#as if he were following rules

[dtaegis]

3 days. and the boy already feels bad for the decisions he took 🫥

[shorthaltsjester]

Why are your children bound by rules you will not follow?

Critical Role, Campaign 3, Downfall Parts 1-3 // Commandments of The Prime Deities according to the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn

[dykedvonte]

I think it’s so ironic that the Pony Express escapes a lot if not all blame in discussion. I can’t even say I am excused from it but it’s just how hard people circle back to the characters alone without considering the environment they were made to be in.

Why would they design a ship where only two of the rooms lock? Not the bathroom? Not the sleeping quarters? We assume that all the companies in the universe are this shallow and careless to their workers but we explicitly know the Pony Express in extra vile. They are fed processed slop pack they can’t even really cook and the ration of those pack is meager at best. They hired and made people with a plethora of conflicting demeanors and beliefs work together on a mission where cohesion is important if not an outright necessity and punish them for not being happy about it. There’s no social protocols, not chain of command other than Captain’s word/choice and the only way to enforce that is with a literal firearm. They don’t allow them to celebrate freely and even took away leisure activities that would make them less stir crazy. They are only allowed a few hours of sleep despite their being no other real responsibilities or work on the ship, no matter the position or its importance. With any crew, with any level of synergy, this was a powder keg waiting for a spark.

I’m not saying characters that made mistakes didn’t make huge ones, but I think part of the horror is that at least for some (this is targeting Jimathan) those mistakes are partly made by a force of the hand. There’s a running theme of lack of choice and being forced into something and the very nature of how The Pony Express expected them to function plays a big part.

[paunchsalazar]

Dean should have been the new new Bobby… I’ll kill myself

[brucewaynehater101]

i want you to know that i scroll through your posts and interactions just to find all your fic recs and open new ao3 tabs.

your tim parenting Bruce au has destroyed me and I love it so much thank you for your service.

do you have any more particularly gut wrenching aus cooking up in your genius noggin?

Heeeey. How'd you know I had a new AU I haven't released yet?

But before we get into that, thank you for the compliments. Angst is my favorite flavor.

As far the AU, you know the saying, "You either die as a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"?

I feel like that could fit Tim so well.

How I imagine the AU to start out would be Tim as Robin. He's in the batcave with Bruce as the man is showing him a particularly devastating case. Bruce, his mentor but not his father, turns to Tim with a grimmace.

"There's a reason we have a code, Tim."

They both glance at Jason's memorial and Bruce's hands start to shake.

"As much as we may want to give in to our desires and emotions, we can't stoop down to their level. There needs to be lines we won't cross, even for the greater good."

Azure eyes snap to arctic ones, begging for the younger to understand.

"We do this to protect others, even those who are twisted and foul. We aren't the judges or executioners."

Tim nods in agreement, and Bruce's shoulders lose a little of their tension. The older man pats the teen's shoulder in pride before his attention goes back to the murder case.

Tim, as Robin, had many interactions with Bruce that shaped who he was as a vigilante. How much force to apply when fighting, what lines to cross, and acceptable codes of conduct were taught to the kid in several instances. It didn't matter that Bruce himself had broken them or that, on very rare occasions, Dick also broke them. They were rules Tim was expected to follow, and they were reasonable lines. Of course, Tim did everything he could to meet those standards. He may have trained with Lady Shiva, and YJ may get into so whacky ordeals, but there's no excuse to go outside of those bounds.

It became difficult, though, when Jason beat Tim into the floor of Titan's Tower. When Jason, after hurting several family members, was welcomed back. It became a strain on Tim when Bruce enacted the 16th Birthday present fiasco or Tim found out about what the man had done to Dick (the bruise he left on Dick's face after Jason's passing). It was demanding to follow those rules when Damian came into the picture and when Dick handed him Robin.

When Tim found that painting of Bruce, when Dick and the JL turned their backs on him, when YJ wasn't there to support him, some part of Tim said "fuck it." Why should he follow standards he had to leash Bruce into obeying? The man wasn't even here anymore.

He still tried, but he gave less effort to it. He didn't want Bruce to find out when he returned after all.

But Tim? He never returned from that desert. As far as the Bats become aware after Tim sends them the data for Bruce and then blows up the bases, Tim died in the explosions he caused.

And the rest of the AU goes into Tim exploring how the guidelines Bruce gave him were bullshit, so he slowly starts to let more and more go until he has no moral bounds anymore. He's seen Bruce, Jason, Damian, Barbara, Alfred, and Dick all break one or more of these "rules" that were placed on Tim. So why should Tim go along with it?

