#i might need to work on the concept a bit but i like how it is so far :]

[tirralirralirra]

something I love about having read/watched frieren and dungeon meshi concurrently is getting to see that, despite their similar broad genres (fantasy, DND-esque settings, failure op elf girls /lh), they are two very distinct stories that ultimately achieve the same* thematic goal through different narrative means.

like you have frieren's contemplative, almost slice-of-life style storytelling that focuses on how the connections between people make an impact, and how it's beautiful to cherish the memories of those we love, even the small ones (especially the small ones), and that being alive is so, so beautiful because of those things. Then juxtaposing this with the overall narrative of a literal journey to a land beyond in order to meet with the dead, while not losing focus on those that are alive. Frieren as a story takes time to explore the small things that make life beautiful (fields of flowers, the beauty and not the power of magic, stargazing and sunsets with your friends).

and then you have dunmeshi's tight narrative arcs that are built around urgency (saving falin, first from digestion, then from...chimera-ization), but also continually return to the same concept as a core tenet to both the literal narrative structure around meals and the overall story: to eat is a privilege of the living. That there is joy to be found in eating because it means you are alive, that you survived. That taking time to take care of yourself is honoring your life. That death is a part of life through the acts of killing monsters to eat, and that the dungeon's condition where a soul remains tethered to the body is unnatural.

For that last bit, I love how we're just introduced to the concept in the beginning as a bit of world building, something you might just take at face value of, "oh, I guess this is how this works in this story", and over the course of the story the characters start to interrogate that reality, culminating in Marcille's realization at the end that they took death for granted because of the dungeon's condition:

[ID: Manga panel of Marcille looking down in thought and saying "Look, this might sound a little weird, but...I think the entire point of this journey we went on....was learning how to accept death.]

(Panel is from the ehscans version, will update with official eng when the final volume releases)

I also love that the story takes the time to say, look, you can be in a hurry, but you still need to take care of yourself. Eat well, sleep well, What will you achieve in the service of yourself or others if you don't take care of the most basic qualities to survive first? The most recent episode is a good example of that with the focus on shuro vs. laios, and then there's this reinforcement of the idea by the end:

[ID: Dungeon meshi manga page showing Laios, Chilchuck, and Senshi shouting "A balanced diet!!" "R-regulating our daily rhythms!!" "And moderate exercise!!" respectively, followed by the three in various poses in front of the word "VICTORY" and Laios saying "If we watch these three points...we'll naturally work our way to strong bodies!!"]

Anyways this is all very disorganized and I have other things I need to do and I could write a more cohesive, actually organized thought piece on all of this with like, coherent points, but I don't really like to delve into literary analysis on my fandom account. it just lives in my head, rent free. thank you for coming to my ted talk tumblr. don't expect to see more of this, lol.

*I say same goal, which is not to say the only goal. stories can have more than one theme, it's ok if you disagree with me on this, but please bear in mind that I'm speaking very, very broadly.

#dunmeshi #dunmeshi spoilers #frieren #frieren spoilers #esque thoughts #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #meta esque

[howtofightwrite]

Hi fight writer! Longtime follower, I always enjoy seeing your work and the situations people put their characters in. X3 Could I ask you to look over an element of character backstory for me, to see how realistic it is?

Character is an itinerant-knight sort of fellow, fantasy setting, elven. He's missing a chunk of his ear on one side, having lost it in a fight -- but not in the usual way of getting it sliced. It's the reason he swears by using a helmet and will not let any of his students go ahead into battle without head protection. The premise I had was that somebody gave him a blow to the side of the head and the helmet he was wearing crumpled from the force, pinning the ear between skull and metal. When the helmet was peeled off, a chunk of the ear came with it, or was basically so pinched off and dead that it had to be amputated anyway. (It also gave him a whopper of a concussion, of course. ^^;) But if he hadn't been wearing the helmet? It wouldn't have just been the ear, it would have been the whole top of his head. Wear your helmets, kids.

Do you think the helmet would have had to be damaged in some way beforehand for this to happen? Or be of shoddy make? Or would the opponent have to be supernaturally strong? Thank you!

So, this question has been sitting in the inbox for a bit, and part of that is that I've had difficulty parsing the question. There's a few reasons for this, but a major element is how much of the above comment isn't part of the question.

I get that most of this is a setup for a simple, “what do you think of my idea?' and those are questions we generally avoid, simply because, “thumbs up, it works.” Or, if there are serious problems, it feels like punching down.

So, in answer, “it's fine.” You don't even really need to justify it with other factors. Someone swinging a hammer at your head can result in your head protection failing. I think we can safely scratch off the supernatural strength option, simply because that's more likely to turn the character's head into an improvised golf ball, rather than taking out an ear. This is a weirdly specific injury, but it's also the kind of injury that could, potentially, happen on the battlefield.

Ironically, the weakest part to this concept is just that a combat veteran wouldn't automatically value head protection unless they'd suffered a disfiguring injury which would have been dramatically worse if they weren't wearing a helmet.

