Truly What Was Thistle's Crime But Loving Too Much- Oh He Went Too Far, He Killed The Main Party- So

Thistle I love u thistle

people still use "i'm not interested in women from this story because they're badly written" argument all the time and i'm not saying it can't be valid, but rather… yes, it used to be like that 100%, but lately i noticed that i can really really like female characters in the story (they're often my favorite characters), but when i go to the fandom, i start gradually losing interest for those characters, because they're either: 1) mischaracterized by the fandom 2) villainized by the fandom 3) turned into a boring half of a popular ship. we need to admit to ourselves at some point that fandom is the problem as well (and always has been), not just the authors.

Rewatching Dungeon Meshi and noticing that Marcille is genuinely terrible at basic non-magical medicine. After Chilchuck gets attacked by a mimic, she automatically assumes he's dead without checking much of anything. Then when Laios gets food poisoning, she tries to listen to his heartbeat through his armor and panics when she hears nothing.

Really brings home how their group is incomplete without Falin.

Also, Laios not recognizing Kabru but recognizing Kuro (because he's a kobold) when they come across Kabru's party dead for the second time is so... Laios.

important distinction

Do you have a page with the characters favorite foods?

I remember that Laios likes cheesecake.

They all have a section for their favorite food in their bios too! Kabru's is tomato (weirdo), Laios is actually listed as dairy products (from cow) I'll list them here

Laios

Likes: Dairy products (cow)

Dislikes: Cephalopods

Marcille

Likes: Seafood, nuts

Dislikes: Bizarre foods

Chilchuck

Likes: Liquor (especially ale)

Dislikes: sweet side dishes

Senshi

Likes: Monster cooking

Dislikes: Empty calories

Izutsumi

Likes: Fish, meat, crab

Dislikes: Vegetables, mushrooms

Falin

Likes: Fruit, cream

Dislikes: Nothing in particular

Shuro - Toshiro Nakamoto

Likes: Soba

Dislikes: Cheese

Namari

Likes: Spare ribs

Dislikes: Raisins

Kabru

Likes: Tomatoes

Dislikes: Monsters, elf cakes

Mithrun and Thistle have no preferences

All the other characters with profiles have the preferences too but that's a lot so I'm just listing the main ones here

long time no thistle postibg.... who else up thinking about thistle and delgal running in a nice field on a sunny day just having a good ol time... god

Chilchuck is definitely the kind of dad that scared his kids with the boogie man, he has that kind of humor

and probably ended up having them sleep on his bed bc he scared them too much too

Today’s Thistle is: Combin’ out his hair

Every time I revisit chapter 86 and the events right after the group talks Marcille down, I'm always struck by this bit here:

In particular, how similar it is to this:

The Winged Lion ate the same desire in both of them, more or less (I'm sure there are some nuances in both flavor and intent, but they are clearly similar things here). The Lion basically used this technique to kill Thistle, and for Marcille it was... not insignificant, but something she and her friends overcame without even fully realizing it was an obstacle.

I feel like this is another small piece of the story that shows how important support and love are - in navigating mental illness, in dealing with abuse or addiction, or in working through any other similar struggle that can be read into the Lion and his eating of desires.

It almost feels like Marcille was able to borrow the desires of her friends. She loves them and she trusts them, so even when she didn't have a desire to free herself from the Lion, the care they had for her well being still mattered to her.

It's the same thing later, with her hair.

She isn't able to notice the way her messy hair is making things harder, let alone do anything about it. But when Chilchuck points it out and then braids it back for her...

It's better. She likes it, things are easier now. Even though it isn't a desire she can feel for herself, it's not something that doesn't effect her. And because her friends care - because they know her well enough to notice the difference - she is given the chance to have a preference and to ask for their help.

We can obviously see some parallel ideas here with Mithrun and Kabru as well, but I'd also like to point out that Thistle gets this grace, too. Thistle, who had no one to help him up once he lost his will to resist, or to encourage him to find new desires once the Lion ate them all.

Thistle says he doesn't need anything, anymore...

But he is given an apology anyways.

It is not a kindness he desires. It is not a kindness he is able to ask for.

But it is a kindness that helps. It is a kindness that matters.

Shout out to dungeon meshi for having almost all adult characters.

In an era where fantasy and isekai are usually reserved for teenagers, having a series where grown ass men and women can go on silly adventures together is a giant breath of fresh air.