#it has eaten my brain

[here-there-everyfuckenwhere]

Do you wanna be my boyfriend..?

🎶 Bobby Sox by Green Day 🎶

[shadowtraveled]

"mithrun is the only real monsterfucker in dungeon meshi" is objectively the funniest bit you can get out of his everything, but in all seriousness i think his attraction to his love interest is deliberately overstated—and that makes sense, because romantic jealousy is a classic and digestible motive, which is explicitly what kabru was aiming for in condensing mithrun's backstory, and also because until chapter 94, mithrun wasn't willing to admit to the true nature of his desires.

but because romantic envy is both classic and digestible, it probably isn’t a unique enough or complicated enough desire to tempt a demon’s appetite. mithrun’s wish, as far as we can figure from kabru’s reduced retelling, was to have a life in which he had never become one of the canaries, and that carries like 3857 implications and desires within it. that’s delicious. his love interest acts as sort of a red herring to his motivation for making it, though. (side note: i'm saying "love interest" here because, keeping in mind that i barely speak japanese on a good day anymore, "想い人" is something i'd usually take as just kind of an old-fashioned and romantic way to refer to a lover, but in context i wonder if both the connotation of yearning and the vagueness are intentional, and i think this phrasing gets those aspects of it more effectively. anyway.)

mithrun considered his love interest to be untrustworthy. there was a minute where i thought that comment might be about a similar-looking elf (yugin, one of his squad members), but comparing the two…

the "sketchy" arrow is definitely referring to the elf we know as his love interest—the bangs go toward her right, she only has the one forehead ornament, and, most notably, her ears aren't notched.

every time she’s given a full-body depiction in his dungeon, she’s drawn as a chimera, with the body of a snake from the waist down. (side note: the “what if a dungeon has chimeras before reaching level 4?”/“then the dungeon lord is unstable” exchange just being mithrun grilling his past self alive is so funny. he’s so. but anyway) there are a couple things about this.

first, the snake part of the chimera appears to be modeled after some species of coral snake mimic

which, in the biology-for-fun manga, i… doubt is a coincidence, especially with the added context of the “untrustworthy” comment. the dungeon’s conjured illusion of mithrun’s love interest was a harmless copycat of a venomous original. for whatever reason, he felt this person was a threat and made up a "safe" version of her to be in a relationship with, and while it’s definitely possible to be attracted to or even love someone you find to be toxic and/or intimidating, when you take that into consideration alongside the configuration of her body, you get some interesting implications.

which brings us to our second point: if we assume that mithrun was not in fact fucking a snake, then sexual attraction, at least, was so far removed from his idea of a relationship with this person that he did not even bother to keep her dungeon copy human enough to maintain the illusion of the option of a sexual relationship. this is somewhat echoed in the depictions of their interactions, which also imply a frankly unexpected romantic distance. she kisses his cheek and he doesn't seem to react; she's at the edge of a narrow bed with only one set of pillows, on top of his blankets while he's underneath them.

the kiss is particularly interesting because it seems to contrast the text. kabru's narration tells us this was everything mithrun could have asked for, but mithrun is there looking unreadable to pensive, likely because this is right before the panel that makes it clear things in the dungeon are beginning to go wrong.

walking through this backwards for a minute, we have the physical barrier of his bedding and the spatial separation inherent in a bed made for one person, the emotional barrier of his mounting anxiety getting in the way of his ability to enjoy the affection he sought, and... the snake, which historically carries the connotation of temptation, yes, but also mistrust, barring physical intimacy. okay. ok. if a dungeon reflects the mentality of its lord, all of this might suggest that mithrun was not able to have any real desire for a relationship with this person. his unwillingness to be vulnerable or let another person in was insurmountable. but in that case, why was she such a focal point that she remained to the end, after his dungeon had stopped creating iterations of his friends to come and visit him? why would he get so upset over her meeting with his brother that he became lord of a dungeon about it?

well. mithrun's brother was also interested in her, probably genuinely. and mithrun had to win.

you have an older brother who your parents completely ignore, probably in part because he is chronically ill/disabled and almost definitely in part because he received a ton of recessive traits that resulted in rumors that he was an illegitimate child. you are aware, most likely because those same parents fucking told you, that you actually are an illegitimate child. but they keep you around because you had the good fortune of looking just like your mother. what can that possibly teach you but that you, like your brother, are disposable?

