Laios got Eaten AU Chapters 1-52
So, I was pondering a lot (as I do), and was thinking about this AU. Here's my take on it. Sorry if my grasp on characterization isn't the best. Expect lots of Farcille.
This is mostly a plot point based summary, going chapter by chapter. If something isn't elaborated on, assume it's the same as canon.
Note: This first installment ends at the same point as the anime, but as a manga reader, there are spoilers for later in the canon story.
Edit: Wowzers, that ended up being over 4,000 words! Guess I had more to say than I thought.
This is pretty long, so I'll begin under the cut.
Chapter 1:
Unlike Laios' self deprecating take on this scenario, the rest of the team doesn't immediately give up on him. Marcille and Chilchuck are his friends, and if Falin thinks it's possible, then they're in.
Namari leaves of course, but Toshiro is more complex. He argues with Falin, trying to convince her not to embark on such a risky mission, and may accidentally frame it as Falin choosing between him and Laios. Falin, of course, picks Laios. Toshiro leaves, dejected. After feeling sorry for himself for a while, he gets his retainers and heads after her, hoping to offer backup.
Falin proposes the dungeon eating plan, having casually discussed the possibility with Laios in the past. Without the gourmet guide, she isn't as knowledgeable about monsters, but she is pretty good at identifying stuff from her days of eating weird stuff in the woods, so she can tell the walking mushroom isn't poisonous. She also manages to grab the scorpion, having messed with crayfish as a kid.
Unlike Laios, she doesn't try to eat the venom, but they still struggle, and Senshi comes in to help. Falin is very excited to have such an expert helping them out, and is happy to have him join the team.
In general, Marcille is just as squicked out by monster cuisine, but she tries to put on a brave face for Falin. In fact, her attempts to be more accepting results in her not yelling at Senshi, so the slime doesn't attack her.
Chapter 2:
They go after the man-eating plants, and things mostly go down the same. Without Laios, it takes a little longer for Falin and Senshi to figure out how to save Marcille, going for the root. Marcille gets seeds planted in her skin, but Falin is able to heal her and get them out.
Chapter 3:
Senshi takes them Basilisk hunting, and Marcille is dismayed to see Falin knows the trick for intimidating Basilisks, a sight she will not soon forget. While Senshi slices the snake, Falin caves the chicken's head in.
While Senshi prepares the Basilisk, Falin is able to use a detox spell on Doni. The two still stay to eat though.
Chapter 4:
Events mostly play out the same, though Falin is a bit more gentle in rejecting Marcille's help. Falin admits to having skipped class the day they learned about mandrake harvesting.
Chapter 5:
Chilchuck uses Falin's metal staff instead of the sword to find the passage. When they go to get the oil, Falin casts a fire-ward spell on Chilchuck, just in case. Senshi declines to take one too.
Chapter 6-7:
Without Laios' insights, they deem the living armor too dangerous after the first attempt, and take a slightly different route to the third level.
Much to Marcille's chagrin, they run into a nest of giant rats, and they end up having giant rat stir-fry instead.
Chapter 8:
Falin thinks Senshi's utilization of the golems is absolutely delightful.
Chapter 9:
Falin is rather uncomfortable with Chilchuck's suggestion to trade at the seedy bar, but doesn't argue.
Events with the orcs go more or less the same. Falin thinks Bahay is very cute.
Chapter 10:
No Kensuke, so they get ambushed by the bugs. Chilchuck gets bitten, but Falin is able to heal him.
Falin applies much better ghost wards than Marcille. In fact, she quickly realizes they are just paralyzed, and is able to heal them. Yeah, no. That would have way too big of a butterfly effect on the story. Maybe she's too distracted by the pretty bugs to notice.
Unlike Marcille, Falin thinks the centipedes are adorable. In fact, she secretly takes one and hides it in her pack to keep as a pet.
Chapter 11:
As one would expect, the ghosts are a complete non-issue. No ice cream for them.
Chapter 12-13:
No one in this party is crazy enough to bother with the living paintings. Without the delay, they are able to make camp at the level 4 entrance, bypassing the mimic.
Senshi catches some fish, and they have a very nice dinner.
Chapter 14:
Mostly the same, except instead of Laios, Senshi is saved by Falin. She has experience in such manners.
Chapter 15:
Sadly, Falin does not know the song, so they have to resort to earplugs. This leads to a silent but amusing argument where Chilchuck has to talk down Falin from eating fish-men without words. Falin does not pull the waterweed stunt.
