#you don't get to have any fun and you definitely don't get to come out unscathed

[jessiethewitchzard]

Seeing @thydungeongal constantly wrestling with people interpreting her posts about D&D in ways that seem completely alien to me has convinced me that there are actually multiple completely distinct activities both being referred to as "playing D&D" Before we begin, I want to stress that I'm not saying one of these groups is Playing The Game Wrong or anything, but there seems to be a lot of confusion and conflict caused by people not being aware of the distinction. In fact, either one works just fine if everyone's on the same page. So far, I think I've identified at least two main groups. And nobody seems to realize the distinction between these groups even exists. The first group of people think of "Playing D&D" as, well, more or less like any other board game. Players read the whole rulebook all the way through, all the players follow the instructions, and the gameplay experience is determined by what the rules tell each player to do. This group thinks of the mechanics as, not exactly the *whole* game, but certainly the fundamental skeleton that everything else is built on top of. People in the second group think of "Playing D&D" as referring to, hanging out with their friends, collaboratively telling a story inspired by some of the elements in the rulebooks, maybe rolling some dice to see what happens when they can't decide. This group thinks of the mechanics of the game as, like... a spice to sprinkle on top of the story to mix things up. (if you belong to this second group, and think I'm explaining it poorly, please let me know, because I'm kind of piecing things together from other people saying things I don't understand and trying to reverse engineer how they seem to be approaching things.) I think this confusion is exacerbated by the fact that Wizards of the Coast markets D&D as if these are the same thing. They emphatically are not. the specific rules laid out of the D&D rulebooks actually direct players to tell a very specific kind of story. You can tell other stories if you ignore those rules (which still counts as "playing D&D" under the second definition, but doesn't under the first)And I think people in both groups are getting mad because they assume that everyone is also using their definition. For example, there's a common argument that I've seen play out many times that goes something like this:

A: "How do I mod D&D to do [insert theme here]?" B: "D&D is really not built for that, you should play [other TTRPG] that's designed for it instead" A: "But I don't want to learn a whole new game system!" B: "It will be easier to just learn a whole new system than mod D&D to do that." A: "whatever, I'll just mod D&D on my own" And I think where this argument comes from is the two groups described above completely talking past each other. No one understands what the other person is trying to say. From A's perspective, as a person in the second group, it sounds like A: "Anyone have some fun inspirations for telling stories about [insert theme here]?" B: "You can't sit around a table with your friends and tell a story about that theme! That's illegal." A: "But we want to tell a story about this theme!" B: "It's literally impossible to do that and you're a dumb idiot baby for even thinking about it." A: "whatever, jerk, I'll figure it out on my own."

--- Whereas, from B's perspective, the conversation sounds like A: "How do I change the rules of poker to be chess, and not be poker?" B: "uhhh, just play chess?" A: "But I already know how to player poker! I want to play poker, but also have it be chess!" B: "what the hell are you talking about? What does that even mean. They're completely different games." A: "I'm going to frankenstein these rules together into some kind of unplayably complex monster and you can't stop me!" ---

So both people end up coming away from the conversation thinking the other person is an idiot. And really, depending on how you concieve of what it means to "play D&D" what is being asked changes considerably. If you're only planning to look through the books for cool story inspiration, maybe borrow a cool little self contained sub-system here or there, then yeah, it's very possible to steal inspiration for your collaborative story from basically anywhere. Maybe some genres are kind of an awkward fit together, but you can make anything work with a little creativity.

If, however, you are thinking of the question in terms of frankensteining two entire board games together, then it becomes a massively difficult or even outright nonsensical idea. For example, for skill checks, the game Shadowrun has players roll a pool of several d6 at once, then count up how many rolled above a target value to see how well a character succeeded at a task. The whole game is full of specific rules about adding or removing dice from the pool, effects happening if you roll doubles, rerolling only some of the dice, and all sorts of other things that simply do not translate to rolling a single d20 for skill checks. On a basic level, the rules of the games work very differently. Trying to make them compatible would be much harder than just learning a new game from scratch. Now, neither of these approaches is exactly *wrong*, I guess, but personally, I find the rules of TTRPGs to be fascinating and worth taking the time to engage with all the weird little nuances and seeing what shakes out. Also, the first group, "TTRPG as fancy board game" is definitely the older and more widespread one. I kind of get the impression that the second group largely got into D&D through actual play podcasts, but I don't have any actual data to back that up. So, if you're in the second group, who thinks of D&D as basically a context for collaborative storytelling first and a game second, please let me know if I'm wildly misunderstanding how you approach D&D. Because I'm pretty sure it would save us a whole lot of stupid misunderstandings.

