#from going ‘haha I thought your art that is trying to depict one thing in perticular looked like a weird version of a very different

[jasper-dracona-art]

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[mailrebel]

Ok, I’ll play, but first, I want to pay it forward and say a nice thing about you ☺️ Your comments have always been kind, thoughtful, and supportive. As a relatively new author, I really appreciate that, so thank you. I also appreciate how passionate you are about your own work!

Thanks for the tag!

I’m really curious about:

⚔️ Guess my favorite Zelda game

💞 Guess who my favorite iteration of Zelink is

✨ Tell me which of my works (fic or art) is your favorite! 

Hiii Missy! Thank you for your kind words. It means the world to me to know that my support and passion have such a positive affect on people 😌 And offering it is my absolute pleasure haha 😁

⚔️ Okay, I know a while back I asked you what your 3 favorite Zelda games were and I'm pretty sure you said BOTW/TOTK as #1. However I kind of think it's cheating for me to say two so I'm going to go the extra mile and try to narrow it down here. So, between the two, I want to say...you probably lean more towards TOTK as your favorite, mostly for the Zelink content? That's my best guess!

💞 Hmm...there's a part of me that thinks you really like OOT Zelink, but I don't think I'd assume that they are your favorite. I want to say that it's probably BOTW/TOTK Zelink, and if I could go a step further, I'd probably say that you like their depiction in TOTK more than BOTW. So, TOTK Zelink final answer! Feel free to let me know how close I was lol.

✨ This is an easy one! My favorite work of yours is "All I Want is You", your TP Zelink hallmark themed story. It was so silly and cheesy but also sweet and heartwarming and pretty much everything it needed to be. It's also the first story of yours that I read so in a lot of ways it's hard for me to separate you from that specific work lol. My favorite moment in that fic is when Zelda is thinking she's about to have this really touching and heartfelt reunion with Link, only for him to give her half a glance and say "Oh, there you are, Hilda. Get to work." 😂 😂😂 That moment honestly lives rent free in my head 🤣

I also really want to shoutout "of recipes and courage" which focused on Link's mother and all the difficult emotions she faced having to raise a son who was destined for so much more than she could protect him from. I feel like that one was very personal for you and it shone through in your work. Beautiful stuff, honestly :)

Thank you for the asks, Missy, and for always being such a sweetheart. It is a joy being your mutual! 🙏❤️

[weirdestarrow]

So I thought about what we talked about in my post, and here are some things about the general fandom's interpretation of North Korea that I don't (personally) like... Some of them might fit with the general ~evil NK thing~ but yeah! :3

Sorry if it's a bit messy, its a little bit of word vomit haha.

- Nuke obsession? Just very strange considering that characters like Russia or the USA aren't portrayed as also nuke obsessed as well even though... You know, the number of them they have;

- Angry all the time. It's just strange. Not only that, but also some things that people make him get angry over seem kind of reasonable (hating the country who bombed his own nation to the ground and also strangely a big amount of him in fics and art getting manhandled?);

- Poorly written English to... Denote he is not Anglo. Which a lot of times just comes off as very racist;

- The classic brainwashed by government thing so many countries fall into lol. But knowing how people treat real life N. Koreans as just actors hired by the government to trick the foreihners, it just feels especially dehumanizing with him;

- And if its not that it's "oh I secretly hate my government but they will not let me be happy :'''(". Let countries align with political opinions out of their own free will!;

- "Hermit Kingdom" shit. Is the DPRK kind of isolated from the rest of the world? Yeah. Do you think they'd do that if they didn't have to? Why do we so quickly forget embargos and the whole "the US will topple your government if they can" thing?;

- NK is sometimes depicted as very naive about the outside world, but I personally don't enjoy that characterization much. They treat him like an injured deer who cannot navigate the world by himself, for a lack of better words;

- This is going to be more my own petty grievance but I'm not too big of a fan of "the ussr was the one who took NK's eye". I like the eyepatch thing but like... The USSR and NK had a good relationship it's so unnecessarily made to paint it in as much a horrible light as physically possible;

- In general, people don't really depict him outside of the military man thing or "woe is me stuck in a dictatorship ;(". It does seem as an extension of real world politics were people just don't believe that North Koreans are real breathing human beings with things going on besides their relationship with their country. I made it so that my version of NK really likes literature, even writes a little himself :D.

Honestly I think the way this could be remedied really is looking at sources outside of what the West says and like... Radio Free Asia lmao. You will have to look for the perspective of actual North Koreans. I understand the aversion to seeking their sources, but honestly if you can read a BBC or Washington Post article about NK, you can take a quick glance at like KCNA or Pyongyang Times and judge accordingly.

And, actually media from the DPRK is not that hard to find! There are movies available online, as well as songs and pictures. I do all three, and its very cool stuff :3. I'm very willing to share! ^_^ As always, learn more about the history and culture from a genuinely curious, non-judgemental manner and you will always be able to learn more.

As you can see from my endless yapping, I just really like North Korea and wish people would be less obviously biased when making him (or her or them, depending on the headcanon). Yeah, thank you for your time! :]

Yes this is very good.

My NK is a bit of an introvert. I think he’s interested in geology and volcanology because of Paektu Mountain and that’s something he really loves studying. He’s very gentle and soft spoken and wants to do his best for his people. He cares about them deeply and he would put their wants over his over and over again.

I think he often feels like he is seen as the “extra” Korea that no one likes, but he’s not eager to try and make friends with other countries. I think he also doesn’t like leaving his country cause he’s nervous about being in countries unfriendly to NK, afraid that someone might try and assassinate him to give SK more legitimate claims to his land.

He cares about SK in a weird way, but is also jealous because people like SK and SK got to meet their mother and he didn’t. I think he feels like he was abandoned almost.

[chrysanthemumgames]

Hello! I've just been wondering if there's a way that you designed your characters visually, I feel like they're so vibrant and so different from they way they're typically depicted in Greek myths. Did you draw inspiration from anything, or did they sort of just come together along the way of writing? I do love how they 'look' (despite this being a text game hehe) and thank you for such a fun IF! Looking forward to the release tomorrow :)

Well, I don't know that I have any specific process I can point to, heh. It started with looking at deities associated with the Underworld in Greek myths and thinking about which ones had stories or motifs or other things that I thought would make for interesting inclusion in a game like this.

When it came to designing them visually, I tried to take inspiration from those same elements, but certainly not feel constrained by what we have of Classical art. Not that there's anything wrong with Classical art, of course, but this isn't really at its core a Classical story anymore. It has some elements and some themes, but not at all in the same way, and I felt it was probably fine if the characters reflected that.

I also wanted them to reflect the diversity of 'the Mediterranean region,' if you like. There's a very whitewashed way of looking at the ancient world in this region, and I wasn't particularly keen to play into the stereotype, so the majority of the main characters are people of colour. I don't necessarily have specific identities in mind for most of them, as they're also gods, and in this case, that detaches them a bit from those sorts of concepts. (A god isn't Etruscan or Cretean or Ethiopian or what have you—they're a god.) But it was still important to me that, detached from very human ideas of identity, the gods still be a diverse-looking lot, because why wouldn't they be?

As it turns out, that left me with loads of possibilities, and so it was a matter of making each character visually distinct from the others, in a way that made sense for who they are. Alekto is a Fury, someone whose job it is to hunt down people who try to evade the justice of the gods. So she's tall, and strong, and often dressed for combat. But she also has a particular relationship with her gender, which she's given a lot of consideration, and when she's not doing that, she likes to present herself in a very feminine way, so she keeps her hair long and has an entire wardrobe full of colorful, elaborate garments and accessories.

Pyri was always going to be shades of orange and red and gold and the like, because they're a fire deity. Hades in some important sense is his realm, and so he's taken on some of its features, just as it has taken on some of his. I admit I gave wings to Hermes because I just wanted to haha, so it's not always that deep, either.

Also, I can't take full credit for how well they turned out; all the artists who've been kind enough to bring them to life have contributed to that sense of distinctness as well. I'm sure that without those contributions, they wouldn't seem half as unique and distinct as they do!

[jotun-design-party]

Hey I was wondering, by your example of the harmful design does what if! Loki sort of follow this harmful trope? I know this is based on aos loki but just as an example that kind of thing.

And also I’ve seen a lot of jotnar portrayed with minimal clothing and mostly only armor in like canon media not just fanon and I thought that was purely because they are more immune to the cold and don’t need to try and get warm but I may be mistaken. Are you saying that is also harmful or just if it is sexualized?

These questions are purely just to understand your meaning and not to be critical or anything! Thanks so much! This event looks super fun!

hi, yes! good [timezone.] no worries, i'm very happy to answer questions & please forgive if my syntax is weird today, i have a chronic disability which causes some brain fog during flare-ups so my sentence structure might not be the most elegant. i WAS given a superpower to counter this (a disability which, for our purposes here, i will sum up as "it makes my vocabulary big") but for the sake of clarity i'll be responding with a bit of a shortened version of all of my thoughts so that it makes a little bit more sense. i can go more in-depth at a later time if needed

under the cut, summary:

What If jötnar are not nearly AS bad as a lot of the jötun art i've seen in fanon and canon so it gets a very hesitant green-light from me. and also the issue with putting jötnar in minimal clothes is that artists still tend to choose to dress them in clothing items that are associated with racist and offensive depictions of real-life people

+ some of my personal ideas about what jötnar might wear

the jötnar in What If do rely on some of the same antiblack and anti-american indigenous stereotypes that we see in the comics but their designs aren't NEARLY as caricature-y as the comic book designs are and they do a better job at making it look like something an alien would wear. still bad, but not NEARLY as bad as the comics, i'd give it a very hesitant green light

the main issue with jötnar being depicted in minimal clothing is that oftentimes, the artists choose clothing specifically related to these racist stereotypes to evoke imagery of the Assumed lifestyle of both the jötnar and the real life people who are affected by the stereotypes. this is an obviously satirical example because my brain isn't working well enough to think of a more genuine one, but it wouldn't be a problem if someone drew their jötnar to be running around in heart-print boxers pin-up posing, you know? the issue is largely that people make the choice to draw them in long sheer skirts draped with gold like orientalist stereotypes of women, or in loincloths and furs and bone piercings in their noses.

basically there are all sorts of ways to visually get across their cold immunity, and have them dressed minimally, without putting them in skirts and loincloths and stuff

----- the stuff down here ⬇️ are just my personal thoughts and dont have any bearing on the actual contest, just some of my ideas that you can read for fun if you so desire

and this is definitely more of a personal thing, but i don't Personally think it makes much sense to have jötnar dressed in minimal clothing even if they are immune to the cold. this is just because, snow still melts haha. so i don't think it makes too much logical sense to have them barefoot and without any sort of cloak to protect them from the weather. plus, light reflects off of snow and is known to give people sunburns, ao i like to cover up their skin too <- this however is all optional. it's fiction and it doesn't need to be really very practical it's just the sort of thing i enjoy thinking about so i wanted to share my thoughts

i defo do not have the spoons to bust out a thor mini so you're just going to have to use your imagination but this outfit i drew them in is also like all kinds of impractical for a human or an asgardian to wear in the snow :') i mean can you imagine going out into a blizzard wearing latex and an underboob window? i imagine that thor would be wearing fur-lined leather coats and thick pants and three layers of socks and heavy duty boots next to this bitch ⬇️

this isn't my definitive loki design though. i have a lot of thoughts bumping around in my head and art that i havent posted (and probably won't post) and this ⬆️ was just a quick example i busted out to give a visual difference

[smartzelda]

33 & 34 for Weird Questions for Writers!!

