#that's 136 years old

[sugar-grigri]

If Fumiko is monstrous then Fujimoto should start presenting her as such

Fumiko is written to remind us that Denji is a child, and I repeat, she is the symbol of a child's sexual trauma in all its horror and "paradoxes".

Touching Denji without his consent, catching an adolescent who hasn't yet discovered himself off guard, is the most obvious way of proving the link between the theme of sexual assault and Fumiko, but it doesn't stop there.

The fact that Denji accepts only proves this point: it shows just how much he's someone who needs boundaries and protection. He passively listens to what he's told without question simply because Fumiko has the upper hand.

She has one, but spends her time pretending she doesn't, in particular by disguising her age like a predator, calling him "senpai" when she's 22, and playing up her protective role as a "bodyguard" when she's only there to stop Denji thinking for himself

As can be seen in the dialogue between Miri and Denji, she positions herself as an interlocutor, standing in Denji's shadow, influencing his decisions and distracting the boy from the substance of Miri's message.

But she's a complete paradox, still trying to make Denji believe she's protecting him, she refers to Chainsaw Man as a "child", which rather than demonstrating a good intention shows that she's well aware of what Denji is and that she's abusing him head-on.

Who protects a child by attacking him?

Once again, I insist, these are two pages from the same chapter. Dare you tell me that Fumiko doesn't present any contradictions?

Above all, she makes it seem as if she only wants what's best for Denji, even when he hasn't responded to her pleas for help. Once again, there's a paradox: the predator blames her victim for not having seen her own vulnerability, whereas she’s only abusing those of her victim.

Fumiko is a metaphor for the very dangerousness of sexual assault, gentle on the surface but insidious, its violence only made clear and felt after the event, rising like a tide.

When Yoshida convinces Denji to give up his normal life, he leaves him in the hands of Fumiko, a public hunter, who symbolises the extent to which, despite the monster in front of them, danger also exists among men, and that the milieu of public hunters is a harmful world for a child.

I think the reason Fujimoto doesn't immediately place Fumiko in a position of condemnation is to instil a feeling of frustration and powerlessness at seeing Denji unprotected, to make it clear that "he's missing something", a parental figure.

But I think that for the writing to be complete, the author has to take a clear stance on the subject, in his own way of course, but explicitly

Seeing Fumiko next to Denji makes me anxious, it's such a common form of violence that it pulls me out of my reading.

Fumiko is a monster, so I pray that Fujimoto will have fun explicitly detailing her dark side and her horror.

If he doesn't, then she'll remain an unfinished and confusing chimera, the result of lazy writing and a fear of commitment.

[housemarcellus]

.

[organised-disaster]

"Professor Sylvia Maxis, one-seven oh-one two-six-oh-nine. The dreams have gotten a lot more [hm] vivid, so I wrote down the numbers. It's just the same sequence of ones and zeroes. Which is, uh, utterly bizarre, but if I made robots, maybe I programmed them, too. I've done so much programming that the language is engraved into my subconscious, maybe. Which is cool, I think? To be addressed later, definitely. Anyway, I have reason to believe that the person I can't remember is named Cee. The sequence is zero-one-zero-zero-zero-zero-one-one, which is just the letter 'c' in binary. I've been thinking about him a lot, so it stands to reason that my unconscious would bring up his name. And! And, and, and, and, and, and, and... I've got a theory. About why he doesn't look human when I draw him. It's because he isn't. Maybe it's because he's something... [ah] something like a human, but my damaged brain doesn't process it correctly, and it just turns him into this... sssort of... thing.

...

Recording's still going? Excellent. I've been making an entry every day, taking about Cee every day, and it's deleted them! The computer this is [uh] attached to has some sort of [of ah] stupid filter installed that doesn't let me talk about certain topics, and it auto-deletes the files! Some of them just get cut out, but it seemed like it was picking up more and more stuff. It took me ages to boot it up, too. This thing is, without exaggeration, completely ancient. The model is from twenty-four-seventy-three! It's shocking it even turns on. It certainly screams like it's shocked. I turned off the filter, yeah, so now I can say whatever, but I can't access the old files. Even a little. Got no idea why anyone would ever install that.

...

Maybe Cee hurt me. Badly. And I just never wanted to think about that. It sounds right, I think. There was definitely an argument.[tsk].

...

I get this creeping feeling, though, that something about Cee and me, something about us, was terribly wrong."

