More so than anything else, I love love!

Proud (?) owner of a lizard brain

[mami-kouga0]

My Friend the Delivery god

Words like a knife and a face like a stone statue- 13 year old Rin Nakamura has lived most of her life as a social pariah unable to form connections with others and struggling to not be hated.

As a troubling family situation leads her to rely on the supernatural to save her, she finds herself jumping more and more into the lives of an odd trio- hoping for salvation from her weird disposition or just to desperately hold on to a connection she formed? She's not quite sure what she wants

"Please, until I can overcome this, please be my companions. I beg of you god."

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[pippenpaddlopsicopolisthethird]

I'm simply obsessed with their dynamic and I think I finally nailed down why

[mami-kouga0]

incredibly happy to see more people get it lol

[mami-kouga0]

So apparently Tumblr decided to just swallow the second part of this post for reasons I even pretend to understand but anyway, part two of my unnecessarily elaborate LB6 highschool au

More info under the cut

Romani was Mash's foster dad up until middle school were he abruptly died under mysterious circumstances and then she gets taken back in by her bio dad Lancelot. She doesn't really get along with him but she knows he means well, she does get along with her brother Galahad but he's long since moved out of their house.

Muramasa more or less left school to work at his family's mechanic workshop which makes Castoria fond of him when they meet since Ector was also a mechanic. He actually knows Oberon in both modes because he helps maintain his motorcycle and is more or less the one who puts an end to the whole charade between him and Senpai. He still likes Senpai enough that be doesn't necessarily think Oberon is a good fit for her but he also won't interfere in her choices if it makes her genuinely happy.

As for why Senpai even likes Oberon- she's subconsciously aware of his kindness even if after the point they're dating she still wants to slap him for being aggravating. The surprise kiss from him was less born out of jealousy (though there was a slight element of that) and more his attempt to distract her because whatever she was thinking about was obviously hurting her.

There's still more in this au regarding the rest of fairy knights + Habetrot but that's for a future me to worry about

[mami-kouga0]

I made an unnecessarily elaborate LB6 highschool au over a year ago but school and my own mental health renders incapable of drawing/writing everything in my head so I'm just gonna post a few doodles I made for the thing. Two part post because Tumblr has an image limit

You can tell I made this over a year ago because I made me own uniforms based of the chaldea staff uniform instead of just drawing the uniforms from Id.

Mash and my master OC (let's call her senpai) are childhood friends while Castoria was a junior they both met relatively recently but they're all rather close.

Oberon has a "light" or "dark" mode depending on if he's at work. Senpai first met in a club where he blew smoke in her face in response to her asking him to stop smoking near her and there's meant to be a whole drawn out comedy routine where she tries to prove he's the same dude when she met him in Castoria's house but he insists on lying to her.

More under the cut

Morgan is Castoria's bio mother but following the death of her husband and horrible treatment by her in laws she gave her away to Ector, set her in laws mansion on fire, then seemingly vanished (she still adopted Baobhan Sith and is doing pretty well for herself but she doesn't plan to ever re-enter Castoria's life). Ector dies 3 years from the present day and Oberon, who is Morgan's distant relative and actually met her a few times when they were younger, decided to take her in.

Blanca (human version)

[terrichienyiart]

miku (nigeria)

[transmutationisms]

fundraising on here is genuinely making me cynical in ways that feel so fucking foul, do you know how it feels to sit here trying to come up with 'strategies' to tell a new interesting story every day to get people's attention for someone surviving a literal genocide. like genuinely i do not want to believe that most people are so thoughtless and careless that they would turn away from mohammed and his family simply because one of my posts doesn't catch their attention like a youtube thumbnail but what am i supposed to think when every 18–24 hours the campaign stagnates again because i miscalibrated and people didn't see a perfectly cute kid photo or enough coloured text. idek what to say i wish that i had a million krona and i would just fund the whole thing and not ever think about how to package a story so that a genocide can generate compelling social media posts day in and day out. it's the polar fucking opposite of how i ever want to think about this atrocity it makes me feel dirty and slimy and not even dirty enough to be reliably succeeding. i just want people to fucking care enough for them to buy a packet of biscuit rations on the black market and it's like pulling fucking teeth

