#this is what dwarves tell their kids I think

[sabertoothwalrus]

here are some preliminary sketches I had done in my sketchbook for the peepaw chilchuck comic.

I wanted to follow it up with some worldbuilding thoughts I had while working on it, if that sort of thing is interesting to anyone:

- it’d take place 5ish years post-canon

- I changed almost everyone’s hair to show time had passed. Chilchuck and Kabru were the most drastic (I COULDNT STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT LONG HAIR KABRU THAT KUI DREW), Marcille grew out her bangs, Senshi’s beard is slightly shorter, and Izutsumi’s hair is mildly longer. Laios and Falin give me the impression that they’re the brand of neurodivergent that’d pick one haircut and stick to it for the rest of their lives. I almost gave Laios facial hair but idk he’s gotten over his daddy issue enough for that.

- Emertim Chils: I tried to follow both the half-foot and dwarven naming conventions for the baby, so Emer- comes from “emerald” (dwarven names are often gemstones or ore) and -tim because Chilchuck’s father’s first name was Tim :) Dwarves don’t have family names, so Emertim would take Chils, same as Flertom. Usually they’re named after their father but I didn’t wanna name a random dwarf man. thank you Chel for helping name him 🫶💕

- Initially the idea that Chilchuck would keep an entire grandchild a secret was just a joke, but it made sense when I thought about it. I wonder,, would dwarf/half-foot couples have trouble conceiving? Because if so, I’d imagine Flertom may have lost a couple pregnancies. Chilchuck is already such a private person, and I don’t think he’d feel comfortable airing his daughter’s grief like that. They wouldn’t wanna tell anyone until they were sure this baby was gonna make it.

- For the above reason, Chilchuck would absolutely spoil this kid. Not that he wouldn’t have spoiled his grandkids anyway, but I think after all that stress, he’d be extra extra doting. He’d be letting him do things he’d never DREAM of letting his own daughters do. Completely different parenting style.

- I think he’s still too prideful to take advantage of Laios being King (sidenote: is Laios even wealthy??? does a kingdom that sprung up from a previously-sunken continent even have money?? what the fuck is their economy), but like,,, if Laios offered any gifts he wouldn’t exactly say no.

- Izutsumi surprisingly really likes the baby :3 she’d like to take naps with him and he’d like her purrs and she’d have a lot of fun playing with him.

- SENSHI. meemaw mode. That kid would grow up not realizing Senshi isn’t technically one of his grandads. He is FEEEEEDING this kid.

- LAIOS DOES GET TO HOLD THE BABY!!!!!! just. eventually. They don’t actually expect a Tarrare situation LMAO they just wait until the kid is a little less fragile and a little more mobile. I think Laios would be really good with toddlers.

- Chilchuck is very thankful Emertim’s half-foot genes kick in sooner than later because he was getting too big for him to carry.

- Emertim would probably get the extended lifespan. He and Marcille would get to stay friends for a very very long time :’)

- my personal headcanon is that Chilchuck and his wife decide to split. He still loves her and it’s probably still a bit mutual, but after four years of almost no-contact, they decide their communication issues aren’t working well for their relationship. Plus, the Adventurer’s Bible says Chilchuck is renting their old house out to family, and he’d feel bad kicking them out so he and wife could move back in. They’d still be on good terms, and would be good at coordinating when to babysit.

[thechekhov]

Chekhov Reads Dungeon Meshi: CH49

Mmmmmbig chicken.

It's not non-sense, it's common-sense. But dang, orcs really have that toxic adventuring gender stuff down, huh.

Dwarves are comprised of many basic shapes, such as...... cube....and.......two circle.....

.....It's..........TURNING into a dungeon.

Like an architectural structure has a natural evolutionary progression, including, apparently, becoming a dungeon if enough magic leaks into it? This is fascinating. Like magical radiation that poisons the natural architecture and creates monsters. That's fucked up.

But I need to know more immediately.

Though wait, I think Marcille's flashback chapters talked about creating and maintaining dungeons so it MUST be a well understood phenomenon.

It's a small detail, but the group having a horse (pony?) with them and Senshi later getting attached to a horse-like monster feels extremely intentional. I wonder if it'll be explicitly mentioned or if I'm just reading too much into things.

......Anne was the name of the Kelpie. :( That's 100% of purpose. Oh no. Why do you do this to me.

....aaaand that's where Senshi's strong parental instincts kick in.

................................ damn, poor kid.

Dwarves are tough. A part of me wonders if that guy was hanging on to whatever life he had left, just barely making it through to feed Senshi........ A walking corpse, by all other names, hanging on for the sake of it.

It's really cool to see Senshi grow so much in the span of a few panels. And the orcs softening up is such a common theme it's not even surprising.

Oh.

OH.

Oh no.

He's a fucking idiot but it's like. Healing? How stupid he is.

It's a level of not giving a fuck that you can aspire to.

Marcille like "let me see if I can get you an itemized list....."

Laios pls.

This boy is Sherlocking the fuck out of SOMETHING but I can't tell what.

Laios is an unstoppable force. He does not give a fuck.

But also. Hippogriff?

You're telling me a shroom mushed this Hippogriffin?

Okay, but seriously. "Step into the magic mushroom circle to clip through the floor and break your model by downloading a new unapproved mod" sounds JUST like something the dungeon would have.

well hey! The kick had a reasoning behind it!

humans: we wanna unlock the secrets of genome editing!

Mushroom CRISPR:

okay why is this genuinely getting to me.

(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)

Bro. I love them.

AAAAA NOT THROUGH THE GENE EDITING CIRCLE

[formerheroeswhoquittoolate]

okay so for those of you who haven't met me (most of you) I really like thinking about the way people talk (tone, inflection, accent, speech patterns, et cetera) and I'm tired so I'm extending this to the batfamily here we go here's my thoughts, unrequested and only slightly edited:

dick: sounds a bit like a male pop singer (think brendan urie but without the whining or busting his voice with drugs and bad technique). dude has a killer falsetto and can hit some of the highest notes in the house, beat out only by steph. saw a headcanon somewhere about him growing up speaking romani because of his parents and having an accent as a child that comes back when he's hurt or tired and honestly 100/10 it's part of this headcanon (and if you know where this post is please tell me! it's not mine and I'd love to give credit). you can also hear it in the way he says a couple less common words but his accent otherwise sounds exactly like bruce's.

jason: doesn't have the deepest voice of the batfamily; he's third deepest after bruce and duke. his tessitura (comfortable vocal range) is big though and his voice pitch changes a ton with his mood. he's got a soft r that the other bats don't have (think ny or boston) that he learned from his mom. his falsetto is trash but he is one of the better singers in the family. all low notes. you should hear him do the song the dwarves sing in the beginning of the hobbit.

tim: his voice is a little scratchy but it's not too noticeable. damian is the only batboy with a higher voice; tim and cass are at about the same pitch. he's a tad self-conscious about how he sounds in general and heavily mimics so he's got bruce's crisp ts and a softer r like jason's. he says "ahm" instead of "um" and that's not really common in gotham so nobody really knows where he's gotten that from. he's definitely more monotone, for a lot of reasons, and tends to emphasize his words by changing in volume rather than pitch.

damian: he's like twelve so his voice hasn't dropped yet but he wants it to be lower like his brothers. he's got just a touch of an arabic accent so his speech is a little more melodic and much like tim he's a mimic so he has bruce's ts and a few sporadic romani and aave quirks from dick and duke respectively.

duke: second lowest voice of the batfamily. the kid's quiet and his speech is usually peppered with aave although he's often a little self-conscious about it around the primarily white batfamily and especially white upper-class bruce. doesn't sing in public but he's good at it (he refuses to acknowledge this)

cass: okay she hardly ever talks but when she does it's slightly lower in pitch than what people expect. she typically speaks in broken english (well that's canon not headcanon) and it's always the same way as someone else in the batfamily speaks, usually babs, steph, duke, or jason since she spends the most time with them. she's barely ever louder than a kitten sneeze.

stephanie: holy shit the girl talks fast. she's got the highest speaking voice too by a few steps. gorgeous soprano but only about fifty percent of the time. loses her voice completely when she gets sick and turns into a raspy old lady. has an absolute knack for impersonations, not necessarily in terms of pitch but in speech patterns/rhythms.

barbara: right in between tim/cass and steph in terms of pitch. she uses very precise language and there's often random hacker lingo in there. she's also surprisingly loud and can out-shout any of them except for alfred.

and finally, bruce: deepest voice by a step or two. his batman growl is actually slightly higher in pitch if you listen closely enough which jason finds hilarious. he's got very crisp ts as a result of being raised primarily by the very british alfred and he often takes his time speaking especially in meetings.