Chapter 16:
The kraken battle is pretty much identical.
Unlike Laios, Falin has eaten calamari before, having gone to that restaurant with Marcille several times. She is very disappointed the kraken tastes bad.
Senshi cooks up the parasite, and Falin doesn't eat any raw.
Chapter 17:
No one is sick, so this chapter doesn't happen.
Chapter 18:
Marcille has a sponge bath and insists Falin take one too. Chilchuck is annoyed by their flirting, but Senshi thinks it's cute.
When the Undine attacks, Falin is able to waterwalk and help Marcille, but neither of them has particularly good magic for fighting an undine. Both are badly injured, but they manage to escape.
Falin is able to heal both of them, but they are both left very hungry, and relatively low on mana. They have a barbecue to help them recover.
Chapter 19-20:
The Tansu party arrives. Tensions aren't quite as high between Marcille and Namari, but it's still there.
After Tansu fails to pacify the Undine. the two parties agree to help each other out. First, they help get down to the tower. A well placed fireball saves Kiki from the tentacles. Sadly, without Laios' knowledge, they can't eat them, at least not as easily.
When coming up with a plan to stop the undine, the idea to trap it is brought up, and they basically use the same plan, except Namari is in on it from the start.
After killing it, Falin suggests eating it, and the two groups enjoy some kelpie stew before departing opposite ways.
Chapter 21:
More or less plays out the same. Chilchuck suggests making the suits, to which Falin enthusiastically agrees. Senshi makes froggy hash instead of pasta, since he doesn't know how to neutralize the stinging.
Marcille puts on the frog suit without complaint since Falin puts one on first.
She attempts to take it off to much complaint still.
Chapter 22:
Most identical chapter yet. Namari asks about Laios instead of Falin. That's it.
Chapter 23:
Plans are made to take down the red dragon. With Falin here, their warding spells are much better, but no Laios means Senshi is the only proper warrior. Falin is a decent fighter, and plans to join Senshi and Chilchuck on the frontline. They search the orc's storehouse and find some spears, which will hopefully be enough for the inverse scale.
They mostly come up with the same plan. Crush the dragon, then kill it.
Chapter 24-25:
The pot defenses fail, and they go ahead and crush the dragon. When the dragon emerges, Falin is able to execute the plan, stabbing the dragon as they play dead. However, she isn't able to stab deeply enough before the dragon recoils, the spear getting pulled away from her, landing some distance away.
Senshi tries to stab the dragon in the foot, but the spear breaks. Things go as they do in canon, with Senshi and Chilchuck managing to toss Falin the spear and blind the dragon in one eye.
Falin meets up with Marcille, and ends up pulling the same self-sacrificing gambit Laios did, stabbing the dragon in the throat while dangling from its mouth.
Chapter 26:
Falin falls unconscious, and has a dream about when Laios first left home, leaving her behind. And how he later promised to never leave her behind again.
Marcille still has to heal Chilchuck and Senshi herself, since Falin is in no state to do it herself. They retrieve her leg, and Falin is able to finish healing all four of them.
They begin carving into the dragon, with Senshi taking the lead. Laios' intrusive thought fun facts end up saving the day, reminding Falin about the flame sac.
Chapter 27:
Falin doesn't even bother mentioning the resurrection office, already knowing what must be done. Marcille doesn't hesitate to offer her ancient magic as the solution.
Falin is able to assuage Chilchuck's concerns a little better than Marcille did, clarifying that the ancient magic is just used to perform magic of a magnitude impossible with just natural mana. He still doesn't quite buy it, but doesn't protest further.
Putting Laios' skeleton together takes longer, since no one here is super knowledgeable about dog skeletons. They get it eventually though.
Marcille does the ritual. Falin thinks Marcille is hot when she lets her hair down like that.
Laios is revived successfully, and everyone is incredibly happy.
Chapter 28:
No bath scene. :(
Laios is incredibly curious about their journey, and is running his mouth asking questions. He is extremely excited that his monster eating idea worked, and is practically glued to Senshi for a while asking questions. Due to his presence, Senshi doesn't explode the dragon.
Marcille isn't surprised in the least by Laios' enthusiasm, and is just glad to have her friend back. They enjoy their little dragon feast, regaling Laios with their tales of monster eating.
