#was not expecting senshis back story to be THAT

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

I'm reading Dungeon Meshi and I just got jump scared by the one thing I somehow wasn't expecting to encounter in a manga about eating monsters and unconventional food

[elkian]

It's interesting watching the Dungeon Meshi anime after reading the manga pretty recently. There's lots of fun 'that's a surprise tool that will help us later moments' (not to mention spotted all the WL motifs!), but there's more.

Some stuff I blipped over on the initial read - partly due to the story starting out as a light-hearted Monster of the Week comedy and partly likely due to my own general obliviousness - has caught my attention.

One is how Laios engages with the other party members: when Marcille is down about not being immediately useful, he's the one who jumps in to support her, citing his knowledge of her unique skillset and the strategic value in her holding back for the moment. He has a high level of respect for his party's skills in general (I wonder if part of the monster mania is a bit of compensating for not getting to show his stuff sooner?), and a strong understanding of their synergy.

Further, as I'm watching the Living Armor episode, something has finally pinged in my conscious mind: Laios is smart. It's overshadowed a bit, I think, by his Monster Special Interest (a thing he is expected to be knowledgeable in, which also leads to the dragon expert bemoaning lmao), and his general role of being either The Weird One or experiencing Consequences of eating things recklessly. Which ig is all Monster Special Interest-related at minimum.

Anyways, combining my observation of Laios' understanding of Marcille and Chilchuck's skillsets, and how to best implement him, I realize in this episode that Laios is a very skilled tactician, and strategist. We've also seen him make detailed analyses and decent plans in the manga. I think this all ties into him being the sort of de facto party leader - not only is he strongly motivated on multiple levels, but the others trust him to analyze situations and formulate viable plans accordingly, taking their strengths and weaknesses into account. Heck, when the party gets species-swapped, he makes almost immediate note in their first battle of how quickly he loses stamina, and connects that to Senshi's behavior that he's observed in the past.

Sorry for not noticing sooner, Laios.

[dunmeshi-darlings]

Can i get uhhhhhhhhh laios (and maybe cute platonic stuff for the rest of the crew?) x an orc reader? blease?

oh this sounds delightful id love to do this! im going to do everyone else and THEN get to laios

You and Marcille had a rocky start to your friendship to say the least. The issues between the elves and the orcs still caused some bad blood between the two of you. Sure after senshi cooked for everyone it had gotten better, that issue was still there. Plus you already weren't the biggest fan of magic so this was just another point of contention between the two of you.

You two would argue back and forth and numerous times you two would end up getting annoyed at each other and bicker to the point chilchuck had to step in. Eventually though as you grew to know each other more you warmed up to each other.

You realize that despite her attitude, marcille is actually a genuinely kind person who cares about others and doesnt think she is better than anyone (unlike most elves). So you two eventually become good friends and even joke about how you two were at the start.

You already knew senshi since he had spent years among the orc tribe and so you two were already good friends at this point. In fact he was the one that promised to the orc chief that you would be ok and he would make sure of it on his word.

However when you joined the party a new issue between you and senshi started, What he made you eat. You were particular in what you are willing to eat, the problem being that in senshis eyes you werent getting proper nutrients and you two would argue back and forth about eating things like vegetables and other foods you didnt like.

Eventually you and him come to an agreement, you would eat the vegetables and other things he cooked up only if he made sure they were small enough that you wouldnt notice them or they were cooked in a way to hide things like flavor and texture.

You and chilchuck actually got around pretty well when you first joined the party. You respected his skills as a lockpick and how good he was at avoiding and disarming traps. you couldnt count how many orcs had been injured or worse from those damn dungeon traps. So having somebody who knew what to do around them was nice for a change.

You knew about half foots and so you didnt treat him like a child, in fact chilchuck was older than you so you treated him as such. This made him happy considering how senshi and marcille treated him. However when he revealed the fact that he had a three children and a divorce it caught you off guard.

Chilchuck and you would also share drinks some times. You and him being the only ones in the party that enjoyed alcohol. The two of you would enjoy drinks together and tell stories about each others lives. You wouldnt have expected a half foot to be able to keep up with an orc in terms with drinking, but the little guy was full of surprises.

You and izutsumi bonded immediately over your shared pickiness with eating. Both of you backing the other when refusing to eat certain foods.

Her care free lifestyle and looking out for herself as well as her physical prowess reminded you of a fellow orc and you began to see her as an honorary orc. She found you to be the least annoying and so would often stick around you more than anyone else.

Thanks to your body build, fur covering, and size izutsumi found you the most comfortable person to sleep with. She would curl up against you and enjoy how warm you were, you didnt mind as it reminded you of sleeping along side the wargs you and leed would raise and you both end up sleeping well next to each other.

Laios was the main reason you joined the party, the respect he showed to you and your fellow orcs was a surprise for a tallman. And the fact the chief and leed supported him made your decision to join him all the more firm.

Laios was more than excited to have you on the team! he was fascinated by the orcs and was so excited to hear you wanted to travel with them. This gave him the chance to ask you all kinds of questions. He asked you about life as a dwarf, about what it was like being a dwarf and any other question that could come to his head.

You answer them all, surprisingly happy to talk about being an orc and what that entailed. You were proud of what you were and to see a tallman respect that and show interest made you feel good. You made a passing comment about how you were sure things like your tusks and fur and tail made you ugly in his eyes. "actually i think there really cute." he comments causing you to stutter and look at him in confusion, expecting him to have been joking but the look of sincerity on his face caused you to get flustered, waving it off saying that a tallman like him wouldnt know about orc beauty. He simply shakes his head saying he does think your incredibly beautiful, that to him humans are boring and so having cool things like tusks and fur and a tail are so cool and he is almost jealous of you.

Ever since then the way you looked at laios was different, before you looked at him as just a rare tallman that respected you and your people...but now you started to view him in a different way. He was kind and caring and shown a genuine interest in you and what you did. You look at him and feel a warmth under the fur of your cheeks, you feel your tail wag excitedly when you see him, and you can feel your mind drifting to him whenever your alone. It is safe to say you had fallen in love with laios

But there was no way he could love you back right? you were an orc, and you could never imagine somebody like him loving an orc. Surely his fascination and comments about you are simply his weird obsession with monsters. That was it, it couldnt be anything else. You couldnt imagine a tallman would ever love an orc?

So imagine you shock when one night he presents you a necklace made out of the teeth and bones of the monster you all had killed earlier. "i was doing some reading and saw that Orc courtship involved creating jewelry and trinkets out of the bones of enemies you have killed. Y/N...i really like you, and i like you more than just because your an orc...even though that part is really cool! but i also do really like you and i wanted to make this necklace for you. If you would accept my courtship attempt." By the time he finished his sentence you had already pulled him into a hug kissing him, it was awkward at first as the two of you adjusted for your tusks and his lack of them but you found your comftorable zone as the two of you kissed. Eventually breaking the kiss he smiles wildly, his cheeks a rosy color "wow! im glad the information in my book was right!"

[ekko-idk]

YOU 🫵

Explain what dungeon meshi is

(You don't have to i'm just new here and wanted to hear it from someone who already knows a lot about this media)

(If you can't / don't want to that's absolutely fine but I would greatly appreciate it if you did :) )

Be careful what you wish for! I'm a professional rambler :)

Dungeon meshi (or Delicious In Dungeon) is a manga that recently started getting an animated adaptation on Netflix. The Manga is completed and the anime is ongoing. And just to be transparent I'm anime only so I don't know the whole story yet :0

The story follows a party (like a DND party) after they lost one of their members to a dragon, and they decide to go back to the dungeon to try and save her.

Laios, the blond guy with the armor, is the brother of the lost party member, Falin. he's very passionate and excitable (some people think it makes him awkward or difficult to talk to), he's just very in his own world.

Marcille, the blond elf girl with the blue dress (i think it's a dress?), is a childhood friend of Falin, she's a mage and casts mostly explosions lol. Marcille and Falin went to magic school together and it's pretty obvious they also have feelings for each other, that's why Marcille wants to save her so much.