[jb-nonsense]

and on the spectrum of my OCs, if Talilah met pre-vampire Astarion...

she and her crew would have robbed him and Talilah would have personally vandalized one of the paintings of him with devil horns and a moustache with a monocle

[vampyrnacht]

anyone who was active in the strange case tags during 2020-2021 deserves financial compensation for the absolute fuckery that happened then

[malcriada]

Help save Bilal's family!

i want to talk about my friend Bilal @bilal-salah0. for over a year now, Bilal has been living in germany, trying to adjust to his new living situation in a foreign country, learning a new language and working full time. 

when the war started, he was far away from home and his family and has been living in daily fear for their lives ever since. 

being forced to work long hours and promoting his family’s fundraiser at the same time, he has taken on more responsibility than anyone ever should. still, he managed to raise money for their evacuation fund and helped take care of his family’s daily needs with the money he was making while working. 

in a cruel twist of fate, all of this got taken away in an instant. he lost his job and his apartment and even his residence permit. which means he is at danger of deportation from germany that could happen as soon as next week!

i have been in daily contact with Bilal for a while now and connected him with some of my friends in germany. together, we are trying our utmost to make sure he can stay in the country. anyone who knows german bureaucracy knows what kind of hell it is. but we won't give up.

without his job, he was forced to dip into the money of his family’s evacuation fund to cover their daily expenses like food and shelter. this meant he had to raise his goal from €70,000 to €100,000. this was not an easy decision for him to make, he even asked for my advice on whether or not to do it, because he did not want anyone to think he was scamming people. 

even in such a desperate situation, Bilal does not want to be seen as someone who would ever take advantage of people's generosity

his family is comprised of 18 members, 10 of them are adults and 8 are children under 16 years old, some of them newborns who were born amidst the chaos of war and displacement.

currently, he is sitting at:

€71,817 / €100,000

donations have been slowing down ever since he reached his original goal. i cannot stress how important it is that they pick back up!

WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME! HE NEEDS TO REACH HIS GOAL BY AUGUST 15TH!

THAT MEANS HE HAS TO RAISE NEARLY 30K IN THE NEXT TEN DAYS. THIS CANT WAIT.

his campaign has been verified and can be found on @/el-shab-hussein’s and @/nabulsi’s list of vetted fundraisers here (#132, line 136) so PLEASE don't hesitate to share and donate.

With such a tight deadline, i cant do this on my own. So i implore you to PLEASE share this wherever you can– on your whatsapp groups, on your discord servers, please share his story on other platforms wherever you have reach! Please share his story wherever you can, so that we can ease this burden from his shoulders.

[ID: a gfm link with a picture of two small children sitting in the sand in front of a cooking pot. they are looking up a the camera, eyes half-closed. the title reads "Donate to Help Evacuate My Family from Gaza to Safety, organized by Bilal salah" End ID]

tagging for reach under the cut, please let me know if you'd like to be removed:

@meaganfoster @briarhips @dirhwangdaseul @mahoushojoe

@schoolhater @pcktknife @sawasawako

@feluka @terroristiraqis @irhabiya @commissions4aid-international @wellwaterhysteria

@deepspaceboytoy @post-brahminism @khanger @kibumkim @neechees

@mangocheesecakes @kyra45-helping-others @7bitter @tortiefrancis

@toiletpotato @fromjannah @vague-humanoid @criptochecca

@aristotels @komsomolka @xinakwans @heritageposts @nibeul

@ot3 @amygdalae @ankle-beez @communistchilchuck @dykesbat

@watermotif @stuckinapril @mavigator @lacecap @yugiohz

@socalgal @chilewithcarnage @ghelgheli @sayruq @northgazaupdates2

@vakarians-babe @wayneradiotv

@psychotic-gerard @mavigator @communistkenobi @socalgal @chilewithcarnage

@ghelgheli @determinate-negation @papasmoke @omegaversereloaded

@xinakwans @givemearmstopraywith @loombreaking @killy @deathlonging

@palms-upturned @blackpearlblast @littlegermanboy @loveaankilaq @sar-soor

@fridgebride @27-moons @tamarrud @familyabolisher @fleshdyk3

@decolonize-solidarity @palipunk @gothhabiba

[amnyaburas]

Hello, I am Amany Ubeid . I am a 40 years old. mother of 3 children. My son Mohammed is 16 years old, my son Moath is 14 years old, and my daughter Habiba is 9 years old.🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🍉🍉🍉

Vetted by @gazavetters , my number verified on the list is ( #17 )

These are photos of my children ❤️ before the war .

.🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🍉🍉🍉

Before the war, our life was a beautiful and stable life. My husband and I used to go to work every day and return to our beautiful home to make us feel the warmth of our family. My work and my husband's work were destroyed and my house was completely burned. It became completely empty and there was nothing in it and it was vulnerable to accidents. Everything we used to live in was destroyed. We have lost our past. And our future became only in our memories. These are pictures of my house before and after it was burned.

.🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🍉🍉🍉

My home before

My home after

.🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🍉🍉🍉

We were displaced from northern Gaza to the south, and now we are next to Rafah in a small place that is not suitable for habitation. I do not know what to do. There is no food, no clean water, and no medicine.

My husband suffers from a skin disease called psoriasis and needs constant treatment, but the treatment is not available.

My husband's treatment costs $100 per month (136 Canadian dollars).

My son needs surgery to save his eye, which, without proper medical attention, may lead to disability. We are seeking support for him to receive the necessary surgery abroad.

The surgical procedure costs 2000 $ (2733 Canadian dollars).

I feel completely exhausted because there is no ointment or treatment for them. I feel restricted and unable to move.

My husband and I, after losing our entire future in Gaza, decided to escape the hell of war and start a new life that our children deserve in a safer and more peaceful place .

