Unwatched S03 E11 – Otaku Elf

by | Sep 20, 2026 | Media, Opinion, Reviews | 142 comments

Genre – Comedy Anime
Series Total Runtime – 5 Hours 3 Minutes
Spoilers – Yes

Bought for the title alone, I had not heard of this work before acquiring it. There is no dub, but the subtitles work quite well. From the opening of the first episode, we find that our main characters are a Shrine Maiden, and the Elf who lives at the shrine. Said Elf, playing the role of shrine deity, is over six hundred years old, but has become addicted to video games, manga, and anime. With the city having enveloped the shrine, the modern day is visible in every direction. The Elf has no divine powers but does have a few bits of magic. The shrine subsists on offerings from the community. The Shrine Maiden takes their duties far more seriously than the Elf, despite still being a high school student. Unlike a lot of other shows, the fact that there’s an elf in the shrine is no secret. She got summoned from another world by the Shrine Maiden’s ancestors and just stuck around.

While the Shrine Maiden is trying to think of a way to get the Elf to go out and talk to the community some more, we cut back to the Elf painting miniatures. Gunplay with the serial numbers filed off. When the Shrine Maiden brings her little sister around, the Elf is terrified of meeting somebody new. The degree of crippling social anxiety is beyond that of any introvert I’ve met. Probably because they’re holed up inside. The Shrine Maiden persists in trying to talk the Elf into going outside. This only leads to an argument. The Shrine Maiden runs off to a park to reflect. This does get the Elf to emerge out of concern, but she has an anxiety attack once she’s reassured the Shrine Maiden is all right.

Having set up the situation in the first episode, let’s see if something happens. The second episode starts with the Elf still too nervous to even compliment the Shrine Maiden’s little sister on her food. After the credits we find the Elf is sinking funds into blind boxes for “Frog Tanks” and having no luck getting the one she wants. I’m not convinced the shrine is flush with cash. Unfortunately for the Elf’s social anxiety, the Shrine Maiden’s childhood friend follows her into the shrine. During the conversation it is revealed that the Elf has been borrowing money from the Shrine Maiden, who, mind you, doesn’t actually have a paying job, just whatever form of allowance she got.

While there’s not much plot so far, I am enjoying the low-stakes character-driven show. The most serious rift is about food. The Shrine Maiden eventually uses this to coax the Elf into leaving the shrine to go to a restaurant. It turns out to be more expensive than anticipated as the stinger for the episode. I get that the slice of lifestyle might not interest some people. But every so often, it is what is called for. There is a marked contrast between episodes of this sort appearing as filler, and where the character interplay without high stakes is the point. A quarter of the way through the series and the cast is limited to the Elf, the Shrime Maiden, her little sister, and the childhood friend. There are recurring side characters, but they have smaller parts and simpler characterization.

It isn’t until episode four that we get introduced to a second Elf from Osaka. This one is smaller, appearing more childlike, but of similar age to the one we’ve been following. Her associate shares the same title as the Shrine Maiden but has a character design that implies a guy. I’m uncertain at this point, as Japanese names don’t help me figure that part out a lot. We do find out Osaka Elf was summoned by a different faction from the warring states prior to the establishment of the Tokugowa Shogunate. She’s come by to settle some ongoing contest between them for the past four centuries. It’s a game of tic tac toe. As is the nature of the game, they draw again.

Dialog eventually confirms that the Osaka associate is in fact a girl, just dressing androgynously. The mention that the Shrine Maiden’s grandfather had run off with unexpected business to avoid the Osaka Elf reminded me that he’s been mentioned but never appeared on screen. This does lead to another realization. Every character who has had lines of dialog has been female. I hadn’t noticed overtly because there was no dissonance about people like the Amazin* delivery girl, the restaurant manager, or the old storekeeper being women. Before that observation gives the wrong idea, this is not a fanservice anime. Everyone appears as one would expect ordinary people to dress. Conversely, it is also not something made for modern audiences. The cast just happens to be more feminine.

*They use recognizable but trademark distinct company names for legal reasons.

With the elves and glowing motes of spirits she uses as messengers, I do start to ask why there doesn’t appear to be more interest in investigating the magic that has been demonstrated to work in this version of Japan. Everything is “Modern day but we added elves and their spirit messengers.” Since the summoning clearly worked twice or thrice, and there’s proof of another world out there, I’d imagine it’d be the subject of intense curiosity. Instead, it’s just not mentioned.

