#it's so sad to think about

[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

[mroddmod]

everyone be quiet i'm manifesting

#the bad batch #tbb #star wars #star wars the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb omega #tbb wrecker #tbb crosshair #tbb echo #tbb tech #tbb hunter #mods art #mods draws #my art #YAYYYYY ITS DONE #i've been tinkering w this for like a couple weeks now i think #just on and off #whenever i was nervous about their fates or just generally sad about them i would work on this #it was supposed to make me feel better but it would usually just make me more sad 😭😭 #but i still really like how it turned out!!! so that's cool #very self indulgent but!!! whatever #i think i'll add this to my inprnt soon too :) so keep a look out for that i guess lol #okay byeeeeee #ALSO THE NEW EP WAS SO GOOD #okay bye fr

[pineapple-frenzy]

Book 2 au: sparring sessions and short hair katara

They like to have sparring sessions in order to keep their bending skills sharp. They allow themselves to go all out and not hold back at all cause they know if anyone got hurt, Katara could just heal them

But anyways, wouldn't it be kinda funny if Zuko accidentally burned Katara's hair tho? Aofkqldkkajfjd

The "I think we can save the hairloops" line is from @linnoya-writes thank you for that!! :>>

#zutara #zuko #katara #atla #book 2 au #my art #i mentioned in my last book 2 au post that i wanted to include short hair katara into it and y'all were so supportive of it!! 😭😭😭 #so this is how i think it would go #it would happen as katara is trying to evade one of zuko's fire balls #she manages to avoid it but since her hair is long it still caught on fire #she'd be pissed so she water whips the hell out of zuko #and then promptly forgets about it akfhkakdkakdj #even after the sparring session she still hasn't remembered cause 'oh no zuko's in pain i have to help him!' #it isn't until zuko even mentions it that she remembers #zuko thinks she's more calm than i thought she would be after burning her hair so he mentions it to her #little did he know katara just forgor aldjlakdkaljd #n e ways zuko does feel bad so she offers to help fix it up for her #i think after the haircut katara would find herself looking in mirrors when there are any around cause 'zuko thinks i'm beautiful?? really? #zuko doesn't know this tho and he thinks katara is till sad about the unwanted haircut so he keeps telling her that she looks beautiful #and katara just keeps losing it aldjlakdlald #in conclusion they are idiots your honor

[somewhereincairparavel]

everyone keeps talking about Jason vs Percy but why isn't ANYONE talking about how powerful they looked when they both used their powers TOGETHER at the same time, side by side, in Mark of Athena? Like Annabeth even got goosebumps watching them cook up such an intense storm from afar. Sparky and Seaweed brain, Power duo smh.

#No I'm just thinking about how attractive they'd look side by side aswell 👀 #I'd be on my knees if I were Annabeth I'm sorry I'm so down bad for fictional ppl #its kinda sad yall want them to hate eachother so bad #when in reality they dont. #percy jackson #pjo #pjo hoo #pjo fandom #pjo series #annabeth chase #jason grace #hoo #heroes of olympus

[slavhew]

hm

#hom3stuck #homestuck #john egbert #jade harley #dirk strider #dave strider #karkat vantas #davekat #lil hal #autoresponder #inspired sketches because i went thru a bunch of artblogs and wanted to be dynamic and artsy too #also love to listen to songs and then try my best to draw something for the duration of it. this isnt quite one of those times but #hey the names matched up nicely #idk man. tonight is a sad about dirk strider day turned into sad about dirk strider night. davekats to make it go down easier #anyways ever think about how a captcha of 13 year old dirk doesnt want to die but the 16 year old version does. #cause i do . plenty. #these seem like sketches ripe to do something with but i dont feel like touching them more so. black and white up they go

[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

[astearisms]

part of a sadness

#just thinking about how simon’s world is reflected in fionna’s #not just the characters but feelings too #just that deep melancholy #fionna mirrors that albeit the sadness is caused by a different reason #YET THEY’RE THE SAME TOO! #the feeling of being stuck…and that feeling of longing for something (or someone) #questioning ‘will it ever get better’ #they resonate with me so much #this is all based on the hints we get that fionna and cake exist in Simon’s mind and how cake literally escaped from it in the last episode #it just got me thinking and i got emotional and #yeah #my art #adventure time #at #fionna and cake #fionna and cake spoilers #fionna the human #fionna campbell #simon petrikov #cake the cat #adventure time fionna and cake #adventure time fanart

[anthyies]

the thing about disco elysium is that it has women in it. what you see on the internet about it might lie to you about that but it has women, gay women even, very compelling women even, in it.

#Directive: THINK ABOUT RUBY THE INSTIGATOR!!!!!! #What was it rave said. This basic concern dooms her!!!!! She’s so good. She’s SO good #Rubyklaasje is literally crucial to the plot happenings and yet there are only like two dozen people who talk about them. Sad. Shut up about #that other guy please stop putting him in bunny suits. #Also thinking about cunoesse. My god cunoesse. #Cindy the skull. Liz!!! Who only shows up for a little but she is so cool. Lilienne i need to replay to go on the date to learn more about #her. Soona she’s so real… Joyce is so much so so so much. And dora and dolores of course. #esha.txt #disco elysium #Seriously. #Klaasje i literally forgot to talk about klaasje I love you problem girl

[wardingshout]

