#it's just that a lot of people go for the low-hanging fruit and leave some of the other characters' potential underutilized :/

[x-i-l-verify]

If I can just throw my two cents into the hat just real quick...

"Not as easy to hurt," Bro. Broski. The lad is not even 4 and a half feet tall. I could punt him a good distance, never mind an actual enemy that wanted to seriously cause him harm. Turn that boy into a squeaky toy for a few baddies and watch the conflict just write itself. :V

HOWEVER, I will say that as a newcomer to the whole LOZ franchise, I don't really personally care that Four doesn't have as much of a dark and tragic backstory as some of the other Links? Obvs I know some things through internet osmosis and watching random video essays on games like BOTW and Majora's Mask and such, but LU has been my first real foray into these characters and watching them get a deeper characterization. And Four became my favorite almost immediately due to his design and personality, not because of preexisting knowledge I have of his games or any sort of attachment to one in particular. The fact that he doesn't have the baggage that somebody like Wild or Time does is... well, honestly kind of refreshing, actually? He's a very confident, balanced character, that plays well in a group and can fill basically any niche in a plot that you want him to, and you're not rehashing the same old beats/conflict again and again from fic to fic.

And as the previous commenters mentioned, there's plenty of opportunity for conflict with his character, both on an internal and external level. After all, if your character doesn't come pre-made with a whole train's worth of emotional baggage, there's the time-honored tradition of walloping them until they develop their own in real time. One could explore Four's relationships with the other Links, how he relates to them and their respective journeys (e.g. how Hyrule thinks he "got off easy" compared to some of the other heroes and how fans make that a prime source of conflict for him). One could explore culture shock, him finding out his place in the timeline and all the implications of that, have him meet some of the other Links' villains, even, and have to deal with that. One could, as mentioned, put him in a situation he can't easily think his way out of and force him to get really creative or rely on the others more than he would like (I have the feeling Four in particular hates feeling useless with a burning passion).

Anyway, all that to say, if people have a hard time putting Four of all people into Situations, that sounds like a skill issue. Get Gud, ya casuals. :P /j /lh

It might just be my cold talking but I think I’ve figured out what it is that makes Four less popular for fic writing (in general anyway, Four stans keep doing what you’re doing). And that is... he’s just not as easy to hurt.

Hear me out. If you’re writing a fic about about Wild, and you want to cause him pain, you have like a billion options to explore. He has his memories, he has his identity crisis, he has his guilt over the champions and failing plus the extra grief with Mipha, he has a tendency to get injured, he’s bad at working on a team etcetera etcetera. And that’s not even counting anything I’m sure y���all are doing because of totk.

For Four... well. Aside from the four sword and splitting, and any angst from losing Shadow, there’s... honestly not a lot else. I mean, there is a little, like Ezlo leaving, or how young Four was, but anything else there is isn’t very well known, since Four’s games are the ones that people seem to have played the least. Plus a lot of Four angst centers around his troubles of being split and splitting, but if you’re like me and like to stick to canon, there isn’t even that, not really.

This is just an observation though, I could be wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Just thought it was interesting.

[anipgarden]

Adding To or Starting a Garden

AKA, the beginning of the Plants-Related section of this series.

This is my third post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

Got an area of lawn you’d like to convert to a wildlife haven? An area you can stick some hanging baskets in? Want to know how your garden of tomatoes and zucchinis is already putting in a lot of work? This is the section for you!

It would be dumb of me to not acknowledge that the act of gardening can come with a lot of costs. Buying seeds, buying plants, buying soil, raised bed materials, mulch, etc. … it can all get a bit daunting, let’s be honest! But there’s quite a few ways to get seeds and plants for free or extremely cheap, which I’ll be addressing in this section! The next section will be all about addressing the other Costs in gardening and how to mitigate or eliminate them entirely.

Also, do keep in mind; there’s no need to try and convert a whole area from lawn to garden or unused to garden at once. In fact, it could actually be extremely beneficial to do it a little at a time--maybe four or five square feet to start out.

Front Lawn (or Managing Principles)

If you live in a place where you’re required to have a grass turf lawn (HOA’s come to mind…), try replacing it with native grasses instead! You could even possibly use a low-growing ground cover plant like clover to a similar effect! Reseeding/replacing an entire lawn can be a big upfront cost, but even just letting the lawn be a little messy and tall helps. If the lawn gets patchy, leave the bare spots for a little while and something different will likely pop up! Pioneer species will fill the gaps and provide benefits to other plants around them, support animals, and more! If you want to take the guesswork out of it, you could always research what the pioneer species are in your area and plant the ones you like most. 

Obtaining Seeds for Cheap or Free

The cheapest way to start a garden is by far via seeds. However, seeds can be a bit complicated to grow, and some sources make them… way overpriced. Fortunately there are ways to get seeds for little to no cost! 

Some places sell seeds for as low as a dollar, 50 cents, or 25 cents! The packets may not have a lot of seeds, but it’s definitely a good start for a low budget! I’ve personally bought cheap seed packets at Walmart--the Ferry-Morse and Burpee brands are not what we’re looking for here. Typically the cheaper ones I’ve found are American Seed (which is owned by Green Garden Products, which also owns Ferry-Morse, Livingston Seed, McKenzie Seed, and Seeds of Change. Do with that information what you will), but they’re rarely stocked near the Ferry-Morse ones in the Formal Gardening Section. I’ve most often found them on end caps near the gardening section, so you may have to weave through a few aisles to find them, but once you do there’s an array of flower and vegetable seeds to select from! Alternatively, I’ve found seeds at Dollar Tree sold 2 or 4 for a dollar in Spring as part of their seasonal product; however, when they’re out of stock, they’re typically out of stock for the year. Try to check them out early in the year!

Otherwise, other seed companies like Urban Farmer or Botanical Interests will often have semi-frequent sales in spring and fall, when people are stocking up on seeds--joining their email lists can help you be the first to know when a good sale is going on!

Some foods from grocery stores will provide seeds that you can use in the garden as well. I’ve had the most luck with store-bought bagged beans, peppers, and tomatoes. Some people have had luck with watermelons, apples, citrus, squash, and more. Do keep in mind that you likely won’t get the same variety of fruit/vegetable as the one you bought--the resulting plant may look different and taste different.

Give it a shot! Pick some beans you like--if they don't grow well, at least you can eat the rest!

If you live in the US, food-producing live plants, bare roots, and seeds can often be purchased with SNAP benefits. But what does growing fruits, veggies, and herbs have to do with boosting biodiversity? While food crops aren’t typically native, they still provide valuable shelter for native insects. Some plants even have intricate relationships with native fauna--like the squash bee, a solitary bee which exclusively pollinates cucurbits like pumpkins, squash, and zucchini. And we get to benefit more directly as well! If you’re planting a diverse range of foods in your garden (as opposed to the swaths of single-plant farms that typically produce what’s sent to grocery stores), you’re supporting high levels of biodiversity by providing a variety of plants for creatures to live and hunt around.

Most of the time, when we think of boosting biodiversity with a garden, we think of a colorful flower garden teeming with pollinator species. However, if we’re striving to use native species, it can be a bit difficult to find some species in stores. I can say from experience that trying to find any wildflower seeds other than butterfly weed, purple coneflowers, and black-eyed-susans is… challenging, if you limit yourself to stores like Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. You might occasionally get lucky with an ACE Hardware or a local nursery, but even then sometimes it can be hard to track down who in your area is selling what--let alone if you live in an area where no one really is selling native plants or their seeds. Not to mention, even once you find a local or online store selling the seeds you want, they can sometimes cost a pretty penny. So what do you do?

