#stupid sexy senshi

[pancake-breakfast]

Love how episode 23 of DunMesh basically confirms that Senshi is the sexiest member of the party by far... and that sexiness standards vary by race.

Now I want to know what he looks like as all the other races, too.

[rainbowpaisley]

I'd initially had one up with more sketch lines, but didn't like it - removed it and had to re-upload.

Sexy Senshi, you're welcome.

[chuckeroo777]

Dungeon Meshi Volume 7 Part 2

And here we go!

Laicille shippers can have one panel, as a treat. I choose to interpret this as poor bisexual Marcille feeling way too flustered wearing a sexy dress in front of her friends. Plus when Laios softens his eyes like that, he looks uncomfortably like Falin.

Funny how it's these two in particular who feel this way. I'm sure this is in no way foreshadowing how they will be tempted into creating their own versions of this.

Maybe it's just a coloring issue, since it looks more natural in the anime, but Yaad's eyes are creepy as hell.

Gotta love aspic, the epitome of cool looking food that is probably really bad. Also, are they raising... rabbits?

Somehow, Izutsumi is less picky when in full cat mode.

When the DM really wants you to take the plot hook.

Real friends let their little friends beat them up cause it doesn't actually hurt. This is a beatdown(affectionate).

Senshi may be Izutsumi's favorite, but Marcille and Chilchuck are her parents.

Retcon? What retcon?

See? Not even the golden country folks really believe in that stupid prophecy. Honestly, I kinda love stories where there is a "prophecy", but divination magic is actually bogus.

What's wrong Yaad? He's just concerned about you. (The anime made this scene way more sinister.)

She's so excited! :D

Well, they tried.

A precious image.

So, this is Izutsumi's default outfit, yeah? Funny how it's on this volume's cover, yet I don't think we've seen her in it in a chapter proper. When we meet her, she's still in her ninja robe, then she gets Namari's coat. Seriously, we won't see this outfit until next volume.

Senshi has only been with them for like a month, but they are already so attached. I love this family of idiots.

Seems like a waste of a perfectly good centipede. Why make one(1) treasure bug, when you can make slitherpedes? (A horrifying chimera which is basically a giant snake with legs. Four fangs glistening with venom. Two vertical, two sideways. Armor plating and heat vision. Your players will love them.)

It's a little moment, but this really shows how dearly Marcille cares for her friends.

...says the one who uses forbidden ancient magic.

An important image.

I like how you can see Laios questioning why the hell a griffon would kick.

See, post-canon Marcille needs to teach Laios how to make familiars. He would have way too much fun. Plus, controlling a familiar might be a way to bypass the curse.

This is actually a pretty cool creature known as a Rod. Rods are a type of cryptid which are super fast rod shaped creatures which can't be seen by the naked eye, only with cameras. Turns out they're just bugs caught by cameras with long exposure times.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind next time I prepare sky fish.

Local gossip girl baffled good friend was able to keep massive secrets from her.

With that, I'll go ahead and finish up with chapter 49 and the misc monster tales in a final post. See ya!

[revlushaun]

that one post about "dungeon meshi is good because it had time to be good!" (which was a lie about the timeline it was produced in being exceptional) completely misses that dungeon meshi is uniquely good because ryoko kui doesnt rely on tropes and archetypes to explain her world building or characters, and actively subverts what tropes and archetypes characters would be linked to based on their appearance or in-world race or status. the fight for good working conditions has no bearing on how often writers are lazy in their world building and characters relying on tropes, and the fight for good working conditions is irrelevant to how good a piece of media is. you can look to something like harry potter as an example, i dont exactly think harry potter was made in crunch culture but theres a hell of a lot of problems with that piece of media explained away by literal sorting of characters into the good house and the bad house and using racial stereotypes like with the goblins or the offensive naming schemes for non-white characters.

falin looks like damsel in distress at a first glance but it was her sacrifice to be eaten, shes extremely powerful, and shes a weird little kid who played in the dirt who not many people understand, not some delicate princess needed to be saved by her big brother in shining armor. marcille is extremely ditzy and makes stupid mistakes like pouring boiling water, and instead of being the prissy academic the entire time who plays by the book she uses banished magic to save her friends, and the entire reason shes on the journey is she questions the powers above her dictating what magic should and should not be used for, and her lack of out of book knowledge gets questioned by the others instead of relied on. senshi ran away from the typical dwarf role, not caring for gold over the livelihood of his party and being actively good mannered. instead of making the half foots cowardly because of size, for chilchuck its just a logical thing to not fight if you would be in the way and stick to what your body can and cannot do, except he constantly has to help in combat situations to the best of his ability and starts to learn to care about his friends (and also he looks young but is actually a middle-aged alcoholic dad). normally cat women get represented with some sort of sexual air to them for some reason? but izutsumi makes it very explicit she is a cat, she makes a comment about how no one would be interested in a beastman and strips openly (not realizing laios is a monster maniac and not a perv that would want a sexy cat lady), her mannerisms are catlike instead of stuff like catwoman or 80s catra from she-ra. the other characters also still kind of subvert tropes and it never feels these are characters that stick to some archetype out of comfort and familiarity. the dwarven women dont have dramatic size differences and dont feel like caricatures, shuro is meant to show the problems with a stoic, cant express, overly dedicated to the girl of his dreams character, and thistle isnt just some evil presence for the sake of being evil but instead wanting to keep everything perfect in his eyes. kabru's party being foils makes his group feel like the party you would see in mainstream media too, stuff like his people sense and chosen one past of his old village and raised by elves, or mickbell being the little kid of the group.

