Fanfic / Be My Pal

Mary/Boo: If a person has done bad things in the past, can they still do good things?

Be My Pal is a Monsters, Inc. fanfiction written by Artsywriter1992, centered around Boo attempting to make amends with Randall after hearing his backstory from Mike and Sulley.

Set two years after Inc., Boo is told the story of how Mike and Sulley became friends when they were in college. Upon learning their history together, Boo discovers a bit of Randall's backstory in the process, in that he used to be a kind, nervous, and nerdy type of guy as opposed to the more sinister and frightening Randall she knew him as. Boo also learns that he and Mike used to be friends during their college years until Randall joined Roar Omega Roar (ROR), Mike's rival fraternity. With that in mind, Boo begins to feel bad for Randall and wonders if she could change him if he ever returned to the Monster World.

Fortunately, Boo's wish came true when Randall succeeds in finding his way back to the Monster World after spending two years trapped within' the Human World. Randall wishes to seek revenge on Mike and Sulley for what they did to him, but Boo manages to convince Sulley to give Randall another chance. Once everything between Randall, Sulley, and the CDA cleared out, Boo tries to make progress with befriending Randall in hopes she could try and make him a better person.

This fanfic goes into these tropes:

• Accidental Misnaming: Mike calls Barson "Bacon", twice.
• Adaptational Name Change: It was purely accidental and isn't really all that different from her original name but in this story, Sherry, Squishy's mother, is named Cherri.
• Affectionate Nickname: Boo likes to call Randall "Randy" since it's what he was called back in college, despite that Randall deeply resents the name.
  • Even after two years, Boo continues to call Sulley "kitty", which he enjoys very much.
• A Friend in Need: A central part of the story, since Boo believes that Randall is the way he is because he doesn't have any real friends.
• Amusing Injuries:
  • Minor injuries, but Mike and Randall end up getting frosting in their eyes while baking with Oozma Kappa for the MU reunion.
  • When Randall is given a mallet prop by Mike during comedian training, he promptly whacks him in the head with it, sarcastically claiming that he thought Mike was a watermelon.
• Ascended Extra: She's still bit of minor character, but Cherri gets a relatively bigger role in the fanfic than she did in the prequel.
• The Atoner: Randall slowly becomes one, as part of his character development. Mike and Sulley also show signs of this when they apologize to Randall for how he was treated before.
• Author Appeal: The author claims that she made the story because Randall is her favorite character and wanted to see what it would be like if he became friends with Boo.
• Band of Brothers: Oozma Kappa return in this story, mainly to notify Mike and Sulley of the college reunion, and they're still the same quirky brothers as they were in University.
• Berserk Button: As noted above, Randall really doesn't like being referred to by his old nickname "Randy". He gets used to it, eventually.
• The Bet: Boo and Randall have one earlier in the story, where Boo bets that Randall has to work on the Laugh Floor if he succeeds in making her laugh. Boo ultimately ended up winning the bet.
• Big "NO!": Randall lets out one when he witnesses Boo strapped onto the scream machine.
• Break the Cutie: Happens to Boo four times:
  • When Randall insensitively calls her a pest (though he wasn't aware that she was listening) in chapter 5.
  • When Hardscrabble scolds Mike and Sulley for bringing Boo into the Monster World in chapter 13.
  • When Randall accidentally scares her in a fit of rage in chapter 13.
  • And when Barson AKA Fangs reveals his true nature to Boo in chapter 14.
• Call-Back: Mostly from the prequel film:
  • The fact that Randall used to be bit of shy and nerdy guy during his college years should be fairly obvious.
  • The Scare Games are mentioned at several points.
  • Boo says that she and Randall could be the "best of chums", which is exactly what he said to Mike when they first met.
  • Randall teaches Boo new words through the use of flashcards in the same vain as how Randall used to study with Mike. Again, this reminded Randall of his old days with Mike when Boo said she wanted a harder word.
  • Boo mentions that Mike told her about the prank Roar Omega Roar pulled on Oozma Kappa.
• The Cameo:
  • The various other fraternities/sororities from University all make reappearances during the college reunion in chapter 12.
  • The Abominable Snowman reappears in chapter 15, where it's shown that he's decided to travel the world.
• Character Development:
  • Randall starts off as pretty much the same as how he was in Inc., seeking revenge of Mike and Sulley for his banishment. However, he becomes a lot more expressive and perky as he continues to spend time with Boo, ultimately leading up to his redemption.
  • Mike gets some as well. He never forgave Randall for what he did to him, Sulley, and Boo but ultimately decided to look past all that and make amends with Randall.
• College Reunion: One was held in chapter 12 at Monsters Inc., with permission from MU.
