#making it feel incomplete

[xbuster]

Elon Musk wrote a rhythmless poem about how getting so deep into conservative politics has made him need to reject his atheism because he can’t stick to any of his values

[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.

[caemidraws]

Oath/breaking

[zigfield-station]

I hc mephone4 is very insecure about his higher emotional drive compared to mepad. The fact that the one he saved ends up taking care of him daily is an ego hit, and causes old wounds to open up.

[lonewolf638]

pre-stanford sam & dean ⇄ dial drunk, noah kahan.

DEAN Well, it's a two-way street, dude. You could've picked up the phone.

(SAM stares at him sadly.)

[windcarvedlyre]

I've been following @druidposting's DR2 playthrough on discord and we just had a really good discussion about DR's Closing Arguments. Specifically the way the murderer is depicted as grey and featureless, which until now I found a bit annoying.

In Danganronpa it's repeatedly the case that we don't have the full picture until the talking actually stops- which always goes beyond the end of the trial. We generally vote first and come to understand what the murderer's actual motive was, sometimes filling in important pieces of the timeline in the process, afterwards.

But none of that matters for the killing game because characters' emotions aren't directly relevant to who was the 'blackened'- the only thing that matters to Monokuma- so it comes out afterwards and does nothing to change their execution. It doesn't matter how sympathetic they are (basically everyone) or whether other people share responsibility for the situation (eg. Hanamura, Pekoyama, Momota) or whether they intended to murder at all (Nanami). They objectively pulled the trigger and nothing else matters. Nothing about them as a person matters.

The Closing Argument mechanic might illustrate that problem- literally. They're a dramatic, conclusive summary of the entire case... constructed before the vote even happens, before we know if we're actually right, and they're missing something really important:

The actual perpetrator.

We quite literally don't even begin to see the real person behind the crime, any real exploration of their mental state, anything besides the cold, hard facts of the murder that are necessary to convict them, until the comic finishes and the protagonist makes their final accusation- replacing the grey figure with their real appearance in a shot that's often intensely emotional.

And these comics lack crucial parts of the case's timeline and sometimes important parts of the very scenes they depict that we only find out about afterwards. And those are what we know; characters may die with some pieces of the truth and prevent us from ever learning them. These aren't objective depictions of the murder, they're the protagonist's subjective attempt to connect the facts they have. A join-the-dots portrait of someone with missing dots and no colour.

Even characters' expressions may not match how they truly feel, with the grey placeholder potentially looking way more confident and sinister than they were in reality. Pasting Falter's commentary here since they put it well.

For obvious reasons this could especially be a problem for characters that die before the trial- the ones we never get a post-vote testimony from. DR1 chapter 4 really highlighted that in the way Asahina's huge misinterpretation of Oogami's feelings took up a lot of the post-trial discussion, only for Monokuma to reveal Oogami's real suicide note and recontextualise everything.

It might really be a problem for how Komaeda's depicted in DR2 chapter 5. While he isn't greyed out, we get panel after panel where he's either level-headed or maniacally evil, and even the depictions of his self-torture and death don't humanise him:

But we know that his real feelings were more complicated than that. We have his actual corpse to compare the last page to.

He died afraid.

If we approach the comic as Hinata's mental image of him instead of reality, he died without anyone truly understanding him. He was alarming, very hard to relate to, actively fought against people doing so, ensured even the killer didn't watch him die, and the survivors couldn't begin to understand his motive until a chapter later. The Closing Argument reflects that.

Early in DR1 Togami calls out the rest of his class for judging others by their own standards. However, he, too, is doing this, maybe more so than many other characters; his inability to view other people through anything but the cold, brutal logic of the killing game bites him in the ass in chapter 4. In DR2 chapter 2 voting without a good understanding of Pekoyama's motive or Kuzuryuu's involvement nearly got everyone killed. Komaeda's a walking embodiment of the problems with flattening people into caricatures and not empathising with them, suffered from people doing that back to him, and his case- the Closing Argument for which turned everyone else into grey placeholders- was impossible to solve with objective facts. It was only survivable because the survivors cooperated and one person tried to analyse things the way he would.

The games have always been a critique of the justice system and Japanese society and push us to care about others as individuals, not reduce them to- and judge their right to exist by- something they've done or their net impact on society. There are always consequences when someone neglects to do that, and the above might be yet another way the games explore that theme.

[strelaiza]

im also making charms of the bestest boy of all time <3 sora kingdom hearts u will always be famous

[inubaki]

Praise Kink (Switch)

An Omegaverse Au in which Heaven blames the omega human Adam for ‘tempting’ the omega Lucifer. As Adam is the one marked, he’s the damage they discard first. Demanding for Lucifer to right the wrongs of disrupting the human legacy, forbidden from both Heaven and Hell till he can for fills his ‘duties’ as an omega himself.