[transmutationisms]

reblog the version with his fundraiser if you want to reblog it, i don't know how many ways he can beg you for help, he needs 135,000 krona by sunday and he's 2/3rd of the way there. 1 us dollar is about 11 swedish krona

Donate to GAZA : HELP IWAIS FAMILY TO REBUILD THIER LIFES, organized by Ibrahim Iwais

Important note: Donation value: ** 1$ = 10.5 Swedish kr ** 10$ = 105 S… Ibrahim Iwais needs your support for GAZA : HELP IWAIS FAMILY TO R

[malakabed-deactivated20240831]

Hello,,

My name is Malak, I am 18 years old, and I am a medical student. My dream has always been to complete my education and travel abroad to achieve my aspirations. However, the war has destroyed our lives and halted my educational journey. My family and I live in Tal Alhawa, Gaza, and we once had a happy life and a beautiful home.

My little brothers, my support and my beloved ones: Moataz, Moatasem & Fadel.

My dad is Abdelhamid Dader, who used to work at a water station, and my mother is Mona Alanqar. I have siblings named Shahd, Moataz, Moatasem, and Fadel.

Moataz was killed in cold blood. He was a lifeline and a beating heart..

Our house was burned and destroyed, forcing us to move 20 times in different areas in northern Gaza. My father was injured and couldn't receive the necessary treatment due to a lack of medical supplies and the difficulty of travel. My 15-year-old brother Moataz was killed :( by a missile while trying to fetch water, and my younger brother was injured in the same incident and also couldn’t get proper medical care.

Beautiful memories gathered here..

This is what our house has turned into in this nightmare that we are still living.

My father's job ended because of the war and his injury, and his workplace was destroyed. We spent all our savings, and now we cannot provide the basics of life as famine chases us in the north. My mother and younger brother contracted hepatitis due to pollution, poor nutrition, and lack of healthcare. We all suffer from fainting and loss of consciousness due to these diseases and malnutrition.

Part of the life I had in Faculty of Medicine..

Moments of joy in excelling in success and obtaining a 99% average in high school.

Now, we are fighting for a space to sleep among the rubble, and fighting to get water and food.

I appeal to your kind hearts to help me and my family survive this tragedy. My dream is to complete my education abroad, get the necessary treatment for my family, and live a dignified life like other human beings.

Your donation, no matter how small, can change our lives and give us hope for a brighter future. This can help cover the costs of treatment and travel.

Share our story with your friends and family to raise awareness and support.

Pray to God to admit you to Paradise and compensate us with great goodness.. RIP

Your words and prayers give us the strength to endure these difficult circumstances.

Thank you to everyone who stands with us in this hardship. Together, we can make a difference.

Malak and Her Family

Donate to Save Malak's Dreams and Family from Gaza, organized by Malak Dader

Hello,, My name is Malak, I am 18 years old, and I am a medical student. My d… Malak Dader needs your support for Save Malak's Dreams an

Sincerely,

Malak and Her Family

[90-ghost]

Legit fundraiser

[lamouratorrrrry]

i guess its bunny day, so heres grandmaster ^_^

[mami-kouga0]

Tantei-armin wherever you are, thanks for helping me become less of a shit person

[mami-kouga0]

Randomly remembers a comment I thoughtlessly made on Tumblr like 6 years ago

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[dantespilled]

.

killing myself. wasnt planning on shading but whoopsie my hands wont stop

[yue-chan077]

高杉さん~ ♥️ (#FGO)

(Takasugi san~ ♥️)

.

