#maybe that's not even the limit though!

[fumifooms]

"Marchil? I guess I can see it on Chilchuck’s end, but what about Marcille’s? What makes you think she could develop feelings for him?" I’m glad you asked!

The first thing to note is that she does think highly of him

In the page on the right, literally defending his virtues and literally comparing him to Dalclan. And oh…

She does love a brooding mysterious guy who closes himself to love. But surely, Chilchuck isn’t her type at all, right? He’s not princely or knightly at all. In apperances certainly not, both looks wise and demeanor wise, but then that’s why she seeks to know him on a deeper level, to not only look shallowly.

And hmm. Chilchuck really is quite selfless isn’t he? Always looking out for others, and saving specifically her often, always making sure himself and, staying in or even running towards danger for her sometimes. Modesty is often considered heroic…

And can we talk about that drowning one… You can definitely frame the special attention as him knowing she tends to hesitate or be clumsy, and then his insistance on pulling her out of danger that she’s the healer aka the most important to keep alive, but. From the one who says that he just keeps his ass out of fights and won’t help this is a lot of risk to take, and he does die trying to pull her to safety in the dungeon rabbits chapter. And the drowning bit??? That’s when the dungeon collapses. The only reason they DON’T die of drowning here is that the water then gives way to outside. There was NO hope of pulling her to safety here and resurrections would likely not work either, he truly preferred to die with her than try to survive himself.

Sit your ass back DOWN you are in no state, self-sacrifical hero much damn

And Marcille definitely noticed this imo, after all she loves learning all she can about him, remembering things like how he hates waiting on people too. She pays attention to him and what he does and what he says. This to say that it’s notable, whatever reason for it you may think (though we know by this point at least she was already aware he was an adult though it wasn’t internalized), out of everyone it’s Chilchuck’s bed that she wants to sleep in during the Golden Kingdom stay. He’s safe and comforting to her: dependable, the defining trait in her view of him as is shown by the relationship chart in the Adventurer’s Bible.

^ Lending handkerchiefs is a romance trope btw and handkerchiefs have irl history of being used for courting. Especially in old English literature and plays like Shakespeare’s Othello, and personally I do see a lot of Shakespeare in Dalclan (nobility political drama with some romance). There’s how his cowl is a dearly beloved souvenir from his family too, there’s a lot of aesthetic tropes you can apply to him.

All this to say you can 100% romanticize Chilchuck into a princely noble guy if you try and that’s exactly what Marcille does with the wife roleplay. She doesn’t need much in the first place, she latches onto crumbs and makes aesthetic narratives out of details, give her an inch she’ll take a mile.

But what’s interesting about the shift throughout the arc of her and his relationship is that she starts out idealizing him into a little angel of a kid (shapeshifter), and she ends it idealizing him as a virtuous husband and family man instead.

And what’s doubly interesting is that in the former, she’s actively warping who he is personality and demeanor wise to fit the aesthetic, he doesn’t have that bitter pride of not asking for help and the edges have been smoothened. But what she does during the wife roleplay is something else, she acknowledges the flaws and just… Accepts them, rolls with them. She’s aware of his flaws and implements them into the narrative, but the reason why his wife left doesn’t capitalize on them even, rather Chil is chilblivious and his wife loves him very much still, she’s just testing him after having had a night of feeling out of place at his side.

And this is what separates the idealization vs romanticization, she’s not twisting him into someone else she’s just uplifting what he is and focusing on the good sides.

Marcille: "he has a shitty personality sometimes but if he was my husband I’d still cherish him" "If I were your wife I’d be overjoyed to go out with you and would get myself prettied up while you complain about me taking a long time, your friends would tell me that I’m nice and that’d make me happy, but I’d also be sad because you wouldn’t tell me that you love me enough"

He’s angry and his wife left him, he’s *flawed*, but he’s still worth hyping up, still worth having his own romance story, still has a shot of winning back his beloved. She sees him for what he is, human and real and not a carefully scripted character that fits an aesthetic, and she thinks it’s still worthy of love and admiration and fighting for