As the one marked and discarded, Adam feels every intimacy Lucifer has and every birth. Each betrayal sinking him into a state of madness and resentment.

And as the humans begin to fall to hell, Adam slowly builds his empire on spite and force of will. Lacking the might of a natural angel and the authority of an alpha, Adam has to learn to use his body and mind to maintain his dominance.

The sins are birthed by him through an attorney announced every two hundred years by whom ever can win his challenge. Lucifer’s claim makes the process agony, each conception worse than the last. But Adam relishes in the pain as a defiance for the angel he blames his banishment upon. Even if the next union and birth could kill him.

When Heaven finally allows Lucifer to visit Hell it’s just in time for 7th and final grand attorney.

Lucifer is very much a yandere in this which is what drew Heaven’s eye to begin with. He’s rendered human while on earth but refuses to allow Lilith to bite him even when birthing the children.

He lives as a human for nearly 800 years before finally dying, outliving far pass expectation. (Or so they say). And even then Heaven is reluctant to allow Lucifer to see Adam. But as God’s favorite and Devil’s games going around again for the final heir, surely Lucifer can finally abandon his claim. Surely.

———-

Lucifer came to reunite. To clear airs by any means and bare his neck to the omega he’s pinned for. Even through Eden, the Wastelands of his trapped human life. This had been the moment Lucifer prayed to make right. To save all that is left of himself for Adam. But the mother of demons wants none of it. Even if the next heir outside his incomplete bond bares kills him.

Pretty birds and pretty words.

Pervs:

[flowerakatsuka]

couldn't get that lobotomy after work so i just drew some very self-indulgent kurokara to cope instead.

[kidspawn]

I love the original four books with everything in me but sometimes I think about how The Raven King could've been stretched into a fifth book. I know each of the four original books kind of represent one of the main four characters through their themes and narrative and climax but the idea of a fifth book and how that plot would've looked actually keeps me up at night.

[its-not-nothing]

Buddie had fights about Eddie deciding to move to Texas in two different episodes this season. Buck spent multiple episodes trying to deal with Eddie's move and being miserable about it. And now Eddie is coming back for good but they don't even have one short conversation about it? Buck doesn't even acknowledge it?? Hello, where is the pay off???

[ibblescribbles]

Do you think you will ever check out Raincode? It's made by the same people who made DR but with a more focus on mystery. (It has the same vibes and stuff, I feel like you would like it a lot) another thing, the writing is so banger

Yes, I've already played Raincode!! Really enjoyed it, especially for the DR-like vibe and I actually made charms of the main cast:

I have sketches of Yomi and Yakou that I've been meaning to add to this set for ages but haven't been able to bring myself to refine them ;v; Makes me happy when people recognize the Raincode merch at cons tho! I'm really excited for Kodaka's new game too, I haven't played the demo yet!

[susie-dreemurr]

CH3 Theory: Kris shared the ”Roaring Knight” title with this chapter’s final boss

I’ve made a poll saying I might make a short theory video on this before playing chapter 4, in order to properly process all this new information first, but just in case I decide to give up, here’s the script I just wrote for the video:

Playing chapter 3, one of the things that drew me in the most were the S-Class gaming scenes. They provided a significant amount of material for theories, especially on what’s up with Kris.

Às I played, one of the things that drew me in the most were the S-Class gaming scenes. They seem to provide a lot of potential for theories, especially regarding what’s up with Kris.

Ramb talks of how, as a child, they and “that girl” brought the library laptop home, therefore letting darkner characters like Queen, Spamtom and Tenna meet, seemingly to play pretend in the light world. Ramb acts overly familiar with Kris and their mentality, claiming to know them, and throughout the S-class quest, questions them on what they want. Could this really get you what you want? Your poor mother is in grave danger because of this. Your knife is getting dull. While on its own these dialogues coud just reference only the third fountain, they do not exist in à vaccum

Eventually, Kris meets the S-class game version of Tenna. He starts talking about his past with Spamtom, which is a whole other can of worms, and says “they never should have brought that laptop.” He then notices Kris and is startled, dropping the bombshell of:

Later on the game, Tenna says he was alone until the Knight came. While showing an image of Tenna similar to how ch2 ended, we hear him say how he struck a deal with the Knight to “keep the trio busy” só he could be watched again. This instantly reminded me of this dialogue.

I had already thought Kris was the knight after ch2 but this had made me all the more certain. Kris was the knight, and wanted Tenna to pretend they weren’t in front of their team, wanted Tenna to distract and keep them in this for some time, something that among other things, called back to the theme of escapism prominent in this chapter.

