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First Chapters That Don’t Suck...

✧ You do not have to start with action. You have to start with interest. I will read two whole pages about someone making soup if they’re muttering about killing a god while doing it.

✧Your first sentence doesn’t have to be deep, mysterious, or poetic. It can just be “The corpse wouldn't shut up,” or “The milk was cursed again.” Get (PLEASE) weird.

✧ Starting with a dream sequence is legal only if someone wakes up and says, “That’s the third time I’ve died in my sleep this week.”

✧ The point of Chapter One is not to explain the entire world. It’s to hook the reader and emotionally blackmail them into turning the page.

✧ Introduce ONE conflict. Not five. One delicious little problem to gnaw on. “Oh no, they’re late for their job at the magical DMV.” I’m in.

✧ You don’t have to name every person your character walks past. Save the lore dump for later. If you give me eight capitalized names and two empires in the first paragraph, I will cry.

✧ Dialogue is a great opener if it makes me ask a question. If someone says “Did you hide the body?” in the first line, I’m staying.

✧ First impressions matter. So if your MC’s first action is whining about something boring, I will throw them. Gently. Out a window.

✧ It’s okay to rewrite your first chapter after you finish the book. In fact, please do. Future-you will understand what the story actually needed.

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insp//☆

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I hc little Ash doing this

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actually very funny that ronan 1. fell in love at first sight w adam 2. immediately hid it from everyone including himself and then 3. stopped hiding it from himself and adam IMMEDIATELY picked up on his feelings like damn babygirl no wonder u were keeping it as a secret from yourself too mr. oil spill feelings like wow you are OBVIOUS.

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"If you ever feel heavy because you care deeply about injustice, suffering, and ecological destruction, remember that a trillion dollar propaganda machine was built to make you numb and it didn't work on you"

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this 'being really tired after work' thing is really getting in the way of this 'pursuing my artistic hopes and dreams' thing has anyone else noticed this

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Controversy of Banana Fish’s Ending from a Realistic v Fictional Standpoint and Lao’s Reasoning

I always see fans complain how the way ash was killed off makes no sense whether it’s like”how does one stab kill him when he was injured dozens of other times and survived” or “it’s just unrealistic”. There’s two ways the ending is written which yes, it does make perfect sense lol

Now I don’t know if fans tend to forget but Ash’s character development spirals down throughout the story. His development basically works in reverse. He is super determined at the beginning of the story to kill dino get revenge for skip and his brother, find secret of banana fish. Then a little more than half way through the story his main focus is routed into exposing politicians for the sex trafficking ring, and gang tensions rise. He has to murder more people and ultimately ends up being captured by golzine where he feels ultimately defeated to the point he slowly starts wasting himself away.

From this point on his self esteem is completely crumbled he constantly self deprecates and thinks he’s a burden to Eiji even though Eiji CONSTANTLY tells him he isn’t. Which is legitimately why he decides not to meet with him in the final scenes and tells Blanca he’ll just go back to being a street punk when everything’s all over. Ultimately it gets into his head and he believes “this is the role you’re meant to play”. And he doesn’t see a way out of his situation. And so when he gets stabbed it’s a last reminder for him that “maybe I couldn’t ever make it out of this life” and finally, when he’s at his worst there he reads the letter from eiji and gets closure that Eiji truly loved and cared about him and he can let go. Ash thought he himself was a terrible person and didn’t deserve to live and in his last moments he has finally accepted his friend completely accepted him for who he was and that was alright.

Now from a realistic and real New York gangs aid the time point of view with Lao’s beef with Ash.

Right after Ash shoots Lao, Lao tells him “I just couldn’t let you kill Sing”. On the surface level most of Lao’s disagreements with ash where over misunderstandings (shorters death, seeing sing as bootlicking ash as a leader) but it actually had to deal more with race than anything. Multiple times within the story had the Chinatown gang/Lee clan said they don’t want interference from outside groups especially white folk since they hold pride in their cultural roots. When tensions rise between 3 gangs Lao says some pretty dicey things like calling Cain a “Uncle Tom” (derogatory word for a black person that acts servant to white people) saying how everyone is sucking up to these whiteys. And the unique thing about ash being a leader was that he was white guy who had control over a gang that was made up of black and Puerto Rican and other races members.

