#kabru is just exhausted

[thirteen-tn]

Im not immune to the laishuro propaganda 😔

Also this panel is a gem

[xeemaee]

Big dungeon meshi manga spoilers:

Kabru really spends the second half of the manga thinking he might have to kill Laios after what Mithrun told him. But he can’t bring himself to do it because despite every signal telling him that Laios would be corrupted by the dungeon’s powers he believes deep down that Laios is gonna do the right thing. Every time he sees him he tries so hard to tell him what’s going on because he really believes that if Laios knows the truth he’ll do the right thing.

Like… Kabru, who understands people so so well, is having an internal fight of his head telling him he needs to kill Laios because look at the signs, and his heart saying he can be convinced away because he knows he is good.

Kabru, who has been shown to kill people without a second thought when they are morally reprehensible, continuing to believe that Laios is good and should stay alive and believing in him.

[senseearly]

The panels of Mithrun's squad caring, in their own little ways, for Mithrun are so important to me.

Much like Kabru, they don't have to go beyond what was asked of them. They just needed to follow orders; they needed to make sure he stays well and alive; they needed to fulfill the mission. And yes, they do all of these.

And yet:

They didn't need to do all of those. Lycion telling Kabru to give Mithrun space. Cithis wanting Kabru to keep talking so Mithrun has to hear it. Everyone's suggestions of what Mithrun can still do and can still like. With the demon gone, their duties are over.

Yet they stand by him.

Without having to put it onto words, the snippets of the Canaries with Mithrun do show that they have a close bond with each other. We're not exactly sure how they made those bonds, how long it even took to cultivate, but fact of the matter is that they do care for him.

And Mithrun knows it. And that's so, so important.

The thing about Mithrun right now is that it's not clear (at least to me) if he right now is able to reciprocate that level of care. It's clear that Mithrun cared a lot about his former companions, enough that he shared the vision of his dream and the dungeon with them.

And the demon ate that desire. Which explains their eventual disappearance in the dungeon...and having no mention from Mithrun of what happened to them.

(If you asked me, they either died from trying to stop Mithrun or from any attempts to escape. But that's a story for another day)

You can even say that the demon totally ate Mithrun's desire for genuine companionship, something that he sought dearly through his beloved and his friends. Which explains how Mithrun is just totally apathetic to most people that his perception/description of them is muddled.

But does that mean Mithrun is incapable of caring for people? I don't think so.

The thing that is so intersting to Mithrun is that he acknowledges that the demon ate his desires, and that the only thing left with him is his desire to kill demon (but is actually a desire to just be completely eaten). Those are true. But his desire for him to try is still there, and I think that's one of the reasons why Mithrun recovered enough to go back to the Canaries, and to stand up when the demon was truly defeated.

And like what Kabru said, Mithrun can still have new desires. They may not be permanent, they may come and go, but the possibility is there, so I think in the future, Mithrun may have the desire again to care for his companions. Especially since he knows they do care for him a lot.

[bumbog]

me knowing i'm gonna have to sit through mithrun's anime debut and the ensuing insanity

[stcries]

random dialogue sentence starters pt. 2, accepting!

@fcundfamily wrote: “Just because you’re brave doesn’t mean you need to be reckless.” ( MAMA MILSIRIL FOR KABRU !! she also worries )

"if you keep fretting like this, you're finally gonna go grey," the tall man huffs. kabru knew what he was in for the moment the familiar elven woman showed up at the tavern's front door, instantly recognizing her visage. he tried to sneak away into his downstairs room, but he was all too quickly cornered in an inescapable trap; his own mother's clutches. well, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to have a little catch up.

okay, judging off her reaction, maybe he shouldn't tell her how many times he'd perished during his dungeon adventures just yet. he'd save that conversation for when she was much calmer. "you're the one who taught me to fight in the first place, didn't you? if anyone's to blame for my reckless fighting style, maybe you should look in the mirror," he jests, small chuckle leaving his lips. "besides, it's not like i'm going in there alone, i've got good people with me."

[dunmeshistash]

How do you feel about Milsiril? Like what do you think of her interactions between the canaries, her goals, her intentions and morality? I keep seeing people with mixed feelings about her, some saying she's just toxic or morally grey or doing bad but with good intentions or that she's just a mentally ill and literally so much more, also with the comic about Otta calling Milsiril love for her children/Kabru as just love for a pet, I always saw people take it at face value and say yes, Milsiril did love them more as pets instead of children, did she take up raising/adopting non-elf children because she felt like none of them could ridicule her like the elves did because they didn't know what an elf was supposed to be like (and also because they were children) or did she inherently view them as less? I mean the canaries and I'm pretty sure almost all of the cast in dungeon meshi have some sort perspective on different races especially because how they were taught about them, i just think it was interesting to finally see someone interpret it as Otta just misinterpreting Milsiril, I'm just really interested in her, i think shes neat, sorry for the rant!