Chilchuck, the tiny guy with the green neck wrap, is the group's lockpick. He's often cynical and sarcastic, and honestly at the start of the series I didn't expect to love him as much as I do, there's way more to him than what it might seem at a glance.

There were two other party members in their party but they decided to quit, each for their own reasons, and since the party lost almost all of their belongings in the dragon fight they were now broke. Eager to go save Falin they had a debate on what to do next, in which Laios mentioned he had expert knowledge on monsters and had always wondered what they taste like. Somehow Laios managed to convince Marcille and chilchuck to eat monsters to save up on money, although they were very opposed to it at first.

Laios knows a lot about monsters, but he doesn't know a lot about cooking, that's when they meet Senshi. Senshi is a dwarf that lives in the dungeon and is very passionate about cooking and living healthy. Senshi decides to tag along with Laios, Marcille, and Chilchuck, on their quest to save Falin, slaying and cooking monsters along the way.

This is the premise of Dungeon Meshi! Obviously there's a lot more that goes into it like other characters I didn't mention and a whole bunch of twists and turns in the story. If it's not apparent already by the amount of fanart I did, I'm enjoying the anime a lot lol. I can wholeheartedly recommend it, it's genuinely hilarious, the characters are all expertly written and bounce so well off of each other, there's little to no weird yucky "fan service" (the author is a woman and treats all her female characters with the respect they deserve) and at its core (as I see it) it's a story about passion, and how far following it can bring you.

There's a million and one other positive things I can say, like the LGBT and neurodivergent representation (Marcille and Falin are very clearly Sapphic, and Laios is widely headcanoned as autistic) and the various and diverse body types for both men and women, but I don't want this to go on for too long 😭

I hope this is what you had in mind when you asked me the question lmao💀

[softness-and-shattering]

Ok the latest episode of dungeon meshi is gory as fuck.

Major episode 11 SPOILERS

Given that the episode is dragon part one, I assumed they would fight the dragon, mostly fail, cliffhanger, and the next episode would be defeating it.

I did NOT expect them to kill it, root around its insides, and find Falins fucking bones!!

The foot comes down on Senshi and he immediately vomits blood? Chilchuk knocked out by bricks to the head, Laios loses his leg?! (Nitpick but. If the leg was disconnected what was keeping him from falling out the dragons mouth? Anime rule of cool physics?)

And then. Chilchuk and Senshi is heaps of pain and Laios' leg is just itchy? Its a good joke, but I think there's more. Those heals were too easy after that amount of unprecedented violent gore.

Laios had a btw-line about of the dragon and is mating and then dismissed the thought with no given reason. So I think next episode theres gonna be a second Red dragon. ( Its possible part 2 will be next season, but following more common episode title namings, red dragon 1 and 2 will be the season finale. )

And theres the unanswered question of the whole season, why is the dragon more active, why is the ecosystem of the dungeon off-balance. I think next episode will be our big clue.

Re Falin, its no coinicidence we were introduced to the racist rich guy who assures us that souls dont leave bodies in the dungeon. That was confusing up till the last episode because the characters sure act like death is possible, and we've seen dead people and heard about body-retrieval. Then Namari goes to revivals to ask about Falin and there are bodies stored behind the desk guy. Which puts the pieces together, bodies that can be retrieved are retrieved, and the people can be revived. If someone cares to, and presumably pays for it. Someones gotta pay for retrievals.

Its also no accident that our warm-fuzzy sibling scene before finding Falins skull is about a ghost who is trapped with his body, and Falins intuition/ability with ghost magic. Can she be revived, will she stick around as a ghost, remains to be seen. (Remains.)

As someone who hasnt yet read the manga, Im also curious about long term story. Ive gotten the impression that theres significant story to go, possibly probably they reach the end of the dungeon? But Ive not seen Falin present in any of the art, and for the story to continue they need motivation to keep going.

So Im guessing that Falin ends up as a ghost, or unreviveable, and they have to get to the bottom to find the mad mage, work out what stops people from crossing over post-death (does that include monsters, orcs, humanoid mermaids or fish-oid[???]mermen), and only then can they bring Falin back to life.

That or they revive her and theres some other plot hook, but my guess is what I just described.

(Another silly nitpick, the fire is blocked by the adamantium but the heat isnt a problem until after the fire is done? "WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE TO EXHAUST ALL ITS FUEL" THAT WOULDVE LEFT FALIN BEYOND ALL HOPE!!!!!!)

And its funny re Senshi's knife, ooh its mithril it can cut through anything, well of course! he's used it to cut every single monster theyve eaten! And we never wondered how! Foreshadowing by cookware, its ridiculous and I love it.

Last point is it just me or are...is it Kaka and Kiki? Theyre discount Vex and Vax, right?

[random-mailbox]

Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - Week 45 - Reviving Shitennou

This week’s post is about bringing Shitennou back into the fold of the team. I wish that had happened in the manga / anime and am a little disappointed we did not get that in Cosmos. BUT that is what fanfiction is for! (To help us collectively right the wrongs / misses in original materials).

We are exactly ONE week away from @usamamoweek2023! Are you excited? Because I am very excited and am trying to finish my own submissions for this year's prompts

@smquickies2023 prompts are out too - that event is taking place August 6-12 (and is open to any SM pairings).

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

Deal Breaker - ninashtia

Keeping his shitennou being alive and well as a secret from his princess is bound to backfire on Mamoru. But not in the way he had expected.

Reunion - bashfulglowfly

In this story we get to witness the aftermath of the Dark Kingdom arc, but in an AU where Usagi didn't fight alongside our senshi and Tuxedo Mask in Tokyo (she still participated but from halfway across the world).

Embrace the Chaos - @serpentinred

Ami is thrust into keeping secrets and weighing possibilities, when her supervisor introduces her to someone who looks suspiciously like Kunzite. I love the art that @smokingbomber did for this one!

all things that are dark - @fated-addiction

Although this is technically just the first chapter of a fic that will hopefully get finished one day, it could stand as a one-shot as well. It gives glimpses of post-Galaxia thoughts Usagi has as she readies for the future.

The Shitennou Return! A Trip to the Beach in Peril - @chuplayswithfire

Mamoru has been keeping a secret from Usagi, something that she takes in stride and decides that a beach-day together with the girls would be the best way to get everything out in the open and see how it could all work. This fic has art by @mochibuni!

all my friends are dead and they bloody haunt me - @smokingbomber

Usagi, noticing some strange behaviour from Mamoru, takes a peek at what he could be up to. And decides that she can help fix everything.

---

That's it for this week. Reminder - no post next week since it will be UsaMamo Week. We will return to regular posts on July 31st with "Tutoring"

Here are the links to the previous Tumblr posts in these series to explore more amazing works based on different themes - make sure to check them out if you haven't had a chance! (Click on title name to go to the post) - I will keep updating the list every week as new posts come up:

Week 1 - Groundhog Day

Week 2 - Established Relationships

Week 3 - Sex Positivity

Week 4 - Unfinished Stories

Week 5 - Darker Stories

Week 6 - Potions 🧪

Week 7 - Reveals

Week 8 - 👻Halloween🎃

Week 9 - Wrong Perceptions

Week 10 - Non-Senshi AU

Week 11 - In-Progress Fics

Week 12 - Mutual Pining

Week 13 - Enemies to Lovers

Week 14 - Slow Burn

Week 15 - Christmas Part 1 - Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Santa!

