#i'm trying to cut back on going to the comic book store and buying the same issue in print when I have it digitally

[bunnymajo]

I need IDW to do like a made to order print service of their Sonic comic covers. like redbubble or something. buying the comic isn't enough, I want it plastered on my wall or on a mug

[monsieuroverlord]

Hellverine #1 2nd printing 1:25 Cassara Virgin Variant

My goodness, do I have a mini rant about this (I'll keep it under the cut if anyone wants to skip it):

It was such a pain in the ass trying to get ahold of a copy of this!

I saw it when it was first announced a little over a month ago, right?

So, I'm like okay, it'll probably be posted on my usual ordering site (no physical shops near me, but if you follow me, you know I got a pulse on the solicits. My pull list is immaculate, things are planned and preordered MONTHS in advance).

I check every day for a week. No dice. Not posted for pre-order.

After the first couple of days during this week, I'm also casually checking other comic book sites -- either already sold out or going for a minimum of $65 to $100. Ebay pre-sales are pretty similar.

So I'm like, screw that, it isn't even out yet! The official catalog price is like $9.99, I can wait.

A month goes by, I'm checking diligently every day. There are no changes.

Then I'm like, "Okay, I just have to wait until it actually comes out" and I'm sure the shops will be selling their extra incentive copies at a more reasonable price.

Tuesday night, I'm pulling out all the stops, I'm deep-diving. I'm utilizing all the secret advanced search commands I learned in college. AND I thought I found one!

It was a listing on Google shopping for $4.99, so I'm like "Jackpot" and click "buy now" so I do, and it redirects me to checkout on the website, and I think to myself "sweet!" so I buy it.

I get my order confirmation, and IN BIG BOLD LETTERS at the top, it reads:

"PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST BUY ALL INCENTIVE QUALIFIERS TO GET A INCENTIVE COPY"

(I'm paraphasing a bit, and there was a bit more after that, but you get the idea)

So, I'm thinking "what?" and I go and actually browse the site I ordered from, and I somehow stumbled upon a wholesaler store, like the kind a comic book store would use to order bulk copies for the store.

Essentially, if I was a store, I would've placed an order for 25 main 2nd printing copies, and then I would've qualified for this incentive variant.

I was quick, and sent and email request to cancel, and got my money back, no problems. (I don't have the budget to but 25 copies of one book just to get the one I want. That's the whole reason I'm not paying $100 for a copy)

So its the day of release in my timezone. Everywhere is still sold out. Slowly but surely, the Ebay resellers begin to trickle in. Its averaging about $70 to $80.

Then I see it! By sheer luck or diligence or a wild combination of both -- there's a $20 copy. But the listing says "DEFECT" in big bold letters.

Undeterred, I think "How bad can it be?" as I don't really need a flawless copy, I just like collecting my pretties, you know?

There were pictures provided, along with the description: some of the color is faded off around the lower left staple

(circled below)

That's not shininess, its actually faded white.

So I bought it. And it arrived today. Its my wonderfully imperfect copy and I'm so happy.

As of today, the lowest is like $49.99 + shipping o Ebay. All the online shops don't have it, even though it came out less than a week ago. And its still not on my usual pre-order site.

Like, I dunno if the 2nd printing didn't sell as well, or maybe there was a manufacturing delay, but good lord, I did not expect this particular variant to be such a pain to obtain.

Like, it's only a 1:25!! I dunno how many 25s were actually printed, but my goodness. I know this is such a first world problem and I recognize at least half of the drama is self-inflicted by my own hubris and dedication to also getting a good deal.

But I'm just trying to buy a little treat for myself. damn.

[ghostiiess]

[NSB HEADCANONS] - going shopping with kane!

♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.

pov: you're going to the mall with our fav kane ratan!!

warning: none

type: wholesome and fluff

member: kane ratan

he wouldn't tell you that you guys would go to the mall

just a random date, you know?

"want to go buy more anime merch with me?" he said with his cute smile (btw? can we talk about his smile? it's so special and so beautiful :( it make me sad that he doesn't really love his smile. i think his smile is so precious and so soft like?? AARGH)

anyways back on track

(rest of the hc under the cut!)

he would get you bubble tea if there's any stand at your mall

or any drinks you like if you don't like this kind of drinks

and food! he would buy you food at your fav restaurant

listen, this boy just love to spoil the people he cares about!

so to me, it wouldn't be a surprise if he'd do the same for you :)

for example, he did a video a couple of months ago where he gives all members, 2 or 3 gifts before he go on christmas break with his family! like, tell me this man isn't caring and cute

he think about everything and everyone

he would pay for everything

"don't worry about it! it's my treat!"

"pay? for what? i'm here! today's your day and i want to spoil you! plus.. it's impolite to decline gifts, am i right?"

he love spoiling you like there's no tomorrow

while walking / shopping, he would def hold your hand

like he just love holding your hand and being close to you

kane would buy you things that he know that you need (but that you won't buy)

in the nsb's valentine's video they did last year i think, we can clearly see how kane wanted to buy something for oliver (which is adorable)

AND HE ENDED UP GIVING HIM A SKATE?? like please, kane you are too sweet

so i think, he would buy you things like that, stuff that you need, but won't buy because it cost A LOT of money

not trying to say that ty and kane's family are rich, but... let's say, they're doing good in the money thing

lol, one of the mansion the boys had was 7M of dollars-

ANYWAYS, BACK ON THE HEADCANONS 😂

kane wouldn't really mind spoiling you

in fact, he would love it!!

he just think the smile you have after you see his purchase is super worth it!

ooh btw if you're a anime fan, he would, of course, go to the anime store with you and check the figurines, the mangas, the books, the comics.. like.. all the thing related to the japanese stuff

and if you aren't, well, i'm sorry, but you'll have to follow him

BUT IT'LL BE WORTH IT! DON'T WORRY!!

we know how much kane love anime, japanese art, mangas.. things like that, lol, the list goes on

well, his smile would be super big, because that's one of his safest place he can go to (comfort place) and one of his fav

like, he wouldn't be able to stop smiling and laugh

and please, his smile :((

it's so cute help?

IT'S SO WORTH IT GOING WITH HIM AND SEEING HIM SMILE, LIKE-

anyways, he would make it worth it for you, by showing you his fantastic smile and his appreciation

he would buy some mangas that he know you may like

he would also buy more clothes for you to steal... hahaha

well, first, it was for him.. but then, the image of you wearing his clothes was way too adorable so he decided to buy them in hope you'll wear them

literally, kane have clothes you CAN'T steal, because otherwise, he wouldn't have clothes anymore lmao, so yeah.. BUT THIS TIME, HE BROUGHT THEM SO YOU COULD STEAL THEM

isn't he sweet? :(

lastly, he would take the bags if your hand is tired of holding everything

what a gentleman

to conclude, going shopping with kane ratan would be amazing and super fun!!

i hope you guys liked it!!

taglist (open! send an ask if you want to be in it!): @nsb-rkive @kentisbaby @firebenderwolf @hyuneee0

bold can't be tagged :( if you have a new username and would like to stay on my taglist, please send an ask so i can change your username :)

[bloodsbane]

ive been thinking about my ~resolutions~ wrt my art for 2023, and i think the main thing is i want to re-learn how to let myself sink into a picture and do stuff just for fun

mainly, i want to develop the patience it takes to put a lot of work into something that i know won't be perfect, because being too scared to start holds me back. in particular i want to make more detailed pictures. not in terms of realism, but like... STUFF. draw more objects, more small details, flavor, personality. i want to try drawing more interior settings, get used to furniture and walls and ceilings and everyday objects. learn to fill in spaces in ways that convey a lot of personality and/or story

i also wanna make more comics!! but newspaper myself when it comes to longer-form projects. excluding MOIRA, which i hope to pick back up again this year, i am going to try limiting myself to short story comics that are only a handful of pages. my problem is that i like slow development of concepts and dialogue-heavy stuff. i want to train myself to be better at just having fun with a simple concept that i can play around with in like, 2-3 pages max. it's going to be tough, but im hoping this will help make me even more proficient in drawing comics and sand down some of the rough edges i feel grating on me still

i also want to make more merch! ever since getting a book specifically for the stickers i collect, i've gotten even more into stickers and want to make more of them. i hope to re-open my etsy store this year, though i may also try to FINALLY do what it takes to set up my own website. i think that would be a good Main Goal for this year - a site to make a porfolio out of, even if i'm not personally interested in securing, like, Professional Art Jobs... I did do some work as a colorist for someone else's comic and I think I'd love the chance to do something like that again? maybe!

a site would also be good for setting up a way to buy merch from me more directly, though there are some perks that come with doing things through etsy... no pay cuts would be pretty sexy though, especially because something as small as stickers or A5 prints are really easy to package on my own. i'll have to look into it and see.

OH AND THE LAST THING IS THAT I WANNA MAKE ZINES! little ones that I can send to friends, and then less-little ones that I can put for sale digitally and physically, maybe for limited runs. gotta research that a bit but i've already got a couple of fun ideas and I'm super excited to find the time to work on stuff like that.

so... here's to hoping, i guess, for a productive year. im hoping my move and major restructure of my life/schedule, and not living with family anymore, is going to give me the space to be more myself irl in ways that will benefit my energy levels and creativity... so here's to hoping i guess!

[sofiadragon]

I'm with you Maddie. Some of the things I have are sentimental. I'm not going to throw them in the garbage, but I don't buy more and I have returned gifts to the store and made it clear I don't want any new HP merch as gifts.

I'm a fanfic writer, and the first fanfic of mine that got popular and gave me a lot of encouragement was a post-Order of the Phoenix power fantasy in 2003. When Joanne started being toxic I stopped posting new fanfiction, but I never got rid of all the plot bunnies. Sure I moved on to other fandoms, wrote other stories, and got into new things, but I still go back to some of those ideas I never published and play with them in my own head. To the people saying I shouldn't "put it in their face" in the comments, I really did exactly what you wanted. For years I didn't post a word of them, just kept it to myself. Comforting daydreams where I played with my dolls, maybe made a Sims 3 family to poke, and I posted publicly about things like BBC Sherlock and the MCU.