[mushroomates]

gimli headcanons:

likes doing laundry. finds it soothing

history nerd!! loves reading old tombs/biographies of his ancestors

is incredibly intelligent. beats frodo in chess. would beat gandalf but gandalf cheats. has been in a stalemate with aragorn for two and a half years.

well mannered but chooses to forgo his politeness to make a point. especially around elves.

does NOT like horses. not just riding them, which is canon, but actually dislikes the animal itself. the reasons why include (but are not limited to) :

he does not like being not on ground. he does not have a fear of heights so much as a fear of… feet not on ground. as evidenced by refusal to jump, treehouses, and well, horses

he does not like their faces. they are long and have eyes on the side like prey. gimli thinks this is deceiving as horses are very large and can kick in someone’s skull. not his skull.

gimli believes that in a one on one match with a horse, he could easily win. he has thought of several, very specific, scenarios of this and has a detailed plan of attack should this situation occur.

they so easily turned against their home for an evil overlord (read: sauron stole all the black horses from rohan) and therefore cannot be trusted. as a rule, anything that willing you let you ride it cannot be trusted. they can’t be satisfied with this life. they are plotting something.

believes he would be great at drums. it’s just hitting things hard and he’s pretty strong.

ok, another thing about horses: they are fragile to a ridiculous extent. you breath wrong and it breaks. they have bad bones and bad blood flow in their legs, and their legs are all that they’re used for. he doesn’t understand why humans invested so much time into horses when they’re genetically bad at what they are meant to do. he’d feel bad for the horses if they weren’t so awful.

drinks coffee, not tea

takes great with the up keeping of his gear. he sharpens his axes, polishes his boots, shines his armor and waxes his mustache. that’s not gear, but he takes great pride in looking groomed and caring for his belongings.

has an axe for every occasion. battle axe? do you want throwing or slashing. a day on the town? have you seen this intricately carved masterpiece that also is a weapon? doffing a hole? PICKAXE. cutting a cake? how about an axe???

hates the rain because it ruins his hair and beard. also loves the rain because it ruins legolas’s hair and clothes.

will eat anything. has a great tolerance for spice. contrary to popular belief, dwarves are not shy of seasoning but are very cautious around other races in fear of poisoning their friends

will also eat some rocks. salty is his favorite (halite, hanksite, glauberite) but also likes to add chunks of chalcanthite to his food for a slightly sweet yet metalic flavor. this is also slightly (SLIGHTLY) poisonous as evidenced by sharing his trail mix with boromir

also calls dirt the “local seasoning”

will taste dirt to try and get a feeling for the land. this tells him the acidity, weather, possible wildlife, and also pisses off legolas

actaully genuinely likes the taste of dirt. (note: if you desire to eat clay/dirt that is a symptom of iron deficiency. for gimli, he eats spoonfuls of the stuff like their supplements because as a kid it was fed to him like multivitamins)

OK SO HEAR ME OUT: lack of sunlight can cause really low hemoglobin and ferritin (a blood protein that contains iron) sooo being constantly in dark caves can cause some forms of iron deficiency. because dwarves are conscious of their young, dwarf children often grow up not often being in direct sunlight.

the solution? dirt. dirt contains iron and other tasty minerals that are good for the body. charcoal has natural antioxidants. so does clay. am i saying that momma gimli (unnamed) fed her son ash and clumps of dirt? yes. also bits of broken pottery. it’s also good of the immune system.

fr tho clay/dirt/charcoal are the dwarven multivitamins. you have a tummy-ache? here, have a rock. i truly believe this was scientifically proven by dwarves and only FOR dwarves (plz do not eat dirt)

fuckin loves mushrooms. has a mushroom log at home. whenever dwarves find some fungai in a cave they go feral

likes dogs. thinks it’s great that they dig holes. thinks it’s fantastic that the bury things in holes. absolutes loves when they get muddy, and then shake off all water and dirt all over you.

when he came back home with the name lockbearer, a lot of the dwarves thought it was really cool and he has some sort of elven puzzle that requires a code to unlock something. imagine their surprise when he rocks up and is like: no, even better. HAIRS. three of them.

enjoys making mudpies- made them as a kid with his cousins, (mostly with rock slurry) and continues to, even even as an adult.

made them on the fellowship with the hobbits. taught them all about the best types of dirt and the water-to-soil- ratio needed.

while cutting up slices of his pie, he offered one to boromir, who in good nature, took it, clearly thinking it was just part of the bit.

poor boromir was locked in a stalemate after gimli cut his own slice, and began eating it.

to his credit, boromir did brave a few bites, but had to stop once he nearly had a mouthful of maggots

“protein”

gimli is like crazy good at hair. can braid quickly and efficiently in elaborate styles

picked up eleven hair style techniques in lorien (quicker than legolas) and was forced to relay them to the elf through twine as there is no way he’s letting grubby elf fingers to touch his glorious mane that’s been decades in the making

would ask for a drink “on the rocks” and get slightly upset if it did not come back with actual rocks

[cbs-scorpion-coffee-shop]

Ok, hear me out:

Kratos, after the events of the Valhalla DLC, is sleeping peacefully in his home, until someone knocks on his door.

"I didn't know who else to go to." says Thor.

Thor, who had ascended to a higher existence after being killed by his father, rejected that existence and decided to live another live. He wanted to be better for his family, but he didn't want to return to them the way he was. He wanted to change first. So he went to the one person who knew how.

Kratos tells Thor about his past and he realizes that if Kratos can change then so can he.

"You kid is lucky." Thor says. "I hope mine can be as lucky as yours one day."

Kratos decides to take him to Valhalla as a start. An opportunity provided to Thor by Odin's betrayal.

Kratos goes to Lunda in the realm between realms and gets a mace and shield for Thor like the ones Modi had. On his way out of the house, Ratatoskr asks Kratos for a favor and says he'll reward him with materials. Kratos asks for another reward instead. For bitter squirrel to be Thor's partner in Valhalla. Kratos believed the similarities between them would make Thor feel at ease.

Kratos, Mimir and Thor, with much conversation between the three on the boat, go to the same shore and after much trouble, convince Freya to help them and not tell anyone. Especially Sif and Thrud.

"Well, at least with Odin gone, there's no one for him to serve. We could make good use of-" Freya says

"No." Kratos cuts her off. "He is Odin's monster no longer, and he will not be ours. To help us or not is your choice."

Freya sighs "I'm only doing it for you, you know."

"Thank you, Freya."

"Of course."

Thor, with bitter as a partner, tackles Valhalla.

Many obstacles stand in his way: The fact that he simply isn't a disciplined warrior, but a fat dude swinging a hammer, and the new weapons are something he isn't used to. The years of trauma inflicted on him by Odin. The death of his mother which he blames himself for. His refusal to embrace the Johtunar part of himself. His refusal to think and feel.

He tries and fails for many months. He lives with Kratos and Mimir and they get to know eachother better. He has Kratos train him, and eventually, with the help of Kratos, Mimir, Tyr, Freya and surprisingly bitter who turned out to be a better companion for Thor than Kratos could ever for, Thor manages to come to terms with his past, and finally battles Tyr and wins.

However, as soon as he peeks at what's behind the door, he quits. He decides that he doesn't wanna try anymore. Everyone else is wondering why, but Kratos knows why. He knows what's behind that door, or rather who.

Modi.

Killing his son. Thor could could never come to terms with that. It took Kratos over a hundred years to heal from that.

He goes to the spot where Modi died to remember his son. He looks above, and he is caught by the last thing he wished to be caught by.

Jormungandur.

He battles it, but due to not having his hammer, and the poison being his weakness, he loses and is knocked unconscious.

He wakes up a bed, wrapped in bandages. It wasn't Kratos's home, or any he'd ever known. The little boy sitting on the edge of the bed greets him. He has red hair darker than his and doesn't look older than three winters. His mother, a dwarf woman, tends to Thor and tells him that her husband saved him and to rest while her husband hunts for food. He tries to decline and just leave, but he can barely walk two steps.