In terms of the structure of the show, most episodes are actually split into two semi-related, half-size episodes. Since most of the plot ideas won’t survive being stretched out to a full episode, this is only to the show’s benefit. But it does mean that going beat by beat through all twelve episodes is a bit pointless, since it would just be easier to watch it.

In Episode seven we finally see a guy with a speaking line – an unnamed fish wholesaler. I only mention it because once I spot a detail like that, it sticks in my head. It’s not something that you get hit over the head with. I’m probably being hypersensitive from other media sources. The truth is, without plot summaries, there’s only so much to talk about. I did find one thing. When the Elf compares current day to the past, it is always Edo period during the tenure of Ieyasu Tokugawa. Not in the 400 years afterward, nor anything from the two hundred years she lived in her original world. I get that there was stability (some might even say stagnation) until the Meiji Restoration, but even a recluse would have noticed other time periods. But at this point I’m being nitpicky for the sake of something to write. I’m just trying to put text on the page for as long as the show keeps playing, which will not give you the best results. So I’m going to wrap this up.

It’s episodic, zero stakes, and just simple fun. I’m glad I stumbled onto it.

Oh, one more thing – Why did the Sengoku warlords even summon these elves who end up living in shrines?

🤔

About The Author

UnCivilServant

UnCivilServant

A premature curmudgeon and IT drone at a government agency with a well known dislike of many things popular among the Commentariat. Also fails at shilling Books

142 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    Cheers to everyone who was at Honey Harvest. A festival episode in the Glibs slice of life drama.

    • Aloysious: Evil Dark Lord of Wonderful Smooches

      Did you give anybody a celebratory wedgie?

      People really like that at parties. Trust me.

      • UnCivilServant

        Is that why you never get invited back?

      • Aloysious: Evil Dark Lord of Wonderful Smooches

        I don’t get invited in the first place. It’s a bias against Evil Dark Lords. Nobody wants a wonderful smooch.

      • Threedoor

        Me too my lord.

    • Furthest Blue pistoffnick (370HSSV)

      Cheers! It was nice to see everyone again. Good mead (thanks Kinnath), good food, good conversation.

      • Threedoor

        As work went for me I could have slipped away as it’s my slow time.

        Which I scheduled a surgery in the middle of. No planes for a while.

    • R.J.

      Someday… I will get to go. I have spent the past three years building up my retirement house.

      • juris imprudent

        Timing didn’t work for us this go ’round – hopefully next year.

  2. UnCivilServant

    Gunplay with the serial numbers filed off.

    WTF? How did that slip through. It’s Gunpla, not Gunplay. I’d blame autocorrect, but I don’t use it.

  3. Gender Traitor

    The degree of crippling social anxiety is beyond that of any introvert I’ve met. Probably because they’re holed up inside.

    Beyond even that of any of the Glibs you’ve met in meatspace??

    • UnCivilServant

      So far, no glib has been as bad as this elf is portrayed

      • Evan from Evansville

        *swish * See, I SEEM quite personable. Outgoing, even. These things are not quite as they seem. My Extroverted Face seems the most people-pleasing, so it gets worn perhaps most frequently.

        *Caresses the affable mask, confirms others for future use*

  4. SarumanTheWoefullyIgnorant

    “When the Elf compares current day to the past, it is always Edo period during the tenure of Ieyasu Tokugawa”

    Maybe because Japan became so (relatively) calm and peaceful after that (until Commodore Perry showed up) that she nodded off and didn’t wake up until modern times? Elf Van Winkle?

  5. Sensei

    This one I’ve watched start to finish. It’s a twist on the slice of life genre and I liked it.

    In the this case the Japanese title is edomae elf. It’s a bit of a word play on the edo era and the word itself means in the style of Tokyo.

    She’s an otaku as well so the title works fine and anime fans will know the word otaku.

      • Evan from Evansville

        Damn, that girl works! I hope she’s doing quite well. She’s a year older than me and I bet we’d get along really well. *swoon*

    • rhywun

      Beau has a point in that not everything was “great” – but their top hits were really, really great.

      OTOH… Germans and completionists like me might be interested in Der Katalog, which as you might guess is what I believe is their entire catalog, in German. “Trans Europa Express”, “Das Model”, “Neon Licht”, “Die Roboter”, “Radioactivität”, usw.

