For context: this came out in 2011 in Australia. Same-sex marriage would not be legalized until December 2017.
It was only legalized in 8 US states (the 8th only a few months before), and wouldn’t be legalized nation-wide until 2015.
It was only legal in TEN COUNTRIES in 2011. We wouldn’t hit 20 countries until 2017. (Australia was 23rd)
As of today (April 14, 2026), I believe only 38 countries have fully legalized same-sex marriage. Out of somewhere around 200 countries in the world. That’s only ~19% of countries.
It was also only legalised in Australia because neither party would put it to a goddamned vote. So they kicked to a referendum (because they are so good at listening to what Australia actually wants) and from what I understand, as with the previous ones, it was kind of vicious.
This time though, it made it through but don’t let that fool you into thinking there’s wide spread acceptance. You’re still really only ‘mostly safe’ in specific parts of some cities, and even then your mileage will vary based upon how visible you are.
This ad/short film IS revolutionary, both for its time and how it frames everything.
It’s the whole gamut of a relationship, with all the highs and downs, lacks the performative queerness (as most people assume we must live our entire lives out by), and shows the people who love us: friends and family that are the same as any other Aussie. (Again, a rebuttal that a queer person’s entire existence revolves around ‘who they want to fuck’.) It’s messy and sweet, a little devastating, and still one of the best portrayals of a queer life I’ve seen in my 40 years.
I truly hope that sooner rather than later, Australia can shed the most restrictive of its conservatism and actually be the laid-back, friendship driven people the world thinks it to be.
But even today, there are folks doing the good work and getting into lots of good trouble.
i'd like to add that the shadow color isnt necessarily dictated entirely by the primary light source, but the bounce light! so for the example of a sunny environment, the reason the shadows are blue are because of the light from the blue sky reflects across the environment; but, if the character were to be under tree cover, the bounce light would be coming from the leaves and thus the shadow would look greener.
James Gurney is an absolute master and gives really good clarity on colour techniques. Yes, it is traditional paint focused, but the principles are the same. Yes it is informed by the environmental colour but as a painting technique it is achieved this way!
I would also suggest that in digital processing, rather than apply a regular colour layer at a mid opacity, try out the different types of layers, Eg. Screen or Multiply. This can give you at least a starting point to help direct your colour palette.
Layer Blend Modes are so so so important to working in digital art. There's a ton of math that goes into figuring out how the layers should blend together, which is why some of the modes you can pick are literally called Multiply, Add, Divide, and Difference (that's subtraction). The graphics software takes the color values of your base and blend layers and runs a calculation to get your resulting layer appearance. The ones that don't have specifically mathematical sounding names are still doing calculations, but they're more complicated (think linear Algebra and higher). Some of them, like dodge and burn, are named for actual photo editing techniques.
While it's not super important to know about the mathematical side of blend modes, I think it's worth knowing at least enough about how each of the categories of blend modes works and why they do what they do; if for no other reason than having a starting point when you start experimenting with them in your work.
An overview of the basic blend modes and how they work from Genevieve's Design Studio: Accessible with minimal color knowledge; practical and illustration focused. https://youtu.be/kMc87hQrJd0?si=TWCB365pKSfWS8p0. (16 minutes) This creator also has a ton of free resources you can download, including a Blend Modes cheatsheet, but fair warning: you have to create an account to get them!
Want to learn even more about the math-y stuff? It has great film visuals! A video from FilmmakerIQ: You need some basic knowledge of RGB color models, understanding of values/luma, and at least a tenuous understanding of Algebraic formulas. (26 minutes) https://youtu.be/F7_kaTP7_W4?si=x0urqXZ8f51nQVKl
I'm getting slightly bored waiting for the poll to conclude so in the meanwhile, I'm just gonna list down the food in the movie for funsy.
Besides the iconic ramyun, there were:
Gimbap
Specifically 마약김밥 or Mayak-gimbap for the uncut roll (notice the vegetables sticking out), and the cut gimbap might be spam or ham gimbap? Since there's a red part there that resembles meat more than vegetables.
(For those who don't know: Sushi and gimbap are different in that sushi uses raw fish, while all the ingredients in gimbap are cooked and vegetables (carrots, danmuji, perilla leaves, etc.) are the common toppings though there are gimbap that have meat products like cheese, tuna, roe, etc.)
2. Eomuk Tang
Eomuk Tang translate to Fishcake (어묵/Eomuk) Soup (탕/Tang) because fishcake is slowly cooked in anchovy broth (which I would recommend to drink, it's very good especially on cold winter days).
3. Hotteok
I was just about to say that hotteok (호떡) is kind of like pancakes, but now that I think about it, it's much closer to doriyaki. Being a pancake-like sweet with a sweet filling. In hotteok's case, it's usually filled with brown sugar, honey, cinnamon and nuts (I think peanuts or walnuts), but nowadays, there's a variety of trendy flavors now.
4. Sundae/Soondae
순대 or Sundae or Soondae is sausage made from pig's blood, rice, vegetables and spices stuffed in pig or cow intestine (cleaned, don't worry) before being steamed.
