#They can be so sad

[arsene-fixates]

the profoundness of my s/i (the seeker) as a character.. because they’re seen as someone meant to save the city of Darkwood, it makes them this never changing pillar of support that the townspeople can go to

something about how they as a character stays static while they watch all the people around them get to change and grow, and they’re left behind

the townspeople go through character arcs and flitting through different positions (e.g. a character joining a troop of guards) whereas the seeker stays the seeker.

They feel as if they’re not meant to change not that they don’t want to but because they don’t have the personal time to due to spending all of it on helping around town

#They can be so sad #Honestly they’re a lot more tragic #to really think about their circumstances in the game #Even tho I know its like that so the player can insert themselves. Into the seeker #If you think about it in a more realistic light it’s pretty sad #I would have made this into a comic but I wouldn’t know how to put it into a monologue #If u do read this 🫶 thankies i love you #S/I: Mellilla #i need to change that tag btw

[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

[sga-owns-my-soul]

reblog to give ur mutuals a soft lil kissy on the head

#i can't reblog this from everyone so this is just me giving all my mutuals a soft lil kissy on the head #if u see this #*muah* #soft lil kissy on the head #and if u don't want one u can have a head pat #or i can lovingly send soft lovey vibes your way #all options are valid #idk i just #need to spread some love today #i'm tired and sad and stressed #so i'm giving u all some love #bc i need to fill myself with more of it #love u all hope u have/are having a good day #mutuals #not stargate

[kylejsugarman]

only thing i know for certain is that if "breaking bad" took place during modern times, jesse would've used his cash to buy a drone and there would've been a sick ass sequence filmed from drone perspective and one episode cold open would've been all scary and sinister and it would end with an ominous shot of the drone laying all crushed and fucked up on the floor to imply harm done to jesse. and it would be really sad

#syd squeaks #he'd still have a roomba i think bc thats just a good investment. its good technology. it vacuums for u #but i can so easily picture sad drone all fucked up #breaking bad #jesse pinkman

[tinfoilvalentine]

A girl without her noise cancelling headphones is like an angel without its wings

#this is so sad can we get 50 likes 😞

[blueboyluca]

“When I first heard it, from a dog trainer who knew her behavioral science, it was a stunning moment. I remember where I was standing, what block of Brooklyn’s streets. It was like holding a piece of polished obsidian in the hand, feeling its weight and irreducibility. And its fathomless blackness. Punishment is reinforcing to the punisher. Of course. It fit the science, and it also fit the hidden memories stored in a deeply buried, rusty lockbox inside me. The people who walked down the street arbitrarily compressing their dogs’ tracheas, to which the poor beasts could only submit in uncomprehending misery; the parents who slapped their crying toddlers for the crime of being tired or hungry: These were not aberrantly malevolent villains. They were not doing what they did because they thought it was right, or even because it worked very well. They were simply caught in the same feedback loop in which all behavior is made. Their spasms of delivering small torments relieved their frustration and gave the impression of momentum toward a solution. Most potently, it immediately stopped the behavior. No matter that the effect probably won’t last: the reinforcer—the silence or the cessation of the annoyance—was exquisitely timed. Now. Boy does that feel good.”

— Melissa Holbrook Pierson, The Secret History of Kindness (2015)

#dog books #this chapter was very sad reading #when you become aware of punishment #and its use and its prevalence #it's hard not to despair #again this is why positive reinforcement feels like absolution #maybe now my eyes are open I can make up for what I did #what I did because it's what everyone does #because it's more acceptable to punish than to do anything else #I've been having so many thoughts about punishment and society and justice #this book was very validating #another great validating moment in my jumbled thoughts #was listening to the You're Wrong About episode on justice #with Amanda Knox #it helped to ease the despair a little

[creative-clawmarks]

Just outside the [ANGEL]'s line of sight,

two puppets recognize each other.

#my art #deltarune #kris #spamton #im not sure how in character this is but it made me sad when i thought of it so now you all have to feel it too #im so sorry you two i wish i could save you #but when i look away you stop existing so the only mercy i can grant you is a gentle hand on the crossbar

[hinamie]

dead man walking

#my art #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #itadori yuuji #yuji itadori #yuuji #fanart #jjk fanart #not me triple counting that i drew all 20 fingers gHJFHGH #in the sketch i only had 18 so that tells u all u need to know about my ability to count past 5 #so much RED in this i feel so at home #challenges self one (1) time to not use red in a piece n IMMEDIATELY drowns the next one in it afterwards #listen . listen ok if tbhk can do it so can i . #is yuuji's character colour technically orange ???? lmao well not with me its not slaps red on that boy #i love u yuuji sorry i keep drawing u sad and/or cannibalistic :(