.

and-- it's my commemorative valentine illustration for shacho 😌✨(I'm late I'm so sorry---)

I seriously I'm squeaking rn- cause this would be the first valentine for sugi in Chaldeas !🤸✨ (We finally receiving an interaction with him ! ✨)

the fanbase in twt(x) is going wild with amazing fanarts I just cant- 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️✨(bow down)

so to make up with it- I thought of drawing shacho on his first ascension 😌✨(cause dayum- I fudgin' live for his first ascension -- it was love at first sight okeh--*sweats*)

this has been sitting in my gallery for a while now-- 👁️👁️✨ about time I set my shacho free ehe-- and alot more of him is glaring daggers at me 😤✨

have a great day-- I'm probably never gonna shut up about him again for the next few days once I get back to the pres- 🤸🤸🤸✨

(DO NOT REPOST USE /PRINT /TRACE MY ARTWORK)

[yue-chan077]

(#honkaistarrail)

" Friend , the game has already begun ..."

🃏✨

.

.

.

Penacony is officially out ! ✨🤸🃏🎩

how's everyones exploration at the interactive map ? 🧐✨

so damn-- I honestly knew I had to come back real quick to experience it myself! 👀✨🙏

another Aventurine illustration for everyone is here-- cause hecc-- seeing his cutscenes for the new story line is making it hard for me to keep still and watch-- 😤✨(pls imagine that hand is you- 🤸🤸🤸)

so yeah- his expressions Is really something 👁️👁️ - I cannot wait to see the story unfold-!

Anyway-- finally back after a bit with another hsr fanart- cause damn I've been sick for a few days-- 💦💦✨ I hope I fully get back with my element 😭✨

(DO NOT REPOST USE PRINT TRACE MY ARTWORK/ AI IS PROHIBITED) #YueArt

[staticnoisesss]

how you can help palestine

*i regularly update this post with any new info i find so please always reblog the original post*

Donations

donations currently reaching gaza:

‼️ help buy e-sims for people in gaza

donate to get food packages to gaza - care for gaza

donate direct aid to gaza - ehab rida (longtime activist and volunteer, has been carrying out donations and humanitarian projects in gaza since 2021)

palestine children's relief fund

world food programme

aid to gaza - taawon/bank of palestine

help gaza’s children

urgent humanitarian aid to palestinians - anera

medical aid for palestinians

urgent support for medical professionals in gaza

donate to ahmed (@/90-ghost on tumblr)

he is born, raised and based in gaza. please help him reach his goal of $50K to get his family to safety across the rafah border into egypt. as of right now… it’s $7.5K per person to evacuate gaza.

help journalist yousef escape gaza to treat his cancer

help mohamed evacuate gaza to get treatment for himself and his daughter

support palestinians: buy a keffiyeh from the last and only factory in palestine - hirbawi

secondary donations:

emergency relief for gaza - pious projects

palestine red crescent society

save palestine - islamic relief canada

send medical supplies to gaza - palestinian american medical association

click to donate - arab.org

help bring down israel's weapon trade - palaction

donate for the recovery of hisham awartani

one of the three palestinian students shot by a racist in vermont for wearing kufiyas and speaking arabic. hisham’s injuries have left him paralysed from below the chest.

Petitions

‼️ urge icj to invite gazan journalists to testify

international cultural workers to strike from german cultural institutions for their complicity in oppressing palestinians and promoting genocide - strike germany

petition to investigate war crimes committed by israeli military

demand ceasefire - amnesty international

open call for immediate ceasefire

american government call for immediate ceasefire

american government to stop funding israeli military

ceasefire and increase humanitarian assistance - oxfam au

petition to get canva to address their pro-israel stance

invoke the genocide convention to call for ceasefire in gaza - world beyond war

suspend israel from international sports - diem25

UK to expel israeli ambassador - change.org

gaza healthcare workers for nobel peace prize - change.org

teachers around the world demand ceasefire - teachers for palestine

president whitten: reinstate samia halaby retrospective NOW - action network

location specific petitions

gaza call for lasting ceasefire - oxfam (UK)

end israeli occupation - parliament uk (UK)

email your MP - medical aid for palestine (UK)

protect gaza civilians - islamic relief (UK)

stop fuelling genocide - action network (USA)