Helmets get into a weird place for a lot of writers. A lot of visual media hates putting characters in helmets (even when they really should be wearing one), because it hides the character's face. There is a legitimate concern here (specifically in visual media), because if multiple characters are wearing uniform helmets, they will become visually interchangeable, so skipping the helmet is about keeping the characters more recognizable. This creates a situation where, in a lot of cases, a helmet is treated like an alternate haircut option, completely glazing over the part where it's extremely important safety equipment.

To a certain extent, the treatment of helmets as cosmetics also extends to the entirety of a character's armor. You see this anytime you have partially armored characters going into battle. In some cases, there may be legitimate reasons for omitting specific armor pieces, and not having the resources to be fully armored is always a real possibility, but skipping the head or torso armor are extremely questionable decisions.

The, “pinched off,” comment always struck me as a bit strange. It sounds like the ear was held away from the skull, with part of the helm inserted between the ear and skull, rather than held up against the head. This would be a bad idea, and a structural weakness, though depending on the exact physiology of your elves, it might not be possible for them to pin their ears against their skull. In which case their armor would need to be specifically designed around their physiology. That might mean a much broader helmet structure. For example similar to something like large flared guard on Japanese helmets, or even the ACH. Depending on the overall tech level, it's possible that the best solution would to simply have ear holes in the helmet, though this could result in a situation where ears could be cut off on rare occasions.

I suppose there'd also be some consideration for rigidity and how uncomfortable it would be to bind down their ears under a helmet. So there might be some kind of structural cutout to accommodate their ears, but again, you really wouldn't want your ears being encased in metal away from the head. Even in the worst case, with horizontal ear tips, you'd probably see helmet designs that fit over the ear, possibly even leaving the underside exposed for better hearing, rather than full metal encasement.

Ironically, having just brought up the ACH, the one place where fully encased ears wouldn't surprise me is with electronic headsets. Though, again, that's more likely to be plastic and softer materials, and would likely fit over the ear and seal against the scalp, rather than just encasing the ear itself.

Also, he'd be partially deaf in that ear. This is not, “deaf by human standards,” but impaired hearing by elven standards. Unless their ears really are just magical, and the tips are performative, it's extremely likely that their ear structure would result in improved hearing, and that's something he would lack if most of the external ear had been destroyed.

-Starke

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#writing reference #writing advice #writing tips #writing fantasy #howtofightwrite #Starke answers #Starke does not have an ear collection

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

Can you do a hc of the lost boys finding out that their mate is VERY rich?

Yes omg absolutely!!!

I am fully convinced that the boys just have no concept of the value of money whatsoever. They don't have an exact need for it, and the money they do have has been - let's sya its been locally sourced, right? So they don't earn money, they don't pay rent, and the only thing they ever really buy is things they want - not need per se.

Just to kind of establish what we're dealing with here

They do realise immediately that their mate is well off, you know, living in a big house and not ever having to worry about money

And they do notice that their mate has some designer brands that they've heard of

But it still doesn't quite click how rich their mate actually is until, one day, they get invited over to their place

It's bigger than the boys thought, and they are taken aback when they realise you have an actual butler? Like - that's something you never really mentioned to them.

It's only then that they really realise that their mate is not just well of, but that they're absolutely rich. Capital letters RICH.

The reason their mate invited them over was to show them what they were working on.

They lead the boys down into the basement, and there they find a large area, with sunproof rooms made especially for them if they ever need a place to stay that's not the cave.

They love it - but they're still not quite sure how to react to their mate being that rich

It does explain why their mate never wanted them to pay when out on a date.

Paul is the first to fully come around, jokingly calling their mate "majesty" and other fitting royal titles. He loves that their mate doesn't have to worry about any financial problems. Also, he might - not so subtly - hint towards several things he's been wanting. A new motorcycle, a new and improved soundsystem for the cave, you know - little things.😉

David's more curious about how they accumulated all that money. It's a lot, and to be that rich? So their mate tells him, showing him all the company's their family own or have shares in. His mate also shows him what they do with all the money - obviously, a lot is kept for the family themselves, but a lot goes towards climate causes or children's welfare. David still doesn't know what to think about it, but he appreciates being the one in the know.

Marko has an intense dislike for such elaborate riches, stating it's a waste of money and that if the money was shared with others, more would benefit from it. He's surprised when his mate agrees. It's a difficult conversation between the two of them, but they come to a compromise. Obviously, his mate can't just get rid of the money, still having a family to deal with that's in charge, but they can make suggestions to the family. So, they try to make sure that their family donates as much as they can because the amount of money they have is a tad bit ridiculous.

Their mate starts a fund in Marko's name, especially aimed at artistically gifted children from low income families, to give them a chance to thrive as artists.

Dwayne is the last to come around, not quite understanding why their mate wouldn't have mentioned their background before. He has to come around to the idea of his mate not only being rich, but being filthy rich. He doesn't mind that they are. He minds that they weren't upfront about it once they started dating. Once he does come around, he will ask his mate to help give Laddie what he needs and wants - which obviously isn't a big deal.

They don't mind that their mate is rich. They only ever see the benefit of it once they come around to the idea

And if their mate decides to turn, they probably take their riches along with them, which will once again only help their mate and them in the long run

So they don't mind, in the end, it will only make their undead live together easier.

#the lost boys #marko #david #paul #dwayne #the lost boys 1987 #tlb 1987 #tlb #star #the lost boys x reader