princetpenguin

[princetpenguin]

[princetpenguin]

girlie that's not a random headache u are dehydrated malnourished over caffeinated over stressed and sleep deprived

[princetpenguin]

dungeon meshi is the ultimate manga for a lot of reasons but some of my top favorites are that

- never any “omg pervert!!!” jokes that are so insanely prevalent in fantasy manga for some reason

- only “ship tease” is between falin and marcille

- completely and well fleshed out female characters who have their own motivations character and arcs just as equally as the male characters

- catgirl who actually is a cat girl (inscrutable, a little rude, pushes shit off tables, a little unsettling) and not just a cutesy moe girl with cat ears

- ultimate autism protagonist (thank you laois for your service)

- “this elf is actually 5000 years old but looks like a young adult/teenager for some reason” but ryoko kui actually pulled off making it heartbreaking and a significant part of marcille’s character

- chilchuk divorce

- the most insane worldbuilding ever

- only fanservice is senshi #SENSHISWEEP

[princetpenguin]

fixer

[princetpenguin]

i just finished reading dungeon meshi and would like to state:

if you have been under the impression up to this point that dungeon meshi is a low stakes found family slice of life about quirky fantasy friends talking about food (like i did before i read it), i'd like to tell you that it is not that. those moments of found family enjoying a meal are surrounded by a harrowing and grim journey through a terrifying labyrinth designed to kill them, and throughout the 97 chapters comprising it from start to end, I cannot think of a single page that didn't contain vital story information that mattered.

it is an expertly and lovingly crafted odyssey with fantasy world building so thorough with consistent logic that the properties of the magic in their world fell extremely comfortably into the part of my brain that understands things like gravity and light particles. it's really good shit.

[princetpenguin]

[princetpenguin]

i’m still early into Dungeon Meshi but I enjoy how much it concerns itself with ecology. no part of the dungeon exists in a vacuum. adventurers are not just an outside force that loots and kills, although adventuring does in some way end up sustaining cycles of oppression (read: orcs). rather, adventuring itself is integrated into the ecosystem—each kill they deal, every death a party incurs, any waste they leave behind is taken into account as being something a component of the environment is adapted to, from the individual to population level.

we even see adaptations that have evolved over short periods of time, as with senshi’s golems adapting to the nutrients used to farm on them

another detail I enjoyed from off the top of my head was when senshi warned marcille not to use a spell that would damage a wide area of the lake, because the fish would die and the merfolk, krakens etc. would suffer in turn, despite a general interest in keeping the monsters at bay. this is narratively smart because it leads to more creative solutions, and also communicates a value of animal life without reverting to “isn’t it just fucked up to hunt things.” the focus of cooking and eating in the manga feels very intentional as a way for the characters to interact with this premise. unlike accumulating treasure, trying to earn fame and fortune, or hunting specific monsters (besides the one that swallowed a party member), eating is a necessity to life, which life itself factors in as part of its cycle. the party members became a part of the ecosystem the very first time they entered the dungeon, but by choosing to sustain themselves from it, come to a better understanding of it—this isn’t a value judgment or an appeal to nature, at least to me, it’s just an observation about how these systems work that the series is making, and something the author wants people to be mindful of

a last point that really hammered it in is an explicit visual representation of the dungeon as an ecosystem—the flashback to the sprite project (analogous to real life insect cultures). the sprites thrive when the cultures mimic dungeon conditions. because that’s all a dungeon is: a self-sustaining ecosystem (as long as it has the resource of magic, as well as other life-giving resources), which is resilient and yet sensitive to change

so far I think it does subvert most of the sensibilities of the dungeon fantasy subgenre in a meaningful way, which is to say it draws the emphasis somewhat away from battling and racking up kills in favor of environmentally conscious problem-solving and acknowledging the lives therein as being in interaction with each other

this is all surface-level praise as I’m only on like chapter 20 but I’m saying. I think you should read it. don’t just take my word for it though. check this out:

oops that’s just a picture of marcille being a big big lesbian whoooops post cancwlled

[princetpenguin]

Girl in a philosophy class that argues we don't have free will but she's getting weirdly horny about it

[princetpenguin]

What the heck is that in the corner of the shed?!? #hubcapcreatures #centipede #recycledart https://www.instagram.com/p/CbrWTPsgYGR/?utm_medium=tumblr

[princetpenguin]

let’s not talk about this, ever

[princetpenguin]

The Witch ~

Artist on Nazar

[princetpenguin]

[princetpenguin]

I want someone to make one of these new sterile teen gay romance shows on Netflix but halfway through they pull a Doki Doki Literature Club and it turns into a fucked up fourth wall breaking psychological thriller that deconstructs the heteronormative and middle class ideals of the genre

[princetpenguin]

[princetpenguin]

favorite visual gags:

something drawn realistically to show an emotion

something drawn poorly to show an emotion

[princetpenguin]

Walking home from a long day of school🍂

[princetpenguin]

time magic