another thing i want to mention specifically is the orcs. instead of relying on racist pan-indigenous stereotypes she engages with how they were the victims of elven colonization and that their way of life was suddenly deemed not okay, but elves displacing their homes with violence is somehow socially acceptable. I also REALLY like that the orcs use terms like brutish and s*vage to describe the main party instead of the main party using those words against the orcs, it made me chuckle about the breath of fresh air that provided. i dont think it handles orcs perfectly but its far better than other media that rely on racial stereotypes without unique world building. it even shows marcille's bias as an elf, the "who was here first" dialogue reflects that whole "no one is really indigenous, the dinosaurs were here first!" but replace dinos with zombies. theres a film called "reel injun" that goes more into how indigenous peoples are constantly either these brutish characters or the "noble s*vage" that has some sort of otherworldly connection to nature, usually to prop up the main characters for being "typical" white cishet christian characters like a cowboys and indians or an evangelical kind of way.

im someone who doesnt watch a lot of mainstream popular media because in my head the characters and story feel predictable and reliant on tropes. im very aware im picky with media and i stick to my comfort zone, but it also kind of feels like if i were to watch some mainstream media like star wars or harry potter, it would go as i can predict it would with all the pop culture knowledge id gained before ever watching those things as a kid. the hero is some chosen one, the bad guys are bad because the plot says so, the characters are some version of some archetype... perhaps im wrong, and maybe it doesnt necessarily mean that a piece of media is bad or boring, but i find dungeon meshi so nice to watch because nothing feels super predictable and you have to learn people's characters and morals instead of: this is the studious prissy one, this is the main character guy, this is the pan-indigenous race that is inherently brutal to people or mystical with nature, this is the tiny coward who doesnt fight cause hes scared and a big softy, this is the big dwarf that wants gold and minerals and has no manners, this is the evil lord of the dungeon that wants to destroy everything, etc.

(i also think the subversion of archetypes in dungeon meshi is why ive seen so much of it even though most of what i follow on tumblr is for hot queer guys or cute nintendo stuff, because if your identity itself subverts what is assumed of your body's archetype in cishet white christian society, youre likely going to enjoy the stuff that doesnt follow that a little bit more.)

[alevolpe]

☆☮️ Minako and Ami!!!

Alrighty!!!

Ami ☆ - happy headcanon

I think everyone knows Ami has always struggled with understanding people. She loves to learn. She cherishes and strives in environments where applied learning is the one true key to happiness and success. Ami studies, Ami gets a perfect score, Ami sees the perfect score, Ami gets praised. Ami receives praise and knowledge. So, why couldn't it stay that simple?

She had secretly always found excuses. She was meant to be THE top tier student, she has to study, there's no time and she's only human. So when faced with the impossible decision of trying to find a balance for her life, she dove head on. Sleep, Study, Social Life. She convinced herself, that was her happiness.

The harsher truth was, trying to understand others, making friends, and learning how to become more approachable was just not worth it. She tried that once, she gained was a group of 'friends', but Ami wasn't stupid. A few study sessions in, Ami was nose down on a large stack of books, the only one at the table, homework abandoned. Everyone else walking around, chanting, TV blasting, various drinks spilling. That was the last time Ami spoke to those people and the last time they spoke to her, but not the last they spoke about her.

So yeah, those very few experiences had made it even harder for Ami to understand, even harder to care.

But sometimes, the hardest of problems have the most simple of solutions. And her answer came in the form of a simple and sincere smile. For the first time she saw a person smile and truly felt the happiness take a hold of her, before she even knew it, a tender smile growing from her own lips.

The sincerity of Usagi and Mako's friendship, I think, is what finally convinced her that maybe, maybe some people are truly worth it. It's worth to put in the work, because they'll happily and openly show you the results. No trickery, no roundabouts, just straight to the point. I want to make you happy. I can try to make you happy. You look, act and feel happy. It makes me happy.

it was a start, at the very least.

Minako ☆ - happy headcanon

I truly feel like Mina is on a constant high of Ultra Dopamine. Not to say she doesn't have her low moments, but you'll find her dead and buried into her 869th incarnation before she's willingly to openly acknowledge the misery of her own existence. That just ain't Venus, that just ain't Minako Aino.

She has duties, both as the leader and as a friend, but fuck if she isn't gonna find a way to make it fun for herself.

A friend is sick?! Minako 'the sexy nurse' Aino is coming over full throttle and full costume making sure that spotlight doesn't dare to stop tracking her for even one second.

Senshi training tonight?! She's the shot caller, arranging all the set pieces, challenging herself with mixing important senshi duties and important 'I must be entertained, me, Minako Aino duties'. Yes, Mars, 3 more sets of single leg squats, cause of course that is very important. For both duties.

My friends are dating, but they are soo awkward?! Nothing that a Firefly 5 Inch Glow In The Dark Dildo can't solve, all nicely wrapped in a surprise box so graciously gifted during dinner (spoiler: it didn't end well...).

Long story short, if Mina has to do something and that something isn't fun, she'll make it fun. Most times at the cost of whatever victims friends she has brought along.

Although there is one thing that has consistently granted Mina with an almost inexplicable sense of sole contentment: Exercise. Mina loves, loves, loves working out. While I see her as having more a gymnast body type, so preferring more cardio and mobility workout, she's not one to turn down any type of workout; Being for Sailor Business Training or just for herself to experiment.

Where these 2 aspects of her meet the best I think is her love of volleyball. Training her body, mind, hand-eye-coordination and team coordination in a beautiful package that still allows her to snatch that spotlight for herself and make sure the people's eye are glued on her for the rest of the game, if she so wishes.

Minako and Ami ☮ - friendship headcanon

Welp, I've actually written about this before, right here. But, basically out of all the inners I think the MinaAmi friendship is def the weakest.

For the longest time, they just straight out didn't like each other, they just never admitted it out loud, I even have them beating the shit out of each other one time. I hc Ami as autistic and that makes it quite difficult for her to understand Minako's intentions from her lack of a clear response in both expression and tone. Her actions really speak to Ami as bullying behavior and that's not totally off. Mina thrives on getting a reaction, so she's willing to go to places where a lot of people wouldn't, just to get a reaction out of people and the times she does it on Ami, it just ends up making her feel very uncomfortable and quite angry. The others do try to stop this from happening if they catch what Mina is onto fairly early.

