#Because I *know* this is probably really straightforward to a lot of artists.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Teehee! (Spritesheets your Wangxian)

[l0vem41l]

the passenger princess playlists

「 tws + notes: no tws, unedited, probably ooc, self-indulgent because we have fun here, author's taste in music is utter shit 」

「 gn!reader, can be platonic or romantic <3 」

↳ ft. these stupid parasites that keep infecting my brain aka bruce wayne,clark kent, jason todd, tim drake, and stephanie brown

author's note: THEY ARE THE PASSENGER PRINCESS!!!! WHY???? because if i projected my music taste on the reader insert we would have many issues. im not THAT self indulgent w/ my stuff i say, posting hcs of character's music tastes based on my own

you decide that it's time to show how much you trust them.

"hey," you mutter, eyes still on the road, fingers absentmindedly drumming on the wheel. "...you can have the aux cord, by the way."

▸ BRUCE doesn't even take it at first. he usually prefers to drive in complete silence himself, so he lets you handle the music. he's pretty nonchalant about what you play, indifferent to most music as long as it doesn't make his ears bleed.

the first time he takes the offer and plays something he personally enjoys, it's pretty straightforward: his main genres are classical, jazz, and dad rock. like... a lot of dad rock. he can read the room er, car?? well enough to know that the classical and jazz songs he listens to aren't exactly driving playlist material. and yes something in the way by nirvana will be played battison i fucking love you

BRUCE's songs include: ♡ she sells sanctuary by the cult ♡ something in the way by nirvana ♡ 1979 by the smashing pumpkins

▸ CLARK is more than happy to share his music! he's always been excited to hear whatever you jam out to and is pretty open to different genres. he definitely finds favorites of his that match the energy of your car playlists. doesn't wanna play anything that's too much of a bummer though, mainly because driving with you has such good vibes!!! he can't ruin that :( unless your in some sorta mood to be upset. then he's got some stuff aka a lot of elliot smith and jeff buckley

he finds a lot to love in all sorts of genres. it's a mix of stuff that he grew up listening to with his parents, stuff that he found on his own from artists he enjoys, and stuff you introduced him to. his music taste is just a mosaic of love for the people around him.

CLARK's songs include: ♡ it's been a long, long time by harry james and his orchestra ♡ cupid by sam cooke ♡ real love baby by father john misty

▸ if there's someone who's going to criticize music without sharing his full music taste? it's JASON. he's actually not mean but he'll make comments which give the impression that he thinks he'd be better with the aux. like bro ask for the aux normally. REMIND HIM WHO'S HOLDING THE WHEEL. YOU BETTER PRAY THAT THE VOTERS ARE IN YOUR FAVOUR WHEN WE DRIVE INTO THIS TELEPHONE POLE

when you give him the aux privileges he's secretly overjoyed. he likes a lot of different genres, rock, metal, indie rock, some punk... but don't ruin his mood by pointing out his music taste is vaguely inspired by bruce's. or make fun of him for listening to sleep token. obviously he likes listening to chill music too— but for a drive? it's gotta be loud and fast. secretly gets happy when you like the songs he plays. the validation gives him a quiet sort of joy.

JASON's songs include: ♡ knives out by radiohead ♡ goddamn these hands by the taxpayers ♡ custer by slipknot

▸ TIM is pretentious about music, but he doesn't intend to be. he's proud of his taste to the point where he's beyond spotify wrapped and stats.fm. i firmly believe he's made his own software to track the music he's listening to and it's thorough. that being said, he really doesn't mind listening to your music. he likes giving recommendations based off of the songs you play in the car.

tim adores branching out into different genres, and the more obscure it is, the more he likes it. given, he's also into some pretty known and loved bands. car seat headrest. radiohead. slaughter beach, dog. the minute you hand him the aux, he's trying to put you on his favourites. a lot of indie. like... so much indie. and midwest emo... american football WILL be played. he also unfortunately cannot hide his love for the pinkerton album.

TIM's songs include: ♡ never meant by american football ♡ oh! starving by car seat headrest ♡ tragic girl by weezer

▸ STEPHANIE is so cool. i've seen swiftie headcanons but guys... pop punk princess stephanie brown is too real. pop punk, alternative rock, riot grrrl— all that stuff. probably got aux privileges before you even gave her permission, she just started queuing up her songs with yours.

when she gets full control, she already has a playlist ready for the drive. it's kind of all over the place, but the vibes are great. you will go from mommy long legs to chappell roan and then to whatever recession pop artist she's into that week. steph is also a big fan of evanescence, kittie, and hole. those in specific are heavily headcanon-y but i feel like she'd appreciate them.

STEPHANIE's songs include: ♡ misery business by paramore ♡ cherry scented by jack off jill ♡ gimmie brains by bratmobile

▸ what are you listening to? you don't know but CASS seems happy at least. when you gave her aux privileges, she didn't really know what to do. she ended up just picking her favourite songs out of your usual playlists.

eventually, she gets excited by the prospect of sharing what she usually listens to and it's... something. so here's the thing: she listens to a lot of ambient noise. like, things that people usually sleep to. you once drove around for half an hour listening to nothing but the noises of rustling leaves and chirping birds through your speakers. and she was happy.

she listens to a lot of music where there's not a lot of lyrics most of the time, but tends to listen to some of stephanie's music as well— usually the more mellow side.

CASS' songs include: ♡ relaxing tranquil day in the forest by nature sounds ♡ healing ritual by whatever, dad ♡ to violet by adrianne lenker

part two... potentially??? lmk which character's you'd want ^_^

— reblogs always appreciated!

[bluecatwriter]

There's a long history of Dracula adaptations clearly made by people who have never read the book.

I think in this fine tradition you specifically should adapt the Beetle without reading it

You are SO right, anon. I am going to direct the movie version of The Beetle upon which all other adaptations will be based! It will full of iconic quotes that are not in the book and I will butcher all the themes and characters!

Initial thoughts:

-Robert Holt will be played by some no-name actor who is putting his entire heart, soul and mind into the performance. The Brick Guy is also played by this guy. The first part of the movie is filmed in a very straightforward period-drama style, with the exception of a Carpet Scene, which is filmed in soft focus like a "flashback to dead wife" scene.

-Robert will also of course be referred to as "Bobert" and wear jorts. Alas, he does not get a GAP sweatshirt or a slushie in this version because there are no Ordinary Solicitors to save him.

-The Beetle will be portrayed as just a beetle of varying sizes, and they will be CGI. Specifically the really low-budget bad CGI of the early 2000s. This is very important for my artistic vision.

-Paul Lessingham will also be CGI.

-The cat will be a real cat, and will be voiced by the guy who voiced Garfield from the 1990s Garfield and Friends cartoon.

-I am open to casting suggestions for Sydney Atherton, although again, I suspect that it would be best to forgo celebrities and cast a guy who has played the comic-relief guy in Oklahoma at community theater one too many times. I will change nothing about Sydney Atherton's atrocities, and will in fact probably add a few more, but all the other characters will say how manly and wonderful he is while he's like beating someone to death with a cricket bat in the background. The movie critics will read a lot into this directing choice.

-I will make Marjorie and Dora both girlbosses™ by giving each of them a sword and a multi-level marketing business. They will contribute nothing to the plot and I will be offended if people think they are bland characters.

-I don't really know the other characters, so they will be played by a gender-inclusive rotating cast, and everyone will keep mixing up their names. The goal is for it to be impossible to keep track of who's doing what at all times.

-The cat still dies but goes to Cat Heaven and there's a whole musical dream sequence (inspired by 1930s cartoons and musical numbers from Gene Kelly movies) about the cat having a really great time in Cat Heaven.

-During some mundane scene with this rotating cast of characters and CGI Paul Lessingham, Bobert will dramatically die of starvation in the background. Nobody notices.

-The train crash will be on-screen instead of off, and there will be a very long monologue from the train themself as they dramatically fall off a broken bridge (this will be a practical effect with a full-sized train). This monologue will be delivered by the same guy who plays the cat, and if the actor isn't crying real tears by the end, we will redo the take until we get it. There will be a lot of montaging and soft focus. We will give the train a tragic backstory, but the train is also kind of accepting of their fate, you know? The book of Ecclesiastes will probably be mentioned somewhere in here.

-I will be diverging from canon by having Sydney Atherton die in the train crash. Not from the train, though, he chokes on a shrimp cocktail moments before the train hits the ground.

-Credits roll

-Epilogue scene: Sydney Atherton ends up in Cat Heaven and all the cats jump on him like the hyenas at the end of Lion King and there's just a giant wriggling ball of cats. Bobert is there too, drinking a slushie in the background. Hard cut to black.

[girls--complex]

oh, and to tack on particularly in the realms of the religious influence. It's always been something i wanted to tap into but could never end up clicking with outside your and some others work. tyvm!

I'm working on the first part of your ask [about influences to my visual style] I'm actually letting it sit and cook because my ability to organize and transmit information comes from a big wet sponge made of cholesterol and gatorade that has all these wet projecting tendrils and it works on a basis of like sporadic electrical currents which I think probably come from ghosts or something IDK.

Do you want me to dump a list of theologians and religious texts? That seems rude/unhelpful because learning is discursive and the response you have to a given text is completely dependent on what your own butter sponge is doing. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology maybe saved my life but I know people who don't like it because they felt it was being mean to them. Or people who don't like Suzuki-roshi because he's too ambiguous but when I read him his perspective and the content of his advice seems incredibly straightforward. Hehe. (I can dump it though I also started making one because I got scared that someone will ask me for real. I'm also not a huge books based learner so the whole concept of this idea feels really frustrating.)

I honestly don't entirely know what it is that clicks with you as I'm throwing spaghetti around a lot ......

With comics this thing I try to do and that I maybe hopefully do which is that I try really hard not to scold, or have a position of moral superiority, or make any type of moral imperative. I try really hard to limit myself to "here's some journey that I experienced" (maybe allegorized or cartoonified or whatever) and then I also relate it with attention to modulate my natural narcissism so that it doesn't protagonize me in some stupid and disingenuous way. Based on observation I would guess that this thought process is generally rare in artists of all genres, creeds, and backgrounds, which is why I do it in reaction to almost every story I have ever read. Or it might just be that it's funny and the cartoons are cute IDK.

If you don't even care about my comics and are talking about some single illustration or something I really don't know.

Hope you're having a banger day I'm going to eat some purple confections I made with my friend ...

[opashoo]

Hiiii! I mean, you're very, very good at drawing. And also ask if you have a favorite ship by rw. So I want to draw something for you. You are a very cool artist

I'm sorry if I'm distracting you from important things

I'll say it again, you're cool

Oh thank you! That's so nice to hear! The past few months have been a lot of growth for me so it's nice that it's noticed. And you don't have to worry about distracting me! I'll answer in my own good time, there's no rush. As for my favorite ship uhhh readmore so I can talk about it because I have a lot of thoughts

ArtiHunter is my top favorite ship. Beyond just "They are both violent and red", I like to imagine that Hunter's got a straightforward, no-nonsense but compassionate attitude. She would tell Arti, "What you've done is awful and I can't forgive you on behalf of all the people you've hurt, but you have the chance to stop hurting people and make things better." I like to imagine that even though Arti is full of anger and hurt, she would appreciate someone who wants her to be better, and doesn't say, "Well it's all in the past, it's okay because I like you." An Arti who wants to do better or is wrestling with guilt would probably hate that so much. My ArtiHunter's not about redemption or forgiveness or violence, it's about acknowledging the hurt you've done and doing better, about two people slugcats making each other better.

RivuSpear is probably my next favorite. To me, Spears is very easygoing, but just a little cynical and neurotic, and Rivulet is very fun but anxious and maybe even legitimately bipolar. I think they could settle into very easy rhythms where they take turns talking and listening. Like they probably each feel broken or alien in some way but they love each other including their eccentricities, not despite them; not because they love when a person is damaged but because they love the whole person. Together they probably feel like everything is right with the world, not because they're normal but because they can be themselves.

Anyway I mention both because I don't really ship any other slugcats and I know that sometimes people don't like ArtiHunter. Whichever one you draw, I will be eternally grateful 🙏

[dragonmarquise]

Since devil theory is into anime, what types of genres do they usually watch????

Oh boy, this is gonna be a fun one to talk about :D

Well, for the most part. Also a bit long!

But first, something that’s probably not needed, but just in case: A disclaimer that some of the series mentioned here might not have aged well in terms of like… depictions of minorities or handling certain serious topics in questionable ways. I know a lot of the stuff I loved as a kid had problems like that.

*gestures towards Cardcaptor Sakura which has at least 3 different child/student x adult/teacher relationships, including the protagonist’s own parents for fuck’s sake!!*

Long story short, some of the mentioned series here are ones I have watched myself at some point in my life! I still love some of these for the good parts, but I’m not gonna make excuses for the bad parts (if what I just said about Cardcaptor Sakura doesn’t already make that clear). Again, this kind of thing is probably obvious for most people? But it’s also probably a good idea to state the obvious anyways.