Traveling to Egypt costs 25,000$ (34,162.5 Canadian dollars), and to start a new life there, we need 50,000$ (68,325 Canadian dollars) including traveling, accomodations, treatments, medicines and living expenses.

Please, maybe with your help we will survive and give us a chance to live again.

Your help and support is important to keep us alive. Please do not forget us ❤️

.🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🍉🍉🍉

.🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🍉🍉🍉

[taqoou]

Help save Bilal and his family!

My friend Bilal @bilal-salah0 needs our help!!

image transcript:

my name is bilal. my family is comprised of 18 members: 10 adults, 8 children under 16 yrs old and newborns.

for over a year now, i've been living in germany, far from my home and family in palestine. when the war started, my family has been living in fear for their lives daily ever since. despite my long work hours and responsibilities, i still managed to promote my family's fundraiser. with all of your help, we successfully reached our original goal.

in a cruel twist of fate, i lost my job, my apartment and my residence permit. i am currently in danger of deportation from germany that could happen anytime soon!

without my job, i am forced to dip into the money of my family's evacuation fund to cover my daily expenses. our goal had to be raised from €70,000 to €100,000. i feel terribly sorry, as this was not an easy decision to make.

donations has been slowing down ever since we reached our original goal. i do not have much time left. you are free to repost this image, share my story and donate if you can. i believe in you. from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

bilal’s gfm is currently sitting at:

€85,817 / €100,000

HE NEEDS TO REACH HIS GOAL BY 15TH AUGUST! THAT MEANS HE HAS TO RAISE ABOUT 14K IN THE NEXT 4 DAYS! WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!

his campaign has been verified and can be found on @/el-shab-hussein's and @/nabulsi's list of vetted fundraisers here (#132, line 136) so PLEASE don't hesitate to share and donate.

he managed to reach his original goal once, surely with our help he can reach his new goal! so don’t give up. PLEASE share this everywhere — to your friends and family, groupchats, discord servers, wherever you have reach. engage and donate if you can. much love.

[ID: a gfm link with a picture of two small children sitting in the sand in front of a cooking pot. they are looking up a the camera, eyes half-closed. the title reads "Donate to Help Evacuate My Family from Gaza to Safety, organized by Bilal salah" End ID]

post referenced here

tagging for reach under cut, feel free to let me know if you want to be removed:

@commissions4aid-international @northgazaupdates2 @decolonize-solidarity

@fromjannah @jamjoob @kickedouttape @nikoco11 @neechees @heritageposts

@nibeul @communistchilchuck @laiosbians @dykesbat @sokadrawws @nikkipettt

@chloesimaginationthings @changewingwentz @chattematsu @toiletpotato @milkmanner

@buttonheart @taemincult @gazanarchive @donations-mutualaid

@artistsforpalestine @artistsforthepeople @palestineartproject @jannahpost

[wileydepot]

twelve. holy crap. "That's young." It felt crazy. To have a kid that young holding a sword. Why, wiley had been twelve so long ago, she hadn't even met Ms Royce, which felt forever ago. "That's... I'm sorry." It reminded her of the kids who had to drop out of school to go to work. except his work was murder, not even getting food to eat.

mars continues to slash and strike at the dummy, hoping to prove himself as a formidable foe. maybe not to her, but at least to the others around them. "i was... shit, probably 12, i think?" that's when he had first entered the academy at least. "i was pretty good right off the bat, so they really drilled me hard with it."

[lonniemachin]

TIME SENSITIVE: 10 DAYS TO HELP AHMED AND HIS FAMILY FINISH THEIR CAMPAIGN

Thanks to some generous donors from yesterday, we are ahead of the curve for my friend Ahmed and his family's daily goal -- raising €228 per day until 11/01 to ensure that his GoFundMe campaign to evacuate Gaza is completed by November. All we need to raise today is €136 (or more!) to complete the minimum needed to ensure his campaign is finished on time.

Please give what you can. Any amount donated will help 5 people survive genocide after 11 forced displacements, potentially lethal cases of disease, starvation, and constant threat of murder.

€92/€228 DAILY GOAL. €136 NEEDED URGENTLY!

Verified by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi (line 68). I have also personally seen multiple modes of verification and can attest to their 100% legitimacy and to the fact that they have received multiple transfers already.

Tagging for reach under the cut. If you can't donate, PLEASE still share so that others who can may contribute! I can't stress enough how important it is that we reach these daily goals!

@angelsaxis @punkitt-is-here @cutecipher @familyabolisher @klawphish @magnus-rhymes-with-swagness

@sabrsiren @bimboficationblues @bootdork @lakevida @anglaised

@sapphling @hotvampireadjacent @newtlesbian @communistkirby @txttletale

@lesbianalism @himejoshikaeya @bite-my-grimy-fleshy-ass @angelicguy @bulliness

@harrowharkist @soup-mother @cardassian-artistry @aristotels @wolfertinger666

@the-big-iron-official @tamamita @maoistyuri @mavigator

@mesetacadre @duncebento @timequangle @libertineangel @isopod-lesbian

@maowives @neechees @plum-soup @spaghettioverdose @spoiled-ojousama

@apas-95 @determinate-negation @redsunrisinginthesky @thementalistscandidate @ossifer

@watermotif @wellwaterhysteria @casketofstar @dykeredhood @sluttynurse @brutaliakhoa

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 136

 There is a small child floating in the Watchtower. 