Aaaaaaa thanks for the ask!!🥺💖

ㅤ

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

Haha depends on what you call art I guess😂😂

Okay, so in general I mainly write. I don't consider myself a fanartist, nor do I really do edits other than stupid meme edits at least once a year.

I have dabbled in fanart here and there, mostly during high-school. Somewhere on this blog is a screenshot redraw/study type thing of DDD Riku I did in a sketchbook, and a Zentangle of the Neko Cat dream eater. I also have scores of pokemon under my bed that I drew and the occasional originals from when I was in school.

Most recently, however (since you asked) I actually am dabbling in digital art for the first time. One is a project I have not yet begun and will not talk about unless I'm sure it's happening, but the other is my attempt to depict a Teru Mikami plush in the style of the Square Enix plushies as of late (albiet with better quality clothing). I've been working on shading for weeks, but I can share a preview of the flats:

Otherwise, I also do amv/gmv type edits sometimes (it's been a while, but the old stuff is still up), which you can find on my YouTube. The gmv for "Tout Oublier" actually does tie into my writing, because it was the first of an abandoned project where I would write a Soriku oneshot based on (and named after) the song after making a gmv for it. Like I said, the project was abandoned, none of the other gmvs tie into my writing, so to this day it's the only other arty sort of thing I've done that at all ties into my writing.

ㅤ

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

Ahahaha I love it

No I think I do because that's probably the only explanation for how much I use it. Even when I try to omit it, most times I'm like "no no sounds better this way". I am constantly wondering over whether I have too many commas, and it's this thing's fault (partly), but it’s too pleasing to my brain to give it up. Sometimes I even use it so I don't feel like a sentence is a run on. Commas are my best friend, and Xion's worse enemy (because, as mentioned, I use a lot of commas).

[anna-scribbles]

OMG IM SO EXCITED I CANT BELIEVE I ACTUALLY GOT AN INVITATION TO TALK ABOUT THIS!!

Ok your art trademark/the things that say “this was drawn by anna-scribbles”:

1. The Babie™️ factor. This is extremely important. when u are drawing kids/teens you make them look like actual kids/teens in the most adorable way possible. It’s the first thing that stuck out to me about ur art when I started seeing your stuff and it’s what made you become a favorite shortly after. They are so precious I want to squeeze their cheeks!!!! And that is the correct way to draw all the ML kids please and thank you.

2. I’ve told you this before but I love love love the way you draw mouths/smiles. It feels so pure and genuine and Anna™️. Also just expressions in general you are crazy good at and I often find myself looking thru your art tag for examples when I’m struggling with that haha.

3. The big ole adorable eyes!! Especially with the eye shines 🥺

4. The floofiness of chat’s hair is immaculate I’m obsessed. And for ML artists I think that is somewhat of a signature for you haha

5. Good line economy 👌 like it just has the likes that need to be there idk lol even your sketchier stuff just looks clean and simple and wonderful. I think simplicity is an underrated/overlooked skill in art tbh!! i just feel like you have the right amount of detail to convey your message and vibes and the richness of the piece comes through the characters’ emotions rather than a lot of detail in the actual art of that makes sense.

as for the thing that I find most remarkable about your art, it’s the heart!! Every piece feels so full of love and care and thoughtfulness, whether it’s a silly piece or an angsty one. You can master technical skills to an impressive level and yet still lack substance in your art, if you know what I mean, but every one of your pieces, even the little doodles, feels so full. Idk I just think you have a lovely spark in the way you see the world and that comes through really clearly in your art. You’re just a really special creator 💜💜

the following screenshots from your animatic “obvious” may serve as depictions of my feelings about your art and also as examples of the points above. thank you for your time.

MARYSSA WHAT IS THIS. WHY ARE YOU SO NICE TO ME. OUR BEEF IS CANCELED BC I AM CRADLING YOUR FACE IN MY HANDS AND GIVING U A KISS ON THE FOREHEAD 😭🤍

1. listen i draw them babie simply because they are. they are young and silly and full of love. but seriously it means the world to me that this aspect stands out to you bc i rly try to make them look their age sjfndknf <3

2. STOP ILY. MY SMILES COME FROM U BC U ALWAYS MAKE ME SMILE

3. 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

4. again i simply try to communicate the truth. which is that chat’s hair is very extremely fluffy. i would never want to mislead the population

5. this is so sweet i’m gonna CRY 😭😭 this is something that i really just go off of Vibes with so the fact that it stands out/is meaningful to you is !!!!!??

maryssa i am 😭😭🤧🤧😭😭😭😭‼️‼️ this is such a huge compliment bc u have the most heart of pretty much anyone i know. you are such a talented artist and storyteller yourself and you have such an eye for detail that hearing you say things like this just makes me heart go !!!!!!!

ily 😭😭 everyone go follow @carpisuns and shower her with love immediately

[ddaenghoney]

Series: Flora

Finale

masterlist link in blog description

After spending more than a decade establishing a career as an acclaimed actress, you decide to go on a sudden hiatus while also discreetly moving to a new townhome, renting out the second room to your old friend from high school: Kim Taehyung

Pairing(s):

Kim Taehyung x Y/N

ft. Lim Jaebeom x Y/N

disclaimer: any character depicted do not represent the actual personality of the respective idol in real life.

Series warning(s)/genre(s): Social media/Fake Text AU, Roommates au, somewhat Slow Burn relationship (or is it more oblivious to lovers ?), Actress!Y/N, Flower shop owner and model!Taehyung, fluff, drama(bc it’s me), romance, angst (updated as needed)

If you enjoyed, PLEASE let me know!! Thank you so much for reading the entirety of this story! I really enjoyed making it! I’ll see you in the next story! 

Tag(s): @atulipandarosee @jaienn @lemonteacyst @swanboysuga @kennedaddy00 @cribabieee @betysotelo18 @sherizaraiyah 

Below the cut are some fun facts about the story!

Do people read these haha idk but anyways here we gooo

The name “Flora” is a noun that refers to all of the plant life of a particular place. I used the name because, like plants (in particular, flowers) face various adversity to bloom, so do the characters of this story! It also adds an element of care, because certainly flowers can bloom on their own, but they can also reach new, greater heights when given assistance along the way. And lastly, “flora” refers to many different plants rather than just one, and Y/N begins the story on her own, but learns to learn others in as she takes control of her life!

Originally, Taehyung wasn’t going to be a florist; he was going to be a member of BTS and would have met Y/N when he co-starred in a movie with her!

I don’t personally think Rose is much of an antagonist, so much as a misguided friend. She really did think what she was doing was for Y/N’s own good, but of course learned that to not be the case.

If you had to ask me, I think Y/N caught feelings before Taehyung did, but did a lot more to push them away and ignore them. I would say around the time she went out with Rose and Jueun was when she’d already started crushing on him.

Taehyung, Jeongguk, Jimin, and Y/N had all attended the same performing arts high school. Jimin and Yoongi met when they were in the same company, Namjoon knew Taehyung from when he was still trying to be an actor, Jeongguk met Seokjin in college, and Hoseok and Seokjin went to high school together. And that’s sort of how they all knew each other somehow LOL.

Y/N had a crush on Taehyung in high school! I hinted at that, but never got too deep into it haha, maybe I’ll write a blurb featuring the concept in the future.

Instead of Y/N’s CEO being such a negative character, I also contemplated having her parents be antagonistic. I mean, she did work in the acting industry since she was around 12 so it would make sense they had something to do with the plot, but I decided against it because it would’ve further complicated the plot to bring in a familial dynamic issue as well. 

I thought about making Jueun much more manipulative, like succeeding in befriending Y/N, driving her to kick Taehyung out, making her and Taehyung date for a bit, but I just,,,,, it made it too much lol. Like, she had her ulterior motive against Y/N, but all of the extra stuff just made her too malicious for what I wanted the story to be, and I think how it is now is more realistic anyways. 

Speaking of Jueun, her manager sucks doesn’t he lol. I made him like that because I didn’t even her situation to be free of the struggles that Y/N has to go through. In a lot of ways many of the celebrities (Y/N, Jueun, Rose, and Namjoon) all showed a lot of different ways that they’re inhibited from acting as they like, because to some extent they’re all just cogs in a machine. Sort of dreary isn’t it LOL

I imagine that Y/N returns to acting years later, maybe about four.

By that time, I figure she and Taehyung would be married haha

Taehyung didn’t do much on social media compared to past guys from my other stories; it’s because using it, especially after all hell broke loose, really made him nervous. This au’s Taehyung isn’t fond of fame to any degree.

Originally, I was going to use Jinyoung as the secondary male lead, but I switched it to Jaebeom because I wanted to drive one of my friends crazy lol 

In her break from celebrity life, Y/N works at the flower shop with Taehyung, but also eventually gets into helping direct/produce productions for kids/teens at a local community theater; I intend to write a piece about that eventually!