On the other hand under a cut so I'm not 'pushing it in people's faces': I just don't think it matters much to the sales numbers if someone writes a fanfic on AO3 or not. Hey, you clicked read more, you don't want to read this bit the back button is right there.

There has to be space to tell people that they shouldn't spend any money on the Harry Potter franchise. Just that, and not all the rest. It's the same as any other moral argument, you can't come in screaming absolutes and expect to sway someone who is firmly on the other side, they will just ignore it or entrench. It is important that we don't give her our money if this is where she is spending it, but if you say they should throw away things with sentimental value and never speak of it again in public (on a website that lets you block tags no less) then you're going to alienate more people than you convert. People don't get to decide what is and isn't of great emotional value to others and breaking up with a fandom can be very painful.

Lots of people deleted or stopped writing fanfiction in 2019 or 2020 when this all came to light, and it hasn't impacted her bottom line much because she has enough capital now that she can live off investments. If she never got another penny in royalties she'd still be rich as sin for the rest of her life and able to donate to all these same horrible things. Most people who aren't chronically online are going to see that before they see the nebulous connection JKR herself sees between people sketching a cute Severitus comic or writing a steaming PWP and support for her crusade against personal freedom and civil rights. Just because she sees that connection and uses it like a weapon against her own fans to try and punish us for disagreeing with her doesn't mean it's a strong driving force. Let's be real: New people are drawn in by the millions of dollars being continuously spent on marketing the Potter franchise, they'll only find the fanfic stories if they are already deep into the fandom. There is a better argument for fanworks that are more visual, an image can make people curious in ways the title of a drabble can't, but please tell me how many people we think are browsing fanfic categories they know nothing about for anything but the most plot-free PWP?

What's hurting the franchise most is the Fantastic Beasts movies. They suck. Just not an entertaining set of films, and the core message is a hot mess. People should talk more about that, actually. Let's talk about how trash those plotlines are and why the movies feel so uncomfortable when you watch with your brain off. How do you kill a fandom's enthusiasm? Shitty content. It's not even the kind of plot holes that make you want to write a fanfic to pave over them, or a fix-it that sorts out a snarled and messy knot of plot threads. It's not even bad in a fun way that's a bit camp, it's just bad. Her newer books, some written under a pen name to hide them, are also trash (I was gifted a digital copy of a couple that couldn't be refunded so I read them. Save yourself the pain and trouble of reading a pirated copy and just find an in-depth review or Sparknotes summary. Atlas Shrugged was shit but at least I could respect it.)

Going after millennial fans with guilt and blame doesn't work or the boycotts would have been successful. I don't just mean the boycotts against JKR, I mean all the similar ones based on moral outrage where we should feel bad for liking something for reasons that have little to do with the product. It isn't the 40-year-olds who have been in the fandom since they were kids who are buying most of this stuff anyway. The official swag - the bookmarks, the shirts, the diaries, the cheap crap made for $0.25 and sold for $20, the slightly nicer crap sold at BoxLunch - is being bought for new kids and teens who find out about HP after seeing an advertisement by adults who don't care enough to know/remember about the drama showing it to new kids - because the content of the books isn't that bad even if the writer is a flaming hot dumpster fire. Yes, even the stereotypes aren't that bad compared to other children's stories with simplified characters that are one special trait above being a talking trope. It is unfortunately a common thing that happens when you flatten and simplify things too much for the sake of a child audience and then don't have the talent or patience to fix them in the editing process.

The antisemitic video game sales mostly went to Gen Z and I personally know three people who bought it out of spite because they were told they shouldn't - one who had never read or watched anything Potter before. Being an absolutist shuts down the conversation and causes people to stop listening and entrench. Let posts that just say "don't give her money" exist. We need them.

Even better tactics are just leaving the books out of recommendations and making lists of better books. Suggesting alternatives works to prevent new mega-fans in the new generation. My nephew wants a fantasy book? Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern, it's got dragons and drama and telepathy and teleportation. The Narnia books. So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane. Tolkien.

The HP characters live rent-free in my head. It's too late for me. My father hasn't quit smoking despite all his attempts and I can't quit thinking about how both Snape and Draco deserved better-written reveal/redemption arcs. Save the next generation, give them Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman instead.

I haven't purchased a HP item in close to a decade - I use the books I already had as doorstops or to prop a laptop up for meetings nowadays.

There is NO "death of the author" with JK Rowling - she controls and continues to profit from her IP, and uses that money to fund hate groups.

[thesummerstorms]

So I didn't start reading comics as a kid.

(lots of rambling beneath the cut, though having just finished after writing, maybe the take away is 'N52 was not actually inviting as someone trying to get into comics for the first time'.)

At one point in high school I had some Green Arrow/Black Canary back issues my former step dad bought me when we went into a comic book store at complete random (he bought my then 9 year old brother Simpsons comics and then we never went back) but I was broke teen with no job who did not live in that area and did not pursue much further.

I didn't consider picking up comics until I was in college, and then I mostly started with Marvel because it was early days of the MCU and I saw a lot of the movies with friends. Other than Winter Soldier, I wouldn't say most of them stuck with me or were the best movies ever, but it did get me interested.

The DC movies on the other hand did not get me interested. The DC live action movies mostly sucked.

DC got my money, however, due to my childhood obsession with Dinah, specifically, from Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. (And her relationship with Ollie, I guess, but I wasn't super interested in him without Dinah.) PLUS my preteen fascination with the 2003 Teen Titans.

(That one was harder to carry over because as fun as the 2003 series was the characters were very different lol. They do NOT go into "Robin" and "Starfire's" full traumatic back stories or more adult characteristics in the 2003 stuff.)

So I just looked to see what my first DC purchases on Amazon + Comixology even ended up being and...

I clearly made my first attempts pretty soon after New 52? There is a New52 Batgirl book in the list right above Birds of Prey.... And then nothing DC for literal years.

So much Marvel and Star Wars, even a few non Big 2 things. No DC except rentals for the animated movies and shows.

I bought one digital issue of Green Arrow/Black Canary in 2014, and then DCdoesn't show up on my Comixology account until 2016 with Wonder Woman Rebirth.

Even though that whole time from 2014 on I was still buying the main SW comic, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Wicked + Divine. I was buying anything I could with Black Widow (the Rucka book was a favorite, and I also read whatever the series was called with Bucky as Cap, dating Natasha. I kept that trade for a while, too.)

Apparently I didn't even pick up RHATO (which I mainly read bc a) sale and b) bulk purchase until then c) what the fuck is happening to Starfire morbid curiosity means I need to see it end) until 2018.

But you could not like at any point call me serious about the actual DC comics (again, I watched ALL the animation) until I apparently bought every single volume or issue of the 2016-2019 Green Arrow run (I cannot REMEMBER any of the plot, but I definitely READ all of it) , which finally lead somehow to the 2009 Batman and Robin run (which I bought and read all of in the span of a few days in 2020), then DCeased and Justice League Odyssey.

And now I'm actively trying to go back to some of the older stuff + looking for current publications to read. (I want to like Titans but it's very very hit and miss for me. I read one volume of TT's Nightwing and gave up.)

But like, I just feel like I could have very easily been an "easy" new fan for DC to grab since I had literally never heard of Marvel before the MCU but grew up with all the DC characters. My Uncle is STILL Superman's number one fan, my ex-uncle (? Aunt's ex husband) would throw any DC with Batman at us that he could when we were kids.

But I bounced SO HARD off on New 52 that they literally could not get me actually hooked until 2020, even though I started buying comic stuff in 2014.

[dyzziiii]

BIG and HUGE venting under the cut ignore if u know me irl pls lol. ill die of embarassment otherwise. thank u.

it gets harder and harder and harder to ignore that its beyond time for me to just stop trying to have a connection with my parents and that they will never be anything like the people i want them to be so much.

i don't know why my brain won't just grasp that this isn't fixable and they won't magically love me the way i want them to love me. they've had 30 years to try and I've run out of things to offer them as payment.

i go back and forth on this rollercoaster of grieving for them even though they're still alive, and then being hurt by them because i can't unpin my self esteem from how they treat me or ignore me.

deep down, it just feels so fucking hollow and soul-shattering to realize that the only people who were supposed to love me unconditionally never really got that attached to me. I'm a prop on their life journeys towards whatever fucked up selfish end they're after. When it came down to it, they both chose themselves over me.

My dad has all these stories he loves to get credit for about being a young, single dad working so hard just to take care of adorable, precious me, and how he would sometimes put back some non-essential groceries so I could get a comic book at the checkout line, and how he once made me a whole toddler-sized furniture set out of hand-me-downs and cardboard boxes because i wanted to live with him even though he didn't have a proper bedroom for me yet, and its like, yeah, I thought he was great too, but then everything changed when i was a preteen and teen and he let his new wife berate me nearly daily until my self-esteem was so low i wanted to die.

When I moved out at 16 because i was missing so much school from being stress sick all the time, I begged him to make it safe for me to come home, thinking that finally (after years of watching me break down at her emotional abuse) he would take me seriously-- or miss me, or want me around-- and then... he didn't. He never really tried. I never went home.

I ask myself some questions a lot that I'm terrified to get answers to:

How long before he stopped looking for me? When did things no longer seem out of place without me in his life? How many trips to the store before he stopped buying the snacks I liked? When was the first time he set the table and didn't have the urge to grab a third fork and knife? How many days before I wasn't an hourly thought? Daily? Weekly? i'm terrified it's a low number. Something in me knows it is.

He once told me (on accident) that things got easier after I moved out. He tried to walk it back but I already heard it and it wasn't a surprise.

Those classic cartoon episodes where someone does the "I wish I was never born!" thing and then they see that all their loved ones are miserable without them??? stupid.

And my mom, too! I gave up so much to take care of my mom as a kid. From age 7 onwards, I was her primary caretaker.

I knew all her medications by heart and went to nearly every blood draw, doctor's appointment, and ER visit. She'd tell people I was her angel. I was so proud to be that for her. She said she survived all the times doctors told us she'd die because she wanted to live to see her kids grow up. Sounds like such a sweet story.