[spineless-lobster]

Hey so if you guys here any pained animalistic sobs and/or wails don’t mind that it’s only me thinking about the house of hades family portraits

#what the helllllllll #I want to live in peace supergiant please my poor heart can only take so much #look at them look how soft and happy they are :( #I’m so sad about them they deserve so much better #I will cry at the family reunion at the end of this game I know I will #hades 2 #hades game #hades 2 spoilers #melinoë #zagreus #hades #persephone hades

[astearisms]

fionna and cake drawings before and after watching the episodes so far. it’s nostalgic and somehow cathartic and poignant and relatable and—it just started

#i’m part of the demographic where i was a kid when adventure time started and now watching fionna and cake as an adult makes me emotional #because did they keep us in mind when writing fionna and her attitude towards life #the dissatisfaction #the hoping for something more #something more magical than this dreary life filled with working to live and living to work #it’s so reflective of how life feels for me and perhaps many of us #and also Simon’s episode was so sad but so well thought out #exploring his feelings after the events of the adventure time finale is something I’m glad we get to see #there were already so many layers to his character in AT but now it feels like we get to dive deeper #I also felt emotional hearing Rebecca Sugar singing and writing a song that encapsulates his feelings so well #😭 it’s been awhile seeing her work exist alongside these characters #and all of these emotions get stronger because I remember AT being the one to inspire me to be a storyboard artist #when I was younger I used to follow many of the board artists here in tumblr and would get so inspired by them #to create simple but powerful boards that can capture the feelings of characters so well #Rebecca Sugar’s songs for the AT characters inspired me so much too #I’m sorry this is long I’m just feeling so many things experiencing all of this again as an adult #my art #fanart #adventure time #fionna and cake #fionna the human #cake the cat #simon petrikov

[anna-scribbles]

and what if he was happy!!!

#what then!!!! #it turns out i can only think about adrien being sad for so long before i can’t take it anymore. #i reached some sort of threshold #had to draw him smiling #i believe in you adrien. you’ll get there. #ml #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #my art #adrien agreste

[polarsirens]

trials

#dimension 20 #neverafter #neverafter spoilers #prince gerard of greenleigh #ylfa snorgelsson #pinocchio #fanart #my art #wip #this is just. half sketch half unfinished work in progress but #i had to get it out so i can wallow in my sadness some more over the weekend #this is hitting me very rough emotion-wise

[sparrowdoodles]

Fabian hit me!

#man this has been my favourite episode so far #you can count on me making a funny moment into a sad one muahahaha #dimension 20 #d20 #dimension twenty #adaine abernant #dimension 20 fantasy high #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #dimension 20 adaine #dimension 20 baron

[idonthaveanyurlideas]

the first time the rat grinders realise they're in too deep / all they have is each other / they've trusted the wrong teachers / the first night without her

#dimension 20 #fantasy high junior year #the rat grinders #how many times can i draw rat grinders being sad at nighttime so many sooooo fucking many #i cannot be stopped #kipperlilly copperkettle #oisin hakinvar #ruben hopclap #ivy embra #mary ann skuttle #they've just killed lucy <33333 #and they have some Regrets

[maykitz]

get-along t shirt

#draw #oc #double ballgag is so underrated. most underrated of them all. r34 doesnt even have a tag for it. can you believe that? sad! #and they do have 'double balljob' which is literally bullshit #okay it has been brought to my attention the tag is simply called shared gag. perhaps i'm stupid

[redysetdare]

enough stories about how someone learns to truely be happy through love. i want a story where someone is desperately seeking out love thinking it's the only way to be happy only for them to learn by the end that happiness is what they make of it and they don't need love at all to make it.

#aro #aromantic #ace #asexual #aroace #loveless aro #loveless #non-partnering #nonpartnering #non partnering #nonamorous #aplatonic #enough of amatonormative tropes in media!!! enough 'you're miserable without love' stories!!! #less “you're too focused on ambitions to make you happy that you dont let yourself fall in love” #more “you're too focused on finding love to make you happy that you wont let yourself live” #more “there is so much more to life than love and so much more that can bring your happiness if you just let yourself experience it.” #maybe I should write this story #and when i say love i mean all love. not just romantic love. #which is why i tagged aplatonic too #while i mostly see this trope in terms of romantic love i think there's something to be said about #telling stories where people are perfectly content alone too #it doesn't have to be sad or pathetic to not have friends by choice. they dont have to be a miserable person to not have friends #i think we need more variety in stories where it shows people just content in their lack of love or relationships in all shapes #not everyone wants a family not everyone wants friends not everyone wants a partner not everyone wants love #some of us are content without. that should be explored without the need to fix it.