I also have this xxx thing that I’d like to write at the flower shop but LOL ANYWAYS

Thank you so much for reading! I greatly appreciate feedback and comments if you enjoyed, because it really gives me a lot of inspiration and motivation to continue writing. Even small comments, anonymous comments, any comments at all mean SO much. Thank you again! See you soon!

[veiledsilver]

Top five moments you've felt like the universe was messing with you.

Oh boy everyone get ready this is a long list. In descending order, from mildly funny looking back on it to "oh god oh shit oh fuck":

5. Catfishing: College Edition

In 6th grade, I decided to apply to colleges early to see how they were like. I was scared that if they knew I was too young, they'd arrest me. So I created a gmail account as my persona, a white 12th grader named Emilie Alexander. Emilie was planning to go into nursing, dating a high school linebacker named Kyle Kenderson, and deathly allergic to bee stings. If she even came near a bee, she would die.

This part was of the utmost importance.

See, I was constantly paranoid that one day, the jig would be up- I might forget that my fake last name was Alexander. Or the college dean might come knocking at my door and tear up my home in his mad search for Emilie. If that happened I would fake her tragic death, presumably caused by one big fucking bee.

I secretly collected my information. What nearby states were the prettiest to visit. Which colleges were the safest and most affordable. How often they held courses that I liked. In my emails with colleges I tried to sound as mature and professional as possible.

Then, one day, a college member asked me what high school I was in, so they could check my records.

My blood froze.

It was time to bring out the bee.

In response to their question, I sent an email that was like this:

"Dear Mr. McLaughlin, I was a proud graduate of- ugh! Ah! Kyaaaa! Uwaa! W-w-what's this... huge goddamn bee doing here?! Eek, pardon my foul language! It's just that, as I told you earlier, being stung by a bee would kill me.... and now it's stung me thrice (three times)!!

What do I do?! I can't die... I've always wanted to attend your beautiful college...

But this is... the end...

Mr. McLaughlin...

*looks at you sadly*

Tell... my mother... I loved her...

*dies*"

He never responded, probably because he was rendered speechless, but I never touched that account again.

My private gmail for fun stuff like tumblr still has "Alexander" as a surname, though.

4. Wild and Authentic

Alright. Alright. So. My art teacher in middle school.

Right off the bat, they endeared themselves to the tumblr art kids- they proudly used they/them pronouns, dyed their hair vibrant colors, deeply encouraged OC creation, and was chill with any art style even if it was anime. Mx. Mason was very cool, except for one thing.

We had complete artistic freedom when it came to their assignments, EXCEPT FOR ONE THING.

Drumroll, please.

Take a deep breath if you must.

Ready?

...

Cats had to have extremely distinct whisker pores.

YES, they believed that modern depictions of cats were too streamlined. Too... idealized. As a cat owner themselves, they were convinced that society's vision of cats did not do their feral feline ancestors justice. In making their faces flawlessly smooth-furred, we were stripping the cat of its true nature.

I found this out the hard way, when I was drawing warrior cats fanart for class (it was of Firestar cuddled in the arms of an orange haired anime catgirl who was his reincarnation in my first ever comic series, Warriors Neko Desu! ♡ Heart Academy Dokidoki).

Mx. Mason came over to look at my magnum opus, and I expected them to have their socks knocked off at my artistic talent. They lifted up my drawing for all to see, and I smugly leaned back in my seat.

Only for them to launch into a passionate lecture about how, in neglecting to draw whisker pores on cats, I was DENYING THIS FICTIONAL CAT OF ITS WILD AUTHENTIC SELF.

My friends absolutely lost it when I told them this story, and there was a period of time when all our discord nicknames were wild and authentic too.

As for Firestar and his counterpart Hoshineko Orenji-chan, I never did give them wild authentic whisker holes, but that's to be expected of a kittypet, I guess.

3. Stan Jungkook Or Whatever

A couple years ago, my family and I flew to Seoul, South Korea, to visit our relatives and teach me more about my heritage. It was very nice! I got to visit shrines and festivals and palaces, and I was in awe that this was what my ancestors had once seen in their daily lives.

Then, when we went to the modern side of Korea, I realized just how much I didn't fit in.

It was clear that I didn't know how to act, or how to speak Korean, and I spent my days fumbling around and getting scammed multiple times by salesmen. But I clowned myself the most... during an interactive event with kpop stars.

They had this experimental event where holograms of the boys would sing onstage and dance in place of the actual idols. Before the show began, girls could stand in booths that scanned their appearances, and holograms of THEM could dance onstage with the hologram boys.

I didn't know this.

When Cousin Ae-cha told me to step inside one of the machines, I thought I'd be hilarious and stand backwards, so it would scan the back of me instead of my front. As I walked out, I saw other girls putting on their best makeup, cutest clothes, and most expensive accessories, and I slowly realized that I was in danger.

But the danger didn't come until halfway through the concert, where the boys looked eagerly off-stage and a holy staircase appeared and all the hologram girls descended from heaven. There were cherry blossoms. There were roses. There was me, among the crowd of beautiful airbrushed girls, walking backwards.

I felt the judgemental gazes of twenty girls and their mothers.

Each boy danced with a girl, who got a cute animated moment with special effects, and sang about how they found a dream girl to have a true love romance with. Finally, all the girls vanished except one, and it was me.

One of the boys didn't dance with any girls, and now he was all alone in the rain, feeling dejected that HE did not find his true love girl to have a dream romance with. Then the rain stopped, the sun came out, and I emerged. Still backwards.

He was thrilled and sang about how my face (that he didn't see) stole his heart, and now everyone in the audience was giggling, and he slowly brought me very close to kiss me... but because I was backwards, his nose was cutely nuzzling my hair.

The audience members- at least the adults- were now laughing their asses off. His lips met the back of my head, and together we vanished into the wind.

I'd say I couldn't show my face there ever again, but I never did show my face, so... hm...

2. Horrid Little Temptress

If I wasn't a minor, I'd need a drink before starting this story. Sadly, I cannot drown my sorrows- and neither should you after you hear this, because it's only fair.

Mrs. Appleby was my Spanish teacher in like, 9th grade. Even the wild and authentic art teacher thought she was insane. Appleby forced kids to brew tea for her and yelled at them when they didn't get it right, and I thought she had a chronic squint until I realised she just did that to mock me and my Asian eye-folds. She forced us to watch Dora the Explorer to "absorb knowledge." Everyone fucking hated Mrs. Appleby.

But the worst thing she ever did... was during the school festival.

See, whenever she's angry, she zooms right into kids' faces to scream at them. Her wrinkled flesh would blot out the goddamn sun and all you see are her bloodshot yellow eyeballs so victims just stayed rooted to the spot like cornered animals or something similar. This is important.

Because when she was sampling her own brownies (read: hoarding them so no one else could eat them), one parent foolishly decided to grab one and she thought it was a student and she grabbed his wrist so hard she could've nearly snapped it and... and... zoomed into his face.

Except she underestimated his height and kissed him by accident, but it was more like her mouth was sucking in his face like a vacuum.

His wife was shrieking like an ape. His kid, my classmate, saw his social life flash before his eyes.

In her defense, she did not mouth to mouth with him on purpose and afterwards she cried in the bathroom and when I foolishly followed her in to comfort her, because I am a teacher's pet through and through, she snatched the paper towels I got for her and wailed that she was a-

A-

HORRID LITTLE TEMPTRESS.

If I had decided to not be kind, I never would've heard that string of fucking words. But I did. And I paid for it dearly. The end.

1. Violence IS The Answer, Sometimes

Thomas, my dearly detested.

Back in sixth grade, I used to have a crush on him because he had the surfer boy look with nicely tanned skin and pale blond hair and the clearest aquamarine eyes I've ever seen. He also liked surfing and swimming. He seemed like the perfect little trophy waifu except for one absolute dealbreaker.

He and his parents were extremely conservative and so, when I told him I liked him, his response was basically "haha no you're a [slur] and would probably eat my dog."

I was horrified and ran away to cry. But then, by the next day, I decided I needed to punish him. Thomas walked in before class started and I was waiting for him with these hands. I kicked him so he doubled over, slammed his face into his chair's seat, and quickly clambered on top of him to SIT ON THE BACK OF HIS HEAD. He started shaking and twitching and trying to pry me off, but eventually he went limp and stopped moving.

I thought he fell asleep, but Mohammed, another classmate who was bullied by Thomas, told me that Thomas might never wake up again (not that he was very sad about this. I didn't know until later, but Thomas said slurs at him too).

While I was sitting on the guy, he'd straight up passed out from the lack of oxygen.

Screaming and crying, I told our homeroom teacher that Thomas suddenly fainted, and she was the type of Caucasian that thought all little Asian kids were sweet and innocent, so it didn't even cross her mind that? It might've been me? Who sat on his head when she walked in?

He was sent home early that day. I had to go to a different school next year because Thomas's mom threatened legal action. The only reason I didn't get punished further was because my rich cousins out-Karen'd her and donated a huge amount of money to the school to keep them quiet.

Anyway, I never did anything that insane ever again, because something like that is enough for a lifetime. My cousins made it clear they would never back me up again. I was sure this whole event would be put behind me, too.

But last fall, during my first day of online learning... who did I see in my zoom meeting... BUT THOMAS! I had my mic and camera off, but the moment he saw my name, his face went pale. His soul would've left his body, but then it would've gone to hell, so it wisely decided to stay inside.

Still, out of shame and embarrassment, I never turned my camera on for the rest of the school year.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Whomp

Debut: Super Mario 64 

You know what I’ve been thinking about lately? Super Mario 64. Haven’t we all, really? Between all the recent datamines and general online discussion, I can’t help but wonder about Super Mario 64! 

Something I don’t think Mario 64 gets enough appreciation for, is being the birthplace of our beloved Whomps! At least, I certainly belove them. Don’t you? We’ve covered pretty much every “Thwomp” variant in the past, and sure, Whomps may be nowhere near the “obscure” side of enemies, but a splendid design is a good thing to appreciate anytime! 

Not only is this their debut, but they get a whole stage themed around them: the Whomp’s Fortress, if by “fortress” you mean a vague collection of scattered obstacles and platforms floating in the sky, like most 64 stages! That sure is a lot of... textures! My favorite part is the little paddling pool near the bottom.