Ooh, well to preface this, I hadn't really realized Milsiril was such a controversial character before my last post, I kinda live under a rock. She's really not a character I had given much thought besides what I wrote there before it, but I can do my best to express what I have thought since, with sources for it. I'm not sure what order to go thru so I'll just go by manga appearances and then extras, this will probably be quite a long post

This is the first time she shows up in the manga (ch55) Kabru is wondering about what future they might have if the elves take them into custody because of the ancient magic, he thinks about Milsiril as a get out of jail card, and mentions "There's a chance they would make us become permanent resident of the elven lands." with the image of Milsiril holding him. I don't think that means she would be the one to not let them leave, since this would probably be an legal issue, and the fact Milsiril lives away from other Elves. It does set up that Milsiril is quite overprotective tho, with Kabru's reaction to her teary hug. (rest is under a cut)

The next time she shows up is in ch61 right after Kabru falls down the dungeon along with Mithrun, he faints and has this flashback

She's being her overbearing self treating Kabru's small injury as if its something you need to be in bed for, hand feeding him like he's a toddler, and when he insists he wants to learn how to fight and be strong like her, she hugs him revealing to us for the first time her arm scars, she's cleary in distress too, so you wonder "what has happened to her?"

It continues in the next pages, as she tells him to stay there, where it's safe and there's cake, and describes the bad things he might encounter. Until he tells her he will go with or without her help

Honestly this is a Kabru we don't see often, this is the version of him that is usually in thought bubbles, he's blowing out in frustation over being smothered and demanding straight up what he wants, instead of trying to manipulate Milsiril, very blunt for him. Milsiril seems to flip a switch into battle mode, when she decides to train him for real.

I really thought this was funny, the visual of these cuddly toys and this Mom that was being so soft just a second ago completely flipping into something menacing is very amusing to me. She says "I'll give you an exhaustive, thorough training in how to use a sword... until you finally decide that you're ready to give up." although it sounds cruel, it seems she really trained him as best she could to make sure he would survive the dungeon. If he couldn't take the training with her there was no way he would be able to take on the dungeon, but he could, so much so that he managed to make her let him go. I can see this being seen as her trying to prevent him from going but to me it seems more like some tough love from a traumatized war veteran in this case.

The last thoughts he has is admitting his Mom was right, "Not only were there plenty of traps, monsters, and malice... but there were times when I felt so hungry and cold that I couldn't stand it."

And he concludes with "I never once thought that I wanted to go back there. That room where I could eat all the cake that I wanted..." While I can understand the interpretation that he means he would rather go thru all this than go back, perhaps cause he hated it there, I think it's rather a statement to how committed he is to defeating the dungeon, the visuals show him in rubble vs him in a soft big bed, the rough reality he fought to be able to face and the comfyness of what his life could be. Plus is mirroring exactly what Milsiril said to him. Admitting she was right about the bad things but that he won't give up for the safe easy life he had.

After that visuals of Milsiril are used while Kabru tries to sus out Mithrun but she shows up again in Mithrun's backstory.

Here she's straight up called Gloomy, which wasn't really the version of her we saw so far, gotta remember this is also how Mithrun saw her and that she was called gloomy as a way of bullying. Kabru mostly cuts off her part in the story until the end, when she's the one to find Mithrun after he was eaten by the demon

She doesn't really care much for Mithrun as we see in some extras, and she was ready to mercy kill him, but she is also the one to spare his life. This could be seen as her thinking he can still be of use, and it's how it sounds with how Kabru tells the story, but I do think this was also a merciful act, Mithrun was in rehabilitation for 20 years after being saved, by the time he was actually useful for anything Milsiril had already left the canaries and adopted Kabru.

Now for extras... About Mithrun/The Canaries, Milsiril was cleary someone that hated the people around her. This is her extra in the Adventurer's Bible

Milsiril seems to be the type that hates "popular kids" so to say, her description says she was bullied by other elves for being so introverted so I believe she holds a grudge against people like Mithrun that seem to have succeeded where she failed. But realizing he was a twisted person like her seemed to make her feel more sympathetic towards him, that's why I think she really did act with mercy when she saves Mithrun, he's now someone she sees as similar to her, she sees he also suffered like her

Her decription also mentions she left the canaries specifically because she was disgusted with how the Utaya situation was dealt with. Yet it seems like she came back to help Mithrun with his rehabilitation once she quits.

There's an interpretation to be made that she did this only to get "revenge" on the demon since she just saw the destruction of Utaya, and that she's using him. On the other hand maybe she wants to help him find a motivation to live, she's no longer a canary and she has time to actually help him now. I don't know which one is the truth but it's not obviously something self-serving if you ask me. Especially in the context that right before this scene Milsiril admits she wishes they could have talked before.

