#and I obv made it through

[donutfrost]

playing around with the idea of noise form neku

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

DINNER IS (finally) SERVED

3000ish words later and part 8 is here! hope you guys enjoy!

(p.s my headcanons explainations are in the tags if you're curious)

(p.p.s credit also goes to @rin-solo for the first headcanon )

the post/thread that started this whole au

dinner scene: part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7

there's a masterlist now!

*odysseus is making his way to the dining hall, while athena and poseidon are following behind*

poseidon: *looking around at the decorations/tapestry dotted around*

poseidon: *see’s a tapestry of what looks to be a very much younger odysseus in full king & armour attire*

poseidon: *stops walking, and turns to look at the actual odysseus in front of him, then back at the tapestry*

poseidon: *to odysseus with a sardonic tone* do your weavers like making you look like a boy, or was that a decision you made to make yourself look younger?

odysseus: *pauses his walking to see what poseidon is talking about*

athena: *also pauses and turns to poseidon*

odysseus: *sees the tapestry in question*

odysseus: *sighs* of course you point that one out 

athena: *who knew odysseus before he was king*

athena: *glaring at poseidon* uncle, you shouldn’t make assumptions, especially when you don’t know the facts

odysseus: *pats athena on the shoulder as he passes her*

odysseus: it’s fine athena

odysseus: *next to poseidon and looking up at the tapestry* if you must know, that is actually the age i was. 

poseidon: *not believing him* yeah right, you couldn’t be older than fifteen in this

odysseus: *turns to him with a sharp look* you’re correct, i was fifteen

poseidon: *slightly wary of odysseus’ mood* so… you became king at fifteen? isn’t that a little bit young for a mortal to rule a kingdom?

odysseus: *turns back to the tapestry* i was already the king, i was actually crowned when i was thirteen

poseidon: *shocked and confused* why would a child be given a kingdom to run?

odysseus: *looks down with a sad smile, at the memory of his father telling him about him losing his mind, and how sorry he was to place such a huge responsibility on his young son’s shoulders*

odysseus: well, i had no choice, but i would do it again if i had to… 

odysseus: *turns to athena* besides, i had athena to help guide me

athena: *smiles with a nod at odysseus*

odysseus: *starts walking in the direction of the dining hall again* anyway…enough of that, can we please just make our way to the dining hall now

*they all continue making their way down the hall*

poseidon: *notices a stain on the floor tiles not far in front of them*

poseidon: *points* i think your servants missed a spot

athena & odysseus: *both look to where he’s pointing*

athena: *chuckles to herself in knowing*

odysseus: *smirks* 

poseidon: *sees both their expressions, and is confused* 

odysseus: oh that..oh don’t worry it’s clean

odysseus: *shrugs* it’s just so hard to get bloodstains out of white titles

poseidon: *wide eyed* blood?

odysseus: yeah.. not long after i finished with you, i arrived back on my island to find my palace overrun with 108…mutts… all vying for my wife’s hand. 

odysseus: *waving his hand like it was a simple issue* so i made sure to deal with them all myself… unfortunately one of them left a stain.

odysseus: -oh look we’ve made it

odysseus: hope we haven’t kept them too long

poseidon: *shocked at all the new odysseus lore he’s unlocked*

athena: *laughing at poseidon’s expression*

odysseus: *opening the door* come on let’s head in

poseidon: *shakes away the shock*

odysseus: *to poseidon* i guess it’s time to introduce you to my wife

*they all walk through the doorway into the dining hall*

*there penelope and telemachus both stand not too far from the dining table; which has quite the feast laid out, and from the steam coming off of it, it had not long be put there*

odysseus: *heads over to his son & wife*

odysseus: *looks at poseidon* poseidon, you’ve met my son telemachus before.

telemachus: *can barely keep in his excitement* 

telemachus: hi- i mean good evening lord poseidon, i’m so happ- grateful you accepted my father's invitation for dinner. 

telemachus: *puts his arm on his chest, and leans forward in a  bow of respect* i hope you enjoy the evening.

odysseus: *narrows his eyes at poseidon, silently threatening him to not be rude to his son*

telemachus: *looks back up at poseidon, smile on his face*

poseidon: *quickly nods his head in greeting to telemachus* good evening prince, your father tells me that this was all your idea 

telemachus: *raises a hand to nervously scratch under his chin* um… yes i guess it was

poseidon: well then, thank you for the idea to invite me.

telemachus: *hand leaves his chin and a big smile breaks out* well of course! you are my father’s friend after all!

poseidon: *eye twitches before he quickly composes himself* 

poseidon: yes… friend.

odysseus: *coughs* yes and now that you’ve both reacquainted yourselves again… telemachus why don’t you go speak with athena for a moment

telemachus: sure!