They’re visibly not human, a too-big cloak of purple (what shade no one knows, all they can describe about the cloak is purple, nothing else) hanging from them as big Lazarus-green eyes glare down in something of a pout. The child huffs, blowing white hair out of their face despite it shimmering and shifting on its own already. 

How the child, inhuman or not, found their way into the Watchtower- without setting off an alarm no less- is a concern. A very large concern, but it can wait because there is a four-year old (if the child is the equivalent of a human child that is) at oldest staring down at them. 

 “Do you know where the speedsters are?” the child piped up after an awkward stare-down, none of the league members present quite sure what to do in this situation. It was probably around time to call Batman… or they could call Flash instead. 

[foone]

I'm surprised there's not more supernatural spaceship media. Like, your average little cargo ship is jumping around the outer rim trying to cut some time off their delivery route and they pick up a distress call, so they have to answer it.

(under a readmore cause this got a little longer than I expected)

They warp in to the approximate coordinates and there's a colony ship orbiting a gas giant, stuck in the shadow of it, basically frozen over. It's centuries old, but these sleeper ships from the pre-ftl era were built to last, so it's still broadcasting the SOS. It's not responding to radio, so they need to board it.

Normally this'd just involve turning off the SOS. The ship is clearly dead and not responding to any hails, the crew must be long gone and the reactor is just keeping the SOS going. But this is a sleeper ship, so it's possible there's just no one awake. Stuck in longsleep for god knows how many decades, waiting for someone to stumble on their signal...

So they board it, activate the computer, and it tells them that everyone is dead. The ship launched, and over the 358 years it's been traveling for, every single cryo chamber has been either opened or never had any lifesigns in it in the first place. The last event logged on the computer is 136 years ago, when the acting captain set the ship to orbit this gas giant, and turn on the distress signal. Since then, nothing.

But there's still power on the bridge. There may be something there. So they climb up the decks, passing the grim sight of endless rows of cryochambers lined up like tombstones, all showing red lights of lifesign failure. As they get closer to the bridge, the time of deaths get later. The ones on the first deck were close to the launch date, and the ones near the bridge are nearer to that 136 year ago deadline.

This wasn't a hardware failure. Something killed all these people, one by one, over 220 years.

They get to the bridge. The computers are all powered down, but the power management system is still active. Two of the decks still have their cryochambers powered, but it's the ones that were supposed to be empty. There's no lifesigns in them, so the little computer in the power diagnostic system has been recommending they be turned off to save on energy. Naturally it's been recommending that for three and a half centuries. One of the crew members almost absent-mindedly agrees to the prompt, and those cryochambers deactivate. They were empty anyway, right? The sound of humming from the bridge mostly fades away, as a few hundred cryopods on the deck below power down.

The boarding crew powers off the SOS beacon. They'll alert the authorities to the ship's location when they get to a port, surely someone wants to investigate what went wrong here, or at least do an archeological study. This place is beyond an antique at this point... Wait. What's that?

The power computer says there's still one active power draw, about 1.2 kilowatts, in the captain's quarters. That's too much for a personal computer, but just about right for a single cryo pod. Maybe the captain or someone is still alive? That pod isn't on the network, so they can't see the lifesigns from here.

They head over, and the bulkhead door is still cracked open, with a thick cable running in through the gap in the door. Whoever wired this up clearly didn't have time to correctly reroute the power systems, they just lugged a cryo pod in here and basically ran an extension cord to a nearby terminal.

They pry open the door, and there's a softly glowing cryo pod in the middle of the surprisingly spacious room. It makes some amount of sense, generally on these ships the captain would be the one who has to wake up and deal with any situations that arise, while the rest of the colonists are content to sleep until they reach their new home.

They look in the pod, and there's a man lying there. He's not the captain, though. They saw his photo on the bridge. This is someone else. Some one quite pale and gaunt. Maybe they were suffering malnutrition before they put themselves in the pod?

The pod is softly beeping. It's reactivating, apparently triggered when they opened the door. The pod shows no lifesigns, so it's not worth worrying about, the panel sliding over to reveal merely a well preserved corpse.

And then he smiles. "I'm so glad to see you! When we ran out of food we we're afraid we'd never see another human again. And even through those environment suits, I can tell you're so deliciously human." he licks his lips, and the boarding crew spots his prominent canines.

There's a noise halfway between a howl and a shriek from the floor below. The man in the cryopod leans up his head. "ahh, I see you've woken up my children as well. Marvelous. I hope you brought plenty of friends for us to snack on."

The head of the boarding party lifts her arm to call their ship, tell them to get out of there or drop a torpedo into the colony ship's reactor. Before she can bring it to her face to call, there's a flash of motion. Before she can even realize what's happening, the man(?) in the cryopod is up and holding her wrist away from her face.