In the 1970s there were approximately over 10,000 youth gangs in New York during its peak meaning at least 3,500 gangs per borough. Most gangs consisted of Black and Puerto Rican folks notably the Savage Nomads, Savage Skulls and Black Spades. Of course the racial disparity depended on location neighborhoods so obviously there was white and asian only gangs and more interracially mixed gangs etc etc so it obviously it’s not completely uncommon that there wasn’t a white leader in there somewhere but NYC gang history from 70/80s isn’t greatly well documented + with over 10K gangs at the time hard to keep track. Though one of the oldest feared members at the time in Savage Nomads was a dude named “Crazy Joe” who was half Italian and half Puerto Rican.

Keep in mind these kids where killing each other left and right most aged between 12-early 20s and gangs then where very different than today, almost the entirety of conflict was turf over racial disparities and the gangs formed to protect their neighborhoods from other gangs threats.

In 1971 the Hoe Avenue Peace Meeting took place. Similar to the scene out of the movie the Warriors, gangs gathered across New York to have a peace meeting in The Bronx after the murder of Black Benjy who was a turned peace keeper from the Ghetto Brothers gang. He was killed on the street after confronting two rival gang members and trying to negotiate peace with them, but unfortunately disagreed and beat him to death. While the meeting didn’t solidify standing peace, they did negotiate ways to avoid street conflicting keeping eyes out of the police (a lot of them had youth gang case workers, social workers that would work with these kids trying to put them on the right path, in Banana Fish’s case similar to Charlie and Jenkins role. So if the kids made agreements with the police/social workers surveillance on them or if they were facing sentences might be reduced) Kids got murdered over turf, race, drugs and money all the time. Stuff that doesn’t make sense to one persons lifestyle won’t make sense to another vice versa.

I wanted to talk about what Yoshida has said herself. She’s mentioned she writes stories where characters die in surprisingly meaningless ways. Or at least that’s what appears on the surface level (Eve falling out a window, ash being killed by a lowly gang rival) If you view these from a realistic standpoint I see it as in people die randomly everyday intentional or not. That is what is reflected in her works to me. If you’ve read yoshida’s other stories a lot of her works deal with unlucky grief or loss (it’s her style of writing people need to realize that) which I really wish fans read her other works before jumping to ridiculous conclusions like “she killed off ash because she doesn’t think CSA survivors can be happy” I really don’t think that’s the idea she was getting at…..now despite the infamous interview of her saying like people who kill other people have to pay up for it somehow I at least think it’s pretty obvious she’s talking about it in the notion of ash is in the gang life not that he’s a CSA victim lmao and I highly doubt she would believe something like that in real life because if she did then wouldn’t she had written that ash is found guilty for killing his abuser and gets sent to prison and never found justice?

But alas he was pardoned of his association with dino and of getting in severe legal trouble and decides to lay low as a gang leader which again, you could really do in real life despite gang activity being illegal as long as you weren’t caught doing mischief. By this point in the story because his self esteem is so low he decides to go the route of the gang life. By this point it doesn’t correlate with his CSA past. Though it does in a way because the root of why he’s in the gang in the first place is because of Dino. Which is meant to upset you that’s the point. It begs you to ask the question did he really get his justice is he really free? He killed Dino, which in his words is what would free him but he’s still stuck in this environment so is he really actually, free? Ash isn’t free there’s many attributes. He’s still under Dino’s name, he’s still a gangster and it makes you wonder if even though he is the victim in his case against Dino would he be held accountable for all the other gang related murders like when tensions where rising or against Arthur? (It’s possible he wasn’t it’s never explained really.) Too ash though he is free at least in his final moments when he read eiji’s letter that was his confirmation and he could die happy to himself.

