I Like To Imagine A Scenario Where Humanity Just Never Developed Energy Guns And Has Stuck To Kinetic

Not "humans are inherently good" or "humans are inherently evil" but a secret third thing (humans are inherently social animals which means that we're very good at cooperating and being compassionate towards those we perceive as being part of our community but we're also very good at being tribal and violent towards those we perceive as threats to our community and everyone defines their community differently)

Pinned Post

Since I plugged this blog on my main I guess I should make a pinned post clarifying everything.

I made a silly little sideblog for talking about the Youtube tabletop RPG series made by Sequence Break, starting from Star Road Now, continuing with The Quiet Decay and Severed Strings.

If you're not familiar with it I suggest checking out the official playlist with all the episodes on Youtube to get a feel for it as well as the wiki (beware of spoilers for later parts), but tl;dr it's a collection of TTRPG campaigns set in the same continuity, in the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure universe (albeit it strays from Jojo canon later on.) The events happen in a near-ish future (2088-2140) in the city of Electros, Japan and usually revolve around dealing with some kind of grand moral dilemma told through a series of labyrinthine fights and personal subplots. Also punchghosts. I'll elaborate on the specific parts of the series under the cut.

I won't be tagging spoilers since this is just a tiny thing I have on the side, so if you're interested in this series in any way I suggest you at least finish Star Road Now before continuing.

Star Road Now is generally centered around themes of dreams, self-improvement, potential and family. This is the first entry in the series set in the year 2130, and is the most popular one by far; in fact it's what you usually get when you search "jojo ttrpg" on Youtube. It sets the stage for the rest of the series and is a must-watch if you want to understand what's going on in the other two parts.

The Quiet Decay narrows the scope a bit while retaining some thematic ties to SRN (family and self-improvement are even more prevalent now), but it also explores the inner psyche of many of its characters through the mysterious phenomenon of Black Tears. It's the second entry in the series and is chronologically the earliest one, starting in autumn of 2088, and features some characters from Star Road Now as well as Severed Strings (as to why, see below)

Severed Strings is the third and latest entry in the Sequence Break Jojoverse and is still ongoing, having been run parallel with The Quiet Decay up until the latter's finale. It is a lot more experimental, taking concepts established in canon Jojo and flipping them on their head or otherwise playing with them, though it still retains strong thematic ties to SRN and TQD in the form of familial bonds and what they can mean to a person; it also introduces the theme of freedom and individuality to an extent which becomes more clear later on.

There are some spinoffs to the main series such as On The Road Again (a darker AU of Star Road Now featuring a completely new cast of characters) and Crystal River Romp (an ambiguously canon spinoff set in an amusement park), though I don't know much about them as I haven't watched much from either spinoff.

This blog has a tag system in place to make it easier for me to look for specific types of posts (ie a certain character/part/etc) and it's accessible through mobile as well as desktop. Feel free to reblog anything from here, I don't really care.

My favorite character is Hephaestus Brando from Severed Strings she is the light of my life my quirky little construction worker and generally funny little lady who lives in my head rent-free. I have a couple other characters I really like but you can figure those out on your own.

I think that covers all the bases, feel free to send me an ask or something if you have any questions for me or about the series.

Just a cute lil thought:

Since Bruce's kids all love to play around and hide in his cape as Robins, I wonder if he makes them blankets out of the same materials as his cape so they can have a piece of security when Bruce isn't there?

I remember in Dick and Jason's older comics (correct me if I'm wrong), they used to stay up late waiting for Bruce when he'd go out as Batman alone, so I'm gonna take this as confirmation that all his kids have done this at some point.

So now I'm totally gonna hc that in order to encourage his kids to not stay up late for him or as a way to help them feel more safe and secure when he's not there, he makes them all blanket replicas of his cape for them to snuggle with :')

And also just imagine his kids all grown up, and they STILL have the blankets with them, regardless of if they've moved out.

I saw a post a long time ago saying that Dick gives Talia mother's day cards just to put mean things in them. This is how I imagined the first time going:

Dick: Talia

Talia: Richard

Dick: It is Mother's day

Talia: Yes it is?

Dick: Although I don't think of as my mother and Bruce and I are going to visit my real mother's grave later. I made you a card...so here.

Talia: You made me a card?

Dick: Yes

Talia *takes the card*: Well...uh thank you Richard this very unexpected

Talia *opens the card*: Oh. There it is

Dick: Yup!!

