#I *really* love this character. I love that all of the dungeon meshi crew are complicated and have difficult to love components.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

License to Kitty.

[wtfforged]

my campaign hiatus has gone on for too long so to cope ive combined my interests at their maximum potency and had some dnd-strawhats thoughts

thoughts in depth under read more... :)!

this is SO self indulgent. their designs literally did not change. but i am a firm believer that dnd doesnt have to be european high fantasy. and also one piece literally IS fantasy. no changes are necessary to fit into dnd. ive already imagined plenty of campaign/oneshot ideas inspired by one piece. so this was basically just an exercise of trying to replicate their canon abilities in dnd 5e as much as possible without totally homebrewing everything. well. aside from luffy. you just cant take away or change his stretching.

LUFFY: (human monk. drunken master subclass. outlander)

the only plain human of the crew to balance out with the fact that he still has rubber powers. obviously a monk. but drunken master subclass specifically because i think the flavor(not the fact that its about being a drunkard) and abilities both fit him really well. this line in the subclass' flavortext especially fits him: "A drunken master often enjoys playing the fool to bring gladness to the despondent or to demonstrate humility to the arrogant, but when battle is joined, the drunken master can be a maddening, masterful foe."

ZORO: (tiefling fighter. samurai subclass. bounty hunter)

a fighter with the samurai subclass is so very incredibly obvious... but i actually had a lot of fun geeking out while comparing the abilities to what he can do in canon; Fighting Spirit, Rapid Strike, and Strength Before Death especially! tiefling is also pretty on the nose for his demon pirate hunter shtick and asura form, but i thought he'd be really human-passing for a tiefling and theorized about his tail getting cut off at some point or another before joining the strawhats. initially wasnt gonna give him a feat, but i gave sanji a feat so i thought itd be unfair to not give him one as well, so sentinel fits the bill pretty well i think!

NAMI: (tabaxi rogue. arcane trickster subclass. criminal)

cat burglar -> full grown literal humanoid cat. this one is INCREDIBLY self indulgent... i love... cats... theres nothing deeper to this and no other reasoning. i took cat burglar and ran with it. can you tell that i love izutsumi dungeon meshi? rogue for the aforementioned burglar-ing as well, and the arcane trickster subclass for when she picks up climatact! the mage hand will be very useful for her pickpocketing. in the future as she levels up with timeskip, i can totally see her multiclassing into wizard as well! weather wizard!

USOPP: (lightfoot halfling artificer. artillerist subclass. urchin)

I HAD SO MUCH FUN THINKING ABOUT HIS CHARACTER SHEET. halfling's Naturally Stealthy ability lets him hide behind his crewmates since theyre (almost) all bigger than him, so its perfect for hiding behind zoro or sanji all the time. Lucky is also perfect for him, and I think Brave fits pretty well too when he puts on the sogeking mask. artillerist artificer is also very fun! tinkering and making magic items for his crew, and i think Eldritch Canon or Arcane Firearm could both be easily reflavored as kabuto or any of his inventions. for emphasizing his sniper-ness, the spell sniper feat was also necessary. i think hes my favorite of all the concepts. big ears and long nose combo is so cute to me.

SANJI: (half-elf monk. drunken master subclass. guild artisan (cook!))

race was mostly based on vibes i wont lie. squints. and that vinsmoke balogna or whatever too ig. but mostly vibes. along with the idea that i think a dwarf zeff raising him would be really funny and cute. monk is also obvious, and same subclass as luffy for mostly the same reasons. though the flavor fits him much less, i think the abilities still fit him perfectly, and this blurb specifically; "Your martial arts technique mixes combat training with the precision of a dancer." i really wanted to give him a different subclass from luffy, but i dislike all the other monk subclasses a lot and i found none of them fit him as well anyways, so to try and give them SOME differences, i gave him the crusher feat.

CHOPPER: (awakened deer(shifter statblock) cleric. life subclass. hermit)

this ones definitely a mouthful im sorry. awakened deer for obvious reasons, but due to magic instead of devil fruit stuff. when i was struggling with his race, i looked a lot at shifter because of his forms, but it occurred to me that itd be super cool if he could shift between all of the different shifter options instead of being stuck with just one to replicate his rumble balls. something like heavy point/guard point=beasthide, horn point/arm point(?maybe?)=longtooth, walk point/jumping point=swiftstride, and brain point=wildhunt. hed definitely need some kind of nerf though to balance out that homebrew... and cleric for class. duh.

ROBIN: (high elf wizard. order of scribes subclass. criminal)

robin is definitely the one i struggled the most with just because of her class. elf came pretty easily- shes very elegant and i think shed look cute with super long ears- and i landed on high elf instead of wood elf for the int-based abilities. i was really on the fence between sorcerer and wizard for her because i knew shed be a full spellcaster, but i didnt feel that any of the subclasses really fit her. i ended up going with wizard for order of the scribes since it focuses on texts and knowing everything. but also because robin with a flying talking sentient book would be crazy cool. it could also be similar to how she spawns mouths and eyes places to talk to or watch people. my "fuck it, why not. this would be rad. its my house" mindset kicked in with her i will admit. also the One with the Word ability made me cackle out loud when i read it. thats the funniest ability ever. anyways, i cant really think of a way to replicate her powers, but maybe we could just reflavor a bunch of spells to be her limbs or clutch; hold person, maximillian's earthen grasp, or evard's black tentacles. thatd probably work okay, and theres a handful of spells to replicate her ability to spawn eyes or mouths. unrelated, but i imagine nico olvia to be a drow. why? her hair is white. i am a simple man!

[bellincurl]

which dungeon meshi character do you think would be most likely to do drag and what kind of drag do u think they would fw the most. i think senshi would love going to drag shows and tipping a generally ludicrous amount of money

This is the only ask in the worlddd to me.

I'm can't imagine most of the core party doing Drag themselves but the one's that come to mind immediately would be Fleki & Lycion.

Fleki's just bursting with personality, has the kind of confidence and banter that you want for a Drag artist. The little fashion explorations Ryoko Kui did too are soooooooo right for this. I think she'd 100% be drawn to the glamor and camp and stupidity drag has to offer. Probably play around between king and queen aesthetics. I also think she'd be so squarely be a baby queen tripping over her own heels but it's part of the fun and humor of it all.