And who could forget the Whomp in all their original polygonal glory? Clearly they just wanted to make an enemy who is just a rectangle with a texture on top, yet the design had all its charm even back then! The sunken eyes with glowing red pupils, the H-shaped mouth with the crooked teeth... it’s very cute, in an ugly way. And on the back, their weak spot is a crack with a bandage on top! Adorable!

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it- that’s why the Whomp has only really had a few subtle redesigns over the years! When they appeared in Mario 64 DS, they looked just a little bit nicer to look at. They were also in New Super Mario Bros. DS, using the same model- a 3D only enemy in a 2D game, how strange indeed! Their first appearance in a new mainline game in 10 whole years- and it probably just happened because they wanted to reuse assets.

Another redesign? Don’t mind if I do! The Whomp’s grand return to the third dimension happened in Mario Galaxy 2, really cementing them (hah) as a modern Mario classic. This time, they’re huge! And square-ish! And uh, their eyes aren’t wacky anymore. No longer having a band-aid, they instead have a big ground-pound symbol on their back now, which must be just awful, right? Can you imagine having a big logo emblazoned on your back which says “crush me with your butt here”?

This here is their artwork from Mario Party 9. It’s the same as the art from Galaxy 2, but their eyes are glowy now. I just thought this was funny.  But I’m getting ahead of myself here! Before I talk about Mario Party, I need to talk about...

Their monarch, the big bad Whomp King! He’s just... He’s just a big Whomp. He acts just like other Whomps, but he’s big and takes three hits. What’s totally memorable about this boss, though, is the villain monologue he gives before fighting! 

“It makes me so mad! We build your houses, your castles, we pave your roads, and still you walk all over us. Do you ever say thank you? No! Well, you're not going to wipe your feet on me. I think I'll crush you just for fun! Do you have a problem with that? Just try to pound me, wimp! Ha!” 

Uh oh! Looks like Mario’s world has a little problem with under-valuing essential workers! Good thing our world has nothing like that. Well, jokes aside, it’s a pretty cheeky nod at how the Whomps are made of stone- but one has to wonder much of this tragic backstory is serious! It must be a pretty nasty lot in life, huh? 

Don’t feel bad- in 64 DS and Mario Galaxy 2, the Whomp King got a snazzy new crown! At least someone appreciates him a bit!

Well, it wasn’t just him: Galaxy 2′s Throwback Galaxy was one big reimagining of Whomp’s Fortress, meaning this is probably the most Whomp-focused game released in the past decade. The music was remixed, the boss fight was revamped- all in all, a lovely throwback indeed!

And the Whomp has basically just... stuck around! You may have noticed the image at the top (from Super Mario Party) has a slightly different design, being a little more rectangular with smaller, thinner eyes and a more angular mouth! They definitely redesigned the Whomp again at some point, but I couldn’t tell you exactly when... Either way, I’m glad they’re here for good! 

Not that Whomps ever really went anywhere! In the years between Super Mario 64 and its remake, Whomps survived almost exclusively in Mario Party (and other spin-offs), functioning mainly as roadblocks that don’t allow the player to pass!

Which brings me to my final point- between their design and this function, the Whomp is most likely based on the mythological yōkai called... the Nurikabe! And since I’d love nothing more, I’ll now go into a long-winded tangent about what the Nurikabe is, and... Hey, wait!! Come back! It’ll be interesting, I swear! Don’t cut off the post! Hey-

Yeah, yeah. You’re all sick of my long-winded yōkai posts. But I’m happy you joined me here, even if it was out of pity. Let’s talk about the Nurikabe!

Look at this big guy! What a card! Nurikabe literally translates to plaster wall, and they take the form of a big invisible wall that blocks the way of travellers at night. Since they’re invisible, they naturally don’t have many illustrations- leave it to Shigeru Mizuki to depict them as a large, goofy-looking slab of stone! This Nurikabe joined the main cast of the GeGeGe no Kitaro manga, and thus quickly became a cornerstone (haha) of their popular depictions!

(To be fair, there does exist an old illustration of the Nurikabe as a strange, lumpy dog thing... but I’m not MUCH of a fan? I think a literal stone wall is so much more charming!)

Come on, look at this! What could be better? 

Ōkami has a rather lovely Nurikabe-looking guy! Though his design is splendid, if you’ve played Ōkami you likely remember him as “the extremely frustrating memory puzzle” or “the memory puzzle that is literally scientifically impossible for the human brain to solve”. Shame!

Yo-kai Watch has the Murikabe, a.k.a “Noway” in the English version! “Muri” means “no way”. So like, it’s a pun. Hoho.

Nioh’s Nurikabe is quite scary, but also rather cool! Don’t you think? I still know very little about Nioh, but whenever I look at its yōkai I think “Dang! That’s cool!”, and I’m right, and it is cool. 

The Super Sentai series has two whole Nurikabe monsters, each based on a different Nurikabe look! While the latter is quite cool, I’m in love with the former and its weird, grungy brick wall look! It’s like, the dictionary definition of Gnarly! Though I know very little about tokukatsu shows, I think its kind of fascinating how creative they can get with designing humanoid monsters suits!

You may be wondering: was this entire post just a thinly-veiled excuse for me to talk about the Nurikabe? And to that I say:

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaybe....???

[megablade]

ok so i love (!!) the direction quackity is taking with his character with the whole corruption arc and sympathy for the devil stuff but

at the same time it sucks to see some people taking c!quackity’s current actions to reaffirm the idea that he was “always a villain." because when he was trying to do everything right and see the best in people and chase justice, he was still seen as a villain by a lot of the fandom just because he ran against wilbur and tommy in the elections.

i’ve seen plenty of art depicting him taking joy in this tubbo’s execution by schlatt’s side, plenty of people thinking he still wants to execute ranboo, plenty of posts saying that he never struggled (my personal favorite, someone said that dream was more justified than quackity in his wrongdoings because he suffered in prison, while the only thing quackity ever went through was not getting invited to kinoko kingdom. i will Scream).

and now that he is actively doing things in the wrong, there are so many takes saying that’s how he’s always been since the beginning of the smp. that’s confirmation bias at its finest, i suppose

like im not a c!quackity apologist anymore, but if i see enough bad takes, i might regress back into one out of Pure Spite /j

of course, there are bad takes for all of the dsmp characters out there. but the whole point of "sympathy for the devil" rests on the idea that there is sympathy to begin with. and quackity’s storytelling has been extremely effective in creating that sympathy! so it’s a bit odd to me when people ignore canon to stay unsympathetic for his character in particular

you put it very nicely !! it's very surprising how many people are making analysis posts about quackity's character without having properly seen his earlier vods, because if the first few quackity lore streams you've properly seen is the las nevadas series, your perception of his character is going to be way skewed in comparison, so those are very bold moves, haha c!quackity's always been a morally gray character: it's easy to view him as someone who craves power, because it's true! his aspirations have repeatedly been kicked down and he's been treated like an outsider all throughout l'manberg and even manberg when he was working under schlatt's administration, and his solution to this was to finally get enough power that he wouldn’t get stepped over anymore. but i think that's the beauty of how his character was written, because even considering how most of his arcs are centered around wanting to get authority & power, quackity never cast aside his empathy for the places & people he cared about (although this has recently become debatable, i won't get into it now):

he refused to leave manberg because of his attachment to the country

but his breaking point was schlatt taking down the white house because it was the last good memory he had with tommy and wilbur

he resigned from new l'manberg because tubbo's ideals didn't match what quackity thought was right for the nation - but even then, they did not part of bad terms, with quackity giving tubbo his last pep talk

he came to fight for new l'manberg again on doomsday despite knowing that their chances of victory were small: he chose l'manberg and its people over and over and over again and he still lost it all - to the man that quackity thinks is the root of all problems: dream.

i feel like that’s why there are as many people who sympathize with him as there are—or at least understand his state of mind, if not sympathize.

and on the other hand, for the people who don’t sympathize, it’s weird to see how they decide to have collective amnesia for every arc before the disc confrontation when analyzing him but like you said, there are always going to be bad takes in fandom slkjfgf

[justjstuff]

For the ask game: I, L, R and S?

Thanks for the ask!!! <3

I - The last time I felt jealous, and why.

r: I honestly can't remember lmfao. Maybe it was back in 2020 before the whole pandemic thing and this Almost Something guy that at that point was an ex-Almost Something Guy was giving more attention to this friend of mine instead of me? Hmmm could have been that I was jealous of these two girls for moving abroad too xD Oh wait, I'm actually really jealous of everyone who's already vaccinated when my dad just got his first dose a couple of weeks back so things are awful over here.

L - If I have siblings.

r: Yes! I have an older sister, she's 5 years older than me and the reason I started reading fanfic haha I also have @calliartss who is my cousin but we're the same age so we basically grew up as sisters/best friends.

R - For me to tell 10 of my curiosities.

r: I thought this was about like "ten fun facts about me" but then I asked someone else about this and she answered as "ten things that interest me" and I much rather answer something like that so here goes:

1. People. As in, what makes people act certain ways, how we interact with each other, how different people manifest the same emotions in different ways, etc. All of this coming from a place of simple curiosity but also research for better characterization in my writing/acting.

2. Writing. Lol, ofc I had to put it there because it's just a huge part of who I am. I'm not even saying writing as only creating stories but also writing pros and cons lists to get my thoughts in order, writing sad passages about what's happening to me to get a little bit of relief from some overwhelming feelings and all that.

3. Folklore. I find it fascinating to read about ancient legends, how societies grew from them and how it still kinda influences them to this day. Did you know that all around the world there are myths and legends about dragons? And I mean, yeah it's cool and all, but I mean, these civilizations had absolutely no contact with each other. I'm talking about Mayans and Incas and Vikings and ancient Chinese people depicting the same creatures in their lore. It's interesting because it tells a story and it makes you wonder. Did they somehow did end up having contact with each other or did something else happen?

4. On that topic, Latin American history in specific. Our people has such a rich culture and it's sad that it's so unexplored and misinterpreted in many ways. When it does get some attention it's mainly about Incas/Mayas/Aztec people and South America often gets forgotten or depicted as brainless savages.