Week 16 - Christmas Part 2

Week 17 - New Years

Week 18 - High School AU

Week 19 - Slice of Life

Week 20 - Coffee shop AU

Week 21 - Huddle for Warmth

Week 22 - Friends to Lovers

Week 23 - ❤️Valentines Day❤️

Week 24 - Do a Grouch a Favour Day (or Cheer Up Fics)

Week 25 - Soulmate AU

Week 26 - Amnesia Fics (and resources)

Week 27 - 🍀St Patrick's Day🍀

Week 28 - Fix it Fics

Week 29 - Prompt: Mug

Week 30 - Flowers

Week 31 - Traditions

Week 32 - Dreams

Week 33 - Friends

Week 34 - Body-Swap

Week 35 - Medical Assistance

Week 36 - Sex Pollen

Week 37 - Psychometry

Week 38 - What If

Week 39 - Missing Scenes Part I

Week 40 - Green Jacket

Week 41 - Dr Chiba

Week 42 - Birthdays

Week 43 - Fluff

Week 44 - First Kiss

[ooglywooglies]

FINE, LILY ORCHARD DUNGEON MESHI RESPONSE POST I GUESS

im just going through all the video points and making oppositions to them based on what i think, thats it.

laios useless in the red dragon fight: this is setting up the premise of the story where laios is spacing out because he cannot strategize on an empty stomach which is why the party loses.

there is no urgency to rescuing falin after everyone escapes the dungeon: thats to show that all the adventurers are so used to the dungeons immortality that theyve forgotten about the consequences of death (and also they are not thinking straight bc they are hungry)

dungeon meshi is not slice of life in the traditional low stakes way a slice of life set in the real world might be. the entire premise is about making a fantasy dungeon crawler and its heroes more grounded and showing things that aren't shown in video games, eating, sleeping, bathing, etc. a major theme is life and death, what is needed to sustain life and how death is a necessary part of it.

the tone of the show is not meant to be serious/silly/serious/silly, its not supposed to be wholesome, fun, and heartfelt, though it can be those things, its supposed to be weird and demystifying because its about real life (though a fantasy lense) and real life doesnt adhere to tone either.

resurrecting falin, having a bath and dinner, and then thistle coming to collect her happening in two episodes is not crazy thats almost an hour of runtime

MISGENDERING THISTLE

some of the problems with this video are just the anime format which i cant completely fault, i think the manga is better paced and the humor lands better ill probably ignore those points going forward. but i feel like if you dont watch anime very much you probably dont really know them the common genre tropes, like i certainly dont.

the reason marcille is "infinitely more popular than the rest" is a) lilys girl bias b) everyones girl bias and thats it, a lot of people like decently written generically good looking female characters. but thats not even true laios is probably equally as popular as marcille is and senshi is VERY close behind both of them.

laios is literally only generic in looks and if youre going to bring it up you might as well mention how marcille is therefore EXACTLY as generic as laios is, they are some very regular white people. in terms of looks.

laios only cares about monsters and is an asshole: this is an intentional mischaracterization the OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE STORY make about laios, which is a result of his real flaw which is struggling to connect with other people. this is a character flaw, which is intentional and something laios himself is aware of and tries to overcome, it is part of his character arc. laios is also heavily autistic coded, im not sure if ryoko kui is even aware of it or if she herself is autistic and just wrote a bit of her own struggles into laios's character but this reading is widely recognized by people who are autistic so. like its hard to argue with a mass of people who see their disability in a character. (me included)

comparing his deadpan affect to lloyd (i dont know him tbh)s intentional controlled one makes no sense bc i assume lloyd is yknow a super secret agent who IS a super secret agent because of his self control or whatever. laios is just a guy. literally just a dude, who is autistic.

marcille and laios react to falins resurrection differently because they are different characters, showing different ranges of emotion are part of their characterization. having a limited range of expressed emotion in serious situations where emotion is expected of you is also a commonly recognized autistic trait (see me not crying at the airport when my now husband had to go back to his side of the planet when we were dating)

falin is also autistic coded and shares a lot of traits with laios because its supposed to be funny that everyone thinks falin is so talented and brilliant and lovely when she yknow picks up a bug or something but they think its annoying when laios presents the same traits.

refer to point 10 again

they are literally moving through the dungeon as fast as they can. it gets brought up, laios feels guilty about it but hes not indulging in his special interest as opposed to rescuing his sister, the adventure is enabling it. whats he supposed to do brood the entire way? do you think anyone would be physically capable of doing that? see points 1-4 again if not.

just because a different character would do something different doesnt meant the story would be better, the point of THIS story is an exploration of THESE characters

this is retreading a point but "marcille is the only character who feels like a human being" .... girl the ableism - it can be argued that marcille is a bit ND herself but she is laios's neurotypical foil, the entire point of their dynamic is she is the normal person to compare him to, to act like shes the only character that matters because shes the only one thats normal has some nasty implications.

"you or i would-" thats making some assumptions

marcille is tormented the most by the show because the show is about exploring a dungeon, a major character trait of hers is her inexperience, shes squeamish shes young and naive because she has EXCLUSIVELY studied dungeons in books she has only seen the dungeon in person for like a year or two (i dont remember the time frame but we know how time works for marcille anyway). senshi by contrast has been surviving exclusively off the dungeons resources for like 60 years. you mention that marcille grows a lot by the end but its not just about eating food she learns survival skills, she learns ecology.

sorry i need to take a break to just rant, isnt this woman a writer? i feel like all she can only see characters through common media tropes and so dungeon meshi is just breaking her brain because all of these characters are written from a strong foundation they all have roots that inform all of their flaws. i feel like she isnt willing to see them that way because she assumes that because this is an anime the author didnt put any thought into the characters beyond their designs and gimmicks, thats just speculation obvs its just the impression im getting

but like i see the way people talk about kui on here how she feels like one of us because the dungeon meshi characters are her ocs. how theyre not just characters for a story. its like imagine someone talking this way about YOUR OCS, your babies, the characters you put your heart and soul into and especially for someone like kui who has created so much depth for her characters for someone [who also calls herself a writer] to brush it all off bc it got an anime adaptation and anime has tropes.

i really dont like people who approach media from "ive seen this before" and i mean im a little guilty of it but its kind of a useless thought isnt it, for the most part things get made because someone wanted to make it not because it needed to exist. i guess its a hard thing not to think when theres just SO MANY shows and stuff out there but idk, i dont think its a healthy perspective most of the time.

chilchucks a bitch you cant listen to what he says and be like "the narrative is bullying marcille" chilchuck is bullying marcille, chilchuck is a bully

(oh it seems the numbers have reset, oops)

shes talking about why anime sucks again, i havent seen spy x family and i dont care to it doesnt appeal to me

retreading points but i forgot which ones laios thinking falins dragon form is cool is another example of how laios's character essence is that he doesnt think like other people. and i have to imagine that if not for the mind control aspect falin wouldnt be horrified by her dragon form either. neither of them care about the "obvious" socially expected reaction of "horrified" theyre thinking about a) what they like to think about which tends to be ooh monsters are cool and then b) whatever is most practical at this moment - i think its not just lily that struggles with this i think its a lot of people who follow social scripts tend to follow what the main cast of dungeon meshi is thinking so theyre horrified/confused by whatever laios is doing but he just intuits what actually materially matters and what doesnt. him thinking falin getting to have a cool dragon form has NOTHING to do with his feelings about saving her.

"your experience with autism isnt universal" neither is yours???? isnt that kind of the thing about autism (this is from her comments not the video but thats kind of her point about this point in the video is that she doesnt relate to laios's autistic traits) - guys shes saying sheldon cooper gets called out on his shit and grows as a person but laios doesnt... guys i dont even know what i can specifically say to make someone stop believing that because i dont know why anyone could believe that in the first place.

i dont want to write this point bc i dont want anyone to think i dont have any concept of like pervasive preferential trends in media but i think she specifically hates laios because hes a white man with autistic traits. i think if laios was a woman those traits would be not as bad (which is kinda funny bc i was talking about that being a joke with falins autistic traits earlier)

laios is funny to me :) (in the manga mostly)

i think she shouldve read the manga instead of watching half the anime but i guess thats it. if you (anyone reading this) see this out in the wild please dont make assumptions about me based on this post, it doesnt really tell you anything about me or my wider opinions.

i guess you can assume im autistic i did say that part, go ahead and assume that i suppose.

i think i have some clarifications i was gonna make but i got tired so i cant remember where they go or what they are, this isnt really meant to be a discussion its just me writing down some thoughts indirectly bc i didnt want to comment on her video. but its in response to a video so its only fair i guess if anyone wants me to clarify i can try my best to do that

[lex-n-weegie]

Dorbrak of Izganda backstory and character details

Basically me dumping all the info related to Dorbrak into a singular Tumblr post. This includes spoilers for the main series, mainly spoilers for the backstory of Senshi. If you're chill with that, read on ahead!