*telemachus makes his way to athena, and they start talking amongst themselves*

odysseus: *puts his arm around penelope’s waist* now, please let me introduce you to my wife; the queen of ithaca, penelope. 

penelope: *doesn’t bow like telemachus, but nods in greeting* welcome to our palace lord poseidon

poseidon: *nods back* thank you for having me queen penelope

penelope: *smiles but her eyes have a certain glint to them* 

penelope: my husband has told me all about your part in his journey home to us

poseidon: *totally not panicking a little* uh-

penelope: *glint leaves her eyes, but her smile remains*

penelope: -and also how you have helped out on his and my son’s fishing trips lately.

penelope: of course, i would also like thank you for taking the time to attend tonight

poseidon: sure… no problem?

odysseus: great, everyone has met everyone! 

odysseus: *to everyone* now, shall we sit down and eat the lovely feast the cooks have made us, before it gets cold?

odysseus: *moves to pull out one of the chairs at the head of the table for penelope as he normally does, when he notices that, there is only one chair instead of two*

odysseus: *looks up at the table and sees a piece of parchment with ‘mother’ written on it* 

odysseus: huh?

telemachus: *makes his way over to his father* oh! there’s a different than usual seating plan for tonight! i’ve put everyone's names where they should sit.

odysseus: *smiles at telemachus* oh ok, sure!

odysseus: well, i guess i should look for mine then, hey?

telemachus: yes, and please everyone else too!

*everyone makes their way to the table to see where they’re sitting (even though three of them already know)*

odysseus: *sees the parchment with ‘father’ on it* 

odysseus: *expecting to have either athena or telemachus next to him*

odysseus: *watches as athena stands in front of the seat opposite him*

odysseus: *thinks it’s weird to put athena & poseidon together, but thinks telemachus has done is as they are uncle & niece*

odysseus: *then sees telemachus stood in front of the seat next to athena*

odysseus: wait-

poseidon: *sees his name and heads towards it, only to look up and see odysseus standing in front of the seat next to him*

poseidon: wait-

poseidon & odysseus: *both look at each other in horror that they're stuck next to each other all evening*

telemachus: *not noticing the looks of doom on their faces* isn’t this great? it’s a family dinner, so what better than friends sitting together? 

telemachus: *turning to penelope* sorry you’re by yourself at the head of the table though mother

penelope: *smiles and waves her hand* i don’t mind

penelope: anyway, let's sit and eat!

*everyone but odysseus and poseidon sit down. both who have a death grip on the back of their seats*

penelope: *clears her throat* odysseus, lord poseidon… would you both please sit down.

odysseus: *snaps out of his staring at poseidon* 

odysseus: uh sure…

odysseus: *sits down and look back to poseidon, nodding his head at poseidon’s seat in the motion for him to also sit down*

poseidon: *still doesn’t sit*

odysseus: *a millisecond of a flash of red eyes* 

poseidon: *sits*

odysseus: *internally to himself* oh this is gonna be a long evening

odysseus: *to everyone* ok, everyone dig in!

odysseus: *to poseidon* can you get what you want for yourself, mighty sea god? or do you need a mortal’s help?

poseidon: *grabbing a lamb chop off a platter and tearing into it savagely in defiance*

odysseus: *rolls his eyes at poseidon, but goes to place a filet of fish on his plate*

*everyone has been eating and talking*

poseidon: *looks at penelope (who is talking to telemachus & athena) and then looks at odysseus*

poseidon: *thinking and then looks back to penelope*

odysseus: *to poseidon* is there a reason you keep looking at my wife?

