#schools really need to start teaching kids the important things in life

[brb-brained]

Silly Game Time: Complete the phrase. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself. Oh, and also _____."

The lack of general knowledge about frogs

[devotedlyandrogynousyouth]

Okay, please tell me I’m not the only one frothing at the mouth at the idea of Baby Daddy Dick Grayson???

AHHH YES I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS💙 I'll have Dick's babies any time tbh.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who still insists on calling you "babe" even though you two have clearly been on rocky terms ever since the breakup. He acts like he's still the charming, lovable guy you once knew, but it’s a little harder to ignore his flirty nature now that you're co-parents and he's dragging his feet on the whole "responsibility" thing.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who shows up late to pick up your kid, always looking like he just got off of a rooftop, trying to juggle his crime-fighting schedule with his duties as a father. But when it comes to helping out around the house, he tries to pull the "I’m too busy saving Gotham" card... again. You’re starting to roll your eyes every time he uses it.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who, when asked to pay child support, tries to sweet-talk his way out of it with an overconfident wink, joking that "how could you possibly put a price on this?" while flexing his abs. But it’s hard to stay mad when he shows up with ice cream for your kid and flirts with you like you’re still together—just long enough for him to sneak out without paying.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who, despite his flirty nature and charm, genuinely tries to be a good dad. He’ll drop everything when your child needs him, even if it means cutting his patrol short or rearranging his schedule. You can always count on him to be there for the important moments, even if his timing is off sometimes.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who genuinely adores his child but still struggles to grasp the concept of boundaries. He’ll show up unannounced, claiming it’s to "spend time with the little one," but really, he’s just looking for an excuse to rekindle that old spark with you.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who sometimes forgets that he’s supposed to be a grown-up, trying to get away with showing up at your house in his Robin gear to make everything feel like some sort of "happy family." His tendency to leap into action (sometimes literally) makes things complicated when you're just trying to have a quiet evening.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who, despite his complicated life, always makes time to bond with his child. He might not be perfect, but he’s the first to throw on his old Robin uniform for a "training session" or teach your kid how to juggle or do acrobatics, giving them a fun and loving memory that they’ll cherish forever.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who, when you finally call him out for his lack of involvement, just gives you that boyish smile and says, "Come on, can’t you just cut me some slack?" He’ll promise to do better, but deep down, you know he probably won’t—at least not until you hold his feet to the fire.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who swears he’s "getting better" with commitment and responsibility but ends up over-committing to things, like training your child in martial arts when you specifically told him no, or disappearing for a few days on a "secret mission." You don’t know what’s worse—the lack of communication or him acting like nothing’s changed when he comes back.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who, when he actually pulls himself together, is a total sweetheart. He'll leave you little notes, either tucked into your child’s backpack or stuck on the fridge, reminding you of how much he appreciates you and how proud he is of the family you’re raising together, even if he’s not always the most present.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who secretly listens when you talk about your hopes and dreams for the future, and while he doesn’t always show it, he supports you in subtle ways. He’ll show up at your kid’s school play, even though he’s exhausted from fighting crime, just to let you know he’s on your side. His actions often speak louder than his words.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who, when he does take responsibility, goes above and beyond. He’ll make sure your child has everything they need—school supplies, a new bike, or even just a good bedtime story. It might take a little nudging, but when he gets it right, he really gets it right.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who might joke around with you, but he’s fiercely protective of your family. He’d rather face down a villain than see you or your child in harm's way. He’s always got your back, even when you fight, because deep down he wants you both to be safe and happy.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who tries hard to make amends when he messes up. If he misses an important date or forgets something, he’ll make it up to you with an over-the-top gesture, like taking you and your kid out to dinner at your favorite restaurant, or even organizing a little weekend getaway—just to show he’s trying to make things right.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who sometimes tries to make it up to you with a bottle of wine on nights when your kid is at a sleepover. "It's just the right thing to do," is almost always his excuse, and you know better. Despite your better judgement, you still let him in, anyway. What's the worst that could happen?

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who ends up between your legs after only a couple of drinks, greedily lapping at your neglected cunt as the TV plays on in the background. It was almost enough to cover up your soft moans as you tugged on his black locks while he practically made out with your pussy.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who's on top of you pretty soon after that, rutting into you at such a ruthless pace that it was almost hard to remember your own name. His arms are wrapped around your torso just like yours are around him as he drills into you on the couch of your apartment.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who likes to say the nastiest things during these nights that he knows you haven't heard since you were together. "Yeah? You like it when Daddy does this, baby?" His voice is caught between being a moan and a tease as he twists your perked nipples between his index finger and thumb.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who never leaves your unsatisfied by the end of the night. Does he like to tease you? Yes. Does he like to make you work for it? Absolutely. But not once has he ever left your apartment without having made you cum at least twice.

BabyDaddy! Richard Grayson who will always stay the night, if you let him. He misses you so much more than he would ever admit, even to himself. There is absolutely nothing he wants more than to be able to hold you in his arms like this every night. He misses being able to stay the night without having to ask. You do too, for the record, but you just need a bit more time to think about letting him back into your life.

Masterlist

[sepublic]

            The Owl House’s first episode really is a litmus test for people who claim to support Problem Kids who act out but ultimately need support by their community instead of punishment by the system, because jeezus.

            The way so many people were clutching their pearls over Luz bringing fireworks to school, treating her like some domestic terrorist in the making who needed to be carted away, and not just… An eager kid who got in over her head trying to bring fun with something associated with fun, especially in her country!!! Like this was so obviously a well-meaning child who just needed to be sat down and explained the dangers of fireworks, who was clearly willing to listen!

            And yeah, Luz DID become a domestic terrorist. But you know what I mean, and really that just proves my point that Luz can be a rebel in a fantastical sense, but when you apply it to a real-world context, suddenly she’s a menace that needs to be stopped. Because it’s easy to root for the metaphor until you have to uncomfortably apply it your own life. Why else would Belos be an actual colonizer from IRL history, and not just a space alien or demon?

            It’s the way people saw this cartoonishly-evil system that the show was so unambiguous about, and because they thought they were being clever by being uncritically contrarian (when really they were just affirming their own latent biases), they argued that Oh yeah maybe the system IS good for Luz, maybe this is what she needs! The way people were so ready to take the camp’s promises at face value, that See it’s going to teach her how to do taxes and listen to the news!

            People were just so insistent that actually, the Troubled Teen Industry means well and will do well in taking this brown child away from her struggling brown mother, without a choice for either of them. They just ignored the obvious bit about Principal Hal sending Luz to the camp as a punishment, out of spite, after breaking his promise to give her another chance as soon as he ran into the aftereffect of Luz’s prior chance. Luz even brings it up, “That doesn’t count, right?” And he still went through with it because he doesn’t actually care about what Luz needs, he just wants to punish her!!!

            It’s Be Gay, Do Crimes until the protagonist performs actual crimes and suddenly she has to be arrested. Nobody questioned how at least half the incidents Luz was sent to the office over were clear overreactions by the school; Things that didn’t harm anyone! It’s almost as if, gee, maybe sometimes kids DO cause problems, but there’s a particular bias and double-standard regarding certain demographics, and so they’ll be punished for the same things other well-behaved kids get away with! Principal Hal clearly had it out for Luz from the start , so I really don’t care about his judgment.

            It’s all about restorative justice for criminals, until one of them does something even remotely problematic and suddenly they have to be hauled off and not worked with. It’s all about supporting child welfare, recognizing that kids are a struggling and oppressed class in and of themselves, until Luz is having her entire summer vacation, a whole three-months period to herself that is idolized in our culture by kids for this reason, to be sent learning how to do taxes.

            But nnoooo these are important life skills, you argue! But if your parents used up your whole vacation, your only reprieve, to send you to a camp where you had to learn these things, you would understandably be calling it child abuse. Y’all stress the importance of breaks and how school genuinely wears a kid down, and vacation is legitimately necessary; But Luz is a Problem Child and you’ll say it with unironic contempt.

            And that’s not even getting into the implicit bigotry of the system, because under kids’ show censorship you can’t actually SAY that the system is targeting Luz disproportionately for being brown. But you can definitely imply it, just as in Teen Titans, Cyborg goes on a whole spiel about how he can verbalize Starfire’s struggles with fantasy bigotry without her even having to explain it to him, clarifying that he knows because he’s… part-robot.

            Belos isn’t allowed to rant about indigenous peoples but his attempted genocide of natives in a fantasy world is so obviously meant to hearken to what IRL Puritans did with Native Americans, and the show even clarifies that its universe’s witch hunters had the same motives as IRL witch hunters, who were racist, misogynistic, etc. Lilith tells Luz to go back to her world. The Reality Check Camp has Masha, an obvious Russian migrant child, a dark-skinned kid, and another kid based off of Molly Knox Ostertag, who is openly queer. Gee, it’s almost as if the camp is targeting, specifically, kids who don’t fit within the cultural hegemony of the United States!

            And yes, it’s interesting that Yesterday’s Lie creates ambiguity for Luz because these kids seemed to get along and find each other because of the camp… From her own perspective. But Luz doesn’t have the luxury of re-watching a scene carefully, she had other things on her mind. She’s canonically an Unreliable Narrator who remembers things as worse than they actually were, as revealed in the very next episode.

