#the man besides the monster

[crowholtz]

i so desperately want to talk about my CoS pc Helene and her desire to save and 'redeem' Strahd bc she loves him and they're so insanely compatible vs. her struggle with the fact that he's literally a soulless monster and has done terrible horrible things to so many people (and some terrible things to her too tbh)

Helene is in an constant eternal struggle with herself and what she wants, what her duty is, and what she is willing to accept. It drives me crazy

[fatedroses]

And some days, I just wish you wouldn't look at me at all.

[dirtytransmasc]

totally don't imagine little Aegon, maybe 7 or 8, playing with his toys while Sunfyre watched on, pouncing on castles carved from stone and gnaws on little wooden soldiers.

don't imagine him play-fighting with his boy. Aegon and his training sword fighting against the merciless beast that is his little golden fledgling, gently attacking playful claws and flapping wings and nipping beak, parrying when the dragon gets too close. or Sunfyre finally tackling his boy, mocking dragonfire when he screeches in his face, before nuzzling his boys cheek.

don't imagine them curling up in the sun, out in the grass or in a windowsill. Sunfyre spreading his wings over his boy to bask in the light, burying his face in the warmth of the crook of Aegon's neck.

don't imagine the hatchling perching on his bonded's shoulder. don't imagine Aegon sneaking to see him when he was sad or angry. don't imagine Sunfyre crying out in distress, restless in his den when he could feel Aegon's distress but could not get to him

don't imagine the fledgling finding his way to Aegon's window, sneaking in and curling up next to the boy as he laid drunk and miserable, coping as he wrapped around him. don't imagine him perching on the roof of Aegon's chambers, crying to him when he got too big to enter.

don't imagine his sweet little chirps and songs. don't imagine Aegon's little giggles and chuckles. don't imagine the nuzzling of white hair or the scratching. don't imagine them being happy

[bruciemilf]

I wonder if Man Bat is Gotham's Mothman.

Bernard asks, after Tim reveals his identity, along with a super long monologue of 'I understand if you want to leave, I'd leave me too', if he's ever seen Man Bat on patrols.

" Man Bat? You mean uncle Kirk?"

"What."

Tim points at Bruce trying to wrestle a 6'6 creature of shadows, fur, and sharp fangs, for a bag of cheese. Naturally, Bernard passes out.

[curapicas]

This. Man.

That he was jealous of the cool chimera was understandable. But he really went on an entire quest to save his sister who was devoured by a monster and then thought "you know what. god I wish that was me"

Bonus: Kabru, who has seen people being eaten by monsters, looking like a new nightmare was just added to his collection

[nirrvana]

they have assembled

[theboggskids]

With Randall stuff, I’m very much someone who doesn’t care for redemption ideas or angst for the sake of angst. I’m not someone who’s entertained by characters crying over something they have no reason to cry about. It doesn’t enrich their character or make them anymore sympathetic than they already are. (Oh boohoo you’re sad you faced the consequences of your actions or life didnt work out how you planned. Are you actually going to do something about it or just wallow?) Randall’s much too vindictive and proactive for that, imo. He hasn’t shown the signs of suffering enough for that well-constructed outer layer to break.

Randall’s a character who has been written in the main movies and the spin-off show as someone who felt anxious at one point, yes. Felt the sting of failure and defeat. But certainly not remorse. He’s acted in his own self interest consistently, using other people as a step up in the hierarchy. Perhaps some of the connections he’s formed have some genuine aspects but ultimately Randall is a self serving person. He wants to succeed so that he is remembered.

But, if we want, we can look at where Randall has expressed guilt. There’s two instances we can point to: 1) Randall losing at the Scare Games and 2) Randall being banished by Sulley.

Number 2 I don’t really dwell on because it’s a moment we know only happens because Randall’s lost the upper hand. He’ll do anything to get out of that predicament, and that includes groveling. Randall’s no stranger to kissing ass or even lying to get his way. He regrets it because he got caught, and he’s afraid of what he’s being faced with. He’s losing.

Number 1, however, is worth thinking over. Because it’s not just about Randall’s embarrassment and the beginning of his heated decade long one-sided rivalry with Sulley. It’s his reaction to disappointing Johnny (and, possibly, the rest of his team). He is completely, utterly confused, and it shows all over his face that he has no idea what just happened. For something he hasn’t quite mastered control over, as a result of another’s interference, he has utterly failed himself and Johnny. And Chet, low tier, mistreated Chet, gets in on the ridicule. And this is where Randall’s only true moment of regret occurs. Not for Mike, not even truly for himself. It’s about his reputation, and the reputation of his fraternity, of his only “true friend” that he makes in the movie.

MAW emphasizes a “Johnny, Johnny, Johnny” pattern with Randall. Randall is an independent character who acts alone, but he still looks for that approval (everyone does). But he doesn’t respect anyone in the cast enough… except for Johnny. He’ll do a favor for his friend. He’ll put up with irritating an old sports injury for a friend. He’ll scare the new kid for a laugh and to see that friend laugh.