5. Still on that topic, space and mythology. As in, every myth has a little bit of truth and it makes me wonder sometimes. I'm a huge sci-fi fan, grew up watching Alien and Star Trek and shit so yeah xD

6. Heist movies. Also Mission movies in general. I love everything about them and I wish we had more lol.

7. Martial Arts. I love fighting and even though I've been a beginner all my life I find it really interesting to know different kinds and where they came from and why. I had a kendo lesson once in the temple in Kyoto where kendo was created with a teacher that was one of the last descendants of samurai and just... oh wow I really like martial arts lmao.

8. You see I'm slowly diverging into interests/things I like rather than things I'm curious about BUT let's just pretend I'm sticking to the script here. ART. I have a very intense urge to create sometimes and get seriously depressed when I don't for a while. I suck at drawing/painting but I love it hahah in 2019/2020 I was trying my hand at watercolor which is incredibly hard for me bc I'm an absolute control freak but it was also a very nice therapy for letting go and letting things run their course. Now in 2021 I started oil painting which is also incredibly hard but super relaxing and it's teaching me patience.

9. Traveling. Not in a oh let me see just how many different Hyatt hotels/resorts I can see the same inside in different places in the world way but more like... God how fucking privileged are we that we get to experience things like that??? Think about it, you get to taste a bit of someone else's culture, you get to walk through streets and forests that your ancestors wouldn't even dream of. And all of that you get to do it in a way that contributes to that particular culture's economy if you're careful about the way you go about it (where you stay, what restaurant you eat in, what store you're buying your clothes/trinkets, etc).

10. The internet. lol, lame I know but it follows the same line of thought from number 9 because look, I've made friends here with people whom I wouldn't ever get to know if the internet (and fandom) didn't exist and I just love how we can share experiences here and learn from each other and lean on each other and just... yeah, i'm soft about it haha

S - 2 habits.

r:

1. Drink a bottle of water as soon as I wake up. I started this last year when I was in a really bad depressive loop and it honestly changed my life. It's about being mindful of what your body is doing and giving it a proper wake up. I don't do a lot of the things I probably should be doing but this is thankfully a habit I managed to keep.

2. Tea before bed. Tea at any and all time of the day, really, but it's really something that I miss when I can't do it (because I'm traveling or there's no more tea or whatever), just have a nice cuppa before bed, warm up and calm down and then Zzzzzzz xD

ask me a brutal honesty question

[springfieldblues]

my long ass review for S32E03 Now Museum, Now You Don’t

warning: LONG because i rambled about history more than i thought i would

id been looking forward to this one because i like art history, especially after seeing how they tried their best to stick to historical accuracy in the previous episode I, Carumbus. this time however….they didnt try that hard. i dont know why i thought theyd go through that sort of trouble again LMAO

but its okay, i dont really expect the simpsons to be the paragon of historical accuracy or anything. especially in anthology episodes told through a particular character's lens (in this case, lisa, whos already feverish so whatever)

first i just wanna say that this is, i guess, less of a review and more of an accidental list of history fun facts. so im just gonna get my general thoughts out of the way first.

the episode was fun! to me at least haha. i mean it got me to think and do a lot of research on my own so that must count for something. besides a couple of really weird ones, the jokes were good. anthology episodes tend to be….not that good but i thought this one was one of the better ones so far. idk.

anyway on to lisanardo da vinky its the renaissance! jesus christ the italian accents in the beginning of this segment were annoying as hell but i also feel like that was the joke lmao. ill be real i kind of tuned out for a second there when grampa started rambling so idk what he said.

i told myself i wouldnt get nitpicky with historical accuracy if the jokes were funny (final edit: so that was a lie) but this meh bit with the pizza guys and mascots was really not worth ignoring the fact that its impossible for italy to have any tomato-based food in the 15th century (tomatoes were brought to europe from the americas in the 16th century, and pizza as we know it today—flatbread, cheese, tomato—originated in the late 18th century)

oh this next part was kind of legit tho. lisanardo, like the real leonardo, became andrea del verrochio's apprentice at his workshop. i loved this next bit:

"Whoever paints the sweetest cherub will have the honor of having MY name signed on their work. That's what great artists do!"

SO YEAH as it turns out, lisanardo painted the sweetest cherubs. the painting here is called The Baptism of Christ, and the real leonardo assisted verrochio in finishing it. specifically, he painted the cherubs in the corner.

this causes verrochio to quit and go someplace with less talented people: a music school (yes, verrochio did quit painting after getting owned by young leo and his mad angel painting skills. he never did anything with music tho, he was more of a sculptor)

alongside lisanardo, in mr largo-verrochio's workshop we have barticelli (botticelli bart), dolphatello (donatello dolph), ralphael (raphael...ralph) and mediocrito (no one that i know of. sorry milhouse) (and kearney i guess but they dont refer to him by name). botticelli and donatello are said to have also been apprentices at verrochio's workshop, but raphael came a couple of decades later so he couldnt have been there. and donatello was too old so that claim is a bit questionable. but anyway

it IS true that leonardo's peers envied him, to the point where he was anonymously and purposefully accused of being gay (a major crime punishable by death in 15th century florence) while he was still working at verrochio's workshop

we are then treated by what im pretty sure is the fourth time the show has used 'at seventeen' by janis ian, this time sung by a dejected lisanardo (man they really do keep making yeardley sing these days huh) who only wishes to be appreciated and not envied.

"I'll show them all! I'll show them all in a secret diary that no one will decipher for 400 years!"

some of lisanardo's future inventions. who wouldve known

so after barticelli, for some reason (revenge??? or something?? what was his plan here idgi) steals lisanardo's diaries full of blueprints of her inventions and takes them to mr burns who i have to assume is pope alexander VI here, they decide to use her inventions for war.

"With these, we can kill the most evil people in the world!! ....Slightly different Christians."

leo actually did this of his own accord. im surprised this is what they decided to do with lisanardo instead of talking about leo's love of nature and vegetarianism (not a single mention of that in this episode? come on...) then again, trying to do good only to end up indirectly making things worse is a very standard lisa storyline. i guess they didnt want to miss the chance to have evil pope burns (very fitting, especially for that era since they were all about money and controlling the people)

so lisanardo decides to leave for france, unlike the real leonardo who was more or less persuaded by his ultimate fanboy king francis I to move to france.

"Lisanardo, I have many questions. Why are you hitting yourself? A nerd says 'what'? And how is it possible that I am rubber and you are glue? Et cetera, et cetera."

that line may seem a little random, like hes just nelson saying nelson things (and i mean, obviously he is) but the real francis also "had an unquenchable thirst for learning, and Leonardo was the world’s best source of experimental knowledge. He could teach the king about almost any subject there was to know, from how the eye works to why the moon shines." so yeah, he did have many questions and lisanardo, finally being appreciated for her intellect, was happy to answer them all. its very interesting how lisa assigned this role to nelson in her retelling of da vinci’s life :^)

and so she lived the rest of her days in france, nat king cole's 'mona lisa' plays because duh, and they make a da vinci code reference because duh. and the segment ends. and not a single time did they show the actual mona lisa painting. the fuck?

(ngl i was fully expecting bart to say 'leonardo da vinky' for a second here)

so this next segment is about french impressionist painters, most likely the batignolles group, a name adopted by the early representatives of impressionism. its much more vague than the lisanardo segment since no one here is referred to by name (except moe, more on him in a sec) but i dont feel like it really matters in this case. bart is prrrrooobably claude monet but its hard to say, this segment is kind of a mish-mash of a lot of things. also i gotta say i really liked how lisa introduced the story to bart with an 'if you hate the formal study of art' and not 'if you hate art' because thats exactly my headcanon. i LOVE the concept of artist bart and whenever its referenced it just makes perfect sense to me.

anyway the segment opens in 1863 at the école des beaux-arts (back then it was actually known as the académie des beaux-arts), preserver of traditional french art styles. skinner reviews his students’ paintings one by one. praises the plain, unimaginative paintings depicting your typical european countryside landscapes. very run-of-the-mill (haha get it...cuz theres….a windmill) (although the real académie didnt approve of such basic stuff, they wanted artists to draw epic historical and mythological scenes) then he gets to barts painting and he gives him an F- because the painting made him think.

(the paintings in this scene arent real famous paintings as far as i know but they are inspired by real paintings enough to get the point across)

in comes barney dressed as bacchus as a model for the students to sketch, which i just loved:

barney: “You prefer robe open or robe off?” skinner: “Just cover your privates with this walnut shell.” barney: “Whoa!!! So roomy!”

skinner gasps in horror at bart’s sketch, which “looks nothing like him” and bart explains that “it shouldn’t; we’re making the art that we feel because we can’t compete with a camera.” damn, you go bart. take that, realism. draw what you feel!!

(also no, you didnt need to hold still for 17 hours for a daguerreotype. 30 min tops.)

nelson haw-haw of the week: FOIE-gras!

so here they are at the moulin rouge (“enjoy it before baz luhrmann ruins it” hey shut up. i love that movie), which wouldnt be built for another 26 years, but it is the most widely known gathering place for bohemians in the public consciousness so i can understand why they went with the moulin. nelson delivers this anachronistic line:

“This époque keeps getting beller and beller!”

which alludes to la belle époque, the golden age of france usually dated from 1880 to 1914. made me snort so ill let that slide

and heres moe! as henri de toulouse-lautrec, who was actually born a year after the year this segment is set in. yo moe szyslak he was just 1

toulouse-moetrec introduces himself as the chronicler of the demimonde (not an actual job). an iconic figure associated with the moulin rouge (largely due to his affinity for alcohol and prostitutes), toulouse-lautrec was also a painter, having illustrated a series of posters for the moulin himself. he simply had to be in this segment, anachronisms be damned, just because they decided to include the moulin. cant have one without the other.

and yes he did have a walking cane where he kept his liquor.

i love how everyone drinks absinthe in this place. theyre bohemians what else would they drink

toulouse-moetrec points out that barts paintings are the greatest thing hes ever seen (and hes seen like five things!) and that hes a genius. milhouse realizes that they should stop doing what the teacher says and use their own minds to instead...start doing what bart says lmao. to the easels!

next we have skinner hyping up chalmers about the art his students made for the salon de paris, an art exhibition that the emperor of france will attend. he assures him that none of these paintings will encourage debate, provoke thought or be out of place at a dentist’s office. when they unveil the art, theyre both SHOCKED at how scandalous the paintings actually are.

this reaction was kind of accurate. impressionism was severely rejected at the salon de paris, due to paintings not looking finished enough to them, they thought they were ugly and vulgar for depicting nudity in a contemporary setting (historical and mythological nudity was fine). these impressionist paintings were sent to the salon de refusés, which is. yeah. the place where they sent the rejects. the salon de refusés does not make an appearance but this scene makes a reference to it when the artists get expelled from the royal salon. also:

“What about our student loans?” “Oh they’ll be refunded. We are not barbarians, I mean, come on.”

