's up, Primos, Primas, and Primas? Welcome to My Primos Podcast. Welcome to the My Primos Podcast. My name is Freddy. My name is Kevin Garcia. My name is Elia Maria Madrid. My name is John Abina. This is Chikumi. Whenever I can make it. My Primos Podcast discusses all things fandom and pop culture. From comic books, movies, to whatever obsession we have this week. But with a Latine, Latine, Latine perspective. Remember, we're all Primos. We're all Primas. Primas. Primos. No matter what the world is.

[00:00:30] We're part of the world. We're from. Primos, Primas, and Primas. Welcome to another episode of My Primos Podcast. We're back y'all. Freddy's back. Y'all remember Freddy? This guy. Listen, this guy. But I am one of your humble hosts. My name is Elia Maria. Madrid. AKA Spice Illustrations. AKA That Girl on the Podcast. But joining me is... That girl? Did you say... Did you say that? That girl. No. That girl. I mean... That girl.

[00:01:09] I mean... I mean... Spice. Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? If you want to be successful on the internet, you need to like, you know, have an e-girl or... You know? So I mean... That's right. And the e-girl literally is Elia Maria. Yeah. I'm already ready to go. I'm ready to go. But that voice over there. Who's that? Who's that over there? Returning? Freddy? Returning. It's me. It's me. Say hi, Freddy. It's your primo Freddy. Hi, everybody. I don't do that joke that you guys always mess with me about.

[00:01:38] Because it's not funny for people that run structure and a show. I'm not taking... I'm not taking your joke, Freddy. It's your thing. Hi, everybody. Hi. Que un das primo. It's your primo Freddy here. I'm back. I'm excited to be here. Not only is this a show of returning, you know, hosts, but we have a returning guest. I swear, I'm so excited whenever Maxie makes the moment to visit with us. And I'm so happy you're here.

[00:02:06] And we have returning our prima here, Maxie Rodriguez. Say what's up, Maxie, to all the primos out there. Yo, peace out. What's up, homie? Dude, Maxie is like one of my inspirations as an artist. So I'm really excited because last time Maxie was on the show, I wasn't part of the show yet. That's true. Yeah. And so, yeah, as soon as they were like, hey, Maxie wants to be on the show, I'm like, dibs. Dibs!

[00:02:33] She made it very clear. She's like, what time of day? Let's make it happen. I know. I was like, I have to be there. No, I'm so excited to have you on this show again as my previous podcast with me here as being one of the hosts. It's so cool. Thanks. Yeah. Well, yeah, no, for those who don't know who you are, first of all, mistake.

[00:02:56] Second of all, tell us a little bit about you, what you work on, what you do, and just the quick little like elevator pitch, what you do, who you are. So, Maxie Rodriguez, artist name, Casudo Productions. So, I do plus size art, plus size positivity art, comics, and also animatics. I currently post my little animatics on Instagram and Facebook.

[00:03:27] Blue Sky just started accepting videos, so I was like, yay, I get to post them there too. Yes. And my little arts are mostly just me existing with my partner, who's this big husky dude, handsome stallion, who has his own fan club. Oh, nice. Cole's. Cole, I want to be like this. Yo. Stallion.

[00:03:51] As I learned when I go to Comic-Con, I'm like, oh wait, you have a fan club, and there's a fan club, and I was like. That's awesome. Tell me their shirts, and where can I buy them? They don't have shirts, they just show up in numbers, and they're like, handsome stallion. Does he have a line? People lining up, take pictures with him? Yeah. Actually, LA Comic-Con. No way! LA Comic-Con 2021.

[00:04:22] We were wearing masks. He was dressed as Fatgum from My Hero Academia, giving away candy. And the girls were like, me and some stallions! Stop! And I was like, ooh. They're like, can we take a picture? And I was like, there's a little line. That's freaking awesome. Taking pictures of them. And he's like, oh, you know, by the way, my wife, she does awesome plus size art, and they see my booth, and they're like. Oh! They just go. It's like the ultimate dream booth, for real.

[00:04:52] You have a booth where everybody's gravitating towards it. That has to be such a good feeling whenever you're at conventions or shows. Speaking of, you know, you cannot just kind of put you in a little box. You know, you can't just kind of say, oh, you do these little drawings. You're doing a lot more than that. You know? Today, you're going to start talking about some of the newer things you're working on and some things to look forward in the future. But you shared with us, the primos here.

[00:05:18] Everyone read it, I think, except maybe Chikume, because he's a ghost in the rafters that just is ethereal. It did. So, but can you talk to us about your project, your comic, and kind of what it's about, and kind of tell the primos why? Well, we're going to tell everybody why it's awesome, but let's talk about that project for us. Okay, so the comic, my main comic right now is El Llorón. It's a Lucha Libre comic.

[00:05:46] It plays like a telenovela as well. Yes! Yes! I realized this as I was writing it, and I was like, this plays as a telenovela. And my partner, he's like, yeah, it's a telenovela, babe. And I was like, okay, it's a telenovela. So, some fun facts about El Llorón. The main character, Chimali, in case some of you don't know, Chimali is actually Nahuatl.

[00:06:10] It's from the language from Mexico, and it means shield, which is the reason why he has that name. And if you've read chapter one, you see why it's important. And the love interest, Winnie, or Minerva, she's a plus-size cartoonist. And she has no confidence in herself, which is why she's always quiet. They meet at a nightclub, chapter one.

