#there's a couple things i might want to modify that would add some more time to this

[lapismaid]

gonna sit on it for tonight since there's still a little more to be done here but. uh.

uh. how is this turning out actually decent. like. what the fuck.

[bibibbon]

I'm convinced that the translators saw the backlash on the different scans and tried to modify the dialogue to make chapter 430 sound better than it is. It doesn't change the fact that even though villainy has fallen and there's more time for heroes to relax. That none of 1A decided that Izuku was worth their time. I can't stand the copers right now; they are just making excuses for Hori right now.

Plus, Ochako and Tenya had their own team dedicated to quirk counseling and she didn't think to invite her best friend Izuku someone known for being intelligent and obsessed with quirks. Izuku really has some scummy friends. No wonder the cucking memes are going wild right now. Ochako and others just seem like junior members of the MLA for ignoring Izuku after losing OFA. The MLA is bound for a resurgence doesn't it lol.

Not to mention I still can't get over the fact that Izuku had to wait 8 years to get some stupid armor when All-Might had his special suit built in a couple of weeks to fight AFO. If the editors had some sense, Izuku would have already had the power suit before he even graduated from UA and be in the top ten hero ranks by now. But that might have made Izuku look awesome possibly outshining Mirio or Bakugo and we can't have that now, can we. but Hori really wanted to make Izuku look like a bum. Izuku needs better friends and an author.

Hi @agentterios ��

Iam not sure if Viz manga or official translators actually did do any of that but I still do have my issues with the MHA ending overall.

My main point that confuses me is that if there are less villains then how are the heroes doing more work?!?! Are they more focused on rescuing and changing society? If that's the case then cool I don't have a problem with that but it's the fact that we don't see much of it. We are told that ochako and iida have started a quirk counselling project which like you mentioned adding Izuku to it (or having him involved in the background) because of his quirk analysis or just analytical abilities would be a great addition to them and should of been canon. Doing this would of 1) proved that izuku even though he has lost his quirk he is incredibly close and still works with his classmates and 2) would allow for one of my favourite Izuku characteristics shine.

Alps I find it very weird how the manga states that izuku and the rest of 1A don't hang out at a lot due to work but we don't even get a small panel of him texting them or him hanging out with individual members of 1A. I feel like if we got something like that it would of shown us that yes Izuku is still in contact with them but nope. I also feel like this is one of the reasons why so many people including I might of misinterpreted the thing into 1A ditching Izuku because we literally don't see them hang out or do anything outside of heroics together. Now that I think about it the whole found family bond of 1A is centered around them being heroes and in heroics so that's all they have and it's not a good look.

First I hate the idea of izuku losing his quirk (I have seen different interpretations but I still think it sucks) and two i find it incredibly unrealistic how izuku (a boy who did anything to become a hero) simply not do anything for 8 years. That's not the Izuku I know at all. The Izuku I know would do anything to help others and even try and be useful or a hero but this one just sits back accepting defeat and that his dream is over?!?! The boy who said his body moved on it's own to help others simply gives up and doesn't do anything until he is given a suit?!?!?!

There's also the fact that I don't like the whole suit thing. Maybe I would of liked it if izuku worked with Melissa and mei to make it himself. Something about izuku making it and earning it and learning and adapting to reach his goal is much more satisfying and adds more to his character than him being given a suit and becoming a hero. Izuku working in the background helping heroes whether that be with projects or strategies and analysis also should of been something he should of done during the eight years.

Also, I have been avoiding Izuku related content from twitter and tiktok like the plague so no I haven't had the misfortune in seeing another gag that the fandom makes about izukus pain without them acknowledging how the manga events effect his character

[anonymusbosch]

way too long ankle thoughts

I have had fairly weak ankles for a pretty long time - I sprained one pretty badly in my senior year of high school and then kept respraining it for... at least a year after? Then I sprained my other ankle in college and made a hobby of respraining it, then I - a couple years(?) later want on one run that I went on often and ended up with acute tendinitis that became long-lasting-mystery-ankle-affliction, which lasted me more or less from 2021 to 2024 in ebbs and flows of "I think it's getting better this time" / "agh one slightly-too-long-hike set me back months again". And it's more or less much better now! Not 100%, but measurably improved (the last "I think it might be better this time!" I was topping out at 6 miles on flat ground, and I did 12 with a little elevation a few weekends ago).

Throughout these, the doctor's appointments were of middling use. I'd say a 30/30/40 mix of "making it better", "making it actively worse", and "mystifying and useless". I tried physical therapy - this did seem to help lead to improvement, but I attribute this largely to (1) having done quite a bit of research before my first visit and arriving with "The doctor said I have X, so I tried all these different exercises and stretches and I'm still getting pain" and (2) a physical therapist can be seen for an hour at a time for several weeks in a row and this makes them more vulnerable to interrogation than the average US MD, who will see you for 15 minutes of a 30-minute appointment a month from now if you're lucky. The physical therapist was also about a 70% useless woo/30% useful mix, but the duration meant that 30% was pretty impactful.

As far as I can tell, the things that worked for me were

Strengthening the ankle with various exercises like calf raises, resistance band thingamabobs, etc. A lot of these felt really easy when I looked up "exercises for ankle strength" - there are ways to modify them to make them more challenging. My understanding is that a healing ligament can't heal tightly and a sprained ankle benefits from having stronger muscles to help hold it more in place.

Balance exercises - not just standing on one foot, but doing one-foot calf raises, using a balance board/bosu ball, doing one-leg squats and such that require balance through the range of motion, etc. Messing around with my sister's slackline. Roller blading. This has to do with the proprioception thing, as far as I know.

Strengthening and stretching the muscles of the foot itself. This - I think - was the breakthrough for my particular situation. With all the staying-off-my-ankle, there were a bunch of foot muscles that help with stabilization that got very weak with disuse.

Strength stuff for hips and knees as well.

(for all the exercises, I really can't give a recommendation. Absolutely not a doctor. What I can say is that I got frustrated early about things being too easy or too hard - but almost anything can be modified to add or subtract difficulty, and I do have a decent mental catalog of the variations that I've done.)

Using hiking poles. What would have been a minor rolled ankle pre-sprain would become a re-sprain - poles helped me head off several re-sprains.

Wearing a lace-up ankle brace (from the pharmacy, like $20, nothing fancy) that helped prevent re-sprains in situations where poles wouldn't cut it or didn't apply.

Actually doing the boring exercises and shit. This was a very difficult thing even with a burning desire to banish ankle problems entirely. I had a lot more success tacking them on to the end of other exercise; dedicating solely ankle time was (is) anathema to my attention span. Small things that helped: Finding things which target some weak areas (balance, ankles, knees, hips) that aren't boring as fuck (stand up paddle board [when available], roller blades, biking, climbing, even regular gym exercises that use balance, etc). Having a buddy for accountability. Taking 20 min to get outside and do things before work. being unemployed for a couple months. leaving resistance bands out in view so I remember they exist. going on hikes and walking on my toes. walking weirdly around town (on heels, on toes, with funky stride). doing the exercises between routes at the climbing gym. standing on one foot while working. etc etc etc.

but yeah, part of what spurred my photography hobby was needing to sit down while other people hiked. might as well appreciate the beauty and look at bugs while you're waitin'

[amtrak12]

I left 300+ comments on fics in 3 days

So the Seasons of Drabbles fic exchange just wrapped up its summer round, and I had a blast with it! I plan on making a wrap-up post about my experience as both a writer and a reader, but first I want to talk about how I read and commented on 338 drabbles (aka everything posted as of the day authors were revealed) in one weekend. 👀

Why

First of all, why the fuck did I read and comment on sooooo many drabbles? For multiple reasons:

I haven't received many comments on my most recent fic updates which has left me pretty bummed out

If I'm going to claim "Even a simple heart emoji goes a long way!" then I should practice what I preach

I was so excited/impatient for fic reveals that I skimmed through past rounds for fandoms I like and found a fic that didn't have any comments even 5 months later, not even from the giftee :(

So yeah, I was determined that every single fic posted to the summer round was getting a heart emoji and a kudos from me BARE MINIMUM! And if I'm kudos-ing and commenting, then I might as well read the fic too. What if it's really good? What if it's really sad and a heart emoji doesn't fit the tone? I need to know these things!

Methodology

I made a game plan. My baseline comment was a purple heart 💜 because that's my go to color. If I found something to quote, I quoted it. If it was angsty (or seemed angsty), I might do an 'Ooph!' before the heart, or even a broken heart emoji paired with a 'Good job!'. If someone did a series of drabbles and split the drabbles up into their own chapters, I switched up the color of the hearts for each chapter -- and yes I did comment on each chapter! As an author, I LOVE when I get comments along the way and not just at the end. And as a reader, it gave me extra space to quote or add commentary, if I had it (and sometimes I did!). Commenting on every chapter is 👍👍👍 Do recommend.

But did I actually READ every single one of these fics, you ask? Yes. Like 99% of them. There were a couple where I knew enough about the fandom to know I wanted nothing to do with that or where the series of drabbles was so long, that I was like "oh bestie, I can't do it. I'm so sorry :(" But I still skimmed those enough to grasp the tone of the fic so I could modify my heart emoji comment as needed.

Results

OMG it was so frickin fun! I mean, did my eyes start to bleed? Did I have to take breaks from reading because I caught myself skimming too much? Yes, of course. IT WAS 338 DRABBLES IN THREE DAYS! And not all of them were 100-300 words long. Some of those were 1-2k words! I should've taken more breaks than I did, but I really wanted to get all/the majority done before author reveals for arbitrary reasons only my brain knows (it won't even tell me you guys 😜) But even still, it was super super fun to see the huge variety of fics out there!

It's also been a blast to see the author replies roll in. Some replied before author reveals so they still showed anonymous. Most waited until after the reveals and I got to learn that WHOA, so-and-so wrote like 7 of those drabbles! *applauds* Sometimes they replied with a thank you, sometimes it was their own preferred heart emoji. It's so cute seeing how other people like to say thank you, because I know I've definitely settled into a 'style' when I reply to comments on my fics. 💜

Would I do it again?

I honestly don't know. It was exhausting burning through all those fics in such a short amount of time. Now this particular fic exchange is smaller and only runs four times a year, so give me three months and I can probably do it again no problem. But right now, I definitely need a break lol No regrets though!!

Highlights of my reading:

I learned Object and Concept Anthropomorphism is a category on AO3. 😲 Which on the one hand, shouldn't surprise me because I KNOW I read crack fic with anthropomorphism back on LiveJournal. But it still delighted me to see it pop up in this fic exchange. XD

On that note Chess Pieces (Anthropomorphic) is apparently popular enough to warrant it's own, individual, fandom tag. Incredible information to know!! I love that!

There's a user named DanceWithOrangutans and they seem to only request or write orangutan fiction or maybe Planet of the Apes fic if they feel like branching out. Truly an icon to end all icons! 🌟 They're my new favorite person and I look forward to reading lots of orangutan flash fiction in future rounds 💜

I have absolutely no idea what was going on in any of the anime fics but some of them were super adorable and fluffy 🥰

My absolute favorite thing was when people who actually know that fandom commented before me, so when I left my little heart, I would get to read them squeeing and crying and freaking out over how good the drabble was. :') They'd be like 'IT WAS SO IN CHARACTER!!! 😭' and I'd be like 'oh cool, the author nailed it! 😄' 10/10 experience

And to wrap things up...

Seasons of Drabbles: Summer Round Superlatives

Best Author's Note:

satisfy the desire of the afflicted by yesthisisnarumi (Dungeon Meshi, M, 300 words)

Hysterical author's note. Absolutely loved it. 😂

Most Baller Line:

birds of a feather by embraidery (Stardew Valley, T, 1100 words)

CAN IMAGINE WHERE A SMILE MIGHT GO???????? Are you fucking kidding me right now???????????? Brilliant work! A++ I'm still losing my mind about it!

I Don't Go Here But Holy Shit That's Good Writing:

recoil by Fleetling (The Man From U.N.C.L.E, T, 300 words)

The use of gun imagery to describe their relationship -- which from the one viewing of the trailer I saw years ago, seems pretty fitting for the movie -- just blew my mind. "voice cracking like gunfire" in the next paragraph? -- GOOD GOD! Again, don't even remotely go here, but damn this fic was really well written!

Best Username:

ECwrotethisforyou

You know what, yeah. You did write that, buddy! And you should remind everyone reading your fics that these are gifts! In or outside of a fic exchange. I approve! 👏

Best Story Structure:

If Comfy, Warm, and My Size, Why No Sit: A Meta-analysis of Research into the Warm Flat Rectangle by Dr Fluffy Jones by finerandbonnier (Original Work, G, 300 words)

YOU GUYS!!!!!!! If you have ever read a scientific paper for school or for funsies, you need to read this fic! It has FOOTNOTES! It has a BIBLIOGRAPHY in the end author's note! IT'S A FUCKING WORK OF GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!! 12/10 All the applause 🎉👏👏👏🌟

[chirpsythismorning]

Predictions for Songs That May (or May Not) Be Used to Promote the Final Season of Stranger Things!