And what’s funny too is that you might expect her to cool down on him once she learns more about him but actually she only gets increasingly into his business. You tell her your age and next thing you know you promise to introduce her to your family. Give her an inch she takes a mile. And too the thing is, Senshi is equally mysterious but she doesn’t pester him like at all, asks him ONCE about his succubus and he doesn’t even answer and that’s like… It. With Chilchuck it starts off innocently enough with her wanting to know his age, hometown, the stuff she mentions having asked pre-canon. But it just keeps and keeps going and escalating. Think she’ll be satisfied now knowing you have a wife and kids, maybe she’s disillusioned now? Wrong! She wants to know their names and ages and occupations and hey how did you propose to your wife? Do you think she’ll stop after meeting them? What’s next? What will she want to know next????

She’s… Like it’s not a reach that Marcille is all over him. Like it doesn’t mean it’s romantic but she just is. She is not normal about him idk. Can you not ask him about what tongue technique he used when first kissing his wife, give the man breathing room

Marcille could literally go "if I was Chilchuck’s wife" having deeply pondered and thought out the hypothetical and people would still ask where anyone sees any romantic potential between them. Oh wait

There’s a platonic explanation for everything (almost?) in Dungeon Meshi don’t say I’m saying otherwise, but it’s definitely not like there’s nothing here to read into lol

Going off a bit more under read bc it’s my fave topic

Marcille has a whole theme with the charming prince trope with her idealization and storybook motif and Chil is kinda the "Well someone perfect like that isn’t very realistic and romance is usually more complex and that’s ok and good and flawed people can still be ✨virtuous✨" catalyst

Do you see do you see she starts canon thinking the most romantic thing is a prince charming but her arc in the end has her romanticizing an average, flawed, real and realistic family man, who’s on the poorer side and is on the verge of divorce. And that’s what he needed, too, seeing the positive of himself and the situation instead of focusing on the negative is explicitly what inspires him to hope that he might be able to reconcile with his wife, gives him the courage and self-esteem to shoot his shot.

He IS a prince figure instead that now it’s not about idealizing the grand and overt it’s about romanticizing the small things in real life!! About finding joy and beauty in things that seem normal or mundane and uplifting them to make the world feel kinder!!!!

He’s the devoted virtuous man that she wantsss not the storybook prince that’s unrealistic and could crumble like a script at any time. He’s the perfect example of a flawed realistic but virtuous & devoted & loving man. Far from a prince charming, but not fully detached from it either. Something worth fighting for despite the flawed cracks. Like literally, flawed romance being worth fighting for is literally the finale of Chilchuck and Marcille’s arc on the matter, where their separate arcs and issues intersect at the most crucial moment.

Marcille is important to Chil’s arc not only because of her optimism, but also because of her interest and knowledge in romance & matters of the heart, and that’s what he needs to both open his heart up to hope and to try to reconcile with his wife, like idk sounds gay

Their arc together is literally learning to 1) see each other for how they are and not undermining their qualities capacities etc etc while still not leaving flaws unchecked either and 2) opening up to people. Marcille LITERALLY makes Chil open his heart up to hope like idk man. What do you want from me. He’s literally the guy helping her through deconstructing novels and fantasy and rose tinted glasses and like. Deconstructing the prince charming figure into something more real but still romantically beautiful like KUI KUI STOOOOP STOP I’M ALREADY HOOKED I’M ALREADY-

 Ok fine that’s me reading into the tropes too much forgive me for being storybook brained but like. Speaking his heart out to a lone woman on a balcony, Romeo and Juliette shit, asking if she, too, doesn’t want to meet his family, madly blushing. And like she’s learned with Chilchuck it’s all in the little things, all the implications he cannot speak aloud. She does reciprocate, does blush madly back, and the first thing she does is shower him in flowers and jewelry and what in her heart is coded as romantic gifts

A lady, stashed away in a high tower by her lonesome, waiting for someone to call out to her from below… Romeo courting type shit with an offer, a heartfelt spiel, implicit confession from underneath her balcony. Offering him flowers because he succeeded in calling out to her heart…….. And they have to climb to her too…. Crazy

