#mini character analysis

[finz-art]

More before and after!! At this point I'm just rambling, I apologize! :""D I'm just so fascinated with it, like....

It's interesting to see how Crane's statement in the first version is delivered with this tone of intellectual detachment, almost diagnostic. His voice is kinda unbothered, reflecting a position of authority and understanding rooted in theory rather than personal experience.

While in the second version, the same statement is transformed by his lived experience. His rough voice and bitter tone indicating a man who has not only encountered but been consumed by the very fears he once clinically described. The words now carry a visceral, personal weight; they are no longer an observation but a confession, a weapon, and a warning. His tone suggests anger, pain, and maybe even a sense of betrayal - he has become what he once analyzed, and the words are now etched in his soul, not just his mind.

It's academic knowledge vs cruel personal experience.

God, I love how much weight this iconic sentence now carries thanks to Arkham Shadow! ;/////;

[batfambyval]

I don’t understand why people think Jason and Cass would get along. I know people have pointed it out before but jeez…

Cass is so staunchly anti killing that she puts Bruce to shame. She killed one person and lived on the streets most of her life and people think she’s just like Jason. But she believes so strongly in the inherent value of life. Her killing one person, who was not innocent at all, caused her so much distress she literally ran away from the only life she’d ever known, with no way to communicate with anyone or understand anything really, and decided she would rather live like that forever than kill again. That is how anti-murder this girl is. She and Jason canonically don’t get along and it makes perfect sense. I don’t think she would ever playfully banter about who’s older or anything like that. She straight up does not like him, and that’s an important part of her character that I really don’t think should be changed. Anyway I’ve been having a lot of Cass thoughts lately.

[melatonindeficient]

In the spirit of Easter I found myself thinking about Viktor dying and resurrecting and from there I started thinking about his other near death experiences and somewhere along the way I started thinking about Jayce's near-suicide attempt and how it's so very different from the other two explicit attempts.

With Jinx and Viktor, when they nearly jump, we know the characters well enough to understand what brought them to that point. All the episodes leading up to their moments over a ledge explain why they would even consider it.

But Jayce's attempt is one of his first few appearances. To stay within the Arcane canon and ignore LoL lore, we know nothing about the kid save for that he's intelligent, a bit of a mama's boy, a bit short-sighted, and really into the whole magic thing. The scene where he nearly kills himself is one of Jayce's most important ones, but not at all because it's where he meets Viktor. It's the show telling people that this kid—despite having a caring mother, people who admired him (and his looks), and all his brilliance—did not want to exist if he couldn't live his dream, and I think that should be taken more seriously.

Basically, Viktor's presence and the start of their partnership doesn't make the scene important. If we're all gonna be so for real, if he still had his research, Jayce would have made Hextech work with or without Viktor.

Which makes his character all the more admirable because man, Jayce could've seen what Viktor had been doing with his work/as a result of his work and lost his mind (as in, crashed out on Viktor).

It also makes me wonder if, in throwing Jayce into the role of an idealist and self-sacrificing defender of a moral good, the writers didn't do him justice and played it off by making him heroic. Like, the Jayce we first met almost killed himself over not having Hextech and the Jayce we left with completely left it behind to save everyone else and forgave the person who corrupted it. I honestly adore his character and, unlike a lot of characters, really enjoyed his arc, but it's something to ponder about.

[emberhastheotherfoot]

Gonna ramble about a very specific South Park clip real quick? I'm gonna geek out and provide SO MUCH context, so... Enjoy.

So South Park revolves around four boys who live in the small town of South Park in the middle of buttfuck Colorado.

Stan's the mature one who always tries to find a lesson in everything

Kyle's the Jewish one who has serious beef with Cartman

Cartman's the fat one who's a literal Nazi

And Kenny's the poor one who wears a big ass parka that muffles his voice, and he dies all the fucking time cuz of his parents attending a cult of Cthulhu meeting either while his mom was pregnant, when he was a newborn, or fuck, maybe he was born right there at the meeting

Yeah

We're talking about Kenny

So Cartman wants to be a vigilante, and his costume is styled after a raccoon. His superhero name is actually a slur against black people, and yes, I think that's intentional, it's South Park, for fuck's sake, but because his costume is based off a raccoon, and I didn't know it was a slur as a kid (I first got into South Park as a literal child because of Mysterion), I genuinely thought it was just short for raccoon, but uh nope. He's a mastermind little shit. So anyway, as his vigilantee self, he's out on the streets at night, and has a dramatic inner monologue that's interrupted when he sees another kid playing superheroes at night. He's like, "who the fuck are you?", and the kid introduces himself as Mysterion. Cartman's like "yeah, cut the shit, Kyle, I know it's you" and Mysterion's not giving him shit about his identity, cuz it must remain a secret. Cartman's like "yeah, well no one can know my identity either" and Mysterion replies with a pretty sick burn saying: "I assume you must be Cartman. Cuz you're fat."