      • rhywun

        in Europe’s top economy, which is struggling with deindustrialisation, sluggish growth and soaring energy costs

        How on earth did that happen?! It is a mystery.

        A confirmed win by Die Linke in Berlin, where the far-left party has called for expropriation of corporate landlords to fight rising housing costs, could see its candidate, Elif Eralp, become the capital’s first leader of Turkish origin.

        lol At least Muslim communists are riding high in big cities!

      • Ted S.

        What that piece doesn’t mention is that the CDU have apparently wound up on 4.9%, which means they won’t be in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern legislature.

        I was going to link to this unhinged commentary (in German).

        First, the writer seems surprised that the SPD’s tactics won over voters only from the other anti-AfD parties, and not from the AfD itself.

        The next paragraph, he goes on to refer to an AfD politican as “supposedly nice” and that his going back to federal politics is only going to make the AfD more dangerous by freeing the way for more incendiary politicians.

      • rhywun

        I will LMFAO when the so-called “firewall” falls apart, because it will have to fall apart eventually. It’s almost like voters have finally come to the conclusion that there hasn’t been any significant difference between the big two Teams in a long time.

      • dbleagle

        Did Kraftwerk end up floating around passed out in a pool as a bunch of nihilists? Their bio in the Big Lebowski suggests so.

        Afterall, after Autobahn’s album “Nagelbett” was released what more could Kraftwerk do but retire?

      • Threedoor

        Expropriating corporate landlords.

        Right back to the 25 Point Plan.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        expropriation of corporate landlords to fight rising housing costs

        That sounds like it will work out just fine, solving the problem with no negative consequences whatsoever.

      • rhywun

        no negative consequences

        Driving out the middle class is a positive for the commies running NYC and (soon) Berlin.

  6. Nephilium

    Alright. With it looking like Watson winning, and likely starting week 3, I need feedback on signs:

    Baker is the best you can beat
    It’s personal and professional
    #4 Go Away

    • UnCivilServant

      You lost me. Was there context I haven’t read?

      • Nephilium

        The Cleveland Browns, who I have season tickets to, defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are currently led by former Browns’ QB Baker Mayfield. The Buccs were 8.5 point favorites to win before the game, and Watson still looked like warmed over garbage.

        Deshaun Watson is garbage both on and off the field, and will likely be retaining his starting role because of winning today.

      • UnCivilServant

        🤨️🤔️

        “This is a Sign of the times.”

      • Ted S.

        I thought the sign of the times was 17-year-old boys being high on crack and toting a machine gun.

      • UnCivilServant

        No, that’s a sign of the 80s.

      • Ted S.

        I assume you didn’t get the reference.

    • Ted S.

      I like big punts and I cannot lie.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      “ITS PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL”

      the others just look cheap.

      (and congrats, it is always good to win, my SeaChickens did likewise)

    • rhywun

      Oh brother. 🙄

      • Tres Cool

        “This primary data was then examined by applying a forensic anthropological toolkit to estimate whether the bones were likely to have come from someone with African heritage.”

        Can just anyone get that toolkit? Like at Harbor Frieght?

      • Tres Cool

        Emergency Roadside Forensic Anthropological Toolkit

      • J. Frank Parnell

        African heritage

        So, like, Carthaginian?

    • whiz

      It’s quite possible black women were hit hardest, not strictly because of race but because they were on average in a lower socio-economic class, which was hit harder. The same cry of racism exists today and for the same reason.

    • J. Frank Parnell

      Because there were like 3 black women in London at the time and one of them died?

  7. Fourscore

    Another nice day at HH. Cooperative weather, Glibs telling unbelievable stories which no one believed, locals working their respective hinies off. Food aplenty, I know why there food deserts (and desserts), it’s because all the attendees brought plenty.

    Richard’s Pride of Vermont went home with the Glibs. Lots of honey bees trying to reclaim their treasure but alas, it was not to be.

    • Aloysious: Evil Dark Lord of Wonderful Smooches

      Did you keep a steely eye on Mr. Uncivil?

      • Fourscore

        Surprisingly enough UCS was an excellent dinner partner last night (and today), charming my daughter with the exploits he’s had wearing varying pairs of gloves. She was close to being enthralled but was careful not to go over the line, with her husband there.

