#thread: to play with death

[muffinlance]

Next Dark Night in Ba Sing Se part! Is! Fully outlined!

...And so is the majority of series in lesser detail because oops my hand slipped.

[esteemed-excellency]

I FUCKED UP

[tothefiniteyou]

Something that's been in my head a while concerning the brothers and their "roles", so to speak. This is meant to be about the original Mirage comics, but applies to 2003 and IDW as well. Potentially 2012, maybe more. I don't remember the exact issues, but this WILL contain spoilers for IDW and the original comics.

Raph is the one that takes on the responsibilities no one else does/wants to. He very often has to play the part of the bad guy because his convictions are more rebellious in comparison to what Splinter teaches them, core beliefs and rules that Leo in particular takes to heart. Raph keeps his family in line through his anger, for better and worse, being the one of tough love. In volume 1 of Mirage when they retreated from New York after Leo was almost killed, he calls his brother a coward for not "finishing the job" and goes off to face the Shredder alone. He almost got killed because of his impulsiveness, yes, but Leo's always been about saving his family. So really, he had the courage to face Shredder again because it was for someone else's sake. Their whole fight was kind of gruesome and full of harsh words, but at the end of it all, Leo thanks Raph for it. It's very interesting to me. It shows that Leo, even if he was originally mad, understands that his brother was only doing it because he was scared of his family being hurt again. He sees that it was for his own good, so he expresses gratitude.

Alongside that, I've said before that it's not that Raph wants to be the leader because of the title itself, but rather that he wants freedom, and for others to listen to him. He resents Leo for holding him back, not fully understanding his brother's reasoning. He focuses more on action and less on the consequences of said actions and choices.

In essence, Raph is often the one that has to do the dirty work. His parentification in Rise is even similar to this, having to parent his brothers and be the one to tell them "no", even when it isn't his responsibility. But if no one else is going to do it, then he has to be the bad guy, even if his brothers resent him for it. At his core, he always has his family in mind, even if the execution is flawed.

Raph being thought of as the shield has always felt right to me, as shields can still be used to hurt.

On to Leo - Leo is a very existential person, and that also makes him the most spiritual. Kind of a yin and yang ordeal, with him seeing how there's a balance to things. (I would also say that he needs to assign a purpose to everything, if only to rationalize bad things. It's sort of why he has a bit of a crisis in several iterations when Splinter isn't there to guide him). He's the most "warrior-like" because of the way he values life and honors things like bushido. He'll kill to protect, but that doesn't make him callous, just "strong" (putting this in quotes for multiple reasons). I think IDW tackled this quite lovely, especially when he goes on to have a greenhouse just full of life.

However, I can't say all of this without mentioning the fact that Splinter's teachings are often flawed. I've said before that a lot of Leo's major "arcs" and "growing up" is about becoming his own person and leader, and that's still very much true. Blind Sight is my favorite story to have come from the original comics, and I think it really puts into perspective how Leo struggles to see himself as anything but a weapon. It's that bad habit of his where he must assign purpose to everything, struggling when proven wrong or having to recontextualize things. There's so much more I want to say about him and his role, but a lot of it would be reiterating my points from this post. I struggle to call Leo the sword of the team considering his words to Mikey about how, if he were to throw his katana off the roof, would that be the same as throwing himself. But in Blind Sight, he does learn that he's more than just some sword for his father to wield, and that a sword not only hurts, but protects.

People infantilize Mikey wayyyy too much in this fandom for just being the youngest, which makes me have to pick and choose my words very carefully for fear of the wrong impression. He's definitely the goofball that tends to not take things as seriously, but I think something that The Last Ronin meant to emphasize is that his "raw talent" is from a place of love. It's not that he's not the best of them all just because he lacks focus, it's that he's never seen a reason for him to have to be a warrior like that. Surrounded by his brothers, he doesn't have to try so hard. He'll watch their backs and they'll watch his. He's got the same warrior's spirit as the others, it's just that he rejects some of those teachings in his own way? Raph is often seen as the contrast to Leo, and that's typically true, but I think Mikey can be as well... In a way, Mikey has the most ties to humanity, and that's why I think he's similar to Leo in some ways. Not to say the brothers don't have humanity, but... It's so hard to word what I mean, bear with me.

Being a better warrior kind of means losing his fun-loving and go with the flow nature. He would be less like Mikey. Not to say that being good at fighting exactly equates to being deadly, but that's always a possibility, you know? IDW Mikey is such a good balance and blend of his little shit characterization and his more empathetic side. When he's the first to leave and reject Splinter's ways in IDW, this shows what I mean with him being more strong than Leo's way of being considered strong. He might not be "the best", and he might not tap into his raw talent that several characters mention, but I don't think that's what he necessarily wants. Splinter's idea of strong isn't necessarily the best.... Hopefully this section makes sense and my point gets across that Mikey is both the heart and armor of the team.

And as for Donnie... Oh boy! He has to use a gun in the original comics and actually be the one to kill (since only Raph and Leo really did that from what I can remember), and it shakes him up SO BADLY... And volume 1 just ends with him not choosing to go back to the sewers with his brothers, but to stay on the farm with Splinter for a bit. This is quite a finishing scene after ending a whole war within the city...

