#i will remain immortal

[bayleavesfromthevine]

this is how i wanna die. everyone take note: if hoshina doesn't materialize and strangle me between his massive fucking biceps, then i refuse to pass away

[zandraxofnebulon]

A dungeon meshi rpg-style video game adaptation wouldn't work unless it had extremely dedicated systems for cooking the monsters you slay. I'm talking the ability to cut apart the monster in any way you want, any part of the monster that could conceivably be edible can be cooked if you find the right way to do it, with every part having pre assigned ideal cooking methods to give the best flavor and nutrition. (The cutting apart and cooking would have actual physics and gameplay, no simple cooking animation/minigame.) The better you cook the food, the better your stats are for the next part of your journey.

The actual rpg combat could be fleshed out or barebones, but the meat (lol) of the experience HAS to be in the cooking. Maybe you start out only knowing a few very basic cooking methods and learn more as you go through the game (if you come back to earlier areas after getting far into the dungeon, you can cook parts of monsters you couldnt before, create new recipes, etc.)

Maybe there could be a whole bespoke system for keeping track of/labeling each recipe you make (breath of the wild style), with records on the nutritional values (the stat octagon) for each. The nutrition would generally be enhanced by how good the flavor is, with penalties if things are burnt/cooked incorrectly/etc.

Story wise, maybe you wouldnt play as laios' party during the events of dunmesh, but as a group of adventurers post-epilogue who're exploring a dungeon at king laios' behest, and, taking inspiration from his adventure, decide to survive by eating monsters. Maybe laios would gift them a copy of the Dungeon Gourmet Guide, with notes and corrections from senshi here and there. As the party progresses into the dungeon, they unlock more entries in the guide, adding their own notes as they go. Idk where the story would end up going but if ryoko kui is involved it would probably be pretty sick

[asjjohnson]

Immortality

(a ficlet written for Dannymay 2024 prompt 6: Immortal AU: What if Danny/Halfas couldn’t die?) Also on AO3.

---

He actually didn’t know whether halfas were immortal or just lived longer than humans.

Now at around age 140, give or take a few years (what year was it now? he could calculate it), Danny was an old man in his human form—wrinkled skin hanging from his arms and face like unironed fabric; hunched over to half his original height, bones grated down as though left exposed outside over the past decades; eyes milked over; ears inadequate despite their larger size; mind fogged.

He had no one to look to. A few years ago, or maybe a decade or two ago, he’d searched the Zone for any sign or rumor of the existence of other halfas. He wasn’t sure how long he’d searched, talking to distant ghosts, visiting places he never could have imagined existed, the Ghost Zone stretching on and on, toward infinity, before he’d given it up as a lost cause.

Vlad (though only a few years older than Danny and thus wouldn’t have been of much help anyhow) never returns to his human form. Had stopped living as a human altogether once he’d realized he was ‘growing old’.

Of course, this had been before Vlad was anywhere near an old man. Back when he’d only been about 60 years old. A few wrinkles and thinning hair, and his vanity and pride had had him abandoning his human half completely.

Not to the extreme of extracting that part of himself, of course—he had known better by that age—but of denying its existence; living solely as a ghost.

Danny had grown fond of humanity, however. The light touch of gravity, an embrace that kept him tethered to reality; the life found everywhere he looked, in the grass at his feet, in the air around him, or even just walking by him—so unlike the void of the Ghost Zone, the vast empty space with small pockets of ecto-life scattered across its depths; even the ache in his bones, the proof that he was alive, still belonging to this planet. It was all fondness.

Even as his senses continued to fade—the details of leaves and faces blurring even with thick glasses, the chittering of birds growing silent even with hearing aids, the difficulty of holding objects (connecting with the world around him) with pain and trembling hands—he clung ever more to the human world and its small wonders.

And though all his human friends from over a hundred years ago might be lost, he wasn’t alone.

They were still here.

Alive and well, living echoes seen in their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and teenaged great-great-great-grandchildren. A town composed of familiar faces. And sometimes those echoes were so strong, he called someone by the wrong name.

Matilda wears a black shirt one day and, even with the pink floral patterns, Sam is so strong within her.

Derek tries out for football, and the way his smile pulls across his face is all Dash, even through the freckles and shaggy brown hair.

Nicky’s righteous glare is Valerie shining straight from his heart. Although the light in his eyes as he talks about psychology is all Jazz.

Danny was trying. Trying so hard to stay with them all, as they continued to live, fully alive, forever onward.

He didn’t know whether halfas were immortal.

[siren-of-agony]

The horror of immortal whumpee with superhealing. The horror of not leaving scars. The horror of it's not visible, it's not lasting, so it didn't happen.

You can hurt them and hurt them and hurt them and hurt them and hurt them again.

And everyone just sees clear skin, sees youthfulness. No evidence of suffering remains.

It doesn't look like anything happened to them, so how could they still suffer from it?

Why should others give them empathy, give them care, when there's nothing to care about. Why should they themselves?