poseidon: *jumps at little at being caught looking* 

poseidon: *turns to odysseus* oh do not worry yourself, i have no interest in your wife

odysseus: *unimpressed* why do you keep looking at her then?

poseidon: im..curious 

odysseus: *narrowing his eyes* about?

poseidon: normally you mortal men choose women younger than them for their wives… yet clearly your wife is; from my estimates… about a decade older than you

poseidon: *now with his hand under his chin, leaning on the table* 

poseidon: do you perhaps…prefer older women odysseus?

odysseus: *hands tighten in grip around his cutlery*

poseidon: *notices odysseus hasn’t responded yet*

poseidon: i’m right aren’t -

odysseus: no.

odysseus: *his eyes may not be red, but are clearly full of anger*

poseidon: *eyes widen in worry* whoa whoa! no need to get angry, it’s just a simple observation…. anyone if they pay attention can see the age difference

poseidon: *moves his hand to flick his hair back over his shoulder* it’s not a bad thing

odysseus: *takes a breath in to calm down and then slowly releases it*

odysseus: we are- were the same age… physically at least

poseidon: *confused* i don’t follow

odysseus: *looks at poseidon* during the 10 years it took for me to get home… i found myself stuck on a goddess’ island for 7 of them…

poseidon: ok…

odysseus: *closes his eyes* caly- the goddess had full control over everything on the island… her magic influenced everything… including a mortal's ability to age.

poseidon: so you didn’t-

odysseus: -age? yeah

odysseus: *sighs and opens his eyes* when i realised i wasn’t… i- i- 

odysseus: lets just say i didn’t handle it well

poseidon: *blinks at this new information* oh

odysseus: yep ‘oh’ indeed… 

odysseus: *looks back at poseidon*

odysseus: didn’t you think it was odd that i looked exactly the same when we met again, almost 10 years after our first meeting?

poseidon: in my defence… i was angry and trying to kill you, i wasn’t really paying attention to how you looked

odysseus: *rolls his eyes* i guess that's true

telemachus: uh lord poseidon? may i ask you a question?

poseidon: *happy to not continue his conversation with odysseus*

poseidon: *to telemachus* ask away prince of ithaca

telemachus: is it true that you gave achilles his horses balius & xanthus?

poseidon: *amazed at telemachus’ knowledge* 

poseidon: not directly… but yes i am the reason he came to acquire them. you see i gave them to his father peleus, as a wedding gift for his wife thetis…

*poseidon continues to tell the tale, and odysseus speaks with athena and penelope while more time passes*

*the meal is continuing smoothly as can be*

poseidon: *notices that odysseus has only been eating the fish. not touching a single bit of pork, beef or lamb that's also on the table* 

poseidon: *who has continuously eaten all meats available*

poseidon: *to odysseus* is there something i should know about the meat?

odysseus: huh?

poseidon: *points at the selection of meat in question* what's wrong with the meat? you’ve only touched the fish.

poseidon: if i hadn’t seen the others eat it, i’d worry you’d asked your cooks to poison it or something. 

odysseus: *raised eyebrow* poison won’t hurt you though? 

odysseus: *pointing a fork at him* also, why do you care about my eating habits?

poseidon: *frowning at the fork* i don’t, i’m just-

odysseus: curious? poseidon, i thought you were the god of the sea, not curiosity…

poseidon: *huffs* forget it-

odysseus: i can’t

poseidon: *now his eyebrow is raised* you…can’t?

odysseus: *now using the fork to push the food on his plate around* i can’t stomach eating lamb, pork or beef anymore

poseidon: *forever confused by odysseus* uh why?

odysseus: *gives poseidon a ‘do i really have to explain everything?’ look*

poseidon: *just stares*

odysseus: *once again sighing because of poseidon* well i thought you’d understand lamb… after the whole sheep incident with… your son.

odysseus: then after i escaped you with the wind bag-

poseidon: *rolls his eyes at the memory*

odysseus: we wound up on the sorceress circe’s island… where she turned my men to pigs. 