If you have the option to, consider gathering native seeds yourself! Get good at identifying the native flora and fauna--or at least, a few target plants and their lookalikes--and get ready to go! Learn where they tend to grow, when they’ll be seeding, etc. Try to identify the plant before it goes to seed (for most plants, it's easiest to identify when flowering), then check back regularly to gather seeds. Typically, if I want to learn how to collect seed from a specific plant, I just search it on Google or YouTube--oftentimes, I'm lead to the GrowItBuildIt Youtube page, so it may be a helpful resource for you as well! Of course, make sure to leave plenty of seed behind so the wild population can repopulate, and seed can feed other creatures in the area. A good rule of thumb is to take no more than 1/3rd of what's available.

Buying seed in bulk is an option if you can afford the upfront cost. Try teaming up with a few friends to buy some bulk seeds and split them amongst yourselves--you’ll get tons of seed! Prairie Moon is a popular site that'll sell seeds by the pound if you can afford the price--though they're in the US, and I believe they focus on Midwest and East Coast natives.

If you want to cheat the system, don’t buy bulk sunflower seeds--buy bags of sunflower seeds being sold as birdseed. They’re typically all black oil sunflower seeds, but they’ll sprout, and they’re fairly cheap for the amount you get!

However, beware generic wildflower seed mixes! Many brands like to sell wildflower seed mixes in big box stores like Home Depot, Target, or even Dollar Tree, but they’ll often include flowers that aren’t native or possibly even invasive in your region! Before you make any purchases, double check to make sure the contained seeds won’t do more harm than good! A quality source of native seeds will provide English and Latin names for all seeds included, and will be native to the region or at least non-invasive. 

See this? I don't trust this.

There’s a good handful of programs online that’ll send you free seeds if you’re planning to start a native habitat project! Poke around online and see what you can find; you might get lucky! The best time to start looking for these is fall and winter, I find--by early spring, many of them are either done or beginning to wind down... though some also start up in spring. Ultimately--just check regularly! You never know what you can find!

Other Ways to Get Plants

Don’t want to start from seed? That’s fair! You can try cuttings! Just be sure not to take too much of the plant while you do so. Make sure you’ve gotten a few leaf nodes on your cutting, and cut any flowers you may have gotten. Make sure to leave some blooms and foliage on the original plant for the creatures in the current habitat--you don’t want to destroy one habitat to make another in your garden. There’s tons of methods of rooting cuttings, many of which have different efficacy rates for different plants, but that’s a topic for another post.

If you find seedlings growing in a place where they won’t be able to sustain themselves long-term, or are in danger of being destroyed, consider relocating them! You may be able to gently dig up and transplant the seedling to your garden. Don’t do this if they’re in a place where they can easily survive--ideally, you’ll be taking plants from sidewalk cracks, heavily maintained public gardens, roadsides, etc. Do be careful while doing this--ensure your safety first!  

You’re totally allowed to join gardening communities like clubs, facebook groups, and more before you’ve even put a trowel to the dirt. These are great places to learn information and advice! Many gardeners are more than happy to help out a new gardener, and will eagerly provide seeds, cuttings, or even baby plants! Talk to some people about your gardening journey and what you’re hoping to do, and you just might find some kindred spirits--or at least get more people interested in the topic! 

Seed and plant giveaways and trades happen all the time in gardening clubs, as well as online! Just poke around and see what you can find! Some are explicitly trades, meaning you’re expected to send something in return, but once you get your feet on the ground with some plant knowledge you’ll be stellar! You may be able to explain you’re just starting out, and someone may send you seeds without expecting a trade, but I’d suggest trying giveaways first. 

Poke around online and see if there’s a local chapter of your state’s native plant society. From there, you’ll likely be able to find a calendar of events--many of them will host plant sales in the spring, with a bunch of native plant seedlings ripe for the pickings if you can make it out and have some money to spare! Fair warning, though, you’ll want to get there early if you can. If they say they’re starting at 10, try to get there by 9:45. Year after year, there’s always record turnout, and they sell out of plants faster than ever. Just trust me on this. I’ve been let down; hopefully you won’t have to be.

Some libraries are beginning to host seed libraries! Check around and see if your library has one! Ideally, the system works best if you also have seeds to contribute in return, but if you’re just starting out I’m sure they won’t mind you taking some seeds! Just consider saving some seeds to contribute in the future and pay it forward. If your library doesn’t have a seed library? Consider asking if they’d be willing to start one! Community interest is a great way to get the ball rolling on projects like these, but they’ll only know the community is interested if the community tells them they’re interested!

Volunteer to Garden for/with Someone Else

Maybe someone in your area wants to garden, but is struggling to find the time/energy. Many elderly people who used to garden simply can’t anymore but still would like a garden. Other people may love to have a helping hand in their garden. You might even find a few people in your area interested in renting and sharing a community garden plot with others, so they don't have to handle it all on their own! They may be interested in increasing biodiversity right now, or may be willing to if it’s brought up to them. You might be just the kind of person someone needs! Since it won't be your garden, you’ll likely need a bit of permission and collaboration to get anything in particular going, but it’s worth a shot and a way to maybe even make friends! 

Again, your mileage may vary with some of these. You may not know where there's a bunch of wildflowers growing in your area, or maybe your local library doesn't have a free seed library. That's okay! Do what you're able to, find what you can find, get what you can get! And there's never any shame with starting small--in fact, starting small can make the project easier to manage and expand when you're able!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to start growing plants cheaply--low cost seed starting set ups, essentially. There's a lot of good options, many of which I've used myself even! Until then, I hope this advice is helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[animentality]

the funny thing about the Black Butler revival is that Sebaciel is taking a lot of heat right now, here in the year of our lord and savior 2024, in which all ships are problematic and toxic.

because it's a pedo ship.

which is the most perfect low hanging fruit in all of anti existence.

but like, Sebaciel is really a microcosm of pro vs anti ship discourse in general, right?

everyone insists oh you like Sebaciel? you must be a pedophile... while totally ignoring that a lot of fucking teenage girls read Black Butler and imagine themselves AS CIEL. they have a crush on SEBASTIAN.

that's why they ship them. they're not generally lusting for the minor, they're imagining themselves as the minor, being MINORS themselves, and have crushes on the suave sexy demon guy... because that's literally budding adolescence in a nut shell.

Sure there are people who lust for ciel... but it's a fucking shonen. it's for teens.

Teens are allowed to have fucking crushes on Ciel and Naruto and Ichigo. They're also allowed to have crushes on adults, WHO ARE NOT REAL and can't return their affections or hurt them in literally any way other than fictional related trauma.

is it really that shocking that teens are projecting themselves on/lusting for the fucking kid protagonists? you know, like they're generally going to do??? because they're hormonal but also bc it's very normal for humans to have goddamn crushes on human shaped (and less human shaped) things???

and is it really that shocking that teens girls would lust after Sebastian?

are you telling them they can't do that, and then also ship their little self insert goth child with the object of their affection?

and also.

ALSO.

the harder thing for these people to swallow...

fucking adults can ship anything they want too.

literally who gives a fuck

just shipping a problematic age difference ship doesn't make you anything at all.

being an asshole in fandom spaces does, like harassing people for shipping or not shipping Sebaciel, sending death threats, doxing, whatever, but just the act of jerking it to Sebaciel fanfics, or writing them for yourself and friends, is not a goddamn crime.

nor is it anything other than a Catholic sin.

so I'm laughing at the modern discourse, as angry adults and teens try to cancel Sebaciel.

tale as old as time. but also Sebaciel is the fucking OG.

The og of queerbait shotacon nonsense.

you weren't gonna stop people in 2008, you won't stop them now.

just hang out in your own space and leave other people alone.

also just fyi. I don't ship this.

I ship toxic old man yaoi.

but I'm rolling my eyes and slapping you if I see you in the wild insisting a Sebaciel artist is a pedophile guilty of a real crime in real life.

get some fucking perspective.

[sparklingcid3r]

wut do u think is the biggest thing each of the brothers worry about the others. like what is darrys genuinely biggest worry about soda and pony? and vice versa?

