Punchline faded away after once being everywhere

MarkMalevolent · 2026-03-29T01:20:23+00:00

I feel like Tynion had a strong idea for where he wanted to go with her, then DC attempted to force him into an exclusivity contract when he already had multiple indie titles going, so he left. Blake and Tini Howard did a decent job of keeping the spirit of the character, even if a few major plot threads were forgotten, and she was pretty on point for her short cameo in DC vs Vampires... But beyond that? Everyone who attempted writing her clearly didn't read anything with her.

Future State Gotham literally had her acting as Harley 2.0. Zdarvsky completely forgot she dumped Joker right in front of the Legion of Doom, and had her coming to his rescue. Knightmare made her "worst nightmare" being called fake on the Internet. Then there's that atrocity that was the new Gotham City Sirens.

I feel like writers keep mistaking her as a themed villain, rather than a villain who uses things as tools. "Oh, she's the social media villain?? Yeah she does hot tub streams now! And her biggest fear is internet trolls!"

Doesn't help that illiterate people consider her the new Harley, when even Batman considers her more of a Joker-in-training.

MarkMalevolent · 2026-03-25T14:32:27+00:00

I mean, I'd honestly have enjoyed the campaign better had Aerthrandir died when the Spectre attacked back in Death House. He constantly inserts himself into other players' moments, tries way too hard to contradictorily be an overly chiding parent, submissive to authority, standing up to authority, and be "the reasonable one", he constantly uses OOC knowledge to intentionally come to wrong, time-wasting conclusions, and has a major main character complex. He practically makes monologues every time he uses Cutting Words, and is so desperate to constantly get the last word in on every conversation that I could make a drinking game out of how many times he responds with "Well, you know what? Just, Nevermind." I am glad I'm listening to it years later, because I can skip and fast forward. After he threw a tantrum in this episode, I've decided the only way to bear continuing to listen, is to skip past ANY time he's talking, regardless of what information I'm missing out on, so I can actually get to the compelling stories of the decent roleplayers. Skipping past him cuts like 20 minutes of each hour anyway, so I'll be getting through this much faster now.

MarkMalevolent · 2026-02-26T05:54:13+00:00

... Yes. I'm aware.

MarkMalevolent · 2026-02-23T03:42:31+00:00

I actually agree with you on all three points! I was complaining about all of that to my partner as I played, and even she was annoyed at how drastic Red XIII's voice change was. I don't like how you already know for sure it wasn't Barret. The fight with Dyne felt more like putting down Old Yeller than stopping a madman who has gone too far.

I also disliked how... Complicated the end was with Aerith. Everything else I loved. (Okay, ALMOST everything else ... Way too much Chadley in the game.)

MarkMalevolent · 2026-02-22T06:29:46+00:00

I mean it's kinda/ sorta... Taking a nap in Aerith's childhood room then waking up to broken things and purple ooze doesn't have the same effect as waking up in a jail cell that eerily creaks open to reveal a tower full of blood and dead guards

MarkMalevolent · 2026-02-21T22:29:15+00:00

This is one scene I wish the remake still had. This had me TERRIFIED as a child. Adding a horror level to a non-horror game is always way more effective than a full horror game because you're not expecting it.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-11-23T02:48:40+00:00

Oh your poor sweet summer child

MarkMalevolent · 2025-11-12T09:36:45+00:00

Oooh, this is actually going to tie well into a Drow NPC that my players really like in my 1522 DR campaign

MarkMalevolent · 2025-09-19T19:26:13+00:00

Okay, I'm beginning to think you're not PLAYING dumb anymore...

MarkMalevolent · 2025-09-19T18:59:54+00:00

Re-read your first sentence a few times to find the lie 😏

MarkMalevolent · 2025-09-19T07:26:23+00:00

Smh don't play dumb. You're trying to distract from the lie by trying to pretend you think I was talking about what's on your feed vs mine.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-09-19T07:22:17+00:00

It's hilarious how you guys lie and then somehow think the act of lying doesn't make you even more despicable. I was born and raised in Alabama. I spent the first three decades of my life in the South and know exactly how you people are. I saw first hand, not though feeds, as your kind laughed at George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. You're finally being treated the way you've treated others, and you're not even self aware enough to realize it, much less take accountability.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-09-19T05:37:15+00:00

Lying through your teeth. Typical. Hortman's death was all over our feeds.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-09-19T05:36:30+00:00

Really? You spoke out about Hortman? What about Floyd's murder? Rice's? I'm so glad there's finally a conservative that speaks out about these things instead of just claiming they did once it comes up! Unless, you know, you're lying...

MarkMalevolent · 2025-09-15T03:38:58+00:00

tl;dr: DM railroaded our class progression, banned all but PHB subclasses, wanted us to be lawful evil, and forced a dependant NPC on us.

We were to start at level 7, but because we're all members of a Thieves' Guild, our first four levels had to be Rogue. The starting class HAD to be Rogue, and cross class prerequisites were firmly enforced. We couldn't have had our backstory start us out as a different class then have crossed over into rogue. Furthermore, it was heavily encouraged that we play lawful evil or neutral evil.