Lycion is here bc he's besties with Fleki and also because his whole Everything of wanting to escape into being beast to alleviate his discomfort with his body and identity. Which idk I could talk about for ages, it's like Laois and Falin, another character who I have never seen before in media who speaks so deeply to myself as a person. Lycion is absolutelyyyyy doing monster drag it's not even a question. Like if we're talking about this in a modern setting then he's absolutely using some kind of wolfman drag persona as a way to alleviate his distress with himself. I think he'd be aiming for as inhuman as possible. I think he'd get a huge thrill out of performing it and it'd be an easy 1 to 1 with him feeling validated in fight rings as a beast. I think he'd also be able to beat his face so right if he was just dressing up nice, I know him and Fleki r doing makeup looks together.

Last character is Laois but also not quite. Like with any other modern day headcannon people have for him like fursuiting, being trans, being otherkin ect even if on paper these would absolutely speak to him I just don't think he'd ever come to those conclusions himself. I think that kind of repression and isolation are really crucial to how he views the world and I think he's more likely to be formulating his own ideas rather than fitting into any kind of community already. I'm putting him here for similar reasons to Lycion, since they're both characters who want to become beasts. Lycion though feels like an out twink with gay friends, who knows who he is and what brings him joy and I don't think Laois is quite there yet as a person.

UM thinking abt it now he'd be more likely be a creature suit actor. Drag monsters still are more symbolic / character focused, and with creature suits I think he'd be really abnormal talking about how he's bonded with the silicon. You know he'd be asking a thousand questions abt the designs biology. You know he'd ask about its diet so he can go eat like that too to get in character.

Other than that I think the main crew would show up to drag shows and have a good time. I'm kind of obsessed with the joke of Marcille being a bit of a prude / not knowing what a butch is so I think her going to a drag bar with Falin would be really really really funny. You know namari is a local, this might be out of left field but I could also see Chilchuck being around a drag bar a lot as some old queen (twink) manager who's catty about baby queens or ppls bar etiquette.

Kabru is there because he is gay. I think if Kabru saw Laois in his local drag bar he would burst a blood vessel and talk shit about how some people just shouldn't come to shows because they're not actually gay and how it's ruining his night and he stole his seat so now he has to stand or he's blocking his view LMAO. Senshi would absolutely be buying the queens drinks bc he wants them to stay hydrated.

I also think the winged lion would do drag, is that anything. I think the winged lion is a pageant glamour queen.

[shadowslocked]

Things that tickle me about Dungeon Meshi, in no strict order:

How it starts with Laois monologuing about how due to them being hungry they can’t defeat the dragon, setting up a lighthearted and comedic tone only for that to be cut swiftly when Falin gets eaten and in her last moments teleports the others away

The intro in general reminds me of Harvest Moon or other games where something happens to the heroes and they’re reset back to Level 1. Laois Crew was able to get pretty far down from how it sounds, but due to losing all their gear and even two members quitting it means literally starting over. The reason they even rely on gathering food in the dungeon is that they were too poor to afford resources

Its set up that death itself is serious but not something a person can’t come back from, establishing early that resurrection magic is a thing and then later emphasizing not to rely on it and then further down explains it in more depth and the hurdles with more complicated situations (such as what would be required and limitations)

When Senshi appears in the first episode it, to me, sets up the theme of food and the preparation of food being a way to connect people. If Laois hadn’t been trying to cook monsters in the hub area, they never would have met Senshi and likely would not have made it as far as they did.

Nothing exists for no reason. You really get a sense of how connected everything in the dungeon is, and that it is an entire ecosystem. Animals feed off each other, there’s worry about over excessive killing, there’s themes about taking care of the environment but also acknowledging that nature will find a way to thrive without you

But also why people would go into the dungeon, beyond trying to reach deeper levels or kill the Lord of the Dungeon, such as peeling the gold gilding off the castle walls and corpse retrieval. The dungeon isn’t simply there, it’s an important part to the town by how it creates jobs and brings in people

The first episode, and series in general, does a good job blending it’s lighthearted moments with its low key dark moments. It’s never excessively making jokes to downplay the darker themes, but at the same time it doesn’t linger heavily on the dark moments and let’s you step back and breathe. The series puts forward the worry of Falin being digested by the dragon and the hurry to reach it, but still allows moments for the party and audience to focus elsewhere because it knows we won’t have the answer till we get there. And when we do get there it shifts to give proper focus to the seriousness of the situation without downplaying it. Like I don’t know if I’m describing it well, but Dungeon Meshi is really good at balance

When Marcille and the Orc Leader are arguing over history and why the Orcs were pushed underground, it never highlights which one is right. That might change later, but I think it’s interesting to let them fight over it but never have an “um actually” moment. They say their version of history and then the fights over, so you’re left to ponder on which side is legitimate.

Episode Five makes me feral because we’re are getting hints to lore and backstory, while the main character is focused on trying to gather food for the party and thus is naturally not aware of the significance until its standing in front of him

The reveal the Dungeon Lord is actually looking for somebody and using the monsters for that search, changing the audiences view of them from being a simply crazy mage to somebody no different than our heroes in the pursuit of a loved one. This does not change that the severity of their actions and the harm it brings

[blubbledia]

I read - Dungeon Meshi - 2014/2023

"To eat is to be alive."

I saw it was completed and thought, "hey I read like half of that a couple years ago and really liked it!" So I promptly didn't read it. Instead I waited until I saw too many spoiler images on my dashboard! Which didn't really hinder me, so I started at the beginning and devoured the whole thing in two sittings. Very apt for the material. Also that I got around halfway through before starting over and making my way all to the bottom. No sister death for me though. The rest of my thoughts below the line.

So many elements of this manga weave together to create the best atmosphere. Like good ingredients making a good meal. OK, I'll stop with the food comparisons.

I think the most stand out piece for me is the story's pacing. I just appreciate a goal that, initially, should be a quick adventure, twisting and turning into something more complicated, while staying relatively short. Every goal, Defeat dragon and revive Falin, defeat Falin, defeat Mad Mage, become dungeon lord, defeat demon, and finally resurrect Falin? Fit. On some occasions, writers would use these extended and adjusted goals to artificially increase length. Here it not only feels natural, but even the inciting incident is justified by the twists. They only encountered the red dragon right at the beginning because the Mad Mage was sending it to look for the king.