Thor complies, and stays in bed.

He finds out that he is in a magical forest. Those unwanted and shunned by their own people come here to escape. Some dwarves, some giants, some Aseir, Vanir and many others, and that the forest is hidden by her husband's magic, and that he insisted on bringing him here.

Bedridden Thor occasionally talks to the boy and bonds with him. He finds out that the boy has giant blood in him, and works out that his father is a giant or at least has giant blood. No wonder his father never wanted to meet him.

The GiantSlayer he was would strike fear in any giant. He was nowhere near being better. His progress didn't matter to these people. but then why did he save him? That didn't matter as well. As soon as he gets better, he's leaving. It's better this way.

One day, he woke up at sunrise and found that no one was home. He found that he could walk and decided to just leave. He made his way through the forest, but it was a labyrinth. He found himself lost. It must be the father's magic. The excited laughter of the boy playing with his father and mother echoed through the forest. He wanted to thank them and say goodbye to the boy. He followed their voices. The boy was playing hide and seek with his father. It sounded like the boy was the seeker and his father was winning.

The father's voice was familiar. His heart grew heavy as he got closer to the source of the voice.

"It can't be." He whispered to himself.

He reached them, and the sight of the father struck him like a thousand lightning bolts.

Modi.

-Think I should continue this fic?

[frizzle-mcshizzle]

what r your thoughts on forkle /gen

as a writer i think hes a very well written morally grey character, as a reader i hate his freaking guts here is the list i literally keep in my notes of why i hate him.

he broke into her room who knows how many times when she was a little girl (idc if he had REASONS its FREAKING WEIRD)

he asked Sophie to meet him (a grown man) on a island alone and when she took Keefe with her he told her she had to come in the cave with him alone

he just about left Dex for dead in the Neverseen hideout and only brought him because Sophie refused to go without him. Dex was a innocent child. Dex wasn’t just anyones child he was a member of the collectives child someone who he worked with side by side for years, and he was still willing to leave him behind (he later said he was going to back for him but like...)

Dex ended up with scars because he didn’t bring enough elixirs for him.

he thinks of Sophie as an accomplishment and doesn’t expect her to want him to think of her as anything more (Everblaze, Page 447.)

he calls her his moonlark. which sounds sweet until you realize that’s her project code name he’s literally calling her “my creation” aka “my weapon”

he will act very cryptic and only give out bits of information, just enough that she will look into what he was talking about then act proud and flatter her, saying things like “i underestimated you kids” when she and her friends figure out the thing he wanted her to know.

he will tell her about problems in the world making it sound horrible and hopeless, then saying "this is the thing we made you to fix, but that’s your choice"

he’s constantly switching from dehumanizing her because she is the Moonlark and it’s her job to change things and this is what she was created for. then treating like his child at the drop of a hat

excludes her parents from the conversations and tells her she has control over her life, not them, like she isn’t a young teen

he told a fourteen year old that if he and the rest of collective died Sophie and her friends would take their place, not care about what kind of pressure that would put on her. then admits to grooming Sophie and her friends to lead the Black Swan one day

he is constantly reading her mind and never lets her have her thoughts to herself but expects her to not read other peoples minds.

he put all this importance on Prentice and told a child that they where going to use her to brake into prison and almost got another child killed who didn't even need to be there (they could have done that without her they have dwarves)

finds it funny to exclude Sandor from conversations that could potentially put her in danger

had Sophie recruit other children, which is disturbing, because fine they don’t have a choice if she’s in danger but putting other children in danger and taking on missions is completely unnecessary, he could have done it himself or had adults do it.

Ignored tam being taken by the neverseen, and told them to focus on other things

Not to mention he basically took advantage of Emma Foster's health issues, knowing full well he'd be taking her child away from her and her husband at a later date. Sophie's human parents were done so dirty, and all they wanted to do was let her be a kid for as long as possible

[regamoth]

Can I make a hobbit request? Could you do Thorin, Bilbo and Elrond (maybe Beorn if you can write him?) with an S/O who talks in their sleep? Maybe they say something funny or something. Idk its up to you :) Tysm! Have a good day ❤️

⋆ Masterlist

⋆ This is only Headcanon.

⋆ Pairings: Thorin Oakenshield x gn!reader, Bilbo Baggins x gn!reader, Elrond x gn!reader, Beorn x gn!reader.

⋆ TW: None I think, it's just fluff.

⋆ Note: fun fact about me: when I was a kid I had a massive crush on Legolas, but growing up I found myself being more of a Thorin person. Idk he's just so special.

Thorin: I think he would secretly love it and find it really cute and funny. But the grumpy dwarf he is will just tell his s/o that he had trouble sleeping because of that (even if he notes what they're saying every night). He might tell them it's cute sometimes if he's feeling soft.

Bilbo: The "Before journey Bilbo" would need his good night's sleep to be up and ready to... do nothing, just be a cute lil hobbit. But anyway he'd be quite annoyed at first. But I think he'd realize that his s/o talking in their sleep just comes with the package of loving them, so he'd become softer and just let you be.

The "After journey Bilbo" would not care AT ALL. I mean, he slept for over a year next to thirteen tractor-like snoring dwarves. So a s/o that just talks in their sleep is one of the cutest things he's ever seen. He'd be so cute and understanding about it, even sometimes telling you what you said if you're okay with it.

Elrond: Even if Elrond seems to be someone who's quite serious and uneasy to amuse, he'd find it really funny to listen to his partner talking while they're sleeping. I think he'd tell them as soon as they wake up (in a sassy voice ofc), along with the exact words that they said. If it makes them uncomfortable he'd reassure them and tell them it's okay, that he thinks it's cute.

Beorn: This man is literally a giant teddy bear, and even if he may seem serious and impressive, he's really soft. I think he would not care at all like- I'm not even sure he'd tell them. I feel like he's a heavy sleeper so I think he might take a lot of time to realize that his s/o actually talks in their sleep. And honestly, he might talk in his sleep too lol.

[annoyinglandmagazine]

Russingon Headcanon

Maedhros and Fingon’s relationship reads like a romance right? Regardless of whether you ship it their entire relationship is compromised of several romance plot lines rolled into one and is a textbook example of a romance. You have the families who hate each other keeping them apart, the opposite sides of the war thing, the hopeless quest to save their beloved from the enemy at all costs, succeeding against all odds because of the power of love and just so much more. You see where I’m going with all this right? It reads like the script to a Disney film.

So if someone with no prior knowledge of who these two people are were to hear this story they’d probably think it was a similar kind of story to Beren and Luthien. They wouldn’t really question that this was a romance. So what I’m saying is that there were probably men and dwarves who were told this story and heard it was an old elven story and interpreted it exactly like that. So I’d say it’s a reasonable assumption that at some point songs and stories started to crop up and became pretty popular ballads. I’d also say a lot of the time Maedhros was depicted as the damsel in distress. Make of that what you will.

So when the elves hear these songs they’d probably see these similarities right away. I feel like Turgon would get to the point where he’d have to screen all the songs played in his court beforehand to make sure there was no trace of his older brother in a romantic context even implied because it makes him so uncomfortable. He gets really flustered when anyone brings it up because YES he knows it’s common knowledge but he was trying very hard to recover from the image of walking in on them during his childhood and does not appreciate the reminder . Maglor would absolutely love it. He makes a point of playing the instrumentals of the more well known ones at formal events just to watch Maedhros turn gradually more red. He also sometimes changes the lyrics to contain as many innuendoes as possible and stresses their names in the ones where they’re mentioned. He’s the only person who’s ever dared to play one in the presence of both Maedhros and Fingon. He changes the music to one of the ballads every time they get too close to each other during the evening and everyone always turns to look for them when it comes on so they have to scramble to a respectable distance.

Celegorm and Curufin are absolutely in on this and Tyelko helps come up with some of the dirtier verses. Everyone collectively agrees to preserve the innocence of Amrod and Amras. Finrod is secretly teaching the men more and more romantic ones but escapes all the blame. He’s actually the person who introduced most of the ones with their names in them.