[00:06:37] And when he's like, when she asks him, what's your name? And he's like, I'm Chimali. And she's like, Chimali? As in the Nahuatl word for shield. And he's like, wait, you know Nahuatl? She's like, just a little. And the reason why it's important to him is because all his exes, with the exception of one, all his exes are like, Chimali? What's that? Or like, what does it mean? Or they mispronounce his name, and he's just like, I quit. I'm done with you. Nope, I'm done.

[00:07:04] So, the fact that this girl, this woman, in a nightclub, immediately knew his name, what it meant, he's like, you just became more attractive. Like, you were already attractive, but now you became more attractive. So, the story is just like, Chimali's a wrestler. His name is El Llorón.

[00:07:24] The reason his name is El Llorón is because his great-grandmother was La Llorona, one of the first women to enter the ring with the men, back in the day when women weren't allowed to enter the Lucha Libre ring. And this is actually based on actual history in Mexico. So, and I modeled his great-grandmother, La Llorona, after the first masked luchadora, Magdalena, crap, I forgot her last name. But her name is Magdalena.

[00:07:53] She was one of the first masked luchadoras to enter the ring when women weren't allowed. And this actually helped pave the way for women to enter the ring. Like, she's not the first, but she's one of the first. There was another one, I forgot her name, and I should have wrote it down. She wasn't masked, but these women were like, these women paved the way for women to enter the ring.

[00:08:18] And I was like, what a better way to honor them by basing one of my characters on one of them. And that's where Chimali's great-grandmother comes in. And when I was writing her backstory, I did not realize how much Magdalena's was similar. Like, Magdalena, I think, had like six kids and her husband abandoned her or something. And that's what happened to Chimali's great-grandmother. I was like, oh, damn. Shit, I made it too. I was like, fuck. I was like, fuck. Fuck.

[00:08:49] That's so good. And, of course, the story's going to touch on it later. Like, Chimali's history and why his family is considered Lucha Libre royalty. And then another thing about his family, they're all, like, dark-skinned, or at least somewhat dark-skinned. But they all have the green eyes. Yeah. And that's a trait that runs in his family. And it's also an important thing that's going to get pointed out later in the second part of the story that I'm currently rewriting.

[00:09:19] So, yeah, the story's just, like, Lucha Libre plays, like, a telenovela. You see Chimali and Winnie's relationship, like, blossom. They go up and they have their ups and downs. Chimali has his own personal issues. Like, he's drawn perfectly. He's handsome. He's gorgeous. In the story, he's rich. He's the international champion. He's got everything. He's the most eligible bachelor. And he's like, yeah, everyone wants him.

[00:09:45] But he has his own personal issues, which we'll get touched in. And when it gets to the second half of the story, we see that he actually finally went to see a therapist for his own trauma. Because his trauma was slowly filtering in in his relationship with Winnie. And it was affecting their relationships. Like, it got bad. Wow. Dang. Oh, man. I can't wait to get into it. Elia. I know.

[00:10:13] Elia Maria and me read your comment. The first issue, I would say, or the first chapter. Oh, I kept reading. I went and found the rest. I know. She told me today. She was like, oh, fine. She goes, Freddy, there's more. There's more. And I go, yes, because I can go read more. I'm really excited to see more. I read it out. Because I have my guilty pleasures on your phone.

[00:10:39] And you kind of just sit there and you start reading and reading and reading and reading and can't stop. So my Tumblr is a fun place, too. So definitely something to go check out. I mean, Max, I've always been a fan of your stuff. I've been a big supporter of it. I'm so happy you're back on the show. I'm just so happy to get to talk to you again. And just the fact that you got to write this story. And really, let's just talk about the story. Let's dive right into it. Because I'm not, we want to, I don't want to give away too much of it.

[00:11:09] But I want to just first and foremost say that I really love how you've written these characters. I love, and this is the thing, comic books have this tendency. And this is not, I think your book is not a comic book. I think your book really does go more into like a slice of life action drama, if you will. Because a comic book is something that you can kind of like flip through, you know, and kind of get the gist.

[00:11:38] Even if you don't sit and read the dialogue, you can kind of get what's going on. And your story actually, it makes me want to slow it down. And I want to like, every little moment you've kind of encapsulated. You've talked about it in your summary here about the club, when they're in the club together. Like those moments when they're together and they're kind of like little snapshots, like little Polaroids. And I'm like, this is so cute. This is real.

[00:12:06] You know, like this is kind of like a conversation that someone would really have. It's not just like, and regardless of, I love the fact that you swear in the book. Because that's really how we talk to each other. Like, right? Yeah. What are your thoughts? No, I was going to say the same. Yeah, the swearing is hilarious. But I was going to say the same thing in regards to conversation, just in the opening scene alone. Where the ex-girlfriend wakes up. Oh, spoiler. Whatever. Wakes up.

[00:12:34] And just immediately causes mayhem in the restaurant. And like, everyone's just like, who the fuck? Like, who is she? Not restaurant. It's actually in Chumali Town. Oh. Gotcha. That makes me even angrier. That makes me even angrier. Because she just comes down like, okay, anyway, brown people. I don't like you. Serve me coffee. And it's like, who is you?