Doesn’t it sound like a proposal. One that’s both so storybook-like and not, contrastedly real and grounded, all about the implications rather than in your face grand gestures, "Don’t you want to meet my family?". They literally have an arc about the topic of romance and this is the climax/pinnacle of it like god?? This is @ the woman who said "Chilchuck is a shy/bashful man so I know he wouldn’t tell me he loves me, but…" btw

To quote a friend, truly the shiny secret unlockable dating sim capture target : THE DUNGEON LORD BIT WAS SO FUNNY BECAUSE HE KNEW SHE'D TAKE IT HOOK LINE AND SINKER HES THE ONE WHO GOT HER TO TURN AROUND COMPLETELY SHES LIKE. WIDE EYED FLAG RAISED???? FLAG RAISED WITH CHILCHUCK 👀👀👀‼️👀👀‼️👀

And the way that this is the culmination of their arc together… Like people are not ready for the ‘Chil calling out to dunlord Marcille on the balcony has Romeo and Juliette romance novels imagery’ take. Or the ‘their arc is about growing to see beauty even in the non-idealized, in the flawed and in the real’ take which makes it so so perfect if she were to lower her ideal from a charming elven prince to a virtuous halfling man (which she does end up romanticizing)

So there, you got to witness in real time what happens when I think about marchil for longer than 2 minutes, there are so many layers it’s a deranged rabbithole. I saw the necronomicon of subtext and it’s driving me to madness with forbidden knowledge that no one else sees

……. Like what if I told you she implicitly picked Chilchuck over a "unrealistic prince charming who’s actually disingenuous" much earlier in the story already. If she was given the choice to think through going with a guy that seems perfect and chivalrous like her succubus she’d pick Chilchuck over the other actually. If I sound insane rn tune in for my full analysis on them coming this month hopefully thank youu. Interwoven arcs of fantasy vs reality and idealization vs pessimism I love youuu

So now you know the general thesis of my planned analysis about the importance of the prince charming figure in Marcille and Chilchuck’s arc, where she romanticizes things to a sometimes worrying degree or idealize people into something easy and digestible and poetic (like Chil being a kid, and then him being a virtuous ✨✨✨husband), and how she needs to value aesthetics less and actual acts and facts more, be more grounded (like seeing people for what they are flaws and all, and accepting that people need money and not pulling through on principles of honor or unity shouldn’t get Namari shamed) and a part of that is accepting that Chilchuck is BOTH flawed and virtuous, a loving husband that still has shitty moods and fumbled his marriage so bad etc etc. So it’s like, her image of perfect prince charming that will whisk you away on an ethereal romance -> realistic flawed middle aged dad with personality issues and a failing marriage but he still is worthy of love and having his cute grand romance story and his happy ending. Ik I keep repeating the same point through this but I need it to be burned into everyone’s brains it has its grip on me I can’t do this. They are so special……

[thanatika]

is there ever any text implying that artemy spent his time away from town-on-gorkhon in the capital, in either game? a good portion of fanwork or discussion about pre-canon artemy puts him in the capital, but i don't think that's intended to be the case.

the narrated introduction at the beginning of his route in classic states that "Artemy has been travelling from town to town learning theoretical and practical surgery for several years". i can't recall if specifics of where he's been are ever stated in pathologic 2, aside from the dialogue options which imply his studies were interrupted by being conscripted as a soldier.

but i can't think of anything he says ever implying that he's been to the capital, so i'm inclined to believe that he hasn't. i imagine he's probably been to medical schools in smaller cities, though, as well as some hands-on apprenticeships. i think the implied itinerant lifestyle in his years prior to returning is worth emphasizing more, too. it gives the impression that he never really had the chance to put roots down anywhere while he was away, while also not feeling fully connected to his hometown either due to leaving at a relatively young age.

(the first game hits the idea that he's disconnected from the town especially hard, with virtually everyone but big vlad and rubin acting like he's an outsider who they've never met before. i think on some level this works, 10 years is a long time, but patho2's attempts to make it feel like he has at least distant familiarity with the town's older residents is one of the better moves it makes.)