odysseus: i managed to convince her to turn them back, but it now feels weird to eat pork

odysseus: as for beef, short story is my men ignored my warnings and killed the sacred cattle of the sun god… so yeah beef is a no go for me also. 

poseidon: *wondering how one mortal managed to interact with so many gods on a journey to get home*

poseidon: *laughs at odysseus* and you’re letting that affect your eating habits? i expected you to be stronger than that odysseus

odysseus: *narrows his eyes at poseidon* oh just like how you let my handling of your trident, affect you into doing as i say?

poseidon: *now glaring back* 

poseidon: *turns away from odysseus* whatever, more meat for me

*dinner continues, with telemachus asking poseidon more questions. poseidon loving the interest in him and telelmachus’ knowledge, answers the all the questions with surprising enthusiasm*

*eventually what was once a giant feast of food has nearly been cleared from the table, thanks to having two gods eating most of it*

telemachus: have you enjoyed yourself so far lord poseidon? 

telemachus: *smiling* it’s been really fascinating and fun to learn so much more about you

poseidon: *almost letting a small smile appear on his face in return*

poseidon: *instead just nods* yes, it certainly has been an interesting & knowledgeable evening

telemachus: what about the seating, was it a good idea to put you with my father?

poseidon: *wants to answer no, but feels a kick from under the table. clearly from odysseus*

poseidon: yes, you came up with an ok-

odysseus: *gives another kick* 

poseidon: -great idea

telemachus: *laughs in happiness* 

telemachus: oh but i can’t take all the credit

odysseus: *raises an eyebrow in curiosity* 

athena: *who is sipping wine next to him*

athena: *slightly chokes* wai-

odysseus: *suspicious* son, you must make sure to tell us who else to thank for this

telemachus: *not understanding the bombshell he’s about to drop* oh athena actually came up with the idea!

athena: *suddenly nervous with the two very intense stares directed at her*

athena: w-well it was just a suggestion really…

telemachus: no ‘thena! remember you said as it’s a family dinner, friends should sit with friends!

odysseus: *to athena with the fakest smile* oh athena, how considerate!

penelope: *who has been quiet this whole exchange*

telemachus: *as if he hasn’t already unknowingly thrown one person to the wolves* but i of course had to run it by mother first, as she was helping me with all the planning!

penelope: *eyes have totally not widened*

telemachus: she said it was a great idea!

odysseus: *now to penelope* oh my dear wife, a great idea eh?

poseidon: *just chugs back his cup of wine at the revelations*

*after a awkward moment (at least for 4 of them) they continue on finishing the meal*

*eventually the food is finished and the dinner has come to an end, everyone has moved away from the dinner table and are now sitting on cushion chairs or standing around them talking amongst themselves*

poseidon: *looking out the window seeing just how dark the night sky now is* 

poseidon: well this has been a lovely evening, but it is getting late and i have been away from the sea for as long as i can.

poseidon: *turning to penelope and nodding his head in actual respect* queen penelope, thank you for your hosting

poseidon: *without nodding at them* athena, odysseus… good night.

*before poseidon can turn to bid telemachus good night, the prince runs out the room*

telemachus: *yelling before he leaves the room* please lord poseidon, wait a moment! i forgot something!

poseidon: *turns to look at odysseus in confusion* 

odysseus: *just shrugs also confused* 

poseidon: *turns back to the door, telemachus long gone* uh sure.

*not long later telemachus runs back into the room dishevelled but holding something in his hand*

telemachus: *walks up to poseidon* 

telemachus: *bows and holds out something covered in a silk cloth to him*

poseidon: uh-

telemachus: it’s a gift! i’m not expecting anything in return, and i’m sure you have better things… but i saw it and thought you’d like it

poseidon: *blinks, but takes the gift from telemachus’ hands*

poseidon: *carefully unties the silk cloth*

poseidon: *breathes in sharply*

telemachus: *not sure if that's a good or bad reaction* uh if you don’t like it that's fin-

poseidon: *holds his hand to stop telemachus* 

poseidon: prince of ithac-

telemachus: telemachus- sorry for interrupting. please my lord, call me telemachus

poseidon: …telemachus. thank you, this is a very thoughtful gift. 

poseidon: i will cherish it.

