Well at first I thought of doing this as "just business(!)", not "just business". Ehh... ehm, whatever. I finally found myself painting such a sight like this. I am generally happy when the two of them talk together on a certain topic (*´︶`*)ฅ♡
Well, I guess Mori is trying very hard to understand the reports he's reading. And Fukuzawa next to him calmly expresses his opinions~
This is GROUND LEVEL in New York City right now, NOT mars! Gerald Kelly (twitter)
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“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of "Admin." The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
[From the Preface]”
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
“Hello,” Scar says. He’s smiling. It’s not an unnerving smile. There aren’t too many teeth, and it’s not stretched unsettlingly wide. It’s a friendly smile, and if you could really read eyes you’d say that his are warm and cheerful. There’s something magnetic about him, something in his warm voice, the endearingly human way he stumbles over his words in his excitement, the way he focuses on you like you are the most important thing in the world right now. Of course you go with him. You aren’t quite sure why, but you trust this man.
He shows you wonders he’s created with his own hands, and speaks of them with palpable pride and love. You listen to his stories of friends, and laugh with him because his laugh is so incredibly contagious, and when you notice the little dark patches in his empire of sun, you smile and shrug, because nothing is perfect even though this place comes close. You don’t look too closely, you don’t pry, you listen to his confident, reassuring voice, you nod understandingly at explanations even though they don’t quite line up, you trust him because how could you not?
You help him, of course. You give your all to his cause, because he’s the best friend you’ve ever had even though you haven’t known him for long. You listen to him, you do what he asks, you assure him that of course it isn’t too much for you, you’re happy to help out however you can.
And when you’re standing in a room of shadows beneath an empire of sun, when you’re staring at the evidence painting a picture you never wanted to see, when you look up to see Scar standing there – he’s smiling. It’s still the smile you knew. It’s friendly, and endearing, and warmth spills over into his grass-green ice-blue eyes. He’s still smiling, as he thanks you for your help, as he confirms the terrible truths you’ve found out. His voice is still as charming and genuine as it’s ever been, as he tells you that he unfortunately can’t allow you to spill what you’ve learned. There’s nothing monstrous gleaming behind those eyes and smile, nothing staticky with evil laced into his voice. It’s just Scar, it’s always been Scar, and you finally understand, as he turns and walks away, as he leaves you to your awful, unspeakable fate and doesn’t look back once. He has never worn a false front around you. He’s friendly, and genuinely enjoyed your company, and called you a friend with the certainty of truth. And now that you’ve served your purpose, he smiles and feels no remorse as he walks away, never a falter in his step. Scar, after all, is a businessman, and business comes first.
Characters: Meng Yao, Su Minshan, Nie Huaisang, Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen.
Thanks to NHS, MY and SMS get their meeting in Qinghe and now they have to deal with the nielan marriage. And YET, it’s didi himself the one who is the most sus :D.
In February my daughter and I picked out a dress for her senior prom. Quite an unusual splurge for us, but, well ! It needed a small adjustment to the back, and the seamstress pinned up while she was wearing it. They’d call us when it was ready. Right? Right!
However, the gossipy dress-shop owner had also told me while I was waiting that she was concerned because the seamstress was fighting some health issues. And she appeared to be 65 - 70 years old. So I mentally made a note. Will this dress get altered? Hmmm.
Two months went by. The prom is rapidly approaching. I called the dress shop. Dress? Ready? uh, no. In two months, the seamstress has not touched it. And . prom is RAPIDLY approaching! How many dresses do you think are hanging on a rack waiting for alterations? I’m betting a LOT. And here’s the thing.
Sometimes shit happens. A business Can’t Do a thing. A crucial employee has a serious issue. But what I’ve seen over and over again is businesses failing to let customers know that there is any problem . . until it is far too late for any reasonable solution. JUST BLOODY WELL LET ME KNOW!
Anyway, we went yesterday afternoon and picked up the dress. Dress shop lady was pretty sniffy with me about it. The seamstress was right there, pinning the hem of yet another dress. Will she actually hem it? What has been happening the last two months? Can she do months-worth of work in the next three weeks? Good luck to them all, but I’m going to make the simple alterations on K’s dress myself. And I’m not even mad about that per se - I’m mad that they didn’t let me know there was a problem and got shirty with me when I (very politely) went to pick it up.
people are drawing Steamboat Willie Mickey doing all this crazy shit and whatnot, but you could always do that. you can do that now, with current Mickey, just fine. it's fanart and it's legally protected. hell you could take Disney-drawn Mickey and put a caption about unions or whatever on it and it would still be protected under free speech and sometimes even parody law.
what is special about public domain is that you can SELL him. you could take a screenshot and sell it on a tshirt. you can use him to advertise your plumbing business. people have already uploaded and monetized the original film.
you could always have Mickey say what you want, but now you can profit off it.
can i say something. for years i thought the joke of the song short skirt/long jacket by cake was that he wanted a woman who was hung like a horse. like i thought when he says jacket it was a last-second fakeout because he very obviously meant to say cock. and the rest of the things in the song were just her personality and interests. which were secondary to her awesome penis
I never watched BBC Sherlock or engaged in the fandom and being into original Sherlock Holmes in the year 2024 feels like frolicking in a meadow that’s grown up over a battlefield. Occasionally a war weary veteran with shadows in their eyes will find me. “Don’t you know what happened in this place?” they ask me. “I literally don’t,” I reply, and go back to drawing guys from 1895.