As she cries out at the sudden pain, the other members of the boarding party spot movement down the hall. A lot of movement. A wall of thin pale people are running towards the captain's quarters, climbing over each other and pushing each other aside, like a pack of wild wolves who just smelled prey.

The boarding party steps back into the room and slams the emergency close. At least in here they only have to deal with one of those things.

The door hits the cable and bounces off with a loud alarm. It fully opens again, ready to let the hungry mass in.

So... Have you ever noticed how much a cryopod looks like a coffin?

[divortion]

URGENT!! Please donate to Bilal’s ( @bilal-salah0 ) campaign.

€11,445 left to raise in 3 days

That’s €3,815 a day.

This campaign has been verified and is on the Vetted Gaza Fundraiser List (#132, line 136).

Every little bit counts! Please do not hesitate to donate and share, this family urgently needs our support ❤️

[the-universe-carries-on]

LoTF Character Appearance Chart:

I think there used to be one of these, but the person left Tumblr. My copy is the Penguin Great Books copy (teal cover), so it might be different from yours. Bear with me.

Ralph: Fair hair (p. 1), Grey shirt (p. 1), 12 years old and a few months (p. 4), wide and heavy shoulders like a boxer (p. 4), mild mouth and eyes (p. 4), biggest on the island (p 15), Ralph started with hair at half an inch (p 96), bites his nails to the quick (p 96), His mother is dead as he claims mummy was still with them (p 99)

Jack: Tall, thin and bony (p. 13), red hair beneath his choir cap (p 13), face crumpled and freckled and ugly without silliness (p 13), light blue eyes (p 13), biggest choir boy (p. 14), freckled (p 15), sandy long hair (p 39), sunburnt (p 39), tall (p 57)

Simon: skinny and vivd (p 16), straight black coarse hair (p 16), smaller than Ralph and Jack (p 17), small (p 46), darkish in color and tanned deeply (p 46)

Piggy: Wind-Breaker (p. 1), Shorter than Ralph and "Fat" (p. 1), Thick glasses (p. 1), Pale (p. 6), tans to golden brown (p 54), wispy hair as though baldness was his natural state (p 54), different accent than the others (p 54)

Roger: slight, furtive boy (p. 14), dark boy (p 15), doesn't darken by tanning (p 50), black hair down to his nape (p 50), swarthy skin (p 52)

Johnny: Six years old (p. 11), Sturdy and fair (p. 11), well-built with fair hair (p 50), china blue eyes (p 50)

Maurice: second largest choir boy (p 14), broad and grinning all the time (p 14)

Samneric: Bullet-headed with "hair like tow" (p. 12), not enough skin when they smile (p. 12), unsuspected intelligence (p 31), unable to do things apart (p 84)

Mulberry Boy: about six years old and a shrimp (p 27), mulberry colored birthmark on one side of his face (p 27)

Henry: Biggest littlun and distantly related to the mulberry boy (p 49)

Percival: Mouse-colored and not very attractive (p 50)

Phil: Self confident littlun (p 73)

Littluns: A dark little boy (p. 11), Uniforms colored grey, blue, fawn (p. 11), Hair in brown, fair, black, chestnut, sandy, mouse-colored (p. 12)

Extra Information: Simon Robert and Maurice are in a grey area between littlun and biggun (p. 49), Jack's original paint is one cheek and eye socket white red on the other half of his face and charcoal from right ear to left jaw (p 51), Maurice Simon Piggy and Ralph were not present for the first pig killed (p 56), Jack and Ralph both think Africa is a country (p 71), Bill slaps Johnny to get him to stop crying (p 88), Robert laughs at Simon when he bashes into a tree (p 91), Simon predicts his own death (p 98), they bit Simon as he died. They cannibalized him (p 136)

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #136 part 1

Danny felt disgruntled as he slowly came back into consciousness. He was in the middle of the Observants going over some of the new factions that have been growing since he became King. A sudden surge of power flung Danny through a portal and he tried to escape or make sense of what happened but he lost consciousness soon after. 

Coming too Danny was a lot smaller than what he thought he should be. His body had a different feel to it and he could tell he was turned into something that walked on all fours. He lifted his head and took in his surroundings. He was in a field, a field of wheat. He couldn’t even see anything besides the wheat and the sky. The portal that dumped him here was no where to be found either. He was going to have a hard time getting back home, especially in his new form. He could still feel his core but the transformation had done a number on him and he felt exhausted.

Suddenly he heard the wheat snap to his left and he whipped his head around to find a person carefully leaning down a few yards away from him. They seemed to analyze his body movements a little bit before he held out his hand that had a small piece of sausage in it. Danny knew not to take food from strangers but it honestly smelled heavenly and he doubted Sam would ever find out, so he hesitantly walked over and gave it a sniff. After he had taken it from them, they started petting Danny on the head. 

“You're an adorable little puppy aren’t you!” Ah so Danny was apparently a puppy, he probably should try to find a way back home but maybe being a dog for a while wouldn’t be too bad. He hasn’t had a break in a while and the Observants are so damn pushy sometimes. The stranger continued, “I’m going to take you to Damian, he knows a lot about pets. I feel like him and I got off on the wrong foot the other day and I think you’d be the perfect gift.” 