While in the process of making my ST5 Vision playlist (with up to 200 songs), I noticed I was subconsciously making categories. And one of the categories I found myself getting especially fixated on, was one for songs that I could actually see being used, in either the official trailer for s5, or some other form of promotion, whether that be a teaser, sneak peak, or even just a simple 10 second clip of all the main characters dramatically looking up at the camera.

As I continue to stress myself out over the near endless possibilities for this playlist, I wanted to share a few songs here right now which I think, with (some) good reason, could end up being used to promote the show, ie. what Separate Ways was for the official s4 trailer.

Now, I want to make clear that I'm just theorizing here. This is all educated guesses at best. Don't take my word for it and please refrain from getting bitter in the case that you dislike one or more of the songs. If you must know I predicted exactly ONE song that ended up featuring in s4 (Object of My Desire), despite only having like 20 songs on my 'ST4 Vision' playlist (and despite not even taking it that seriously last time), so please give me some credit here! TBH I myself don't even like all these, but I'm still willing to consider them after researching through all the options that are out there.

I also want to add that most of these songs require some imagination. I think it's likely that whatever song(s) they do end up choosing, they'll most likely be modified to sound slightly different than the original. It all depends on the vibe they want to go for. And while we wait for the final season, i figure it might be fun to see if we can guess some of the DNA for s5 by doing stuff like this, which is why I wanted to share!

Keeping all of this in mind, here are my predictions!

The Final Countdown (1986) Europe

Likelihood Rating: 9/10

Yep. I'm starting with the most obvious. Sue me. Honestly though, I don't really have any strong opinions about this one. Like, it fits. It's 'the final countdown' aka the final season. This song is most often used in intense environments, like sporting events, etc.. So there is this element of appeal in that it could be quite fitting for an official trailer, let alone a final season trailer. I have said in the past that lyrically there is some potential endgame byler coding in these lyrics, meaning this song would be fitting not only because of it's literal title, but also in a way that could foreshadow what may end up happening in the show itself (wouldn't be the first time). There's this mention of 'we're leaving together', 'missing her so,' as well as something a little more specific, '-- still we stand tall, cause maybe they'll see us, and welcome us all'. I could genuinely imagine this being used to foreshadow Mike and Will leaving for the city (together) at the end of the show, missing El who stays, and the audience maybe (hopefully) accepting that as a satisfying ending (also a Separate Ways parallel: here we stand vs. and still we stand tall).

I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire (1941) The Ink Spots

Likelihood Rating: 2/10

Yep. I'm going from the most obvious to the most obscure. Sue me. To be fair, I don't think this song is that obscure (you might even recognize it from angsty s4 Will Byers edits: here and here to name a couple). And although it is very old and therefore would not necessarily fit with the 80's vibe specifically, Stranger Things is no stranger to featuring songs that came out well before the setting of the show. In fact, almost every season, we get at least one major oldie. And so, I guess if I had to choose my prediction for the oldie to feature in s5, it would be this one! It should be noted that the preview Tumblr offers for this song does not do it justice (nor do the other previews listed here for that matter), so definitely listen to the whole thing before giving it your full consideration. I do think that the s5 promo version would indeed be modified quite a bit to match the vibe they want to go for. What made me sort of instantly transfixed by this song in particular, is that it sounds and carries itself like a love song, and that's because it is a love song, no doubt. But because of the lyrics, it also feels like it could be framed in an eery way (I've Got Five On It from Us comes to mind). I think by fully embracing the apocalyptic-toned lyrics, while also embracing the romantic-toned ones, they could invoke a really incredible feeling out of the audience. Now, when it comes to the lyrics, that's what really got me intrigued. "I don't want to set the world on fire" reminds me of the expectations for Will's character going into ST5, with much of the GA being convinced that Mike not loving him back is going to result in this villain arc for him, which will inevitably end with Will sacrificing himself (also Will Byers fireball homage). But the truth for Will, and just like the song also argues, is much less stereotypically violent and a lot more surprisingly pure. The truth is that Will, 'just wants to start the flame in Mike's heart'!! And so we've got flame in heart crumbs, with a dash of end of world crumbs? Sign me tf up.

Mad World (1883) Tears For Fears

Likelihood Rating: 6/10 -

I feel like we need at least one Tears For Fears song in Stranger Things. Although I'm convinced (delusional) that Everybody Wants to Rule the World will feature near the end of the series during a happy moment, solely because of how much that s2 behind the scenes video has changed the brain chemistry of the entire fandom, to the point where a lot of us have been convinced it was used in the show at one point. But for the sake of this list, I think song(s) used to promote s5 before it premieres, are going to be less 'uplifting good', and instead more 'eery good'. We're still in hopeless, assumed failed mission territory and so 'No tomorrow. No tomorrow' is quite fitting. While there is hope going into the final season (we've been reassured the ending is beautiful) there's still a battle ahead in the mean time. Unless they plan to change our relation to that song, from aww to OH SHIT (which they definitely could...), I do think Mad World sort of fits the bill in respects to the impending doom a little more than EWRW, which feels more victorious in comparison. Lyrically, Mad World reminds me of Henry's villain monologue at the end of Vol. 1. I also think it's a good example of a song that has some lyrics that fit very well, while other lyrics don't fit as much. And that's okay. In the past, there has been songs used for ST promo, and even in the show itself, that followed a similar criteria, where they even tweaked/removed parts of songs that didn't match the message they wanted to convey. So keep this in mind as the list goes, because I do think a lot of layers go into their final decision for song choices, especially in regards to promotional picks. And so in this case, I guess you can't go wrong with a birthdaygate easter egg either...

Crazy Train (1980) Ozzy Osbourne

Likelihood Rating: 5/10

This song is extremely well known, and I do think it has the range to mesh well accompanying badass frames of the characters fighting and surviving in the trailer for the final season, as it has been used a lot from this sort of hyped up lens before (fingers crossed Megamind is on the ST5 inspo board!). Lyrically, we've got 'mental wounds not healing, life's a bitter shame, I'm going off the rails on a crazy train'. 'Mental wounds not healing', could parallel to what was going on with El at the end of s3 and throughout s4, with her powers not working bc of the memories she was suppressing, and it could also be related to Max ending up in a coma at the end of s4 at the hands of Venca, with her going into s5 somewhere in between life and death. 'Life's a bitter shame', pretty much sums up a lot of what the characters were feeling in s4 (also Heroes crumbs mayhaps?). 'I'm going off the rails on a crazy train,'... I shouldn't even have to acknowledge the implications of them using this song, or any song that includes the word Crazy in the title for that matter, as the official song for the season... and so, I wont. TBH I feel like this song is a little too similar to Separate Ways, and so maybe it wouldn't get picked based on that reason alone? Or maybe the exact opposite? Maybe it would get picked for that very reason? Regardless, I could see it.

Have You Ever Seen The Rain (1970) Creedance Clearwater Revival

Liklihood Rating: 3/10

This is another example of a song that would need to be modified quite a bit in order for it to work with the vibe of the final season. However, I do think there is quite a bit here to work with. 'Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the storm, I know, it's been coming for some time'. Those lyrics alongside some eery s5 frames, like, it works. And they feel deeper than just the literal storm itself, as everything likely to go down in s5, has indeed 'been coming for some time'... Also, if I'm being totally honest, any songs I can find that involve storms or thunder or rain, I'm there! And so this is just one in particular that stood out to me. This emphasis on rain pouring tremendously, while the sun shines brightly... I love it. Also we know songs by Creedance Clearwater Revival are very very capable of being covered and changed to something more creepy, Bad Moon Rising ring any bells?

Somebody to Love (1967) Jefferson Airplane

Likelihood Rating: 3/10

Now, ST has used a song by Jefferson Airplane before (White Rabbit), which is from the same album as this song Somebody to Love here. Although I don't necessarily think that alone rules out this song being a possibility, I still felt like it was worth mentioning. Lyrically, we've got, "When the truth is found to be lies. And all the joy within you dies. Don't you want somebody to love? Don't you need somebody to love? Wouldn't you love somebody to love? You better find somebody to love." This could fit very well with what's going on with El towards Mike in s3-4. Though I think she already knows the truth, which is that his monologue wasn't romantic and that he's sort of stringing her along with this falsehood, this song captures an emotion that I think is present with her still, and will be until they finally end things romantically. I also think the audience still hasn't realized the truth themselves, seeing as most of them assumed she loved the monologue. It's almost like the audience would also be discovering the truth aka the lie, and so if a song like this were to be incorporated in some type of promo, it could be interesting... El also very much deserves someone to love her the way she wants to be loved. Whenever someone finds themself in relationship, where they're giving 70% and the other is giving 30%, it might be time for the person putting in more to let go and remind themselves they deserve somebody to love them, truly. And this could also apply to every character on the show, as most songs used in promo apply to more than just one character. However, I do think the initial lyric at the start of this song definitely applies to El and her relationship with Mike, along with her desire to love someone and for them to love her back equally. Oh and also "when the garden flowers, baby are dead, yes and your mind, your mind is so full of red"...

Smalltown Boy (1984) Bronski Beat

Likelihood Rating: 1/10

I don't want to hear about how unrealistic it is, it's called manifestation. We all know Smalltown Boy is the very first song on Mike's official Spotify playlist, and so there has been a lot of hype in the byler community that it could potentially feature in the final season, aka the same season Mike's feelings for Will are anticipated to be revealed. To be fair, You Spin Me Round featured in s4 (at Rink-O-Mania where Mike was being an absolute gay disaster bc of Will) and was also on Mike's playlist, along with Mad World which I also listed as a prediction for s5 promo. Even still, personally, I can't really imagine this song in the show itself, as like non-diegetic nor diegetic sound. I could however imagine it being used outside of the show for some kind of promotion. I know all the Netflix socials release more than just teasers and trailers, but also like small snippets of promo, for example the one with the main party all looking up at the camera dramatically for ST4 promo. I could totally see a short clip of s5 Mike looking up at the camera all worried, and accompanied by that notable Smalltown Boy (Bronski) beat.

Should I Stay or Should I Go (1982) The Clash

Likelihood Rating: 7/10

Even though I try to not dwell too much over songs that have already been on the show, I feel like this is one of the clear exceptions. Should I Stay or Should I Go had so much importance early on, like it was literally the Running Up that Hill of the first season. And so if we're going to see a lot of things coming full circle, with us getting some big questions answered related to Will and the Upside Down, I think it's possible and even likely we could hear it on the show again. There's a bunch of popular theories that Will could get Vecna'd based on a decent amount of substantial evidence, meaning we could hear this song play on the show again in attempts to save him... However, it's probably not likely to play out exactly like this, since we know Vecna/Henry needs Will and doesn't want him dead (as far as we know at least). I do think it could also be used as promo for s5. There's one TikTok edit in particular that made me realize how awesome something like this could look. It would feel very much like we're back to s1 vibes if they used this song, and I think that since they've admitted to going back to their roots, it's definitely a possibility we'll hear it again. (Also another iconic s5 concept edit from this user bc they’re a legend!)

Down Under (1981) Men At Work

Likelihood Rating: 2/10

This is probably my most unique prediction of all, because although there aren't a lot of lyrics to go off of here, we don't really need a laundry list of lyrics, as it first and foremost depends on the style of promo the song would be used in. The title itself could parallel to the Upside Down, aka 'Down Under'. Lyrically, we've got, '--Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover'. It doesn't take a lot to recognize this fits pretty well with what we're going to presumably be thrown into at the start of s5. I do think this would be another case of them having to edit the original drastically in order for it to work. But again, I could really imagine it working well for promo that's smaller in length. And if given really eery, edgy modifications in the ST version, I could honestly see it being pretty epic too. A lot of people know this song from other entertainment over the years, so it would be instantly recognizable, but also unique and engaging enough to impress viewers. Underground is another song from this album that feels slightly Upside Down coded, though not as well known so probably not as ideal for promo purposes. (Double also, Men At Work have a couple extremely Mike Wheeler coded songs, including, but not limited to: Who Can It Be Now and Man with Two Hearts)

AND that's all for now!

I'm curious to know if any of you can imagine one or more of these songs featuring on the show in some way? Or if there's any other songs you can think of that might work for s5 promotional purpose? So please don't hesitate to share! I would love more inspiration!

