How Do You Do, Fellow Creatives™

Unusual Saints To Pray To

Jelly cycle, gamblin ink on kitakata paper, hand pressed

Watched Conclave last night. The emotional journey I went through thinking "oh this is just like Mean Girls haha" to "this is just Mean Girls" was insane

bonus:

@grabyourpillow I'm not listening to you, library gremlin! 🙉

I can behave normally around books

Not Madhouse having some pro animators doing simple hand wringing the likes of which has never been seen on screen. And then the weight of Stark's coat and later when Fern yeets hers...

Incredible.

That entire POV. Imagine sitting in a room and being paid to brainstorm that entire series of event?

I'm also thrilled by the way they aren't sacrificing small things for the sake of battle. It's bonkers we can have a fight this good that retains character moments like Fern's delicate stepping aside because she's way ahead of poor Lugner.

His cold and succint analysis of the situation was really superb lol He realised exactly where their differences lay and why he was getting owned.

The best thing I ever learned about queerness after I came out as bi is that you don't need to apply the same rigid structure of straightness to it. Like, heterosexuality is pretty narrowly defined as "this not that" so when you come to terms with your queerness it's very easy to get caught up in the same paradigm but with different genders. You can get trapped in this lens of feeling like your sexuality has to be based on exclusion, and has to follow certain rules like your straightness did.

Queerness is about rejecting those rules! Not about tying yourself up in new rules. When you think you might be less-than-straight try not to rush to find a label. You might end up with a new set of rules you box yourself into.

People get really hung up on the labels side of things- "Wait, am I still a lesbian if I only like dating girls but I have liked one guy and I have crushes on fictional men?" "am I bisexual if I'm a guy who only likes girls who look like boys or am I gay if I like that and I like anal sex??"

Just experience for a moment, the freedom to see yourself as you are. Go through the world with an openness to your feelings. Gradually you can unlearn the "this not that" strict mentality and learn what you actually like. You'll start to see the world with fresh eyes. Maybe you find someone attractive who you had never considered before. Maybe you notice, as I did, that you find certain traits attractive regardless of gender or sexuality. The way someone speaks, the way they move, the way they treat others. In time you'll start to define your unique sexuality.

Try on labels like clothes. They're not who you are. They're just tools to speed up communication between you and others. Eventually you may find one that fits well enough to tell others about, and remember you can always change it later. Queerness is about the freedom to be yourself, and to take time to experiment and learn what that really means to you. That's kind of the beauty of 'queerness' that those in the community are always going on about. The freedom of getting to know yourself without restrictions.

Did you know that NHK has officially published recipes from Tsukutabe?

Cuz I sure as hell didn't. I happened to see an announcement from them in anticipation for season 2 of the series (which starts tomorrow!!) and I wanted to share! The official website of the drama series gives recipes for many of the recipes from season 1 of the show (most of which are the same dishes or very similar to the original manga). They're all in Japanese, but you can get pretty reasonable instructions with a translate tool. Here they are!

Nomoto-san's Giant Lu Rou Fan (braised pork over rice) from episode 1

Nomoto-san's Giant Omurice from episode 2

Nomoto-san & Kasuga-san's Grilled Riceballs with Sendai Miso from episode 2

Nomoto-san's Whole Pumpkin Pudding from episode 4

Nomoto-san's Kinchaku Eggs (eggs in fried tofu pouches) from episode 5

Nomoto-san's Harako Meshi (salmon rice topped with salmon roe) from episode 6

Nomoto-san's Stollen-style Pound Cake from episode 7

Nomoto-san's Roast Beef from episode 9

I'm really happy I found out about these, definitely gonna recreate some of these!! I already made the miso riceballs once when I was rewatching the show with my roommate, and we just used some recipe we found online. Now we have the legit version :D Definitely wanna make the pumpkin pudding someday. I'm super happy this exists even though it doesn't have all the recipes from the show, like for the udon that Kasuga makes for Nomoto, or their homemade gyoza. I hope they'll continue releasing recipes for the dishes of season 2 as it airs as well!

i’m gonna say something controversial yet brave: sexuality labels are a convenient tool we use to define something that is undefinable

It’s crazy and fucked up that being yourself is actually the solution.

As we lock in for the Oscars…

Here is the official gameplay trailer for Delectatio Morosa: A Conclave Visual Novel

We anticipate dropping the game for free on itch.io on the earlier end of the week of the 13th of March!

Happy Awards Night Everyone!!!