My interpretation of her relationship with the canaries and other elves is that she's someone depressed that was mistreat for her 'quirky' side, the dolls are clearly one of the ways she used to cope with anxiety/depression but it only caused her to be bullied by her own kin, she's the daughter of an important family and it's shown in other extras, including one about Mithrun, that nobles often send out the kids they don't want around to become canaries. It's an easy way to get rid of someone undesirable and I think it was the case for Milsiril. (Pattadol even assumes her parents love her less than her sisters for sending her to join the canaries).

No wonder than that now that she's finally free from the canaries she chose to seek her own happiness away from the society she felt she could never fit into, she clearly likes to take care of children too, I think it's mean to assume she only likes them because she feels superior to them when there's no indication that this is the case.

And I don't think it's a coincidence she's so overprotective of Kabru after Utaya, it's literally the tragedy that was the breaking point for her, and he's a surviving small child from that tragedy, Milsiril cares about Kabru and wanted him to have a comfortable safe life after everything he went thru...

This ended up getting way too long so I'll make second part tomorrow about the rest of the extras and Kabru, and some other things I've seen said about Milsiril, but to answer the questions...

I don't think she treats her children as pets, Otta is just salty she was called out for dating like Leo Dicaprio.

Every single dungeon meshi character can be called morally grey because they all have flaws that in our world can be considered unforgivable, but they don't live in our world. To me Milsiril is doing her best in the context she lives in.

Who even is neurotypical in dungeon meshi, Milsiril is yet another flavour of a neurodivergent traumatized character among so many.

I believe she thought of the other canaries, especially Mithrun, as the same type of people that were cruel to her, probably because some of them really were, but that she generalized it to the point she thinks of all of them as bad by default. You can only get hurt so many times before you assume everyone will hurt you.

Part 2

[malewifesband]

for your consideration:

kabru has scheduled yet another boring and exhausting dinner with nobles laios must be polite to and pretend to be interested in in order to keep up appearances. as the night starts to wear heavy on him, he looks over at kabru who is clearly having a fantastic time. genuinely, not just pretending--laios can tell because getting a little over-eager, his brow is furrowing when he smiles, and hes laughing a bit too loud, like he does when theyre spending time alone. and seeing kabru so excited and happy to be there... it makes laios feel like its okay to have to endure this if it makes his friend so happy

[hxmocrastic]

𝐘𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞!𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐨𝐬 𝐱 𝐆𝐍!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 | HCS

Pairing {📺} ; Yandere!Laios Touden x GN!Reader

Warnings ; Delusion, Obsession, Exhaustion, Brief metaphors of Cannibalism 👀👀

A/N ; He might be a tad bit ooc because I haven't kept up with the manga, but enjoy dungeon meshers !!!! There will be more dungeon meshi content after this 🤍🍲

Before anything takes place, I feel Laios would have to take an interest in you, Whether small or enormous. You'll have to do something that catches his attention, and evidently as short as it is it'll have to be something as large that snags his eyes away from his fixations or something as small as greeting him.

Laios continuous hyperfixation with monsters is an obstacle from granting you his concentration, But it can be done. Laios' obsession would stem from his insecurities and misgivings, Due to his inclination to monsters and beasts many people around him found his person to be eery and strange which lead to the isolation of his peers with the exception of his dear sister, Falin.

The constant sneers and scrutinization from his community of tall men and others have never weakened his resolve, And his love of monsters but the result of it still stings.

Once he takes an interest in you is one for the history books, Only the winged lion knows when or IF he looks away. Once you've caught his interest there is no undoing what shortly ensues.

Laios could hardly remember the people he had met even when they'd be as assertive as they could. Laios could barely remember Kabru's name not his party, So to think he'd finally grant you a portion of the attention he gives to monsters is downright impressive.

I see Laios taking the observational route before he deliberately approaches you, But I can see him greeting you fairly often. Laios would attempt to strike a conversation with you, Whether that'd be related to monsters or a simple warm greeting as he introduces himself. He would try to maintain his gentle demeanor ensuring that he doesn't frighten you away like the rest of his fellow comrades, But oh boy would he fail at doing so. You could just smell the excitement coming off of him.

Laios would begin to befriend you, Sharing the meals Senshi prepares with you, Inviting you to associate with his party, and most of all sharing all of his interests and passions with you.

Think of the way he behaved with Shuro but 10x more augmented with you. He'd talk your ear off day and night about all the different species of monsters as if he wouldn't wake the next day, He'd rant about the various types of basilisks, the eggs of chimera's, and strangely the taste of a female minotaur's milk?

But due to his connection with his party, I think he would be a lot tamer had he been if you had met on the island. Laios would predominantly share all his meals with you, And you'd better put on your best smile and chewing impression if you weren't hungry because your cheeks would be endlessly assaulted by a spoon full of food.