It's been a lot of fun making this playlist, especially knowing there's at least a small possibility in guessing some of the DNA of the final season in doing so. I feel like with previous seasons, it wasn't as easy to guess the music that might feature because there was just such a broad understanding of what was to come. Though, with this being the last time around, there's just so much to go off of in terms of the expected tone, especially with the whole 'end of the world' aspect.

As of now, I'm not sure if or when I'll ever post the ST5 vision playlist. I could see myself being able to release it in chunks, like I did here first with songs that I could see being used in s5 promotion. Some of the categories include themes involving catastrophic weather conditions/war, doors and/or locks, hearts, unrequited love, sleepless nights, magic/powers, etc. are just some of the few categories I have going on. If there's any in particular you're interested in hearing next, don't hesitate to ask!

[glaive-guisarme]

I had some good responses to my initial post about Academia Animalia, which is heck of exciting, so I'm gonna chat a bit more about it. Specifically, I'm going to get into the mechanics a bit! Obviously everything here is early days, but I THINK that it's going to look more like this than not as time goes forth.

That's the character playbook and spellbook above, but you can also see the Google Docs version (with a couple more sample spellbooks) right here.

To recap: in this game you are a forest animal who grew up in an abandoned wizarding academy, and so you are a wizard. You have a dual nature, and so you have two playbooks... the larger character sheet for what kind of animal you are, and the smaller spellbook (which might ideally be available printed on a playing card) for what kind of wizard you are.

The Animal Playbook

Deep in its DNA, this is a Powered by the Apocalypse game, and you can see that in the general structure of the animal playbook's Moves. You roll 2d6 and add a stat; 10+ is good, 7-9 is okay, and 6- is Bad. It also trades heavily on the structure where success means you pick some number off a list of options, which is a setup so common in PbtA games that you'd think there would be a specific name for it, like "choosy Moves" or something, but I am not familiar with one.

But I am playing a bit with how Moves work: rather than having a bunch of playbook moves and a separate list of “basic moves”, everyone’s playbook includes the basic moves, which are the same for everyone, and a number of Boosts for each Move which are unique to each animal. Usually, the Boosts modify the Move, broadening its applicability or putting in more choices to make or giving circumstantial bonuses, but they might do other things like the Fight move that adds Stress boxes, or Communication moves that interact with Bonds (which are the general "relationship" mechanic in the vein of Hx or Strings).

Additionally, there are no stats, each Move is rated by the number of boosts that it has. If you take one Fight boost, you roll +1 in Fight. This works really well with the low numbers that you get in PbtA games, where you wouldn't get better than +3 to a stat under normal circumstances. It also means that getting more breadth in what a Move lets you do ALSO makes you better at doing that Move, which I think is good.

When you start, you get one Boost under a particular Move... for the bear, it's Fight, because bear big and strong; that Move also has three potential Boosts, rather than just two. Then you pick two more Boosts under any two Moves, which could be Fight again if you want to specialize a little, or could be others if you want a broader competency. Other animals get other favored moves... raccoons can Seek, bobcats can Run, beavers can Act, and absolutely nobody gets Communicate because you are dang old animals and that will always be a bit of a struggle.

In practice, I found the Moves were pretty intuitive to use, although I might play with some of the choosy move choices. As it stands, there's a non-trivial degree of plagiarism from Thirsty Sword Lesbians in these moves, but like... if you're gonna steal, steal from TSL, right?

The Spellbook

Spellbooks work differently, because magic is different. For starters, you don't even get Boosts related to magic use. You can Cast, which does one of two things:

You can spend a stress to roll another Move with an additional +1, if you can explain how your magical training is helping you. That might mean propelling yourself with fire blasts as you Run, or surrounding yourself with terrifying bees as you Fight, or Seeking a person via a necromancer's unfailing BONE-SENSE, or whatever. The cost isn't trivial, you're basically casting from hit points, but it means important rolls are likely to invite a bit of fun magical narration, which is what we want.

You can perform a unique ability… they might work in a variety of ways, but none of them will ask you to roll 2d6, because Magic Works Differently. My goal is for them all to be distinct, to never rely on things besides additional tokens or d6s, and have very low randomness. The one up there lets you summon a demon servant who helps you out until it decides to attack you; other ones I've tried include Bone Armor (which lets you turn a skeleton into ablative stress armor) and Bee Summoning (whose only effect is summoning thousands of bees). Powerful-but-chaotic is the sort of vibe I'm looking for here, appropriate to animals who can only sort of cast the spells they know.

Since spellbooks are separate from the animal playbooks, you can mix-and-match your animals and forms of magic as you see fit (I am loosely aiming for 8 animals and 12 forms of magic to make 96 combinations, but like, those are just initial numbers that Feel Right). It might also open space for switching your spellbook between trips out of the Academy, but I'm not 100% sold on that just yet.

Miscellany

Pretty much every mechanical thing that exists in this game is one the playbooks, and also on the playbooks are things that don't exist, like the demonic imp having "tags", or the threat of a Wild Magic Surge. Listen, I'm figuring it out, sometimes I just put text on a page to figure out the Vibes.

I do want to point out a few fun things that didn't come into play in my playtest tho; for one thing, there are a few major mechanics (refreshing Bonds and healing Stress) that revolve around eating a meal. I don't know how this will feel in practice, but in theory I love it as something that's easy to elide over when things are calm but not trivial to accomplish when you're off on an adventure. It feels very like invasive animals to have "finding a source of food" be important. Sneaking into kitchens, overturning trash cans, etc.

The other thing I like is that the list of moves doubles as an initiative order... if folks are doing things at the same time, anyone who Casts goes first, then anyone who Communicates, then Acts, and so on until the Fighters go last. I don't know how often this will come up (it's not the sort of game that has, like, combat rounds) but if it does, it's nice to know who takes precedence. And of course, this encourages folks not to Fight... unless they're Casting when they do so.

(Yes I fully stole this from that Dr. Who RPG.)

The Future

As you might be able to tell, I am Hyped as Heck about Academia Animalia, and I hope you are too! It's not just the setting (but oh my goodness, animals fighting billionaires over the fate of a magical wasteland is a lot of fun), but I'm really proud of the structure as well, something that I put most of together after a long conversation with my girlfriend about what parts of PbtA games work and don't work for us.

I've set up an itch page for it, mostly just to have it in place, but it'll be the spot to keep your eye on for developments (if you're not keeping an eye on me here or on Masto or Twitter or whatever). All of these are great places for feedback if you have any (bearing in mind that questions like "is this Boost balanced?" or "is this text clear?" are not currently a concern, and I'm more all about "is this idea fun?" and "does the general structure make intuitive sense?" at this early playtesting date).

[kifu]

I feel like I need a long-term list of projects I wanted completed. My manic drive from January/February has died down, but my will to create is NOT gone. That's ... a feat.

Limbo - this project requires research by way of rewatching some if not all of 2k3 (and my definition of this is seasons 1 through 4 only, as I do not include the Tribunal, FF, or BttS as part of my cannon). As I write this, I'm halfway through season 2 and I'm outlining the points that will help me structure Limbo physically. The more I watch, the more I'm pissed about my creative choices for Limbo draft 1. That might turn out in my favor.

◦ outline 2k3 and figure out WHEN Limbo takes place to ground it in cannon

◦ outline major plot points in Limbo

◦ detail major characters' growth throughout entire story

◦ fucking write the damn story

Horse Comic - okay, another one that has tickled me since my childhood. I wanna get it done. I swore to myself that I wouldn't start this project until I had the skill to draw horses unaided by references. Well, mostly. The point is drawing a comic - and I think this comic will be five issues/chapters long from what I figured out last night - depicting a rundown of a modified story that I remember from my breyer horse herd as a little kid. Well, now adult storytelling, years of stacked ideas that go well with the og story, color genetics, and actually having the drive to put a comic together (by myself) come into play. This ain't gonna be a light project.

◦ break the story down into five chapters and detail everything that needs to happen within each chapter

◦ break each chapter down into pages so that I don't have to worry about page pacing when I start putting it all together

◦ "pencil" the ENTIRE first chapter before I even think about "inking" or laying down color/background

◦ work on one chapter at a time, but don't expect more than one chapter per year if I can even keep up my drive for this

◦ come up with an intriguing title because I'm stumped

HARPG - so I even started a blog for this and have a few chapters uploaded already, but when I got caught up in that commission I fell a couple weeks behind already. I am NOT feeling this so much, but I still would like to crank out a couple years of story this year. I NEED TO DRAW RAMSEY RIGHT FUCKING NOW. And then continue to come up with a chapter and chapter art every other week. Like, c'mon, me.

New Nation - another story that haunts me every time I think about my stories. Maybe I'll love Kurt again through Limbo. Probably not. I think I'm falling out of love with the character that got me through ... everything ... the past decade. Is it the Catholicism? I've been at war with Catholicism since my job at the pig farm. It's gotta be more than that. But anyway, I really ... really ... I don't know if I can ever come back to this story anymore, tbh. But it would be cool if I could. I might just say that I need to animate the unpublished scene of the future, because why not add another large ass project to the list. But that fight scene? Is AMAZING.

The Tribes - let's be serious. This needs to be written. Though it would be cool if I could actually write down my plan of action so that I have something physical to fall back on when my brain farts again. As it do. I remember that my goal for this story is to end at around 150-175k words. I believe I have the first 25k words written, though a lot needs to be done to those words to make things better. Even so, this is the best iteration of the Tribes yet. And my crack fic? Is actually really, really helping. I did not expect that.

◦ first 25k words are Kifu finding Taya and Jiogi and getting brought to the Tribe

◦ next 25k words are Kifu fitting into the Tribe, and getting to know the other Tribeslings. Need to figure out Mai's predecessor's name

◦ next 75k words are Kifu training under Kumji, first learning what every Tribesperson knows: hunting, gathering, basic body training; and later he introduces her to his group, where she secretly learns how to fight and kill - more details about this to be figured out later

◦ last 25k words are Kifu's struggle with the group's goals and eventual loss of control

I dunno. The story is my pet and I actually do have the entire series vaguely outlined somewhere with names all of the fucking place in the margins. I *do* want to come up with back stories for each and every person of the Air Tribe so it's not just the Kifu show, but a cohesive land where people are more than welcome to hate the main character because she be a stupid ho, but come around for everyone else. idk Things get better after the first book anyway.

[the-firebird69]

We're going to add some things to the design parameters they're very simple and they enhance it yeah well they kind of help you make it the tires and rims will be aftermarket that's what my husband calls it and I call it you get it from a magazine and they're not the dealer and it's not OEM it's aftermind aftermarket same thing and I told him that all that stuff and he says so it's aftermarket I see yeah but people need it explained and they do so we're going to go ahead with that tire and rim idea but the whole thing is that you have to remember that we want to offer the tire and rim with the kid and the prices will probably be better and they'll figure out how much because we will be offering it separate and we don't think that they'll beat the price but they might and people like doing that and he says you try and do it low and some people might be able to beat it and lots of times a get some cheap rim and she's tired and they're not as good but they do it just to get it done and we know that so I'm off doing this this is going to be great and I have partners and he wants me and my son and daughter-in-law and the other one and his wife and my daughters and the guys will report to Thor and Freya they'll be involved and we want to also offer high performance but really this is going to be a down and dirty kid at first and that's what they've been doing and telling us so you come up with all these bells and whistles but the down and dirty kid it doesn't touch the interior much only where it has to and it's where you have to make up for Stuff that you have to take out and you won't be running that many wires at all only extending some to the lights and such and it'll be the same type of light configuration and watch and voltage wattage and voltage and that's important to run it the same as the SUV and each SUV is different but will run it for like two at the first and people will order it for different ones and they'll have to modify it and then they'll ask for that particular SUV even though we could do it the other way it's more work but it's not that hard but it is how it goes also there's a question about performance in the exhaust right now you would have an exhaust of an SUV okay these SUVs are terrible that you would have all of the city smog and he said you can't do anything about it the way the kit goes on it'll go around the exhaust and it has to be left that way at first and I agree with him later on later on a couple months you'll offer a different muffler he thinks and then eventually a new exhaust kit and the top and you probably don't want to touch until you're an expert but we'll have those things as options maybe 2 months after and people are saying it's true also there are some other things that are important to note when you are building your car you want to know that we will have DOT approved papers and such and you document what you purchase and put in you put it in a notebook and we're going to suggest that and send the with it they'll be a thing like you go online and you can print out what the car is on the notebook and with the DMV they'll be a printout and everything and you can bring the notebook to the DMV and have the cover with the car on it and then have a packet for the DMV and then if you need to back it up you'll have the receipts the hard copy in your notebook and people like that we'll have that in the instructions and it's a good idea and really they Don't really require too much because you register the vehicle as a kid car with the dot and it gets approved quite quickly we would have a small EMP system that has to be put in if it has an engine shut off system we would disable it those things are not going to help other than that if there are questions will be happy to put out what our kit would be and what we're going to make it into eventually