[bonefall]

Any thoughts on Moonpaw’s design? Do you plan to make her appearance a bit more unique/utilize the chimera a bit more?

Honestly I think her canon design is pretty fantastic! I don't agree with those who're saying it's not unique lmao, like, the team's never been THIS creative before. She blows Pure Gray Cats 3, 4, and 5 out of the water.

But, boy oh BOY am I gonna have fun with this one. Last night I sketched up a possible combo for each Moonpaw from the options I presented. Whichever one gets picked I'll tweak more, but I went ahead and made a 'base' character design for each one.

Also bonus: Headshots for all of the possible parents. Note the slight update for Stormcloud, I figured out a better way to draw his cheek fluff and changed his stripe pattern a bit

Whatever designs end up not being used for Moonpaw, I'll probably tweak for another new litter. ThriftPlum and ShellFern's hypokits will slot well into the eventual ShellFern litter we (HOPEFULLY) get soon, and with a slight edit, StormCherry's can be a new Honeyfur.

PlumThrift

This one's becoming the least likely to happen I think. It could still win if it's the most fitting with the arc, supposing canon ends up writing a strained relationship between Moon and her parents, but based on the preview stuff that's not the case.

Still! I do like the Two Soccer Moms And Their Weird Child lmao.

Thrift and Plum are a downright deadly united front. They play Good Cop Bad Cop like they're practically telepathic. So I tried to get that across in their headshots.

Plumstone always looks laidback and chill. Thriftear exudes an aura of seriousness.

Their weird child inherits neither of these things. She looks like she eats bugs.

I decided to make this Moonpaw look REALLY fluffy. Plumstone inherited her grandpa Graystripe's body type, so it would be a shame if Moony didn't get it too.

FlipBay

BB!Bayshine is a DustFern descendant. He has his great-grandfather Dustpelt's plate.

The stripes come from grandfather Birchfall, who gave them to mother Duststripe.

Flipclaw is strikingly similar to his grandfather Lionblaze, back before he started balding.

While drawing this one I started trying to play around with the chimera idea more, that she's half of one cat and half of another. When the face plate came into it, it STRUCK me like lighting

It looks like phantom of the opera!!

So I started experimenting with one side being shorter-furred, and got a draft down before moving on to a waaay more in-depth design.

This was the last one I did last night before going to bed, so I'll post the evolution I made in a separate post. It's the one with the most potential thanks to the plate so it got pretty big.

ShellFern

Most Moonpaw designs are chunky, but I've always seen Shellfur as pretty slim. Definitely the slimmest in his recent family-- since Graystripe, the Dapplekin family has been thick and fluffy.

Mix that with Fernstripe, a WindClan cat, I made this Moonpaw resemble some kind of gazelle.

Fernstripe has this long, "fern-shaped" stripe on her body. Paired with Moonpaw's half-black body it looks kind of like stitches which is, imo, cool as fuck

I let her crescent-tufts add to the shape too, they curl in like horns... though, I am worried it looks too much like Curlfeather.

I'll probably give this one another pass if Moonpaw ends up being a ShellFern baby.

Also this take makes her took a bit more grumpy so she's closer in personality to her dad.

StormCherry

This is actually the first one I did

Cherryfall has a perfectly round, cherry-shaped face. She actually looks a ton like her dad, Berrynose.

I wanted to give Moonpaw that same face, because hers is simply a half-moon.

She looks like a stressed-out eevee and I kinda dig it LMAO

In color, this Moonpaw would probably lean more towards red than ginger. I see Cherry as a reddish cat.

She could also inherit Poppy's special red eyes-- she got those from being fetched away from StarClan by Jayfeather. Shadowsight also got them.

The stripe pattern is from Stormcloud. I decided recently that I'm going to try and limit thunder-shaped stripes to the Tigerkin family, something they inherit from Thunderstar himself. So Stormcloud's are now transverse across his body, with a distinct nose snip.

When I finally do decide StormCherry's kits, be that now with Moonpaw or later, I'll standardize Stormy's new stripes by giving him a new fullbody.