[lynxfrost13]

If HOPRs had a corrupted version (there’s no good reason for one to be on sierpinski since they’re supposed to all be decommissioned) I think they’d fill the role of classic spitter enemy. They’ve got gross goopy heads and I think they’d essentially try to projectile spit evil juice that attracts other corrupted replikas to you

[l-just-want-to-see]

can i just point out that Joel was a loner for third life. he was a deranged crazy person loner during last life. in double life he had a solid alliance of two (2). in limited life he had a solid alliance of three (3)!! and with the mounders he had an alliance of… four!!!! now you might think oh fun. moving on. but no!!! the tragedy of the life series is that they are trapped in an endless cycle. the canary the widow’s alliance the dogs the crastle the seasons whatever. but Joel? he’s breaking out of his narrative.

[puppyeared]

I made a lmk oc

[cozylittleartblog]

I thought newgrounds died years ago. Pleasantly surprised to see it's still around

i haven't used it since middle school to play demented flash games and watch animations, i was also surprised to know it survived the flash purge lol. a lot of people are recommending it though and it never hurts to have yet another platform to fall back on. i didn't even know it was a regular art site either tbh 🥴

[t-u-i-t-c]

balance & naga // episode 31

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

trying to psych myself up to finally do oc refs by doing fandom-related refs instead: volume 1

wanted to update my yuma from whatever tf this au is so he was a bit more unique... takes inspo from a lot of different things while also trying to be its own sorta thing? which is fitting given the au ;)

bonus chibi now that i'm also figuring out how tf to do chibis lol:

[flowering-darkness]

Okay now I’m thinking about Mario Party with the Ashen Wolves, because of Clara posting about it with her and the other Blue Lions

Yuri is meticulous about maximising his chances of winning - he’ll try to keep his usual smooth commentary going to disguise that he’s doing something unusual to guarantee himself bonus stars, so that no-one intercepts him (Catarina is good at spotting this, though). This can often lead to him stealing the win right at the end of the game. I’m not really sure why, but I feel like he would play as Luigi.

Balthus is the most likely to do something that screws him over if it’ll also hit someone else, like landing on an event space that causes everyone in a stretch of the board (himself included) to get moved or lose coins. He isn’t quite as strategic, but can often make the best of an unlucky situation.. which is useful considering how often he finds himself in them. I can see him playing as someone like Wario or DK.

Constance is DETERMINED to win by as far of a margin as she can, buying whatever items and even throwing group minigames if it will let her bring down first place - though this does sometimes lead to her own downfall if she lacks the ability to defend herself from others’ trouble. She absolutely plays Peach.

Hapi just lets the others fight amongst themselves and mostly does her own thing, which can sometimes lead to her coasting ahead and into victory if they all sabotage each other too much. I can see her playing as someone like Toad or Yoshi.

Catarina is the one who knows the boards best, so she can take fullest advantage of the events and layout (and is prone to going quiet when she’s planning something so no-one notices her do it). She keeps an eye on what everyone else is doing so that she can adapt her tactic accordingly, rather than going in with a set plan from the start. As she’s my self-insert, and I think I usually play as either Yoshi or Daisy in Mario Party, she would do the same.

..It all sounds like a horribly toxic gameplay experience when I word it this way, which was very much not my intention >w< we do all have fun, it’s just that all of us often have quite the potential to be devious in gameplay strategies. At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to the luck of the dice!

Hopefully this makes sense ^-^

[arsenicflame]

ANGELA/SERA FROM THE MARVEL SNAP HERO ANIMATIC

[wonder-worker]

"The newly widowed Elizabeth (Woodville) was exceptionally vulnerable. Several of the trustees responsible for her jointure refused to hand over the manors that were meant to sustain her in her widowhood. Moreover, her brother-in-law, Edward Grey, had seized estates that her son Thomas should have inherited from his paternal grandfather, while her mother-in-law’s new young husband, Sir John Bourchier, had prevailed on Lady Ferrers to settle her principal properties on them jointly for life, ensuring that Thomas would have to wait far longer for this inheritance too. Rivers and Scales were pardoned in July 1461 and swiftly moved into the Yorkist establishment, which perhaps explains the success of the chancery suits Elizabeth launched to regain her jointure. Her son’s inheritance proved harder to recover. By 1463, Rivers was often in (Edward IV's) company and on his council, but Elizabeth needed someone with much stronger influence over the King. She turned to a distant kinsman, William, Lord Hastings, the King’s chamberlain. Hastings drove a very hard bargain for his aid but it was probably amid these negotiations that the King’s desire for Elizabeth was kindled."