penelope & odysseus: *curious over what's got the god of the seas ‘cherishing’ something*

athena: *small smile as she knows*

*penelope & odysseus move closer to poseidon who is still staring down at his gift. once close enough they can see in his hand is a a handcrafted glass/crystal hippocampus*

*poseidon ended up wrapping it back in the silk cloth, and placing it in his chiton. He then thanked telemachus again and bid him good night & farewell. odysseus offered to walk back to the cove with him, but poseidon waved him off and told him to stay with his family*

[shallowseeker]

Ficlet where Jack gets to witness the weirdness of Cas bringing the television into the kitchen and settling in to watch Weekly World News at 6 p.m. with a dreamy sigh.

Dean keeps flicking his eyes over to where Cas sits at the table fiddling with the TV's reception.

Before long, Dean starts in with obnoxious laughter, needling Cas about his crush and escalating the conversation until he's loudly encouraging Cas to "Go get 'er, tiger." Because, "You never know what your chances are, even with minor celebrities."

Then Cas reveals that he has, in fact, met her—and she was very nice.

Dean almost drops the head of lettuce he'd been stripping. "You what?"

"For a case, Dean. She told me where Metatron was."

Jack's eyes are bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball, because Dean's got the weird dents in his cheeks now, and a smile that looks about ready to crack his face in two.

"Oh-ho! So she, what, she just told you? How’d you manage that, you sly dog?"

"I just told her how brave she was to get on television in front of millions of viewers." Cas turns to look at the TV, where a pretty woman with long dark hair flashes a smile at the audience. "And that her coverage strikes the perfect balance—tough one moment, tender the next." “Wow. Maybe you should've gotten her number."

"Oh. She did give it to me, in case I needed more assistance in the future."

Dean's mouth works silently for a few seconds before he stretches on a fake smile—one of his patented Playboy specials that Jack recognizes instantly. (Dean uses it often when they're on cases.)

"'Assistance,' huh? Well, maybe you should, you know, try and tap that then. Go for it. I mean, you're not gettin' any younger."

"I'm sure she's busy, Dean. And it would be unnerving for a fan to approach her like that."

"A fan," Dean coughs. "Cause you're a—right. Well if ya ask me—"

"Dean, please. It's starting."

Dean's mouth snaps shut.

They fall silent after that, the rhythmic sound of Dean cutting lettuce the only interruption in the room. (Honestly, Jack thinks the news is pretty boring—even if the new lady is pretty and has a nice smile.)

After the broadcast ends, Sam shouts for help with a translation, and Cas gets to his feet, leaving the TV behind. Jack cuts a look at Dean's grumpy face, then crosses the room to turn it off.

After that, Jack leans against the work table, watching as Dean chops up vegetables and sandwich ingredients for the week. Dean doesn't look up—just keeps working, jaw tight, hands moving with practiced rhythm.

Under his breath, not quite to Jack and not quite to himself, Dean mutters, 'Tough one moment, tender the next,' in a tone that’s definitely mocking and maybe just a little too soft.

Jack picks up a Ziplock bag, needing something to do with his hands. He scoops a few jalapeños inside, uncaps the Sharpie, and dates the bag without really thinking about it, still watching Dean out of the corner of his eye.

"What’s your problem, kid?" Dean finally blurts, still not looking at him.

Jack takes a beat.

"Nothing. That was just... weird."

"You're the—the weird."

And that’s how Jack figures out that Dean has a crush on Cas.

[greyedian]

MAN I'm seriously so sad about season 2. Bc I wish act 2 had the same emotional impact on me as it appears to have on so many others. But rn I'm just somewhere between unable to care and actively annoyed by some of those writing decisions. Seriously the more I think about it the less I like it.