            The kids said they found solidarity while also calling the camp terrible, so it’s clear it was an unintended side-effect of the camp, it had nothing to do with the camp itself; But Luz isn’t the calm, detached viewer. So her takeaway is something that will fuel her regret over coming to the isles, which her mother really contributes towards at the end of said episode.

            I don’t think TOH is the pinnacle of Leftist media, obviously. It’s basic, entry-level stuff; But this is a kids show. So not only is its effort impressive for a kids show and setting the bar, but it’s also a good introduction for kids into other ideas. The writers are clearly operating off of ideas and beliefs, so it’s fun analyzing how they bleed into their work, how they think to convey these ideas, and Readings are always a thing. And also, yeah; It IS a kids show! What I’ve said should be obvious to kids, the first episode is cartoonishly obvious, but some of y’all are actual grown adults who still can’t get it, how embarrassing!

            And in the end, I don’t think it’s because you don’t have the skills. I think some of y’all do understand, but are just contrarians who live in a perfect bubble where you don’t notice the system’s issues and are insistent on taking its side, even when the narrative is unambiguous about its fault. I also think some of y’all are just racist, and/or misogynistic. That some of the people saying this are white does not elude me.

            I know I toss those words around a lot, but seriously; It genuinely is everywhere, but of course privileged people can ignore it, and treat women and PoC as insane and overreacting. It’s Not That Deep until it bleeds into everything, including people’s writing and how they engage with media. Luz was struggling with the viewers’ own racism since the first episode.

            The most absurd part is that the show does get around to this; It does address that Luz can get carried away, and that she needs to be more mindful. It can also be nuanced in acknowledging that she was disproportionately targeted and punished for being “weird.” The first episode sets up the show’s conflict, its themes, its status quo and cast; As well as the flaws and trajectory of our main character’s arc. It begins addressing these things pretty early on with Luz learning to be more mindful as early as the fourth episode.

            But y’all are adults who lack reading comprehension with a kids show, and demand every issue of the protagonist be resolved in its first episode, which is already going fast because of everything else it’s handling, on top of its first lesson for our protagonist. Y’all really needed Luz’s flaws to be resolved ASAP instead of her development occurring naturally over the course of the show, and ending with the show because it’s about her story.

            Because you can’t bear to deal with a girl of color’s flaws being a consistent thing on the backburner spaced across the show for her to eventually conquer, she needs to be punished immediately! Because it’s not enough that she learns and grows from her mistakes, no Luz needs to also be punished in a show that starts off talking about the system’s disproportionate punishment. But then y’all see your white faves and complain about how they were so much more fun when they were mean, why didn’t they stay mean, why didn’t we get more time for them to be mean before they had character development…!

[suppose-i-was-worm]

Like A Lamb

**Idea taken from @nerdpoe's post- What the hell is this "Infinite Realms"?**

John Constantine would never call himself a kind man, much less a good man, but the kid at the corner table of this fast food restaurant was making him want to be both.

Not that John’s kindness would really help the kid, in the long run.

He’d seen so many things in all the time he’d been alive- wondrous and horrific in equal measure, but this boy- this teenager, barely out of childhood, was probably the most heart-breaking.

John had known sacrifices- marked by both men and demons. He’d seen the crumpled bodies after the fact, and sometimes he’d been able to save them beforehand. None of them were like this boy. Marked like a sacrificial lamb down to his bones by the universe- an inevitable end.

The teen was the beginning and the end of worlds- his death would shake the foundations of all that was, could be, and is. Time would stutter to a stop before restarting with a different beat, and John could do nothing to delay or stop what was coming.

How in the world could this kid still smile and laugh with his friends? How could he not feel the weight of an entire reality on his shoulders? If John, sitting across a dining room from him, could feel the pressure, why wasn’t the boy buckling under it?

John’s phone alerted him to a text from Zatanna- he was needed by the JLD.

With a sigh, he fished out the strongest protection amulet he had on him. It wouldn’t save the teen, but maybe it would make the rest of his life a little easier.

The kid looked up at him as he approached, all smiles and young innocence. John Constantine thrust the amulet into his hand and then turned, stalking out of the Nasty Burger.

He needed to tell the Justice League. Amity Park needed protection- there was a kid there whose death would change the world.

~~~

Danny flipped the little charm around in his hands, trying to figure it out. The sad trenchcoat man had handed it to him before leaving, and he had no idea why.

“What do you think it is, Danny?”

He shrugged. For some reason he didn’t want to hand it over to Sam for her to inspect it.

“Dunno. It feels important, though. I might take it to Pandora- she’s been teaching me a bit of magic stuff, so she can probably parse it out.”

For some reason, Danny knew he would recognize that man again if he ever saw him, despite only having looked at him for a moment. Something in his core rumbled contently as he tucked the amulet carefully into the back of his phone case.

The next few weeks, Danny found himself having suspiciously good luck. The food at home didn’t come to life, ghosts didn’t attack as much, Dash wasn’t a problem at school, and even the Fentons hadn’t been as insistent on catching Phantom.

That was another weird thing- His brain didn’t seem to compute that Jack and Maddie were his mom and dad anymore. He knew he’d been creeping toward that ever since his death, but it was like a switch had been flipped overnight. The Fenton adults no longer registered as his parents.

Finally he had a chance to slip into the Realms and head for Pandora, who took one look at the amulet he held out to her and laughed.

“You have been adopted, young one, and your core accepted.”

“Adopted?”

“Your nature is to protect- it sings in your blood and guides your instincts. An adult offered you protection, a safe haven, and you took them up on it. Had someone your own age done the same, your relationship with them would be vastly different.”

Danny frowned at the charm, but he didn’t put it down- it didn’t even occur to him to get rid of it.

“Why did he- what made him do that?”

Pandora ruffled his hair.

“He saw someone who needed protecting, I assume, and acted as he ought.”

~~~

“Bats, I don’t know what the Infinite Realms are. Yes, I know they exist. I just don’t know when they started to exist, and when my knowledge of the afterlife became outdated.”

Batman glared, and John rolled his eyes at the other man.

“Magic shit happens all the time. Zatanna can tell you just as well as I can that the Realms didn’t exist a year ago- and also that they’ve existed for millenia.”

“I’ve found a summoning spell for the king of the realms, but it requires a magic user. Zatanna is off-planet, so you’re up.”

John looked over at the speaker, Red Robin, whose slight form and dark hair made him think of the boy he’d left to die.

He’d thought of the boy more often than not- any research into the kind of sacrifice that would have so much power came to a dead end, and John Constantine hated that there was really and truly nothing he could do for the kid.

Maybe this Infinite Realms person might know something?

“Fine. What are the details?”

Red Robin perked up and handed over a heavy tome.

“Batman and I already set up the ritual space in the conference room, and a few other heroes are there to help out if the king is hostile.”

“Of course you have. Let’s go, then.”

The two bats swept off down the hallway, and John followed behind, studying the spell he would need to cast. It was fairly simple, and luckily wouldn’t require blood. He hated the ones that required blood.

As he stood over the sigils and spoke the ritual spells, the floor inside the protective circle began to writhe and bubble a toxic neon green. It was all John could do to stand straight as a rush of air spilled from the portal into the wide room, bringing with it the heavy taste of caution.

The Justice League took a step back as the first clawed hand reached out from the green, white and stretched beyond humanity. It scrabbled for purchase before finding it and pulling.

The creature that exited the swirling mass was something John had never seen before. If the situation wasn’t so tense, he might describe the creature as catlike, with a black body and white legs, as well as piercing green eyes. The similarities stopped, however, when the inky body flickered and lit up from within with the pinpricks of millions of stars and endless void.

This was a baby god, filled with the dreams of deities long forgotten and fueled by the hope of those still clinging on to life.

Its green eyes swept over the gathered heroes before coming to rest on John, and for a moment he felt as if his tattered soul was being judged by the cosmos.

And then the creature folded in on itself, the tense air around it changing from bitter caution to sweet relief, and John found himself face to face with the teenager from Amity Park.

“Hi.”

The boy sounded winded, but happy, and he reached inside his shirt to pull out a small chain necklace. John’s amulet was hanging off it, obviously well treasured and cared for.

“Did you know that you’re technically my dad now?”

Something on John’s face must have told the boy- the god, the sacrifice both dead and alive- that he was unaware of this fact. The kid shuffled a little, looking sheepishly at the floor.

“You- uh. Unintentionally offered safe haven. And I accepted without realizing what was going on, and- it’s weird. I collected your soul for you! Didn’t bring it with me, but I’ve got the pieces you’re missing.”

“I think you both need to sit down and discuss this.”

Bless Diana.

“Can you leave the circle, young one?”

The teen beamed at Diana and stepped out of the protective circle, smudging the sigils as he did and closing the portal.

“I can, yeah. Pandora says hi, by the way.”

John watched as the boy chattered away about his ghost friends to Diana while she led him to a seat, and then sighed, moving to join them. If he needed help with being a new dad, surely Bats could help, right?