Talia: Well....I will cherish this card

Dick: Oh I bet you will!!!

Something I noticed is that Bruce isn’t really that sympathetic to his villains unless that are family or have been romantically involved with him

Selina is stolen so much stuff with no regard for who it is half the time but she has gotten a pass over and over

Jason and Talia have murdered a lot of people but they get a pass because Jason is one of Bruce’s kids and Talia is Damian’s mom

But when it comes to everyone else it usually radio silence

But on the other hand you have Batman the animated series where Bruce tries his best and is super understanding and compassionate with everyone, including his rouges

I’m not criticizing any specific character this is just an observation about how Bruce is usually written but there are exceptions, of course

Okay so wait you guys all know that thing that teachers or parents do were they forget that they don't have to speak in like a baby voice all the time and accidentally interact with grown adults in the same manner they do with a child right? Okay so imagine that- but with Batman and the Justice League

Like-

Hal and Barry are arguing and suddenly Batman goes, “boys, thats not very nice is it?” in like a kid voice

Or Oliver is complaining about getting patched up after a fight and Batman chides, “You take the hit you gotta take the stitch baby,” 

Or Clark is mumbling something and Bats goes, “Speak up sweetheart, lets use our speech properly yeah?”

Or Diana accidentally punches a man in the face when hes already down. Batman tsks, “Come on darling, what did we talk about? One hit only.”

Or Oliver is leaving for a mission and Dinah kisses him goodbye and then he walks away, only for Batman to go, “Say bye bye!” 

AGDJFDYSGUKSRHGBDF

Just please imagine their faces for me.

And Batman grimaces lightly afterwards every time and just leaves and the League is flabbergasted

I still can't get over how much I love the fact that The Batman didn't have Batman disguise his voice when in the suit. I know the choice was a practical one (and I'm glad Matt Reeves made that decision), but I also absolutely LOVE the way it aligns with this particular iteration of Bruce. This is a Bruce who is PHENOMENALLY uncomfortable in his own skin and his identity as Bruce Wayne. He's a reclusive, mentally ill, highly traumatized man who's extremely uncomfortable in every social interaction he has to endure as Bruce, and we can see that in every aspect of his presence. He's hunched, barely makes eye contact, and just generally gives the sense that he's trying his hardest to sink into the floor.

He's completely different as Batman. There's a confidence and physicality to his presence- he takes up undeniable space in an unapologetic way. Bruce is comfortable as Batman in a way that he isn't as Bruce Wayne. He's still quiet and soft-spoken, and the biggest change in his voice is that it's MAYBE a little deeper at times- otherwise it's just his regular speaking voice. It doesn't matter though because his physical presence is so vastly different as Batman compared to Bruce Wayne that he feels like a completely different person even with the same voice. Pattison's command over his physical presence in and out of the suit is masterful enough that even we as the audience get the sense that these are two different people despite KNOWING that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person.

More than that, I think letting Batman have the same quiet voice as Bruce actually ADDS to his physical presence. He's quiet and soft-spoken but he is goddamn THERE and his presence can't be ignored. It really highlights the comfort and confidence Bruce feels as Batman that he very painfully does NOT feel as Bruce Wayne, and I absolutely LOVE that we get to have this contrast. Props to Matt Reeves for making that decision and mega props to Robert Pattinson for being able to convey it all so well

I can't stop thinking about an AU where multiple universes collide and a bunch of alternate Bats have to save the world together-- but the catch is that they are: Talon Grayson, Gun Batman Tim, Cluemaster Steph, Demon Head Damian, Assassin Cass, Prince of Metas Duke (followed his bio father's footsteps after finding out about him) and.... Father Todd. The only one who doesn't kill people, but is very well versed in exorcism magic.

New way to hold Batman just dropped

Holmes having living relatives that he still talks to and interacts with, Holmes being the one to initiate most of the physical contact and affection between himself and Watson, Holmes saying Watson is his “only friend” VS Watson having no living relatives by the time he returns from war, Watson rarely initiating contact between himself and Holmes unless he’s tending to injuries, Watson having a semi-large circle of friends outside of Holmes

I don’t know where I’m going with this but I just think those parallels are interesting. Holmes has close familial relations and is very physically affectionate but has no friends whereas Watson has many friends but no familial relations and is much more reserved about touch. There’s something here. It’s on the tip of my tongue I just know there’s something here you could dissect if you thought about it enough