Hera

So it's your kid can you plan on taking it over by piggybacking sales because we won't be able to keep up with it and we offer to ask you to make the product and we get greedy and we make trillions of them and yeah probably will happen I understand that so I'm going to try and make it and yeah that car looks really cool you modify the first one it's cool too cuz Brad did it a little and it looks really good the fin things is too high and it's too long you bring it down it looks really good

Bja

Oh yeah we got to make the panels a certain stiffness and I would rate it for about 400 miles an hour or 500 and you can't use too much plastic but the plastic helps and people have been doing it

Hera Zues

We know about the plastic panels and we know they work and which ones you can use in the mixes but this is a great idea and the people are going to take models molds that is from The originals and it's going to work it's going to be intense you have no idea that people can do this and keeping the SUV practically intact is great all-wheel drive is great there's really no reason why you can't do this the car is going to be awesome and I found out they listening to myself that this idea is very nice it's kind of the way it was with them in the first place but people can afford it and we actually need people this is starting to suck

We are making headway against the pseudo empire and they have a lot of these factories and yeah we can order from him too and it'll be nice and he wants to build one someday it says it'll be off of my Volkswagen subcompact SUV all-wheel drive and that's ridiculous why would I have one of those I probably do it's probably his idea it says we have to get the hell out of here but he says and she does it is their idea to have it all wheel drive and I'm out of my mind with hatred

Trump

We have to get going on this yeah I want to make these my people love them

Dave I did it before he says it's practically the same thing and I can modify it he says and I can use like stuff they use with plants and just stick it on there and just pull it off and wipe it off and just use different plants and see which one looks good and I can put just different options and list what I put on there this is awesome it's a great idea and you take the panel off with different panels they have five different cars and suddenly I said something there's no way to do this but this is easy for me the modifications are coming in and I can make a conglomeration and I know how to make the glue right with the plastic for 400 and it's good minimize that's right we want to make it cheap rims and tires by others is great interior finishes cap is great and the cover for the seat and the doodads with the name is awesome because tons of people make those and they'll be in business and they'll probably help get it going and we want emblems on it smaller of course we know the size like Ferrari not too small they also make like grilled pieces and it says oh no there will be and there's accents there's some not a ton and I saw that and I know people who make the fiberglass and they're not busy and they're really not doing well and they want to use it for some reason and the rims and tires we sell a ton of those and we can get some real cheap and add them in later sometimes it's better to add them in the front we also like the fact that the car is kind of intact because it is such a pain to take them apart then when you put the frame on to hold the panels the subframe on the vehicle is usually not in the way so you can keep the engine compartment and things like that and it sound lower and it's kind of a frame and when you design the cage and frame sometimes you don't need to put much of a frame around the engine and around the rear side it's just to hold the panels on and it'll be steel and it's strong but it's a lot easier to work with and we can make it both up and quick welds and really it's like a little cage it does not take long those panels suck you can't reinforce them no matter what you do and putting reinforcing on it is terrible and you really mounting it the same you do with the car so wondering why we need a frame it says it's different mounting points and that's why so we have to check it and you just put in a a piece and extends it and it's easier we might do that and it could be a lot of extenders and they look like a hat that's pretty slick so I know what I'm doing he says it's good save the interior is going to save just a ton of money and the panels we have time they're ridiculous it may not steal I don't know why they rust and they should be metal they change the steel and just doesn't do it and they're saying it's metal but it's a heavier it has more steel in it it's very true now there's other things to do with this but not much I'll tell you it's really nice and the style is going to be awesome and we got the picture of the gt21 songs I've done it with the rendering and it looks awesome and I can change it around and it just looks really cool and you got to make it a little wide body and it doesn't take any effort it's still centered you just bolt them up this is slick and I'm going to start doing

Dave

We have several people who are starting them up and Dave is one of them. Brad is one of them too and he's got ideas from other people already they're all talking about it and they're trying to be the person this is great this is exciting this is how it should be and nobody said they can't all try at the same time they'll be fighting about it but hey it's going to do something and we can we can actually shoe horned are version in and it's going to be a bunch of it's going to be strange to have different names for different car the same thing but it's going to be real fast I'm looking forward to this we have like 10 people who are actually making prototypes now

Thor Freya

It's really not big of a field and a lot of people don't fall through and I know it's true

Brad

Not this time Brad we need this vehicle air shocks is a great idea and we might want to incorporate that in a basic design

Bja

It might be why Dave was showing that picture with it up on a four wheels so we're going to try and do that too and the cart might represent of all wheel drive vehicle because of the horse and this could be in

Hera

I said it was Korean and you looked at a Korean car or SUV the interior looks perfect there's tons of these and it would work awesome and I'm going to try and build one this is great

Tommy f

We can build it very well too this is going to be awesome I can't believe it but this car is going to really really start out nice and we'll start with the Bradley GT1 and the GT2 would be the same chassis to begin with then we'll go to the next science SUV this is awesome I can't wait and he wants to drive around the driveway you can go up on the side if you have to park it during the storm

Trump

Olympus

[saydams]

i am going to start with the easiest way first. again, i can modify this to be simpler (hint: duct tape is actually amazing) or to do something different if you need.

the easiest way is going to be the "quick and dirty" horizontal chest strap i suggested just above. we can add the velcro option to it for more stability.

(the version i describe below isnt actually "quick and dirty". it's a permanant version that should be functional, comfortable, and not fall apart.)

the easiest way is going to be the "quick and dirty" horizontal chest strap i suggested just above. we can add the velcro option to it for more stability.

you will need:

flexible tape measure, or a long string you can wrap around yourself and a ruler to measure the string afterwards.

scissors that can cut fabric and velcro tape

a vinyl tablecloth or big piece of cardboard or newspaper or something to protect your table from glue spills.

an alcohol prep pad or some rubbing alcohol and a tissue, to clean the wheelchair back where you will be attaching velcro

fabric to make the chest strap (we will measure for length soon)

(you might like a pre-quilted fabric for comfort and padding, and fewer wrinkles. this is basically like if you cut up a quilt into strips, but without ruining your blanket.) you might also like something sturdy like denim (when you see 12oz or 7oz that's the thickness. think of jeans. less than 12 oz are lgihtweight jeans, 12 oz is medium weight, and 16 oz is heavyweight)

if you are using pre-quilted fabric, you will need some fabric strips or ribbon to fold over the edges and cover the cut ends (so the stuffing doesnt show) 1 inch or more wide for ribbon, 1.5 - 2 inch wide for fabric strips.

some rope or cord or ribbon to wrap around the headrest and loop around chest strap behind you

velcro strips for the chair back and also to close the overlapping ends of the chest piece. i suggest at least 1 inch wide as you will have to line the fuzzy strip and the hooked strip up on top of each other on your chest every time you put it on. wider strips will be easier to match up. again, we will figure out how much you need later (the plain velcro tape i linked just below is more than you need, but it is a good quality one at 1 inch wide. the shorter lengths i found were too narrow or poor quality. if you think 3/4 inch is fine, you can go with 5 feet in multiple colors here.)

i am going to suggest you use plain velcro tape (no attached glue) for this project. sticky velcro tape (with a glue under a peel off paper strip) wont stick as well to the fabric. however, if you want to use the sticky stuff, i bet you could use a stapler with it and it would work frusteratingly, the easiest thing to do would be to use 2 kinds of velcro for this one project. plain velcro tape on the fabric and sticky-backed velcro tape for the metal on your chair back. if you do this you will only need the "soft" or "loop" part of the sticky-backed velcro. you will use your plain velcro for the "scratchy" or "hook" side

you may need a couple of glues:

fabric glue or a hot glue gun for gluing fabrics to each other and for gluing the plain velcro to the fabric. (skip this if you are going to sew everything instead) if you use fabric glue you will also some clothespins or heavy books or something to hold things together until they dry. also i suggest some plastic shopping bags or a trash bag (not the "flex" trash bags) to keep your books from sticking to your project. i also find that it's nice to have some glue spreaders just in case. you can use little strips of cereal box, the handle of a plastic knife, or coffee stirrers. (if using hot glue gun you wont need clothespins, weights, plastic bags, or glue spreaders) and then to attach your velcro to the metal chair back, you can use the sticky-backed velcro i mentioned above, or you can use thick superglue or something similar to attach your plain velcro (let me know if you want more info)

other things you might need: if you are going no-sew, you may need a few large safety pins and/or a stapler.

i think that's everything! if you are sewing instead of gluing, you will of course need sewing machine, thread, needles.... you know. sewing stuff.

if you have a sewing machine (or can hand sew) you can sew the edging and the velcro onto the chest strap instead of gluing if you want. (let me know if you want instructions for that, happy to give them if needed)

ok i am going to help you with the measuring so you know how much material you need. then i will take a break!

here is the picture i drew just above, for easy reference. it's exactly the same.

you will need your flexible measuring tape (or piece of string), a buddy, and a way of taking notes. a big mirror might also be helpful but not necessary. oh! and some masking tape to mark your chair (or if you dont have any, some clear tape and some straight bits of paper. you can tape the paper on the chair back to mark positions.

you are going to sit in your chair, in the posture you want to maintain. have your buddy wrap the string around the back of your chair following the pink band in the picture, and then around to your front. you can adjust it to the hight you want and then have your buddy make sure the measuring tape is lying straight across the back, not drooping down or sliding at an angle. (if the top and bottom of where you want the strap are different measurements, go with the bigger one.

record that number. we can call it the "around chest"

now you need to figure out how much the strap should overlap. (probably more is better, for comfort and better hold? also it will be more adjustable for weight changes or a heavy coat). measure that distance that you want it to overlap across your front.

record that number. this will be the "overlap"

now decide how wide you want the strap to be. that is, how high and low on your front do you want it to go? measure that vertical distance

record that number. this will be the "strap width"

you also need to make a mark on your chair back how high and low you want the strap to be. we will need to know that to figure out the velcro. have your buddy put bits of masking tape (or tape bits of paper) to the chair back so you can reference them later.

now is probably also a good time to figure out if you want 2 areas of velcro on the overlap in the front, or one long continuous one. im not sure which one will be easier for you. i am thinking maybe two: a vertical patch on the left side to hold the straps together, then a bigger patch (of two horizontal strips) that starts just past that and stretches the rest of the overlap to the right, to properly position and tension?

ok! the rest of the measurements are on the back of your chair, so either you can have your buddy do them or you will have to relocate to see the back haha.

you are going to be putting velcro on any exposed metal (that i was calling hard plastic before but then i went to the comfort company's site and oops it's metal isn't it) that the chest strap is going to cross over. (look at the masking tape/bits of taped paper to see what will be covered)

now, this is important because i realized i made a mistake. i put the velcro vertically, but it will have the best hold if you can stick it on horizontally instead (the direction of the pull). so i am thinking 2 or 3 horizontal strips across the bend from the back to the sides, and then a vertical strip along the metal edge at the outermost edge of the seatback.