Lastly, there’s always discussion ash could’ve made it out. If he didn’t have awful self worth, I definitely think he could’ve laid low and erased his records somehow due to him being so smart and being able to meddle with the government. Now Yoshida (lol) in canon says he was just never making it out period but something interesting I think she said is even if he did live he still never would’ve met up with Eiji but would that be before or after he read the letter? If it was after he read the letter, maybe he didn’t make it to the plane in time since realistically it would be an hour on the train to JFK and Eiji was basically leaving then and there and he just talked himself into it not being worth it. Another thing is I swear on my life if someone could help me find this read that ash is on universally most wanted list so he wouldn’t be able to read the country (didn’t get this info from someone’s comment iirc I remember scanning through one of the interview articles/books and machine translating but I don’t remember) all in all I think people make to much of a fuss about the ending it’s a tragic genre manga story (Which is like, 95% of classic shojo/bl.) and really need to broaden their horizons on attributes like when the story was made and the environment it’s set in.

The story is meant to question themes of injustice. The irony of the story is ash is a white blond male poster child for American excellence and system has failed him completely if it can fail someone who looks like that, it can fail anyone just as much.

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Reblog if your art project has not, does not, and never will make use of generative ai at any point in your creative process.

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reblog and put in the tags a fictional ship/couple where, in your opinion, they’re just so firmly each other’s that you cannot imagine them being shipped with anyone else

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Gale's whole arc was so perfectly set out and foreshadowed from the begining it's making me go absolutely insane.

When Katniss introduces us to Gale, the first thing he does is mock Effie - and by extension - Capitol. This clearly shows his distain and contempt which is very valid and understandable.

Next he talks about how he would want kids, if he didn't live in district 12, or in Panem at all, showcasing the urge to change it all, the underlaying hope of things being different, which Katniss didn't share. Katniss talks about how she'd never be able to leave Prim, how Prim is her life and all she does is FOR Prim. I would wager to go as far as speculate that this is the first sign in the fundemental differances between Gale and Katniss. While he is able to hope and wish for better things, Katniss is firmly rooted in the current reality not seeing an out and not really having any revolutionary spark. This shows the begining of how Gale would be able to prioritize "if" instead of "now" if it meant, things could change.

Later on, there is interaction with Madge, Gale letting his feelings talk over his rational mind. He snaps at her, shoving her privalage in her face, even though, he rationally knows that it's not her fault and that she is also opressed under the same system, also under the constant threat of the Reaping.

At this point of the story, Katniss and Gale are very similiar when it comes to their mindsets, they live the same reality, have almsot exactly the same circumstances, their differances are minimal.

As the books progress though, their lives start to difffer greatly. Katniss goes through the Games, seeing the Capitol's cruetly up close, yet also being confronted with two things:

How it is to kill a person

How most Capitol citizents are brainwashed pawns of the system who are raised to think that the cruelty around them is normal.

Katniss is confronted with horrific reality of actual murder and also with humanity that Capitol citizens still hold, how even if arrogant, they're still human and they are still being hurt by the system, in a different, more privalaged way.

The lesson Katniss learns in Catching Fire is to remember who the real enemy is. Gale does not get taught that lesson, only thing he gets, is fuel for his hatered for the Capitol.

This further leads into the Mockinjay, where Gale, a hopeful, angry, young man is further manipulated by Coin into growing his contempt and further dehuminzing Captiol citizens, making all of them become his enemies.

That is why he comes up with the bomb. (Side note here, it wasn't all his idea, we can't just keep saying that, Beetee also had his hand in this but it's another can of worms for another post). The bomb which targets innocents, medics, the demographic that fits Prim perfectly. He is able to come up with that because he not only doesn't see captiol citizens as human, but also since he can prioritise the "if" over the "now". This directly lead to the tragedy which was Prim's death.