So yeah, now that the disclaimer is established, onto anime talk!! Also a bit of manga talk here and there, since there’s overlap with different series. :u

Reiterating from my big Devil Theory post, all four of them had a little anime-manga club going during their school days (Nunchaku was an honorary member since she still lived in the US during this time). Adding more to this headcanon/idea, they kinda-sorta still have the club going, but it’s really just the four of them hanging out and watching/reading/talking about anime-manga stuff together like friends anyways. Also debates on stuff like power levels, which characters would win in a crossover battle (a la Death Battle), arguments over why a certain manga series does or did not deserve to have an anime adaptation, etc. :P

Also each of them have been bullied for this particular interest to some extent and at some point in their lives. Even with anime and manga being more “acceptable” these days, their first instinct is to still keep quiet about it, and hide any merch they have from anyone who notices. It takes each of them a while to actually open up about the topic to their own partners, let alone any friends outside of their own little circle. They get there eventually!

Moving on to the specific topic of favorite genres, in general they’ll at least check out the popular stuff together. Astro Boy, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, YuYu Hakusho, One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Full Metal Alchemist, Mob Psycho 100, My Hero Academia, Delicious in Dungeon, Odd Taxi, also various anime movies like the Studio Ghibli films, so on and so forth. You probably get the point! Dragon Ball and its sequels is probably the big one they all remember starting off with. Each of them also have preferences for other stuff they’ll watch/read on their own!

Just as a reminder of who’s who, I’ll put in parentheses which OC corresponds to which DT palette, and a little blurb about them.

For specific favorites for Sai (spring palette, guy with anger problems who gets it sorted out eventually), his favorites are pretty straightforward: as long as it has awesome fights, he’ll watch it! He’ll suffer through a show with a crappy plot if it at least has excellent animation for the fight scenes. Like basically “we saved the budget for the fight scenes and cheaped out on everything else” levels of blegh. Same with manga, it better at minimum have cool art and fight scenes or it ain’t worth it in his opinion. Also he was absolutely inspired to get into art because of those fight scenes, and thus he now works as a freelance artist!

For Nunchaku (summer palette, butch lesbian with high gremlin energy), she really likes sports manga. Admittedly I don’t know a whole lot about this genre of anime/manga myself, but from snippets I’ve seen, I know it can get wild sometimes! Because of the period of her life where her parents forced her to do as many sports as possible, she knows a decent amount about a lot of different sports. She likes to see how the series she reads/watches compare to the real thing, and enjoys when things get really ridiculous.

Also a big fan of the early seasons of Pokemon, Digimon, and Yugioh. Those were her big intros to anime besides Dragon Ball. The later seasons of those three, eh, not so much. She doesn’t hate them but doesn’t love them either, y’know?

In addition to that, she also keeps an eye out for good wlw/yuri series. Nunchaku mostly checks out series made by (or at least written by) actual lesbians, bi women etc. But even then she has a very small pool of stuff she particularly loves, and is also frustrated with how little butch x butch stuff there is.

For Bō (winter palette, blond hair and weightlifting tech guy), he will check out anything involving mecha or cool technology, though he doesn’t always like them (Neon Genesis Evangelion is probably a big one that he regrets watching at all). At the least, if he likes the designs of the mecha/robots featured in the series, he’ll still buy figures or kits of them.

With series he’ll check out on his own that he actually likes, it’s mostly gay manga (i.e. stuff that tends to get labeled as "bara" in Western anime fandoms, even though the term itself is not generally seen as a positive in Japan. At least from what I’ve researched, it probably varies). Of course he enjoys them because Gay, but also because they tend to feature characters with similar body types as him who aren’t meant to be jokes in some way. Which, probably says a lot, doesn’t it? :(

So then besides those two genres and the big popular series he’ll check out with his friends, he’s more into gaming. Like, they all play video games and have their favorites, but Bō is the only one who would call himself a gamer. He has suffered through a lot of horrible video game adaptations of various series, lol…

And finally Daishō (autumn palette, leader of Devil Theory and sometimes basically roleplays as an anime villain while in costume lol), with his love of horror movies, he is also of course a big fan of horror anime and manga! Though whether he genuinely loves what he reads or not kinda depends, due to… sorta complicated feelings.

Okay so, the idea is, for a long while (including even into adulthood), he would check out particularly gruesome and gorey series, even if it got to a point of making him feel genuinely ill. Like, I’m talking about stuff with no deep story or themes to them, no cathartic or at least bittersweet endings. They were mostly if not completely just for the shock value of truly horrific things happening to the characters, who never survived in these series.

And a lot of the time, he read them just to laugh at the characters for being stupid, thinking they deserve the suffering. This also applies to non-anime/non-manga series too. He’d check out the stuff even big slasher fans would want to avoid, if that gives a better idea of what he was seeking.

After sorting out some personal issues (a lot of issues actually, including his big guilt about almost getting his friends and himself killed due to the deal with Faux), he comes to realize he only bothered with that particular subset of horror as a form of self-harm. Again, the big guilt about the Faux deal going wrong, though also guilt about feeling like he’s not doing enough for his friends, that his problems aren’t as bad as other people’s, and so on. Made himself suffer through horror content he can’t stand himself as a sort of subconscious punishment.

Once he works through those feelings, he stops reading/watching stuff like that. He even throws out and burns a lot of the books/DVDs/etc that he collected from that horror subset. After that, he still enjoys horror stuff of course! But he actually respects his own limits and doesn’t force himself to watch/read stuff he knows will just make him feel terrible or ill. He’s a big fan of Junji Ito stuff, plus other stuff in the same vein.

And, I think that about covers it! I was expecting to namedrop a few more series than this, but eh. :P

[plothooksinc]

Assuming you don't have an excess of NRFTW prompts already, mayhaps a missing scene of Mikey confronting Leo about that "Don't kill yourself for a corpse" line? Because I just *know* he had a lot of feelings about that, diversion or no. 👀👀

Me: That should be pretty straightforward Me: ...only now I want to address some other stuff, so-- /17 pages later

The Jupiter Jim figurines that April had put on the bedside stand were gone, replaced by a tray of Mikey’s paints, and Draxum’s (lab? Secret lair? He insisted it wasn’t a castle--) place was dead silent.

They were moving today. Donnie had declared their new residence-to-be hygienically and structurally sound enough to begin the shift over, but Leo was still benched. And Mikey was also benched—unfairly, as far as he was concerned, but Draxum had pushed for him to stay out of the heavy lifting.

(“There’s being able to lift a pound or two, and there’s being able to shift furniture and boxes. It’s a world of difference,” the old goat had said patiently. “Yes, you’re doing much better, but don’t try your luck.”

“But I can use my chains, they won’t weigh—”

“Ahhh, yes. Your chains. With your mystic energy. And what have we said about using your mystic energy?”)

Donnie had told him outright to be thankful he had an excuse to sit this out. But it was Raph who mollified him by pointing out that leaving Leo here entirely on his own probably wouldn’t be the greatest of ideas. Both because he was still hurt and might need help, would be feeling kind of useless and in need of morale—and because a lonely and bored Leo was often a dumb Leo, and if he would listen to anyone and just stay put, it was gonna be Mikey.

And fair. Sometimes Leo definitely required a Delicate Touch.

Today, he’d apply one of a different kind.

Leo’s shell was a mess of fibreglass patches and newly sealed cracks still fragile in some places—Donnie had come up with a thin protective cover for the bulk of them, but the whole look wasn’t pretty and his brother was self-conscious about it. Not that he’d said as much, but the fact that he pulled the blanket right up over it even when it was warm spoke volumes.

Also, Mikey’s fingers itched every time he looked at it. He wanted to make it look awesome. Hence--

“Give me some suggestions?” Leo said. “You’re the artist.”

“Could do a cool dragon?”

“Mmm. Yeah.”

Well, that was noncommittal. He thought Leo would like a dragon. Mikey frowned. “You know I’ll paint whatever you want. I don’t care what it is.”

Leo chuckled. “Well, that’s way open to abuse.”

“I’m serious!”

“Hmm.”

And he was quiet again. This time, Mikey frowned at him. Was it time for morale boosts already? It seemed a bit early--

“Hey.”

“Mmm, yeah, I’m thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“Thinking abooout… how I can abuse your mad painting skills?”

“Leo.”

“Seriously, what if I got you to draw, like, a terrible cartoon of Barry falling off a roof or something.”

“...really?”

“You did say anything.”

Mikey narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “I mean sure, if that’s what you really want.” Though it was such a cheap shot he didn’t think Leo even tried with that one; it felt more like misdirection. “Didn’t know you were so obsessed with him you wanted a reminder painted on you, but—”

“Oh pizza supreme, ew.” Leo shuddered, mashing his face into the pillow. “When you put it like that—”

“So what are you thinking about?”

“Rude.”

“Answer the question, Leon.”

“Ruder. No privacy. Maybe I’m thinking that I miss pizza.”

“You get some tomorrow.”

“What about now?” he whined.

“Leo?”

“Miguel.”

“Do you not want me to paint your shell?” Leo hesitated, and Mikey squinted at him. “We don’t have to.”

“...it’s not that,” Leo muttered, muffled by the pillow. “I do, but…”

Time to pull out the big guns. He flopped onto the bed next to him, offering his best puppy eyes and trembling lip when Leo shifted to face him. “Do you think I’ll do a bad job?”

“What?” Leo pulled back a little, looking panicked. “Of course not! You’re amazing, I just—”

Mikey grinned at him cheerfully. And then stuck his tongue out for good measure.

“—who taught you how to weaponise that, seriously.”

“You did.”

Leo swallowed a laugh. “Okay, okay. Fine. Give me your hand.”

“Huh?”

His brother held out a hand, beckoning, and Mikey obliged him by taking it. Leo instantly turned his hand over, pushing gently along the joints. “That hurt?”

...oh. That’s what was going on. It said a lot that Mikey hadn’t even thought about injury stress; his arms had been behaving themselves for days now. It was possible, he guessed.

On the other hand, he hadn’t painted in weeks. He missed it. And he wanted Leo to like his shell. So he pulled back, deliberately shaking his hands out and wiggling his fingers, smiling wryly as Leo winced. “Promise I’m good. In more ways than one, baby!”

“Yeah, but what if it starts hurting halfway through?” Leo made a face. “Then I’ll be stuck with half a dragon or something and probably, like, the lamer part. There’ll be a dragon’s ass on my shell and everyone’ll make fun of me.”

Mikey sighed, seeing the whining for the thinly disguised concern it was. It was touching, but he could feel the annoyance starting to bubble up. Of all of them, Leo was the one that generally didn’t baby him. He managed a smile. “We do that already.”

“Shh, let me live in denial. Anywhizzle--”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t ready,” he said, sharper than he intended. (Probably because that wasn’t entirely true—okay, he hadn’t given any thought to it before this, but after reflection, he was pretty sure--)

“You sure about that?”

Leo said it...lightly. For the most part.

Maybe Mikey just imagined the strain underneath, or maybe it was because he was already riled, but the doubtful look on his brother’s face made him bristle defensively. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What?” Leo paused. “Nothing, I’m just kidding around.”

“You sure about that?”

And this time Leo frowned at Mikey’s mocking tone and shifted gingerly to face him more directly, hugging a pillow to his chest. “Whoa, okay, I honestly didn’t mean anything by it, I’m just… making sure.”

“Why?”

“...you seriously have to ask?”

“Yeah, actually,” Mikey said flatly, fingers tapping a rhythm on the protective sheet. He just wanted to paint. “I’m more than okay. I’m fine, Leo.”

“Annnd you’ve said that before.”

“I—” He paused.

(“Fine! Just fine. You?”

“Fine. Just fine.”)

Again, oh.

(“You’re both liars and I don’t see why you bother.”)

Mikey let a breath out. Sure, okay. He still felt tetchy about this, but Leo had a point. But it took two to have that conversation, and if they were gonna talk about recklessness--

--and oh, for the third time. He got it now, why he was so hair-trigger irritated. There was a ninja damned elephant in the room.

One thing at a time.

“It’s just painting,” Mikey said finally, voice even. “It’s not like I’m using any kind of mystic mojo and I can stop any time it starts to hurt. I can paint something that can be done in pieces, no dragon asses necessary.”

Leo blinked at him, and then mustered up a lopsided smile. “I dunno. What if dragon asses are my thing?”

He could take that offer for what it was; Leo attempting to walk their conversation back from an edge. For a moment, Mikey was tempted. He just wanted to do something nice for his brother and artistic and prove he could still--

Still paint. He could. He had no trouble at dinner, no trouble lugging Dad’s casserole, and now Leo was making him second guess himself when Leo was absolutely the biggest hypocrite in the room for this kinda thing.

“...Angelo?”

And man, now his brother wouldn’t even let him second guess himself in peace! Rude. He leaned forward to rummage through his paints, voice flat. “What.”

“...hey.” Hesitant and soft. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, like, belittle you, that’s not what this is about.”

“That’s a big word for you.” As soon as he said it—heard the snap of his words leave his mouth—Mikey cringed. Especially as Leo stilled on the bed, then sank down into the pillows again, face blank. Okay, he didn’t deserve that. If Mikey didn’t want to be babied, he shouldn’t be a brat.