TLDR: Ami doesn't like Mina because Mina acts like a bully, has unclear motives on why she acts the way she acts and is very much willing to make people uncomfortable to get a reaction out of them (this last one is quite skewed from Ami's perception, since she sees Mina teasing the others the way she does with her, but never puts together that the others 'most of the time' consent to the teasing and are even willing to bite back playfully). Mina doesn't like Ami 'cause she's boring. Ami is very simple on the outside, and while that can be quite the entertaining show, the well runs dry as soon as Ami stops giving Mina what she's looking for, attention.

All that said, I can see them becoming closer as the years run by and mostly as Ami opens up to new expressions of affection and care. Most of the merit going to Michiru, whom I can see making a genuine effort, in her unique Michiru way, to befriend Ami. And sort of succeeding?! Michiru is in now way direct, every word that departs her lips is carefully refined before being handpicked to form the most enigmatic phrasing any human being could ever hope to comprehend. Her expressions, a total enigma. Never has one seen a smile hiding so much mystery since the Mona Lisa herself. And yet, something grew, they are quite content in calling it a friendship.

Beginning to understand emotion without a direct and clear response was definitely a step forward in understanding the blonde leader, since I never see Minako giving up her teasing I think Ami would grow toward more of a competitive side in their late teens and early adulthood. Minako wants a reaction? My turn. I'll practice this new Sailor V game at the arcade until all the top scores look like this:

Mizuno A

Mizuno A

Mizuno A

Mizuno A

Mizuno A

"Wow, Ami I didn't even know you played this game. You filled up the leaderboard" Usagi gawked with staring at the old arcade screen.

"Oh, I had some spare time yesterday, so I spent a couple of hours playing. The game is quite easy once you understand the enemy AI and get a sense for the tempo of the platforming"

Mina was quiet. The expression of horror plastered on her face. One to rival her encounter with the Galaxy destroyer Warrior Sailor Galaxia. A couple of hours, I REFUSE! ICAN'T BE! Endless afternoons spent sweating money, tears and MORE MONEY, MY MONEY!! on achieving that leaderboard, just for a couple of hours to

… she dared to peek. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a sight of true defiance and treachery.

Sitting on the worn out leather stool. The genius, her teammate, her friend, sparing her a look. A barely perceivable grin.

Truly the start of a miracle friendship.

[darkknyth]

My thoughts on some of the Dungeon Meshi characters

Laios: 100% autistic about monsters

Falin: shy and sweet but doomed by the narrative

Marcille: book smart but squeamish about everything

Chilchuck: control freak and thinks everyone else is stupid except him

Senshi: like that grandparent that wants to feed you a ton of food

Zon: sexy orc mmm

Kabru: huge people pleaser and gay for Laios

Namari: id let her sit on my face

Shuro: has a strict sense of morals

Izutsumi: the token catgirl

[avian-misdemeanors]

stupid sexy senshi

It’s Dungeon Meshi Thursday everybody! Have another Senshi warmup ✨

[trombonegoofus]

I hate stupid sexy senshi so fucking much

Where is my beef boy? I need him back, this is so awful

[illustratedjai-art]

Sailor Uranus - Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Fanart You had to know I'd have to do the outer senshi. - and you had to know this was the perfect place to bring back the rainbow wash background! Sailor Uranus will be available at York Winter Comic-Con on February 9th 2020!

[keyofjetwolf]

Bonus Question Answers! (anime heat 3)

I asked a silly question! You gave me incredible answers. SO VERY MANY INCREDIBLE ANSWERS. If yours is listed below, you’ve earned an entry in a random draw to win a GIFTENING liveblog OF YOUR CHOICE

SURPRISE EVERYONE WHO ANSWERED THIS ONE GETS AN ENTRY (with extra entry if you pulled a specific line). This has been such a struggle for me for the past ... you know, million years or something, and each of you made me feel so good, thank you. ♥

—

Q: This is reaching back into the memory a bit, I know, but what's your favourite of my fanfic? (BONUS BONUS ENTRY if you pull a specific line!)

*  i cannot remember a specific line off the top of my head but i remember the post-S series dealing with usagi's trauma from pharaoh 90 (sound of silence?) was a gut punch and a half --  anewconstellation

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* "Blue shirt. Pearl buttons." I think this was the first time I read you writing the Outers, particularly Neptune and Uranus, and, uh, holy shit. Absolutely note-perfect dialogue and dynamic, particularly for that period of Sailor Moon S when Michiru and Haruka used intimacy of speech and gesture as an instrument of distancing and obfuscation (of their goals to the Inners, of their hearts to themselves and to each other, of the heli-pad to the staff at Mugen Academy, etc). It was so clear, and so clearly *them* that I could actually hear the intonations of their respective seiyuu. And then to deploy such spot-on character elements in combination with the stakes and the maturity the anime never reached for, my WORD, are you trying to kill me??? The pacing, the restraint! What an absolute gift. You're a wonder. (also your drabbles are fuckin peerless, and the BTL concept is such a clever series framework)  -- @rasiqra-revulva​

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*  This was so hard to pick from, but I finally settled on "Cause and Affect" - it's such a heartbreaking story, but the juxtaposition between the clinical lines of information from the computer to the memories Ami is dealing with to the horror of the visuals around her... it's so bright and sharp and PRESENT.  It keeps me in the story, that mix of tones and feelings.  And the final line?  Perfection.  "Number of regrets: none"  What an amazing take on Ami and how she processes information and how she deals with the situation she is in.  I still get chills up my back when I read the story.  -- @amberlilly​

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*  I love your Between the Lines series, it's how I found your Tumblr and liveblogs back in the day -- @amboato​

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*  Author Alert.  “So never, ever, going to live this down.” -- @crunchbuttsteak​

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*  "Of her word" quote "But for all that, it remained sand. Rei erased it with one swipe."  -- Dei