This is such a creative question so I want to give it all my own creativity, which means I’m not gonna take the easy way out and say anything about Vietnam 🙏

I think Pony’s biggest worry when it comes to Darry and Soda is just being left alone. I might be taking from “Death’s at my Door” but honestly it fits Pony well enough on its own. He’s thirteen and starting a new section of his life in high school. Ik when I started high school I was pretty scared shitless of literally everything. I can’t imagine having to do that and then just a few months later, his parents die. And yeah, Darry can take care of them, but in doing so he sacrifices his role of brother to split it with that of a father. And from Pony’s perspective, Darry just isn’t the same person he was before the accident, so in his eyes he pretty much has lost his brother, at least the part that he was close with (before the events of the book yk yk). But after the book, he knows that him and Darry have come to an understanding, and it makes him way more afraid of Darry dying like their parents or just straight up leaving them. And everyone knows that Pony worships the ground Soda walks on and the air Soda breathes, and after Johnny’s death, he kind of becomes the only one Pony feels he can be the most vulnerable to. They’re so close that they willingly share a bed and discuss things like their parents, Darry, Sandy, etc., and also I have this thought rattling around in my head that Pony can’t sleep soundly if he goes to sleep in his bed and Soda isn’t next to him. Like he can sleep fine on the couch or in the lot on his own, but when he’s in bed he just is constantly waking up and throwing fits in his sleep when Soda’s weight isn’t on the other side of the mattress.

Soda’s biggest fear is honestly that Darry and Pony never reconcile, or that they promise they will and just aren’t able to. He doesn’t want either of them to go no-contact with each other, not for his own sake, but because they really are the only family they got left and family clearly means so much to Soda. Losing everything makes people fight, which makes them bitter, which is no better than dead. But also Soda’s seen sides of both his brothers that Darry and Pony haven’t seen about the other. Soda’s the one helping Darry figure out groceries and chipping in with taxes and the bills, helping them keep their heads above water. He understands exactly why Darry is the way he is, and respects him for making the hard decisions that Soda would never be able to make. On the other hand, Soda’s the one Pony goes to for emotional support. He’s the one who calms Pony down from nightmares, he’s the one teaching Pony how to pick up chicks, he’s the one making sure the gang treats Pony right and not like some baby. Soda loves his brothers so fiercely, them not being able to understand each other just rips him up inside. The idea of Pony and Darry hating each other enough to completely abandon their bond would just ruin him.

Darry is kind of unique enough to say a bunch of general things. Like duh of course he’s scared of the idea of his brothers being killed by a Soc or getting into an accident, anything that happens to them is on him and him alone. But if we’re going to be more introspective, I think the idea that neither Soda or Pony would be able to leave Tulsa—or even have the option of leaving Tulsa—would kill him. He knows that Soda probably wouldn’t mind living and dying in his hometown, and if that’s his choice then so be it, but he knows Pony was made for more than what he was given. It’s why he pushes so hard for Pony to excel in school, because he’s capable of reaching for more than the low-hanging fruit of the East side. Darry knows personally that the grass is greener on the other side, and he wants Pony to live there, not just see it. He also knows that Pony’s a better person than he is and doesn’t have to resort to turning himself into a Soc just to advance, which makes it all the more important to Darry that he gets his kid brother out.

Wow I wish I could have said more, I feel kind of underwhelmed by myself lmfao 😭 but this was great!! Tysm for the ask🫶

[watermelonsloth]

Why the Hell Do I Ship Royai???

(TW: brief mention of suicide and allusions to unhealthy relationships)

I know nobody asked but I find the fact that I ship Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye so interesting because, on paper, I shouldn’t ship them.

First of all, I don’t like straight ships with dynamics like the right hand man or ships that have the male character as the woman’s superior. It’s not the dynamic itself that bothers me, it’s the predictability of it. When it’s hetero, I immediately think “of course those two are gonna get together.” It feels like low hanging shipping fruit.

I also don’t like stoic badass x absolute clown (competent or otherwise) ships. I almost always end up wondering why either side likes/puts up with each other. Especially since the badass tends to be an asshole and/or emotionally unavailable while the clown (forcibly) takes on their baggage.

Lastly, I don’t like relationships where one or both sides are codependent on the other. “I’ll die without you”, “You can’t leave me”, “I refuse to go on without you”, “You’re mine/I’m yours”, “You’re my other half (seriously)”, etc. ships have never been appealing to me. I understand why people like them, but I just can’t get over how gross it makes me feel. Like, I promise the planet will continue spinning after they’re gone, get some self confidence, I’m begging you. Maybe it’s because I’m not a romantic, maybe I’m overthinking it, maybe I’ve heard too many stories of codependent relationships going south, who knows?

By all means, I should look at Royai and think that it’s an incredibly unbalanced and unlikeable relationship (at least in a romantic sense). But I don’t. And I think I know why: Royai took what should’ve been an incredibly one-sided/unbalanced relationship and balanced it.

First, it avoids coming across as predictable (because it technically isn’t canon) because the series goes out of its way to expand upon their relationship's. It doesn’t absolve the predictability, but it counters it. It avoids being forced by being taken seriously and being given serious time to develop.

Secondly, both characters are developed in ways that avoid their relationship coming across as overly cliche. Namely, they’re given reason to like each other and both are charismatic/likeable enough that they aren’t annoying (I know this isn’t much, but the bar is in hell for shounen romance. Especially background character romance). Hawkeye has her lighter and nicer moments and Mustang knows when to be serious. The problem of the stoic character having exponentially more baggage or the clown forcing that baggage onto themselves is also avoided by both of them having a lot of baggage and (something FMA nailed as a series) boundaries.

My last problem is avoided by both of them staying their own characters. They can both function without the other, the other doesn’t fill their every waking thought, they’re capable of and willing to call the other out on their screwups, and whatever pedestal they put the other on doesn’t impede their judgement (for the most part) or make them ignore others to a concerning/upsetting extent. Even after Hawkeye says she’ll take her own life if Mustang dies, it somehow avoids being ship-ruining/frustrating/ disturbing. It’s tragic, but it doesn’t make me want them to not get together (it makes me want them to work through that shit and then get together). I’m gonna add that this is probably helped by the fact that Mustang never takes advantage of her vulnerability and he doesn’t come across as the type who ever would. It would’ve been so easy to make Mustang the stoic badass in charge with enough baggage to fill an airport with Hawkeye as his softer/more lighthearted right hand woman with a concerning level of dependency on him, but the author didn’t go that route and I will be forever grateful.

[mulling-over-milgram]

Many asks for the character ask game-

Kotoko 2, 3, 6, 8, 12

Amane 1, 8, 20, 25

Muu 1, 3, 7, 8, 12

Yuno 4, 8, 14, 20, 25

You don’t have to answer all of them because there are a lot 😂

-Favourite canon thing about this character? 

Just one? Oh this is difficult. I'm not sure if I can choose an absolute favourite canon thing but I like how she has so much jewellery. Her rings and earrings are so cool!

-Least favourite canon thing about this character?

Probably the fact that she likes to give non-answers in the QnA’s like I think it makes sense for her character and is a good writing choice. It's just also kinda annoying because I want to know more about her!

-What's something you have in common with this character? A couple things but to keep my answer brief I really relate to how kotoko feels in Harrow around justice. I’ve had a very similar feelings when I started to be become more aware of social injustice even wanted to be a lawyered to try and do something about it so even though I never went anywhere near as far as kotoko did and I’ve come to view things less as bad people use the system to do bad things to weaker people and more as our current social climate/systems create an environment that creates people that then go on to maintain the toxic cycles I still relate a lot to her feelings. 

-What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise? I get the two rapist Kotoko fanfics are low hanging fruit but I despise them with every fiber of my being just knowing what the second one is and that it exists makes me die a little inside.