Maglor teaches Elrond and Elros all of them without telling them who they’re about. Maedhros is absolutely murderous when he hears the twins singing about him and Fingon but he doesn’t want to let the twins know the truth so he keeps his mouth shut. Many elves are absolutely horrified when they hear that these are an important part of Numenorean culture. He made Quenya one of their languages don’t tell me Elros wouldn’t find this hilarious. Imladris is one of the few elvish settlements where these songs are allowed because Elrond secretly enjoys stirring things up. He figured out what they were about when he was still a kid but he finds everyone’s expressions way too funny to call a stop to it and just plays innocent.

[dianight]

Perhaps some day we could have a serious conversation about why despite her amazing character designs and great variety in body types compared to other mangaka, Kui Ryoko still chose to have all but one (two arguably) of the characters with an active leader role in the story of Dungeon Meshi to be men.

Spoilers below.

It is a fantastic manga, to quote a post I've read a while ago (paraphrasing), Dunmeshi is 95 chapters long and no panel is irrelevant. But! Out of all the groups in the story only one is led by a woman (elf queen) and she does not actually participate in it.

Laios' party has Marcille, but she is at best "second in command" if you will, as much as Chilchuck is.

Kabru's party, the orcs, the governor(s), the gnomes' party, the canaries, Shuro's party, the dwarfs and even the golden kingdom (Delgal and Thistle). Fionil and Doni are minor characters and they're a party of two, we could assume both share the "leader" position.

One can find excuses to each of those choices, but at the end of the day the choice was made to make them men.

Kabru could have been a woman, it would not change anything at all.

Zon and Leed could have swapped places, with the older sister leading and taking a less violent approach to the hotheaded younger brother.

Either/both of the governors could have been women, no difference.

The leading, more vocal and abrasive of the gnomes could have been the old lady and the quiet one the old man. I struggle to see if anything would change at all.

The canaries are mostly women, and they were led by Milsiril back in the day and the queen leads them, technically. Still, the choice was made to have Mithrun in the role of Mithrun with everything it represents. Could it have been the younger sister that has her love stolen by the older one, would the dynamics be the same? Tempted to have the life she could not get by the demon, getting eaten (but not fully!) and seeking revenge? Would Milsiril spare her this time? We can't tell, Mithrun is a man. It was a choice made by Kui-sensei.

Could Shuro have been a woman? Seeing as he's the fantasy equivalent of a japanese young lord(!) probably not(?) in terms of how it would be presented. A young lady with her entourage chasing after her unrequited love and getting beaten to it by another lesbian? Sorry but this looks like the kind of ntr I enjoy now. But I don't think it would be the same conflict with Shuro/Marcille and Shuro/Laios. It could(!) work, but not in the kind of story where (almost) all the leaders are men.

Could the dwarves have been women? I don't see why not. Senshi could have been inspired by a mother figure (or older sister) as much as he was by his mentor (whether you see it as a father/older brother/something else figure). All the women in the party starving while the young kid survives? I won't even call it sexist (<- not joking).

Could Delgal have been a queen instead? What about Yaad being a princess? Or Thistle, still a jester but a woman now? Which manga readers thought he was, for a while. It would require an author that doesn't put the importance on the king while the queen is irrelevant.

Am I overthinking things? There are a lot of important characters who are women in the story of Dunmeshi. People have jokingly described the plot as a lesbian trying to resurrect her girlfriend, and it would be accurate although not fully correct.

But the issue remains that all leaders except for the elf queen are men. I don't believe it was by chance. It might have been a deliberate choice for reasons that I can see, or it might have been completely unconscious when designing the characters and writing the story.

What a shame.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

missed opportunities

This isn’t meant to be a summary or a translation of the Sunset Savanna event!! I just wanted to share my thoughts surrounding the actual tournament and the characters involved in the overall story.

I felt like??? This event was originally meant to be much bigger and much more elaborate than what we got. Is that just me?? Don’t get me wrong, what we ended up with was… okay. It was serviceable. It worked. I just feel like it could have easily been more, but there had to be significant downsizing for some reason.

One thing that kind of confused me was the hyping up of the Catch the Tail tournament versus what we actually got?? (Loved the tourism part though, hearing about local foods, stories, and customs is fun!) I understand the cultural significance of the game, but a tournament arc doesn't work that well if we're only invested in one side; obviously, we'll be rooting for NRC to win because we know them the best and have spent the most time with them, but... They have no significant rival or opposition to go against (which is at least one thing episode 5 had going for it in the form of Vil vs Neige, and even in the Harveston event when the Seven Dwarves reappear). We don't even really have names or faces to think of as their foes. We aren't really given the chance to cheer for anyone else. Like???? NRC's first opponents get no artwork at all, and then their second opponents are supposedly Cheka's usual trio of guards--except they're just beastmen mobs A, B, and C. What happened to the lore about "most of the important roles being fulfilled by female warriors"?? You really going to sit here and tell me that the people assigned to guard the person who is essentially the future of your country aren't roles traditionally fulfilled by strong "lionesses"? All three of the roles just happened be occupied by easily reused assets? Even the replacement/temporary guards assigned to Cheka were women, and the way the originals were foreshadowed made it seem like they would later be a big deal or the "rivals" NRC had to overcome in their final matchup. They technically were, but they were just your typical run-of-the-mill mobs. They have some investment, being that Kifaji trained them and they are bitter about having won previous years but Leona stood them up for training. It’s basically one big ploy to circumvent Leona not wanting to give the warrior lessons to the winning team, a way to counteract his laziness. It makes sense for the story, but it isn’t very high-stakes.

The other team NRC fought against was even more unremarkable; they cheated just as much as NRC did and didn't even compensate for it with at least recognizable artwork or personalities. In fact, they got NO art at all. If anything, this team should have been the run-of-the-mill mobs from how generically mean they were.

It feels like this event had a handful of red herrings and cheeky lines thrown in to tease at the reveal of significant new characters, only to never follow through on them. I like Kifaji, and it's reasonable that Leona says tourists like the NRC kids can't possibly meet the head of state (Farena/Falena). However, I don't like that a lot surrounding Cheka's guards amounted to nothing?? They even mention they have a member to substitute in that's a retired imperial guard, but that ends up being of no real importance either… (he throws the match because Kalim showed him great kindness.) It’s more like a convenience that lets Leona swap in and cinch the win for NRC). It's so... anticlimactic????? Especially since the competition is supposedly for the best warriors to prove their wits and might.

Another missed opportunity is that??? The competition is supposedly open to anyone, even those from outside the Sunset Savanna. That may very well be just a writing loophole for Leona to easily shoehorn Kalim/Jack, Vil, and Lilia in as competitors, but there's so much more you could do with that idea!

Maybe there are other outsiders come to fight for the title. Maybe Rook shows up as a competitor to spook them if the devs don't want to design that many actual "rivals" with unique designs or new faces. Maybe there are your "non-traditional" fighters as well, people that are very young (just for the lols, imagine a kid Cheka's size kicking butt, using their small size and speed to their advantage) or very old (Rafiki weaponizing his wisdom and experience in combat, idk) but are still skilled enough in their own right to participate. Maybe show us more types of beastmen and how they use their specific animal’s physical traits to their advantage! I don't know how likely it is for merfolk or fae to join (since those races seem like recluses compared to beastmen and humans and merpeople don't do well in arid climates), but it would have been cool to see others throw their hats into the ring!

There were probably just limitations in place due to this being a hometown event…? It wouldn't be fair for the others to only feature one new character while this one features a TON of them, nor would it be fair for this hometown even to be significantly longer or more detailed than the others. Basically only the Halloween events are super extensive. In which case, I get it. I still would have really liked to see this concept more fleshed out and fully realized though!

[runningw-thewolves]

Stray Kids X Fenrir Post (LONG POST)

(Cause why the Hell not?)

Today I found out that 1) someone made a Fenrir based tattoo sleeve design for Bang Chan and 2) not only has Bang Chan seen it, he has stated he might possibly get it. Now, I am a STAY, a Norse Pagan and a follower of Fenrir. I think you can figure out what my brain was doing processing all this.

(Also; THERE HAS BEEN HINTS TO NORSE MYTHOLOGY IN STRAY KIDS MUSIC VIDEOS!? STAY, do a wolf some assistance and pinpoint me to the videos and moments cause I NEED MY STRAY KIDS NORSE/VIKING CONTENT. Anyways...)