Just look at them. Nothing happened.

[pinacoladamatata]

October 18th..... Soon

[skelieology]

⁉️ Postman making lil’ postman art? In 2024? Remarkable❗️

Postman & Aaron O’ Nare dialogue snippet under the tab 👍

Aaron O’ Nare: “Oh I love surprises, let me see!”

Postman: “Oh woah- hey!”

Aaron: “‘And there, sat ever so cutely on top of an envelope like a puppy in a tea cup, was’ -my friend- ‘Postman, being held by a much larger Postman. This tiny one that caught the bigger Postman’s gaze was somewhere around the size of a stamp.’ What a neat little surprise! Oh I do wonder how this little guys story will unfold…”

Postman: “Me too. Since you’re so good at stating the obvious though, do you mind telling me what he’s doing in my mailbag?”

Aaron: “That, I cannot answer. I do find it unfair however that the creator gave you a mini version of yourself but not me. Don’t I look so marketable with my shiny green tie and hat?”

Postman: “… I seriously don’t see what’s so cool about my wall that you have to stop and wink at it whenever you make a witty joke, but if it keeps you in the post office longer, then flirt with it all you’d like.”

Aaron: “It’s quite an enjoyable activity actually! I wouldn’t suggest you do the same though, the little you leaped away out the window while you took your eyes off him.”

Postman: “Sure ma- Sorry what was that last part? … Are you kidding the little guy was right here!”

Aaron: “Better go look for hiiiiim. Who knows, he might be eaten by boxhawks!”

Postman: “What?!”

Aaron: “It’s time to live up to your card description! I’ll see you there.

‘And Aaron disappears before Postman could say another word’.”

Postman: Sigh… “If only being a town hero was a part of my pay.”

[clegfly]

I've always found Mari's headspace design interesting.

It's shown in the game that shoes aren't allowed at the picnic blanket for fear of it getting dirty. Everyone has to take them off before going. Even socks have to go. I think it's actually mentioned somewhere, so if I come across the actual dialogue I'll show it, but even without it's still a very clear unspoken rule.

But Mari- who would probably be the biggest advocate for this since it's her picnic- is the ONLY character in headspace wearing shoes. And she's the one constantly at them.

While it's true that in the headspace variants of a few of the photos Mari's barefoot, it's because Sunny is either remembering the memory that way or it's to prove a point (e.g. the feet circle photo where everyone looks the same except OMORI- if Mari were wearing her shoes the impact of this would be lessened immensely and it wouldn't drive home the point of OMORI being vastly different to his friends as hard).

So why is Mari, the one character who's constantly at picnics, where you're not allowed to wear shoes, wearing shoes? It's almost as if she's prepared to leave...

...Oh. She is.

[kikuism]

yesterday i watched 14 episodes of frieren in one sitting. i was too delirious to write out any coherent thoughts but now i'll try to. i love this show so, so much. i had a feeling i would, but it surpassed my every expectation. i've missed watching something that touches me so deeply.

the themes of regret and the past and the future are interwoven into a beautiful tapestry of love and sorrow. it takes her friends dying and being confronted with the passage of time and mortality for cold, stoic frieren learn to value and cherish the present and take chances with friendship and forming connections, because even though one day it will end, as she has experienced, it will still have been worth it for the memories she creates. she didn't know what she had until it was too late, and the regret quietly gnaws at her—what if she had gotten to know her companions better? what if she could do it all again differently? the tragedy is that she was too late—she can never get to know himmel like that, that time is over, and all she has is the endless present stretching out before her. a part of me always wishes himmel could come back so she could do it right this time, get to learn about him, get to know everything about him, cherish everything about him. i love when the end is the catalyst for the begging, and it's so heartfelt and bittersweet in this show.

so all frieren has is the present, and she is determined to do it right this time. she takes on an apprentice when before she said it was a waste of time since they would eventually die—and she teaches her, and praises her, and makes every effort with her that she never afforded her friends in the past. in fern we see a different sort of frieren, quiet, exceptionally powerful, but so warm and compassionate in the way that freiren herself is now learning how to be. it's the way she's given a second chance at love and friendship, and this time she doesn’t squander it. for so long she believed it was pointless to leave a mark, that she could pass through time unseen, but she actively makes an effort—when she buys a hair clip for fern, apologizing that she didn't know what to get because she didn't know her all that well. frieren shows us that it's easy to live your life alone and seemingly at ease, and that it's connecting with others that's the hardest, because people won't know how you're feeling unless you tell them—it’s hard and it's awkward but she pushes through, because creating memories is well worth any hardship it takes. memories and magic might as well be the strongest tools an elf can have, to sustain them through their long lives. and it's the way the past still lives on in her present, too—the way stark trembles just like eisen used to, the corrupt habits of heitar that also exist in sein, the way the original party of heroes resurfaces in the form of fern, stark, sein, and freiren. the way she wears her master’s earrings and passes on the magic she learned from her to fern. the way himmel never said no to having statues constructed of himself and the others, not only so that they would be remembered, that they existed, but also so that frieren wouldn't be alone in the future. he understood the long stretch of her immortality better than she ever did, how all of those endless years can turn being alone into a terrible loneliness. as long as humanity goes on, the original party of heroes will never be forgotten, and in this way, too, frieren will never be lonely. the way humanity remembers and celebrates is foreign to frieren, but she learns to do it in her own quiet way, planting a field of himmel’s favorite flowers around one of many statues. memory is a powerful tool.