[j-richmond]

Why aren't comics more common in TTRPGs?

(This is about game design and presentation) In school one of the things I discovered is that I have trouble absorbing info from a big text book. And most TTRPGs are presented as text books. Once I understand the basic information in the book (chemistry textbook or RPG sourcebook or whatever) I can deal with the book on my own terms. I can dive into individual parts and learn, and slowly absorb the book as a whole. But I need help to get there. I need an access port. Sometimes this comes in the form of someone explaining the book to me. Explaining the rules of the game or the outline of an essay. This is great, and gives me a way in so I can absorb and master the book myself. But I don't always have someone in my life who can do that. Interestingly, I don't have this problem with novels at all. Narrative feels easier to access, at least for me.

In school I also discovered Scot McCloud's Understanding Comics. This is a pretty fantastic book which I'd recommend to everyone. It helped me understand how I process information. More importantly, it helped me understand the different people process information in different ways. I hadn't realized that at age 16, although I was starting to suspect it. Before I started making comics or games I used to be a teacher. As a teacher I could see that some of my kids were struggling with the information I was giving them, in the same way I had struggled in school. I started using comics in class to help reach these students. I'd draw little comics on my handouts or on the whiteboard to explain what we were learning. The goal wasn't to provide an entire lesson in comics form. I'm not Scott McCloud! Instead, I was trying to find an access point for my students. An on ramp. A port of entry to the ideas and material we were covering so they could engage and eventually absorb the information. It worked so well. It worked like magic. Why don't we do this more in TTRPGs? I used comics in my early games, Panty Explosion Perfect and Ocean. These were narrative comics, not rules comics, but the goal was to provide both an example of what play looked like (from a narrative standpoint) and a point of access for players who weren't sure what the game was or how to engage with it. My thought was that if you understood what the game was supposed to look like it would be easier to approach the rules. (A short comic from Ocean. The book has a bunch of these)

When my brother Nick and I started working on The Magical Land of Yeld I knew I wanted to use comics more directly as a teaching tool. Especially because part of our target audience was new and younger players who might look at a big text book (Yeld is a giant 400 page hardcover) and just bounce right off it. Like I did in school and like I often do with big games. So I needed to teach with examples and illustrations, and especially comics.

The first comics you'll encounter in the Yeld book are narrative, and designed to get you into the ideas and themes of the game. But in the first few pages we also start sprinkling in rules comics. These are presented along side the rules text. They don't replace that text, which is important. The text explains the rules in greater detail, and includes information that just couldn't be added in a single page comic. Instead, the comic is intended to be a point of access to the rules text. A player can read the comic, understand the basic concept, and feel comfortable engaging with the text. That's the goal, to make players comfortable and to make the rules text accessible.

We use comics to teach basic game mechanics, but we also use them to explain specific player facing systems. Sometimes these are things that really do need a comic to explain them, but sometimes we use comics as lures to draw player attention to mechanics that we're afraid they might otherwise not engage with. For example, in playtesting we found that when characters died during a fight the player would just sit there for the rest of the fight and not engage. It turned out, since you don't do anything in D&D once you die (except slowly die more), most players assume that's how all games work! So they hadn't even noticed that in Yeld you become a Ghost and get to ghost around and do fun Ghost stuff! I decided to create a comic that not just explained this but drew attention to it and showed why it was a fun (and important) part of the game!

Structure of play isn't always obvious to players, especially if they're new to TTRPGs or have only played D&D. You pick up habits from the games you play the most, and since most gamers play nothing but D&D there is a tendency to assume EVERYTHING works like D&D. Yeld doesn't, so we decided to take nothing for granted and make comics that very specifically show what a session of play looks like. In this example, it may not look a lot different from D&D, but the adventure is specifically divided into 5 parts. The comic illustrates these parts in a way that is easy to understand. The accompanying game text explains each part in more detail and illustrates how they are important to play. The comic serves as a ramp that gets players to the info they need.

Not all of our comics are player facing. Yeld has a rotating GM (which is awesome, btw), and this means every player gets a chance in the Game Master roll. Which means every player needs to understand how this roll works. Comics like this one, which explain how to build monsters to use in your game, help make the process easy to understand. Again, its about building a point of entry for players. A player might say "I don't want to GM, it sounds to complicated!" But its not. You just need to make it easy for them. Make the mechanics and responsibilities easy to understand. Show why they're fun! In Yeld, its important that each player takes on the GM role from time to time, since we're building a story together. Making it look fun is important! Comics help with that. What's more fun than comics?

Narrative comics are important too. At least for Yeld. I don't think every game benefits from them (although I always love seeing them). Narrative comics show players what the game is supposed to look like. What the characters do and say. What environments they visit. Narrative comics set a tone. Narrative comics let new players understand what a game is about immediately! We can hand a Yeld book to a new player or customer and they know what's up in seconds, just by reading a short single page comic. That's a powerful tool. So why don't more games use comics? Part of it is that game creators are usually not comic creators. There's not a lot of crossover. That always surprises me, but both disciplines take a lot of work. Who has time for both? Even when you have game designers that are comic creators, they often don't include comics in the games (Lancer???). I don't think this means game designers don't recognize the value of comics. I've had this conversation with so many game designers, and they usually agree that comics are useful tools. But if you don't know how to make comics, making comics for your game can be daunting. What rules should you focus on? How do you present that information in comic form? How many comics should you make? How do you hire someone to make comics, anyway? Hiring artists is expansive, btw. You know that, of course. Hiring an artist to make a set of comics for your game could cost you thousands of dollars (or more), depending on what you want. Of course, you can try to make your own comics. And you should! Really! A poorly drawn comic is not necessarily a bad comic. The point is to get your information across to your reader. to provide a point of access. You don't need great art for that (although great art can help attract people to your game). Stick figure work just fine. Here's an example, the layout for the Tea Dragon card game. Another artist took this layout and redrew it in their own style. But my goal here was to be simple and concise with my explanation of the rules. To make the game accessible.

There's a few more pages of this, but you get the idea. The purpose is to explain, and make the player comfortable with learning more. The art matters to the extent that it serves this goal. In fact, flashy or complicated art can get in the way! You'll notice in that most of the Yeld rules comics I posted above the art is pretty simple, with solid color backgrounds. You want to make your comics as easy to read as possible, and that includes avoiding clutter, overpacked word balloons and messy layout. Readers are easily distracted. It doesn't take much for them to set down a book at all. A complicated phrase or hard to read font can often be enough. And once they set a book down they may not every pick it up again. That's more true for a big text book than it is for a comics, but its still true for a comic. So our goal is to make our comic the easiest, smoothest point of access it can possibly be. So easy and smooth that the reader can slide right into the rules text without noticing! Here's my general process for creating a rules comic. This is from my friend Brian's game Scofflaws. I start by taking the basic mechanics that need to be illustrated and breaking them down into panels. The goal is to make each panel readable and not overwhelm the player. At this point I'm just doing a rough sketch. It may not eve=n be readable, but that's fine!

Next, I refine the text and art. I decide on the exact language I'll use, and I finalize where characters and other elements will be placed. As you can see, the actual layout didn't change much here. Sometimes it changes a lot!

Finally, I create the finished art. Honestly, the previous step was just fine. It explanans the rules I wanted to explain. But this last step allows me to add in some narrative flavor. The first panel contains a complicated background in order to present the game's setting. The characters look like the kind of characters you'll play in the game. This isn't nessacary for presenting rules, but it helps present the game as a whole. You want players to engage with every part of your game. The last thing you want them doing is picking up your dungeon crawling game and going "Oh, this would be great for playing Star Wars!"

(I probably shouldn't have chose than shade of red for the background. It makes the text a bit hard to read!) So again, why aren't we seeing more comics in games? Its not as if they don't exist at all, and I'm personally always excited to see them. I recently opened the Final Fantasy RPG box set and was so happy to find the rules were accompanied by cute comics. And there's lot of other examples (maybe you can post some in the comments). But I think comics are a clearly underused tool in game design and presentation. And as a comic person, let me tell you that you're leaving a valuable tool on the table if you're not considering using comics. Are they right for every game? Maaaybe not? But I think MANY MANY MANY games could benefit form them. Are they expensive? They can be. Are they hard to make? They can be. Are there people you can go to for advice? Hey, my door is open.

[johnbrand]

Loyal

With @mrrharper

I can not recall what started it really, there was just something off. Almost like a persistent tick within the back of my head, a missed alarm that somebody had forgotten to address from far away, and yet was still just barely registerable on my radar. It was like I was the only one that heard it, felt it, knew this tiny thing even existed. I was all alone.

When I had first come to college, I had no idea what to expect. The whole atmosphere had changed since the pandemic; competition was everywhere. I was no longer “smart enough” for the STEM kids, and yet I was not “passionate enough” to join any special interest groups. Everything had suddenly become a challenge to be the best, the greatest, but my background was not built for that type of drive. I began to assume college was only for my peers ready to commit everything to reaching the practically unattainable.