☆♡☆♡S/i uses any pronouns!♡☆♡☆

Writing Taglist(this counts lol) [pm or send an ask off anon if you’d like to be added or removed from my taglist]: @amessageonthewind, @nerdstreak, @eggsywifey, @swapthewoz, @queenieboo22

Dorbrak was a dwarf born out of their mother's infidelity, and was thus given a mocking name which meant “a loving fool” in dwarfish. Her time growing up in her town wasn't that great, but she had gotten along great with one other dwarf: Senshi. The two became quite close friends, until one day when he left. She somehow was able to stay behind for a couple more years, facing ridicule and mockery every day until they came up with a bogus reason to send her out. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, she decided to finally go after Senshi and find out what he was up to. It took another few years, she had even died at one point, but she eventually found the dungeon he had been trapped in with his comrades. She continued to venture deep inside, somehow managing to survive the monsters until she met up with the orcs. They took her prisoner and that was when she finally met up with Senshi again. He was touched that she spent years looking for him, and eventually fought for her freedom alongside his own. After that, she decided to always stick by his side, leaving the dungeon with him and happily deciding to go back in with him when he had changed his mind. She knew something happened to his party members, but all she had gotten out of him was that a monster picked them off one by one, and he was the only one who lived. She never pushed for more than that, even if she got the sense he hadn't told her the full story.

She taught Senshi everything he knows about baking, and he in turn taught her everything he knew about cooking. Together they became passionate about food, and they continued to bond over hunting and eating monsters. One night, while making some bread, she expressed thoughts of leaving the group and letting Senshi do his thing “alone and happy,” pointing out her name meant something. He replied he always thought it meant she was “fool” of love, and from that she finally confessed the romantic feelings he had developed for him since they were kids. He returned the feelings, and the two began dating from then on. They're affectionate with each other, but they don't overdo it on the PDA. It's mostly hand holding with a cheek kiss here and there, sometimes a kiss on the lips if they feel like it. In fact, no one had known they were a couple until Marcille asked if they were crushing on each other. Despite how many years they've been together however (a little over 40 years now), neither have thought about the idea of marriage. Dorbrak and Senshi think a wedding would be fun to cook for, but that's about it. Parenthood is similar, they both think they'd enjoy it but it would involve having to give up their lifestyle for a few years until the child could go on adventures with them as well. Marcille does push for it slightly, but never in an overbearing way, moreso in an excited “I think you guys are an adorable couple and I want to be a godmother” sense.

Dorbrak is a very kind individual, they treat everyone they meet with the same level of sweetness one could expect from a mother. When she cares deeply about someone, she's always checking in on their well-being. Have they eaten, do they need to eat, are they bored and need company, do they need anything in general, etc etc. Sometimes she’ll even be careless about her own wellbeing, putting herself in harm's way for silly reasons. That alongside the meaning of her name has led to people assuming she's not that bright, and while that might be true socially, she knows just as much about monsters and cooking as Senshi does. She just doesn't fight as well as he can, and she usually prefers to stay out of the fighting anyways. She does have insecurities about her attachments to Senshi, as she honestly hasn't had any friends besides him until Laios and his party came along. It's a sore subject in general, but overtime as their attachments to the other party members grow the insecurity lessens and lessens until it's eventually gone. Other than that, he's not ashamed of who he is and will happily express his true self daily.

True name: Dorbrak of Izganda

Age: 110

Race/Gender: Dwarf / ???

Birthplace: Eastern Continent / Izganda

Family: Estranged Mother

Physique: Height, roughly 135cm / BMI 34

Likes: Monster cuisine, Senshi

Dislikes: Undereating, being alone

Intelligence: 2

Magic: 1

Strength: 5

Constitution: 4

Baking: 5

Favorite thing to cook: Bread

Opinions on the party

Laios Touden: “A sweet guy who loves monsters, just like myself! I hope to teach him a bit of baking.”

Marcille Donato: “A bit picky, but able to push past it, good for her! Very interested in me and Senshi's love life, but nothing too far. She's got a good head on her shoulders.”

Chilchuck Tims: “I am absolutely enamored by his knowledge of traps and dungeons! I want him to teach me a little, but I seem to bother him with too many questions. He's a very talented lockpick.”

Senshi of Izganda: “My darling! He's always been by my side when I had no one else, he fought for me when no one else would, he's the most perfect partner a dwarf could ask for. I love cooking alongside him!”

Itutsumi: “A very picky eater, which I understand to a degree. It doesn't seem to be an issue of texture or taste or anything however, which is admittedly silly. Despite that, she's been surprisingly kinder to me than others. I really appreciate her company and how she helps us all out.”

The Orcs: “I'd say we have a good relationship. We'll trade resources from time to time and they've always been amicable. They didn't really treat me badly when I was younger, they just did what they thought they had to. They're nice overall.”

[comicsbyedlc]

Delicious in Dungeon

Fun if you're into offbeat fantasy adventures and cooking 🍳

The simplest way to describe this series is a Dungeons and Dragons world where the cast eat monsters to survive. But it's more than that. More enough that this comic will have a Netflix show available next year, no lie!

The story begins like this:

In a small village, a man emerged from the depths of the catacombs claiming to be the king of a golden country that fell one thousand years ago. The country had been sealed deep underground by a lunatic magician. With his final words, the man declared before turning to dust: "I bestow my entire kingdom upon the one who defeats the magician". When young adventurer Laios and his company are attacked and soundly thrashed by a dragon deep in the dungeon, the party loses all its money and provisions…and a member! They're eager to go back and save her, but there is just one problem: If they set out with no food or coin to speak of, they're sure to starve on the way! But Laios comes up with a brilliant idea: "Let's eat the monsters!" Slimes, basilisks, and even dragons…none are safe from the appetites of these dungeon-crawling gourmands!

From there you'll be traveling with Laios the knight, Marcille the elf mage, Chilchuck the half-foot, and Senshi the monster chef dwarf through the dungeon. From the fourth volume cover with a dragon and Senshi in front, it seems the team's goal is within reach. But things get very complicated, spurring the adventure on!

WARNINGS FOR NEW READERS

If you read from the beginning to volume 1's end, it's focused on monster cooking and very little to no character development happens. After reading it, I questioned continuing the story. Thankfully, things take off by volume 2.

Things get bloody at times, but that's to be expected fighting and killing monsters for food.

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

20 Fic Writer Quesions

First, thank you @singeart and @mytardisisparked for tagging me!. I did a set of these last year and it was fun to see how my answers have changed since then!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

61

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

1.6 million and counting!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Trek Voyager

Star Trek Prodigy

Sailor Moon

Harry Potter

Madam Secretary

Ive debated writing SwanQueen for a long time but by the time I had the energy and time to write, I'd lost interest in the show. I might rewatch and come back to it one day...

I have thought about writing Wynonna Earp or Tamora Pierce universe fanfiction but have yet to get an idea that grabs me. I like to find things i want to fix and it's hard when the source material is perfection.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Parent Trap (305)

Sailor Moon H Order of the Phoenix (289)

Sailor Moon H Half Blood Prince (222)

Eden's Deception (167)

Out of Reach (150)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! although if I'm busy or feeling down it can take me a while. Sometimes I forget.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I still think What Even is 3 Minutes takes the cake. Or I'll be Your First if You'll be my Last

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I Heard the Comm on Christmas Morn and Parent Trap

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Unfortunately I've gotten hate on fics since I started writing them... and it's become just something I expect to happen. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it confuses me. Sometimes it makes me sad. It really depends...

The memorable haters:

There was the delightful Fanfiction.net reviewer who got pissed i was "making everybody gay" (that was funny actually). I forget if they were the same person who flamed me when Mcgonagall and Hooch kissed under some mistletoe. I digress. They thought queering up the canon was like sinful or whatever. I was delighted to disagree and make the story even queerer.