(god if only)

so the painters are down because they want the emperor to actually see their paintings. toulouse-moetrec pipes in once again with an idea.

“There is one thing the emperor loves more than anything.” “France?” “No, he hates France.”

apparently the emperor really loves cheese, which makes sense since its napoleon III (who loved cheese) and homer (who loves cheese.) so the painters roll into the salon inside a giant wheel of cheese (obviously.) as lenny said, “Eh, you know French cheese. Very runny.” napoleon III chases after the wheel into a room, where the wheel falls apart after getting chomped on by the emperor. now that they got his attention, the painters proudly show the emperor their impressionist art, which he couldnt be more indifferent about because he just wants to eat his cheese dammit, and he awards them with the royal medallion just to kind of get them out of his way. skinner immediately starts kissing ass (as he does) until marge’s like ‘hey wait a minute. you expelled these students from the royal salon’ and an executioner immediately starts ominously measuring skinners neck.

“Uh, sir...is your tongue sticking out because you’re dead or because you’re mad at me?”

and thats the end of that lmao (gore in this episode, gore in the last episode, and next week we’re getting gore too cuz its THOH, what the hell is goin on)

we get a short intermission with maggie, who wants a story for her too! lisa tells her that renaissance artists loved to put babies in their paintings, especially baby angels.

here she is showing her The Triumph Of Galatea by raphael:

King David Playing The Harp by peter paul reubens:

and a very simplified version of pretty much any depiction of hell by hyeronimus bosch lmao:

not much else to say about this one, really. but i really liked that sky!

the last segment is about frida kahlo and diego rivera. or as bart puts it ‘the one about a fat guy whos wife is too good for him.’ i was REALLY looking forward to this one because i love frida and i thought itd be a cool opportunity for animators to go bonkers and do really cool shit with her art as inspiration…..but the segment is not about frida, its about diego and his selling out to capitalism. and its also yet another story with homer and marge drama. no funky cool animation here. sigh i guess i’ll take it

the story begins in 1929 at la casa azul, frida’s home (now museum dedicated to her life and work.) frida and diego are getting married. this courtyard definitely did not look this way yet back in 1929. also theres something very cringy yet funny about lovejoy saying spanish words the way he does, i honestly cant decide how i feel about that one

the writers know theyre being cringy with their gringoness so they go along with it.

moe: “Spanish for ‘best wishes’!” mel: “Spanish for ‘congratulations’!” bumblebee man: “Spanish for ‘muy bueno’!”

OH YEAH BUMBLEBEE MAN this is his new voice actor, eric lopez! hes not mexican but its still great to finally have a latino actor voicing a latino character and hes very excited to be part of the show so i hope to hear more of him!! im rooting for him

el barto/zorro makes an appearance which i am very confused about. he has jack shit to do with frida and diego and mexico in the 20s-30s. el zorro was set in the spanish california of the early 19th century. their use of the original theme song makes me think they just wanted to flex their disney privileges tbh

lets not talk about that that whole scene was bad

anyway diego announces he and frida are going to new york, without even asking her first. frida is obviously pissed.

“Don’t worry, as a woman, you’ll be treated with much more respect in America.”

so in new york, diego is having a bit of a business meeting with mr burns as one of the members of the rockefellers, who is commissioning him to draw a mural for the rockefeller center. its kinda funny how he refers to him and frida as socialists even though they were very much communists lmao its okay you can say it. ok so far, but then frida says ‘yes, we hate the capitalists! right now, a young socialist is being born who will take them down! mr. bernie sanders. i hope hes quick about it’ and that was a simple enough joke and couldve been left at that but then its immediately followed by this weird as fuck family guy-esque cutaway gag to bernie as a baby:

“Getting a cootie shot should not cost your lunch money. And if you don’t listen to me, listen to the Bernie Babies! What? Everybody’s got goons.” *larger babies start beating up this other baby* “I disavow that, and welcome it.”

this confused me so much that i had to ask one of my american friends to help me understand, but even she was like ‘uhhh yeah thats a weird joke,’ especially now that hes been out of the race for months (then again these episodes take almost a year to produce. i guess they couldnt be bothered to replace it with something more relevant.) whatever that was weird and confusing and unfunny moving on

frida is pretty irked that diego is going through with this deal. after all, it goes against everything they believe in. im not sure how the real frida felt about diego doing the mural, but she did feel a bit of rage during her visit to the united states, especially the obvious disparity between rich and poor. she hated having to interact with capitalists and found americans very boring. in this segment, frida seems to be acting more like the american communist party, which diego got kicked out of for accepting commissions from wealthy patrons. in any case, frida is pretty upset about this whole thing.

and finally we get the first and only kind of surreal frida moment. kinda. maybe. its more cartoonish than anything but im desperate ok

interesting how they felt like they had to add a “don’t smoke” in big letters after showing patty and selma flying away on their giant cigarettes. i wonder if this is something theyre making them do now? i remember hearing something about them toning down patty and selma’s smoking

diego comes home to frida, drunk as hell, followed by the marx brothers. i cant believe they didnt make a marxism joke come on it was RIGHT THERE. THE MARX BROTHERS. KARL MARX. COME ON

frida paints her feelings.

this makes diego realize that frida is a genius and he is not half the artist she is. he proclaims he will now show his awe of her by sleeping with other women, starting “an hour ago.” to which frida replies, “and i will start sleeping with other women, starting two hours ago.” yes this was pretty much their relationship. though im just wondering how the hell did diego not know frida was this kind of artist until now? i know homers an idiot but jeez. art was how frida and diego met, diego knew from the get-go that frida was an incredible artist. i guess the fame got to his head or something. again, homer just being stupid.

“well enough already, while the art is still deco, okay?”

its time for the mural diego painted, Man At The Crossroads, to be unveiled:

rockefeller examines it. good and great so far, and then...uh oh

“Who’s that fellow…? With the beard, and the bolshevik smile…” “That’s the founder of Soviet Russia, Lenin!”

“B-b-but he’s a communist!” “Oh he just attended a couple of meetings.”

rockefeller will not have this communist in the temple to capitalism that is the rockefeller center, so he orders diego to paint over it. diego stands his ground and refuses. despite rockefeller’s threats, diego says that theres only one person he wants to be proud of him no matter what and in true homer & marge fashion, frida is touched by this. they happily leave the rockefeller center.

now, the real story of Man At The Crossroads and the rockefeller center was actually not that different. as soon as the rockefellers found out diego had snuck in a portrait of lenin into the mural, they ordered him to paint over it, to which he refused. diego even offered to include abraham lincoln and even american abolitionists in the mural as a compromise, but the rockefellers simply did not want any references to communism whatsoever. they did not complain about the hammer and sickle, though. yes, they did know diego was a communist and hired him anyway. what did they expect? lmao. diego said:

"Rather than mutilate the conception [of the mural], I shall prefer the physical destruction of the conception in its entirety, but preserving, at least, its integrity."

so they decided to destroy the mural before it was even finished and they never talked to each other again.

diego then repainted the mural at the palacio de bellas artes back in mexico, this time known as Man, Controller of the Universe. this new version included even more communist leaders and a depiction of john d. rockefeller jr. drinking at a nightclub, right underneath a depiction of syphilis bacteria. cue nelson haw-haw:

this was the version they used in the episode also, since the original was, well, never finished and also destroyed. only a black and white photograph of it exists, taken by diego before it was destroyed so he could remake it.

right so, homer!diego then pulls a Barthood and finishes the episode with a large mural summarizing the entire episode. he says some rick and morty thing i didnt get because i dont watch the show idk idc

the end

ALRIGHT NOW ITS TIME FOR THE STORY OF VINCENT VAN MOE

[sunflowerhae]

Lifeboat

N.J (2k)

A/N• this is purely indulgent. It also has quite heavy themes, but at this point are any of us surprised. I want to make something clear, the reader doesn’t do what she does bc of what happens with her and Jaemin (I’m trying not to spoil). I mean, that’s just a tip of the iceberg type situation. That being said, if you are having similar thoughts as our dear reader, please call your countries suicide hotline, and/or talk to someone you trust in your life. ALSO, I am not trying to romanticize any of the topics I wrote about, I’m trying to show that even the people that seem to have it all can be just as lost and broken as the rest of us, also that the most important thing you could be to a person is someone who asks them if they’re okay. Sometimes, that’s all a person needs - Someone to listen.

READ!⚠️angst, suicide,character death, drugs, heavy self-hating words, depiction of depression/mental illness, not specified, but insinuates⚠️

{🎵SOTS☁️; Lifeboat, Elle McLemore}

The world seemed to close in on you as you stared at the boy who stood before you with a hardened gaze in his eyes. While you only stood a good 3 feet away from him, you could feel the anger and helplessness radiating off of him, transferring itself onto you in sadness and heartbreak.

“Why?” Was the only thing you could manage to get past your lips.

“Y/n, it’s not that I don’t like you, of course I do. We’ve been dating for 2 years, but I’ve just been... uncomfortable almost the whole time. It’s not your fault, it’s just, your life. I can’t handle being with one of the most popular girls in school. You seem to have it all figured out, and everyone loves you, and I feel pushed to the side sometimes.” You didn’t understand why Jaemin was mad, but the small space under the bleachers where you both stood was enough to suffocate you to the point where you didn’t care to ask.

He didn’t understand.

They never understood.

No one.