But Coach saw something different in me, he saw potential. He was the one who got me to stay. He was the only one who not only saw my tick when no one else had been able to, but explained it to me. He believed that the culture around education had become too individualistic, too single-minded. It was appropriate that I had suddenly felt inferior, unnoticed and left behind in the slaughter others had created. I needed to be a part of something greater, a team. His team.

At first, I had found Coach’s opinions beyond ludacris. Me? In sports? My body practically lacked everything necessary for a college athlete, unless it was in e-sports. I maintained my health fairly well, but I was toned and skinny, and practically too short for any serious competition. The only sport I could have seriously considered was swimming junior varsity–at a high school level. But soon I learned that Coach's opinion was law in his territory, from the locker room to the field.

Coach decided to tackle the standard issues right away, knowing that at the base of every great player is dedication. His questions opened up my formerly firm mindset and ideals, offering up new possibilities.

“Is it truly impossible for you to believe that I, an experienced professional, would not be able to help you discover a greater purpose as one of my players?”

“Wouldn’t you rather be a part of a team, a successful unit, rather than having to navigate the world on your own?”

“Do you really need to focus on other things outside of our work together? Are classes, friends, and family truly improving you like our time in the gym and on the field are?”

I did not realize it, but the more Coach questioned my morals, the more my mind began internalizing his. Coach believed that his players were all like the states in the mighty “US of A,” the greatest place on Earth. Separate, we had some power and identity, but nothing of significance. But together, as a part of a greater cause, we could become something much more impactful, more important, than our individual selves.

“If you become a part of my team, then wouldn’t it be more meaningful to be a player both in mind and body?”

“Perhaps your feelings of inadequacy aren’t stemmed from your lack of participation in college, but in general. Wouldn’t you feel more fulfilled if you followed a greater cause, like the traditional role of men in society?”

“Don’t you think what you are searching for is something to uphold? Maybe at large it is masculinity, but at a personal level supporting your teammates and likewise supporting me?”

Thanks to Coach’s help, I began to reprioritize my schedule, in turn reorganizing my life. With his approval, I was able to weed out some of the classes that were hindering my performance to become a better player, before I eventually stopped attending lectures all together. It was much easier to listen to Coach anyway, and he promised he would provide me with all the materials necessary in order to graduate. 

With my time freed up, I was better able to absorb Coach’s teachings at a rapid rate. My body quickly started to expand, packing on muscle in the weeks following faster than I thought was possible. It was as if every week I had to purchase new clothes, before eventually Coach began supplying me with past players’ hand-me-downs. My biceps and triceps became too large for any sleeve, my thighs would practically rip through every pants seam. It was not long before I was practically forced to endless sleeveless tanks and tight shorts. I even managed to gain height although I was past the prime of puberty, reaching an appropriate 6’3 for any linebacker.

That was what Coach said I was to become. Not any linebacker, his linebacker. When he first told me his plans, I had been shocked, but soon I began to instinctually follow his orders. Eventually, he stopped calling me by my name altogether; I had been reduced to “Linebacker #1!” in all his references.

Strangely enough, it was like my body responded to this new name accordingly. My boyish features almost vanished over the course of a day, leaving behind a wide jawline to support a much broader skull. My general hygiene fell backwards in priority, allowing for hair to cover my beefier frame and a manly mustache to crawl out onto my upper lip.

I had even begun to emit a sweat-induced, locker room musk wherever I went, although after a while I lost any embarrassment in it. In fact, I took some pride in my larger figure. I soon weighed over 230 pounds of pure girth, muscle, and mass that helped me pummel my opponents on the field. There was something so invigorating about being large and in charge…while still being under Coach’s orders.

“What if your purpose all along was to play football for glory and to preserve tradition? And was I not the one who helped you discover that purpose?”

“Why would you possibly want or need anything else from outside of the field? Aren’t you at your best when you are a part of my team, a piece of a larger puzzle?”

“Wasn’t the only thing you ever wanted all along was to be Coach's loyal football jock? A place where you can be your biggest, most masculine, most aggressive self without ever having to worry about anything else?”

By the time preparations for the next season began to roll around, I had stopped questioning Coach. I had realized that he was right, that he had been right all along and would remain as such. I was no longer considering his viewpoints, now merely just thanking him for them. I had begun coming to Coach for advice on any topic. Should I be worried about my dropping grades? Is it ok to get physical with nerds who insisted that the team was “a bunch of stupid pawns”? How could I be a better player for the team, his team?

And now, I was strutting around the conference room filled with reporters and many other beefy, aggressive jocks just like myself. I was feeling proud, cocky, arrogant even. Since joining his team, I had gained strength, girth, and attitude, all of which had earned me the title as the up-and-coming star collegiate linebacker. I did not need anything besides my masculinity, I did not need an identity outside of Coach’s team. I was simply his loyal football jock, and when I heard him call out for “Linebacker #1!” I immediately turned around. That was my name after all; whatever I was called had been long forgotten.

[spaceman-earthgirl]

“Agatha and Rio arrived at school together this morning,” Jen says by way of greeting, dropping her books on the table and joining Alice and Lilia.

Alice looks up, half intrigued, but Lilia keeps her head down, ignoring Jen except for a little wave in greeting.

It’s before school, and the staff room is mostly empty, giving them plenty of space to gossip before the school day starts. Though not a lot of time, the bell for first period is about to ring so they better make this quick.

“When you say ‘arrived together’ do you mean they got out of the same car, or just walked into the building together?" Alice asks.

Jen deflates a little. “I saw them walk into the building together.”

“Then that proves nothing,” Alice says, returning to her book too.

It’s been a hot topic of discussion over the last few months, what’s going on between the two of them, ever since Alice had seen them in the hallway together, Agatha laughing at something Rio said. 

The way Alice tells it, Rio even touched Agatha’s arm, but that detail was added after a few retellings so Jen isn’t so sure about that part.

Either way, ever since they noticed, they can’t stop speculating, because even just the few times Jen has seen them interact since, there’s definitely been a vibe.

Lilia has repeated on multiple occasions that she thinks they’re together, but they need proof.

And Jen is determined to find it.

---

“Someone sent Agatha flowers.”

Jen grins, Alice always gets the good gossip.

“Who are they from?” Jen asks. There’s a pile of homework she needs to grade before her next class but this is more important.

“I’m not sure, I was in the main office when they got delivered. I managed to sneak a look at the card but all it had on it was a little green heart.”

Jen thinks about this for a minute. “A secret admirer perhaps? Maybe even one who teaches biology a few doors down.”

“There’s no way to prove that,” Alice says, but she still looks on board with this information.

“What if we just ask Agatha?” Jen asks, keeping a straight face for as long as she can before she bursts out laughing, Alice, and even Lilia joining in.

“It’d be your funeral,” Alice says.

And Jen knows it would be.

Agatha is snarky and no bullshit and you always want her on your side in an argument. There’s no way she’s risking Agatha’s bad side.

When she’d first met Agatha, she’d wondered why someone like her would even want to be a teacher, and then she’d actually seen her with her students and she’d changed her mind. Agatha might be scary, but she has a way with kids that Jen didn’t expect.

Maybe it’s the no bullshit thing that kids respect, but whatever it is, the kids love Agatha and she seems to love them too.

But there is still no way she’d ever ask Agatha about her personal life. From what Jen can gather from their limited interactions is that Agatha is a private person, and she’s not going to question that.

She really hopes Agatha never finds out that their favourite way to spend their lunch break is gossip about her and the chemistry she clearly has with Rio.

read the rest on ao3 or under the cut

---

“I just saw Agatha and Rio having lunch together in Agatha’s classroom.”

They really don’t greet each other normally anymore, they just spill gossip. She hopes the other teachers don’t overhear them. Or if they do, they have gossip to contribute.

“I knew it,” Jen says, like that’s the proof they needed when in fact it proves nothing except the fact that they’re friends.

Which they knew already, so that’s not news. They've seen them together enough to know that they're friends, which only adds fuel to their speculation because Agatha doesn't have any other friends at school besides Rio.

“And they were sharing a sandwich,” Alice adds.

Ok, that might be something. 

“’Lady and the tramp’ style?” Jen asks, because that’s the first thought that pops into her mind when Alice says it and she also knows Alice will hate her question.

As expected, she gets a withering gaze in return. “No not ‘lady and the tramp’ style, they were sharing a sandwich like normal people do, Rio handed Agatha half of her sandwich, but that’s all I glimpsed as I walked by.”

“I mean, that’s kind of something I guess?” Jen says. “Lilia, back me up?”

Lilia barely looks up from the book she’s buried in. “You already know my opinion on the matter, but that alone proves nothing.”

“I’m adding that to the list of signs they’re dating,” Jen decides after some thought. It doesn’t really prove anything either way, but she’s going to figure it out.

---

“Guess who is chaperoning the school lock in tonight together?” Jen asks. She feels like this is good information.

“I’m guessing Agatha and Rio?” Alice answers, taking a carrot stick from the container Jen offers. 

“As well as about 10 other teachers,” Lilia pipes in, ruining the fun.

Lilia is still firmly in the camp of “they’re definitely together, and why bother gossiping about someone else’s personal life?” but even she sometimes gets involved. She’d been the one that noticed Rio wearing a shirt she swears up and down she’d seen Agatha wear before.