(if you dont need access to those 2 holes (on the metal sides of the back, above those (armrest?) brackets), you could instead run the 3 horizontal velcro strips all the way along the metal from the inner edge to the outer edge. it all depends on where you have your brackets positioned, and if you need to be able to add stuff/move stuff a lot.)

so what i want to know is how long each of those strips of velcro will be? (i dont really need to know each number, but we want to make sure we bought enough, so just add them all together.

record this number. this is the "total sticky-backed velcro"

last measurement! the rope or cord (that will tie around the headrest and the chest strap behind the chair back) shown in purple in the drawing above. this will be an estimate. just sort of wrap your tape measure in an oval shape around the headrest and the left side of the chest strap. double it.

record this number. this is our "back tie"

great! take a break. next is math, then you can order your supplies.

now we have to do math. if you are not good with math, that's ok. i will explain. (or, if you are not up to it right now, send me all the measurements you just did and i will do the math for you. you dont have to read any further down this post)

first, how much chest strap fabric do we need?

chest strap fabric length = "around chest" + "overlap" + "overlap"

(if you are making it out of pre-quilted fabric, that is the length. if you are making it out of another fabric, it will need to be hemmed. add 2 inches to the total)

chest strap fabric width = "strap width"

(if you are making it out of pre-quilted fabric, that is the width. if you are making it out of another fabric, you will need to AT LEAST hem it but you should probably fold it in half so it is two layers. so add 2 inches to the total for hemming. then add another "strap width" if you want it two layers. that is, you would want the total fabric width to be: "strap width" + "strap width" + 2 inches)

now we know the width of the fabric and the length. when buying fabrics though they wont sell it that way. you need to know the length of the "bolt" (that's how wide the fabric comes. it's always gonna be that wide when you buy it. you just get to tell them how long you want them to cut. different fabrics will all be different widths.) when you want a long narrow piece like you do for this project, you are probably going to need to order it backwards. that is, you check the width of the bolt and see if it is long enough for your whole length or if you will have to double it. if it's long enough, you can order just the 10 inches of fabric you need for the width. but probably what will happen is the bolt isnt wide enough. so you order, (in our 10 inch example) 20 inches of the fabric. then when you get it home you cut it into two 10 inch wide strips, and attach them together in the middle.

again i can help you with this. no fear.

next, edge binding ribbon: (if you are using pre-quilted fabric)

if you are making your chest strap out of pre-quilted fabric next you need your fabric strips or your 1 inch wide ribbon (ribbon is expensive at joannes so i suggest shopping online if you are going to use ribbon)

you need enough to go around your whole chest strap. you can use the "chest strap fabric length" you came up with above, + "strap width". now multiply by 2. and you will want to be able to fold under the cut ends. so add 2 inches.

so that was:

"around chest" + "overlap" + "overlap" + "strap width" = "subtotal"

("subtotal" x 2) + 2 = "edge binding ribbon"

then, headrest tie:

take your "back tie" measurement from above and add enough to tie a bow. i suggest at least 12 inches.

last, plain (non-sticky) velcro:

we are just going to estimate because we just want to make sure we bought enough (if you are going with the 1" roll i suggested, there is plenty and you dont need to do this step. im just making sure its enough if you went for the 3/4" 5 ft package instead)

i am estimating we will need at least 2.5 - 3 ft for the front. so if you went with the smaller, thinner 5 ft roll, as long as the total of sticky-backed velcro you measured above is 2 - 2.5 feet, that should be fine. if the sticky-backed is more than that, you should go with the 1" plain roll i linked. (does this make sense?) or you could buy 2 of the 5 ft rolls if you want the colored tape.

god i hope this makes sense. so sorry if not! take your time.

tho in other news. insurance approved headrest & better cushion for manual chair n deliver in half a month maybe help with neck instability 🎉

haha though when body get tired slump forward like shrimp spine slump forward neck slump forward don’t have ability keep body up even if backrest really leaned back so idk if will actually lean on headrest

maybe make self chest strap time… with pretty fabric

how to attach to chair though is. question

and. headrest going to be idk. probably another 5-10 lb weight? putting “ultra light” manual chair 50+ lb total.

they should make these shit lighter

one reason hesitant for joy stick based power assist like e fix is because add 50+lb weight (another is insurance prob won’t cover nor have enough time until lose insurance but whatever). at this point 50 more lb not matter if can’t propel current chair weight anyway

[fisherrprince]

do you have more thoughts on keyblade fighting that you need to put somewhere, because i have two hands ready to catch Should The Need Arise

anon: hey I heard you mention you’d analysed the combat styles in KH and what you said in the tags was already alluding to really neat stuff, but I for one would love to hear more of what you came up with!! so if you ever wanted to share any of your analysis then the floor is yours

aHAH, MY EXCUSE!!

Okay, so first some words on “standardized wielding styles”. These are styles shared by Terra, Aqua, Vanitas, Riku, and Xehanort and every other scala and daybreak kid. I will make the argument that the red style is the fanciest standard style, while the purple is seen often to make it easier on the little chibi sprites. BUT, I cannot discredit Eraqus, who uses the purple variant in bbs, nor can I discredit half of the Foretellers (Gula and Ava, at least, use this. Invi and Aced use the first type). So, two standard styles. For simplicity, let’s say one for primary offense, one for primary defense. The standard offensive style really wasn’t popular before Scala-era society.

check this difference out, specifically between ava invi and gula:

then between eraqus, hermod, and xehanort, and eraqus and terra.

These two were likely popularized and standardized for education in Scala ad Caelum for their predominant lack of obvious weak spots.

After this, we have unique styles. Those include Sora Kairi and Xion’s (similar to standard defense, but more mobile at the expense of form — Kairi takes after Sora but less confident, she hasn’t been hit that heavily yet), Ven’s (backhand, heavy range and mobility), Roxas’ (modified for two keyblades, but takes after Sora), and Axel’s (taught himself, comfortable with chakrams).

So! Let’s go.

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Standard (offensive)

All styles have sub-variations, of a sense. Different wielders can choose where their keyblade points, and how they hold it exactly, based on what makes them most comfortable. Terra and Aqua point theirs downward, while Vanitas and Riku hold theirs above their head. What is recognizeable to this style is a hand for the sword, and a hand for guarding/blocking/items/magic.

It’s incredibly efficient. With only one hand on the weapon, you not only free up a hand for other things, but increase your range of movement with said weapon. Test it out yourself! The keyblade hand is always your dominant hand, held behind you for increased power when attacking (since you lose a significant amount of it by choosing not to grip with both hands). This style also decreases the speed of the defense you have, but with that increased mobility and swing power, along with a hand free to brace against the keyblade (defense strength up!), it makes up for it. Many people who use this also have strong barrier spells — both a testament to their preference for coverage and an acknowledgement that any directional block will take a little longer and be weaker if they try it with one hand.

The pointy end, though. What difference does it actually make, the height it’s at?

I think it’s half a matter of attack style preference and half intention. Riku, Vanitas, and Xehanort stab quite a bit. Aqua and Terra slice more. Not that they don’t do both, but it’s the first instinct. Aqua and Terra are also likely taught to hold their keyblade neutrally, in a safe position, until someone starts attacking. It’s polite! Eraqus also holds his one-handed, neutrally, until he gets into position. Riku and Vanitas learned to fight assuming everyone was out to fight them. Invi and Aced may like this style because of range (i hc she’s blind and strikes very very quickly, and he’s already very powerful with just the one arm and wants better motion).

and on character specifics: Terra often switches to two-handed, to copy his dad and add extra power to his hits without always sacrificing the empty hand. Vanitas likely was forced to relearn how to fight, as instead of solely being trained to be better at withstanding, he was constantly being made to better his own attacks. The moves Xehanort uses would best be replicated in the same style. Vanitas is wild for holding the massive spiky x-blade like that.

Now, what‘s good on this style does not correlate to what’s bad in the other. The two standard styles simply have different ways of dealing with each con they create or taking advantage of each pro.

(Here’s an interesting side note — Gula uses standard defensive, but in this instance, swaps. One hand… likely to display confidence! Wrong move, but hey. He got cocky. He’s also doing it wrong, and swaps back to two-handed to take Aced’s attack.)

.

Standard (defensive)

The main detriment of this style is the lack of ease of long range movement. Hold a wrapping paper tube out in front of you with both hands, then run. It goes to the side, or tucks in to your stomach, right? Dodge. Your legs will get in the way unless you know where to move that sword. It requires, interestingly, a little more discipline. You’d think Aqua would like that, but no, she wants movement and practicality, and she loves magic, and remember that you must take a hand off this style to grab a potion. You’d think young Eraqus wouldn’t, but remember that he’s a fancy royal lad.

The main draw, though, is tankiness, readiness, and power. You don’t need to move as much if nothing dares hit you! Ava and Gula might be attracted to this style because they’re not as physically strong, but want protection in close-quarters fighting. Using this style when your muscles aren’t as big but you still want to Hit Things Good, or when you want to be a boy you can’t knock over with a pail of water (horse stance rules), is probably solid advice.

Traditionally, this is a lot less like fencing, and a lot more like a samurai sword or kendo. Your blade is held in front of you, giving you very easy access to blocks and frontal attack/defense. In losing some twirly spinniness, you gain power and minimize your opponent’s ability to parry and block.

you gotta dodge master Eraqus so mcuh

All styles will swap between one and two hands for different moves. Eraqus, notably, swaps to a stance very similar to Xehanort when channeling a metric ton of magic.

Both of these styles require a degree of upper body/core strength, as does all swordfighting. I would be interested to see someone whose keyblade style relies on leg strength.

.

Sora, Xion, and Kairi

please look at the difference between the foretellers’ or eraqus’ two-handed grip and Sora’s. Do this with your shoulders and a top-heavy object.

They’re both in a hard stance, but hon. What are you, a gremlin? Anyways, a traditionally taught master would have… better form, even if it’s harder to learn at first. It’s habitual. Sora nearly crouches, and holds his keyblade back-pointed with two hands, which makes it easier for him to dodge roll, push off his feet quickly, and pull off those spinning combos he loves. It‘s really gonna hurt his muscles, in the future, though, since he’s doing a squat for like…. hours. Pulling on those shoulderblades and neck. Xion, too. Replicas had better have correct muscle dynamics. Kairi is brand new, so… maybe Aqua can teach her how to hold a sword so it doesnt hurt you.

Okay, now look at the grip itself. Held in front versus held to the side-back. They’re really attempting to combine both standard styles subconsciously, giving themselves more attack power while really wanting to keep that hard defensive parry, wanting to prevent all attacks to the front while also wanting mobility. It’s working for them really well, they fight like an anime character, and manage to get the best of both, with a minor sacrifice of length range that they don’t care about. We’re flexible and full of magic, baby! Holding the blade like this makes it pretty easy to let go with one hand without sacrificing that crouched defense position.

Now, Sora, specifically, is very adaptive. He’s had two keyblades, claws, guns, yo-yos, and a giant shield, to name a couple. He retains a bit of that alert crouch no matter where he goes, but Sora knows how he wants to attack and how to balance that with the most effective way to use his current weapon. He’s a smart kid! Sora has the most ridiculous shotlocks, which are also probably due to not always wanting to go standard for it. He also prefers to keep his focus on the enemy, which is evident in his reprisals and lack of very many effective “escape” moves.

Xion is very similar to Sora, but she does have some moves that are all movement. She switches to one handed for strikes a lot — using two for defending, one for smacking. In her data battle I’d swear some of those heavy hits are claymore-like. But anyways, since we’re magic, Xion cares not for the laws of exhaustion, and will ping about as a ball of light everywhere. Short range? Up in your business. Mid-range? In your business with one hand. Long range? Throws a boomerang. Hit her? No you dont. Ball of light. She’s above you and wants to bash your head in. (Vanitas also does this! A lot. It’s an easy way to catch someone off-guard. I’ll argue that the soras are very tough and strong, but not tanky. they want to avoid being hit a lot)

Another interesting note about Kairi. I say “unconfident” not because she doesn’t hit hard, but because her stance is also often tilted back, ready to dodge. It’s two handed, but almost all her moves are one. She does love spinning and throwing the thing! It looks like she’s been taking notes from the wielders she knows. It would be easy to teach her a standard style, I think. See here, she lets go on the strike, and by trying to do both, actually ends up with an advantage (being confusing) and disadvantage (losing both the power of two handed and versatility of one handed).

A counter to Sora and Xion is difficult to pin down. Time? Probably. Lack of heating pads. Something that takes all their attention is about the only way to get a sneak attack in, and then you have to hit hard. A counter to Kairi would be anyone who can knock her off balance. She needs a sturdier stance. .

Roxas

Roxas is interesting. He takes after Sora for the one blade. Wielding two, however, nets him a totally different way of fighting. Roxas’ clavicle muscles n… deltoids and stuff must be Ironclad. Also, two handed means you are very fast and sharp all the time. He has the advantage of standard defense (horse stance), and the advantage of offense (range of one sword, but twice).

Roxas generally attacks in two ways — simultaneous hits, and follow-up hits. Either he hits with both at once, or hits hard with the first one, and adds the second one as a bonus smack. He can attack by hitting in opposite directions with the two, like a drum, but that will be a little awkward and leave him prone to being tangled. That established, the follow-up hit method means he spins a bunch. As do we all.

Roxas gets a little complicated because we are not in the real world. We have magic and turning into light and physics that let you become a circular saw. So, typically, disadvantages would include: being unable to let go of a weapon to grab something or use an item, having just a very big silhouette to attack on, having difficulty with close-range attacks because Oathkeeper and Oblivion are kinda long, and convenience. Roxas gets to dodge #1 (keyblades can be unsummoned) and #4 (keyblades can be unsummoned). Speaking of dodging, he also gets to skirt the difficulty of dodging and rolling with two swords because he turns into a beam of light. But he can’t dodge how difficult it is to use two swords effectively — he needs to concentrate on fighting, and nothing else, or he risks messing up. He has to be very, very coordinated, and undistracted. Luckily he’s pretty good at making his opponents shut up, most of the time. Blocking is another thing — theoretically his blocks could be strong, but Roxas has no real brace: crossing your blades and taking a hefty stab might smack one of them back into your face. He mostly uses reversals and dodges, because of this.

