#he can go eepy...

[0vergrowngraveyard]

villain au redesigns!!

so far in my efforts to revamp this, they’ve gotten worse! these two need to be separated!

[the-inphinity]

-> Darkheart nods slowly, trying their best to take in what their brother was telling them. Surely they could figure all of it out! Surely! They'll do fine.... "You can rest now, little brother..." -> Firebrand smiles and cradles Illumina close, holding the dove deity close to his body. "If the deity requires assistance with sleeping, I can assume Moonwalker to help aid him into slumber." "Is there a place for him to actually lie down...? The cold flood won't do in the slightest." "I can provide a nest of pillows and blankets for him if he'd like."

Dom walks up to the temple and places both his hands on the door. He was in a black hood with a mask one to conceal his identity for on his way here.

“Grandfather?”

@megaphone-idol

-> The king's temple was quiet, unusually quiet. Normally there'd be some kind of noise or something! Even the wandering will o wisps that inhabited Firebrand's domain seemed uneasy...

[rowyndodendron]

Clocking Niobe is Agamemnon's grandmother adds a whoooole new layer of wtf to the preexisting MOUNTAIN of wtf that was Artemis being like "murder ur daughter or no sailing for u" @ Agamemnon in Aulis.

Per Homer's Iliad Niobe, for those unaware, was a queen who had 6 sons and 6 daughters. This led her to boast that her pussy game was way better than Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis, as she only had 2 kids to Niobe's 12.

As you may expect Apollo and Artemis were really normal about this and responded appropriately. Apollo killed all of Niobe's sons while Artemis killed all of her daughters in punishment. Niobe herself became a rock, forever weeping.

SO YEH. THAT'S FUN.

Now just imagining Agamemnon trying to pray to Artemis to maybe, uhhhhh, NOT make me murder my own child for ur special deer???

And she just goes: be grateful I take only one.

[applestorms]

ok, well. if last time i talked about parallels between near & light, i guess it’s only fair that this time i talk about parallels between mello & misa. yap central on this blog lately.

the main thing that stands out the most about mello & misa, and the reason why i will forever Defend them and their place in the story, is that in my mind they both function in a similar way on a narrative level: namely, both of them are incredibly active wild-card characters that keep the action going and the story moving forward when the other main characters like light, L, & near start getting too passive.

notably, while i often see this trait praised in mello, usually in the context of a comparative criticism of near for his overly-abundant passivity, i have also seen it used as a criticism of misa's character, that she breaks up the status quo of DN too significantly and thereby makes the story feel less realistic. this last point in particular is an odd argument to make imo, as if anything misa's presence only increases the realism of DN by adding some extra luck/random chance into the story in a way that is ultimately still character-motivated and thus easier for the audience to go along with-- something DN in general is very good at, often introducing elements through pure chance but keeping them grounded in characters enough that you almost don't even notice.

take light meeting naomi misora, for example: the only reason he runs across her at all is because he offers to run an errand for his mom on a bored laundry day, literally stumbling across her right at the exact moment she is divulging important insights she is literally the only person capable of making about kira. yet this moment does not stand out as particularly aggravating or out of place in the story, as ultimately the only reason why light is able to get out of that situation is his own quick thinking and ability to calm himself while under immense pressure, squeezing his way out of a potentially run-ending situation he didn't even know existed moments prior.

(not a fan of that big joel video, if you couldn't tell. lmao.)

point is, mello & misa both fulfill about the same narrative function in the story by being so aggressive in their actions, catching the others off guard even if their plans aren't as well thought out or careful as they could otherwise be. they're both incredibly passionate, dedicated characters as well, tough enough to take the hit when it inevitably comes, and in my opinion neither of them are nearly as stupid as the other MCs like to make them out to be. to some degree, i think both of them are aware of the fact that they can't win at the Mind Game Cold War Bullshit the others are inclined to get involved in, so they instead choose to carve out their own place in the story through sheer perseverance alone.