Laios would constantly make sure you'd have enough to eat and enough sleep, So much so you could to start calling him mom habitually at this point. Although you'd see this as nothing but an affectionate gesture, In a way he'd see it as courting.

To me Laios secretes a very delusional vibe, I can definitely visualize him justifying all of his latent clingyness towards you as normal and sweet despite your annoyance. Though the severity of his infatuation depends on when and where'd you meet him. I'd say with his party, He'd be much more gentle with his affections and try to be as sensitive as he could with his eccentricities.

Laios would still often make the mistake of being overly blunt with his observations and compliments, And it could sometimes even insult you. But spending time with this goofball would more likely than not make you aware of his intentions with his words and spare him the scrutiny he receives from Chilchuck, And the others.

Due to this, His infatuation with you will worsen and he'll start equating you with Falin. His sister was the only person who understood the true meaning behind his words and once you, the object of his obsession start showing him he same compassion He'd simply have no other choice but to entertain his delusion.

This is where it begins to take an odd turn in his behavior. The way he'd start to greet you would become jittery, Like a dog greeting it's owner. His excitement would increase tenfold whenever he'd be within a distance of you, like your presence fuels his eagerness. At times it feels as if he's trying to impress you.

Laios undoubtedly try to hog your attention, Try to keep your eyes on him. He'd begin fishing for praise in whatever way whether that be from formulating an elaborate strategy or simply fetching ingredients for the next meal Senshi would cook. He'd begin to grow possessive in a way, trying to pin all of your attentiveness on him, the way he does to you.

Poor boy wouldn't realize what's wrong with it until he starts to see why you always seem so exhausted whenever he's in view, or how he's slowly taking so much of your time and energy you barely give the effort to do something for the party because he's already done it.

He'd still see nothing wrong with it of course, you're still eating, still getting enough sleep but he wonders why you begin to avoid him now. You of course say nothing, trying not to hurt his feelings knowing what he has gone through, See you want to be there for him when his father wasn't, You want him to be happy even with the absence of Falin.

And you prioritizing his happiness is what links you to the party. Laios is without a doubt beyond obsessed with you at this point in time, Your wellbeing far exceeds any voice of reason. Your health and happiness is at the far most importance, Even exceeding his.

You're his everything, And most importantly wants him to be yours. He wants you to dedicate yourself to him, To throw yourself at him like a rabbit to a wolf. To gift him your flesh to consume for HIS wellbeing, To gift yourself his flesh for YOUR wellbeing, The ultimate exchange of love.

Of course Laios himself would never ask you of this, But at times he desires YOU would come to him with such devotion. The same devotion he gives to you day and night, sunset and sunrise, to repay him the same way he has worshipped you ever since he's gained a glimpse of your eyes, and a glimpse of your heart.

A heart he'd consume with his own, Becoming singular with the person he has loved the most, For is that so much to ask??

Laios wouldn't kidnap you, But oh would he have you stay. I mean isn't that what he's been doing all along?? Draining your sense of independence, Training you like a bunny to a owner to rely solely upon him, For it is he who possesses everything you need.

And that's all that matters.

[hoofpeet]

Okay so Kabru autism is like. He's fascinated with people because they're mysterious and he doesn't fully understand them.... he dissects human behavior the same clinical, detached way that laios discusses monsters, because he views himself as kind of an "other."

I think both of them distinctly don't *get* people, and feel it as a personal failing on their parts- showcased with laios' frustration at misunderstanding Shuro. But where they diverge is that kabru tries to subvert those feelings by being manipulative/ putting on an act, as a way to put himself above people in a way.

Since Kabru subconsciously believes that people wouldn't like him as a person regardless, he kinda tries to keep people a few degrees of separation from himself as a defense mechanism; so that if people feel distant, it's because he's putting on an act.

I think that kabru explicitly seeks Laios out to be friends is because he sees Laios struggle with the same disconnect he does-- Except that laios doesn't deal with it by putting on an act- everybody can tell that he's weird from a million miles away. BUT the thing with that is that he's still happy and has friends- despite having the personal failing that kabru also sees in himself.

I think kabrus initial hostility comes from a place of. Like. Instead of having the "oh I can be genuine" realization, he instantly rationalized laios as having ulterior movies, because he so thoroughly believes that he himself is incapable of being genuinely liked that he can't comprehend laios being happy while being openly autistic.

I think kabru is also deeply lonely because he's self-isolated as a defense against imminent rejection- so Laios ends up representing a glimmer of hope that he, too, can be genuinely liked and happy without having to exhaust himself putting on an act all day. So he fucking. Ace attorny's it and becomes a dungeon explorer just to go find and befriend him. Amazing

It's just like. If they're narrative foils I think they should both mutually admire each other on some level

[johannestevans]

Laios' dick being so big it doesn't really fit in Kabru's pussy, and kabru having a little lightbulb moment and asking Mithrun if he'd let Laios fuck him

And Mithrun, who doesn't care, says, "I don't care"

Mithrun on his belly as laios, behind him, fingers him4

Biting his lip and saying nervously, "Kabru, I don't know, he seems even smaller than you--"

And Kabru, who knows Exactly what he's doing, says, "Yeah, I know, but he can take it. Right, Mithrun?"

