#what's his deal? i'll find out

[verved]

I was gonna wait to share my full thoughts on Iguazu until I finish ng++ but so far I just... empathize w him??? I really don't see why people hate him or think his anger is irrational, especially after getting through ng+. I mean yeah, you're a mercenary, he's a corporate pawn, and you both know that in your line of work you can't take things personally and the concept of honor is absolute stupidity.

Still, how do you not have beef with someone who turns on you mid mission, kicks your shit in, wrecks your ac, and the utter loss results in your commander and one friend insulting you after the fact? especially if your life is already as shit as his is.

and then later on when he comes across you by chance and wants a rematch, you can do him so dirty there too. he tells you to stop fighting and fend off the other enemies so you can get back to beating the shit out of each other but you literally can just. ignore that. and attack him while he's doing his best to fend off the others. that's so rude.

like yeah no point in playing nice when you're a merc and he should know that. but he isn't there by choice. he didn't go into this line of work willfully so I can't blame him for not having the same emotional detachment some other characters do. Most others see it all as just business, or have personal motives that drive them to keep going. But Iguazu? He's just some guy who made bad life choices and now he's sent to die on the front lines every day to pay off a debt.

Not to mention that Volta just fucking died too and I'm sure he's processing the death of his singular friend real well.

Tbh he has every right to be a little unhinged.

[supermaks]

Kit do you not rep Charles anymore 😭

Of course I do he’s prime I just need a break from his team and that fucking dog

[angelsdean]

ruthlessly deleting old 2021/2022 posts (not by me) from my dean studies tag like *click* un-incorporating that from my beliefs system! also the way SO many posts have me like ok uh-huh good aaand then say one completely wrong thing that loses me. it's so many posts.

[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.

[vitamin-zeeth]

experiencing fhjy while currently being in the equivalent of junior year is so. Yeah that's what it's like that's how school treats you that's how I'm feeling RIGHT NOW. I love how perfectly accurate it is and I also hate it so much because they don't deserve to go through this shit

[imagionary]

Doodles of 3/4 of my cog manager ocs that I did in the car! Just silly ideas for possible cheats of theirs

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

Decided to draw all of my current tavs!!

From left to right:

- Corentin (they/them): wood elf storm sorcerer; resisting durge; romancing Wyll; just got into Act III. They're having A Time. Has the volo eye

- Peregrine "Peri" (he/him): "half-elf" abjuration wizard (he's a changeling but I made his save before I learned about that giant multiverse species mod); romancing Gale. I'm almost done with his save, I just have, like, 3.5 quests to do (including two(?) boss fights). His game will be the first finished one. Does not have the volo eye

- Io (they/she): seldarine drow cleric of Eilistraee; probably going to romance Astarion? Maybe? They're my tav for a shared save and we're not very far yet (haven't even hit the goblin camp) so we'll see lol. I refuse to give her the volo eye

- Candor (he/him): tiefling bard (I cannot for the life of me remember what subclass); just finished the goblin camp; romancing Shadowheart (be bi do crimes etc etc). Has the volo eye

- Balsam (any pronouns): human draconic bloodline sorcerer; my honour mode tav! Not sure how far they're gonna make it...even just the temple ruins have been rough so far. Hasn't even met volo yet

- Diodore "Dora" (she/her): underdark drow oath of ancients paladin; romancing Astarion; just about to hit the last set of fights in Act II. She's a follower of Corellon and would have been a cleric if underdark drow weren't locked into Lolth. Has the volo eye

[ask-ursa-tonypeter]

[fic: double blind] Question for Peter from the "double Tony" AU, the one with sim!Tony and cured!Tony existing simultaneously:

Does having a version of Tony that did all hose horrible things being it's own separate person make it harder or easier on you? Are you open to having some communication with the evil Tony, maybe in order to deal with the whole evil plan that he made and, yknow, all the crimes he committed, or do you just want nothing to do with him and that's it? And generally, just how do you feel in this good dad/bad dad situation?

Well… easier, because I have Dad around now too. It was… it was really hard when it was just me. And… the other one… is kind of different, now…? I'm not stupid, I don't think he's, like-- cured, but he's not just… ignoring everything I say anymore.