[marloree]

TXT and their ways to celebrate your birthday

Pairing: Best Friend! TXT members (separately) × Reader

Genre: fluff, slight crack (?), headcanons

Hueningkai

I feel like he would be the type to prepare something warm and cozy for you. Be it a picnic in the nearby park or spending the day at his place where he prepares every single thing for you so you don't have to worry on your special day and just relax.

Gifts: plushies, little cute surprise gifts, things that reminded him of you, simply things you were ever caught mentioning you liked.

Beomgyu

I feel like he's the type to bring you to his house or come to yours and just play you songs until you get tired or your neighbours get tired of the noise you two make.

Definitely would help you with buying the food and with the overall preparations.

Gifts: he definitely would never gift you his portrait as a joke

Anything you like, really.

Or any funny silly thing he can come up with as a gift for you.

Soobin

He definitely would start wishing you right at 12 am by texting. Or, if he for sure knows that you aren't asleep, he'd lowkey come to your house at midnight just to be the first one to wish and gift you.

I feel like you could celebrate your birthday with him at a small cozy café or a restaurant nearby, without having to worry about cleaning all the mess if you were to celebrate at your place.

Gifts: if we're talking of him as a kpop idol, then he'd totally gift you every version of their albums; if we're talking non-idol! au, then - flowers + something you like.

Hear me out, he would totally give you a bigger bouquet of flowers than any boyfriend ever would.

Taehyun

He's definitely the one to be in for surprises.

If he starts acting all mysterious a good week before it's your birthday, don't even get surprised. The guy definitely comes up with something new and outstanding every year. He almost acts like it's his birthday instead of yours. Seriously, he plans out every single detail.

Be prepared to walk somewhere for half of your special day.

A new restaurant on the other end of the city, a nice place by the beach he recently discovered, or just the right place from where the whole city is seen - get your feet ready.

Gifts: the guy seriously seems to read your mind, or, rather, he's so observant to the point where he seems to remember every single word you've ever said. He'll definitely gift you that very thing you've mentioned only once a few months ago.

Yeonjun

He's up for everything and anything, really.

Do you want to throw a massive birthday party or enjoy the day with him only? Do you want to do something outstanding or just relax and have fun? Do you want to celebrate at a restaurant or go for something extra? He's always in.

Gifts: I think he'd be the type to directly ask you what exactly you want for your birthday. Don't hesitate to ask, though, he'll literally buy you whatever you want without looking at the prize tag twice. It's your special day, after all.

[ghost-bxrd]

Tim going absolutely feral in his attempts to get Mockingjay away from Hood.

Sure, all of the Bats want to rescue the kid, but they don't really get the danger the kid is in, they are still under the impression Hood cares about keeping the kid safe.

But Tim SAW what Hood is like at the Titans Tower, okay? Hood is freaking insane. Doesn't matter if he cares about the kid or not, he's going to end up hurting, maybe killing, the boy in one of his 'episodes'.

And Tim will do anything to get the kid to come away, to understand what Hood is doing.

He's not going to bother with kid gloves. He's fully willing to scar the kid for life if it means the kid will at least get to live, which he's convinced won't happen if he's left at Hood's mercy.

Tim to Mockingjay on a rooftop: Hi! How's the gang war your boss started coming along? Last one was so exciting. I watched my friend - not a vigilante friend, mind you, just this civilian kid - bleed out when one of the gangs decided to shoot up my school. About two dozen civilians died in the first couple of days. Wanna bet how many you and Hood will bag this time? Have fun!

Tim, tossing Mockingjay crime scene photos of a gang shooting, showing a headshot corpse : Hi! Thought you might like a keepsake! This is Danny, he was eighteen. Dad died, three kids at home, couldn't get any job that paid enough except with these guys. I hear his sister signed up with Penguin's pimps after she got the news. Someone's still gotta feed the kids, right? Have a good lunch!

Tim, waving to Mockingjay: Hi! Sorry I'm late! Had to stay with a kid who found his mom OD'd. You should really ask your boss to show you what an OD death looks like - you'll probably find it pretty cool, all a nice blue shade, with this bloody foam spilling from the mouth, maybe twisted up a bit if they had convulsions first. The kid was crying about how he's gonna get the bastards who sold the stuff, but of course, you and Hood have pretty nice security, right?