"Mn," says Mithrun, noncommittal.

Mithrun IS very wet, is open.

Laios lining up to sink inside and immediately growling from low in his throat because it feels SO good and he wants it SO badly and he doesn't want to hurt Kabru's friend but it's so wet and so tight

And Mithrun's breath hitching, his eyes widening slightly

Kabru leaning in and murmuring against the elf's mouth, "Feels good, right? Laios, sink all the way in."

"What? But isn't that--"

"Now."

And Laios just obeys, snaps his hips forward with his grip around Mithrun's emaciated waist and sinks balls deep

Laios groaning loudly at the hot, wet heat surrounding him, so incredibly tight around his whole cock, Mithrun's pussy fluttering against his base - Mithrun wheezing, letting out a little groan, gripping at the floor underneath him "Yeah," Kabru says. "Right?"

Laios, half-feral, barely needing encouragement to start fucking savagely into Mithrun's cunt, cleaving him open, and the feeling genuinely so utterly intense Mithrun actually FEELS it, is left squirming slightly underneath it because the pleasure is dull, but he's not Used to it

And it's so overwhelming he can't forget it, can't think of other things or lose interest, he just has to take Laios' cock and let it destroy him

And then as soon as Kabru kisses his neck and plays with his cock Mithrun's coming for the first time since the Lion took him in

Laios leaning back and gripping Mithrun under the arms, up on his knees and bouncing Mithrun down on the whole length of his cock, using his weight against him, and Mithrun overwhelmed and whining, gasping, his hands twitching, his good eye watering

Kabru staring up at him eagerly, getting to watch Mithrun's body twitch and shudder and quiver, seeing the bulge of Laios' ridiculous dick through Mithrun's belly, hearing Laios bestial and eager and roaring with pleasure as he comes deep in Mithrun's cunt

Laios finally collapsing, exhausted, and Mithrun sprawled out and just watching kabru as kabru fingers him, sees how wide laios has spread Mithrun out, tongues at his cock as Mithrun twitches and shudders

And Laios genuinely so. Earnest. Has a little nap and wakes up and makes food and they eat and he's like "you feel SO good, Mithrun," and is so earnest in praising him, the muscle in his shoulders

"You were good," Mithrun says, and Laios goes a bit pink

Is unaccustomed to praise, is certainly unaccustomed to praise - or even, you know, direct speech - from Mithrun.

Mithrun leaning forward and gripping Laios by the jaw, and Laios staring into his eyes, owlish

"Do you know how you can please me next, Laios?"

And Laios gulping, because Kabru has said about him fucking someone's ass and Mithrun has a NICE ass despite being so skinny even if it's not as nice as Kabru's--

And then Mithrun is dragging Kabru by the hair to the floor between him

And saying, "His cunt now."

"Oh," Laios says as Kabru lets out an indignant noise and tries to fight against Mithrun's strength, but can't. "I'm, um, I'm too big, we already--"

"You're not," Mithrun whispers, looking down at Kabru. "You just needed suitable encouragement."

"Mithrun, I can't," Kabru hisses, "I'm not deep en--"

"I'm not much taller than he is, Laios," Mithrun murmurs. "And elves have far less vaginal depth than tall men."

"What the fuck? Laios, he's lying--"

"He wants it," Mithrun says. "Craves it - craves an element of force."

"I don't know, that seems--"

"Tell your pet zoologist, Kabru. Admit to him that you crave it - that you watched me because you wanted to imagine it, feel it a degree separated."

Kabru swallows, turns his face away. "Fuck," he hisses.

"Kabru?" asks Laios.

"He's not wrong," Kabru grinds out.

"You want me to…?"

"For fuck's-- yes, Laios. Yeah."

"Okay," says Laios, and smiles down at him. "I mean, I've wanted to. Do you think I'll be able to see it through your belly, like we could through Mithrun's?"

"I'm going to touch your cock through his belly," Mithrun tells him. "You're going to come inside him."

"I'm going to take longer," Laios says. "Um, this time, because of--"

"Good," Mithrun says. "He's going to cry on your cock."

Laios looks utterly stricken, but then Mithrun leans in and murmurs, "It is what he craves."

"It seems… unkind."

"You enjoy when he scolds you, snaps at you, orders you. He enjoys to be pushed to breaking point - and past it."

And Kabru utterly terrified because, yeah, at the end of the night he's going to be a soaked with sweat, shuddering, sobbing mess, that he's going to come multiple times on Laios' cock, that Mithrun's going to torture him as recompense.