What does it matter if he betrays, manipulates, tortures, and kills if it saves the most people? What does it matter if he commits suffering if he's helping people?

Until, one day, Bart and Kon are on the other side of the battlefield from Tim. While Bart is steadfast in defeating Tim (no matter how much it pains him), Kon is devastated that Tim never told him he was alive. He doesn't even care that Tim is a villain. If he had just asked, Kon would've joined him.

It's too late now. Bart needs Tim to stop, Tim can't let Kon join him, and Kon is torn between his duty and his friend.

So Tim does what he always does, he sacrifices himself. He allows them to take him into holding, executes his plan to murder all villains left, places restrictions on the JL (so they'll never hurt anyone the way they hurt Tim and abandoned his friends again), and then Tim disappears. Bart opposing Tim was the sign that Tim was in the wrong. He knows that. If he wasn't, Bart would've been on Tim's side no matter how morally grey he got.

Tim had crossed into the black.

He became what he always feared he might one day be.

[skrunksthatwunk]

man. y'know that scene where little hiei realizes the bandits are afraid of him bc he kept killing them? how he thought it was fine because they were killing others and he thought they understood, that their system of might makes right would be consistent no matter his actions, until all at once the only family he's ever had shuts him out for doing what he thought would help him fit in? for doing what he thought they wanted from him, at least to some extent? sigh. heartbreaking levels of autism in this small faggot

[tangledinink]

Do the boys just never take off their cloaking charms? Between showering sports and just childhood shenanigans... how?

Yep! The long and short of it is that Splinter invested in the good shit. (How did he afford the good shit? Donnn't worry about it. Same way he was able to cut a deal with Big Mama...)

The Cloaking Crystals are specifically designed for long-term wear, the bracelets are small and minimal so as to not get in the way of day-to-day, and are enchanted so that they fit snugly and won't fall off by accident-- they have to be deliberately removed with intention. Splinter spent weeks teaching his sons how to wear bracelets without bothering them (even before he got the actual cloaking brooches) and drilling into them how important it was to never ever take them off.

After a while, the brothers just got used to having them on, and really didn't have any reason to ever take them off. I imagine that there was at least one occasion (when they were still young,) where one of the brothers (probably Leo...) started messing with his, but...

Dad didn't even get mad. He yelled a little, sure, and he stopped Leo right away, but... They could tell he wasn't angry. He was scared. They had never seen his face look like that before.

... They kind of decided after that that they really shouldn't ever take the bracelets off. Dad said it kept them safe, and it seemed like he meant it. Now that they're older, they mostly just chalk it up to it being some kind of superstitious thing on their Dad's part, but they remember how important it is to him, and that he told them not to, so... They just haven't.

Not yet, anyway.

[thatfaerieprincess]

The FCG doodles for a friend that jump started me somewhat out of art block the other day! Turns out I love drawing this goofy robot <333

I'm particularly fond of the one of him bending over to pet a cat 💛

[lunarharp]

thingies

[americankimchi]

tcw is so good at introducing us to characters and bite-sized stories that capture our attention and so, SO bad at following even a modicum of logic when it comes to the consequences of actions under military law

[purplelea]

Something that just occurred to be is that is isn't extremely weird for Neku and Sho to only be allowed to use one pin at a time? Because we know for sure that in the og Neku was able to use six of them and we can easily guess that Sho could as well, given his Imagination level. It's likely that Beat could, too, but I'm not well versed enough in the og's gameplay to tell.

In any case, neither Neku nor Sho can use more than one pin at once. Another piece of dialogue from Sho also reveals that the level caps on the pins have been removed, making them usable by any player regardless of their level.

Those two factors are some pretty big changes—we see how surprised Sho is when he realizes the latter. My question is: how were they made possible?

There is no reason why Kariya or Uzuki, when in control of Shibuya, would make those changes. Joshua wouldn't have either, because they make no sense in Shibuya's Game. So that only leaves Shiba, who probably made them to fit Shinjuku's rules better. Only thing is, that Sho has been Conductor before, so he should have been aware that this was a possibility. Yet his reaction makes me believe that he never considered it possible (it is possible that he didn't consider it simply because he didn't think about it or because it wouldn't have helped him with his plans anyway, but I think he genuinely didn't know it could be done) which then leads to the logical conclusion of: only a higher power could've done this.

