#oh no i'm rambling

[irohsteaa]

Thinking about mixing Gravity Falls with Monster.

Would it be more fun to leave the twins aged 12 (as Mabel and Dipper are) or age them slightly up, let's say to 15-17 (Johan would be the most insufferable teenager, but at least he wouldn't be a murderer)?

Either way: let them solve some mysteries with the help of some creepy picture books. 🙏 And let them encounter some of the weirdness they read about in the "real" world!

Tenma as the Kind Uncle (a dedicated doctor in this verse as well) with some Big Secrets (similar to Stan, but... more Tenma-style, less Stan-style XD)?

A good excuse to rewatch GF I guess. 👍

[fleroveeum]

"And what kind of music do you like?"

Me:

I mean, what does that say about me that I have to very carefully pick what I want others to know as "my favourite song"

I keep juggling between 'I don't want people to judge me' and 'I want to be authentic & true to myself'

(And the thing is I literally don't & wouldn't give a damn about what people think if the situation were any different, but music is way too personal)

[artist-rat]

some epilogue vibes (an excuse to draw some hugs. and my durge so many times)

[andiv3r]

"If you could have any superpower, what w-"

Shapeshifting. Shapeshifting shapeshifting shapeshifting. I'm a transgender therian, what the fuck did you think I would pick.

[aethersea]

I do think Blazing Saddles handled its one depiction of native americans very poorly, and the full extent of its representation of chinese workers on the railroad is they were literally just there. not even one single speaking line. unclear if this is worse or better than the redface.

it's fucking phenomenal at lampooning antiblack racism though. extremely blatant, extremely funny satire, which is constantly and loudly saying "racism is the philosophy of the terminally stupid at best and morally depraved at worst, and we should all be pointing and laughing at them 24/7"

plus the main character is a heroic black man who has to navigate a whole lot of bullshit but is constantly smirking at the extraordinarily stupid racists and inviting the audience into the joke. the one heroic white character is a guy who was suicidally depressed until he met the protagonist and they just instantly became buds, and he's firmly in a supporting role the whole time and happy to be there. the protagonist saves the day with the help of his black friends from the railroad, and uses the position of power he was given to uplift not only those friends, but all the railroad workers of other minorities too, in an explicit show of solidarity.

anyone saying "Blazing Saddles is racist" had better be talking about its treatment of non-black minorities. it had better not be such superficial takes as "oh but they say the n-word all the time" or "they have nazis and the kkk in there!" because goddamn if that's the full extent of your critique I very seriously suggest you read up on media analysis. there is too much going over your head, you need to learn to recognize satire.

[irohsteaa]

I generally agree! Monster helped me (and still is helping me) become a better version of myself, and Tenma’s character is such a great inspiration.

I also think he’s way more complex and nuanced than many people give him credit for; I’ve seen people describe him as “too two-dimensional” or “too good to be true.” If that were the case, he wouldn’t be such a compelling character, and I’d forget about him (and Monster) very soon after finishing the story.

I wouldn’t say there’s one moment where he’s changed; it’s an ongoing process, and it continues even after the story ends.

Let’s take the hospital politics as an example; the situation is a complicated one, but we only see it through Tenma’s perspective, which is, at the point of the story, very limited. He snaps out of his robotic state, his “yes-sir!” attitude is called into question:

He starts to see better what’s going on around him, he also notices that Heinemann is using him, and he’s gaining nothing out of it:

He also notices that his fiancé has a view on human life that is extremely different from his own:

First time talking to your own fiancé, dahrling? Didn’t you notice it earlier? Didn’t you talk to her about the things that are both important to you and part of your career? Weren’t you interested in what she has to say? 

Why?

Let’s dig even deeper: why are Heinemann and co. the way they are? Why is politics so important in the hospital? Is it only because they’re evil and/or greedy?

Tenma doesn’t think about it in this part of the story, because he’s too focused on his own perspective. To be clear: I’m not saying he’s an awful person here or that he has some bad intentions. He’s just human and still very naive because of his lack of experience. 

This is when Johan comes back and destroys Tenma’s perfect little life (once again) and forces him to go on a long, long journey where he can learn more about the world he lives in, the people and, in consequence, about himself and his belief system. And he becomes less and less judgmental. He learns to how to choose understanding over the need to be right.