What's a headcanon you have for this character?

I strongly head canon her as being on the ace spectrum :>

Why do you like or dislike this character? I love how layered Amanes symbolism is. I think her MV’s are some of the best when it comes to visuals that’ll drive you insane once you start really thinking about them. I feel like I always notice something new on a rewatch but I also think the reason I’m so attached to Amane is because she’s a character that have thought about a lot due to when I joined the fandom purge march was my first mv and I was around for pretty much all of Amane’s voting so there was a lot of Amane discussion when I first joined the fandom and my friends are all fans of her so any Milgram discussion quickly turned to her so I think she’s one of the first characters I really dug into the layers of because of that.

She’s also silly

What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise? This is less of a problem in the fandom now but the whole “we need to punish her so she won’t hurt shidou” or “we need to punish her and then she’ll leave the cult” because one that's not how cults work if you punish her your just giving her more reason to cling onto her region and proving the cult right but it's also just a mindset around children I see often and it kinda disgusts me that they should be punished or that punishment is the only option and if they aren’t punished how will they learn things are bad.

Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter? 

The ideal best friend? A good night's sleep. Have you seen her eye bags?

But on a more serious note even though with the latest minigram I’ve been thinking more about Kotoko Amane and even though Fuuta’s and Amane’s relationship is certainly not going to be healthy in t3 I’m going to say them. I think their friendship is cute and I want them to be besties!

What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I didn’t watch purge with the English sub’s on the first time so I was like oh what a cool custom design look how happy she is then as it went on-oh -OH

OH SHE’S A LITTLE FUCKED UP ACTUALLY. 

Now I think Amane is an incredibly layered character and an especially well written child character. She's great. I love her. I hope she ends up alright in the end! 

Why do you like or dislike this character? I love her design SO MUCH!  but I think what I like about her the most is her relationship with her self image. I’ve seen a few people bring this up that muu portrays herself as a bug in it’s not my fault but portrays other like Rei as a human and this really really fascinates me because it shows us that Muu on some level idealize rei and villainesses/dehumanizes herself. 

Least favorite canon thing about this character? Her Crow symbolism doesn't show up in T2 :( it wouldn’t fit but it still makes me sad.

What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like? I love how people draw her bug design! It's so cool to see how different people stylise it! Pretty everyone has a unique take on it even if it's just they simplify it down.

What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise? Something I love about milgram is how an mv will show you one side of the character and then different side in another and then when you put them together it gives up a better look of the character but people forget to do this with muu and just act like its not my fault is canon and like after pain doesn’t exist or was all a lie but no your supposed to look at them together! I think this is what leads to such simplified portrayals of muu people not taking into account her prior characterisation. This is also a problem I have with how the fandom treats harrow and deep cover.

What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Les-bee-ain 

If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Okay a big part of me wants to say Persona because I think her character would be super interesting in that world with how she views herself and other people and her mental health but a another part knows the person writers would not treat her well and they would probably just ruin her if ann and rise are anything to go off :( I’d like to think she’d be a navigator or a wild card. 

What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

My beef is more with the fandom in my local area than Milgramblr or the greater online fandom. Whenever I hear discussion of yuno she’s also simplified to girl boss and yes she is girl boss but also girl failure , girl hypocrite, girl self destructive coping mechanism , girl out of water , girl who needs a hug and so on I feel like people simplify her down too much because of her crime :(

Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

I don’t know alot about Lolita but that's the best fit I can think of. I don’t know fashion aesthetic :’)

Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter? Yuno and Muu's friendship fascinates me but mappi and yuno’s friendship is so sweet so I gotta say them. 

What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Oh this mv is so pretty! I love her so much! I can’t wait to learn more about her- oh…abortion….

It took me a long time to come around on Yuno because I was too distracted by her crime to see her interesting character depths. I love her now but I don’t consider myself a Yuno scholar. She’s one of my fav’s to draw!

No! No! thank you for sending in alot! :>

[spockandawe]

this might be a longshot but do you know any transmigration cnovels with trans characters in them? or just cnovels in general tbh transmigration is not a requirement

Oh man, this has been sitting in my inbox for a while because I really wanted to pull together some good recs for you, but it is.... a lot harder than I expected to differentiate between some of these books. The broadest catchall tag on novelupdates looks to be "gender bender," which isn't the most clear starting point. If I haven't read something, the tags on novelupdates aren't always clear on whether any given story is 1) crossdressing, 2) body change that will be undone eventually, or 3) body change that the character is at peace with. And if there are any characters who are trans and aware that they're trans, I could not find a relevant tag, and the book descriptions were not helpful. There are tags for "male to female" and "female to male," but like before, it's really unclear which of the above categories the book will fall into. I saw a tag for "genderless protagonist," but skimming the tagged books, it was hard for me to tell if that meant anything like what I would hope for.

That being said, I hate to leave this with a complete shrug. Let me start with some low-hanging fruit! Terribly sorry if you've heard of these examples before, they're not very obscure. From books I've read or bound: TGCF/Heaven Official's Blessing, the supporting character Shi Qingxuan has some gender things going on. There isn't a definitive answer as to what exactly that entails, I've seen a variety of headcanons including that SQX is nonbinary or a trans woman. I default to they/them myself, but I've seen some LOVELY thoughts about this. Then, in JWQS/Clear And Muddy Loss Of Love, the protagonist is born female, but is living life is a man, including irreversible body modification in order to pass more convincingly (for revenge reasons). The story uses she/her in the narration, but it could easily be something more complex if you wanted to read it through that lens. And then in 2ha/The Husky And His White Cat Shizun, there's a supporting character doing a similar born-female-living-as-a-man-with-body-mods thing. I can't say that it's a story about trans experiences, but it is definitely easy to read with an eye to gender.

And then, these are entirely unvetted, but here are some novels from my attempted NU search that looked like they maybe had potential. I think all of these seem to be 'I got dumped into this body that doesn't match my nominal gender, but it's cool', rather than trans stories, so please don't trust my recs too hard, but I can't believe how hard it was to search for this!!

Demon Sword Maiden

Reborn As My Love Rival's Wife

Fugui Ronghua (short, but complete)

Even If I'm Reborn As A Cute Dragon Girl, I Will Still Make A Harem

Dominion's End

Reborn, I Became A Male God (only three chapters translated, but MTL is out there)

it is shockingly hard to tell what I'm getting into from these tags and summaries, jesus. I hope those recs aren't all completely off the mark, but it's really hard to gauge their content without reading them myself. If other people have recs, I'd love to hear them in the comments! I feel like there must be authors who have tackled some of these themes, and I'm disappointed that the tagging conventions make it hard to identify who those authors are :T

[thecomicsnexus]

TMNT: NIGHTWATCHER #1

August 2024

By Juni Ba, Fero Pe, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Nathan Widick

There's a vigilante in Mutant Town taking care of the vulnerable mutant population. But this vigilante may have found a conspiracy that is putting mutants against mutants.

Also revealed in this issue the secret identity of the Nightwatcher!

SCORE: 10

Don't worry, I won't go into much detail before the spoiler section. I'll leave my reaction to the reveal out of this section as well.

It's fascinating that what was really well done about this issue, was the interviews. The characterization of the people talking for and against the vigilante were pretty much taken from reality (well, except for the mutants talking).

There is some level of, I would say, confusion, that comes from the many narrations in this episode. It's like I have to wonder all the time who is talking, but that is mostly because I don't know (as I am reading it) who the Nightwatcher is. And we do not get just one narrator, and to make it harder to follow, they are not always on panel. That's d be my only complaint, but I feel it's something that may go away on a second reading.

The art looks amazing, and again, the subtleties in those interview pages are what made this book special to me. The body language, the natural reactions, it may be basic for some people, but it is something that surprised me in a good way.