I believe Kubo's the one who made those changes to Shibuya's Game, or Shiba, but thanks to Kubo's powers—in any case, it's a intervention of the Higher Plane. Sho isn't stupid and probably guessed it right away. I am thus adding this to the list of hints he got in order to guess who was behind all of this

[girderednerve]

i feel about the chronicle of higher ed the way people used to (?) feel about the cut's personal essays. here's a piece about an english professor who had a disastrous turn being department chair a few years ago, was investigated for discrimination as a result, successfully sued in response to the investigation's outcome, and is now posting extracts from & commentary upon the resulting set of public documents! it's a huge mess, just like the summary makes it sound, and if you like to rubberneck other people's drama this totally goes. i don't think anybody in it did a good job except the article writer but also i wasn't there

[crimeronan]

RE last post about bb Luz and Hunter

Just imagining Belos coming into Hunter's room every night after Luz arrives once he's finally decided he's going to do a murder and that he doesn't need the grimwalkers anymore, only to be dissuaded by the fact Luz is right there curled up asleep on top of him contentedly as he purrs.

This is despite the fact that they do not sleep in the same room and Belos is not entirely sure how she got there from her room and no matter how many locks he puts on both of their doors or guards he assigns she somehow gets in there or Hunter ends up in her room through similar means (it's the vents or guards blatantly collaborating) and just being constantly perplexed at how they constantly end up with each other and how he keeps being outwitted by a four year old and a six year old.

Eventually he gives up on just disappearing Hunter in his sleep and tries doing it in the day which is when the aforementioned meltdown happens but the image of Belos being bested by a four year old has seized my brain.

this is hilarious and delightful. i LOVE the idea of luz and hunter charming their guards. luz keeps going "but WHY can't i see him" with her giant baby doe eyes & her assigned coven guard of the week is like "....you know what. i have no idea." and keeps sneaking her over.

if luz DOESN'T manage to charm her guard of the week, hunter paces fretfully about it and bangs on his door until HIS guard of the week is like oh for fuck's sake. Fine. Let's Go

belos is certain the guards are conspiring despite them swearing they aren't & so he keeps switching them out & luz + hunter KEEP charming them & belos is like. WHAT MAGIC ARE THESE POWERLESS CHILDREN USING. WHAT IS GOING ON

actually. god. i haven't fleshed out much of luz's inner guard (besides hunter, obviously), but what if it's made up mostly of older guards/scouts who broke belos's rules when she was a baby. hunter would still do his due diligence wrt making sure they're steadfastly loyal and have no ulterior motives, but like. hunter like hey. i've known you since i was six and i know you'll do anything for luz.

& these people WELL into their late thirties and forties being like. i've known YOU since YOU were six. and yet somehow you have become my boss.

.....ok.

[agnesandhilda]

started reading iron widow by xiran jay zhao and now that I've reacclimated to the YA writing style (which I do not fuck with, as a rule), I'm really into this. I'm at chapter thirteen and I'm predicting that li shimin eventually lets zetian pilot him---if only because she's able to convince him that it would make the forces holding them both captive really mad

[firestorm09890]

probably deleting this later and it's not like anyone following me actually gives a shit but most of the characters I grow obsessed with end up being men because the archetype and character traits I'm obsessed with are more often than not applied to men in the fiction that ends up infecting my brain, and not because I. hate women. sometimes you can rightly say people unfairly make up backstories and shit for underdeveloped male characters and ignore the underdeveloped female characters but I promise it has nothing to do with internalized misogyny for me, it's just me chasing after whichever character fits my favored description the most, even if it's grains of sand I have to work with. genuinely if you know of media with women who are.... hm... idk if I can describe this. cold, competent, and rational and are care way too much about the rules and have a deeply fucked up relationship with an authority figure in their lives that heavily affects their actions PLEASE let me know so I can read/watch it

[mishy-mashy]

On the note of Banjo, it makes more sense if he were a Vigilante. I believe he actually was this, rather than a Pro Hero.

Daigoro Banjo, AKA Lariat. It's not explicitly stated he was a Pro Hero, and he recognizes Japan during the first appearances of Abilities.

In the anime (ep 133), the subs translated this as:

"This devastation... it's like we've gone back in time... Trying not to catch the eyes of villains, just hiding every day... it's like when superpowers first appeared."

Banjo recognizes Japan's disarray, and from brief flashbacks of the vestiges, including All Might talking about his dream for a symbol, we can see Japan really was as Banjo recognizes.