Zelda goes mushroom girl

#tloz #a link to the past #zelda #link #my art #I was happy with that first one but for some reason decided it still needed a companion piece so I spent way too long on that second one... #I don't think there was any time during the progress where I was happy with it but hfduhdfu at least I got to Attempt drawing moss hell yea #I also at some point sat in Pyu's art stream and said I enjoy drawing legs As I was being murdered by the infamously impossibe (imo) squat. #it's ok I had fun !! but I need to learn how to let doodles be doodles or I'll never finish stuff at this rate dfsuhfd #if everything in my tloz tag looks like it was drawn by different people uuuh 2023 was art crisis year ngl...... #I'm falling back into my old ways rn though #anyway I think about these two a lot I think they're both stone faced and awkward ppl in different ways but they try rly hard to be friends #like I like to think it starts out so incredibly awkward and a bit sad bc they keep stepping over each other's toes accidentally the harder #they try but idk they find comfy middle ground idk in my brain they have a very interesting friendship I wanna get around to drawing it #in a proper way that might make sense.... #if I don't write 200 tags I will die maybe it's bc I grew up on dA or smth #and yes I know how to find 1 (one) type of mushroom /I/ am not mushroom girl unfortunately smh

[vastpotato]

Love that tma is so traumatic constantly that we all gloss over the fact that Jon was kidnapped and forcibly moisturized while tied to a chair for a month.

Every time I think too hard about it it actually freaks me out. And Jon never talks about it again which also freaks me out

#the fics of his time there always make me so sad #did the circus even actually feed/water him #I do not want a creepy clown moisturizing me thank you #did they even understand that he gotta pee??? #someone make me stop thinking about it #it’s making me so sad and distraught for Jon #tma #the magnus archives #the magnus institute #magnuspod #jonathan sims #the archivist #Jon sims #the circus #the circus of the other #the stranger

[mingyusbinch]

REST IN PEACE, DEAR MOONBIN (1998-2023)

#moonbin #astro #moon bin #i don't want to be here right now honestly i just wanted my last post about moonbin to be the ones where hes smiling as my last memory #it kills me to see my posts reblogged with sad messages now #and i still can't believe this news either #i've been mia anyway but now im even less inclined to go on tumblr rn #im so sorry for everyone including family/friends of bin #and himself but i cant think about that bc it will break me apart #rest in peace bin i'll miss you more than anything

[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.

[soranker]

tomorrow :)

#TRIGUN MAXIMUM SPOILERS #trigun maximum #vashwood #vash the stampede #nicholas d wolfwood #ok...... one more......... yall can have a little vashwood as a treat...... #i actually love them so much SO BADLY but u prob wouldnt b able to tell bc i dont post a lot of ship art #but trimax vashwood. holay shit. hydrogen bomb yaoi #ive also just been like. digging into so much post-canon vashwood (<- sad and delusional and coping) #LIKE DONT GET ME WRONG I LOVE LOVE LOVEEE WOLFWOOD'S CHARACTER ARC and i think [redacted] is SO IMPORTANT AND VITAL TO THE STORY #BOTH THEMATICALLY AND FOR VASH'S CHARACTER ARC. i literally would not have it any other way unfortunately </3 BUT A PERSON CAN STILL DREAM! #ok ya ill stop talking now bc i think i could talk about them and think about them forever.. *scratching the back of my head*

[honestlyhiswife]

i like to think that Ghost is actually softer than he lets on. It’s only natural for him to be defensive, what if somebody uses information about him against him?

But when Ghost truly knows that he can trust somebody, I think that he turns to putty.

Putty in the sense that, he’d mold himself for them, to accomodate them in his life. Making sure that he covers the corner of the table when you bend down to pick something up. Watering your plants that have mysteriously not died in 3 months. Restocking your favourite sweets.

While it may take a long time, his caring tendencies last a long time as well.

in addition:

He thinks you’re oblivious to all this, that you have no idea what’s going on. In reality, you play the part of being oblivious because you know that he enjoys caring for you in subtle ways since he hasn’t mustered up the strength to do it boldly.

Purposefully leaving the Sunday newspaper for him so he can do crossword and sudoku. Eating new sweets so you have an excuse to feed him some. Giving him a really quick peck on the cheek before leaving.

In the end, it’s the small, sweet nothings that amount to everything to him

#honey has the mic #simon ghost riley #simon riley #ghost mw2 #cod mwii #ghost cod #ghost mwii #cod mw2 #ghost call of duty #i’m so sad i wish he was real #wish he was mine #i was listening to night shift while thinking about him #ghost headcanons #ghost hc #ghost x reader

[hajihiko]

It runs in the family

#an art #super danganronpa 2 #sdr2 #fuyuhiko kuzuryu #peko pekoyama #Fuyupeko #Kuzupeko #Thinking about them and their terrible childhood today. Kind of terrible lives in general huh #Neither of them could help each other when things got dicey in the household #Peko because the Kuzuryūs are NOT afraid to 'discipline' her. Fuyuhiko because it literally only makes things worse. #Both of them because if they show off how close they are the agents might rethink keeping Peko around. So they grit their teeth and bear it #I somewhat hc that the parents also aren't above involving the other in a punishment. Like. #Fuyuhiko can take a beating but he hates seeing Peko be hurt. Same for her. So if they REALLY wanna beat a lesson into one of them.... ykno #BUT THATS SAD. SO I ADDED THE NICE PICTURE AFTERWARDS #Child abuse cw #Cw child abuse

[zombie-bait]

i cannot conceive of a universe without you in it

Fellas is it gay to give yourself a lobotomy to possibly preserve the soul of your one and only companion who died to save you? Asking for a friend

#gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #harrow the ninth spoilers #the locked tomb #harrowhark nonagesimus #gideon nav #griddlehark #yes theyre all i think about now #Its a bit insane #These sad lesbians mean so much to me #I think harrow deserves like 300 hugs #And maybe a kiss from Gideon #And also a body to herself #Those are my demands Tamsyn Muir #Harrow really is THE fucked up little guy #The locked tomb fanart #harrow the ninth fanart #harrow the first