Donnie doesn't love his brothers any less, it just goes to show that he's never wanted to be the one to have to kill, and maybe wasn't prepared for it. While Mikey is definitely a pacifist, you can argue that Donnie is more of one. Him wielding the bo even supports this idea, as it can still be deadly, but not as lethal as his brothers' weapons. He's a very soft-hearted person that prefers to invent and give life to machines.

I hate when people think he's any less skilled in fighting than his brothers, because that's wrong! He just doesn't like violence and, dare I say it, I don't think he ever wanted to be a warrior in the same way. His intellect is a mightier and more useful weapon to him, because he can use it to keep others safe and make machines that can do all sorts of things. He'll fight to protect, same as the others, but disarming is more of his goal in the end. This makes Donnie, at least to me, both the brains and armor for the group. He's more than that, but... something something, things falling apart when Donnie is missing in SAINW.

At the end of it all, something you have to remember about all of them is that, even when they grow older, they started out as nothing more than child soldiers cultivated for the sake of revenge. Killing was always in the books, but they all have a different role on the team, and killing wasn't meant to be Donnie's. He helps with plan-making and would probably rather be support than a tank, if that makes sense.

They're heroes but but but. They're just kids, too...........Gripping my head

[birb--birb]

can we also talk about Marion's choices? Choosing to give his reclaimed soul to Jean is so layered in love for both her, Sean, and himself I just- The woman you've fallen in love with is breaking, believing that she too is just another monster in this terrible world. But Marion doesn't let her believe it, he shows her that she still has so much capacity to help, so much capacity for kindness and gentleness still. He shows her that even through all the tragedy and sadness, there can still be good and beauty and while its good to grieve, it's possible to carry on. He made peace with his younger self, apologizing to that young Marion in the garden for the hell he is about to unleash/has already experienced, while also claiming back a major piece of his trauma for himself. Its like he sorta reverse uno'd his trauma, it still exists but he gets to hold it now, not some otherworldly beast that haunted him his entire life. It is in his control now, and he can make peace with it. and Sean.... his most beloved friend, who has been through hell and back and hell again. Marion knew how much pain he was in, the agony and suffering and anger he carried with him. And sometimes you feel you have no other choice than to let go, its the only way Sean felt he would have ever been able to find peace and it sucks it sucks that this is what it came to. But Sean made his decisions, was more than ready to give himself up to keep his mother safe and Marion made a promise, he promised would never let Sean go through anything alone ever again. And he kept it. Marion had so much love to give and I love that Luis followed that to the end.

[jewfrogs]

saw a crushing post on AITD (repost from r/regretfulparents of someone wishing they could kill their disabled child) and i was frustrated because people in the comments were rightly horrified but were saying that the op is “in a bad place” and has “caregiver burnout,” that they’re venting or ranting and this shouldn’t be taken as sincere, that they can understand feeling anger or frustration etc. (but not wanting to murder them), and they feel sorry for them—and i truly do not understand how everybody’s first response isn’t horror for that child. i do not give a shit how the parent feels when they are at risk of committing filicide. and that risk is real. painfully real. over 100 disabled people were murdered by family members in 2022 (that were reported). and it is so telling that abled people will sympathize with a parent who is actively, violently ableist and a danger to their child than with the disabled child. from the ASAN’s anti-filicide toolkit, which says what i want to say better than i can:

Our society’s reactions to filicide reflect our beliefs about disability. When parents of kids without disabilities murder their children, we are universally united in condemnation. It is only when the victim is disabled that we pause. It is only when the victim is disabled that we are encouraged to understand. This is a double standard, and it reveals dangerous things about our beliefs.

When we say every parent of a disabled child has had moments like this or walk a mile in our shoes or the system failed everyone or but you have to understand how hard it is, we are excusing a parent murdering their child. It does not matter how many times we say not that I would ever condone this: if we attempt to make a parent murdering their child understandable, if we ever attempt to position it as a comprehensible or inevitable or normal thing, if we take and normalize the perspective and the side of abusers and murderers, we are minimizing and excusing this act. Doing so puts the lives of disabled people everywhere in danger.

There are absolutely things we should understand about filicide. There are absolutely people with whom we should empathize. We should understand that filicide is not committed by loving parents. We should empathize with the victims. But to say, “I don’t condone the murder but I understand it,” is to say, “This is bad, but it isn’t so bad if we put it in context.”

We do not believe that this is a good way to talk about murder.

[trainingdummyrabbit]

Starting with

what happens when a black swan wakes up from dreaming of a white swan?

explodes right here right now instantly.

funny story bout this one specifically actually, iwas originally mostly neutral towards her right up until queuing her up into the tourney bracket back in like. november. i had t do a run thru of her combat dialogue and it was just "oh. what. huh?? girl??? girlie hey wait girlie hey," so its fair to say i feel Very Normal about her. but um, to sort this into some sort of something;

Design- immediate bonus points for being Creature. go girl kill. we love bird imagery in this household and she is Rocking it. the crest is fucking impossible to draw but again, it slaps. the fact that most of her body is just that inky black impossible to tell the detail between one thing and another honestly works really well for her. idunno how to explain it, but the wing claws are a Very good look. it coheres 👍 also umbrella weapon bias. she honestly just hurts to look at. compliment. sad wet bird. can i please just gently pat her with a damp towel. ithink that would help her feel a little better.