But maybe they just shop at the same place, so that proved nothing either.

“Are either of you two chaperoning?” Jen asks. When they were taking volunteers, she’d said no. She couldn’t think of anything worse than being locked in the gym overnight with a bunch of kids. 

Agatha doesn’t usually volunteer for school activities either, which is why this is a little suspicious.

“No,” Alice says as Lilia shakes her head.

Damn, she wishes she’d volunteered now, they might’ve gotten some good intel.

On Monday, they get no information from any of the other teachers because she’s pretty sure no one else is as invested as they are so that’s a bust.

---

Jen is halfway through her sandwich when Agatha walks into the staff room. She watches in surprise as Agatha crosses the room, takes a seat at the only empty table and pulls out her lunch.

“Do you think they’ve had a fight?” Alice asks, as quietly as she can. There’s no need to ask who she’s talking about, they all know.

They’re all fairly certain that Agatha and Rio spend every lunch break together, so why not today?

The logical answer is that she’s busy so Agatha is eating alone but gossip and speculation isn’t logical.

A couple minutes later, Rio walks in and the imaginative side of Jen’s brain runs away with her, to the point that by the time Rio has crossed the room, Jen is expecting a fight because in her mind they’ve broken up, but all Rio does is sit down next to Agatha and pull out her own food.

Jen deflates a little. Not that she’d wanted a fight, but it at least meant they might get some drama.

That doesn’t stop her from watching them though. As subtly as she can, of course. She can see Alice and Lilia doing the same, all three looking for clues to whether something is going on between them or not.

But it’s about as boring as watching anyone else each lunch. All they’re doing is talking and eating and Jen is just starting to wonder if maybe they’re reading too much into things when it happens.

Jen can’t see from where she’s sitting what Agatha is eating, but whatever it is, it must be messy enough for Agatha to get something on her face. Rio reaches out and wipes her thumb across Agatha’s lips, removing whatever food was there, before bringing the thumb to her own mouth to lick it clean.

Alice immediately clutches Jen’s arm, clearly just having seen it too.

They (again, subtly) watch in silence until Agatha and Rio get up and leave not long later, nothing else eventful happening after the incidentTM.

“Did you see that?” Alice asks as soon as Agatha and Rio are gone.

“That is not 'just friends’ behaviour,” Jen says, still in shock at what they’d witnessed. Maybe there was something to this after all.

“I mean-“ Alice starts, like she’s about to justify it.

“No. Do you ever do that with your friends?”

“No,” Alice says, her cheeks going red.

“Exactly. So we’re adding this to the list of evidence that they’re dating.” Not that that list is very long, but if they’re not dating, then they’re clearly into each other, evidenced not just by what Rio had done, but by the fact that Agatha hadn’t punched her afterwards.

---

It’s early, earlier than she’d usually arrive at school, but they have a school spirit event today so they’d all arrived early to set up their classrooms.

But before that, Jen needs coffee.

There are a few other teachers on campus, all trying to get an early start on the day, so she’s not surprised when they walk into the staff room and find they’re not alone.

What she very much is surprised by, however, is that the two people in the room are Agatha and Rio.

And they’re kissing.

It’s a fairly chaste kiss, as far kisses go, which is probably good considering they’re at school. But Agatha is pressed close to Rio, Rio crowded against the counter.

At least their hands are in appropriate places.

The noise of the door closing must alert them to the fact that they’re not alone as they break the kiss and turn towards the noise.

“Morning,” Rio smiles, giving a small wave. She makes no move to push Agatha away though and Agatha doesn’t move either. Agatha does give a flippant wave in their direction which Jen is assuming is also a hello.

Clearly, they don’t care that they’ve been caught because Rio turns back to Agatha, saying something too quietly for them to hear but whatever it is, Agatha laughs.

Jen will blame the lack of coffee and the fact that they’ve been speculating about this for months for her next words.

“You two are together?” Jen asks before she can stop herself. There definitely was a more tactful way to ask that but it’s too late.

“I told you,” Lilia says, as Agatha and Rio turn back to them, finally stepping apart. Lilia pays everyone no mind as she walks across the room and starts making herself a coffee.

Jen ignores her, too focused on the two women on the other side of the room.

Agatha looks mad now, which is a little scary, but Rio looks amused.

“Are you serious?” Agatha asks, voice gruff, and Jen is starting to have regrets. But they’re in this now, and there’s only one way to find out the truth.

“We just…” Jen looks to Alice for support, but she holds her hands up in a way that says ‘don’t make me a part of this’. 

Traitor.

“We’d just noticed you two spending a lot of time together and you obviously have chemistry so we couldn’t help wondering if something was going on.”

Rio looks even more amused, and there’s a slight quirk to Agatha’s lips too which means she’s at least not contemplating killing her right now.

“You know nothing exciting ever happens in Westview,” Jen adds, like it justifies their actions. “It was just idle gossip.”

“Well, Rio starts. “You know, I saw Agatha and I just couldn’t stay away. I’ve been trying to get her to go on a date with me all year, it was those sexy reading glasses that-

Agatha gives Rio a slight shove, pushing her away and cutting her off. Agatha still doesn’t look mad at least. “We’re married,” Agatha says with a roll of her eyes, but the look is directed at Rio.

“See, I just couldn’t stay away,” Rio grins, gesturing to Agatha. “All she did was ask me one little question and now I’m hers fore-“

“Stop,” Agatha cuts in, giving Rio another playful shove but she’s looking at Rio with such affection that no one could deny them being in love. “Or else you’re walking home.”

Rio holds her hands up in surrender with a grin.

“You’re married?” Jen finally asks, incredulous. She almost feels like she’s intruding on something.

How on earth did they miss that?

“We’ve been married for eight years,” Agatha supplies, looking a little annoyed again. It’s very clear that the annoyance is directed at them, and not Rio. “It’s not a secret, everyone knows.”

Jen’s mouth drops open. 

“Or we thought everyone did.” Rio says, taking Agatha’s hand, threading their fingers together. “We have a kid too, if that helps,”

Jen feels each new piece of information like a physical blow. She needs to lie down, this is too much this early in the morning.

They clearly missed a lot.

“Come on,” Rio says, giving Agatha’s hand a tug. “Let’s leave these guys to whatever it is they’ve got going on here.”

“Sorry,” Jen says, having the decency to look sheepish as Agatha and Rio walk past them.

Even more so when Agatha stops and turns to them. 

“Maybe next time, don’t gossip about people behind their backs. If you have a question, just ask.”

“You heard the lady,” Rio winks, tugging on Agatha’s hand once more and then they’re alone again.

Jen and Alice wait a few short moments, making sure Agatha and Rio are out of earshot before they turn to each other.

“Oh my God,” Jen says, at the same time Alice says “I thought Agatha might hit you there for a moment.”

“I told you so,” Lilia says, carefully setting down three cups of coffee on their usual table.

She’s a lifesaver.

“I’m sorry, you did,” Jen says, gratefully accepting the mug. “Next time, I’ll believe you.”

“I can’t believe we missed it, all this time,” Alice says, looking equally grateful for her drink.

“Technically we missed nothing, we thought something might be going on and we were right.”

Jen is sticking by the fact that they got this one right.

“Yeah,” Alice says. “But married for eight years is a little different than wondering if two people are dating.”

Jen waves her off. “Details. But don’t think I will forget that you basically threw me under the bus there.”

Alice is the one who looks sheepish now. “Sorry, but she’s scary.”

Jen won’t deny that. “So, who’s going to be our next source of gossip? We’re going to need something new to talk about.”

Alice rolls her eyes but doesn’t protest, which is either because she’s too tired this early, or because she wants the gossip too.

Probably both.

“What about your love life?” Jen teases, earning a glare from Alice that she knew was coming. So, what? It’s easy to wind her up.

“Don’t you dare,” Alice warns.

“Fine,” Jen laughs. She’s sure they’ll find something else to gossip about, at least for now they’ve solved the Agatha and Rio mystery. 

Which wasn’t really a mystery after all, because it was common knowledge.

Apparently they were just the last to find out.

[drarryspecificrecs]

2024.12 ~ Top 10 longest fics posted on AO3

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※ HONOURABLE MENTIONS :

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—

※ Word count: 1k ~ 15k

※ Word count: 15k ~ 40k

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—

Ongoing Fest/Exchange

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Harry/Draco Owlpost 2024 | @hdowlpost

HP Soulmates Secret Santa 2024 | @hp-soulmates-secret-santa (1)

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[kings-highway]

Ive been playing around with a fic idea for a really long time that doesnt really have a plot (hence why I havent written it) but would be a slice of life or episodic "lesson learning" story where the premise is Daichi's father getting a fancy job across Japan, so they have to move, but because he's so close to graduating (and they might make it to nationals!) he really doesnt want to go with them, and knowing how important he is to the team and they are to him, Ukai decides to let him stay in a spare room above the shop/live with him, and it would really focus on Ukai's POV of like - sure daichi is functionally just renting a room, but Ukai legally becomes his guardian/proxy for school/medicial issues etc but he's not worried because "I was a trouble teen and got into shit but this kid is so put together and normal, I dont really need to worry he can probably handle himself" and in fact in terms of father figures Daichi spends a lot of his time lecturing Ukai on proper cleaning and house maitenance, he's a really handy guy, very on top of things, and Ukai makes the joke about how Daichi is clearly the more adult one of the two but then *that* starts to weigh on him as he realizes there's something unsettling in that idea and he starts fighting back against Daichi's very mature persona and unravelling what had essentially been years of (unintentional) emotional neglect and having been forced to grow up really fast and its just a general fluffy vibe of "everyone has something to teach" where Daichi helps Ukai shake off the last of his teenage bad habits and Ukai helps Daichi develop at least one teenage bad habit before he graduates. I think this also means that Ukai walks in on Daichi and Suga making out on the couch and is incredibly conflicted over whether or not he should yell at him or be proud of him.