[girderednerve]

the treasury has been ordered as of today to cease production of the one-cent piece

there is a longstanding popular argument against the penny, which is almost exclusively about the cost of making pennies relative to their face value (they cost more than 1¢ to make, so the mint loses money on every penny struck). the problem of brassage (which i here use imprecisely to mean the cost of coining, rather than specifically mint fees) is very old, old enough that it's more or less contiguous with the cash economy in the west: there is tension between the practical needs of common people engaged in small-scale exchange & the cost to minting authorities to supply the small coinage those transactions require. i was interested in this problem as a medieval monetary policy question; despite the idea that monetary policy as an active matter was invented in the modern era & roughly coincides with the death of the gold standard, there were common debasements & reinforcements (that is, decreases & increases, respectively, to the bullion content of coins) for various reasons—mainly raising royal funds or improving currency circulation, but it varied. currency is never & has never been static, or the neutral condensation of exchange, or whatever; it's a political instrument. so who cares about the penny? let's save a little money. the problem that i see is that there is no initiative to adjust prices to make the penny obsolete at the cash register. the abolition of the penny in this haphazard way will result in a shortage of coinage that will affect people who are making small transactions in cash, which is why, incidentally, debasements were sometimes reasonably popular policy: people need money to do stuff. the argument that people no longer need physical cash to do stuff relies on the assumption that everyone is already receiving formal financial services from a bank & can just use a credit (or debit, but let's be real here) card, or i guess if you're a certain kind of weirdo the idea that we should all be using cryptocurrency. many people do not have access to these kinds of financial services, or choose to avoid consumer credit products for compelling personal reasons; also, these services interpolate another agent into exchange, which usually doesn't matter but sometimes matters a lot (consider, e.g., mastercard's position on pornography, or police access to bank statements), while cash transactions remain as a rule secure, anonymous, & independent. i have no emotional attachment to our particular coinage structure but if you are going to make it functionally impossible for people to pay with cash that's a genuine fucking problem?

[oflgtfol]

quick like 3 hour thing to sate my desire to see Narinder But As A Bishop. i tried to emulate the game style as much as possible, and i used shamura and heket as the primary references for the robe design

[my-fancy-hat]

A couple of days ago I finished reading Dungeon Meshi, so this post has the objective of offering a general review of my experience and opinions of the manga. I will try to avoid doing an in-depth analysis (gonna fail anyways ik myself) from the perspective of someone who have been observing the fandom from a backseat and does not intent to participe in it much (I've learned my lesson). Even though I couldn't resist spoilers during the time I planned to read it, I loved it! and it frustrates me a bit the idea that maybe I'd have enjoyed it more going full blind, but it is impossible to resist the online osmosis of information esp when its anime aired.

This manga has its story and characters clear, its writing is straight to the point, precise and clever, it trusts and respects the inteligence and feelings of its readers, giving us the essential utensils and ingredients to allow us cook our experience, and to continue cooking and eating for those who want to continue enjoying this rich story. The main dish, the essential theme is to butcher the multifaceted concept of eating. Through its volumes, one gets to discover and savor, in a divine comedy/hero's journey-descent from the circles of hell type of story, the owning of the ultimate primitive truth: the inherent and unstopable need to eat, the principle on which life is sustained, the element of addiction and connection.

I loved how dungeon meshi touches on complex conflicts related to the interpretations that can be given to its premise: devouring as a metaphor for oppression and destruction of rights between races, as can be seen in the subtle yet constant racial clash between long-lived and short-lived races. Eat also stands for desecration and usurpation of the self, embodied in the winged lion nurturing, creating emotionally dependent channels of power with the lords of the dungeons climaxing in the transgression and vore of their desires, the consummation of their intrinsic life essence, can't help thinking of it as groom and SA metaphors. We can also elevate our heads to christianity and eating becomes the way of in which humanity "devour god" and proclaims its death and independence from his unconditional goodness, crowning their place at the top of the food chain, in how Laios eats the winged lion’s desires and brings humanity back to the finite. Every living being yearns for the infinite, the dissolution of uncertainty and resentments through the promise of ethernal fullfilment. But eating, or rather, the deprivation of food, its absence as a symbol of slavery in Thistle, who had to intoxicate his soul and his people for a love that has already withered and rotted centuries ago, constipation of the innate desire to want something more, for the sake of someone's else wants, Delgal and his fear of dying.