I am very Autistic when it comes to several of my favourite things coming together and creating a *chef's kiss* moment. This is no exception. It's why INK are my favourite band (metal, Emo and horror together? YES PLEASE) and now I have Stray Kids, Norse mythology AND LITERALLY MY FUCKING RELIGION? Holy fuck! *insert brain melt moment from Indiana Jones here*

So, I figured; let's talk about some of Stray Kids past works and Fenrir at the same time. Yep, a Stray Kids Fenrir themed playlist in the format of a Tumblr post by someone with Autism currently losing their damn mind.

Before we begin, let's get everyone acquainted who may be unfamiliar.

The Binding of Fenrir

'The Binding of Fenrir' is arguably the most famous tale involving Fenrir. Fenrir is the eldest child to Loki and Angrboda, his younger siblings being the Midgard Serpent, Jormungandr (who has beef with Thor, to keep it brief) and the future death Goddess, ruler and caretaker of the dead and arguably an important figure in Baldur's tragedy, Hel (or Hela).

Why was Odin interested in Fenrir? For one simple reason; he had been told a prophecy where a large and powerful wolf would kill him. I should point out this part of Odin and Fenrir's story is a very medieval trope of the paranoid king and his son destined to kill him. This case is no different; the downfall of the king is because of his own paranoia. Everything he does to try and prevent his downfall only solidifies it into existence. It's a common belief among many of us Heathens that Fenrir might have never considered going after Odin if Odin had just left Fenrir alone the whole time. Hell, there was the distinct possibility that Fenrir could've likely been an ally to Odin and the Aesir if it weren't for their fear and paranoia.

So, how does Fenrir get bound? Odin and a few others ride to the Iron Wood, the home of the Jotunn and Chieftess of the Chieftains of the Iron Wood, Angrboda, and forcefully take her children from her. Jormungandr strikes and either Odin or Thor (heavily debated) throws Jormungandr into the oceans of Midgard. Hel is immediately exiled from Asgard and sent to what is often dubbed 'Helheim'. Fenrir was kept in Asgard, primarily to keep an eye on him. He was scorned and mocked and treated with fear by the Gods, and no one dare approach him to feed him. Aside from one God; Tyr, the God of Justice. (Also a God of War himself but ssh.) Tyr befriended the young wolf and fed him.

Naturally, Fenrir grew. And very quickly. He soon domineered over the buildings of Asgard and the Gods grew paranoid of his strength and size. It was then decided for him to be bound. They tried on three separate occasions, telling Fenrir it was a game. The first time was some normal, ordinary chains. Fenrir broke those with a single movement of his paw. The second was a reinforced chain. These were a little tougher but they too were shattered. The Gods then got in contact with the Dwarves to create for them a special chain, named Gleipnir. This chain was presented to Fenrir, and its appearance - similar to that of a ribbon or thread - immediately made Fenrir suspicious. He only agreed to have himself bound if one person were to lose their hand should they go back on their word. Tyr was the one who offered (this is a HUGE deal, as Tyr is basically associated with business transactions, oaths and the likes. Loki even goes on to call this out in the poem 'Lokasenna' (Loki's Flyting)). Naturally, Fenrir is bound, he can't break free, Tyr loses an arm. Fenrir snaps at the laughing Gods' ankles and Odin shoves a sword through Fenrir's jaws. Fenrir will only be freed by the violent thrashing of his brother come Ragnarok, to which Fenrir will kill Odin. Some sources also say Fenrir eats the sun and moon, however this is a tricky subject as that act is often attested to two other wolves. There's plenty of theories but for this post, they are irrelevant.

Stray Kids Everywhere All Around The World

Stray Kids first became known by a survival TV show in late 2017. At the time, there was nine members. (For the sake of avoiding drama and cause the matter is done, I will be talking about Woojin but sticking to the facts. Everything from the drama was false (which I learned the hard way and am still trying to learn from); do not attempt to bring up the controversy in reblogs or replies or I will block you.) The members included (in order, starting with team leader then oldest to youngest); Bang Chan, Kim Woojin, Lee Minho, Seo Changbin, Hwang Hyunjin, Han Jisung, Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin, and Yang Jeongin. The group would debut in 2018 with the track "District 9". Upon debut, most of the members would continue using their names except for the following; Minho (would debut as Lee Know), Jisung (would debut as Han) and Jeongin (would debut as I.N.). Kim Woojin left the group in late 2019 around the time of the "Double Knot"/"Levanter" promotions. (Hence forth, Woojin is irrelevant. This is where we shall leave any mention of Woojin hence forth.

Stray Kids would go on to become a pretty big deal, even winning the competition TV show 'Kingdom' (let's not go over the whole MAMA bullshit, that would take a whole tray of paracetamol to get through), leading to the band being noticed by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. In the past year, several of the members have appeared or modeled for various designer brands (ignoring the politics of this for now; good on them for their success however).

Bang Chan and Fenrir's Connection

As was mentioned in the TikTok I linked earlier, Bang Chan is the member of the group who was a trainee for the longest amount of time. Chan had been training under JYP Entertainment for seven years by the time of the pre-debut TV show. Chan has mentioned several times in the past the anger and sadness he felt, connecting with other trainees only for them to leave (either from being fired, changing career paths or debuting before him - this was especially noted to be the case with groups TWICE and GOT7, where Chan is friends with members of the groups and even shared a dorm room with members of GOT7). It's not hard to imagine the amount of pressure Chan was under to debut on the survival show. Or the amount of pressure he put on himself and the rest of Stray Kids. This amount of pressure would rear its head when members Lee Know and Felix were eliminated (but would be brought back later and debut with the group). A clip from Felix's elimination gives a glimpse into how hard Chan was on himself.

I will not speculate Chan's thoughts or feelings, but if you dig into it, you can come to some conclusions quickly based on the surrounding context and what we know about Chan and Felix's friendship post-debut.

Fenrir is bound and thus cannot be free to show his true strength and power, held back by the Gods for fear of what or who he could be. In essence, some could argue that this is what made Fenrir stronger and the wolf we know today but that comes with the ridiculous amount of pain and torture the wolf felt. Sure, he became stronger, but at what cost? I would say this is the same question to consider when talking about Chan and Fenrir. Sure, Chan is a wise and strong leader now, but what was the cost? He's made it clear that at one point before debut (and other members have backed this up), he actively avoided connecting with people cause of how many friendships he watched crumble for one reason or another. There's even a clip from a livestream where Chan was noticeably angry with staff and you can see the visible fear and awkwardness from the other members. Again, will not speculate on what any of it could mean, but it does point to something Fenrir and Chan may also have in common. When they are angry, they are

PISSED.

However, it's also important to keep in mind the sort of things Fenrir teaches and encourages from a Norse Pagan/Heathen perspective, so...

Fenrir in Norse Spirituality

A common name attributed to Fenrir is "breaker of chains". When we're talking about what this means from a spiritual standpoint, it means to free yourself from your past, free yourself from expectations or demands of others that holds you down and to let go and live free. For many, this can meaning learning how to cope with mental illness and trauma, learning how to manage (not control) one's anger, how to fuel emotions into actions and remain within the present and not think about the past or the future.

I've also heard many people describe Fenrir as a special kind of 'military boot camp' strict. This is the best way I can describe it; imagine, if you will, that you are a house. Fenrir is the property surveyor (the person who checks houses for faults). Fenrir will go around and tell you everything that isn't sturdy, that has cracks or other faults. Not out of malice, but because if you don't fix this, all it takes is one bad day and your self-worth comes crashing to the ground. Fenrir will even go out of his way to test these parts of yourself, again not out of malice but to make sure you can withstand it. Going back to the house metaphor; imagine Fenrir pointed out your foundations were made with weak cement, so you redo the foundations. Fenrir isn't convinced until he can push into it or stand on it and find it can withstand the weight. (This doesn't go into how our emotions fluctuate daily, but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say.)

Fenrir is also oftentimes seen as an example of justified rage. The rage of youth being mocked by their elders for simply being young. The rage Black people feel when another officer shoots yet another unarmed Black person. The rage LGBTQIA+ people feel when one of their own is killed or assaulted for simply being in love or expressing who they are. The rage women feel when men try to take advantage of or gaslight them into accepting lower. The rage of Indigenous people watching as their lands get bombed, farmed, and in general colonized and ripped of all its worth until nothing remains.

With all these factors in mind, let's finally get to the meet of this. The Stray Kids songs one (like myself) can associate with Fenrir. I will include lyrics, and you're more than welcome to reply or reblog with songs I may have missed. So, without further ado; let's get cracking! (Please note I will be using OT8 songs primarily for this post, again to avoid drama or anyone dogpiling about the controversy.)