So he gave an overly long, dramatic Mermista-style groan and flopped back down on his back next to his brother. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m just… I’m frustrated. It’s been a while. And you were the last person I expected this from!”

“I get it,” Leo said quietly. “You got stuck here on babysitting duty, you’re already feeling left out.”

“That’s not it. Well, not all of it.” He hesitated, stretching his hands up to link behind his head, voice innocent. “Um… I was so caught up in the euphoria of being able to paint your shell that for a minute I lived in a world where mystic backlash didn’t exist…?”

There was a long moment of silence.

And then Mikey grinned a little as Leo raised his head to glare at him. “You did not just apple juice meme at me.”

“I sure did, Leon. Whatcha gonna do about it?”

“Ask you nicely to brain yourself with a pillow,” Leo said grumpily. “I’m keeping count, you know.”

“Oh, I bet.”

They lay there in companionable silence.

“I was looking forward to it, too.” Leo said after a while. “I mean, I even let you put the sheet down. It’s only after that we—look, we both forgot, okay? And then I panicked, because I’m not meant to forget that kind of thing. What if you get hurt because I encouraged you?”

“Hmm.” Okay, that was a fair, kind of dumb but standard Leo reaction. “I kind of get it, except for the part where you’re not responsible for my life choices.”

“Yeah, but I’m enabling them. Raph would—”

“Raph would get exasperated at me for pulling a dumb stunt! This isn’t like… being out fighting bad guys and for some reason your plan means I have to hurt myself painting.”

“Close enough,” Leo said, barely audible.

Mikey shifted up onto his elbows, looking at him in disbelief. “I’m sorry, what? Did I hear that correctly?”

“Mmf.” Leo dropped his face back into the pillow. “Sorry. Forget it, I’m just—”

“Oh no, we are not forgetting it, son.” Mikey sat back up again, folding his arms like a disapproving parent. “Seriously? Are we doing this now?”

“Can we go back to the part where you were going to paint, like, something easy and—”

“Hell no. Leo.” Mikey poked him in the shoulder-- the good one, because he wasn’t a complete jerk. “I don’t remember any point where you had a say in my portal choices. Oh, wait! Yes I do! And your say was dumb and I ignored it—”

Leo blinked at him, baffled. “You-- what? I never—”

“Aha!” Mikey pointed at him triumphantly. “You can’t have it both ways. Either you’re responsible or you’re not, which is it?”

“No, I’m seriously lost,” Leo said blankly. “Putting aside the whole responsibility or feeling guilt or whatever, I get it, we’ll come back to that (maybehopefullynever) but when did you ignore me? I don’t remember saying anything to you about portals.”

For a moment, Mikey was just. Speechless. Because he could infer two things from that, and he hated both of them. One, that Leo had absolutely talked about his portals, just not with him. And two…

“You don’t remember,” he said, irritation shifting into genuine anger. His voice rose with every word. “The warehouse? That cheap action hero line you threw at me while you were hanging like so much netted roadkill? ‘Doesn’t ring a bell?’ Seriously!?”

Recognition dawned on Leo’s face, and he mouthed something silently—a sentence that he recognised because it had been on Mikey’s mind, on and off, that he’d muttered to himself in the bathroom sometimes, that he couldn’t decide whether it was a cool line or something Leo needed to be slapped for, and that he’d decided to maybe just try and let it go until Leo--

--did this. Forgot it.

Like it didn’t matter.

Don’t kill yourself for a corpse.

“Mikey,” Leo said faintly, and a helpless, placating smile twitched at the corners of his mouth for a moment before it faded under Mikey’s glare. “That was just stalling.”

“Was it?”

“Yes!” he snapped. “That wasn’t a-- I thought you knew! Do you really think I’d just encourage you to throw my life away when help was very clearly gonna be on the way?”

Annnd there it was. Because yeah, actually. Leo had put his finger on it precisely without meaning to, and Mikey surged up off the bed. “You’ve done it before, Leo! Once is maybe stalling, but this is a pattern, and—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa—”

“Don’t whoa whoa whoa me!” Mikey bared his teeth. And his next words were pitched high and dramatic, hand to forehead. “’Don’t kill yourself for a corpse!’ ‘Casey, when I get to the other side, close that door!’ Actually yeah, now that I think about it, if you hadn’t been such a dumbass, I—”

Oh.

Oh, shit, way too far. Leo flinched as if struck, but he stayed staring at Mikey, eyes dark and shoulders hunched. Making himself small like he deserved it, when Mikey had been trying to point out his arms weren’t his responsibility. Good job, going the exact opposite direction.

“...fuck,” he whispered.

In a perfect world, Leo would blackmail him with threats to tell Raph about his swearing at this point. But his big brother said nothing, watching him in deathly silence.

Mikey covered his face. He was angry. He’d crossed a line. And for a long, yawning moment, he held still, hoping Leo would—snap back at him, or shove him off the bed, or be just as much a jerk back, like he’d been with Raph before the invasion, or that time at the pizzeria, or--

It was so quiet.

Oh, pizza supreme. “Leo,” he said, muffled into his hands. “I’m--”

Leo laughed, and Mikey snapped his head up in mix of confusion and dread, because that was not the correct response. But Leo’s giggling was brittle, and while he was lounging on the pillows like he was so entertained, he was staring past Mikey like he wasn’t there. Something curdled in his gut. “Leo…?”

“You can’t have it both ways, mi hermano,” Leo said, and his tone was so absolutely curated smartass that Mikey cringed. “Either I’m responsible or I’m not, which is it?”

“Don’t,” Mikey said tightly, “Throw my words back at me.”

“Why not? Seems to be a common thing today.”

“You know it’s not what I meant!”

“Seems we got a lot of that going around, too.”

Leo’s humour faded—what there was of it—and now he just looked tired. He shifted awkwardly onto his side to face away from Mikey. “Sorry,” he muttered. “You’re gonna have to tell Raph you weren’t the best choice for the whole morale thing. He’ll understand.”

Words chosen to hurt. They lost their bite when delivered so expressionlessly, and Mikey swallowed against a stupid, stupid desire to cry, because now he was angry and frustrated and guilty and a little heartbroken, and dammit, this was so important, he couldn’t let it slide, but he…

...kinda got why Raph and Leo were at each other’s throats all the time.

He wasn’t going to be the same.

“I have three doctorates,” he muttered.

And waited. For Leo to snort, to cut him down and say sure, and I have a medical degree. With stickers. Which makes it better than yours.

But Leo said nothing. After a moment, he hitched the blanket up to wrap over his shell again, and that felt more like a dismissal than anything else.

Mikey curled his hands into fists. Clenched them hard, just because he could. Because it didn’t hurt anymore, not like before. “I have three doctorates,” he repeated flatly, “And I probably should be taking my own advice, huh. You want more words thrown back at you? I’m not yelling at you because I’m mad. I’m—I’m freaking terrified, Leo! Because you nearly died like three times in the last couple weeks, and two of those times you just kind of… leaned right into it, and I don’t—don’t want there to be a fourth time—”

“You think I do?”

Leo’s response was barely audible, but his head had tilted back just enough for Mikey to know he was paying attention. And man, it was getting harder not to just burst into tears, but then Leo would probably either have to shift into comfort mode (and everything would get derailed) or he’d ignore Mikey entirely and that would feel worse. He compromised by flopping back onto the bed, curling up against Leo’s blankets, and found his voice again. He’d say what he had to say first.

“I don’t know,” he said softly. “That’s why, okay? I just—you just seem to keep going for the option that gets you dead lately. You can’t do that to us.”

“I mean, apparently I can,” Leo murmured bitterly. “Seeing as I’ve done it twice.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “That’s not funny.”

“Yeah, well. I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“...I don’t know what I want you to say, either.” Nothing felt right.

“Okay, here’s a start,” Leo said flatly. “If you think I’m trying to throw my life away—”

“No!”

“If you don’t think that, what exactly are you accusing me of?”

“I’m not! I’m—” His voice cracked, and Mikey bit off another curse under his breath. And then went fuck it and vanished into the cool dark of his shell, so he wouldn’t have to stare at Leo’s back any more. So Leo wouldn’t turn and catch his tears that were falling without his permission because he cried at the drop of a hat and--

“I’m just scared.”

There was a pause, and a creak of the bed. And a long silence.

Mikey sniffled as quietly as he could.

Another creak.

Then Leo’s voice sounded closer, a little more gentle.

“I had a nightmare about you.”

He blinked. That wasn’t what he expected.

“Uh-- I kind of know?” He remembered the details vividly enough-- the warehouse, Sister Krang snapping his neck, way awful. But this was after the warehouse, so--

“Raph told you?” Leo said in confusion. “I mean, I never gave him the details...”

--that wasn’t right. Mikey peered out from his shell to see Leo peering back, and his brother gave him a tiny smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but it was encouraging. “No, I, um… remember how we mind melded at the warehouse? It kind of stuck around during all your fever dreams.”

“Oh.” Leo frowned. “I don’t really remember those.”

“Good,” Mikey said fervently. “Don’t. They’re awful.”

“Heh. Sorry.”

“Not your fault.” He sank back into his shell, but he felt a little better. Leo wasn’t being so cold. He hated it when Leo was cold. “So this was another dream…?”

“...yeah. It was a while ago, right after you showed me your arms that first time. Before… Raph.”

Oh, right. Before everything went to hell. (Again. Hah.)

“I dreamt about you opening the portal,” Leo went on quietly, “And you were trying to save me, and you kind of… just broke apart. Shattered to pieces. And I had to watch that, and the portal closed, and I-- I was stuck and you were—”

Oh.

(If he had a nickel for every time he’d thought oh in the last ten minutes--)

“I didn’t want to be there, Mikey. I promise, I really, really enjoy, you know, being alive. I love you guys! I’m not secretly harbouring a death wish, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was a lot quieter.

“But that terror—it goes both ways, you know?”

He felt Leo lay hands on his shell and try to lift him into a hug.

Which was… very sweet until reality kicked in and he popped back out in alarm just in time to see his big brother go pale.

“Oh my god, Leo!” He scrambled out fully, wiping at his face before he helped Leo settle back, and he couldn’t help the faintly hysterical giggle. “You really are a dumbass.”

“...I did it on purpose to get you to come out…?” Leo’s voice was wheezy, and he gave Mikey a watery smile.

“Liar.”

“Okay, you got me.” He wilted against the pillows. “But not about the important stuff, okay?”

“Idiot,” Mikey muttered without heat. He patted at Leo’s shoulder. “Need meds?”

“...nah. It’s actually not too bad, I just need a minute.”

“Okay.” He paused. Argument maybe averted, but… he wasn’t done. He could just do this a little less meanly. Especially if Leo was willing to talk to him.

“I do believe you,” he said after a moment, because that was important.

“Okay, good.”

“So… you did the whole heroic cool death wish line because you were scared I was gonna get hurt?”

Leo huffed in amusement, but his tiny smile faded. “Mostly, yeah. I was trying to buy you time. And my first attempt just got you hurt more, so… I went the rage route.”

Oh yeah. Leo asking for permission to treat his wounds. That had gone poorly, to say the least. Mikey smiled weakly. “Well, you picked a winner. I got so mad at you.” He still was, but it felt a little better, to pick at this.

“Yeah, well, the Bubblegum Bitch ran on murder and spite. I figured she’d love to see us screaming at each other. And…”

He hesitated.

“And?” Mikey prompted.

Leo closed his eyes. “I didn’t think I could handle watching you open a portal to... that place. Not with the damage it did the first time. Not ever again because of me. I’m not the only one who nearly died here, y’know.”

Mikey frowned. “I didn’t—”

“Don’t try that with me, Mikey.”

He shut his mouth with a snap. Took a deep breath, because he wasn’t going to yell again, and this was… a softer kind of hurt. He got it. He was starting to get Leo. So he had to continue.

“You think I could handle watching you die because I didn’t open one?” He was proud of how even his voice was. Hah. The doctor was back in session. “You said it yourself, terror goes both ways. Stalling can only go so far. By definition!”

“Okay, at this point we’re gonna end up going in circles,” Leo said dryly. “They’re both valid points, okay? But if you can understand why you risked your life in there, can you get why I’d do the same?”

“...because we’re both idiots?” he muttered.

Leo snorted a faint laugh. And Mikey finally grinned at him, before sobering. Because…

“What about before?”

Leo’s face shuttered blank so fast he almost regretted asking.

Almost.

Especially as the look broke a moment later under a lazy smile, which set his teeth on edge. “You’re gonna have to narrow it down a bit, little bro.”

Okay. If he was gonna be like that.

“Mhm, mm-hmm.” Mikey nodded, shifting enough to sit cross-legged on the bed, and pretended to write into a notebook. “Patient very sensitive on this subject, a little too late on deflecting comment and accompanying I am full of shit smile…”

“Oh, for-- you can’t doctor me, you don’t have your stupid doctor glasses.”