I put hundreds of hours into gameboy games because I spent so much time doing nothing, by her side. Because she wanted me there, like how old people want a lap dog.

I thought she needed someone to do everything for and with her-- get her drinks, make her food, raise her son (6 yrs younger than me), be her therapist, give her demerol shots, entertain her addict friends, babysit their children, hang around disgusting houses full of terrifying men while she disappeared into back rooms to get just a little extra xanax to get her through the week, sang loud songs with my brother in the bathroom with the door locked so he might not hear my stepdad threatening to murder us again, clean the rat-infested house covered in dog shit and nicotine stains, stayed kind while she let most of our pets die horribly or decided she would rather sell them when we weren't home, held frozen food to her head while she had a seizure because we didn't have any ice, promised not to call 911 or else CPS would take my baby brother away forever, snuck out to the strawberry fields to steal enough to eat, accompanied her to graveyard shifts at the gas station and ran the registers so she could take hour-long smoke breaks, slept on a dirty, cigarette-burned mattress from the 80s that had old period stains from stepdad's older sister, carried our 1 lightbulb room to room when we had power, or unplugged the fridge so we could run the microwave when we didnt have power (for months at a time) and just had 1 small powerstrip running from the neighbor's house, staying up all night to herd her away from the toaster she kept jamming a knife into, locking her in her room by sitting up against the door all night and holding strong when she threw her broken body at it, gently bringing her out of her medication-twilight where she thought she was still in high school with her whole life ahead of her and having to watch her come to terms with being a permanently disabled ex-teen-mother living in severe poverty and domestic abuse and being an addict all over again and grieving her life together while she cries, dressing her when she'd wander the house high and naked... you know, normal sick-mom-caretaker-daughter stuff you do until you beg your dad to come get you one day at 4AM when you're 12 years old and ready to break, after which you swear to yourself you'll never stay there after dark ever again, and the decision haunts you because you wanted to be stronger for your baby brother but you know if you stay, you'll never pass 7th grade.

And then eventually, in my late 20s, she disowned me and my brother for (more or less) saving her life for the dozenth time. She doesn't even remember doing it because she was so gone, but for the first time since I was 12, I made her feel the impact of her choices and stopped seeing her in real life beyond the barest minimum. I stopped calling and only answered when I felt strong enough to keep her at arm's length. My brother moved away for a while.

I waited for her to miss me.... and to need me. She needed me, right? That's why I suffered so much for her. She needed me. I was her hero and she couldn't live without me, right?

Wrong. She never needed me. She just... moved on. Life went on. She apologized but hasn't tried to change anything about her lifestyle in the slightest. She won't manage her health. She won't stop seeing the people who give her the things that ruin her. All the things I thought I had to do to protect her and keep her alive were just conveniences for her. She quickly found other people to do those things for her. Someone else hears about her problems now. Someone else pays for her to stay in trashy motels to hide from her husband when he picks up the meth habit again or has a mental episode and turns scary. Someone else rides in the ambulance with her and lists off all her medications by heart.

A few years ago my stepdad called out of the blue and told me my mom was on a ton of xanax and pain pills and just kept begging him to go outside and yell for me. She thought I was a little kid, out playing in the yard, and she wanted me to come inside and sit with her because it was getting dark out. He wanted me to talk to her and tell her I was okay and I'd be home soon, so she would calm down and go to sleep, because she hadn't slept in days. She was crying so hard, scared for the little girl version of me who loved her and wasn't coming home. She needed me again. I wasn't there.

It's so fucking haunting. I'm still so angry he called me, and I replay it all the time in my head. She loved me (in a selfish, broken way) really deeply, but when it came down to it, she would rather have her addictions than me.

Sometimes it's like I have to mourn for the sweeter, softer versions of myself who died when I left these places. It's like I'm looking for them, too.

I should hate my parents but I miss them so fucking much.

But not really the them I've known, but just the them I thought they were, or that I made up in my head as a kid, maybe? The little snapshots of them when times weren't so bad all mashed together into what I wanted them to be? I don't know.

I want some better, kinder, less selfish version of them to love me and be proud of me and I want to feel whole in the way people can when their parents love and are proud of them.

its so STUPID. I shouldn't care. I'm an adult. I hate that I care!

Am i going to be like them? Forever locked into some selfish stupid pursuit of what I think my ideal life should be? Dad wanted a "normal" household with a wife and kid and dog and white picket fence and he got that in my stepmom and the baby they had when I was 15. Mom wanted to escape her chronic pain and live like the teenager she didn't get to finish being, and here she is, partying away her 50s in the most destructive way she can.

Is my version of that being a kid again and feeling safe and loved and creative? That's even worse, honestly. I want to grow up.

i gotta stop because ive been spiraling really bad yikes yikes.

shout out to my dad for deciding to visit and critique every aspect of my life, and my mom for sadtexting me how she misses me while actively ignoring my calls because she can't stay sober for logner than a few days at a time

[magical-girl-topic]

Hey! Its been a while 0_0

I had a lot going on when I started this blog, idk why I thought I could keep it up. But now I'm hoping to make a come back.

Anyway, this magical girl is Calamity Mary from the series Magical Girl Raising Project, there are 12 episodes of the anime and I believe 15 manga volumes? Correct me if I'm wrong! :3 I bought the first manga volume during the summer at my local comic book shop, but then I had a ton of renovations done to my room and had to store all my stuff in the attic for a while, so i never got around to reading it until last week! Its a pretty easy read, took me about 45 minutes, and it was super interesting! I plan on buying the next two volumes very soon!! I believe before the manga there was a novel series, I'd love to check that out too! So far Calamity Mary is my favorite, but that'll probably change!

I'm going to show you crunchyroll's description of the anime, and then I'll talk about what happens in the manga, I'll try my best to give as little spoilers as possible, hopefully none at all!!!, but I'm not very good at that, so I apologize in advance. Anyway, crunchyroll's description:

"Magical Girl Raising Project is a popular social game that has an ability to grant players a 1 in 10,000 chance to become a real life Magical Girl with unique magical abilities to help people. However, at some point, Fav, the magical administrator fairy, decides to cut the population of Magical Girls in half. The game quickly changes into a twisted, wicked battlefield as the 16 magical girls get dragged into a battle for survival against each other."

So yeah! The animes pretty much the same as what I read. Here's how I'll describe it.

Magical Girl Raising Project is a very popular mobile game, its wonderfully made and its free! Anybody can play! But theres a rumor going around, a rumor that random players have been selected to become real life magical girls. And that rumor is true. 16 people have become magical girls, but fav has decided that's too many. Every magical girl has to collect magical candy, whoever has the least candy by the end of the week is eliminated... and dead! :3 Nobody here wants to lose their life! So, some magical girls have to take matters into their own hands...

dun dun dunnnn!!! But yeah, its super duper good so far!! I'm gonna watch the anime over april break. :D

Thanks for reading luvs! Have a great break and stay magical. <3 xoxo

[20dollarlolita]

dollar-chan's pattern school: picking a pattern and reading the envelope

So I'm trying to get my weird little pattern school idea floating, but I am going to be posting all the tutorials on this blog so that none of that info is secret and only allowed to people who want to learn on another platform. I'm a big fan of providing information for free.

So, in this school idea, the first project is to make something from a commercial pattern, and to choose something that doesn't require specific body measurements. This way, you can focus on learning to read patterns and it doesn't really matter too much if it's a bit smaller or larger than you originally intended. There's a whole lot of flexibility in this project. The important thing is just learning to pick a pattern, get some fabric, cut it out, and assemble it using the pattern markings and pattern instructions. If you already know how to do that, you can proceed to complete that step without even reading this.

Picking a pattern:

There's a lot of ways to make items you would use in a lolita wardrobe. Some ideas:

Basic tote bags (relevant Lolibrary search) are easy to make and are a great first project to make from a pattern. Brands put out tote bags that are relatively easy to simulate by using good fabric choices. Lined tote bags are a very nice project because it teaches the basics of bagging out a lining. You also can pick those fun quilting fabrics that you can't use for main lolita pieces.

Decor and craft items are fun and you can shoehorn them into this with "lifestyle lolita" as your theme.

If you have fabrics or ideas you want to test out, you can try out some combinations on doll-scale before moving on to a full-scale project. This also lets you practice with print scale and that gives you a huge leg up when you start moving into lolita for humans. Note, though, that there's a lot of experienced sewers who make clothes for 18" dolls, so make sure you pick a pattern marked as an easy one.

Aprons (lolibrary search) are a thing you can use in lolita. Gathered aprons have a similar construction to lolita dresses and so they're really good for learning other techniques you'd later apply to other garments. You get experience picking and working with prints on the same scale as you'd be working with future garments. However, since aprons aren't fully fitted garments, if you're off by 3-5 inches, no one will ever know.

Buying your pattern:

If you've never bought a pattern in a store before, they're usually kept in some impossible-to-search cabinets. Somewhere around there should be a big catalog with all the patterns. Look through the book, find one you like, and remember the number of the pattern. Then, you go to the cabinets and look up that pattern. It's super easy, but I've worked in a craft store for long enough to know that it's not universal knowledge.

Reading the envelope:

Most patterns that you buy will be able to make multiple variations of the same pattern, called views. The front of the envelope will have pictures of the views. They're sometimes photos, and sometimes fashion illustrations, but they'll tell you what the pieces should look like finished.

The back of the envelope will have technical illustrations, sometimes of the front and the back of the views, and sometimes just of the back. These are simple line arts designed to show you the construction details. More about different kinds of fashion illustration here.

It will also have the suggested fabrics, and the information about how much fabric to buy for each view. If I want to make the view D bag, I go to the section of the table marked D, and know that it's how much of the fabrics I need. Let's get an easier-to-read envelope over here because I've photographed that one three times and it's still ugly:

Yes, I've committed to using Comic Sans there.

On some envelopes, there will be a text description of the garment. This will occasionally give you useful information, and as you read more patterns you'll find things like the words "no closures" that just set off a flag. This is a thing that's sort of fallen out of fashion and a lot of patterns don't do this anymore, so don't worry if you can't find it.