Another person cussed me out for magically restraining Sailor Plutos time travel powers so my plot would work and for making her have feelings about it. aparently mad the senshi were not all powerful deus exmachinas who never feel feelings... That one stung. That was the reason I left FFN.

Hate because in Sailor Moon H, Harry Potter was not the main character.

Hate that I made a magic bio baby for the magical lesbians. (I can't have a biobaby with my wife irl, can't I at least let the fantasy girlies have one!)

Hate for including C/7 in a story

...I wouldn't call it hate for the fic but I have had an uncomfortable amount of commenters who hate on Chakotay any time I have him involved with Seven / don't have him grovel to Kathryn / really any time I let him advocate for how he's been hurt... at first comments like this stressed me out because i worried i had not written the character sufficiently sympathetic. But then Parent Trap breached containment and I got enough comments to be able to see I had definitely written the character fine... it was just that some people were always just rooting for a "Chakotay falls over himself to apologize to Janeway for not immediately dating her" storyline that... I'm not sorry 😅 I'm never going to write that. The older I get the more I feel like both of J/C just need therapy! They've been through so much trauma. Their feelings are valid (yes, even for other people).

Parent Trap breaching containment also meant that when I hit an irl rut and couldnt get in the writing headspace for a bit, a bunch of - sincerely, well meaning - fans got into their heads to start a commenting campaign to get me to update. I heard about it and panicked (i had bad experiences that year of getting people who only commented "update soon" and those conversely stressed me out and made me not want to write - I love fic writing for the conversations and community... so it made me feel like readers thought i was just a content vending machine). so just the thought of potentially getting an avalanche of guests, well meaning or not, begging me to update made me lock commenting until the fic was done. I wound up deciding after that that since "update soon" requests were becoming a lot more frequent that I'd consider before posting whether getting them would hurt my ability to finish. So most of the time now if I know a fic is going to reach a bigger potential community, I don't start posting it until it's almost done. That has had some upsides! (Im less dependent on positive feedback for motivation now!) and some downsides (no one comments on my fics with their theories anymore) but on a whole, a good decision.

Immediately after finishing Parent Trap I wrote Fever and got this amazing guest comment from someone who said (paraphrasing cuz i'm too busy to go find it) "Youre better than this. how dare you write this filth. J/C are better than this" that one had me laughing for days. But the comment did prompt me to create a second account later when I wrote a tentacle fic. At the time I worried i'd get a ton of similar flame comments from people who were subscribed to my main for other types of fic... but I am even feeling like that's unnecessary now. I write what I write! Yes, some of it is really dirty, weird smut. I'm not sorry.

Currently any time I post a Threshold AU fic an anon drops into my comments section in order to call me "Sick" and "Deranged"... they make me so sad I don't even make a quippy reply. I just delete them. I write that universe for my own wish fulfillment... Someday (soon, hopefully) I'm gonna have kids. And I am going to have to have conversations with them about who their biological dad is. Why they look like one mom and not the other, whether their non bio family love them even if theyre not blood related. I might have a kid who feels different from everyone else because they're queer or they're neurodivergent or they're some new alienating feeling I am totally unprepared for. and I'll need to help them navigate that.. Writing about hybrid salamander kids getting raised in a blended family is FUN. But more importantly... it helps me practice those situations. It comforts me to know that if the characters can figure this out in the AU then I can figure this out in real life! What the hell is sick and deranged about that!?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I write all sorts of smut. I post the stuff that doesn't totally mortify me once i've gotten out of whatever mood had me writing the smut in the first place.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have exactly two crossovers to my name: Sailor Delta and Sailor Moon H. I think on the basis of word count alone Sailor Moon H (>500,000) is definitely the craziest.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I consider the unlicensed use of the AO3 archive for ChatGPT and similar LLMs theft. (and there are several court cases pending that are also seeking to address whether it is legally theft as it pertains to published fiction and newspapers). The canon creators of the fandoms I write for aren't allowed to make money by using uncredited ideas pulled from my fanfiction (just like I am not allowed to make money from writing fic with their copyrighted settings and characters) and i continue to be apalled that ChatGPT and other LLMs think they can get away with using others copyrighted ideas without permission. Especially that they can take advantage of people who cant profit off their own work.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

No but i would be open to it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Once with @magdalenejaneway, once with @jellybeansarecool and once with @trekflower and all three were fantastic!

Most of what I write for Threshold AU is also increasingly collaborated on a great deal by the AU creators and a few other folks. It's been going for over 2 years now and doing that more and more has enabled us all to drop more references to previous fics and to create a more cohesive body of fic for the AU. in general its just been so fun and fulfilling to make these stories with other people who are as invested in the characters as me and it just fills me with joy. I'm really grateful for you guys.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

On the one hand J/C have inspired over 50 fics, But on the other I have also been loving Sailor Moon and those ships since before I knew what fandom or shipping were. And really the only reason J/C inspire more fic is that all the sailor moon characters got a happy ending.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I never want to give up on a WIP...

but I am in knots about what all to do with Out of Reach.

Out of Reach is a St:Prodigy S1 AU where Chakotay has amnesia and doesn't remember anything from his time on Voyager, all the while he and Kathryn are in a situationship with a baby.

There's two questions I never figured out how to answer: 1. Does he get his memories back. If so, how much and what enables it. and 2: Do he and Kathryn stay together?

On the memories front. saying he never recovers seems unfair to the character. But saying he magically does thanks to 24th century science feels cheap and disrespectful - to the reality of real memory loss and to the plot that built up so much tension around this. Saying he gets back some or more over time is more realistic, but left me uncertain of where exactly to end the story. Tying his retrieval of memories to Kathryn also tied me up in knots. On the one hand they're in love and thats romantic. on the other hand the optics of his recovery totally dependent on one person is icky.

I also found the baby really annoying to have there by the end - I still think he's cuteeee i really do!!! - it's just... he makes the "we should stay together and try to figure this out" answer a bit too convenient 😅. and he complicates Kathryns reluctance to restart their relationship. The more she resists, the more callous she seems (deliberately not trying to patch things up with her kid's father) when i really just want to focus on her fears that Chakotay would be happier without her and that even if they restart their romance, she might lose him again on a future mission. It's ironic because i originally created the baby to ensure she wouldnt just run away from her fears. And now hes contributing to my difficulty ending the fic...

Actually the more I think on it, my real problem is I could write my way out of this, but I cant do it in only one or two chapters and that makes me feel tired. i was sorta hoping to wrap that fic up. 😅🙈

16. What are your writing strengths?

Imagery has always been a strength for me. But i think I'm also getting really good at action scenes too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oneshots.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Only if it was information i wanted the reader to understand but not the POV character.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

W.I.T.C.H way back when I was 15.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Universe to Mend - I even have a few sequel or companion novel ideas to come after it.

This has gone on a while... 😅 - thank you for tagging me and letting me ramble! i'll tag anyone else who wants to answer! have at it.

[himitsusentaiblog]

Japanese Media that Helped Me Come Out

Hey, I wanted to make a post about the shows and movies from Japan that really helped me come to terms with my identity and made me more comfortable with coming out (even if I had a few early aborted comings out before I had real support). Before I begin, a special shoutout has to be given to Ranma 1/2, the first anime I ever saw that involved gender changing content.

I think one of the first foundationally important bits of media for me was Sailor Moon, the original animated series. Or more specifically season 5, Bishouji Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. This is a series I watched shortly after the episodes aired in four episode blocks at a time on rented VHS tapes from a local Japanese Electronics Store in Dallas, Texas. (R.I.P. Orbit Electronics).

For those not familiar with the series, this season introduces three major new heroic characters, the Sailor Starlights. In their civilian identities they are a boys idol group called The Three Lights and go by the names Seiya, Yaten and Taiki but in their heroic identities they are three women named Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Healer and Sailor Star Maker.

The idea of three women hiding themselves in the guise of men was so fascinating to me and spoke to something deep down inside of me. This may be the reason why Sailor Stars is the series I decided to purchase on Laserdisc back when it was coming out.

The second major anime series from this time that was foundational for my exploration of who I am was 1997's Shoujo Kakumei Utena.