We don't learn Mysterion's identity to be Kenny until a later episode where ALL the kids are playing superheroes. When Kenny's Mysterion, he puts on a very gruff voice similar to Batman to disguise his usual speaking voice (most of the time his voice is muffled by his parka, but in rare moments when he doesn't have his hood up, he sounds like a normal fucking kid)

So the kids are investigating the cult of Cthulhu (at this point, Kenny doesn't know why he has the uncanny ability to die and come back like nothing happened) and that leads to this clip that I wanna talk about. Mysterion is surrounded by the cult and the other kids are either up on a roof, or they're surrounding the cult. So Stan (as his superhero persona, Toolshed) is like "let him go" and the cult's like "nah" and stabs Mysterion unexpectedly. He's taken off guard, isn't expecting to be hurt, so he doesn't think to put on his gruff voice cuz he's in pain. If he was expecting it, he would've done the voice. In a later episode as Mysterion, he impales himself at the bottom of a rocky cliff to try and prove a point, and declares in his Mysterion voice "that FUCKING HURTS!"

When he's stabbed by the cult, because he didn't see the attack coming, his grunt of pain sounds like himself without his hood muffling his speech. He just sounds like a normal kid, they just stabbed a child. He never asked to be like this, and he hates it. He remembers every time he's died and has expressed genuine discomfort, saying it "fucking hurts". To add insult to injury? Nobody remembers him dying at all. Anytime he's died, they all claim they have no idea what he's talking about if he tries to bring it up. He actually lost his shit when Kyle said it'd be "pretty cool" not to be able to die. All the other kids playing superheroes don't have actual powers, they're just playing a game, but Kenny? Being Mysterion is kind of an escape. It's not about playing superheroes, it's about being a legitimate vigilante that uses his curse for good.

Getting stabbed by the cult is a reminder that yeah, he can't die, he'll be back, but he's just a kid. A kid desperately trying to make good use of this power he never wanted.

[samsalems]

So I really like writing but also reading cofaom fanfictions and there's one thing that's always confusing to me - when people write David as confident and active / dominant. I think with his story being about addiction, it kinda points towards someone who's more passive and maybe even avoidant? And who acts aggressively and direct when forced into a corner. Quiet guy who ends up exploding. He would go postal. You can picture my mental picture right?

Meanwhile I see Simon as the more active participant, who carries all his emotions on his chest, who pushes and pulls and when pressured too far falls apart into pieces before turning aggressive again. Very instable emotional and in general and pretty demanding. But like... there's more but i should probably make a longer post about how i see Simon, especially in connection to his childhood trauma.

Tldr: David passive, Simon active imo (man i nearly sound like I'm analysing homestuck again)

[ju-draws-worms]

Shower thought: I have a break so can we talk. About Max. For a minute. [TLDR: MAJOR spoilers ahead]

I've seen a lot of book reviews saying Max is the obligatory "normal one", and I guess the general consensus is that takes on sort of a protagonist role who does not really have much to offer as a character. I could not disagree with that more, though, especially upon my later reads. From the way I see it, Max is maybe the most integral character (besides our antagonist) to this book.

Max is the sheepdog. We establish that right off the bat. He is a watcher, a quiet protector and observer. He is gentle and contemplative-- you don't hear him speak up as much as the other characters or show out, but you see those very characters from his perspective, and you come to love them through him. He is, of course, the initial holder of the walkie talkie and the surgeon's assistant--it's through these things and more that we come to realize that Max is the true shepherd of the group, despite Kent's size and Eef's charisma. He's silent until he's needed, and he shows his capability and wisdom as a leader when others are in trouble (i.e Kent during the storm, the Sparkplugs/Newt in the boat, need I go on)

Of course, a huge chunk of that portends to his friendship with Ephraim. He's his wrangler (ha) yes, but they balance each other out-- Ephraim feels a lot of fearful rage, and Max is the only one that can comfort him and bring him a sense of calm. Likewise, I think Ephraim is a very righteous and emotional character driven to action when he feels like things aren't fair (I'll get back to this later.)

