Like others here, I was drawn to anime and manga for the varied storylines that had arcs that mattered, and an ending, and then stopped. And wrote something totally new.
Whereas comics would reboot the same story, and reboot it, and reboot it… Or they’d have a big arc that dramatically changed things… and two issues later suddenly its status quo all over again.
All of this made it hard to really get invested in their characters or stories. Why even do a story if you’re going to erase it all in the next storyline? Why care if so-and-so died if they’ll just be back in next week’s issue?
The other reason was strong female protagonists that weren’t all sexualized to the wazoo. In western comics it was all tight spandex and butt-boob shots and shots framed by women’s thighs… and most of the non-super women were just plot points to be stuffed in a fridge.
Meanwhile there were piles of strong, well-rounded, independent women of all different ages in manga and anime. Even the sexy women were developed characters first and sexy second. With western comics it definitely felt the other way around.
I grew up on Magic Knight Rayearth and Slayers and Iria and Cowboy Bebop. Watching those was like a breath of fresh air compared to Batman Reboot #242 or whatever.
And I really liked the varied art styles. Western comics were pretty much all of a muchness, the same style or close to it. Manga, meanwhile, had everything from Clamp’s super-detailed art to Dragonball’s more simplistic style. It gave them a much more unique feel.
Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot one, and there’ll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?
In fifty years’, thirty years’, ten years’ time the world will be very nearly back on its old course. History always has a great weight of inertia.
The question I get asked by religious people all the time is, without God, what’s to stop me from raping all I want?
And my answer is: I do rape all I want. And the amount I want is zero. And I do murder all I want, and the amount I want is zero.
The fact that these people think that if they didn’t have this person watching over them that they would go on killing, raping rampages is the most self-damning thing I can imagine.
I don't want to do that. Right now, without any god, I don't want to jump across this table and strangle you. I have no desire to strangle you. I have no desire to flip you over and rape you.
Some animals can figure it. At the nursery I used to work at, the new nursery cat decided to take a nap in a customer’s truck, and woke up in the nearby town (still several miles away).
She started to walk back, got part of the way, realized she didn’t know the rest of the way, and waited at an intersection. Then, when a local family stopped to put up some signs for a town festival, she accosted them and wouldn’t let them leave until they took her with them.
They recognized her and brought her back to the nursery.
See, this disingenuous argument works better when you just generalize it, because when you get into specifics it looks very different. Example:
Step 1: label the people that hold the belief that ‘trans people are subhuman trash that need to be excised from society by violence if necessary’ as intolerant
Step 2: skip diplomacy because they refuse to engage in actual conversation
Step 3: use force on them because they are actually attacking trans people.
Although really even parts 2 & 3 are disingenuous, because there are plenty of examples of people trying to engage the intolerant in debate, far beyond what would really be reasonable even. And you’ll also notice that force is rarely, if ever, used against those intolerant folks either, even as they use force, even deadly force.
Hell, even the law won’t do more than slap their wrists in many cases. I use trans people as an example because until recently, ‘I went on a date with this lady and then found out she was trans, and I was so shocked I killed her’ was an actual legitimate legal defense and several people used it. If we’re being pedantic, that defense is still perfectly acceptable at the national level, as several bills banning it have been introduced, but none have been passed.
If you’re into cooking, history, or both, Tasting History with Max Miller is great. Lots of wonderful history, from the common to the obscure. He works hard to find primary sources for every story he shares, as well as calling out fake stories. He also corrects himself when he gets something wrong. And the recipes are fascinating!
Been getting into Bonsai Mirai lately. Very educational, in-depth videos about how to do Bonsai, with tips for everyone from a beginner to an expert. Also very relaxing to watch.
My aunt had a cat who basically lived in the whole condo complex and probably begged food from everyone lol. But he’d also just go to other people’s places to hang out.
I remember one day when we were out for a walk, and we passed by a neighbor’s place and there her cat was, on the back of the guy’s sofa, watching football with the neighbor on his big screen TV.
When she moved away, everyone dropped by to say goodbye to her cat.
When my uncle was growing up in Alaska, the guy who owned the big General Store in town had a pet bobcat.
From what my uncle said, the guy was a mountain of a man, so at first you’d see him across the store holding the bobcat and petting it, and be like, ‘oh, normal guy with a cat.’ And then you’d get closer and be like ‘Oh… that’s a bobcat.’
When not demanding pets, the bobcat would spend his time going from exposed rafter to exposed rafter, monitoring his domain.
Not in this post, true, but in pretty much all her other ones.