[aingeal98]

Idk if you wrote about it in the past, but thoughts about a potential Stephcass wedding? How it would play out, what they wear etc. With those women it could be interesting lol

I'd like to see you tackle that in a story if you wanted to, considering you write fanfiction and did a really good job imo with this ship.

OK so I actually have a detailed idea in my head of how stephcass plays out in the future that starts with them getting together, breaking up because Cass grows even more intense in her commitment to the mission once she becomes Batman, and then a year or two later Cass showing up in Steph's apartment with a kid being like hey I rescued this kid from being forced to be a child assassin but his parents are dead and idk what to do pls help.

And Steph is like we haven't talked in five months are you fucking kidding me. But she's not a monster and Cass looks way over her head so the two of them start kind of coparenting this kid because Cass understands the assassin aspect but she has no idea what school supplies a 10 year old might need. And then one thing leads to another and it turns out Cass may actually be worse at this adoption addiction than Bruce is because despite her firm belief that she is not capable of being a good mother she is also unwilling to Not help any child assassin she meets. And often that includes adoption because there is no other family uniquely capable of understanding the trauma these kids are going through.

(Cass meets an alarming amount of child assassins. She doesn't adopt ALL of them because they don't all need that specific type of help. Steph is still mildly concerned and not just because her apartment is getting way too full even though all the kids technically live at the manor and Steph is just a family friend.)

So in my mind they do everything backwards. They're exes then they're coparents then they're kind of rekindling things and then five years after Cass adopts the first kid she's like hey do you want to have a baby together because I didn't think I'd be a good mom but I actually really love helping these kids and I really like doing this with you and I think I'm actually ready to be both Batman and the mother of a baby. I get why Bruce was scared but I'm built different so I simply won't die and this kid will grow up happy and loved and I'll teach it everything I know and you can teach it important life stuff like what the settings on the washing machine actually mean and why certain clothes need dry cleaning.

And Steph is like woah that's a lot to process but Cass babe you have to ask me on a date first. And Cass is like have we not already been dating for a few years now? And Steph is like no showing up on my doorstep with a kid who needs a good meal, a shower and medical attention is not actually a date. Neither is attending those little league games together or patrolling together. If you're going to ask me to have a baby I'm going to need a ring on this finger and you're going to have to work for it.

So they date, and then they get married, and they have a bunch more kids most of whom are adopted or fostered. By the time Cass is forty she has five kids, the oldest of whom she adopted as a 10 year old and is now 21. And she and Steph have been married for five years technically but have been coparenting for eleven.

The wedding itself would be pretty straightforward, if more extravagant than normal. Cass wears a suit and is mildly uncomfortable with having to talk about her feelings in front of an entire audience. Steph wears a dress and can't stop smiling because god she loves this woman so much even though she can be a dumbass sometimes. Especially because she can be a dumbass sometimes actually.

The whole family is there. Bruce cries. Crystal makes snide but deserved comments at him the entire time. Tim was asked by both women to be their best man and almost spiraled into another self destructive slump from trying to process all the emotions he felt about that. In the end Cass takes Babs with Bruce walking her up the aisle and Steph takes Tim, who still looks mildly terrified throughout the entire ceremony, like one wrong move from him is going to bring the entire building down on top of them.

Two of Cass's enemies do show up to try and ruin the wedding but unfortunately for them they end up making it so much better instead because Cass gets to kiss her wife AND punch some bad guys in the face all in the same event. She's having the time of her life. What the hell was Bruce so afraid of this marriage thing is EASY.

(It's not easy. Cass is able to balance the mission and her family better than Bruce but that doesn't mean problems don't exist. The kids are used to at least one fight every six months where Steph basically yells at Cass for all the ways she's been letting Batman responsibilities come between them and Cass is like psh I don't know what you're talking about and then gets her act together because she does in fact know what Steph is talking about. She takes Steph to Themyscira on a vacation as an apology. She doesn't repeat her mistakes but she does make new ones because it turns out there are infinite ways you can mess up when raising kids especially when your work is being Batman and you're never going to stop. Steph messes up too although her mistakes are less to do with work life balance and more to do with hurtful comments made during arguments that she regrets. It's never anything bad enough to break them up again, and for the most part they're shockingly the most healthy and well adjusted pairing of the family. Damian takes great joy in reminding Tim of this fact.)

I've basically just written an abridged version of a very long fanfic idea that exists in my head haha but thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to ramble about this!

[mrslectermoriarty]

Headcanon Series #15

Okay, I need some IceMav!daughter stuff or I'm gonna burst!

I imagine a one-night-stand accident or a deceased mother of the girl and Tom/Pete got custody. (sth like that, the point is they’re a single parent)

Now, when they move in together (after cutting the crap and finally hooking up, developing a relationship) the little girl grows up with at first one, then two fathers.

Mav is Pops and Ice is Papa. East-European Tom Kazansky absolutely gets the ‘Papa’ title.

She learns the cooking from Mav because he had to make his own food pretty early on in his life (rough childhood, you know the drill)

(based on a Bruce Wayne Headcanon I can’t find anymore) Ice can’t cook at all. He can set a kitchen on fire with only a wooden spoon and cold water. The only thing he actually can do is an excellent bbq, which he becomes famous for. Ice teaches his daughter all the tricks and when she gets older, and Ice is maybe too exhausted after a day of work or sth, she’ll fire up the grill and provide amazing food for everyone around.

Also, Ice spent his childhood baking with his mother and her mother whenever they met, so the kid learns baking from him.

Mav teaches her how to fix cars and motorcycles. His hyperfixation kinda catches her too and they spend many weekends in the garage.

I am utterly obsessed with with this fanfiction and needed to implement it into this - Ice reads really weird bedtime stories, but she loves every single one of them.

Of course she grows up with Bradley (they’re around the same age, idc who’s older) and the adults around them like to refer to them as the chaos cousins. When Mav and Ice take Bradley in after Carole dies, they become the chaos siblings.

Bradley loves his sister and is super protective of her when they are in their teens. When she got cruelly dumped by her boyfriend in her first year of high school, Bradley stormed into the guys’ classroom and broke his nose. The principal had to call his parents, so Tom interrupted an important meeting and showed up in uniform at school to get his kid. The principal was kinda intimidated because of course Tom put on his Iceman™ look and stared the guy down, so Bradley ended up being expelled for only the rest of the day. (I think I need to write something separate about this)

Let’s take a closer look at the whole custody situation: Mav made Ice his emergency Contact and vice versa. Obvious. In the eyes of the Navy they are ‘best friends’ and brothers in arms; it’s not an uncommon thing to do so. Concerning the kids; they’re always both listed as emergency contacts for the kids. In a scenario where Tom has a daughter, they always argue “we both have a kid, we’re basically brothers, the kids are grew up together; they’re like cousins - we’re a family in the Navy, we look out for each other.” In a scenario where Mav has a daughter, he answers to that question with “Ice is like a brother to me; we’re best friends. He knows the kid(s). I can’t always respond, so I need another person to watch over the kid(s). He was the first to agree to that.” (I don’t know if this makes sense)

Regarding Bradley being an overprotective sibling; that girl doesn’t actually need any protection - after all, both her fathers are Navy legends and well respected and feared men in the military. She can stand her ground pretty well.

The flyboys often joke around if she actually might be a genetic experiment where they took Pete’s and Ton’s DNA to create the ultimate soldier because she inherits significant parts of both their personalities. She gets Mav’s recklessness and Ice’s strategic thinking, so everything she does, however stupid it might look, she does on purpose. She also got both their stubbornness. They all agree; if she ever starts a career in the Navy, she’s gonna be a nightmare for her superiors.

She starts a career in the Navy. Of course she had the chance to do something else, but she grew up surrounded by people being very passionate about their jobs and they just kinda naturally dragged her into it. Her military education looks something like this, I found it and almost died of laughter because this is kinda exactly how I imagined it, this is a piece of art!

She’s just as protective of her brother as he is over her and that’s why she hates Jake in the beginning. Sure, they’re now adults, but Bradley has such an unhealthy relationship with that guy, on and off and back on; then they’re fucking in a closet, the next minute they shout at each other over training exercises - she doesn’t get why Bradley keeps crawling back to that guy. After the Uranium-Mission (Ice lives, Mav doesn’t have the fight with Bradley) she starts appreciating the guy a little more because for one, he saved her father and brother, second, now that both men are more mature than ever and develope an actual relationship, she can see parallels in them to her fathers and she gets why they can’t keep away from each other. (Also don’t know if this makes sense)

Both her fathers walk her down the aisle on her wedding day, she insists on that.