I was so certain, and yet… at the ending, we meet a mysterious character named the Roaring Knight. I was confused, thinking maybe I interpreted it all wrong, but… maybe not.

Às Queen said, the “knight” could be any lightner with the will to create a fountain. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume “The Roaring Knight” is just a title, and not necessarily a person. It is not impossible for that Kris and this mysterious character (who I’ll be calling “Cavaliera” for simplicity’s sake) are working together, both *sharing* this title. Not just in a “Kris opened à fountain once” way, but they’re specifically working together às partners, maybe even taking turns on opening fountains.

In S-Class, mini-Kris enters the bunker and specifically stabs (and kills) Tenna’s character after he anxiously mentions their deal, reminding me of the phrase “stab in the back.” This obviously foreshadows Cavaleira literally striking Tenna in the back (possibly killing him) and kidnapping Undyne to the bunker. I am sure Toby Fox didn’t choose this specific form of foreshadowing for nothing, and believe it’s also meant to signal these two at LEAST working together.

There’s also the fact that Ramb chastises Kris over the situation they put their mother in by intentionally opening the fountain with her inside the room, questioning if this would “get them what they want.” After chapter 2, many speculated on why they did so, and after watching how Cavaleira original kidnapping target was Toriel, i think Kris did this as part of this plan they had together.

Às à bonus, We know the dark worlds are shaped by where the objects are in the light world. Kris and “that girl” got darkners like Queen, Tenna and Spamtom to meet by bringing their light world equivalents together to “play pretend.” They could have either done this intentionally, or genuinely been innocent back then and only later found out they could alter dark worlds like this, but regardless it doesn’t hurt to keep note of this.

If both of them share the “Roaring Knight” title, it’s possible Kris struck the deal with Tenna (às they were the one who opened the fountain [which Tenna knows] and dó not have an alibi from then to Susie waking up) while Cavaleira watched over the show to keep Tenna from breaking the deal for whatever reason. Tenna certainly wouldn’t have reason to mention the identity of the KNIGHT, especially if Kris was involved, it goes against his goal to stay on and have an audience!

I believe I’ve made myself clear on why I think they share thte title, but who IS Cavaleira? Às I want to keep this vídeo short (bc i do want to play ch4 soon, plus this has less evidence) I don’t want to go in depth on it, but I think it is either Mayor Holliday or December, leaning more towards the latter.

Dess’s current absence feels more haunting than the Mayor’s ever did, because it doesn’t have the explanation of “work.” People talk of her às if she was gone. Her connection with Kris and Noelle, how she explored the forest near the bunker (which might have gaster connections) with them, the DECEMBER spelling bee, this… weirdness surrounding her made fans agree she‘s important long ago.

Cavaleira’s design includes horns almost identical to the Hollidays, gaster-like hands and a sword that sometimes looks like a bat. Thsi cant be a coincidence toby Fox pls pls pls

TL;DR: Kris and Dess are working together and share the title of roaring knight (real)

I want to end this off saying I don’t think Kris or Dess are evil or even want to hurt anyone. They could do all this for the sake of some greater good, an objective I just have no way of knowing yet. Regardless of ch4 denying this or not, I enjoyed this little (rushed) thought experiment.

[bacterialglasses]

I need a life changing Prohibitedwish fanfic with Prismo being sad about Jake and Scarab is like "but im here whys he thinking about a DEAD and MORTAL mf" and at some point he brings the topic in a unintentionally disrespectful way and Prismo gets PISSED at him and starts ignoring cuz he thinks Scarab was being mean on purpose and Scarab gets sad cuz he's being ignored by PRISMO THE WISHMASTER himself and bro is distraught and sad as hell cuz he started to admire Prismo after all the fanfics and the time they spent together or something something gay ppl blah blah blah I NEED ANGST!!!!!! SUFFERING!!!!! CRYING!!!!!!! (yeah, I think we need crying Scarab as a treat :3) AND ONLY THEN!!! earth shattering smut 😋.

[jayadwal]

how it feels to read warrior cats again after a long time of focusing on personal life

[namvinoi]

YHS Divided AU characters and their fears because why not

Funneh: Having no sense of purpose and losing everything she cares about.

Evelyn: That everything she's worked hard for, all the time and effort she sacrificed, will all be for naught.

Gold: Being seen as incapable and forgettable, a pushover.

Valerie: Not being able to see her loved ones ever again.

Yumi: Not being in control, and never being good enough.

Kyran: Getting attached to anyone besides his family. Abandonment. (Y'all know why)

Alec: That one day Aly will end up just like him. All alone, and silently grieving the time he had lost.

If anyone wants to know more about this AU drop me an ask because I'd love to answer them!!