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*  Between The Lines. Adding further character/emotional depth to canon is YES PLZ. I really liked the whole idea of Usagi having trauma post-Pharaoh 90 and all the chapters that hit on that. On a less serious note Chibs' circus-related PTSD and freaking out when Hotaru wants to go to the circus kills me every time. ("But your precious dreams Hotaru-chan!")  -- forgottenfae

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*  This is probably the obvious choice, but "The Sounds of The Silence" has haunted me in all the best ways since I first read it. The way you write Rei, Usagi, and Rei and Usagi hits me right in the heart every time. This particular fic, with Usagi so traumatized, and Rei being as soft and gentle as Usagi needs, will always stick with me. I pulled up the fic to try and narrow down a single line, and ultimately there's no real debate. "She would never stop trying to do more, but for now, she simply did this." That line is, at its core, the essence of Rei Hino. And it is perfection.  -- gatorsandglitter

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*  I don't expect this to win at all, just sharing,, but I just super fondly remembered the goggles and all the amazing content, meta, and fic those inspired, both from you and others  -- @goosebytrade

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*  "You Win or You Die"  my favorite line is "She and Rei WOULD have The Moment, they WOULD get their thousand years of bliss, and they WOULD be making out after all this was over. Like, SO HARD."  -- @i-needa-nap-please

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*  I'm always really bad at answering questions like this because my mind has pretty much become a goldfish in my old age and I have a hard time remembering specific fics; it all sort of starts to jumble up in my brain and things get lost. But I have always loved reading your writing, it's what got me onto this godforsaken website in the first place -- it was just before Crystal dropped, and we were all foolishly full of hope and excitement, and you were going through the Moon Pride video and waxing poetic about the FRIENDSHIPS and I was like, "YES! Finally! Someone who understands why I love this stupid kids' show!" I think I sent you an ask saying this before, (but who knows if you ever got it, Tumblrs being what they are - indifferent) but I tried reading fanfic and even published novels based on properties, like the Buffy novels and Star Trek and Star Wars novels, for a long time, and mostly found it frustrating and annoying and just... wrong. It always had this awkwardness and clunkiness to it that didn't do anything for me and just constantly screamed "THIS IS A FANFIC IT IS NOT REAL WRITING" at me. Didn't like it. But, I liked yours. Yours didn't feel awkward or clunky. You have never written any sentences like, "Rei watched the blonde stand up" where "the blonde" is Minako, and I don't know why fanfic writers think that calling characters "the blonde" or "the redhead" or whatever is sexy or cute but it ain't (sorry, pet peeve tangent). So, when you were writing stuff more, I would read it like it was going out of style, and you led me to Doc's writing, which had the same natural, "this is real writing" quality, and I loved hers, too. Anyway, my favorites of yours have always been the Between the Lines stuff. I just love the "hidden" moments that we didn't get to see. The Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead bits of Sailor Moon (speaking of fanfic that actually works) that bring so much depth to characters we know and love already or to characters we see only briefly. Also, the Shadow Senshi, because FUCK. Just... Kill Me. In any event, I know that writing has been difficult for you of late, and I know how that feels, so I hope that people who are actually able to answer this question have given you some places to go and draw strength from so that it can become part of your life again. TBH, I've been using the bonus questions on your Giftening surveys and Doc's 8 Days surveys as an excuse to try doing some small bits of quick, no pressure, nobody's gonna see it unless you or Doc actually LIKE it, don't think about it writing, and it has been helpful. I hope you can find something that gives you the same opportunity. Now that I've written you a novel that doesn't even answer the question you asked (goldfish, remember? *sigh*), have a gorgeous Tuesday!  -- @incorrecttact

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*  The one with Pluto and Queen Serenity, where Serenity is selfish in a very Usagi way, but her arrogance combined with that selfishness makes it a fatal flaw? I liked that one a lot. -- Jules

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*  the bit you wrote to 'fill in' a gap for why during r did mamoru act like a distant jerk. My favourite parts were Rei coming to see the same dream, and despite being the one to have the biggest reason to believe in these kinds of prophetic visions, Rei still doesn't believe fate is set in stone. -- just... a fan. a well-baked one

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*  Make It To New Year's -- @kaleidodreams

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*  ahhh, where is a link to all of your fanfic? It's the series you started after S, with Rei comforting Usagi, because like you I was let down by the fact that they never followed up on what Usagi saw, or even how she dealt, with the end of S. runner up: the one where Usagi is about to give birth because everything you write with Rei and Usagi is amazing. -- kari

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*  There was a drabble/draft/something that you used one of my prompts for, and I prompted you with Usagi and Rei, but you did it from Luna's perspective and THAT WAS SO UNEXPECTED and it turned out SO GOOD cause like!!!!!! You made Sailor Moon both someone Luna cares for, because still the legacy of the moon, and someone utterly discouraging for her because *this should not be*, and wow what a way to make it both about Usagi herself and about her powers.  -- katrani

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*  I love the btl fics, they fill in the missing gaps, add depth to the story, and sometimes smooth over things (SuperS) when canon is just...blah. One line I really liked was: “I was listening, at first, but then I started thinking about how hungry I was, and how a pork bun would be really good right now, and then I wondered what makes a thing a bun, and like, if you put ANYTHING in a bun, does it become a Thing-Bun, so could you make a bun out of another bun and would it be a Bun Bun, and wouldn’t that be the greatest thing to– Rei?” It's a great run-on, stream of thought sentence that just really catches Usagi's voice, is hilarious, and such a natural progression. -- @kumeko

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*  “HUG,” Usagi demanded again, because dammit, she’d been promised a hug and SOMEONE was going to deliver. (The one where Michiru has the hiccups. Because it's fun HaruMichi stuff, because it weaponises Usagi in a useful way, because it manages to (gently) make fun of both perfect!Michiru and saint!Usagi without being mean to either character, and also because I get hiccups a lot and I haaaaate them.) -- nerdy-flutterings

