#speaking of...IZUTSUMI IS FINALLY HERE!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The girls are here!!!

[chilschuck]

Chilchuck is canonically very warm and perfect cuddle size! Izutsumi uses him as a cuddle buddy/sleep partner for this (he got annoyed and tried to send her to someone else, but after trying all the other members and Laios petting her, Chilchuck had her come back and accepted his life as a cat bed. he is a Dad through and through.)

`✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT HOW CANONICALLY CUDDLY HE IS I MELT. WAHHHH ANON i think about this so much. also him accepting his life as a cat bed and just being so Dad about it makes me insane. like i said earlier this man is detrimental to my health. speaking of this!!! here’s some thoughts hehe

— CHILCHUCK: cuddle hcs.

꒰ warnings: ꒱ none! sfw fluff + gn!reader.

✦ If you’re a cold-natured person, Chilchuck is a blessing to have. You already knew he was apparently very warm due to how much Izutsumi enjoys seeking him out, so you let your thoughts wonder. The first time you asked to share his bedroll with him, you couldn’t help but be amused at his reaction. (To say you caught him off-guard was an understatement.)

✦ After he recovered from his coughing spell at your request, he flustered. Great, so now he’s becoming the party’s new teddy bear? No thanks. But then you made that expression that always made him weak in the knees and chest and gods. He bites his tongue, letting out a defeated sigh. Maybe just this once. You did tend to get cold a lot…

✦ If you’re a tall-man, (or just have a height advantage over him, lol) you wonder what it would be like to hold him similar to how Izutsumi does. Sleeping with him so closely means odds are one of you is going to end up pulling the other in. Being the taller one, you find yourself curling up with him nuzzled into your chest. I can imagine he’s reluctant at first, but when he finally lets himself relax, he melts.

✦ If you’re a half-foot like he is, or without that height advantage, he’s the big spoon. Either that, or you end up burying yourself into his neck to steal his warmth. I can imagine Chilchuck likes to feel like a protector when it comes to you, as he’s used to having people’s lives on his shoulders. But one night, make him be the little spoon, telling him you just want to hold him for once. (Watch the high curve of his ears turn pink, lol.)

✦ Chilchuck comes to expect you cuddling with him every night. It comes time for the party to retire and he’s already subconsciously lifting his blanket for you to join him. Point it out one day and he’s sputtering out excuses with rosy cheeks. Gods, don’t think so hard about it. You’re cold, aren’t you? You’ll probably hear him grumble a good bit.

✦ He’s very mindful you’re there with him. Last thing he wants is to be a lackluster cuddle partner. And to accidentally make you stop coming to his bedroll.

✦ Probably the deepest sleep he’s gotten in a while. You just make him feel so relaxed, and the physical touch and affection is something he’s been craving for so long. Don’t expect him to admit that to you, though.

— dividers by @/cafekitsune! <3

[thestalkerbunny]

Now that you finish reading I can finally ask: If the manga was an actual dnd campaign, what kind of players you think the character have and how is the DM? I know this is very specific but I think it would be funny to think about.

Okay but listen here-

Laois's Player: Long term player, long term fan, he's ready to GET WEIRD. They know how to play a fighter effectively, but they are ready to get to be a BIG IDIOT.

Senshi's Player: an older person who never played but knew about dwarves from LOTR books. Sorta went with the 'dwarf that cooks' as basically the introduction during session 0 and the dm helped make him more 3 dimensional.

Chilcuck's Player: Again, they've played a rouge before-but NEVER THIS SHORT. Was tired of the edgey rougue backstories, he's just divorced but he's cool about it.

Marcille's Player: I think a Newer player, never really played anything other than wizards or magic users-keeps rolling like fucking CRAP. Forgets to keep adding spells when leveling up.

Izutsumi's Player: The person who was brought in LAST minute with the JOKE character in the serious campaign, everyone was ready for the sexy cat girl, did not expect hyper realistic cat behavior-insists on rolling to be a MENACE at all hours. (Me, that's me, I'm that player? I get brought in on serious campaigns with joke characters and I'm a nightmare when I get a chance to speak.)

DM: Someone who was laying in bed one night, binge watching the food network and was like 'someone should make a CAMPAIGN about this....'

[masonsystem]

giving dungeon meshi the second highest honor i can bestow to it: complaining about it (its ending specifically):

anyways the ending felt super rushed to me, almost like the author hadnt realized how long an ending with a cast this expansive would need to be, and ended up pacing it weirdly while also rushing some parts along the way. also these opinions of mine dont take into account any post-canon supplemental material, im judging the canon ending on an as-it-is basis, so maybe some of my gripes here get better explained in a bonus comic, but im not counting any of that rn. maybe later i will look back at this ending and feel better about it, but these are the impressions this ending had left on me as of now:

- laios becoming king makes sense when u consider the prophecy that this entire series prefaced itself with (the one who defeats the mad sorcerer will inherit the golden kingdom), but like.... it still feels somewhat out of place. its not a choice that i hate entirely, but i feel like the pacing towards this decision felt very off, when, in the ending to a series like this, shouldve felt more inevitable/final. it really did feel like there were numerous other options laios couldve taken on in the ending.

^these all felt like plausible outcomes to me

and while its somewhat logically explained that the only reasonable outcome for laios was for him to become king (cant leave the island to the long lived races and needs to take responsibility for.. saving the world?), this rationale for laios becoming king felt lacking in any emotional drama that i personally think this series' ending should have, especially considering that the events during the final climax just before this were extremely satisfyingly dramatic.