'Placebo' (3RACHA original; 2017, Stray Kids original; 2018, re-recorded; 2021.)

"The positive belief that will even heal my wounds Keep going, the Placebo that works on me Honestly, there’s no need to be negative Trust myself, throw away those extra thoughts"

'Placebo' is a song essentially about relying on yourself to get through your challenges, while acknowledging what is currently making you feel weak. The fear and worry about wondering if you will actually make it, but telling yourself you can despite your worries, being your own friends in your darkest moments. Felix's verse I think is almost entirely applicable to Fenrir (Felix even says "drop these rusty chains" - remember, Fenrir was first bound by chains before Gleipnir.)

"Miroh" (original; 2019, re-recorded; 2020)

"Poison, trap, toadstool you can set them up I'll survive in the end, whatever it takes I know your traps, you set them up And I stomp on them tougher There's only one answer, you just have to open it"

"Miroh" (Korean word for 'maze') is an EDM-style song about persevering through the challenges you face, head held high, trusting your instincts and knowing that one way or another you have prepared for this moment and you will make it out the other side. The chorus starts with a line explaining that the narrator (Stray Kids) decided to go into the city (the challenges) themselves and know what is coming, are ready for it and know they can make it through the trial. The song also uses various animal sound effects, including a tiger's roar in the chorus, a hawk's caw and a bird-filled jungle soundscape. (Fenrir is often reported to be associated with swamps and mountains, so the inclusion of wild animal noises fits perfectly here.)

'Red Lights' (2021)

"No matter how hard I try to escape, there's no answer Until I fall asleep in the sun, even deeper I really wanna know, yeah I've already lost control"

This song is performed by Bang Chan and Hyunjin, and according to Genius the song "about compulsion and confusion of ego and about obsession about doing something". One would think, with the sexy sound and concept of the track, it would imply something of a sexy nature. However, it can also be about anything that someone can grow obsessed with. Another person, a feeling, an action, a moment, etc. The line "Tell me you hate me" makes me think of Fenrir talking to Tyr. The music video for the track also heavily features Chan and Hyunjin in chains, so one could also argue the obsession to be the desire to escape from their chains.

"MANIAC" (2022)

"The real self has been released (Yup, yup) Barely holding on (Yup, yup) After blinking once, back Again, back to cosplaying as what society Defines normal to be pow"

'MANIAC' is a song with a visible influence from Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' as it explores one's individual uniqueness, the expectations of society (which can delve into toxic perfectionism/happiness, conformity etc) and how we as a people have hidden our inner 'maniac' to fit in with the world. Even when in Asgard, surrounded by the Aesir and Vanir, Fenrir was always gonna be Fenrir. Just by his mere nature, he was deemed an outcast for being a larger and stronger wolf than they had encountered before, something that within itself isn't a crime. Fenrir would likely always be looked down upon if he showed discomfort, anger or any sort of negative emotion. In this song, Stray Kids basically asks the listener to open up their true self, live their authentic selves and enjoy the life they've been given, essentially; "shed the chains society has forced upon you."

"BEWARE" (original; 2018, re-recorded; 2020)

"My current state, the way I talk, my actions I know I shouldn't be like this But everything goes the opposite way I want you to understand me I don't know what will happen Again today, I'm barking"

Remember when I talked about Fenrir and justifiable rage and I brought up youth being angry with elders being condescending with them? This song is my 'case and point'. Going back to what I mentioned in 'MANIAC', no matter what Fenrir did the Aesir were likely not going to view him in a positive light. Ask any person who has tried to get on the good side of someone who couldn't care for them and you'll often find descriptions of growing tire, frustration and rage. Sometimes, we are going to encounter this in life - whether it be a boss who treats us poorly, a colleague/acquaintance/friend gossiping or lying about us behind our back, a family member who has expectations for you that you can't reach no matter what you try etc. Fenrir is no stranger to this; he experienced it firsthand living amongst the Aesir. That rage one feels in these moments is a healthy rage, a voice, which you will find is either being encouraged by Fenrir or is Fenrir himself, screaming at you "This isn't right, I shouldn't be treated like this!"

"SCARS" (2021)

"I'll never cry because I know that it'll never change I'll stay standing and endure it in an unknown place There will be many times I'll almost fall, but Alone, I reach out my hand, alone, I stand back up"

Sometimes, when we face hurdles in our lives we will feel sadness, sorrow or despair. If there's one thing I want to end this made tangent about, it's this; you will face challenges and it's OK to not be happy about it. It's alright to cry, to scream and wail and sob, to shed tears, feel fear, embarrassment, etc. It's alright if you need to punch a pillow or cry yourself to sleep. Remember; Chan probably did the same. For seven years. Fenrir probably did too, stuck within his personal Hell. But if there's one thing you should take from both of them, it's that you are stronger than you think you are. You can survive, you will survive. You will see the light on the other side one day; all it requires is fighting through the pain, even if that means crying from the hurt. We don't leave this life unscathed; we all will die with countless scars, both physical and mental. Be kind to yourself, know you are worthy of being alive right now, and you have the strength to push onwards. Carry the strength of Fenrir - and the strength of Bang Chan and Stray Kids - with you and remember you aren't alone fighting against the chains you've found yourself bound in.

(TLDR; an Autistic Norse Pagan loses were mind when were discovers a Fenrir tattoo design for Chan, goes on a long Stray Kids and Fenrir rant.)

[desdemonafictional]

Post canon WIP (Scene 1)

“I’ve been thinking,” Kabru said.

Annoyingly, Laios did not look up from the encyclopedia he was flipping through. He’d had a wistful, almost pained expression on his face for the last several minutes as he paged through the book that Mithrun had leant them. It was a detailed record of monsters known in the west, their appearances and habits and weaknesses, aimed at an audience of future Canaries destined for the dungeons of the outside world.

At first Laios had been thrilled, commenting constantly on this fact or that fact, and the quality of illustrations, and points where he happened to know the encyclopedia had gotten something wrong. But bit by bit, he’d gone quiet. And now he simply sat there, with that look on his face, as if the book hurt him to touch.

Kabru sat down on the edge of the table and placed his finger over the page.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said again.

Laios looked up.

“I know this life isn’t the one you wanted,” Kabru said. “We’re all grateful… I’m especially grateful, for what you’ve done. And I know… how it is with desires, I’ve seen what it costs to give up a part of yourself. But I’ve said this to someone else before—maybe the thing you used to want is beyond you now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have new desires. New interests.”

Laios gave him a tired look. “You’re talking about my curse,” he said. “Kabru, it’s fine. I’ve made peace with it. At the end of the day, there’s still books and things.” He gestured at the encyclopedia, as if it hadn’t just been making him miserable. “Just because I can’t see monsters up close anymore doesn’t mean I want to forget about them.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Kabru said. “I meant—without giving up on monsters, you can have other, different things as well, right?”

He slid the book aside, carefully marking the page before closing it.

“Let me teach you about people,” Kabru said. “People are really interesting! A human bite is functionally poisonous, and humans are actually very difficult to kill despite having no natural weapons—the things a human can do, not just dwarves and elves but tallmen too, and halflings—we’re amazing animals, incredibly adaptable, physiologically and mentally.”

“I don’t know,” Laios said, “humans are…”

Kabru considered him for a moment, appraising his uneasy, twisted expression. There were bits he’d learned about Laios, here and there, that suggested a story that Kabru had never dared ask directly about.

“Let me guess,” Kabru said, “and tell me if I’m wrong. Humans are something other to you, right? Something irrational. Alien. Humans took your childhood and destroyed it. Humans drove you from your home, hurt the people you loved. The harm came out of nowhere, without explanation, and you were powerless against it. You lived in fear of them, and even now, in some ways, you’re still afraid. Deep down, you find the idea of them revolting.”

Laios’s face was white. His fingers clenched in the fabric of his trousers, bloodless.

“Am I making the comparison clear enough?” Kabru asked.

“I don’t…” Laios said. “You’re not revolting to me.”

As much as he’d like to say otherwise, some small part of Kabru was relieved to hear it. Laios had said he liked him, had called him a friend, but Laios was so difficult to understand sometimes. And Kabru worried. He had always worried, ever since he met Laios.