This is a series all about defying societal expectations especially of gender roles and sexuality. It's an amazing if sometimes very couched in metaphor and symbolism coming of age story about a young woman who refuses to conform to her expected role and seeks to become a Prince to defend others. It also contains dialogue like this:

Which, if you are familiar with Trans terminology just holds so much extra meaning. For those who do not know, trans people who have not come out yet are often referred to as eggs, as in they have not come out of their shell yet. Lastly is probably both the most obvious and most ridiculous entry here. the 1999 Rock and Roll, Zombie, Alien Invasion film Wild Zero. This is a movie about the rock band Guitar Wolf, their biggest fan Ace and a zombie apocalypse started by aliens (think Plan 9 from Outer Space but somehow even more wild and ridiculous and with an amazing soundtrack). In the movie, Ace meets and falls in love with a beautiful girl named Tobio.

However, as Ace discovers, Tobio has a penis. This causes him to have a bit of a crisis until his idol, Guitar Wolf appears before him in a bathroom to bestow these words of wisdom upon him.

So yeah, this movie helped me in some very strange ways when it came to accepting who I really am, even if it took YEARS for me to finally crack my shell for real and come out publicly. So, thanks for reading this and thanks for all of your support.

[prismatoxic]

Thoughts upon finishing dungeon meshi? I didn't expect to fall in love with this series and about to reread it all over again cause I know there's tons of details I missed on the first time around

many thoughts... head full...

i was spoiled for a lot of the stuff in the end because that's what happens when you jump headlong into a fandom without finishing the media, but there were some things that took me by surprise, which i was grateful for. i was shielding my partner from spoilers the whole time as well, because they actively upset him and i didn't want any of the stuff i knew to ruin the reveal for him. outside of one thing (laios becoming king), he actually avoided it all!

but, like, on the whole? fuck, man. there aren't many medias i hold in such high regard.

i loved every single character in the entire story. yes, even the ones who sucked; they sucked in compelling and well-written ways. i fell hard for kabru and mithrun, and love them so much, which surprised me. like, i could write essays about kabru, i fucking love the guy. don't let the chilaios posting fool you. but i also fucking adore namari and shuro, who seemed so insignificant in the very beginning. i loved every break we got to see them, or the canaries, or kabru's party.

and our main cast... izutsumi exceeded expectations in every possible way and i can't get enough of her. senshi's backstory was heartbreaking and added a depth to him i hadn't anticipated at all. falin, despite being fridged for the majority of the story, was such an important part of it all that she permeates every inch of the tale, and her survival by the end is an emotionally momentous occasion--and she's so incredible in the moments we get to spend with her!! marcille is so richly complex and amazing to watch, whether she's struggling or dominating the scene, and her love for those close to her is beautiful; we all know she loves falin, but the depths of her affection for the others, especially laios, was amazing.

and, like, you know how i feel about chilchuck and laios. but i will say laios's arc by the end of the manga blew me the fuck away. the things he had to sacrifice to save those he loved... the way he was revealed to hate humanity, yet we know he's always kind? that the people he loves most are humans? the way he did, in the end, accept his role as king, to guide and protect people?

laios doesn't get fixed by the narrative. much like falin, he merely changes, and whether it's for the better or not isn't always clear. but his friends love him, and he's respected, even though the oddities that have been pointed out about him the entire time have gone nowhere. and i think that's fucking incredible.

ryoko kui is a master at showing and not telling. from the small actions characters perform that are never brought up in the text to the things you can trace back through the story as having always been implied, the story remains deep and compelling all the way through, building an entire world and the lives of its characters up as it goes. there was not an inch of this work that wasn't given thought and care.

i loved dungeon meshi from start to finish. nothing i've been into in the past long, long while has been so consistently well done. i'm excited to see what trigger does with it, and what else ryoko kui might do post-canon, and perhaps most of all, where the fandom takes it. it's been such a blast to engage with and i'm so glad i gave it a chance.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: February 2024

A real grey month broken up by the colours and beauty of art. Here's how I spent the month of February.

……….FILM……….

The Beekeeper (2024) Perfect February movie.

……….TELEVISION……….

Succession (Episode 1.01 to 2.04) Wasn't sure I was going to like this (every single character is just awful) but now I'm keen to see how these awful people are increasingly awful to each other. So far I'm really appreciating every shot that shows the staff and just the sheer number of people responsible for making the lives of these awful people as low-friction as possible. We 100% need to tax the rich more.

Delicious In Dungeon (Episode 1.05 to 1.08) Now having seen more episodes, the shifting animation styles feels more consistent overall and I love the frenetic style during the high-stress/combat scenes. If you like this show then know it's a near 1:1 with the manga but still worth reading.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Pinocchio is a Story About Art and God by Jacob Geller This opened me up to a wholly new interpretation of what the story of Pinocchio is about. Also go watch the Del Toro adaptation on Netflix it's truly a work of art. VIDEO

Vape-o-nomics: Why Everything is Addictive Now by Tom Nicholas In short: everything is a subscription now and it's making everything worse. Worth the watch and looking forward to further installments in this series. VIDEO

This Experiment Undid Our Cities. How Do We Fix It? by Strong Towns Push back against any local government that doesn't want to introduce mixed use zoning into neighborhoods. The suburbs are subsidized by density, it's as simple as that. VIDEO

……….READING……….

How To Watch Football: 52 Rules for Understanding the Beautiful Game, On and Off the Pitch by Tifo (Complete) So I actually read this over the course of a month or two. I'd read a rule or two, process, then read a couple more a day or two later. I don't even really watch football but this helped so much and now I expect I'll crush the fantasy premier league I'm in.

The Big Four by Agatha Christie (Complete) Only my second Christie novel and this felt SO different. Turns out that's because it really is an outlier amongst her other works. So that was reassuring. Not terrible but I wouldn't exactly recommend it as it felt thoroughly disjointed (a result of stitching together a series of unrelated short stories).

The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett (Complete) Hey I love the Discworld series. You know this. I know this. But there's always gotta be an entry that goes on the bottom of any list. I love Rincewind, but prefer the other wizards in a less prominent role. Not one I'd recommend when trying to get into the series and probably not one I'll revisit. Oh well.

Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang (Complete) Big fan of Chiang's artistry on Paper Girls and really enjoyed this interpretation of an aging Gotham. It has such a clear and singular voice it covers so much in just four chapters! Really great read.

Silver Surfer: Black by Donny Cates, Tradd Moore, and Dave Stewart (Complete) Every time I read this I love it more and more. It's truly what I pictured comics to be when I was a kid: vibrant, dramatic, and a little bonkers. Why does the villain ride a dragon? WHO CARES it looks cool. I love it all.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 4 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Watching the series and rereading the manga is really making for a great experience. This volume really highlighted that Senshi isn't a man with all the answers. In the upper levels of the dungeon, he's competent, but as they go deeper and face more dangerous monsters, the rest of the party take more of the lead. It's so good. This series is so good.

……….AUDIO……….

Wolves of Glendale by Wolves of Glendale (2024) Comedy music is always tricky but for me, the comedy is second. If I don't enjoy the music having no understanding of the lyrics then I probably won't stick with it. Some tracks strike this balance better than others but I found The Gym to be a good introductory track.

……….GAMING……….

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) On one hand, I tend to prefer more...active games. Something that requires hitting buttons at the right time. On the other hand, I'm really digging the mystery and complexity of the game. It really feels like I can play this detective however I want without being forced to follow any one playstyle. Not sure how far into it I am but I read the review that it's less a detective game and more a game about being a detective and that really feels right. But I do have to say that it's...rather buggy on the Switch so that might not be the recommended way to play it.

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday crew is working towards ridding the island of a competing group of adventurers. Hook wants them gone, the Gnomes want them gone, heck even the Moss Mother wants them gone. But will they be able to do it? And the more lengthy recap is over here.

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 D&D crew found a (literal) underground magic item shop so did a bunch of shopping after their big funeral heist. Everyone loves a good shopping session!

And that's it. See you in March!