“Patient deflecting more… by making… immersion-breaking jokes—” He broke off and mimed looking over a pair of imaginary glasses at Leo and grinned cheekily through the churning in his gut. Two could play at this game. “All our stuff is packed. You’re gonna have to pretend, bro.”

“I don’t want to,” Leo said flatly, smile gone. “I’m not in the mood for imaginary doctors today. Can’t you just be Mikey?”

“I don’t know, can I?” Mikey retorted, voice still even. Never mind he probably still had drying tear tracks on his face. “Because apparently you can’t talk to Mikey.”

“I can talk to you just fine!”

“Without babying me.”

“I’m not—”

“Or lying. You know exactly what ‘before’ I’m talking about! I mean, how often do you throw yourself through one way portals, anyway?”

“As Dee would say, approximately never, because I can honestly say I’ve never thrown myself through a one way portal in my—”

Mikey slammed his hand down on the bedside stand so hard his paint bottles shook, two of them outright teetering and falling off the edge. Leo flinched back, sentence unfinished, his expression frozen somewhere between jackass and terrified.

“Really?” he hissed. “You’re gonna deflect now by splitting hairs?”

Leo blinked, mouth still hanging open for a moment before he collected himself. “Very professional observation,” he said faintly, voice shaking. “You should write that down in your imaginary notebook! Also, I’m pretty sure therapists aren’t meant to terrify their patients. You could lose your imaginary license and then where would we be?”

Mikey stared at him, face dark and arms folded. “And now you’re deflecting by pissing me off.”

Leo held his stare for maybe three seconds before he broke and rolled away—gingerly, clearly painfully—to face the wall again. “’m sorry. I really just wanna… I don’t know. Get my shell painted. Can we talk about this some other day?”

Mikey sucked in a breath, loudly and obnoxiously, because he wanted Leo to know he was angry. Then he rolled to collect the bottles that had fallen to the floor. The red one hadn’t been closed properly and he winced at the flecks on Draxum’s carpet. Maybe they could claim it was blood. He’d probably be less outraged, all things considered.

He knew as well as Leo there would be no other day. If this didn’t get talked about now, he’d be looking forward to Leo making sure they weren’t in the same room alone together for weeks. He was angry enough he wondered spitefully for a moment if he should beat him to it and ignore his lying ass like a--

...like a wound up little brother who was easily riled by someone who knew exactly which buttons to press. Sure, Leo would feel like shit about it, but Leo would also be relieved. Dodged that therapist bullet, right? Enough time would pass it would be too hard to bring up again.

Until the next time he pulled this stunt. (Leo wasn’t a cat, he didn’t have nine freaking lives--)

“Was there really no other way?” he asked bluntly.

Leo hunched in on himself with a faint hiss, and Mikey sat there behind him, his arms full of paint, and wondered how far to push. He wanted to know. Leo had said there was no death wish, and Mikey believed him about his reasoning in the warehouse. If it wasn’t for how Leo shut him down immediately when he asked more directly, he’d have let this go. There was something he was missing.

He had to push the right way, though. Demanding answers from a traumatised person was, okay, maybe not the best strategy? And Leo was absolutely traumatised, no matter how many shit eating grins he’d thrown over the last few weeks while being half dead. (And then half dead again.) He’d come back out of Mikey’s portal a complete mess and hadn’t talked about it since. Krang Prime had been terrifying before his only target had been his brother.

And Leo had deliberately locked himself in with a murderous alien because…

Hero moves are totally your style.

...because that’s what heroes do?

Bullshit.

“How’s your hand?”

Leo’s question took him by surprise—and hurt besides, with how colourless his tone was. Mikey frowned at him before he looked down at his hands, and—right. Probably losing his temper and hitting furniture wasn’t very, uh, wise. But he flexed his fingers, answering in a subdued voice. “Fine.”

...he had an idea. Take a page out of Leo’s book, lure him in with less threatening subjects. Mikey paused, biting his lip, knowing this could also backfire-- but if it did, it would be less devastating than the direct route. He could try again later.

So he sighed. “And… fine. I’ll let it go.”

“For now, huh.”

“...forever, if you need me to. I just—wanted to understand,” he said, turning away to start stacking the paint bottles neatly on the dresser again. “I know we weren’t there to help, and I’m sorry—”

“Do not apologise for that,” Leo cut in sharply. “You got slammed into free fall and nearly died. What kind of jerk do you think I am?”

“But Raph had to come after us and you were alone.” And that hurt to remember. His hands trembled. “And then you didn’t even warn us. You didn’t even say goodbye. You just jumped straight to—”

“There wasn’t time for anything else,” Leo whispered. “At least, I didn’t think there was. Okay?”

--that was progress. Mikey leaned forward eagerly, ready to push for more detail-- and then hesitated. He’d just said he would let it go.

So he made himself shut up and sit there quietly, hands in his lap, fingers curled inward so he didn’t fidget.

And waited.

“...Yeah, I keep thinking now about other stuff I might have been able to do,” Leo said finally. “And like, it’s all maybes and what ifs and maybe none of it would have worked and maybe some of it would have, but there wasn’t any time, and I’m not-- I mean, it’s easy to come up with stuff after. I still don’t know if I could have made a better choice. Okay? I just did… I did what I had to. It wasn’t some grand gesture or, like, ‘oh no, this is all my fault, I’ll throw my life away to fix it,’ it was-- we’d never get another chance, and I couldn’t live with what would happen if we lost.”

…

Right, so there was a lot to unpack there.

“You think the invasion is your fault?” he asked cautiously.

“Not… really,” Leo said, and Mikey wished he’d turn around again so he could see his brother’s face. “Like, you know, I get it. The Foot and the Krang are more to blame for this than me, but I was stupid. So there’s fault, and then there’s responsibility. If I hadn’t messed around and lost the key, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten this far. But I guess I don’t know that for sure?”

That sounded very much like someone had already had a go at him about this. His money would be on Donnie. What Mikey wanted to know, though, was whether Leo really meant it or whether he was just rattling off someone else’s argument.

“You also got the key back,” he pointed out, and Leo snorted.

“Yeah,” he said flatly. “At Raph’s expense.”

Mikey winced-- okay yeah, wrong tack to take. There was a lot he could say there about the fact that Raph was also capable of making his own choices, and he already knew Raph would prefer the whole temporary possession and scarred eye and shell over a dead brother. Just as he knew he would never, ever convince Leo of that, because they were all the same in that regard. It was hard, watching someone get hurt trying to protect you.

So hard. Mikey knew.

“Did you…” He paused, swallowed. Curled up on the bed itself, his shell to Leo’s, knees up to his chest. Maybe this was easier. “Did you think you had to make up for it? Is that why?”

He wasn’t sure if Leo’s soft huff of amusement was a good or a bad sign. “I already said. No death wishes.” His tone was more gentle than cutting, so that was hopeful. “Not on the alien ship, not in the warehouse. Just let it go.”

That wasn’t actually an answer to the question. Guilt could make you do so much stupid shit, and Leo still wanted him to drop it, which means there was more to this--

I couldn’t live with what would happen if we lost.

Mikey blinked.

“I need an oh jar,” he muttered.

“...yeah, because that makes sense.”

“Leo,” Mikey said evenly. “What did Casey say to you?”

There was a brief silence, and then Leo responded with genuine confusion. “Okay, that one you really are gonna have to narrow down—”

“About the future he came from.”

And from the way he heard Leo’s breath stutter to a halt, Mikey had his answer.

---------

He waited. Long enough to hear Leo unfreeze, breathing slow with just the faintest hint of shakiness. Long enough that he finally evened out, and Mikey kept still while he did it, not even touching him, back to back. He wanted to-- wanted to kind of turn and latch onto Leo and hug him, but from this angle he’d end up hurting a whole lot more than he’d help, so… in the end, he just gave him space.

Somewhere down the hall, one of Draxum’s clocks chimed.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Dumb question.”

“Hmm. Yeah, okay, I’ll give you that one. Will you please talk about it?”

“What’s the point?” Leo was barely audible. “It’s over now, not gonna happen. We just need to look after the one person it did happen for.”

“I think Casey’d disagree.”

“Casey has enough on his plate.”

“Well, he’s not here right now anyway. If there’s no point, why don’t you tell me?”

“Already covered that I don’t want to.”

The thing is, just by not telling him, Leo had basically confirmed for Mikey some pretty obvious key factors. This time he deliberately quashed the irritation at the thought of being babied. He got it. He did.

“So,” he said slowly, eventually, “I’m gonna assume you’re trying to protect me. Or us. From horrible, terrible, no good, bad future knowledge. Am I right?”

Leo’s silence was confirmation enough.

Mikey took a deep breath. Okay. He had it now. He hoped. (He also didn’t hope, because it was so bleak, but--)

“You know,” he said quietly, voice deliberately oh so casual, “When someone, like, drops in from some futuuure timeline—add reverb—to change the course of history, it kinda means that whichever future he came from is a lost cause. That much is obvious, you know?”

Silence.

Mikey sat up, glancing down at the huddle that was his brother.

“I know Donnie dies,” he said, and watched Leo flinch. He knew how Donnie died. That part, he would leave out just in case. “Raph woulda died before all of us. April—”

He stopped. The point was made and he was being cruel enough already. “I know I was still there at the end. So were you. Because we were the ones who sent him here.”

“Yeah,” Leo said quietly. “You opened a portal through time. Pretty amazing, bro.”

He smiled at that, a little sadly. “I know, right?”

“Be more amazing if you’d survived doing it.”

He’d figured as much, but hearing it still sent a sliver of nausea through him. And if Leo had known that much, the nightmares about Mikey shattering would just have been icing on the cake. And--

And--

“Everyone died,” he said, eyes wide. “Everyone. Except you.”

The way Leo tried to curl into himself at that could not be healthy for his injuries. This time Mikey did reach out, both hands patting at his brother’s shoulder tentatively before he latched on, trying to discourage the pretzeling. “Lee—”

“I know.”

“It didn’t happen!”

“I know!” Leo snapped. “Because I made sure it couldn’t!”

Mikey let go-- half startled by the outburst, half taken by surprise when Leo threw him off, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Also not a good idea because Leo had barely managed standing earlier, so what the hell he thought he was doing-- but apparently he was content to sit on the edge of the mattress, using his good arm to keep himself propped up, his entire body curled away from his little brother.

Well. Too bad. Mikey crawled over the bed to sit next to him. And when Leo didn’t move away again, he huffed and wormed his way under that arm, offering a better support. Leo was rigid against him, but he didn’t flinch or try to push him away, so.

Win. Such as it was.

“I get it,” Mikey whispered.

“I didn’t want you to.”

“Yeah… I don’t get that part.”

“Because it’s—” Leo broke off, darting a look at him before he turned away. “It’s all I could think of. I made a big speech about how we could change the future after all, and then when you guys got knocked down, all I could think was that we’d tried so hard, and we still lost, and—and I thought-- I wasn’t thinking. I mean I was, but it was stupid and—”

He hadn’t heard Leo stammer around the point like this in a long time, and Mikey tipped his head against his shoulder, wrapping his arms around Leo’s. “s’not stupid, bro. Like—it’s a high stress situation, y’know? D’you think me or Donnie or Raph were coming up with super logical plans while we were raining into Staten Island? You know how that place drains your smarts away.”

That got a laugh out of Leo, at least, a half hiccupped one, and he shifted a little closer. He didn’t relax; Mikey could feel the tension practically vibrating through him, and he knew what was coming. He could probably cut to the chase now and sum it up for Leo in points so he didn’t have to.

He waited. It was better that way.

“I just...didn’t.” Leo said finally. “Didn’t—want to go through that. You know, I wasn’t being heroic or a martyr or whatever, I was being a coward, okay? Because Casey told me everyone died in the future—everyone—and I thought: if we lose here, I’m gonna have to live that future. You know, twenty years in a war we’re gonna lose so slowly, watching everyone die one by one until I’m the only one left, and I was terrified and I can’t—I can’t, Mikey, if it’s a choice between me and literally everyone else, you can’t ask me to watch everyone die—”

And his voice cracked and Leo shut up, and Mikey carefully shuffled up onto his knees and curled his arms around his brother’s neck and held on. Leo planted his face in the crook of Mikey’s neck, shoulders trembling.

But when he spoke, his voice was small, but very dry. “This is gonna be real painful in about thirty seconds, just warning—”

“Then shut the hell up and get back on the bed, idiot.”

Leo sniffled, voice even tinier. “Yes, Dr Therapist, sir.”

“Good boy.”

“Don’t tell the others?”

“Doctor patient confidentiality.”

“’kay. Good.”

Leo turned away, shuffling back onto the bed to collapse onto the pillows. Mikey hovered, not really sure what to do next. Did he leave him alone? Give him space? He’d normally just drape himself on Leo’s shell, but that wasn’t exactly a good idea, so--

The question was answered for him when Leo waved a hand in his general direction, looking for a limb to grab, and Mikey helpfully gave him an arm-- and was yanked down beside his brother who curled around him like he was a teddy bear, hiding his face again. Mikey wheezed, a faint mix of relief and amusement. “Oh, okay, it’s gonna be like this—”

“Shh,” Leo said, muffled and sodden-sounding. “Therapy’s over.”