This is his “bestie” from college, who he apparently holds no ill will toward for almost replacing him with Sulley. It’s almost like if he were in the same position, he’d have done the same. There’s an equal level between the two in MAW that’s not there in MU due to Johnny’s status as frat president and Randall as the last minute replacement. In MAW, we instead see Top Scarer Randall and CEO Johnny, putting them in a dynamic closer to that of Sulley and Waternoose. But whereas they didn’t see eye to eye, Johnny and Randall are one in the same in terms of ideals, with very similar goals. And they are unburdened by an age gap and business relationship that demands professionalism.

They’re frat brothers, who’ve seen each other in all sorts of parties, mishaps, and emotional woes. Randall was probably at the guy’s wedding. I think it’s safe to say even if it’s mostly business, Randall still sees him as enough of a peer, gets along with him well enough that Johnny’s the only opinion he cares enough to hear about in our current cast.

So who exactly would Randall change for? If he were to be guilty again, what would it be for? Randall has no reason to regret what he’s done. The only people who’ve objected to his plan have been Monsters Inc. “dorks and losers” and the temporary imprisonment just adds to the misunderstood genius complex. What he has in mind to succeed is worth it. It’ll all be worth it. And Johnny agrees. And that’s the only important thing we know.

[longagoitwastuesday]

I am liking Jujutsu Kaisen, way more than I imagined I would, but I foresee it will let me down and it's keeping me from enjoying this as much as I could haha

I think the characters and dynamics are well set, and I think many of them have an incredibly good and deep potential, but I would be willing to bet they'll not get a proper development, enough for them to really hit. A well assembled set of gears is not enough to make the movement go, you have to wind the clockwork.

I think Gojo and Megumi have a fascinating and very complex dynamic, but I doubt it will be given the time and care that imo it needs to actually work. And it is going well enough for now! One could see the intimacy between them was deeper than the one Gojo had with, say, Yuji and Nobara ever since the very first few episodes despite the fact Fushiguro too was a first year. But the pieces forming what they have are extremely complex, and it just wouldn't be realistic if it doesn't show, even if in a not showing way, or if it doesn't have consequences or implications.

It's one of those dynamics that shape one's life, the way one regards the world, the way one establishes or not relationships with other people. It's one of those dynamics that could be full of fondness, gratitude, resentment, admiration, trust, and that imply intimacy, the good kind or the bad, even if in just the knowledge of someone who's been a constant through your life. It could, and would, imply a myriad of feelings, and probably in such a mix it could imply contradictory feelings too. Even the nothingness would weight, even the nothingness would be significant and meaningful.

Gojo took Megumi and his sister under his wing, the son of a man who murdered him, because of both selfish and selfless reasons. Megumi looks like Toji. What does Gojo feel about this? How does Gojo deal with this? How does Gojo go about taking care of Megumi? Would he walk him to school? Make him breakfast? Celebrate his birthdays making him blow candles? Did he take him to the zoo? Does the relationship between them feel professional or is it something more? Gojo appreciates his students, but is Megumi to him just another student? When Gojo faces Sukuna in Megumi's body, did he see the kid he raised, or does he just see Sukuna in one of his students' body? Did he have one faint wavering instant? And how does Megumi feel about this? Is he resentful of him? Resentful of the situation? Of the selfishness behind his actions? Does he feel like a pawn? Is he grateful? Does he resent feeling grateful? Would he rather not? Does he love Gojo? Does he feel nothing about him other than what he could feel about a teacher that sort of annoys him but knows he's reliable in his strength? Does he think it unfair, cruel or unfeeling that Gojo is close, closer perhaps, with Yuuji or Yuta, considering their story? When Sukuna slices Gojo in two, does the remnants of Megumi's soul tremble?

And not just Megumi and Gojo. Yuuji and Nanami, Gojo and Nanami, Yuuji and Fushiguro, Nobara and the boys, or Nobara and Maki, Todo and Yuuji or Yuta, Gojo and Yuta, Megumi and his sister. Gojo and Geto, even! If the pieces are well set, the dynamics are intriguing, interesting, and have potential to be deep, but then the characters have like two plot relevant scenes that punch you hard, but little more, it's not nearly enough. Especially not nearly enough for the enormity that is shonen dynamics and situations. And the potential existing at all, and then not delivering, makes it all the more frustrating when you're left with something mediocre that could have been so good.