• Darker and Edgier: While this fanfiction is a mostly heartwarming and comical story of Randall's Heel–Face Turn and the bonding between him and Boo, it turns a sudden darker turn in chapter 12 with the return of Waternoose who destroys Boo's door. The rest of the chapters have Randall and Boo having a fight which ends with Boo getting scared off by Randall, Barson revealing to be Evil All Along, and Boo getting captured and almost killed by the scream machine. The story lightens up again at the end of chapter 15 after Waternoose and Barson are defeated.
• Deadpan Snarker: Randall in earlier chapters.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Randall still loathed Sulley, Mike, Celia, and Boo after everything that happened to him but gradually grew out of it thanks to Boo and became friends with all of them.
• Disney Death: Boo falls unconscious due to the effects of the scream machine, but Randall tearfully believes she's dead.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • Boo doesn't hold any sort of contempt towards Randall for the crimes he committed, but rather tries to befriend him in hopes it'll help him perform a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Sulley, to a certain extent, though only because he knows it'll make Boo happy.
  • Subverted with Mike, however, who still held a grudge on Randall and doesn't warm up to him until halfway through the story.
• Evil All Along: Barson Miller, whose real name is actually Fangs Miller, turns out to be a criminal who teamed up with Waternoose in an attempt to get rich.
• Heel–Face Turn: Take a wild guess.
• Heroic BSoD: Randall in chapter 15 breaks into tears after he rescues Boo from Fangs and Waternoose, but the fact that she's unconscious, pale, and not even breathing due to the effects of the scream machine led Randall to believe she died.
• It's All My Fault: Mike, Sulley, and Randall have a few of these moments throughout the story whenever something went horribly wrong, but Randall takes most of the blame for the problems. Like admitting that he never thought that Mike was scary but didn't have the guts to tell him back when they were college or claiming that he should've kept a better eye on Boo when she accidentally exposes herself in front of everybody at the MU reunion.
• Jerkass: The Roar Omega Roar fraternity when they each show up for the MU reunion don't seem to have changed much from the events of University.
• Masquerade: The fact that the monsters must still remain hidden from humans and vice versa like in both films is still in effect in this story. Boo has been aware of the monster world for two whole years, but has kept it a secret from everybody else and promises that she'll continue to do so for as long as she lives.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!":
  • Everybody at the MU reunion flip out after a very brief power outage causes Boo to accidentally remove the hoodie on her monster costume, revealing her human features.
  • Mike, Sulley, and Randall have a considerably mild one when Hardscrabble reveals that she also knows that Boo is human.
• Mood Whiplash: In chapter 12, during the college reunion, the first half of the story is rather comical with some particularly awesome moments to it (such as the Oozma Kappa gang banding together again to battle with Roar Omega Roar in a game of dodgeball, except Don isn't as strong as he was before so Randall takes his place). The second half gets struck with Cerebus Syndrome when it turns out that Waternoose has escaped from prison, has a group of thugs break into Monsters Inc. and holds everybody hostage (except for Mike, Sulley, Randall, Celia, and Boo who manage to escape alongside Oozma Kappa), and even goes as far as to shred Boo's door to ensure she doesn't escape.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Randall immediately has this moment when he scares Boo and another when he realizes that he gave the blueprints for the scream machine to Barson, who was secretly working for Waternoose.
• Mythology Gag: The dodgeball games that were played in chapter 12 and briefly in chapter 5 were taken from one of the film's video game adaptations, Monsters Inc: Scream Arena.
• Original Character: Barson/Fangs Miller is the only monster in the story that isn't an actual character from either films.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Hardscrabble acts as one towards Boo when she teams up with Sulley and them to get Boo home after Waternoose shreds her door.
  • Randall also acts as one to Boo, to an extent.
• Shout-Out:
  • Boo sings a couple songs at several points in the story, including "You Got a Friend in me" and "If I Didn't Have You" from the original film.
  • Not exactly a direct Shout-Out but, if the comments made by the author are anything to go by, the idea to make Barson a bad guy was inspired by Frozen, which featured pretty much the exact same plot twist.
• Papa Bear: Sulley and eventually Randall.
• Time Skip:
  • The story takes place two years after the events of Inc.
  • Chapter 16 takes place two months after the events of the story and a few days after Boo's fifth birthday.
• We Used to Be Friends/Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Boo learning that Randall and Mike used to be friends in college, along with the fact that he was more of a dorky type of guy, is what sets the story's plot into motion.