@ biden: call for ceasefire now - move on (USA)

ceasefirenow.com - jewishvoiceofpeace (USA)

call congress and demand a ceasefire - uscpr (USA - they provide a script of what you should say, so don't worry about it)

note: you can call everyday. they tally the number of calls per issue. so more calls = higher chance for them to take action. p.s. you mainly go to voicemail so don’t worry about phone call anxiety. fight through it just this once please.

no forced displacement! - action network

australia call on israel to stop attacking palestinians - apan (AUS)

immediate ceasefire and increase in humanitarian aid in gaza - actionaid (AUS)

email your MPs - stand with palestine (AUS)

‼️ australian senate to investigate australian citizens in the IDF for war crimes allegations - fpm (AUS)

‼️ arms embargo on israel - cjpme (CANADA)

sign to send letter to MP for ceasefire - nccm (CANADA)

ceasefire now! - ijv (CANADA)

call on your local mayor and council to demand ceasefire - LeadNow (CANADA)

cessez-le-feu et un couloir humanitaire - le mouvement (FRANCE)

écrivez aux député-es et sénateurs-trices - association france palestine solidarité (FRANCE)

write to your député - assemblée nationale (FRANCE)

skydda civilbefolkningen i gaza! - mittskifte (SWEDEN)

singaporeans call for immediate ceasefire (SIN)

contact your elected reps and demand a ceasefire (GERMANY)

write to the EU demanding a ceasefire (EUROPE)

template of letters you can send (EU)

guide on how to contact your MPs in EU

p.s. if the template is outdated, just use it as a guide and add a few sentences here and there that reflect the current situation. i can’t find any recent templates so :/ at least this is something

multiple actions you can take to help palestine - plant een olifbloom (NETHERLANDS)

includes: links for donations, emails to MP, emails to media, links to petitions and demonstrations

den haag, maak nú werk van vrede in israël/Palestina - the right forum (NETHERLANDS)

māori call for palestine - ourActionStation (NZ)

special visa for palestinians in gaza with family in NZ - NZ parliament/pāremata aotearoa (NZ)

deem israeli actions as war crimes - NZ parliament/pāremata aotearoa (NZ)

basta ao genocídio em Gaza! - awaaz (BRAZIL)

globo e grande mídia, parem de desumanizar civis palestinos - the intercept (BRAZIL)

Campaigns

‼️ justice for palestine

reach out to countries to back up south africa’s invoke genocide convention at the ICJ

‼️ international criminal court

submit evidences of israeli war crimes

friends of al-aqsa

❥ UK-specific

urge your MP to speak up for palestine

hands off al-aqsa

stop administrative detention

petition for UK to stop arming israel

❥ International

boycott puma — email them to end their partnership with israel

boycott coca-cola

palestine action

join the resistance

islamic relief canada

urge your MP to rally for ceasefire

decolonise palestine

poster campaign to raise awareness on the war crimes being committed against palestinians

text/call campaign for people living in USA

text CEASEFIRE @ 51905 to call for a ceasefire

text RESIST @ 50409 to send a letter to your representatives to pass HR3103–a bill that prohibits tax dollars from going to israel

download 5Calls app to contact members of your congress | (more info)

fax campaign for people in the USA

go on this website to send 5 free faxes per day

here’s a link to a pre-written fax copy you can download to send (the first link on the linktree)

here’s a video that explains how to fax your senator (it’s very easy and all you need is a valid email address)

‼️ BDS movement

get involved in boycotting companies associated with israel

palestine diaspora network

global strike guide - join the global strike!

please let me know if you have any more links. i will add them in. and please reblog the original post!!

UPCOMING PROTESTS

PALESTINIAN LITERATURE READING LIST

[crispy-ghee]

Page 14 preview. Been slow working on this thing. Will do another post with full pages on tumblr once I finish everything up to page 18.

[huasira]

legacy

[elyserie]

Fate's Refusal to Honour (or at least properly research) Depictions of Non-Japanese Figures 2: Electric Bogaloo ft. Wandjina from the Current JP Summer Event

Disclaimer: While I am an Australian, I am NOT of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Therefore, I am coming at this issue from an outsider's perspective. If there is an Aboriginal person, or more specifically of the Mowanjum people from the Kimberly regions, please PLEASE correct me if I am wrong on any front.