Then, there will be suggested fabrics. This will give you a lot of important information, like if the pattern is designed to be made out of light or heavyweight fabrics, if the fabrics should stretch, and if the pattern needs to go in a specific direction. Sometimes, you will see things like "unsuitable for stripes, plaids, or obvious diagonals" and you'll know not to use those patterns.

Then, the fabric needs for each view will be listed. In this case, there are two listings. One is labeled 45" and one is labeled 60". When you pick your fabric, you will look at the bolt end, and it will tell you how wide that fabric is. If your fabric is 45" wide, you'll get the width listed as 45", and if it's 60", you'll get the width for 60". A lot of the time, you'll find fabric that is 44 or 43 or 59 inches, and you can almost always just round up. This number isn't always super obvious on the bold and it might just be "43in" listed in a long line of numbers, but in the USA it's a legal requirement to have this info available to the consumer, so it's there.

Sometimes, there will be different options for "with nap" and "without nap". If your fabric is directional, and looks different when you turn the print upside-down, you need to use a yardage marked "with nap" or "with or without nap".

If your fabric has stripes or plaids in it, or a pattern you want to match, you might want to get some extra fabric, so that you have some wiggle room to place the pieces where you want. Sometimes, the pattern layouts are very cramped and you need extra yardage if you want to deviate from them.

Some patterns need multiple fabrics. For example, you might need a main fabric, a contrast, a lining, interfacing, and trim. Each should be listed separately.

The last part is notions. These are pretty much all the things that aren't fabric that you'll need: buttons, tapes and braids, thread, safety eyes, sometimes something utterly bizarre like "approximately one hundred to three hundred pre-tied 2" ribbon bows". Don't forget about the notions section. Ask me how I know.

There will also be finished dimensions of the project on it. This is useful sometimes, especially with craft projects and bags, because it's hard to judge those things. If you're making a garment, there will also be body measurements somewhere on the envelope. When you're checking what size you should make, go off the body measurement and not the finished garment measurements.

So anyway, now you can go to the fabric store, pick a pattern, and then you can go nuts picking your fabric.

One last note: a)not every fabric store is sorted the way that the pattern envelope lists fabric. Just because the envelope says you can use challis or moire faille doesn't mean the people cutting the fabric have any idea what or where those fabrics are. It's actually not part of their job to know every single fabric that has ever been mentioned on a pattern envelope in the past 60 years so don't get condescending when no one had here of yumissima and b) if you're being rude to the fabric store employees you are getting expelled from pattern school.

And that's lesson 1 part 1, how to know how much fabric you need!

And now you get the great, great open world of which fabric to pick! That's why we're doing a craft project before we do a full garment.

I'm getting the discord up and running but I need to learn how roles work before it's open to all. Special thanks to the people testing it for me. Give me a couple of hours and we'll go public with the link.

As for how the discord is planning on working, each project is listed as a "step," so when you complete your tote bag/apron/perfect replica of kuma kumya but she's neon orange/sewing machine organizer, you get to post it as completed and move onto the next step. I promise to film a video of me throwing confetti at my webcam for the first 15 people to complete a step. Proably. Confetti is messy.

I just want to make sure I can, you know, not fuck everything up before I have a discord with like 40 people on it. Thanks for the patience there. I promise I won't be teasing with without allowing access for too long.

[justsomerandomfanfic]

Let's Play Dress Up - (Comic) Lady Loki X Male Reader

Title: Let's Play Dress Up

(Comic) Lady Loki X Male Reader

Additional Characters: None

WC: 869

Warnings: Not Sylvie. This is Comic Book Lady Loki.

Tapping your foot nervously, anxiously, you waited for your girlfriend, Loki, to finish getting dressed in the dressing room. The two of you were at some fancy, high-end clothing store, one that Loki had been wanting to go to for a while.

"The furs, darling! I simply live for them! Have you seen their window collection?" She would say, grabbing your arm and pointing to the expensive furs in the store window. You'd smile at her excitement, but you weren't as excited about it. Not because you didn't love fur, but because Loki would probably buy out the entire store.

"I think we're going to have to limit ourselves." You'd say, pulling her away from the window display. "We don't want to get carried away here."

"Oh come now, my love!" She'd pout, taking your hand and leading you into the store.

That's how you were stuck in this situation. Staring at the dressing room door, waiting for her to come out with a supposedly amazing outfit. You take a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down as much as possible. It was only natural that she'd be excited about something like this. After all, it wasn't every day that they got to go shopping together. She was usually at the Koil Headquarters, where she was CEO of the fashion industry. Which took her away from home a lot, but you and she made it through. Always finding time for each other.

You take another deep breath before knocking on the door. "Loki? Are you done yet?" You ask, pushing the door open.

She steps out, wearing a beautiful, black dress. She had pinned her hair up, looking elegant and classy. The dress was short, cutting off about mid-thigh, showing off her long legs. A slit went up the side, showing off a bit more skin than you'd expected.

"It's so pretty!" She says, twirling around. "But...it doesn't look right." She said, frowning at herself.

"What do you mean?" You asked, stepping closer to her.

"Well..." She started, blushing slightly. "I feel like it's missing something..."

You furrowed your brow, confused. What could possibly be missing? The dress looked perfect to you.

"I can't put my finger on it, but there's just something I'm not feeling."

You thought for a moment before looking around the store, spotting a dark emerald green fur shawl. You quickly grab it, holding it up to Loki. "This will add a nice touch to the outfit." You tell her, handing it to her.

She takes it from you, inspecting it. Then her eyes lit up, a smile gracing her face. 

"This is perfect!" She exclaims, hugging the fur to her chest.

"Perfect?" You question, tilting your head.

"Yes! This will make the outfit pop! You're the best boyfriend ever." She giggles, spinning around again.

Placing on the fur shawl, she giggled again, before leaning up and kissing you on the cheek, leaving a faint red mark from her lipstick.

"Thank you, my love." She tells you, smiling.

You smile back at her, taking her hand. "No need to thank me. It was nothing."

She looks at you with those big, green eyes, making you blush a little. Suddenly smiling, she headed back to the dressing room door, opening it.

"I'm going to try on another outfit." She spoke, biting her lip and giving you a wink before shutting the door.

You were left standing there, your cheeks burning bright red.

Soon enough, Loki came out in a new outfit. She wore a simple white blouse, with a black leather jacket over top. Her black pants matched perfectly with the jacket, and her boots completed the look. She looked amazing, her makeup perfect, and her hair styled nicely. It still surprised you when she changed her makeup look, she was so magical.

"So, what do you think?" She asks, twirling around for you.

You take a step forward, admiring her. "You look incredible, Loki." You compliment her, smiling.

"Really? I don't know if it's really my style." She says, turning around again.

"I think it's very you." You say, placing your hands on her hips.

"Thanks. Alright, one more outfit. Then we can go, my love." She tells you, heading back to the dressing room.

You wait patiently, watching her walk away from you. You take a deep breath, then sigh dreamingly as she comes back out in another outfit. She was wearing a bodycon dress, which showed off her curvy figure quite well. The dress was a light green color, with gold abstract lines scattered throughout the fabric. She had her hair down, letting it flow freely.

"What do you think?" She asks, twirling around for you.

You take a step forward, admiring her. "You look stunning, Loki." You compliment her, smiling.

"You're too sweet, my love." She says, kissing you on the cheek.

You hold her close, pressing your lips against hers. She wraps her arms around you, pulling you closer. You kiss her back, enjoying the closeness between you.

After a few minutes, Loki pulls away, a mischievous grin on her face. "Alright, let's go." She says, walking towards the exit.

You follow behind her, too lovestruck to say a word.

[anderson-residence]

// random irl related rant that I would put under a cut but mobile sucks and has no easy read more

-

So my local CVS has 15, yes that many I counted, big and bright yellow signs that say "ONLY TWO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ALLOWED IN AT A TIME YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR BAG AT THE DOOR OR YOU MUST LEAVE IMMEDIATELY" and a few things..

Little back story my local cvs is next door to the local K-12 school campus so after school a lot of people, unattended preteens and teens mostly, go there.

But

1. 15 signs seems excessive?? Big bright neon no less. Fucking obnoxious and rude if you ask me. The new management must be pretty fresh.

2 no matter how much trouble they may or may not have caused in the past... Isn't putting signs like that up gonna push customers away heck not only the kids but even I don't want to shop somewhere with so many 'not allowed' signs up everywhere. Who wants to shop somewhere saying "You must leave immediately"

3 Right Aid is right down the street so yeah good luck cvs like are you trying to make your potential customers go to your competition instead? Especially since they put up signs that say 'students welcome' hmm I wonder why

4 I get people can like easily steal I guess with a bookbag but assuming all teens might shoplift isn't right and like can't a grown adult with a purse just as easily steal by that logic? Is any mom with a baby and a diaper bag really a mastermind jewelry thief? Can't plenty of shit also fit in pockets? If a kid really wants to steal even if they don't have a bag what's stopping them from slipping that candy in a jean pocket? Also the local high school forces kids to all have clear book bags 'for safety' (which is another stupid rule don't get me going there) so like you can see what's in there?? and also if someone steals your bag by the door because you left it unattended I'm sure CVS is gonna be like 'lol not our problem' which isn't right. But they don't have anything that says they aren't responsible so I can't wait until they get in trouble for that lmao.

But yeah Like sorry but if you tell me I have to leave my bag at the door I'm not shopping at your store. if you tell me I need to do something or else I can't enter or must leave immediately for doing nothing wrong I'm not shopping there. If you have those rules for anyone even if it doesn't apply to me I don't want to shop there. Because it doesn't feel welcoming. My old college general store and bookshops used to do that leave your bag shit too and I mean their bookstore is expensive so I wouldn't shop there anyways but I certainly stopped buying snacks there between classes once they started requiring you to leave your bag at the door. I will never leave my bag unattended in public. If you are so scared of someone stealing from you what makes you think my bag isn't also gonna be stolen?

I think the biggest slap in the face that I didn't mention about the signs was that they were in comic sans font. Only the most serious of fonts for our posted bulletins.

[songbirdsingingthings]

This request (if it's still an option) might be a little odd and will admittedly stay more feminine, but if i may?