Did he ever regret letting his feelings take over his rational thought? Was Prim's death an awakaning for him or did he stay validated in his belief that "if" was more important than "now"? We will never trully know that.

Gale's arc is a cautionary tale, of not letting your feelings dicate radical actions which bring harm to other and also of trully remembering who the enemy is.

Katniss states it the best in the ending, he was a fire she didn't need. He burned so bright that his good intentions got turned into a weapon. He burned innocents, his loved ones and himself.

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Anyway which fandoms are also your fav besides banana fish and star wars??? I love Undertale!

I love a lot of stuff!! But some in particular are DC comics (particularly Superman and Batman), Strangers in Paradise, Lord of the Rings, Pixar's Luca, The Raven Cycle (by Maggie Seifvater), Jane Austen books, Six of Crows (by Leigh Bardugo), and any number of manga and anime series (I'm partial to shoujo and romance).

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There’s so much to unpack here:

Pack of Beakers

Goth Beaker

The Beaker snitching and pointing out the photographer

The Beaker that’s about to unload on the photographer

The terminator strut before the ass whooping and you know he’s moving at speed because of the blur

The ominous feeling that you know this is 3 in the morning

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Credit union financial coach here to add that many credit unions offer free financial education and/or coaching for their members. Use it!

Also, paying off your credit card every month does NOT hurt your credit score. It boosts it. There's no reason to ever carry a balance if you have the money to pay it off.

Okay. This is going to sound hopeless at first but it really isn't. I want people to protect themselves, and in doing so, defy fascism and Christian nationalists and complicit Republicans. And then, once they are protected, they will be able to help protect others.

It has been clear for a while that Republicans have stopped even pretending to care about us. So first of all, I want you to turn your back on them like they have turned their backs on us.

Change parties if you are registered to vote as Republican. Even if you hate Dems. Go Independent (unless you are in a state that requires you to be Dem or Rep to vote in a primary. Primaries especially matter right now). Do not ask them for anything. Do not watch their press conferences etc. Ditto for the president. You can get news about him elsewhere. Don't give him direct attention or ratings. He hates low ratings.

Look into any opposition they have in your area. Be it a direct opponent in a race or a Dem governor up for election or a state seat or whatever, and start campaigning for them. (This can mean even just following them on social media and liking or sharing their posts.) If your Dem rep is also awful, quite frankly, do the same to them. If you have a Dem rep you like and support, then also follow them and campaign for them.

MEANWHILE, a lot of provisions of this horrible bill (if it passes.......) take a while to kick in. So here is the preparation part. Act as if the worst version of it will pass and make all plans accordingly.

1) go see your doctor for every preventative care measure you can. Dentist and eye doctor too if possible. Start using mouthwash with fluoride and flossing regularly if you don't. Genuinely. They are removing health care *and* fluoridated water in some places. Protect yourselves. Remember that they want you sick or dead, and fuck them for that. You are gonna live, bitch. Get all the vaccinations you can while they are still covered. Get new glasses this or next year if you need them. Get the mammograms and colonoscopies and pap smears. All of it.

2) follow the American Medical Association on youtube if you want updates about outbreaks or food contamination or vaccines.

3) start some sort of exercise program if you can. Not to lose weight. Because it is genuinely good for you. Even just stretches are good!

4) stop vaping or smoking. It will save you money. But also it's killing you.

Other stuff to protect yourself and others:

Get your finances in order. Yes. Even the broke people.

You can do this in a series of steps, the first of which is STOP USING BUY NOW PAY LATER. Only spend money you actually have.

Republicans even before this murder bill relaxed a bunch of consumer protections, especially for banks and credit cards. Because they hate you. So you are not going to let them play in your face like that.

Again. Do not spend money you do not have.