The culprit behind the events of the current Summer story in the JP servers has recently been revealed to be Wandjina, a creator Dreamtime figure from the Mowanjum people's culture.

In any other context, I would be thrilled to have an Australian figure in FGO, but the problem here is the figure they use.

Wandjina are sacred to the Mowanjum people, and therefore one needs to go through Aboriginal Law to obtain the right to use the Wandjina's image.

In Australia, this resulted in an actual conflict between a non-indigenous artist and aboriginals. You can read more here, but one quote to note is from an Aboriginal man of the Darug people, Chris Tobin: "Aboriginal law is very specific on what you can and can't do with wan[d]jinas." Another quote on this topic is made by the owner of an Aboriginal art gallery, Adrian Newstead: "Only a few Aboriginal artists ever win the right to depict wan[d]jina, and only then after years of initiations and ceremonies..."

I am NOT attaching an image of FGO's iteration of Wandjina due to this. Not only is her appearance only Aboriginal on a surface-level with her 'dot art' aesthetic (dot art* is only a recent addition to Aboriginal culture, created back in the 1970s), having no resemblance to an Aboriginal person (note, that while many Aboriginal people are white/pale, FGO continually chooses to depict people of colour as light skinned as possible. And yes, I know she's blue, not white. There is literally no records of her being blue skinned; is this because Wandjina's are associated with rain????) but she is also not very Wandjina looking? These figures do not have mouths, have large eyes meant to resemble the eye of a storm and are typically depicted with elaborate headdresses. That little glowing boomerang on her head is not exactly elaborate. And WHY does she have a boomerang??? Because she's Australian???? By that logic, every Japanese figure needs to have a katana. #GiveMurasakiaKatana2023.

There is also the issue of Cnoc na Riabh. While it is funny to think that she's a foreigner because of an Australian influence, Yaraan-doo is also another Aboriginal figure. And it is slapped onto a white girl for a fan service event. I'd just rather Fate leave Aboriginal culture alone and just do, like, Ned Kelly or something if they're going to continue like this.

More resources and info under the read more!

You'll have noted in the quotes that I've edited an 'n' into wanjinas. This is so I didn't confuse anyone: both can be the correct spelling! I just stuck to what I thought FGO was using for their Wandjina.

Here's an overview of what wandjinas are and their inappropriate use in art: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/arts/what-are-wandjinas

Here's another page about an inappropriate use of Wandjinas (note: it's only a short synopsis about a documentary that covered the incident, I'm uncertain if you would be able to get access to the documentary outside of Australia): https://www.creativespirits.info/resources/movies/who-paintin-dis-wandjina

It should also be noted that the two websites I've linked above are from the website Creative Spirits. While it is run by a non-Indigenous person, the person behind it is currently transitioning it to be an Aboriginal owned and run resource. You can read more about how this site is run in his About page.

*If you want to know about dot art's origin, here and here are some resources on them. However, this article brings up something interesting that I would like to bring back to FGO Wandjina's dot art aesthetic. It notes that "the term 'dot painting' stems from what the Western eye sees when faced with contemporary Aboriginal acrylic paintings" (emphasis mine). All three articles note that dots were used to obfuscate sacred symbols and artifacts so that those who were not initiated into their cultures could not see what these figures were. In that case, what the hell is the dot art seen on Fate's Wandjina supposed to represent? In this article, it talks about the symbolism in Indigenous art. Fate's Wandjina has none.

[elyserie]

Hi everyone! Thank you for the overwhelming support with this post. A few people have reached out to ask if there are ways we can contact the Mowanjum people and let them know what's happening. So I've decided to do some more research into the topic and address some concerns while I'm at it.