which, speaking of passion: one of the most interesting parallels i think you can make between mello & misa is the ways in which they idolize their respective heroes, misa's obviously being light while mello's is L. allow me to elaborate.

as this post points out, DN has some very interesting use of its religious imagery & theming, and in particular its use of christian/catholic gothic imagery in its story and especially its art. however, as op notes, a lot of this is quite superficial, ascribing to an aesthetic of "kitschy Catholicism," that was characteristic of a lot of early 2000s japanese goth style. yet, while i admit that a more serious consideration of religious elements in the art & story could add some interesting flavor to the story, i also think that, regardless of intention, the superficiality of DN's religious elements works really well in the context of this particular story. as i stated in my tags on that post: light is a superficial god. he is a fake, a scam, some idiot human that stumbled across the powers of a real shinigami and got his head up his ass about it. and a lot of the arcs of other characters in DN is about their reaction to light's claims-- whether they choose to follow him (e.g. misa, mikami), follow somebody else (e.g. mello), or follow nobody at all (e.g. near, also kinda soichiro?), and the implications that has for their lives and personalities.

this is all to say that while you can, on a surface level, connect misa & mello pretty easily as the two aggressive, fashionable blondes of the series, i also think that these somewhat superficial traits betray a greater connection between the two of them. if we understand the christian/catholic elements of misa & mello's fashion as a demonstration of their connection to not just a higher power but a lie, a superficial deity simply reflecting the sunlight of powers greater than himself, then i think we have great insight into another key element of both their characters.

do not forget: in the world of DN, heaven & hell do not exist. at least in the context of death itself, the realm & lore of the shinigami reign supreme, a point which the DN musical makes even more overt: "Isn't it a laugh? / Isn't it a shame? / Thinking there is someone in heaven to blame?" and "Going through the motions / as if there will be a reward / Oh, while we stay eternally bored!" (BEST SONGGG.) everyone is destined for the same fate of MU, the same void of nothingness awaits all. no reward, no punishment, no greater deity looking down upon us than the bored, slothful shinigami, lazing about in their realm and picking people off only when necessary (for the most part).

misa & mello are thus dedicating themselves to false idols, and we can see the negative effects this has on them in almost every facet of their character-- particularly for mello, who is perhaps more self-aware and has more of a mixed emotional outlook on his idol, but maybe even to a more extreme degree for misa. i keep going back to this idea of equating boredom with depression in DN, but where light/L/near are all "bored" in a very quiet, passive, stewing-in-bed late at night kinda way, misa & mello are characteristically a lot more aggressive and intense about it-- while neither of them are super overtly suicidal, necessarily, their actions still betray a distinct lack of care for their own safety or lives, expressing the same thematic sentiment as the others. even if they still don't straight up say it, through their actions they're a lot louder about not liking themselves, and seem to take the problems they see in the world more personally, shouldering the blame as a failure within themselves instead of projecting it outward like the others: e.g. light taking his unhappiness at the emptiness of his life at the start of the story & placing the blame on the world for "going to shit" & humanity's moral failings, versus misa being willing to literally & figuratively give up her life for KIRA the second he demands it, whether that be in the form of shinigami eyes or killing her own friends w/o second thought-- all because he was the only thing to bring justice to her own parents' deaths, an almost undoubtedly traumatizing/horrible experience for her considering how much value she places on KIRA/light afterwards.

to clarify, this is not to say that all of these characters are actually and literally depressed and/or suicidal, though you could certainly make that argument for some/all of them-- this is just one way that i think you could interpret their roles in the plot, and their thematic attachment to the story. even if DN isn't all that interested in considering the True Moral Answer to ethics/the justice system/human society/etc, it definitely takes at least some interest in the emotional viewpoints of characters in relation to those concepts, so i think this is a fair enough approach to take. or to say this another way, it's less about justifying the claim that "the world is shit," and more about trying to understand the emotional motivation & experience of feeling like the world is shit, if that makes sense.