Please expand if you have additions! <3

[maryelmodest]

I'm going to write something down anyway, because I really want to do it and share it...

✨️✨️✨️I was literally saved by Metalocalypse, and in particular, ironically, by William Murderface!✨️✨️✨️

There will be a very long stream of thoughts here...if you read this to the end, I will be glad, because it is incredibly important for me to share such intimate feelings...

● Back in 2018, I had no idea that this show would have such an impact on my personality and self-expression, I was just a little bored in the summer, and I decided to watch this show...And that moment has come...

● And... I just got fucking carried away, it's perfect-comedy, high-quality metal music, and of course-damn interesting characters who have a written story-it's the perfect combination of everything that I liked in the fictional stories, what I wasn't looking for, but what I needed!

● It was from that very moment...I just lost my mind...maybe it wasn't noticeable to others, but for me personally, internally, yes, I changed my mind-that's when I started an Instagram page, I shared drawings, and oh my God, I even started communicating with people of interest (before, I wouldn't have had the heart to even write to someone first or leave a comment lol), now I know a lot of artists in the fandom, and a lot of people know me, and even fan for me, lol (if the young me had known where I was going because of some cartoon about stupid metalheads (lovingly💖💖💖))

● But, one character stood out especially vividly for me, like a star in a dark sky, like the sun among dark clouds, like a guardian angel, like a prince, like a knight in shining armor, he came into my life-William Murderface❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥✨️✨️✨️

● Maybe at this point someone will call me crazy, but somehow I don't give a fuck now, at first, by the way, accepting the fact that I was in love with him had very big problems, and even selfshipping...

● But, somehow miraculously, I didn't even notice at what specific moment I began to draw a lot not only of him, but also, oh my God, of myself with him!

● He's still my main muse all day long hahahaha!🥰🥰🥰💖💖💖💝💝💝

● Well, you all know perfectly well that I am very madly in love with him, and literally from every social network where there is my profile, I shout about it, but I will tell you something else now...

● The fact is that Willy gave me a very important piece of character that is incredibly important in life-to be brave, to be assertive when necessary, to stand up for yourself, not to be afraid to express your emotions (although I'm still working on it, but now I'm doing better with it), express myself (I literally wore only black all through school and didn't even decorate myself in any other way lol) and my creativity as often as possible, he also taught me to relax when necessary, as well as to look at some things easier (I'm also still working on it, but it became much easier for me to do it by thinking about him), and most importantly-don't give a shit what others think about me or my actions, even though Willy has self-esteem problems himself, but I always damn like it when, despite everything, he doing some shit anyway, because he wanted it hahaha!

● I... it's just that I was so damn closeted mentally before when I was a kid...and I didn't even see that as a problem...and now I look back, and I realize that it's really sad...I just felt that my soul was asking for something completely different, and I didn't understand what exactly...

● It was Willy who kept giving me that feeling of security and confidence that I've been missing in my life...it is at times when I have no strength left-I still know that he is next to me, and therefore everything will be fine with me, no matter what! :3

● Even if I am completely abandoned or abandoned by others...He'll always be with me, I'm sure of it...because I would have done the same for him...

● I would give him all my love, teach him to love himself no matter what, not to give up, to see the beauty in himself and in this world...💗💗💗💖💖💖💝💝💝❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥🎀🎀🎀

● It seems to me that this is exactly the dynamic of my selfship, we will open up like a rosebud next to each other! :3🌹🌹🌹

● In general, he is very important to me...For me, he's not just a character anymore...

● Thank you, my sweet little tiger cub, I love you very much and I will always love you...Even though it really fucking hurts when I miss you...Even though you'll never know how I feel, because you're not real...

● I will remain devoted to you anyway...because that's exactly what's right...the most right and correct decision in my life...✨️✨️✨️💘💘💘

[goopi-ctures]

Bac(terra) In(cognita)

Usually I am not an OC person, but I do have these guys, which are near and dear to my heart. I've been working on them since 2015-16-ish, and, while initially it all started as an imagined reboot for a super obscure animated mini-series from 2000's, by now the whole thing evolved into an entirely independent project of big personal importance. I've been cagey about them mostly because I really want to make something significant out of them, maybe like a comic or a children's book, all with a major focus on edutainment, but have been stuck on the topic for years.

The overall premise goes as follows: one day, an empty Petri dish rolled under the sink in a microbio lab, never to be found again by any human working there. However, it quickly became a home to a vibrant community of all sorts of microorganisms, who, as it turns out, are not that different from the humankind. They even have schools!

Main cast:

Eccoli (based on E. coli): he's the protagonist. A smart, but thouroughly burned out kid who skips classes to go eavesdropping on the lessons taking place in a rival school. This is how he stumbles upon the other three guys and reluctantly befriends them. He's very anxious and secretive by nature, but blossoms whenever he gets a chance to talk about his special interest in viruses. Also, being a bacteria, he is by far the tiniest of the main quartet - yes, not all microorganisms are equally small.

Penny Cilly (based on the penicillium mold): a diligent and energetic girl with a short temper and an over-achiever.mindset. May not be able to grasp some topics from the get-go, but makes up for it with lots and lots of hard work. Her family wants her to make a career in antibiotic production, but she's more interested in looking for the alternatives, as antibiotic resistance is on the rise.

Muchor (based on the mucor mold): despite being Penny's childhood friend, he couldn't be more different from her. A born genius, he never struggles in class, grasping even the most complex of concepts on the fly, but having to sit down and do homework will make him crumble. His intellectual prowess also led him to developing a self-centered and condescending attitude, but under all that he's actually a pretty chill and pleasant guy. Has a knack for dangerous experiments and stupid pranks.

Ameeba (based on amoebas): the token nerd of the group. Shy and timid, but very observant and analytical - she definitely rivals even Muchor in that regard, which he openly admits. She has a wide range of interests, but mostly they revolve around art, anime and fashion. She has a very eclectic taste and changes outfits constantly. Also, she can shapeshift! Usually it's confined to her hair, but changing the whole body is definitely possible. It's a very handy ability, as amoebas are significantly larger than most microorganisms (some are even visible with the naked eye), and not many places in Ameeba's life accomodate for that.

Here are the size comparisons (the left one is super old and has an outdated Ameeba design, but it's the best that I have):

Here are their humanizations:

And here's their classroom:

Side characters:

Vol'ka (based on the volvox algae): he's a little younger than the main cast and goes to a different school, but often gets himself involved in their shenanigans. Just as smart as everyone on the team, but his main love is math, maybe also chemistry, while the protags mostly gravitate towards biology. Also, he's the fabled single mom teenager boy: every little cell that makes up his poofy hair is actually one of his little sisters, and he has no choice but to babysit them.

The teachers! The one on the left is Mrs. Inforia (based on Paramecium caudatum), who teaches the main gang and is niceys; the one on the right is Ms. Aurora (based on Staphylococcus aureus), who is Eccoli's teacher and is horrible. Honestly, they're both kind of placeholder-ish, I definitely need to work on the adults of this setting more.

Eulene (based on the euglenas, who are... technically not algae? It's complicated): she's also a teacher working part-time at both Vol'ka's school and the main school, but she's significantly younger than the other two teachers - so much so that she was only in her senior year when Ameeba, Penny and Muchor started middle school. So she's in that awkward position of both being their close friend, but also an authority. Honestly, I love this dymanic, it's very true to some of my experiences.

[kimmiessimmies]

Personal post

This will probably be the most non-Sims related post I've put on this blog ever. I'll put most of it under a cut, so you can choose whether or not to read it. The thing is, I could use some advice. And asking strangers from all over the world advice on something important might be weird, but you are also my community, so I value your opinions. Don't worry, this isn't a "Kim being depressed" kinda post. 😉 It's a work thing.

Upfront: This post is about me being unhappy in my current well-paid job and my search for something that makes me happy. It might come across sounding a bit entitled, since I know there are many people who would be happy to have any job, just so they can pay their bills. I'm sorry if this post triggers that, and I know I'm privileged to even be in this situation. ❤️

TL/DR: Do I stay in a well-paid, secure job that doesn't bring happiness and actually negatively affects my mental health because of it? Or: Do I take the plunge into the unknown and give up the securities I have now for something that could potentially (but not guaranteed) not only make me happy but bring me opportunities as well?

Okay, here's the deal. Currently, I work in education. I've been teaching for 19 years, and for the last 3 years, I've held the position that best translates to special needs coordinator at the school where I've been all of my working life. In short, my job entails making sure the teachers have the tools they need to help all kids in their classes with special educational needs, to make sure each child ends up in the right form of education fitting their needs and dealing a lot with difficult or even alarming home situations. My job can be rewarding at times, and challenging at others. Aside from this, I've been part of the management team at my school for almost 8 years. I work at a big school. It wasn't big when I started there, but it's big now. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education, and that's also the age group I've always dealt with. It's the age group I've always taught, and it's the age group currently under my supervision in the position I'm now.