[a-non-ymouswriter]

whince. sorry you had to find out this way. as an author who wrote stories involving wilbur on ao3, i can prolly relate on how much you might be going through rn. if you need anybody to talk to i'm always free to lend an ear. i hope you're doing ok <33 hugs from across the world <333

yeah honestly i was coming back to tumblr to look at hot dwarf chef senshi fanart from dungeon meshi and instead stumble into the latest mcyt garbage disposal. really wasn't expecting that today.

like i said before, i was a casual enjoyer of wilbur so i'm not THAT heartbroken or angry or anything (aside from angry from the abuse and bullshit ofc) just really. really. REALLY disappointed. so there's not much to talk about, i feel more sorry for the more involved fans and enjoyers tbh.

as a writer though it's so fucking sad and i feel more with the other writers too so yeah. thank you for the offer rabble, and it goes the same to you. if you wanna talk, i'm here with an ear too.

hope you're having a good day dude, draw something nice, treat yourself to something relaxing and stuff <33 hugs from across the world :)

[doorplays]

Door Reviews: Delicious in Dungeon (2014)

There has been a lot of discussion recently about the new Delicious in Dungeon (2024) anime. At the recommendation of some friends, I decided to watch it. And I enjoyed it very much! It’s a great cooking anime and unexpectedly adorable and funny. I found myself craving more of it, so I decided to read the manga it was based on. Two days later, I finished the entire thing!! And now I am here to talk about this amazing manga!!!

But Doors, you may find yourself saying, this isn’t a game! Why are you reviewing this? And to that, reader, I say: I have decided to review whatever kinda thing I wanna review now! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!!

What’s it about?

An adventuring group gets pitted against a dragon that overwhelms them. Their cleric saves them by teleporting them out of the dungeon. Laios, the party leader, now seeks to save the cleric Falin, his sister, before it’s too late. Without much coin and resources, Laios decided to make do by cooking and eating the monsters of the dungeon, much to the chagrin of the remaining party members Marcille and Chilchuck. With the timely assistance of Senshi, an expert on monster cuisine, they will eat their way through the dungeon in an effort to save Falin!

STYLE (Art, Character Design, Backgrounds)

The art is nice. It has this cuteness to it. It also gets so expansive, being that it is a fantasy setting with its fair share of fantasy races. You see forests, castles, caves, and other areas. A lot of variety to see!

Coming from the anime, it is nice to see the panels and enjoy them properly. There are a fair amount of wide shots to see, and it feels so nice to take them in.

I like the variety of monsters. Ranging from the cute to the deadly, the designs are all very interesting and are given much thought so that they make sense within the world. There is a lot of thought given to the various designs and I appreciate that.

The characters are all so distinctive as well. They have varying designs and their profiles are easy to recognize, even silhouetted. I especially love Senshi’s design. His mouth isn’t drawn, but his expressions can be seen in his eyes. In general, there are a lot of amusing expressions in the manga. It’s fun seeing Laios’s wacky hijinks and Marcille’s protestations!

All the foods look SO GOOD. It’s also fun to see how Senshi and the party cook the monsters. The similarities to real world food, the way they extract the ingredients from the monsters, it tickles me to see their processes. And I love seeing the party enjoy the food!

Overall, I love this manga’s art. It looks great, is understandable, and tells what it wants to tell really well.

SUBSTANCE (Story, Characters, Impact)

This manga starts out as a typical DnD story. You have your party leader, your rogue, your mage, and your dungeon. You even see a dragon first thing! As the manga goes on though, its world unfurls before you, as if a flower blossoming.

Delicious in Dungeon may have monster cuisine as its main draw, but where it shines is its worldbuilding. It builds upon its DnD base and introduces various things and concepts to make its world be its own unique thing. From monster biology to racial politics, this manga makes a lot of things matter for effective storytelling.

The main party characters all have different personalities. All of them shine through at different points. They all have their roles, and you see them play these roles in various chapters. And as time goes on, you see how their journey changes them. It feels natural, seeing them go through the dungeon.

It’s nice seeing Laios’s comprehensive knowledge of monsters. Seeing Senshi talking about cooking is nice to see too. Chilchuck is serious, but you can see he really cares about his job. And it’s fun seeing Marcille trying to help in her own way.

Delicious in Dungeon is a cooking manga, and its themes center more around food and consumption more deeply than I expected. Food is something that we tend to take for granted, but it really is something we need to survive. The manga makes a point of malnutrition being dangerous in dungeon delving, so you have to make sure you have a balanced diet. And there’s also the act of enjoying said food, savoring them and enjoying them with others.

I have a newfound appreciation for food because of this manga, and I am thankful that it gave me that. I enjoyed the journey of reading this very much!

VERDICT

Delicious in Dungeon is a wonderful manga that goes surprisingly deep. It is funny, exciting, sad, and hopeful. I encourage you all to read it when you can! And go and watch the anime too while you’re at it!!

Door Rates Delicious in Dungeon: 5/5!

[princesscolumbia]

Fission - Chapter 14

Neutrino Release - Part 1: It’s Not That Kind of Power Suit -or- You Could Fertilize All of Japan With That Speech

Summary:

Ranma and Co. get their next assignment, investigate a press conference for a new airship. Nabiki gets closer to uncovering Retribution with the help of some friends in the magical girl community. Ami ponders the implications of a new group of Senshi.

Notes:

I'll add a skin to make the first part look like 90's era forum posts when I have more spoons to do so, I swear!

When I first envisioned this fic, it was MUCH different than what I opted to write now that I've gotten here. The story beats are the same ([spoiler] and [spoiler] go to [spoiler] and wind up [spoiler]. [spoiler] winds up [spoiler] and gets the clues to [spoiler] for [spoiler].) but where the original conception of this chapter was fast paced action and run-and-gun, this is much more 'Oceans 11 meets Mission: Impossible', and honestly I like it a lot more.

Preview after the cut:

Ranma fidgeted with the hem of the skirt. 'Genderfluid' (as Konatsu had informed her fit her gender identity best...and was kinda funny given that it actually changed with a fluid, that is, water) she may be, but she still wasn't comfortable wearing girl's clothes. She had a little Genma-shaped man in the back of her consciousness yelling about how it wasn't manly, and though she loved ignoring anything that came out of her old-man's mouth, when it was inside her own head it was harder to dismiss.

She did, however, have to acknowledge that the suit they'd assembled looked good on her. The skirt and jacket weren't quite a matching Bedfordcord fabric, one was beige, the other khaki, and Ranma could not have been assed to care which was which or what the difference between the (to her eye) identical colors was when Konatsu and Kasumi were picking out the clothing articles while she waited on Kasumi's bed in just her underwear.

Underwear which, she'd been soundly informed, was inappropriate for the outfit she was to be wearing. Thus it was she had to break out one of the lingerie sets her mother had bought for her when they went out as 'Auntie Nodoka and Cousin Ranko' during one of the many shopping outings the elder Saotome spent trying to 'tame' the 'wild tomboy' she'd all but adopted.

The mentioned unmentionables were worn under the outfit, completed by a fetching blouse that Ranma admitted she'd love to have for her own...even if she only admitted it within the privacy of her own head. The top was a robin's-breast red and wrapped her torso in billowy waves. It was absolutely, stunningly feminine, fit Ranma perfectly, and somehow the tomboy had bought it even though red was NOT her color, even Ranma agreed on that.

The author will now point out that Ranma's habitual blindness when it came to her fiancée was not, entirely, her fault. Had Kasumi been just a little more aware of her baby sister's love language, she might have realized that Akane had bought the blouse as a gift for Ranma. Had Konatsu a greater, more intimate familiarity with the Tendo's, she might have realized that the box she'd snuck it from in Akane's closet was the, "Gifts for Ranma if he ever pulls his head out of his ass," box. As it was, both older girls made the same assumption Ranma did, thus inadvertently reinforcing Ranma's Akane-blindness.