that being said...speaking more on the whole "not liking themselves," thing: even if she doesn't say it aloud often, if ever, i think that misa is deeply aware of the fact that she was not supposed to live this long, that her existence at all is a pure stroke of luck that let her live on past her destined date. she dedicates herself to light so fully, not even necessarily expecting reciprocation (though she at least reserves herself the possibility of such), because being a disciple to her god at least gives her life some kind of purpose. similarly, i think mello is also aware of just how out of reach the one thing he wants is, how his desperation in and of itself is ironically the one thing keeping him from surpassing near and truly being #1. it's important to note that pre-time skip misa & post-skip mello are almost exactly the same age, around 20 years old at the time of their main arcs. they're immature, and in the case of mello especially, are lashing out at the world in whatever way they can because they know they don't quite fit into it in the way that they want to or should. regardless of the intent behind it, mello & misa both still make the conscious decision to kill with the DN-- perhaps in a way that still keeps their humanity, at least following near's logic, but it's a decision to end a human life either way.

anyways, going back to my previous point, this "worshiping of false idols," idea has some interesting implications-- for misa & mello yes, but also for L and the ways in which he contrasts again light, as under this logic mello's treatment kind of inherently gives L a similar status as a sort of false god/idol. which-- actually makes a lot of sense? or at the very least, viewing wammy's house as a kind of mystery cult a la the eleusinian mysteries is a neat approach to take. L & light's mutual alienation from humanity fits them both filling a false god status, anyway. also there's another thread of analysis you could follow here where near is instead fit into the role of the person mello is fixated on which AAAAAAAAA has interesting implications but jesus fucking christ, this post is long. some thoughts for another time, i suppose.

[coulsons-left-arm]

One of these days I'll go back and do a legit rewatch all the way through, but I saw a gif from 6.11 where Daisy is sitting with Sarge and he drops the, "May said I was like a father to you," quote.

But... Notice how he worded that...

He didn't say, "May said he was like a father to you." He says "I".

Maybe it was from everyone looking at him a certain way, or the constant chatter of this Coulson guy that he looks like, but... But what if Sarge said "I" bc that was the moment he started to cave to Coulson's memories?

And no, in the gif, I didn't notice his lip shaking a little after he said that to Daisy... He definitely has zero recollection of who this kid is in front of him. 🙂

[i-am-sleepyzz]

Was going to finish this but my shits crashing

Anywayyyyy MY SILLLYYSSSS

[rubbermalletrabbit]

Do you think in a taur world Teddy bears would be taur shaped?

[raindropsonwhiskers]

Welp. I guess I have new blorbos now.

[mylove-thresher]

does anyone know how having a consistent art style works

[kalied0skull]

I’ve given up on sleeping annoucing this I can run in caffeine and uhhhh outsiders

grease go the fuck to bed 💀

[total-drama-brainrot]

World Tour Assistant Noah AU (where he is always an assistant):

After the gross kiss failed to stop Alejandro's flirting... Noah begs Duncan to convince Alejandro, that Noah is too dorky to date... but Duncan has an even better idea; make Alejandro jealous for fun!

(In this AU, Duncan and Courtney had broken up before Season 3, so Duncan isn't a cheater!)

Duncan: "Thanks for letting me return to the show, handsome.~" 😘

(Duncan kisses Assistant Noah's cheek.)

Alejandro: "Duncan, I will DESTROY you!" 😡

Noah: "I just want to be left alone!" 🙄

Wait hold on... hold on... this is just the premise of my favourite Dunnoah fic series but with an assistant Noah twist. And extra Alenoah flavouring. That's not to say I'm against the idea.

Though I can't really imagine Duncan ever committing himself to flirting with Noah unless the two had struck up a deal prior- Duncan's that specific brand of 2000s era bigoted where being seen as anything but straight is a social crime (despite the fact that Duncan is definitely a boykisser, just in denial), but he's also aware of just how much of a threat Alejandro is in the competition and the latino's huge obvious crush on Chris' personal assistant, so I think Duncan could push aside his own internal biases to at the very least propose a similar idea to Noah.