- izutsumi.... i can recognize that rui did her best to integrate her into the story and serve a narrative significance (barometz chapter succubi arc etc), and this did succeed to an extent, but it also felt like a case of too little too late.. the early arcs before izutsumi had very excellent pacing, with different chapters rotating its focus on a different party member effortlessly. it was during this time that the foundations of our main characters were really set up. izutsumi's late arrival meant that her character narrative had to squeeze itself between the other main characters' further developing narratives, alongside with the steadily developing climax, which had a whole other share of new character narratives it needed to develop (mithrun kabru thistle etc). this lack of breathing room for izutsumi made her feel kinda out of place in the overall narrative, when she, as a main party member, shouldve had more solid ground.

like for example, her yaad doll was barely mentioned until it was time to serve its narrative role (leading them out of the dungeon). looking back at the story, the doll was mentioned at least one other time besides its introduction and its narrative role:

^chp 85 in marcilles tower

but this happens during an extremely dramatic moment (marcille is losing her fucking shit) and this yaad doll mention ends up being overshadowed by it. i feel like the story shouldve called more attention to it; it's role as the plot key that lets the party safely escape the collapsing dungeon is a big role after all, and it shouldve been mentioned at a degree similar to shuro's bell or kensuke, two other objects that play a big role in the story's ending. but as ive said, izutsumi's character has to struggle to secure a spot with the various other rapidly developing narratives. this failure to cement izutsumi's bond with the yaad doll then had this important moment fall rather flat for me;

just like many other izutsumi moments that were meant to be emotional. izutsumi's character sadly didnt have enough time to stew and leave the bigger mark that she really should have, imo

- speaking of characters who didnt feel super impactful in the ending, i was disappointed that chilchuck and senshi didnt play bigger roles in the final climax. i think they played a significant role while marcille was the dungeon lord, but after that (while laios was the dungeon lord) they didnt really do much.. i wish we saw them do more when laios had turned into a monster, the way we see marcille lead the chase after demon-laios.

- also! why did the citizens of the golden land survive??? im so confused about that. like when i think about it i.. guess????? it makes sense?? bc they were cursed by thistle to remain in the dungeon otherwise they would turn to dust, but when thistle lost his desires, that curse was lifted, and they could return to the surface... i think??? but see, thats my problem w this, to make sense of this im doing a lot of guesswork, and something this significant shouldnt be left up to guesswork. i dont expect a story to explain every single detail about itself, especially with its ending; in fact some of my favorite endings are ones that leave certain details ambiguous, but this is an instance where there really should be some sort of explanation.. and the same can be said for why tf did thistle die! if he even died that is???? like man, so much is left up in the air, and the only really concrete things that happened are 1.) laios becomes king, and 2.) falin is resurrected. but my biggest gripe, the biggest thing imo that is not thoroughly explained when i really feel that it should be explained is....

- CAN PEOPLE JUST BE RESURRECTED NOW???????????? like marcille just spelt it out for us that they needed to learn to accept death, especially after spending such a long time in a dungeon where death is merely a suggestion, and yet.... falin was able to be resurrected outside of the dungeon?? does this mean Anyone can be resurrected outside of the dungeon, since the lines between a dungeon and the surface world have now been broken???? that cant be right, can it....??? didnt we just have 97 chapters of why People Should Not Live Forever And Need Food (taking the lives of other creatures) To Be Considered Alive? but how was falin able to be resurrected then??? 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 again, this is guesswork that I REALLY THINK should not have just been left to guesswork, man........ tho i do have an alternate explanation that kinda explains how she was able to survive, and ill hopefully post that at some point..

[moss-selfship]

GUSH ABOUT IZUTSUMI DO IT NOW THIS IS A THREAT

You dont need to tell threaten me with a good time. Look, i get that i talk and reblog izutsumi here alot, like its my thing, thats my wife etc etc. but just...i dont really have proper words to describe just how much she means to me. Ive tried to find them, Looked for them in the various love story quote twitters i follow, try to pull them from the creative aspects of my mind with poetry, even try and maybe spy something from other peoples posts. But i cant find anything, i cant find genuine words that can describe how much she means to me and how much i love her. I can do my best with poetry and art, thats when it feels the closest. I understand why the poets of old would write sonnets and poems and plays for the people they love, why artists would do massive murals and carve brilliant statues of the people they love. and sorry for the incoming tangent. Because art? art is perhaps the closest man will ever come to speaking the language of the gods. Because creation is what the divine do, it is there specialty. To create is to speak the language of the divine in the best way our feeble human souls can manage, and so to create for the sake of love? Why that is man trying to speak in the language of gods, for i believe that in this language one can find the words to describe true love. Im not a religious man, far from it in fact. And my words ascribe to no particular religion, and just like my words are not bound to any specific religion, neither is creating. Humans have always created, every culture, every religion, every race, every instance of humanity has created. Because the act of creation is a universal human experience, it is something imbued into every single person. From the youngest child to the oldest soul, we are all drawn to creating things. Art, music, stories, it is part of humanity to create. For humanity, whether it realizes it or not, is always chasing a taste of divinity. And so i try again and again, using my art and my words to try and speak that tongue of the divines. Hoping to unravel its ancient and cosmic secrets, so that i may finally speak the words i have long sought and truly and genuinely express my purest adoration and love for izutsumi.