Unlike Falin, Laios does not realize that forbidden magic was used to revive him, and apologizes profusely for abandoning Falin, even though she insists it wasn't his fault.
Chapter 29:
When Thistle summons Laios, a ghost wakes Falin up. She wakes the others, and they go looking for him.
Unlike Falin, Laios doesn't gain magical power from the dragon, instead getting an even bigger boost to his strength. Falin isn't just knocked unconscious, but is badly injured by his punch.
Not even being dominated by the mad mage can stop Laios from yapping. As he is transformed, he gives Thistle tips, causing his chimera form to be significantly more dangerous, featuring a bigger but more slender build and bigger wings, allowing him to actually fly. As well as a few other embellishments, such as tail spikes and small horns.
The ghosts save the party, and things proceed as normal.
Chapter 30:
Chilchuck's arc is mostly the same, except that it is easier to convince Falin once she wakes up. Healing the internal bleeding Laios caused took a lot out of her, and both her and Marcille are tapped of magic. They agree to return to the surface.
Chapter 31:
Literally Identical.
Chapter 32:
Kabru's deductions are mostly the same, only altered slightly due to being warded by Falin instead of Marcille.
Shuro isn't quite as haggard. Falin isn't actively dead, so he doesn't feel the need to run himself ragged. Funny enough, taking better care of himself ends up canceling things out, and he arrives at Kabru's group at about the same time.
Chapter 33:
Senshi and Chilchuck have to fight the Dryads by themselves. They use the axe instead of Kensuke. Not that Laios helped much, but the first dryad manages to attack Senshi, leaving him in much rougher shape by the end of the fight.
Thankfully, he makes a full recovery once Falin recovers some mana from the yummy pottage.
Once Falin is recovering, she suggests teleporting out of the dungeon, but Marcille flat out refuses to let Falin do that again. It's way too risky. Now that they have a source of food, mapping out the area should be simple.
Chilchuck does not escape the sex ed.
Chapter 34:
A dramatic reenactment of chapter 34:
They still need to spend several days making the map, but at least petrification isn't an issue.
Chapter 35:
The ghost warns Falin about the wyvern, and they hide in the wall, so business as usual.
When Marcille accidentally puts on the frog suit, Falin decides to put hers on too. This somehow makes Marcille more mortified, not less.
Recognizing Falin, the ninjas don't attack. Marcille is annoyed how happy Falin is to see Toshiro, considering the bad terms he split off on.
Chapter 36:
Since Falin has been enthusiastic, but not overbearing about monster food, Chilchuck chooses to go with Senshi even more easily.
Falin explains what happened to Toshiro, leaving out the ancient magic. Toshiro has no reason to think Falin wouldn't be able to revive Laios. He is happy to learn that she intends to return to the surface, and he plans to try and talk her out of returning once safe on the surface.
Kabru can tell Falin is lying about something, but remains quiet.
Chapter 37:
Even though harpies show up, everything seems to be going well, until Hien splatters on the ground. The Laigon quickly proves to be a ferocious foe, with razor sharp claws, a vicious thagomizer, and the ability to easily fly out of reach, or drop opponents from deadly heights.
Marcille didn't know that sufficient brute force could splatter an Undine to death, but apparently so.
Falin watches in horror as she can see an almost joyous look in his eyes. He would never do this of his own volition... but he clearly doesn't hate it.
When Rin grounds the Laigon with lightning, Falin steels her resolve and charges in to pummel his weak point, but he smiles and says her name.
Chapter 38:
After Kabru fails to kill him, the Laigon is too powerful, and kills Kabru before Falin can do anything. Seeing the Laigon about to attack Falin, Marcille hits it with an explosion.
Snarling, the Laigon looks like it's about to pounce at Marcille and company, causing Falin to fully freak out and unleash her strongest offensive spell, causing several massive rocky spires to erupt and impale the Laigon from below, and accidentally hitting Rin in the process.
Screaming and convulsing in pain, the Laigon takes for the sky, fleeing as fast as it can, leaving behind a thick trail of blood.
With both Falin and Holm alive, as well as Marcille not being barred from helping, the revivals go smoothly.
Toshiro ends up getting into a shouting match with Falin regarding her goal of saving Laios. Falin insists that if they defeat the mad mage, they can save him. He insists that trying to do so at this point is suicidal.