it's utterly unsurprising that mithrun, under these circumstances, developed a pathological need to be better than everyone around him. people don't keep you otherwise. i'd argue this is also why he says he looked down on everyone he knew while milsiril claims his dungeon reeked of feelings of inferiority—he sought out people's worst traits and prioritized them in his mind to protect his already extremely fragile sense of self-worth, and all the while he tried to be as likable and high-performing as he possibly could be. his parents disposed of him anyway, but even then he tried to keep up the performance. he was kind to everyone. he never once lost to a dungeon.

when he saw his "love interest" meeting up with his brother, what he saw was himself being replaced by a person his parents had always treated as worthless, and if that was what they thought of the child they'd kept, what value could anyone possibly see in the bastard they'd given away to die? mithrun and kabru tell the story like he wanted to win this unnamed elf's heart, but it was never about being with her. it was about cementing his worth, proving that he didn't deserve to be thrown away.

and so it's particularly cruel that his demon discarded him, too. but maybe it's also particularly gentle that, in the end, there was someone who refused to even consider giving up on him.

kui laid it out in three panels better than i could hope to.

yeah. it's love. you wanted to be loved, even when the only way you were able to understand it was through the desire to be wanted, and you wanted that so badly that the idea of being consumed felt like the promise of finally mattering to someone.

[buddygrouse]

some meryls and millys

[kreuzwalt]

[solcarow]

seafood trio portraits !

+ some alts. with spoilers !

[mamawasatesttube]

in tim's whole conga line of back-to-back losses, have we even considered that right before kon dies, ted kord ALSO kicks the bucket? devastating. whos next, tony hawk??? perish the thought!!!

[fat-fem-and-asian]

shiv + the act of carcinization by @sophieeeikli

[breadandblankets]

Bruce, slightly hungry on patrol:

Cass, not that far removed from straight up living on the streets: I found this rat, would you like some rat?

Bruce, born and raised a billionaire™: um uh thanks?

[highlandwhackamole]

Where Crowley Parks: Definitely in London, definitely not a Real Place

Crowley parks in the same place several times in season 2. It's so obviously the same place each time that I couldn't help but be drawn to nitpicking those scenes. Here's one just before the opening credits in episode 2:

What struck me about this location is the buildings in the background. They are iconic buildings that have colloquial nicknames. They are shapes that instantly tell you that the thing you're looking at is in London. Let's look a bit closer at the buildings using a pile of frames taken from the series:

From right to left, I'm pretty sure we have the Gherkin, the Shard, the Walkie-Talkie and the Scalpel.

To the left of the Scalpel are some buildings that are less distinct, but I think they may be a trio of buildings at Bishopsgate & Leadenhall. I won't worry too much about those, though, because I don't think we need them. (If you know what they are for sure, though, please do share!)

The Gherkin and the Walkie-Talkie are unmistakable. I'm 95% sure that's the Scalpel; here's a picture of it under construction from the same angle:

I wasn't positive about the Shard until I saw the building lit up during a night scene, just before Crowley gets yoinked to hell for a chat with Beelzebub:

Ah, yeah. In the words of the Bilfather... seems legit to me! Here's the actual real Shard at night:

So, yes, very nice buildings. So London. Much skyscraper.

But. Why have them in the background at all?

If they were there naturally (assuming, you know, that they made a special trip to London to shoot these I guess), one could edit them out, or replace them with more nondescript building-shapes, or even just not include them in the frame -- and then the background would just fade into... itself. It would just be the anonymous place that Crowley parks, no need to call attention to the exact spot.

If they were added (spoiler: they were), that means the intent is to communicate very clearly that this spot is in London, fairly near the city center.

Okay, Good-Omens-creator-folks. You're pointing out to me that this is very particularly and specifically in London. Why are you doing that? Am I supposed to know where he's parked? I don't know, at least not off the top of my head. Maybe I can find out.

Let's look at a map!

The circles shown here are, from top to bottom: the Gherkin, the Scalpel, the Walkie-Talkie and the Shard. The question mark is the location of the buildings that I think are the same as those appearing to the left of the Scalpel in the show, just for bonus information.

Now I just need to find roughly where one would have to be in order to make the buildings appear in their left-to-right order of Orange (Scalpel), Green (Walkie-Talkie), Blue (Shard) and then Purple (Gherkin).