Characters are absolutely stunning. From design, to motivation, to their growth. Every one has realistic growth. Laios never becomes a perfect leader. Sure he becomes king, but even in the epilogue he's still a goof. He is absolutely not good with people, honestly I don't think any of the main crew really are. But they are good with the people in their party (mostly). It even touches on how a new member fits in, and the realities of your adventuring buddies kind of just being work friends. Izutsumi is baby and I love her. Falin is adorable and I want to hug her.

The art is so fun and good and excellent at setting tone. The amount of times all things in a box will be shaded with one method, even the same density, but still clearly delineated between fore and background is amazing. Ryoko Kui also did designs of the characters as various races, which works so well for identifying the key features of a design. I wouldn't know what to say about page layouts, it's just not something that registers to my brain. I will spare another sentence to commend character design. How they look just makes my brain happy. I think it's the noses.

I could not in good conscience release my thoughts on this work into the aether without touching on the titular aspect of the work.

Food

The most interesting part to the food, is that the monsters all mimic real creatures. Nightmares are the ones that come to mind; aside from a fantasy element, they are mollusks. It makes it easy to connect to the reader and show food that they would also find appetizing. I'm a vegan but don't know the morality of eating monsters. Like, do the walking mushrooms count? I don't know enough to say. More importantly, food as a thing. To live is to need to eat. Of the base level of needs to survive eating is the one we have the most leeway over. You can choose what to eat and prepare. It can be done as an act of love toward others. There is a time where Laios brings up that at times when the worries and anxieties of what needed to be done were getting to him; that food grounded him, allowed him to calm down.

I should get some friends together for a meal.

[loregoddess]

14, 15, 25 for the Love your fandom ask

14) the ship that always makes you smile Hmm, for long-running media, probably Midna x Link from LoZ:TP, bc that's basically the oldest ship in my fleet and it still brings me lots of joy. For mid-running media, probably Kay x Franziska for AA (my first rarepair), Rinea x Faye for FE:SoV (rarepair I wasn't expecting to see others ship), and Ashe x Dedue (literally got me to go out of my comfort zone to figure out how to draw cute ship art, when I was really bad and afraid of drawing people interacting). For stuff that I've gotten into over the past year, probably Alear x Pandreo from FE:Engage, and Mineru x Purah from LoZ:TotK (also I'm kinda silly goofy happy about Jin x Xiaoyu finally getting some development in Tekken 8, but that's bc I had to suffer watching it come to fruition over like, 20 years of my life, slowest goddamned slowburn I've ever had to endure).

15) the character that always makes you smile Oh, lots and lots. Long-running media would be Shad LoZ:TP, love that guy, I get excited anytime I see him. For mid-running, Satoru Hosonaga, my beloved from DGS/tGAA, a decent number of FE characters (Kurthnaga, Rhys, Libra, Flora, Lukas, Faye, Dedue, Ashe, and Ferdinand come to mind off the top of my head), most of the FF7 cast but esp. Red XIII/Nanaki. For more recent things, Alear and literally any of the Engage characters actually, the Octo2 crew (and also the Octo1 crew, and a fair amount of NPCs from both games); I also read Dungeon Meshi recently and I gotta say one of the most casts of all time, I haven't settled on favorites yet but damn were there some good characters.

25) a piece of advice for taking care of yourself in fandom spaces Block button is your bestie, don't feel bad for blocking people for any reason whatsoever so that you can peruse the fandom tag in peace. But also, if you find other fans who are making stuff you enjoy, support them by reblogging their art or headcanons or writing or whatever, or even just liking their stuff.

Do what you want to see in your fandom if you have the energy. I like to see people excited about things they love, whether that's a character or a ship or something about the story or their OCs or their own headcanons, like, doesn't even matter if it's not my Thing, I genuinely enjoy seeing people happy and brave enough to share that happiness in the main tag, so I try to also share stuff that brings me joy when I engage with fandom stuff too. Share joy when you can.

This is not to say you should never be negative ever like, you should also give yourself space somewhere to be a petty snob about things that tick you off. You don't have to make it public, but at the very least give yourself an outlet to let the negative move through and out of you. Believe me there are so many things that tick me off so much about either fandom spaces or various media that I could rant about for hours, but I just choose Not To Share It after I've written it out bc writing it often makes me feel better--or I go and find a trusted friend who I can be like, "Hey I gotta vent about something stupid real fast, will you hear me out?"

Lots of things in life are never all positive or negative feelings, but no emotion is inherently good or bad, so it's important to let yourself feel those emotions and let them pass without bottling them up. Otherwise they stagnate or explode, and neither is fun to deal with the aftermath for. But like, it's okay to be pissy about things from time to time.

Have fun, but never feel like you have to engage with a fandom just because you used to be a part of it, or you got into a new thing. I treat fandom like a public park, I can go there when I want to enjoy myself but I can also leave anytime I want. If a bunch of mean people are hanging around the park I know there are other parks, and I can just go to those instead and cultivate my own little garden to make up for the park I won't go to anymore. I might even get to invite some friends to that garden. Honestly, most of the time I'm some weird forest hermit who only comes out sometimes to haunt the park, and I think that's just fine as well. Engage with fandom in a way that makes you comfortable.

[withered-tears]

Caught up to Dungeon meshi today (THE ANIME!! HAVNT READ THE MANGA YET!)

And i gotta be honest, guys.

Labru does nothing for me.

Like i get why so many people ship them! Its not one of those "there are just standing next to each other" cases, not at all! Theres def some interest and nice dynamic there.

But i personally just dont really find it uhhh whats the word, plausible? I think?

I can see Kabru interest/bordeline obsession with Laios turn into romance, sure.

But any version of Laios reciprocating just feels a tad too ooc to me.

Kinda the same happens to me with Luffy. All the fan content shipping luffy with anyone from the crew or any other character is hella cute! I love it! But Luffy is the most aro ace guy iv ever seen in an anime. My guy does not care about romance at ALL.

Laios gives me aro vibes, too, but dunno about ace. I feel he would be super interested in sex but not really for the intimacy? More like he would be fascinated by some aspects and be super curious and exploring, but there would be no romantic association for him?

Like he would look at sex the same way i look at huge complicated machinery. Like yeah i wanna get up all in that! But i dont particularly wanna become an engineer

I feel i kinda lost that metaphor a bit jtsjtsktskts

BUT YEH

Anyway the sky fish episode is now my favorite. Watching Marcille absolutely immersing herself in her vr headset was the FUNNIEST shit i ever seen.