The face against his neck was wet. Mikey held still for a moment, swallowing against his own tears, and then gave a small sigh, putting a hand on Leo’s head.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “I guess it is.”

---------

They lay there for a while. Mikey was perfectly content to be used as a teddy bear and kept his mouth shut, letting Leo get it out of his system, running his thumb over the ridges of the blue mask as his brother shook apart so quietly. As if he were ashamed of letting go. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was crying on his little brother. Mikey supposed that was breaking some kind of sibling hierarchy or some shit. Whatever.

He hadn’t really meant for the afternoon to go this way—it was kind of the opposite of a morale boost—but if this was the weight that his brother had been carrying around, better to deal with it now. Especially when nobody else was around to overhear.

(...he wasn’t really sure the others shouldn’t know about this. But unless it became an issue, for now, he’d do as Leo asked.)

“You’re not a coward, you know,” he said, much later. He doubted it was hours. He’d only heard Barry’s clock once. But Leo had stopped his ninja stealth crying into the crook of Mikey’s neck, so it was time.

“Mmm, ‘kay.”

“Don’t mmm ’kay me.” Mikey poked him. “I’m serious. I mean, what do you think a hero’s motivations are, anyway? They’re not doing it for the sake of looking all fancy for the camera. Or if they are, they’re not really a hero. They’re like-- that guy from Megamind, what’shisface, the Nice Guy—”

“Hal Stewart.”

“Exactly. And they don’t run around thinking, like—” He let go of Leo for a moment to air quote, even though Leo hadn’t resurfaced, not really. “’Egads, what is the most noble thing I can do at this exact point in time?’ Real heroes aren’t like… comic book heroes.”

Leo huffed a little against him. “You’re lucky I’m emotionally vulnerable right now or I’d have to throw hands.”

Mikey grinned. There he was. “Better keep you emotionally vulnerable then.”

“A supervillain move if I ever heard one.”

“That’s me, baby! I’m so lucky I have all these moral brothers to guide me to the side of the light.”

“Plus Donnie.”

“Oh yeah, plus that guy. I guess.”

This time, the huff sounded more like a laugh. Mikey snuggled in closer, gave him a moment to relax, and then made his next point, as softly as he could.

“Why do you think Raph protected you?”

He felt the jolt go through Leo at that—felt a little guilty, it was kind of an ambush—but his brother was only rigid against him for a moment before relaxing again by degrees, and Mikey was relieved. Leo’s brain was online. And when Leo answered, he sounded more confused than upset.

“Because he’s a big brother? Because he saw me screw up and he didn’t want me getting hurt?”

“Mhm, mhm. Scared for you, right? Would rather take the fall than watch you get skewered?”

“...yeah.”

Oh, the guilt laden into that word. He couldn’t do much about that, except maybe push him and Raph together to talk it out at some point. “I see. So Raph’s a coward?”

“Wait, what?” Leo pulled back to stare at him in affront, eyes swollen and mask damp and not bothering to hide it in the least. “Raph’s the bravest one here, why would you—”

“My, my. Would you look at those double standards.” Mikey tsked at him, and waited for the penny to drop. And Leo was just as smart as Donnie, in his own way; it took him a bare second to frown and lean back, squinting at him, mouth half open like he was trying and failing to come up with an argument. “It’s not cowardly to protect the people you care about. It’s, like, the opposite. You did it in a really reckless way and yeah, maybe there was a better way, but if anyone tries to accuse you of cowardice, I’m gonna throw hands. That includes you, bee tee dubs.”

Leo blinked, and Mikey could practically see the calculation flashing across his expression. He wasn’t surprised when Leo all-out pouted at him. “Oh, I see how it is. Picking on an injured turtle when he’s down.”

Mikey gave him a flat look that said I know what you’re doing.

Leo’s pout turned into a sheepish smile. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll keep any such thoughts of cowardice to myself then, wallow in them when your back is turned—”

Mikey swatted at him with a glare. “You won’t think them at all! Leonardo—” And paused as Leo’s smile sharpened into a grin, his reddened eyes bright with genuine humour. “Ohhh, someone’s feeling better! Good.” He smiled sweetly back, then pushed Leo’s face away from him with a hand. “But for serious, you might be kinda dumb sometimes, but you are like. The bravest coolest brother—”

“Mmm, I still think Raph is the bravest. I humbly accept coolest, though.”

“I’ll allow it.” He watched Leo another moment, then pulled away to scramble carefully over him for the bedside table, reasonably sure the crisis was over. “You still up to painting?”

There was a pause. Leo’s face screwed up hesitantly. “...you sure? I mean, not because of your hands, but—”

“We still got time.” He flipped a paintbrush up and deftly spun it between his fingers, giving Leo a pointed look. “And I hate not finishing an art piece once I start.”

“Have we started, though?” Leo said mildly. But he was already obediently shuffling back onto his stomach, propping the pillows up beneath his elbows.

“Therapy is art.”

“I’m not sure that’s correct.”

“I’m the one with the doctorates, shush now.”

“But you’re—”

“Uh-buh-buh-buh—” Mikey settled by Leo’s side, bonking his head gently with his brush. And time for one last ambush question. “Leo. If we’d still been up there with you at the end, do you think it might have gone differently?”

To his great relief, Leo didn’t even flinch at that one—he merely tilted his head, humming thoughtfully. Mikey gave him time, fishing through his bottles until he could find the right colours to make the mix he wanted.

If he was holding his breath a little, well… that wasn’t important. Turtles could hold their breath for a very long time.

“Hard to say,” Leo said softly. “But I’d like to think so. I mean, I could barely get him through the portal on my own. But the four of us definitely had him off balance for a while there, right? If we were all still up there… I mean. Let’s face it. We’re so much stronger together.”

Mikey sighed with relief. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Leo about the death wish thing, but hearing it summed up like that made him feel a lot better. Especially when Leo frowned and twisted to catch his eye. “You better not feel guilty about that part, by the way.”

“Guilty? Nah.” He did a little, but Mikey also knew they’d done their best. “Bad that you got left on your own, yeah. We’re a team! It was hard...you know.” He smiled a little weakly. “Not being up there with you.”

“It was hard watching you fall.” Leo relaxed, letting his head drop onto the pillows. “Don’t tell him, but I was so glad when Raph got on the line, even if he was mad at me. It meant you guys had all got down safely.”

“He wasn’t mad,” Mikey pointed out.

“...I know. Bad choice of words.” Leo took a breath, sighed it out, sounding sleepy. “Scared.”

“Scary day.”

“Tell me about it. Wait, on second thought, don’t.” Leo waved a hand at him, not looking up. “Better idea. Tell me what you’re gonna paint instead.”

Yeah, time to change subject. Mikey hummed thoughtfully at him, leaning down off the bed to collect his tray. “I’m thinking… flowers.”

“Flowers, huh.”

“Yeah.” He traced dark edges of Leo’s repaired shell with the very tip of his brush, watching his brother carefully to see if it bothered him. When Leo didn’t move, he shifted back to mix paints. “They’ll be great at masking the damage, and if I have to stop for any reason, it won’t look weird. I’m thinking, hmm… marigolds, petunias… what’s a good red flower that isn’t a rose…”

Was that too pointed a comment? Probably. He grinned, counting the seconds until Leo lifted his head again, shifting to squint at him with suspicion.

“...red, orange, and purple?”

“Yeah,” he said innocently. “Great colour combo, don’t you think?”

“I feel you’re trying to tell me something.”

“Of course I am, dummy.” Mikey smiled at him. The sweetest, most sunshine smile he had at his disposal. “It’s a reminder that we’ve always got your back, no matter what.”

Leo stared back at him with an expression that was—just for a moment, probably against his will—fragile.

Then he turned sharply back away to stare at the wall, giving a snort. “More like you’re always on my back, you mush-dispenser.”

Mikey bit back his laugh at that. Leo could have that one; let him save some face, just this once. “It’s not too late for a dragon’s ass, you know.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Barry could be riding on it!”

“Mikey—”

“And throwing you off it to your doom—”

“Oh my god, that’s low, you monster—”

“Actually I think it’s high, it wouldn’t be much of a doom otherwise, c’mon, Leo, keep up.”

“I’m gonna duct tape you inside your shell and play you like bongos for a week straight.”

“Looking forward to it! I’ll mark my calendar!” But Leo was shaking with laughter now. Mikey tapped the end of the brush on his shell in warning, and Leo obligingly tried to keep still, switching to a yawn instead. “I would never, don’t worry. Tired?”

“A little.”

“Then sleep. I’ll be here. I’ll wake you when it’s done.”

“...kay.” Leo snuggled into the pillows without arguing, and his next words were heavily muffled and more a tired mumble than anything else. “Lvvyou.”

Mikey paused. Then smiled a little, putting a hand on his shell for a moment. “Lvvyou too, bro.”

“Oh, shush.”

He cackled at that, but said nothing, listening to Leo’s breaths even out.

He knew Leo pretty well—enough to wonder how much Leo still hadn’t told him, diverting with jokes and sassy comments about wallowing in cowardice. But this was a start. And a relief. If nothing else, Leo had been genuine about his motivations, both at the warehouse and at the portal. Terror and love, nothing more, nothing less. Mikey flexed his hands out, testing them one last time, looking at the fading welts still criss-crossing up his arms.

He could relate.

[andypantsx3]

Omg sorry for getting into this But Shouto would intimidate me a lot because I feel that he has this aura of not being accessible and I’m too shy for that, a wrong interaction with him would be mortified all my life. I’d also be very, very lenient with him, not for being cute, It’s a silly thing we have to take care of and pamper. And I feel like I would have a dynamic with Bakugou where we know the other exists and 🖕🏼❓��🏼 talking occasionally. I feel like it would be great to be your best friend I can’t stand many things so I feel that I would not get along with the Bakusquad (taking out Jiro and Kirishima <3) I like quiet people and Bakugou out of being a bad spoken with anger is quiet, it would give me much security to have it close. I love sincerity and healthy communication so we would have any trouble telling each other to fuck off

If there’s no work involved I couldn’t talk to them at all, I need to have a switch on or I become uncomfortable not to disturb others 😤

I once made friends because I bought some classmates some baby porridges they wanted. I don’t think Bakugou wants to be my friend after wanting to buy him something he wants, Bakugou would insult this extra with whom he spoke few times and happened that he found himself in the grocery store and now this person wants to buy his snack because "he hasn’t treated they badly" Shouto would probably fall into this trap, but I’m not sure So yeah, I had 5 years of friendship with three guys who wanted baby porridge as a snack but they were sorry to ask You made friends in some weird way, Andie?

Honney!!!!! Lmao you're so cute. I think if you & Bakugou got paired for a project he would actually really appreciate how straightforward and chill and capable you are!! And I think you two would naturally fall into one another's rhythm after that!!

And omg Shouto. I think if you bought him any little treat he would be like putty in your hands!! For you especially I feel like he would be absolutely enraptured by your artistic talent. I think he would come over and occasionally ask you to draw him a cat and watch transfixed as you did so. And I think he would start bringing you little trinkets in return and find a lot of comfort in how warm and calm you are.

Re: having made friends in weird ways, I have made friends in all sorts of ways lmao. I was out for drinks with two friends tonight and they were recounting how when they first met me I was talking about how I used my iced coffee to leave condensation marks on the train seats next to me so no one would sit there lmaooooo. They thought I was so weird and decided right then that they wanted to adopt me lmao.

And it's been like 5 years since then and they are some of my closest friends!!

[sugarcryztal]

Hey! I really like this account and the stuff you have been doing. May I have a SFW romantic CRK, MHA, or Mystic Messenger matchup?

I go by He/Him pronouns and I am gay (MLM). 1 am 5'5" and chubby. I have my hair cut short and plan on dying it soon. I often wear piercings, using only ear piercings. I often wear nice button ups with sweater vests or just horror movie shirts.

I would describe myself as introverted, but not necessarily shy. I am a very blunt person, which has caused some people to like me while others don’t. Though I just prefer to relax alone. I am overly cautious with myself and the people I love due to conditions I have lived with. So, I accidentally come off as too paranoid. I am intelligent and often love literature and media because of it. I am very much an artistic but also a writer.

I like spicy food, world building, fantasy stories, sci-fi settings, coffee, cats, supernatural stuff, RPGs, niche RPGs, TTRPGs (not just d&d), vintage wear, good cooking, taxidermy, rocks, horror movies, horror books, card games, niche history, niche internet cartoons, old rock music, metal music, unique art, stop motion, and anime.

I dislike overly sweet foods, the "I ain't reading all of that" or "it ain't that deep" type of person. anybody who thinks cartoons and/or horror have any real substance to them, minimalism, most romance movies, toxic positivity, and people who chew with their mouths open.

My hobbies are media dissection, writing, playing TTRPGs (both as a player and a GM/DM), drawing, playing video games, making them too, binge watching horror movies, and collecting vintage items.