Tim waging absolutely ruthless psychological warfare.

Ooo yes Tim would definitely try to pull something like that. What he wouldn’t expect is Mockingjay to give as good as he gets.

After the first few times you can bet Bruce is Fed Up™️ and devises his own little counter attack.

The next time he greets Robin with a merry little “Hey Rob, guess what? Frank just got out of jail again! You know, the guy you locked up in Black Gate for killing his girlfriend? Guess what! He went back to murder her sister, too! Had her spread out all over the apartment with a kitchen knife. Have a nice patrol <3”

Mockingjay, crashing a bust: “Sorry we’re late to the party! Had to take out a pedophile you guys locked up last month but was set free on parole. Guess what? He had two new victims locked up in his basement!”

Mockingjay, cupping his ear: “Sorry, what was that? I can’t hear you over the sound of a two year old screaming because he just saw his dad get murdered in front of him. Because you guys ‘Didn’t have enough evidence’ to get the guy who threatened him convicted. Should we tell Social Services to bill you the lifelong therapy bill or…?”

Mockingjay, throwing a file at Robin’s head: “Hey, Dickhead, remember Tiff? The street kid? Thanks to you sticking her in a “safe foster home” she was forced to go work street corners. Maybe you should tell your boss to do better research.”

Mockingjay is a menace, and if Tim thinks he can guilt trip/horrify the kid into condemning Jason’s work than he’s going to have a rude awakening hehe

[gemini-sensei]

HDJSHDH i need to know what happens with bad boy robby and his date with larusso’s sweet innocent daughter 😭

i imagine he picks her up at her house, driving a car he took from his mom and some flowers and chocolates he also stole, wanting to save what little money he had in order to pay for whatever they were gonna do.

it’s so cute to think of him getting all ready for a date like maybe ironing his clothes and spraying cologne 🥺

i think he’d either wanna go to a concert, arcade, or like a theme park or fair. all of these he’d want to impress her and show off. he’d buy them both some snacks and drinks to share, maybe a smoothie with two straws cus he saw it in a movie and thought girls would find it romantic. at the end of the date he brings her home and heads to leave but she invites him inside for a bit, they end up either watching movies and falling asleep together on her large comfy bed (maybe something else🤭)

thank you so much for answering all of my super long requests<3

I love your super long requests 💗 don't be shy to send more 😉

Robby would be the one to wanna pay for everything so he's scrounges up some cash to do so. Of course he steals the flowers and chocolates because the money can be used elsewhere. He wants to impress Reader and she's a rich Encino kid, so of course he has to do everything like a gentleman.

However, this is sweet, goth LaRusso!Reader. She doesn't care about money or what he's able to get her. One their daylte, she probably pays with her dad's card before Robby has the chance to take our his wallet. She doesn't care about the stereotype where guy pays for everything on the date. She just wants to have a nice, fun time with her date.

I thought they might go to a concert, but I love the idea that they go to a fair!

They totally eat fair food and sit at a picnic table while drinking a smoothie together. She totally finds two straws romantic, not that she'll admit it outloud. She has an air of gothic mystery to keep up, similar to his bad boy attitude he keeps up with. He definitely puts his arm around her while they walk around the fairgrounds, holding her close as he gives off that 'I don't care' attitude to everyone they pass by. It's actually so sweet.

They go on rides together where he holds her hand the entire time and they're laughing together, just having a nice time together. They spend the time waiting in lines talking about any and everything, just getting to know one another that much better. And cliche as it may be, they have their first kiss at the top of the Farris wheel 🤭 totally unplanned. It was just the perfect moment.

When the night is seemingly over, Robby is happy with how things are seemingly going to end. He takes her home and walks her to her front door, but then she mentions how she doesn't want the night to end and asks if he wants to come inside. He has nowhere he has to be, so he comes inside and they decide to watch a movie in her room. Her family aren't home, so there no one to bother them or bombard them with questions. She strategically told her dad that she was going out with friends and definitely not his new hire from the Auto Group.

It's sweet and innocent at first, but as they forget about the movie in favor of lip locking and gentle touches. Being that he wants to be gentlemanly, he doesn't touch past her waist but he does get some squeezes in. He can't help it. Her waist is so soft and squeezable 😏 so he has to at least get one in, which makes her gasp and their lip locking turns into making out.