[00:13:01] Like, and it's so real the way everyone around her was reacting. Like, no one would just react like, oh, I guess that's it. Like, the little tia. Like, being like, okay, girl, one more word. One more word. Like, I was like, okay, hell yeah. Hell yeah. I was like, I want to see more of her. But it was just so real. Because like, in moments like that and a lot of stuff, it's like, oh, we're mad. Okay, guess we'll just whatever. But this one, we're like, uh-uh. Girl, who is you?

[00:13:30] And then everyone getting involved and coming in and being like, oh, another one? Do you lose another one? It's like, here we go. And again, that's when I knew it had this like, soap opera feel. The tere novella feel. And I was like, oh, let's heck and go. And then when we get to the club, those moments where it's like, all right, we're in the club. Everything's colorful. Everything's pretty. But you get the moment it starts getting a little bit more and more like intimate. It's like straight out of a shoujo manga.

[00:13:58] The bubbles, the softness. And I'm like, oh. I heard the music almost in my head. Right, right. Yeah. Like I felt the sparkles. I was like, ah! Like, I'm kicking my feet. Like, oh, I want more. I want more. Yeah. But it's so good. And yeah, the style of storytelling. It's serious when it needs to be. It's intense when you want it to be intense. And right when you have those moments between two different characters, it just highlights them so well.

[00:14:28] And you're like, I feel like I shouldn't be watching this. It's balanced, though. It's very balanced because it's not. It's like, I'm a third wheel. So it's pretty slow whenever you're writing a story like this because the story can get away from you, especially in your we're prone to. OK, is are we going to go off the deep end on either side? Are we going to go straight up action and crazy and raw? Are we going to go overly sexualized?

[00:14:55] Are we going to go to too much conversation or too much slow pace? No, this has a really good balance because you can see something's happening in this relationship. And that's what slows it down. And that's what. That spark feels like for most people, whenever you find that person, you know, that that that oh shit moment happens. You kind of like, whoa.

[00:15:18] And so we're experiencing that through conversation, through facial cues that you can tell just into each other. And I dig it because you mentioned it earlier in the book or in the story, like that first girl that he has at home. It's like his facial expressions are very like, yeah, whatever. Throw away, if you will. You know, but you can tell in this scenario, like, whoa, like you you really got to go check out Maxie's work.

[00:15:45] Maxie, first, before we keep going, where can people find the story right now? Where can they go find it? So right now it's on Substack and it's also on Tumblr. If you go on my Instagram, my Facebook, anywhere you can find me, there's a link tree. And my link tree has access to both. Right now, Chapter 1 is fully completed. Like the entire chapter is on Substack and Tumblr.

[00:16:09] I just started publishing Chapter 2 because I have like at least 57 pages of it done out of like, I don't know, I think like 80 something left. So right now I'm just like, okay, I'm just going to draw the comics and then just publish them as I go.

[00:16:29] So like last night, I just scheduled pages 48 through 56 last night because I just finished digitally coloring them because starting from page, I want to say 48 or 49. I just got a light pad.

[00:16:50] So I'm like, I'm going back to the traditional route, which is what I originally wanted to do with a Yoron was draw it traditionally, ink it traditionally, scan it and then color it on the computer. So for the next few pages in Chapter 2, they're all they're going to look a little different. And that's because I ink them traditionally. So yeah, you can definitely find them on Substack and Tumblr.

[00:17:16] I know people keep asking me if I'm going to put that on Webtoons and the answer is no. Reason being, I have a Webtoons for my Chubby Bunny comics, but they don't allow me to animate the panels. And I love to animate my panels. Like only if you're one of their big creators, you can animate your panels. So I'm like, well, if you guys are going to limit my creativity. You're one of their big creators to me. You're my favorite.

[00:17:45] Webtoons, go to Webtoons and follow MaxTitle to the Chubby Bunny. Yeah, we got to get the animated panels. They also have a habit of punishing creators who don't post frequently. And for a while, I actually needed frequent breaks because for like a few years, my health was failing for a bit. My mental health was deteriorating. So I needed a break. And when I would come back, people barely saw my comic and I'm just like, OK, I'm done. And it would just stress me out.

[00:18:13] So I'm like, I need to find a new platform. I can imagine. Yeah, I can imagine. You're just pouring so much into this and you have a following. People enjoy it. And then because of life, which, yeah, take care of you first. Right. Without you, there won't be any. Or Chubby Bunny or you. We need you. We need you healthy. We need you healthy and happy. Yeah. So it just thinks that you have to give up so much of yourself sometimes to these algorithms, to these sites, to these things.

[00:18:41] But, you know, but also what's good is that the community that is there, you know, I'm part of that community that wants to support your work. And guys, again, follow Mexico. You guys look for her stuff. We'll have links in our page as well. But back to the story before we move on to the next thing, because I really wanted to touch on it. And you talked about it a little bit. But you didn't shy away from action. Right.

[00:19:04] And a lot of the time, some of the action from Lucha Books kind of just, I don't know, it feels as though, like, I kind of passed through. OK, there's a body slam. There's this. But with the way you've drawn in your panels and put the action in them, like. I have to stop and like actually like absorb what's going on, because it's pretty. The colors are so good and it's clean. And there's moments in there, too.

[00:19:32] Like moments where there's just dialogue, little quick, quick little like edging dialogues. And it's like, oh. And it makes it, it doesn't make it boring. Did you guys get the cameo? Yeah. I love the little asterisk where it's like, ah, this isn't. Ah, yeah. Yeah. You guys got the cameo of the two characters. I got their butt kicked by Jumali. Yeah. Yes. It made me happy. But I will say this.