But Tomura, in the mall, says people just smile without concern. They've forgotten, or never experienced, that past. Banjo can clearly identify it, and when we get his full name, he definitely lived during that turmoil (neverminding his age, I think of him as 36 or somethin, and Shinomori died at 40).

This would actually make Banjo a Vigilante. They mention that back then, Vigilantes and the first Villains used codenames like comic books, so Banjo being Lariat could easily just be that.

(Not so related, but references to recognizable things like Pokémon and superheroes like Spider-Man appealed to the masses as familiar, so when Abilities first showed up, it would've been around our time [2000s].)

Look at when the League of Villains asked Toga why she had no villain name;

When we see Banjo using his Ability and we get his name, we see that Japan isn't in the best state. Look at all the damage and fresh smoke below him.

All Might says that during this time, All For One's power ran unchecked, and he stole many powerful Abilities, if not crushed the users. Other than simply being first/second-generation, this also explains why, individually, all the OFA vestiges had weak Quirks. Even Kudo's was weak. It's just that it evolved with One For All and had enough nuance to become something more. Abilities like Float and Danger Sense didn't change at all, and Smokescreen only increased the amount of smoke Midoriya could make.

Since Banjo lived in the same time as when Quirks had started appearing, he knows the turmoil, but also was around long enough to be a Vigilante. Pro Heroes hadn't come into play immediately; Vigilantes were where they started.

Even Gran Torino was a Vigilante. It's why Midoriya found nothing on him when he looked him up. Gran Torino only became a Pro Hero to get his teaching license so he could teach All Might for a year, but that didn't stop him from being a hero, per se—he just did it through vigilantism. Gran Torino still did hero stuff before the hero license, and we see him flying and talking with Nana in a costume before he ever taught All Might.

Banjo doesn't strike me as a guy willing to jump through all the hoops when he can just go out and do it himself anyway. And with Japan in chaos still, does he – or the officials – have time for that?

Bakugo even describes Banjo as a nobody, because he doesn't recognize him. This would make sense when remembering Gran Torino was also unknown; because they were Vigilantes. I don't think Bakugo is referring to not knowing them just because their Abilities are weak. Heroes back then would be well-known as retro (ex. Crimson Riot, who Midnight recognizes immediately, despite his not-so-strong hair-hardening Ability), even if they weren't powerful.

Blackwhip is a useful Ability, and back in Banjo's time, considering Abilities in the first generations included Smokescreen, Danger Sense, Float, and Air Jet, Blackwhip is actually higher up in power and usefulness. And he's still unrecognizable.

If he were a Pro Hero, he'd be considered pretty amazing. But he's unknown, has a codename, and acted as a hero when Japan was troubled; his being "nobody" makes sense as a Vigilante.

Heroes didn't happen immediately. They began as Vigilantes; so for Banjo, at the start of using Abilities to bring some sort of order, he would've been in the Vigilante age. Or where heroes are just starting.

Nana was a Pro Hero. Kotaro resents heroes because she was one. Her friend, Gran Torino, was not a Pro Hero until he had to teach All Might for a year. People were more likely to be Vigilantes than Pro Heroes at their time, just because Vigilantes are where they started first.

Being a hero meant courses and licenses, and in a time where Pro Heroes were barely existing, with people still using their Abilities as they pleased? Banjo was probably a Vigilante.

Look at how America handled Vigilantes and starting the Pro Hero business;

Out of 189 Vigilantes, only 7 were recognized as heroes.

America wanted to make a divide between how people should use their Abilities for good. That's why so little people got to be heroes; Vigilantes were too destructive, and that wasn't proper behavior for those protecting the peace. We even see that UA teaches to keep damage to a minimum.

And whoop-dee-doo, look at how Banjo uses his Quirk.

HE'S DESTROYING STUFF. JUST TO GET AROUND. NO NO NO.

He was never actually called a Pro Hero. It was assumed because he has a codename; and codenames were just customary back then, to make identification and classification easier between Vigilantes and Villains while hiding their real identities.

He wouldn't have made the cut as a Pro Hero, lived during a time of rising Vigilantes against society's chaos, wasn't known at all (typical of Vigilantes) despite his good Ability, but had a codename (Lariat), and lived at the same time as Nana and Gran Torino.

So yeah, I consider Banjo to be a Vigilante rather than a Pro Hero. There's more things that push him toward being a Vigilante, compared to just having the alias Lariat being why he's called a Pro Hero by the fandom.