5. Mul-naengmyeon
As of today, 물 냉면 or mul naengmyeon is a summer dish, because it's a noodle soup served cold, so it's very refreshing to eat when it's hot outside.
6. Breadbasket
The stereotypical loaf there reminds me of salt bread (소금빵) which was trendy for some time in Korea. As for the round brown balls, I think I read an article speculating that it's boiled eggs, but I personally think they're cream ppang (크림빵) :3
7.-10. Banchan
Banchan are small plates of side dishes that help add or enhance the main dish or help the eater cleanse their pallet after eating. 7 is bap or cooked rice, 8 is eomuk bokkeum or stir fried fishcake, 9 was hard to see because it's at the edge of the screen, but I think it resembles oi sobagi or kind of like cucumber kimchi, and 10 was also hard to guess because it's very blurry, but from the reddish color and cube shape, it's probably kkadugi or diced radish kimchi.
11. ???
This was even harder to figure out since this is the only shot we had of this bowl, but from what little I can see from the top of the rim, I think it might be galbitang ( 갈비탕) or beef short rib soup. But I'm unsure so...
12. Chips
shrimp chips. just shrimp chips.
The hangul on zoey's chips literally just says "Potato chip" (감자/Gamja - Potato; 칩/Chip). Fun fact: if yoo look very closely, the chip is ketchup flavored :D
13-14. Beverages
13 - Milk tea. that's literally it.
14 - is a can of juice! it resembles Haiti's Podo Bong Bong which is grape juice with real grape pieces!
But you know what's amusing?
The food they grabbed the most were:
Gimbap (Rumi grabbed the cut rolls once then proceed to demolish the uncut roll by herself; Mira grab some cut gimbap twice; Zoey took twice as well)
Hotteok (All the girls grabbed some hotteok each)
Zoey grabbed some soondae twice.
Zoey tore into two bags of chips.
Mira grabbed a skewer of eomuk.
Rumi and Zoey each grabbed one cream ppang.
You know what a majority of these (except the ppang) all have in common? They're all street food. So now, I'm having an image in my head about the girls sneaking out at night during their trainee days for some food, and they just bounce from pojangmacha to pojangmacha (street food carts) trying as much as their allowance can buy them and they did iit so many times that they learn to recognize things like – this halmeoni makes the biggest gimbap for cheap; that imonim there has the best broth to pair with eomuk kkochi; the harabeoji in the corner makes hotteok that aren't too sweet; that sajangnim really knows how to make his soondae. Maybe they even get friendly with one imo who jokingly ask them about them what they're doing up so late, and the girls shyly tell her they were craving some food, and the imo hums and asks how they're doing in high school, they hesitantly tell her that they're trainees, and the imo is so awed and encourage them to eat more, that they look too thin, and they should eat as much as they can, idols are always going on diets and all that, joking that she'll cover for them if their daepyonim ever asks, giving them a "Fighting!" to cheer them on, etc.
Papercraft Rumi!! I busted out the holographic rainbow mirror paper for her patterns, glitter and shimmery silver stars for her hair, glitter pens for her makeup, and sequins for the background sparkles. This girl shines!
I may have pulled up a little late to the KPop Demon Hunters party but the party is INDEED as delightful as everybody said!!! The soundtrack has been playing on repeat in my head and in my headphones for the past week. :D
“Hey, so, I,” Rumi says haltingly, “I never said thank you.”
“Mm? For what?” Zoey puts down her notebook and straightens up from where she’d been lounging on the bed.
Rumi looks kind of embarrassed. She rolls a lock of Zoey’s hair between forefinger and thumb. This should be good. “Oh, like. You know.” Rumi laughs ruefully. “Deciding to spare me. That day.”
Mira is still trying to connect the dots—spare what? Which day?—when she sees Zoey’s face fall. It’s like looking at a rapidly progressing chemical reaction and trying to figure out what it is before it’s done. And then the momentum catches up with her, too, and her blissful ignorance goes splat.
“Rumi,” Mira says in her most dangerous voice. “Tell me you are not fucking talking about the fucking Idol Awards.”
Rumi doesn’t look cowed. She looks petulant. “You specifically said we could talk about it.”
“Didn’t I also fucking say not to fucking apologize again?”
“I’m not apologizing! I’m saying thank you!” Rumi says indignantly. “I mean it. I know not everybody would have. I think most people wouldn’t. I think… it just feels very special to me, that you did.”
“Special?” Mira feels like she's been stabbed. “It’s special that we didn’t fucking murder you where you stood?”
Rumi flinches, and Mira feels like the biggest fucking asshole, kicking puppies who don’t even think they deserve to live.
But this kicked dog really, really dislikes losing arguments, and she’s never seen a hill she’s unwilling to—to—build a home and live to old age on. “It wouldn’t have been murder,” Rumi says primly. “‘Execution’ would be more accurate.”
Mira can feel the blood rushing to her head. “Oh wow, should we pull out the fucking dictionary?”