[00:19:59] I actually drew that scene, that entire wrestling scene during the No Kings protest. Girl, hell yeah. And I was feeling a certain way. Listen, if that's not catharsis at its finest. It was so well done. I loved it. Yeah. I mean, I'm a fan of your stuff. And this is just kind of getting me more. Wow. Like I want to consume it because it's not just a lucha book. Nothing against lucha books.

[00:20:28] But then one takes over the other. But it seems to have such a good balance. That's what I was telling earlier. And, you know, as Elia Maria, she's herself a writer and artist making her own books. You know, finding that balance is hard. Right, Elia? Yeah. For sure. Oh, yeah. When it comes to the lucha scenes, though, and especially like some of the injuries luchadores suffer, I have to talk to my partner about it because my partner is a former high school wrestling champion.

[00:20:57] So he actually knows. And then he's a medical student. He's studying to be a chiropractor. So I have to ask him, hey, how accurate is this injury? And I'll show him the script and he's like, okay, this is actually it. It actually takes more time to recover from this type of injury. And I'm like, okay. And I have to go back and edit it. Or I'm just like, yo, that's good though. And when I sketch out the because I'm sketching out like the wrestling poses and the scenes,

[00:21:26] like I just practice so I can like get ready for the real thing. I have to show up. Hey, how accurate is this? Because I do use references. Like I watch AAA wrestling. Like I just started getting into it for a while. And I just watch, I take screenshots and then I'm like trying to draw it. And then I'm like, babe, how accurate is this? And he's showing, he's like, okay, yeah, this definitely, I know this move. I've done it before when I was a wrestler. Yeah, this is how it is. Or sometimes he'll actually show me how to perform it.

[00:21:56] And that's how I get, because I'm a visual person. Yeah, I have to actually do it. I have to see it before I write it. Or else I'm like, how does this work? So that's why I know some people who read it were like, holy crap, your wrestling scene is awesome. And I'm like, thank God, because I actually had some of those moves performed on me. Just to see how it works. It's research. It's research.

[00:22:26] I didn't get hurt. Like, he just showed me real quick. He's like, okay, this is how you hold someone. And I'm like, okay. And he'll show me as I'm like, am I going to be okay? And he's like, I'm not even putting any pressure on you. I'm like, okay, just wondering. Or he'll have me perform it on him. He's like, okay, do it like this. I'm like, okay. Put your arm here. And I'm like, okay. All right, then. So pretend like you're going to slam me on the floor. And I'm like. So that is like the only way I can get these.

[00:22:57] I get these wrestling scenes. It looks great. Yeah. I love the action sequences that are done like that where it's like action plus little moment because wrestling has those little moments where it's like, I'm gonna talk shit. I'm gonna talk shit. I'm gonna bring out a prop and I'm gonna talk mad shit. All right, we're gonna fight. Oh, okay. Well, and you put that in there. And I like that. It's not just action, action, action match. Like you put story in the fight. And I like that. I appreciate that.

[00:23:26] I know a few fans were messaging me like, hey, you know, wrestling's fake, right? I'm like, I'm aware. They're like in your story, is it fake or is it real? I'm like, no, it's real. They're like, what? I was like, yeah, the injury. It's real in the story. Like the wrestlers are actually getting hurt. They're actually, excuse me, going full out. Um, and they're like, no, all. And because I've actually sketched the injuries too. I show them and they're like, oh shit. I'm like, yeah, I'm not kidding. They're getting hurt. Hell yeah.

[00:23:56] Like they're actually getting into it. Like the, the hate, the rivalries in, in the story are real. Um, especially between the main antagonist and Chimali. Um, he will be introduced later, but I know a lot of fans already know who he is because I already posted the sketch. Ooh. Hell yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Go follow, follow, follow production so we can see. Yeah.

[00:24:22] If you go on my Instagram, Facebook, Patreon, even blue sky, um, I'll post sketches of like the future chapters coming out. And the reason is, is because I practice the sketches before I write the script and I'm like, okay, this is how it's going to work. Cause again, I'm a visual person. Yeah. Um, I need to see it before I can write it. What is your process? Like, like, do you, do you take writing?

[00:24:51] Like, I guess sketch writing then final or is there like a different draft or is there like a place where you just like vomit sketch thoughts before anything makes it to writing? So my process is I actually write some of the script first. Um, after I finish a chapter, I'll go back. And if something doesn't feel right, I'll usually sketch it out. Or if I'm just like reading it, I'll sketch it out.

[00:25:19] And if I'm like, okay, yeah, this works better or this makes more sense. I'll go back to the script and edit it and just add the edit. Um, sometimes there's moments where like, I'll go back to certain chapters and reread it. And I'll be like, this doesn't make any sense now that I'm seeing it from a different light. And I'll either like scrap the idea or I'll rewrite it.

[00:25:44] And if I like that idea better, scrap the original, which is actually what I'm currently doing with El Yoron. Like, um, if you go on my socials, there are sketches of Chimali and Winnie's daughter. Because she does make an appearance in the second half of the story. And spoilers. Yeah. Oh no, people are already aware. Um, cause in the second, the second half of the story, their daughter's introduced.