[goombasa]

Dungeon Meshi is Delicious~

My girlfriend and I have this ritual where, every night for dinner, we like to sit down together and watch a video while we eat. Most of the time it's a youtube video we both have an interest in, but every now and then we'll start or continue a series that we're both interested in. We sat down one night a week or so ago and watched the first couple of episodes of Dungeon Meshi, or Delicious in Dungeon.

And this almost never happens to me, but after learning that the manga the show was based on was finished, I felt compelled the binge all 97 chapters, and… my god, this story is so good and goofy and I love it so much.

Delicious in Dungeon is a comedy fantasy manga by Ryoko Kui, about an adventuring party delving into a dangerous dungeon to rescue their comrade who was swallowed by a red dragon. Along the way, in order to keep their strength up, they have to use the natural resources of the dungeon to survive, which involves cooking the monsters that they kill, much to the terror of some of the members of the crew. Meanwhile, while the main focus is on their adventure, everyone around them is constantly worrying about the politics of the dungeon, ownership of the land around it, and the fact that the dungeon itself seems to be getting more powerful as time passes.

This is a fantastic story, with the real highlight being the worldbuilding. Every question that I found myself asking over the course of the series had an answer, and it was always a good one. Characters make reference to dying, and that's because something in the dungeon makes it so that anyone who dies can be brought back to life so long as their body is in decent condition and their soul hasn't gone too far from said body. The layout of the dungeon has basically been thoroughly mapped, to the point where various merchants have set up shop on certain floors, or specialized delvers trade in goods unique to the dungeon. Even the way that the town built around the dungeon functions is talked about, what sort of needs a town has when its main function is to serve as a hub for adventurers looking to get as deep into the dungeon as possible.

And as the story goes on and we're introduced through dialogue and backstory to the world outside of dungeon delving, we're shown a world that has a very strict political structure and a lot of mistrust among its people, centered around, of all things, the various lifespans of each race. It's fascinating.

Enhancing it all are the characters who are all just… god, they are such lovable beans, I love them all. Even the assholes, because we see why they're assholes and most of the assholes have moments where they aren't assholes and it warms my heart to see. Laios is dense in a way that sets him apart from your usual Shonen hero as being unintelligent, instead just being really socially awkward and it is kind of endearing seeing him share his special interest with others who more often than not just see him as very strange and off putting. Marcille the mage of the group and also the one who complains the most about having to eat monsters. Unlike many other shows or stories where this trait might get old or annoying, she actually manages to remain pretty endearing all throughout, and probably gets the most character development in a party that stays pretty static through the whole adventure. That's not a knock, as they do change in subtle ways, but it isn't nearly as pronounced as you see in other stories. Chilchuck is a good example of this, as while he does open up a bit more and let's down his professional guard now and then, he mostly remains a pretty pragmatic and distant hired hand for the party, an interesting change-up for the Hobbit stand-ins who are usually portrayed as pretty adventurous or curious. And then there's Senshi. He's a dwarf and he practically lives in the dungeon, and is an experienced hunter, gardener, and chef, with unusually powerful cooking gear. He's an oddball, like Laios, and the two compliment each other well, and there are some great interplay between him and Marcille given his mistrust of magic.

And then there's the fact that almost every chapter, we get at least one amazing dish made with the remains of slain monsters, and while the Anime goes out of its way to make it look as appetizing as possible (as anime tends to do with food), the manga also has these beautifully rendered pictures of every meal, as well as a list of all the different ingredients used in its creation. It's truly lovely.

I don't want to spoil anything, but once the gang gets to their destination, the amount of twists and turns that the overarching plot takes is quite interesting, and I found myself just wondering HOW it was all going to shake out by the end of the tale. This is an amazingly fun series, and one that is well worth checking out. The anime, at the time I'm writing this, is still airing its first season, and I'm not sure how far into the story they'll make it by the end. I'm legitimately hoping that it gets enough seasons to cover the entire story, because dammit, it deserves it. They'd only need like… three, I think, it's not a super long manga. It's currently airing on Netflix. But if you would prefer to get the whole story now, the manga finished its run back last September, and all except the last two volumes have been released in English by Yen Press, with volume 13 set to release in March of 2024, and the last volume coming at an unspecified date after that (at the time of writing).

It's been a long time since I've felt the need to binge a manga after seeing even a little bit of the anime, so I really think this one is something special. And it's an original fantasy story too! I feel like it's getting harder to get good fantasy anime that isn't dressed up like an Isekai at this point, and this story does not disappointment.

Just make sure you have a snack on hand while reading or watching. It tends to make you really hungry, seeing what they cook up.

[heliosynchronisity]

tag game that i literally only remembered i got tagged in bc i offhandedly checked by mentions today. This is literally from months ago im so sorry XD ty @thealterscrolls for the tag. I do in fact rly enjoy tag games btw 👀 Also helps bc ive been very dead here sorry ;v; im doing swell just havent had a lot of time or ideas to draw haha. Hopefully this will help tide u over with letting u know what ive been up to and all that XD

tag game below:

Last song listened to: according to spoofy...

Oh yeah I was listening to this album again while sewing I think. Been really enjoying putting on Seether albums while I do art stuff. I actually only started listening to them properly this year soley bc i saw their name on a friend's fursona refsheet and was like 'oh i should listen to them more' and now i do :)

Currently watching: Two things mainly;

I'm currently binging and trying to get up to date on Viva La Dirt League's NPC D&D campaign, the vldl crew are friends of my work and the DM for this games (Rob Hartley) dm'd the game that Aestereoth first debuted in. But also this series is literally the only dnd series I can watch/stomach. It isnt just 4hr podcasts every week. They're nice snippy 30 min episodes with cutaways to them acting out the scenes they played. It's SO FUNNY and i love these guys a lot :3 can't wait to catch up so i can draw them finally haha

Secondly is my partner and I are watching thru all of Card Captor Sakura!! :D They watched the localised version as a kid so it's important to them but they hadn't seen the unedited japanese version ever so we get to watch it for the first time together. It's just so cute and wholesome and silly and jkahsdkjahd good comfy anime. Fucked up in places like all good anime should be but like overall... 10/10 snuggle anime.