First off, when I said Aboriginal law, it slipped my mind that people outside of the Australia may believe that this would be an actual codified law of the government. I mean, I'm pleased you all think the Australian government would be that happy to incorporate and protect Aboriginal cultures no questions asked! Aboriginal law generally refers to Aboriginal cultural law, since each culture would have their own set of rules and the like. So unfortunately, the government is going to do jack about this issue as they've always done. Nothing can be done to punish non-Indigenous people from using the Wandjina. That's why the artist from the art battle article I linked above could get away with her blatant racism and outright cultural theft. I received an ask accusing the use of the term 'Aboriginal law' as spreading misinformation. I think this might be where the confusion stemmed from? Anyway, I've addressed that anon separately, but just in case, I'll be using the term Aboriginal cultural rules instead from now on. (Anon ask here: https://www.tumblr.com/elyserie/726181573799657472/the-post-about-aboriginal-law-is-completely)

HOWEVER! I found good news about this issue! Did you know that the Mowanjum people got so sick and tired of the misuse of their creator figure that they trademarked the Wandjina? Well they did! Back in 2015 actually as a result of the above linked art battle. The concept is a bit complicated, as trademarking a cultural figure is not something that trademark law usually covers. It can't protect against all cultural misuse though, so I'm not sure how effective this would be in FGO's Wandjina's case. (Here's an article on this: https://www.artslaw.com.au/article/protecting-the-wandjina/) (And here's an article about how the art battle went down: https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2011/06/article_0003.html)

However, its' not like we could do much with this info, so I looked further into the issue and how we could do something about this. I found a short ABC interview article that interviewed the manager of the Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre. She mentioned that she receives cases of misuse of the Wandjina's image and going after perpetrators legally. In which case, I think contacting this centre could be a good first step! (Here's the article I found: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-art-show/why-its-not-ok-for-just-anyone-to-paint-a-wandjina/10826928 NOTE: I could not find any audio transcripts on the page)

Another article I found concerning the the misuse of the Wandjina mentioned a group called the Mowanjum Artists Spirit of the Wandjina Aboriginal Corporation who took action against the non-Indigenous artist. However, when I tried looking them up, the Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre was the only thing that popped up. So I believe this centre is currently our best bet to notifying the Mowanjum peoples of the misuse.

Website: https://mowanjumarts.com/

If you like, you can donate to them! They do have a Contact Us page. I plan to send them an email as I live on the other side of the country so it's difficult for me to make a trip there. If you like, feel free to also send the centre an email! But if you'd just like to leave it to me, if you have screenshots of Fate's Wandjina in the game, could you give them to me or something? Her image and her name as 'Wandjina' would be needed. I know at least katakana, so I should be able to translate her name in the image for the centre.

Another thing you could do is contact FGO itself. Since most of us, I assume, are NA players, we could contact the NA server and send our concerns about Wandjina's implementation into the game. I don't know nearly enough Japanese to compose a letter template to send to FGO JP, so for now, we can only hope that the NA team will be able to handle this issue. Feel free to copy and paste sections of this post if you need when contacting them.

For now, until the Wandjina's traditional custodians say anything on the matter, we can only do our best within our means. If you know any better on the subject, please reach out.

[kaibutsushidousha]

This post turned out to be a really fascinating research opportunity for me, and sorry if it feels intrusive to springboard on it like this, but I really want to share my findings and questions while I still have all my research tabs open.

/1.

The first question occurring to me on this read was "Was it possible for Nasu, as a Japanese monolingual, to know that there are restrictions on the depiction of Wandjinas?".

I understand it's probably not a relevant question to most, but my background is that I'm a born, raised, and currently residing Brazilian with a degree in Japanese language and literature. I specialize in translation, so "there is a need for information to available in every language, and monolingual people can't be presumed to know things inaccessible to them" is a belief I stake my self-worth on. I perfectly understand people with different priorities saying the answer to this doesn't matter, especially considering Morise Ryou is a professional English translator and part of Type-Moon's Servant research team, but please understand my side too.