But not everything can be catastrophic, on the act of destruction is the rejoice of creation. Eating calls for the act of cooking and connection, acceptance, as Falin, Marcille and Izutsumi accepted that to live they must continue accepting the unpleasant things on the menu, added pain and suffering, is on us if we want to swallow these sour diches in orden to appreciate its miracles. It's also about reconnecting with desire and living selfishly, for the ones who live for others or for a cause, thus reclaiming their humanity and inherit right to wish for more, like Kabru, the survivor's guilt character, making his first selfish act confessing his desire for friendship to Laios, or Mithrun, who like leftovers from a buffet in which him wasn't "appetizing" enough, compotes can still grow under care and compassion and reborn, your new life starts here. In Dungeon Meshi, cooking is sharing love, caring for others and pass on our work and wishes for those in need and cherish, like Marcille feeding a comatose Falin, Senshi to his teammates and the orcs, and Chilchuck and his union. The one who is able to provide and care, is the one who deserves to stand at the top, and that's why Laios' conclusion is beautiful writing. Even though he did indeed have to sacrifice in order to gain, had let go of his dream of a kingdom where humans and monsters could live in harmony (and the monstrosity of his new body), he created a kingdom where every human and demi-human is assured their right to have a plate on their table everyday, because eating is the privilege of the living, and in order to live we must eat. Because more than food, it's the will, the desire to eat when we don't want to, to live even if we are troubled to, whoever wants to survive will do so, because hopes and desires don't die. And as long as your desires exist, there'll be a will that remains in the world and continues to feed it.

Every character in this story (including secondary and tertiary extras) share an inherent desire to continue existing, to take and claim the selfish act of consuming. I mentioned addiction earlier, because it also struck by what it means to consume when there's no need, gluttony, reflected in the winged lion's path to humanization, which makes him quite a tragic character to me. A ilimitless entity dedicated to nurturing and fulfilling humanity's dreams for millennia, he approached and mimicked humankind and consumed desires until he created his own: to fulfill them and be his own master, he decided to subjugate himself descending to earth, to the rules of biology and abandon infinity. In parallel to Laios, who desired monstrosity and sacrificed his humanity, as if it made any difference, he choose the most fitting form for a man who failed to belong, the pain of betrayal of have desired to connect with his species, is one of the most memorable moments in my reading to see the embryo of his monster emerge from his back like a shell or butterfly coming out of its cocoon, a macabre rebirth. However, the winged lion failed to understand humanity, he failed to understand Laios, he underestimated their cruelty and desire for self-destruction "they'd be happy as long as they had their stomachs full" seen in his flashback, and failed (or manipulated Laios into believing so) to understand his kindness. Every meal, every step and bitterness Laios went through, he always tried to understand the unknown, his enemy, he respected his prey and all those who helped him on his way. He respected Thistle's wishes to the end, he accepted that his menu would not be to everyone's liking (Marcille, Kabru) and admired deeply their determination to help him finish their portion, that it's possible to be accepted, even him. Laios loves monsters but he also wants his love for humanity to be mutual: if he wished for the extermination of humanity, why would he want to create a kingdom where everyone can share the meals they like with the people they love? it's a fascinating dichotomy.

Among the things that I "didn't like" or rather say, my personal preferences, are the vast extra content this story has that, at least some of it? could have perfectly been included in the main story. I have read some extras and fun facts of some characters and I think if there were included in the main plot (making sense with the timeline ofc), would have enriched the experience more. Such as Kabru's complex of believing he's half monster/succubus and the fact this belief made a butterfly effect in dragging his mother to Utaya and she dying later. I would have loved to have an entire chapter dedicated to Utaya's tragedy from Kabru or Milsiril's pov, or Mithrun pre and post Lord of the Dungeon days, getting to know more about the cannaries and such. Nonetheless, I am still satisfied with what we got. I'm more than happy to see that Mithrun, Falin and Kabru meet their conclusion with a beginning of a new life ahead.