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*  I can't remember a specific fic, but I LOVE your Shadow Senshi headcanons and they're the main reason I started writing my own Shadow Senshi stories. -- @notesfromtheidiotbox

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*  The Figuarts saga is the Sailor Moon fic I never knew I needed -- Raye

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*  Special Delivery is a delight. So much Rei Certainty (that ends up being misplaced). So much Usagi being The Most Usagi About Pregnancy. So much Comedic Hijinks, because why the hell WOULDN’T ‘the Senshi get blindsided when Usagi goes into labor’ end up going full screwball? There’s a lot of great lines there (Rei’s theory about Chibs taking control of the Gate of Time and manipulating things is fantastic, as is the ending,) but my favorite is definitely “Rei Hino if I give birth to my daughter on the side of the road I swear I will go back in time and tear all the pages out of your favorite coloring book! [...] I’ll break the crayons too, Rei-chan!” Delightfully specific and childish, especially since Usagi sticks with it, and that particular brand of comic specificity is definitely a highlight of yours. -- Regalli

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*  Fire on Mountain!!! When I got to “Her voice was deeper than most expected when facing the certainty of her. It was rough, sandpaper running over cherry. She’d been a singer, once. Nobody would have believed her.” I was like oh. OH! -- Sasha

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*  My favorite of your fanfic, one one of the first I read is 'Hard to Break'. And my absolute favorite line is Usagi's panic when Minako tries to smoke: "Minako who was almost certainly dying, the cigarette had spread its evil and killed her instantly oh god."  -- @shavedjudomonkey

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*  Tonight Ami would grieve, and wish she understood why.'  This Between the Lines about Ami getting her mini computer both haunts me and brings tears to my eyes.  -- @shonasof

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*  I can't remember the title, but it's the one where Minako realizes that Rei's been writing Sailor V fanfic under the name Red Bow -- Somariel

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*  You would think Mako-chan's Happy Ending, but nope, this one goes to Hard to Break (although I had to look up the exact name.) This thing is filled with such great lines. How am I supposed to pick out one? "[Watch out, boys,]" Minako said in smooth and entirely unnecessary English. "[Lady Super Cool is on the prowl.]" -- Ultrace

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*  I forget the title, but it's the 'last senshi standing' fic where Ami is reflecting on the battle that took the others from her. Detatched and cold as she analyzes Rei Minako and Mako and finally Usagi's death with a medical efficiency, going through her Visors readout and then reflecting that the clinical words were nothing compared to what she'd actually seen. following up the method of death of the senshi with a statistic in relation to her friendship with the girl. Number of milkshakes shared, number of conversations lasting well into the night, number of hugs, number of smiles that brightened the darkest of moods. Describing how Rei's heart was pulped in a monster's grip, Minako's once beautiful face smashed against the rocks, Mako's lightning that outlived its mistress as she and Usagi ran off, and then finally that one last attempt to protect Usagi failing as 'Cervical Fracture' flashes on her visor. And From there she just... accepts death. sitting beside where Usagi had fallen and waiting for the end. it's dark af but it's the first one that always comes to mind when i think about ur fics :>  -- Vega

~~

*  I am extremely predictable here with two of my choices, as you know that I am obsessed with Fire on the Mountain and Blue Shirt, two things you wrote when you "definitely couldn't write" (Sidenote: My new year's resolution is to be harder on your about writing) We all know why I love blue shirt, it's basically an underhand pitch to the face for me, but Fire on the Mountain has a quality of regret and longing that I really connected with, something that really struck me in a way that was powerful. It's different from a lot of your inners work, and I think about Mina posing as Rei, in her disguise magic in the woods, and all the reasons why, fairly often. Something that MAY come as a surprise to you, is I really wish we got more ofyour overwatch stuff, and maybe I'll just keep asking for this for my birthday for the rest of our natural lives, but I think of like, the one you wrote on 7/14/20, with Pharah longing to have a man to shoot in the face because that would be easier than the emotions around whatever's going on with her, and I'm utterly tantalized. And I loved that hurt/comfort you wrote for me, where Pharah had this single minded drive to find out what had happened to Angela, and Tracer's trying to, well, comfort her, on some level, and the way you described Pharah's "animal cry" was FANTASTIC, and as always I am deeply jealous of your Tracer voice and IF YOU WOULD WRITE IT MORE IT WOULD HELP ME. -- WRITE, BITCH.

~~

*  The one were Hotaru confronted Michiru and Haruka about how they had tried to kill her in order to stop the Silence. Such a good little moment =w= -- zorrito

~~

AND THEN THESE WERE UNSIGNED SAD FACE

*  Chosen. I like your Overwatch stuff but Chosen was a goddamn masterpiece.

*  Operation: Heart Angels. Senshi going after Mamoru for his bullshit was something I didn't know I needed.

*  The entirety of Beggars Would Ride, including every single line of Anya's dialogue.

—

I’ll be drawing for the bonus liveblog around the start of THE GIFTENING 2020 (currently looking to be Monday, 11 January 2021). Each bonus question is another chance to earn an entry! I CAN ABSOLUTELY AND SHAMELESSLY BE BOUGHT.

[mlembug]

the new guy seems to be voiced by the same voice actor as the male main character of Amagi Brilliant Park and Nisekoi

also the city aura seems to have domesticated Izutsumi

bonus:

stupid sexy senshi

started out teh dungeon meshi anime

[pancake-breakfast]

Dungeon Meshi Master Post

A bit of translation I did while watching the show.

Fake Marcille's Spellbook

Some meta I've written while reading through the manga:

Chilchuck vs. Senshi and Party Care

Izutsumi Learning Comfort

Kabru and Milsiril

Mithrun's Teleportation Magic

The rest is just a handful of small observations and shitposts, but I thought it might be nice to have an archive of them.