In the heat of the moment, Toshiro declares that Laios isn't even worth saving, and Falin slaps him. The conversation comes to an abrupt end, with both severely regretting their actions. Toshiro walks off to think, while Marcille comforts Falin, who seems on the verge of tears.
Toshiro ends up apologizing, saying he can't understand her decision, but he will respect it. He has Maizuru give them supplies so they can head down immediately, and gives Falin the bell.
Asebi overhears Marcille speculating with Chilchuck about the Laigon, and the possibility of the dragon's soul getting mixed in due to her revival magic.
Kabru leaves with a higher opinion of Falin than he did of Laios, because while she seemed fascinated by monsters, she wasn't as crazed about it as him. Plus she didn't offer him a harpy omelette, so that helps.
Chapter 39:
Without the living paintings, they aren't able to quite grasp the mad mage's motives, but are still hopeful that they can talk to him.
And then the shapeshifters happen.
Chilchuck's Falin is an airhead, reflecting her calm demeanor and lack of commanding presence, even though she is ostensibly the leader without Laios around.
Senshi's Falin looks just like his Laios, but with longer hair. They look identical to Senshi.
Falin's Chilchuck is colder and more even-tempered than the real Chilchuck. She appreciates his levelheadedness and maturity.
Falin's Senshi is always spouting fun facts about food and food prep, and is always smiling. Senshi reminds her a lot of her brother's passions.
At first, the group is confused. They seem to be short two fakes. But then they find Falin's Marcille and Marcille's Falin making out in one of the cells. Both are too shy to admit their feelings, but apparently their mental images aren't so shy about it.
Once obvious stuff is out of the way, and equipment has been checked, Marcille and Falin have been found, but Chilchuck's Senshi, Marcille's Chilchuck, and Falin's Chilchuck are still around.
Chapter 40:
Marcille and Falin manage to eliminate Chilchuck's Senshi, since they both get a weird feeling from it, and all three Chilchucks agree it's the right Senshi, practically confirming it to be Chilchuck's.
The Chilchucks prove much trickier, until Falin comes up with an idea. We skipped chapter 13, so Falin suggests the Chilchucks provide their age. Marcille's says 20. Falin's says 45. Chilchuck is able to explain those guesses are way off the mark, and as the only one able to give a proper explanation of half-foot age ranges, he is clearly the correct one.
With all the copies locked up, the shapeshifter gives up and goes to find other prey.
Asebi ambushes the party as normal afterwards.
Chapter 41:
There is a bit of confusion at Asebi's accusations, since Marcille never confessed to using ancient magic, but Asebi overheard her talking about how she may have blended Laios' soul with the dragon, and that is not something someone does on accident. Clearly she must have been using black magic to do something like that.
Nonetheless, Marcille agrees to break the collar's magic, and things proceed the same. Falin attacks the hag with her mace-staff, creating a messier cut, but functionally the same.
The explanation of their goals goes about the same, including Falin being rather happy to meet Izutsumi, though she's a little less weird about it, talking about how Laios was fine before the mage kidnapped him, and that hopefully he'll go back to that state of mind when saved.
Chapter 42:
In Falin's nightmare, the Laigon appears and tries to kill her, but Falin becomes lucid before it can strike.
Falin goes into Marcille's nightmare to help her. Being more experienced with this sort of thing, she is able to calm Marcille down, and cause her to become lucid, dispelling the nightmare without violating Marcille's private traumas.
They then spend the rest of the lucid dream having fun together. I'll let you decide how much those shapeshifter clones inspired their behavior.
Senshi cooks the nightmares, and much to the girls' dismay, the dream is shown for all to see. Everyone agrees not to bring it up again.
Chapter 43:
While searching the recovered packs, Falin is delighted to find the Dungeon Gourmet Guide. She was afraid it had been digested with Laios.
Note: Falin should be seeing the ghost by now, but I don't want to break up the chapter flow, so just assume the ghost got caught in ghost traffic.
Without Laios to block them, Marcille gets impaled by a few stalactites, and Falin has to tend to her. The fight goes as normal.
Izutsumi is able to undress without anyone being weird about it.
When doing the sauna thing, Chilchuck can't help but notice how closely Marcille and Falin are sitting. He tried to block the dream out of his mind, but it's clear that now that the feelings are out in the open, that's just how they're going to act from now on. He just hopes this doesn't cause any issues.
