#idk it's so interesting

[swordfright]

For the ask game: 1, 5!

1.) Is there something you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

Yeah, a couple things! Court Necromancer AU is the big one. A friend and I have been hardcore brainrotting over it together since like August and I’m putting off updates until I have the time/energy/mental space etc to properly focus on it. Ideally I’d like to finish some other incomplete fics before I go back to it.

Also there’s a half-finished oneshot sequel to Scheherazade that I’m too shy to post because half of it is smut, as well as a very silly c!awesamdream Hades AU sitting in a google doc that’s giving me trouble (which is for the best tbh it’s too cringe to ever see the light of day anyway)

5.) Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

Maybe c!Tubbo in Court Necromancer AU? I love him in canon but he’s not one of the characters who makes me go totally rabid, so I didn’t anticipate writing him as much as I have.

Hmm, maybe also c!Phil? When I first got into DSMP I wasn’t interested in c!Phil at all, so I never expected to end up writing him. That’s one of the things I find super fun and interesting about DSMP: it’s very temporal (is that the right word??? idk) compared to, say, a movie or some other piece of “traditional” media, so the point in the canon timeline when each viewer got into DSMP seems to have a pretty significant effect on how they view the plot/themes/characters etc. I started watching the streams pretty late in the game (end of November 2021), at which point there were a couple CCs who just weren’t streaming on the server as often as they used to (including Phil.) I guess what I’m trying to say is that my disinterest in c!Phil isn’t because I dislike the character, it’s more that there wasn’t a ton of c!Phil POV lore content coming out around the time I got into the fandom iirc, so it's hard for me to think if him as a "main character" even though he arguably is. I’ve def warmed up to him a lot since then, and he’s got some important scenes coming up in Court Necromancer AU if I ever get around to finishing it.

[freshlybakedfandoms]

the difference between being raised a teenage boy and being raised as a teenage girl is so fascinating to me

[saphushia]

continuation/aftermath of danny pulling nightwing out of a dumpster

don't let danny fool you with his innocent geek act. that's a working ectogun that he made to look like a phaser. he's absolutely a geek but he's not innocent

[ronanlynchbf]

tshirt that says NO LIVE ORGANISM CAN CONTINUE FOR LONG TO EXIST SANELY UNDER CONDITIONS OF ABSOLUTE REALITY

[yuri-puppies]

Shape-shifters, face-blindness, and "paying attention to others"

The shapeshifter is one of my favourite "monster of the week" episodes because it showcases how differently Laios processes social information than the rest of the party. It reminds me a lot of the strategies I, faceblind name-forgetter and eye-contact avoider, use to recognize people and learn things about them.

We see Laios clearly fail at recognizing the doubles through "standard" social cues that are perceived as "easy to tell", such as their clothes. This makes the team (unfairly, but understandably) weary of his ability to tell the fakes apart and even worried that he'd prefer the monster versions* over them. Nonetheless, he gives it a try!

...And is immediately overwhelmed. His lack of attention to social cues works a bit in his favor, though, as it makes it harder for him to fall for stereotypes that fool the rest of the group.

Instead, he chooses to rely on his strengths and use his investigation and animal handling skills to distract the shapeshifters, lure out the monster, and roll the most insane balls-to-the-wall intimidation check of all time.

If it had ended there it still would have been a great episode that showcases Laios' strategic mind and his strengths as a leader. He doesn't have the social skills necessary for the task, but he is clever and creative enough to use the skills he does have proficiency in to solve the problem*.

However, what makes this episode so dear and near to my faceblind heart is the revelation that Laios was able to recognize the real party members after all.

Laios is fantastic representation of how special interests actually work for a monotropic interest system. Having a special interest is not just about how much you like it and the need to know everything about it, it's a way of processing and filtering information. Laios' special interest is monsters: his skills as a dungeoneer and party leader are acquired for and informed by his desire to interact with monsters, as is his interest in eating them. He actually brings this up himself when comparing his interest in cooking to Senshi's.

And in this episode, we see that this also extends to his friends. Laios hacks one of the most difficult types of information for him to process by routing it through the lens of the special interest. And, because it's not something most people would notice, it works. He knows that Chilchuck wouldn't let his guard down around a potential mimic, that Senshi values a balanced ecosystem, that (my favourite) Marcille just isn't as thoughtful about monsters as he is.

It might not be what was expected, but it did the trick! And what's more, the narrative validates his way of thinking (even if Chilchuck doesn't).

[wardingshout]

Zelda goes mushroom girl

[viveela]

I wanted to see Scott's reaction so bad

[haematoclan]

Leo's relationship with death

Leo really doesn't like to think about death.

I mean, we all saw how much impact Karai's death had on all of Mad Dogs but Leo was the only one that had to be dragged from her, yelling after her, he really, really didn't want to lose her.

And I think when he lost her it left a deep scar.

I saw posts talking how Leo wants for things to get back to normal and pretend nothing happened, which I completely agree with. I think it's in big part because of his fear of repeating losing a close one.

He REALLY doesn't want to even acknowledge death.

Here Raph seemed to be getting through to Leo-

-but the moment he mentions possibility of his family dying?

Nope, time to deflect, joke and feign ignorance.

Leo's aware that death is a big part of being a responsible hero and that's why he'd rather goof off with his brothers and not train.

Because obviously when you ignore something it just dissapears, right? So if they ignore severity of certain situations and possibility of dying it won't happen, right?

If they don't treat it seriously they'll be fine! Totally!

Then Raph shields Leo from the Krang and sends him away.

And it's as if Karai's death stared right in his eyes.

So Leo picks up the slack of leadership in order to save Raph. He behaves carelessly during this time but can you really blame him, he desperately wants to save his brother, to stop yet another family member from death that he is so scared of.

He still tries to be positive and nonchalant, that "pfff obvioulsy everything will turn out alright!" but at the end of the day, it's not that simple.

Casey's speech had hard time to really hit Leo, he's still avoiding confronting resposibility, literally and metaphorically turning away from it. But the moment Casey says Leo's whole family died?

Now that made an impact.

And every time his family is in terrible danger he looks absolutely terrified and basically every time Leo has to be dragged away to not just return and try to save them again.

And when there's nobody to drag him away?

First thing he does is sacrifice himself. Because I don't think Leo is scared of his own death, or at least he is not as scared of him dying as his family. He'd rather give away his life than live through another grief.

Obviously I'm not sayin that the rest of the fam isn't terrified of close ones dying. But while they seem less aware (Mikey) and/or more ready for the possibility (Raph)...

Leo's wholly aware but he'd rather not be and ignore his fears until he can't anymore.

[arcanegifs]

they're really going for the "everyone going to be a little bit opposite of who they were in s1" theme in season 2 fr

[etchif]

Jesus imagine if we confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life the Taxonomy would be insane

[redcallisto]

Kieran my baby boy. someone take him to a therapist please

[vriskan8or]

let her go

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID in ALT] I've made posts before about Talia/Dick co-parenting Damian moments (will never happen but let me dream) and this came to me in a vision. Took me ages to finish for some reason 😭 and then even longer to post

[sisaloofafump]

In case it seems like every third comic has Batman in it... you're not wrong. He's been in 38.6% of DC issues since 2020, with a stark increase of 8% each decade since the 90s and surpassing Superman in popularity. Despite this, there's been a massive drop off of comics where he is teamed up with Superman or a Robin (although the amount of group team ups between Batman Family members has increased, as well as Nightwing solos).

[arsenicflame]

Bonus round! Do you use a queue tag?

[pipartuuli]

Týr may not be brutal, but his heart is in the right place!