u/Hitchfucker

Just something I wanted to do to talk about this series a bit more. I will be going in reverse order of lesser to more prominence for characters since it will give me more to talk about over time, and because the two main characters of the series are probably the only two who don’t have a clear best book for me. Only characters who have a prominent role in at least 4-5 books. So there probably won’t be a Wendall, Bartleby, or Roque Ja entry (Bartleby’s best book is probably Crown of Thorns though). I’ll start with the level one crooks of the series, or maybe the Team Rocket of Bone is more apt as a comparison. They’re not my favorite of the cast but they’re pretty fun.

6: Eyes of the Storm (Book 3)

This is the first book in the series to really escalate the stakes and tone of the show, so understandably the stupid rat creatures are no longer the main threat our heroes come into contact with (we get a middle ground of more threatening rat creatures, while not yet throwing Kingdok or The Hooded One into the mix). They have one scene where they hide from consequences and Kingdok gives them some rabbits. It’s an alright scene but it isn’t very funny and Kingdok is by far the more interesting character in this interaction. They’re fine here but there’s nothing to really cling onto.

5: The Dragonslayer (Book 4)

Their bits of comedy at the beginning were kind of useful considering how dour this book got by the end with Thorn’s depression. The old married couple banter is decent and I like how this is the first book to fully solidify them being broken apart of the main faction. But they don’t really do much or leave much of an impression here. And they’ve had funnier books.

4: The Crown of Horns (Book 9)

Their only appearance in the second half of the series. Not necessary but it was fun to see them again and they served as much less tonally jarring comedic relief than Phoney in this book. Really this would probably be the lowest rated book for them if not for how much I love that scene of Fone Bone giving them a quiche. Idk I was happy for them to finally get something out of this whole ordeal. It was a great moment for Fone too.

3: Out From Boneville (Book 1)

Their closest we ever get to them being sinister at all. And even here they’re pretty big jokes. But they’re fun as early series threats. I’m impressed that even early into the series their comedy and dynamic with both each other and with Fone Bone is very solid and entertaining. The “STUPID RAT CREATURES” line is one of the funniest jokes in the entire series and amazing use of panel pacing. And they’re just really good goofballs.

2: The Great Cow Race (Book 2)

Pretty much the same as book 1, they’re funny here too. I give this a slight edge up since their dynamic is a bit petter established here. Plus “IT INCLUDES EATING HIM RAW” is probably the funniest reaction panel for either of them in the series. The fact that he gets THAT worked up despite him only asking once in the scene shows just how aggravating the quiche loving rat creature has been about this. And it’s so unhinged.

1: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border (Book 5)

I don’t think they’re amazingly written in any book. Even in this one they’re pretty one note goofy villains. But I think this is their best handling. For one thing, while they remain pretty much the same as usual, their circumstances are pretty unique here in that this is the only time where they’re forced to partner up with not only the Bones but animals who rightfully hate them. This constant switching of allegiances in Rock Jaw makes the whole book and characters a lot more dynamic and interesting. And we do get a bit more nuance to their characters, or at least rat creature lore because of that. This might be their funniest book too, or about even with GCR. The page where one of them pounces on Roque Ja and causes them all to fall off a cliff is one of the most classic cartoony gags in the entire series and I love it so much (not to mention the third and final “stupid stupid rat creatures” gag). Also the more serious one’s reaction to Smiley’s “nothing we’ve done has been un stupid” line is one of the funniest moments in the books. It’s also such a nice subversion to have them be the straight men for once.

Just something I was wondering for anyone else who read the proto Bone. It was a fun read but I wouldn’t say much of the material that wasn’t adapted into the main series was very good, and I’m happy with most of the changes and improvements. But what is something, whether it be a scene, character, plot point, joke, piece of character work, whatever, that you wish wasn’t changed. There aren’t much for me but a few that come to mind:

-This really wouldn’t work in the books but there was a one off strip where the grass Fone Bone is stepping on becomes sentient and they debate on the ethics of stepping on sentient land. I thought that was funny.

-There’s a portion of the book where Fone Bone and Thorn are kind of just wandering around aimlessly because they believe Grandma Ben to be dead, they’re pretty depressed, and they don’t really have any aim at this point. I kind of like the vibes of them not really winning or being happy but also not having an immediate threat or conflict to worry about so they can kind of just chill and explore the world. It lends itself better to a comic strip than an actual comic book series but it kind of makes me wish we had more of these characters.

-Thorn and Phoney have more of a pronounced rivalry in the prototype. I like that considering how different they are. In the main series Phoney is jealous of Thorn since he fears she’ll take Fone Bone away from him, but it’s not a very developed or explored dynamic, especially on Thorn’s end who rarely pays him any mind. They actually have more of a rivalry and even ideological differences that get them into arguments. And them trying to one up each other is fun.