[00:26:13] Um, so I'm like, okay, how is she going to look like? How is she like, how is she going to function like a little kid? And she's a little menace. Oh, yay! She's a little menace. Like, she has the green eyes, which is again, is important because it's a family trait. So she has the green eyes. She has the dark skin. Even though her mom is like light. And of course her dad is like dark skin. And she's like, she's a little traviesa. Like, they call her traviesa in the story. Oh, that takes me back.

[00:26:44] Um, and like, yeah. So I'm curious. I'm sorry, go ahead. So like the second half of the story was originally completely different. And when I reread it and I'm like, this isn't going to work. I scrapped it completely and I'm currently rewriting it. And that's where we introduce his daughter as a character. So now you see like, cause Winnie and Shumali are broken up in the second half. And, uh, they're co-parenting.

[00:27:12] So you actually get to see them co-parenting with their kids. Oh man. They get back together. Just letting you know, they do get back together. Everyone knows that part. But yeah, um, you get to see them co-parent and I'm just like, okay, how does that look like? Cause I've never experienced that. Yeah. So, but at least theirs is a healthy co-parent. Like he's, he's always like, okay, I'll like, I'll follow your rules. Tell me what to do. And she's like, okay, this is how you do it.

[00:27:41] And he doesn't like, he doesn't back down. He's like, okay. Yeah. Um, this is my kid. I'm going to take responsibility for her. Um, so instead of like, uh, I don't know how to do that. I don't know. He's like, okay. He's like, I'm gonna figure this out. For sure. I mean, I can't wait. I can't wait to see that unfold. I'm excited. Cause I haven't caught up to where Ele Maria is right now. Now you've given me much more to be hopeful for moving forward. Um, I don't know.

[00:28:09] I'm curious as just kind of hearing you out and kind of how you, how much you have planned out. Is this, do you already have an ending for this or is this something you just plan to see yourself doing ongoing? Like there's no end inside right now. No, there's an ending planned. Um, I actually ran it through my partner when I scrapped the second half of the story. I was like, how does this look for an ending? And I wrote it down for him and he looked at it and he's like, yeah, I think this ending would be perfect. Um, I won't say it cause I haven't written it.

[00:28:38] No worries. Yeah. I like the anticipation. I will be patient. I am. I am a patient person. It is a happy ending for everyone. So, oh, yay. Um, so the ending is in novella fashion. Yeah. So the ending is in sights. Um, it's just not there yet. I'm still writing the second half of the story, just fleshing it out, editing, correcting it and making sure, and then sketching out some of the scenes to make sure like, okay, this makes sense.

[00:29:08] Sometimes I'll go back to the first half of the story and just be like, Hmm, does this work? Does this not work? He never stopped, right? Like, like you're, you're always kind of, kind of going back and fixing things and, uh, what is it? It's never done. It's just, what is it? It's never perfect. It's just done. Like, it's just like, you just gotta get done. Like, I just gotta turn something in at this point. Yeah. You can't. Chapter one was actually not supposed to be in a nightclub.

[00:29:33] The original one was, of course, him waking up or his ex-girlfriend wakes up, causes that trouble. That was actually part of the original story. Um, the nightclub scene was added because I was listening to music and I was like, what would happen if they met at a nightclub instead? They, they originally met at an art walk. Um, in the original story. Okay.

[00:30:02] She, Molly goes for a run because he has all this sexual energy and he's mad that his ex-girlfriend said racist crap to his employees. So he's like, I need to let off some steam. So he runs, he sees his art walk and then he sees his plus size cutie and he's like, oh damn. I want that. And, uh, of course the scene where, where he's like, oh, my name is Chimali. And she's like, wait, Chimali is in the Nahuatl word for shield.

[00:30:30] That part was also, also part of the original story. Um, it happened in the art walk, but then when I wrote the nightclub scene, I'm like, yeah, we're putting it in here instead. Oh, I like, okay. I like it. I see how it could work with the art walk for sure. But yeah, I love that little, like, oh, you're out of your element. We're going to talk. And then of course, like the, the romance between their two best friends, Vasquez, the

[00:30:56] short guy and her best friend, Sharon, the transgender woman. They were not supposed to be a couple originally, but as I kept writing the story, I kept writing them together. And I'm just like, they need to be a couple. It makes sense. Even you, you feel it right from the beginning, you know, like he's like, and like, and what? You know what? Like, let's go. Like, okay, cool. Like, Hey, dope. Hey, let's move forward. I love it.

[00:31:26] I thought it's very inclusive. It's fun. I love the dialogue. I mean, like, no lie. It's not just, it's not something to throw away thing, you know, not to diminish anybody else's work. I love comic books. I love different genres and things, but as someone that just, I'm a writer, like I can appreciate the dialogue and I can appreciate like, no lie. I see those little snapshots at the club, for example, as like, I don't know. Like I can, I just, I'm, I'm living it because dialogue is good. The background is good.

[00:31:56] The setup is great. Like you, you've done a great job. If anything, like I would have wanted more, you know, like, but I'm, I'm just a consumer. I love to eat. I love to consume good comics and good content. So that's, you know, my only qualm is, you know, I got to read more, you know, I really enjoyed it. I think it's, it's, it's. Oh no. Oh, oh. You got us to poor, but El Llorón is kind of your, your project right now. We know you have Chubby Bunny.

[00:32:26] That's always something kind of like your moniker and that you have fans and fans that enjoy Chubby Bunny as, as do I, and I'm sure Elia Maria as well. Um, what's, what's the first work I read of yours? What's, what's up with Chubby Bunny right now? Like, is she taking a break? Is she just still hopping around on the web? Like, what can you tell us about that project? Oh no, she's still around. I still find myself once in a while just doing Chubby Bunny comics.

