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ikesencrypticcupid · 5 years

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Like a Moth to a Flame

Characters: Mitsuhide, Mitsunari, female-identifying self-insert MC Rating: Everyone Word count: 2.3k Warnings: None Recipient: @widzzicicles / @destinedatmidnight Author: @ohtomatotome A/N: I was lucky enough to be assigned to destinedatmidnight for Cryptic Cupid last year, as well. I wrote them a story about the budding partnership between Mitsuhide and Mitsunari. This is a continuation of that same theme. ——– Kazunaga inhaled from his pipe and blew a stream into the air above (Y/N)’s head, adding to the already dense cloud of smoke in the reception hall. She coughed for the umpteenth time and fought the temptation to roll her eyes at the daimyo sitting in front of them. With a look of worry, Mitsunari laid a hand on her back, leaned over, and whispered, “Are you unwell, Lady (Y/N)?” With a definite nod of her head, she looked at Mitsunari and then at Mitsuhide, who was leisurely sipping sake a few feet away. She was sure he had glanced at her each time the daimyo exhaled a plume of smoke in her direction, but the golden eyes showed no sign of concern at the moment. Mitsunari turned to the household attendant. “Would you be so kind as to show us to your courtyard where Lady (Y/N) can refresh herself with a bit of cool air?” He helped (Y/N) to her feet and they gave a small polite bow to Kazunaga before following a servant out. She led them through the halls and out to the inner garden. As he turned to leave, Mitsunari gave a little self-deprecating chuckle and pointed around him at the surrounding doorways, saying, “Ah, I think I got turned around…which way do we follow to get back to the reception hall? I think it was that door, correct?” The servant quickly recovered her perplexion at his stupidity and shook her head politely. “No, those are my lord’s offices on that side. You came in from the doors right behind you.” She gestured to the double shoji doors, then bowed and left them alone. (Y/N) sighed and ventured into the garden towards a large boulder to sit on. “What a rude man. Who blows smoke into anyone’s face, let alone a dinner guest? Ugh. I’ve got a massive headache. Thanks for taking me out of there, Mitsunari.” She gave him a grateful smile. Mitsunari returned the soft smile and stepped behind her. “I believe I can help relieve the discomfort with some light temple massage, Lady (Y/N).” He reached up and placed the pads of his fingers against the sides of her head, applying just the right amount of pressure. She closed her eyes and visibly relaxed to a great degree, trusting herself completely to his care. A few seconds passed; Mitsunari looked all around them before whispering instructions in her ear. “If this does not go as planned and we are caught here, you will need to get to a safe place as soon as possible. One of Lord Mitsuhide’s armed servants is stationed outside the manor gates in case that happens. He will escort you to an inn where his vassals are waiting to meet up with us tonight. Do you have any questions before Lord Mitsuhide finds us?” With a bigger pout than she realized, she sulked, “Hrmph. What makes you so sure he’d care enough to come after us?” ——– Two supply trains hijacked. Five dead soldiers. A large amount of ammunition missing. An important shipment of flintlock rifles stolen. And one very disgruntled Oda lord. Mitsuhide had been trying to uncover the mystery of who was behind the thefts. The trail had led to the household of Kazunaga, a daimyo who had recently joined the Oda forces. When Mitsuhide delivered his findings at the last war council, Nobunaga ordered him to verify it but take no action yet: “Punishment will come directly from me. First I want you to confirm he is the culprit.” Masamune patted his katana and smiled hungrily, “Just point the way, and we’ll handle him for you, Nobunaga. No need to get your hands dirty with this small fry.” Hideyoshi was ready to jump to his feet, “That man has been stealing from my lord! Probably to use those very weapons against him. We need to get there now and make him pay for his thievery.” Mitsuhide cast a cool glance at the simmering Hideyoshi, “And this is why I need someone who doesn’t rush into battle without a plan.” Mitsuhide surprised everyone by telling Mitsunari and (Y/N) to get ready and dress like successful merchants. “I can hardly show up by myself. What a paltry attempt at deception that would be. (Y/N) will be my wife; that will serve as a nice cover. Mitsunari is needed for his skills.” Ieyasu scoffed, “Which skill is that? Spilling tea? Or getting lost?” Truth be told, Mitsuhide appreciated Mitsunari’s gifts more than he liked to admit. This excursion would be the fourth time he’d called upon the strategist to leave his shabby office and travel with him for an investigation. The man was reliable, calm, brilliant, and he had his uses. But he was frustratingly naive. …Or was he? Mitsuhide had spent more time with Mitsunari in the last four months than in the two years combined, and he was beginning to notice that Azuchi’s angel wasn’t nearly as dopey as many believed. Posing as merchants of rare foreign imported goods, they had managed to obtain an invitation to dinner. Kazunaga had shown them adequate hospitality while they had been eating, but as they moved to the reception hall for smoking, sake, and sales talk, he slowly devolved into a rude host. Mitsuhide casually took a sip as the door slid shut behind (Y/N) and Mitsunari. The daimyo sneered at him, “You look quite comfortable for a husband whose wife just left to have a moonlit stroll with another man. Are you a cuckold, or do you trust him that implicitly?” With fox-like cunning and speed, he latched onto that idea and turned it to his advantage. He suddenly gave a scorned grunt, “Then let’s get business squared away quickly so I can go reclaim what’s mine.” They began to negotiate prices while Mitsuhide made his agitation shown as the minutes ticked by. ——– Mitsunari stopped rubbing (Y/N)’s temples before answering her question. “Because this has been long enough for your husband to be worried that his wife is alone with another man. Isn’t that right, my lord?” Mitsuhide stepped out from the shadows. “Too true. Woman, you know better than to wag your tail at someone else.” He deliberately stepped between them and put a possessive arm around (Y/N)’s shoulders. Under his breath he asked the other man one word, “Where?” Mitsunari nervously sidestepped the couple and backed up onto the walkway that led to the Kazunaga’s private offices. “Ah, don’t you think you ought to treat your wife a little nicer than calling her ‘woman’?” He continued backing up, feeling for the door latch behind him. Mitsuhide growled in indignation. “WOMAN, you go back to the party. You don’t want to see this.” He pressed a quick kiss to her temple before storming towards Mitsunari, just as the other man slipped into the room. Mitsuhide followed after him and slid the door shut. (Y/N) was momentarily stunned by the feeling Mitsuhide’s lips left on her skin. Even though she knew this was just play-acting, she couldn’t help that her heart was beating wildly. Keeping in mind their warning that there could be servants or spies watching from anywhere, she paced the garden with a fretful demeanor before making her way back to the hallways, giving the warlords plenty of time to finish their search. ——– “I hope that was sufficient acting, Lord Mitsuhide. I’ve never had to use such a skill before. I learn so many new things when I’m working with you.” A faint smile lifted the corners of Mitsunari’s lips as he searched drawers and crates for evidence of the stolen weapons and supplies. “Enough talking. Concentrate.” It was as much an order for Mitsunari as it was for himself. Mitsuhide was trying to forget how his arm had felt around (Y/N), and how her hair smelled. Did he subconsciously pick her temple to kiss because he wanted to erase the touch of Mitsunari’s hands on her skin? Had he really been jealous? He snorted lightly through his nose. A rustling sound of thick parchment snapped him out of this uncharacteristic line of questions. Mitsunari held the map up the light and put on his glasses. “There’s no time for us to make a copy. I’ll memorize it now and redraw it later.” Mitsuhide looked over the man’s shoulder and saw it was barely a map, if you could even call it that. Whomever created it made the lines and markings as cryptic as possible. But if you knew what you were looking for, you could tell these were locations of stockpiles. Mitsuhide left him to focus while he dug through other piles as neatly and quietly as possible. When Mitsunari put the map down, five more documents were thrust in front of him. “Memorize these, too. As fast as you can.” Mitsunari nodded and tuned everything else out. As they were putting everything back where they found it, they heard (Y/N) say loudly from the courtyard, “Oh, I’m so glad you’ve arrived! My husband and his business partner are fighting! Please put a stop to it!” Mitsuhide smirked and looked at Mitsunari, who had a pained look on his face as he softly asked, “Lord Mitsuhide, do we really have to…?” In answer, Mitsuhide grabbed the man’s collar with one hand and shot open the door with the other as he jeered loudly, “You spend too much time with my wife, you imbecile.” He balled up his fist, ready to throw a punch. The silver-haired man gave a mirthless laugh – completely unlike him – as he struggled against Mitsuhide’s grasp. “Yes, you’re right, I do. Enough time to see that she loves only you.” Mitsuhide had been set on giving a good stage combat sort of punch as a reply to Mitsunari’s comeback. But those were NOT the words he was expecting to hear. He hesitated for a moment in an unlikely display of shock. That split-second was all the strategist needed to grapple Mitsuhide’s arms behind him in a vice grip. “What – ?” was all Mitsuhide was able to say before Mitsunari squeezed down on the pressure points in the man’s elbows; sending sharp pains up and down his arms, and forcing him to grit his teeth in silence. “You will treat Lady (Y/N) with respect and gentleness, and you will be so attentive that she’ll never want for more. You will be the man she deserves.” That was the last straw. Mitsuhide had had enough of this charade. He could see guards were coming into the courtyard. His calm voice held a steely edge to it, “Oh, that’s rich. The man who can’t decipher emotions is telling me about love?” With great effort, he pulled out of Mitsunari’s hold and casually strode down the hall towards the guards, and waved his hand in a beckoning gesture to (Y/N) as he kept walking. In a honeyed, mocking tone that belied his own pinched feelings, he called to her, “Come, my dear wife. I’m supposed to attend to you.” He reached the guards and raised an elegant eyebrow. “Show us the way out. I’m sure we’ve overstayed our magnanimous host’s generous welcome.” (Y/N) cast a concerned glance towards Mitsunari, who followed at a safe distance, before she skipped to Mitsuhide’s side and took his arm. ——– After they reached the inn and (Y/N) headed to bed, the two warlords stayed up to debrief. Mitsuhide waited to speak until the other man’s brush had stopped recreating all the documents and maps from memory. He began to wave the papers to dry the ink, saying in a disinterested tone, “You surprised me with your acting. That last bit was especially entertaining.” Mitsunari took off his glasses and wiped them. “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true, my lord. I may not know what love is, but I do know that (Y/N) feels 10 times for you what she feels for the rest of us at Azuchi.” There wasn’t a hint of guile in his tone or his face. He put his glasses in his pocket and stretched, yawning. For the second time that evening, Mitsuhide was shocked by the sincerity of the younger man. He noted grudgingly to himself that he was never caught by surprise so often as when he was on a mission with Mitsunari. He wondered if that was why he kept requesting his presence for investigations. Was he so jaded that he hoped for a bright glimpse of purity? So calculating that he craved a jolt of wonder? Is that why he was drawn to the chatelaine, too? Was he nothing more than the moth to their flames? Nonsense. He simply required Mitsunari’s steadfast honesty, and (Y/N) was an amusing diversion. That’s all there was to it. Dismissing these intruding thoughts, the white haired man mused, “Those holds you used on my arms were impressive. I’ve been meaning to look into the study of pressure points and was hoping to master them to use in other areas of my work. Tell me more.” Not batting an eye at the change in topics, Mitsunari began to explain, “Well, I know I can’t overpower a lot of men. And I won’t always have my sword with me. So I started to study certain holds and ways to exert pressure to have the upper hand in close combat. I realized I needed to work on that after something you said to me during our last investigation…” — ohtomatotome

#ikesen mitsuhide #ikesen mitsunari #ikesen #ikemen sengoku #IkesenCC19

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huilianwrites · 5 years

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7 Things I Learned Making Summary Sheets

In the six years I went to middle and high school, I made summary sheets for practically every single test. (Excepting the ones that don’t need the summary sheets, like math or physics. And even then when the physics is theoretical, I still made them.) Then, I shared those summary sheets to everyone in my class. Everyone. And then everyone basically only studies from that. People keep asking me why I want to share those labour filled summary sheets to all of my friends. They asked if I got money for it. I don’t, but here’s what I did get.

1. I learned how to learn

Everybody learns differently from each other. From making these summaries, I realized that my learning style is to take everything I have learned, and make it into something with structure. I received information in a very unstructured way. I could learn something, and connect it with something completely different. It’s good for receiving information, I can memorize a lot by doing that, but to utilize that information? Not so much. So I need to create structure so that I can retrieve that information, and use it to analyse things, to answer questions, and everything else. That structure is created in my mind when I make these summary sheets. People keep asking me when I got the time to create them, but usually, what they don’t know is that making these summary sheets is studying for me. It’s pretty effective, too. I understood, like, at least 75% of things when I finished the summary sheets. It’s just that 25% left.

2. It costs nothing to share knowledge

You literally have nothing to lose by sharing your knowledge. Literally nothing. People ask me why I want to share this thing I made after a lot of hard work and time, but I lost literally nothing. Not even time, because even if I didn’t share it, I would have still made it. I made it for me first, then I share the finished product. It just so happens that my friends thought that my summary sheets are neat and they can study from them. It costs me nothing to share them. Everytime I think of this, I think of the illustration of a candle giving light to other candles. It costs the first candle nothing, because it would still have the fire even after it gave it to others, but it meant everything for the second candle. It costs nothing for you to share your knowledge, but it can mean everything to the person receiving that knowledge.

3. Typing

Because my handwriting is horrendous when I write for prolonged periods of time, I ended up typing these summary sheets. I started with a truly depressing typing speed. I can spend around an hour typing a page, and that’s just typing. Not counting the searching for information and wording it. Now, I can type pretty fast, around 50 words a minute. It’s well above the average. Pretty good for someone who has a typing speed not even 20 words per minute when I started. Besides, now typing is a very valuable skill, and I’m glad I learned how to do it well before I even started my career. Plus, because I learned it by typing things for hours and hours, it’s free of charge! (In money, anyway. Not in time.)

4. How to prioritize

Prioritizing is a really important skill that everybody should learn. And I especially learned it while making these summary sheets. This is the kind of work that can't be done the night before the test, because then I won't be able to study them, and neither can my friends. And besides, it can take hours to make one summary sheet, especially the biology one, with all the diagrams and pictures. Aside from prioritizing, I learned how to divide things to bite sized pieces, because when I can't spare several hours at once to make these summary sheets, I normally would say to myself, okay, on Monday I do it until subchapter 3, then on Tuesday until subchapter 5, and so on. It's a very frustrating thing to be asked about my summary sheets whenever finals come around, especially when I'm done making them but haven't gotten around to sharing them, but it really helped me learn how to prioritize things.

5. Kindness will make friends for you

I have lost count how many people became my friend because I shared my summary sheets. And I have lost count how many times I turned to them for help. Kindness does make friends. It might seem a bit transactional, but I didn’t start to share my summary sheets to get favors from other people. I just felt comfortable asking for them because these people, in retrospect, have become my friend. I had an epiphany on my graduation ceremony, because I realized that I have so many friends that are close to me. A very far cry from my childhood self, who had a period in time where she does not have any friends she could call for help at all. Now I have a plethora of them, and I would be very happy to help them too. Kindness is a basis for trust, which is a basis for friendship. It’s a lesson I valued very much, and had changed my life, definitely for the better.

6. If you are to be known for something, it’s best to be known for something good.

When I graduated high school, my graduating class made a special tribute for me. They signed a huge canvas with the words ‘Thank You’ on top of them. They also managed to sneak in several mentions of me making summary sheets on the graduation ceremony. I won’t lie, it felt amazing. To be known for making these summary sheets that has helped a lot of people, instead of being known for other rather unsavory things. I’m very blunt and sometimes can be very confrontative. But that was not what my friends at high school will remember me for. They will remember me for being the one who make summary sheets, and to be honest, it’s good to be known for that.

7. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well

I’m actually very proud of my biology summary sheets. It has everything in it, from the materials, to the diagrams that I redraw, then scan to put it on the summary sheets. Even my biology teachers (plural!!!!) ask for it when I graduate. It was so nice, that my friends say that I could sell it. I didn’t sell it in the end, but I did learn that if something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing well. I can do the summary sheets half-assedly, but I don’t, because if I do it half-assedly, then I myself would have trouble studying. It’s a lesson I learned after I did make one of the summary sheets half-assedly because I was short on time. The result? I struggled to study from that summary sheet, and I struggled on the test as well. Thankfully, this happens in the first year that I made my summary sheets, and I learned this lesson early on.

So, that’s all the things I learned from making summary sheets. Will I continue making them in university? Probably yes. It has helped me so much in high school that I will probably continue them. Let’s see, shall we?

#x things i learned #lian writes #reflections

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ohtomatotome · 5 years

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Like a Moth to a Flame

Characters: Mitsuhide, Mitsunari, female-identifying self-insert MC

Rating: Everyone Word count: 2.3k Warnings: None Recipient: @widzzicicles / @destinedatmidnight Author: @ohtomatotome A/N: I was lucky enough to be assigned to destinedatmidnight for IkeSen Cryptic Cupid last year, as well. I wrote them a story about the budding partnership between Mitsuhide and Mitsunari.

You can read that first story here.

This is a continuation of that same theme. ——– Kazunaga inhaled from his pipe and blew a stream into the air above (Y/N)’s head, adding to the already dense cloud of smoke in the reception hall. She coughed for the umpteenth time and fought the temptation to roll her eyes at the daimyo sitting in front of them. With a look of worry, Mitsunari laid a hand on her back, leaned over, and whispered, “Are you unwell, Lady (Y/N)?” With a definite nod of her head, she looked at Mitsunari and then at Mitsuhide, who was leisurely sipping sake a few feet away. She was sure he had glanced at her each time the daimyo exhaled a plume of smoke in her direction, but the golden eyes showed no sign of concern at the moment. Mitsunari turned to the household attendant. “Would you be so kind as to show us to your courtyard where Lady (Y/N) can refresh herself with a bit of cool air?” He helped (Y/N) to her feet and they gave a small polite bow to Kazunaga before following a servant out. She led them through the halls and out to the inner garden. As he turned to leave, Mitsunari gave a little self-deprecating chuckle and pointed around him at the surrounding doorways, saying, “Ah, I think I got turned around…which way do we follow to get back to the reception hall? I think it was that door, correct?” The servant quickly recovered her perplexion at his stupidity and shook her head politely. “No, those are my lord’s offices on that side. You came in from the doors right behind you.” She gestured to the double shoji doors, then bowed and left them alone.