Currently reading: Dungeon Meshi 🤭

Current obsession: nothing currently :'( kinda why i havent been drawing much. Been spending most of my time doing other stuff like hanging with friend's/partners and working on my dance stuff. Maybe thats the closest thing I have to an obsession rn XD I do pole dancing classes now as well as I'm practicing other dance styles at home so I can make fursuit dance vids one day :3 I do need to make a ref for my new (secondhand) fursuit's character. Maybe that'll be in the works soon :D For now; have fursuit pics to tide u over :3

Rohan* She/He | Baphy He/Him

*old name, might change it - yet undecided

[misqnon]

i stopped reading usosan fanfic for this (actually i was happy to stop bc it was smut and i wasnt in the mood to read smut but was too lazy to look for non smut)

I KNOW.. PLEASE .. why does only sanji get to be free .. im so sad for them. reiju the literal (former) child soldier and pudding with no one to care for her and love her. i assume theyll come back in the cover stories. .. please oda... pls..

"UR RIGHT NO SHAME….PUTS MY YAOI PROUDLY ON THE FRIDGE" YEAH!!!! YEAHHH!!!!

NOO AHDNSBF.. i can relate though i always do exactly what im warned not to do

"it was all me. next i will be asking the size of katakur- [gunshots]" NOO HOW COULD THEY SILENCE U LIKE THIS ... dont worry I'll ask in ur place

u cant put improper french in ur fanfic!!!!

reading the water 7 arc when usopp splits always kills me inside... it hurts so bad. i hope that if/when sanji and zoro fight, its THAT emotionally impactful. like all the hidden meanings and . angst.. i want good angst. if they do actually get into a fight To The Death, i dont think anyone but luffy could stop them. i could also imagine theyre fighting to the death and like . what stops them is someone in the crew is put into mortal peril and theyre forced to work together (bc that's always how it goes). what they should actually do is sit down and talk about their feelings... with a mediator perhaps....

"but why does shuggy feel like one of the most likely to me." IT DOES TO ME TOO!!! like the subtext... is there... it is so much There.

"that is canon shuggy to me. oda doing it kinda halfheartedly in a roundabout way for laughs but the fandom is popping bottles (we popping the BIGGEST bottles when shuggy happens tomorrow-)" YEAH i think even if this is the case its a win. canon gay old guys??? who have been pining after each other (well mostly shanks pining after buggy) for what .. 25 years?? that would be amazing..

"do u think zoro will get more development of him as a character by the end of the story?" i do!!! i think he needs a bit more depth tbh. like he is a wonderful character and im not saying he should have a sadder backstory or something but. to me rn i think hes a bit more two dimensional compared to the rest of the crew. like yeah simplicity is wonderful but i think to me hes less.. of a simple character.. and more like a character that needs to have more emotional highs/lows. i know i could love him so much more if i just ... knew him better. anyways i think its coming bc there have been some realizations involving his character? backstory? recently. and i assume oda knows that he could use more emotional depth. stoic and aloof characters are fine but i think the real appeal is when u get to see into their mind for a second and understand who they really are as a person

sexualize him to the point the audience wonders if hes actually a woman

thank u for watching my 4kids sanji video. i actually have like 5 videos saved of trace heatfist because he is so weirdly attractive in the 4kids dub but i will spare u. also idk if uve heard 4kids luffy but imo his voice is way better than the funimation dub???

"WHILE CONNECTED to a GIANT PROJECTOR…THIS briefly flashed on the screen before i frantically clicked away. no one saw but i. i did." this is EXTREMELY FUNNY. i really enjoy embarrassing stories because i find my own embarrassing stories very funny (when i tell them to other people)

brainwash everyone into believing sanji one piece is gay in SOME way.. ur doing gods work

i love how not normal u are about him

"(nodding) no go on what animal parts" see if u had read dungeon meshi i could reference it and everything would be so much easier, BUT YOU HAVENT /lh /teasing

ok but i have been obsessed with animals since i was a kid (especially lions and wolves (special interest go brr)) so probably lotta lion parts... because theyre cooler looking than wolves. and also just give me wings for good measure. i want to fly. nevermind that wings are meant for lightweight creatures. these are magic wings. its one piece..

i saw u post abt nightcrawler and i was never really into x men but hes pretty

i stared at the law comic... for.... like... 10 minutes.... rhank u ... for putting that onto my . feed

YEAH HES 6'3. actually hes the shortest warlord, tied with boa hancock. 6 feet tall is short in one piece

"gay art markets" already intrigued.

THATS SO COOL AJJDHSDJ.. i have been to a few anime cons and i dont remember?? ever seeing any law's??? its very sad .. i went the year before last year i think. i did see a huge furry one time (at the anime con). they looked like they were 7 feet tall. it was really exciting. and intimidating. that weird mix of the two. i am 5'3 for reference.. like wow. u are huge.....

"i love ur insane thoughts pls continue to share."

"i will do the same someday when i am less shy and ashamed of my unhinged fandom thoughts" pls do!! share ur own!! (when ur comfortable!!) i will not judge .. this is a judgement free zone. and also a shaming free zone

"such as making zoro amvs to abba in my head on the way to therapy." u are so powerful...

"thats a line my therapist actually said in response to something i did once." ur therapist sounds cool wtf. i never got a cool therapist

YEAH I SAW PPL TALK ABT IT SO I RECOGNIZED THE POSSIBLE CROCODILE.. i saw someone say croc was gonna be... some white dude.. and internally i was crying.. how could u do that to him

thank u for ur sacrifice

(watched the video) omg its prozd!!!! i love stuart.... Stuart.. stuart little.. ???? no wonder he got along with mice

YEAH I HEARD THAT TOO?? LIKE WTF IS HAPPENING... its cuz crunchyroll is funding ...

did my meme image come off as ambiguous. i asked my friend if it was ambiguous and they said no.. but i had nothing wlse....

robin canonically having touched (crushed) franky's balls for an extended period of time is so weird to me. thats what i think abt when i see naked franky..

p.s. i will add u there... my discord is something like. stupid.. stinky... or something... i dont remember. u saw the doflamingo snail just remember that. oh wait i also have my name as my name. ok. i forgot about that.

send me ur sanji pics .

rowan i am honored 

ok that gives me a question tho. i feel like u mentioned sanuso before and im curious. do people?? have ships with characters in them that they dont like?? like before i converted u. i feel like i could never like a ship that had a character i disliked in it. or at the very least i would grow to like both the characters

