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Very sweet that after spending three days being passive even when captured by orcs and knowing the hostage plan wouldn’t work, shuro got his shit together in minutes when he saw namari in danger. He got himself out of the rope, got the orcs cooperation, got one of flamelas magic swords (probably asked for it), and went in without armor. Namari probs couldve taken a hit better than him at that point but I think hes cognizant that she doesnt like being used as a meat shield. And namaris always encouraging him to speak up more. They always have each others back like wow a couple of besties…..

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

the way falins like its okay… my parents did their best w the situation at hand. Im gonna look at the bright side that they loved me and I had a lot of fun. Im not gonna dwell on my own loneliness at elf school before I met marcille. Its okay that neither marcille nor my brother will tell me what happened when I died… because everyone is trying their best ..! Is so devastating

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

Shuro sending those signals to laios:

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

when toshiro got on laios ass for being inconsiderate and never thinking about how his actions affect others like he was mean abt it but hes not wrong. Thats a pretty major character flaw and a pattern of behavior for laios — w not choosing jobs that made money for namari who is in a pretty dire financial situation where she cant even get off the island and has to go adventuring in the dungeon to get out of debt, who even explicitly brought this up, eating marcilles familiar immediately even tho she was attached to it, kidnapping shuro into his party and putting him in life threatening situations without like really checking he wanted to be there…?, wanting to see if izutsumi has more than one set of nipples when dehumanization is a HUGE huge issue for her the list goes on and on and on. Like when a friend does this to you its just kinda annoying but when ur the leader u really should be checking if everyones needs r met without them telling u. Like the autism plays a factor for sure, his cultural upbringing plays a factor for sure, but as ppl regardless I think u gotta step up to meet the needs of ppl in the moment or realize u shouldnt be calling the shots. just bc its influenced by factors out of ur control does not make it not a serious character flaw. And its written as such in the story.

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

just came to me part of the reason why kabru probs came to like/trust/whatever u would call his rapport w him shuro so quickly is he saw how maizuru treats him and saw a bit of his relationship w milsiril

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

I think dungeon meshi is pretty good at identifying the way racism affects interpersonal relationships and how ppl view themselves. Less good at actually iding the oppressor and the victim in these dynamics tho theres a lot of fairly obv signposting towards the western elves but I do not expect intelligent analysis of imperialism in a lot of works bc well these topics are extremely hard and theres a limit i think u can reasonably set where ur like throws up hands. Well idk.

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

Marcille also gets hit pretty hard by fantasy racism the way everyone regards her w suspicion even tho shes in no way affiliated w the western elves and in fact finds them cringey. She studied im gnomic magic primarily. Shes from the northern settlements. In kabrus image of her she has her hood up (hiding her ears) kinda like fionil.

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

the way toshiro is consistantly singled out as "that foreigner" even among ppl of his own party even tho 4/6 of his party are not from kahka brud or the island is so 😬😬😬

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

i think its interesting the new party namari finds are gnomes who are in the later part of their life and humans who namari will outlive but after clarification, she loves them without reservation. I think it contrasts w how much marcille fears outliving everyone and living out alone. Tho also this may be bc namari is in such dire straits she cant quite forsee the future even as she takes her first steps to achive em. But she seems to live in the present. Also it seems even tho shes the tank of the touden party she seems to resent being used as a meat shield. And also the fact that tansu initially uses her to shield against the water spirits which she cannot withstand.

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

Free my man he didnt do any of that

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

the way he came real close to one of laios desperate plans while sleep deprived and hangry several chapters in advance.. he really does know laios huh.

my tags got too long so here they are under the cut

Even tho he wanted to sleep he probs was still listening to everything laios has to say. Bc he is Always Listening and Observing

Interesting in the context of how laios wants someone to understand him - to see him as he is but also the ways in which hes afraid of rejection and being seen as less than human but lacking the monstrousness to retaliate and lash out without regret bc then it would be The natural order of things but hell never be a monster he can only be a human being

but i think part of the reason shuro got so mad is bc he was putting all this effort into being considerate and feeling he got none in return. i think he wanted to be seen too! But i think he overlooked how he feels safe enough to express his rawest feelings w laios

But also i think laios was the first relationship shuro did not just let fizzle out at the first sign of interpersonal difficulty. bc lbr in this manner hes a coward. Disgusted by maizuru being his fathers mistress ? Dont talk it out n continue letting her treat him like a child while ignoring her. concerned hien and him will turn out like maizuru and his father—just let the friendship drift apart w time. concerned abt how inutade views her retainership when he knows his father just sees her as an oddity—dont say shit n just stew in it 5eva

passive aggression warrior!!!

Also interesting laios is like if we can make her monstrousness more manageable maybe she can live among ppl…the projection

The part at the end where toshiros like I know his gait from the sound of the bell by heart so i 100% know its him. he was listening the whole time! like a second heartbeat. Very metaphorical for their relationship. its a challenging relationship for the both of them but they dont give it up bc they care about each other.

thats love honestly i was genuinely moved by the interplay of toshiro laios n kabrus relationship. that laios promises hell eat w kabru on his terms even tho kabru wasnt upfront abt the monster thing initially giving him a motive to return. and how shuro gave him the bell as a promise hed bring him back to the surface no matter what. And he fulfills it even when laios leaves the bell behind bc he knows him so well To the surface and live among other ppl.

bc laios whole life he felt like he couldnt understand other ppl and they couldnt understand him even tho he wanted that connection that seemed so easy to everyone else

but thru kabru and shuro we see that no one in the world understands anyone else completely- thats why they enter the story w awful first impressions. As well as like well. Thats probs how laios comes off to other ppl

shuro calls him back bc the two as his peers are like u already have connections who value you (shuro) and deep connections youve yet to make w ppl who will be important to u going forward (kabru) and theyll both challenge and change deep seated issues about themselves to keep their connection w u alive

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

rlly like the use of the kodoku jar symbolism with laios and the dragons but also w dungeon meshi as a whole where all the insects in the jar have to fight and devour each other and the last survivor is the curse and laios transformation into a monster in his fight w the lion being an amalgamation of everything hes eaten

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

Marcilla….

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

laishuro :

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

low key funny that laios is singled out as strange and dangerous for liking monsters in a cast full of ppl that think murder is okay

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

Correct me if im wrong, but I thought part of the reason shuro acts like such a jackass is bc its foreshadowing how the dungeon twists your desires into something ugly the longer you are in it, which is why you cannot brute strength your way through it and need a team you genuinely trust. Like Kabru kills people in cold blood and then dumps their bodies in the lake which honestly I think is not normal for him. He’ll do a lot granted, but I think he regains a lot of his scruples when he goes back to the surface. Tho maybe its more accurate to say it reveals the ugliness that was always inherent in your desires and drives you mad at a result.

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

The way marcille is so convinced no one can understand her that she’ll disregard the autonomy of everyone in the planet (under duress to be fair) if it meant she wouldnt be left behind. Woman after my own heart