(Y/N) sighed and ventured into the garden towards a large boulder to sit on. “What a rude man. Who blows smoke into anyone’s face, let alone a dinner guest? Ugh. I’ve got a massive headache. Thanks for taking me out of there, Mitsunari.” She gave him a grateful smile. Mitsunari returned the soft smile and stepped behind her. “I believe I can help relieve the discomfort with some light temple massage, Lady (Y/N).” He reached up and placed the pads of his fingers against the sides of her head, applying just the right amount of pressure. She closed her eyes and visibly relaxed to a great degree, trusting herself completely to his care. A few seconds passed; Mitsunari looked all around them before whispering instructions in her ear. “If this does not go as planned and we are caught here, you will need to get to a safe place as soon as possible. One of Lord Mitsuhide’s armed servants is stationed outside the manor gates in case that happens. He will escort you to an inn where his vassals are waiting to meet up with us tonight. Do you have any questions before Lord Mitsuhide finds us?” With a bigger pout than she realized, she sulked, “Hrmph. What makes you so sure he’d care enough to come after us?” ——– Two supply trains hijacked. Five dead soldiers. A large amount of ammunition missing. An important shipment of flintlock rifles stolen. And one very disgruntled Oda lord. Mitsuhide had been trying to uncover the mystery of who was behind the thefts. The trail had led to the household of Kazunaga, a daimyo who had recently joined the Oda forces. When Mitsuhide delivered his findings at the last war council, Nobunaga ordered him to verify it but take no action yet: “Punishment will come directly from me. First I want you to confirm he is the culprit.” Masamune patted his katana and smiled hungrily, “Just point the way, and we’ll handle him for you, Nobunaga. No need to get your hands dirty with this small fry.” Hideyoshi was ready to jump to his feet, “That man has been stealing from my lord! Probably to use those very weapons against him. We need to get there now and make him pay for his thievery.” Mitsuhide cast a cool glance at the simmering Hideyoshi, “And this is why I need someone who doesn’t rush into battle without a plan.” Mitsuhide surprised everyone by telling Mitsunari and (Y/N) to get ready and dress like successful merchants. “I can hardly show up by myself. What a paltry attempt at deception that would be. (Y/N) will be my wife; that will serve as a nice cover. Mitsunari is needed for his skills.” Ieyasu scoffed, “Which skill is that? Spilling tea? Or getting lost?” Truth be told, Mitsuhide appreciated Mitsunari’s gifts more than he liked to admit. This excursion would be the fourth time he’d called upon the strategist to leave his shabby office and travel with him for an investigation. The man was reliable, calm, brilliant, and he had his uses. But he was frustratingly naive. …Or was he? Mitsuhide had spent more time with Mitsunari in the last four months than in the two years combined, and he was beginning to notice that Azuchi’s angel wasn’t nearly as dopey as many believed. Posing as merchants of rare foreign imported goods, they had managed to obtain an invitation to dinner. Kazunaga had shown them adequate hospitality while they had been eating, but as they moved to the reception hall for smoking, sake, and sales talk, he slowly devolved into a rude host. Mitsuhide casually took a sip as the door slid shut behind (Y/N) and Mitsunari. The daimyo sneered at him, “You look quite comfortable for a husband whose wife just left to have a moonlit stroll with another man. Are you a cuckold, or do you trust him that implicitly?” With fox-like cunning and speed, he latched onto that idea and turned it to his advantage. He suddenly gave a scorned grunt, “Then let’s get business squared away quickly so I can go reclaim what’s mine.” They began to negotiate prices while Mitsuhide made his agitation shown as the minutes ticked by. ——– Mitsunari stopped rubbing (Y/N)’s temples before answering her question. “Because this has been long enough for your husband to be worried that his wife is alone with another man. Isn’t that right, my lord?” Mitsuhide stepped out from the shadows. “Too true. Woman, you know better than to wag your tail at someone else.” He deliberately stepped between them and put a possessive arm around (Y/N)’s shoulders. Under his breath he asked the other man one word, “Where?” Mitsunari nervously sidestepped the couple and backed up onto the walkway that led to the Kazunaga’s private offices. “Ah, don’t you think you ought to treat your wife a little nicer than calling her ‘woman’?” He continued backing up, feeling for the door latch behind him. Mitsuhide growled in indignation. “WOMAN, you go back to the party. You don’t want to see this.” He pressed a quick kiss to her temple before storming towards Mitsunari, just as the other man slipped into the room. Mitsuhide followed after him and slid the door shut. (Y/N) was momentarily stunned by the feeling Mitsuhide’s lips left on her skin. Even though she knew this was just play-acting, she couldn’t help that her heart was beating wildly. Keeping in mind their warning that there could be servants or spies watching from anywhere, she paced the garden with a fretful demeanor before making her way back to the hallways, giving the warlords plenty of time to finish their search. ——– “I hope that was sufficient acting, Lord Mitsuhide. I’ve never had to use such a skill before. I learn so many new things when I’m working with you.” A faint smile lifted the corners of Mitsunari’s lips as he searched drawers and crates for evidence of the stolen weapons and supplies. “Enough talking. Concentrate.” It was as much an order for Mitsunari as it was for himself. Mitsuhide was trying to forget how his arm had felt around (Y/N), and how her hair smelled. Did he subconsciously pick her temple to kiss because he wanted to erase the touch of Mitsunari’s hands on her skin? Had he really been jealous? He snorted lightly through his nose. A rustling sound of thick parchment snapped him out of this uncharacteristic line of questions. Mitsunari held the map up the light and put on his glasses. “There’s no time for us to make a copy. I’ll memorize it now and redraw it later.” Mitsuhide looked over the man’s shoulder and saw it was barely a map, if you could even call it that. Whomever created it made the lines and markings as cryptic as possible. But if you knew what you were looking for, you could tell these were locations of stockpiles. Mitsuhide left him to focus while he dug through other piles as neatly and quietly as possible. When Mitsunari put the map down, five more documents were thrust in front of him. “Memorize these, too. As fast as you can.” Mitsunari nodded and tuned everything else out. As they were putting everything back where they found it, they heard (Y/N) say loudly from the courtyard, “Oh, I’m so glad you’ve arrived! My husband and his business partner are fighting! Please put a stop to it!” Mitsuhide smirked and looked at Mitsunari, who had a pained look on his face as he softly asked, “Lord Mitsuhide, do we really have to…?” In answer, Mitsuhide grabbed the man’s collar with one hand and shot open the door with the other as he jeered loudly, “You spend too much time with my wife, you imbecile.” He balled up his fist, ready to throw a punch. The silver-haired man gave a mirthless laugh – completely unlike him – as he struggled against Mitsuhide’s grasp. “Yes, you’re right, I do. Enough time to see that she loves only you.” Mitsuhide had been set on giving a good stage combat sort of punch as a reply to Mitsunari’s comeback. But those were NOT the words he was expecting to hear. He hesitated for a moment in an unlikely display of shock. That split-second was all the strategist needed to grapple Mitsuhide’s arms behind him in a vice grip. “What – ?” was all Mitsuhide was able to say before Mitsunari squeezed down on the pressure points in the man’s elbows; sending sharp pains up and down his arms, and forcing him to grit his teeth in silence. “You will treat Lady (Y/N) with respect and gentleness, and you will be so attentive that she’ll never want for more. You will be the man she deserves.” That was the last straw. Mitsuhide had had enough of this charade. He could see guards were coming into the courtyard. His calm voice held a steely edge to it, “Oh, that’s rich. The man who can’t decipher emotions is telling me about love?” With great effort, he pulled out of Mitsunari’s hold and casually strode down the hall towards the guards, and waved his hand in a beckoning gesture to (Y/N) as he kept walking. In a honeyed, mocking tone that belied his own pinched feelings, he called to her, “Come, my dear wife. I’m supposed to attend to you.” He reached the guards and raised an elegant eyebrow. “Show us the way out. I’m sure we’ve overstayed our magnanimous host’s generous welcome.” (Y/N) cast a concerned glance towards Mitsunari, who followed at a safe distance, before she skipped to Mitsuhide’s side and took his arm. ——– After they reached the inn and (Y/N) headed to bed, the two warlords stayed up to debrief. Mitsuhide waited to speak until the other man’s brush had stopped recreating all the documents and maps from memory. He began to wave the papers to dry the ink, saying in a disinterested tone, “You surprised me with your acting. That last bit was especially entertaining.” Mitsunari took off his glasses and wiped them. “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true, my lord. I may not know what love is, but I do know that (Y/N) feels 10 times for you what she feels for the rest of us at Azuchi.” There wasn’t a hint of guile in his tone or his face. He put his glasses in his pocket and stretched, yawning. For the second time that evening, Mitsuhide was shocked by the sincerity of the younger man. He noted grudgingly to himself that he was never caught by surprise so often as when he was on a mission with Mitsunari. He wondered if that was why he kept requesting his presence for investigations. Was he so jaded that he hoped for a bright glimpse of purity? So calculating that he craved a jolt of wonder? Is that why he was drawn to the chatelaine, too? Was he nothing more than the moth to their flames? Nonsense. He simply required Mitsunari’s steadfast honesty, and (Y/N) was an amusing diversion. That’s all there was to it. Dismissing these intruding thoughts, the white haired man mused, “Those holds you used on my arms were impressive. I’ve been meaning to look into the study of pressure points and was hoping to master them to use in other areas of my work. Tell me more.” Not batting an eye at the change in topics, Mitsunari began to explain, “Well, I know I can’t overpower a lot of men. And I won’t always have my sword with me. So I started to study certain holds and ways to exert pressure to have the upper hand in close combat. I realized I needed to work on that after something you said to me during our last investigation…”

#ohtomatotome #my fanfic #ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikesen mitsunari #ikesen mitsuhide #buddy cop #mitsunari #mitsuhide #ikesen fanfic #cryptic cupid #crypticcupid

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kyotosamuraiboys · 3 years

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ICHI English translations

Unofficial translations of ICHI’s lyrics

Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/473hvFoSw3m9JFXPLscGRP?si=zOB3KpgHRpKs4Fj3_nXZ1Q

夢と星 (Yume to Hoshi)/Written by KENGO

(Title meaning: Dreams and Stars)

Far, far away, in the corner of a street I don’t know, a wish resurfaces Trying to let out one voice, just to hide the bleeding uncertainty again The world in the city of Kyoto touched by a haunted finger Right now, starts telling me its tale With colours that never fade, the fragments of the mesmerising dream Never have been let go of in my heart Even if I were to stop moving forward, as long as I have you I won’t be scared of anything I wanna be your star I wanna be your star In this heart that has been sinking deep and drowning My wish starts swimming up yet again As I weakly grab onto the ray of light hoping to reach a place where I can walk more easily The promise I believed in, the feelings we vowed Will be granted here and now Our feelings that keep blooming and never wilt Have never changed and never will Even if I were to lose my way, As long as I have you I will not lose myself I wanna be your star I wanna be your star Until the faint light from my dream shines a little further ahead I will keep singing without fail Time is a flowing river, there is no such thing as “forever” There is always a meaning to people meeting and parting If we will meet again at this place Then I will wait as I am, to welcome you no matter how many times With colours that never fade, the fragments of the dream that mesmerised me Have never been forgotten in my heart Even if I were to stop moving forward, as long as I have you I won’t be scared of anything Because I can be myself I wanna be your star I wanna be your star

咲螺 - サクラ (Sakura)/Written by Kondou Takafumi

Right now I can see the overlapping cherry petals dancing across the sky No matter how many thousands times, if we ever crossed paths again I will never let you go a second time For eternity... with these cherry blossoms Ours was a love like spring breeze together with your gentle tears Our meeting was like fate My heart yearns for you ever since Why is it that even though we were always so close But those clear eyes felt so distant, and lonely? The hazy moon hides away your profile If I had held you tight back then Would our future have changed? Right now I can see the overlapping cherry petals dancing across the sky No matter how many thousands times If we ever crossed paths again I will never let you go a second time, For eternity... with these cherry blossoms Ours was a love like spring breeze together with your gentle tears Will I get over these feelings one day? I have always wanted to stay closer by your side A world without you, a future without you How am I supposed to go on and face tomorrow from here? The night takes away each moment The sorrow only getting deeper Could it be even if I had regrets at that moment... My thoughts would only have collected over time Just like seasons go round and round again, the cherry petals draw up a circle As the tempest dyes the May clouds in their folds Will these blossoms bring back the days of the two of us who can no longer meet Ours was a love like petals that caressed your faintly coloured cheeks I won't forget you, always I have loved you, Sakura Right now I can see the overlapping cherry petals dancing across the sky No matter how many thousands times If we ever crossed paths again Let's never separate a second time for eternity... Sakura Ours was a love like spring breeze together with your gentle tears

虹を描いて (Niji wo egaite)/Written by 井手コウジ (Ide Kouji)

(Title meaning: Draw a rainbow)

Wow oh Draw your own rainbow Wow oh With your colour Wow oh Draw your own rainbow Among endless choices and possibilities, why is it that I am rushing to find a perfect spot for me to fit If I don't have any interests in these colour palettes lining up before me Then let's create our own matching shades! Each of us one colour Each with our own slope to climb (so far away) Shall we? (to higher) Even when our tears fall Like a wind with no name, blow this world away! No matter how many years it takes, draw a rainbow for only yourself Wow oh Draw your own rainbow Wow oh With your colour Wow oh Draw your own rainbow Draw your own rainbow If you just look at the entangled reality at a slightly different angle The world we look at upside down becomes a totally different scenery Monochrome, pure white, black and grey, there are so many colours Let's take in even more new values! Each of us one colour Each with our own aspiration We struggle (so far away), yes we do (to higher) Though our dream seems to have withered The colour from the melody we have believed and played It might be distorted, but let it echo away! Unleash the sadness toward the rainbows The abandoned incomplete dreams Let's redraw curiosity onto these hands once more! Each of us one colour Each with a slope to climb (so far away) Shall we? (to higher) Even when our tears may fall Like a wind with no name, blow this world away! No matter how long it takes, let your heart go And draw your own rainbow Wow oh Draw your own rainbow Wow oh With your colour Wow oh Draw your own rainbow Draw a rainbow

Players/Written by KENGO

Yeah- We are Samurai Boys Kyoto to the World Clap your hands up Here we go Yo Welcome to the Samurai Boys Above and beyond your wildest imagination, boiling up with agility on the golden stage Wielding light lasers breakbeats, let it ring clap clap, come on make a beat with me Don't even have time to blink, the absolute best future is always calling us from the other side (Paint my world) No frame can contain this extraordinary mission Even if you get bored Come back here anytime and make some noise, High-five! We'll meet here again anyway Throw away all reason, I want to go crazy with you and hope for a world with no limit On your marks Players, it's a start of an unprecedented story With a fire hidden in our hearts, surpass the generations right now Scatter all over From Kyoto to the world I'm always waiting here (Just wanna be your star)

You can't forget about me, go crazy about me This is (the) Players (Just wanna be your star) With inimitable high quality Shoot out at you (Just wanna be your star) With a world breaking concept, To the place our hearts turn towards Step up with mesmerising excitement and always believe (Just wanna be your star) It's unstoppable, the sensation of piercing impact My soul is the truth, no one can get in the way of the scenery I want to feel again and again Deep enough to feel even in dreams, give me, love me Even if you get bored Any time go back, forget shyness and make some noise, High-five! We'll meet here again anyway If you throw away all anxiety, if we hope for it together, we can connect with this feelin' On your marks Players, an unprecedented Story With a fire hidden in our hearts, let’s surpass history right now Scatter all over, From Kyoto to the world We'll be waiting here always (Just wanna be your star)

Just look all you haters, I'm the Only one to capture everything (This is (the) Players) The Only world achieved from this stage, echoing away Until my voice reaches you, I'll keep on singing On your marks Players, we'll start an unprecedented Story With a fire hidden in our hearts, let’s surpass history right now Scatter all over, From Kyoto to the world We'll be waiting here always (Just wanna be your star) You can't forget about me, go crazy about me This is (the) Players (Just wanna be your star) With inimitable high quality Shoot out at you (Just wanna be your star) With a world breaking concept, To the place our hearts turn towards Step up with mesmerising excitement and always believe (Just wanna be your star)

侍Brotherhood/Written by 井手コウジ (Ide Kouji)

(Title meaning: Samurai Brotherhood)

Yeah, Get up, Get up, Kyoto Samurai Boys C'mon Just like This Samurai Brotherhood C'mon Just like This Kiri-sute-gomen(*) Making mo' some noise, give the signal Resonating the Samurai's voice Let's gather here my fellow fighters, make a heated shout my warriors Not gonna let the world swallow me, I'll scratch my legs No surrender Shirahana Ryoran mainstream Tear it to shreds and get away now Kiri-sute-gomen(*) Push the gorgeous city of Kyoto forward, open the way and kick out the jams Until we break, polish the original flavour and don't look back So, be my witness, we'll get drunk tonight Drink to the flowers and butterflies Aim to the beautiful future So come with me, let's go straight out Reiwa Restoration, Brotherhood Reiwa Restoration, gracefully destroy all boundaries Go Big Buster, Go Big Buster, Go Big Buster, Brotherhood Quit your whining, I won't hear it Do yourself a favour and believe in yourself right now With a love for the limelight, we're breaking through With a gorgeous flash light, turn up the beat Make full blooms out of those scattering buds Do it fair and square, Fight on fight! Samurai Brotherhood, a display of a man's valour Samurai Brotherhood, you gotta see to believe, oh multicoloured lion Split the path open and change the world Well then, light up a spark in the lost heart, on a verge of ignition kick out all boring hesitation My sword sharpened, my soul a translucent tempest, Check this out All the light of our life, in one instant ignite it all up We've found the proof of our existence So follow my lead, let's go straight out Reiwa Restoration, Brotherhood Reiwa Restoration, gracefully destroy all boundaries Go Big Buster, Go Big Buster, Go Big Buster, Brotherhood Buck up the courage to have doubt, break the habit to blame someone else

With a love for the limelight, we're breaking through With a gorgeous flash light, turn up the beat Make full blooms out of those scattering buds Do it fair and square, Fight on fight! Samurai Brotherhood, a display of a man's valour Samurai Brotherhood, you gotta see to believe, oh multicoloured lion Split the path open and change the world

We the warriors gather, push the gorgeous city of Kyoto forward Polish the original flavour, until everything topples don't look back! Samurai brotherhood C'mon Just like This Kiri-sute-gomen(*) Split the path open and change the world *切り捨て御免: the right of Samurai in the Edo period to kill commoners for perceived affronts

#kyoto samurai boys #fukuzawa yuu #Yamagata Yuuki #yuki takesako #NUY #yamaguchi kouki #hiromu iizuka #satonaka masamichi #lil noah #ranma #biske #shinagawa sho #Kamiya Ryota #Kazuaki Yasue #rayshy #r_ne #torayoshi iida #Sora Shimoda #kawashima tatsuki

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logh-icebergs · 7 years

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Episode 20: Bloodshed in Space

797/488. Reinhard sends Mittermeyer to kick the asses of some extremely whiny nobles, which he does with aplomb. Later, Reinhard sends Mittermeyer and Reuental together to... well, to attempt to kick the ass of Ovlesser, a significantly more threatening noble. Tensions mount among Braunschweig’s team, particularly between Merkatz and everyone else (save Schneider, of course). Reuental and Mittermeyer succeed at capturing Ovlesser, after much frustration and at great cost. Despite everyone else’s desire for revenge, the sinister Oberstein convinces Reinhard (and Reuental and Mittermeyer) to let Ovlesser go; as Oberstein predicts, Ovlesser’s comrades-in-nobility interpret his return as meaning that he betrayed them in some way, and he is unceremoniously executed as a traitor. Chalk up another win for Oberstein’s fucked up plans! Meanwhile, Mittermeyer makes moon-eyes at Reuental, and Ferner enjoys carrying out Oberstein’s plans a little too much imo.