Chapter 44:
Falin finds the boiled mandrake quite tasty, and so doesn't question it when Izutsumi gives her a second.
When arguing over dinner, Falin is just as baffled as Izutsumi regarding the Barometz. As they run over, she flips through the guide, discovering the potential danger a few seconds too late.
Izutsumi and Marcille run off to do their thing. Falin panics and does something dumb. She starts barking. She isn't as good as Laios, but it's enough to scare off the wolves. Chilchuck isn't even surprised at this point.
Chapter 45:
Pretty much goes the same. Toshiro plans to report the Chimera, at least so people know to be wary, and Falin is just as careless with the bell as Laios.
As they eat their eggs, the ghost finally catches up and Falin is happy to chat.
Chapter 46:
Our party arrives in the golden country. Falin wants to check out the monster corrals, just like Laios, but while he was ecstatic about minotaur milking, Falin is much more charmed by the opportunity to pet the basilisk chicks.
Falin becomes extremely flustered at the sight of Marcille in a pretty dress. Unlike Laios, Izutsumi lets her pet her.
Since minotaur was not requested, they are served basilisk cordon bleu.
Sadly, the running joke of turning ghosts into ice cream is dead.
"One shall come who bears a staff of living wood." With Laios out of the picture, Marcille is the lion's next choice of champion.
Marcille really isn't sure what to think about this. Her? Become new queen of the land?
She ultimately gives no conclusive answer, but the possibility of gaining dominion over this land where no one ever dies is tempting.
Marcille and Falin share the double bed, while Chilchuck gets the single bed to himself. At least until Izutsumi curls up on him.
Chapter 47:
Breakfast goes smoothly, and they head back into the dungeon.
Things in the cistern go mostly the same, though Falin also thinks the griffon is Laios. Senshi doesn't panic until the griffon actually appears.
Chapter 48:
Marcille puts her plan into action, and Falin carries her.
With the second familiar, Falin suggests shaping it like a dragonfly, since they are very fast and agile. It isn't as fast as the wyvern, but it dodges a lot easier. The third familiar is still sky fish.
Once the griffon is defeated, Falin suggests eating the sky fish. Marcille objects, but she can't say no to Falin's smile.
And Senshi shares his story.
Chapter 49:
Unlike Laios, Falin doesn't push Senshi to try the griffon. She suggests cooking it, since they don't want to waste good food, but Senshi doesn't have to try it if he doesn't want to.
Senshi decides to go for it. You can decide if he's traumatized further, or if changelings follow logic, and meat without any spores on it (since it was cut from inside the griffon), and was then "washed" by turning it into soup turns back into hippogriff. Senshi tastes the "griffon" soup, and is immeasurably relieved.
Changlings are a lot of fun, but they sure open some plot holes. By all accounts, it should have reverted to hippogriff soup.
Look, this is my silly what-if AU, things don't have to be perfect.
Chapter 50:
Falin is a dwarf now. She sucks at magic, but now she can really smash some heads in.
Falin thinks half-foot Marcille is adorable. Marcille isn't sure what to think of dwarf Falin.
When they reach the door, Falin is surprised when her pet pearlipede crawls out unbidden and unlocks the door.
Despite the disadvantages, Falin's mace proves super-effective against the gargoyles, managing to defeat one, but tiring out while one is still left. They flee through the door.
Now that the party knows she has it (and that it's oddly useful), Falin starts wearing her pet as a bracelet.
While preparing dumplings, Falin ponders if maybe the griffon wasn't actually a griffon, but Chilchuck shuts her down before she can accidentally re-traumatize Senshi.
Chapter 51:
Falin notices Marcille's strong adverse reaction to the news that half-foots only live fifty years, but doesn't say anything.
Falin suggests the possibility of using the changelings on Laios, though unlike him, she doesn't consider that the two halves might change separately. She just imagines them turning the whole Laigon into a gnome or something.
When the last gargoyle arrives, Falin's staff gets knocked out of her grasp, and thrown by the gargoyle.
They use the knowledge from the transformed staff to defeat the last gargoyle. Sadly, Marcille does not get to fly.
Falin washes her staff.
Chapter 52:
Senshi grows curious and asks about Laios. Falin talks about how Laios always had trouble fitting in, and it wasn't until he started dungeon diving that he finally seemed able to make friends and be happy. Falin had dropped out of magic school because she didn't want Laios to be alone.
