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possamble · 2 months

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What are your headcanons about Marcille's mom if you have any? It's interesting that what drew Donato to her was cause she lived the history he studied, or that was said somewhere at least. She must've had an interesting life.

so this was going to be just a normal answer but then I realized I have a Lot of Things To Say. so here goes, a compilation of what we know for a fact from the canon, what I've extrapolated from the visual cues and details, and my theories based on all of that.

Things we know for a fact about Marcille's mother because they were explicitly stated in the manga and supplemental materials:

She was a court mage for a Tall-man kingdom at the southern part of the Northern Continent

Donato, a court historian, fell in love with her because she had lived through the history he was studying, and he courted her for 17 years (age 15 to 32) before getting married

She was a cheerful person who rarely showed extreme emotion and took things as they came

She always cooked a huge meal for Marcille on her birthdays

She remarried a gnome after Donato's death and a short distance away from Marcille's childhood home

Pipi, Marcille's pet bird, was actually older than Marcille and originally belonged to her mother (bird died at 62)

She was extremely heartbroken when Donato died and ultimately ended up instilling a deep fear of mortality in Marcille with her words

the only time she showed extreme emotion in front of her family was when Donato could no longer eat his favourite dish near the end of his life.

She scolded Marcille for being cruel to ants (implying she can have a stern side when needed)

Things that are explicitly shown but mostly through visual cues

She has a very distinctive style of dress always involving a ribbon choker (mirroring Marcille's habit of always wearing a matching choker with any of her outfits that don't cover her neck)

She was almost stereotypically good at housekeeping and traditionally "wifely" things (very frequently depicted wearing an apron or doing some domestic chore when not at work, seems to have been an avid cook).

She knits? (also, note the affectionate smile as she's looking at Donato and Marcille reading a book together in the full panel)

She was as excited for Marcille's milestones as Donato was.

She didn't tell Marcille much about elven food

(there are a couple things that this panel in particular implies:

She lived a good deal of her life (if not being born and raised) in a mainly elven country in the West, implied by her knowing enough of an elven region's cuisine to prefer Tall-man food over it

seems to have a pretty carefree and casual demeanour overall, if this is how she replied to Marcille asking her about it (sounds like she never gave her culinary preferences that much thought to begin with)

slightly related to number 2, it seems like she and Marcille had a fairly casual parent-child dynamic (especially in comparison to the Toudens' memory of their father)

(local elf tastes Italian food once and never goes back))

However, she seems a lot more... serious in most of the other times we see her? Almost like the very stereotypical archetype of a graceful elf.

Subsequent conclusions about her personality:

Usually pretty carefree and cheerful at home, has been a loving and attentive parent throughout Marcille's childhood (while not being so doting that she didn't discipline Marcille).

Slightly more conjectural theories on her personality:

Had a much more graceful and professional personality at work, which would explain the more serious portraits we see of her.

Given that both she and Donato had positions at the royal court, it seems a little odd that she'd go out of her way to do all the housework herself, so maybe she just enjoyed doing it?

Now taping all the evidence together and toeing the line between analysis and fanfiction:

It's clear that she loved Donato very much and was utterly devastated by losing him. But there's one thing that really stuck out to me in what little we see of her:

Doesn't she seem... angry? The way she's gritting her teeth, clutching the tablecloth, and how this is the first and only time we see her eyes opened that wide. In the following panel, you see her being quiet and dejected after her initial outburst. She's still crying very intensely, but her brows are furrowed, and she's not really responding to Donato's affection in her body language.

We're not told the details of how she felt about losing Donato other than that it upset her. But this, to me, implies that she was angry and resented that he was aging, that the end of his life was approaching. An "it's not fair" type of preemptive grief. And if this was the first and last time she cried like this in front of her family, she was either very good at coping in private... or very bad at letting herself feel unpleasant emotions until they become unavoidable and end up overwhelming her.