They lay on her bed making out for what feels like forever before they have to part for air. She giggles when she sees her black lipstick smeared on his lips and she can't help kissing his cheek to leave a black smooch on his skin. And maybe a few more down his neck. Robby is not opposed to any of this and perhaps they get a little carried away with each other 🤭 either way, their night together is unforgettable.

[queseraone]

Random ask since we're in for such a long break: ranking of TO/Rookie pairings (up to you if that only includes regular pairings or ones like Lucy/Harper or Nolan/Tim who rode together a few times during the rookie year)? While Tim/Lucy are definitely number one for me, I also have always enjoyed Nolan and Harper so they might be number two.

Oooh fun, I love random asks! Keep 'em coming! 😘

Okay, so in an effort to not let this get out of hand, I'm going to limit myself to the longer-term TO/rookie duos—

Tim Bradford & Lucy Chen

To the surprise of absolutely no one 😂😂 Listen, even if you remove the romance—which, I suppose technically, they just did 🙈 (too soon??)—I fucking love them. Tim is a great teacher, Lucy kicked ass because of/in spite of him, and the way they've just understood each other from the very beginning created such a fantastic dynamic. I'm obsessed, always and forever. 🫶

Nyla Harper and John Nolan

I adore Nyla, and her deadpan, stone-face, I-give-zero-fucks-but-secretly-care-a-lot attitude is such a fun counter to Nolan. I loved watching their relationship blossom from barely tolerating each other into a really lovely friendship.

Angela Lopez and Jackson West

These two. I'll be the first to admit I don't love Jackson as much as the rest of the fandom does, but there's something so incredibly beautiful about the journey these two went on together. Angela really went from reminding Jackson that they weren't friends to having him by her side as she got married and naming her first child after him!

Nyla Harper and Aaron Thorsen

Listen, I just love Nyla, okay? Again, it's really fun to watch her mask slowly slip away. She's so much like Tim, such a marshmallow inside, someone who cares so deeply. And seeing her exercise that compassion when it came to Aaron's history in particular was really lovely.

Talia Bishop and John Nolan

Okay, so admittedly this might not be the most fair judgement. We only had one season of them together, and I actually really enjoyed their dynamic in that time, but... I just like the others so much more. 🤷‍♀️

John Nolan and Celina Juarez

Sorry Celina, but you and Nolan take the last spot strictly because I think Nolan is a terrible training officer. If the TOs of season 1 could see them??? Woof. Nolan seems more focused on himself than on Celina's training, and she's floundering as a result. If any of the original rookies had fumbled even half as much as Celina, they'd have been bounced so fast.

Did I forget anyone?? 😅

For the record, if I had included the one-off pairings, Nyla and Lucy would have landed near the top of my list. I love that mentorship between them, and I of course love them both individually too!

[razzle-zazzle]

Hi, not sure if you answered this already but for your between au when branch gets adopted by gristle do you have any plans to continue with it? You kinda skipped the part during the first movie and I’d really like to know what happens when jd goes to get Bruce and clay. The fight scene would be so much more brutal than in canon. Either branch talking about how much worse he had it than his brothers or him not caring at all about their fighting. Oh and clay being out “serioused” by branch! I just really like ur au and your writing. I understand if you’re occupied with other stuff but do you atleast have so hc to give?

Oh don't worry, I do! My next Trolls piece should hopefully be for the Between AU! I usually do write stuff out of order, though, so I'll get to the first and second movies too, don't worry!

And that argument in the third movie... it'll definitely be a bit different, though not exactly in the ways you're guessing... actually, here, have a little snippet from when I wrote out a rough draft for the scene several weeks ago:

"I'm not calming down until John apologizes!" Clay declared, Bruce echoing the sentiment. "Well," John Dory started, voice beginning to rise, "sorry I tried to make Brozone the best it could be! Sorry I took care of you all when our parents got eaten!" He didn't sound very sorry. "A real apology!" Bruce shot back. "For the way you treated us! For the way you're treating us now!" "Ohhhh, so I shouldda just left y'all to your own devices, then, is that it?" John Dory's voice had dropped, but the bitter intensity remained. "Should've just left Floyd to die in that diamond, because TROLL FORBID I EVER DO ANYTHING TO MESS WITH YOUR PERFECT LIVES!" His hands waved about wildly as he spoke, rage etched in every feature. "That's not what we're saying and you know it!" Bruce riposted, "You just can't admit to your faults at all, can you? Because oh, noooo, perfect John Dory never makes any mistakes—" "I'M TRYING, DAMMIT!" John Dory roared. Clay interjected. "Well you're doing it wrong! Bossing us around and ruining things just like you always do!" "ENOUGH!" Branch yelled, in the same voice he used to be heard in a room full of Bergens, the same voice he used to project himself further and larger and safer. "You're all ruining this! None of you are listening and you're all going in circles!"