Reuental and Mittermeyer

Reinhard and Kircheis are great and everything, but Reuental and Mittermeyer are the greatest love story of all time. I’m not biased.

(From “My Conquest.”)

I promised early on that eventually, Reuental and Mittermeyer’s relationship would stand alongside Reinhard and Kircheis’s as one of LoGH’s two epic love stories. Sadly, Reuental and Mittermeyer have had very little screentime up to this point, so I haven’t had much reason to talk about them for longer than to remind you that yes, they did go on a date this episode, thank you very much. Until now! Finally, in episode 20, Reuental and Mittermeyer take center stage, which makes now the perfect time to dig into their presence on the show so far.

Synchronization

When it comes to battle, Reuental and Mittermeyer are a well-oiled machine. We’ve seen them consult with each other before and after fleet battles; we’ve also seen them work together fluidly in hand-to-hand combat, without the need to consult at all:

In episode 11, Reuental and Mittermeyer invite themselves to help Kircheis rescue Annerose and, upon encountering a bunch of Benemunde’s cronies, take the lead in taking them down. Notice how Mittermeyer and Reuental claim their respective quarries by assigning them to each other, rather than to themselves, underscoring their affinity.

Above, Reuental and Mittermeyer communicate in a kind of shorthand: Rather than speaking directly about their plan, they talk around it, with the implicit assumptions not only that it’s already been decided save the details, but also that they both know what it is. And unlike the dynamic between Reinhard and Kircheis, who also have their own non-verbal methods of communication, neither Reuental nor Mittermeyer is subservient to the other: Both have an equal say and exercise their right to express that without hesitation.

Sorry Kircheis, this may be your fight, but it’s way more important for the audience to understand that Reuental and Mittermeyer are equals than it is for you to get to sit in the front seat. Maybe next time!

(From episode 11.)

We see this dynamic play out again in episode 20, when Reinhard sends Reuental and Mittermeyer to take down the bloodthirsty High Admiral Ovlesser. When the original plan to overwhelm him with battle-axe-armed infantry fails miserably (and violently, so, so violently), Reuental and Mittermeyer decide to go in themselves as bait—which all seems perfectly normal until you realize that they never actually discussed this plan out loud.

Just like the show’s audience, the aide standing literally right next to Reuental and Mittermeyer had no idea what their plan was until they both started talking about it simultaneously. In both a subtler and a more literal interpretation of Reinhard’s “Kircheis is the same as myself,” Reuental and Mittermeyer nonchalantly operate as if they share the same actual brain.

When they do eventually succeed at trapping Ovlesser, the battle-harmony between Reuental and Mittermeyer is even further emphasized, this time with some clever camerawork:

Mittermeyer kicks away Ovlesser’s axe, at which point the camera is behind his legs; then he turns around and... wait, it’s Reuental?! How did they do that?

Mittermeyer and Reuental have been acting as one all this time, but here the camera goes a step further and treats them like one physical body. Even when Reuental and Mittermeyer aren’t occupying space together on the screen, LoGH’s creators want to make sure we interpret them as two halves of a whole. This is a lot more than just a throwaway cinematic trick.

Body Language

In the absence of expository flashbacks, the characterization of Reuental and Mittermeyer’s relationship is conveyed to us mainly via their (present-day) physicality. And the way they move when they’re onscreen together is unique to them, a visual representation of a type of intimacy we don’t see with the relationships between any other characters.

The gif above, in which Reuental and Mittermeyer sigh in unison, is a straightforward but striking example of how precisely their movements are choreographed to match one another. Mittermeyer leans his head slightly forward; Reuental leans his slightly back; the amount of negative space between them stays exactly the same the whole time, just shaped a little differently. Without mimicking each other’s positions, Reuental and Mittermeyer manage to give the impression of perfect balance. It’s a kind of approximate visual symmetry that’s both very expressive and very satisfying to watch—and we’ve been watching it, in fact, since “My Conquest.”

Like with their sighs above, here Reuental and Mittermeyer move in tandem—but instead of keeping the negative space between them the same, they move into it equally, so it becomes smaller but stays symmetrical. Also: Note the complementary head-tilts.

(From “My Conquest.”)

In many of these scenes, the camera itself remains static, allowing Reuental and Mittermeyer to be the only movement in the frame so the viewer can focus on how they fill a space together. In this moment from episode 5, the completely symmetrical background contrasts with how Reuental and Mittermeyer both reach subtly into the other’s “half” of the screen before settling against the balcony.

Not even the fact that Mittermeyer is several inches shorter than Reuental can get in the way of their visual balance—above, for example, Mittermeyer walks slightly ahead of Reuental, so his time in the center of the screen is longer. Below, Mittermeyer brims with energy and dynamism while Reuental is still as a statue until he expresses his restrained but emphatic agreement:

Mittermeyer’s physically asserted rage allows him to take up more space than his smaller stature would allow on its own, while Reuental, like Kircheis (usually), reins himself in. Taken together, they again balance each other out.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a couple’s dynamic encapsulated in how they move to fill the screen. In fact, the contrast with Reinhard and Kircheis’s framing helps reveal how carefully the animators worked to portray Reuental and Mittermeyer as equals:

The great thing about this moment from episode 4 is how strikingly out of balance Reinhard and Kircheis are while still using the same visual language of approximate symmetry that is used for Reuental and Mittermeyer. Kircheis literally struggles to catch up and be close to Reinhard, crawling back into the screen when Reinhard drags himself away—there’s symmetry here, but not equality.

When you combine all these elements—the give-and-take, the use of negative space, the slightly uneven but somehow perfectly balanced movement—you end up with scenes like the one below, in which Reuental and Mittermeyer discuss their aforementioned (and silently agreed upon) plan to ensnare Ovlesser. It’s a scene that is so casually well-choreographed that it is truly a wonder to behold:

Looking at this gif fills me with a quasi-religious ecstasy. It’s perfect.

Above, Mittermeyer, who waits a beat before responding to Reuental’s movements, shifts his stance into the negative space that Reuental has just vacated, which keeps their bodies aligned. Mittermeyer puts his hands on his hips (a favorite position for him), and Reuental follows by putting his behind his back, so the space their bodies occupy is symmetrical but their postures are not. Mittermeyer waits for Reuental to put his openly gesturing hand away before putting both of his up; and through it all Mittermeyer is affectionately watching Reuental’s face while he describes their plan to someone offscreen.

At this point in LoGH, we still know next to nothing about who these two ridiculously handsome and distinguished admirals are. But if we pay attention to how their bodies interact on screen, we can begin to piece together who they are to each other. With Reuental and Mittermeyer, that’s a really good place to start.

Then again, sometimes you don’t have to pay attention beyond the embarrassingly fond expressions these two wear whenever they look at each other. Seriously this moment makes me blush. (From “My Conquest.”)

Ugh, More Character Redraws

I regret to inform you, dear readers, that the fiends behind LoGH’s cursed “remastered” character redraws are back at it again, and this time, it’s personal:

Of all the characters who suffer from redraws—and nobody is safe, NOBODY—Reuental truly has it the worst, because the changes made to his expressions venture into character assassination territory. Above, you can see a perfect example of how Reuental’s demeanor was completely altered (on left) from how he was originally animated in the LaserDisc version (right). On the LD, Reuental learns who is guarding the passage he is to infiltrate with Mittermeyer, and he is visibly concerned. In the remasters, his apprehensive frown is flipped into a smile that says: “I’m not the kind of person who would worry about all the troops under my command who are probably about to get killed!”

This is far from the last time we’ll see Reuental’s character hardened like this, and I promise I will point out EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE, because Reuental was originally drawn to be a lot warmer, gentler, and more human than the redraws would have you believe. It should go without saying that this is a pretty significant change, and one that has the potential to affect one’s interpretation of Reuental (and of Mittermeyer) a great deal—it should also go without saying that when there are big differences like the one above, I’ll be analyzing (and embedding gifs of) the original LD versions.

Stray Tidbits

I'm honestly so impressed with the visual shorthand for "awful" that the animation team uses to describe the Imperial nobles. It basically comes down to nothing more than their hair and facial expressions, but the overall impression is that they sure are a bunch of fancy little boys.

My first impulse is that Ferner needs to calm the fuck down for two seconds, but on the other hand, I guess I’m glad he has an acceptable outlet for his weird urges?

Besides war, drinking, and going on dates with Reuental (which usually involve drinking), Mittermeyer’s favorite hobby is roasting Bayerlein. Seriously every time Bayerlein tries to get in Mittermeyer’s good graces in some way, Mittermeyer shuts him down spectacularly. It’s incredible. I don’t know what Mittermeyer’s problem is but I’m not complaining, I mean look at that side-eye/eyeroll hybrid!

Mittermeyer is so good at war that he gave this guy an ulcer that almost killed him. Sure, I buy it.

I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this gif, so now I offer it to you, humble reader. Go forth and use it well.

#Legend of Galactic Heroes #Legend of the Galactic Heroes #author: Elizabeth #Reuental #Mittermeyer #Empire #body language #redraws #Reuental deserves better #Oskar Meyer #that's the proper R/M pairing name #long-suffering Bayerlein

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infinitum-imaginaerum · 7 years

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Model Type // Johnny - NCT

“Heyyy, buddy,” Taeil called, rolling up into the room. Johnny was the only one there, so there was no mistake Taeil was talking to him. Johnny looked over, eyebrows raised, ready to hear what Taeil could possibly have to say that caused him to sound so nervous.

The older male scratched the back of his neck as he continued to approach Johnny. “Yes, Taeil? Got something to say?” he asked.

“Do you want to make an easy five hundred bucks?”

Johnny squinted hard as he looked at Taeil. There was no such thing as an easy five hundred bucks. He waited for Taeil to explain, but he literally was just going to stand there looking like a dork until Johnny conjured a response.

“What’s the catch, Taeil?” he asked.

Taeil’s nervous smile wasn’t easily hidden and he tried to turn away so the younger wouldn’t be able to see it. “It’s a modeling job. They’re looking for physique models; an artist… you have to sit still for a while.”

Johnny looked at Taeil, waiting for more. He could tell by the hesitation that there was a lot left to say, plus he was being really vague about the whole thing. “You know them, obviously. You don’t come up to me so nervous asking me to sit in front of someone with my shirt off if you don’t. You wouldn’t be asking me in the first place,” Johnny explain, squinting again, very suspicious of Taeil’s behavior.

“Fine! She’s a friend of mine, she’s trying to get a designing job but she’s having a hard time with bulkier dress because she’s never had practice drawing those types of people. No cameras, no paperwork, she won’t even remember you,” Taeil finally explained, but he could feel the red paint his face the more he talked.

“Five hundred dollars and all I have to do is sit there,” Johnny stated, asking for confirmation with the look in his eyes.

“Five hundred, just sit there, still, patiently,” he responded.

Johnny was the shy type when it came to things like that. He wasn’t a huge proponent being shirtless around anyone. So, he sat there and thought about it, staring blankly at the wood of the coffee table, following the grooves.

“When?”

“Later today… I know it’s really last minute, I’m sorry—”

“I guess it won’t give me time to change my mind. I’ll do it for five hundred,” Johnny replied, interrupting Taeil who emitted a sigh of relief and thanked him kindly before leaving the room, no doubt to go tell his friend that it was good to go and that Johnny would be there later that day.

The day seemed to pass with no problem. Oddly enough, Johnny didn’t feel anxious at all about this. It was one-hundred percent anonymous other than the fact that she’d straight up know that he knew Taeil. No names, no contracts, no pictures, just art.

He rolled up to a sketch brick building, but it held the address scribbled down on the paper clutched in his hand. A few more times his gaze switched between the paper and the building before he pushed aside his reservations and went in. It was chilly out his hands shoving immediately into the pockets of his hoody as he entered, trying to beat the cold. “Studio B, studio B, studio B,” he muttered to himself as he walked down the hall. The rooms appeared to be numbered in no particular order so finding Studio B appeared to be harder than he thought.

He finally arrived to a solid wood door, a sign on it that signified his destination. His hand wrapped around the bronze handle and now he was having second thoughts. “This whole thing is so sketch,” he commented to himself, but the door was opening and he was stepping in before he knew it.

There was an easel at first view, he could see jean clad legs sitting behind it and that had to be Taeil’s friend.

Johnny cleared his through, “Hello.”

“I’m so sorry; I didn’t hear you come in! You must be Johnny,” you supposed, scrambling out of your chair to greet him. “I’m really glad you could come; I have been having such a hard time finding a model and I just—”

You paused when you finally had a chance to look up at him after cleaning your hands off. His hair was a little disheveled from his hood, but other than that, you were particularly speechless. You blinked hard a couple of times to make sure he was real which had him turning his head away from you in embarrassment.

“Forgive me for staring,” you commented as immediately as you could, trying to shake yourself back into reality and get down to business. You jutted your hand out containing the wad of cash promised. “If it’s more comfortable, we can do a couple of sketches with a shirt on so you can get the hang of posing for a while,” you suggested as he hesitantly took the money from you, shoving it into the back pocket of his dark jeans.

No words passed from Johnny’s lips as you directed him to a stool where he could sit under the proper lighting before you dashed behind your easel, turning it to face to his left and positioned your stool for the proper head swivel. “We’re just going to do a couple of quick sketches, but still try to find a pose that’s comfortable,” you suggested.

He shifted without words, covering a majority of his face with a large hand after hiking a leg up to rest his foot on a rung of the stool enough to he could rest his elbow against that. It was the arm furthest away from you so it didn’t really matter. The other was bent, his hand shoved halfway into his pocket and the leg supporting him was straight out, shoe planted firmly on the hardwood.

“Is that good?” you asked him.

“Yeah,” he replied dryly.

“O-okay,” you stuttered. You could definitely tell he didn’t want to be there; but he had already agreed and you had already paid him so you weren’t about to let him go so easily. You threw down his basic shape with a hard pencil—your sketch lines were light, but you wouldn’t want them to be too noticeable if it were to be a completed piece. After getting the basic shape you began with his torso, measuring his broad shoulders with a thumb marker on your pencil as you held it out to him.

He watched you jot down quickly on your paper pad, watched the way your tongue would peek out to swipe across your lips, watch the way your brow would draw together when something was just a little bit off, and the way your leg bounced as you focused. Your foot stopped bouncing, shoe hitting hard against the wood which almost jolted him as you reached your pencil out towards him again, unable to properly match the angle of his shoulders with the angle of his hips and the way you couldn’t match the curve of his back just right.

Johnny was definitely different proportions than you were used to drawing. He was much taller with much longer legs, much broader shoulders than any man you were used to. It was going to be a bit of a struggle, and you knew that, but you weren’t adjusted to just how much of a struggle it was.

He listened to the way your teeth clicked together as you thought, erasing and redrawing, erasing and redrawing. He listened to the way your pencil tapped the easel; the way your shoe clicked on the floor again.

“Not trying to tell you how to do what you do, but I think you’re trying to visualize what a body is supposed to look like, instead of visualizing it as just lines that go a certain way,” he spoke, just loud enough for you to hear. You didn’t want to admit—in all the years you’d studied art and taken art classes, that was the most basic of all basics when it came to drawing anything. Don’t focus on what it’s supposed to look like, just focus on the lines that it is.

“You’re right,” you replied and took a deep breath. Part of it in actually was that you were having a hard time looking at him without getting distracted. Taeil failed to inform you just how easy on the eyes he was and now it was coming back to haunt you.

You did your best to finish up the page of sketches, getting stuck half way in some of them and deciding to just move on and start over. You filled up a whole page with the same sketches here and there. It wasn’t long before you just had enough.

“I’m done for now. I’m going to step outside and get some fresh air. There’s water and cokes in the fridge, feel free to help yourself,” you mentioned to him, setting your pencils nicely back into their case before you disappeared through the door.

Thankful, Johnny stood from the hard wooden stool, able to stretch his legs again and retrieve a water just to mosey to the comfy looking couch on one side of the room. He plopped down on it, a little low for his liking, but did his best to relax. His bent legs were too long for the futon, and the only comfortable way for them to go was out. His knees spread further apart as he fell into his own mind. He wasn’t thinking about much, but it was enough to distract him for quite some time.

“Okay, I think I’m—Nope.”

The same second you came in the door, you were out of it again. Just seeing Johnny on the couch so lounged out was enough to make you scream. It wasn’t helping that you’d been single for who knows how long and any sight of an attractive man had you wild, but Johnny didn’t need to sit the way he was.

He scoffed which turned into a chuckle, having every idea what was going on. “How are you going to draw me with a shirt off if you can’t even stand me when I’m clothed?”

But it wasn’t long after that you collected yourself again. You came back in, this time without uttering a word and made your way to the fridge to grab water for yourself. You quickly twisted off the cap and took a long swig. “Okay,” you finally said, making your way back to your easel and flipped the page. “Mr. Seo, when you’re ready, please,” you commented, prompting him to get up from the couch with a raised eyebrow.

“Can I stand?” he asked.

“If that’s more comfortable for you,” you replied. “Just remember, it’s going to be a while.”