“Thanks,” Kabru said, making light of it. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Laios didn’t smile. “The Winged Lion said some similar things to me,” he admitted. “And it’s true, there have been times in my life when I hated humans, when I wished for—um. Things that would probably scare you. But I also… know that I can’t ever really give up on being a human. Not just because of the curse…”

Laios ran his fingers through the downy feathers at the neck of his cloak, as if he was soothing himself.

“When I was a kid, I wanted to stop being human so badly it hurt. But when I was transformed, all I did was kill—I didn’t recognize anyone, not even the people I wanted to save most in the world. What I really wanted, all along, was to have it both ways. To be a monster, and also be myself.”

Taking a chance, Kabru reached out and took Laios’s hand. Broad and narrow, pale and dark, but they had the same callouses. He gave a squeeze.

“If you look at it the right way, I think you can have it both ways,” Kabru said. “Sort of.”

Laios frowned up at him.

“Let’s think about humans as a kind of monster,” Kabru went on. “What are their habits? Their strengths? What drives them, what makes them act like they do? I’ll teach you. Like I said, it’s really very interesting. Humans are driven by instinct as much as any other animal. They have predictable behaviors, once you understand the mechanisms.”

He squeezed again and then let go.

“Hunger, attraction, territoriality—We like to think we’re different than other creatures, but we’re really not,” Kabru said. “We’re just a bit more complicated, because of language.”

He opened the encyclopedia back up and paged through until he found the direwolf Laios had been chattering about earlier. “You said direwolves have a social family structure, just like humans. And just like humans, they can have abusive family dynamics, right? If the lead female bullies the younger females, the younger ones might rise up and kick her out of the pack, isn’t that what you said? So then, sometimes they don’t rise up. Why only sometimes?”

Laios blinked at Kabru’s finger. “You were listening to that?”

“I told you,” Kabru said. “I want to understand. When I watch you, I believe that there must still be some value in monsters. If you see something beautiful in them, then there must be something beautiful in them.”

He considered the illustration for a long moment, each tuft of fur with its own graceful motion, the detail rendered so closely, with such care of knife against block print.

“Things that are frightening can also be beautiful, don’t you think?”

[bp-zb1fics]

which zb1 member would be which Disney prince,, I'm curious 🎤

Not cherrie giving me the best questions to answer 💜💜💜 when it’s literally 6am and my insomnia won’t leave me alone 😭

On principle, I find Disney’s portrayal of the princes as very shallow and gender-norm enforcing (i’m sorry I feel very strongly abt this😅) we are not fans so instead I’d probably go for what Disney princess movie fits the vibe of which member when I assign them to princes. I’m also going to be rewriting that movie as I go, sorry in advance to the purists

Pls note I’ve not great at headcanons and indecisive as hell so here we go ~

Jiwoong: The Beast/Prince Adam

If this man could play a Prince in a drama, this is the kind of content I’d pay for

Just like my hogwarts headcanon, man probably invited the sorceress to dinner and asked to be turned into a beast because everyone just liked his face

And he thought he’d be better off if someone liked his personality

Yes he asks for his servants to be turned into furniture for shit and giggles but not like permanently, maybe they all go back to normal at night

reader wonders why he always insist not that they don’t go to the west wing at night. It’s not just the rose but that’s where he and the servants go to like chill and be their human selves (this is getting a little Cupid and psyche lol)

Hao: Prince Eric (The Little Mermaid)

Just the scene of him playing his violin and mer reader listening from a distance

Sometimes they sing along while Hao is playing and Hao is like woah who dat

They probably met as kids and he gave mer reader his old violin because they were curious

Definitely have it displayed in the center of their collection

Wants to be human to hear Hao play more

Hanbin: Prince Charming (Cinderella)

If this man isn’t Prince Charming, idk who is, do not argue with me

Does not have a shoe fetish

Definitely remembers reader’s face, he just wants to return their shoe bruh

And maybe ask reader out idk, not marry them right away

Just imagine dancing with Hanbin to “So this is love” and tell me u aren’t soft

Matthew: Aladdin

For the record, the genie in that lamp would probably be Keita bc he’s been training for 10,000 years (jk)

Watch me cast the whole KTL team (except Hao idk unless we want crossover)

There’s Matthew and there’s Seok Woohyun, don’t tell me he doesn’t think those are two diff people

Just…Matthew singing a Whole New World is a song cover I didn’t think I needed until now pls and thanks

Taerae: Snow White’s Prince

For all the OG Disney fans, you know that one scene where Snow White’s singing by the well and the Prince fucking jump scares her by singing back

Yes that’s Taerae, man will take the opportunity and he has a guitar

yes he will bring the guitar

Once again watch me cast all the Wake One trainees (K+ G) and Junhyeon as the seven dwarves friends who help reader out

Ricky: Prince Naveen (Princess and the Frog)

I’m sorry my eternal headcanon is spoiled Prince Ricky and reader who puts him in his place

Would probably be a bit more sus of this voodoo man turning him into a frog

It’s probably not even a villain, it’s one of the Yuehuaz who happens to know voodoo being like oh you know what would be rlly fucking funny

He gets his whole character development arc and becomes a better young and rich, tall and handsome Prince that’s totally down bad for reader

Gyuvin: Flynn Rider (Rapunzel’s Tangled)

This man steals hearts everywhere he goes (I mean he won every challenge yo)

A lot goofy like they told him during the sleepover, he’s lucky he’s got a nice face

I haven’t got that much for this one

But energy is the same

Gunwook: Captain Shang (Mulan)

He is a leader (class pres/vice pres every year anyone?)

Dude literally takes forever to realize that reader isn’t supposed to be there (literally the en garde hidden cam)

Casting the three other Jellyfish trainees as the soldiers yo

He’s slay “Be a Man” even if I dislike the title of that song, it’s hella catchy

Yujin: Prince Philip (Sleeping Beauty)

He’s a baby YALL pls

Shy, literally just watching reader do their thing in the forest like how this boi literally watched taerae the whole signal song filming (pls see zb1’s bp commentary for red)

He’s not slaying dragons just yet but he be slaying my heart with Noona saranghaeyo

Gives reader an innocent lil peck and they wake up

Maybe it isn’t true loves kiss just yet, more like boy with pure intentions bc literally that’s equally hard to find

Ok thanks for coming to my TED talk and thanks cherrie for this very lovely question. Y’all need to keep asking me more stuff like that very much please and thanks in advance 💜💜💜

[technoturian]

I gave it a whole season with an open mind but Rings of Power is just... bad.

The writing is just bad. It’s all just so Intro To Creative Writing. I don’t even care about Middle Earth lore so I don’t mind any changes. What bothers me is if you’re going to adapt something and then change it, you’d better be changing it into something good. Instead, we got ALL the cliches. The fact that every episode I would guess the cliche line I was about to hear and then there it was, but I would still be stunned because I couldn’t believe they were THAT lazy, THAT obvious. I’m not exaggerating here, I literally made a joke several times and then one of the characters said the same thing but they were serious! The dialogue is flat. The characters are the most rote tropes. They think they have to spell everything out to their stupid audience (”You’re not Sauron! You’re the other one!”). They have the characters do random stuff or neglect to tell each other stuff not because it’s in character (lol) but because it makes a WHAM moment later (that falls flat because it’s so obvious).

Look, I’m pretty genre savvy, but I am not the only one who guessed how this all was going from several episodes ago. I knew it was Gandalf from episode one. I knew who was Sauron for several episodes. My mom is a big Tolkien nerd and kept saying “But that doesn’t make sense! Because in the lore-” and every week I had to remind her that these writers aren’t following lore and they don’t seem to care what makes sense, but they’re still easy to predict because of all the tropes and borrowed story beats.

The way they cut through travel made the world seem incredibly small. Then all the flip-flopping to drag things out because they’re bad at pacing; in Numenor, in the Southlands, with the dwarves, they decide things and then suddenly it’s undecided because they need more time. The absolutely garbage lines like “the elves are stealing your jobs” or “I’m GOOD”. The constant pulling of lines from the source material and putting them out of place, which is annoying for two reasons, first because it’s unearned but also because the stolen lines are the only good dialogue in this mess.

The casting of non-white actors in completely tokenistic roles. The fact that the harfoots are mostly white and are played by average sized actors. The fact that they have a few non-white actors and then cast white actors for their family members (Nori and her mom, the queen of Numenor and her dad) which just screams “we want it diverse, but not too diverse”.