Captain Mithrun's Beautiful Back Art

Chilchuck Doesn't Deserve This

Chilchuck Doesn't Get Paid Enough For This

Chilchuck is a Dad

Chilchuck is a Dad 2 (Marcille's Hair)

Chilchuck is Cat-Coded

Chilchuck's Beautiful Frog Suit

Chilchuck's Party Thoughts

Farcille and Vashwood

Female Body Types in Dunmesh

Kabru Knows Aaaaall About Con Men, Doesn't He?

Marcille Can't Medicine

Marcille vs. Senshi: Upskirt Shots

Mithrun has TWO Desires Left

Mithrun is Going on the Blorbo Shelf

Mithrun Just Enjoying a Meal

Laios and Shuro Deserve Pain

Laios Can't Draw People

Mithrun's Teleportation Magic (I Told You So)

Respectfully Admiring Changeling Mithrun's Back with Kabru

Senshi's Pan Doesn't Deserve This

Shuro, The Loser

Stupid Sexy Senshi

Stupid Sexy Senshi 2

This one's not mine; I just don't want to lose it anytime soon.

Dunmesh Manga Extras (spoiler-free for those who've only seen season 1)

[docholligay]

Now, in what I think is a fair question, people often ask me about Haruka’s flirting with other girls all throughout S (In fairness, I don’t actually think of them as together until after 110, so she really owes Michiru nothing) and in this Super S special. 

I hate it. I loathe it and I find it utterly disrespectful to their relationship, and I would pop her in her stupid mouth, but I also find it UNDERSTANDABLE. 

Haruka is an intensely insecure human being, most of the time. She thinks the only thing she’s good for is as a human shield, she completely believes that Michiru would leave her to die if given the opportunity because SHE PROMISED, she’s trying so hard to cover up everything she is and be this cool, suave thing that she imagines is the best version of herself, and part and parcel with that is being this idea of the smooth ladykiller. She wouldn’t be the first butch I’ve known to fall to that, this idea that what she’s supposed to be is some James Dean knockoff who looks good in a tight white t-shirt and gives sexy head nods to the ladies. 

I mean look at how fucking CORNY this is. “I sure am lucky to have such a pretty girl wait on me” Jesus, my eyes would be rolling in the back of my head and out the door. This is not how you flirt unless you are a detective in a fucking noir movie who’s being taped up from being shot, a cigarette dangling out of you mouth, which, in fairness, is probably Haruka’s main source of “How to look cool to girls” 

So, I think it’s terrible, but it’s also low-key sad. And in keeping with what we’ve seen with the senshi and even Michiru, the minute someone takes her up on it she FLEES. 

[takaraphoenix]

This might be an stupid question... but what is the difference between reader-insert and self-insert? PD: I love your fics!

Oh, it’s not a stupid question at all! If you’re not overly familiar with something, especially things that seem rather similar, it’s hard to keep apart.

Now, I’d like to preface this by saying I am not an expert on it, but these are my observations from years of being in fandom and how I differentiate between them.

I’m better at explaining things with examples so let me give you one for each, a quick fake summary for an example story!

Reader-insert: “You have started your training under Nyssa al Ghul, but the two of you are getting closer and closer. You can feel the tension between you two.”

Self-insert: “Takara Smoak was the secret twin-sister of Mia, who was raised by Tatsuo, and is suddenly thrown into the Crisis when the Monitor time-travelled her and her siblings back. Not only does the fate of the multiverse now hinge on her, she also finds herself in a love-triangle between Nyssa al Ghul and Kate Kane!”

Now, this will make explaining the differences easier, but firstly let me say that, in general you can say that reader-insert is broader.

RI usually features the main character as “You” or “Y/N” for “Your Name”, because naming the character makes it more narrow, while this allows a broader variety of readers to project into it. Some authors also write them in a genderneutral way, others are specifically for female readers or male readers.

SI on the other hand… very often feature… unusual names - things like Starlight Potter-Black or such. Unlike the RI character who is very broad and usually doesn’t get too much background, SI is very narrowed-down. You often find them in long-lost twin-sisters of the actual protagonist.

RI are often direct romances, you set the goal right away. SI very often feature love-triangles, though some also take the straight route of say Harry Potter’s twin-sister who is Draco Malfoy’s soulmate.

SI also very often come as overpowered. If you’ve heard the term Mary-Sue, that’s where that comes from. There is a thin line between writing a fully fleshed out strong female character and making them ridiculously Very Super Special and overpowered. (Though not every self-insert character is automatically a Mary-Sue either; she is just a great example of a self-insert character.)

A published example would be Clary Fray from The Mortal Instruments. The overweight redheaded author wrote about this idealized, beautiful and desired redheaded girl who is pulled into a supernatural love-triangle and is way overpowered (and yes, way overpowered because she and Jace have been exposed to the exact same experiment yet Jace came out “physically stronger than others” while Clary got a whole load of super-special shiny abilities that no one else has, on top of the never-actually-explained “we can pull objects out of paintings!” that she apparently got from her mother). (She also checks the box of super special heritage by being the villain’s hidden daughter who only at Hot Age is revealed to even exist, believed to be the male lead’s sister for a hot minute.)

Another example would be Bella Swan from Twilight, who is an “unasuming” brunette but actually apparently hot enough to make all the boys fall for her and then she gets pulled into a spernatural love-triangle.

Both are excellent examples of “look at the author”, because their characters’ physical description matches an idealized version of the author. The brunette author will not write about a blonde, the white author most definitely won’t write about a woman of color. And they are usually described as characters who live a “wallflower existence”, which then gets contradicted by the fact that at least two insanely sexy boys fall for her.

That’s it, that’s the difference. Self-insert are an insertion of the author’s self, the author very specifically projects themselves into this character - or at least an idealized version of themself. The story unfolding is a very narrowly tailored wish-fulfillment entirely serving the author, since it’s their wish-fulfillment.