      • UnCivilServant

        Naw, I got away with only two tasks – helping drain the spun honey into the first filter, and helping carry the table out of the shed.

      • UnCivilServant

        I wrote that before 4xScore mentioned last night.

        I didn’t want to ruin the family dinner since I was the only non-relative who made it with the others getting delayed elsewhere.

      • Sean

        lol, fourscore

      • Threedoor

        I’m curious as to how you filter honey.

        Is it part of the spinning process or do you force it through a filter?

        Just big enough to keep the bits of bee out?

      • UnCivilServant

        It was a pair of metal screens to keep chunks of wax and insect from going further. The honey was heated then gravity fed through the screens with a spatula to move debris out of the way to avoid clogging it up.

      • Aloysious: Evil Dark Lord of Wonderful Smooches

        Mr. Score, that got a genuine belly laugh out of me.

      • Threedoor

        Makes sense UCS.
        I wondered if heat heating it was involved as that would get it moving.

      • Fourscore

        Those working with the processing have a thermometer and try to keep the temps around a 100 or a little more to keep from pasteurizing the honey.
        We try to avoid killing the yeast and any of the healthy stuff.

        Very scientific

  8. Evan from Evansville

    Your sitting down and watching cute, stress-free anime is rather amusing.

    I hope HH went well for everyone, mead shared and stories told.

    • UnCivilServant

      Sometimes you just need something light.

      • Fourscore

        Oh, there were stories told. I’m glad no one had a lie detector. many started out something like,

        “There was this one time”… or “A buddy of mine”…

        …and the was just Jimbo. Then the mead started flowing and so did the embellishment.

        When the first sentence is “This is no shit…” you can be sure you’re going to need hip waders

        At least this year there were no physical challenges

      • rhywun

        “And now… the feats of strength!”

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        “this is no shit…”

        Legit LOL.

    • Beau Knott

      Evan, there’s a link to a complete 2005 Kraftwerk concert for you in the previous post. Enjoy!

      • Evan from Evansville

        I’ve got it loaded and will explore. Thankee much.

  9. rhywun

    Happy Yom Kippur, (((some of you))). I had to look up why I have tomorrow off work.

    I’m celebrating by visiting the DMV – or “MVC” as they call it in this state.

    • slumbrew

      It’s not really one of the “happy” ones – that was last week (Rosh Hashanah, aka new years).

      Yom Kippur is the Day Of Atonement – like Lent, but just one day. I normally pass on joining my wife for this one – it involves a day of fasting and I prefer to skip the house of hangry Jewesses.

      She didn’t head to her mom’s this year since we just got home from France last night. We’ll see how cranky she gets tomorrow. I should probably avoid eating in front of her.

      • Threedoor

        Definitely avoid a succulent Chinese meal.

      • rhywun

        It’s not really one of the “happy” ones

        Yeah, I almost reconsidered my comment. Oh well… a day off makes *me* happy.

      • dbleagle

        Semi OT. I watched “Golda” recently on Netflix. The movie covers the period of the Yom Kippur War and her leadership, all while undergoing chemo. If the movie is halfway accurate, she smoked like a chimney.

        Not a bad movie.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        Yeah, there’s no eating or trees on this one.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, there’s no eating or trees on this one.

        lol I still reference that graphic that Old Man posted years ago.

        The only box checked by Yom Kippur is “We’re Alive!”.

    • Evan from Evansville

      Sandy Koufax Day, as it (probably shouldn’t) be called in the US. I’d love to have overheard that conversation about him not pitching Game 1 of the World Series when he was the best on the planet at it. Huh. I’da been a bored fly, according to him:

      “There was never any decision to make, because there was never any possibility that I would pitch. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish religion. The club knows I don’t work that day.”

    • RAHeinlein

      When we lived in New Jersey our neighbors were extremely observant and built a Sukkot – our children were quite young at the time and they created learning experiences to help understand the traditions. My husband and I are atheists, but exposed our boys to a wide range of religious experiences and in many ways I WISH I could experience true religious faith.

      • slumbrew

        I’m not a believer but there’s a lot I like about Judaism.

      • rhywun

        Neat. I don’t think there is room around here for that. My neighborhood is mostly Latinos and yuppies (whites, Asians, and Indians) anyway. I am not sure if there is any concentration of (((them))) nearby.