I’m just going to do Mystic Messenger so if you want another fandom you can just resubmit with a different fandom you want!

I’m going to match you with . . .

Yoosung !

- okay I don’t like Yoosung that much but I am going to TRY MY BEST!

- When he first met you he was probably lowkey intimidated because of how blunt you can be and he’s a very sensitive guy.

- But he was determined to be your friend because you looked like you needed some! (not in a bad way)

- A while after being friends, he’s stuck to you like glue!

- He grows to admire how intelligent you are especially when it comes to media dissection! Because that’s a rare breed now.

- HATESSS toxic positivity! But that’s just because he likes giving genuine and straightforward compliments! Especially if it’s for a special cool person such as yourself!

- In his pining stage he probably starts to steal certain articles of your clothing when you aren’t looking. Most likely one of your sweater vests.

- Also becomes a lot more touchy, while making sure you’re comfortable of course!

- But when I say a lot I mean a LOT! Like at every greeting and farewell he hugs you and when you guys are walking together he wraps an arm around yours as he claims it’s so “he doesn’t get lost”, but I think we all know the real reason.

- When ur in a relationship:

- I’m sorry when I say this… But he probably chews with his mouth open because he’s trying to talk and eat at the same time. You’re going to have to be the one to tell him to swallow his food before he talks. 😭

- On another note, COFFEE DATES ARE A MUST!

- He doesn’t really like coffee though because of its bitter taste, so he orders hot chocolate instead thinking you don’t notice and spoiler alert, you do. 😭

- HE WOULD NEVVVVEEERRRR say “I ain’t readin allat” or anything like that because he is your #1 simp bruh. He IS readin allat!

- Takes your feelings seriously to because again he’s a very sensitive guy. So you will never hear him invalidate your feelings because why tf would he?! You are entitled to feel whatever you want!

- Also likes playing games with you. I don’t know what they’re called, but you know those meetings or cons where they all gather to play? Yeah he goes with you to those.

- He never knows what’s going on though, poor Yoosung 😭

- Confused, but happily cheering you on because you’re amazing!

- Boundaries with him are also important, keep in mind he’s mentally ill and will probably cling to you a lot more. So you will have to ask for space when you need it because he doesn’t get subtle hints.

Yoosung whines. A lot.

You were trying to get out of bed to start getting ready for a meet up with game friends, but he wouldn’t have it!

“Don’t goooo!” Yoosung whined. He was upset because you couldn’t take him with you this time. So to prevent you from leaving, he had his arms wrapped tight around your waist. You didn’t listen, standing up from the bed and kissing his forehead softly. But he wasn’t giving up!

He stayed with you through that whole morning, trying to constantly put his hands on you, but you would always swat them away when you were doing something!

Eventually you were preparing to leave and he was at his wits end. He tested out one last trick.

That’s how you found yourself passionately kissing your boyfriend, he was not giving you any room to even speak. It was kiss after kiss. You gently nudged him away with your arms and he whined loudly, immediately going back in for another kiss. Soo… Now you had to cancel your plans.

sorry it was short!

08.22.24

[falciesystemessays]

As a game designer, I will say something you probably don't expect from me:

Online personality quizzes are video games.

They are interactive digital media for the purpose of entertainment. There is no reason not to consider them in conversations about game design unless you think of them as simply a lesser medium. I'm going to be talking about them here through the lens of game design, because it's honestly fascinated me for a long time. If you want to check out my track record, check out this quiz I made in high school as a supplemental for a tabletop game, and this quiz that essentially functions as a Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis. Now then!

What is the core appeal of a personality quiz? Well, it's pretty straightforward, to discover something about yourself. It's kind of an inverse of the character creator, instead of self-expression the aim is to find something that you can't express. But even so, answering the questions themselves are a form of self-expression. I feel like expression and self-discovery are often left out of conversations about design, because they're a lot more personal and difficult to quantify than something like challenge. But they are often vital to making a play experience work. It's really important when you play that you feel like your style of play is your own.

To get philosophical for a second, the nature of a personality quiz will necessitate two core assumptions: 1) that there are distinct types of people that can be neatly categorized, and 2) that answering questions in an online quiz is an adequate way to determine someone's type. This is not uncommon, it is the basis for psychological diagnoses after all, but inevitably it leaves gaps in capturing the full human experience. In quizzes this usually manifests in two ways: Either the answer doesn't capture your experience, or the questions don't.

This is a really noticeable thing on uQuiz, and anybody who's been on that site knows the common pitfalls: Asking you to pick song lyrics from an artist you don't listen to, asking you to pick aesthetics when none of them really resonate, or lacking the appropriate nuance when talking about complex issues. At that moment, the game breaks down. It stops being about expressing the self, and becomes about what kinds of people the quiz's creator can imagine.

There is a certain narrative component to all this. A quiz tells a story, even if a small one. It can tell you something about yourself, but it will also inevitably say something about the person who created it. And that doesn't have to be a bad thing. If you ask the right questions, and ask them the right way, you can guide your audience towards realizing things just by how they how they answer. You can, with effort and care, make a solid piece of art out of an online quiz. But not everybody is looking to do that.

Look, I've skirted around it for a long enough time. We all know uQuiz is mostly populated by people in high school or younger than that, and most of them will never read this post. This is functionally a site for amateur game developers to make something quick and easy, but they're not using the same gamic language as itch.io or Newgrounds or Scratch. And that's fine, like i'm not saying it's bad that young girls and queers have a space to be creative and have fun. But it does mean that, as someone who is Not a teenager and who works in engines like SRPG Studio, i am not exactly built to thrive in this climate.

The quizzes that get the most popular tend to be the most immediately clickable, stuff about fandom or relationships or whatever meme phrase is popular that day. Anybody who makes art for the internet knows the importance of clickability, of being immediately eye-catching with a promising pitch. And what a lot of these titles end up emphasizing is the quiz creator themself. There is an undeniable social component to making or taking a quiz. Because the quiz maker can see all of your responses, there is an extent to which both the creator and the taker are getting to know each other. This is, honestly, the secret sauce that I only realized as I was writing this. There is a real community and sense of fellowship with modern online quizzes.

So what do we make of all of this? Well, using the MDA framework, we can see that some of the core play aesthetics for an online quiz are Expression, Discovery, Narrative, and Fellowship. If I were to give some advice for people making quizzes, it would be to lean into these more. Give players more options for expression, ask more meaningful questions, give more insightful results, and make it your own in a way that's hopefully endearing and not irritating. Other avenues for quiz-making might be ones that lean more into fiction, asking players to roleplay as a character, rather than answering as themselves. It might be using the format to give specific goals, like asking players to find the way to a specific result. It might involve playing with agency, giving players intentionally few or too many options to comment on the nature of the question. But honestly? Just have fun! I take it on myself to think too hard about this stuff, because it helps me grow as a designer. I think it's really fascinating to see how game design crops up in places that aren't normally considered "games." But honestly, if this post caused the vibe of uQuiz or Quotev or whatever site to change, I'd be horrified. Honestly just, game design is really cool. That's the takeaway.

[goombasa]

I Read Scott McCloud's Comics Trilogy Recenlty

So yeah, for anyone who doesn't know, Scott McCloud is a pretty big deal in the comics scene, one of the guys who helped to draft up the Creator's Bill of Rights, and has done a lot of major work independently and at major publishers, and near as I can tell, one of the first pretty big creators to actively campaign for the creativity of things like Webcomics. But he's probably most well known nowadays for his non-fiction educational work mostly centered around comic books.

And I finally bought and read all three of them. The ‘Comics Trilogy’ as I've taken to calling cosists of:

Understanding Comics (1993)

Reinventing Comics (2000)

Making Comics (2006)

And this trilogy is incredibly dense with information about the medium, where it was at, and where it was going. In fact, while there are several degrees of separation between each book (about 6-7 years or so), it is very impressive just how fresh and relevant almost all of the information in this trilogy manages to be. Yes, they do show their age in some ways; both Reinventing Comics and Making Comics refer to both the internet and things like drawing tablets as though they were still pretty new and unexplored technology. However, all three of them contain some very astute observations about where Comics as a medium is going and it's really fascinating to see how close to the bull's eye Mr. McCloud was on so many counts.

Discounting that though, these are just interesting to read because all three of them ask you to really examine WHY comic books as a medium work. Understanding Comics for example, serves as a very concise history of comics as a whole and tries to put a decent definition on what qualifies as being a comic (a task that it doesn't entirely succeed at, by Scott's own examination, but it very much gets you thinking on words and pictures, what separates them and how they can be intertwined into a story.

Reinventing comics is more about the potential of the medium and I'll admit, its more philosophical tone on the potential of comics was a bit much for me. I had trouble processing and digesting everything in this book compared to Understanding or Making. I certainly understood what it was going for, and again, this book, out of all three, is fascinating to read with about twenty years of hindsight, as Scott manages to bang-on predicted most of the trends that would come into the medium down the line. Just probably not in the ways he was expecting them to. It's still a very interesting read, but I'll admit, I had a lot more trouble following it than I did the other two books and I had to go back and reread a few sections to full feel like I was grasping the full meaning on a lot of what was said, but it was still a very interesting read.

The third in the series, Making Comics is probably the most straightforward, but this isn't like an online tutorial. Instead it's more like a lengthy instruction manual presenting you with the tools and ideas that can be used to build a comic beyond your skill as an artist. How to letter, how to frame a shot, when you should use captions or sound effects or word balloons. It gives a very detailed overview of everything you'd need to know in order to make your own comics from a practical standpoint. It makes some suggestions on the tools or software to use, but for the most part, it's more about giving you a proper overview of the craft rather than a tutorial for specific tools or software. That's easy enough to find elsewhere on the internet.

I think the reason these books work so well is the way they are presented; They are comic books. They aren't just books that talk about comics, they are COMICS that talk about comics. This isn't even the first time that I've seen this done. Back when I was in middle and high school, I did have a couple of classes that dabbled in using comics instead of traditional text books to introduce their subject matter. In particular, I was introduced to Larry Gonick's books like “The Cartoon History of the Universe” and “The Cartoon Guide to Genetics.” These books are a bit different than that, as yes, they are specifically educational, but they focus specifically on the medium that they are a part of, and I think that does a lot to convey Scott's arguments about just how far the medium can go, and helps to highlight everything that he's talking about with actual real time examples. That's not to downplay Mr. Gonick's contributions to cartooning and comic books as a potential tool for learning and education of course, he's written a LOT of these books over a multitude of different subjects, but one does have to admit, he is very much an exception rather than the standard.

(for an added recommendation, I'd recommend Larry Gonick's “Hypercapitalism” as well, really worth a read on its own)

These books manage to feel timeless in their subject matter and the way that they talk about the medium. Sadly, Comics as a whole today are still struggling to reach a sort of mainstream acceptance as a respectable medium, and yes, we do have big blockbusters for comic characters nowadays, but really, how many people who watch those movies read the comics those stories are based on? And for those that do read the comics, how many books outside of superhero books published by the Big Two do they read? The comics trilogy lays down the ideas of how the medium could potentially be elevated, and while that hasn't happened yet, I am hopeful for the future. If you have never read these before, and you have any interest in comics as a medium, especially what you can find beyond the standard of a super hero comic, I would really recommend this trilogy. Last I checked, I cannot find them being sold as a set anywhere, but all three of them can be found used for pretty cheap. Heck, even brand new, they don't typically go over $15, and I'd say they're worth every penny. Note that this is referring to paperback copies of the books. There are some hardcover versions floating around out there, but those are much harder to find, and consequently are a lot more expensive, at least for Understanding Comics.

[mylordshesacactus]

Your scale/graph of Anthro/Intelligent Animal Media brings up some interesting questions about how other furry-adjacent media fits in the system. Zootopia, for example, has enough modern human elements to reach a similar area as Robin Hood, but the characters being animals and the societal structure that creates is a big part of the main plot. Madagascar, on the other hand, has animals that can alternate between bipedal and quadropedal movement, use or even create tools and machinery but, while they can communicate just fine with other animals, in-universe humans can’t understand them, and they maintain the habits and social structure (or at least the general idea) from their IRL counterparts. To an extent that the zoo animals have idyllic aspirations of returning to “The Wild” and abandoning their more humanoid lifestyle.

Zootopia is non-euclidean furryspace! and was in fact the example I was thinking of when I said that if you go any further along the scale than Redwall, you are no longer writing anthropomorphic fiction, you're writing a normal story with anthro characters in it.

(Essentially, I have to respectfully disagree; the characters being animals isn't a plot point, because they're not "animals". They're furries. They are as much "animals" as humans are, ie, yeah but only in a taxonomic technicality. Their animalistic TRAITS are a plot point, but at that point, you're not writing a story about how animals navigate through and see the world, which is an essential part of writing actual anthropomorphic fiction. It's kind of in the name--when a story stops being about ANIMALS with PEOPLE traits, and starts being about PEOPLE with ANIMAL traits, you leave the "anthropomorphic fiction" genre.)

Madagascar on the other hand is a FASCINATING example!