... hm.

There is no such place. Those buildings can't appear in that order, regardless of where you are in the city. We can even double check, thanks to the Walkie-Talkie, which has very obviously distinct sides.

The Walkie Talkie's Wikipedia article, in fact, features an image of the building from an angle that looks like a very near or maybe even exact match to the viewing angle in the show. The article mentions that the photo was taken from the top of City Hall. Here's a Google Street View from roughly the same angle. You can also see the Gherkin!

What isn't and can't be in between them, though, is the Shard. It's on the same side of the river as the viewer in that image. It's hidden from view, behind the buildings to the left.

What if the Blue building in the show isn't the Shard? I could be wrong. Even so, this view doesn't exist in the real world. It seems pretty impossible from the map above, but I like to make sure, even if it means triple-checking.

For the belt and braces approach, peep this Google Earth view which is more or less from the same angle as the previous street view, just much higher up.

The scalpel is right between the Gherkin and the Walkie-Talkie. There's nowhere you could stand and view that skyline such that the Scalpel appears to the left of the Walkie-Talkie, and the Gherkin to the right.

What does it mean? I think it means that the creators wanted to insert a strong, automatic shorthand for London. Why do that, when we know Crowley is pretty close to Soho already? I have some thoughts, but I'm going to make another post about that.

[andoutofharm]

talking to the mirror say, "save your breath, half your life you've been hooked on death"

heaven, iowa (fall out boy, so much (for) stardust) | my pictures

[nicolloyd]

dont know if you can tell but im insane about lloyd hes forever on the brain i wake up hes there i go to sleep hes there when i look at green i think of lloyd montgomery garmadon its insane its an illness its a disease it will be what i die from and it will be written on my tombstone

LIKE HOWD HE GO FROM THIS GUY

TO THIS GUY

TO THIS GUY!!! IT DUN MAKE SENSE!!!

I WATCHED NINJAGO IN THE SPAN OF 2 WEEKS AND I FEEL LIKE I JUST WATCHED MY DARLING CHILD GROW INTO A MAN OVER THE COURSE OF 10 YEARS ITS INSANE. i will forever not get how he can just grow up like that and the worst part is he isnt even real!! and it drives me nuts!!

anyway idk what this ramble even is atp if youre crazy about lloyd i am open if youre angsty about lloyd i am open if youre happy about lloyd i am open i am always open thank you

[amadwinter]

AgriCorps Obi-Wan who always seems to get into trouble. No matter how peaceful a far-off planet seems to be, whenever Obi-Wan Kenobi is assigned to assist, somehow he ends up inciting a rebellion or uncovering assassination plots right and left. The Jedi Council finds this as troublesome as they privately do amusing

In what Obi-Wan assumes is a punishment for his most recent misadventure (but is actually an attempt to see if someone can actually make a meaningful difference outside of the usual processes), Obi-Wan is given an impossible task. As a part of a treaty with the Hutts over a hyperspace lane at the start of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan is sent to Tatooine of all places where getting anything to grow is the futile effort of a lifetime.

A large part of his work involves spending time with moisture farmers to learn the lay of the land and how best to work with the local populace. He's in charge of a survey team, but experience has taught him that very little can be accomplished without the cooperation of those who already live on the planet.

And that's how he meets Anakin Skywalker, the best mechanic in Hutt Space, and the leader of a burgeoning slave rebellion. He doesn't seem like much more than regular moisture farmer, but the Force guiding him, Obi-Wan knows that Anakin is someone truly special.

Or perhaps that's just lust talking, because Anakin is stunning in more than just an intellectual manner.

[krisvsthew0rld]

linkin park if they werent fucking around

[chimerahyperfix]

ooooo I'm writing a fic ooooooooo sneak peak bevause idk when the fuck it's gonna come out ooooooo

[starwarsanthropology]

Shitty tomo sketchdump bc i love him so mr. deepseated attachment issues!!

Closeups under the cut :)

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Omg i hope y’all are ready! I’m just putting the finishing touches to my costume meta and i think I might’ve got a little carried away! We are checking in at nearly 7k 😳😳😳😳😳 but there was just sooo much to talk about and I knew the short sharp ones from the last couple of weeks.

Anyway - gird your loins and all that, it should be out in 20!!!