        I am an atheist I guess but not loud about it at all. Don’t mess with me and I’m curious about all of it. Mom and one of her dirtbag boyfriends got us baptized Catholic when I was little but I don’t follow it now. She wasn’t very diligent about it later on.

      • creech

        My best friend growing up was (((one))). But non-observant. This was a decade after WW2 and his parents were completely cynical about the God’s Chosen People” bit and why He might allow all the un-chosen tribes to whale on (((them))) for millenia for their virtues.

      • slumbrew

        Counter-argument, creech – those other tribes are gone; there are no Philistines around these days…

  10. Evan from Evansville

    The Colts at Kansas City! JEEPERS! It’s like Indiana vs Swift! I think we’ll win! We’ll throw Garfield at her, that unfunny fuck.

    As expected, Cox Auto didn’t get in touch with me today, after the drug test folk passed me yesterday. So, no work tomorrow. Or at least, no work tomorrow morning. *shrug* I suppose I should assume I’ll start sometime this week or next Mon., Sept 28. I’m also semi-smart enough to realize I shouldn’t assume shit.

    I will, however, while I can, continue to assume I can sleep in tomorrow. Suck it, already-employed folk. Morning is stupid, and it has no time. I have no time for it, and I appreciate y’all taking chunks out of it for me. Keeps it distracted, rattled.

  11. dbleagle

    I submitted a late (to the CDT) entry to “what we are reading”.

    • R.J.

      ME TOO!

      • Threedoor

        I finally learned to read.

  12. Evan from Evansville

    The Acura MDX commercial is Frank Costanza’s “I STOPPED SHORT!” bit. But, like, loving, but the less gropey kind.

    Him and Estelle? I can’t think of a TV, or even movie, that has a funnier comedic pair of parents. Their acting is spectacular, both of ’em, and so good at showing why George is the loser he is. I’ve semi-actively tried to use “The Opposite” approach in life. Not unsuccessfully.

    • rhywun

      Frank is hilarious just being Frank.

      “I feel… vigorous!!”

      • Tres Cool

        “What was my Father doing with a man in a cape? What was a man in a cape doing with my Father?”

        “You can trust me- I’m Frank Costanza’s lawyer”

      • Evan from Evansville

        They both are. I love how Estelle, according to Jason Alexander, looks and sounds just like his mom. Being around them would drive me nuts, in a good way unless I were George, but I’d prize our Festivus for the rest of us.

        Would also be such fantastic people to work with, just professionally. Being around funny people helps you be funnier.

      • Evan from Evansville

        His timing and tone made everything he said inherently funny.

        ‘And then I see my son using his body like it was an amusement park!’
        ‘And she asked me why I was doing it.’
        ‘I said because it’s THERE!’

        Recommend. Would be parented by.

  13. Trigger Hippie

    Fun game so far Evan. Colts always play the Chiefs tough for whatever reason.

    • Evan from Evansville

      Not bad, though I have nothing in the game. (We already handily beat Cincinnati earlier today. That was a fun, stress-free game!) I like watching NFL mostly just to learn more about it, history and cultural stuff. I’ll never ‘convert’ to football. Baffling, for a season to be so SHORT. *laser-eyes charge*

      I liked Manning. I woulda liked him even if I weren’t from Indiana. He was the Greg Maddux of NFL. That was pretty actively fun, and I didn’t really-really care, but it was more exciting.

      Oh! FB Memory from Sept. 20, 2016!!! Me at a Cubs game @ Wrigley, third base side. Reds @ Cubs, Cubs 6, Cincinnati 1. Jon Lester got the win, 7IP 1 R. I’d just come back from Singapore. *inquisitive furrow* Must confirm if it was that year. I’d think I’d remember that, but I’ve forgotten many things.

      Huh. Oddly similar Cubs/Reds games 10 years apart. Maybe one of my Scheme-a-Fyin’ Faces winked at the right baseball God. Or something. I need a face to find which faces work best. Feels like another Seinfeld reference, when Elaine is down and out, “I’m becoming George!” That’s me, but George is UCS and his gloves are my many faces I’ve managed to conjure up.

      Things should be sorted, but I don’t have work tomorrow, so I believe I’ll continue to enjoy this night. As you perhaps can tell, I’m diving further deeper into supplies Beau Knott cannot.

      • rhywun

        Baffling, for a season to be so SHORT.

        Soccer is more ideal at around 35 matches a season, plus lots of other tourneys – cups and such.

