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The Sense of Distance: Japan versus the American Midwest JoJo’s seventh story arc, Steel Ball Run, involves a race across America, but I knew that undertaking that journey by myself in one single trip would have been impossible. Instead, I split up the research into three sections: from the West Coast to the deserts, from the Great Plains to the Mississippi River and Chicago, and to the finish line in New York. Each region possesses its own culture and is home to different types of people. Without going there for yourself, it’s impossible to comprehend the feeling of scale in the midwestern United States, where the scenery stretches on forever and unchanging. The feeling of distance there is nothing like Japan. Say, for example, an enemy is approaching from afar -- at such a distance that escape would be trivial in Japan. In the Midwest, the open landscape remains identical from one hour to the next, and I was struck by the real sense that I could never make an escape from such an adversary; there was simply nowhere to hide. I was able to put that experience to good use when it came time to draw the manga. Travel there is mostly done by car. When you drive across those vast plains, the scenery is mostly devoid of any ups and downs, and is dotted only by the occasional town with nothing to claim but chain stores, seemingly little to provide amusement aside from watching movies, and you hardly ever see anyone else about. Rather than inspire thoughts of enjoying nature, it felt empty and lifeless and made me wonder if there was any fun to living there at all. A kind of atmosphere hung over these places that felt rich for suspense.

I often think about Araki's description of the Midwest from his time here doing research for Steel Ball Run. I think he nailed it.

Illustration of Mosslax from Pokopia featuring Leafeon. Mosslax is a Snorlax that has been covered in moss. They are so mossy that they made eevee evolve. Colored used in the artwork consist of greens, blues and purple.

Mosslax from pokopia 🌱
#art #pokemon

エクシリアにハマり過ぎている

you know the whole brain being fucked up for three days bit is not particularly motivating me to take meds again

there are so many jobs in this life that i just don’t think i could do even with pay. bus driver. pharmacist. waitress.

LIKE BFFR

this probably sounds super shitty but 1. this woman is A Lot 2. she almost definitely just doesn’t want to walk to the gas station for alcohol and cigarettes 3. if it were an actual emergency she could just text me what she needs considering i told her my phone is always on silent the other day

she’s texting and calling me even tho i haven’t answered her bc i’m rly not in the mood for whatever she’s got going on rn

how to explain to my neighbor that just because my car is outside does not mean i am available

昨日描いたrkgkこれちゃん

ニアカイ

sibling was forced to find accurate height by their gf and got nerfed by half an inch

such is having coworkers in the midwest

have now been invited to a second heterosexual wedding in october that i don’t want to attend bc i hate the man so much i shouldn’t be in close proximity despite having never met him

i got credited (not refunded 😒) and ended up ordering carryout from the restaurant and picking it up myself lol

oh the update no one asked for is that she abandoned it at the empty front desk, it sat for an hour till someone from the pharmacy found it and they were very kind and called dd to try to find me to get it to me but dd wouldn’t give them any info and then they posted it to a local fb chatter page

just kind of an extension of the issue with how i’m perceived bc i’m femme and single in a ruralish area, it’s just kind of worse bc of how i have to dress at work

and like i don’t rly care if the 70+ yo fuddy duddies that have never fathomed a lesbian existing in their life think i’m straight bc i expect that from them, i’m out in the office, but i rly don’t like the idea of the trans girl working the grill in the cafeteria thinking i’m a cishet woman lol

idk i just kind of feel detached from my queerness at this job…. everybody was gay at p*nera and i had more expression w my appearance there…. here i have to cosplay that i’m an apolitical cishet christian woman bc that’s what everyone else is and assumes i am lol….

me describing wearing business casual: no guys it’s like drag… get it….

i have a lot of concern abt being perceived as straight by other queer people esp when i’m in my work clothes and i know that’s more of a queer ppl shouldn’t be assuming everyone is cishet problem but it feels like a personal failing lol

アケチのトリセツ
#主明 #shuake

i don’t donate to anyone that i haven’t been mutuals with for a while, or if a mutual rts one of their mutuals’ aid requests bc i trust that they trust that person but otherwise sorry i don’t have money to throw at randos requesting money

it’s no one at the va’s fault!!!! but when i’m like “hey i faxed this on x date and we saw them on y date and they’ve been a patient in this clinic for years and obviously need ongoing care could you please make it so they’re not financially responsible” it rly wriggles me to hear no lol

has to be outdated af…. plus if you need to call them for any reason it’s at least a 20 minute wait time which is time i don’t have to sit on the phone…. idk i’m just venting atp i just wish our country gave a shit abt the ppl they supposedly hold in high regard

they recently started extending authorizations out to a year from appt dates but they were like every six months and in a clinic like mine where we’re only seeing pts 1-2 times a year most of the time it’s just a mess of paperwork and hard to keep track of…. it’s just rly messy and their system

we have to track all of our va authorizations with folders and papers too; there’s no reminders and the va can take over a month to process requests for extensions so if we catch it before the appt we can still run into issues or have to push them out until we can get authorization

it’s just a rly stupid system and i know the va is overwhelmed and underfunded which is absolute bs given the importance on military in this country but it really sucks to watch people have to pay for care because of simple administrative mistakes between their dr’s offices and the va