Reader-insert can overlap there, since the author in the act of writing, and later the act of rereading, is of course also the reader, but these wish-fulfillment fantasies are of a broader variety, made to suit more people, made to suit more readers. From what I’m seeing when browsing AO3, I feel like nowadays the trend is shifting more to reader-insert than self-insert due to the large mockery those receive.

I don’t know, I think that everybody should write, and read, what they want. If you want to project yourself into Persephone Andromeda Jackson-Potter, long-lost half sister to both Harry and Percy, who is stuck in a love-triangle between Jason Grace and Draco Malfoy? Why not? Go wild. And if you’re the kind of person who thinks that’s childish or ridiculous, then… just… scroll past them and ignore them. It’s stupid making fun of them, I bet nearly everyone had their self-insert characters at one point during their life, because it’s fun.

Self-insert characters don’t have to be about romance. That time you thought up your own Power Ranger or Sailor Senshi or Avenger persona, just to be a part of your favorite team and play-pretend to interact with your favorite characters. That’s the same thing. You’re writing an idealized, powered version of yourself into the existing story, even if it’s just in your head.

(One of mine was Takara Tsukino, daughter of my OTP Seiya/Usagi and Sailor Sun from the future. I was 10 and living my best life. ;D)

[thatlongspringnight]

Woohoo~ *throws candies on the air* It's halloween party time, m'lady!! May I request SLBP Lords in Halloween party hosted by Keiji scene! :3 p.s: i'm sure ladies would be curious how they gonna dress up based on their personality! ʕง•ᴥ•ʔง

THE LORDS AT A HALLOWEEN PARTY (College AU Edition)

(OKAY SO THIS ENDED UP BEING A LOT LONGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT.)We all know that Keiji is going to throw a complete rager of a party. Free flowing liquor, lots of food, and wild dancing.We also know that ALL the lords are going to show up, whether they want to or not. In costume and on constant guard. You never know when Keiji is going to swoop in for a kiss. 😉 

Nobunaga: Well, he wouldn’t be called the Devil King if he didn’t come dressed as one, right? Our scarlet devil comes with a snazzy sharp and incredibly expensive tux and a black and red cape. Honestly, it’s a compromise, Nobu didn’t want to dress up but did it begrudgingly for MC. He didn’t want to “Look like a fool in front of men like the Tiger of Kai.” So he’s dressed to the 9’s and ready to party. His MC comes as a demure angel (because yes they are the couple that chose to be the devil/angel combo). Just revealing enough, she looks striking in a clinging white silk dress and wings. He’s sure to be taking that halo of her’s off halfway through the night in one of the many empty rooms wherever Keiji decided to host his party.  

Mitsuhide: He puts a lot of thought into his costume, he really does. Whatever he chooses he’s going to put the most effort into. This year he picks a more traditional costume. Vampire, a classic. Also, oddly enough (and totally not planned) he manages to come dressed closely enough to Nobunaga, that everyone wonders…did they match on purpose? Mitsuhide’s MC dresses like a cat, also a classic, complete with ears and a swishy tail. She spends the night teaching him all the dances to the music they are listening too. He doesn’t drink so she can. They retire from the party early, because he can’t get enough of how good she looks in that cat outfit and wouldn’t you know she has a perfectly shaped hickey the next day…Guess he really took his costume to heart, huh? 

Hideyoshi: What he really wanted to wear was one of those couples’ costumes, like the plug and plug-in. He was firmly denied. So he ends up going to the costume party dressed as a werewolf to his MC’s little red riding hood. Is it cheesy? Yes. Does he love it? Sure. If it means he gets to prowl the entire party and wander behind people and scare them. He’s about it. His MC is less appreciative of his efforts. But she looks killer in her outfit, so she doesn’t mind as much. Hideyoshi of the 1000 lovers does get an earful for flirting too hard with Toshiie’s MC, some things never change. Oh, and he did not manage to avoid Keiji’s kisses. He got a lot of Keiji kisses that night, tongue and all.

Inuchiyo: Everyone knows poor Toshiie is being forced to go as a puppy. With a collar, ears, and everything. Hideyoshi all but dressed him himself when he found out that Toshiie hadn’t gotten a costume yet. So expect lots of pouting, he doesn’t want to be at Keiji’s party anyways, but in his own words, he couldn’t leave his MC alone there with guys like that. Once the party kicks off and he starts drinking, he gets happier and manages to lose his shirt. Not that his MC minds the show (or any of the other people there, really, we all know Toshiie is gorgeous). His MC plays along and also dresses up as a puppy, to lessen the sting. Hideyoshi was more than willing to buy her a more ‘dominating’ outfit so she could ‘show the puppy who his owner was’ but was respectfully and firmly denied. She ends up having to cart his drunk ass home after the party. But he rewards her later for it…and he keeps the collar on. 

Mitsunari: This tsundere does NOT want to go to any stupid, foolish, insipid party. That is…he doesn’t want to go until Hideyoshi invites him. Once that happens, he’s going. He’s going for Hideyoshi, don’t mistake his reasoning for anything else. Nevermind that maybe his MC wanted to go, and maybe she convinced Hideyoshi to put in a good word. Mitsunari leaves the costume decisions to his MC, so they end up going as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. For most of the party Mitsunari sticks with Hideyoshi, that is until his MC starts chatting with Ieyasu about their shared classes. The moment that happens he has her on the dancefloor, safely away from that ‘golden-haired bastard’. Waltzing to the music doesn’t make sense, but it works. Oh and he’s the one that gets too drunk because of Hideyoshi so his MC spends the rest of the night, once they are home, rubbing his back and comforting him as he vomits.

Ieyasu: Ieyasu goes purely because Nobunaga is going. He doesn’t fight it. Doesn’t make a scene. But he wears that unsettling smile of his the entire time. He also doesn’t “dress up” really. He styles himself more like Phantom of the Opera or Interview with the Vampire while wearing a masquerade mask. He drinks in moderation and listens to what ~everyone~ has to say. He can’t stop himself from his snide comments though and almost manages to get into fights with Mitsunari and Yukimura, although both come to naught. His MC wears a slinky black dress and a mask too (just to match, Ieyasu, jeez) and spends the rest of the night dodging references from 50 shades of grey. Jokes that have Ieyasu pouting and flustered by the end of the night. She’s willing to handle a bit of fussing from him because she knows where it leads, especially when he’s been eyeing her like that all night. Maybe some of those Christian Grey rumors weren’t wrong. 