        The baseball season has so ridiculously many games it renders each one almost meaningless it feels.

      • Evan from Evansville

        Meh. Baseball is ‘more fair,’ and a supremely good team will still lose 60 times. All about taste and preference. I easily watch ~200 MLB games a year. I was also thinking earlier about this, go back to before radio or TV, and ya just had the sports section. There’s just a lot more material to read through! (I only read Cubs or MLB for bigger stories, but still!)

        Hockey’s 84 is another solid number. There’s time for the coaster to go up and down. Shit happens in the season, people go on streaks and slumps, things change, and there’s time to appreciate the arcs. *big shrug*

    • R.J.

      They both start with “C” and hence must fight.

      • Evan from Evansville

        CC Sabathia, of Cleveland, could manage.

      • R.J.

        Captain Colon would crush them both,

  14. Evan from Evansville

    Football’s OT rules are still beyond stupid. The NHL’s ‘new’ one is at least incredibly fun, the 3×3 OT period, and then a shootout if it remains tied. I don’t like inherited runners, but at least in MLB each team gets 3 more outs until it’s sorted.

    That was really stupid.

    • Brochettaward

      I don’t like gimmicks for OT and I hate that some sports go in that direction. The game should be decided through normal play and it seems fairly clear to me. Sports is entertainment, but it’s not *just* entertainment. It’s a contest and competition and the gimmicks tend to take one set of skills and emphasize them above all others. Or just luck.

    • CPRM

      Sudden death or nothing. I hate this ‘everybody gets a chance’ bullshit.

      • Brochettaward

        Sudden Death as a concept was even memorialized for all of eternity by Jean Claude himself.

      • slumbrew

        PBUH

      • Evan from Evansville

        Sudden Death, now THERE is an underrated flick.

        And Bro: Yes, re: OT. See above: MLB. Three outs per team until it’s sorted. Go forth, players. Play.

      • rhywun

        I hate the way major tennis tournaments have pussied out on this.

        It used to be, play until someone wins. Some matches used to last days. The last one IIRC was a 70-game fifth set in 2010, after which tie-breakers were introduced to make the game easier. Fuck that shit.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I wish they had made a season 2. Great concept, like JCVD.

  15. CPRM

    UCS, I forgot to ask you today; a few years ago you used a localized diffusion model to make some AI art. I was just wondering if you’ve played around with the current online text to image and if you had how it compared to the node based model you used.

    • UnCivilServant

      Online has really stupidly strict censorship guardrails on what it won’t draw. To the point where water pistols on the beach were verboten, as was platonic cheek-kissing involving anyone who might be construed as less than 20. It would refuse to draw things that can be found in public advertizing for being within three miles of a hyper-aggressive content restriction.

      The local node was slower but at least did what you told it to.

  16. Mojeaux

    I’m back to being a fair-weather fan. Or, really, no-weather fan. I have a very complicated relationship with competition and imperfection, so I’ve just decided it’s best I don’t participate in any way, such as watching.

    Also, I am sick to death of Taylor and then Tom Cruise invading and it’s like, please leave us alone. Regular normies are welcome. You are not,

    • rhywun

      It was front-page news when Tay-Tay pointed at her wedding ring tonight.

      Yeah, I’m rapidly losing interest myself.

  17. Evan from Evansville

    ‘Brown men are fearless, funny and sexy’: Salman Toor on clubbing, queerness and New York’s Muslim moment
    In Salman Toor’s paintings, queer south Asian men hang out in bars, twerk at trippy gatherings and lose themselves in phone screens. Sometimes they huddle in the back of taxis or pillow-fight on beds. In one portrait, a brown man stares apprehensively while facing customs officials. For the 43-year-old Pakistani American artist, it’s crucial that these figures take centre stage, after years of being demonised and erased.

    “It excites me that the cuteness and sexiness of brown protagonists can become familiar,” says Toor when we meet at his sun-drenched Brooklyn studio, a few weeks before his first solo show in Europe. “Their stories are not a gay side story in a family saga. It’s the main story. And everyone else is in the background.”’

    Okaly-dokaly. It got worse, so I stopped.

    • Trigger Hippie

      My story is the main story and everything and everyone else is just window dressing and/or extras in my own hopelessly narcissistic world view is common across all peoples and cultures.

