Bugsy

Edit: the title for this comic is “Puzzle Rat” this one’s a few days late due to having a lot of doctors appointments sorry it’s  just 9 pages, and about some rats… it’s more symbolic than anything really

I just want to catch spelling errors and accidental double spaces and repeated phrases and whenever I use the wrong too/to or affect/effect and shit. But no. They've shoved AI up the ass of every grammar checking software out there and now they all fucking suck and make the most random, obnoxious, nonsensical suggestions.

I get why people keep saying this (and other versions of it like "Use Adobe alternatives" and "Use Google product alternatives."). But here's the problem: I do not create in isolation. Even my own 100% personal projects are getting sent to other people whether it's editors or printers or beta readers and unless every single person in that train is using the same products, things can get wonky.

Libre Office and Word handle formatting differently on the back end, which can completely break documents if you move them back and forth between the two. So if I write in Libre Office but my beta readers are still using Word, when I send them a manuscript for review there's a good chance things won't look right and my beta reader will not actually be reviewing what I sent them.

:| :| :|

Like Gastornis was thought to be a carnivore for decades and then carbon isotopes were like, "nah this thing was basically a giant goose honk honk".

Art by Ja Chirinos

Oviraptor was thought to be an egg eater, then much ink was spilled about whether it ate mollusks, and now it's thought to be an omnivore, but mostly a fruit/seed eater like a parrot.

Somehow this Adobe Stock image is the only art of an Oviraptor eating plants I can find. How is that?

And even birds with some teeth are getting in on these dietary mysteries.

Longipteryx was first thought to be a kingfisher-like hunter of aquatic prey, but it has since been found with seed contents in its guts, making it another surprise frugivore.

I might translate this article later today. This one was the most complete one, even in Italian news it's not talked about that much.

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

The common consensus as of ch4 was that Berdly saw the world as his personal dating sim, with the girls and Kris as his potential love interests.

And this isn’t entirely wrong, as his brief appearance in ch5 aligns with the idea of a typical dating sim before Noelle and Susie set him straight on the fact they aren’t straight.

But what Berdly’s doing isn’t exactly your typical generic dating sim MC boy behavior… it’s something far more confusing.

To start with, here’s this line from ch4.

I don’t know how else to convey what I mean, so cue the Miles Edgeworth again.

If you still don’t get it… Berdly is the one asking for someone else to be his support.

So that’s not a pickup line.

That's a cry for help.

This would normally be just another instance of Berdly unintentionally describing someone else in a way that fits him far better (see also: “a poor girl with no one to show her exclusive tips and tricks”, “so tsundere and confusing”, “heart beeping for love”, etc.)

But wait, there’s more!

If you accept the festival invite and continue this over in ch5, Berdly sets up the event so that the lover that impresses him the most would be the date.

That… isn’t something a self insert protag does. That’s something the girl they are trying to woo does.

I don’t think Berdly realizes it yet, but the second his dating sim view of relationships gets reinforced, he starts placing himself in the position of the girl you are trying to date, not the MC.

You probably don’t notice it in the moment because you’re more likely to assume Berdly sees himself as the MC boy of the dating sim, considering it’s him plus the girls, and also Kris.

But by having him as the one you’re supposed to impress, he’s placed Kris, Noelle and Susie where the MC would be…

which is exactly what ends up happening within the Pink battle (with Ralsei there ofc)

…meaning Berdly is the Mew Mew in this situation.

And please note that not only does Berdly reference the Doki mechanic of the Pink battle, and being “a puppet monarchy who promotes the love of two girls”, but the Hatsune Miku vocals of the battle heavily allude to the weird route.

Oh, and the Switch trailer initially features Mew Mew frozen in an iceberg.

In conclusion, let me restate my point:

"People back then always married young it's natural!!!" Every single 1800s guide I've ever met casually mentions that, of course, you really shouldn't get married before you're at least 20, and waiting until 25 is usually better.

Or, like. Okay here's a long segment:

Just firmly going "it is crazy sexist to blame The Wife for overspending when thirty seconds of asking questions will immediately establish that her husband was outright lying to her about how much money they had. Talk to your wife like a normal person."

Or--okay, here. A section on being honest and not writing love letters in secret, because that's usually a good sign that there's something untoward going on....

....except that he then immediately acknowledges that sometimes, the reason you're hiding this from your parents is that your parents suck. That there are parents who frankly have not earned the right to approve or disapprove of your partner.

"Men and women being friends with each other is literally normal. Don't be a controlling freak."

"If you have to abuse a child to keep order in your classroom then you're a bad teacher."

Former host speaks on stupid origin discourse bullshit, something that caused real tangible conflict and damage both within our system and in our physical outward life