You wanted to fight to save your relationship, but the words choked into the back of your throat, just like they did when Soojin would bully people in front of you, and you wanted to scream at her and pull the other person into your arms and whisper that it will all be okay and apologize apologize apologize, but you stayed rigid on her flank, silently trying to survive until you could get to Jaemins arms, or to the bottom of a beer bottle at yet another house party you were constantly forced to attend with your other two friends.

You choose to swallow your spit, and ask him, “is this because of soojin? Did she say something to you?” You knew your “dear” friend had a certain distaste for your long term boyfriend, because - as she had worded it - his kind doesn’t belong next to someone that Soojin had deemed acceptable enough to befriend (you); “His kind” being not necessarily the most popular. Him and his other friends were amazing people, and you wished you would have befriended them on the first day of freshman year, instead of the blonde girl in your Art 1 class that always had a red scrunchie. When Jaemin introduced you to them, you could tell they were hesitate to let you into their life - what with your position within your schools hierarchy system. You honestly didn’t blame them. However, after a while they warmed up to you, and you felt like you finally fit in with people. You thought these people would become your life long friends; long after you’ve left high school and forgotten all about the life you unwillingly lead.

You suppose that is no longer the case.

“No, yes, god I don’t know, y/n. It’s just, everything! You have friends that are bitches, and I never know when you’re just going to leave me and spread some terrible rumor about me!” He was silently yelling now. It was after school, and the football team was on the field - the other side of where you stood - practicing. There were people running on the track, cheerleaders practicing next to the field, leftover students wondering the grounds. Everyone was living, moving on with their lives and turning along with the Earth - why did you feel frozen? Why did you feel like nothing was ever going to keep moving and be okay and the world was never going to be beautiful again?

“Is that what you expect me to do, Jaemin? After two years of knowing me, is that what you think of me?”

“God, y/n, maybe! I see who you align yourself with so I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a bitch just like them!” You understood he was just hurting, like you, but that didn’t make the words hurt any less. You took a couple steps back from his figure with slow nods, before turning around fully and booking your way to your car.

Jaemin watched your retreating figure with tears curling into his eyes. He left not long after you did, still thinking about you on the way home. He didn’t know this at the time, but that was the last time he ever saw you. His first love, his first heartache.

You felt guilty.

You always did. You always had this insistent chewing at your intestines; this constant voice in your head telling you that everyone was better than you, and that you didn’t deserve the praise you got for being a good person.

You tried to fight the words and the icky feelings off with trips to the volunteer center - usually with Jaemin. You went that night, hoping that this constant pain in your heart after hearing jaemins smooth, venom-filled words would choke back and leave your system, like the terrible feelings usually did when you helped people. However, no matter how many people smiled at you, and no matter how many lives you got to help, the feeling only grew more and more.

You are worthless, y/n.

You only do charity work for your own need.

No one likes you.

You’ll never be loved.

Not even Jaemin loves you.

These ill thoughts were a normal occurrence for you. Usually, Jaemin would lay you down, rub your stomach, and whisper in your ear how beautiful you were to him, inside and out.

You were a nuisance and a waste to him, y/n.

The feelings never left, and you could tell people knew something was wrong with you, so you chose to leave the center early. On your way out, a familiar face had asked you where Jaemin was. You pretended you didn’t hear them.

Your room was dark. Usually, if you couldn’t have Jaemin, you would go to your parents. However, they were away at a dinner event for your mother’s work. You would never go to Soojin, and while you loved Haeyong, she had a tendency to tell Soojin about what you two privately talked about; always trying to get brownie points with the blonde girl who seemed to secretly hate her. You figured there was someone you could go to, and it didn’t hurt to try.

Y/n [10:57pm] u up???? I kinda need someone to talk to rn hAha. Read

Y/n [10:59pm] hello? 👉👈 Read

Y/n [11:02pm] Haechan why r you leaving me on read bro?? Ik he’s your best friend, but we don’t have to talk about him, I just need someone to talk to pLS pls. Read

[MISSED CALL FROM Y/N] 11:02PM

Haechan [11:03pm] listen y/n we shouldn’t talk anymore, I’m sorry. You were a good friend, but Jaemin was and always will be first to me. And he’s right, we never know when you’re going to do a 180 on us and tell all of our secrets to everyone. We can’t - and never have been able to - trust you. I’m sorry, really. You’re a popular girl. You don’t need us, you’ll forget. When we became friends with you, we didn’t really want to, Jaemin kinda forced us to, I hope u understand. :/ we’ll forget about u, u forget about us. Deal? Read

Y/n [11:04pm] um ok. Sorry for bothering you all, have a good night Read

Y/n [11:03pm] when will u be home?Read

[MISSED CALL FROM Y/N] 11:04PM

Mom [11:06pm] not for a while, ask Jaemin to come over if you’re scared of being alone. Read

Y/n [11:06pm] mom i hate to be annoying but can u and dad come home rn??? I need u Read

[MISSED CALL FROM Y/N] 11:06PM

Mom [11:08pm] are you dying? Has someone broken in? Are you unsafe?Read

Y/n [11:08pm] um,,,,no Read

Mom [11:10pm] well then no y/n. You know how much this award means to me, I’ve been constantly working lately and finally might get recognized for it. If I leave now, I might not get it. Can whatever you need wait? Read

Y/n [11:11pm] Um yeah. I love u Read

Mom [11:12pm] u too💖 Read

Why were you never first?

Why was there no one who asked you if you were okay?

If there was, what would you say?

See y/n? No one likes you.

You’re a bother to them.

Maybe you should fix that.

Maybe if you made their lives easier, they would love you.

You didn’t deserve their love, but maybe?

Maybe the pills could love you.

They were always there for you.

Maybe, they could help others love you too.

Love love love love.

Maybe.

Maybe.

They say your parents found you in bed.

They thought you were sleeping. I mean, all your lights were off, it was late.

But in the morning, when your mother came to wake you up and saw that your eyes were wide open, well....

They found the note on your desk across the room.

It was dated a year before.

You had written it a year before.

Everyone admitted that it was such a beautiful note. Heartbreaking? Yes. gut-wrenching? Of course. But beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

They gathered everyone into the gym the next day in intervals. Freshman, who didn’t understand what was really happening, but had heard your name and definitely knew who you were, and could put two and two together.

Next, the sophomores. Like the freshman, they only had heard of you. Some had met you, some cried. You were kind, they knew.

After them, the juniors. Chenle and Jisung were sitting in the corner. Jisung was sobbing into Chenle’s lap, while silent tears fell down the olders’ face. You had always been willing to play video games with them, and were such a kind hearted person. They remember last night, when they were all sitting together and haechan had read your texts you sent out loud, and all of them were so busy feeling for Jaemin, that they blindly informed Haechan on what he should say. On how to break your heart. Chenle wished Haechan had called her.

Finally, the seniors. Soojin and Haeyong sat in the back, as always. They were both upset because you had not been answering their texts.

Renjun, Haechan, Jeno, and Jaemin were sitting on the other side. They had not been told what the assembly was about, but when the teacher got the call about it, halfway through math, she sat at her desk for a couple of seconds with her head in her hands. They knew whatever the assembly was about was not good.

Haechan was the first to react out of the four.

He whispered your name silently with wide eyes rounded on his face. His mind went to the first time you met him. You played him in a round of Overwatch to get him to warm up to you, and easily beat him. Besides Jaemin, he was probably the one you were closest to.

Jeno just kept looking at his lap with evident tears denting dark spots onto his jeans. Renjun, who was sitting next to Jaemin, couldn’t take his eyes off the boy to his right, terrified that he would faint.

Jaemin felt sick. He knew he looked pale, and his head felt a bit dizzy. He tasted metallic in his mouth, and finally registered that he was biting the inside of his cheek so hard, he was drawing blood. He wanted to leave, but he was too far up on the risers to get down.

Soojin cried. It was uncharacteristic of her, but at this point she didn’t care. How had she not seen it? Was she that self centered that she had really not seen it on you? Her best friend?

Haeyong wished you had called her, wished you had told her. But why would you? She knew she didn’t deserve to hear your heartache, but she still wished.

They read out your note. Your beautiful, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching note. They read it. And the student body listened.

I float in a boat

In a raging black ocean

Low in the water

And no where to go

The tiniest lifeboat

With people I know

Cold,

Clammy and crowded

The people smell desperate

We’ll sink any minute

So someone must go

The tiniest lifeboat

With people I know

Everyone’s pushing

Everyone’s fighting

Storms are approaching, there’s no where to hide

If I say the wrong thing

Or I wear the wrong outfit

They’ll throw me right over the side

I’m hugging my knees

And the captain is pointing

Well who made her captain?

Still, the weakest must go

The tiniest lifeboat

Full of people I know

The tiniest lifeboat

Full of people I know

Lemme know if you’d like a part two? Idk. Like I said this is purely indulgent so it’s not that good sorry :///

[monstercu]

2020 creator wrap

Rules: it's time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 or so favourite works you created in the past year and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020.

Tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

First I wanna thank @the-silliest-idiot for tagging me. It's been one heck of a year but I'm glad I was able to ride out some of it with you guys.

1) I'm still quite fond of this one, as I drew in the middle of the night out of a sudden burst motivation and resulted in a very big dose of serotonin for me and a buddy of mine. This is where I started paying more attention to highlights and appropriate effects. Also. I ship them so why not lol.

2) This one's random but I sweat I was so proud of this and thought I did something really clever lol. It holds good memories with my attempts at memes, so it makes the list.

3) This might be a confusing one, but I had drawn this one specially for a friend. She was a big fan of Lord Sesshomaru from Inuyasha and Lord Bayon so I combined the two to make this. She really loved it and thus this holds a special place in my heart for 2020, so here you go.

4) This was my first attempt at using a new method of digital coloring over traditional art in which I'm really proud of. It was tough but fun trying to get both Sonju's and Mujika's royal outfits done, and coloring it all on my phone was stressful but the end result was satisfying.

5) This was my first try at what would be my new artstyle. Drawing traditionally with pencil and adding highlights after on my phone. This piece was particularly inspired by Bloodborne, where men lose their humanity and turn into beasts, in relation with blood, impure or otherwise. I tried to depict Sonju's fear and desperation as best as I could and I still look back on it.