He nodded, setting his water on the futon, his hoodie following as he pulled it over himself. You wanted to audibly hiss at the sliver of skin that peeked out from under his shirt, the curve of his back from his hips right above his sneaky underwear had you looking away. Which was unfortunate, because a second later it was exposed for good when he peeled away his black tee as well, tossing that onto the futon before moseying back to the stool.

He planted both hands down on it, gripping it, showing off every curve of every muscle in those thick arms of his as he straddled the stool, kicking both feet up onto the rungs. “Is this good?” he asked you, totally facing your direction so there was no way he’d miss when you were checking him out this time, as he’d have to keep his eyes in your direction for the duration of the drawing.

Your mouth felt dry, your fingers were shaking. “I was hoping for something a little more natural,” you replied.

The way his thick lips pulled into a grin had you out of your mind. You couldn’t look at him, it just was self-torture. He shifted full rear on the stool but he still sat facing you. His arms crossed over his chest and head fell slightly to the side, pulling those luscious bangs out of his eyes. He gave you a questioning eyebrow raise.

“I guess that’s better.”

“Then let’s get started,” he smiled, eyes shutting as it was better to drown in his own thoughts and let the time pass than to be fully aware of how slow it was ticking by. But he still heard the same noises—your pencil tapping your easel, your foot on the ground, your teeth clicking, all ticks he found absolutely adorable.

He found himself smiling, biting his lip as he thought about you and how your hair cascaded down, shrouding your face in just the right manner; your eyes and the way they gleamed and glimmered; the way your lips moved when you spoke—it wasn’t so bad being here after all.

“Stay still, please,” your voice interrupted him and he tried his best to go back to resting face.

They were only thirty minute sketches or so, any position wouldn’t have felt too bad, not after assuming they were going to be close to two hours each pose.

“Don’t be weird, but I want to get a good pose of your arms, if that’s possible,” you said. Johnny had no problem moving the stool, letting his back hit the wall which still resided in good light and lifted both his arms to tuck his hands behind his head. He stood on one leg, giving his hips a sassy angle.

“Wow, okay,” he barely heard you mutter, but the fact that he could get to you like that was a victory in his mind. You went to work immediately, trying your best to focus on your pencil and paper and less on the way his eyes tore into you like a hungry lion.

Soon it became not long enough. Soon it became he was leaving already. Soon he as shaking your hand as you thanked him for his service after he had clothed himself and was ready to head out the door. He headed back to the apartment, ready to tell Taeil all about it and perhaps ask him more about you.

When he pushed the door open, it was almost as if Taeil was anticipating him.

“How did it go?” he asked as if he was Johnny’s mother asking how a first date when or his first day of school.

“She’s cute,” Johnny said and Taeil’s jaw dropped.

“I don’t think that’s what I asked,” he said, following Johnny into the kitchen as he raided the cabinets for a snack.

“It was fine, Taeil. Just business,” Johnny replied, pulling a box of crackers from the top shelf where only he and Doyoung on a good day could reach them. “Though, she did try to undress me before I undressed,” he laughed, moving Taeil aside to head back into the main room.

“What does that even mean?”

“It means she thinks I’m real easy on the eyes, catch my drift?”

“What are you—”

“I’m saying, if she’s interested, I’d like to take her to dinner. Capisce?

“Ca-Capi-Pea-shh?”

“If she asks for my number, give it to her; I swear sometimes you’re five years old.”

A week had passed since that day. Johnny was sitting on the couch as he normally was, Taeil had just gotten up to get something to drink when the younger noticed the elder’s phone light up. Curiously, he looked over. The name, he recognized. The message…

How come Johnny hasn’t…

He couldn’t see the rest.

“Yo, Taeil; you’ve got a message,” he called but Taeil didn’t reply. He checked for Taeil thoroughly, making sure he was nowhere in sight as he snatched the phone up and unlocked it, having seen him put in his password a thousand times to open the message.

How come Jonny hasn’t messaged me? You gave him my number right?

Johnny’s mouth fell open slightly, almost appalled. Taeil, that slimy little—he plucked his phone from his pocket, typing down your number quickly and locked Taeil’s phone, tossing it back on the couch as he heard the older male coming. It was just before he sat down that Johnny sent you a message.

All this time he was supposed to give me your number… and I just found out he was hiding it from me.

“Don’t hurt her, Johnny,” Taeil commented, not bothering to look to his phone or to the other male or anything. He just looked at the TV. “She’s very close to me, and I will be very upset with you if you break her heart.”

“Nothing’s even happened yet—”

“Johnny, I know you. You’re the type of guy she’s gonna fall really hard for. So, be careful what you do. I know there’s chemistry. She told me all about you trying to get her all flustered, ass,” he said, throwing in that last part for decoration.

Johnny chuckled, thinking back it probably wasn’t the best idea, but it was far too late now.

“I just want to take her out and see what’s up. I’m not the type to play games, Mr. Johnny–I–know-you.”

“Be good to her!” he called as Johnny rose from the couch, taking his phone with him as he went off to his room. A small conversation ensued between the two of you, starting right away with him insisting he take you out and you trying to reject, but ultimately it didn’t take much for you to fall victim to him.

It was less than a week later that he had you sitting across from him looking over a dessert menu.

He watched you, watched the way your hair fell into your face despite the number of attempts you gave to hold it back through all of dinner. You’d been playing with his hands nearing the end of dinner as he talked, so it didn’t seem all too unnatural for him to reach over and tuck that strand deep behind your ear. It had you looking up at him.

“What?” you asked after a couple moments of silence as he just looked at you.

“You stared at me plenty a week ago, I think it’s only fair that I return the favor,” he said, tilting his head as he talked to you, watching your eyes shift from his to his lips. Your tongue flicked out to wet your own, mostly subconsciously.

“Are you still looking for dessert?” he asked you. “Or have you found it elsewhere?” he teased with a flick up on his eyebrows.

“Leave me alone,” you teased back, eyes darting back down to the menu.

“I’d be happy to give you both,” he smirked, especially when you tapped his leg with your foot, a gentle but warning motion. You ended up ordering Crème Brule which Johnny insisted he didn’t want any of, but ended up taking a couple of bites off your spoon after pleaded glances. After that he quickly paid the check and whisked you out of the restaurant.

It was a casual date, so both of you were in shoes suitable for walking, which was ideal since Johnny was leading you every which way. He walked side by side with you, moseying to milk the most of your time together. His hands were nervously shoved into this pockets, your hands clasped in front of you, not sure what else to do with them.

“Can I hold your hand?” he asked you quietly.

“I’d love that,” you replied, listening to his large hand scrape against the denim of his jeans as he pulled it out, offering it to you and you took it upon yourself to lace your fingers with his. He swung your hand between the two of you which brought a soft blush to your cheeks just as you stepped into some tall grass. You’d arrived at a park.

“I know you gotta get home soon, but I just wanted to take you somewhere quiet for a minute,” he admitted, leading you over to a bench, allowing you around it first to take your pick of the best seat. He sat next to you with a tug on his hand, letting your laced hands rest against his leg as he sat next to you.

He was getting ready to start before you butted in, “Thank you, Johnny. For everything,” you told him, and it closed his slightly ajar mouth to bring it up into a smile.

“You’re welcome; thank you for spending time with me,” he replied as he looked at you. You glanced at his shoulder and he scooted over a little more, picking up slightly on your cue so you could lean your head against him.

“What do you think about a second date?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

“I mean, do you see this going somewhere?”

You squeezed his hand and pushed a little harder into his shoulder. “If the fact that I’m totally comfortable with you like this right now isn’t enough, I don’t know what to say,” you told him. “I’d love to see you again,” you added.

“May I kiss your cheek?” he asked. You shyly lifted your head from his shoulder, enough that he could crane his neck just so far to place a kiss on your flushed cheek. You bit your lip, you cheek burning where his pecked you as you reached up to touch it. “Let me take you home,” he said. You didn’t have words to reply, just let him tug you to your feet until the two of you wandered in the direction of your place.

#johnny #nct #seo young ho #johnny scenarios #nct scenarios #i'm having flooding Johnny feels and I secretly want Shelby to come into my ask box and give me a bunch of ideas #fhdskajfhsjkafd #I'm not sorry #also this is a lot longer than I planned #but yayyyy #johnnnyyyyy #<3333333 #So much love for him #anyway I have to work tomorrow so goodnight!!!

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notjustagirltattoopodcast · 4 years

Text

Not Just A Girl: Divine Feminine

You can listen to the tenth episode with Swasthik Iyengar here. Or you can find this interview on YouTube with English subtitles/closed captions here, there is no footage for this episode so you'll find a slideshow of Swasthik's work instead.

NOT JUST A GIRL: Tattoo Podcast

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Season 1, Episode 10: Divine Feminine

