#I would want to come up with a scheme to be their friend too Laios. I get it. his horse girl proclivities come out sometimes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

augustameretrix · 3 months

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here's a little rant about some elements of the incubi + succubi marcille adventures taken as a combo which no one asked for

in the encounter with the incubi the story sets up marcilles deepest fear: death as something she has no control over and which comes for all her loved ones first. the events in the chapter consist in a good ol' nightmare: teeny tiny child marcille tries running from the unrelenting, ugly monster with a doll thats not quite her best friend anymore because she failed a spell. But with the help of her faithful companion laios/the dog she boinks the monster with the newly obtained super powerful and awesome rare arcane spellbook. At the end of the chapter marcille recalls only the aftermath of the nightmare, that is only the good dream: marcille herself still a kid, having a fun adventure looking for a treasure with her dog, her doll and her book. at some point theres a castle. the resolution and aftermath look like a sterotypical fairy tale, a fantasy that is childish and joyful and carefree. we start to see that marcille's own frames of reference for something as foundational as overcoming her deepest fear are pretty much literary, if not romantic (in the broad sense), all stuff shes lifted from the vast amount of fiction shes read.

now, this isnt good analysis etiquette, since this bit is technically not part of the story itself, but it's relevant: in the supplementary gag about the incubi at the end of the volume, the steaming incubi show some more of marcilles' older dreams which consist in a seemingly endless soap opera which just goes on and on and on - so much so even marcille loses interest - and in which mr dashing elf guy with the eyepatch makes his first appearance. again, marcille dreams of romantic drama which no dobut shes paraphrased from her books.

we see marcille consciously applying a romantic and literary scheme to the real world in the bicorn chapter, when she guesses chilchuck's marital situation based off a couple of sentences, random gossip she's heard and books.

finally, her experience with the succubus: this monster goes digging in the subconscious looking for something that attracts you irresistibly. now, its not explicitly stated that this something must be your deepest desire, and looking at chilchuck's and marcille's succubi you would think that's not necessairily the case: they just seem like random sexual and/or romantic fantasies. however, you can easily make the case that laios' succubus touches on something extremely essential to laios' life experience thus far by pointing out he wants to be something other than human. so, if they cant go the horny route, they can go for a form thats still intimate and close to ones heart - which I don't want to call "deepest desire" for reasons, but it's close to it - and if theres sexual connotations to it thats even better. well, I argue that despite being played for laughs, the latter is the case for marcille, too, and depending on how much youre willing to read into it, it sheds a darker light on the scene.

ok, so, the succubus takes the form of - you guessed it - mr dashing elf with the eyepatch from the incubi afterword, who is now blonde, riding on a white horse and surrounded by vfx of roses and sparkles. he dismounts, chides "princess" marcille for "running away from the castle again" and holds out his hand so that he may kiss hers - read, so that the succubus may suck marcilles life energy. this is, once again, marcille's corny books coming to define what kind of fantasies she's into, and chilchuck, recognizing it for what it is, rofls because it is embarrassing and it is cheesy etc. that is all true and its ridiculous, marcille is ridiculous for finding this in any way attractive.

however, theres two interesting details about mr dashing elf guy which feel out of place: the eyepatch and the gorget + cape thing. lets start with the last one: the gorget is the only piece of metal on the guy, the style looks the same as the dullahan bringer of death that comes up in the previous chapter*. as for the cape, it has a floral print on it, but its edges are all torn. like the dullahan. this might just be there to convey the feel of a charming yet adventurous spirit who isnt afraid to get his hands dirty. but he wears gloves over his delicate hands and his boots and white pants are spotless. and then of course we have-

-the eyepatch. it is cool and it covers a scar thats designed to be as cool as possible, it looks like lightning, but its still a pretty ugly scar that takes half of the otherwise beautiful face of mr dashing. but whats of interest is the word thats sewn on the patch: "death". again, it might just be a trashy detail on a pile of trashy archetypes, but given that marcille has a pretty intimate relationship with it, I personally feel safe betting that mr dashing is death itself. a lame bishonen version of it, but still death.

this means in the succubi chapter, the incubi chapter is called back not only via the character of mr dashing elf guy with the eyepatch, but also through the reference to marcille's fears in the context of *checks notes* her sexy fantasies. ooh now that's good. this means that in her subconscious marcille sublimates and exorcises her anxieties about losing her loved ones through a cringey power and sexual fantasy ripped straight off melodramatic romantic novels in which she, as the princess of death, is in the position to command it as she pleases and in which yet death chooses to pursue her specifically because she cant help but escape the castle. and this pursue is gratifying to her, maybe because death is thus excluding to pursue... everyone else. marcille kinda gets off on the thought of having all the power of (life and) death in her hands so that it serves her and her only and never goes after those she cares about, even if she's aware of the element of danger involved in this. and she does so in her usual, dorky, way, even subconsciously: through the lens of her beloved cheesy romances. everyone may make fun of her for it, but how else is a girl gonna cope with the inevitability of losing her loved ones, huh?

*which coincidentally ALSO deals with marcille's "dream" which as we know is tied to her fear of death rapidly coming for her friends and family. "it's all coming together" <- something you could say about anything any time after volume 3 of dunmeshi tbh

#this is so stupid but i cant stop thinking about it #oh how i wish tumblr showed my posts in the tags... i want people to dunk on me for this. or agree also thats fine #marcille donato #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dungeon meshi manga #dungeon meshi spoilers

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