#LET HIM ON

[tofixtheshadows]

I've been thinking a lot lately about how Kabru deprives himself.

Kabru as a character is intertwined with the idea that sometimes we have to sacrifice the needs of the few for the good of the many. He ultimately subverts this first by sabotaging the Canaries and then by letting Laios go, but in practice he's already been living a life of self-sacrifice.

Saving people, and learning the secrets of the dungeons to seal them, are what's important. Not his own comforts. Not his own desires. He forces them down until he doesn't know they're there, until one of them has to come spilling out during the confession in chapter 76.

Specifically, I think it's very significant, in a story about food and all that it entails, that Kabru is rarely shown eating. He's the deuteragonist of Dungeon Meshi, the cooking manga, but while meals are the anchoring points of Laios's journey, given loving focus, for Kabru, they're ... not.

I'm sure he eats during dungeon expeditions, in the routine way that adventurers must when they sit down to camp. But on the surface, you get the idea that Kabru spends most of his time doing his self-assigned dungeon-related tasks: meeting with people, studying them, putting together that evidence board, researching the dungeon, god knows what else. Feeding himself is secondary.

He's introduced during a meal, eating at a restaurant, just to set up the contrast between his party and Laios's. And it's the last normal meal we see him eating until the communal ending feast (if you consider Falin's dragon parts normal).

First, we get this:

Kabru's response here is such a non-answer, it strongly implies to me that he wasn't thinking about it until Rin brought it up. That he might not even be feeling the hunger signals that he logically knew he should.

They sit down to eat, but Kabru is never drawn reaching for food or eating it like the rest of his party. He only drinks.

It's possible this means nothing, that we can just assume he's putting food in his mouth off-panel, but again, this entire manga is about food. Cooking it, eating it, appreciating it, taking pleasure in it, grounding yourself in the necessary routine of it and affirming your right to live by consuming it. It's given such a huge focus.

We don't see him eat again until the harpy egg.

What a significant question for the protagonist to ask his foil in this story about eating! Aren't you hungry? Aren't you, Kabru?

He was revived only minutes ago after a violent encounter. And then he chokes down food that causes him further harm by triggering him, all because he's so determined to stay in Laios's good graces.

In his flashback, we see Milsiril trying to spoon-feed young Kabru cake that we know he doesn't like. He doesn't want to eat: he wants to be training.

Then with Mithrun, we see him eating the least-monstery monster food he can get his hands on, for the sake of survival- walking mushroom, barometz, an egg. The barometz is his first chance to make something like an a real meal, and he actually seems excited about it because he wants to replicate a lamb dish his mother used to make him!

...but he doesn't get to enjoy it like he wanted to.

Then, when all the Canaries are eating field rations ... Kabru still isn't shown eating. He's only shown giving food to Mithrun.

And of course the next time he eats is the bavarois, which for his sake is at least plant based ... but he still has to use a coping mechanism to get through it.

I don't think Kabru does this all on purpose. I think Kui does this all on purpose. Kabru's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder should be understood as informing his character just as much as Laios's autism informs his. It's another way that Kabru and Laios act as foils: where Laios takes pleasure in meals and approaches food with the excitement of discovery, Kabru's experiences with eating are tainted by his trauma. Laios indulges; Kabru denies himself. Laios is shown enjoying food, Kabru is shown struggling with it.

And I can very easily imagine a reason why Kabru might have a subconscious aversion towards eating.

Meals are the privilege of the living.

#Dungeon Meshi #Delicious in Dungeon #Kabru #Kabru of Utaya #Laios Touden #Dungeon Meshi meta #you can have him in the tags too. as a treat. #Dungeon Meshi spoilers #this was directly inspired by livelaughlaios's post about Kabru self harming but I decided it got too long to make it a direct reply #this is a theory I've been working on for weeks because I kept noticing this while skimming for screencaps #I'm hesitant to trigger tag this because of the way certain subcultures on tumblr operate #but if anyone needs me to add a content warning please let me know #also I included image descriptions! I did my best #I think they even help illustrate my points but my god were they sad to write. Kabru is so fucking sad you guys #musings with Dea

[fantastic-nonsense]

#god: rosalynn you've lived such a long and wonderful life #what would you like me to send to your beloved husband to let him know you're being taken care of? a bird? a rainbow? a random sunbeam? #rosalynn: kill henry kissinger. he'll know I asked. :)))) #jimmy carter #rosalynn carter #henry kissinger #us politics #world politics

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

#I'm so proud and happy for my coworker and I've been trying to figure out how to let him know how amazing I think he is #what gets me the most is that he's keeping this super down low to avoid giving any hints to his kid #he has a lot of queer friends so he already is known as an ally but there's always a chance it will be different if it's family #and he took that chance and crumpled it up into a ball and slam dunked it into the garbage for three points #and decided that even if his kid wants to hide it from him for the rest of his life he will still do what he can to make their life better #pflag #parents doing their best #parenting win #good news #allyship

[seagiri]

very sleep deprived doodles of whatever’s going on inside my brain

#my art #senshi #Chilchuck tims #Chilchucks wife #<- we call her whitbelle #whitbelle #chilshi #chilchuck sandwich #dungeon meshi #barely visible text says the following #(pointing at Senshi) ready to ruin things for himself because he wants to help his friend #(pointing at Chil) mcdumbass developed a crush on Senshi and is now afraid of letting him go despite wanting to reconcile with whitbelle #***the name whitbelle came from the fic Reelin’ In The Years by werewolf_gimmick on ao3 !!!