It's not too remarkable a detail on the surface. It's even reminiscent of what the audience has seen of Marcille. But... when it comes to the big picture, you'd think an elf who voluntarily chose to marry a tall-man and have a half-elf child would have been better prepared for this.

It kind of recontextualizes her cheerfulness to me.

"I'm sure everything's gonna be okay!" (or some variation thereof, depending on what translation you have).

And this is stated to contrast her extreme grief when finally confronting Donato's failing body and eventual death. But I'm wondering if... maybe this optimism was why she was so upset. What if she went into all of it thinking "everything's gonna be okay"? What if she was a little young by elven standards, and just followed her heart thinking that her own resilience would get her through anything?

Of course, only to get completely overwhelmed when she actually loses Donato. She turns into a completely different person. And that's heartbreaking on its own-- but what the audience sees is the effect it had on Marcille. Can you imagine being her, watching your invincible and upbeat mother suddenly lose all the light in her eyes in one go?

I've already made a huge post about how I think Marcille models her "work persona" off her mother, but another thing that stuck with me as I was looking for more details in the manga was this:

copy pasting from the other post i made about it lmao it's like... the second she resigns herself to lifelong pain and terror, there's another portrait of her mother facing her like this. with their heads bowed, in mirrored body language of resignation and despair and sorrow. Except it's posed like Marcille is still looking at her mother but her mother is looking away.

It took me a second to realize, but I think that it's a visual metaphor for the fact that Marcille's mother was the only long-lived role model she had-- and she failed to model healthy grief for her daughter. I don't say this as an accusation or to disparage her as a character, but just as a matter of fact. In her, Marcille was seeing herself older and losing a short-lived spouse or loved one of her own, and all she saw was hopelessness.

But her mother didn't mean to instill hopelessness and terror in her. She wasn't really thinking of how it would truly affect Marcille at all (at least, that's how I'm interpreting her looking down and away from Marcille in the metaphor), she was just sad. And she, in her own way, was trying to protect her daughter and help her prepare for future losses.

What she meant was "loss is inevitable, and you have to learn how to be in pain but live on anyway." What Marcille heard was "loss is inevitable, and you will be scared and hurt for the rest of your life."

Again. Marcille's mother doesn't feature explicitly in the story the way her father does -- but in so many ways, her shadow, her silhouette, her reflection is always hanging over Marcille.

All that to say... headcanon-wise (everything from here on is 100% without evidence lmao), I'd like to think that she matured and realized that she failed Marcille. I imagine her being regretful about it, wanting a chance to fix it but never finding a way to insert herself back into Marcille's life when Marcille is so so so busy becoming the most accomplished mage possible. I imagine her being herself again, now, so many years after her loss and after remarrying -- but with her cheerfulness tempered with a lot more wisdom and the pain of having gone through loss like that. I think the second Marcille actually tells her what happened in the dungeon, she'd want to go running to her daughter again -- if Marcille tells her the full truth instead of just being embarrassed she let things get that far. (oh, the tragedy of her wanting to be more like her mother and an accomplished adult who doesn't need to be babied... being embarrassed to actually tell her mother how much she fucked up...)

There's also the tension of her having remarried -- I know that there's at least a little bit of resentment that Marcille harbours about that, because she's childish like that at heart even if she makes an effort not to externalize it. I think that her mother would be aware of that, potentially adding to her sense of guilt and apprehension at trying to reappear/intrude on Marcille's life. I honestly don't think Marcille has met her stepfather -- or even considers him a stepfather rather than "mama's new husband" and kind of a total stranger. I think she and her mother actively don't talk about it in their correspondence, like an elephant in the room.

but, ultimately, I think her mother is on her side no matter what. Ancient magic? Dark necromancy? Sure, she'll feel guilty and like she was partially responsible for setting Marcille down such a painful path, but she wouldn't care. that's her daughter!! she would've moved back west and been petitioning for her at the court, buying a house right next to the Canaries barracks and visiting her every day that she wasn't on a mission. And if her husband had opinions on Marcille becoming a "dark arts user," he either gets over it or it's divorce with him. Yes, she might have had her optimism completely humbled by losing Donato like that -- but she's still headstrong and self-assured and she doesn't care what people think of her. It's her way or the highway and she's always going to be in Marcille's corner.

