chuthulhu-reads

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: Four panels from the webcomic Aurora. In the first, Erin, smiling, says, "Like I said. Trust that I have it under control." In the second panel, Alinua is frowning. In the third panel, Alinua, frowning harder, says, "I don't. But I know you think you do." The fourth panel shows Erin looking taken aback as Alinua folds her arms and continues, "So I trust you'll try your hardest to prove that you're right." End ID.]

Oh RIGHT in the wizard hubris, goddamn

#comic aurora #I HOOTED Alinua fuckin nailed him here

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. Laois has a serious expression as he sweeps a cloak over his shoulder. It joins at the shoulder with a wolf's face, making it seem to be a wolf skin, but under the wolf's shout there are feathers visible, and the overall sweeping size of the wool cloak seems bigger than a wolf. End ID.]

Autism be damned my boy can STYLE

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #damn there's a lot of tragedy in this fursuit but it DOES look fucking cool #...I hope he gets that treated properly though I can't imagine you can just skin a dead animal and wear it and it doesn't rot #Dungeon Meshi spoilers

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: five panels from Dungeon Meshi, three from the end of the first arc and two from the final chapter. The first panel shows Falin looking at Laios' sword, and Laois noticing her looking. In the second panel, they're in the same pose, Falin looking up at Laois and asking, "What do they taste like?" Laois is smiling and saying, "Want to eat it?" In the third panel, Falin is smiling and waving her fists in the air in excitement, saying, "Yes! Yes I do!" Laois is also smiling. In the foreground, Marcille's face is shadowed, but we can see her looking to the heavens with tears in her eyes and a mournful expression.

In the first of the two panels from the final chapter, Falin is smiling brightly, the background full of lights emanating from her head. Her eyes are open wide and her mouth is open enough to show her fangs. The second panel shows a number of items sitting on a shelf, including books, scrolls, and Laois' chimera-skin cloak. In front of the shelves are Laois' breastplate and sword Kensuke. From off-panel, Falin is saying, "Let's see... first, I want to try the living armour!" From off-panel, someone replies, "Huh?! You want to start with that?!" A narration box at the bottom says, "And thus..." End ID.]

I love this callback, it's cute and funny and also proves that Falin shares her brother's interests. In the backstory, the reason Laois started distancing himself from other people wasn't because they treated him as weird, but because people rejected Falin for her abilities, even though Falin never did anything bad with them and saved Laois' life the first time her powers manifested. Laois will literally go to hell to fetch his little sister home, and Falin thinks her big brother is just the coolest guy and is super excited to share in his hobbies. I'm so normal about them <3

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #I love siblings sharing braincells #Dungeon Meshi spoilers

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. Laios is running down a corridor of stone arches, carrying a walking mushroom with a star pattern on its hood and a small flower blooming out of the top. Outside of the archway he's running past, we can see a gigantic bird made out of thousands of smaller birds, looming over the buildings in the background, looking at Laois with blank white eyes. End ID.]

Welp this manga is going on the shelf next to The Boy And The Heron for "making entirely unexpected birds FUCKING TERRIFYING"

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #Dungeon Meshi Spoilers

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. It shows the corpses of Senshi, Chilchuck, Izutsumi and Laois all propped up against fancy paintings sitting on the ground against the wall. Marcille is alive but has a reddened, tear-streaked face and a dead-eyed expression as she leans her head against Laios' shoulder, reached out a hand, and says, "Did you give even a moment's thought to how I'd feel surrounded by your corpses...?" End ID.]

God this panel took me right the fuck out. On the one hand, what else can they do? Marcille's the only member of the party skilled enough in magic to do resurrection spells. Laois straight up tells her he's giving her the neck armour because she's the healer, the one they can't afford to lose; she can rez the rest but if she dies, they're all doomed. And it's a uniquely cruel position for Marcille to be in because of her deep, aching fear of outliving everyone she loves, a fear that Laios has to be aware of on some level, even if he doesn't clearly remember the nightmare he rescued Marcille from... but even if he was fully aware of it, that doesn't change the fact that she's the only one of them who can rez. It's inescapable that she has to be in this position, just as, in the end, it's inescapable that she will outlive everyone in this panel even if they live to ripe old ages. Marcille being forced to microdose her inevitable looming grief is a great setup for her making the decision she does when they meet the Winged Lion--how can she go through this again, for real?

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #I kinda love that at the end she still hasn't actually given up on her dream of extending all races' lifespans #she just knows the price of doing it the Winged Lion's way isn't worth it #and she gets time to digest this moment and this feeling #and become less blindly terrified of losing her friends #she still wants them to live. She's still determined to make it happen #she's just also more prepared to accept failure in that quest #I love her #dungeon meshi spoilers

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. A man is clutching at his throat, his clothing soaked with blood from a recently-healed throat wound. He has a horrified expression on his face, sweating and shadowed. THe background is black with white splatters on it which evoke blood splatter. The narration begins, "Once revived, they each said..." The man says, "The rabbits..." and the narration concludes, "...and that's it. They never went into the dungeon again." End ID.]