On the other hand, I know we've seen Fero do Turtles before, but this issue in particular reminded me a lot of Freddie Willams II, many times. Am I the only who saw the similarities?

Ok, let's go to the main spoiler...

Back when this book was announced, it was clear that Jennika was not going to be featured on the main book, and I think many of us simply assumed that Nightwatcher was going to be Jennika. However, that seemed like too low of a hanging fruit, and our brains started looking at many possibilities. This issue at points makes you wonder if you are looking at a turtle, and which one it might be.

So, story-wise, it seems like Jennika is doing vigilante stuff behind Sheena's back. Could be to protect her, but also to keep her relationship healthy. I am sure she'll eventually find out.

But behind the panels, what does this mean for this character? Jennika had two mini-series, but overall, it doesn't seem like the masses were asking for a solo book for her. Making her the Nightwatcher could be a genius move, or the ultimate betrayal for those readers who felt they had enough of this character.

I think it makes sense. Jennika had good reasons to hang out with the Turtles, but I always thought she had more potential as a solo character. Not only that, the people she is defending, were also (mostly) humans like her once. So that already gives her enough motivation that the other Turtles, perhaps wouldn't.

What do you think? Is this a good move or a bad move for Jennika?

[sneezemonster15]

One thing I hate about many SNS fics (obviously not all, but too many) is how they suck up to Sakura and Hinata. Hinata is always some sweet girl Sasuke is unfair to, and Sakura is voice of reason bestfriend girlboss (Sakura = voice of reason = lmao). I also hate when they write Naruto and Sasuke fuck them.

A lot of very popular SNS fic writers wrote Sakura and Hinata as good women, interesting women, smart women, strong women, desirable women, women who deserve 'justice' or 'reparation'. Sakura will never be fit to become hokage, she sucks. There. Lol. Sakura is the best friend/wingman of the boys, especially Naruto. Sakura as a wingman of Naruto. Lol. It's clear they can't write Sakura in character because they don't know her character. And if anyone tries to please their readers by writing something they don't believe in, but write it anyway and hence tarnish Naruto and Sasuke's characters and gay narratives as a result, well it's their problem and it will be pointed out. Not having a strong belief system or self respect is one of the major character traits of both Sakura and Hinata. Lol. I mean this only if they are claiming to be canon compliant and shit. That's when it's annoying. Otherwise, fans write all sorts of stuff, it's meant for comfort and pleasure mainly. It cannot be looked at from the lens of a genuine story enthusiast. And yes, it does involve a lot of cruel misrepresentation, but well, it's a fandom, it's a murky area to be hardlining.

However, good thing is, fanfic space has a built in tag system which facilitates people to find their interests. But it is misused and how. Damn. Like I am sorry, just being anti someone does not mean you get the character right. A lot of SNS fans do Sakura slander based on headcanons which is not fair. But they are also rare in comparison to what NH and SS fans do, and at what scale.

I have almost stopped with fanfics. No matter how much I filter, it doesn't matter. Many 'genuine' SNS tags are smokescreens for terrible writing and worse characterisation. Lots of popular SNS, NS authors are just plain wrong about Naruto and Sasuke's characterisations. One of them thinks Naruto is Hinata apparently, who cannot finish a sentence to Sasuke without saying um and rubbing the back of his neck like a thousand times. Seriously, on every page, it's ridiculous. The other one thinks Sakura buttfucked Sasuke and they are friends. Oh and sometimes, Sakura is lesbian. Sometimes with Ino, another super straight girl. Talk about a cheap and uninspired escape. Grabbing the low hanging fruit is always easier. Heh.

......

I used to tolerate it before. I can't give a shit anymore. I don't care who I offend. There are enough fans in SNS fandom whose understanding of both Sasuke and Naruto leaves much to be desired. The more time spent in Naruto fandom only makes you more cynical of people's attitudes towards media and homosexuality. Lol, sometimes it looks like the dark ages here. The filth..

Naruto is special. It's a personal affront to me when my boys or by association, Sakura and Hinata are mischaracterized. By anyone. Shit is wrong on many levels. It's bad. So I have stopped going there. Most of them are straight people writing gay characters and narratives without having any idea how it even works in their given universe. Not worth it.

[sixminutestoriesblog]

apples

Autumn is finally in the air in the Northern Hemisphere and for a lot of us, our minds turn to one thing - decadently spiced baked goods! Sure, we could make pumpkin muffins at any time of the year but there's just something about the sharp inhale of crisp, cold air and the bustle of falling leaves outside, hinting at the beginning of an end, that adds a special flavor to fall dishes. Winter and its lean times will soon be upon us and even if, today, we have grocery stores to keep our winter meals diverse, something inside of us still needs to pack in all the cinnamon, nutmeg and last fruits of the season that we can. And what fall season's table would be complete without apples? Apple cider, apple crumble, baked apples, candied apples - the list goes on. Throw some cinnamon or caramel at us and we're good to go. Apples, it turns out, have always been a source of temptation.

We'll start with the low hanging fruit easy ones. Though its never named in the Bible, the apple is the common fruit associated with Adam and Eve's fall. Offered by a snake, picked from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the temptation to reach out and pick a ripe apple off a forbidden tree is probably experienced again by a multitude of school children, and adults, anytime a walk brings them within range of a stranger's orchard. The adam's apple some people have prominently enough to see on their throats is supposedly the left over of the bite of apple that got stuck in Adam's throat for his impertinence against God.

The Greeks also loved their tempting apples. Atalanta lost a footrace to the man that was cunning enough to throw golden apples behind him as he ran, distracting her as she went to retrieve them enough for him to win. The Trojan War was supposedly the result of three goddesses feuding over a golden apple that claimed it would belong 'to the fairest' and a shepherd who didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. And Hera, one of those three feuding goddess, already had a tree that bore golden apples, guarded either by a dragon-serpent or three nymphs, that had the tree's apples stolen, thanks to Hercules.

In Russian, a firebird is caught stealing the ruler's golden apples each night. In Ireland, a silver branch that grows either golden apples or balls of gold belongs to a sea deity. Iounn or Idun is the Norse goddess of eternal youth - and apples. Multiple goddesses across the globe that are associated with love and sexuality claim the apple as their fruit. Germany, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania all have fairy tales where apples play a pivotal role. The Avalon of Arthurian legend is said to be the Isle of Apples. Heck, even Snow White's final attempted murder is accomplished with the bite of an apple.

Apples aren't just for gods and heroes though and perhaps that's part of their enduring fixation in folklore. If an Appalachian girl is clever enough to skin an apple without once breaking the peel, she should throw it over her left shoulder. It will fall in the shape of a letter, the first initial of her future husband. In Austria, she can cut an apple in half on St. Thomas's night. An even number of seeds mean she'll marry soon but a broken or cut seed she will end up a widow. An alternate on this is that the number of seeds will be the number of children she'll have. An apple stem can be twisted, reciting a letter of the alphabet with each twist. When the stem breaks, the letter will be the start of a future spouse's name. A woman with multiple suitors can drop apple seeds into the fire, reciting a name for each seed. The seed that pops instead of staying silent as it burns is the suitor who is 'bursting' with love for her. In Pennsylvania, licking an apple and then giving it to someone to eat insures they'll fall in love with you.

Incidentally, I'm sure, its considered bad luck not to 'shine' an apple and clean it off before you take a bite of it. Just... pointing that out.

Stories about legendary heroes like apples too. In Switzerland, William Tell was forced by his captors to shoot an apple off his son's head with a crossbow to win their freedom. School children will tell you Isaac Newton figured out gravity thanks to an apple falling on his head. And Johnny Appleseed is an American folkhero that walked across the continent while America was busy spreading west, planting apple trees as he went.