Eddy: Hello friends. Welcome to Not Just A Girl, the tattoo podcast where every week I speak to socially conscious tattooers about their lives and art practice through an intersectional feminist lens. I'm Eddy and thank you for joining me for episode 10. Today, we'll be discussing cultural influences, family and spirituality in tattooing. Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are the traditional custodians of this land that was stolen and never ceded. I am honored and grateful to be on the ancestral land of the Awabakal people. And I pay my respects to the Elders past and present and extend my recognition to their descendants.Today I get to speak with the resplendent Swasthik Iyengar. She works at Trailer Trash tattoo in Brisbane with Mimsy who featured in a previous episode, Swasthik's work really tells a story. It consists of clean, bold lines, strong, bright colors with imagery and symbols that are imbued with her spirituality and history. I'm so excited to chat to you today. Thank you so much for being a part of this podcast. Swasthik: Thank you. I'm pretty excited and nervous. Eddy: It's so nerve wracking doing an interview. Swasthik: It is definitely. Yeah. But thanks for having me. Eddy: Absolutely, well, like we've talked before about how tattooing runs in your family in India, and I'd really love to know more about that and how it's shaped your own practice.Swasthik: Yeah, absolutely. Um, So, Nan. I'm from the South and Nan, um, is in Chennai and she's been tattooing for over 40 years now. It's a little bit different over there. It's not like you, um, have an apprenticeship and yeah, and you, you start painting flash, it's, it's sort of like you get initiated. Or, you know, it runs in the family and it's usually because it's, um, for, I would say initiation markings or if someone's really sick. Um, and they went and saw a medicine healer. Um, they would come to see my Nan and get, um, certain markings on their body to try and, um, help them get cured. Um, So women, young girls going into womanhood, um, would get markings and would come see my Nan. So it's, it's such a special thing. It is, it's really special.Eddy: Wow, so there's alot of power behind the tattoos. Like they're a form of medicine. Swasthik: Definitely. Yeah. Eddy: That's incredible. Swasthik: And she makes her own medicine too. Um, like growing up over there if my, if I had a really sore belly, I remember she would put…which is like this white paste and she'd put it, she put it on my belly and, um, In like in a couple of hours, um, my stomach ache would go, so it's all really old there. It's really sort of traditional and it's old when you're, when you're out in India. Um, this there's not really any access to going into town or getting Panadol. Um, everything's sort of natural and organic. Um, so yeah. That's Nan.Eddy: That's amazing. That must be like being self sufficient in that way. And learning how to take care of yourself from the earth is such a powerful thing. Swasthik: It's special. And it helps me today. And I think it'll help me for the rest of rest of my life. It's it's um having that connection to the land, the ancestors and my gods. Um, my, my elders. Is um, It's shaped me as a person from, from such a young age and then moving to Australia. Um, and it's shaped my practice in, in with everything, not just tattooing. Um, yeah, so. Eddy: I feel like you can really, you can really read a rich history in, in the work that you do and see that those symbols you use are very personal to you. Swasthik: They are they, are I, um, with some, some of the Indian pattern work I do like the Kolangal Kolam is all things that, um, I would see Paati my Nana, um, and also my aunties and my, my sisters, my cousins. Would always, um, draw these patterns with organic powders and dirt in the sand, in front of the houses, they all have different meanings too. Like it depends on if there's a festival during that time, or if you're inviting a particular God, like say you're trying to invite baby Krishna or Ganesh, who is the remover of obstacles, or perhaps it's a full moon. And so, um, all the symbols, um, I just. I think it's just learnt behavior, you know, it's just like, it's just memory etched into me. And so, um, and just thought... instead of drawing or painting things that I'm not familiar with, maybe incorporating some of this stuff into my practice. Um. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: Might yeah, I don't know. No, no, it might just, um, help me or. Yeah. Yeah. Eddy: It brings something really special, I think, to tattooing because I've never seen at least you know, in my experience and in what I know about Australian tattooing, I have not seen the kind of imagery that you bring and it's very, very special to see something so powerful and so new, but so old at the same time.Swasthik: Thanks. Thanks so much, Eddy. It's. It's, you're making me nervous now. Um, yeah, I don't know. It's like, I guess I'm I still try and make it so that it works alongside, um, principles of tattooing. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: You know, but, um. Eddy: It definitely has elements of Western traditional like with the strong, bold lines, the use of open skin and saturated colors.Swasthik: Yes. See, I see it like, I think during my apprenticeship days, like I was painting flash and I was redrawing Sailor Jerry, and. Eddy: Awesome. Swasthik: And all of, all of that stuff, you know, painting Sailor Jerry flash, and, um, So that sort of taught me and still teaches me, like, I still got to do color studies hey, like I can't just paint or do stuff from the top of my head.Eddy: Same.Swasthik: Things like things take way longer. Yeah. Yeah. I can't, you know, so, um, I think I've sort of try and keep to that and by having that and practicing that I sort of instilled, trying to attempt to like fit my, um, imagery or the Hindu imagery, um, and traditional pattern work, um, within that sort of American traditional or traditional tattooing context.Eddy: Yeah. It works really beautifully. Swasthik: Aww thanks Eddy. I'm glad you like it.Eddy: With the imagery you're using, like, you know, this kind of visual language, has that been something that's inherited from your grandma. Is it something that it's more just used broadly within that religion? Or does your family create their own or have you created your own? Swasthik: Yeah, I think it's like all of the above, to be honest, I think the imagery comes from temples from Hindu stories. Um, people adapt when you go to every, when you go to people's houses in India, there's obviously like the common thread of particular rituals and, and having the images or having a particular style of God or setting it up in a certain way, but people might adapt drawing the traditional Kolum them differently, depending on, um, who's taught them or, or how they like it. And I think, um, Some of the spiritual stuff, um, that, that I've done just comes from meditation. Um, it's not necessarily, um, a depiction of an exact story, but a couple of different elements intertwined into sort of one painting. So I meditate like all the time. A lot. So I sort of get to see these things sort of come up randomly sometimes like even when I'm sleeping at nighttime, I'll just have weird dreams about it and I'll remember it or wake up and write it down and start a new day. Start, think about a new painting for the next day. Eddy: I really love that idea of you finding the images like inside yourself, because it's just such a strong connection and it's so much more authentic and powerful. It's yeah. It's something that I think a lot of us could learn to do like using meditation as a way of finding ourselves in our artmaking.Swasthik: Yeah. It's so hard. Hey, it's like what I was saying to you earlier, like I think, um, meditation is just as hard as as working out. Say if you want to, you know, tone up that doesn't happen overnight. And I feel like with meditation, with me, I'm still struggling. You know, even though I've done it for so long, there'll be moments where I don't meditate and trying to get back into meditation is very tricky. Um, but through meditation and through yoga, I do a lot of yoga as well. And just eating healthy and I can start to, um, chat, like I can start to bring in higher sorts and put, like just organic thoughts sort of come to me naturally. Um, when I'm in sort of a peaceful state, you know, of kind of a quiet state, a focused state. Umm when I don't meditate, I feel like my thoughts are kind of scattered and I'm a little bit stressed. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: And that doesn't help my tattoo practice either. Um, so Eddy: Cause tattooing's already so stressful. Swasthik: So highly strung hey, every tattoo seriously. Um, yeah. It's um, I dunno, it's a special, everyone's got their own meditation too. Like I think so you you'd have your particular meditation. Like I think even doing art is a meditative practice because you're sitting there drawing for, you know, some people can draw stuff so quickly. It takes me about when I'm working on a big painting, it takes me like two days to do all three days to draw. And then another week to paint it and it could be the most simplest subject matter, but I think that process is still meditation. Eddy: Yeah. Yeah. It's a very slow and measured process for me too. And I, I was oh we were talking earlier, but I mentioned how I didn't even realize that I actually do kind of use meditation in my process. Like I just hadn't put that word to it. Like every single tattoo I do before I do it. I kind of, while I'm doing the line drawing for the stencil, I'm sitting there visualizing the whole process and I visualize how I'm going to approach it, how I'm going to breathe, how I'm going to pull my hand, everything. So like I come to that tattoo almost having done it already. Swasthik: Yeah. Exactly.Eddy: And then I feel more balanced and relaxed coming into it. Whereas before that I'm like butterflies, nerves. I feel like I need to go have a bit of a cry in the bathroom before the client arrives. Like. Swasthik: Yes. I think like, yeah. It's so interesting. You say that because at the end of the day, tattooing is just ritual, right? Like when you set up the machines, nothing sort of changes. You've got your own way, your own set up, the way you set up your machines, um, the way you put on a stencil or it's still, it's such a ritual, it's such a meditative practice. Eddy: I think we really forget that and remove ourselves from that. Like how ritualistic it is. Swasthik: Yeah. Yeah. TrueEddy: We act like it's just a job, but it's actually so much more than that. And it comes with this entire like history of traditions.Swasthik: A hundred percent. I couldn't agree with you more. I think it's so sacred. I think it's, it's really special. Um, I don't know. I don't really look, it is, it is a job, but it's I'm lucky. I'm lucky. I don't know what else I would do if I wasn't tattooing, I love it. And I think, you know, whilst it is a job and I am providing a service to people to that the best I can umm to the best of my abilities. Umm I'm still immersed in such a beautiful craft that um, allows, you know, it allows me to see things differently, allows me to love art. It allows me to, to explore, um, my mind and to, um, explore subjects. Um, however, I would like to, um, um, within the context of art also within the context of tattooing, like everyone's skin is different. Everyone has a different body shape, size, everyone's unique and beautiful. Um.Eddy: Absolutely.Swasthik: So it's, um, yeah, it for sure it's job, but it's, to me, I'd like to say that it's, um, Oh, God. It's like, yeah. It's like my calling. I know that sounds lame, but I don't, I really don't know what else I would do if I wasn't tattooing. It's really special. Eddy: Yeah, I don't think that's lame at all. I think a lot of us feel that way, like, like where it's the only thing that makes sense for us to do, like, you know, obviously have other things going on in our lives that we love, but.Swasthik: Yes.Eddy: You know, in terms of what we commit our the majority of our time to.Swasthik: Lives.Eddy: It's just what, like, what else would there be? Swasthik: Yeah, like, don't get me wrong. I have so many other different hobbies and, um, things that I love doing, I'm immersed into or, like, reading about, but, um, If I was to choose something else to do, I wouldn't know, you know, I'd be terrible in an office job. And I respect people in office jobs. Cause I just couldn't do what they could do at all hey, like, but um, yeah, it's really special. I reckon Eddy, you were right. Eddy: Yeah, I always, I I'm always very thankful. Definitely like, you know, I'll have my little moments or I sook about a frustrating email or a difficult experience, but at the end of the day, like it's just complete and utter gratitude. Swasthik: A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I definitely agree. Eddy: Do you find with your work, um, you know, because you know, it's a big part of your spiritual practice as well. Do you find that, um, you know, it, it's almost like a way of inviting a conversation with your clients. Like, you know, they're connecting to that imagery themselves and exploring their own spirituality and that's why they come to you?Swasthik: Umm. I think, um, A lot of my clients, um, sort of, some of them have been to India. Some of them have know the Hindu stories and can relate to the God, um, or have really enjoyed their time in India. And, um, and, and some of, some of my clients, um, sort of have their own imagery and their own spirituality. And want me to a sort of come up with something that represents that. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: And so I think, um, like I always have great conversations with my clients and often it is pretty trippy. Um, it gets deep, but in such a beautiful way to. It's never, it's never like too much. Um, it's been just a really beautiful connection and a really beautiful exchange. Um, So I think, I've forgotten the question now. I mean, I think, I think, um, I think people come to me for a whole different, all sorts of reasons, whether, whether they're into the story, whether they're into God, whether they've been to India, whether they're going to India, whether they have their own spiritual practice, um, you know, whether they like me and them are on the same vibe into the same things. But in any case, like it's a shared experience. Um, and it's always, it's always a lovely time. I always end up being friends with my clients. Eddy: Oh, that's so nice. Swasthik: There's never, there's never a time where I don't think I've felt, um, like, um, uncomfortable or sort of um frustrated. I've been really blessed to have, um, beautiful people cross my path, in the way of people that get tattooed and to share stories. I think this is my favorite part of this craft or this practice is that connection.Eddy: AbsolutelySwasthik: There's so many connections isn't there like this, the connection that you have to like the pra like the art. So when you start off and you're creating flash or whatever, then the connection that you have to the actual craft, because you're on your own. And it's really scary because you're marking people permanently, right? And then you have that connection that you have with the client and then to have to juggle. And, but not to be, you know, to make it real. Like, if I'm stressed about a tattoo, like, I will tell my clients like, bro, I I'm so sorry. I'm going to be real quiet now because I've got to focus. Like it's really comfortable that way. I think, you know, Eddy: I think when we can communicate with them really honestly they appreciate it too.Swasthik: Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. I think like there's no other way. You just got to be like honest. There's been moments where the, just a shared silence has been really nice. Eddy: Yeah. And that's such an intimate thing that sometimes that silence, it can be really, um, like restorative or healing. Swasthik: Yeah. I totally agree. Have you ever had people sort of say to you that like, Um, they sort of enjoy the pain and the, and they don't talk. And I respect that. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: Because I find that not, they find the pain, um, like a real healing process. Eddy: Yeah. It's almost like reminding them of the body they're in or, you know, I don't know. Yeah. It, it grounds them, I think. Swasthik: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's it like everyone's got their own perspective on why they get tattooed and, and what it means to them or what it doesn't mean to them. You know, they just want to get something fun or maybe they want a bet or a dare or maybe it's initiation. So Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: All different reasons. Hey. Eddy: I do think that like, in a lot of ways, getting tattooed, getting tattooed is a radical act. Like, you know, even if it's just for fun, just to be able to permanently mark your body in the sake of fun is radical. At all, or whether you're doing it because of that, just innate drive to express yourself or to be a part of a group or a culture. Swasthik: For sure. A hundred percent. Yeah, for sure. I think so. I do believe that. I think it's um, yeah man, I remember like when I first started getting tattooed and it was to fit in, but to fit in because I was so angry at my parents, I was actually really angry for being Indian because I wasn't having a good time in the Western world.Eddy: I'm so sorry. Swasthik: Oh, no, no, no, no. It's all, it's all history, it's all lessons and you grow. And it's so old this is like ages ago. It's like 20 years ago. But, um, I remember like I wasn't that religious back then either. I think I was like pre puberty. It was like when you're 17, 18, that kind of thing. And just mad and angry at the world. And, um, I started, um, getting tattoos cause I could see that the people that I could see that were getting tattoos were different and they were unique and beautiful and they didn't conform. Um, so I started getting the Gods tattooed on me, my Hindu gods tattooed on me. Um, but it made my mum really mad because in our tradition, you need to get that like, this is when I was 18. In our tradition, you need to get permission from the gods before you get them tattooed on you, because it's a huge thing. Like, and I know that sounds crazy, but, um, you know, I it's, it's like a respect thing. If you're going to get Kali Ma on your back, you need to ask for permission because she can cause you havoc.And so, I did. And it, yeah, my mum was like so mad at me. And, um, that was, um, I guess it's like what you were saying. It was a very radical, I was trying to fit in. I felt like the people that were my friends that got tattoos, didn't conform to everyone else, you know? So it is, it is a really radical kind of thing to do for sure. Eddy: And it sounds like, for you know, like it, it was a way of you finding yourself and like setting yourself apart and starting yourself on this journey. Swasthik: Yeah. Yeah, it definitely was. It definitely was because you're looking at your body every day and you see the tattoo. It's not like they can go anywhere hey, and you and it's just. It's just on you forever and it's a part of you. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: Yeah It did. Eddy: And it did.Swasthik: Sorry love, what were you going to say? Eddy: Oh no, you go.Swasthik: I've forgotten now. Eddy: Yeah. I was just going to say, like, you know, you mentioned you were having a hard time, so, you know, by, by like taking such ownership of yourself when you were having a hard time, you know, that can give yourself a lot of power and confidence to move forward as well.Swasthik: Yes, it does. It does. And, um, and it did, I think at that point, I was just quick to realize like, um, to accept my background, to celebrate it, um, to not be mad. I, I remember I was just, it was stupid, little things. I was like, why would you call me Swasthik? Why would you call me a name that is a Nazi symbol? Do you know? And it's, um, All of those little things that I just decided to let go and to accept and to love and to appreciate. Um, and it's funny because now I think my best friends are my family. It's my culture. It's my Gods. It's my ancestors. They have stuck by me with everything. Eddy: That's beautiful.Swasthik: Do, you know, over life and um, I'm so, I love it. I love India. Mmm. Love being Hindu. I'm very religious and very devout. So Yeah. Eddy: It's really beautiful how that comes across on your Instagram as well. Like I know that, you know, social media is not the biggest part of your life or anything, but you know, sometimes you'll post beautiful pictures or videos of your family and like of, you know, Rituals or things that you're doing together. And it's so lovely to see that little bit of insight into what you do. Swasthik: Oh yeah. I get nervous about putting stuff up sometimes ay I wonder if you do too, I wonder if it's just like, I think it's everyone. Cause you think that you're going to be judged wrongly. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: Would you share it? You know, do people really want to see that? But I think it's important because. It's not because it's a marketing ploy it's sometimes because I'm feeling something that day. And usually when I meditate and being so devout. These like bursts of emotions that run through me that shape my painting that day, or shape a practice or shape a thought, or my views about the world, the corrupt capitalist system that we have going, and I'm going on a tangent.Eddy: Oh no, I agree with you.Swasthik: But yes, you know what I mean, sometimes I'll, I'll just share it because. Um, I also, because I've got, I follow family on Instagram because they it's the only way to keep in contact with them, um, is, you know, when you're worlds apart, but I'll share it because it, I don't know, I'm happy to share it. I suppose it made my day, um, celebrate it, celebrate your fam family and your loved ones. And I truly love them. So Eddy: Yeah. And that's how it definitely comes across that you're celebrating them. Swasthik: Yeah. Yeah. It's like, I guess that's it. I think. I think it's just human nature. Don't, you know, to love, you know, to have compassion, to celebrate our loved ones. Eddy: And we look for connections too like, whether it be with family or with friends or through the tattoo community, like we're really looking for connections. And that's how I use social media. Like I see it as invitational, like you know, any images I put up of myself, my cats, my life or anything, that's not necessarily a tattoo. I feel like I'm communicating who I am and who I want to be so that my potential clients, they can decide if they relate to that or not. And if they're going to be comfortable. Swasthik: Yeah, I totally agree as well, because I remember way before, when, before I had tattoos, I was quite intimidated to go into a tattoo shop. It was scary.Eddy: It was so scary.Swasthik: Because it was so cool. Yeah I know, and they're all covered in tattoos and, um, I think it was, it was way before Instagram even like, I didn't, I think I didn't even have a MySpace back then. So it was way before Instagram. It was actually really long time ago. Um, and I just remember like thinking, Oh, I hope this person that I get tattooed by is nice. I hope we have a lots to talk about, or if we don't talk about I hope, the silence isn't awkward. Um, but I think now having that um, option to have social media, um, and to be able to share little bits and pieces of your life, you create, you're able to create that you are a sort of element of connection. Like, you know, you post something of your cat, maybe someone's got the same cat. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: You know, and they want a portrait of their cat. Cause they're like, well, you have the same cat. So we can, we can talk about our cats. And I feel comfortable with you. Like I think. Eddy: And to be able to trust someone, you need to feel a connection. I think. Swasthik: Yes, exactly. Exactly. And I think like, I don't know, everyone, everyone can choose how they want to market themselves. There's no right or wrong at all. You are entitled to do what you want to do. Um, and so, yeah, like I love seeing pictures of people in their, with their loved ones, with their husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, if it's their birthday, with their cats, you know, I love seeing photos of tattooers that I admire. Um, With other tattooers and it just makes my heart smile. Perhaps they've done a collaborative painting and they've got a picture of them holding the painting. It's just really sweet sometimes, you know? Yeah. Eddy: I love that too, because like my, my dream for tattooing is that we can be a really positive community for each other because you know, in the town that I've tattooed in a lot of experiences have been negative where we see each other as competition, or like, you know, you can't be friends with them because they work at that other shop, but I'm like, Swasthik: Oh man. Eddy: I love it. When other shops come together, I love it. When tattooers from so-called competing studios work together. It's just so heartwarming. Swasthik: Yeah. And it should seriously, like. Isn't that what it should be about. Cause at the end of the day, like going deeper and being a bit more of a tripper, we're all the same, we're all made a flesh, blood, piss, bones. Noone's better than anyone else. Eddy: Absolutely. Swasthik: Do you know what I mean? And so, you know that sort of side, I think you're gonna get that in anything now, now we're going like, especially in this sort of mad capitalistic world, it doesn't matter if it's tattooing or if it's something else. I think you're always going to get that, but that's what I love about. I don't know if you feel the same way. There's, there's a lot of, there's a couple of tattooers that I truly idolize and love and can't wait to get tattooed by. And I think they've been tattooing pre Instagram generation. And, um, I think that I see them, um, with other tattooers and you can see that the real love and a real community sense of community and a real friendship, cause they would have relied solely on visiting each other at shops or, um, like bumping into someone at a gig, you know, organizing dinners to be able to have that.But I think that whole notion of competition has been something. Um, and I was having a chat to a girlfriend about this actually, um, I think social media has a lot to do with that now, creating that sort of air um, as well as what you were saying, like in the physical, you know, when certain shops aren't meant to interact with each other, which I just find really sad. Cause we can learn from each other, you know.Eddy: We're missing out on opportunities. Swasthik: Yeah, we are. Yeah. I, um, yeah man, I agree. I absolutely agree. Like there's so many people where I, um, fuck, like you just think about some of those incredible realism artists. I'd love to learn what they do. Do you know what I mean? I'd love to watch a realism tattooer just do their thing. Cause it's something that I could never do and I find it so fascinating. Eddy: And yeah, by being friendly with each other and watching each other and spending time with each other, that's how we learn and improve. Swasthik: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Eddy: That's why that's why traveling is so great.Swasthik: Oh yeah. Yeah, definitely. I think it, um, I think it puts things into perspective a lot. Yeah.Eddy: Absolutely. Swasthik: For sure. Eddy: Do, do you get a chance to travel much with your work? Swasthik: Umm. I haven't recently, I go to India like twice a year. Uh, sometimes go to Nepal. Um, I sorta get my inspiration to, as soon as I go to India and I come back, I'm reenergized and, um, re inspired, um, And then I'll start creating, but I haven't really had the chance to travel for work. And I'm not sure when I will, especially with the current situation at the moment.Eddy: Yeah, it makes it hard.Swasthik: I was gonna. Yeah, I know. Right. I was gonna this year, I wanted to get tattooed by some people that I truly, I love their work, um, overseas. Um, but after this it um obviously didn't happen. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: But um, yeah like I'd love to travel at some point and, um, tattoo and learn, watch people tattoo and grow more as an artist.Eddy: Yeah.Swasthik: I think that would be cool. Eddy: You definitely do. I know that like just. Every, every single time I get tattooed by someone and watching them work, I'll pick up like a little trick. And like, I'm not copying their work or anything, but you just like learn a little trick. Whether it be like the way they flick their wrist, or I don't know the way that they dip between colors or I don't know, just like little tiny subtleties that you notice and that can change everything for you. Swasthik: Aw man. Yes. I feel like I pick up on those things every day when I'm at work, like when I stop for 10 minutes and go down the stairs to watch someone tattoo or just to say G'day, I'll pick something up that I just don't know why I didn't like think of that way before.Eddy: Yep.Swasthik: You know what I mean? Like your life would have been easier if you did that. Um. Eddy: Yep. That's why I love working with so many people. Like there's seven of us at the moment in the studio. It's so nice. Yeah. Like getting the different opinions and the critiques and watching them work and everyone's got such a different way of going about it.Swasthik: That's awesome, man. Yeah. I love that. I also love how people can help you just being that second set of eyes. Like when you put a stencil on and just having an awesome work colleague, that's there to go look, I think it's like two mil off. That's saved me so many, so many times. Cause in your, in your mind, you think it's straight and then someone will tell you, and be like, Oh shit, I was so off, you know?Eddy: Cause we yeah, we do get like this kind of weird blinker on for ourselves where like, you know, we've in our mind, we've decided how we want it to look. So sometimes it's really hard to see it as it actually is other than how it, how we intend it to look. So, you know, you might think a stencils straight and then someone will be like, Oh nah, maybe not.Swasthik: Yeah I know. Yeah, I'm so grateful for that. I'm so, I love the people I work with. They're so funny and so talented and um, so helpful. I'm so grateful to be there because it's Mimsy. You know, you interviewed Mimsy, so yeah at Trailer Trash.Eddy: Such an amazing crew. Swasthik: Yeah. She's special though. Eddy: She is, I love how we were both talking before the interview about how, you know, when we guested with Mimsy, it kind of like changed everything for us. And where you get to open your eyes and like, Oh wow.Swasthik: Yes, yes.Eddy: That's what tattooing can be.Swasthik: Yeah. Like how people can be kind. Yep, yeah. I think that'd be nice to see more of that in the industry, you know.Eddy: Definitely. Swasthik: Free to be, um, kind isn't it, it's free to, you know, good manners are free. If you don't have to, even if you're stressed, you don't have to, you can just close your door or just be like, guys. I'm just going to chill out today. You know, I've got a big tattoo. Eddy: It actually it takes so much less energy just to be nice. You know, I feel likeSwasthik: Oh yeah.Eddy: Customers who are, sorry, not customers, tattooers who are cranky with their clients or angry with the people they work with that takes so much energy out of you. And if you just take a moment to take a breath and smile orSwasthik: Meditate.Eddy: Not in the way that men tell women to smile, but smile in the way of like for yourself, you know? Swasthik: Oh yeah. Eddy: Being. Just kindness is so much easier. Swasthik: Yeah, definitely. I think you'd just find, I don't know. I feel like sometimes, yeah, I dunno, like you're right. It just takes two seconds hey, and it does like, if I don't, if I'm having a shit day or if I haven't meditated, and then I'm having a really, really rough day. And if it just, if I don't communicate it with my work colleagues or with my clients, I'll snap or I'll be abrupt and I feel so guilty about it. Um, so I think my general w like vibe is just to chill out. Just be kind, you know, it's, you know, it doesn't take too much and that's just being real innit. Eddy: Yeah.Swasthik: People want that. Eddy: Absolutely. And it's so nice to have space where you've got permission to do that, too, where you can go in and say, Hey guys, like I'm a bit fragile today. Um, so here are, these are my boundaries and I really appreciate you respecting them and let's have a wonderful day and it just it's, it makes everything go so much easier.Swasthik: So much. Yeah, it does. It does. Absolutely. I think like, as you were saying earlier on tattooing is stressful as it is, um, you know, you always sort of. I don't know, there's been so many times where I've been organized with my drawing, but then I've had to make a change, like, you know, five minutes before the client comes in and I'm all flustered again, you know? And so, yeah. It's so, um, it's just stressing, but.Eddy: It is.Swasthik: I reckon like, yeah, if you just talk and communicate, then all is good. Eddy: Yep, communicating with compassion, we can all be in a much better place. Swasthik: Yes. Yes. Eddy: I think um tattooing in general could use a lot more compassion and I feel like this, um, COVID situation has kind of made a lot of us approach each other with more compassion.Swasthik: Definitely. Eddy: I get a lot of really nice messages from other tattooers. And, you know, I do the same in return. I've had some tattooers send me like prints and art, but like just out of the blue, just cause they wanted to do something nice for another tattooer. And it's so lovely. Swasthik: Mmm I agree. I really, really agree. And I've done the same. I've sent some original, like some paintings that I've done um, to special people, um, and their partners. Um, and, um, I've also received lots of love and return, um, uh, lots of messages from people that are extremely busy that you wouldn't think would ever message you, but they have taken two seconds to message you. Um, it really makes, makes my day, you know, just, uh, I mean, I know that it's a vert, like I know it's like, A social media thing. And I do really look forward to meeting these people in real life and having a cuppa with them. Um, but it's nice to get that because it's, um, I think globally actually it's happened. I've been getting messages from friends that I haven't heard from in so long. So I think this whole COVID situation is really changing, um, that I guess that element of people having a bit more compassion for sure. It's just slowing the pace down, isn't it? Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: You know, people being able to have conversations, it's not a mad rush, which, which I really like man, like I've eased into just painting every day. Like I'm cruisy, you know? Um, if we go back to tattooing sweet, I miss it so so much. I miss my clients even more. Um, Because I love tattooing, but if we have to be, you know, in iso for a bit longer, no sweat, I'll just keep painting because I like painting, you know? Eddy: Yeah. It, it really, it's, it's really nice to be able to decide what to do with your time. And I just, I really it's overly optimistic, but I really hope that after this, we can come out and be like, fuck capitalism, let's burn it all down. Let's just have little communities let's barter and trade and like.Swasthik: That's what we were talking about, yeah. Eddy: Yup. Swasthik: That's what we were sayin. Yup. Exactly. Yeah. It's going to be a proper wake up call, I reckon Eddy ay because like, no, one's forgot. Well, I haven't forgotten about the fires as we were talking about. And then all of a sudden this has come through. Um, I think it's going to be a huge, huge wake up call. Um, and, um, yeah, like. Eddy: Yeah like if you're notice social activist yet, like now's the time to get on that train because we can, we can make some real changes.Swasthik: Exactly. Exactly. That's exactly right. Um, but yeah, it's just sort of slowed everything down for sure. I reckon. Eddy: Have you had a lot of time for like the, like the other things in your life that you like, you know, whether it be reading or music or? Swasthik: Yeah. I've, um, I've been reading a few books. Um, I'm always listening to music you see, like when I'm painting, I've always got music. I've always got some jams on. Um, I've been running a lot, um, just around the block, um, doing a bit more yoga. Having sweet sleep ins, which you never really get the chance to do when you're back at work. Eddy: It's been so good sleeping in. Swasthik: It is, it is. I've been going to bed at like eight, which is so weird. It's just. I think my body needs it. I think it's just like, you know, I think this time now is time for resting for me, um, or doing things that I love for, um, Yeah, not sort of hustling so much on drawing for clients, but doing whatever I want to do. So what about you? Have you had time to chill?Eddy: I have done nothing but chill, but it's good because I think, you know, the world is so like, Everything's so hyper-connected and instantaneous and high pressure. And it is that constant hustle and it's exhausting. Even if we don't realize like we're being exhausted, you know, you just kind of, it slowly builds up over time and then one day you wake up and you're like, I can barely breathe. I can barely move. I'm so burned out. And this came at such a good time for me. Like I I'd been probably for six months really struggling to hold myself together. Just like, I, I want to, I don't have the energy, for all these things I want to achieve. And like, I don't know how to keep going. And then everything stopped. And then I was just like, I'm gon, I'm going to sleep and I'm going to make pompoms and I'm going to hug the cats.Swasthik: Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Is everything okay though at your, you just needed some time to chill? Eddy: Yeah. I just needed some time to chill. Like for me, I have, um, I have chronic pain from spinal cord injury. So, you know, I, you know, my, my practice has just always been about finding a balance between the pain and the energy and my drive, you know, which aren't really all connected very well.Swasthik: Yes ok.Eddy: Yeah, I think these, these opportunities, and like you're saying, like using the time to like, kind of look at yourself and meditate on things and like, yeah, it's, it's important. And it's been crucial for me to get back. And I think when I come back to tattooing, I'm going to be so much better for it. Swasthik: Yeah. I think everyone's going to be. You know, I think that we often forget because tattooing is so high voltage, we often, sometimes, I'm sure most of us have been in a situation where we've put tattooing before ourselves. Eddy: Yup. Swasthik: And so it's nice that we're forced to, to actually step back from that and treat ourselves and look after ourselves and be kind to ourselves during this time.Eddy: Absolutely.Swasthik: Because you know, we don't want anyone to burn out. It's not good for your soul. It's not good for your spirit. Eddy: Yeah. And who set up this rule anyway, that we have to work, you know, five or six days a week, or, you know, 10 hours a day, like who decided that?Swasthik: Yep. Dunno. Eddy: We're pirates, tattooers you know, we're supposed to make the rules and we're supposed to go against the current of, of everything that's wrong with society. And we're supposed to be, you know, The healers, the ones with wisdom, the ones who communicate our ideas to other people and help people express themselves. And yet we've got, so we've almost lost who we areSwasthik: Who we areEddy: Like as a group. And like forgotten, yeah, I don't know. Swasthik: That's such a good point. And I think like that's why having travel is really good because it's when you can, you're free to do whatever. Do you know what I mean? Like when you're, when you're at work or when you're living and you've got a daily routine, you've got responsibilities, um, within tattooing, but also outside of tattooing, in your personal life, let's say, and then it's hard. It's it is hard because you've got to, you've got to like work. You know, you've got to pay the rent. Um, but then when you get to travel, you've got autonomy because like you can work where you want to work. What days you want to work. I often sort of, and I haven't done it yet, but I assumed and sort of fantasized that traveling with tattooing would be really quite fun because you can guest at the shops that you want to spend one to one time with certain people in terms of just knowing them, just, just watching them tattoo, having the ability to be in their presence, getting to know them, getting to know about their stories, um, and getting tattooed by them. So I often sort of think like that's when you're, when you sort of step away from your routine and your daily life, you've got that, you know, like you said, being a pirate again, just traveling and just doing that. So. Eddy: It's so good.Swasthik: Yeah.Eddy: It's been every time I've had the opportunity to do that. And I know it is certainly a privilege to be able to travel in the first place, but every time I've done it, it's I've come a better tattooer.Swasthik: Yep. Yep. Eddy: Do you think like once the borders opened back up and things are a bit safer to travel that you'll start planning things then? Swasthik: I think the first thing is going to organize to go back to India.Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: I really get grounded there. I do. Um, and I'm such a creature of habit you see, like, I think getting out for me, like even doing this interview, I get really kind of nervous and stuff, you know, but I've just got to do it because once you do it, you're all good. Hey, um, I will, I just think. I don't know if it's going to be this year. I hope it's next year. I've talked to a few people within Australia, um, that I wouldn't mind doing like a, like a guest spot in Melbourne or a guest spot guest spot in Sydney. Yeah. Um, there's some yeah, incredible people just even in Australia. Hey, we've got some awesome tattooers, man. Eddy: We have so much talent here.Swasthik: So much. And I really want to get tattooed by like a few people that I'm running out of space. So I've got to, I've got toEddy: Same Swasthik: I don't know what I'm gonna do ay Eddy: I've actually like getting stuff like lasered off because I'm like, I need more room. Swasthik: Yeah. See, I'm too scared. I think I just going to do the coverup route. I um want to redo my whole body, I think. Eddy: Wow. Swasthik: I think I'll stick to one person to do that, but yeah, it's just too. Yeah, I've got to sort that out, but no. Yeah. I don't know. I'd like to say, I think in India and Nepal would be priority one when the borders opened up. But after that no idea. Eddy: Do you get to tattoo with your family when you go back over there?Swasthik: I do tattoo in India. Nan is really old. She's actually not, well.Eddy: Oh I'm sorry. Swasthik: She had a fall. She's not with it. You know, it's interesting. They regress back to being children. Like when we saw her last um, I think just seeing mum, like step out of the otto made her cry, um, saying goodbye by the balcony. Cause she couldn't get up to get to the balcony, made her cry and cause she doesn't have any teeth anymore. And bless. She's so healthy though, because like her, her brother is 105. Eddy: Wow. Swasthik: Yeah. He's so cute. They're like sat, they go, they go for a walk, which is like 10 meters long. Eddy: Aww bless.Swasthik: It's so funny, it's so cute. Yeah, they're good friends. But anyway, um, so I tattoo there not with family, but I tattoo family yes. And often I'll just bring my own machines and I'll draw up a real quick flash that's kind of easy to do um, and just tattoo. Most, mostly people want religious symbols. Um, Om because they are full Brahman, so they're not eating meat. Um, they're practicing Hindu. No one really sort of gets, um, like a big sleeve or anything. Like I said, it's sort of ritualistic tattoos, small tattoos. Um, some of the women get Kolum. Um, just little ones though, you know? Uh, but there is this beautiful Ramayana community Elders. They have, um, the they're completely covered from head to toe. Um, and they have the script or the Sanskrit to Rama, um, tattooed horizontally. Eddy: Wow. Swasthik: Across their body from like forehead down to their pinky toe it's abso. It's sensational. Eddy: That's amazing.Swasthik: If you have a chance to ever look at it. Look like, I don't know, check out the photos online.Eddy: I will. Swasthik: They're very powerful. They're really beautiful. But, um, yeah, it's all it's. It's like no pressure. Fun times tattooing when I go back home hey. Eddy: Oh, wow. Do you ever learn about the like the healing kind of tattoos from your grandma, has she passed that down to you? Swasthik: She has. And it's something that I've I think oh, how's it going to sound? It's like, this is an example, like when I was young and I saw Nana do it for the first time when I was like a kid, I'd say Amma, Paati...like, what is she doing? And my mom would explain to me then what the reason was. And so, you know, remembering that, and then being taught by not only my grandma, but by many other Elders. Umm by a lot of the Gurus working in the temples in our family temples, because it'll happen outside the temple as well. Um, so yes, I do I have that knowledge and I have those stories. And often, um, very, um, really grateful cause it's like oral storytelling tradition. SoEddy: Yeah. Swasthik: It's, it always makes me quite emotional when I get, when someone shares a story like that with me, because, you know, you take, if they leave this world, you're never going to forget their words are you so. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: So yeah. Eddy: Wow. Swasthik: Yeah. Eddy: It's so, I love hearing people's um, history and visual languages and what, what they put of themselves into their tattooing and, and just seeing how it influences the tattooing and how it makes them different and what they can bring. Like, it's just, it's so special that it's such an individual thing. I love it. Swasthik: Yeah I reckon hey with everyone, everyone's like, Noone's the same. I don't think, do you know, like everyone say, like, if you do traditional and like this, you do a rose, but the way that you do a rose is going to be so different to the way that someone else does a rose.Eddy: Absolutely. Swasthik: From the drawing to the application, to the, to the follow through, to everything.Eddy: And even the intention. Swasthik: The intention, exactly. Exactly. Yup. Yup. Eddy: Absolutely. Um, in regards to the divine feminine, um, how do you think that can play a part in creating more balance and equality in tattooing? Swasthik: Um, so like, the divine feminine, I suppose, is we as humans. We have both the divine masculine and the divine feminine. And I think, um, You know, having female energy within tattooing umm is, is so imperative just because it just adds to having a bit more diversity.Eddy: Yeah absolutely. Swasthik: And by being open minded and having, you know, a lot more compassion, I'm not saying people aren't compassionate, you know, regardless of race gender, you know, regardless of all of that, you know, there's people that are compassionate and there's people that often might feel that being compassionate is a sign of weakness. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: And I feel like, you know, the tattoo shop that I apprenticed that was not a great tattoo shop for me to continue and grow. Um, it was all guys, um, and it had. I don't think they do got me. I don't think it was something that I think it was sort of cast away or having that sort of, that notion of divine feminine or having compassion was sort of seen as a weakness. Whereas I really think it's such a powerful theme because by having more feminine energy or celebrating it along with the divine masculine, I'm not trying to categorize here. It's just going to give us that potential to be diverse within the tattoo industry as a whole, and to be open-minded, um, both are necessary when wanting to grow artistically as well as within like the application of tattooing. Eddy: Yeah, absolutely. And, and the divine, the divine feminine and the divine masculine is such a, uh, important part of your reli oh, your spirituality as well, right? Swasthik: Yes. Yeah. Yup. Yup. That's it. That's true. Yeah. I think like, cause I've grown up with it and it being embedded into my culture, into my cultural practice, into my religion and being a devout Hindu, um, it shapes my tattooing practice a lot because it's that equal level of respect. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: Whoever, regardless of their gender, race, religion, whatever backgrounds, like I said, you know, tattooing is non-discriminatory, it is, means different things for different people. Um, and as long as you're over the consent age, it's different in the East like it's different. I can only speak for what happens within tattooing in India. And, you know, you can get tattooed as young, as 10, if not younger in India, it's a completely different context and scenario, but at the end of the day, tattooing does not discriminate. So I, I would assume in the Western world, if you're over the consent age, um, You know, it's um, yeah. Having to divine feminine, divine masculine, this is just gonna you know, allow us to have more diversity and be open minded. Eddy: Absolutely. And I feel really sad for, um, a lot of people in Western culture where, you know, we're conditioned to believe that um, you know, showing emotions like compassion and empathy are a weakness. And, you know, so many people go through their lives, just being full of fear and anger and pain because they don't have an avenue to express it. And, you know, I see it happening so much in tattooing where there's like a lot of really toxic behaviors or, you know, a lot of like really angry people. Swasthik: Yeah. Eddy: If they just took a momentSwasthik: And misogyny, I've seen.Eddy: Oh my God. Yeah. It's such an issue. If they just took a momentSwasthik: It's really ugly. Eddy: To just be like a little bit kind to themselves to express their emotions in a healthy way, then they can be kinder to other people and understand that it's not like masculine versus feminine. Both are equal and important and necessary. Swasthik: I love that. I love that you said it like that. You said, yeah. I love that Eddy. And I think, I think, um, yeah man, there's no separation between gender race umm sexual preference. There is unity and there should be unity. And part of that unity is like, obviously there's the should be community, which you were talking about earlier.Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: And through all of that, you know, you're going to have. People should be free to not feel silenced. They should be able to not think that being empathetic or compassionate or creating trippy art, surreal art. Um, Whatever kind of art they want is not like, without it being a weakness, you know how we were talking about earlier, where it's like, you know, beautiful, surreal art is, is considered like, wow, that's so abstract. But then when it's within the tattooing context, it's very much like, well that doesn't make a good tattoo. Eddy: Yeah, that's crazy. Swasthik: Who's to say that Yeah. Yeah. Cause part of, I feel like part of meditating and practicing this craft or being, being an artist is like being able to, um, as you were saying, like to be able to have an outlet where you can release that emotion in a positive way. Um, part of that is like being able to release it through your expression of art, isn't it? Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: And by doing that and being in an environment that accepts that, where people accept, they don't have to love it. They don't even have to like it. But they can be respectful, you know, as long as they're not saying anything neggy, that's hurtful, constructive criticism is so different to taking a dig it'sEddy: Absolutely.Swasthik: You know, um. Eddy: Constructive criticism has a lot of value in what we do, but like, you know, you mentioned to me that, you know, sometimes you've worked in situations where people have laughed at you for being spiritual. And it's just like that, that is just such an insane thought to not respect another person's practice. Swasthik: Yeah. Yeah. And I think like, It's only made me stronger on a side note. It's only made me stronger. It's not stopped me from obviously continuing to do what I do. Cause I don't think I've ever stopped creating, like creating trippy shit or Hinduism based imagery, tattoos, spiritual stuff, things that mean a lot to me, things that I feel I'm well-educated about. Um, I'm not even going to try and attempt to do something that I don't know too, like anything about, because it's not going to come from a place of love and it's, it's sure as hell not gonna look that great, you know, but when I'm drawing something that I know, um, despite the adversity and, um, attacks on it, I'm still gonna continue, um, doing it because it's like, well, man, that's all I know. Cause I guess, I'm Indian, so I know about it, you know, so I'm going to paint it. And so, yeah, like I think at the end of the day, how does the divine feminine, um, influence or can influence the tattoo industry? I think, um, just by adding to diversity and by creating awareness, being open minded, celebrating um, having compassion or compassionate or having deep thinking, um, instead of it sort of being swept under the rug. Eddy: Yeah. Swasthik: Um, you know, like art is subjective, as we were saying, not everyone's gonna like it and not everyone's going to love it, but there's gonna be people out there that are gonna love it. Um, and I also think at the end of the day, it's create it for yourself, especially during this iso period, I've been just painting for myself, man. Seeing how far I can go with my drawings, experimenting with different mediums, you know? Am I proud of it? Yeah. It's all right it could be way better. You could do I could have done that better. I'll do it better next time. Eddy: Yeah. I mean we can always do everything better.Swasthik: Exactly. I think it's one of those things where, you know, what did they say? It's when you do 10,000 hours, you're master I'm like, nah, I think it's, I've immersed myself in a craft where I'm always going to be learning. I don't think I'll ever stop.Eddy: Nah. Swasthik: You know, even if I do it till the very end, I'll probably pick up the trick when I'm like 90. Um, yeah, but. Yeah, I love, I think that's it. Hey, would to answer that question. Eddy: Yeah. Awesome. Thank you. Swasthik: No worries. Eddy: Well before we finish up today, is there anything else that you like would like to touch on or that you'd like to share with the listeners or, you know, that you'd like to communicate at all?Swasthik: Umm Well, I can't think of anything at the top of my head, but I just wanted to say that I had a really lovely time chatting with you. Eddy: Yeah. It's been so lovely. Swasthik: And having a chat before this chat too. It was just real nice. Eddy: Yeah. And today's the first time we've ever actually had a chance to chat. Like I've followed you for a while on social media, but, you know, and message and email. Swasthik: Did we ever meet? At the flash day though. Pretty sure I feel like we did at one of Mimsy's.Eddy: Because you did the Brisbane and I did the, um, I did the Sydney one, so it was literally just all on Instagram. Swasthik: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. See, I feel like it's just one of those things. When, you know, you have a good feeling with someone that's like what we, what we were saying earlier. Like when you, like, when you sort of idolize someone and then you're like, Mimsy right. And then you meet that person in real life and the way they hold themselves and their grace and their respect to you and their kindness to you just seems to, to just make you love them even more and it shocks you. And it's, and it's like, um chatting to you it's just sort of, yeah, you're real sweetheart. I had a really good time. Thanks. Eddy: Ditto.Swasthik: Thanks for it.Eddy: Ditto.Swasthik: And I can't wait to meet in real life. Eddy: I know same, I really need to come visit.Swasthik: Yeah likewise. We'll have to do a trade. Eddy: I would love that. I'm such a huge fan of your work. Swasthik: Likewise, lovely. Um, I've just, yeah, it's one of those things. I've once I get around to it, I'll message you and we can do a bit of a trade.Eddy: That would be perfect. Swasthik: It's like that juggling act of trying to find time to chill and then finish other commissions and create available flash. Eddy: Yep. Maybe one day when you've got your van and you're traveling around.Swasthik: Yes. I can come and take showers in your house and stay in the van.Eddy: Awesome. Well for our listen is, um, you'll be able to, um, find out more information about Swasthik um, through Instagram, if you head over to not just to girl underscore tattoo, we'll have all of the links and information. I'll put them in the show notes as well, and make sure you subscribe and follow and share and spread the love. Um, thank you so much to Swasthik for chatting to me today and sharing your story and, um, for letting our listeners hear your story as well. I think everyone really appreciates it and I really hope everyone has a beautiful day. Swasthik: Thanks love. Thank you so much. And yeah, I hope everyone has an awesome day. And thank you for listening to me rant on just random stuff. Yeah, I hope I made sense anyway.Eddy: It did.Swasthik: But thank you.

