#parallel pairs

[toyescapades]

This is an outdoor picture I took of the Zorua and Hisuian Zorua plush keychains from the Parallel Pairs line at the US Pokémon Center. Unlike their Japanese counterparts, they don’t have magnets to stick them together securely. I really like the expressions on these two! Unovan Zorua seems like the more outgoing, self-assured, and comedic of the two, while Hisuian Zorua seems to be more responsible, polite, and introverted.

[ghostlypawn]

#which could mean absolutely nothing at all

+bonus

[starssoblue]

je t’aime~♡

[hematomes]

im obsessed with these two pictures. sasuke is unbothered, unscathed, completely blank and free of any worry. naruto is all bruised up, bleeding, and yet he's yelling as if sasuke was actively being tortured and beaten to a plump. naruto's fixation on sasuke needs to be studied

[cracked-shells-and-screens]

Taco4 Parallels my beloved...

[deancasforcutie]

"Now you live in a secret bunker with an angel and Lucifer’s kid", AKA queering domesticity par excellence

[nsthebrotherangstguy]

Minamoto/Yugi parallels oh how dear you are to me

[aphel1on]

Dungeon Lords and the Human Need for Connection

When I came across these panels again the other day, it got me thinking about dungeon lord parallels again.

...And I spiraled until I was writing my thesis statement about how All Four Dungeon Lords (Yes, Even Laios, Stop leaving him out of these discussions) Are Actually the Same.

Firstly (because on some level everything is about Thistle to me) I thought about how the lion could have very likely given Thistle a similar offer when his loved ones started losing their souls/rebelling/etc. And yet, there is no sign that Thistle ever accepted such an offer, nor any sign that he used magic to forcibly change people's opinions, the way Marcille briefly threatened the party with while she was dungeon lord:

Instead, he ended up with the fucking dining table that drives me insane. Which probably means that either Thistle rejected the offer, or the lion sensed it wouldn't go over well and didn't even try it.

Making replicas of people doesn't seem to be an uncommon part of granting the dungeon lord's wishes. In his time, Mithrun actually took the demon up on it:

(Not pictured; the infamous lamia-version of his love interest.)

What makes Mithrun different from Thistle and Marcille in this instance is that Thistle and Marcille both became dungeon lords for the sake of specific people. Both were motivated by the terror of losing their most important people, and both told themselves everything they did was for the sake of protecting those people.

Because they were motivated by genuine love, copies or mind manipulation were not palatable. I think Thistle even in the late stages of his madness probably would not find these to be acceptable solutions. No matter how twisted, possessive, and obsessive his love became under the dungeon's influence, it was still from the fear of losing those original, irreplaceable people that he was doing all this. Even as his relationship with Delgal and the other Melinis fell apart over the years... even as he was left with only their soulless bodies... he would still rather cling to whatever was left.

Perhaps on some level, Thistle recognized the same thing that kept Marcille from following through with her threats:

Even in the state of endlessly chasing their desires as dungeon lords, they couldn't feel truly okay accomplishing it that way.

For Mithrun, meanwhile, the people in his fantasy world were a means to an end. It was all-encompassing insecurity and the pain of not being wanted that led him to become dungeon lord. His desire was not fixated on any specific people - it was broad enough and desperate enough that anyone could fulfill it. The thing is, Mithrun prior to becoming dungeon lord was by all accounts well-liked. But his emotional walls were up so high that not a single one of his admirers could make him feel known and cared for. The kind of crushing perfectionism he exhibited in that stage of his life often comes with a silent and equally crushing imposter syndrome. No one actually knew him, because Mithrun didn't let them, even though every aspect of his personality then was a desperate plea to be seen and liked. I think the sad truth is that, by the time he became dungeon lord, Mithrun didn't truly believe that happiness was something that could be found in other people. (It's telling that his wish was for a world in which he had never been discarded; perhaps for a world in which he never felt the need to put up those masks.)

In this respect, Mithrun is actually more alike to Laios than he is to Thistle and Marcille.

Laios was told again and again by the world that it was wrong to be who he was - that he was unlikeable when he acted the way that came naturally to him. The lion didn't bother asking Laios about replicas; those would be meaningless to him. Like Mithrun, Laios had lost all hope of being liked for who he was, but took it one step further: Laios had lost hope that he could find happiness in the human world entirely. At that point, all he wanted was an escape. To leave the pain of the human world behind and become someone, something, different. All he really needed in order to be tempted into it was the assurance that his friends would be safe.

All four of these stories have a pretty obvious throughline when you think about it: the deep, intrinsic need for human connection and what happens to someone when that need cannot be met.

All four of them were starving for connection. All four of them experienced alienation and isolation that made them desperate enough to turn to the demon.

Marcille (a half-elf whose unstable aging left her without peers) and Thistle (raised as the only elf in a kingdom of humans) both formed intense attachments to the few people they did become close to, and went off the deep end from fear of losing them.

Mithrun and Laios were both rejected by others for aspects of themselves that were out of their control, and tried to cope by developing masks that left them unable to feel accepted by the people still in their lives.

...So it's fitting, then, that genuine human connection is also what saved all four of them in the end.

(Thistle is a little arguable here; I personally don't think he died, but even if you do believe he died at the end of the manga- Yaad being able to connect and empathize with him is what gave him peace and solace in his final moments.)

Dungeon Meshi is about alienation and connection as much as it is about food and cycles of life. (Or more like, these themes are masterfully intertwined - food is used to represent love and connection over and over again. But that's a whole essay in and of itself!)

[pairingbrainrot]

[al-luviec]

I really like this scene.

[mizgnomer]

Good Omens - Season 1 and Season 2 - Parallel Posters (click for larger images)

[cake-emu]

Coronation Street | Carla Connor + Lisa Swain (7th October 2024 | 28th March 2025)

[rainibao]

"I like that answer! It's exactly what I was thinking! You really are interesting...I wonder if your friend would also think the same way."

Version where I make lyrical references to 血色风浪/bloody storm

[erynalasse]

Fingon is the archetypical hero. He does great deeds of valor and daring, notably Maedhros’ rescue and rushing out to defeat Glaurung. He is not terribly afraid of consequences, which is wonderful when he is the only one he’s responsible for. His talent is forging ahead and inspiring everyone to follow him.

Fingolfin is the archetypical king. He is the one that holds his people together across the Helcaraxë and brokers peace with Maedhros after he’s rescued. He’s incredibly aware of every possible consequence, which is wonderful when he’s responsible for a whole kingdom. His talent is uniting everyone and inspiring them to move forward together.

When Fingolfin dies, he acts as the hero, not the king. He tries to borrow his son’s talent for incredibly inadvisable stunts, but it isn’t in his nature. He believes the Noldor are doomed, and thus dies in despair fighting Morgoth because he does not see another path forward, only defeat.

When Fingon dies, he acts as the king, not the hero. He tries to borrow his father’s talent for forging political unity, but it isn’t in his nature. The Nirnaeth’s forces are disunited from their conception to their defeat, and Fingon dies full of hope fighting Morgoth because he does not see any other path forward, only victory.

Fingolfin’s legacy was despair, though he left a lasting blow against Morgoth. Fingon’s legacy was hope, though he did not so much as touch Morgoth.

[thelilylav]

So while everyone is trying to get any discourse that isn't Apple related going, would this be a good time to mention I think Faybelle/Apple and Briar/Raven have more parallels than Apple/Briar and Faybelle/Raven? Or talk about the realtionship between Raven and Briar at all? Anybody here?

[taiturner]

@yellowjacketsnetwork event 04: parallels TAISSA TURNER ft. teen & adult dynamics