#irrelevant personal rambling

[fallowhearth]

I had lunch with a friend today even though I really didn't want to (nothing against the person, just tired). Since I got home I've been lying on the couch becoming increasingly melancholy because I'm equally bored and unable to rouse myself to do anything. Strange to feel like I'm having to hold off friends who want to see me (and are making it very clear!) because I'm so exhausted, but also to feel so lonely.

[aingeal98]

More Jason and Cass thoughts (sorry but also not sorry) but if I was magically given full control over DC and could write what I'd want obviously I'd make Cass Batman but I've been thinking of what sort of reaction and role Jason would have in response. I think I'd write his version of "Congrats on the new job!" as a test, involving the Joker and civilians and gangs and Red Hood and a ton of explosives. Bruce failed me, and now he's given up. You're his successor, let's see how you handle this dilemma that freaked him out so badly he threw a batarang into my throat rather than let me avenge my own death in front of him.

So obviously Cass will overcome the traps and the puzzles. That's the fun part to show how competent both of them are and sprinkle in little character moments as we go. But then we reach the emotional crux of the matter, probably laid out as some sort of saw trap because it's Jason. Here I am, a victim of murder. You say nobody dies tonight but I did, and I want the man who did it dead. Not only did Batman fail to avenge me but he failed to stop the Joker from going on to create even more victims. What right do you have to stop me from getting justice for myself? What right does this man have to life after what he's taken from me and from countless others? I'm not trying to kill a random stranger, I'm specifically demanding justice for my own death that I never got while I was gone.

There are two ways this could go. The straightforward route if I knew my time on this run was limited would probably be a pyrrhic victory like the ones Cass's og series was so fond of. Just like Bruce in utrh, she acts on instinct and saves the Joker (and Jason this time) . A win technically, but she fails the test. Jason is once again vindicated but with nothing to show for it. The story ends with Cass sending the Joker back to jail and going back to the batcave, where the old Robin costume looms judgementally, highlighting her failure. It would be the most fitting end given their character molds, all tragedy and conviction and unstoppable force meets immovable object etc.

However... I think the option I prefer would be a little different. Cass levelling with Jason, a killer talking to a murder victim. She has no right to stop Jason from getting justice, she has no love for the Joker but she knows any death she allows to happen like this would devastate her, just like that death row inmate long ago she tried to break out but ended up letting go once the family of the victim talked to her and demanded justice. I think... In this specific situation, she'd just be honest. Morally she has no right sure. Personally she just really really doesn't want anyone to die. Give her one chance, please. Let her try it her way. Not demanding, not lecturing or insisting, just... Please. Don't do this. Let me try another way.

And then what? Jason asks.

In the end a deal is struck. Cass will take the Joker and lock him up, ensuring he never harms anyone again while also trying to rehabilitate him. But the second she fails and he gets free, Jason kills him and she won't stand in his way. It's the kind of deal that leaves both of them mildly disgusted and dissatisfied with themselves, neither of them naturally creatures of compromise when it comes to this specific topic. But Cass is willing to do anything to avoid death and Jason did not expect the new Bat to be so... Flexible? Kind of? Of course maybe she won't actually hold up her end of the deal and when the Joker gets loose she'll try and stop Jason from killing him and he'll get his miserable vindication, but right now this is something strange and new and he's mildly confused and curious about where it will go. He doesn't believe in her ability to contain the Joker forever but he's willing to let her try because her reaction to that future failure interests him. She's given him a sword of damocles to hang above her head and he didn't ask for it or expect it. It's the type of power he never thought the Bat would just... Hand to him.

The conflict ends with neither of them fully winning or losing. They both don't really know what to feel about this.

The thing is, the second Cass let's Jason kill the Joker she's hanging up the mantle. She's staking the Bat on this, because it's always go big or go home with her when it comes to saving others, even someone like the Joker. In this magical universe where I have unlimited power, Cass would lock the Joker in a secret bunker and have Leslie Thompkins talk to him daily, mostly because I think her pacifism speeches and debates in the comics would make a fun contrast to the Joker's evil sadism. (But what about his rights? Doesn't he deserve a trial and to be held in a regular prison? I'm going to be honest I think Cass would be very comfortable bending the rules on this specific situation. Morally questionable but I'd have fun with it. She's going to let Leslie treat Joker like her personal pet project to save his soul because yes she wants him to change but also she's got a city to save every night so go crazy Leslie, have fun.)

And the Batman series would continue with Cass as the lead, new challenges and new antagonists and every twenty issues or so for the first hundred we'll cut back to the Joker briefly if his chats with Leslie can help highlight some thematic element of the current arc. But bit by bit he'd slowly fade away onto oblivion, maybe getting referenced every hundred issues or so until eventually no one remembers or cares about him because there's so much else going on. Meanwhile Jason's got a good thing going as Red Hood, primarily based in Park Row and a tentative ally on the occasion when their vigilante work aligns. Unlike Joker he's a much more frequent character in the comics, and after say 10 years (this is my magical fantasy universe Cass's batman run is going to last for a very long time alright) when people think of DC characters they think of Red Hood long before they think of the Joker.

Is any of this realistic? Right now of course not. It's why I'd go with the pyrrhic victory if I actually got the chance, because it would be the best way to tell the story in the larger context of the Bat narrative. But it's my fantasy DC editor and writer daydream and I'm going to dream big. They're never going to be normal happy siblings, their personal demons will never fully let them be free and the looming possibility of losing everything they currently have narrative wise if Bruce comes back as Batman will always be there. But it's maybe the closest to peace they'll ever get. Unsatisfying and tame compromise that probably violates several laws and ethical codes but whatever. Cass has never read the Geneva convention and Jason's not going to shed tears over the Joker. Let him die relevancy wise if not physically.