“You’d only have been doing your duty. It should’ve been your first instinct, actually.”
“Sorry, are you scolding me right now for not skewering you through the stomach like kkochi?”
“Well, given your extensive training, it would’ve been reasonable to expect—”
“Will you shut up about the fucking training, you’re not—”
“Mira,” Zoey murmurs, and her hand is wrapped loosely around Mira’s wrist; has been, Mira realizes with a guilty jolt, throughout most of this conversation.
Mira purses her mouth and looks away. She feels abruptly on the edge of tears. But Rumi’s still going.
“I am a demon. I am. There is exactly one category of person you are supposed to kill, and I am in it.” Her back is straight, her face clear. It’s so incongruous, hearing her say these awful things, sitting on Zoey’s bed, wearing her trains-and-teddy-bears PJs. “But you didn’t. So I just wanted you to know that I am grateful, that’s all.”
Mira has nothing to say. If she opens her mouth right now, she will either scream or cry.
Zoey comes to her rescue, her knight in baggy sportswear. “Rumi,” she says gently, “have you ever considered that maybe you don’t deserve to die just for looking kind of scary?”
Rumi grimaces. “It’s not just that, Zoey, you know that. My voice can hurt the Honmoon. I could be a danger to the safety of the whole world. I was.”
“No you fucking weren’t,” Mira snaps. “You saved it. You made it better.”
Zoey nods. “You make things better, Rumi.”
But Rumi is shaking her head. “There was no way to tell. When I was a baby—”
“Great! Now we should be killing babies.”
“I didn’t say that,” Rumi hedges. “But I am grateful to Celine, too. She—”
“Will you stop being fucking grateful!” Mira’s heart is racing. She’s going to pick a fight. “You think you’re only alive by the grace of our benevolence, is that it?”
Rumi meets her eyes, and says plainly, “Yes.”
Mira barrels on. It’s nothing she hadn’t expected. “Wanna repay your debts, then?”
Rumi visibly balks at that. Mira wants to strangle her. Wants to wrap her in the world’s most careful hug. Wants to lay on top of her and tuck every limb around her and never let her get back up.
“Gonna be costly,” Mira warns her.
Predictably, Rumi firms. The little shit cannot resist a challenge. She nods resolutely.
“Great. Let’s start with this. Repeat after me: ‘I, Ryu Rumi’,” Mira directs.
Rumi squints suspiciously, but dutifully repeats, “I, Ryu Rumi.”
“‘Am not.’”
“Am not,” Rumi parrots.
“‘Fucking expendable.’”
Rumi stares at her, mouth hanging open. Of course she can’t say it.
“‘The people who love me are not doing me a favor by not hurting me,’” Mira continues pointedly.
Zoey’s hand slides down to interlace with Mira’s. “‘It’s reasonable for me to expect to be treated with the same care and consideration I consistently show others.’”
“‘Carrying the potential for danger, much like every other fucking person on the planet, doesn’t make me a liability.’”
“‘Plus, I’m really fucking hot,’” says Zoey. Mira loves her so fucking much it’s insane.
She plays along. “‘I am slowly expanding my wardrobe beyond three shirts and one sweater.’”
“‘I admit to sneakily eating the last kkwabaegi.’”
“‘I am not as good as Mira at Mario Kart.’”
“‘I have terrible taste in foreign movies.’”
“‘My guitar collection is medium-sized.’” Rumi gasps indignantly at that one.
“‘I am a pleasure to have in the polycule,’” is Zoey’s next contribution, which prompts Mira to go for the jugular.
“‘I am deeply, sincerely, passionately loved.’”
Rumi’s perfect posture crumples. She lets out a noise somewhere between wounded seal and affectionate tiger. And then she’s barreling into the two of them.
“Sorry. Sorry,” she mumbles as she grabs at them, squeezing them firmly in the inescapable vise of her arms. She burrows her face in, rubbing her cheek over Zoey’s hair, Mira’s cheek. “I love you too.”
Mira shifts her position so she can spread out her legs and wrap them loosely around both of her girls, penning them in. Zoey squeezes her hand and reaches out to stroke over Rumi’s face with a thumb, following the stripe bisecting her eyebrow. Rumi makes a shockingly endearing whuffling sound and nuzzles into her palm.
“Stop being grateful for things you should take for granted, okay?” Zoey says, voice low.
“And if you don’t know what you’re supposed to take for granted—which I know you fucking don’t—ask, and we’ll tell you.”
“Here’s a freebie: number one is ‘not being brutally dismembered by the corporeal manifestation of your lovers’ souls’.”
Rumi lets out a soggy laugh. “Okay. Yeah.”
“Yeah? Sure you don’t need to repeat that one a few dozen times?”
Rumi huffs out another soft laugh, then takes a deep breath. She lifts her chin, and says, with her pitch perfect diction, “I am not expendable.”
“Damn straight,” says Zoey.
Mira sighs, lets her forehead drop onto Rumi’s firm, lovely, rounded shoulder. “Okay,” she breathes, affection and relief and sticky, lingering anxiety. “That’s a good start.”
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