Yukimura: Talk about being PUMPED for this party. Yukimura is so excited to dress up with his MC and have a good time with all his friends. He dresses up in the soccer uniform of his favorite team and even brings a soccer ball to the party. He and Inuchiyo DO have a drinking match at some point in the evening, for sure. His MC dresses as a nurse, and no not a suggestive nurse. She spends most of the night actually administering first aid at this party. All the people getting drunk and falling keep her busy. Not to mention that her poor boyfriend can’t seem to keep himself from running into things when he gets wasted. That isn’t to say she doesn’t own a sexy nurse costume, she just saves it for after the party, where she can use it on Yukimura. Saizo: Saizo goes because Yukimura wants to go and Saizo’s MC wants to go. So, He guesses he is going. He dresses as a stylized version of himself. So imagine the professor vibe up to 11, complete with glasses. He’s pretty much drop dead gorgeous. He spends most of the party keeping his girlfriend out of the clutches of Keiji and making sure Yukimura and co. stay out of trouble. He is the one to ensure that the people who work for the tiger of kai make it home safe that night. Although no one realizes it. His is a thankless job. His MC dresses like a school girl, plaid skirt, blazer, thigh highs and everything. Mostly to taunt her boyfriend. Keiji thinks she looks precious and is pretty glued to her most the night. When he starts drinking she starts passing him off to unsuspecting people to avoid getting kissed. Although she does give him a peck on the cheek for his efforts, much to Saizo’s chagrin. But then again, he does get to punish her for bad behavior, doesn’t he?

Masamune: He and MC go as pirates! Mostly because it’s a costume where his eyepatch doesn’t stick out so much, so it makes him feel more comfortable. They take the time to handmake their costumes together, because its something they can use to spend time with one another, and his MC is great at sewing. There IS a costume contest and they are the winners, granted their prizes are just Keiji kisses, but still. Masamune drinks and gets a little tipsy, and it is revealed that he is a lot more touchy when drunk, so he spends the rest of the night basically glued to his girlfriend, not that she minds. Shigezane takes lots of embarrassing pictures of the two of them to show them when they sober up. 

Kojuro; “We should dress up as Bontenmaru, MC” “No” Kojuro really does want to dress up as bontenmaru the turtle. But his MC and Shigezane hardcore veto that.  So he ends up going as Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon. Complete with a cape…and a rose…and random declarations. Finally, his MC gets to decide if her teen crush on Tuxedo mask lives up to her man. Her man dressed as Tuxedo mask takes the cake. Kojuro’s MC dresses up as Sailor Moon, duh.  She basically has to. They come in 2nd place to Masamune and his MC for costumes in the contest. Although Kojuro and his MC end up taking the most pictures, especially posing and quoting the show. A bunch of the girls at the party end up taking a sailor senshi style photo with Kojuro’s MC in the middle. It’s a magical night.

Kenshin: Kenshin is too pretty for normal costumes. He goes in traditional clothing, heavily embroidered, and he might be wearing makeup? No one is sure if his ethereal beauty is natural or not. His MC is the group photographer, so she wears normal clothes and just takes pictures. Not that she minds, she prefers it this way. She takes so many stylized shots she considers making them into a book at the end of the night.

Shingen: Shingen 110% shows up to this party in a tiger pint loincloth and cat ears and that is it. He spends the night mostly with Yukimura and Kenshin and ignoring little Nobunaga and his death glare. They can settle their political arguments outside of social time after all. His lady goes as a lion tamer, although he’s no lion, the idea doesn’t go unnoticed. She’s got a whip and everything. He doesn’t mind. He certainly doesn’t mind later on.

Bonus:

Shigezane: He’s had his costume planned since last year. He goes as a referee, he even has a whistle. He uses this to spend the entire night jumping into random situations at the party, blowing the whistle and shouting “PARTY FOUL.”  He even gives people red cards, where is he carrying all those red cards? He also takes part in the Yukimura/Inuchiyo drinking contest. He has a blast. He is the only person to willingly kiss Keiji apart from Kenshin. His MC goes as princess bubblegum from Adventure time. She wanted to do a Disney princess, but couldn’t pick one. Either way, the princess starts a game of captain dickhead and gets most of the other MCs drunk, because she’s so good at holding her liquor. At the end of the night, he gives her a piggyback ride home because he’s a gentleman

. Hotaru: Hotaru has to go because big-brother Saizo is going and so is Kenshin. Obviously. So he and his MC dress up that day after finding out. He goes as a forest spirit. Lots of leaves. The look suites his innocent face. His wide eyes shining under his flower crown. His MC goes as a deer. Her makeup sealing the deal, and she even wears a headband with little antlers. They end up fast friends with Masamune and his MC and end up sort of separating from the wildness of the party to form a smaller, quieter party. At the end of the night, he and his MC go stargazing.

Oichi, Umeko, and Kiku: What, you thought they wouldn’t come? They totally come. Luckily for Kojuro’s MC, they come dressed as other Sailor Senshi! Because those girls are the best. Oichi is Sailor Mars, Umeko is Sailor Venus and Kiku is Mercury.

Now, where is Keiji in all this? Wandering the crowd, drinking, and kissing everyone of course! He comes to his party dressed as Cupid so he can give “shots” of love (actual alcoholic shots, and shots that are just kisses!) It’s a great party and everyone remembers it for one reason or another. It’s a great party, the end.

Tagging: @lady-of-oshu and @han-pan  and anyone else who wants to read this? :3 

[ferrummurinae]

“Stupid Sexy Senshi”