Each year after harvest, some of the apples that have fallen should be left on the ground for the fairy or the dead (or the poor) depending on which tradition you're going by. Boats made of applewood are bad luck. If a woman that's had multiple children eats the first apple of the season, the rest of the harvest will be fruitful. Likewise, eating an apple before the wedding night is supposed to lead to fruitfulness. If an apple tree blossoms while there are still apples on the branches in England someone in the family will die but if the same thing happens in Europe, its the sign of a fruitful year ahead instead. It's unlucky to destroy an apple tree or worse an apple orchard. And, for some reason, giving teachers apples is such a common theme in the US and Europe that its become an entire kick-knack industry.

And let's not forget:

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

That's comparing apples to oranges.

One bad apple spoils the whole barrel.

They're the apple of their mother's eye.

He's fresh faced and apple cheeked.

It's as American as apple pie.

and, finally,

How about them apples?!

[justashamwithwastedpotential]

Stardew Mod Ideas I'm Working On

(And a few I'm thinking about)

1. Skylar NPC (WIP)

This is just me adding my farmer OC into Stardew as a friendable NPC. I started it as a personal thing for fun, but then people convinced me to actually share it so

Completed Things

Ridgeside Village Compatability

Generic Dialogue

A basic schedule

Gift Tastes

Festival Additions

Festival Dialogue

Dynamic Outfits (Seasonal/Location Based)

Sprite Animations

Things I need to add

Movie and Concession Tastes

Movie Dialogue

Dynamic Dialogue

Dynamic Schedule (don't want them hanging out in their friends' houses if you married their friends)

Schedule/Animation Dialogue

Heart Events (Still working on backstory/storyline details)

A map for their farm house (Sky just lives with Victor right now)

Compatability with East Scarp?

Compatability without Ridgeside Village (I made it to work with both Expanded and Ridgeside Village. Expanded is necessary, but RSV shouldn't have to be)

Future Plans

Adding Rhys the Fruit Bat as an NPC (I see many of you are fond of him)

Adding an event with Abby post her family event

Dynamic Festival Dialogue

Compatability with following mods

2. Foods I really want rn

(Call it a working title if you will.)

This mod is me adding foods that I like to the game. Most of it being Asian dishes + a few drinks I like.

Featuring

Foods

Spring Rolls

Summer Rolls

Pho

Bánh Mi

Bao Buns

Tofu (not sure if this is part of another mod already or not)

Green Bean Cassrole

Lychee Jelly

Chocolate

Potato Soup

Drinks

Hot Chocolate

Mocha

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Peppermint Mocha

Peppermint Tea

Crops I'll probably need to add

Soybeans (Maybe? Might also be in another mod)

Mint

Carrots

Cucumber

Lychee

Persimmon

Cocoa Bean

That's all I've got for that one. It will take me a lot of research so it's very much on the back burner for now.

3. Rival Heart Events

I've gotten kind of fond of these for other characters so I figured it would be fun to do it for mine.

Featuring

Sam and Sky

Lance and Sky (Don't expect anyone to use this. I mean why wouldn't you want to date him yourself)

Sam, Lance and Sky (don't expect this to be used for the same reason as above)

Victor and Sky (but Queerplatonically)

Each of these contains a few events and schedule/dialogue changes for the characters involved, eventually resulting in them moving into Sky's farmhouse.

4. Add Lance to Festivals (WIP)

I know Lance joins festivals when you're married, but since I'm making rival heart events, I think it would be cool to add him in once he reaches 6 hearts like some of the other NPCS.

This also leaves him open for more dynamic dialogue.

Featuring

Generic Dialogue

Dating Dialogue

Engaged Dialogue

Married Dialogue

Rival Heart Dialogue

Addition to Resolution of Embers Festival

Commentary from Skylar

Here are some images from when I was testing. (Please ignore their incorrect positions and the fact they Skylar's sprite is wrong lmao)

Skylar's Spirit's Eve Dialogue

Lance at Festivals Dialogue

5. Skylar to NPC Adventures (Almost Complete)

I know I've talked about this one before, but adding Skylar as a companion for the NPC Adventures mod!

Featuring dialogue for multiple locations including Vanilla Areas and Expanded.

Currently working on adding dialogue for Ridgeside and East Scarp, and determining if Skylar should be a spiritual pacifist (keeps monsters from attacking for a period of time) or a warrior to help with combat.

6. Kent to NPC Adventures (low-key abandoned wip, but I might pick it back up)

Same thing as above tbh, but for Kent because he's a member of the Adventurer's Guild and my dad and I want to go on expeditions and fish, and he deserves it! [End rant]

Things I still need to do

Write dialogue for more locations (difficult because I don't see Kent as someone who talks a lot)

Add a fishing animation (idk how to do this, someone please help if you know)

That's all I have going right now. I hope this was enlightening for anyone who was curious.

[gmanwhore]

Ok so what if. What if I assigned some Secret Series characters Will Wood songs. I left out Pietro and Yo-Yogi and Owen because they just...don't have Will Wood vibes I am so sorry. So yeah below the cut is the. The things. 😁👍 Sorry this is so bad I made it on a whim. Please put me down.

Max-Ernest: Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialects but I Need you to Leave Now. Ok so "Disease is in the eye of the beholder" pretty much sums up his childhood right and the song is a lot about mental health and trying to figure out what's wrong with you. So of course it fits. It's bitter and just. It fits him ok I could go into detail but I also don't want to right now. You have to trust me.

Cass: Hand me my Shovel, I'm Going In. Yeah, I know, low hanging fruit but the song is about not knowing who you are and hunting for the truth. Also "This is not enough/This is not enough to prove it yet/No I need to hit the bottom." Just sums up Cass. It works ok again this whole thing requires a lot of trust in me and that I know what songs fit people ok ok

Dr. L: Thermodynamic Lawyer Esq. GFD. I am not going into detail on this one it just has his vibes. It just does. Jdjshjs

Ms. Mauvis: Suburbia Overture/Welcome to Mary Bell Township/Vampire Culture/Love Me, Normally. Ok if you know me you know I am obsessed with this song but it fits her so well. The idealism of Suburbia Overture, how aggressive Vampire Culture is, and the really sad ending just. It's her. She's even rumored to drink blood.

[gay-yosuke]

20, 21, 22 for persona 4?

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

lets talk about post-mitsuo, ive been dying to talk to you about post-mitsuo. you beat him and he gets arrested and then what. the SLOWEST MONTH OF YOUR LIFE. slower than me working on a project. last time i played p4 i was during this section - i kind of still am, we're right before the iwatodai trip, and it took me THREE AND A HALF HOURS of fucking around to get through all of it NO TIME IN THE TV INCLUDED. i had apparently rushed the post-boss the day it turned up, leaving my future self fucking nothing to do but dick around with his friends. is it the ideal for narukami? absolutely. am i enjoying myself? only when im hanging out with rise.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

thats actually a pretty difficult question. a lot of the things the circles im in hype up about p4 are things that i also enjoy... its hard to think of any specific thing that people hype up that i look at and am like. nah i just dont like it.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

i think talking about how smart yosuke is is too low hanging of a fruit to go for so let's reach up a little to something i know isnt always ignored by some of the people close to me - yosuke openly saying that naoto is "good looking". honestly anything pre-naoto joining the team that yosuke says about him is so fucking funny and i feel like people dont work enough on yosuke's cute little teasing of naoto, that naoto ALWAYS falls for. calling him a pintsize detective in arena. saying "there's the little guy now". choosing violence on his manlet friend.

[adultswim2021]

Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! #21: “Resurrection” | July 28, 2008 - 12:30AM | S03E01

Assessing the quality of an episode of a sketch comedy program is basically a numbers game. An otherwise lackluster outing can have a sketch on it that is so funny that it overshadows every other sketch, leaving one feeling like the entire episode was pretty good. If an episode doesn’t have a single great or even good sketch, it’s certainly a “bad” episode. That’s what I mean when I say that this is a bad episode. Not a single sketch gets off the runway. Everything leaves me cold. 