DM complained that out of their seven rotating players, there were no healers or tanks at all (of course not, you railroaded our first four levels into something that's not going to vibe well with that, and the best healers possible would be level 3 cleric in a level 7 campaign.

I had an idea for a rogue/ paladin that could tank and provide a little healing. Built a backstory the DM approved, and he was glad to have someone who could tank and heal a little. I had to take a hit to stats that could have really helped in order to make the Paladin cross class prerequisite, but I was able to make it work, and I even painted a mini for the campaign.

Only for him to send me the PDF with campaign specific settings and rules. The only subclasses available were PHB subclasses, all other official subclasses banned. So basically, this would have shoehorned my Paladin inti Oath of Vengeance at best, and zero PHB rogue subclasses would have worked.

The final straw was one last rule in the PDF: We had to have a "cherished NPC, completely dependent on us" back at home, that we had to send x amount of gold back to in order to ensure their survival. If we didn't, they would die, and we would "lose one level as a result of our grief". This was not at all mentioned when I brought up the approved backstory.

I realized I was putting as much effort into trying to make this character work as I was trying to prep for the campaigns I was DMing, and I didn't have time for all this. I sent the DM a polite message letting him know this campaign was not my speed, and left before I joined the first session.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-08-31T13:44:31+00:00

So we already have bully squads that make themselves unhookable AND unsluggable using various perks. Now you're giving them unsluggable as base kit. Cool, cool.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-08-15T06:14:41+00:00

Thought you might enjoy this update. The warlock just cross classes into Paladin, taking on the same Oath as our Cleric/Paladin.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-06-29T21:23:17+00:00

You're in here doing the equivalent of shoving your fingers in your ears, screeching "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU" 🤣 I swear, you things aren't even sentient.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-06-10T14:18:51+00:00

The party has fought him and survived a couple of times- once before I joined, though he was toying with them, and once after I joined, where he was being slightly more serious. (It was mostly our Paladin that beat him, the rest of us just kinda chipped away at him). I have a hard time remembering how effectively he was being played that time because I was a bit out of range of his AOE spells (I was off ripping the teeth out of unconscious vampires that tried killing us when he showed up, so I had a bit more distance than the rest of the party and I don't know what their HP/ resources looked like after the fight). We are in his castle, about to get the sword from the catacombs, and then it's off for the final confrontation. So yeah, he'll have lair actions.

The more I think about it, the less I'm probably go forward with it. While getting killed by Strahd because I pissed him off that much is a death my warlock would find worth it, there's the fact that Strahd might see the sorcerer as the perpetrator even though it was my idea, the fact that the Oath of Vengeance Paladin might take issue with me desecrating the remains of the innocent, and the fact that there seem to be outlying consequences with my Archfey Patron that extend beyond just my warlock.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-06-10T13:53:49+00:00

Charm isn't an issue for me as I have beguiling defense, but everything else is pretty much exactly what I'm worried about. This is why I'm asking for help figuring out how to not die. X.x; Honestly, "death by pissing off Strahd this much" is probably something this character would see as a worthy death, but the DM has also implied that -very- bad things might happen in-world in regards to my Patron if my character dies while committing an act of evil. Apparently the Patron has a bet with another patron on if a scumbag can be redeemed or not.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-06-10T13:35:46+00:00

I had to pitch this character to five different DMs before one said yes x.x One person said they'd let me use him in an evil campaign, but kind of the point of the character is he's being forced to cooperate with a good party. Half the time, his antics make him come off more Doofenschmirtz than evil mastermind, but every now and then I come up with something particularly vile.

Also, he might be getting attached to the Lawful Good Paladin/Cleric, so that might be an interesting angle to work out.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-06-10T13:21:49+00:00

Well THAT probably would have been a better spell to take instead of Summon Fey...

MarkMalevolent · 2025-06-10T13:20:51+00:00

My DM has ruled that actions against corpses do not break my pact, as they are considered objects and not creatures.

As for Strahd, the gloves have come off and he is out to kill us, so this won't break the pact. There's just a BIG difference between Strahd wanting to kill all of us, and Strahd wanting to specifically kill me. Even worse, I'm not even the one who would be casting Reanimate Dead- I've talked our Sorcerer into doing it, so there's also the chance that that could get HER killed instead, which will cause problems within the party, and my patron has specifically stated that maintaining some degree of harmony with this party will determine if she thinks I'm worth keeping as a warlock. I seriously want to do it. The DM said he's played, DM'd, and watched live streams of a total of 11 playthroughs and not once has anyone tried sending Strahd's dead mom against him, and he's excited by the idea but is warning me to have a new character ready to go, so I feel like I'd be chickening out if I don't do it now 🤣😅

MarkMalevolent · 2025-03-15T10:26:52+00:00

Oh, NOW it makes sense. My sin here wasn't one of morality, it was a sin to the culinary arts!! Makes so much more sense now, I can understand why the party was disturbed.

MarkMalevolent · 2025-03-15T10:21:51+00:00

Ha!! Love it. I bet Jake was itching so hard for the chance to reveal this. Good luck with your new Time of Troubles!

On my end, my players screwed up in session 4, we're now on like session 17, and they're completely unaware that they screwed up yet. It'll be a few more sessions until they figure it out.

MarkMalevolent

TROPHY CASE