THE COVER STORIES i didnt think about that!! yes…oda please…i know u havent forgotten about reiju bc u put her in that one really fruity chapter cover with tashigi for some reason…

to all the haters that i dont have….but my silence. for $5,000 a month,

APPARENTLY NOT the french in my fic is all now double checked….to my embarrassment 

TRUE IT WOULD BE LIKE THE USOPP SPLIT…and yea. that moment WAS a lot. i think i teared up. there are a lot of “crewmate almost leaves the crew” moments and i think a fight between two strawhats (which has also happened before! but usually at least one of them is luffy!) could feel similarly. i like ur interpretation of how it could go too…there’s this trope in zosan fanfics where robin ALWAYS is all up in there business trying to mediate them and i both love it and hate it lmao. like yea she probably would notice but also why does she always gotta be ur guys’ therapist….and in canon. for a moment like that. it would probably have to be luffy wouldnt it??

oda: haha guys i made buggy gay isnt that Funny

the fandom: [hooting and hollering]

I AGREE COMPLETELY ABT ZORO. HE DOES NEED JUST A BIT MORE EMOTIONAL DEPTH. MAKE HIM GO THROUGH SOMETHING…stoic and cool characters REALLY DO need a moment where they ARENT STOIC AND COOL to be more well-rounded…and zoro hasnt really gotten that since that one time he cried at baratie like a thousand chapters ago (literally). and that was a very brief moment. he and robin can be similar and enies lobby is what made everyone love her more…when is zoro’s enies lobby. i dont actually need an entire arc like that for him (i mean i'd love that but i dont expect it) BUT AT LEAST GIVE HIM SOMETHING!!

“sexualize him to the point the audience wonders if hes actually a woman” already there babes 🫡 just doing my part

DID. DID THEY ACTUALLY CALL HIM TRACE HEATFIST IN THE 4KIDS DUB…ARE U SERIOUS RN…IVE NEVER HEARD THAT BEFORE PLEASE SAY SIKE. i just looked up luffy’s voice as well AND I LIKE THE VOICE ITSELF A LITTLE BETTER?? BUT THE VOICE ACTING IS….HM. 

THE GALLERY I WORK AT IS SUPER CHRISTIAN I THOUGH GAY SANJI WAS GONNA GET ME FIRED ZJBFVHDCSKJ it was. it was so funny afterwards tho. i will share embarrassing stories like my life depends on it

“i love how not normal u are about him” 

IM SORRY MY FRIEND KEEPS TRYING TO GET ME TO READ DUNGEON MESHI BUT IM TOO BUSY READING ONE PIECE 😭😭😭 lion…and wings…so u want to be a griffin 👁️

not 6’3 and shortest warlord. dkjnvkjnfvkj

i love the gay art markets. also NO LAWS?? I THOUGHT HE WAS SUPER POPULAR…DIDN THE BEAT OUT ZORO IN THE POPULARITY POLLS ONE TIME

“i will not judge .. this is a judgement free zone.” WRONG bangs my sanji gavel. 

my therapist IS very cool she makes fun of me but in a good way and also makes me laugh. and i make her laugh. bc i am ridiculous. i got very lucky

i dont think theyve made any casting choices for s2 publicly yet so…we will See..

STUART KILLED ME but so did “HIS NAME IS LUFFY! THAT’S Monkey Luffy” its been playing in my head. also sanji’s love for mice/rats makes me fucking insane bc its the cutest thing on earth. that scene where he’s completely enamored by a rat that’s sitting in a woman’s shirt and he is completely ignoring the woman. for the rat 😭 SANJI LOVES MICE MORE THAN WOMEN CONFIRMED-

no but i saw clips of that scene and about cried. same to that mouse wedding he attended in a drawing request oda did kfnvkjd. can u imagine the first time they get rats in the galley and they’re all expecting sanji to freak and kill them and then they walk in and he’s made them tiny stir fry and is calling them cutesy names. they would be like. 😮

also all the fan content ive seen where ratatouille is his favorite movie. ANYONE CAN COOK!!!!! 😭

AMBIGUOUS?? I DONT THINK SO? I liked it. we turn a sad into a frrAAANKKYYYYYYYY

and god i try not to think about it but also. ROBIN WHYYY WAS THAT THE FIRST THING YOU THOUGHT OFFFF SHE IS INSANE. SHE’S SO WEIRD.  

EVIL(ER) CROCODILE NX KJDC

I ADDED U ON DISCORD!!!! sanji pics…breathes in…i will add a couple more here but. should i send some on discord as well. is that how i break the ice. images of sanji with his ass up in the air (my collection)

also check out how much this dude can cry!!! (laughing but also crying):

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

12/31/2023 – 01/06/2024

Sunday

Ended the year strong by doing absolutely nothing at all.

Monday

I finally got around to watching SpyFam season 2’s finale, and while it was cute and inoffensive, it was also an extremely nothing episode. Bond centric stories are already weak, and this one just dragged on for way too long. The montage at the end doing a “here’s where everyone’s at!” thing was pretty funny – why yes, thank you for reminding me that everyone has ended this season almost exactly where they started. I’m definitely starting to feel a slight fatigue with SpyFam’s stagnation, if that wasn’t already clear. Maybe the mangaka does have an overarching story they want to tell, but right now it really feels like they’re just trying to drag things out for as long as they can… I don’t blame them, because capitalism is a hellscape, but it does make SpyFam ring hollow at times. And I can’t help but think back to that interview they did where they mentioned how they have no real attachment to their characters – it does feel like they tried hard to find a winning popular manga formula, found it, and is now trying to ride the wave for as long as they can. I don’t know, maybe I’m just feeling bitter because I remember being so excited for this series when I first read it, and it’s a little frustrating to see its characters remain the same after so many years.

I watched Kusuriya next, and it had a similarly lowkey episode to round off its first half. That sequence of Maomao running everywhere was so janky and awkward that it made me laugh, but other than that there wasn’t really anything notable. Considering that the latter half is going to be mainly the Outer Palace arc, I’m slightly dreading it, but I’ll try to go in with an open mind.

Hopped onto Dropout and watched the Rick Perry documentary they put out and it’s pretty well done. You can really feel the care that the Dropout crew puts into every one of their productions. I personally would’ve loved to get a more in-depth look at the actual building process, but the documentary is cute for what it is.