[mebssann]

yippee :)

#let him be happy with his wife pls #adventure time #fionna and cake #simon petrikov #golbetty #fanart #digital art #my art

[pangur-and-grim]

I think they’re going to become friends

#Grim #Belphegor #grim now sits outside the kitten room meowing until I let her in #she still does the odd hiss to keep him in his place #but they’re already acting so much more comfortable around eachother

[roipecheur]

The only thing you need to know about Tim becoming Robin is that he's the protagonist of a horse girl movie and Batman is the horse.

#tim drake #tim's diary: today batman let me feed him a sugar cube :) #I think he's beginning to trust me! #bruce who ate a sugar cube while distracted: ?????

[notherpuppet]

Hungy deer 🦌

#let him eat something!!! #not luci tho #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fanart #radioapple #alastor #my doods #chaggie #charlie morningstar #vaggie hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel comic #lucifer hazbin hotel #liked by creator

[smashorpassgilf]

Robert Reich, Former US Secretary of Labor, Leftist Economist Political Commentator as well as professor, author, lawyer, father of Dropout CEO Sam Reich. god in heaven help me i'm so down bad. please don't credit me for this

#v: im letting him on bc he's retired from holding a govt position and hes an author and commentator now #smash or pass #smash or pass poll #poll #tumblr polls #thank you! #old man #submission #dropout tv #dropout #robert reich

[ceceru]

rescue teams!

#listen.. i noticed i forgot chopper on enies lobby pic only after finishing.. let's pretend he's taking the photo #someone said that they finally ate him please KJKASJDJSNFN #opfanart #vinsmoke sanji #op nami #monkey d luffy #op carrot #tony tony chopper #nico robin #roronoa zoro #op franky #usopp #sogeking #arlong park #whole cake island #enies lobby

[nova-rpv]

death leech shadoo.....

design by @galaxylover06

#SPREADING THE DEATH LEECH SHADOW AGENDA 🙏🙏🙏 #look at himm hes so #im not doing him any justice w these ugly ass doodles #im gonna paint him better another time i promiisseee #who am i kidding ofc im gonna do it ill draw him until i die #robby youre a genius i love ur boy #sth #sonic fanart #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #maria robotnik #gerald robotnik #FIRST GERALD DOODLE ON THIS BLOG LETS GOO #nov.aart #nov.oodles

[fantastic-nonsense]

"Damian should be a veterinarian when he grows up" this and "Damian should be a doctor" that….I think he should take advantage of his wealth and be an art major

#(this post now comes with an addition; see the notes!) #damian wayne #dc comics #batman #robin #Damian's been running full throttle since he was a toddler #that poor boy would burn out if he had to do an incredibly demanding full-time job as an adult #in addition to (or instead of) vigilantism #let him have fun!

[pariahsden]

"This is Rosie, the most darling, delightful, and dangerous Overlord this side of the Pentagram."

"Oh, always such a charmer."

#bestiessss #they gossip and munch on fingers together #just galpal things <3 #i love how comfortable he is with her waaaaa #lets her touch him and pull him around!! #love that. love that for them. #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel spoilers #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin alastor #alastor #hazbin hotel rosie #hazbin rosie #rosie #pariahgif #radiorose

[dragonpyre]

If the Lazarus pit can restore lost limbs and bones and shit, would that mean it also restores wisdom teeth?

What I’m saying is, assuming Jason had his wisdom teeth out early (like I did), he’d have to get them out AGAIN before enacting his 5D chess revenge plan on Batman

#lazarus pit #dc #Jason Todd #red hood #Batman #dc comics #text post #he calls Bruce high as a kite sobbing and asking why he doesn’t love him #Bruce at this point has no idea Jason’s alive #Talia regrets letting Jason have phone privileges

[readerconfused]

Mr D insisting that Percy's name is Peter and immediately afterwards yelling at the demigods to get the hell out of the camp I LOVE THIS GOD

#“are you still here?” D love you should be pretending you don't care about him #Dionysus i will be by your side always #f ck Zeus let me get D wine #the way a war happened and nothing shook him fills me with hope #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #pjo series #pjo tv show #percy jackson and the olympians spoilers #pjo #mr d pjo

[fermentedrice]

[durgestarion] kissing the murder puppy 🐶

#bg3 #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #astarion x durge #bg3 durge #bloodurge #astarion will never get tired of playing with durge’s tail i think #and durge just lets him <333