The pantyhose were a bit of an afterthought, but one Ranma admitted added a little 'oomph' to the impression that she was a fully qualified (if short) worker at a business where business attire was expected to do business in a business-like way. Whatever that was. The utilitarian black pumps, a contribution from Akane's younger days, had been sitting at the back of Kasumi's closet waiting for an appropriate donation opportunity.

Her hair was down, which she always found a touch bothersome; what if combat should break out and she had to fight with her hair as much as her opponent? But it did frame her face nicely. Along with the tastefully applied makeup courtesy of Konatsu's skills, it made her look about five years older than she actually was.

Kasumi, Ranma had to say, 'cleaned up' good (and, yes, she relished the pun involved in Kasumi's primary role in the Tendo home). She had her own suit, though this one lacked a jacket, it was apparently something she'd purchased near the end of her high school career for a student government something or other where the students got the opportunity to visit the local government offices as part of their education. Kasumi eagerly showed off pictures in her album of the event, and Ranma admitted the outfit made the somewhat more gangly late-adolescence Kasumi look like a bit of an adult. Today, however, she filled it out like she was heading for the C-suite. The difference of a few years was remarkable. Where teen-Kasumi wore the suit...well enough, it still hung off her shoulders a touch baggy, the skirt resembled more a drape than one might want, and the shoes were on feet that were awkwardly poised to hold her up. Adult-Kasumi, in contrast, filled the blouse out to startling perfection. Her skirt hugged her hips well enough to make some of the men (and not a few of the women) sweat, and she strode with the poise of a woman on a mission.

Ukyo, in contrast, was dressed in a suit and white shirt that...fit the crowd. It wasn't 'James Bond' by any stretch, but it wouldn't be mistaken for an outfit a chef only wore when they had to. The suit was clearly not high-end, but for all that it was one that was clearly purchased with an eye for getting as much style bang for the yen. It was simple, it was black with a red 'power' tie, and it had just enough tailoring to fit Ukyo like it was meant to. Compared to the average career lawyer, it would look drab. When inserted into a crowd of mixed press and investor hopefuls, it blended right in. "I care about looks," the suit said, "But I care about results just as much."

Of the four of them, Konatsu was the greatest, and most startling, transformation. While another skirt suit simply wasn't in the cards for the ninja, Kasumi did have, tucked away in the back of her closet, a dress that was a shade of red that was just a touch deeper than Ranma's blouse. Thanks to Kasumi's rather more demure sense of modesty compared even to Akane, the dress provided full coverage in the area the ninja was most likely to be clocked as something other than a 'cis' woman (another term Konatsu introduced Ranma to after attending the support group meeting), her chest. Also including a nice, voice-box-covering neck, it paired perfectly with a waist-length white jacket and black pumps to make a stunning executive appearance. With her hair down from her ponytail she was absolutely eye-catching.

Ranma, apparently having to play the role of put-upon personal assistant given that she was the shortest, smallest, and youngest, was struggling to maintain a meek, demure attitude. I'm not made for this... she grumbled mentally. "But sir, the passes are here..."

The meathead that was the security guard allowing people into the event glowered at her. Ranma had taken the man's measure within about 1.5 seconds and already had figured out about sixteen ways to completely wipe the floor with him, but because doing that would draw attention, she had to play-act like a clueless, hopeless, weak little lamb. Fighting back the urge to sigh in exasperation, she weathered his self-important blustering, "Listen, girlie, I don't care what passes you say you have. I don't see your company on the list, so y'aint getting' in."

Ranma felt her eyebrow twitch, about ready to lay a smackdown on the moron in a monkey suit just for calling her 'girlie.' She was saved from both the monkey-suited moron and her shortening temper by an unexpected voice behind her, "Red, babydoll, what's the hold up?"

Poleaxed, Ranma turned to see Konatsu holding herself...almost like a diva. She was smacking some gum audibly, and giving her a look of shared long-suffering, "Is this guy giving ya problems getting' us in?"

Ranma fought off the desire to drop her jaw at the inflection and accent the ninja had affected. What is that, Kansai? It aint Osakan... "Uh...yes, ma'am. This..." she rolled her eyes and added an undercurrent of frustration to her voice, "Gentleman is denying us entry even though we have our passes ready."

It was everything Ranma could do to keep a straight face as Konatsu sputtered like a poorly maintained car motor, "What?!" she made a show of pushing past Ranma and getting in the guard's face, "Listen buster," she jabbed the man in the chest right next to his somewhat ratty looking black tie, "It's Saturday. I'm supposed to be at the salon today. But these nimrods 'r' runnin' this event on Saturday an' the only reason I'm here and not enjoyin' the life I had to fight and scratch to claim in a world full'o meatheads like you is 'cause 'o' yer boss' slick lookin' pamphlet got my investors all in a tizzy!"

The guard was now looking almost panicked as his eyes went up to meet Ukyo's. The apparent man of the group simply gave a, 'women, what can you do?' commiserating smile to 'his' fellow 'man.'

Konatsu snapped her fingers in front of the guard's face, "Ut-ut-ut! Down here, idiot! Don't look at my assistant, look at the one in charge here. I don't care if ya swing that way, he's on the clock an' I'm payin' overtime for makin' him work on a Saturday. Did I mention it's a Saturday? When I normally have my spa treatment that I need for dealin' with idiots like you all week?"

"Listen lady!" the now slightly panicky guard attempted to temporize, "I'm just here from the agency! If I let someone in that don't belong and word gets back to my bosses, I get fired!" He waved a clipboard with a packet of paper on it at her.

"Give me that!" snapped Konatsu. She snagged it from his waving hands and began paging through the stack. Finally, at the last page, she said, "Ah-hah! You didn't check your addenda, idiot!" she flashed the last page of the clipboard to show a short list that was, apparently, last minute additions. She then snagged the pen he'd tucked in his shirt pocket and started scratching some check marks to match those on the previous page. The guard couldn't see from the angle she was holding the clipboard, but Ranma could, and saw that the ninja was simply making fresh marks over existing checks in boxes. She then flipped the packet of papers back over to cover her lack of actual additions to the checklist and slapped the clipboard against his chest, the pen tucked into the same palm. "There! I just did your job for you, now step aside so the grownups can get this over with so I can get back to my spa day!"

The guard moved to grab the clipboard but failed to account for the pen, so when Konatsu pulled her hand away the pen clattered to the ground, requiring that he bend down to pick it up. She gestured for their group to get moving and they did so quickly, Kasumi and Ukyo just ahead of Ranma as she crossed the boundary to the tarmac the event was apparently taking place.

Konatsu started to join them before the guard straightened, "Wait, hold on, I..." As the ninja paused and whipped around, glaring at the man so hotly Ranma was sure he'd catch fire. Gulping at her apparent anger, he flipped to the last sheet on the clipboard and scanned quickly. Finding nothing obviously out of place, he looked up nervously and just bobbed his head, "O~okay, ma'am. Sorry for the confusion. Enjoy the event." Swallowing nervously, he turned to the next entrant, obviously doing his best to put the entire exchange out of his mind.

Konatsu tugged on her jacket straight and primly re-arranged her hair, tidying her appearance. Ukyo and Ranma were clearly struggling to contain their shock at their friend's performance. "...Ko-chan," said Ukyo finally after they'd put some distance between the entry and the rows of chairs set up before the stage, "...what was that?!"

Konatsu cleared her throat, blushing prettily,"W-well," she said in her normally demure, Tokyo-urban accented voice, "A ninja must blend in, using their entire being to properly infiltrate a potentially hostile location. I had to learn how to, well, perform some confidence jobs in order to master that part of my art. It's...not very lady-like, and it can result in some people being hurt, so I don't much like doing it, but...well, I am a kunoichi..."

Ukyo chuckled and rubbed her back affectionately, "A genius kunoichi, don't forget that part."

Konatsu blushed even harder, "Ukyo-sama, stop! You flatter me! I'm sure anyone could have gotten us in just as well..."

Kasumi slowed her walk enough to draw even with Konatsu and wrapped her arm around the shorter girl's shoulders in a half-hug. "Konatsu-chan, you were wonderful and fully deserve the praise."

Konatsu's only reply was to blush somehow even brighter red and make little embarrassed noises.