Stalking is Love

I got the idea from cowcatchers old locomotives used to have.

Anyways, yesterday I uploaded the model to Thingiverse, and just hours after uploading it, the Community Relationship Manager of the whole website left a comment suggesting I enter the model into a competition that's currently being held on the site.

So I did... and now it's in third place not even a day later. First place is $500, but the competition still has a month to go.

Then the Community Manager contacted me again, telling me they want to feature my model in an upcoming design promotion.

Just, what is happening? I mostly made this thing for myself in, like, an hour, and now it's suddenly super popular? This is all a little bit overwhelming 😵‍💫

Other models I worked on for weeks didn't get nearly as popular. I swear, it's impossible to predict what people will like.

Anyways, if you want to print the wheel guards yourself, you can get the model here or here.

I also made a quiet version you can stick furniture felt pads on.

So the creator titled this "Caveman Cooking," but I have decided that it is Grug the Orc making Peanut Butter Squares. Link to original post.

One of the striking things about Ikoku Nikki is how fundamentally different it is from other single-parent shows like Usagi Drop or Kakushigoto. Those shows played into the (very real) pro-childbearing propaganda, showing the immediate rewards of child-rearing while also glossing over the drawbacks. Ikoku Nikki flips that trend, at least four episodes in.

What’s become clear is that Makio and Asa are not a good pair. Makio gets easily overstimulated and Asa needs regular attention. Asa very clearly needs therapy but her support system is failing her. And while Makio probably doesn’t want a romantic partner right now, having a second income and pair of hands would come in really handy right now.

Basically, Makio is just not a good caregiver at this point in the story. And that makes sense! She’s never raised a child, much less a teenage one, and it appears like something she never had any intention of doing in the first place. Why would she be good at this??

But her understanding that she needs to keep trying makes her endearing. Asa doesn’t motivate her guardian instincts because she’s cute or talented or extraordinary in any way, but because she’s a child who needs a parent, and dammit, that’s reason enough. It’s admirable that a show like this is basically saying, “this is often thankless work that you may hate, but do it anyway because it’s the right thing” and not some weird right-wing, breeder bullshit. Being a parent is hard, but it’s the only way these kids survive.