My god... is it... him?

[ID: A screenshot from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It shows a fat, pure white rabbit sitting on a pile of dirt, between a skull and a semi-intact spine. End ID.]

My boy the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog???

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious In Dungeon #Dunmeshi #after reading the chapters: oh my god it's EVEN MORE FUCKED UP I love it #though Laios' armour would work either way! #dungeon meshi spoilers

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: a panel from Dungeon Meshi. It shows Izutsumi smiling, making a finger gun, and saying, "Genius." The panel is full of rays of light radiating from her head. End ID.]

This is probably my favourite Izutsumi panel and I'm definitely using it as a reaction image, though this one is a close second

[ID: A panel of Izutsumi standing in a power stance, arms spread wide in the air, smiling so hard her eyes are closed. Light seems to be pouring through the middle of the panel, and she's surrounded by falling roses. At the bottom of the panel is the word "Freedom" in all caps bold letters. End ID.]

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #Dungeon Meshi spoilers

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. Chilchuck's narration says, "...but lately, that dynamic had vanished, and things had been pleasant." Chilchuck is in the bottom centre of the panel, smiling brightly and surrounded by the party. Senshi is thinking of roasting meat over the fire with a neutral expression. Laois is frowning seriously and thinking of monsters. Marcille is smiling and thinking of books. Izutsumi, with an iconic 3-shaped cat smile, is thinking of herself with the exact same expression. End ID.]

I adore Izutsumi. An absolute self-love queen. She loves herself with the same intensity that Laios loves monsters. May we all have some of that energy

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious In Dungeon #Dunmeshi #Dungeon Meshi spoilers

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: Two panels from Dungeon Meshi. The first scows Senshi clutching his face as tears start to spill out of his eyes, saying, "I've always... always wanted to have this soup one more time." He's not wearing his helmet in this panel, so his face is unusually visible, detailed and vulnerable. The second panel shows himself as a youngster, surrounded by his old mining team, all smiling at each other, one of them rubbing Senshi's head. Modern-day Senshi continues, "Thank you. All of you. Thank you." End ID.]

Holy shit. I anticipated some tragic backstory from the "I must feed the young ones" panels, but what I'd guessed was that Senshi might have become so devoted to cooking and eating literally whatever because he'd previously survived a famine and had seen children starve to death. I did not expect him to have been the child who was the sole survivor of a doomed travel party, one of whom was determined to feed Senshi first because he was the youngest, and that Senshi has lived with the fear of having inadvertently committed cannibalism by eating stew that he'd never quite known the contents of. I'm happy for him that Laios deduced and confirmed for him that it was griffin meat, that he was able to taste the meal that saved his life once more and remember the friends he lost. Seriously, I'm crying, and also earnestly relieved that while his backstory is pretty dark, it's not the type of fucked up I'd been preparing myself mentally for.

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #though it IS really worth exploring the ethics of cannibalism in survival situations #The podcast You're Wrong About has a really interesting pairing of episodes #in the Donner Party and Flight 571 Crash episodes #Both about disasters in which people wound up eating their dead to survive #and an interesting connection they drew was that it wasn't the cannibalism itself #that destroyed the lives of the Donner survivors #it was the horror and disgust and societal rejection they got for having eaten human flesh #even the children who had no idea what they were eating were treated with revulsion #and this is clearly the response Senshi feared facing if anybody knew what he'd eaten #But Flight 571 like a century later #the survivors were faced with a lot of understanding when rescued #relatively little condemnation and revulsion #by and large commentators acknowledged that they did what they had to do #and sympathized with how difficult and painful it must have been #which is what Senshi gets from his party #Laios wants to figure out the truth because he knows it's hurting Senshi not to know #But at one point Marcille straight up says that none of them would think less of Senshi if he did eat dwarf stew #Okay so this is Marcille 'ardent student of blood magic' Donato #but Chilchuck agrees #anyway I think that would be a particularly interesting conversation to have in a cooking manga #how do you safely eat a dead friend when that's all you have to survive on? #what are the nutritional benefits other than 'better than starving'? #what are the risks? There's prion diseases and all sorts you can get #they write it off as eating the dragon part but they DO spend seven days eating Falin at the end #ARE there any in/famous cannibalism cases in this world? #Do peopel argue about whether or not it's cannibalism if a dwarf eats a tallman? #enquiring minds (mine) want to know

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: Four panels from Dungeon Meshi. The first is a close-up of Falin's face, her eyes open and a tear starting to drip out of the left eye as she says, "Big brother Laios." The second panel is a close-up of Laios' expression of absolute shock. The third panel shows his grip on his sword starting to loosen as his hand shakes. The fourth panel shows his sword clattering to the ground at his feet. End ID.]