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comicteaparty · 5 years

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December 3rd-December 9th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from December 3rd, 2018 to December 9th, 2018. The chat focused on JINGKU by DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio).

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on JINGKU by DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)~! (https://globalcomix.com/c/jingku)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until December 9th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 3. Will "Taw" be discovered and revealed to a woman and/or not Shu? What do you think will happen should that come about? Who might be the first to discover it?

QUESTION 4. Do you believe that the Taw clan, especially Mother Mai, will leave the situation as is, or will they intervene to protect "Taw?" Also, do you believe Shu might be discovered wherever he went? If so, what might happen?

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Alrighty! Welcome and thank you to Comic Tea Party for hosting this discussion! I am DA-POW!, the creator of JINGKU, and will be participating as well. Feel free to read through the short excerpt above, if you haven't already! Please remember to be kind and respectful of everyone's thoughts. But please don't hold back if you have any burning questions or passions pertaining to JINGKU that you'd like to share! As a starter, I'll go ahead and answer the first two questions here. O w O

So! What has been my favorite scene in the comic so far? I have a number of favorite scenes, but I would say the moments that I've enjoyed drawing the most is the scene where Lee gives Taw his kukaoki. 8^U!!!

And the scene where Lee saves Taw from falling to her death. Q v Olll

These are my favorite scenes because they turned out the closest to how I envisioned them as I drew. And that is always something very satisfying to know when a creator's life is essentially attempting to chase and capture their vision for other's to see. Now who is my favorite character? I have to say, I like each character for different reasons. ; v ; BUT!!! I will share who I enjoy drawing the most-- which is Hur. Since Hur is a character who has a bald cut, if I need to adjust him mid-way through--- there's not a lot of editing I have to do to say... Huatai. Who's hair I almost have to always redraw if I should need to change his position and placement on the page.(edited)

But then again, I also must confess Huatai is very dear to me! He is the only character that was alive before JINGKU's world was molded out from my late teenage years-- meaning he was made before JINGKU existed. He's gone through a lot of changes, but I'm glad that he's found a home in JINGKU. He is very important to the Vavoan afterall. XD I would love to hear what other people's thoughts are on their favorite scene and character from the JINGKU cast. I must confess though!!! As far as I know, Lee is officially the most popular character and if you feel that way-- please tell this silly bean why. (And if not, who's the precious bean you've offered up yer likes to, eh? Confess!) ; V ; When I created Lee, I did not put an inkling of effort to insure his place in anyone's heart and now I'm wondering if my lack of effort has backfired on me. XDDD(edited)

RebelVampire

im surprised you find lee's popularity a semi-mystery given your own chosen fave scenes XD lee is my fave but until i answer more questions tomorrow i will be more objective and less subjective about why i think he is probably the most popular in general. and that would be due to 1) of the characters so far his positive traits have probably been the most focused on 2) of the character so far his positive traits are the ones who have had the most impact on the protagonist, Taw 3) of the characters so far, he is the one who continually does nice things without forseeable self motivation, and selflessness is an extremely endearing trait (keep in mind im talking about as he presents himself. maybe he does have selfish reasoning, but its an unknown factor). 4) although he's stoic, his "negative" traits are the least abrasive in their own way due to the fact he gives Taw some more space. whereas the others are somewhat more social aggressive.

so effort aside hes basically been the most positively painted character

to summarize

actually the fact you claim to have not put effort to get ppl to like him makes him even more endearing because it just means hes angel through and through

lee doesnt even need the kukaoki. hes just gonna fly through the sky using his angel wings

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Rebel dropping dem truth bombs on me. XDDDDD But I must clarify (just for my own mental comfort) that I would have loved the scenes I mentioned whether it was Lee saving Taw, Hur, Voo, or simply a monkey. I was just really happy with how they turned out artistically-- more so than the actual fact that it was Lee or even Taw for that matter. ; W ;/ But OMG Rebel... OMG.... shakes head to self What have I done? It seems I played myself and I can't help but laugh at my own silliness.(edited)

"Lee doesn't even need the kukaoki. He's just gonna fly through the sky using his angel wings." - RebelVampire (Quote of the Year)(edited)

shrimpchipsahoy

Answer 1: One of my favorite scenes is from the first chapter, where Taw says she is like the fence protecting her family. It's difficult for me to explain exactly why it's my favorite, but something about it really resonated with me. (It could be because I'm a wife and mother, idk. Lol) Other than that, I have to say, every scene is meticulously drawn and all the characters are perfect in their own way.

Chillin&Livin

1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it? I find the interaction between Hur and Voo to be my favortie scene. The way they jab each other with insults and nicknames is just hilarious. 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor? I am a bit undecided on choosing my favorite character, so I'm going to wait until there is more material for me to examine who I find the most favorable. 3. Will "Taw" be discovered and revealed to a woman and/or not Shu? What do you think will happen should that come about? Who might be the first to discover it? It's quite difficult for me to decide when Taw's secret will finally be discovered, but if that ever happens I think she will be in big trouble. I think the first one to discover Taw's secret will probably be Hur or Voo since they're the ones mostly close to Taw. 4. Do you believe that the Taw clan, especially Mother Mai, will leave the situation as is, or will they intervene to protect "Taw?" Also, do you believe Shu might be discovered wherever he went? If so, what might happen? I think they'll come back to help Taw in the future and I don't think shu will be discovered.(edited)

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Now that @shrimpchipsahoy has mentioned that, I must confess one of my favorite quotes from JINGKU is: "You chose to become a wild animal. And I... For this family... Chose to be the fence."(edited)

But OMG, Shrimp. ;v; Thank you for the kind words~~.

keii4ii

I love that quote too, and not just because it shows her love for her family. There's something poignant about her being a fence ... she's not one of the animals being protected. She is, and is not, part of the family at the same time.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

OMG. O _ O @keii4ii Your wise mind knows no bounds. But yeah!!! Adding on to that, a few readers have talked about the fence being the borderline to what's right and wrong. The pigs being what's right and the wild animal being what's wrong. But as the creator, I didn't intend it that way-- though I won't stop people from discussing it in that sense.(edited)

But it's more so of simply: Protect those inside (and put yourself at risk)? Let others protect you (and put other's at risk)? Or simply protect yourself (and leaves others to their own mechanisms)?(edited)

shrimpchipsahoy

@DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio) I volunteer to be your fence.

Answer 2: I struggled for a long time over picking a favorite character. Just like everyone else, I really like Lee, but all of the characters bring unique qualities to the table that make them special and stand out in their own way. That being said, so far Taw is my number one favorite character. She's very strong and selfless when it comes to protecting the people she loves. I like that her character is flawed and that we get to experience her struggles with her. Also, quick superficial sidenote, but Huatai (and his flawless hair) is a hottie and if we were going solely based on looks that man wins hands down.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

But on the topic of Voo & Hur, one reader of mine did mention that their interaction was "interesting." XDDD Pertaining to what @Chillin&Livin said, I'm happy to hear someone finds the two funny and entertaining! Some of us are probably not aware since they did pop up later to read JINGKU, but the first few drafts of JINGKU posted online actually had Hur's dialogue censored because I was not really sure on the target audience yet. In the end, I ultimately decided that the work would be best left in the hands of older teens and adults instead of children seeing as the topics that JINGKU will discuss would probably be too dark to share with a young audience either way.(edited)

@shrimpchipsahoy BUT OMG SHRIMP!!!!! XDDDDDD(edited)

I've got to agree Huatai's flawless hair is truly something. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Many of my friends have commented about his little twirl, which is essentially the last element that I placed on him before deciding he was ready to take his place in the circle of JINGKU characters.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. Who exactly is the new Huatai? Is the fact he has a Green dialect significant in regards to himself or Shu's lover? What do you think he'll do as Huatai?

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

So the fact that we're asking about the Huatai-- it reminded me that a few readers in the past have asked me: what in the world is everyone's actual names? XDDD I have no idea if any of the future questions in this discussion will poke at this, but I do hope to make plans to reveal some of the cast's real name where applicable in the future. Though, I must say that I make no promises. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

AH!!!! But the topic of the Green dialect! Just as a comparison, I would like to mention that the Green dialect is different in say... American English is to British English or Australian English. Which I have mentioned to @- ̗̀ Mitsu ৫ ̖́- at one point. XDDD Even a standard Northern American dialect compared to a deep Southern American one would be a good comparison. Of course, I must mention that I do lean towards a more British one to represent Huatai just because it would give him a more posh impression. ; v ; Though the thought of a deep Southern American one seems quite awesome too now that I've mentioned it. 8^L Example: Do you have a flashlight? (American English) Do you have a torch? (British English) Don't forget the fact that there is slight difference in stress of certain vowels and consonants in the Green dialect just as American English differs a bit to British English if you still need a comparison.(edited)

If anyone has any questions pertaining to cultural or lingual topics of the Hmong ethnicity, please don't be afraid to ask! O v O/ I will do my best to answer!

RebelVampire

1) I'm torn between two scenes so ill just pick both. the first scene i really like is the one with Taw having to get out of bath thing with Hur and Voo. like majority of the time those scenes happen in secretly a girl stories, its really comedic and shenanigan ridden. and while ill love shenanigans, im not a huge fan of the trope because it always feels really forced and logically inconsistent. so i love that in this story taw got out of it no big deal. boundaries were respected and everyone moved on. so i appreciate that scene just for being different and not focusing on it (at least in that specific moment of context). the second scene i really like is the one where lee gives taw his kukaoki and is super patient with taw. it was heartwarming to see the contrast to their arrival cause it shows that rules will be followed and enforced not out of cruelty but because the rules exist and everyone is there for a reason. 2) as i stated Lee be my favorite. i already gave my objective reason why i assume hes the most popular in other spaces. but now my subjective reason. lee hits all the right notes for my favorite guildty pleasure character types. got the grumpy stoicism, the dedication and focus, the immense loyalty, all packed on top of a heart of gold. Lee is just the angel no one deserves. 3) I totally think Taw is gonna get found out. I mean theyre with the Huatai for life. So unless Taw dies a very early death, she's kind of doom. Something is gonna happen eventually that exposes the secret. I'm assuming it's gonna be Lee or Huatai. cause i dont feel Hur or Voo would be understanding enough. Or maybe it's gonna be someone we havent met yet. Maybe that pretty lady who greeted them when they arrived.

4) I think this largely depends on what they know. Like did Taw leave them a note that said "Shu ran away and I'm taking his place?" or was there a note that said "I hate you all I'm running away Shu is best and going to the palace like a good boy." Cause while I might of missed it, that really determines whether they even know to go looking for Taw in the first place. Even if they did know Taw is taking a risk, i'm not sure they'd do anything cause they do have to think of the whole clan. Actually speaking of this, this is why i actually dont view Taw's whole obsession with being the fence as selfless as a lot of others. Cause her actions to try and be the fence, while good intentioned, still have consequences. If she's discovered maybe her whole clan gets punished, for instance. at the very least, ppl are going to miss her im sure and be hurt by her absence. so her actions are not without their downfalls and selfish nuances. not that this is bad, at all, just saying the fence thing makes me side eye a bit sometimes. as for shu, idk. i dont think hes going to be found out unless he wants to be found out. and maybe hell want to be found out. theres no gurantee his relationship will last and like, where else is he gonna go at that point if thinks all go downhill? probably home, cause that is the usual instinct. 5) i think the green dialect might be specific, but i dont have theories as to why because there is much to be seen about the region. i think hes gonna be the best huatai who does all the great things and shows taw why taw should care about the kingdom. i base this on nothing except the huatai is a hottie and that lee trusts him so i feel compelled to trust him. #ShallowReasoningIntensifies

kongli

My favort scene is when taw finds out about shu and his boyfriend. i was really shocked-- I didn't think that any hmong story would include a gay couple because its something we shouldn't talk about. So it was daring to me.

Out of everyone we've seen so far, i think I'm leaning towards is mua. He seems like someone really sly and i like that-- sort of like gin from Bleach.

I'm going to agree with RebelVampire. Taw's going to get found out. i don't think she thought this through. I think she should have told mother mai what happened, and then decide on how to approch the problem.

about Shu though. I think he''s an idiot! I don't care much about who he was with, but how could he betray his family? I actually thought shu was okay at first, but then after he did that to taw I was like no.

i binged through Jingku and I was on a rollercoaster. For every scene that shcoked me, I was upset and also excited.

I just wish shu was more sly then this wouldn't have happened.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

OMG, @RebelVampire . XDDDD Huatai's a hottie and Lee trusts him. That's legit. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)b AH!!! But I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the scene with Voo and Taw, although I sort of forgot about it in the midst of all the other plot devices I'm juggling. 9v9lll Ah... But I do understand the undercover girl bath scene trope that you speak of. XDDD I do my best to make characters true to their backstory, so every character's reaction to whatever pops up in JINGKU should reflect on them as a person. ; V ; Maybe someday when we get further enough, I'll do little extra installments outside of the canon plot with plot along the lines of the beach episode, the valentines episode, so on and so forth for giggles. (Makes fanfic and fan-comics of my own creations. =v=b) No promises though~~.(edited)

Lee is just the angel no one deserves. GEH. wipes a glittery tear ; W ;

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

For all the feelings that I didn't invest into Lee... Now thinking it over, I'm sort of happy that the readers feel for him. Although as I mentioned, I never intended for this to happen. I guess it's like Bob Ross says... There's no mistake. Just a happy accident. Y v Y

On the topic of Taw though, I will admit-- as a human being and as myself (my background and circumstances)-- I would have never done what Taw did. OvOlll I don't think I'm that... gutsy? Willing to risk so much or gamble with such high stakes? Essentially, in the terms of the pig, fence, wild animal analogy-- I would be the pig. I probably wouldn't be very promising as a character. But as I always say, I think I would make great bacon. =v=b

BUT OMG. XDDD The lack of faith in Shu from my readers is immense! I can only hope that whatever happens, it will be for the better of everyone's life. OvOlll

It's always great to hear that I put readers through a roller coaster of emotions @kongli !!! ; V ; I can only hope you'll continue to stay on the ride till the end!

In all honesty though, I'm surprised to hear that you've already sort of grown attached to Mua (just because he's just barely appeared.) OAO!!! Everyone in the Vavoan are sort of an oddball, so I'm glad they all shine through with their own respective traits.(edited)

kongli

Yeah. i'm going to stick around. (;

I don't really care for lee because he hurt Taw. i don't like the guys that are always talking and don't listen to the girl.

Lee is always assuming everything like he knows it all and it just turns me off. Why dont he think to ask?

But yeah, he is the member thats like doing everything so i understand why people like him.

I also think that because lee is so truthful about everything like from what we know so far like vampire said, he is going to be taken of advantage of easily. taw is kind of different. Like she;s not really a good person, but not really a bad person to the country. From chaptor seven, i think Taw might be the one to do that. I wish the creator told us what taw was thinking though so we know for sure though.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

We'll definitely be learning more about the conclusion Taw came upon from the seventh chapter as we move along the plot for sure, @kongli! I won't simply leave ya'll hanging and say that's all I have to say about her plan so fear not. Ov<b

shrimpchipsahoy

@kongli I like that scene too because I think it gives Taw a chance to shine. We get to see how much she loves her family and is willing to sacrifice for them in action, not just thoughts or words.

kongli

Can't wait for that moment then! (;

i agree with shrimpchip. Taw seems like a person of action not just all talk. i like that she seems to be pretty careful like she thinks about what the other vavoan people say and then decide on what to do instead of just doing whatever.

Chillin&Livin

For me personally, I think there are a lot of actions Lee commits that is questionable, for example, his initiative to take authority over everyone else in the vavoan. According to Hur in chapter 2 the vavoan are supposed to act as merely puppets who serve the Huatai. if a vavoan member were to create a problem then shouldn't it be in the Huatai's place to solve it, not Lee? And I keep wondering, why does Voo consider Lee's assault on Taw a nice thing? Even Taw wonders the same thing. If what Lee did was nice, what's the norm? I seriously want to know. Voo mentions how close Lee and the Huatai are in chapter 3. This is probably a bit out there, but it just occured to me... what if Lee is a bad guy and plans to over throw the Huatai and to do that he decides to create a close relationship with the Huatai to learn more about the Huatai's plan. And that sole reason is why Lee made Taw his target when Lee meets Taw and later forces Taw to join his schemes to kill the Huatai.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

OMG. XDDDDD The theory of Lee turning out to be a bad guy-- now that's really something isn't it? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Though I must say, I think that if it benefited Taw in the long run in order to get back to her family, she would probably take it. Just saying... O3O~~ whistles

shrimpchipsahoy

@Chillin&Livin Interesting points but I feel like, and I'm not the creator so I could totally be wrong lmao, people are misreading the situation with Lee. When I read through it the first time, I just assumed there was a hierarchy to the Vavoan. Obviously Huatai is head bitch in charge but when he's not around, who keeps everyone in line? It's Lee. The fact is, most people can't be trusted to do things independently (I feel bad saying this but it's proven to be true) without leadership or guidance. The other characters have a certain closeness between them, but Lee seems to stand out in a way that makes him feel unreachable despite his moments of kindness.

@DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio) I'd be really happy for Taw if she could find a way home without any repercussions before she is forced to do something she may regret.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

I hope the same thing as well, @shrimpchipsahoy~~. ; V ; We can only hope!

kongli

it'd be cool if Lee was a villain, but i don't think it will happen unless the creator pools a 180 on us. if it did happen, I wouldn't be surprised thuogh. Its sort of like a trope where this character is like all cool and good to a group, like lee is to the country but then later they're like just kidding. That's when shit hits the fan. i'm sure all the Lee fans would be heartbroken for real if it did happen though.