Danny wasn’t sure about being given away as a present but he supposed he had no where else to be and if Damian knew his pets as well as this guy said then Danny would be well cared for.

He was picked up and after a bit of walking they arrived at a farm house. Danny was better able to assess the size of the person holding him and they seemed around 10-12 years old. The kid ran excitedly into the kitchen of the house holding Danny out to an adult that, much like the kid, had black hair and blue eyes. 

“Dad! Look I found a puppy!! Can we bring him tonight to the Watchtower meeting so I can give him to Damian? I think he needs a friend and I want to apologize for how I acted the other day.” The kids dad seemed to give Danny a once over before responding.

“It’s probably fine but let me talk with Bruce first and make sure everything’s OK. We don’t want to force a pet on them even if Damian is good with animals.” He finally responded, he gave the kid a hair tussle and then continued, “Jon, why don’t you give him a bath upstairs while I give him a call, I think I still have some dog shampoo from last time I gave Krypto one.” 

The kid apparently named Jon ran up the stairs with Danny clutched against his chest. Soon he found himself wet in a bathtub, and then he was dried. He was finally able to get a good look at himself in the mirror, he looked like a miniature husky with white fur and dark black patches along his tail, back, and head. His icy blue eyes were piercing and he could see why someone would think he were cute, in fact he was down right adorable. 

After that Jon brought him to a bedroom he assumed belonged to Jon. It was a very basic kid’s bedroom and Danny found himself sprawled on the bed along with Jon. Jon spoke very fondly about Damian and the more he spoke the more Danny got the feeling Jon had a little crush.

Soon Jon’s dad came into the room to tell him that Danny could be given to Damian at the meeting tonight. Danny didn’t know what sort of work Jon's dad did but it sounded like Jon’s and Damian’s dads worked together. He wondered what kind of place the watchtower would be but he didn’t have to wonder for long. 

He also realized how different this world was from his own. Jon and his dad could fly and they wore these skin tight suits, honestly they looked like superheroes which was probably exactly what they were. They flew through the air and eventually they were in front of these tubes Danny honestly didn’t know what they were. Jon and his dad did though, and apparently it was teleportation. Danny was awestruck at the site in front of him, the Watchtower was in space and he could hardly keep in his excitement. 

Master Post:

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[loriache]

World Map Notes: the Elven Northern & Southern Central Continents

These nations are where all the elves in the story except Marcille and Thistle are from. This post collects all the information I could find about these two nations, and included a bit of analysis based on that information.

TL;DR (includes both fact and my speculation):

The Northern Central Continent is a feudal monarchy with a strong class system, as well as strict borders, & could probably be considered an ethnostate. It's deeply hierarchical, and the queen is a traditionalist - so it's probably very structurally biased against non-elves and half-elves.

Elves in the NCC practice cannibalism in some rural areas!

The Southern Central Continent is more diverse, with a large tallman population on its South Coast.

To elves, "Court Magicians" exclusively refer to those serving the elven queen - a prestigious role that seems likely to be only open to nobles.

The SCC may not be a monarchy, though it's not clear what kind of leadership or societal structure it does have.

The NCC will habitually take anyone involved in ancient magic as a criminal to prosecute on their terms, regardless of jurisdiction, but this depends on their political influence and ability to pressure local leaders to agree to extradite the criminal.

Elves VS Dwarves and Gnomes may have been at war around the time of the Golden Kingdom being sealed. This conflict also may be one of the factors pushing the kingdom to be sealed in the first place.

The "Central Region" might be the origin of the "Common Tongue" that our characters speak.

Northern Central Continent

The Adventurer's Bible | p. 132

For this place to have a high quality of life, and also a declining population - especially when it's so close to the Western Continent, which is stated to have poor quality of life - there must be strictly maintained borders and a strong anti-immigration policy. Based on the attitude of the elves, I wouldn't be surprised if it was very difficult to move there unless you are also an elf.

It could probably be considered an ethnostate - and while in these kinds of fantasy worlds, that's pretty common. Take Rivendell, or Moria, in LOTR - they take for granted that these kinds of different fantasy races will live in separate communities.

But that isn't actually realistic, and I think Kui has considered it as more of a politically established status quo rather than an obvious natural result of having magically distinct "races". Which, even in Dunmeshi, I think is a difficult and not-terribly-accurate way to represent politics - racism does not emerge from actual, physical differences between races, after all.

But Dunmeshi's presentation of this idea is interesting, because of the recognition that if there is an "elven nation" which prioritises the interests and rights of elves over other races, that is because there's a deliberate, concerted effort to keep it that way.

But there's a small section of the NCC with a high tallman population - I wonder what kind of community they have, and how they fit into the strict elven hierarchy?