The takeaway to this is Roxas is built for speed and power, and he is very strong. He’s a mid- to far- range fighter who if you’re not careful can snap you in half if you’re too close (be SO careful of that cross blade scissor).

A perfect counter to Roxas would be a tank that can grapple, and also be very distracting. If you can take hits, be talkative, and get close enough to stop his blades, you have a chance.

.

Ventus

This is a bizarre choice, my guy, but I get it.

Backhanded weapons are very impractical for a lot of... attacking, mainly in mid-range combat, and Ven likes to either fight very close or throw the keyblade like a boomerang (and hey, backhand gives it a good whip for throwing). His attacks aren’t meant to one hit KO, but they do come with a bit of power to them, especially on the backslash. Like holding a knife for gouging. It’s for very close defense — pretty good when Wayward Wind and Missing Ache have hooks.

Backhand also, while retaining that empty hand for potions and guarding, gives you an extreme coverage boost. By which I mean Ven’s sword hand now has a nearly 270 degree sweep of “I see you, don’t touch me”, very quickly, based on just flicking his wrist. It sacrifices a ton of strength/sturdiness, but you don’t need that if you’re dodging. You also don’t really need to block, which is slower, but relatively sturdy when Ven does it, as he blocks with mostly the chunky hilt between crossed arms. He sacrifices (again) a bit of strength for coverage — an attack would hurt his arms, not his chest, if he were hit head-on.

His attacks often have him flip the blade around in his hand, too. Quick swaps between standard moves and backhand ones. Basically, Ventus is built for moving, protecting himself, and quick attacks that wear down the enemy, not outclass it. Likely because he’s good at fighting, but everyone he’s fought hits harder than he can! It doesn’t matter how he holds it, getting hit will hurt. So he just. Doesn’t. He’s not a buff little guy — but he is a persistent one. Ven very likely made this up on his own, in Daybreak, and it was too hard to fix his whole style, but it was enough to correct most of his form so he doesn’t hurt himself too much. He is going to have to really stretch that shoulder and wrist (maybe get a brace), though. At least his neck is ok. … not sure about his knees tho dang boy that crouch

A perfect counter to Ven would be someone big and fast, who hits hard mid-range. He’s already been sparring with Terra, though, so when in doubt, try scruffing him?

.

Axel

Theres not a ton to say about him — he‘s not a swordfighter. He uses his keyblade like it’s a frisbee. Because that’s what he’s used to! His neutral is behind his back on his shoulder, which is terrible for readiness, but okay for chucking the thing. It’s good it has a sort of… ripstik like… boomerang quality.

Axel’s fighting style is completely made up, like most of the self-taught wielders’. His strengths lie in some of the benefits of standard offensive style (one-handed), and some of the same coverage stuff as Ven, having a cocked wrist most of the time so no one can sneak up around him without risking getting whacked very quickly, and having an interesting range due to the pointy end being basically on a spinny swivel wherever his hand moves. He’s not going to be good at close-range and he knows it — his attacks are mostly distance. And the guy has ZERO defense, combined with zero coverage when idle, so it’s for the better.

Distance-wise, though, he rocks. Treating the blade like it’s a flaming throwing weapon means his idle is actually great for sudden flick-tossing and attention-guiding for sneakier attacks, and his stance itself (…nonexistent) serves a different purpose: bait. Basically a big "come hit me". Fun, when you have a lot of fire magic and two friends who are beasts and love to take advantage of a distracted enemy — distance on the blade, proximity on the burning.

A perfect counter to Axel would be someone pinging around very close <—> very far and circling him incessantly. Like, data Xion could wreck him, as he has to wait for the boomerang to come back -- he no longer has two spinny wheels. Also someone with water magic.

.

SO! In conclusion! Having a teacher who teaches you correct sword usage rather than instinct may detract from overspecific styles that benefit you most but leave weak spots, but your muscles and your oversights will thank you. Everyone is glad we have the power of the Mouse and anime on our side.

Keep in mind again that I have done cursory research, and have had minimal actual sword instruction, I am not an expert and this is all for fun anyways :]

[lululawrence]

Can u please be nicer on ao3? Maybe you should try answering people's comments

when i read the first line i was honestly flabbergasted and wracking my brain trying to figure out when in the world i wasn't nice on ao3 ever. because i honestly truly try to be nice to everyone always, even when i'm angry or frustrated or people are going after those i love and want to protect. if there was a time i WASN'T nice on ao3, i wondered if it was maybe because my comment had been misunderstood or someone saw me razzing an author i'm good friends with and they didn't get that we are close and i said what i did with so much love and appreciation, you know? like what??? did i do???

but then i read your second line. and please forgive me if i come off as rude in my response to this, because honestly i'm in a pretty bad spot mentally and emotionally in general right now, but PARTICULARLY today, and this ask triggered an anxiety response in me. so. i'm trying really hard to word this in a way to educate without being condescending or mean, but i might not succeed.

firstly, thank you for your comments i'm assuming you've left. i'm also assuming they were nice comments, in which case extra thanks. i'm sure i'll send you effusive responses on ao3 when the time comes.

secondly, please understand that sending an ask like this, on anonymous no less, is incredibly entitled. writing is not my profession, i receive no compensation for my works that i post for free online, and as a part of that it is not required of me to respond. i do my very best to reply to every comment i receive, but it is not always in a timely manner, because i have other priorities in my life. all of which leads us to my third point, which is:

writers do not owe you a reply to your comments. end of. there are no other qualifications or quantifying modifiers to be added to the statement. is it nice to be acknowledged and know your comment was seen? sure. but do they OWE you one? hell no.

in fact, i'd like to offer you a suggestion. a way of tweaking your thinking about the comments you leave on fics. instead of looking at comments you leave as being something that deserves a reply from the author, think of your comments as your way of paying the author for the gift of their time and talents that they have shared with you by posting their fic. that's how i think of the comments i leave for authors. i'm giving them my thanks for the words they've shared! i want to help THEM feel as amazing as they have made ME feel when i read their fic. in fact, my hope isn't necessarily a response from them, but instead my hope is THE GIFT OF THEM SHARING MORE FIC WITH ME. i'm a selfish bitch in that way and i always want all the fic to read. i never want that well to go dry. one way i can ensure that doesn't happen is by supporting authors and being kind to them and spreading all the love and excitement i can about their writing in the hopes that my words will inspire them to share more.

because whether they reply or not, i GUARANTEE they are seeing your comments. i PROMISE they are. and for all you know, your comment might be the one that keeps them writing even when their words aren't coming easily or when they are tempted to give up.

but, again, please remember that no matter what, these authors (including me) don't actually owe you anything.

the rest of this is going under a cut, because honestly my reply is already far too long and i have a LOT more to say now that you've gotten me started.

now, all of this in mind, i'll explain to you why i'm not great with keeping up with comments made on my fics the last couple of years. i don't owe you this explanation any more than i owe you a response to your comments, and i'm honestly not sure you deserve this explanation either, but i'll still offer it anyway. it'll help me feel better knowing i at least put this out there, whether you care or not, mainly because if i don't do that it will cause me greater anxiety having you possibly think i am not responding to people because i feel all high and mighty or that i think i'm better than the comments or whatever the fuck kind of motivation you're attributing to me to see my lack of a response as something "not nice" towards the commenters.

i'm not sure if you've noticed, but i put out a lot of fic. like a lot. a lot of words and shit. i love writing, it's often my therapy and a way for me to help keep my anxiety and depression and ptsd at bay.

now, more personal shit for you, i've got three kids ages 9 and under. the oldest has adhd which we have yet to find a med for that helps to the extent she needs without side effects that aren't healthy for her to continue with, she also has anxiety, AND she's extremely gifted and starting a new program at a new school, all in the midst of a pandemic. and all of those situations exacerbate her anxiety! huzzah! she's also dealing with the beginning of her tween growing up shit, which is great fun because it means where she used to be pretty damn understanding of her younger brother, she is finding it much more difficult to. because the second oldest? he's autistic with some pretty significant gross motor, speech, and socialization delays that have only been exacerbated because of the previously mentioned pandemic. PLUS he transitioned from his special needs preschool to a fully integrated elementary school for kindergarten last year and then had to deal with all the ups and downs of the switch from e-learning to hybrid to all in schooling when everything in him screams for a normal schedule he can rely on to keep his own anxieties and fears and struggles at their minimum. and that youngest child? he was born in january of last year. he STILL barely leaves the house and has only met other children in close range a couple of times because, once again, pandemic!

add onto all of this my own mental health issues, the fact that my husband ALSO battles major clinical depression, adhd, and anxiety, AND we live with my parents who have their own health issues, both mental and physical. i run the home for our house of seven. i keep this place functioning, fed, clothed, clean, and everywhere we need to be for all of our five million appointments every. fucking. day. there is a REASON i've been borderline burnt out for the last fucking year and a half.

now, for fun, i have fandom shit. i love it here, even if it is a dumpster fire on the best of days, and getting to be a part of the writing community is so very lovely. i adore it. honestly, it's because of those friendships i've built with other writers that i have been able to keep writing and have found just how helpful it can be for my mental health. but i'm REALLY. INCREDIBLY. BUSY. i hardly have time to get on tumblr for just a quick swipe through my dash most days. i put off asks so long i forget i have them. i don't have the mental and emotional capacity to talk to people on here or interact fully a lot of the time. but i do my best to do so and be kind while i'm at it even when i don't want to be.

then, on top of that? i also run fic fests like @wordplayfics and help friends run their own. because not only am i a writer, i'm a reader. i LOVE fic. fic has saved me soooooo many times over the past seven years that i've been here. i want to do what i can to support other writers the best way i can, which is to provide a space for them to create their works that welcomes and helps promote them, but also by doing my monthly fic lists and pocast highlighting what i've been able to read, reblogging their fic posts, and then commenting and kudosing their fics too.

sometimes i get really fucking down on myself because i'm so behind on replying to comments, but my brain is very much a "if you start this, you have to finish it" kind of a brain, and i feel even WORSE sometimes if i reply to comments on some fics and not all of them. but i do my best and reply when i can. i was actually really fucking proud of myself because i had a couple days to myself in june, and i spent hours replying to comments on 20 of my fics. when you have almost 150 fics (i think? i don't even know how many fics i've posted by now), that is only scratching the surface. but i tried and i was so so happy i did that many fics at once. it's exhausting, though, and takes a lot of spoons for me to reply to them in mass like that plus time consuming. so i tried to be happy with those 20 fics and the comments i responded to there and told myself that when i ha a moment to breathe, i'd go and work on replying to some more.

but see, that again causes anxiety and guilt. because i haven't replied to all of them. and that anxiety and guilt can cause me to put it off further OR to put off important things like feeding my children or getting sleep in order to finish it, so i have to make myself put things into perspective and ensure i'm doing the important things, like taking care of myself and my family, first.

and then, i have a moment where i CAN go ahead and reply to comments... but i also have MANY fics that are on deadline and i actually have a schedule. a SCHEDULE. for when i'm going to focus on which fics. i can spell it out for you if you really want. i made it back in APRIL to make sure i didn't sign up for too many fic fests because there are so many going on right now that i want to participate in, but i know i can't do all of them so i had to pick and choose. and when you are SO overscheduled and busy that back in APRIL you had to figure out what fics you would focus on at what time to ensure you got everything written when you wanted to through THE END OF THE YEAR, more choices have to be made.

for example. my writing time and time for myself came down to only one evening a week for ALL fandom things i'm doing and a part of right now once the kids were out of school for the summer. it quickly became apparent that for my own self care i needed more time, so i worked with my husband to find two other days i could carve out at least 30-60 minutes to myself to write every week. and i did. but if i'm already only getting that much time and have committed to those fics and fests and things that you're running etc, you have to choose am i going to use this time to try to squeeze in some comment replies? or am i going to write? and i choose to write. simple as that.

so yeah. see it as selfish if you want. see it as mean. you can honestly see it as whatever the fuck you want, but for me? i know that as soon as i possibly can and i can breathe freely for once and not feel like i am constantly drowning in my day to day life and am doing pretty well when it comes to my fic deadlines and getting started on those christmas cards i'm once again going to be making by hand for everyone on tumblr who chooses to sign up for one this year out of the KINDNESS of my heart and the love i really do feel for so many of you, then i promise i'll be on ao3 catching up and commenting. my friends laugh and make fun of me for it sometimes, because they will sometimes get 10-12 replies to their comments in a single day. they know that's how i work. i WILL reply to every single comment i get, no matter how old it is. but for the love of all that is holy, do NOT add to the anxiety and guilt i already feel over it. the only place that will get you is the ask/comment getting deleted if it's a good day, a fucking long rant like this one if it's not, and a block if it's a REALLY bad day.

if you're asking me to be nice on ao3, then i ask in return that you also be nice by not demanding things of people that they are not in any way obligated to give.