Credit cards are sometimes necessary but they now frequently offer low APRs at first and then a year or two in, start charging insanely high interest. Watch your card. Use it sparingly. Pay it off every month. Credit scores dip because of this, because banks hate it. But fuck 'em. Your credit score will be good still, just not "perfect." Good credit scores, dumb as the concept is, help you get approved for loans or renting.

Get overdraft protection on your accounts, including alerts. Get theft alerts as well.

Get a savings account if you don't have one.

If your bank charges you for that, look into a local reputable credit union. They will often let you have multiple accounts for no extra charge as long as you have a minimum balance in one of them. My credit union only asks for 100$ in my checking account.

Credit unions also have other benefits, sometimes including car loans at better rates than from a dealership, or minimal life insurance for members, or access to better interest rates in savings than many large banks offer.

--large banks have decent ish rates for people with lots of $ in their accounts. That is not most of us.

Start regularly putting money into your savings account. Then, when it has funds in it, look into a High Yield Savings Account or a Money Market Account. Again, most likely through the credit union, which usually have lower minimums to open such accounts compared to the large banks.

Find what works for you, but these sorts of accounts are ways to grow your money into an emergency fund. Like if you say, had a medical emergency, or needed to move states for work or your safety.

If you don't have an emergency, you are still saving money. Yay! Money will help protect you and those around you. Boo capitalism but yay some financial security!

You can invest, but for that, talk to someone knowledgeable and do not fall for speculations. (If someone says you will get rich quick, odds are, you won't. It is possible. But usually for smaller investors, no, you won't. But there are slower investments that work for some people if you are willing to wait. But any investment still holds the possibility of loss. Remember that.)

Get an accountant if you can afford one. Do not pay any more in federal taxes than you need to. Because fuck these people.

These suggestions are just things for people to look into for some financial security. Do research before you do anything. But definitely try to save money. Even 5 dollars a month will eventually add up.

Get a Health Savings Account. Again, check out a credit union for this. HSAs are accounts you put money into--which is a tax write-off. You then spend that $ on medical purchases (which can include co-pays, canes, meds, period panties, glasses and the like.) This is also a tax benefit. If you have a high deductible health insurance plan (like most poors), you should be eligible.

Even if you just save money for a while--take a few months of no streaming services or no food delivery-- if you put that into a savings account, it will start to make you money. This is part of what rich people do (though on a smaller scale). You take money and you turn it into more money. The more money, the more interest you get. Which is more money.

Next up. Register to vote. Now, if you haven't before. And start getting your Real ID if you haven't yet. And a passport if you can afford it.

Start cutting back spending now if you haven't already. Still have fun. Still live your life. But learn to budget.

If you live with family or chill roommates, get a Costco card if you live near one. The basic one is 65$ a year, but it is good for two people in the same household. You get cheaper bulk food, cheaper meds (for you and for pets), and Costco glasses are so far the cheapest (but good quality) that I have found. Better than Walmart. Costco also sells Plan B. Woop!

And, if you are LGBTQ and married or have an awful family, look into your legal rights distinct from the marriage license. Get a will. (Fees and requirements vary from state to state. But you can legally leave your estate to anyone you fucking want to.) Take care of an Advance Care Directive through your medical provider (who do you want making medical decisions for you if you can't). Look into Medical Power of Attorney forms if you want to be even more secure.

Get ready. No panicking. Stay strong. Do not let the bastards grind you down.

(And please stop vaping. We didn't work all through the 80s and 90s to get tobacco companies to pay just for you all to start handing them your money and lives again.)

(And get a library card!!)

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“Ash might protect Eiji’s body but Eiji protects his soul” I think Ash protects Eiji’s soul too personally. That’s why he refuses to let Eiji fight in the mansion, he wants to protect Eiji not only from physical pain but also the pain of having to kill. Ash thinks guns and violence are all he has to offer but he’s also deeply caring person and I think Eiji sensed that. Just an observation hahaha

You are 100% right. I'm glad you called out my oversimplification. Both of these guys would destroy themselves, body and soul, to protect the other. That's what makes Banana Fish so good!!