Theme- explodes right here right now instantly. black swan honestly kinda went right by me my first loop through, but getting to it again? augh. augh. auuguugughghhh. the tie between the childhood disillusionment of optimism and the vessel of an old fable hits like a truck. the core of futile dreaming in a nightmare, tied with the daughter imagery with angela....... augh. it aims and hits the mark! plain and simple and striking. black swan is honestly just generally painful as a whole, and the way it executes that is VERY clean. again, she just kinda hurts to look at. compliment. also the black feather motif...... explodes right here right now instantly.

shes honestly one that was boosted up by just. the ping-pong effect of several of us going 'wait. fuck. wait oh fuck wait shit AUGH' at each other in a circle for a while. like yea. yeahg. its hard to describe just what it is about her thats so . [motions with hands.] because you just have t. just Look at her. listen to her. look at it its on the ceiling, yknow? i love her very much. no notes peak angela 👍

[forcenexus]

starter for @faygana

Eyes wide after he was cornered by his father's goons, he only reacted after their bodies hit the ground and he saw Morgana with her hand raised above her head. She killed them? Why? The Druid took a minute to breathe before he dared to sit up. "I should thank you, but how do I know this is not some trick?" Prowell didn't know she had seen the mark he hid on his wrist that branded him a Druid like his mother. Jacob looked on wearily. He knew everyone had knowledge of how his father treated him and how Cadgon was close to Uther Pendragon. "Are you going to turn me into the king?"

[chibishortdeath]

Hmmm I kinda want to make a side blog for RPG Maker game development related things to be able to talk to more experienced people in that community, but at the same time I both don’t really think I’d get much attention and don’t want to accidentally spoil my own game (^^ ; ).

I have a rough story, concept doodles, a tileset, some character sprites, an enemy that walks around but can’t initiate battle yet (if I even decide to have a battle system), a couple rooms with some events, and a functioning run button, but I’m still lost on how to do much else at the moment. Especially since this program has the ability for scripting, meaning I’ll probably have to learn and actually retain another coding language.

So, I’m not very far at all lol. Idk how well that’d go over on the established fandom website, but eh.

[zenjestrr]

can't wait till I finish the main quest in this current playthrough of Morrowind so I can go full Doomguy on all the slavers on the island

[invinciblerodent]

"I need to rein it in, I don't know the characters yet, so I won't write fic about them- it'd just end up being out of character anyway."

(proceeds to write like four pages)

"well, okay, that's.... fine, it's ambiguous enough, they barely speak. but i won't mention the kind of tattoos this character is supposed to have without seeing what options I have for them in the cc, just to keep things neat and canon-accurate."

(proceeds to spend like half an hour brainstorming ideas for exactly that)

[naydralikessoup]

indie game....... save me indie game.........

[twilightarcade]

huge fan of married in red's lack of winning and losing and heroes n villains yknow

[agallimaufryofoddments]

DMDP Anime: Episode 1 available

Episode 1: Reincarnation of the Dead Mount Death Play anime is available to watch on Crunchyroll here. I attempted to skim through it but was overcome by sheer embarrassment, which I’m going to have to get over if I am to write an episode article on the DMDP Wiki. It’s just... The start of DMDP is full-blown teenage edge material, the type aimed at teenage boys and not the adult woman demographic (that’s me, who is part of the Narita demographic), and it’s obvious even from skimming that the anime amplifies the edge and the fanservice because of course it does. Ack. Save me. For now, I’ve put up a spoiler-safe FAQ for wiki newcomers and added boards / categories for Forum / Discussions. My basic Manual of Style draft needs work still, but I should try to get something up for it soon. Still undecided on how to title the Episode articles, but I’m leaning toward simple Episode 1, Episode 2...titles that don’t include the episode title itself.

What does tickle me is that the top review (of six) on Crunchyroll’s DMDP hub linked earlier isn’t a review; it’s user Joshay12 sharing the “actual synopsis as once again, Crunchyroll has a stupid one.”

You know what “actual synopsis” they’ve copied? The one I wrote for the home page of the DMDP Wiki, haha. I’m sort of indirectly flattered.  

Screenshot below (date: April 10, 2023, maybe four or so hours after the episode became available?):

Yeah, can’t fault CR for not borrowing a synopsis some rando wrote for free on some wiki. Ha. Hoo.

It sure is odd to encounter one’s own writing (or blog linked) in the wild. 

[tovaicas]

some of the threads probably could've been handled better but as a whole I love alphinaud's HW character arc so much

[hauntingblue]

'I am here because kind cora-san couldn't pull the trigger that day. I am here just to pull the trigger' damn

[do-angels-dream-of-starry-seas]

What I'm saying is that it's not impossible for any of the ofmd cast to be in the markiplier movie -