Might i request a small shoto x reader story where the reader is a practicing witch? It's something i personally am into and i think it would be fun to read. Imagine shoto learning about spell candles, crystals charging positive energy, tarot cards, that stuff, because the person he likes uses them a lot.

It might be a touch vague, plot wise, but from west I've read it's sure to be something you can make amazing. Thank you very much. (Anonymous because this is my first time ever requesting something like this and I'm way to shy about it.)

Intuition - Shouto Todoroki x Reader

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Kohei Horikoshi

MHA Masterlist - Main Masterlist

WARNINGS: Fluff, Swearing (It’s Bakugou, so, that’s kinda a given)

Requested by Anonymous:

A/N: Hi!!! I am so sorry that this took me freaking AGES to write. In between trying to research and find reputable sources to learn from about what you requested and dealing with school stuff (honestly, my teachers just think that all of my free time should be filled with school work smh) I finally FINALLY finished! I really hope you enjoyed, and I really found it interesting learning about all these things! <3

Word Count: 1.5K

“Y/N, may I ask you a question?” Shouto’s smooth voice cut through to your senses, rousing you from the book you currently had your nose in. Sitting just inches away from you was the red-and-white haired boy, the textbook he had been consulting now bookmarked and set next to him. With a raise of your eyebrow in curiosity, you marked your page and nodded.

“What’s on your mind?” You ask, leaning a bit closer to him. Shouto, being your boyfriend for now 2 months and comfortable with touch, wrapped a light arm around your waist.

“I was just curious about your choice of decor for your dorm, it’s quite unique.” A knowing smile graced your lips as your gaze left his handsome face and flitted around your dorm. On top of shelves, all over your desk, and even on the balcony windowsill you had, crystals and candles dotted the room. A smile graced your lips as you saw Shouto’s eyes on the various beloved items.

“I guess you can say it’s unique,” You start to say, standing from your spot on the floor and going over to your desk and taking your favorite crystal into your hand. It was a simple clear quartz cluster but it’s been with you the longest. You motion for Shouto to stand up next to you so he could see it more clearly. “This one is a clear quartz,” you explain as he bends down so that his eyes are eye-level with the crystal.

“It’s beautiful,” he murmurs, his gaze transfixed on the quartz. With a laugh, you carefully place it back down on your desk.

“Well, it’s not all just a pretty face. It’s actually charged with a lot of healing energy, so it’s provided some real tranquility in my life.” Shouto’s eyes narrow in confusion, looking back up to yours.

“You’re not telling me that this crystal has a quirk, do you?” He asks, genuinely perplexed. With a bark of laughter, you shake your head.

“No, no, it doesn’t have a quirk. I’ve just been charging the crystal myself.” Still sensing some bewilderment from your boyfriend, you grab a few different items - the quartz, a spell candle from your windowsill, and a pack of tarot cards from your desk - and lead him over to your bed to sit down. “A lot of the things I have in my room have a more… spiritual side to them. Basically with things like crystals, I charge them with positive energies. I do this by cleansing them and then emanating positive thoughts, intentions, or words to the crystals themselves.” Shouto nods, seemingly understanding that concept.

“Are the candles and cards similar?” He wonders. 

“Well, they’re all similar in the way that they’re part of witchcraft. People who are practicing witches usually have some, if not all, of these things and probably a lot more. I’m kind of in the low-key part of witchcraft since I don’t really cast spells or am part of a coven or anything, but I really enjoy it.” You gush, causing Shouto’s cheeks to heat up a bit. He’s always loved seeing you so passionate about things whether it be in classes or during hero training, but your passion here was on a whole other level.

“Interesting,” he says, “so what purpose do the candles serve?” His interested tone causes a giddy smile to flicker across your face, sending you into ‘explanation mode’.

“The candles are actually pretty cool. Like the crystals, it’s recommended that you cleanse and charge them in order for them to work. I usually buy these from that crystal store on mainstreet, and this one is one of my favorites! It’s actually one for my zodiac sign,” you tell him, holding the glass holder up in front of him so that he could read the label. 

“And the cards?” He asks, leaning over to view the pack of cards.

“Oh! Those are tarot cards.” “I’m assuming they are pretty different from regular cards?” He asks, a little smirk on his face.

“You would be right in assuming that, yes,” you say, giggling while sliding the deck out of its container. You give the deck a few shuffles. “They can help to gain insight on peoples’ futures by drawing cards that represent your past, present, and your future.” Shouto’s eyes widened.

“They can tell your future?” He exclaims, a little wary but also excited about the prospect of it.

“Yeah, you want me to give you a reading?” 

“Yes!” Shouto says quickly. Your heart warms at his enthusiasm as you let your shuffling come to a stop. Spreading the cards out in your hand, you hold them face down in front of your boyfriend.

“Okay, pick three.” You say simply, yet Shouto still hesitates.

“Is there a strategy for picking them?” He asks.

“Just go on your intuition. Pick what your heart tells you to.” You murmur. Shouto nods slowly and lets his fingers hover over the cards. He lets his fingers dangle for only a minute before picking his three cards and setting them on your bed covers. With a satisfied smile, you straighten up the rest of the cards, set them aside, and turn your attention to the three he picked. You turn them over one by one. His first card, representing his past, is The Tower. The second card, representing his present, is the Death card. And finally, representing his future, he picked the The World card. As Shouto’s eyes rake over his cards, they settle and widen comically at the middle card.

“Uh, oh no, Y/N I picked death.” He said, his breathing becoming a little shallow at his sudden spurt of panic.

“That’s okay Sho, just let me give you your reading, yeah?” You soothe, urging him to calm down. With a hesitant nod, he settles down a bit. “Okay! So for your first card, you chose The Tower. Now this card represents sudden upheaval, broken pride, and disaster. Think back to your past whether it be just yesterday or years beforehand. I know you had a tough childhood and growing up was never easy for you,” you say, trying to empathize with Shouto. He nods acceptingly, having already acknowledged his past.

“Yes, this card makes sense.” He simply says. Your gaze focuses next on the middle card - Death.

“I know this card can look a little scary, but I promise it’s not.” You say, trying to gently ease Shouto into the idea that his current present is represented by death. “The Death card represents the end of a cycle, new beginnings, and metamorphosis. Think and turn your consciousness to your thoughts right now. Think about how much you have changed from your past, and find solace in the end of that cycle and the beginning of a new one.” Shouto closes his eyes and unconsciously begins to smile, causing your own to shine brighter.

“That is a comforting thought. I never thought I could find relief from a card that says death on it.” He remarks, opening his eyes back up to yours. You could tell he was eager to hear about his last card - his future.

“And your final card is The World. I’m not being biased or anything, I promise you I’m not, but this is one of my favorite cards.” You admit, earning a sparkle to show in your boyfriend's eyes. “The World card represents fulfillment, harmony, and completion. Try and imagine your future. This completion and fulfillment could come in the form of many things whether it be your career, your friendships-”

“A romantic relationship?” He asks, his cheeks now burning with red. You feel yourself begin to fluster and the silly smile across your face causes you to look at your hands.

“Yes, this card could potentially apply to a romantic relationship.” You murmur softly. You busy yourself with cleaning up the cards and putting them back in their container, still flushed with the thought of Shouto hoping for harmony within your relationship. However, your thoughts are put to a halt when Shouto has a soft hand beneath your chin, gently angling your head so that your eyes meet his.

“I like the thought of a fulfilling relationship with you.” He confesses, his doe eyes causing you to melt.

“I, uh, Shouto the card might not be referring to that though.” You stammer, your eyes flicking in between his and his lips.

“You said that I should go on intuition beforehand, yes?” He asks, wanting you to confirm. When you nod your head, his smile turns into a smirk. “Well then my intuition tells me that the card is referring to us.” And in one fluid motion, his lips are on yours. Like always, they’re soft, slow, and sensual… and you can never get enough of them. With one hand going up to play with his hair and the other one wrapping around his neck, you press yourself closer to him as he kisses you more feverishly. 

“Thanks for my reading,” he says breathlessly, each word in between kisses. You yourself are breathless as well, sinking into his embrace like puddy.

“Anytime.”

[words-writ-in-starlight]

Thank you so much for the graphic you shared about gender identity, with umbrellas (different anon). For about 1-2 years I've felt like I might be nonbinary -- it actually started when I read a sci-fi book about a world where there were men, women, people of a third gender, and people with no gender, and everyone was allowed to choose/figure it out at their own pace -- and I thought, "Wow, that sounds wonderful." And thoughts expanded from there. Sometimes I worry I'm making it up, though.

HERE’S THE DEAL, ANON

Actually there are three discrete deals, but here they are.

First of all, the question I always remind people to ask is--why would you be making it up?  People make up things about their own identity for some kind of concrete benefit--if I decide to pass as cis, I’m doing it to protect myself on some level.  So what would the benefit be?  If you can’t think of one, maybe you’re not making it up.  Trust yourself, sweetheart.  If you doubt your own heart so much that you don’t believe that you know what sounds wonderful to you, then you may want to speak to someone about that.  My guess is, though, that you just--don’t feel quite allowed.  I feel you.  It took me years to feel like I was allowed to call myself trans, and I needed to be kindly lectured by a stranger at Comic Con before I was able to get past that.  So, here’s permission.  You’re allowed.  Try some stuff out!  Experiment in small ways!  See what feels good to you, what brings you joy!  Trust yourself and take that joy when you find it!

Second of all, hell, listen, even if you try out whatever “being nonbinary” means to you and you go “hm, no, I actually don’t like this,” then...so what?  What’s the problem?  You’re not signing your life away to whatever gender you experiment with.  You concluding you’re actually a trans man, or a demigirl, or that you’re just straight up cis and sometimes like to play around with how you present--none of that is hurting anyone.  You’re not invalidating the existence of anyone else.  You just tried something out and discovered it didn’t feel right and tried something different.  Gender isn’t a lifetime contract, it’s a nice jacket.  If you try it on in the store, you don’t have to buy it.  If you buy it, you can return it.  You can have nine jackets.  You can have no jackets.  It’s no one else’s problem how many jackets you have, or how long you try them out for.