On the other hand, Max is the defuser of conflict, even though he himself ends up taking a backseat most of the time.

Most pertinent I think is his love for living things-- I see him as a sort of yang to Shelley's yin, the guardian and preserver of life whereas Shelley is a destroyer, picking life apart with no regard to its significance. We see this clear as day in several places, notably with the 'death of the puffins' flashback, and especially with the death of the turtle. Even for survival, we tearfully acknowledge with Max that there is mourning to be had over the suffering, the uselessness, and the melancholy of death. Life is precious. Living things have meaning and sentimentality to them, and deserve to be loved and taken care of.

All that preservation of life vs. death stuff hits a massive crescendo when Max finds Eef dead. We watch this benevolent, calm character witness the culmination of that destruction, and to the person he (arguably) loved the most, no less. That balance gets thrown off. We watch him get angry for the first time, driven to action just like Eef, and righteously so. At least from my perspective, watching him confront Shelley for that and everything else he's done (especially for the first time read) was awe-inspiring. Watching Max have that same righteous anger was like watching the two of them finally join hands, in a weird sad way.

All this really reinforced (upon my later rereads) that it makes sense to me why Max is the "final girl." He's the cornerstone, and he's all that's left when everything else is stripped away.

Anyways something something Maxi Pad for president

[royjayyuri]

wahaha c!revengeduo. i heart their dynamic. i think its a little 🤏 funny how cquackity was surprised when cpurpled pulled that one two switcharoo on him despite all the Brooding bro did 😭😭😭 like you really blew up his Legacy and manipulated him into joining your country, knowing FULL WELL he was pissed and hated your ass and was FILLED with teenage rebellion, yet you are now SURPRISED he decided that he wanted to Fuck You Over? damn bro 😭😭 cpurpled is so goofy too. bro hates cq, and honestly? he's valid for it! but my god he is powered by SHEER spite. so much of what i can only describe as Teenage Rebellion. cpurpled is Such a teenager its funny lmao. quackity's like "welcome to las nevadas!" and he responds "fuck you kill yourself Adult Scum" and quackity just laughs it off and pats his back like "nice one buddy lmaoo ur so silly. what a Creature" and cpurpled contemplates if he's worth the murder charge. goofy gaffers!

[youling-the-ghost]

I wonder if Gabriel ever felt guilt during his time at the GPD

While he's no therapist, Gabriel definitely has qualities of one. His concern for Julian went past a police officer wanting to prevent a juvenile delinquent from becoming a criminal again. He genuinely wanted Julian to have a successful and happy future despite his past. He has genuine compassion for these criminals, and want them to live their best lives.

This brings me to my main point: does Gabriel ever look at these criminals and think "I can fix them," not from the perspective of a hopeless romantic who fell in love with a toxic person, but from the perspective of a criminal psychologist who wants to help these criminals, but knows deep down that he can't? Seeing all these criminals, many of which were victims of circumstance, and locking them away behind bars for years or even decades. All of it must take a toll on Gabriel, despite the fact that his job states no requirements of him helping the criminals.

And this brings us to another topic: Gabriel's job as profile. A profiler is defined as "a person who records and analyzes someone's psychological and behavioral characteristics, so as to assess or predict their capabilities or to assist in identifying categories of people." Gabriel's job is to simply analyse these criminals and suspects, not help them. While his kind and compassionate nature doesn't allow him to simply turn a blind eye to people who clearly need psychological assistance, he also understands that his job isn't to help criminals but to analyze them. The battle between compassion and responsibility is one that Gabriel has probably fought for as long as he's worked in the GPD, and will continue to fight as long as he's the GPD's profiler.

So...yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Gabriel holds a lot of guilt and emotional baggage because of his job.

Slight deviation from analysis to headcanon here, I like to think that Gabriel becomes Julian's mentor and teaches him psychology so that he can open up a clinic to help those with criminal records. It's almost poetic in a sense; one of few criminals that Gabriel was able to help becoming his disciple and becoming the one to make his wish of helping criminals come true.