#this was cute!! thank you!!

[misfxts]

Alex had always found the twilight air to refresh her in a way she could never quite articulate; standing out even on the outskirts of town, something she'd seldom ever do of her own accord, she and Iris would have the perfect view of the fireworks that would soon rise to cover the night sky over the city.

Seconds counted down until the grand display, but Alex wouldn't take a seat just yet. Instead, she'd turn towards Iris, keeping her hands in her pockets for now, and looking just slightly downwards so she wasn't staring at the girl.

"I-..." she begins, uncertain. "I know this is... kinda out of nowhere, but, that... kinda seems to be the trend with us nowadays. But, uhm... I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you. And... how grateful I am that you're my friend. I- I know things are... really difficult for you, and- and always have been, with your career, but... I- I hope I can always give you a safe space when we're together. Just-... some place, someone where you can just be unapologetically you. I've loved spending time with you this year, and- and listening to you talk about everything you're passionate about, and, just... sharing those moments with you. And..."

Her lips purse for a moment, her feet pacing in the grass as she contemplates the few steps she takes towards Iris. Before he allows her doubt to set in, though, her arms are already wrapped around her friend in a gentle embrace, her lips imperceptibly pressing to the top of her head for a second as the first fireworks finally reach the sky, detonating and spilling colour into the starry view. Even in the noise of constant, rippling detonations, her last whisper in their embrace is clear as ever.

"I hope you feel the same way, because... I'm honored to be your friend. Happy new year, Iris."

@dis--parity

Iris hadn't experienced fireworks beyond the city limits. It was always in fancy high rise apartments or mansions with champagne and glittering outfits, prime selfie spots and people talking about nothing.

So, one can imagine Iris' excitement at being invited to go outside the city for new year celebrations. The stars were also clearer out here, without the pollution of the city lights obscuring them, which was a sight that also delighted Iris to see personally.

There's a bit of confusion as Alex begins to speak, but Iris listens intently-- ah, yeah. It's New Years after all. The perfect time for confessions and telling people how much you mean to them and whatnot.

She's heard a dime a dozen from others in her influencer circle, but they never sounded like they addressing each person in the group-- glossed over, too many people invited to keep track of or to care about. But not here, not with Alex. This is coming from the heart, and Iris knows it.

Before Iris can open her mouth to speak, the fireworks begin their ascent into the sky and exploding into big and bright beautiful colors. She's about to try again and Alex quickly has her in an embrace.

The hug fills her with feelings that she can't place.

All her life, it felt like there was a thick glass wall between herself and the world. But right now, it almost felt like with this single hug that glass wall had been shattered-- she feels connected, for once.

Iris doesn't know what to do with herself, or her thoughts. She wanted to say something nice in response, but with the fireworks starting and the hug.. words were a little difficult.

..Slowly, awkwardly, gently, like handling the most fragile crystal in the world.. Iris reciprocates the hug.

"T-Thank you." Iris whispers back. "H..Happy New Year, Miss Alex.."

[mroddmod]

they are like puppies. 2 me

[batbabydamian]

Obsessed with little Lima Bean Baby Dami. I feel like Bruce would pass out from cuteness if he witnessed his child looking like that.

Talia should send Damian's baby pics to Bruce lol

[egophiliac]

GET LOVED, IDIOT

GET LOVED SO HARD YOUR KIDS HOLD HANDS AND POWER-OF-LOVE YOU BACK TO LIFE

sorry guys, this is just my brain now. this is going to be the only thing I think about for the next week at least.

oh and also this

FIVE YEARS IN AND IT'S FINALLY CANON 🎉🎉🎉

WE DID IT

[jinaxxo]

a fine night of debauchery

[daikaiju-arts]

May we see some Gangle x Pomni plspls I just like them in your style 🙏🙏

I don’t necessarily ship them romantically per se, BUT I do like to think of them as being close friends 💚 I friendship them lol

Also a Bonus:

[mycorrhizastar]

Only one bean tall!!

[russetfoxfur]

refrog to have good luck

[darc-la-farse]

JUNIOR YEAR!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!

[shadowtraveled]

"mithrun is the only real monsterfucker in dungeon meshi" is objectively the funniest bit you can get out of his everything, but in all seriousness i think his attraction to his love interest is deliberately overstated—and that makes sense, because romantic jealousy is a classic and digestible motive, which is explicitly what kabru was aiming for in condensing mithrun's backstory, and also because until chapter 94, mithrun wasn't willing to admit to the true nature of his desires.

but because romantic envy is both classic and digestible, it probably isn’t a unique enough or complicated enough desire to tempt a demon’s appetite. mithrun’s wish, as far as we can figure from kabru’s reduced retelling, was to have a life in which he had never become one of the canaries, and that carries like 3857 implications and desires within it. that’s delicious. his love interest acts as sort of a red herring to his motivation for making it, though. (side note: i'm saying "love interest" here because, keeping in mind that i barely speak japanese on a good day anymore, "想い人" is something i'd usually take as just kind of an old-fashioned and romantic way to refer to a lover, but in context i wonder if both the connotation of yearning and the vagueness are intentional, and i think this phrasing gets those aspects of it more effectively. anyway.)