Marcille starts crying and clinging to Falin. She talks about how she used to hate Laios. But as they adventured together, he became like a brother to her. Falin starts crying too. Izutsumi sits by Chilchuck to avoid all the tears.
Senshi proposes his bacon and eggs plan. Falin can't find any issue with his reasoning, and thinks its a great idea, but Chilchuck points out how long it will take to eat that much meat. They start making plans for the foreseeable future.
Thistle tries to stop the Laigon from eating a walking mushroom, but is unsuccessful.
Chapters 53-85
Chapter 86-Finale
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Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: I thought I wasn't going to have strong opinions about the Laios-Shuro fight, but...
Laios was right about this! Yes, they had 2 physical fights first, but it's important to note that Laios was right about this!
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^ -man who would literally kill to stay in this room and observe this private conversation.
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Sir, your unfaltering little wide-eyed, amiable smile while seriously considering topics that are obviously un-smile-worth has charmed me utterly. I wish to study you like an climate-entomologist yearns for the butterfly that causes storms.
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She seems fine.
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If I start screencapping Laios's and Marcille's faces in this fight, I will never stop because literally every panel is devasting.
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Kuro has done distinctly the most damage so far this fight, just stabbing and gnawing, and I think we should recognize and appreciate that fact.
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I really miss the animation we got of Rin's lightning blast slicing narrowly past Laios.
I love how fast, if reluctantly, Laios accepts that if - not, that Falin is a true "monster", inhuman and hurting people relentlessly and unapologetically, and thus she needs to be killed before she kills them, like any other monster. I also love that Marcille doesn't accept this. Characters!
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+1 to qualification to kingship! Kabru is one again surprised (you can tell by how he's not smiling) (though this might also be due to the significant injuries he just took).
I do have several emotions about how Falin immediately yanks away and kills Kabru, without touching Laios. That's her brother!!
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I really like this little cluster because it says to me that Shuro still has very good "do what Marcille says when she abruptly shouts magic-related directions in combat" instincts. He's a mirror of the "You're already on the Christmas card, buddy" meme - more like, "You're still on the Christmas card." Just like Namari: no one really stops being fond of, and battle companions with, these weirdos.
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I think the most painful part of this probably is that Marcille isn't certain. Maybe this IS her fault. At minimum, she knows she might have mixed the dragon's soul into Falin's, which enabled this even if it didn't create it. But she can't 100% rule out the possibility that it's more her fault than that - which is, of course, the absolute worst thing to say to all of these people looking at her violently askance for using dark magic.
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yeahhhhhh "Lunatic Magician" REALLY lacks the oomph of "Mad Mage"
ANGRY LAIOS! It's such a rare expression on him, it's exciting to see.
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Yesss look at my man Chilchuck use available tools in his environment and save this little goober who thinks it's cool to resent adults.
I really like how they show the social consequences of dark magic. Much beyond Shuro's anger: the other mages are now shutting Marcille down, especially where resurrection magic is concerned. She's made herself untrusted by her peers, whether or not the magic she used on Falin is truly "evil."
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I really enjoy the, like, narratively obligatory, not actually real (well, maybe to Rin) "will they-won't they" between Kabru and Rin. In the story that this isn't, where Kabru is the protagonist with his quirky gang of found family who are helping him save the island and prevent another bloodbath like in his angsty backstory, she IS the One (Human) Female on the Team who is obviously his love interest - often the first to challenge him, battle mage rather than healer ie a Strong Female Character who nonetheless doesn't use unfeminine brute force, forced by happenstance to kiss...
Alas! Kabru is not the protagonist of this story, so Rin shall remain disappointed.
Also this montage of people healing and reuniting while in the background Laios and Shuro whale on each other remains SO funny. Flawless comedic timing.
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Alright, hot take time: I feel like all the debate I've seen about the Shuro/Laios fight depict it as revealing the friendship basically shattered, and never real in the first place. Whereas I'm mostly warmed by how real it clearly was despite everything that just happened?
Shuro is operating on no food and less sleep, desperate to save the woman he idolizes without truly understanding her loves, who is now apparently a monster who nearly slaughtered his most loyal followers. In the past like 2 weeks, Laios has: watched his sister die to save his life (his little sister, whom he is supposed to protect), walked headfirst into a nigh-unwinnable fight to get her back, held her skull in his hands, got her back and held her in his arms, lost her again about 6 hours later in an even more unwinnable fight, which was proven even more unwinnable when the Mage twisted the dungeon itself against them, saw her again but as a murderous monster now (which might be due to the magic he agreed to use to resurrect her), swiftly and sternly resigned himself to fighting and potentially killing her (his little sister! whom he is supposed to protect!), had her recognize him (and no one else!) despite her monstrosity, watched her be killed (again!) in part thanks to him distracting her, except it didn't work and then she fled.