(She also needs a name lol. I went with Juno, just to be cute about "Marcille"s closest real life equivalent being Marcella, which is the female version of Marcellus, which in turn is a diminutive of Marcus, which was derived from Mars. Absolutely in love with Marcille potentially being named after Ares/Mars the fucking god of war btw)

#asks #she could easily be interpreted as distant or neglectful after Donato's death too #with how little involvement she has in Marcille's life/the fact that Marcille doesn't even mention her when talking about her life prospect #and that's fair! I will argue to hell and back that she was a loving parent when Donato was alive #but there's nothing that suggests she remained a loving parent afterwards #I just think that like... parental relationships are so complicated in dungeon meshi #you cannot deny that the toudens' mother loved them dearly but that she failed them both miserably as a parent #and i think it'd be more compelling if Marcille's mother was a little like that too #not a totally and easily dismissable deadbeat #but someone who truly loves her daughter but was only human herself and couldn't be what Marcille needed at a crucial moment #and regrets it deeply #and that the distance between them is mutually self-imposed by complicated feelings of guilt and fear #and a little resentment from Marcille's side that she hasn't really properly processed #I don't know if I'll ever get around to writing it but i had this idea where Marcille does finally spill the beans to her mom and she just #immediately arrives in Melini #and its awkward for a bit but they do finally have a heart to heart and air it all out #and marcille starts freaking out that her marriage is rocky rn bc her new husband wants her to distance herself from marcille #on account of the crimes and all #marcille's like no you can't blow up your marriage for me and her mother just shuts that shit down #'you didn't choose to be born. i was the one who made that choice for you'#'i brought you into this world and i'll be damned if i don't take responsibility for that the entire way'#'you are entitled to *nothing less* than my unconditional love.'#and obviously that's not a sentiment that's exactly healthy as a universal statement about parenthood #but i think its what her mother would believe and what marcille needs to hear #and dungeon meshi does such a fantastic job at just... letting imperfect things just *be* without having to justify it immediately #it expects the audience to do their own critical thinking #and know that its not trying to make sweeping universal statements in every instance #marcilleposting #marcille donato #junoposting

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sunnibits · 25 days

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Tell me Dimitri lore. Now.

Who is he. What is he. What's his deal. What's his story. What is his place in the story you're telling yourself in your head. What's his stance on old hairy men.

HE-HE’S JUST- *grabs you by the shoulders, white-knuckled* he’s my everything. he’s my skrunkly. he’s my little punching bag. I love him so much.

putting this under a cut because I just made this very long but I am absolutely not ashamed, I hope you like reading 👍👍

Dimitri Kazriel is my first (and almost only, I have one other new character) dnd character, created for a campaign that I loved but was sadly cut short a while ago due to the DM being an absolute jackass that I could no longer respect. He’s a stereotypical little edgy tiefling who is officially a warlock but is essentially a rogue in every other aspect. He’s charming (or at least he thinks he is), snarky, a bit asshole-ish, untrusting, sneaky, and an absolute disaster. He look like dis :)

He lives in a Norse mythology-based world, and his warlock patron is none other than the god Loki, who he has happily served for like 10 years now.