mithrun considered his love interest to be untrustworthy. there was a minute where i thought that comment might be about a similar-looking elf (yugin, one of his squad members), but comparing the two…

the "sketchy" arrow is definitely referring to the elf we know as his love interest—the bangs go toward her right, she only has the one forehead ornament, and, most notably, her ears aren't notched.

every time she’s given a full-body depiction in his dungeon, she’s drawn as a chimera, with the body of a snake from the waist down. (side note: the “what if a dungeon has chimeras before reaching level 4?”/“then the dungeon lord is unstable” exchange just being mithrun grilling his past self alive is so funny. he’s so. but anyway) there are a couple things about this.

first, the snake part of the chimera appears to be modeled after some species of coral snake mimic

which, in the biology-for-fun manga, i… doubt is a coincidence, especially with the added context of the “untrustworthy” comment. the dungeon’s conjured illusion of mithrun’s love interest was a harmless copycat of a venomous original. for whatever reason, he felt this person was a threat and made up a "safe" version of her to be in a relationship with, and while it’s definitely possible to be attracted to or even love someone you find to be toxic and/or intimidating, when you take that into consideration alongside the configuration of her body, you get some interesting implications.

which brings us to our second point: if we assume that mithrun was not in fact fucking a snake, then sexual attraction, at least, was so far removed from his idea of a relationship with this person that he did not even bother to keep her dungeon copy human enough to maintain the illusion of the option of a sexual relationship. this is somewhat echoed in the depictions of their interactions, which also imply a frankly unexpected romantic distance. she kisses his cheek and he doesn't seem to react; she's at the edge of a narrow bed with only one set of pillows, on top of his blankets while he's underneath them.

the kiss is particularly interesting because it seems to contrast the text. kabru's narration tells us this was everything mithrun could have asked for, but mithrun is there looking unreadable to pensive, likely because this is right before the panel that makes it clear things in the dungeon are beginning to go wrong.

walking through this backwards for a minute, we have the physical barrier of his bedding and the spatial separation inherent in a bed made for one person, the emotional barrier of his mounting anxiety getting in the way of his ability to enjoy the affection he sought, and... the snake, which historically carries the connotation of temptation, yes, but also mistrust, barring physical intimacy. okay. ok. if a dungeon reflects the mentality of its lord, all of this might suggest that mithrun was not able to have any real desire for a relationship with this person. his unwillingness to be vulnerable or let another person in was insurmountable. but in that case, why was she such a focal point that she remained to the end, after his dungeon had stopped creating iterations of his friends to come and visit him? why would he get so upset over her meeting with his brother that he became lord of a dungeon about it?

well. mithrun's brother was also interested in her, probably genuinely. and mithrun had to win.

you have an older brother who your parents completely ignore, probably in part because he is chronically ill/disabled and almost definitely in part because he received a ton of recessive traits that resulted in rumors that he was an illegitimate child. you are aware, most likely because those same parents fucking told you, that you actually are an illegitimate child. but they keep you around because you had the good fortune of looking just like your mother. what can that possibly teach you but that you, like your brother, are disposable?

it's utterly unsurprising that mithrun, under these circumstances, developed a pathological need to be better than everyone around him. people don't keep you otherwise. i'd argue this is also why he says he looked down on everyone he knew while milsiril claims his dungeon reeked of feelings of inferiority—he sought out people's worst traits and prioritized them in his mind to protect his already extremely fragile sense of self-worth, and all the while he tried to be as likable and high-performing as he possibly could be. his parents disposed of him anyway, but even then he tried to keep up the performance. he was kind to everyone. he never once lost to a dungeon.

when he saw his "love interest" meeting up with his brother, what he saw was himself being replaced by a person his parents had always treated as worthless, and if that was what they thought of the child they'd kept, what value could anyone possibly see in the bastard they'd given away to die? mithrun and kabru tell the story like he wanted to win this unnamed elf's heart, but it was never about being with her. it was about cementing his worth, proving that he didn't deserve to be thrown away.

and so it's particularly cruel that his demon discarded him, too. but maybe it's also particularly gentle that, in the end, there was someone who refused to even consider giving up on him.

kui laid it out in three panels better than i could hope to.

yeah. it's love. you wanted to be loved, even when the only way you were able to understand it was through the desire to be wanted, and you wanted that so badly that the idea of being consumed felt like the promise of finally mattering to someone.

[lowpolyanimals]

Tomy from CANINE

[dezmouse]

my beautiful wife in her little $500 pink cardigan

[bacchuschucklefuck]

january month of yuugi

[egophiliac]

WAIT when did he get FANGS

[crifevergreen]

[lotus-pear]

horrendously late entry for @luneariann’s dtiys!! congrats on one million ely i’m so proud of you <3