And yes, Girlboss Galadriel who is peak perfomative feminism akin to W*nder Woman and She-H*lk, mass produced girl power with none of the depth or grit. Galadriel who is one-note in all of her motivation, who comes across as embarassingly stupid at times because it’s more important for her to be brash and stern. Writing out her husband in a random throwaway line because she couldn’t want to go out and fight while also being married or a mother (something so many weird defenders of this show seem to think means the opposite of what it is, like wanting her to be married and have a kid and still be out doing awesome things instead of becoming a tradwife is the ANTI-feminist view, and as if there’s a scarcity of single young action girls out there). The “I’ll never join you!” conversation with Sauron. Randomly just telling people to “trust her” instead of being like, “Yeah that was Sauron” so he can come back and screw stuff up later. Why? Why? Because they need her to, that’s why. But why, in-character would she do that? ~Don’t worry about it.~

Basically everything about badboy Halbrand, the Kylo Ren of Middle Earth. But especially his Jason Bourne moment in Numenor and the whole cringy “reluctant king” story. The one woman in town who wears color because she’s the Main Character. The sweet girl getting too close to Gandalf and he accidentally hurts her and she shies away. That may have been the worst one. Made me shout “I am not a gun!” because my goodness, these writers. They just steal everything. Every single twist was artlessly telegraphed and stolen from something better. A few times, this worked. The Stranger was predictable from the start, the dwarf storyline didn’t do anything particularly groundbreaking, Arondir’s star-crossed romance was incredibly bland. But the characters were fun to watch and the actors did well with the parts. It’s just unfortunate that, where a few of the characters managed to elevate the sea of cliches surrounding them, the majority just coasted on the surface.

This is giving me Star Wars Sequel vibes, even though I’m not a LotR fan like I am a Star Wars fan. It feels like plastic. It feels like they thought of everything but actually making a show worth watching. This show won’t be a classic, it’s just another revenue source. I don’t know if I would be this harsh if it were some small production and an original story. But for the money this cost, the fact that it’s so bland, so uninspired, so absolutely lazy is honestly insulting. I’ve seen so many lower budget fantasy stories with a hundred times more heart and brains than this. The bottom line is this: Amazon had all of the money to hire all the talent in the world and they’re giving us this??? The gall.

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

I got a Q that came accidentally as a DM vs. an ask, so I'll just re-state it here and then answer it: "Why do you think Rohan wasn't concerned about Théodred being single and without children? Shouldn't they have wanted another heir to keep his line going if/when Théodred died?

So, first off, this does seem weird on the surface, at least relative to how many actual monarchies have worked. Queens have lived or died, wars were fought, and entire nations fell when a monarch failed to produce a clear heir. So you'd think that Théodred, being in his 40s, would be considering that need. But maybe not! As shown in the Théodred fic I’m in the middle of rolling out, my personal HC for him is that he held out against marriages of convenience or alliance to have a real love match instead, and he didn't find that until close enough to his (untimely) death that the marriage itself never happened. But he also just didn't feel the call to parenthood—not all of us do!—and was more than happy to pass everything to Éomer and his descendants when he died. After all, he loved Éomer as something between a brother and a son, and that's classic heir territory. So he didn't need to rush into marriage or kids because he was comfortable with Éomer as his own heir and had made that clear enough that it was accepted.

Canonically, of course, there's no evidence for that. But there's also no evidence that Théodred's situation is all that odd in late Third Age Middle Earth. There's almost no one of any significance in the story who is married or actively raising children until the very end of ROTK. Galadriel, Bombadil, some minor hobbits, Beregond...these folks are the exceptions, not the rule. Everyone else is unmarried or widowed (or whatever you call what happened to Elrond), and the younger generation is childless—even the other hereditary heirs to power: Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas, Elladan & Elrohir, Pippin, etc.

There’s a range of reasons for that. We're told dwarves just don't put a lot of priority on marriage. The elves are fading, so they've got other things on their minds, and they tend not to have children during times of war and strife anyway. Gondor is described as a land “falling into dotage” and decreasing in population so there’s almost an element of fading there, too, though of a different kind. The Shire is the one place where there does seem to be a lot more marriage and childrearing happening, so it's probably more of a coincidence that our 5 main hobbit characters (incl. Bilbo) just happen not to be among them at the time of the story, either because of age or queerness or some other reason particular to just those individuals vs hobbit culture as a whole.

That leaves Rohan, and I'm not sure I have a super satisfying answer. Théoden's family does appear much less uptight about issues of inheritance and power and heritage than you'd think. His father very nearly abdicated the throne, and Théoden himself is kind of shockingly casual about the transfer of power when he tells the Rohirrim to just "choose a new lord as you will" should both he and Éomer die in battle. (Were we one hot nephew away from Rohan having the first democratically elected head of state in all of Middle Earth??) If the royal family felt that way, perhaps they were just reflecting a broader culture that was more comfortable with the idea of power not always going linearly from father to son and so setting up those lines through marriage and babies was not as important to them. In that case, Théoden might have been willing not to force his son into a marriage he didn't want, and Théodred may have felt more free to take his time deciding on things. All of which brings me back in the direction of my own HC, so I guess that feels satisfying enough to me!

[lol-jackles]

The original Snow White is my all time fave Disney movie. I saw it in theater as a kid when they rereleased it. I hate when people who were born after 1985 take something made before the 21st century and apply a 21st century mindset to it. They talk like they want a Snow White who will make an impact as if she didn't make an impact in the original film. If you actually pay attention when watching the original movie you can see the impact that Snow White has on those around her.

I didn't realize how much I liked the OG Snow White until we got a VHS tape of a stage musical that was nearly scene to scene of the OG Snow White. I watched it over and over again with my younger cousins. It held us over until Disney finally released the original Snow White to VHS in 1994, when it broke records and sold 50 million copies worldwide. I ask again, why would current Disney think it's a swell idea to change Snow White so much in the live action remake?

Looking back I really liked how Snow White was mostly show not tell, which is the most important aspect of any movie. But a lot of movies nowadays are full of monologues of what a character needs to do and what's going on and how they're feeling instead of showing us and letting us discern for ourselves.

Snow White's value is timeless, that's why she's endured for so long because she resonates with people all over the political spectrum and why they badly reacted to Disney's remake of Snow White based on Rachel Zegler's words.  Snow White epitomizes values about hard work, not being entitled, and choosing a survivalist mentality instead of a victim "woe is me" mentality. Moreover, it is realistic to have hopes and dreams, but not at the expense of shirking your present responsibilities.  Her world was pulled out from under her and she lost everything she knew, but she got right back up.  Many adults have rent and bills to pay so they couldn't just wallow in their self pity and misery.  They have to go to work and carry on, just like Snow White did.

Snow White is relatable.  Many abuse victims grow up to be abusers at worst or assholes at best. Not their fault but still people like Snow white should be admired, she didn’t expect to receive refuge without earning a living. And Snow White helped the dwarves become better people, she even broke through Grumpy and won his affection.  The dwarves answered to NOBODY, and yet they had to answer to Snow White because they loved her, and then would kill for her by chasing the evil queen to her death.

Snow White is a great example of “the kindness you give to others comes back to you” i.e Snow White helps the baby blue bird find her parents, who then return with her parents to help Snow White. Often times the best indicator of strength isn't whether you reject your circumstances but how you choose to live with them.  Snow White (and Cinderella and Aurora) teaches lessons about emotional strength, optimism, and kindness. Not only are these important lessons, but they should be on par with the lessons that Mulan, Tiana, and Moana teach.   Kindness and optimism are just as important as bravery and leadership.

Femineity is not weak or bad, and masculinity isn't either.  Snow White was strong because she is feminine, not despite it. While it is important to show that women can have masculine traits, it is even more important to show that it is okay for women to have feminine traits.

Side note: The Disney renaissance in the '90s was shaped by a man for whom a large part of his identity was rejected by society, and he was unable to express it, which makes the Renaissance make sense for why there are so many stories about self discovery. But the older films were shaped by a man who had to work hard to keep his company afloat during extremely rough times (World War I and The Great Depression), so those stories featuring hard work and resilience make sense. Walt had said that Cinderella was his favorite heroine and the fairy godmother represented the "miracle" (through Snow White) that launch the company to success.