-There’s a small conversation between Fone Bone and Thorn that I really liked. I think it was Thorn asking Fone Bone why he thinks there are either clouds or stars in the sky and Fone Bone claims he’s more interested in how. I really like that interaction. It shows a nice contrast between the two where they’re both very curious people, Thorn sees the world from a more mystical perspective while Fone Bone views the world in a more matter of fact and scientific route. Which makes sense given how and where they each grew up.

There’s a lot of pros and cons to be said about the post ASOS portion of the series and massive roster of viewpoint characters added to the books. But one thing I do appreciate about them, even most of the viewpoints I disliked is that is fleshed out the world and allowed us to follow a great variety of perspectives and locations in this universe. Much as I adore the first 3 books, it sometimes does feel like it’s the Stark and Lannister series, plus Dany, Theon, and Stannis doing stuff sometimes. And since most of the viewpoints remain in the same region in these two books I wanted to a poll about it.

Personally, the North is easily the most interesting region in these books. So many of the most interesting viewpoints and characters like Jon, Stannis, Roose, Asha, etc. are there and it is the portion most focused on both the threat of the others and the uprising against the Boltons. It also has my pick for the best character pov in an individual book with Theon, whose Dance chapters are some of the greatest pieces of literature that I’ve read. After that I would say King’s Landing is the second best, since while not as lively as usual, Cersei is one of the best viewpoints and it’s still rife with great political scheming. After that I’d go with the Iron Islands/the Riverlands, then Dorne, and at the very bottom by a wide margin and the only one I dislike overall I would put Essos and the viewpoints and aspects of the world going on there.

Anyway what’s your thoughts? Which region do you find most compelling?

View Poll

View Poll

Well it does make sense based on what happens to them, it always bums me out that aside from Michael and Duquan, the main four boys of season 4 interact after That’s Got His Own. I was always wondering how they would each react to each other. Would Namond, as the only one who really got a good ending, want to do anything to help his friends? Would he and Randy be more impressed or terrified at what Michael turned out to be? Just something that’s been on my mind recently and am curious of any other opinions.

The Wire has a lot of characters who make flawed, foolish, emotional, or naive choices, but the more I think of it, despite being fairly intelligent I don’t think any main adult character made quite so many dumb choices as Stringer (except Ziggy I guess). Off the top of my head the ones that come to mind:

-Giving $250,000 upfront to Clay Davis

-Trying to order a hit on Clay Davis

-Speaking to Clay Davis without consulting Maurice about it

-Breaking the Sunday morning truce to hit Omar

-Telling Avon about murdering D’Angelo despite no one suspecting him of it

-Framing Mouzone to try and get Omar to kill him (knowing that if the lie was discovered two of the most competent guns men around would want him dead

-Giving up his entire operation in Middle Ground

Which of these would you consider to be his worst choice (or am I forgetting any notable ones)?

Season 1: McNulty and D’Angelo

Season 2: Frank (with Ziggy and Nicky as secondary leads)

Season 3: Colvin and Stringer

Season 4: The boys of Summer (primarily Namond and Michael)

Season 5: McNulty again

I’ve been trying topical minoxidil for a little over a week now. I know that shedding is apart of the process normally but it feels like I’ve been losing way too much. A problem I’m running into is that I have long curly hair (although it’s been getting less curly since starting min). It’s very hard for me to properly part my hair and it ends up looking terrible. I fear that most or at least a lot of it is getting into my hair any not the scalp. Is it true that getting into the hair and follicles could damage them? If so I don’t know how to deal with applying it topically.

I’m 24/male and I’ve been fearing that my hairline has been receding for awhile now. I haven’t been sure for a while now but recently it seems to be hard to ignore or be uncertain of and I’m feeling less and less confident as it seems to thin. I asked my doctor about it (though this was just a regular doctor and not a dermatologist) and she said to wait a bit but at this point I’d prefer to avoid risks. I’ve just started to take topical min a week ago (I also tried it for a few weeks beforehand but stopped for a week before scheduling that doctors appointment). So far I have mostly just been applying it to the temple/forehead/top of the hairline area.

I just wanted to ask and be certain, I know that if I stop taking minoxidil that after a few months my progress would be lost, but if I did stop is it possible that I will lose even more hair than I initially had or even would have lost at this point? I’ve heard differing opinions but I just wanted to know if using min could be a sort of hostage situation where the second I stop using it I could lose most or all my hair in the areas where I apply it. I don’t care if it were to bring me back to the amount of hair I already had since at least then it wouldn’t make the situation worse. This is also partially why i’m holding off on applying it to my entire scalp for now and just focusing on the really recessive points.

Thank you for any possible insight and sorry if this was poorly worded.