He sits up to move, and Laios automatically bands his arm around Kabru's belly at the same time as Mithrun grips him by the throat, and Kabru lets out a bitten back grunt.

"What goes around comes around," Mithrun whispers against his mouth, then bites into a kiss.

"This is so hot I might actually die," hisses Laios in Kabru's ear, and Kabru starts laughing until Mithrun grips him by the cock at the same time as Laios bites the back of his neck, and Kabru's laugh turns into moans as he's sandwiched between them.

FIN.

[p0mipaws]

Labru's wedding:

Marcille plans everything! (Yaad helps her with budgeting and making list of ppl to invite, tho)

When Laios and Kabru tells her about their secret engagement (everyone know after day 1), Marcille burst with excitement and start rambling about all the decorations and the cake for the wedding.

Kabru and Laios arent the type of person that have ✨️dream wedding✨️. Laios probably will choose to elope if its an option. Kabru loves social gathering, but isnt really big fan if its focused on him. He will still plan a wedding for political reason, but its probably will be no different from regular ball. Thats why Marcille is a blessing for them.

Marcille let Laios choose three (3) monster cuisines to serve at the wedding (with strict specifications). Senshi gladly help them gather the ingredients and prepare it (this is also Senshi's wedding gift for the couple).

I think Laios will choose cuisines from giant monsters so they can feed many ppl with just few a monsters so they dont distrub the ecosystem too much.

Its takes sometime, but they manage to track the merchant that took Laios in when he was teenager and invite him and his family. Kabru does NOT like him.

This is the first time Laios sees Falin crying with joy (Marcille is crying too but its more bc she is glad everything went smoothly).

Laios relucantly invite his parents after Falin pressures him. He just give his father a firm handshake and head nod during the reception. He doesnt even introduce Kabru to them.

Not only Flertom and Puckpatti failed to land a rich husband, they also need to drag Chilchuck and Meijack out of the party bc they get too drunk.

Marcille needs to put all the gifts from elven nations into isolated room to check if there any eavesdroppers on them, especially the one from Queen of the Elves (Not her first time).

Kabru and Laios are too exhausted after the party to consumated their marriage so they spend their first night sleeping until noon.

[mithrun-house-of-kerensil]

I could write essays on the different dynamics between Mithrun and the people around him, but I think why Kabru and Mithrun’s friendship strikes such a cord for me is that Kabru just. treats Mithrun like a person. He wants to feed him good food despite knowing Mithrun wouldn’t care about it. He wants Mithrun to sleep well even though Mithrun doesn’t recognize his own exhaustion. He refused to let Mithrun lay down and die after everything even though Mithrun had no will to live. His first example as to desires Mithrun could have was that he wanted Mithrun to live a life not driven by revenge. He just saw him as a person and didn’t let Mithrun’s condition limit his humanity, if Mithrun could not desire a good life for himself, Kabru could desire it for him

[sunfl0wersandillusions]

people always all the time talking abt mithrun’s eye turning silver as he’s realizing his feelings for kabru yes yes we all know this. classic. however i don’t necessarily think this would happen in the middle of them makin out or whatever. the eye changes as he’s experiencing *desire*, right, not just something he feels passionately about in the moment.

so walk with me here. mithrun’s alone in whatever house or apartment or whatever he’s living in. and he sees the stove, where kabru’s prepared a really lovely utayan-style stew for them to share to make sure he’s eating well. empty. the table where they sit and eat together. empty. even like. a really big chair, big enough for two bodies to occupy, where kabru collapsed with delayed physical-but-mostly-social exhaustion after a long day of work into travel into cooking (the skills of which he’s never been terribly comfortable) and mithrun, taking note of his fullness after the meal, tuning into his own body for once, thinks “yeah i could rest” and joins him sinking into the big chair. empty. and he thinks about these things empty. and he thinks about them full. how they feel right one way, and wrong the other. and he sits in the dining table chair and looks at the empty one across from him and feels this want so deep and crucial as an existential moral code, and kabru bursts in for his regular (but not so regular as to be evenly predictable) check in because mithrun keeps the door unlocked because it’s only ever kabru who comes and it’s only ever a net positive when he does. and they lock eyes. and yeah yeah you get it

[ambrosiagourmet]

🙄

I don't give a flip about DM ships but I am profoundly tired of how debates about them make it harder and harder to just engage holistically with the story and characters.

I'm tired of Marcille's friendship with Laios being deemphasized for both Falin/Marcille AND Kabru/Laios

I'm tired of seeing the whole main party's love for each other downplayed, actually! And of course I'm extra tired of Izutsumi being left out of the conversation in particular because she isn't shipped with anyone.