Let's see. The Y axis, I'd place it--oh god dammit i JUST noticed that I never fixed a placement glitch/misclick. Somehow WD ended up further right than Black Beauty and Aristocats which is nonsensical. Fuck. That's gonna piss me off so bad--Sorry. Anyway.

The z-axis (degree of "talking animals" present) SEEMS like it would be the most straightforward. We see Alex trying to talk to humans and all they hear is roaring, so we already know that there's a lot of artistic license going on in terms of what WE see vs what IN-UNIVERSE HUMANS see. However they clearly don't realize this is happening, so I'd put it decently left of center--the animals understand and engage with humans to such a degree that they genuinely believe humans can understand them back.

The thing that makes its placement on the other axes tricky is the aforementioned translation convention. Like....it's obvious that what humans are seeing during Madagascar appears to them to be normal animal behavior. Presumably, they're NOT actually bipedal and that's just an artistic representation of how in-tune the characters are with their instincts at any given time.

On the X axis? Genuinely no idea--obviously they don't have a lot of natural behaviors, but that's because they're born and raised in captivity and have zero forms of natural enrichment in their unbelievably shitty enclosures (just saying). The presence of that translation convention where we KNOW that from a human perspective their behavior is interpreted as not outside the realm of believability makes it difficult.

That being said, the zookeepers clearly are aware of Marty's stash of birthday gifts over the years and Alex implies he was able to PURCHASE or otherwise request his own merchandise so I'm gonna put us pretty far left on the animalistic behavior scale.

This next bit would be easier if I'd phrased the y-axis better--I was genuinely struggling to put it into words, and I don't think I did a great job. Probably it would be better summarized as "animal culture replicates human culture" so we'll use that.

ALL the way at the bottom. It's made clear that there really is no "animal" culture. The zoo animals are fish out of water, but that's because they're New Yorkers dropped in a Madagascar jungle. The lemurs are not exhibiting what we're meant to view as natural lemur behavior; they even refer to Alex starting to exhibit natural behavior as "going savage" in a way they don't even seem to view the fossa hunters. So there's no unconnected, distinct animal cultures going on here. (Or, if they exist in theory somewhere, they are literally never depicted and their theoretical existence is actively denied at every opportunity.)

...

god im SO mad about that like. fraction of an inch off on WD's alignment on the chart this is going to haunt me for YEARS--

[silverbladexyz]

Hiiii congrats on 100 followers!! I was wondering if I could get a match up? Maybe mentor or sibling figure? Happy either way tho. I know I sent this in a little late so please ignore this if you've got too many requests :)

I use any pronouns, mbti is infp-a, I'm caught up with the manga but I haven't yet read the light novels!

It might take a bit of time but I get along with most people, I really try not to at times but as soon as they tell me even something remotely personal to them I tend to get soft ;; though id say, it's very difficult for me to get along with people who blame other people for their own mistakes and then just sit there crying about it when it's completely on them. If something is your fault and you start to get overwhelmed because of it that's totally okay and I understand, it's just when they blame other people that pisses me off. Those are the kind of people I really dislike but if u give me enough time with them I'm sure I'll warm up eventually. ANYWAY

im very into reading, art and animation, I like to make jewelry and do embroidery, baking and dance, and I play bass. That's all that comes to mind for hobbies I don't really do many extracurriculars in my free time either I use to do a few martial arts but that was a few years ago now :p

Anyway thank you very much ♥️ hope ur having a good week and I hope ur blog continues to grow and thrive :DD

Also fr just ignore this if its too late

Hi anon!!! Thank you for the kind words >.< and it was quite nice writing your matchups, so enjoy :)

The images used are not mine. They belong to their original owners.

Calculating...

Your mentor is... FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY!!!

-Fyodor is an intense mentor; he would be training you nonstop for your missions. He will give you breaks, however these breaks are short-lived. Literally when you've sat down and had a breather, he would start to teach you again

-He likes how you're quiet and observant. Fyodor doesn't really see anything wrong in observing other people before interacting with them; in fact, he encourages it even. He does give you some tips if you're suddenly forced into conversation with someone, because sometimes it happens on missions and he would hate it if you couldn't handle it well

-Fyodor was not expecting your talkative side anytime soon. On one hand he's glad how you don't trust people easily, but on the other hand he's slightly confused on why you kept it hidden for so long. He thinks that with the right training, your energetic side would be quite beneficial in missions

-He also appreciates how you communicate. Fyodor isn't someone who is really in touch with emotions, and he prefers keeping conversations straightforward and logical. Communicating through writing is probably more efficient because Fyodor is a very busy man, so he wouldn't have a lot of time to have a full-on face to face conversation

-Learning new things? Ask and you shall receive. Fyodor has a lot of knowledge hidden in that anaemic self of his, and he will gladly teach his dear student anything that you asked him to. When he's teaching you, he has this way of keeping lessons informative and interesting, so interesting that you never want him to stop teaching. He secretly likes your willingness to learn

-Affection? There is nothing more foreign in Fyodor's vocabulary book. I wouldn't recommend touching him though, because not only would it be awkward, his skin is also cold as ice and not to mention there's the danger of his ability accidentally activating. But compliment him, give him some hand-made gifts, and he will slowly get used to it. It still is kind of awkward for him, but I'm sure he can manage it

-Fyodor also likes your artistic hobbies. I'm pretty sure he would drop you some book recommendations to read in your spare time, and he has really good taste in books. He will look at and compliment your artworks and embroidery, and even listen to you play bass! Needless to say, he is a lover of art and he is secretly happy that his student shares the same love

-Nowww Fyodor will most likely teach you the skills of conversation. Such as how to gather information, how to gain someone's trust quickly, how to manipulate someone even; needless to say, you wouldn't have social anxiety anymore 👍

-He would make one of his subordinates teach you self-defence. Your martial arts experience comes in handy, because being part of Fyodor's organisation is quite dangerous. Even when Fyodor makes sure you don't run into too dangerous situations, it's still better to be safe than sorry

-Apart from your lessons, Fyodor wouldn't really have a lot of spare time to spend with you. So he might ask Ivan or Nikolai to keep you company, but in his (rare) breaks he would be perfectly happy to spend time with you, perhaps even engaging in conversation with you every now and then

-He cares for you in his own way. Your missions have lower risks than the other subordinates, because Fyodor plans it all out and makes sure that there's nothing you can't handle. Even when he's still his own nonchalant self around you, he is secretly more relaxed when he's around you

-Nobody dares to mess with you, because who would want to mess with the devil's student? You definitely get some privileges, because Fyodor’s subordinates all respect you and listen to you. If someone still dares to pick a fight with you then say goodbye to them because they won’t wake up the next morning

-Chess games! You always lose but it’s fun playing against Fyodor. He teaches you a few tips and tricks, and even if you know nothing about chess he still makes it a fun experience. I’m pretty sure that under his guidance, you could become a state chess player

-Fyodor is a very interesting mentor... and he teaches you what he knows so that one day, you will succeed him

And last but not least, your sibling figure is... NIKOLAI GOGOL!!!

-He’s quite a chaotic and interesting brother figure

-Nikolai didn’t really mind your quiet personality at first; he’s already used to Fyodor. He would continue to talk with you energetically, and I feel like he would be the type of person you would click with

-He was pleasantly surprised at your talkative and affectionate side. Nikolai feels honoured that you trust him enough, and he is so going to reciprocate the platonic affection x10. Basically complimenting you everyday, hugs, headpats, even piggyback rides if you asked for it

-He lovessss receiving your handmade gifts. Nikolai basically goes ‘did you make this for me?’ before showing it to everyone and saying how awesome his little sibling was. He also tries giving you his own hand-made gifts, and even when some of them may be weird, the thought’s still there

-I feel like he might like art too. Drawing and painting? You could draw anything and Nikolai would hang it on his bedroom wall. Making jewellery and embroidery? Just tell Nikolai and he would immediately be aweing at your handiwork. He finds dancing very cool and would be down to learning it from you. And baking? Just say the word and Nikolai is immediately getting all the ingredients and equipment for you

-Would totally want you to teach him bass. Mostly so that he could mess around with Fyodor, but he will sometimes be serious and play a piece on the bass. You should advise him to watch Davie504 (he’s an awesome bassist and youtuber)

-Nikolai would also love to teach you anything that you asked for. Such as how to fight an opponent, how to keep a conversation interesting, and even some magic tricks! He loves doing small magic shows for you, especially when you’re upset. He likes it when you laugh, because your laughter is so precious to him

-Please but if you’re upset, he would listen to you rant or cry and afterwards would say a few words of encouragement. Would also give you hugs, but these hugs last longer and have far more deeper meaning. Nikolai cares about you a lot and just wants to see you happy and free

-That one time somebody hurt you, he immediately took care of them. No questions asked. And let’s say that the way that he took care of them was not the prettiest to say the least...

-Anyways, he loves taking you out to places to hang out! Such as amusement parks, circuses, fun fairs, you name it! Nikolai loves spending time with you, and why not spend some time together doing fun stuff? Of course, he also is perfectly happy staying in comfortable silence with you too

-An eccentric but caring older brother otherwise. Nikolai seeks the ultimate freedom for both of you

Sorry that this was kinda late!

[ozzgin]

Match-up results! (Part 2)

The next part of the match up event. Thank you again for all the support, you have been most kind. I will be waiting for the remaining 3 slots if there are people still interested!

5. @rav--en

Fandom(s): Naruto

Match: Deidara

Other suggestions: Naruto Uzumaki, Yahiko/Pein, Kisame Hoshigaki

This was a little difficult, because I felt some characters would only partly be compatible while lacking other aspects, but I had a “what it” moment and my mind just kind of stuck to it. You remind me a little of Sasori in terms of archetypes (he’s been voted an INTJ), although I suspect that two strong personalities would often clash. But Deidara meshes very well with him and I think the same could be applied in your case. He is extroverted and chatty, yet he is shown to respect Sasori’s boundaries and doesn’t mind his cold or sarcastic attitude. He would know when to give you space, and also embrace your banter and teasing with good humor. He’s nonconformist, creative and open-minded and would definitely enjoy a similar partner that keeps him entertained and is always seeking novelty. Additionally he is confident, assertive and optimistic. He would be your ideal sidekick that always finds a way to make your day better. The artistic, explosive couple.

I initially included Yahiko just because of the (later) piercings, but I think he, too, matches your ideals. He’s an independent, reliant leader that’s always looking to better himself and would be fiercely loyal to his mischievous partner that reminds him it’s okay to break some rules every now and then. Kisame would love a partner that’s blunt, somewhat prideful and can easily keep up with his cheeky banter. And based on his friendship with Itachi, I think he would be deeply appreciative of your resourceful nature and life experience. Naruto is the classic opposite yet compatible match (INTJ/ENFP). He would do his best to participate in your hobbies and interests and would be grateful for someone that backs up his optimistic life views with a healthy dose of realism.

6. @meru-the-succubus

Fandom(s): Baki

Match: Baki Hanma

Other suggestions: Jun Guevaru, Chiharu Shiba, Katsumi Orochi

I feel like Baki would be the best match overall because he’s also introverted when it comes to most people but very loyal to his select friends. He’s similarly empathetic and as seen with Kozue, he would absolutely love a partner that’s straightforward and blunt when pushed. He appreciates that you’re creative, because more often than not he might get stuck into monotony given he’s always training for a single goal with no distraction. So having another person that pulls him out of that focus allows him to catch a break and have a little bit of entertainment. I think he’s also the most likely person to heavily indulge in your interest for cute things and he wouldn’t be afraid to agree with you. Even more, he’d frequently search for cute plushies or souvenirs that remind him of you and randomly gift them to you, no reason other than “I thought of you”.

On the idea of ditzy but mean partner, I saw a lot of potential in Jun, Chiharu and Katsumi. Jun to me feels very cheeky and mischievous, so I suspect he might really be into this kind of person. He’d probably love to see your mean side and just stand back with a smug smile, as if saying “that’s my woman alright”. Chiharu and Katsumi would similarly be very amused to witness your bluntness. Especially Chiharu, who is hardheaded and stubborn himself. In his case a partner that doesn’t back down easily is likely a prerequisite. And as a gang leader he’s probably often under a lot of stress and would love to decompress by hanging out with you, given your easygoing nature.

7. @astralmysteria

Fandom(s): Hogwarts Legacy

Match: Ominis Gaunt

Other suggestions: Garreth Weasley, Sebastian Sallow

This was one of those cases where it was less about comparing traits and more about imagining actual interactions. When I read the little extra section, I immediately pictured how cute it would be if Ominis had a partner that’s very vocal. He’d always find you because he can hear your singing, pacing and monologues and he’d consider it extremely sweet. You might be embarrassed to be caught in such moments, but Ominis adores your voice and the sounds you make and uses them as guidance. He also loves that you’re so caring and compassionate and enjoys being spoiled by you (physical affection might just be his favorite thing). In return he will always be there for you when you’re anxious or insecure. Since he can’t see your facial expressions, Ominis would learn to read your moods based on other indicators. Even if you try to fake it, he’ll eventually let you know that you can tell him about anything troubling you. He enjoys complimenting you and I think he’d be the kind to leave reminders all the time in the form of letters and notes. So even when he’s not there, you may find a folded card filled with words of praise and love.