[mollysunder]

One of the best examples of Piltover’s lack of genuine self-reflection is when Jayce decided to make hextech weapons for Caitlyn. I understand that he nay have been rattled by Renni's attack during the memorial, but the only reason Renni even had the place stormed was because Jayce killed her son... with a hextech weapon! Renni literally told Jayce to his face this isn't some random act of violence, this is about revenge for her child that he shot and left to die on a cold factory floor.

And instead of internalizing the series of events that caused this specific situation, which was an act of retaliation against Jayce's own aggression. Instead he just made more weapons for Caitlyn and her team, as if that wasn't the reason things escalated in the first place. Jayce may have been remorseful for killing that kid, but any feelings he had about it were largely irrelevant to how it informed his actions later on.

[heilos]

I have come to the annoying conclusion that many search engines are becoming super useless in trying to track down historical research without bending over backwards for answers. The amount of garbage that shows up in the results is so incredibly aggravating and has nothing to do with my search terms or questions. I cannot in fact "just use X search engines" apparently.

[sebek-zigbolt]

I don't think I'm strong enough not to pull for bday sebek even tho I want to save for ch 7 cards...... bcause yea........

[angelicsentinel]

Not to yuck anyone's yum here, but I don't see how someone can do meta if they don't even have basic reading comprehension, much less do surface level critical analysis that says anything of substance.

[lazaruspiss]

seeing content creator drama is so weird. like i would die. also people who try so hard for internet fame? like ur trying to get big on purpose?? thats literally one of my worst fears and i will never understand social media culture.

[jettreno]

I assume it’s bc of the tv show but I’ve seen a couple posts randomly dunking on the last of us but for such dumb reasons. “I want to play lighthearted silly games instead of grimdark ones” “I want to play games that are more inextricable from the video game medium, games that are less cinematic” the good news is that those games exist! the last of us is in fact only two games out of the countless video games out there, so I would recommend not playing them if you don’t want to

[welcometogrouchland]

What if I proposed the analysis that Belos actually has very little internal moral compass and that his veneer of righteousness has always been implied by the writers to be complete fabricated bullshit even before watching and dreaming basically confirms it.

[averlym]

Wait so I’m kind of confused, are you still doing asks? Or just commissions since you’ve officially closed ur requests. Are you just gonna occasionally do asks with requests no longer being sent?

hi hi!! okay so:

1. commissions are open right now

2. requests are 'closed' - i can't stop you from sending them, but it's pretty unlikely that i'll draw them any time soon

3. i have quite a lot of old requests filling my ask box, so i'll do those asks occasionally

hope that clarifies a bit!

[villagewarlock]

existing as a gender and being perceived is so weird..

been using the "women's only room" at the gym cause it's a much smaller space with way less people than the two main spaces and I am so very new and unsure of what I'm doing and having the fewest number of people watch me fumble through figuring out how machines work is ideal but also all of the other people in this space are Very femme like long hair and sports bras and workout leggings etc and there's me with chin hair and jeans and a tshirt. maybe I am overthinking and the other people there don't give a shit but I don't want to make people uncomfortable in a space that I think technically I should not be using? but also I have realized that I am still deeply tied to having been raised/socialized as a girl and assume that people read me as butch lesbian(?). but I think at this point that does not match the way that I look to other people and I like how masc I look and don't really want to change that so... idk??

[fallowhearth]

I posted a few weeks ago about having an order of operations problem in my weekend housework. Anyway, I'm happy to report I've solved it through the simple solution of just doing everything Saturday morning rather than dragging my feet and putting off the annoying tasks until Sunday. Turns out it wasn't that hard to do. Many such cases.

I feel like this post should have some kind of lesson or joke or something to make it a worthy Post but no, it's just a diary entry. Also many such cases on this blog!

[caruliaa]

theyre not roman and virgil from sander sides btw theyre virgil and roman from good at loving you || prinxiety animatic. if you even care

[mollysunder]

The fact that Jinx killed Silco, or that he was specifically killed at all, is so irrelevant to s2 (for everyone including Sevika) is so weird to me. If I never watched Arcane and randomly started from s2, or if some marathon came on and I made it to the start of s2, I wouldn't even remember that Jinx killed him.

To be fair, Jinx did straight up tell Smeech and they included Silco's death in that awkward black and white clip show recap of silco in s1, but it's just so completely inconsequential to the plot. Actually, it's also a bit confusing because despite knowing Silco's dead, Caitlyn still lists one of her objectives as neutralizing "agents still loyal to Silco". Do these supposed loyal "agents" even know he's dead? Do they know Jinx killed him? Why didn't Caitlyn mention any of this to the general public?

Tldr: In s2 it's easy to forget that Jinx killed Silco because it doesn't matter to anyone, not her allies or enemies. If I was a casual viewer, like I watched it s1 during the premiere and came back post-hiatus to watch s2 without a rewatch and you quizzed about how Silco died, I'd probably get that answer wrong.

[oh-meow-swirls]

i wrote a potential prologue for my rewrite of 2 months ago but it doesn't actually work thinking about it so here it is in screenshot form-

[gynoidgearhead]

[image caption: two books, one very thick and one very thin. the first is "the plot of mass effect 1" and the second is "the plot of mass effect 1 if the n7 armour had a helmetcam". end caption]

my mass effect hot take ((fuck the council))