I'm tired of seeing views of Kabru slowly split down the middle between "his relationship with Laios is more important" and "his relationship with Mithrun is more important" instead of letting him interact with multiple people on multiple levels.

For that matter I'm also tired of seeing people downplay Rin and Kabru. I know she's not a major character in the story I know she doesn't really interact with the plot & doesn't influence his growth but she's his FRIEND dammit he cares about her

I'm tired of Chimera Falin being seen primarily through the lens of being hot to Marcille

I am tired of people either softening rough edges of relationships and characters OR hyperbolically overstating them.

I'm tired of seeing personal preference or discomfort treated like canon preference and discomfort.

I'm also tired of how tired it's making other people! Shit's exhausting and it sucks to see people focus so much on defending their opinions that they stop talking about things for their own sake and focus more and more about talking about them in comparison to what they don't like.

I dunno. It's sucks. It sucks to read DM and feel like almost every character clashes and then comes together in a way that makes them better. It sucks to find a story with so much love and such a well built story where every single relationship is necessary to reach the conclusion - where almost every permutation of characters has something to it that feels real and alive and compelling - and see it reduced to arguments about which love is better, actually.

[dee-dunmeshi]

Careful

pairing: laios x kabru words: ~1k warnings: this is post canon! otherwise, none :)

summary: when kabru finds that his walls have been dismantled brick by brick, he does the only thing he can do- freak out, then put them back up and stop thinking about it. he doesn't mean to hurt laios in the process. (based on this post i made)

more: this is definitely gonna be multiple parts. also, tell me if u can tell i haven't finished dunmeshi and i've just immersed myself in spoilers

Laios sat almost motionless at the head of the meeting hall table, chin in his hand, head tilting to one side. To his right sat an abandoned chair previously occupied by Kabru, who was now pacing behind the blonde's throne (it was a somewhat smaller one used only in the meeting room. Laios liked it way better than the huge one in the actual throne room).

He couldn’t see Kabru, but he could imagine the others' expression- slightly furrowed brows and his cheek between his teeth as he let the concerns he’d had from the meeting earlier finally show, free from the unwanted gazes of guests. It’d been months before Kabru had let him see the actively calculating side of him- Laios thought it was… something. He wasn’t sure, but it did make the corners of his mouth turn up, just a little.

The king glanced out the window, shocked to see it was just past sunset. There were only stray strokes of orange on the clouds now, the moon well up into the sky. The kingdom demanded so much of him, and he was finding it harder and harder to keep track of time these days- such was the life of a king, he supposed.

“Kabru,” he started, reaching his arms over his head in a long overdue stretch. “We should call it a night, right?”

Kabru’s pacing stopped and he appeared by Laios’ side, one arm resting atop the throne as he leaned down slightly. “Tired?” He asked, his tone suggesting that he already agreed and didn’t really need to hear Laios’ reasoning.

“Yes,” Laios hummed, “and hungry.” He looked up at Kabru, a big smile on his face, brown eyes lighting up at the thought of dinner. “You won’t believe what we’re having- not monster, unfortunately.”

Kabru took Laios’ tease with a scoff and an eyeroll, the sting of which was greatly diminished by the grin on his face. He listened as Laios went on about dinner, what the chef was making, how Senshi had actually taught them this on his last visit to the kingdom. Laios wasn’t quite as enamored by food and cooking in general as Senshi, but since the dungeon, he’d taken more of an interest in what normal foods might taste most like dungeon food.

Kabru watched until the rant seemed to no longer be for him, Laios staring past him in thought as he went on about flavor profiles. Kabru let his mind drift back to things he needed to get done, half listening in case he was asked anything. There were orders to be made before bed, holidays to plan for, letters to answer- his eyes raked over Laios’ face as he thought, noting the slight exhaustion on display under his eyes and deciding to let him sleep in the next day, before landing on his jaw. 

Laios had grown a bit of stubble, he noticed, too distracted by being king to shave. It made sense that it had crept up on him- the blonde didn’t grow facial hair very fast, so he never really shaved anyway.

Kabru lifted his palm to Laios’ jaw, thumb rubbing along the coarse hair on his cheek. “You haven’t shaved,” he said, like he was commenting on the weather or pointing out a new hairstyle. Not like he was gently caressing his king's cheek.

Oh.

Before Kabru could decide the only solution was to blow up both himself and Laios, before he could even jerk his hand away, Laios was completely resting his head on Kabru's hand. One eye closed in thought as his cheek squished, he looked up at Kabru with those bright, wide brown eyes. “Y’think?” Laios asked, as if his royal advisor did this all the time. As if Kabru ever touched his face at all, let alone so tenderly. “You don’t like it?”

Kabru thought about how nice it’d be to die on the spot. He couldn’t really figure out what he should say next. Letting go might be awkward, but staying in this position would surely have weird implications, right? How would he get himself out of this? How did he even let himself get here?