Tuesday

Um

Wednesday

We watched some more House, and this batch of episodes was pretty good. I especially liked the one with Michael B. Jordan, it was nice and feel-good while also having plenty of fun Hilson hijinks. In general, the uptick of Hilson storylines has been very welcome. Taub was also a highlight here, having some nice Dad moments with Park and gay moments with the hockey player.

I read the latest Kusuriya manga chapter after that, and while ghost mysteries are my least favourite subgenre of Kusuriya mysteries, learning more about Lishu and seeing her stand up for herself was nice.

Thursday

We’re getting really close…we watched three more episodes of House today, and they were pretty intense. I didn’t care about the patients at all – Wilson’s cancer diagnosis really turns the show and the Hilson dynamic on its head. For the first time, we get to see House actually sacrifice a lot of his time and even his medication to take care of someone else, and all of their interactions in this episode were so charged and wonderfully angsty. The part where House holds Wilson in his arms as Wilson begs him to not let him die in the hospital was so… And then the ending, with House turning Wilson’s painful chemo treatment into a fun memory they could look back on was probably the nicest thing House has ever done for anyone on the show. The Hilson road trip episode after this was also fun…I’m glad we’re getting a lot of ship fodder before the show ends.

DUNGEON MESHI ANIME GOOD!!!!!! I’ve been really looking forward to this ever since it was announced, and I’m so glad to see that it’s as good as I could’ve hoped for. The voice cast is great, especially Kentarou Kumagai…casting him as Laios is such a galaxy brain move because I know him best as Omi from A3! and that one seme from that money lender BL, so in my mind his niche is big heart of gold guys with a tiny bit of edge to them if they’re pushed too far and that makes me INSANE. Because Laios is so nice and cute but also INSANE AND UNHINGED and I really can’t wait to see Kentarou act out some of the later scenes. (And considering that this is Studio Trigger, I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ll adapt the entire manga series). The colors are great, the loose animation is great, Marcille is so fun and pouty and whiny (as she should be) and has a ton of funny faces and noises, and the comedic timing is amazing (that janky close up on Marcille’s withering look was gold). I like the narrator too, and the food porn is top notch. The only small gripe I have is how low-budget the OP animation/direction feels, but if it means that the episodes themselves get more focus then so be it.

Friday

Today’s the day… We finally finished House M. D. All in all, it was a pretty fun show. Lots of deeply stupid and silly storylines and hammy writing, but when it got into House’s flaws as a person and his secret longing for companionship and acceptance, the plot was engaging and genuinely moving. House and Wilson’s relationship has and always will be the star of the show (even outside of ship reasons) because of how they desperately cling to each other despite their respective flaws – their relationship is really a testament to the power of love against all hardship and finding meaning in life and other people despite the pain of being alive. I think it’s probably one of the better medical procedurals out there for the strength of its character writing and their restraint with keeping the show from going completely off the rails (cough Grey’s Anatomy cough). I’ll give it a 6/10 (which is lower than the 8/10 I gave when I first watched it in high school, mostly due to me realizing that a lot of it is kind of stupid). (Shoutout to the scene where Foreman finds House’s medical I.D. propping up his wobbly table and realizes that he’s still alive – that was really cute).

It’s time for Manga…Friday? Undead Unluck is up first, and it’s very cute. It’s so fun to see Julia be much more of a hothead than Juiz was, but you can still some similarities between the two with her iron tenacity. For Fuuko to grow from mentee to mentor is such a fun change. I also loved the little details of Shen telling Mui about the stars and Sean clinging onto Gina when the building comes down.

Oshi no Ko…uh oh! Ruby’s losing herself a little bit! I wonder how far they’ll let her push things for the sake of making this movie.

Jumanji, huh… I’ve never watched it, but Dandadan seems to be paying homage to it pretty heavily. With how much they’ve teased Zuma’s appearance now, I’m expecting his eventual reveal to be pretty spectacular (or comedically underwhelming).

Magilumiere is still at full throttle – for a moment I thought glasses guy was also going to transform, but alas. This battle’s shaping up to be an interesting one, though.

Not Bonney getting her own Ace moment in One Piece… I’m guessing that Saturn’s pincers are poisoned or something, because I can’t really imagine Kuma surviving beyond this arc. But who knows, Oda doesn’t like to kill characters unless absolutely necessary, after all. The little bits of information Saturn dropped were also juicy, though I don’t remember enough about One Piece lore to properly theorize on it.

CIPHER ACADEMY IS SO GOODDDDDDDDDD and god this really does have finale energy, huh… Everyone’s dancing together and doing a million cool and fun poses, Enchan gets an emotional farewell after having accompanied Iroha this far, and then people drop off one by one until we get the full circle moment of Iroha facing against his Class Leading Private rivals again. (I was really hoping we’d learn more about the bear, but okay…) (Also it was super cute seeing Tayutan and Toshusai do a dance pose together, also Tayutan almost calling her Kyorarin???) (Also also seeing the girls who usually have their hair up have it down was super cute…) As Iroha points out, he’s now grown so much that he can actually compete with them head to head… It makes me emotional to think about how far he’s come. Anon betraying her other boygirlfriend Yosaimura was fun (you can always trust her to betray, after all), but then Iroha choosing Toshusai over her is so… Even though Iroha has undeniable chemistry with every girl in his class somehow, it makes sense that he wants to go up against Toshusai in the final battle for the title of Code Emperor. In another full circle moment, he’s fighting against the girl who started this whole journey off in the first place. If this is really the end (though I wouldn’t put it past Nisioisin to troll us again), I think I’d be pretty satisfied. At least it’ll feel like Cipher Academy was allowed to run its natural course and bring its story to a solid conclusion.