This is an immature, ignoring-immediate-needs (ie, food, healing) knock-down drag-out fight between two men at the absolute ends of their ropes, who, sure, have built-up resentments against each other and the world, and an inciting incident pushing them over the edge - but mostly neither of them can punch in the face the fact that they can't save Falin. So they punch each other instead.
I won't even address the prologue to the fight, where Laios tells him about the black magic and Shuro promptly tries to strangle him then levels a sword at him. Kabru already nailed that: Shuro was worried about Falin - that the magic had hurt her, that the social consequences would be worse. Laios knew this enough that he didn't fight back, then. But now?
The first shove is Shuro demanding, Don't you fucking DARE give me false hope.
I cannot emphasize enough how hard I would also slap someone for suggesting that I wasn't taking the death and monsterization of my younger sibling seriously.
Shuro knows it, too. He doesn't respond to this, he just punches, and Laios punches back. Shuro doesn't speak again until Laios knocks him all the way down, and
Shuro is at his absolute depth. The lowest point he (feels that he) can go. He cannot save Falin. He's shamed himself as a leader and heir by getting his people killed (they got better, but that's beside the point.) He's been beaten in hand-to-hand combat by this idiot northern peasant. He lets down his guard and pride enough to mutter this self-deprecation aloud...and the idiot northern peasant hears, compounding every shame - and it's infuriating especially because he doesn't even hear properly, just like he never hears properly - he's so frustrating in his friendly but oblivious constant irritation and THIS, Shuro can still be furious about, to avoid his grief/hopelessness/self-loathing/shame. This, he can still fight about!
So he does.
They're both wrong in this fight. They're both right. Laios was consistently inconsiderate; knowing this about himself - because it's not like by his early 20s he didn't know that he didn't Get people the way most people Get people - he should've made more of an effort, and picked up any of the hints Shuro was laying down. Shuro was too caught up in his own pride and out-of-place manners: when it was clear that Laios wasn't going to pick up on even the strongest "hint", he should've said something plainly instead of just letting his resentment build until he was effectively lying to Laios about, if not their entire friendship, certainly the shape of it.
But they were friends. They are friends. This isn't the posture or conversation of two guys who don't like each other.
It's two guys who are still, in fact, fucking exhausted, physically and emotionally - but they just got rid of a lot of extra, furious, helpless energy, so they're finally satisfied to just sit. Their posture is relaxed and casual; their conversation straightforward and companionable, if serious.
This is two guys who've sat like this many time at a campfire, in just these poses. Who've kept watch together late at night and stayed awake by talking.
Laios cares about Falin more than anyone in the world, and even after the words and blows they just exchanged, he's still willing to put Shuro's suit to her. Shuro didn't tell Falin he was interested in her until he proposed to her, but he's telling it all to Laios. Admittedly, this is because Laios is, Shuro assumes, the closest he'll ever get to being able to tell it all to Falin...but still. And he admits vulnerability, which he clearly wouldn't have done before, even to his most loyal and loved companions as they urged him to eat and sleep.
Yeah, they're buddies. If I had to describe it, I'd say: their relationship was built on unsteady, false foundations, but they built something sturdy on it anyway, and the sturdy thing survives even when the foundations shake and re-settle.
Lol at Shuro. "I'm going to report you to the local authorities for your crimes because it's the right thing to do. But if you survive, I'll totally use my power and influence to help you flee the country, and live peacefully on my estate beyond where an extradition treaty can reach you."
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Rules
Character must be 18+ (if they don't have a specified age, they must be reasonably assumed to be an adult)
No explicit nsfw images in submissions, suggestive content ok
If you're submitting an indie artist's character (eg, someone's oc from tumblr or other social media) you MUST credit them
follow @bestfurryhusband lol
Submission Form
Submissions for tournament 2 are OPEN
Contestants:
Next contestants (feel free to submit again if you have propaganda to add):
Aela The Huntress (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)
Allison Goleta (Super Lesbian Animal RPG)
Applejack (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Auroth, the Winter Wyvern (Defense of the Ancients 2)
Bonnie (@dapper-lil-catgirl on Tumblr)
Princess Cadence (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)
Carmelita Fox (Sly Cooper)
Catra (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)
Catty (Undertale)
Dabarella Yeetster (Adventure Is Nigh!)