And third, it is completely okay for you to take as much time as you need to figure out your own self.  It’s hard to figure yourself out!  Sometimes it’s a little scary, or a lot scary!  Sometimes you have other shit to do!  I distinctly remember starting my sophomore year of college and being halfway through a homework assignment when my brain very helpfully stopped doing biology and said, “You’re trans, you’ve never felt like a woman in your life even if I haven’t decided what the endgame is, and someday you might want to deal with that.”  

And I set down my pencil and took some deep breaths and responded with, “Maybe so, brain, but honestly what I need to deal with right now is passing Cellular Biology because I fast-talked my way out of the intro classes, so how about we come back to this in a couple of years?”  Said it out loud to my empty dorm room and everything.  And went back to my damn homework.

And then I proceeded to Not Deal With It for the rest of college!  I just!  Didn’t!  I didn’t interrogate anything about gender and I played the same shoddily constructed Star (Woman Edition) role I’d done my whole life and told everyone I was cis and finished my degree.  And by the time I’d finished my degree I’d kind of gotten used to my brain putting on the Check Gender light every once in a while, so I cut all my hair off, got rid of all my dresses, stopped wearing heels, bought some binders and waistcoats, and explained the term “nonbinary” to my parents, over the course of about six months.

Sometimes shit takes time.  Sit with it for as long as you need to.  Try on some jackets.  All your enby siblings are still going to be here and thrilled to have you when you’re ready.

[nethilia]

Right now I'm fucked up in the crib eating Prongles (tl;dr: dentist work) but y'all. y'all. *y'all.*

How y'all gonna get on Barack Hussain Obama's Copyright-Protected Whole-Ass-Fucking Internet© and freely pirate books among yourselves and then be Shocked Pikachu that American Girl--or any other book publisher--sees low books sales and discontinues, revamps, and /or reworks books to try and make the books side profitable?

If a company doesn't see book sales, they don’t check to see how it’s doing on Twitter or IG. They get rid of the books. This isn't just true for AG, a company that--if you look at the quarterly reports--is now starting to return to the black after closing multiple stores and reformatting a lot of products to get sales up and costs down. It's all print publishing. Comics, books, graphic novels, etc. No one is making boo-koo bucks off a paperback children's book.

Why do we only have two volumes now that are thin and cut whole stories out? Why do we have no Welcome To Melody's World books, or Short Stories, or hell, even mystery books like we did even a few years ago? Because Books Don't Make Companies Lots of Money, and if a Book Doesn't Sell, It Goes To Book Hell.

The Big Five Publishers might make several millions or billions, but AG--and its parent, Mattel--are not a Big Five Publisher. Publishing is a small part of their company money nowadays. They have to look at how books are selling doing and, if a book isn't doing well, they're going to cut it, discount it, and then eventually clear it out. We still have central series in the two-book form because AG wants to keep the books with the characters as that's their thing, but they also can't afford--that's right--afford--to lose money on books and ride the red wave of loss when the books aren't showing they're bringing in the money.

Companies will in many cases completely discontinues a whole three or five book series just one book in because it didn't hit its sell marks. Authors plead and plead and plead, please buy the books, because if they don't show sales? They don't get sequels, or contracts, or even to finish a series. Book creators beg and beg and beg people not to pirate their things, explain how it hurts them, and then--should a comic series or book be discontinued for low sales, people go "but it's so popular online!" Yeah, online popular is not "it made us the money to consider keeping this around" popular, and y'all need to get that through your brains if you want any physical publication to stay around.

Contrary to the beliefs of people who have no idea how a business works--and look, I only have an English Writing degree, but Google works for you if you know how to use it to do research on things and educate yourself--publishing books is not a business that prints money hand over fist and has authors rolling in the dough unless your name is Terfy McTerf, Author Of Wizard At School Book. Self-sustaining Authors are an outlier. The average author makes just enough on a book to maybe pay the light bill and some degree of the cable and feel like the years they spent writing and agenting and negotiating weren't a total loss. Most have day jobs, and those that don't have various unseen privileges. I can write all day because I'm supported. Thoreau had his mom make him meals and do his laundry. HP Lovecraft was a racist. After all the marketing, sales, paying authors, etc, are done, the margins on print media are thin enough you could shave your hair with them. If a publisher looks at their spreadsheets and see they aren't making money on books, they're going to discontinue books. No matter how many people want books. Publishing is notoriously risk-averse as well--and when risk pops up, they throw the baby out the window and wash the tub out for something that'll make funds.

No publishing company makes money on physical books like they did circa 30 years ago, when I was a teen. Who remembers that lovely post some weeks back about how color printing is expensive? It’s telling y'all the ugly truth. I've seen the difference between B&W and Color printing costs, and all I do is self pub. I would not do an all color book, with the jump in paper prices, if I knew that I would probably not make back the cost of the book. Children's books aren't just thin because they're for kids. There's a reason a lot of junior novelizations only have color inserts, not full color pages--because the very moment you ask for an all color book you're looking at a significant jump in printing costs. They don't print on inkjet printer paper for a color book that's intended to last and look nice, not spotty and splotchy. Graphic Novels? are not aimed at an eight year old, are not printed on the high gloss stuff--it’s thicker than B&W but not as high quality as AG Book Paper--and often cost 12-15 bucks a volume. And while the small sliver--yes, I said sliver, let’s all be real here--of AG collectors might jump up and down for an all in one volume of Felicity's Great Horse Hits, the average parent buying stuff for Olivia and Liam and Penn is not going to drop 30 bucks on a kid's book volume their kid might not like 3-4 years down the line that they will not make the eBay cost back on.  

So AG isn't going to make any more Welcome books--and woof, the money on those, the costs to license and verify every item from museums and cite sources and photography credits and museum notes for every item they post in them that's not their own, they can't just google search up and yoink from Pinterest for a book that is a profit company's creation. They're not going to make mysteries that didn't sell, or short stories that cost a lot. They're going to stick to the Central Series for each character, do some extra books if they can, and if it don't do anything in their money tree? out it goes. They are--as I hear and heard a lot whenever someone says we shouldn't have dolls of color or diversity, fucking hell, I've been doing this since 2005--not a charity. They are not in the business of making you happy and patting your head. It's the same with books as with DoC. If they don't do well, AG gets the message, and the message is "this is not money."

Archive.org? It has e-book limitations and some of the stuff they have is super sketchy. They don't work the way a library does. It’s not a true library and to claim so is to lie to yourself. I try to only use it for things that are either so old as to not be cost effective to buy, for books I already own and have no idea what box they’re in, and things that are checked out and returned, and even then I tread lightly because they’re not a library.

The library? Is best if you have access. And if the book's not there or not available? REQUEST IT. More copies of a book get added when a book is popular enough it's hard to keep in circulation for everyone that wants it--and gets pulped if it doesn't show circulation. Because much like a warehouse full of unsold Marie-Grace dolls in 2012, a library does not have endless shelf space. If they see a book is sitting there and isn't circulating, they'll cut it down to one copy--and that can be across the whole library system, not just one branch. Ask me about waiting seven to ten months for a ten-year old book on watercoloring that has one copy in circulation across the whole system I use. A book having a long wait is a sign it's popular. Until it's not, and then out the extra copies--or the only copy--it goes. Hi, the copy of Foxes of First Dark I literally bought from the system i checked it out from, because it's not a hot book. Libraries report back how books circulate. Archive.org or your google drive do not.

If you live outside of the US and Canada? AG does in fact ship international if you call them directly. Yes you might have to pay high shipping, yes it may take a month, but AG will take your money ship to you and work it out if you call them and ask. They don't have stores overseas because they mostly failed.  The ugly truth is that a handful of people in Europe aren't enough to sustain the costs of working out of there. You're small in the eyes of the company sales. (That's also why the UK can't get doll repairs anymore. Thank Brexit for that.)

But you still can't get the books right now and you want them? I'm sorry. But books are not an essential need. None of us need a single goddamn AG book to live, and I have a collection of books that spans six shelves in my library I’ve been putting together since I got a copy of Meet Addy and her paper dolls in the mid-90s. If you cannot afford a book and libraries don't have it, then look on the secondary market, and if you can't find it or afford it then you need to live with the fact that it's not something to have right now. But you really really want it? Then pay something for it.

Art creation is not free. Writing books is not free. It costs time and in some--many--cases money to get to a point where you even know it’s around. If you want art and nice things to remain in the world? Then you can't just expect it for free because it's what you want to look at--because people who make the media you consume can't pay We Energy in e-popularity for the light bill.

I'm not going to say don't pirate ever. Hypocrisy would be me. I was a child of Napster in college--yeah, I’m old and bitter. But I'm not finna be the one to sit here, pirate a entire just out book, and act shocked that a company discontinues that same book that I didn't buy--because when they saw the numbers, the numbers said "oh, no one's buying this."

And if you can buy an outfit from AG, you can buy the damn books.

Neth out.

Did you know pirating books negatively impacts libraries, independent bookstores, and authors? Even if you can't afford to buy the books, you can borrow them from a library and still legally support authors. If your local library doesn't have the books they might be able to borrow them from another library for you and you might just have to pay a small fee. Please consider doing this if possible instead of pirating books since authors, independent bookstores, and libraries are struggling.

1. I understand your concern but we are talking about multimillion dollar company American Girl, not independent authors trying to make a living

2. Fun fact! I made this Drive for a friend who lives in a country that doesn't get AG books and thus has to rely on ebooks that AG only barely releases, and made it public to help people in similar situations. Nook is the first time I've seen half the listed ebooks for sale, let alone existing, and I've been actively looking for them for months now. Joss isn't even on ebook, I had to rip a pdf from a quarantine release. AG doesn’t sell any of the mysteries anymore. Some of this shit is hard to find and you know what if I can help someone out I will!

[vampykitty-kun]

Hi! I'm really interested in reading comics/graphic novels about or featuring the Batkids, and you seem like you know about that kind of thing (or at least more than I do, although it's a low bar), so do you think you could give me some suggestions to get started with? Also, I've seen some DC stuff at the library with "Death of the Family" on it but some is Batman and some is Batgirl and I think I saw a Teen Titans one and are they all connected or something? I'm confused. Thanks!