As for Vaycay Island and Hole-n-Fun, I have a few plans for how they'll go >:] Vaycay Island will probably be a lot tamer, with the most stress coming from Bruce being nervous about Groth & Bernice' presence (they got paid leave and so they immediately went on vacation) and Branch's familiarity with them, but otherwise the scene goes pretty similarly to in canon. Hole-n-Fun, though... oh boy.

AND I HAVE A JOKE I PROBABLY WON'T GET TO USE WHERE IN RESPONSE TO CLAY CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY OF THE FINANCES BRANCH GOES "But logistics are MY thing!" AND IT'S NOT THE SAME AS BRANCH "OUT-SERIOUSING" CLAY BUT IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH ASDFDGYTDRFSDHFGFDZDFSDGFHGF

and then there's a lot more you can find in the AU tag! I even discuss my plans for the first movie (it was. a struggle to figure out)

[balis77]

Canto VII/Season 5 Abnormality Speculation

Ok, so each abnormality that is either part of a sinner's dungeon or their season pass egos (In the case of Heathcliff) usually has some connection/symbolism for them ala each of the ego used during Realizations in Library having some symbolism towards the emotions/memories displayed within. Since we have a pretty damn big list of mirror dungeon abnormalities and they seem to primarily draw on those for new bosses as opposed to making new ones, I'ma speculate on some options for things we'll face in Don's personal dungeon.

Pagoda Veneration

This one is pretty self explanatory. It's focused around wishes and the granting/destruction of them, which fits Don's character to a tee to the point she already has an EGO for it.

Rose Hunter

So, this abnormality is effectively a rogue hunter that seeks to bring Snow White's Apple (Or Ebony Apple, possibly both) back to fulfill the role they had in the original tale. Effectively, cutting their dreams short to drag them back to their original fate, which could possibly be the problem Don faces in her Canto or faced in her own past. It would effectively represent reality trying to drag her back down.

Sleepyhead

This one mainly correlates to Don's fascination and association with toys, along with it giving a lust gift which matches the Sin of Don's base ego. It also has a blood motif in that you need to offer it blood to get its head to raise back up to give you the gift, which also matches with Don's base ego translating to "Blood of Sancho".

Tomorrow's Expression

Tomorrow's Expression is an Aberration of Today's Shy Look, which in Library stood-in for Angela's having to mask her true desires to reach out to the others in order to fulfill the Seed of Light plan. Tomorrow's Expression is effectively Shy Look's opposite, being something that asks how it should express itself as opposed to something that wanted to find a way to express its own emotions. This can correlate to the possible origins of Don and her worldview, and the original story of Don Quixote and how people tried to cruelly snap Don out of his delusions.

[sysig]

It’s hard to put on a bright face, in spite of everything (Patreon)

[polaroidcats]

i'm actually going out for drinks tonight for the first time in ages but now it's been 4 hours since i sent a reminder/are-we-still-on-for-tonight? text into the groupchat and the only person who replied so far is the one who already said they'd be over an hour late because of work but i was the one who made the reservation so i feel like i need to be on time and the radio silence is doing wonders for my anxiety

[mantisgodsdomain]

OK we're done talking about spoilers now. Mad Rat Dead is fun because it's in the category of "things that, despite giving little to no indication on the cover that a specific subject is even present, handled it significantly better than a piece of media that specifically markets itself on Handling That One Subject". Despite not really marketing itself on the inevitability of death and figuring out how to live a life that you're happy to die with, it still works a damn good story on those terms, and you probably wouldn't guess just how well it works with those themes by initial presentation. Also, the soundtrack slaps.