nothing could faze someone who never dies, but then frieren learns the beauty of things like the sunrise on the dawn of the new year, because she had fern with her, who made sure she got up in time to appreciate its beauty. i think this is one of the cornerstones of the series: alone, she wouldn't be able to appreciate the beauty of the world around her, the world that she has traversed for more than a thousand years. even the ring that himmel gave her, which for so long she thought of as just a band of metal—she loses it, and fern, knowing more than frieren about the significance of the ring, immediately helps her search for it, even delaying their departure until they found it—she sees it in a new light when she finds it: it isn't just a mere accessory, but a tangible form of her past, of himmel, what they meant to each other. as her understanding of humanity and their customs and rituals deepens, so too does her understanding of her own past and the actions of her friends.

time is constantly mentioned in frieren; the montages of staying at villages, recuperating, stocking up, before setting off once more—all take about 6 months or so. this is nothing but a sliver of a drop in frieren’s endless time, but for her human companions, it is a significant stretch of time. fern tells frieren how she has been living with her half her life already, and frieren smiles and tells her it's going to be more now. though she still has trouble understanding human years—(“what's a mere 30 years?���)—she is learning to make the most of this time, no matter how fleeting it feels to her. the journey to the demon king’s castle is a ten year journey, which again is nothing for frieren but a significant chunk of time for her companions. i always found myself randomly tearing up during episodes because of this realization—she is forever, but they aren't. one day they too will pass from this world. it's just a mere 10 years for her, but for her companions, it’s the main adventure of their lifetime, and she doesn't want to repeat the regrets of the past, so she cherishes every moment she has with them as her understanding of humanity deepens.

it’s a beautiful story about the profound loneliness of immortality, the beauty of fleeting moments that pass by like shooting stars, the healing power of memory against the steady march of time, the endless beauty of the world that is there if you open your eyes to it. her journey with himmel and the others was a mere 10 year journey, but it had such a profound impact on her that resonates deeply with her now: there is no time like the present, cherish the time that you have with the people around you. for someone who was merely just existing, who is now learning to live with new companions at her side, watching her understanding of her past, present, and future deepen as she forges connections with those around her is profoundly and deeply moving. i've never really experienced a story like this before, and the absolutely stunning animation, music, and everything else make this an experience unlike any other.

[nonebinary-leftbeef]

The last unicorn was actually so real for saying that a mythical creature was permanently altered by temporarily being turned human. Humanity is resilient enough to stay with something even when it's no longer human

[forcedhesitation]

Man.

there's just something about the love between a woman whose impending death is inevitable and a man who's an immortal undead...

[lloydfrontera]

i think it fucks immensely that bk moon went out of his way to 1) establish rakiel wished to live a long life and eventually pass away of old age, 2) have him very briefly envy an immortal being only to be told very clearly to be careful what he wishes for by that very same person because living forever isn't all it's cracked up to be, 3) make the main antagonist be another immortal being who is so desperate to die he's willing to destroy the universe just to finally rest and 4) have said antagonist psychologically torture rakiel with the threat of making him live for a thousand years as everyone he loves and knows eventually grows old and dies and becomes nothing but forgotten memories.

only to then end the novel by making rakiel also immortal

like. god. it's so fucking good i love it. i'm not being sarcastic i genuinely think it fucks and it's one of the best ways bk moon could've wrapped up the plot.

it's a happy ending by all means but it has consequences and through the entire novel we've been shown and told over and over again just how heavy the consequences are and/or will be on rakiel.

he got his happy ending but it was at a price and by the last time we see him he's only just starting to pay for it.

it's great i love it

[yousaytomato]

Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus (1774, Oil on canvas) - By Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807)

[petrichorium]

The thing abt capitano is he’s soooooo rigid and sooooooo set in his principles and morals that when he’s confronted w Feelings he ends up repressing them until they Bubble Up and then he’s gotta justify all the unhinged shit he’s doing when it comes to you

[redstrewn]

If leander "good" end is him dying (breaking free from his fucked up cycle), then imagining MC having to mourn and live on without him

[aquaquadrant]

if it’s just the double life cast.. please tell me we’re gonna get a little side impdubs content 😭

PERHAPS

[doodlboy]

Yk realistically if the om bros were fucked up like demons should be, they wouldn't be that disturbed by bloodlust el's personality.

However, I think the terror and angst comes from the fact that they lived with him his whole life, and for the most part, he was very passive and calm and never immediately resorted to violence, so to see [what used to be] their human revel in bloodshed is.. unsettling.