Saturday

Oh, it’s Drag Race season again, huh… I’m not like, a superfan of Drag Race, but I do enjoy watching it for the performances and the costumes. And because I’m a nerd with no friends, every season I like to do a little bit of Fantasy Drag Race points counting. I’m not competing against anyone, so it’s more just a test of how good my analytical skills are in predicting who the winner will be from episode one. So far, after watching the Meet the Queens promo and now episode one, Sapphira is definitely my frontrunner for how multitalented she is, and Dawn is also on my roster because I appreciate the weird elfgirl energy that she’s bringing. I think Q will also be a strong competitor, but I won’t put her on my roster. Megami and Nymphia are also on my radar, but I’ll have to see them on next week’s episode before I solidify my picks. The episode itself was pretty standard fare, though I’m curious to see how the immunity mechanic will shake things up. I have to admit that I’m a hermit so I usually don’t know the celebrity guest judges that they bring on, so I had to skip the Charlize Theron section because it was so boring to me. Then the talent show was decent – it seems like everyone’s a dancer this season, so a lot of girls just decided to do an original dance number…but I wish they’d come up with some more unique angles. This is why Q’s puppet number and Sapphira’s opera number stood out so much – if everyone’s serving cunt, it’s easy for your cunt to get lost in the crowd (as Aristotle once said). Runway-wise, I liked Dawn’s monster themed reveals and Q’s bug themed reveals. I was a little disappointed with Sapphira’s look because like…you can say it’s not just a leotard and everything but it still kind of just looks like a leotard. And while the color matching on the breast plate was immaculate and they shimmered really nicely, the boob size was so off… I’m a little worried about her fashion game now, but I still like her personality and energy a lot so I’m gonna keep rooting for her. SDJFKLDFSF NOT SAPPHIRA’S TITTIES BOUNCING ON THE GROUND DURING THE LIP SYNC LMAOOOO The lip sync also demonstrated why I think Q will make it far but not all the way – she’s a great performer in a lot of ways, but at the end of the day the Drag Race meta hinges on lip syncing, and it doesn’t seem like she has a lot of tricks and dips up her sleeve. And even putting dancing ability aside, her face didn’t really sell me on the song either. But let’s see how the rest of the season shakes out.

I read the latest A Second Goodbye to You chapter and I don’t have much to say about it, other than it’s cute seeing kid Hinata venture out to try and solve this conundrum himself. But I guess it’s also a little scary, because he won’t be able to fend off any physical attacks should he get himself in danger…

And it looks like that’s it for 2023’s Week in Reviews! I’m glad that I’ve been able to keep up with posting these – if nothing else, I can expel all the useless but plentiful thoughts I have and empty out my brain to make room for other things. Hopefully 2024 will be another year full of interesting stories.

[dantereviews]

Manga Review - Kuutei Dragons

8/10

Kuutei Dragons is a fantasy, action and adventure manga with 31 chapters released as of writing, created by Taku Kuwabara. Its a surprising lovely little piece that focuses on the crew of the Quin Zaza, an airship, as they make their living by finding, hunting and butchering the majestic dragons that rule the skies. Our two leads are Mika, a fearless dragon hunter who’s sole desire appears to be to enjoy the best dragon meat meals he can create, and Takita, a sunny young woman who is just starting her career on the ship.

My favourite part of the manga has to be how lovingly each piece of the incredibly detailed world has been crafted. The ecosystem of this world is dominated by dragons - huge, majestic beasts that soar over the land. Airships suspended by balloons travel the skies as well, equipped with functional and effective tools to survive in the hostile air and subdue those animals who live there. A strong steam-punk kind of aesthetic pervades the manga, with that kind of souped up 1800′s era technology battling with the grand mega-fauna dragons. Its very well realized, without any of the cliche or unbelievable elements that often have to ignored in order to enjoy fantasy manga. Despite being completely foreign to our modern world, it feels like stepping into a book on some lost history rather than a fictional tale.

Then there is the artwork, which is really stunning. It was a struggle not to just take pages from every single chapter and dump them all into the review just to show off how nice it all is. Delicate and detailed linework with deliberate shading create a realistic yet stylised setting, which is used to show scenes of epic natural splendor, intimate and emotional moments and grand scale airships alike. The leviathan-like dragons look just as real and believable as all the little pieces of equipment and uniforms and the like, making it a consistent joy to look at. The characters themselves each have a distinct design, avoiding the problem of ‘same face’ that can be a big detriment to other manga. They characters are more cute than realistic, but within such a real setting that just allows them to be more expressive and charming than if they were played 100% straight. Having such distinctive characters lets the author telegraph who characters are and what theyre thinking with ease and thus letting the plot go on without having to monologue about feelings every second chapter.

My final point to touch on is the last main character of the piece, which is food. Much like another favourite of mine, Dungeon Meshi, this story wouldnt be complete without the crucial fact that the crew not only butchers their prey to sell parts and make money, they also eat them! Kuutei Dragons delights in making your mouth water with delicious recipe after delicious recipe of dragon steak sandwiches, dragon goulash, butterflied and roasted dragon, and so on and so forth. Theres a new dish nearly every chapter, and it even gives you a proper recipe so you can make it yourself, if you can find the dragon meat. Its a tasty treat on top of an already good manga that goes down easy!

Kuutei Dragons is the definition of an easy read. Its charming but also engaging. Its light hearted and fun, but then it can be tense and exciting as well. The colourful crew are easily likeable and the regal dragons look as interesting as they look tasty. I give it an 8/10 and a strong recommendation to anyone who like Miyazaki films, fantasy, or thinly veiled whaling allegories.

[nonbinaryizutsumimoved]

opinions on dungeon meshi or teio? :o

ask game!

i love dungeon meshi!!! im not super heavily into fantasy genres like dnd style stuff just bc a lot of it confuses me despite how cool it is, but i feel like dungeon meshi does a good job at introducing you to the world :3 i also think it subverts certain character tropes associated with fantasy classes/races (it does still fall into the traditional tropes of particular ones, but they are not defined wholly by that)

i love how dungeon meshi doesn’t take itself too seriously in comparison to other manga i’ve read, like obviously those serious manga aren’t bad, but it’s just that dungeon meshi is always fun no matter what :) the current arc is the most serious it has been so far i think, but there are still those bits of comedy in it! and also the comedy itself isn’t cheap or founded on gross stuff, it’s just genuinely funny! with that said, i do think the overarching plot as well as the more serious stuff that is surfacing is super interesting too and has great potential

the different recipes they come up with for the meals made out of the monsters are really creative too :3

i also love the characters, i dont really think i hate/dislike anyone like there are some characters im not heavily into, but i like most everyone or at least everybody is interesting in some way

my only real criticism for it is that there ought to be more darker skinned characters introduced into the setting since while there are a few, all the mains are white or light skinned. for instance, dungeon meshi elves are similar to those often found in the fantasy genre, being characterized as light skinned with light eyes and blond hair. there are a couple of brown elves and while they are important to the plot, they aren’t as recurring or heavily featured as the main crew