[splatoon3]

can someone from team grub justify their team choice for me because i genuinely don't understand

[unproduciblesmackdown]

akd as lucifer (the mysteries)

[ghost-bxrd]

Ngl, the whole "Shoot All The Bad Guys" thing with Jason and mini Bruce is cathartic, but can't help thinking of the consequences.

One of the arguments that surface following a real life cop shooting someone is that trigger happy cops make things riskier even for other cops - that, once people know any encounter might end in death, they will start shooting first instead of considering giving up.

The Gotham situation changing like that with Red Hood involved.

Till then, you know you can surrender. The Bats don't kill. If you're a regular minion, when Bats attack, you know you always have the option of just dropping your weapon and letting them take you.

But Red Hood kills. And the kid he has with him is even more insane.

Sure, Jay only kills the ones he's sure deserves it, but how are the regular people supposed to know that for sure? Or trust it?

Surrender is no longer an option. If you want to survive, you have to kill him and the kid first. They never used to shoot to kill against Robins, not when they're this little, but now it's their only option to survive.

And criminals are likely to take far more risks to escape Red Hood than they do with the Bats. Maybe a random pickpocket or someone seeing Red Hood or Mockingjay and running into the traffic or leaping off a roof in terror...

We haven’t seen much about how Jason runs his crime empire in AoM yet! So while he definitely picks up killing the bad people again, he doesn’t do it for fun or indiscriminately. It’s very apparent for anybody who cares to look for it that only the big players get methodically removed from the playing field.

During a shootout he doesn’t actively go for killing everyone involved, he’s just looking to end it fast and come out on top. The casualties do increase in these situations, obviously, but Jason sure as hell isn’t going to shoot someone who actively surrenders to be taken into custody. (Unless they’re on his hit list for whatever reason).

And we also need to keep in mind that while some criminals may feel uncomfortable fighting against a child, most probably wouldn’t care and even try to use their superior size and strength to their advantage. It’s Gotham, after all. Most of them wouldn’t hesitate to kill either Robin or Mockingjay, or worse.

Moreover, Jason is still operating as a crime lord. Right now he’s an anti hero at best, a villain at worst. His only concern is to keep mini Bruce safe and clean up Crime Alley, with the added bonus of pissing off the batfam.

But rest assured we’ll definitely get to see some GCPD interaction in the future, and other scenes that will depict the impact Red Hood and his sidekick have on Gotham at large :)

[aceofbooks-creative-anthologies]

I still haven't posted anything about ace x senku (because fuck him), but I'm thinking about how that ship handles our dynamic.

Fundamentally, ace x senku and mikace are the same exact ship. INTP x INTP at our very worst. Competitive and methodical and lofty goals and misunderstandings and over analyzing motivations.

But where mikace becomes very codependent very quickly, even just as friends - ace x senku is forced apart right when we would have become codependent, and have to grow as individuals separately from each other. I think Senku is dead for a good while. Senku has to learn how to work through his blocks without me there to bounce ideas off of.

Which is why Ryusui is an important part of ace x senku. I have to learn to heal from Senku's "betrayals" (yes, plural) and Ryusui provides the love and understanding for me to do that. Ryusui grounds me and shows me a different way of viewing the world. I haven't figured out our break-up yet, but I know that it's going to be amicable and as friends. Ryusui is going to realize that the person I need, now that I've grown and healed, isn't him. And he'll be okay with it because he just wants to see me happy.

Mikace doesn't learn how to exist without each other. We break up every other week. We make our friends pick sides. When we're younger (15/16) we get into cat fights. More than once, we've both ended up with black eyes and sprained wrists or ankles because we thought a sparring match would help solve an argument. We do eventually grow as individuals, but all of our growth happens much too late in the relationship and only after a dozen or so interventions, led by Takemichi.

So yeah, mikace and ace x senku are the same ship, fundamentally. They both bring out the worst in me, and I believe I'd bring out the worst in them (this is also why mikace is exclusively final timeskip). But because of a correctly timed Tsukasa, ace x senku is a much healthier ship (when we get there, eventually; it's pretty toxic for a long while after the empire is dissolved).

[musical-chick-13]

I know the point of "Don't have your characters use therapy-speak" is "Don't put dialogue in your story that makes things seem stilted/breaks immersion for the purpose of proving that This Isn't Actually An Unhealthy Situation, I Promise Guys," but nonetheless it is starting to give me a complex over writing these characters like. Communicating. Just at all.