No fuck you how DARE you attack me directly in the FMA PTSD like this

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #Nina Tucker and Falin Touden shaking heads about being unwilling chimeras #looking up to their blond big brother(/figure) to save them #...hoping it turns out better for Falin than Nina #Dungeon Meshi spoilers

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. Laios, looking downcast, is saying, "I thought Shuro would understand," while looking at Chilchuck, who is freaking out. Chilchuck's hands are fisted in his hair and his eyes are bugging out of his skull as he screams, "He's obviously the absolute worst one to tell!" At the opposite side of the panel from Laios, Kabru is also looking downcast and quietly agreeing, "He really was, wasn't he?" End ID.]

I'm howling this looks SO much like the "Ponyo loves...!" meme but the energy is SO opposite. Chilchuck hates... mimics! Chilchuck hates... eating weird monsters! Chilchuck hates... Laios' combination of good heart and social ineptitude possibly getting them all arrested and/or murdered!

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #Chilchuck loves... his blood pressure medication!

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: ID: Three panels from Dungeon Meshi. In the first, Laios is talking with a serious expression and gesturing with a fork that has a hunk of meat on the end. Laios is saying, "I was thinking, the only difference between me and an orc are our number of fingers and toes and our body odors." In the background is an image of an orc and a tallman standing side by side in only their underwear so that the different proportions of their bodies are visible. Laios continues, "In other words, if I could mimic that odor with cologne or something..." In the second panel, Laios' expression has turned manic as he concludes, "...I might be able to make friends with a warg!" He is now in the background, because the foreground is Chilchuck looking disgusted. In the third panel, Chilchuck is poking Falin's arm with the handle of his fork and saying, "Ask him if he thinks a guy who can't get along with people could get along with monsters. Just to see." Falin is turning her face away, seemingly entirely focused on the forkful of food she's just put in her mouth. End ID.]

Fuck off Chilchuck, who WASN'T heartbroken that they couldn't make a permanent friend of the warg pack leader in Baldur's Gate III? They're PUPPIES

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #Yes I am autistic yes I feel every inch of Laios' interactions with other people in my BONES #If people are just gonna be rude bitches all the time might as well try to make friends with a warg #Yeah they'll try to rip your face off but they won't call you a freak

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. Marcille and Falin are in a small tiled room with a heated bath and winged lion decorations on the wall. Falin is sitting on the edge of the rectangular tub inset into the floor, naked, with a towel over her lap and her arms crossed over her chest, saying, "I can wash myself." Marcille is behind her, also naked, her body hidden by her long blonde hair, using a damp cloth to wash Falin's shoulders. Marcille says, "I have to make sure your skin regenerated properly." End ID.]

Look I know the "you concoct elaborate rituals to touch the skin" meme is about men but by GOD are the rituals elaborate with these two

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #literally got to this page and said aloud #Oh these bitches GAY! Good for them!

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: Three panels from Dungeon Meshi. The first shows the red dragon, face heavily shadowed and blood pouring from its stabbed left eye and also spurting from where it's just bitten Laios' left leg off. Laios is still in mid-fall, having just slashed his sword through the weak point on the dragon's throat, as shown by the blood just starting to gush out of of the wound. The second panel shows Laios lying on the ground, face sweaty with exhaustion in pain, as he thinks, "I did it..." The third panel shows him pushing himself up on his hands, sweat dripping off his face, eyes starting to roll back from the exertion as he thinks, "Gotta hurry and save Falin." End ID.]

If I had a nickel for every time I wanted to adopt a blond shonen protagonist who did not hesitate to sacrifice a limb to resurrect his younger sibling, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's wild that it happened twice

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #Though I think Edward Elric would be more interested in hanging out with Marcille and talking magic #might not have gone a bundle on the forbidden blood magic resurrections tho it didn't go great for him #also I see why almost everybody in and out of the manga wants to study this man under a microscope

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. In the background is the explosion that has launched Laios into the air on top of Senshi's cooking pot. Laios himself has his arms outstretched and his eyes wide as he's blasted forward, his mouth open wide enough to show all of his teeth and gums and his cheeks rippling from the force of the wind. His mouth looks uncannily realistic compared to the usual art style. End ID.]

I am HOWLING, that is a HELL of a way to cut the tension, you just KNOW Kui drew this by blasting a fan in her face and looking in the mirror

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi #WHERE WAS THE NEED FOR THIS KUI #WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. A furious Chilchuck points at Laios and shouts, "Argh! the common tongue doesn't have enough swear words!" The background is covered in speech bubbles full of circular characters. Laios, eyes screwed shut and sweating with his back to Chilchuck, says, "Ahh... I'm being cussed out in a language I don't speak. And it's really crude stuff." End ID.]

I cannot tell you how much I need to know halffoot swear words

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi

[chuthulhu-reads]

[ID: A panel from Dungeon Meshi. It's a nearly full-page panel of the red dragon, mouth glowing as it blasts out fire. The flames and smoke are thick and dark at the edges. End ID.]

This feels like an odd thing to get fixated on but damn Ryoko Kui draws beautiful flames

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Dunmeshi