The Adventurer's Bible | pp. 134 & 136

Kabru and Rin, and other kids like them, who are adopted or taken as adopted children(rarely - the way Milsiril treats Kabru is not perfect, but she's deliberately attempting to be better than other elves.... meaning other elves are usually worse)/pets/objects by elven nobles, as well as accomplished or notable individuals who earn the elves' favour/are "invited" to stay (such as they try with Laios at the end of the story) would be an exception.

Other long-lived races could probably (...?) visit, but given the historical conflict between elves, dwarves, and gnomes, I think they'd also be pretty hostile to many of them coming to live on the NCC, even if they see them as more like equals.

Social Structure & Nobility

The Northern Central Continent is an absolute monarchy under a 372 year old queen, Heimeya (IDK what the official romanisation of her name will be).

...With extended "nobility", which are the group that the canaries' guards draw from. We don't get much clarification of what sort of structure their nobility has, what titles there are, and where our characters who are nobles fall into it.

Pattadol (House of Vari), Mithrun (House of Kerensil), and Milsiril (House of Tol) are nobles.

Mithrun's noble house, Kerensil, is apparently a well-known family of investors! I wonder what sorts of businesses they invest in & what the elven economy is like?

Milsiril's house, on the other hand, is a well-known military family. I wonder if Kabru could claim the surname "of the House of Tol". He did go to family gatherings after all. But if he was comfortable doing so and it would be accepted, I would assume he'd have done so when introducing himself to the canaries.

Flamela is a distant relative of the queen, who has additional status due to exhibiting the genetic trait associated with their queens, extremely dark skin.

The queen is a "staunch traditionalist" who wouldn't even acknowledge a half-elf like Marcille. Nice! I really feel bad for Kabru and Rin growing up as tallmen in this sort of culture.

Court Magicians

While generally this is a term for any magic user who serves in a royal court, in the Northern Central Continent it seems to carry a lot of esteem; even just as the daughter of one, Pattadol assumes Marcille has the right to boss her around and to handle highly secret, highly illegal ancient magic secrets.

That makes sense, as in the society of the Northern Central Continent, you'd be directly serving the elven queen. But also, she has enough Court Magicians that Pattadol would not expect to know Marcille's mother's name, but few enough that it would be a big deal and Cithis would know about it if one had a half-elf child.

I don't think it's remotely unlikely based on that to assume that this role is only available to nobles.

A "Court Magician" who doesn't serve the NCC Queen isn't a "real" Court Magician in the eyes of NCC elves. Those short-lived monarchs would be happy just to have an elf around regardless of whether they were actually any good at magic.... according to Cithis.

Magic seems very important to the society of the NCC elves. The queen communicates with her subordinates via familar, and the birds we see surrounding her seem like they are some kind of magic - perhaps not familiars since we see her familiar, but some other kind of scrying?

Also, based on the fact Pattadol assumes a Court Magician would be serving the Queen of the NCC, we can theorise that perhaps whatever structure the SCC has, it isn't a monarchy....? Heimeya is "the queen of the elves", after all - that doesn't sound like there's another elven monarch competing for the title just next door.

Ordinary People

Apparently the NCC is a safe place and life is easy -- but given the strict class system, I kind of expect that varies a lot depending on the family you're born into.

The only elves we meet who are not nobles are the convicted criminal canaries, so it's hard to get a sense of what life is like for them from that. Cithis was apparently a wealthy fortune teller with "an intense jealousy for those born noble or wealthy." So I assume she was not born into comfort.

Apparently "There are also primitive villages deep in the woods and underground, and in some regions cannibalism is still practiced." Which is awesome. Based on her videogame elves art I think Kui's probably making a little nod to Divinity: Original Sin elves, who can absorb memories through eating the flesh of others. Elves in dungeon meshi don't have this trait, but I wonder if there is a magical ritual or some kind of cultural practice with a similar intention.

Cuisine

Marcille's mother didn't think much of the elven cuisine.

Liricmumwarel is fancy candy given out by the elven queen the shape of which conveys blessings.

Elf Cake is a crumbly dry cake that Kabru and Thistle don't think much of. I've heard someone discuss what it's likely to be made of, but I am afraid I don't recall.

Southern Central Continent

The Adventurer's Bible | p. 132

It seems like the Southern Central Continent gets a lot more immigration and has a more diverse population, especially along the south coast (near the Western Continent). That south coast has a high tallman population.

Fleki and Lycion are from the Southern Central Continent. Fleki got into ancient magic for the money, so you can assume there's probably class disparity there too; things are noted by Kui to be more "disorganised" than the NCC. Not a bad thing at all - the NCC is definitely too "organised" in my books. But that does potentially also mean there's less, e.g., bureaucracy, central organisation, less of a social safety net. But then again, in the NCC I doubt that whatever "safety net" there is, is available to everyone.

We can't extrapolate much from Fleki & Lycion's personalities, because they clearly aren't in the most stable societal position, and I get the sense that they're the countercultural type - they probably don't represent the type of person typical to the SCC. Also, our NCC characters are all either nobles or used to navigating high society (Cithis, Kabru to an extent) so they aren't exactly a typical "ordinary NCC person" as a basis for comparison either. However, there's less of a "strict set of social rules" type of feel to the SCC characters, fitting with my suggestion that the SCC may not be a society with a strong feudal element.