-J.L. Laynesmith, "Elizabeth Woodville: the Knight's Widow", Later Plantagenet and Wars of the Roses Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty

[crossbackpoke-check]

Dysprosium, Mary Soon Lee

dysprosium, AN 66, is a silvery-white rare earth metal. its name is derived from the greek dysprositos, meaning “hard to get at”, owing to the difficulty in separating and isolating this rare earth element. dysprosium is used to measure neutron flux, to fuel reactors, and to activate phosphors. terfenol-d is a magnetorestrictive alloy, meaning that it changes shape when a magnetic field is applied, and is used to manufacture underwater acoustic systems.

jason “robo” robertson, dallas stars #21 for @simmyfrobby’s nhl periodic table poems <3

[deus-ex-mona]

*pays for mona merch with the one and only chozetsu kawaii credit card*

[littlespoonevan]

it's really interesting rewatching season 2, particularly in light of s7 and how obvious tim made it that he regretted killing off shannon, because they don't really do much with eddie and shannon's storyline when she's alive. other than the ep where she comes back, the christmas ep and the ep where she dies we don't see a lot. and while they absolutely have chemistry and there's potential there for an interesting story with shannon wanting a divorce, it's not all that different from the way they phone it in with other love interests eddie has had.

and it's just cemented even more to me that what really makes eddie and shannon interesting is what we get in eddie begins. bc their scenes in eddie begins are so fucking meaty. their arguments, the tension, the clear way in which they know each other despite there being a massive disconnect/breakdown in communication - all of that is what makes my brain whir because there are So Many layers and there's so much to unpack and even though it's eddie's ep, the insight we get into shannon and her perspective is fascinating.

and now i'm wondering if that's when tim realised it too??? if he saw just how good their scenes could be when given the depth their conflict needed and realised he might've been too trigger happy??? bc like, they Do have some interesting scenes in s2 that 100% hint at their issues and cement the how much history they have together but their eddie begins scenes are honestly unparalleled. and none of this is to say they could've or should've stayed together had shannon lived but they'd already set up a very interesting dynamic with the 2x17 divorce conversation that could've played out over at least a season if they wanted it to (while also leaving the door open to have shannon leave or have them reconcile down the line depending on how things go)

[syrips]

really bums me out when people say that a character cant be redeemed. like sure, but that's so easy to explain. give me your unhinged theories about how the most disgusting vile little meow meow has a tiny ounce of humanity or hope that can be rekindled through the use of sheer luck, determination, and/or divine levels of intervention

[specialagentartemis]

I've seen this refrain go around tumblr a lot: "Capitalism has got people treating artists and entertainers as though they should hop on their bicycles like a chained bear, the moment the audience cracks its whip." "Artists do not owe an audience anything." This is true and fair. Treating artists like art-producing machines and demanding they crank out art at a schedule amenable to you, only containing content or themes that you want, is unfair and unreasonable and dehumanizing.

However, capitalism has also got creators treating their (potential) audience like they are obligated to buy their thing as soon as or even before it comes out. In this same reblog chain, the bloggers are shaming people for not buying books at a rate that the authors would prefer. They frame it as a moral imperative to buy books before the series is finished, because the author requires it. I have also seen this regarding pre-orders: exhortations to pre-order books, especially debuts, or else you are ruining an author's career and don't care about marginalized artists. Framing not doing so as "refusing" to, as if you are required to and spitefully denying your obligation. That's also not a fair or reasonable way to treat people.

Authors are not beholden to their audience, but neither are they guaranteed one. Buying books is not the pinnacle of activism, and there is no moral failing to not purchasing a given thing.

Anyway as ever the problem is the death of mass market paperbacks, publishers demanding authors be their own marketers, and capitalism. Not other randos with a limited entertainment budget and their own reading preferences.