Dean Hardscrabble (Monsters University)
Demona (Gargoyles)
Deoxys (Pokemon)
Diane Foxington (The Bad Guys)
Eclipsa Butterfly (Star vs the Forces of Evil)
Eda the Owl Lady (The Owl House)
Falin (Chimera) (Dungeon Meshi)
Fenneko (Aggretsuko)
Gadget Hackwrench (Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers)
Goodra (Pokemon)
Isabelle (Animal Crossing)
Laylee (Yooka-Laylee)
Lifts-Her-Tail (The Lusty Argonian Maid; Skyrim)
Lop (Star Wars Visions)
Merveille Million (Solatorobo)
Mrs. Brisby (The Secret of NIMH)
Miss Spider (James and the Giant Peach)
Moon Butterfly (Star vs the Forces of Evil)
Ms Tarantula/Webs (The Bad Guys)
Nala (lion king)
Olympia (Rivals of Aether)
Pinkie pie (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)
Princess Cadence (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)
Pyanfar Chanur (The Chanur novels by C.J. Cherryh)
Rainbow dash
Rarity
Retsuko (Aggretsuko)
Sarabi (Lion King)
Sasha Phyronix (Ratchet and Clank)
Shahvee (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)
Sophodra (Humans-B-Gone!)
Summer (Spiritfarer)
Sybil (Pseudoregalia)
The Empress (A Hat in Time)
Trixie (capitol critters)
Trixie Lulamoon (My Little Pony)
Tuca Toucan (Tuca & Bertie)
Tyranitar (Pokemon)
Vanilla the Rabbit (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Waai Fu (Arknights)
Washimi (Aggretsuko)
Wuk Lamat (Final Fantasy XIV)
Zecora (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Previous contestants:
Alphys (Undertale)
Arlinn Kord (Magic the Gathering)
Astrid (Spiritfarer)
Birdo (Mario)
Captain Amelia (Treasure Planet)
Cordelia Hendricks (The Smoke Room)
Dahlia Byrnes (The Smoke Room)
Duchess (Aristocats)
Erma Felna (Erma Felna: EDF)
Fenna van Houwelinck (Glory Hounds)
Fidget (Dust: An Elysian Tale)
Fillyjonk (The Moomins)
Fluttershy (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Freya Crescent (Final Fantasy 9)
Furryosa (Atomic Crops)
Golem (Pokemon)
Greasefang (Magic the Gathering)
Hecate (Tokyo Afterschool Summoners)
Holo (Spice and Wolf)
Hoodwink (Dota 2)
Hornet (Hollow Knight)
Ilia Shrikewood (Temptation's Ballad)
Isabelle (Animal Crossing)
Jenna Begay (Echo)
Judy Hopps (Zootopia)
Juno (Beastars)
Krystal (Star Fox Adventure)
Laika (Laika Aged Through Blood)
Laika (Laika's Comet)
Lola Bunny (Space Jam)
Loona (Helluva Boss)
Lopunny (Pokemon)
Loveander (Palworld)
Madam Dora (The Smoke Room)
Madame Vastra (Doctor Who)
Maid Marian (Disney's Robin Hood)
Marie Itami (BNA)
Maria (Extracurricular Activities)
Meicrackmon (Digimon)
Miss Piggy (The Muppets)
Molly Yarnchopper (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts)
Moomin Mamma (The Moomins)
Mother Glory (Friends at the Table)
Muffet (Undertale)
Nidoqueen (Pokemon)
Princess Celestia (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Princess Luna (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Queen Bee-elzebub (Helluva Boss)
Renamon (Digimon)
Rivet (Ratchet and Clank)
Rose (Remember the Flowers)
Rouge the Bat (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Roxanne Wolf (Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach)
Salazzle (Pokemon)
Sally Acorn (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Soraka (League of Legends)
Tigress (Kung Fu Panda)
Toriel (Undertale)
Torque (X-Com: Chimera Squad)
Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Vipress (Kung Fu Panda)
Xenomorph (Alien)
Whisper the Wolf (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Yona (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
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