Really, it'd be beneficial for the both of them; Noah gets to subtly-not-so-subtly tell Alejandro to back off by responding to Duncan's advances but not his, and Duncan gets to rile up Alejandro enough to redivert his attention away from the competition itself thus increasing his own chances of winning. It's strategic, really, nothing more.

It's that line of logic that has Noah eventually conceding that, for all intents and purposes, it's a good plan. So he deigns to play along, at least for a little bit, just to get Alejandro off of his back.

And, canonically, they're both shown to be at least half-decent at flirting, so whatever displays they have planned to annoy Alejandro would be just convincing enough to really get under his skin. Especially since Alejandro's shown in canon to be the protective/possessive type (mostly in All-Stars, in how he reacts to José insulting Heather) and likely wouldn't take too kindly to Duncan swooping in on "his amor" or whatever Spanish nickname he'd substitute it with.

Which all eventually leads to the scenario you proposed; Duncan plants a wet one on Noah's cheek and Alejandro sees red.

Noah's already exhausted by default, but feels weariness seep into the marrow of his bones as a seething Alejandro glares poisonous daggers towards Duncan, who's committed enough to their little ruse to in turn shoot a wink and a pair of finger guns towards the assistant. Deciding that he isn't paid nearly enough to deal with the inevitable confrontation between the two idiots who've apparently taken an interest in him (Duncan's, of course, being a known ruse), Noah leaves to go and do his actual job.

...

And then, Alejandro confronts Duncan directly in the Economy cabin, claiming that he doesn't deserve to so much as look at Noah, and that he (Alejandro) was the one Noah kissed and therefore the object of his attraction so Duncan better lay off. This is news to the punk, and adds a whole new layer of complexity to their plan. And perhaps something he can later exploit to give himself a leg up in the competition.

But why does the idea of Noah kissing Alejandro make his chest tighten up with envy?

And then maybe Duncan finds the untamed passion of Alejandro's genuine fury kind of hot and he too enters the metaphorical boxing ring of feelings? Aledunnoah endgame? The intern server has been posting a lot of Aleduncan lately so letting those two get together (and with Noah in there too, as a bonus) just seems natural to my brain at this point.

[zeb-z]

It's always so intriguing to watch Foolish from another perspective during lore, because it usually really is just guesswork to his thoughts and motives. Even during the moments he's being entirely honest, he can be hard to pin down.

Watching Foolish there's no question as to how much he knows, or how much he cares. It's always more than you think. You get to watch him choose to play a happy go lucky idiot, and then join in the act in chat. Watching him break down that act today was fun.

First with Fit, his joyful positive attitude starting to crack after looking through Leo's photos. His moment to gather himself before talking, his trailing off and voice cracks when asked if he's okay, only to change the subject immediately.

Then with Bad, talking about their months on the island and just what trust means. Considering how to weed out a federation puppet, going over theories with each other after just having told one another that the best way to find the rat is to give theories out one at a time to find the leak.

I’ll have to watch Fit's perspective of today later, but I know with Bad, the mood change was obvious - and yet somehow, he managed to get away with much more than he let on.

Still, it’s obvious he’s starting to crack, with Leo being gone, with Bad clearly deteriorating - you can’t pretend to be happy and carefree for forever, when the stress is this high.

[a-comedy-of-errors]

Screw it, abobados sketch dump time.

[liquidstar]

a friend who'd wait :)

[astral-scout]

when i was 14 my friends were talking about their parents' relationships and one of them solemnly said their parents didnt sleep in the same bed/room and everyone gasped and agreed that was so horrible and grim but around the same time my aunt told me she and my uncle havent slept in the same room for years because theyre not compatible with how they prefer to sleep and i think thats so based. true love i think is when you dont Have to sleep in the same bed to love each other. im so fucking tired i have no idea what im saying but i know im right

[beanghostprincess]

sanji says he has to be the little spoon when he cuddles with usopp because otherwise usopp's hair tickles when they sleep but that's actually a blatant lie and he just prefers it when usopp is the one hugging him