His deal you ask? Well, teehee *twirls hair* well his deal is that he’s a widdle puppet of the gods who has no concept of how tiny he really is in their plans and how little his patron actually cares about him 🥰😍😍 he exists solely to be manipulated and used as a microscopic chess piece on a board of grander scale than he will ever comprehend!!! 😍😍😍

Not only is he Loki’s little puppet (which like, he’s kind of starting to become aware of but not fully) but in the timeline of the campaign, Odin himself has also taken an interest in him! And essentially gave him an offer to help Odin overthrow Loki and as a reward, Dimitri could literally ascend to godhood in Loki’s place! Sounds great right! Except ummm Loki sees and knows all and Dimitri knows that if Loki catches him plotting with Odin he’ll probably be horribly punished 🥰

So basically his whole deal (as of the time that the campaign ended) is that he’s a little puppet chess piece that two gods are fighting over, and he has no idea what they really want, has no concept of how insignificant he really is to them, and has literally no sense of independent identity outside of servitude! 😍

But the manipulation theme goes wayyy beyond just that because before he served Loki, he spent the majority of his teens as part of this sort of gang-like organization called the Weavers. (There’s like this whole city lore thing but yada yada basically they’re a sneaky force that controls a lot of shit). Specifically, he serves the leader of the Weavers, a man called the Broodfather. (Literally all of this city and Weavers lore was all made up by my DM btw, I’m not gonna claim ownership of that even if he is a shitbag. Most of Dimitri’s story and backstory was very much an ongoing collaborative project between us.)

And ohhh I could go on about what that was like but basically all you need to know is that the Broodfather is Not Nice and was extremely manipulative and made Dimitri sort of look up to him as a father-like figure for years, someone that Dimitri strove to make proud. (Also the Weavers basically “rescued” him from poverty on the streets so he feels like he owes the Broodfather a debt.) Eventually this all culminates in him tricking Dimitri into killing his best friend! 😍 Which finally makes Dimitri realize “oh shit I need to get the Hell Out Of Dodge” but long story short that plan fails, the Broodfather catches him in the act, punished him and completely breaks his spirit!!!!

Now THIS. This is where Loki swoops in. When Dimitri is at his absolute lowest point, Loki comes in and offers him freedom and power, and Dimitri takes it. He serves Loki for years - (he doesn’t like thinking of himself as a servant of course, he considers Loki more of a generous benefactor who he happens to share a lot of mischievous traits with) - and even when he does finally start to question his allegiance, Loki keeps him in his grasp by reminding him of who saved him, who it was who so kindly freed him from enslavement to the Weavers.

But. But. 🥰Teehee. My favorite part. My absolute favorite part of the lore. Is what Dimitri doesn’t know. Which is that Loki and the Broodfather are the same person. Loki killed the original Broodfather and, being a shapeshifter, took on his form to lead the Weavers for a few years for his own personal plans. Dimitri just happened to wander in to his web, a naive little boy waiting to be manipulated. So Loki molded him, shaped him into the perfect puppet, purposefully engineered his trauma to make him as weak and easily manipulated as possible, just in time for him to finish his plans with the Weavers (leaving the Broodfather’s dead body behind to explain his disappearance) and appear to Dimitri as his real godly self.

Dimitri only stays with Loki willingly because he believes him to be a savior, because he thinks he’s free. He thinks he escaped. But he never did.

anyways here’s a text exchange between me and my old DM that really fits here I think 🥰💖💖

(oh, also I think his stance on hairy old men would be somewhere between apathetic to positive. he has a little bit trauma-related unease around old men I would imagine, but there was also a really hot 60-70 something year old dilf NPC in game that I personally had a massive fucking crush on, so I had Dimitri flirt with him a lot lmao)

#oh yeah in that text convo I was talking about Dimitri potentially having an arc or moment in his backstory #in which he tries to commit suicide to escape the cycle of endless servitude :)) but Loki would probably stop him from even doing that #he has literally done nothing except get stepped on and manipulated his whole entire life and he doesn’t even really know it 🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍💖💖#also he invented waffles.#ask box #dimitri kazriel #sunny’s ocs #I’ve been DYING to explain this part of his lore but didn’t know how #so thank you so much for giving me an excuse to yap about my boy 😌☺️#this is now the Official Dimitri Lore Post #I love him so much <3 #skrunkly scrimblo <3 #he’s my little plinko horse #tw suicide mention

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