      …”it’s crucial that these figures take centre stage, after years of being demonised and erased.”

      Or maybe, just maybe; the vast, vast, vast, majority of us never really gave enough of a fuck to care or notice you one way or the other because, ya know, day to day IRL.

    • rhywun

      I like when you don’t post links so I don’t have to waste my time chasing down the stupidity.

      In this case I have to wonder if the brown queer is thankful for living in a country where he is free to be a narcissistic asshole rather than being, oh, stoned or some shit in his brown homeland.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        I’m starting to think the concept of being truly thankful just doesn’t exist outside of Christianity.

    • EvilSheldon

      This puts me in mind of as quote from the undisputed greatest film of all time, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

      You’re sweet… and you’re young. Neither are traits that I hold in high regard.”

      …

      In particular, being ‘fearless’ usually just means that you lack the intelligence to understand the consequences of your actions. It’s not a good thing.

  18. Tres Cool

    Frustration thy name is insomnia.

    • Tres Cool

      “Ismael Sipteyul was charged with three counts of forcible touching, arraigned in Dover Justice Court and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail…”

      Isn’t that the dude from Moby Dick ?

    • Tres Cool

      Well no sense in me going into work I suppose.

    • Ted S.

      Not me. I was already killed by the Y2K bug.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, Sean, homey, & Ted’S.!

      • UnCivilServant

        😢️

        I know I was answering CPRM upthread, but I was here too…

        🥺️

      • Gender Traitor

        Good morning, U!

        I’m sorry! I didn’t scroll back that far, having seen comments from several hours ago. (And as far as Monocle was concerned, I hadn’t read ANY of the comments.)

        How are you today?

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, I just ate the last of my cheese, since I needed something for breakfast and had a mini wheel of Edam.

        Shuffling my luggage to be able to carry less in on future stops. Still waking up.

      • Gender Traitor

        I foresee another stop at the Cheese Barn on your way home,

      • UnCivilServant

        At least they should be open when I’m passing in that direction.

        How’s your morning?

      • Gender Traitor

        So far so good. I have fresh milk and finally remembered to prep my overnight oats last night. Ninja Cat is draped across my lap and probably annoyed that I’m typing over him. Pretty busy day at work today – payroll AND a new hire, and I’m going to train our CFO on how to set up new employees in the payroll system.

      • UnCivilServant

        Oof. Sounds rough. Especially training a C-level.

        But you can do it.

      • Gender Traitor

        Today’s new employee is in her department, so it’s only fair. And in an organization with fewer than 100 employees, “C-level” is more like “c-level” (or below c-level? 🐟️🐠️🐡️🦈️)

      • UnCivilServant

        🤔️ An Undersea Financial Officer… (Sand) Banks and Shoals?

      • Sean

        🙂

      • slumbrew

        For the record, “unread” comes from the site itself, not Monocle

    • Gender Traitor

      We respect 4(20) every day!

      • Fourscore

        Some days are Rodney Dangerfield Lite though

      • Gender Traitor

        Good morning, 4(20)! How are you after all the hoopla yesterday?

  19. Tres Cool

    @UCS- Cheesebarn life hack: Its all upstairs.

    • UnCivilServant

      Thanks. This wouldn’t be my first visit though.

      How’s things in the stack emissions industry?

      • Tres Cool

        Heading west this morning to the outskirts of Toledo for a simple VOC destruction efficiency test.
        Unlike a couple of weeks ago, Im not expecting to have to climb my old, fat, ass, 160′ up a ladder.

      • Common Tater

        That’s a big ladder.

  20. Common Tater

    GM 🙂

    • Gender Traitor

      AMC! 😃️ 🚘️

      • Beau Knott

        Studebaker! 😂

  21. Sean

    @UCS, pickup some Midnight Moon & Beemster XO cheese.

    • UnCivilServant

      🤔️

      You may have to remind me Thursday morning. I’m not sure I’ll remember by the time I’m on the road in Ohio.

  22. Common Tater

    “CNN, MS NOW and Politico will sue the Trump administration Monday to restore their White House access after reporters for all three outlets were turned away from the property over the weekend.

    “This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the outlets said in a joint statement.”

    https://nypost.com/2026/09/21/us-news/cnn-ms-now-and-politico-announce-first-amendment-suit-after-reporters-booted-from-white-house-grounds/

    It’s not the government deciding what the press reports or publishes.