[teruvash]

7/30/23: a couple of big updates from the last few weeks (progress notes below the cut)

main character profiles are about 60% done and I've started some initial work on the suspect profiles

I've started thinking more about ways to convey the story. I'm torn between wanting to do a more traditional/chatfic hybrid (the more sensible/easier to implement option), and being a little more ambitious, resulting in something that would be more true to the style of the ttrpg that's inspired this work.

In particular, there are two elements of AiM that made it so immersive: the fact that communication between players was done solely via text message, and the supplemental soundtrack to go along with it. Communication could be done via group chat, but players also had the option to split off into smaller (e.g., one-on-one) groups as well. I'm hoping to retain both of these elements in some capacity (though I imagine that the music will be optional, depending on the format).

The first (and more traditional) route is to have everything in AO3, utilizing skins/formatting as needed for the chatfic elements. I would have the flexibility to write supplemental prose outside of the group texts to help establish the mood, setting, and past relationships - but this might detract from the chatfic elements, which are the most important part of the story. Additionally, this in general format could make the chatfic elements more confusing to follow, especially if I have multiple one-on-ones between characters.

For the music element, I could either embed audio into an AO3 post or link to an external playlist. Depending on how I set it up, I could potentially use some of the licensed soundtrack (especially if it's in playlist form). I would still need to find other tracks, since reading speeds vary between individuals, but this would help me retain some of the hard-hitting aspects of the original soundtrack as I would just be streaming it through an embedded player.

The other option is to build the experience out of an interactive fiction engine (e.g. Twine or Ren'Py). The result would ultimately be closer to the experience of the original game, but it comes with a lot more issues:

For starters - I'm not much of a game designer. I can kind of look at other people's code/templates and play with things until I get what I need, but I can't build stuff from scratch, which could present challenges depending on how the project scopes out. What has me concerned, in particular, is the POV switching if the focus character at a given moment has to switch between the group chat and their personal chat with another character. And then, of course, there's the issue of needing to switch between characters as well.

I'm also not really an artist. I can source stuff that can be used under creative commons/royalty free/public domain searches and modify them as allowed and necessary, but it may result in some style consistency issues.

Additionally, since this method would require me to package any audio along with the game, I wouldn't feel comfortable having any copyrighted music in the files - since it could read as me distributing audio that I technically don't have the right to. I don't necessarily mind doing this, but it would add some additional time onto the project that I would have to consider.

On the other hand, I did a mockup of it in Twine using a text messaging template I found, and I'm honestly in love with the idea of doing it this way - I'm finding it to be so much more immersive and, if done right, it has the potential to be easier to follow when compared to traditional AO3 formats.

You can view the mockup below. The template is for an older version of Twine, which presents its own issues, and I broke something that caused all of the text to appear instantly rather than be spaced out, but I've found some potential alternatives that may work instead.

And that's about all for now! I've had a busy summer so haven't had quite as much time to work on this as I want to, but right now I'm on track to start working on the campaign itself sometime this fall.

so remember how I said I was taking a ttrpg system and building a trigun au out of it?

Yeah...I made a whole design doc to keep track of everything. It's basically a big spreadsheet with tabs explaining everything. When it's done, it'll have sections for content warnings, how the roles have been remapped, character and suspect profiles, location notes, plot details, and any technical modifications I had to make for the purposes of solo storytelling. I'll probably post a link to it once the character profiles are done!

[kekoma]

— matsukawa as your boyfriend.

i don’t know.. think it’s time to smooch him. hope you enjoy.

will kiss kiss fall in love with this man any day and any time but you didn’t come here to know that from me.

dating mattsun is like dating your best friend— and he is your best friend.

so the relationship is actually pretty relaxing and it didn’t take long for you both to adjust to the new label of being a couple.

although he treats you more like royalty rather than the regular ‘oh she’s my best friend who’s also my lover’ type of thing. if that makes sense.

the royalty stigma is really amped when you two ended up getting together since he’s been treating you that way once he figured out that he had the BIGGEST crush on you.

to him, you’re the most perfect human that deserves his heart and thankful towards the heavens/universe for creating such a beauty like you.

hands down, issei is the type of boyfriend that keeps your favorite drinks & snacks in the fridge, let’s you leave personal items in his room/bathroom and even made sure to buy you a toothbrush for those days (or nights) you end up staying over.

“you must really love me.”

“eh? of course i do but what makes you say that so suddenly?”

“well don’t most guys avoid having their lover take over their space?”

“i’m not most guys for your information and i want you to be more comfortable here anyways. also— you’ve been slowly taking over my space before we started dating.”

will 100% give you his clothes to wear. no doubt about it.

seeing you wear it definitely makes his heart go crazy because he just finds you so freaking cute.

and if you decline wearing them for some odd reason then he’s just looking at you like you’ve lost your mind... you’re gonna wear it and that’s final.

you def have him wrapped around your finger.

but not so whipped over you that it could possibly drive you crazy.

i would say MODERATELY whipped for you if that makes sense.

also arguments are quite rare within the relationship.

you mean a lot him, you’re literally his world so the last thing he would ever want to do is have an issue within the relationship.

but of course, it’s going to follow. when you two do end up having a disagreement, he’ll most likely be the first to apologize and make it up to you by buying your favorite kind of food.

and if you’re the one to apologize first, he’ll either tell you its fine and that he should have said sorry first or he’ll ask you to come over so he can see you.

truly depends on what the disagreement is about but other than that— most are avoided since he isn’t into conflict.

vv attentive to you. 

sometimes it’s a little crazy how good his memory is— making you impressed but sometimes it makes you wanna choke him but he won’t complain if you do it.

and because of this, he tends to spoil you occasionally with things you may have mentioned wanting.

something to add in before i forget— because he like to crack jokes occasionally, be ready to hear some flirty jokes.

and trust, some of those jokes are going to make you question how he could easily say something so... cheesy with no shame.

since he’s also a goofy kind of guy and assuming you’re goofy too— you both might be the type of couple who joke around by saying you’re breaking up with each other over small things.

“so you aren’t going to kiss me because my lip gloss doesn’t taste like cherries...?”

“yup.”

“issei... say sike.”

“no babe. i’m being serious. if it doesn’t taste like cherries then i don’t want to kiss you.”

“i- let’s break up.”

moving on~ let’s talk about pda with this tired looking cutie.

in public, his love language for you isn’t anything over the top nor too little— just something normal.

so holding hands? yes but sometimes he might opt to link his pinky with yours.

kissing? yes. cheeks, forehead, lips, and etc. places that are appropriate.

might be the type that likes to come up from behind and hug you.

or he’ll be beside you and wrap his arm around your torso.

also mattsun seems like the type of boyfriend who would take off his jacket when he notices that you’re cold and puts it on you.

issei may bring out some cliche moves with you so don’t be surprised.

i’ll also add during rides home, he likes putting his head on your shoulder and may even play footies with you too (just something cute)

nothing too major to really talk about since it’s pretty basic.

as for private— cuddles. cuddles. have i mentioned, cuddles? because cuddles.

that’s his favorite type of physical affection with you.

something about holding you close really does something to him and if you play with his hair while cuddling, he’s basically puddle in your hands.

def loves kissing you even more and especially now that he can kiss more places on you without an audience.

but i’ll keep this part short and say pda with him is there and its nice.

now nicknames.

top nicknames for you are... 🥁 🥁 🥁 his world, bunny, babe/baby, cutie and princess.

regarding dates, since he’s at pretty chill guy— dates with him basically fit his vibes.

movies, cafe, some amusement parks, restaurants, dates at home and etc.

he doesn’t have a favorite date since he loves them all but he does have a favorite picture of you two and it’s the time that you both went to an amusement park. it’s even his lockscreen.

now my mind is blank so i’ll conclude that dating tall boy issei is top tier and it’s one of the best relationships you’ve ever been in <333

© all content belongs to kekoma 2020. do not repost, modify or translate.

[writingwithcolor]

Jewish character as adoptive parent/patriarch of a found-family that ostensibly contains children from xtian backgrounds?

@lymanjosh asked:

tl;dr: how to approach Jewish character as adoptive parent/patriarch of a family that ostensibly contains children from xtian backgrounds?

(this is about fandom but i take it fairly seriously and want to do it right!)

so i’m not jewish, and i portray/hc a (relatively important/main) character A as a Jewish man. character A is at the center of a large found-family network, and he has a number of children adopted + otherwise who come from a variety of backgrounds and who are variously headcanoned by other fandom members.

a lot of the time (mostly in a roleplay context, where other people have equal control over the storyline) i’ll be faced with the assumption that the family would operate by the xtian norms dominant in a us context (particularly regarding xmas.)

id like to push back against this, but i hesitate to portray character A as asking his children to share in his own customs; i don’t think it would be in character, since he is very very reserved + rarely speaks about his birth family in the source material, but even if that were something he did i don’t have much interest in writing about it, nor do i think it would be my place.

what’s a realistic way for this kind of family to navigate the holidays? i’ve done some reading about adoption of children from oppressed groups by white/gentile families, in which it’s generally best to preserve the child’s connection with their culture, but i’m not sure if it would be different in this context? i worry about implying that A has to let xtian norms into his home to some degree in order to properly parent his children. 

Hi! OK, so when I first read this ask I completely read it as Magneto and was all set to give a complex and thorough Magneto answer, and then I realized I was jumping to conclusions and asked and I was VERY wrong – this is Batman! Which is also awesome. I’m not as familiar with DC but I still enjoy this premise.

So the question becomes: how does Jewish Batman handle the holidays if Robin and whoever those other found-family kids are, are Christian. How do we give them a Christmas without having to “do” Christmas ourselves? If I were in Batman’s Bat Shoes here, I’d ask the kids what it was they wanted. In other words, what part of Christmas would they need in order to feel like they weren’t missing out. And then I’d find a way to make sure they were getting to experience it. If they wanted to go to Midnight Mass, I’d ask if (Christian?) Alfred was okay taking them, or Commissioner Gordon, or some other gentile character. If all they wanted was Christmas cookies and everyone baking as a family, I’d orchestrate that without feeling uncomfortable. If they wanted to watch a movie it would depend on how overtly Christian it was vs. something like A Muppet Christmas Carol. (Note: this is going to be a big “your mileage may vary” here because of our varying discomfort with having to participate in Christmas, so I am definitely not saying all of us are comfy with secular Christmas movies.) If they wanted a Christmas tree, remember this is Wayne Manor so there’s gonna be room for there to be a Christmas tree or even a whole Christmas room that doesn’t have to be my space or my room. If I’m Batman. (Did I really just type that sentence?

Batman is so Alone TM that this post makes me lonely for him to have other Jewish characters to do his own holidays with. But. The whole time I was in grad school I was in a situation where I was celebrating all my holidays with all gentiles, and I basically did my own thing and taught them what I was doing and why, and then had movie parties. Like for Passover we had a “deconstructed seder” where I made all the seder foods as party foods and watched Ten Commandments. That way I got to feel like I wasn’t missing out. That would be a sort of secular way that the BatFam could participate in stuff like Passover without having to actually sign up to practice a different religion.

–Shira

I only have a couple minor things to add. Firstly OP, definitely pay attention to the ‘mileage may vary’ point and, as we’ve mentioned before, listen  to many Jewish experiences of Christmas from those who engage to those who are neutral to people who have negative associations and memories about Christmas. The examples Shira gave all work, as long as they fit with Batman’s wider Jewish identity and you’re aware that whatever option you go with, many Jews will feel completely differently to your character and that’s OK too.

Similarly, Shira’s suggestions for Jewish holidays like Passover are great, but this would again depend on Batman’s denomination and personal preferences. An Orthodox seder still has plenty of room to make it your own, but with a lot more do’s and don'ts. For example, (this obviously didn’t happen in 2020 but) my dad usually heads down to the local Jewish retirement home on first night Passover and leads a kind of 'highlights of the seder’ for the residents. All the songs they will remember from childhood, but shorter; all the food, but made a bit more palatable, as Shira also said; and all condensed into about 45 minutes. Your Batman might do something similar for his kids if they show interest in Passover. However, when my dad gets home he will still make sure he does seder night, even if he is by himself if the rest of the family are with my mum. It will depend on Batman’s denomination and beliefs as to whether he sees a condensed or modified seder as having fulfilled his religious obligation. 

–Shoshi

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #154

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making one of our most requested builds to date and the final Hassan so far, the First Hassan. He’s uh... not exactly subtle, huh? To make this walking engine of death, take 2 parts Samurai Fighter for some sword skills and magic resistance, 1 part Soulknife Rogue for obscene amounts of damage and an unnoticeable blade, and sprinkle some Grave Cleric to taste, just enough for some supernatural abilities and even more damage.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Our first anniversary! How romantic!