The development of dynamics through not only a few plot relevant gut wrenching moving scenes, but also the smallness of life, is important. The friend who recommended this to me said that those things were just unnecessary filler, but I disagree. I think there's a big difference between a large amount of anime-only filler episodes whose existence is based on the fact they had run out of manga chapters to animate, and moments of quietness. The low stakes character-driven moments of quietness can be so telling and so insightful, and they are so satisfactory when brought back later in higher stakes situations. My friend teased me there was no scene of Gojo making breakfast to Megumi, that it would be an idiotic idea, but it would be so telling. How he makes breakfast, what they eat, if he tries hard or if it's all mechanised, if they have personal bowls or if they use whatever, if he just buys them some pastry on the way to school, if the way they have breakfast changes through the years, or if he doesn't make them breakfast at all! All that would be very insightful on their dynamic and its evolution. All that would give a glimpse on how they regard each other and why, even in the present. All that could become meaningful in tense situations and high stakes scenes.

These moments also let the plot breath; if a lot is happening all the time, if every character is always experiencing trauma after trauma, the entire story is so emotionally draining that at some point you don't even care all that much. Besides, these nothing moments or low stakes plot arcs, besides deepening and developing dynamics, also let some in-world time pass, which would make the intimacy and bond between characters more believable imo; between Yuuji eating Sukuna's finger and their last confrontation in December how much time has passed? A few months? Am I truly to believe these characters are so everything to each other in only a few months?

Without some smallness, some repetition, some daily life, some low stakes not plot-centric development, the dynamics don't hit, they don't truly feel fleshed out, and dynamics as complex as the ones Megumi and Gojo have, or as supposedly meaningful as the one Megumi has with Yuuji or his sister, should be fleshed out if they're going to exist at all. Otherwise they'd risk making the writing feel awkward and fake. Besides, if the dynamics felt well fleshed out and realistic, they would shape the way the characters interact and act, and how they deal with situations, thus being plot relevant.

The shonen genre has so much happening all the time, the stakes are so high, the dynamics are so rooted in big events and the relationships carry enormous weight and implications. Yet they barely get developed, and it feels so stupid, so plain, the absence of something so important noticeable like a constant void, a shapeless nothingness present in every scene. It makes the characters feel like cardboard figures. Jujutsu Kaisen is already getting a better job than many, but I doubt it will do enough for what I've heard, and I fear I am bound to feel let down, and bound to feel unmoved.

After all, if not enough time and care has been given to develop a dynamic, I am not going to feel pressured by the high stakes; if not enough time and care has been given to develop the dynamic between Megumi and Yuuji, as good potential as it has I am bound to feel little for this last confrontation between Sukuna and Itadori, and his effort in getting Megumi back.

[butterfly-buck]

i would just.

like to be in gravity falls when it snows

[aeoneris]

hear me out, but i think they might make a great couple...

[constantvariations]

Thinking about how Senshi always cooks in front of the party, stating clearly what he's doing with what ingredients, and how that's most definitely connected to that one soup

[multi-lefaiye]

average queer people friend group

[scourgebff]

Yeeeah I've read summaries also of anything else that features bloodclan and it's terrible

its so bad dude. in the original series bloodclan was mysterious and intimidating, while portrayed in firestar’s pov as cruel with harsh lifestyles they didn’t actually display bloodclan doing anything our main protagonist clans haven’t done themselves (like go to war over territory, kill in self defense, etc) and this was further supported by rise of scourge which showed bloodclan as a collection of cats uniting as one strong force in order to survive. scourge wasn’t even particularly ‘evil’ in either rendition either, merely cold and collected. hell he didn’t so much as harm the siblings who tormented him his entire youth, just gave them food before telling em to get lost. definitely not saying he’s a nice guy by any means since he still kills people LOL but it had more nuance. every appearance after though it almost seems like the erins realized they accidentally made bloodclan Not Evil Enough and they were scrambling cuz we cant let them be ambiguous, proceeding to emphasize how every rouge is now puuuuureeeeeee evil and deserve to die cause they hate love + babies + nuclear families. don’t even get me started on that barley backstory retcon lmfao sorry but i cant take it seriously at all

[mad-hunts]

the concept of barton having this inside joke with mister freeze where every other time he sees him, he goes ' hey, go on!! DO THE THING ' to him. and it seems victor immediately knows what he's talking about, because he just begrudgingly shoots his freeze ray at something (which causes barton to whistle and hype him up and stuff JSJSJ) is SO funny to me for no reason 💀 like he would put someone who's trying to just save his wife on a pedestal. and he would also say hi to him every time he passes by like victor is the bees-knees or something, but then proceed to say 'fuck off' right after to joker or something LMAOO

[carpetcat2]

[skull-ishcloud]

I think my biggest problem with RR is that I love the idea he has but not the execution.

Like, nice ADHD guy who uses humor as a coping mechanism. Nice, war between Greeks and Romans. Nice, Poseidon and Athena children couple. Nice, gender fluid badass character. Nice,

Then you realize the ADHD guy doesn't get much deeper than that. That, the war was caused by some flat ass character with no personality aside from killing panda plushies and superiority complex. That the A and P's relationship was kinda forced and toxic. That the said badass character is only gender fluid bc of her mom.