This past year, I've struggled with my mental health, as I've mentioned before, and have not been at work fully for a while. My therapist and I established that while work is "okay", it's also not bringing me joy anymore while my job was once the happiest and most passionate thing I did. Right now, it's blah. This position is not one that really suits me, yet I don't want to go back to teaching either. I've been there, done that. Add to that the fact that, come September, my boss requires me to change my position slightly. I'd be doing the same thing I do now, but for an older age group. This has given me a lot of stomach aches, because the thing that still drives me to do my job now is the fact that I'm doing it geared towards the youngest kids in school.

All in all, the job is not bringing me happiness in the slightest anymore. Having said that, I know a lot of people do jobs that don't make them happy, but it pays the bills, so let's suck it up and just do it. Which is fine, I can do that too, except my mental health suffers...

However, there are a few good things about this job too:

The pay is really good

I have lovely colleagues

I have a lot of credits here because I've been here for so long. They know my worth

I have a very understanding boss who's been nothing short of wonderful during my depression

(If you're still with me, thank you for reading this essay all the way, it's appreciated 💗)

My therapist asked me, "If money weren't a factor, what would you be doing?" My answer was "write." More specifically, I just want to stay home all day and work on ATOH, but no one is going to pay me for that. 😄 So, write, or do a job in which writing plays a role. So, she advised me to start looking for jobs that fit that description. It was a rather depressing search. Most jobs that came close to what I'd like to do require degrees or diplomas I don't have.

And then I suddenly stumbled upon something: Assistent Project Manager at a small, but well established company that creates educational projects (usually based on children's books), books and materials geared towards early childhood education in particular, and currently expanding to do the same for education to older kids as well.

I felt like I had found the holy grail. This is writing, this is editing, this is being creative, this is working with authors, but it's also closely related to early childhood education, the thing I know so well. Despite still being semi depressed, I felt like I needed to at least give this a shot. So, I wrote a letter, enclosed my resume, and waited. I didn't have to wait long, because a few days later I got an invite for an interview.

I went for the interview and was welcomed at a small and very homely office space (with an office cat!). We had a good talk and I left happy. They invited me to do a "trial day" with them, which is what I'll be doing today. They've had a lot of applicants for this position, but from the contact we've had since, it seems like I stand a good chance.

Sounds like a no-brainer? Perhaps, unless you have my brain... Because there are doubts:

Pay. This job pays quite a bit less than my current one. I'm a single parent and therefore sole breadwinner in my household. Currently, I make quite good money because I've been in this job for a long time and hold a relatively high position in the organisation. We can pay the bills, go on holidays, and even splurge occasionally (for example, the very pricey laptop I bought a few months ago). With this job, I would still make enough to pay the bills and go on holidays, but I will need to keep an eye on the money, and there won't be splurging for a while. I do know this sounds like a luxury problem to some.

Job security. In my current job, I'm under a fixed contract. Basically, unless I royally fuck up, I can't be fired. With this job I'd start on a year contract. After that year, they can either decide to give me another year or let me go. This won't just be if I mess up, but also if they decide I'm not the best person for the job after all, or if I don't fit in with their small, close-knit team. Worst case scenario; they let me go, and I'll have to go back to education and probably teach again.

These doubts are few, but strong. So, basically, like I already said above: do I stay in a well-paid, secure job that doesn't bring happiness and actually negatively affects my mental health because of it? Or: do I take the plunge into the unknown and give up the securities I have now for something that could potentially (but not guaranteed) not only make me happy but bring me opportunities as well (since it's publishing)?

I don't need anyone to actually answer those questions, but those are the wonderings on my mind I wanted to write down. Thanks for reading. ❤️

[crazyhappycat]

NINJAGO

So, I’ve been watching Ninjago and There is some things about Lloyd character I would have liked to see in season 1 and 2

1) having trouble being Nice

Lloyd have been raised at Darkley’s school for bad boys since he was a little kid. And he was so Young he didn’t remember his mother, so he must have been left there when he was really Young. And Darkleys is a school Where They’re literally teaching kids to be evil warlord. And Lloyd is the son of the biggest treath Ninjago have faced. His father is the Dark lord! Lloyd looks up to him and want to be just like him, and since Garmadon was the only family member Lloyd knew and was loved by

At the beginning of his life all this boy knew was evil.

So instead of Lloyd finding out He’s the green ninja and go ‘I’m a good guy now’ I wish he had more trouble with being Nice. Just saying some rude things here and there

2) Angry at the Ninja and Wu

We’ll start with Wu because wth

Wtf, Wu? I dont understand this guy. His nephew have just been kicked out off the only home he had. He has nowhere Else to go and Wu definetly knew that. And he definetly knew Misako have given up Lloyd.

And he dont care. In fact, he didn’t care before Lloyd became too much of a problem! Not once did We hear Wu being worried about Lloyd being in the snakes hands. Not once did We hear Wu being worried about Lloyd being out on the big world all alone.

As for the ninja, They literally took the starving child and humiliated him infront of the whole town and Then started to eat infront of the starving child. WTH?!

Zane, you’re better than this! Kai, you should understanded more!

And not only that, They’re just bullies to Lloyd the whole season.

Being all angry about Lloyd opening the serpentine thumbs, which I can understand, but this goes back my first point. All his life, Lloyd have only known evil. Being raised at a school Where they train kids to be warlords while being the son of one of the biggest warlords in history, they should have seen this coming.

And Maybe it wouldn’t happen if, i dont know, they took the homeless starving kid to his Uncle so he won’t suffer from hypotermi of aneroxia or something.

Then We have when Lloyd is kidnapped by the snakes. The ninja dosent Even care before the next day. THE NEXT DAY! Jay goes to the Arcade and dosent find Lloyd anywhere. And the next day they act like nothing happens.

"Lloyd is gone? Was by Damn time!"

They’re lucky it was just some snakes that kept him in a cage. What if it was a predator or human traffickers? They literally couldn’t care less about this kid

And when Wu leaves to find Garmadon, not once do We hear the ninja say "We need to Save Lloyd" all they Are saying is "We need to Get the fang blade before the snakes"

For them, Lloyd is less important than four milk teeths!

But Then They find out Lloyd is the green ninja and suddenly They care so much for him!

I could go about this rant forever but I need to sleep soon.

Garmadon was banished from Ninjago!

Every adult in Lloyd’s life failed him except the one who weren’t allowed to be with him!

[schmergo]

I really enjoy listening to podcast episodes that maybe fall slightly to the side of "true crime" and more into the realm of "dark history" or "scary true stories" (like, it's not really true crime if a lion eats a bunch of people because there are no laws for lions), but every time I start enjoying a podcast, I always feel smacked in the face several episodes in by weird instances of the podcasters' lack of general historical knowledge or context. It makes me trust their interpretation of events much less.

Obviously I do not expect the lady podcasting about wilderness survival stories to have a PhD in history, but a few of the missing bits of knowledge that have shocked me lately have included:

* Thinking Ebenezer Scrooge was a real historical figure (possibly getting him mixed up with Charles Dickens?)

* Not being sure which side of the Civil War Ulysses S. Grant was on, had to look him up

* Knowing Thomas Edison was a famous inventor but not being able to think of any of his inventions (and quit your yapping about how he didn't REALLY invent those things-- you know what I mean)

* Calling 18th century England "Victorian times"

Now, are these the most important things for human beings to know? Not necessarily. But I do think that not having that greater context for a historical or nature-based tale that you're researching is going to limit your insight into what you're talking about. And I think part of what shocks me about these podcasters' confusion is that sure, a lot of people don't pay attention in history class and don't need to know this stuff in daily life, but these people are presumably intellectually curious and enjoy learning if they're researching and writing these detailed episodes every week.

And you can say, "Well, they didn't go to college for history, they have real jobs besides podcasting," but these are all things I was taught in elementary school. I have to wonder about their actual educations. This leads me to my next point...

I stumbled across some internet threads recently where teachers talk about how they no longer teach history or social studies at the elementary school level because they don't have time in the day while trying to get kids caught up on language arts and math and science. There's no standardized testing for history and many schools seem to have done away with it or made it optional.

That certainly wasn't the case for my educational experience-- many of my strongest memories of elementary school include history projects and units and even performing historical-based musicals! But going into high school and later adulthood without any elementary basis in history is actually going to really affect reading comprehension and critical thinking in shocking ways. Imagine having to read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school without having ever learned about segregation or Jim Crow laws. No matter how many hours your class spent on preparing for standardized testing in reading comprehension, you will NEVER fully understand that text without understanding the context.

Knowing that these podcasters that I listen to are adults who are presumably interested in history (albeit mainly history where someone dies, but to be fair, that is a good chunk of history because most of the people who have ever lived are in fact dead), I can't help but wonder and worry about what it will look like when the next generation of entertainment in this vein is taken over by people who NEVER took history classes in school, or at least no history classes in elementary school. What important context will be missing from these tales, and who will even notice that it's missing?

Have you noticed any instances of this in your own life that made your jaw drop a bit? Have you personally encountered schools no longer teaching history?