Yes! I do know quite a bit about comicsin the BatFam area, I just unfortunately can’t recommend anythingthat came out in the last 2 years as I’ve not read it. But 1989-2015I can give LOTS of recommendations.

For the most part any title can be astandalone, but titles do unfortunately get wrapped up in companywide events at times. But if you read the GN rather than theindividual comics they try and keep events to their own combo storybooks and character titles to their own.

This is such a huge list that I’mputting it under the cut so you click to read it instead of everyonegetting spammed with a HUGE list of things…

Here is what I’d recommend:

-Jason Todd as Robin II (Later known asRed Hood): It seems as though the majority of Jason writers presentday neglected to actually read his original issues, because they basetheir knowledge and opinion of him on what readers in the 80’sTHOUGHT of him, and unfortunately at the time many people hatedJason. Much of the hate was for a Robin in general as at the timeplenty of people thought Bruce should be on his own. No Batgirl (seethe Killing Joke) and no Robin. So the hate was for the role ingeneral. And then you had Robin fans that hated him just because theydidn’t want anyone trying to replace Dick’s role even though Dick hadmoved on to Nightwing. Jason as Robin issues are Batman #408-428, andNew Teen Titans Vol2 #19-21, 24, 28-31. I’m sure there were issues ofDetective Comics, but I have no idea which. In recent years much ofthese issues are in GNs but some of the issues are not, so you mayhave to look those up individually to read online or buy them instores with older issues. These GN are- Batman: Second Chances(Batman Issues #402-403, 408-416, and Annual #11), Batman Ten NightsOf The Beast (Batman Issues #417-420), DC Comics Classics Library:Batman- A Death In The Family, Hard Cover (Batman Issues #426-429,440-442, New Teen Titans Vol2 #60-61). this edition of “A Death InThe Family” contains both the death of Jason and the introductionof Tim, which was a story focused around Jason. So it’s a 2-for-1deal. There’s also a GN called Batman: The Cult and Jason’s the Robinwith Bruce in that story as well though I’m not sure where to placethat in the chronology.

-Tim as Robin III (Later known as RedRobin): Tim had an excellent run as Robin. He had 3 mini-seriesbefore he had an entire run of his own that spanned 183 main issues,not counting team ups or annuals. All while also appearing in theother Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl titles. Plenty of issues werecompany wide tie-in issues but the rest were all put into their ownGNs. Robin: A Hero Reborn (Batman #455-457, Robin Mini-series1 #1-5),Robin: Tragedy & Triumph (Detective Comics #618-621, RobinMini-series2 #1-4), Robin Mini-series3: Cry Of the Huntress #1-6 isnot in a GN that I know of, then the rest of his main run in FlyingSolo, Unmasked!, Fresh Blood, To Kill a Bird, Days of Fire andMadness, The Virtual Cell, Wanted, Teenage Wasteland, The BigLeagues, Violent Tendencies, and Search for a Hero.

Likewise…

-Dick as Nightwing in his solo title(Vol2): 153 issues not counting team ups or annuals. Like with Robinmany of these issues are tied in with company wide events, and therest are in their own GNs. I recommend the 2014-present editions asthey have a bit more in them, better paper/graphics, and are wayeasier to find, but they haven’t remade all of them yet. Nightwing:Blüdhaven, Nightwing: Rough Justice, Nightwing: False Starts,Nightwing: Love and Bullets, Nightwing: The Hunt For Oracle are thenew editions. Continuing from there the older editions are:Nightwing: Big Guns, Nightwing: On the Razor’s Edge, Nightwing: YearOne, Nightwing: Mobbed Up, Nightwing: Renegade, Nightwing: Brothersin Blood, Nightwing: Love and War, Nightwing: The Lost Year,Nightwing: Freefall.

-Batman Knightfall: One of the classicBatman stories, in which the main bad is the villain Bane, whoseriously injures Bruce. This story spans three GNs: Broken Bat, WhoRules The Night, and Knightsend

-Batman Cataclysm: Another classic. Amassive earthquake hits Gotham and decimates the city. This can befound in one GN, thought look for what I think is the 2012 edition ofthe book not the one one as they included a lot of previous cut storyin the newer edition.

-Batman No Man’s Land: FollowsCataclysm. Essentially Gotham is covered in rubble and a massiveterritory war breaks out between BatFam, GSPD, and several separategroups of Gotham’s baddies. It spans 4 super thick GNs in the 2012newer edition (don’t bother with the older editions) but also has areally enjoyable novelization if you would prefer to read it inwritten format!

-Batman Hush: Essentially Bruce vs Hushand sometimes Clayface, and a story that unintentionally set up JuddWinick to bring Jason back to life lol…one GN in more recenteditions but was previously 2 smaller GNs. I do not know if there isa difference but generally larger book versions have a bit extra inthem.

-Batman Under the Red Hood: Jasonreturns as the Red Hood, sending Bruce on an emotional rollercoaster, while Joker and Black Mask end up roped in. Lots of peopleinvolved. Like Hush this come in one or two book format. I have thesingle book format. This story was adapted into an animated movie,one that also takes a few moments from “A Death In The Family”,but the beginning part was highly modified to make it a stand alonefilm, so several key details are removed. I do recommend watching themovie, but after reading both “A Death In The Family” and thecomic version of “Under The Red Hood”, so you get the fullexperience.

-Batman War Crimes, War Drums, and WarGames (WG is three GNs long): this connects into both Robin and RedHood. This is unfortunately where Stephanie (Spoiler, brief Robin IV,Batgirl) “dies” and there’s a massive war against Black mask.It’s five GNs total.

I pretty much have to recommend anyBatman Titled GN that comes after that as it goes more into Hush,Damian comes in and there’s a lot of plot to cover there, Bruce“dies” and the mantle is picked up by Dick, and it was a heck ofride until the reboot happened.

Outside of main Batman titles aroundthat time I have to HIGHLY recommend the following:-Batmanand Robin: Basically Dick and Damian’s team-up book series. Itspanned three GN with Morrison, and one after him totaling four. Wealso got more Jason here, and his sorta Batgirl type sidekickSasha/Scarlet. Admittedly it was weird because Morrison thought itwould be fun to give Jason red hair (something the main version ofJason never had, but had in issues for another version of Jason thatwas scrapped before any issues I mentioned in this post) and bulk himup. But if you can gt around that the actual plot on the Jason endwasn’t too bad and had some gems. But the Dick and Damian interactionand banter is the treasure here.

-Batman Streets Of Gotham: Again moreof Dick and Damian as Batman and Robin. But here we get Thomas Elliot(Hush) who surgically had his face changed to look like Bruce, and hefill Bruce’s public role under very close watch. We also get Damian’slittle friend Colin Wilkes (Abuse) who ends up close to him. He turnsinto a giant bulky rage man good guy :)

-Red Robin: Tim’s new solo series thatstarted after Damian took up being Robin and Dick went from Nightwingto being Batman. It’s 4 GNs long and was amazing. I can’t stress thatenough. I still mourn it ending. You get Tim on his own, you get himgoing up against/working with/outsmarting/impressing Ra’s al Ghul.You get Prudence Wood, one of Ra’s assassins that ends up liking andworking with Tim. You get Tam Fox, and Stephanie, and Conner Kent.

-Batgirl Vol3 (Stephanie Brown asBatgirl): Stephanie came back from faking her death, took back upSpoiler, only for Tim to demand she stop being Spoiler. He shouldhave been more specific, and she DOES drop Spoiler but then becomesBatgirl with previous Batgirl’s (Casandra) blessing lol. Spanned 24issues in three GNs but they are hard to find. Obviously there isCasandra’s run as Batgirl but i’ve never actually read it so I findit wrong of me to suggest it before I have so it’s up to you if youwant to hunt those down as well. But Casandra’s run was 73 issuesVol-1 (7 GN) sand 6 issues Vol-2 (which is in a single GN)

-Teen Titans Vol3 (Tim, Conner, Bart,etc) spans twelve GNs and had its ups and downs, but if you’re a teamfan this is a good series to read.

-Catwoman: A few different runs, andsome stand alone books. They’re all good pre-reboot. Read them ifyou’re a Catwoman fan :)

Now as far as books NOT in the main runof pre-reboot comics I also REALLY need to recommend the following:

Batman Year One: Bruce’s first year asBatman. Also Gordon’s first year on the job. One GN. Awesome and alsoadapted into an animated movie.

-Robin Year One & Batgirl Year One:These come in separate books or both in one big book. The Robin inmention is Dick and the Batgirl is Barbara. Both are fantasticstories.

-Huntress Year One: Huntress’ originstory. This is the Huntress that is NOT Bruce’s daughter from anotherEarth, this is the Mob associated one that was also featured in theTV series Arrow.

Superboy / Robin World’s Finest Three:two tiny GNs that tell the story of Tim and Conner’s first meeting.They end up going against Metallo and Poison Ivy.

JLA: World Without Grown-ups: This is astory spanning again two tiny GNs. Where Tim (Robin), Conner(Superboy), and Bart (Impulse, later known as Kid Flash) team up whensuddenly all the adults are in one dimension and all the underagepeople are in another.

Red Hood: The Lost Days: the story ofwhat happened between Jason’s resurrection and when he came back toGotham in Under The Red Hood. It’s one GN.

There are also some alternate universe stories that came out pre-reboot called Elseworld’s stories. Here are some good ones:

Batman:Brotherhood of the Bat: Alternate Universe what-if type story. Thisstory is if Talia had joined Bruce in Gotham and abandoned her fatherRa’s and his ways. The story is centered around their son, TallantWayne. This was an AU created before Damian entered the comics andthus one of many stories where Bruce and Talia’s son had a differentname. Bruce is dead and Tallant has to face his grandfather. This wasone thin GN but did have a sequel…

Batman: League ofBatmen: takes place after the above and spans two GNs to finish thestory.

Thrillkiller Batgirl & Robin: 3 issue AU where Barbara and Dick are the first vigilantes in Gotham in the 1960′s and go up against a FEMALE Joker. Bruce is a legit Detective. Every bit of this story is PAINTED and it’s amazing. It is followed up by a sequel.