To grap up this all, (excuse the messiness of this lol but I wanted to write this in the most sincere way!!) I loved this story and I'm currently obsessed with these people, it's been a while since I felt an entire cast like this. it's great and a treat for anyone who likes to read with their mind and heart open, or to just have fun with a dynamic cast, exciting plot twists and rich world-building and a bittersweet but well-deserved ending. This could have been such a more darker story (i'd fw it too) but I'm possitively surprised and glad it maintained it's tone to the end. It makes everything more unique and loyal to its theme of cooking=bonds/nurturing/love. It makes me immensely content to leave this story with the promise of them growing old together like a family. Senshi, Chilchuck, Izutsumi and friends keeping at close, Falin, Marcille, Kabru and Yaad helping Laios in his new life as king of Melini. He will never feel lost or alone again.

[hamable]

HEAR ME OUT!!!

Bakudeku/Class-1A Camp Rock AU

DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE VISION

[karliahs]

abandoning all my progress on believing that it's okay if everyone doesn't like me all of the time because I got a compliment on my work from a coworker who I thought didn't really rate me and man. the fucking euphoria

[im-still-watching-anime]

girl WHAT😭😭

[teomodo]

is there a reason for this apparent trend of Extreme Credulosity on the internet beyond the usual advertiser friendly/made for kids/eternal september/no-discretion-just-endless-content reasons... like i acknowledge i am not the target demo here but it seems very common these videos with the spooky scary thumbnail about how this media was BANNED omg what could it be and what it be's is like 30 years ago in the dark ages of mass media conservative christians had the power to take bloodhound gang off their radio stations because it was too off color for their tastes. like i think maybe this is only interesting to me because ive been around older/religious people so much so i hear the decline of society thing all the time and like accelerated degradation of social etiquette and taboo and Young People are all culturally relevant and hip and with it and savvy but it feels like wrapping back around to this like extreme wide eyed...ness... very disingenuous feeling very obviously for profit... like maybe in my mind im overstating the cultural relevance of rotten.com and it just feels like EVERYONE on the internet used to watch videos of the cartel torturing people to death and now EVERYONE only watches 30 pieces of lost childrens media found in 2025 [12:28:56] number 30 a reddit user posted about a show they couldnt remember about a blue dog who solbed mysteries and a comment suggested it was a show called blues clues Lost Media: Found. maybe the powers that be have enforced the dichotomy of content creator/content consumer in a 10/90 ratio because everyone acknowledging their capacity for creativity and self fulfillment is not profitable and they did it so well that it cultivates this feeling like we *are* running out of new things (even though we're not) so we take the campfire ghost story aesthetics of like a whang video on mr. hands and apply it to whatever the anticlimactic drama du jour is because this form of presentation is established even if we don't have actual content to justify such a presentation and we're just scraping the bottom of the barrel for ad sense, content wise. the other side of this coin is of course that uber savvy misanthropic irony poisoning is also still everywhere and the grand old tradition of white kids adopting aave to seem Worldly is alive and well so when they say "blud thought he ate with the top hat willy wonka ahh chile 😭 😭 " it sounds like everyone else is soooo gauche and naive and you see the top hat soooo often that everyone knows what you'retalking about. i think i understand that a little more as a cultural trend/defense mechanism where the gullibleness maybe i want to understand less because im afraid the answer is everyone buying wholesale into the modes of thought that make them good youtube viewers, or, if not enthusiastic conscious adoption of that kind of thinking just taking the path of least resistance because real life is so sucks right now. honestly most of the time it just feels like everyone is talking to nobody online and our little jokes and performances are always just whizzing over the shoulders of The Viewership so maybe none of this even matters whatsoever

[girlfailurefelix]

i have such a fun little concept i wanna write so bad (but i’m not sure exactly how to) that definitely contradicts canon soooo bad and everyone except me would hate it probably and i feel so intensely about it and ASJSNJ /neg

[astromechs]

anyway i believe in what i wrote and somewhere in the past, jyn and bix have, in fact, had a string of messy hookups

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads / storygraph

Something More

YA contemporary about a Palestinian-Canadian girl starting high school, navigating new crushes and accepting her recent autism diagnosis

[noahtally-famous]

find it funny that 99% of the ppl who ship heathney also automatically ship aleduncan, and I love that for them

[thesixthstar]

watching the 2012 Much Ado movie and like. i don't think i've ever seen a worse Much Ado? They somehow made pretty much every wrong decision on the directorial front and all the acting is so bad, even from actors who I've seen be decent/good in other stuff.