Before this episode aired, I recall this show seemingly “catching on”. Articles introducing Tim & Eric to the masses seemed to spring up with higher frequency this summer, most of which were promoting the upcoming season and, more specifically, this episode’s premiere. It could be that they made this episode like any other, assembling an assortment of sketches of varying quality and winding up coming up shorter than ever before. Or, it could be that they consciously tried to create an episode for the people who read about them in the New York Times and wanted to give them an easily digestible version of what they do. The quality of this episode is so low to me that I’m inclined to think the later.

This is the second time Tim & Eric did a season opener that directly references the events of the previous season’s finale, as if there was high demand for questions to be answered. The cliffhanger itself is part of a gag, and continuity is only mock-serious on this show. In this one, Tim is miraculously resurrected at the graveyard. Eric is quickly bored by Tim’s glowing ethereal float, checking his watch and dozing off and stuff. The heavenly effects end abruptly, and Tim just walks away with Eric in a nonchalant manner. It’s very jokey, and not terribly original. It’s honestly a pet peeve of mine when a character visibly does the watch-checking thing to suggest that something has been going on too long, especially if it’s only been going on for about 5 seconds. Right off the bat, the first episode of the season begins with what might be my least favorite sketch of theirs so far.

The next sketch of note is the Dick Dousche Penile Cleansing Rag. This one has a lot of low-hanging fruit as well. It’s essentially a parody of female hygiene product commercials, but featuring a Pep-Pep and his son. It immediately begins with the Pep-Pep sniffing his son’s penis. Funny on paper, I guess, and I’d probably laugh if that were riffed out on Cum Town. But everything in this episode feels like an amateurish approximation of a Tim & Eric sketch. The last joke of the sketch is Dick Dousche saying “that’s my real name. That’s how we’re getting away with this”. It’s the kind of joke they don’t usually tell, just lobbed over home plate. Later they cut to some outtakes of Dick Dousche messing up, and they are sorta funny but this also comes off as more mean than funny.

This one also has a mostly laugh-less Steve Brule sketch where he burns his mouth on a panini. There’s a moment in the sketch where he mindlessly repeats the phrase “cowboy boot” out of it’s previous context, and it cuts to his straight-woman co-host, perplexed and doing an extended quizzical take. It's the kind of thing that's an earmark of less-challenging comedy and I don’t like seeing it here AT ALL. John C. Reilly seems lackluster in this sketch as well, like he’s trying to keep his voice down or something. Man, just about everything in this episode rubs me the wrong way. It’s remarkable.

The through-line of the episode is Tim has a newfound power where he can conjure up a little ceramic tiger statue. The scene that explains this is also rather poor. Tim & Eric seem slightly bro-ier in some of the dialogue reads. Tim calls them “crappy” statues, which again telegraphs their usual humor to a degree I’m just not comfortable with. This bit trails off in a very stupid-but-unpleasing way: They high five at the prospect of selling these statues (conjuring them out of nothing means no production overhead) and say some goofy nonsense word, and then they do a deliberately slow trot off screen with cartoony sound-effects. It just seems completely uninspired.

At this point, it feels like I’m being tested. Like, on a shallow level, this episode perfectly resembles a typical Awesome Show episode. I recall a story about Dino Stamatopoulis feeling disgruntled working at Late Show with David Letterman. He was leaving the show, and as a defiant door-slamming act he submitted a bunch of Top-Ten jokes that were meant to be cruel parodies of the typical jokes that get on. To his dismay, they were favored over his sincere attempts at joke writing and most of them made it into the show. This sorta feels like that; a cynical attempt to expose the stupidity of the more casual fans watching.

The final scene, the ending of the tiger statue arc, isn’t too objectionable. By process of elimination, it’s maybe the strongest scene in the show. But MAN, this episode is dogshit. 

There is ONE THING in this that makes me laugh, and I actually quote it A LOT. It’s the scene where Tim & Eric hatch their plan to sell the “crappy” statues. Tim says something like “one hundo a day. That’s FIVE hundo a week… that’s rich!” Eric weirdly caps it off by repeating “that’s rich” in a very tossed-off, clipped way. It’s like “that’s rish”, so they can quickly get to their dumbass trotting routine. Seeing those two men trot. It makes me sick. But with hundo talk, they were off to the races.

The next episode’s better, though. So there’s that.

[last-hourglass]

🤡 What’s a line, scene, or exchange you’ve written that made you laugh?

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers? ❌ What’s a trope you will never write? 🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

Oooo so many! Thank you!

🤡 What’s a line, scene, or exchange you’ve written that made you laugh? - I do not consider comedy to be my strong suit in writing, so the scenes that make me laugh are usually small banter moments or characters just being comically outraged. The most recent chapter of Last Hourglass made me snicker a few times, particularly Donnie's line of "But he doesn't throw buildings in his sleep!" because that visual alone tickles me

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers? - I MEAN. BASICALLY ALL OF MY CLIFFHANGERS ARE DESIGNED TO DO THIS. The more people scream at me for leaving things off in dire straights the more delighted I get xD

❌ What’s a trope you will never write? - Hm. Gonna avoid just sayingthe low-hanging fruit like certain types of relationships that I would never feel comfortable writing, like underage/incset. This one is tricky, I am willing to read/consider writing a lot of different tropes. I guess off the top of my head, Permanent Major Character Death or Angst With No Happy Ending would be my picks, at least for fic, because I am a softie at heart and even if I do truly terrible things to my blorbos, I would feel awful if I never gave them catharsis in the end.

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success? - The second I start getting huge ranty comments or theories or in the case of some of my fics, fanart, then I consider it a win. I'm very response-motivated so when a fic gets very little traction it's hard for me to keep it going. Not to say that a strong response will always guarantee a fic's continuation. I have basically put my most popular fic on hiatus because I fell out of the fandom at large and didn't really know how to progress the story anymore. Shit happens.

Thanks for the ask! These kinds of questions are fun~

[thequietmanno1]

TheLreads, Vigilantes ch 111, Replies Part 1

1) “…So it’s time again…

Last time- Well, a lot of things happened in this rollercoaster, but last time, oh boy… We got Knuckles back. Although I shouldn’t be as surprised as he had already broken in Koichi’s house to get his bandana back.

*sigh*”- More than the Bandana- he also needed to get his trademark Knuckles that were contained within them. Which, raises the question of why the hell he didn’t just try to ask Koichi and co for help, if he was so strapped for resources he needed to scavenge parts of his old gear off his disciple to be suitably armed for the rematch. 2) “Oh, so Knuckles did got hurt in his last fight against McBee then

the fight against a Nomu that could blow up stuff by touching it, he survived, and managed to get away. Somehow.”- It mirrors All Might’s own superpowered “crippling” after the climatic fight with AFO in Kamino ward, albeit I think that the extent if Knuckles’ injuries are both severe enough to be realistic, yet also insanely damaging to his continued insistence on crime-fighting despite them. He can’t even keep up with normal people at walking speed, let alone a fast-paced fight like this, yet he still insists on sticking to his guns and finishing what he started out of pure stubbornness, damm the consequences. 

3) “Also, what is that cane you’re using? Don’t tell me there’s a gun inside that thing”- No, but more likely his emergency drug stash, along with perhaps another hidden defibrillator for use in paralysing an opponent if his fast barrage doesn’t work.