Race and Background

The Old Man of the Mountain was Human a long time ago, but he reached his fame during his undeath, making him a Hollow One. He’s also the closest thing we’re going to get to a Revenant in FGO, as in normal human history he’d only pop up when a younger Hassan needs a lesson in humility. All this adds up to you getting +1 Strength, +1 Wisdom and +1 Constitution, as well as a Relentless Nature that means you gain 1 hit point at the start of your turn while bloodied, you come back to life 24 hours after dying, and you always know exactly where the hassan who fucked up is. The downside to this is your go back to the afterlife as soon as you finish your task here on earth. You are Ageless, which is exactly what it says on the tin. You Cling to Life, so rolling a 16 or higher on a death save is as good as rolling a 20, bringing you back to 1 HP instantly. Your Revenance means you show up as undead when it comes to magical effects that sense that sort of thing, and you can use your Unsettling Presence to give a creature disadvantage on its next save for a minute as an action. You can use that last one once per long rest.

Hoo boy that’s a lot of racial bonuses. Fortunately your background’s nice and simple- as an Acolyte, you get Religion and Insight proficiency.

Ability Scores

You like big swords and big armor, so get that Strength up as high as possible for big swings. After that is Wisdom. We need it for multiclassing and for actually finding the Hassans. Little buggers are sneaky. Third is Dexterity- you don’t really care about stealth, but you are a ghost. Plus we need it for multiclassing. You’re literally undead- that makes you hard to kill. Your Constitution’s not half bad. Your Charisma is okay, you’re good at intimidating people, but you’re not that personable aside from that. Finally, dump Intelligence. I would never call you stupid, you’ve just got more important things to deal with than Arcana and Medicine. I know religion is an intelligence check, we’ll take care of it in a bit.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: If we want that creepy skull armor we’ve got to start as a Fighter, which makes you proficient in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as Intimidation and Perception. Like I said earlier, you’re very scary, and you’ve got to see your target to kill them, which is actually important when you hunt Hassans for an unliving.

You also get a Fighting Style. Your Superior Technique lets you make a Menacing Attack once per short rest. You add 1d6 to your attack’s damage, and if they fail a wisdom save (DC 8+str mod+proficiency) they’re frightened of you for the round.

You also gain a Second Wind which you can use to heal yourself as a bonus action. It’s like your normal healing factor, just a bit faster.

2. Rogue 1: Multiclassing into rogue gives you proficiency with Stealth. It’s not that you care about sneaking around that much, but you are a ghost.

You can also use your Sneak Attack to add extra damage to a blow once per turn. You have to be using a finesse weapon, and either have advantage on the attack or have another ally within 5′ of them. 

Finally, you get Expertise in two skills, doubling your proficiency bonus in Intimidation and Religion. 

You also learn Thieves’ Cant. It’s a language.

3. Rogue 2: Second level rogues can use their Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a bonus action. You might not really be a ghost here, but you can certainly disappear like one.

4. Rogue 3: At your third level or roguery you become a Soulknife, earning you some serious Psionic Power. You get a number of d6 equal to twice your proficiency bonus, which you can use in a couple different ways. You regain all your psionic dice after long rests, and you can use a bonus action to get one back each short rest.

Currently, you can use psionic dice on your Psi-Bolstered Knack, adding the number you roll to an ability check you’re proficient in. If it succeeds, the die is expended.

You can also use it to activate Psychic Whispers. You can speak telepathically with a number of creatures equal to your proficiency bonus, for a number of hours equal to what you rolled. You also have to be within 1 mile of each other. You can use it once per long rest for free, or by spending a die later.

More importantly, you gain Psychic Blades, melee weapons that deal psychic damage and have finesse. If it hits a creature, it doesn’t leave a mark.

Also your sneak attack is 2d6 now.

5. Rogue 4: We’re not investing too much into constitution, so use your first Ability Score Improvement to get the Tough Feat. This gives you an extra 10 hp now, and 2 more each time you level up from here on out.

6. Rogue 5: Fifth level rogues get an Uncanny Dodge, letting you halve the damage on an incoming attack as a reaction. Hitting one of your vitals is a... tricky proposition, to say the least.

You also get a bigger sneak attack this round- 3d6.

7. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge once per short rest. It’ll add an extra action to your turn.

8. Fighter 3: Third level fighters get a martial adept, and the Samurai get their FIghting Spirit. Three times per long rest, you gain advantage on all your attacks for the turn, and gain some temporary HP as a bonus action. Free sneak attacks and more health! It’s a win for everyone!

9. Fighter 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Strength for stronger attacks. Remember, finesse just means you canuse dexterity, not that you have to.

10. Cleric 1: Now it’s time to make things scary. First level Grave clerics can cast and prepare Spells using their Wisdom, like Bane and False Life to scare your enemies even more and make yourself even harder to kill. You also gain a Circle of Mortality, letting you heal creatures for the maximum possible if they’re at 0 HP. You also also learn the cantrip Spare the Dying, which for you has a longer range and shorter casting time.

You also gain Eyes of the Grave, letting you sense undead nearby Wisdom Modifier times per long rest.

For cantrips, you also learn Resistance to be a little bit better than everyone else, Toll the Dead for hopefully obvious reasons, and Thaumaturgy to scare the crap out of anyone who hasn’t run off once the bell sounds.

11. Cleric 2: The real fireworks start now. Second level clerics can Channel Divinity once per short rest in one of two ways. The classic Turn Undead is fine, but we’re here more for Path to the Grave. Invoking this as an action gives a target creature vulnerability to you or your ally’s next attack for this round.

12. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack each attack action. Attack twice with one action, or four times with two.

13. Rogue 6: Sixth level rogues get another round of Expertise, doubling your proficiency with Stealth and Perception.

14. Rogue 7: Your last level of rogue grants you Evasion, making your failed dexterity saves act like successes, and successes ignore the damage entirely.

15. Fighter 6: Use this ASI to bump up your Strength one last time, maximizing it for the most damage and accuracy possible.

16. Fighter 7: Seventh level samurai become Elegant Courtier, adding their wisdom bonuses to persuasion checks. I’d suggest talking with your DM to change it to intimidation checks for obvious reasons, but that’s on you. This also gives you proficiency with Wisdom saves.

17. Fighter 8: Use this ASI to grab the Sentinel feat, dropping a creature’s movement to 0 when you hit it with an opportunity attack. You can also make opportunity attacks against creatures attacking others, and you can make them against creatures who have disengaged. The perfect weapon to fight against assassins.

18. Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, letting them re-roll a failed save once per long rest. Protection of the Faithful is a hell of a drug.

19. Fighter 10: Tenth level Samurai have a Tireless Spirit, letting you regain a use of Fighting Spirit at the start of a fight if you’re all out. Your duty doesn’t end. Ever.

20. Fighter 11: Your capstone level gives you another Extra Attack each action, three per turn, or six with your action surge.

Pros:

Having a weapon that leaves no trace is a serious upside for someone like you. Your expertise in stealth also means you have a pretty good shot at avoiding unnecessary fights, even with heavy armor.

You excel at both burst and consistent damage, specializing in hard to avoid psychic attacks. Path to the Grave combined with your Menacing Attack and Sneak Attack will let you deal (6d6+5)*2 damage in a single blow. It’s not as powerful as Sanson’s, but you can use your action surge to set it up a lot easier. That and your maxed out strength makes hitting creatures accurately a lot easier.

With proficiency in two of the three big saves and Evasion propping up your one weakness, you’re pretty solid against magical attacks, which will certainly make dealing with the Hassans a lot easier.

Cons:

Using Path to the Grave for your own attacks is still kind of awkward, and you just have to hope you can get a solid hit in that round. Not much you can do to fix that.

I’m always going to knock a build a point if you have to bend the rules to make it work. Elegant Courtier just doesn’t work for the build rules as written, and technically you can’t use psychic blades for attacks of opportunity. I don’t feel those are massive power shifts, but it’s something you’d have to talk with your DM about, so it’s still a negative.

We don’t need Dexterity at all, except for multiclassing minimums. Starting with that 13 in another ability score would be very useful.

[stxleslyds]

I’ve heard a bunch of different opinions on this throughout the years, but I don’t know if you already got this question:

Do you think that Jason should be on a team/have relationships outside of the batfam? Because I’ve seen some say that his character only works when completely isolated (at least in the terms of positive relationships) while others say that it’s high time that he starts gaining actual friends and such like the rest of the Robins. Personally, I’m team friends bc I’m getting bored of all of Jason’s best stories having to pit him against basically everybody (or him being chained to rest of the bats all the time. Also I feel like Jason not having chemistry with anyone is because he’s rarely allowed to interact with other characters while remaining competent and well written)

Hi! Thank you for the ask!

I will be honest, for some reason, this question is making me go back and forth with what I want to say. So, as I am writing this, I am also telling myself the answer to this question.

First of all, I am a big fan of Jason having no interaction with the Bat-Clan in comics’ canon. This whole “Batfamily” thing isn’t really my thing or what I would like to see in Jason Todd/Red Hood books. To me, that concept doesn’t belong in comics and it’s not real, DC has made no effort in actually building a family with these characters so I would love it if Jason was “taken out” of the Batfamily narrative.

But as of now Jason has been pushed and locked away with these characters so DC can “sell” more books to people that can find that narrative for free in fanfiction.

Now, would I like Jason getting a team and/or friends if he weren’t involved with the Bat-Clan now? The answer would be no. Well, the short answer will be no and I will tell you why.

Jason Todd as the Red Hood is a character with no specific or distinguishable character traits. He has been in constant limbo, characterization-wise, ever since Lobdell stopped writing him. Me saying that is in no way me praising Lobdell for his ten years of absolute garbage writing because Lobdell was also messy when characterizing Jason. But on a certain level, his Jason followed a line or structure.

Now everything is a mess, every writer that comes by for a couple of issues either adds something that will eventually only confuse people or they recycle old stories that have long been solved. Jason has had his story re-written way too many times.

Where am I going with this, you ask? Well, adding a team or friends will only worsen things for Jason’s characterization, this has happened before, namely, with Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011). RHatO started fresh after Jason’s characterization was butchered by two or three different writers and instead of this new writer going to the original material (UtRH) he decided to start fresh, and alongside that fresh new start came the absolute character assassination of two very well-loved characters, Roy Harper and Koriand’r.

Jason’s, Roy’s, and Kory’s characterizations were all modified so much that we essentially had three new characters in our hands. And that was done so the writer could fit these characters in the story that he wanted to tell.

And that is my biggest fear right now for Jason, him being re-written/modified even more beyond recognition for him to fit with a team or something like that. And it is scary because if Jason has been in limbo for the past year, right now he is drowning in limbo, DC took his guns away, they dragged him back to Bat-Dramaland and he is “figuring himself out”.

So, giving him a team or friends wouldn’t be the best for him NOW. That’s why the answer to your question is no, I wouldn’t want to see him in a team right now.

But! If things were different and Jason had a solid characterization and his morals weren’t messed around with, I would actually like to see him have a group of people by his side. It would be something in between a team and friends.

And I have talked about this idea before, if Jason were to be a developed UtRH Jason I would love it if he actually created his own gang or group of people with people that used to work for Gotham’s baddies. Like him showing people that are working out of necessity with Black Mask that if they work with him, it will actually be better because he can offer protection against both Black Mask and Batman.

I believe that him can make Gotham’s people feel safe in a work environment because he is their boss. And as time goes by, he can become really close friends with the people that work with him.

I see Jason as an amazingly ruthless but also a kind boss that will always have your back if you are loyal to him. And the Jason that I like or that I believe should be in current comics isn’t a person that trusts easily, so working with other vigilantes would be hard for him.

Jason has very strong thoughts that can be very polarizing to people, so him connecting with other vigilantes might not be simple, but Gotham’s good people, that are trapped in bad situations, have been through a lot so I think that if they ever come across the Red Hood, they will like him because he can actually make a difference in Gotham.

So, friends or a team as he is written right now? No, first I would like to see how he is developed (or if he is developed at all) and then maybe.

Friends or a team for a Jason that will probably never exist? Yeah, if treated carefully.

Every character deserves to have their own set of friends or team but characters are also carefully written, and if a character doesn’t have a solid story to put them together then giving them friends or a team might complicate things because either you change the character that you are writing in order for them to fit in OR you might end up changing other character’s characterization to fit in with your character’s wobbly and ever-changing story.

Well, anon, there it is, a way too long answer for a simple question, I hope I didn’t confuse you with my rambling and that you have an amazing rest of the week!