[OPEN Mingle] Happy Anniversary and Happy Holidays!

[robintohood]

Who: Mingle post! Jason Todd robintohood is also available in a separate top-level comment
What: Festivities at the Descendant Karaoke Bar and Lounge
When: Week of November 27th and throughout December
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: N/A for now. Will edit if needed.

[By god, the weird (and only sometimes shady) New Jerseyian karaoke bar in the middle of Michigan has made it. The Descendant Karaoke Bar and Lounge has hit its first anniversary. To celebrate, there are special discount rates for customers and even deeper ones for the repeated loyal clients.

Because Descendant’s birthday is also at the very beginning of the winter holiday season, the whole place has been decorated to reflect the occasions. There’s the usual colorful tinsel, wreathes, Santa hats, and fake holly plants but there are also special additions the Descendant’s staff did. There are hidden Santa Gritty figures and decorations throughout the building. More blatant are the Christmas trees throughout the building adorned with Gritty baubles. Instead of an elf on a shelf, behind the bar on the top shelf is a Gritty figure next to the maneki-neko figure Mayuko gifted Jason last year during Descendant’s grand opening. Both figures are there all year round but for this time of the year, they’re rocking Santa hats too.

As for the Descendant’s owner, his presence is oddly sparse despite his business hitting a milestone. Jason’s still monitoring daily operations and is still making sure tasks are being properly delegated but during these last weeks of the year, he’s not at Descendant as often as he usually is. He can still be contacted though, namely if there’s an emergency.

Meanwhile, if one were to carefully eavesdrop on some of the Descendant’s more shady customers, one might hear that the Backbreakers gang and their leader, the Red Hood, might be having… problems holding their remaining territory. The rumors have been going since mid-November after the mysterious bombings to several of the Backbreakers’ safehouses.

So come in from the cold and celebrate, be it Descendant’s birthday or a winter holiday. Have a holiday drink like a spiked eggnog, a gingerbread martini, or a wassail. The karaoke machines are full of holiday songs to sing to as well.]

((OOC: Mingle post! Go have fun, folks. Jason’s own top-level is right here. My contact information is on this journal's profile and I'm in the game's Discord server. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns as well. I also have a feedback post.))

Comments

[welcome_summer]

Okay... so about an hour after I got there, I run into this guy in an open area. Tall, in a suit and top hat. Gray skin, crosses etched into his forehead. We talk for a bit. Newcomer-type things since I obviously have my suitcases and all. I look over, and the people I knew from home, my friends, one of my students? They're watching, and they've gone pale.

[robintohood]

[Oh he doesn’t like where this is going]

What was wrong?

[welcome_summer]

Well, unbeknownst to me, my shitty ex-boyfriend I mentioned earlier was also there. At that time he was dating this... strange man, Tyki Mikk. So my acquaintances were... nervous about his encountering me because he might do something rash out of... jealousy or something. Like use his phasing powers to make some of my internal parts external, or a particular trick, implant carnivorous butterflies into my abdomen and watch them eat their way out.

AND if that happened, they would have to haul me to the swamps and wait, like, two weeks for me to revive. Because the only thing that could hurt this guy was sanctified or holy weapons, so by the time someone with those could be rounded up, I'd be a goner.

[robintohood]

[Jason frowns as he listens. Tyki sounded like another mass murderer walking around with no consequences to face]

So what really happened?

[welcome_summer]

Fortunately, he wasn't interested in anything like that that day. I had a politely bland conversation with him and went on. Learned about him way after the fact.

All of this is to say, I understand your drive, a little. We should help those who need assistance or can be redirected, but there are some people who can't be helped, who will continue to hurt others. What's to be done?

[robintohood]

[Darkly and in a voice that sounds more Red Hood than Jason’s usual civilian cover]

Exactly. That’s something I concluded a long time ago.

[welcome_summer]

And is it something you're still working on solo?

[She's not going to outright connect that to how worn out he looks, and she says it carefully.

She knows through the media that the Batman was in this universe before, and that there have been Robins-plural around (even if they all don't go by the name, which is understandable). It wouldn't be surprising, given the history Jason has with the former, that the latter might be kept at arm's length.]

[robintohood]

Not always.

[It’s not a lie really. Sleeper’s been a great partner for him. But even then, doing everything by himself is a hard habit to shake off]

But this isn’t something that encourages teamwork.

[welcome_summer]

[It might not be the whole truth. But it's truthful enough that Mayuko's shoulders relax.]

"'I should pray to God to let me encounter all the evil in the world in my own person, so that if I conquered there would be none left, and if I were defeated, I would be the one to suffer for it.'"

[robintohood]

[It takes a moment for Jason to try and remember what book Mayuko is quoting from. It's been awhile since he read anything related to King Arthur.

Jason also stops himself short of making a wryly smile. It's a funny coincidence to bring up knights given Gotham's unique meaning of them]

You could make the argument that I'm more rogue than knight.

[Though he will concede that he has his own moral code. It's not traditionally "good" as others' codes but it's part of what guides him]

But there's been too much innocent blood spilled. It's why I do what I do.

[welcome_summer]

A rogue-- so more like Robin Hood?

[She says it with so little guile, it's clear not ALL the Gothamite dots have been connected. Or maybe the mulled wine is kicking in. But as he continues, she can't spare any further thought on it.]

... Pure or wicked, everyone's blood is all the same, in the end. But the world where that's unnecessary isn't here.

[Sable bobs their head before slipping back under the table. Can confirm blood is blood is blood.]

[robintohood]

[Jason snorts. It's a private amusement to Mayuko unknowingly hitting a term close to his life and his family]

Believe me, I know. Anyone who thinks that can be stopped might as well be Sisyphus. But that doesn't mean it can't be minimized.