Anyway, that's enough for me haha. I don't know who else to tag that hasn't been tagged already so if anyone sees and this and wants to do it, feel free to do so and just say I tagged you lol. 2020 has been quite a year, but I'm glad I was able to share my content with all of you and hope to continue to share good ol TPN content (or anything else) for 2021!

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 25 - Installation of statue kneeling in apology to comfort women statue.

K: Hi, this is Dir en grey's Kaoru starting this week's episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe san, Tasai san, welcome. Well, this show..im sure the viewers will realise this, but this show has a super low budget.

J, T: Hahaha

J: You're admitting that? Finally?

T: You noticed slightly.

K: Um, we usually record three episodes at once, but for the first one, it takes ages to get the recording started.

T: Hahaha

K: Like, (*imitates trying to fix equipment*) 'Huhh?', 'Oh, come on!'

J: Thats right.

K: They can't get the setup sorted at all, and we three are always just sat here waiting.

J: Yeah, I mean, its getting there, but it does take a while.

K: I mean, look at this! There isn't even a mic stand! You have to place it directly on the desk, and its fallen over how many times since just then!?

J: Its a rare sight these days.

T: For sure.

K: Well, anyway, this kind of analogue is what we have..

J: Yes, yes...let's get on with it and put our hearts into it.

K: Yes, lets do it. Um, also, today..we're recoding this on August 2nd..

J: Yes, and..

K: Tomorrow! Well, really its only in about ten more hours. Well, its on here too...(*gestures to board set up on the desk featuring new single info*)...Dir en grey's new single "Ochita koto no aru sora" will be released.

J: Congratulations

K: Well, its a digital release...(*mic falls over*) ..Look!

J: Oh, that. That was quick!

T: Amazing, it happened like magic!

K: Hahaha

J: Its like it was trying to.

K: Its because I touched the desk. Anyway, the single will have been released. I'd like everyone to listen if they can.

J: But its the first digital release for Dir, right?

K: Yeah, the first digital only release.

J: Digital only, yeah...as a result of the effect of corona.

K: Well, when we first announced it, stores were trying to implement self-restraint and stuff, so people wouldn't be able to order copies in store, and we didn't know how long this would go on. There would be people who would have to go directly to the store to pick it up, so in order to get it to everyone who wanted to hear it, we thought we should release it digitally. So its only digital.

J: Is this like a message from the band that you are still gonna release material even in times like these?

K: Yeah, like, we could have waited until we were able to release it with packaging, like postponed it without announcing it, and just released it after everything had calmed down, but as a band, we thought that keeping active, and making new material will give is that link to the future. So we decided to release. 

J: The message is just recieving the song, right? I think its really important that the band stays active, so thats the basic message, right? Of course we want everyone to have a good listen to the song.

T: It was cool.

K: Oh, did you listen already?

J: I've listened too.

K: Oh, thank you.

T: The B-side was also cool.

K: Thank you. Ok, well, for today's theme, can I ask you Joe?

J: Yes, well its this news, it appeared in the news at the end of July. In the north east of South Korea, in the province of Gangwon-do, there is a place called Pyeongchang. Its been reported that in the S.Korean Botanical Garden there, a statue seemingly imitating Prime minister Abe kneeling in apology in front of a comfort women statue, has been installed. So, this has become news. After this was reported, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga said at a press conference on the 28th of July, 'We have not confirmed any actual connection', as well as, 'Its unforgivable in terms of diplomatic relations', and other such strong comments. On the other hand, the S.Korean foreign ministry made the general statement that, 'There is a need to consider international relations in terms of foreign leaders'. They do not support the installation of the statue, but did not outline any specific counter-measures against it. Appearing as a commentator on a TV talk show, lawyer Hideki Yashiro pointed out his opinion that as it gets publicity, being in the Botanical Gardens where the public are free to enter, the statue cannot be viewed in the same way as a private garden installation. He pointed out that failing to intervene when an action to damage diplomatic relations takes place in such a facility, is seen as if its the state's own view, and that the government refusing get involved due to the land being privately owned is unforgivable. Well, this really is 'Freedom of Expression'. The owner of the Garden used his own money to make the statue, but internationally it can been seen as quite offensive. This has become quite a talking point in Japan and online, and similarly, it also has in S.Korea too. Those who think that Japan should be made to apologize, and those who think this is bad timing and could end up worsening relations futher. Even in S.Korea people are split about it in this way. This is the news.

T: I see

J: This is a difficult issue, isn't it.

T: It is difficult. 

J: In what way should we consider this issue? How do you see this news, Kaoru?

K: Hmm, its extraordinary isn't it?

T: Absolutely...but this place Pyeongchang, it was in the news during the Pyeongchang Olympics. There were those 'Bullet Men' statues put up all over, depicting the perfect male form. It became news, like, is this art? What is this? So, this is also in Pyeongchang, so I wondered whether its just Pyeongchang culture or something?

J: Saying like, Pyeongchang makes a lot of statues?

T: Yeah.???*1

J: I see. But the head of this garden created this with his own money, surely there isn't much of a sense of it being art. Persisting with creating this message and putting it in the botanical gardens, doesn't necessarily mean it was made by the state, and I think it would be quite difficult for them to order the removal of the statue. Saying 'You have to remove it', even though it was built with private money, would be quite difficult. But on the Japanese side, Suga san was saying in regards to diplomatic relations 'Why are they deliberately making our country's Abe kneel in submission like that? Well, Suga has said that if this is true, it would have a severe effect on Japanese/S. Korean relations. He's making quite strong comments about this, but I think this may be a performance on Suga's part to maintain support for the increasingly unpopular Abe administration, by criticising S.Korea. He's moving away from freedom of expression to try and maintain his own popularity. So when you ask 'what is the core of this problem?', as soon as it blows up like this online, it becomes difficult to tell. There was a similar occurrence at the Aichi Triennale, and it also blew up online then too. Before you could really get to the bottom of the question of freedom of expresion, it kept on blowning up into completely different issues.

T: Yeah.

J: First it was all about Tsuda Daisuke's blonde hair.... This type of thing came up at this kind of time again, and I somehow thought it would've been better if a proper debate had been able to take place. Well, because there various ways to feel about this.

T: But in the end, I think this will end up hurting S.Korea, cause I know there are various opinions about this, but if they really want Abe or Japan to apologize, if they do it in this way, it may cause a gap to open up between the two sides. I don't think they've thought about it that far.

J: I see.

T: Conversely, it won't end up with any national benefit to the S.Korean people. It seems like it might hold back progress.

K: Well, but..

Kami: Uh..Isn't this quite subtle?

J: Mm, whats your view, Kami?

Kami: In my view, well, Japan and S.Korea don't have a great relationship, do they?

J: Yeh, they don't. Relations are continuing to worsen.

Kami: Because state promises were not kept, thats natural. I agree, that promises should be kept, that goes without saying. But the kneeling statue is probably Abe, right?

T: Well, yeh.

Kami: I think Abe has a lot to apologize for to the Japanese people too.

T: I see

J: Ahh

Kami: But no-one gets angry about that. Breaking promises is sickening, but like, its probably Abe kneeling on the ground right? If this was the Emporor, the symbol of Japan, that would be really bad, wouldn't it? It would be making a fool of all Japanese.

T: I see

Kami: But its Abe, isn't it? Haha.

J: You're really coming down from above today aren't you, Kami?

K: He's really emphasising this, isn't he?

J: He is.

Kami: But all those lies about the Sakura Party, giving money to his friends, using tax money to do it...

T: I see, I see.

Kami: Doing that type of thing, really, he should apologize for it to the Japanese people, I think.

T: I see.

K: But I bet if Kami was invited to the Sakura Party, he would go.

J: He would.

K: He'd recieve money and stuff..he'd go.

Kami: Of course I'd go.

J, K, T: Hahaha

Kami: I'd do the V-sign and get a photo together.

J: Kami, you're trivial!

Kami: Yep, I'd soon be won over.

J: You change a lot, don't you, Kami?

Kami: I'm affable.

K: Affable? haha

J: Such positive thinking, right? haha.

Kami: I'd want to give off a favourable impression.

J: He has quite a way with words, being able to express that in an affable way.

T: Affable, haha.

J: They do say that these kind of fence-sitters are unprincipled. He said he was affable! Next time Im asked, I'll say Im affable.

*mic falls off desk*  Ahh, eventually!..The mic just naturally falling here. Essentially, I think he does have things to apologize for to his citizens. And Suga san at the press conference, for sure, there is the problem of how this case will affect international relations, but in regards to the anger of the citizens of this country, he should apologize for things that are slightly different. He should make time for it.

T: Well, there is that too.

J: I started to want to say that. Kami's anger is also quite right.

K: Oh yeh, as for our conversation, I just wanted to go back to what we spoke about previously, in our live broadcast before, we wanted people to ask things to Kami.

J: What was all that?

K: I think we talked about it.

J: What were the questions?

K: What were they?

J: Oh, is it this? *points to a section in his notes*

K: Ah, can I ask?

J: Questions for Kami.

Kami: I'll slip up if im put on the spot too much.

K: Oh, please slip up.

J: We want to see you slipping up.

Kami: Ahh.

K: Q) Kami, how can you become a god?

Kami: A god? Thats easy.

J: Do you have to study?

Kami: Use a voice changer.

J, K, T: Hehehe

J: How do you respond to that?

Kami: Yeh, of course the timing of your jokes is important.

K: We kinda already knew that.

J: Well, yeah. I feel bad that we couldn't get this point rolling more.

K: But the viewers probably found it interesting. They'll be wondering what a voice changer is...

Kami: No, they are not in the position of a god.

J: For sure, they may wonder about why a voice changer..But some people might be like, Ahh, I see.

K: Well, they'll probably be drawn into it. Like, 'I just have to change my voice?'

J: Yeh, yeh, yeh.

K: Ok, well I'd like to finish here for today. Please subscribe.

J: Please do.

K: Ah, also, please check out the new single. Thank you very much.

J: Please excuse us.

T: Thank you.

*1 Couldn't catch.

* Sakaura Party refers to a dubious annual Spring party Abe used to invite all his cronies to.

This is a touchy subject, so do please let me know if you think I've gotten anything wrong.