Monster gradually starts showing other points of view: we see more characters, more stories, more motives, more complex choices. 

In this scene, Tenma is talking about his values:

It’s so weak, isn’t it? No wonder Johan is laughing here, I’d be laughing too!

And here, Tenma is showing his values:

Not so funny anymore, eh, Johan?

It’s not about being right anymore, it’s about staying true to his values.

It’s also important to remember that Tenma’s in a very privileged position (even when shit hits the fan for him; he still has the money, the skills that shield him from bankruptcy, and his initial need to serve others helps him to develop his people skills and become a better team-player) which makes it easier for him to make the right moral choices. I’m not saying it’s an easy thing to do or that he’s faking it. I’m saying that Monster shows that while we always should try our best to be better, many factors influence whether we have the opportunity to make this choice.

For example, would Martin choose to work for the neo-nazis if he didn’t have to deal with the trauma that came from his mother suffering from alcohol addiction and if he didn’t blame himself for her death? And that’s just one aspect of his life.

I’m still thinking about that post about needing to acknowledge your own capacity for evil, and how influential Monster was to me in breaking down the idea that people are intrinsically either good or bad. Because the thesis statement of Monster (or one of them, because Monster has a lot to say about a lot of things,) is that everyone has the capacity to become a monster, and being human is about the choices you make. The kindest, most altruistic character in the entire series, the nicest person you ever met, starts the story by being complacent in corrupt hospital politics that value wealthy patients over the poor, and never bothered to think about the consequences of what he was doing until a patient literally died because of that shit and the grieving widow screamed in his face about it.

It was obviously the wrong moral choice! But Tenma was content to keep his head down and follow orders to further his own career, until he is literally forced to look the consequences in the eye.

And he changes after that! He makes the hard moral choices and loses everything in the process! And he keeps doing it, keeps sticking to his morals, even when its hard, when its painful, when he has to question everything he ever believed it. He keeps choosing kindness and mercy and compassion.

It's a choice! It's always a choice! No one is inherently good or evil! All that counts is your choices! And you can change! You can always become better!

[sainz100]

2024 Brazilian GP | x

[mcromwell]

I can't believe Scavengers Reign exists. It's perfect. Man vs nature but as an allegory for man vs himself, the actions and conflicts mirroring each other perfectly, the ecology of the planet serves as alien as fuck while serving as an example for human's effects on nature and therefore ourselves because we're intrinsically tied and actually all One??!? @!#? THIS SHOW IS REAL

[chiricat]

ryomina demons are winning

[simplenefelibata]

as much as i love sam knowing about destiel before dean does, there's something about "i mean yeah my brother and his angel best friend are really weird about each other, live together, co-parent a kid, nearly kill themselves every time the other is gone, stand too close and stare at the other's mouth while they talk, but i mean to each their own i guess??" that's so special to me

[kagamikoi]

"You are a mystery, Ezio Auditore"

[irohsteaa]

the problem with writing about lolita/monster is that i want to outline something very quickly, but it turns out that i simply CANT because there are too many details to take into account.

it forces me to slow down, because i dont want to end up like this:

[babacontainsmultitudes]

RIP Will Campos the only person who was murdered this episode.

[bbutterflies]

something something new years eve... adrien's like yeah I've never kissed anyone at midnight :( nino is like I'll kiss you dude that's what bros are for kissing the homies on the lips. obviously. what do you mean our girlfriends are right there no man I'll kiss you totally it's fine I want to let's do it

[lazylittledragon]

ok i swear i'm not going to talk about my breakup forever but the thing that just keeps bothering me:

i know that not getting what you need in a relationship is a COMPLETELY valid reason to end it but also. i feel like having a very vulnerable moment where i opened up about my struggles with intimacy and being relieved that i didn't have to keep doing things i wasn't comfortable with, then being dumped a YEAR later because of my lack of intimacy. is something i should be allowed to be very hurt by???

[somnimagus]

My page for @kairizine. It was such a huge honor to be part of this wonderful book with everyone, I had so much fun!

[id in alt!]