#it’s plot relevant okay

[darkandstormydolls]

I’ve kind of lost my writing mojo over the summer (I have still been thinking about my characters and considering things of course but I couldn’t seem to get anything written down), but this evening I was feeling like “eh I could write” and then say down for over an hour and wrote a good half (probably more honestly) pf a scene that has been languishing as a five word idea in my extremely rough outline for literally months

Thank you, writing fairies, for smiling upon me today

[endlesslytired]

Penacony.

more from the post looooop:

[wintershades]

Yes, I’m highly invested in learning how the Coast Kids are faring during the Scary Moon Times, but I'm also eager to know:

Did Fjord and Jester ever acquire sufficient pasturage to support a herd of domesticated unicorns?

What is the current proportion of "homicides solved" versus "homicides committed" by Veth and Jester's detective agency?

Has Fjord managed to sweet-talk his way into the Mother’s Lighthouse, thus enabling Jester to learn what’s kept in said lighthouse’s boob?

To what extent has Jester leveraged her studio’s success to foster a broader public arts initiative on the Menagerie Coast, encouraging artistic expression both phallic and non-phallic in nature?

[cosmiado]

something about the fact that Hermie wasn't even supposed to exist, the fact that he only came into being because Beth was fucking around with an anagram generator and he was funny enough to keep around. (something about the fact that Anthony clearly liked him enough to not want him to be a total creep, and retconned an explanation that he was method acting as the Joker.) something about the fact that Paeden didn't mind getting frequently forgotten by the PCs, but Hermie minded a lot, and that was funny, so it became a running gag. something about the fact that all his flirting and messing with Normal was motivated by his single most important desire in life: getting attention, and more specifically, attention from Normal. (something about the fact that he seeks attention more than he seeks love.) something about neither of his dads wanting him, of the party not wanting him (of the cast not wanting him). something about the fact that it was clearly specified that Scam spawned him into existence, meaning he might not even have a soul, meaning he might be gone forever without even the possibility of reunion in the afterlife. something about the fact that he outlived his usefulness, and the only significant or meaningful thing he could do for narrative or characters was to die. (something about "he's basically a free kill that changes nothing in the story.") something about him saying in the stand-up ep that he'd be better off dead. something about the fact that the narrative decided he was right. something about the fact that he was loved enough from his introduction to keep coming back, but not loved enough to be made plot important. not loved enough to be saved. Hermie the Unworthy, everyone.

[eremin0109]

The way three out of four Rajamannar siblings are some flavour of queer:

Radha Rama with her peculiar codependancy on Obulamma and blatant disinterest in her own husband.

Rudra, his fixation on Varadha that borders on antagonistic obsession, him letting Ranga drape himself all over him, hearing him whine and moan like a loud girlfriend and promising to solve his problems.

And finally, Varadha. His case doesn't even need to be elaborated. The entire film is based around his inability to let Deva go and the lengths he would go to keep him by his side, to keep him safe.

[c6jpg]

Ever heard of the Hexenzirkel? As the spooky name suggests, it’s a secret society. Once upon a time, it even challenged the Anemo Archon himself. But he replied: “Let us make music, not war, and resolve our conflicts through song.” From then on, the mages would only ever convene in the woods, in the skies, or on the edges of cliffs.

At these tea parties, they discussed their stories and secrets and resolved their differences, as the tea and cakes bore witness to their pledge never to fight amongst themselves.

[mofsblog]

Scratch is Lillith Evidence

I've kind of accepted this as canon but I havent really seen anyone compile all the evidences so uh here for anyone curious

Kayne first references her in Part 20 which does reveal that Lillith exists in Malevolent:

In part 37, when John, Arthur and Oscar are exploring the barn, John sees a painting of a woman with pale skin and dark hair and seems to go into a kind of trance when he looks at her (which. Gestures. Lillith. Gestures. Succubus-y powers. Gestures)

Later when they open the gateway in Part 38, Scratch merges with a woman who looks exactly like the one in the painting and she's described as having "alabaster skin", aka world's most highly specific descriptor, which also happens to the same description used in the Lillith entry in the Malleus Monstorum for CoC seventh edition (BIG THANKS TO @/unsafewaters for sending the images to me)

And then in Intermezzo, Kayne directly mentions having a daughter and claims that she would "love" Arthur which could tie back to him being Her Favourite. Also I don't like using evidence that isn't in the source material but in the post season 4 QnA, when Harlan's reading out the notes he wrote for Intermezzo, one of the things he reads out is the daughter line, which implies it was important enough to mention (and wasn't just a throwaway joke)

And last but not least, Yorick mentions that Scratch/Owlexander/the entity watching them is close in power to Kayne which would make sense if he created her

Also earlier in the episode, Yorick implied Scratch may be working against Kayne specifically which does imply they have a pre existing relationship which would make sense if she was Lillith:

Extra evidence: In the fake Edward Willaim Allan's journal, he has an entry where talks about how, despite the fact he distrusts his "dream dweller" (who we know is Scratch pre fracturing), something about them still fills him with awe and he feels oddly seduces by them:

Which is likely Lillith using her powers to influence him and make him easier to manipulate (since it's heavily implied, if not basically explicitly stated, she was using him to open a gateway for her to enter the world)

Also! Semi unrelated but while I have your attention and talking about theories! I just wanna highlight a minor theory of mine that there's a high chance Kayne trapped Lillith in some kind of pocket dimension or prison of sorts because the prison line (from the second to last screenshot in this post) feels like foreshadowing and I find it odd that if she supposedly is close to him in power, she would need a humans help to travel through worlds (Also, she's framed as getting "freed" in part 38 when they do eventually open the gateway which leads to the question: free from what?) so that's something to consider

[gertritude-art]

i drew a fantroll i came up with a few weeks ago!  her name is dimiri, and the way she would work is that she'd be mostly irrelevant to the plot until almost the very end, where, upon meeting the writer and learning the depressing ending they've come up with, she would get so mad that she would shake off their narrative influence and destroy their writings + the sburb rulebook

[stardustdiiving]

Sometimes I think about we got the very first rumors that playable Scaramouche would be Anemo + get a design change around July 2022 (it was a month or two out from 3.0 release) and a sizable portion of people were melting down on my Twitter recommended over it bc they were absolutely certain this qualified as genshin “ruining his character”. Like they had a hashtag over it and everything it was so funny

[wr0ngwarp]

god and the devil in divine nyandemonium

lucy fur before she fell, aka a light in the endless dark

[paperbirb]

'let's meet at the witches' gathering' renjing flavored

[syxnewt]

the ability to change fate... that's the power you were fighting to stop.

redraw of something i made at 14!!! wild how time passes

no effects vers and original under the cut

dated august 3, 2020. so i was actually 13 but I don't feel like correcting it. basically 14

the little caption i put is the one i made for this in ibis paint lmao

[magicmalcolm]

Grampy Turnip's a little confused but he's got the spirit.

[spark-circuit]

decided to play with PNGs of my Nuggets like dolls lmao. i would've done Nine too but he 1) deserves a solo post and 2) i....... need to get another reference image of him with Spider Bud glasses

[skitskatdacat63]

This is my personal crossover event of the century

[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.