Geopolitics & Conflict

The fact that, despite their being from the SCC, Fleki and Lycion are in the Canaries, who work directly under the NCC's Queen, implies that the the NCC feel entitled to process and prosecute people who commit ancient magic-related crimes regardless of any notion of "jurisdiction". This is backed up by the way that they were going to take Marcille - but that is something that the governor of the Island had to give permission for, which Laios is able to withdraw. So I assume that the NCC elves apply pressure on various world leaders to extradite criminals involved in ancient magic.

The SCC would cooperate with this, since they're allies, even if they don't have a great relationship (according to the World Guide).

The NCC are also clearly able to take half-foots without trouble, as we see by Chilchuck saying he's known half-foots who got involved with "black magic" (ancient magic) and were disappeared by the elves. But I doubt gnomes or dwarves are giving people up easily - though that probably doesn't go for dwarves like Senshi and Namari, without strong community ties.

Long before the current times, elves fought dwarves & gnomes. There might have been more than one of these conflicts...? While long ago, this war isn't "ancient" (like the ancients who sealed the demon into dungeons, before their world was mostly destroyed by it).

Thistle, Delgal, and the Golden Kingdom were (I believe) caught up in one of these conflicts, which used Melini as a staging ground - thus why Thistle was pushed to seal the entire kingdom in the dungeon.

To do this, Thistle unseals a dungeon created by the "ancient people". These could be the "ancients" who created the dungeons, before the apocalypse. Or they could be another, still extinct, society.

Regardless, at least one of these conflicts seems to have taken place after the golden kingdom was sealed - so, within the last 1000 years.

Though, this could refer to a different, more localised conflict between the Golden Kingdom and their dwarven neighbours.

The order of events is that the Golden Kingdom was sealed (1000 years ago or so) > Dwarves took over > Elves stole the land from the Dwarves ("long ago" by the Island Lord, a tallman's, standards) > Elves gave the land to a local lord, who was either an ancestor of the Island Lord, or the Island Lord himself. The Island Lord is himself a descendant of the lord who poisoned Delgal's father, as is noted in the World Guide. However, it isn't impossible for there to be large gaps of time between these events, which could put the elf / dwarf wars at a more recent date.

The fact we know that the elves stole the land from the dwarves, and then granted it to a political actor who was relevant during the events of the Golden Kingdom flashbacks we see suggests to me that the events were roughly contemporaneous. If they were, that puts at least one of these conflicts at roughly 1000 years ago.

So, the elf/dwarf & gnome conflict is "long ago" by short-lived standards, but would be considered "modern" by the long-lived races, if you ask me. At least, the equivalent of the World Wars for us - recent history, even if we weren't alive.

I'm guessing the "Elf King" from the below panel in fact was a word that's more gender-neutral in Japanese, since the "Western Elves" definitely have a queen.

Language

When Kabru says the "Central region" I expect he means the region where the NCC and SCC is.

The fact that he observes that the lack of any accent means he's from the Central Region is really interesting. It could mean two things;

either they switched to speaking in the language spoken on those continents, which Kabru would naturally know, having grown up there. It's 100 percent possible, but I think this would be noted in the story.

or, the language that gets called "the common tongue", the one that all our principle characters speak for most of the story, originated from the elves in the Central Continent. Or at least it's the same one that the elves use, and their political influence is great enough that their accent gets to be considered not an accent at all. The fact they were "granting" land in this area to tall-man lords suggests a large enough historical influence in the area that this is quite plausible to me.

Mithrun absolutely does have an accent - nobody speaks without an accent. His accent is just politically and socioculturally normalised to the point of being considered the "default/proper" way to speak - like received pronounciation in English.

The common tongue isn't ubiquitous everywhere - not just Kuro, but Kiki and Kaka are also noted to be studying the common tongue. The Tansus were born on the Eastern Continent, so probably gnome communities there speak their own language - Kiki and Kaka grew up primarily surrounded by gnomes after all.

It's also quite likely that Kabru, specifically, because of where he grew up, would consider Mithrun's way of talking to be the default "not an accent" accent. His adoptive mother surely has the same upper-class NCC accent. I expect that other characters might experience it as more "marked".

This isn't a world where everyone speaks the same language everywhere; the common tongue is called that, but there are many different languages. Kabru and Chilchuck are two characters who are adept with many of them - Kabru speaks the language of the kobold, and probably lots more. Chilchuck works as an interpreter as part of his union stuff - I can tell you from experience that that's a hugely valuable skillset in that context, as many of the people who most need union representation are people who don't speak the dominant language, or at least not fluently.

If you got all the way to the end of this post.... thank you for reading, I love you. Check out my other World Map Notes under that tag on my blog; I've made a few so far and there will almost certainly be more. Next I'm thinking the dwarven nations...? But I could be persuaded if someone had a preference.

Also, anyone got any speculation on what, exactly, is the previous time that Heimeya ate a person/monster/chimera that this panel implies:

We really don't have anything to go on whatsoever, but I think it's a fun tidbit.