Another big disclaimer on this one is that the question "Was it possible to know?", not "Did Nasu know?". The event story does more than enough to answer whether or not Nasu knew about the restrictions. The event's narrative demanded the use of an ancient god that had their cult pre-historically extinct, and the god Nasu found for this role was Wandjina. Nowhere in the event script there is any commentary about this view diverging from known history, which leaves it quite clear that Nasu wasn't and probably still isn't aware that the Mowanjum religion is still living.

Without further ado, the answer to this one is most likely no. I searched with several keywords on both regular Google and Google Scholar, testing multiple katakana spellings for Wandjina and Vesna Tenodi, and no results to present.

Japanese Wikipedia's page for Wandjina also makes no mention of it, but that doesn't count as a source because Wandjina's FGO debut is 2 hours and 44 minutes older than the Japanese Wikipedia page. FGO communities that are big on Servant research (Twitter, Wicurio, Hitotsume Noa's mythology streams) also show no sign of knowing as of now.

Going one step further to reach directly what Nasu's mistake was (assuming the Mowanjum were extinct), there are no peer-review sources mentioning their survival, but travel blogs show the community's culture is preserved through tourism. However, none of the 5 travel blog posts about the Mowanjum mention the cult of Wandjina to still be a thing. This book could have it, but I can't find it digitally.

There is one comically close example from Osaka University's National Museum of Ethnology's report on their aboriginal art exhibit. The English abstract of the paper says it's more accurate to call aboriginal art "contemporary art" rather than primitive but the Japanese version has no equivalent sentence to that in their paragraph.

(Context: Wandjina art should be called contemporary because the Mowanjum community regularly renews the images.)

/2.

About Wandjina's design, FGO's Wandjina visibly having a mouth is a major research failure on her designer's part (who is it? looks like Simosi, but she hasn't officially posted about it) and one that was much easier to avoid because multiple sources both translated and natively written in Japanese explain why Wandjina can't have a mouth.

This pretty much kills good faith in the rest of the design ideas, but just for the argument's sake, it's possible that her blue skin is meant to reference the use of the color in body paint.

And the giant boomerang could be because the boomerang originates specifically in Kimberley and one known Wandjina story (that has been translated into Japanese) depicts one Wandjina killing another with a boomerang. But again, good faith was already out of the window when the Wandjina was drawn with a mouth.

/3.

This last part is about questions that have been puzzling throughout the research process and I ultimately failed to find an answer for. I'd love to hear of someone else knows this, especially someone directly from the community. There are multiple parts to what I'm not understanding, but if I had to boil it down to one thing, it'd be "What exactly is the part that isn't allowed about portrayals of Wandjina?".

Most people explain it's bad because you're not supposed to look at them without the proper rites. You need to say your name, state your business, and have the body paint of the appropriate color for the Wandjina of your tribe. But today, I've looked at many Wandjina images, many displayed in pro-Mowanjum articles. Are the articles practicing what they are condemning or is it perfectly fine to look at Wandjina images through a screen?

Every article about the image rights dispute mentions only the Wandjina graffiti in inappropriate places and the case of Vesna Tenodi, who makes physical Wandjina art (not to mention claims to have greater spiritual authority over them than the traditional keepers of the legacy, which must be a far bigger cause of animosity). Most articles I read consistently word the prohibition as "you can't paint the Wandjina (of a tribe you don't belong to)", so it's easy to be a bit skeptical about the relevancy of digital images on the cultural law.

My biggest lead in this department is the 1966 sci-fi show Wandjina!. Through Mowanjum response to the TV show, I wanted to find my answer about non-paint depictions of Wandjina. Unfortunately, I found no relevant commentary about the TV show. Apparently, there was no large-scale controversy about its content. This could be because their portrayal was accepted, but it's mostly likely because the show aired in the 60s. I'm not confident enough to say I gained any answer from the show.

/

That's pretty much all I had to add after looking into the parts that made me curious and talking to some people about it. It's almost amusingly serendipitous that what caused this miscommunication was an event about two caring and benevolent forces trying to help each and causing major problems for everyone because of cultural misunderstandings derived from the language barrier. I can certainly say my experience with the story is deeply affected by OP making me live its themes right now, although I'm still not sure if negatively or positively.