[00:32:53] Um, I, I bought a journal for my own mental health and because I suck at writing, I draw my shenanigans and they always include Chubby Bunny and that's how we have Chubby Bunny. I still post her comics online. Uh, I know this most recent one, my imposter syndrome was kicking in because I was sick for a while and my imposter syndrome was like, you suck as an artist and as a woman.

[00:33:20] And then like, I noticed, I looked at my imposter syndrome and I just whacked her with my plastic sword and then Chubby Bunny comes in and she's like, what just happened? And I'm like, some people just need to shut the fuck up. Yeah. And if you look at my earlier work, Chubby Bunny's the one that waxed my imposter syndrome. This time I'm the one that waxed my imposter syndrome. Yay! And I know some of my fans have been around for like years. They're like, oh my God, artist finally stood up for herself.

[00:33:49] And I'm like, yeah, she's at that point where she's just like, I am so done with this. Done. And Chubby Bunny, Chubby Bunny's just sitting there just like, I'm enjoying this show. I'm just going to sit back and just enjoy. Artists just ripping. You're doing good, girl. You're doing good. As for Chubby Bunny, I just finished volume four of Chronicles of a Chubby Bunny. And it includes the handsome stallion origin story because people keep asking me.

[00:34:19] They're like, how did he get his name? And I'm like, you sure you want to know how he got his name? And they're like, yes. I'm like, okay, but I'm not paying for therapy. So when I was drawing Chubby Bunny volume four, I had to ask his best friend. Because when I asked my partner, hey, how did the name come about? And he's like, well, I was kind of drunk when it happened. So I'll just like as best I can.

[00:34:48] And he tells me as best he can. And I'm just like, this shit ain't working. So I had to go to his best friend. I'm like, hey, how did this happen? And he had to tell me how it happened. And I'm like, oh. I ended up sending his best friend a free PDF copy of the book because his best friend makes a cameo in the story. Oh, hell yeah. Because he was in it. Oh, I bet that made his day. He was like, because I drew them in animal form. He's like, you drew me as a rooster?

[00:35:18] And I'm like, yes. Nice. I drew handsome stallion as a wolf because he's a big, beefy, hairy dude. I was like, it makes sense that I draw you as a wolf. And he's like, eh, screw it. I don't care. So yeah, everyone's been asking. I'm like, okay, volume four has the handsome stallion origin story. And then, of course, people also ask me, like, so how did you two get together? And I'm like, you sure you want to hear that story? Kind of boring.

[00:35:47] And I ended up drawing that story. And then. That's good, though. I mean, people like to know that stuff. Yeah. I do. I ended up including some comics that I did in grad school. It was like one of my classes in grad school was like, draw your relationship in the form of animals. So I had to pull out those comics. And I'm like, okay, I need to re-edit these. So I edit them for the book.

[00:36:14] And then one of the homework assignments in grad school was like, draw a comic surrounding a car. So I ended up drawing my first kiss with my partner, which was like 15 years ago. And the reason being because our first kiss was shared in front of his car. So I had to draw his car. And I had to look up references because it was a 2011 Nissan Altima.

[00:36:44] I'm like, okay, I need to Google this. And then I had to, like, draw it. And I remember my classmates were like, god damn, Maxie, you managed to draw a car. And I was like, yeah, they're hard. Yeah, they really are. So I ended up including that story in volume four. Oh, how exciting. I just finished putting it together. Like, I even included the sketch designs for the cover because there's several covers that didn't make it.

[00:37:12] I'm like, I'm just going to include it here, including some notes on how I created the story. So it's done. Like, it's fully ready to be published. The problem is it's in color. There's, like, a lot of color in it. Like, let me see. I'm guessing that's, like, the biggest printing, like, scare, right? Yeah. Because I love reading color comics. I draw all. Oh, no. I print all my comics from home. So I'm like.

[00:37:41] Oh, yeah. I'm like, I cannot print this here in my house because my ink is going to run me through the roof. I love color. We need to get some kind of, like, I don't know, campaign or something going on in the future. I'll throw so much money. I throw so much money at it. That's how colorful it is. Oh, my gosh. Oh, it's so cute. Oh, I love your style so much.

[00:38:11] I'm going to die. It's so cute. See? So whenever you decide to, you know, put something out there on the webs where people can throw money at you, you know, just saying. You let the people. Oh, yeah. Is that what you're planning to do? Is that what you're going to plan to do? I'm actually planning to do a Kickstarter for it. I'm still fleshing out the ideas. Like, the book's ready. I'm just like, okay, what kind of rewards can I offer?

[00:38:40] Dude, there's so many people. So much that people want. I'm like, I haven't even mentioned your Patreon stuff. You still haven't mentioned that. I like, yeah. We haven't even talked about Patreon. And like, I just joined that today until payday. Because y'all, if y'all like spicy stuff, guys. Oh, yeah. Maxi has a Patreon. My spicy sketches. My sketches were just an accident because one of my art professors from grad school was like, you really want to get good at anatomy?