…I've talked to him. We do have to… figure things out, and… he won't listen to Dad at all, so-- it works better when we all talk together. Um, Dad doesn't like it, he doesn't want me to have to talk to the other one ever, but I just… if I can get through to him for real, then we're all safer, right? Like, even if he gets put in prison or whatever… I don't know, it's-- I'm afraid he'd just break out if he's not actually…

S-so anyway, yeah, I've talked to him.

[deadrlngers]

finally began reading the infamous if. current mc is maverick/maeve de soto (they/she) & their band's name is VENUS' HAVEN, they are an alternative r&b for reasons unknown to me bc they have such a rock band vibes but whatever. probably a sevenmancer bc i love a good enemies to lovers and bc i can't have rowan 😔

[meownotgood]

au where I help aki heal his inner child by forcing him to play all of the games I hyperfixated on in my youth

[todayisafridaynight]

through all the practice sawashiro fights ive done this morning ive decided he has a really weird grudge against eri for whatever reason

[divorceconnoisseur]

have begun my bg3 playthrough and for once ive tried to keep from spoiling myself too bad so astarion's intro was a delight

[thetriangletattoo]

.

[solvicrafts]

Me @ Ares right now: aslkdjfklasjdfklasdf who gave you permission to do THAT???

[timehascomeagain]

im about to start fucking crying over brighton rock by graham greene this shit is HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STupid school book for REAL. What the fuck is “The soured false age, the concentrated and limited experience of the Brighton slum drained out of him. He wished he had Cubitt there and Dallow. There was too much to tackle by himself at seventeen. It wasn’t only Spicer. He had started something on Whit Monday which had no end.” I will KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lucybellwood]

Lemme tell you a gay little story about an eagle.

Our town (~9,000 people) has a couple garages, but there's a big one on the main drag. My family has been going there for decades. I drive past it every day.

There used to be a huge pine tree on the corner of their lot, but last year it became a hazard and had to be taken down.

Shortly thereafter I drive by and see they've hired a guy to chainsaw sculpt the stump into a bald eagle.

Birds own my heart, but nationalism makes me twitchy. I withhold outright condemnation of the eagle, but I'm skeptical. (The original owner—an objectively Good Dude—sold the business to a younger couple a few years ago, and I don't have any knowledge of their whole deal.)

Then it turns out someone on staff is really into making costumes for the eagle. Every holiday. Every month. Stuffed turkey, witch costume, menorah headpiece, bunny ears. These people love to dress their bird.

The changing of the eagle suit becomes a source of joy every time I drive through town.

Until June, when the eagle is bare.

Now look, maybe I'm expecting too much asking my garage to celebrate Pride. But this is a small town. Every time I drive by that stupid eagle—this thing that has previously brought me so much joy—I feel hurt. I feel reminded that there are plenty of people in my liberal bubble who don't consider my community worthy of celebration. I drive to work, I feel bad. I drive home, I feel bad. The eagle is mocking me.

Then my A/C quits working.

So I book an appointent to bring my car in—and realize what I have to do.

I pick all this up at a thrift store for under ten bucks. I print the shirt with some weird heat-transfer fabric crayons I find in a cupboard. I loop gold elastic around the sunglasses and pray they'll fit on the eagle's head. (It is also important to draw your attention to the price of the feather boa.)

(Nice.)

My reasoning is thus: if I show up with a complete costume ready to go, someone will have to look me in the eye and say "We don't believe in that," at which point I'll be finding a new garage. But if they let me dress the eagle, then people in town get to have the joy I've been missing since the start of the month.

I listen to a lot of hype-up jams on my way over. I hate confrontation. I also don't wanna have to find another garage. I want to believe that this decision isn't actively antagonistic, but I'm not particularly hopeful.

I talk through the A/C issue with the guy at the desk, hand over my keys, then take a deep breath.

"Who's in charge of the eagle?"

"Oh, that's all Dylan. Second bay from the end."

I walk down the row of hydraulic lifts and find a disarmingly smiley middle-aged man pouring fluid through a funnel. I introduce myself and explain that, since the Pride parade is this Sunday and the eagle seems to be missing a costume, I have taken the liberty of making one myself, and can I get his blessing to go put it on?

Dylan grins this absolutely giant grin and goes

"Oh hell yeah."

So that's what's up now.

Happy Pride.