But what shrimpchips said, about heirarchy. i don't really think theres an official like level for everyone. I feel like it really is supposed to be the huatai and then theres the vavoan like chillin said. lee is just the kind of person that will do things before anyone asks him to because he feels like it.

I think that if there was someone that had something to offer to taw though and taw feels like its a good deal that she would take it. like I said I don't think Taw would just sit around waiting for something to work out for her situation.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. What do you think the Huatai and Lee's relationship actually is? Do they have past history, or is something else going on? Why is Lee so dedicated to the Huatai?

- ̗̀ Mitsu ৫ ̖́-

1. My favourite is when Taw is mad about the their big brother Shu taking a whole day to catch the chicken. Because as a reader that was my reaction too. 2. Hur's rough behavior made me like them instantly. I am always a sucker for rough characters with golden hearts. The interaction with Taw was much like a tsundere HHHH You look like this rice ball. HERE EAT THIS BECAUSE YOU MISSED DINNER. HHHHH 3. I'm very much hoping that Taw's secret will go to their grave. I know thats light thinking but I'm really not wanting to see the reveal, what is the punishment?! Who will try to protect Taw?!? Will Taw become valuable enough to keep in the Vavoan? HHHHH 4. I don't really think Mother Mai will do much of the situation, as I think they would just assume that Taw disappeared and Shu went on their way. If Shu's discovered first that is a different story. I hope Taw gets the best life. ;w; 5. Maybe the Huatai is a replacement to the Huatai. MAYBE ITS AN INCEPTION OF AN INCEPTION. That is why Lee is so much favoured, because Lee was probably close to the Huatai before they were even going to be the Huatai. HHHHH I'm a fake Huatai playing the pretend for the real Huatai, so now I have to actually be the Huatai because the real Huatai went MIA. HELP ME OUT LEE. 6. I think their relationship is that of a newly born chick and a mother hen. Have you seen how many times the Huatai screams out Lee's name? (edited)

RebelVampire

@kongli @shrimpchipsahoy @Chillin&Livin i agree with shrimpchips on the matter of hierarchy. because when theres anything involving large, large groups, theres always a structure of hierarchy. keep in mind also that the huatai is in charge of the whole kingdom basically. so its not just the vavoan under him. theres probably a ton of other branches and people. so while yes, the huatai might be the ultimate leader, that doest mean there arent also ppl in charge directly under him to keep order in various other matters of the kingdom. its kind of like how in an army you have a general at the top but then various other ranks under them who control various army squads and such. those other ranks obviously follow the generals orders, but at the same time they make sure those under them also get those orders fulfilled. now this being said, i do think its debateable on whether lee's position as this secondary leader is official or not. but even if it wasnt official this would be the natural result. someone always has to take charge, because otherwise theres just anarchy. youd wind up with even worse situations then what happened on the bridge cliff thing. instead of just taw falling off the cliff itd probably be like half of the vavoan because thered be no one ordering people around keeping things organized. and as was also pointed out, the huatai cant be there in every situation. so if theres no one in charge, even unofficially, theres going to be problems and will probably lead to the huatai getting offed pretty quickly.

that being said, if lee winds up a villain im okay with this. i will support lee to the end, even if the end is some sort of train derailment into the abyss

6) im getting kind of a sibling relationship? not that i do think theyre siblings, but it kind of feels like lee is the older brother and the huatai is his lazy younger brother who just moved out of home for the first time. i definitely think theres past history here that were going to find out tho. they seem way too super close for them to have just met. as for the dedication, i assume its either that Lee knows something we dont about the Huatai's plans or that Lee is a strong believer in duty. something like that

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

@- ̗̀ Mitsu ৫ ̖́- OMG. XDDDD The day Huatai calls someone else's name will probably break Lee's heart. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) @RebelVampire Lee is the older brother and Huatai is his lazy younger brother who just moved out of home for the first time RIP Huatai. XDDDD

kongli

I think lee and Huatai are not sibling because they dont look the same. maybe friends or lovers? or maybe lee owes the huatai something like the Huatai did something for him.

it's kind of like, they might have backstory together.

Just wondering but are you all from webtoon too? i didn't know that the creator put jingku on another site.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

@kongli I think the majority came from webtoons though I wouldn't know the exact details of how everyone got invested enough to stay. Surely it was my unrelenting charisma and charm? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) get's killed Though, Rebel was probably obligated to read since they had to prepare questions for this discussion. Whether that was webtoons or globalcomix though, I've no idea. XD But in all seriousness, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on anything you guys! OvOlll(edited)

kongli

I came from webtoon and i stayed because i liked the story and characters. im so tired of always having to read character that dont do anything or like don't have a goal. Its like where in the hell are we going? and Taw is a bit different from the girls i always read. She;s kind of like not a good person who always try to save people that she don't know but she's not bad because shes just tyring to survive.

i also stayed because i liked the art. I really like the pictures you put at the beginning of the chapters.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

GEH. ; W ; Much thankies @kongli!!! <333 I probably should do more color works, but I've been sticking with the black and white plus red illustrations since it rings true to the JingKu aesthetic. OvOb And I've grown very attached to it so look forward to more illustrations with the same style!

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Holy heavens-- now that Kong mentioned about webtoon and globalcomix, if any of us have only read the pages on globalcomix, please jump over to webtoons so that you can read up to the latest page. 9v9lll We should be in the midst of the seventh chapter!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Do you think there is any reason Lee is so nice to "Taw?" Is Lee just a nice guy or is there something else? Will Lee continue to help "Taw," or will Lee give up since "Taw" is years behind everyone else?

RebelVampire

@DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio) I read the globalcomix version but I did switch over to webtoons for the last bit. cause i suspected there might be more pages and then lo and behold i was correct. XD

7) I think theres two things going on. first off, i think lee is just genuinely a nice dude. gruff and a stickler for rules, but nice. however, i also think pragmatically speaking its in lee's best interest to make sure taw is up to snuff. because if taw isnt up to snuff, welp, good-bye huatai. so in essence lee's actions may be less nice and more driven by the pragmatic need to have taw not suck at the job. i dont think Lee is gonna give up, but i have a high suspicion it might lead lee to learn that taw is not the taw that was supposed to be sent. or at least theres going to be many lectures. but again, pragmatically not a good idea to leave taw as is. unless theres like...paper pushers in the vavoan. taw can get that nice, comfy desk job in that case.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

AH! Good to hearz! OvQb @RebelVampire But OMG. XDDD Taw getting that desk job would be the dream~.

shrimpchipsahoy

@ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Not to mention the GIVEAWAYS you do on webtoons! hellbent on winning

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

@shrimpchipsahoy Webtoons probably the only place I do constant giveaways. >v</ But in all honesty, I'm always at lost when the names drawn don't claim their prizes. Q v O Y u no want prize, commenter friendo? SOBS That's why I started putting the 7 day time limit on the giveaways. RIP winners that disappear into the void.

shrimpchipsahoy

Answer 3: I think it's inevitable that the truth about Taw will be revealed to some extent. cries I can't imagine it would be easy for a woman to hide her identity long term, especially in consideration of baths/toilet time/that time of the month. I've been thinking a lot about who may be the first to discover it, but there are so many variables involved that I can't pin it down. Although I hope whoever discovers her secret helps her escape or fake her death or something (so she can escape without repercussions), I don't think the odds are in our favor. Lol

@ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ i want their prizes changes nickname on webtoons ٩(๑òωó๑)۶

RebelVampire

QUESTION 8. Do you believe that Taw will learn to use Kukaoki? What other talents might Taw discover she has? Do you think Taw will find a way home, or will she be stuck serving the Huatai forever?

RebelVampire

(the archive for the chat on super galaxy knights deluxe r is up! @snuffysam https://comicteaparty.com/post/180885573190/november-26th-december-2nd-2018-ctp-archive)

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Speaking of kukaoki! I think I only mentioned this once (like way back when I posted the first draft of JINGKU on webtoons) but when the name kukaoki is broken down, it's defined as: ku = pair / kao = wheel / ki = spin. As a side note, the Hmong language is tonal (8/7 tones or so), meaning these definitions are conditional depending on the tone used when speaking the word. Kind of like how one kanji, though pronounced the same, can mean different things depending on how you depict the character. So don't try to share these meanings without that little bit of salt to add in^ There were a number of names I thought to call the weapon, but recalled that I shouldn't use hard to pronounce Hmong words for the sake of readers. 9v9lll I hope that my efforts pulled through. sweats(edited)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. Who do you think attacked the Huatai on the way to the temple? Was it a foreign power, or could it be an inside job? What might this mean for the rest of the story?

RebelVampire

8) I think Taw is gonna learn, and I think she's also gonna learn that strength has advantage too, what with all the farm work. In all honesty, I don't think Taw is gonna go home. I think the inevitable path for Taw is to learn that there is more than one way to be a fence. so instead of just protecting her little family unit shell learn that by protecting the kingdom she also protects her family. or something like that. 9) It was Lee. /shot In all seriousness, I assume it was a foreign power. I don't get the sense that the kingdom is in the most secure of places, and I think it's a sign that these are troubled times that are gonna involved quite a bit of fighting and securing of power.

kongli

Number seven, i don't think lee is going to give up. Hes too stubborn. Number eight, i think taw will learn the kukaoki but she wont be good at it because Yah said that you have to start from when your a kid. I dont know how old Taw is but i think it would be hard for her like when someone learns ballet kind of late. Taw is probably going to try to find a way home but get stuck being with the vavoan for the rest of her lief. i think its going to be like she thought she wanted to go home but after staying with the the vavoan for so long she decides to stay because she likes it there.

for number nine, i think it might be a foreign power like vampire said. I went back to look at the part where they are atacked and i just realized that if huatai didn't get sick he would have been dead because Lee wouldnt' have came to move him from the carriage.

I think that someone in the country betray the country and if they did betray the country they might be working with foreign power.

okay, so i just thought about this but the huatai is supposed to be green right? why is he wearing a girl's shirt? a green shirt would be like the one shu's boyfriend wears or did the creator mess up?

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

O v O!!!! UH....

Okay, so I will confirm that Huatai is indeed wearing a girl's shirt. And I will also confirm that it is NOT a mistake. But that's all I can say about that. 9v9llll @kongli(edited)

And for those who are wondering about Hmong clothes... Essentially, there's a number of designs (its fashion afterall ;v;) but the main thing you should always be aware of is that a girl's shirt typically features an extended collar on the back. Hmong male clothes do not (and should not) have this feature.(edited)

As exemplified below, Taw has an extended collar on the back:(edited)

shrimpchipsahoy

O.O Maybe Huatai is secretly a woman. That would be awesome because s/he could be Taw's greatest ally! Other idea is maybe Huatai wears girls clothes to honor someone they lost (like Nuriko from Fushigi Yuugi, who is actually a man but poses as a woman to honor his late sister.)

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

@shrimpchipsahoy OMG!!! I didn't know that about Nuriko! I never got the chance to finish the series, but I always wondered why he wore girl's clothes. My child brain just thought that it was just out of preference and mentally muted the question. XD

On the topic of Huatai though, we'll definitely be learning more about him as a character in future chapters. O v O Pwease look forward to it ya'll~~~.

shrimpchipsahoy

@ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Eek! Sorry about the spoilers.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Tis all good, Shrimp~~. XDDDD patpat

RebelVampire

QUESTION 10. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

kongli

i'm looking forward to when taw sees Shu again and kicks him in the butt. I really hope that the creator doesnt stop making jingku because theres like no hmong manga at all with a interesting story that has a lot of stuff in it.

and it was cool getting to talk to you guys about the story. Thank you for inviting me.

(;

keii4ii

Growing up, my family moved around a lot, and I found myself as a transfer student often as a result. (e.g. 1st grade year, I went to 3 different schools) I was also a sickly child and missed school a lot. That combination meant I was often clueless in the class: the material they were covering at a new school was sometimes a little ahead. Or more commonly, I miss 2 days of class and everyone else in the classroom was 2 days ahead of me. Teachers made zero effort to help me catch up. It was all up to me. What I'm trying to say is, I can really relate to Taw being thrown into a situation that she'd never been prepared for, unlike everyone else surrounding her. I'm looking forward to how she deals with all of that. I also hope she can catch a break sometime!

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

So there are a number of things I'm looking forward to for JINGKU and most of them revolves around revealing plot points. XDDD But depending on how the story of JINGKU goes, I'm kind of looking forward to drawing Taw with longer hair in the story. Q v O GEH. Probably just wishful thinking, but hopefully the opportunity reveals itself at some point. (Worry not. If Taw's hair grows, then the men's hair will grow as well. 8^U!!! Gotta trim dem heads!) On another note, I am very grateful to everyone that has taken the time to read the story and drop off their thoughts here in this discussion! ;W; I didn't know how well the week-long discussion would go since the active reader-base is essentially just a handful of people. But seeing how much discussion we did, it's really shocking. O_O!!! Thank you to you awesome peeps and I hope that ya'll will stick around for all the upcoming week discussions as well.(edited)

@kongli Thank you for coming and participating, Kong! ; W ;/ Surely with tangible support from readers, JINGKU will only continue to soar towards completion. But trust me when I say there's a lot of ground I've got to cover, so worry not. OvOlll We're in for a long ride!

@keii4ii If I miss one day of school as a kid, I'm lost for the next month. 9v9lll RIP mah childhood. weeps Ah, but I'm happy to hear that Taw's disconnection is relatable, seeing as its definitely a stressful situation to be in. Taw's always got to be on her toes, that's for sure! Hopefully, things will turn around at some point. ;v;/

- ̗̀ Mitsu ৫ ̖́-

7. Lee probably had a big family before they left their family to serve the Huatai. Perhaps worrying about others is just innately ingrained into him, as well with the Huatai always comes first. So I believe Lee will help out Taw to become an asset to the Huatai. 8. OF COURSE TAW WILL LEARN TO USE THE KUKAOKI. Taw bby must be the very best that there ever was. Finding a way to get back perhaps will happen if Taw really superemly fails at something which I hope doresn't happen.

9. Well the Huatai's king died recently and it really could be an inside job. The Huatai looks super young. I'm not saying that the Huatai isn't prepared considering the Huatai has a 6 PACK OF A GOD, that means the training they did to learn how to become a Huatai is very evident. The dialect that the Huatai has was probably because of a close tutor who has the same dialect as Shu's lover. Because obviously you are going to pick up the way of speaking of the people you surround yourself around. Judging by the Huatai's behavior shown so far... I don't think the Huatai has many close relations other than Lee. (Because Lee is the ultimate Motehr Hen ) This might mean the Huatai has to lug around the Vavoan around lots of places... considering that they already supposed to be the cream of the crop.

10. I'm looking forward to Taw becoming more badarse. Lee showing more Mother Hen traits.... anDDD FIGHT SCENESE. I am a simple person who loves simple thing so maybe more... ABS. Jingku peaked my interest as I really love the opening. "Fence or Pig?" Taws love of family has a really warped dark side at the same time, and will be showcased more and more as the story progressed. How darker will the pure Taw be tainted in the dark. This isn't a fantasy story so there will be very realistic consequences and much heartbreak in the future. Hopefully I'll get to see some nicely timed comedy from the future.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

@- ̗̀ Mitsu ৫ ̖́- OMG. You use the best emojis, Mitsu. XDDDDDD

Taws love of family has a really warped dark side at the same time, and will be showcased more and more as the story progressed. Such a bootiful conclusion, you've made. Hurhurhur. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

On the topic of genre though, YESH. A [] A JingKu is indeed not a fantasy so as Mitsu has mentioned: there will be very realistic consequences and much heartbreak in the future.

A few peeps that have read the story have spoke about JINGKU as if its a fantasy story with tributes to the Hmong ethnicity. JINGKU is a HISTORICAL FICTION/DRAMA. O v Olll(edited)

I'm also hoping we'll get more action scenes because-- boy oh boy, though mah art skillz suffer, I really do love action. GEH. ; v ; (No promises though.) Thank you so much for dropping off yer final thoughts, Mitsu. You're probably one of the few that has been here since near the first draft of JINGKU. XDDD And I'm always grateful that you've stuck around for that long, you awesome bean~~! Mitsu is truly a JINGKU veteran! ; W ;(edited)

RebelVampire

10) I'm looking forward to Lee being Lee some more. But more seriously, I don't really have any specific looking forward to desires. I'm more just interested to see where everything goes in general. This comic has already thrown some curveballs to where I expected it to go, so I don't want to overthink it and stop being surprised.

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

I'm looking forward to Lee being Lee some more. OMG. XDDDD GEH. ;W; But I'm happy that JINGKU has been able to give you some curveballs~~. Whatever's in store for JINGKU, hopefully its' future will not be cut short! @RebelVampire AH!!! OAO!!! But OMG. I'm really surprised that you've taken the story so well, Rebel! I seriously thought that you might just eye JINGKU over for the sake of discussion and simply mod from afar. Thank you for giving your insight and I'm happy to hear you'll continue to root for Lee!(edited)

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

@- ̗̀ Mitsu ৫ ̖́- OMG!!! I don't know how, but my eyes did not catch your answers for the first few questions!!! OAO Probably because everyone is giving such detailed answers, but GEH. GEH. GEH. I laughed so hard at your comment about Hur being a tsundere. MUAHAHAAHA. XDDDDD Pwease cherish that bald babeh!(edited)

Ah... I do have to confess, Shu's excuse on catching a chicken was ridiculous in its own right. But the reality is, my own parents have stories of how animals would sometimes escape or go missing and peeps were forced to search the surrounding mountains for their livestock. RIP peeps chasing after their cows and pigs. Y v Y

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Okay, so I've no idea if anyone else is going to leave any more comments before 3 am (12 am on PST time) so I'm going to go ahead and toss this here. O W Q @RebelVampire @shrimpchipsahoy @- ̗̀ Mitsu ৫ ̖́- @Chillin&Livin @kongli @keii4ii THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT PARTICIPATED IN THIS JINGKU DISCUSSION!!!!! YA'LL ARE AWESOME BEANS AND HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO STICK WITH THE STORY NO MATTER HOW CRAZY IT GETS! YOSH! (edited)

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about JINGKU this week! Please also give a special thank you to DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio) for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked JINGKU, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://globalcomix.com/c/jingku

DA-POW!’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/YayaoYuyingSTU?lang=en

#ctparchive #webcomics #indie comics #comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic bookclub #webcomic book club #comic tea party #ctp #jingku #da-pow!#yayao yuying studio

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