“No,” he heard himself saying, lips moving seemingly on their own accord. “I think it looks good, honestly.”

And he really was being honest. Sure, telling Laios it looked bad would’ve been a fruitless lie- shaving wouldn’t make him a better ruler, and having facial hair might actually help his public image and make him look a little more mature. Kabru took issue, though, with how easily the truth had come out with no thought, no calculation. What was wrong with him?

Laios grinned at him so, so earnestly, and Kabru felt his stomach drop.

All too soon, the king rose from his throne, leaving Kabru's hand to fall to his side, abandoned.

“Alright, I won’t shave it, then,” Laios said definitively, already sweeping out of the room. “C’mon, I’m starving.”

Kabru’s legs marched him out of the meeting room, trailing just behind Laios. His hand felt cold. He clenched his fist, thought about how weird that must look to any castle staff passing by, then released. Laios was still talking up ahead. With a deep, careful inhale, Kabru decided that whatever it was he was going through, it could wait until after dinner. He just had to be more careful until he could figure it out. He exhaled. Inhaled. Exhaled.

Finally, he fell into step with Laios, pasting a smile on his face and tucking his arms behind his back. He spent dinner with his elbows close to his side so Laios wouldn’t accidentally bump into him, as he often did. He bid his friend a quick goodnight as soon as he was done with his excuse of a meal- for some reason, he didn’t have much of an appetite.

'Careful', he thought as his legs propelled him to his room, worrying the inside of his cheek between his teeth. He just had to be careful.

ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ sᴛᴀʀ ʙᴏʀᴅᴇʀ ɪs ғʀᴏᴍ @ᴇɴᴄʜᴀɴᴛʜɪɴɢs!

[pelleas-at-castle-nox]

I'm surprised I haven't really seen anybody talking about the food sourcing theme in dungeon meshi. Like, the very first thing it made me think about when I started reading the manga was like "oh yeah, this really makes you think about food, where it comes from, the work needed to create enough food for one person, let alone a small group, to eat comfortably and nutritiously. Laios even specifically calls out that 'regular' food is also made using shit and dirt, intentionally grounding it in reality and subtly asking the reader to introspect on the food they eat and where it comes from."

Like, it's fair to say kui has the old "world builder's" spirit, it's easy to extrapolate a whole world when you're willing to both ask "how does x mundane task work?" And being willing to give it as fanciful or grounded an answer as you feel is appropriate, food is the central theme, but that sort of thinking extends to every corner of the lore and world building where you can practically begin to trace back a lot of world elements to these basic questions, like "what would happen if there were people who lived for 500 years, what would happen if you fought a creature with two heads" and I think that's really cool-

But like, that core question "where does the food that sustains you come from" is like such a relevant question that we should all be asking ourselves. I suppose it's just that I think about that often, both when I'm world building, and in modern and historical contexts.

In a lot of ways it's alienation of labor, most USAmericans (to keep it at least slightly contained in scope) don't get to know where any of the food they eat actually comes from. At best, you might buy your own groceries and maybe even be able to google some information as to the conditions at the place this food was grown, maybe you're lucky/resourced enough to grow some of your own food in like a garden. At worst you get your food premade and prepackaged and you're even completely divorced from the preparation aspect.

A major symptom of this is clearly shown in dungeon meshi's opening and especially in kabru shuro and even the canaries: when food is taken for granted, it becomes easy to neglect. The party initially wiped simply because they'd not considered how suicidal it was to press onward while exhausted, Kabru is so dissociated and focused that he shuts out most of his own biological signifiers of hunger, Shuro starves himself, equating food with leisure instead of a vital practice to sustain life and energy, and of course there's mister no desires.

It's no mistake that in all of the above cases, it's seemed to be heavily implied that food is either an after thought, or someone else's responsibility, or a simple logistical concern. Senshi's whole rant (in volume 1!!) about "oh the youths of today just buying prepackaged meat wine and bread" is especially tied in to this main theme of "do you know where your food comes from?" By taking it to the next level and asking "do you know why you're eating what you're eating?"

To take a personal side tangent, I was recently diagnosed as diabetic, and it's completely changed my relationship to food on a pretty fundamental level, but I'd say I'd always had a pretty good and healthy relationship with food (after I stopped having an eating disorder but that's a story for another day) so it was an easy enough adjustment to have to start actually thinking about how much of my diet was carbs and things like that, it just became a matter of considering what I was eating and when and why. I'm still not perfect at it and it's still a learning process but I'm working on it.

Anyways, my main theory as to why I've not seen it being pontificated on is just that in general people really hate being asked "do you know what you're eating?" Around these parts in a general fashion, but like, especially with weaponized starvation going on and very real issues of things like food desserts in America, and the fact that we all have to pay for just about every little meal, I think it's important for leftists to contemplate the political implications of meals.

An army runs on its stomach after all. Rant over