4) “Not even going to mention how you managed to catch up to them zipping around town at high speeds when you can barely walk, I’ll leave that low hanging fruit for the dessert.”- Knuckles seems to have been heading for Koichi’s old apartment from the very moment that the blackout started, all to get into position for when the fight eventually moved closer to it. That’s some Sherlock Homes-esque prediction of an opponent’s moves. 5) “Oh, sure Knuckles. You knew he’d prepare a sniper position to kill Koichi, because you also knew that Koichi was faster than him. I totally believe that.”- Knuckles did always believe in Koichi’s potnetial, albeit he never quite seemed to get around to the whole in-depth training part of nurturing said potential. Koichi had to learn the majority of how his Quirk handled by himself on the field, rather than getting guided through gradually-increasingly difficult challenges by Knuckles. 6) “I can’t believe in this arms race for the biggest bullshit we got knuckles with a steel chair

truly that gif was fitting”- Can’t beat the classic surprise attack from above. Especially if Nomura’s enhancements don’t quite seem to give him the level of strength the High-End Nomus have, such that he can’t overpower Knuckles easily. 7) “Not that you would need to bother, since you managed to survive a fight against him while he was using your own quirk. But then again, you are pretty injured now, so I see the need to act smarter”- Knuckles fights smart, but in all other areas of his life he seems to be a total dumbass. He insists on taking on dangerous tasks like these alone when he has both a willing disciple who cold aid him, an injured daughter in rehab who could use him around, and convenient meat shields in Soga and co who can serve as distractions (and occasional support) on the field. Yet Knuckles still insists on trying to throw his life away out of some kind of misguided need to “burn away the past”.

(Vigilantes ch 58)

8) “I’m getting a lot of millage out of Thor:Ragnarok today, ain’t I?”- Well, his evil ‘brother’ in a sense is somebody who has shapeshifting abilities, has issues toward him for being the favoured son, can craft evil plans that take advantage of manipulating perceptions, and their shared father figure recently returned from an ordeal in which he lost an eye but gained enhanced wisdom on how to better beat No:6, so yeah, I’d say there’s a lot of overlap between them. (Vigilantes ch 86) 9) “NO RAPPA, WE WISH HE WAS, BUT HE`S GONNA SHOW UP EVENTUALLY TO THE STORY, PROBABLY AWAY FROM VIEW TO NOD AT KOICHI, PROUD OF HIS DEVELOPMENT, BEFORE FUCKING OFF FOREVER.”- Doing a bit more than just nodding at Koichi’s progress – in fact, he’s still trying to finish the fight he picked the last time we saw him

10) “…

what now

wait

IS THAT ANOTHER FUCKING FLASHBACK

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIGHT”- Ok sure, but. This one both provides important information on what Nomura specifically is – or rather, was before Garaki remodelled him – and also contains important hints about AFO’s true endgame that’s unfolding in MHA’s present. Plus, getting distracted by his thoughts as Knuckles wails on him is sorta the whole point, which is why the Trashman allows him to indulge in it more as he beats him into oblivion.

11) “ NOW HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE THERE

WHAT

THE FUCK”-Yep, not quite a vat-grown life-form…though from his self-perspective there may not be much difference. It’s important to note that every Nomu we’ve seen in MHA came from an originally living human, rather than being grown wholesale in a lab, so it makes sense that Nomura, their prototype – or perhaps Tomura’s, in a sense – would likewise have similar origins.

12) “ARE YOU KNOW IMPLYING THAT AFO ALWAYS WANTED A DISCIPLE, AND THAT McBEE WAS A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE?!

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY IMPLYING THAT HE DIDN’T PICKED SHIGARAKI SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE HE SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPITE NANA’S LEGACY”- I read this as another influence of Horikoshi’s in the writing, him stepping in to better help connect Furuhashi’s story to him in the same manner with Kurogiri/Shirakumo. By the time this was originally released in publication, it’d become clear that AFO does have a long-term evil plan underway in MHA, one that he’s been setting up for decades, but what specifically it is, and the endgoal, were still unclear. The only thing we could glean was that it was always necessary for him to have a “disciple” who’d take over from him…at least, according to his own twisted perception of “taking over”. To that end, it re-contextualises Tomura’s role entirely, because while the disciple was always necessary, AFO, like any good mastermind, changed and adapted his plan accordingly to account for his circumstances as time went on. Getting his old body crippled by All Might was a painful setback, but one he could recover from with his pre-planned “disciple” ready to take over once he’d been properly moulded to his specifications. Learning about Tomura’s family history would have just made him a higher-priority candidate to succeed in the end, but not one that it was absolutely necessary for him to succeed with – merely one that came with the added advantages of getting to torment and degrade Nana and All Might through his manipulation of Nana’s grandson. 13) “WELL, SINCE THE LAST FIVE BEFORE WERE A BUST I SUPPOSE THIS ONE WOULD BE BETTER

WHAT THE SHIT FURUHASHI

WHAT ARE YOU COOKING, BECAUSE I CAN’T IDENTIFY WHAT THE DISH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ANYMORE”- He’s cooking part of what Horikoshi’s cooking now. Involving AFO like this instead of an original villain for Koichi to face off with means that Furuhashi needs to comply with Horikoshi’s planned and ongoing canon of AFO’s character and endgame, which means that whilst he can hint as to what’s going on, he can’t fully clarify any of it. Gonna need to catch up with MHA to see what that’s all about.

(MHA ch 245) 14) “And that’s definitely going to be quite the battle. Shigaraki is gonna receive a new power, and since the doctor is on his side, it’s going to be quite a weapons he’s gonna get. And that’s if it’s only one power that he’s going to receive, because considering how much the Nomu process has been improved, Shigaraki can definitely end up becoming a perfect High-End Nomu, the thing that McBee wishes he could’ve been”-Funny you should mention that….

(Vigilantes ch 108)

15) “Making us wonder why One for All just gave this quirk away to a fucking nomu. We haven’t seen Shigaraki overclock so we can assume that’s not part of his power set.

really fucking stupid idea there AfO”- From what I can tell, with the revelations of Nomura being an actual person with self-identity issues that AFO is moulding, similarly to how he moulded the young Tenko into becoming a hate-fuelled (literally) villain, it seems like Nomura was actually something like a prototype Tomura the whole time, a “first try” attempt to see how well he could manipulate a person’s psyche, and through that, their Quirk’s potential and output. Hell, their names are practically the same, just one letter off.

16) “OH, SO NOW McBEE IS THE NOMU PROGENITOR OR SOMETHING HUH. TELL ME, SINCE YOU STILL HAVE YOUR FACE ON, DIDN’T YOU ALREADY HAD HOOD?”- More like the Tomura protogenator…though, it is worth pointing out that by the time MHA was ongoing, this was the first true hints anybody was getting as to what exactly AFO had planned, and what his final endgame was. In a way, since AFO isn’t lying or twisting the truth too much in Nomura’s flashbacks, or his thoughts about the ongoing situation, this is the first true hints of his character and innermost thoughts that he obscured under his schemes and the supervillain persona, the first glimpse of the man behind the monstrous mask.

17) “OH, SO YOU EVEN LET HIM PICK HIS OWN QUIRK HUH

AFO

GIVING AGENCY TO ONE OF HIS TOOLS

SURE”- It’s the same deal as Tomura – giving his “disciple” the ability to make their own thoughts and actions to progress as a villain in their own right, separate from himself, For whatever reason, it is vital for AFO’s plans that he have an independent and motivated disciple who pursues villainy for their own sake, rather than benefitting AFO directly – albeit, as we see with Tomura, he always planned to eventually twist this around to serving him at the very end. Nonetheless, that drive, that commitment, is what AFO is seeking and aiming to nurture in his “creations”, with Tomura merely being the one he most hoped would succeed, just to rub extra salt in the wounds for the past holders. 18) “OH BOY THE IMAGE IS GETTING FUZZY I HOPE THE WILD RIDE IS APPROACHING IT’S END”- If Nomura had been a successful disciple, this would have been extremely literal by the end, with AFO subsuming Nomura’s consciousness through his Quirk the same way he’s doing to Tomura at present- and given Nomura’s mental issues, it wouldn’t have been as hard an affair for him to succeed at either. @thelreads