"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.
9K notes
·
View notes
Indivs who have not experienced delusions/psychosis are always so afraid of “encouraging” delusions. As someone who HAS had delusions, including delusions I’ve experienced for years and years, it doesn’t matter At All what someone else thinks about my delusions.
Now you may be thinking, “Huh? How does telling someone their reality is a delusion NOT help them get better????”
Someone telling me my experience is a delusion doesn’t make me suddenly realise it’s not real. This is why it’s called a delusion and not a misunderstanding. I have been told several times that nobody can read my mind. Maybe I can understand that logically, but did it ever stop me from thinking someone was reading my mind? Of course not.
Someone telling me, “yeah, I can read your mind” doesn’t make my delusions Worse, it’s still the same delusional thinking I had before they said anything. And I may even realise that logically this person is being a jerk and trying to get a rise out of me. I still would think, during an episode, people can read my mind.
Okay, maybe a physical nonhuman DOES have delusions. So? You will not make it worse by letting them say they are physically an animal without correcting them. If they are experiencing a delusion, correcting them would be called reality checking, and it can actually be worse than not doing anything or “encouraging” delusions.
Please keep in mind this is tumblr, you don’t know us, and you are not responsible for our mental health. If you’re uncomfortable “encouraging delusions”, block and move on.
47 notes
·
View notes
sits and stares at my laptop like it’s a camera
okay SO–
my Li Jing Parenting Analysis (this right here) has been getting many mixed replies, and i wanted to make this post to sorta explain something to everyone.
every single one of my Li Jing Analyses are based on the LMK story and LMK alone, mainly what’s shown on screen in the show. LMK is very loose when it comes to JTTW and any other mythos it's based off of, since it’s not technically a direct continuation, but instead a lego show with it’s own spin and adaptation on the original story.
that’s what i’m basing my analyses on and not anything from the original mythos and stories, since it’s been shown time and time again how these legos are completely different to the actual original versions, aside from sharing certain defining characteristics and names.
so long story short, LMK is technically it’s own very, very loose adaptation of JTTW that can technically act as a standalone story and not lean on the og mythos heavily aside from characters that show up, and that's the version i use for my LMK analyses since……. it’s LMK characters i analyze.
and i want you to sit and think for a second
y’all are arguing over this ^
a literal piece of plastic that sells for $36 at the highest, and $25 at the lowest
literally the only way this piece of plastic can hurt you is if you step on it, and i think that says more about you than anything :/
22 notes
·
View notes
Hey friends, I've noticed that it's that time of year where people are being nasty, specifically and especially to us madfolk. If you've gone through that personally, I'm very sorry, and you have my solidarity & support.
However, if you'd like to know something that helps me a lot, is in relation to the dreaded rhetoric of:
[ TW: reality questioning / gaslighting ]
|
"Reality is a simulation!!"
"Life is an illusion!!"
"You can't prove anybody else exists!!"
|
[ /End TW ]
And all the others exactly like them.
Though I used to be very distressed over these claims, I've found a way to cope with them that doesn't involve lying to yourself and your rightful anxieties. If anything, it can foster a better sense of trust in ourselves, as well as a confidence boost.
When this rhetoric pops up, I tell myself:
"This does not and will not change how I have been living thus far. I will continue to live my life as usual."
"Even if that was true/real, there is inherent power in being unaffected and living life as usual despite knowing so."
And, most importantly, "MY lived experience is my LIVED experience, illusion or not."
Nothing about ferociously affirming- or denying- any aspect of what is "truly real" or not. You are focusing on and validating the experience of the most important POV in your existence, which is to say yourself and your own.
Though I am fully aware that, in the heat of the moment, our brains will respond in protective albeit intense ways, practice practice practice. Personally, I had to coax myself for nearly a month's worth of episodes before this technique started digesting.
Once your brain makes the pathways and connections however, you will find that it gets easier. It doesn't have to ever be "cured"- I still get paranoid myself over reality- but it can be mitigated for YOUR safety and comfort.
Because at the end of the day, YOU are here. YOU deserve nothing but peace, safety, good health, good company, and good times. Never let anybody- especially non-madfolk and psychiatry- tell you otherwise.
Love & Solidarity to you All,
- Delta 💜
22 notes
·
View notes
guyysss i have such a good angsty teen/human au brewing in my brain,, gem and grian's snails are involved. they're these guys
(african giant land snails)
au rambling under the cut vv
basically the au follows gem, from when her house blows up due to a gas leak when shes at a sleepover at her friends house (sausage pearl and grian) when shes 14 through her working through her trauma from that event and into adulthood
its more fleshed out than that i promise 🫶🫶
grian has two pet snails and immediately gives one to gem when he finds out she's staying with them for a few weeks because her house blew up
fwhip and gem are twins and fwhip got very blown up oops. hes an ambulatory wheelchair user and an amputee (his right leg below the knee). he doesn't get a prosthetic fr a long time bc they're not a super well off family in the first place so he prioritises a good wheelchair and you know. a house. over a prosthetic for a pretty long while (a few years at least)
sausage is their half brother but lives with pearl and grian (and impulse! hes their dad. and maybe skizz. i think it would be funny if they adopted three kids together as homies) because his dad died and their family wasnt in the right financial situation to support three children. at least he stayed close?
uh yeah theres still more to it but still. gem gets a skateboard at some point and she and fwhip race down hills to see whos set of wheels is the fastest
14 notes
·
View notes
31 Days of Dick (Grayson)
Day 18. Nightwing by Chuck Dixon or Nightwing by Tom Taylor
While the run has its flaws, I still prefer it. Dick settling into a new city was great, some of the villains like Shrike, Lady Vic and Blockbuster (even if Dixon didn´t create him) were great and a good match for Dick, the side characters were a standout, specially Amy Rohrbach and Clancy.
The one-shot stories were pretty good, I really liked #24 where Dick solves an old mystery, #19 where Dick rescues a bunch of people after Gotham´s earthquake and #64 where Dick is determined to find a girl who asked Santa to give her father a job.
56 notes
·
View notes