[00:39:09] And I was like, yeah. Whoa. He's like, draw corn scenes. And I'm like. Yep. He's like, yeah, if you draw corn scenes, you're going to get better at anatomy. And I'm like, no. And he's like, yeah, because you're drawing the body in like these weird positions. You're stepping out of your comfort zone. And that's how you learn anatomy. And I was like, I'll give it a shot. So I started drawing like porn scenes. I took screenshots. Like, I would actually start watching actual porn.

[00:39:40] And take screenshots of positions that I knew were going to kick my ass. Studying. Studying. Hey, people walk in. What are you doing? Homework? I'm studying. Oh, believe it or not. My partner and his mom are aware of this. So whenever they see me sitting there watching porn, they're like, oh, yeah, she's looking up a reference. It's normal. Who cares? And then like, one of my friends was like, you know, there's a website that just has the photographs. Right? And I was like, really?

[00:40:10] And he sent it to me. And I was like, oh, okay. I mean, I guess you can watch a picture. You can like, eh, I guess. So like, my partner will walk in and he'll see like this, this corn position on my phone. And I'm just like right there sketching on my iPad or my sketchbook. And he's like, that's funny. That's funny. Real life. Hey, art comes from what you know. I mean, hey. Yeah.

[00:40:38] It is really the best way to study anatomy. It is the best way to study anatomy. And because El Lloron will have a lot of sex scenes in the future. Interesting. So most of the, so the spicy El Lloron sketches do happen in the actual story. Especially the ones where they do it in his, especially the ones where they do it in his car. Those actually do happen in the story. Hell yeah. Y'all, if you, okay. I know. So, okay.

[00:41:05] So on, on Maxi's Instagram, y'all can get a peek at some of this. There's going to be cats. There's going to be a lot of cats. Um, but it. Yep. He's good. He's good. Especially. And like, like silly, silly vibes aside. As, as, as a thick girl myself, it feels so good to just see that online. Like just thick girls getting it. You know, it's just like, fuck. Yeah. Fuck. Yeah. And it's hot.

[00:41:35] You know? So. That statement. Someone clip that. Someone. I need a clip of that. Put it on the internet. I'm proud of it. Thick women deserve. Yeah. You know, anyway. And that's not the first time I've drawn a spicy, you know, public. No. My plus size girl magic. Like my very first plus size girl magic comic that I drew had a sex scene in it. And I premiered this at Rose City Comic Con in 2019. Yo.

[00:42:05] And this, this Karen of a lady goes up to my table and she buys a book because it's in pink. And I was like, it's rated R. It's not for kids. And she's like, yeah, yeah, I get it. And I told her five times. I'm like, it's right there. Rated R. Big letter. Yeah. 12 minutes later, she comes back and she's like, I demand my money back. And I'm like, why? Because you did not specify that this was an adult comic. I'm like, lady, I told you five fucking times. That's crazy. It's literally right there on the book. And she's like, well, how was I supposed to know that?

[00:42:35] I'm like, well, ma'am, you have glasses. I'm assuming your size is better than mine. And she's like, just give me my money back. I give her her money back. And then she's like, I'm going to tell everyone. Oh, no, I worked in retail for years. And I'm like, but anyway, she's like, I'm going to tell everyone not to come to your table. I'm like, good. You be doing me a fucking favor, bitch. Yeah, I'm not your demographic, girl. This couple, this plus size couple is at my neighbor's table. And they hear plus size sex scene in that conversation.

[00:43:03] So like, we heard plus size sex scene. Where do I sign up? And I'm like, I hold the book that I just got back from the lady. And I'm like, right here. And they're like, how much? Five bucks. And they're like, we'll take it. So they buy it next morning. Charge more. Yeah, I was about to say, charge more. Next morning, only the wife shows up. And she's like, so we tried the position in your book. And I was like, how was it?

[00:43:33] And she's like, my husband's still asleep in the hotel room. I'm like. She's like, I'm pregnant. If that's not an endorsement to buy the book. Period. Period. No, for real. Primas, primos, primas. You will not be disappointed. You need to go pick up. No, you won't. Even like spice aside. It's all great. It's all great. She ended up buying 50 bucks worth of my friends and stickers. Yes, ma'am.

[00:44:03] Yes, ma'am. And I guess she told her friends. Uh-huh. I guess she told her friends. I guess she told her friends because then later I got an influx of people who were like, I heard there's a plus size girl here that does plus size art and plus size sex scenes. Where do I sign up? And I'm like, peace, homie. Nice. And I give them, I sell them the book or they'll be like, I want a commission. I'm a plus size girlie. Draw me like this. And I'm like.

[00:44:34] Doing the Lord's work for real, for real. You know, talking about commissions and things that you're working on, you have tons of stuff. And it feels, isn't it crazy when you look up that time goes so fast when I hear at the end of the show. And when I, man, it sucks because it went like that. You're having fun, you know? Yeah. But I wanted to touch on this because I know that you said you were working on the Lloron, which again, you know, it's out. Go look for it. Follow it. Share it. Let's blow this thing up. We want to make it huge because it's so good.

[00:45:04] Like, it's a side of Maxi that, you know, maybe she doesn't get to share that often. But I really like Chubby Bunny. And this one right here shows me a whole other side that I didn't know of. So I like it. I like it a lot. It's very romantic. It has a lot of action. A lot of aggression, too, which, you know, it's a lot of fun if you have the mix. The novella is right there for you, right? But you mentioned a little bit over. You're also looking towards new avenues in the future, right? You're wanting to kind of do something a little different.