Garreth has been voted as ENTP and it’s often considered one of the highest compatibilities for INFJ. I’m certain he would love your funny, sarcastic side and he might tease you the slightest for being clumsy, but he would be very quick to apologize if he ever said something to upset you. I feel like it could balance out nicely, since you’d ground him and help him stay out of trouble when possible and he would be the assertive, reassuring hand to pull you back up when in need. Sebastian shares your dislike for spiders, first of all. He is also similarly curious, nerdy and perfectionist, so you could keep each other entertained with shared hobbies or long discussions. And he is very confident and courageous, ready to interrupt whatever self-doubt you have with words of praise. Both Garretth and Sebastian might be inconsiderate towards others if said people happen to clash with their goals, but I can see them trying to be better just so they don’t hurt you in the process.

[reidak-artcreature]

I made an UnVale account. It's not what I expected

UnVale is relatively new, and they sure are having a huge campaing to promote themselves recently, at least on youtube. A lot of the artist I follow there have been promoting them.

It's basically like Toyhouse or other sites to upload your characters, and it's advertised as such. But better and easier! (I'll get back to this later). It is completely free to use, and the only charges they say they will make will be on transactions made on the platform.

Creating an account is pretty easy, they just ask for usename, email and password. But oh boy, did that password give me trouble. Kept saying it needed a "special character". It took me a while to find out what was going on, because I did have special characters in there. Turns out that it doesn't consider dashes as special characters. Don't know why, it's just weird.

How is UnVale different from other character websites? UnVale is the best OC site if you're looking for a simple, easy-to-use platform. We think other sites already do a great job at in-depth customization of character profiles, so that's not what we're going after. We want you to be able to focus on creating OCs, not figuring out HTML and CSS.

Oh, it's sure is simple to use. It's really straightforward to learn, no need to figure out anything, everything is on a button in front of you. Which I agree, it's nice not to have to do a dark ritual to find where or how stuff is or works. But it also means there is absolutely no customization. There are designated places where you can add images to make it look more like you, and you can change the background color for the characters' pages. And that is all. You can't change the general color theme, nor do fancy stuff on your characters pages like adding links.

Everything is completely public. There are absolutely no privacy settings. Everyone, wether they are logged in or not, can see every user profile, every character, every world and every image.

This is everything there is on the account settings:

Absolutely nothing about privacy settings. None. Nothing. Nada. Characters, images nor worlds can be hidden, only fully deleted. Likes or favorites and comments also can't be hidden or dissabled.

How will UnVale help to protect my OCs? We take reports of art theft very seriously, and any accounts caught stealing OC art will be closed. If you suspect someone is using stolen art on their profile, please submit a Support Ticket. Outside of this, our team is brainstorming ways to keep OCs protected and is open to community feedback or suggestions.

This doesn't reassure me at all. What do you mean the only measure against theft is closing accounts? That doesn't block their access from your art and characters.

The shop, transfers, and overall marketing yourself are really highlighted. That combined with that everything has to be public makes me belive that it's not a character library for yourself and friends, but a marketplace to display your characters adopts and commissions and get bussiness and connections. Nothing wrong with that, by the way. It just wasn't what I was expecting from what I had seen and heard. There are probably a lot of people who will find it really helpful and useful. But it's not for me.

I won't be using it for now. Maybe is the future I change my mind, or they change or add features for privacy, but I don't see any reason to use it right now. It has tons of stuff I don't want, and almost none that I like or want.

[linkspooky]

In your opinion what is the main difference between superhero comics and battle shonen manga? Not saying both are identical in every way, but I find interesting that when you think about it Battle Shonen is essentially Japan’s version of superhero comics, so what do you think is the main difference between the two?

Hello, this is a very interesting topic you've posed me, and I would say a lot of differences spring from the medium of storytelling that these stories come from.

Manga is written by at most one author and one artist, but usually author and artist in the same, published in one magazine on a weekly basis. Creatively, it comes from one or two people at the most, whereas superhero comics as a whole are a collaborative medium, the characters are owned by one company, are passed around by multiple authors and an editing staff that tries to manage the takes of multiple authors into one shared universe.

Before I begin I think people tend to dismiss one medium of storytelling over the other, without realizing there are strengths and weaknesses to both storytelling formats. For example, there are people who are like "Comic book continuity is super confusing and impossible, manga is so much better because it's straightforward" but like without reading a single comic.

Which is silly, because comic book continuity isn't that hard to untangle unless you are an insane completionist, you can usually just pick a series, or an author's run on a series for a more famous comic or a story arc and read from there. At no point is the comic going to quiz you like "You won't understand what's going on here unless you've read batman's #156 from 1955. I mean comics is good because as a collaboraitve medium, authors tend to build on each other's work, but for the most part when an author is handed the series a good author will try to make their work stand on its own.

There are also people who will be like "Shonen manga is worthless and immature, and every single shonen manga ever punished is just a battler about FIGHTS and battle shonen manga are just FIGHTING with no THEMES."

Anyway, the point I am making is it's reductive when talking about these mediums comics/shoen as a whole and dismiss them for their perceived flaws without really looking at them as storytelling formats that have strengths and weaknesses.

One of the strengths of comic books is that as a collaborative medium, there is always a wealth of material you can draw from. I think this is something that shonen manga, and in particular superhero shonen manga fails to do. Because it is from multiple authors over the course of years, a lot of material has been built up for the many, many characters in a comic book's library.

Comic books tend to do ensemble casts well, because they can rely on the characters having appearances in other material outside of their book and therefore because they are working with characters who have pre-developed personalities that everyone reading the book probably already knows about, they can better share screentime amongst those characters because they don't have to waste time establishing them. It's sort of like how in fan fiction, the fan fiction author doesn't really need to introduce whatever characters or world they are writing in... because whosever is reading has probably read the main source material. You've read it here, comic books are basically just fan fiction.

In comparison you have these very large shonen casts that are done by one author, instead of a collaboration by many different authors, and they are all fighting to share screentime within the same story. Here's a quick example for comparison here is a shot of what is essentially the main cast of MHA.

And here is a shot of the main cast of X-Men Evolution. Which is a cartoon adaptation of the X-Men comics.

They are both ensemble casts of characters in an academy setting meant to train up these children as superheroes while also preparing them for conflicts in the world outside their school. However, I can name every single character: Beast, Kitty Pryde, Storm, Nightcrawler, Jean Gray, Scott, Wolverine, Rogue, Quill, Professor X. You could not pay me to name every hero kid in that picture above. I don't think the problem is that MHA is necessarily bad at character writing, but rather it's not using its storytelling format to tell its story well.

Number one, X-Men Evolution is an adaptation of the X-men comics, so they have a huge comic library to draw on, and also people kind of already know who Cyclops, Jean Gray, Wolverine and Professor X are. The showmakers are working with characters that have lots of material to draw from, and so the focus is more on highlighting these characters and making them work together in a cast because they don't really need that extreme individual focus. Whereas, there is only one author making the MHA characters, there are about a hundred of them and they need to split screentime all in one manga, and Hori's focus is not on the interactions of the whole cast but rather individual character arcs for a select few of the more important kids.

The thing is you can't tell a superhero story with one author, the same as the many authors working together in the DCU. You just can't. And yet, manga imitating superhero comics will just create casts stuffed with superhero characters who are just a name, and a superpower and that's it. This is a problem for both One Punch Man, and My Hero Academia which are the two biggest hero manga I can think of (Tiger and Bunny actually does its character development well if you want a more positive example, because the cast is very limited) rather than trying to adjust for the medium and tell a more focused story they just invent loads and loads of characters to imitate the sheer volume of characters that exist in western comics.

But the thing is if I'm reading Teen Titans and I think that Beast Boy is a really interesting character, I can look up other comics that Beast Boy is in that give him more screentime and eventually find out his origin as a doom patrol character.

The strength of battle shonen then is this singular focus they have in their narratives. Everyone says continuity is easier, but on top of that a series created by one author is always going to have a clearer vision of what it wants to tell than stuff that is bouncing in between multiple authors and an editing staff.

I think a lot of battle shonen tend to fail to take advantage of that ability they do have, to hone in and focus on their narrative because they're not really thinking of how to use the tools of their medium effectively. Good shonen and good works of literature in general tend to be... concise. Comics with their long sprawling continuities and huge open worlds are not concise, but with a manga you have a chance to tell a direct and hard hitting story by choosing how and where to focus. Jujustu Kaisen I think is a story that uses its assets for storytelling much better than MHA, because instead of having a lot of excess fat like way too many characters who hog screentime but are never going to get develoment, Akutami Gege at least seems to have an idea of what he wants to use these characters for and the way he gets those points across tends to be hard hitting. He's clear, concise, and precise, no messy bits, no flab.

I think another thing shonen manga have over western comics in general is better worldbuilding. Dc for example is interesting because of how wide and varied the world is, but everyone knows the rules and logic in comic books don't make sense. It's very inconsistent in general. As someone who's read like every single Zatanna comic and like a thousand john Constantine ones the magic in DC makes no sense, it's basically whatever the author at the time feels like the rules should be.

You could say that worldbuilding isn't really necessary for a story. That a story can function without it. You could also say characters aren't necessary for a story. You can say words aren't necessary for a story. Maybe, the real story all along was just a blank sheet of paper. I think worldbuilding like everything else, if you decide to build a world for your story, and then just half-ass it, it's noticeable.

Which is why I bring up Jujutsu Kaisen again as a well told shonen story, the rules for how the world operates, and the details for both the super power system and the various parties in control of the world jujutsu high, where curses come from, why only certain characters can use jujutsu techniques are all clearly established. In fact, Gege devotes a non-insignificant amount of time to trying to explain the rules of individual cursed technique so that they make sense to the audience. Because it is just one author making the rules for these worlds, we have a very clear and non-contradictory idea for how the world operates.

However, and this is probably going to surprise everyone I think what comics does a lot better than shonen manga ever will is character development. I have heard a lot of people's belief that comic book characters stay stagnant forever, and do not go through arcs because as they are marketable characters they're not allowed to change that much from their original blueprint. This is wildly incorrect. If you've ever read a comic it's like a soap opera. Things happen in comics, in fact, there are so many things happening it is often hard to keep track of.

There is a clear character progression in good comics, for instance in DC the sidekicks of the heroes grow up eventually and we have been through many generations of younger heroes growing up. The first Robin is now nightwing, the second one Red Hood, the mantle passes on and the young kids grow up out of their identities and into new ones.

I think characters in shonen manga tend to remain stagnant, and that has less to do with the authors ability to write characters and more just how the manga itself is sold and marketed. Basically, most manga especially the ones in shonen jump have to keep up a regular audience from week to week and mangas that aren't like gangbusters popular are often in danger of getting cancelled. The thing is with DC, yes authors and new series often get cancelled earlier but the characters will still be there. If NIghtwing's solo series ends, he will still exist in the grander DC universe until someone decides to pick him up again. Whereas, if MHA were to end tomorrow we would get like a really rushed three chapter ending and epilogue and that would be it. So, existing with this permanent threat of cancellation every week I think alot of manga tend to play it safe or write chapters in a way that will always keep readers waiting for next week.

So, a lot of manga end up being written with like the promise of character development that is coming eventually once they have gotten these characters established and marketable, but for the most part we don't see a lot of progression towards them because these stories are being told week to week in a very compettitive environment where if a decision on the authors part causes the numbers to fall then they won't even get the chance to tell their story. So like, comics are insane, near constant drama, things are always happening whereas after shonen manga estalbish a certain status quo a lot of them coast. Which I think is once again, not having to do with the individual quality of the writers, but instead writers for manga failing to adapt to tell stories that suit this medium well, like stories with smaller casts, and a greater sense of focus and purpose for what the author wants.

Battle shonens have much stronger fight scene choreography though. I mean, this only matters to me, but like every comic book fight is just the characters posing in dramatic positions while they use their powers. There are very few extended fight scenes in comic book like there are for shonen manga. "The fights are cool" sounds like a meathead opinion but listen, if I am here to see dudes with super powers fighting and the superpowers aren't interesting and the fight is not compelling to watch then that's an element of a story that's not working properly. Once again to use Jujutsu Kaisen as a positive example, it has thrilling and tense fight scenes with realistic choreography that makes these fight scenes compelling for the viewer instead of just a chore to watch. Once again this is where I'm talking about using the singular focus of the meidum well, comic book fightscenes are often confusing because they have to draw in like five hundred characters at once in huge splash pages. Shonen manga are more focused, so you can devote time to a long drawn out fight between say Yuji and Mahito and make the readers feel the ups and downs of that particular fight, make it matter to the story.

And that's what it comes down to, tropes and conventions within a genre are just tools. They are completely neutral tools to be used effectively and used poorly. If you see a piece of genre fiction that is bad, that doesn't speak to the quality of all the fiction in tha genre, but rather how the author has failed to use the troops and the tools fo their medium to tell an effective story.