Thrillkiller ‘62: Takes place where the above left off. But now Bruce is Batman alongside ‘Batgirl’. I won’t spoil the events of the above to give goo detail here lol.

Superman: Speeding Bullets: AU where Baby Kal-El crashes into Earth, where he is discovered by Thomas and Martha Wayne. The couple decide to adopt Kal-El, and name him Bruce. Fuses the two characters together. Thomas and Martha still die. “Bruce” becomes a flying Batman and later Superman.Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Pretty much the most popular and longest AU that DC did. Spans 1 thick GN or multiple tiny ones. Not the greatest of art/setup but still good. Think of this as an AU Future Fic taking place after Jason died and Bruce retired instead of Tim coming along. Then he comes out of retirement to be a total badass. I do NOT however recommend any of the sequels or prequels because they are just BAD. This was adapted into TWO animated films which I honestly think I recommend more than the GNs due to the art.Post Reboot we hit the New 52. It had its up and downs. Nothing BatFam was particularly terrible but very little was amazing. personally the first 4-6 volumes of GNs for any given series was worth a read but not necessarily a buy. I read all the BatFam titles and the only ones that were MEH for me were Catwoman and Teen Titans. Red Hood and the Outlaws wasn’t for everyone, but I personally enjoyed it other than some details like Jason suddenly having magic??? and Kori having some personality issues but I was glas she wasn’t ditzy if that makes sense, and I really loved her character design even if I wish she at least had a touch more clothing on (once she was in a space suit and it was amazing). Suicide Squad isn’t technically BatFam but it had Harley in it in the New 52 and it was amazing even if I hated her visual re-design. Talon was a branch off of a Batman story line, and a specific character got his own title that spanned 2 GNs and was enjoyable.

Past that any Gns involving Batman The Animated Series are great, so are the Young Justice GNs.

I also have a huge love for the Batman Beyond show and Comics, but after the reboot they messed that up too.

[themadcapmathematician]

all i know abt transformers is the shia movie and the fact that darren criss plays one in the cartoons i think? should i get into transformers is what i'm asking

Oh god this is my favorite question. I’m not sure how to answer it but its my fave. Pull up a chair. I hope you’ve got some time on your hands.

The short answer: yes. You should at least give it a try. Transformers is a 30+ year old muti-media franchise that gets rebooted almost every 3 years so it basically has something interesting to offer almost any fan. If you end up not liking it that’s cool but there’s a lot to try before you decide.

The long answer is: yes you should and here’s why and here’s a rough idea of all the options you have to sample. I’m about to go on a long rant anon so you can check it out now or later or whatever but I’m just warning you ahead of time.

The basic Transformers plot (which I’m sure you know but I’m gonna go more in depth in a minute) is that a race of giant robot aliens who can turn into vehicles and other things have been engaged in a civil war that has lasted millions of years. This is the basic plot that all tf franchises spawn from although some explore slightly different subject matters. If that doesn’t appeal to you I mean there /might/ be a few other things you might find worth sticking around for because there’s just so fucking much of it, but you’re welcome to turn back now because that’s the basic things tf has to offer: giant robot aliens, cars and planes, fighting, some drama. Those are what tf is best at, with some variation.

It has a very active and long lived fan base and each section of the fan base is interested in different stuff with some crossover. There are people who literally only care about collecting the toys, people who wont try any other series except g1, people who only like the comics, etc. Etc. You’ll probably find people who like what you do pretty readily. If you like the toys there are toy forums and blogs. If you like the cartoons there are forums and blogs made for that too. If you like the comics, same. There’s a pretty active following of the comics and cartoon series on Tumblr alone; I would try searching the #maccadam tag since most tf activity has been moved there since the bay movies came out. Id also use the tf wiki liberally because it has pm all the information you’ll need to know about the fandom and the canon lore. There’s also plenty of fan fiction on Ao3 and ff.net if you’re into that and pm anyplace that hosts fan art has tf fan art.

Now there are several series, including comics, cartoons, the Michael bay films, the cartoon movie, spin off books, and video games. I’m gonna go over my personal favorites because I like and know them best but there are more than these if you’re interested in digging deeper.

(More under the cut)

G1: there are a lot of forms of what fans refer to as Generation 1 or G1 but if you live in the US its likely they’re talking about the very first cartoon series.

Summary: the autobots and the decepticons stripped their planet of resources and went looking for a new planet to continue surviving on. They both crashlanded on earth where they lay dormant for millions of years until conveniently awakened somewhere during the 1980s, where they continue their war all over again

Why you should try it: listen its cheesy as hell and full of nonsense plotlines and animation errors but not only is it good fun but at least watching an episode or two might give you a decent grasp on what spawned this enormous franchise in the first place.

G1 movie: this movie was a game changer. Its technically right in the middle of the g1 cartoon but it works as a standalone film too. while it has many trappings of the cartoon its better animated and has a more consistent and dramatic story.

Summary: Optimus Prime and Megatron fight, OP dies (yes he fucking DIES for the very first time. thousands of 10 year olds bawl their eyes out), Megatron gets mortally wounded, and the Matrix of Leadership (aka an autobot holy item/macguffin [this is the proto-cube btw]) has to choose a new leader.

Why you should try it: decent animation, classics lines, tons of 80s rock music, and it establishes a lot of tf conventions that would be carried over to all series that come after it.

Beast Wars: haha the 90s couldn’t be left out of the transformers fun, now could it? This was one of the first all-cg cartoon series in history and while its not much to look at nowadays, it was a big step in the 90s.

Summary: the series doesn’t center on Optimus Prime and Megatron but their decendants. The war is long over but some factions are starting to clash once again. Several members of these factions do the whole “crash land on earth while fighting” thing except they wake up during times before humans and instead of taking vehicle modes, they take animal forms, thus the name.

Why you should give it a try: it establishes the idea of Sparks for the first time, it has historical significance in the cgi realm, and it has a decent storyline with interesting characters. If you can muscle through the 90s-computer-animation look it might be the show for you!

Transformers: Animated: I dont think its a secret that this is one of my favorite tf series of all times. It was the first cartoon series I ever watched of tf and it also features my favorite toy line.

Summary: Optimus Prime is much less a war hero and more of a ..janitor really. He flunked out of the academy and spends his time repairing space bridges. One time during repairs though, they stumble across the Cube and just their luck, Megatron and some nearby cons are looking for it. They portal away to earth where they, you guessed it, crashland, until they’re awoken sometime in the future and go on adventures in futuristic Detroit.

Why you should give it a try: I like tfa’s art style and story and characterisation best tbh; Optimus is younger and more unsure of himself but also more earnest, with more visible baggage. The rest of his team feel like a ragtag band of misfits (which I have a weakness for no lie lmfao) who are still trying to find their place in this conflict and the future ahead of them. Sari is also one of the more beloved human companions and the show’s take on classics characters feels fresh and interesting, and the interpretation of the autobots and decepticons themselves is surprisingly nuanced.

Transformers: Prime: remember that 90s animation? Kiss that shit good bye my friend. This cgi is some beautiful shit. More than a few fans wish tfp is the art direction the movies had taken, storyline aside.

Summary: the autobots are already on earth, staking it out and fighting a more subdued sort of conflict with the cons. One day they get some human kids involved and stumble across some conspiracy shit and it all spirals out of control from there.

Why you should give it a try: great animation and atmosphere, gorgeous character designs, a solid interpretation go the characters, and it offers a more serious take on the story over all.

Rescue Bots: I’ve noticed this show doesn’t make the list a lot which is a shame? It has a much younger audience than any of then other series but its still quality and one of my fave tf series.

Summary: the ship of four non-combatants who were left in stasis before the war detect a transmission telling autobots to go to earth, so it…goes to earth. There they wake up on some island and are told they’ve gotta start building a repatoire with the native species…but they can’t reveal that they’re sentient aliens yet.

Why you should give it a try: ok ok, most of the series are made for 7-12 year olds with the teen and adult fans sort of in mind, this show…is a show made for pre-K kids, no joke. Its a lot less…murder-y, and this is especially saying something because it came out at the same time TFP did and in fact is supposed to take place in the same universe!

BUT, but it has a consistently well-written story and characterization, it addresses stuff I never thought it would, and its a nice break from the ridiculously high stakes of the other series. Honestly Rescue Bots is great and I wish more people talked about it because its a series totally worth watching, certainly as much as any of the others.

More Than Meets the Eye comics: there are a lot of comic series but so far this is my favorite one lol

Summary: the war is over, Optimus is done with everyone’s shit and splits the matrix in half, giving one to rodimus and they other to bumblebee. And what does roddy do with his newfound matrix half? Decide he’s going on a quest of course! And who better to go with than literally every unqualified misfit the autobot and neutral factions have to offer?

Why you should give it a try: ridiculous shenanigans, horror, drama, intrigue, strong characterisation, and a killer aesthetic. Damn it may not always give me what I want but its got a lot of exactly what I’m always looking for.

There are some video games (Fall of Cybertron, War For Cybertron, Transformers: Devastation), other comic series (Robots in Disguise, G1/UK comics), and the Robots in Disguise cartoon, however I don’t have a decent enough grasp on them to describe them super well I just know they’re pretty good and have had people recommend them to me. You’re welcome to try those as well of course.

Also if you’re into toy collecting or want to get into it there’s a lot of materials you can read and such but my personal advice is pretty simple:

1) go to walmart, target, a store that sells collectibles, a convention, or a garage sale

2) buy a cheap toy that you like. Don’t spend over like $20

3) decide if that was a fun experience or not and if you like having this toy or not

If you liked it enough to keep buying, then congrats, toy collecting might be right for you! Do your research, Don’t blow too much money too quickly, take it easy, have fun.

But yeah sorry this is really long but I do hope you consider giving transformers a try since I know I love it a lot and it really has a lot to offer. I hope this wasn’t like…a crazy response. That a crazy person might give. And that I didn’t scare you away or anything XS

the key is to try some stuff and have fun and if its not your thing that’s cool too! Have a chill night anon