[00:45:33] What are you trying to get into? Well, it's not that I got into it. I just kind of got pulled into it. I've been getting messages or requests from book authors asking me to draw their characters. One in particular, she messaged me like a few months ago. She wanted me to draw the two leads, an elf prince and a plus-sized baker who's his love interest. I ended up drawing them.

[00:46:01] And then later she's like, can you draw a spicy sketch of them, getting it on? And then I'm like, say no more. Right now, I'm currently working on a project with another book author. I won't say much into it because it hasn't been out yet. But she's been asking me like, hey, can you draw my characters? Because the female lead is plus-sized. So I'm like, I'm finally getting book deals.

[00:46:31] I'm finally like, because I read on the side. I read fantasy novels. If it has spice, awesome. It doesn't necessarily need to have spice. But I've been reading a lot of fantasy novels on the side. So I'm like, ugh. And then sometimes I draw the characters because I'm like, I need to see for myself how these characters look. So I've been getting some requests and paid work by these book authors. They're like, hey, draw our characters. And I'm like, done.

[00:47:01] So you're saying that if I have a story to write and I have the need of someone with your specific skills of anatomy and exciting content, you're available for that if it were to be a possibility. So something we can send your way, I'm guessing. Yeah. And it doesn't have to be spicy either. Like the one I'm currently working with, she's keeping it PG.

[00:47:27] So I'm just drawing her two leads, the male and the female lead. And again, because the female lead is plus-sized, she's like, I need your expertise because you draw plus-sized art. Like, I'm like, okay, I can definitely do that. It's going to be a long-term project because she did mention, I love your art so much. I need you for like the rest of my book. And I'm like, yo. Hell, he's like, all right, cool.

[00:47:53] So once she makes the announcement, I will also share the art. Oh, I can't wait. Please do. Please do. Please do. So I hate that we're out of time. I hate that we're just kind of like, ugh. But where can the people follow you? Where can they find you? Like, please give out your socials, your site, Patreon. Like, where can people find you? So I am on Patreon, Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky.

[00:48:22] I have a YouTube that I rarely use, but I am planning to upload there in the future. Hopefully, once I get the gist of Procreate Dreams because I'm currently trying to animate my stuff. Yeah. I'm under the name Casudo Productions.

[00:48:42] If you have my link tree, which is on all my socials, you can definitely go there and find all my links to all my pages, including Patreon. Also, my sub stack for the El Lloron comics and for Chubby Bunny because I did upload all my Chubby Bunny comics to sub stack as well. Also, Tumblr, which is for El Lloron only. I don't have any Chubby Bunny stuff there at the moment. I probably will in the future.

[00:49:12] Blue Sky again. I'm there too. YouTube. If you want to see the spicy stuff, Patreon's there. But just a heads up, my Patreon is currently paused because I do owe some Patreons their physical rewards. And I'm like, I don't want to charge these people and not deliver. So I'm like, I'm just going to offer billing until I fulfill all their orders. And then once I fulfill their orders, I'm going to resume billing.

[00:49:39] So it's like, you pay once and you have access to all my stuff and you don't get monthly charged until I resume billing. So yeah, you can find me. And also Patreons get sneak peeks of all the El Lloron pages. Like right now, for the public, everyone's on pages, I want to say 10 through 18. Patreons are currently on page 57.

[00:50:06] They have a sneak peek of everything ahead. So they actually get to see everything before anybody else does. Oh yeah. We're going to make sure we put everything on our side too. We'll put the links on here so people can follow. I'll have it on screen. We have the editor put it on here too. Actually, I'm so glad you're back. And of course, I've said it before. You have an open door policy here. Just show up whenever you want.

[00:50:33] We can talk about what you're watching, what you're reading, and any new projects you want to discuss. I'm so happy that you're here with us again. And Elia Maria, anything new coming up that you want to let the primos know about? Something we can support you with? I know you've got a lot of things going on. You've got your streams. You've got your books. You've got your creatives. So the primos can follow you. Anything else coming up? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:50:58] So May 10th through 17th on my Twitch channel, I'm hosting Creatives for Cures week, which is a week of streaming a bunch of creative subject things to raise money for Breakthrough T1D, the juvenile diabetes research charity. I'm going to be doing everything from playing Cult of the Lamb to dressing up as Bob Ross, doing a Bob Ross painting stream and ending with dressing up as Pitbull to run my Cult of the Lamb Pitbull themed. Yeah, it's happening. It's happening.

[00:51:27] So tune in. Help me raise money for juvenile diabetes research and get some cool stuff. I have a lot of cool stuff on the line for incentives. Awesome. I want to see Elia Maria's Pitbull. Great. I'm excited. Me too. So this will be right around this. When this episode comes out, we should be you should be doing that already. You should be in the midst of that. So, of course, we'll be supporting that. And before I go, I want to thank, of course, all the listeners, all the watchers, all the viewers,

[00:51:55] all the lurkers, everybody that has kept up with My Primos Podcast. You know, I really appreciate it that the community is still there. We're supporting each other. I want you to support Maxi, support Elia Maria, support your primos at My Primos Productions and, of course, My Primos Podcast dot com. I am very happy that we're able to keep this moving forward as long as everybody wants it. You know? So, as usual, as I always say, primos, remember looking on each other, take care of each other.

[00:52:23] No matter where you're from, we're all primos. Adios. Take care. Peace. Peace. Peace. Peace. Peace. Peace.